The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne

"Gentlemen! No Little Lady in Your Life? Call the Little Lady Agency: everything organised, from your home to your wardrobe, your social life to you. No funny business or laundry.

review by Maryom

Melissa has made such a good job of organizing the estate agents office she works in, and making sure everything there runs smoothly, that they no longer have any need for her, and, when it merges with a big American firm, she's the first to be made redundant. After a close call with the 'wrong' sort of agency, she decides to set up her own, sorting out the lives and wardrobes of London's clueless, but rich, young men. Ditching her dull 'hockey-sticks' persona, she becomes glamorous Honey, the 'little lady' who'll make sure they know which knife and fork to use, provide a 'plus one' to weddings and family events, and help with your present buying problems - there are a million and one ways she can help a lazy, unorganised bachelor.
Then she meets Jonathan, part of the team who took over her former employers. He's new to London, caught in a messy divorce, wanting someone to organize his social schedule and provide a hostess for his parties -  and suddenly Melissa's not sure where to draw the line between business and pleasure ... 

Sometimes all we want from a book is something light-hearted and fun - and The Little Lady Agency is exactly that.

Don't look for deep character analysis, this is rom-com land. Melissa seems awfully naive for the public-schooled daughter of an MP who's had his share of sex scandals, and a lot of the characters seem so incredibly posh that they could have stepped straight out of a modern day Downton Abbey, but don't worry, take them at their face value, and enjoy the fun.

Maryom's review - 4 stars 
Publisher - Quercus 
Genre - adult chick lit/romcom

The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths

review by Maryom



Life hasn't been going well for Ruth Galloway - her mother died not long ago, and, while  everyone around her seems to be embarking on a life of 'happily ever after', her on/off lover Harry Nelson has gone back to his wife. So when Angelo Morrelli, an old acquaintance, asks her to check out some curious finds at his archaeological dig in Italy, and make it a bit of a holiday, she's all too willing to go. In the hilltop village of Castello degli Angeli she finds remains dating back to Roman times but a mystery surrounding events of Italy's more recent past.
Meanwhile, back in Norfolk, DCI Nelson is facing a more pressing danger - the possibility that a newly released offender is out to take revenge.

The Dark Angel is the tenth book featuring forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway, and this time Ruth is taken away from her beloved Norfolk salt marshes to the heat of Italy. I've always loved the descriptions of Norfolk with its seemingly limitless vistas stretching away to the horizon but that's an area I know fairly well and wondered how much I was adding in my own memories of the area. This time, the setting is totally unknown to me but the heat, the narrow streets, village square with cafes and church, and distant views of vineyards were totally brought to life. It isn't all picturesque scenery and holiday fun for Ruth, though. There are threatening messages left at the house she's staying in, Morrelli claims to have received death threats, and the land itself seems unwelcoming, shaking the village with an earthquake!
Ruth's sometimes lover, and father of her daughter Kate, DCI Harry Nelson again plays a large part in the story. He's finding himself torn between his desire to be with Ruth, and the obligations he feels towards his pregnant wife, even if there's sneaking suspicion at the back of his mind that he might not be the child's father.

I haven't read all ten books, and those I've read haven't been in chronological order (!), but I love this series - particularly its blend of personal story and crime. This book is no exception, though there might be a slight more emphasis on the personal side of Ruth's life this time, as she and Nelson try to resolve their feelings for each other. The characters as always are well drawn and believable, even the minor supporting ones, and when the villain is unveiled, there's a satisfying feeling that, if we'd read the hints properly, the reader should have guessed who it was.
And, of course, though each story is complete, the crime solved, and the villain brought to justice, the ongoing Ruth/Nelson relationship continues drawing you into the nest book, and the next...

Maryom's review - 5 stars 
Publisher - Quercus 
Genre - adult crime 

The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths

review by Maryom

"Christmas 1953. Max Mephisto and his daughter Ruby are headlining Brighton Hippodrome, an achievement only slightly marred by the less-than-savoury support act: a tableau show of naked 'living statues'. This might appear to have nothing in common with DI Edgar Stephens' investigation into the death of a quiet flowerseller, but if there's one thing the old comrades have learned it's that, in Brighton, the line between art and life - and death - is all too easily blurred..."

This fourth Stephens and Mephisto mystery takes the reader to a snowy 1950s Brighton, where, as always when these two old army comrades are together, the glamour of theatre life rubs shoulders with murder. In her boarding-house room, Lily Burtenshaw's body is found, posed to resemble a famous painting of an historical event. Only nineteen years old, Lily was a quiet, shy girl, who worked at a local flowershop, but the positioning of her dead body bears a resemblance to the 'tableaux' presented by the 'living statues' act currently engaged at the Hippodrome Theatre. Surely there couldn't be a connection between them? Maybe Lily was mistakenly killed by someone who assumed she was one of the female performers temporarily staying at the same boarding-house? It's a disturbing, unlikely crime for Brighton, and the leads uncovered by DI Edgar Stephens seem to take him only to blind alleys. Max meanwhile has been befriended by one of the 'living statues', an unlikely move given their respective ages, and one which he treats with a degree of scepticism, but maybe this young, attractive woman can shed light on the identity of Lily's murderer ...

Elly Griffiths has again transported the reader back to a time which feels like it ought to be gentler and more innocent - after all, it snows for Christmas - but seems more to balance on a knife-edge between glamorous and sordid - the (almost) nude performers are only allowed if they stand rigidly still, complying with a ruling which deems them 'artistic' rather than 'rude'. Human nature being what it is though, particularly in crime novels, someone always finds themselves driven to murder.

After an excess of psychological thrillers and domestic noir, I'm finding myself increasingly drawn back to the whodunnit school of crime fiction - perhaps because it's presented more as a puzzle to solve. Someone is murdered, the police, perhaps with the assistance of an interested 'bystander' such as Miss Marple or Max Mephisto, set about finding the culprit, and, after a number of dead ends and red herrings, find him or her. That's not to say there isn't tension, but it's not the over the top nerve-racking suspense of a psychological thriller. Elly Griffiths' stories fit me perfectly, whether the Ruth Galloway series mixing archaeology and murder in modern-day Norfolk, or this Stephens and Mephisto '50s set series.
There's a nice balance between the two aspects of the story - the crime-solving and the personal lives of the 'regular' characters - which makes this possible to read as a stand-alone novel while it fits into a longer story-arc of the characters personal lives - and much as in the Ruth Galloway series, it's difficult to anticipate which route those lives will take.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars 
Publisher - Quercus 
Genre - adult historical crime

The Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins

review by Maryom

Olivia Sweetman seems to have it all. She's a respected professor of history, now becoming known to the wider public through a popular TV series and guest appearances on other programmes, happily married with three children, and now she's about to break into the publishing world with her first book, Annabel, about a Victorian feminist, one of the first female surgeons, and perhaps a murderer, it's sure to be a best-seller.

Behind this public facade, though, things are not so rosy. Her husband's actions have disturbed their marital harmony, her eldest son is behaving like the stroppiest teenager ever, and Vivian Tester, the woman who helped with so much of the research for Annabel, is refusing to accept that their partnership is over, and she holds a secret that could break Olivia.

In brief outline, this doesn't seem an unfamiliar plot - well known, glamorous media personage is stalked by the 'little guy' they've trampled over to reach their position, but as the story unfolds, seeing events from first one woman's point of view then the other's, it becomes apparent that the relationship between the two women isn't that simple. Each has behaved badly and in some way wronged the other, they both have secrets to hide, and I found it difficult, with my sympathies swapping from one to the other, to decide who was the most injured party. Although some of the 'extras' are fairly sketchy, Olivia and Vivian are particularly well-drawn and fleshed out; not the common two-dimensional characters of many thrillers, but real people you can empathise with, which makes for a more compelling read. 

As you'd expect there are twists and turns, and a bombshell or two, as the story unfolds, and maybe the only downside to it is that it won't have the same impact on a second read.

Maryom's review - 4 stars 
Publisher - Quercus 
Genre - adult psychological thriller

The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths

review by Maryom

Forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway has been called in after bones are discovered during building works for an underground restaurant in Norwich. She's assuming that they'll be old bones of interest only to historians - but, as you'd expect as this is a crime novel, she's wrong. 

Meanwhile the police led by DCI Harry Nelson have 'underground' problems of their own - a man is reported having disappeared in the vicinity of a hole which suddenly appeared in a road, and, in a separate case, a local rough sleeper has gone missing, perhaps gone 'underground'. As they follow up on rumours, the network of tunnels left behind after chalk-mining under Norwich come to figure prominently in enquiries, and the bones discovered by Ruth take on a much more sinister interpretation.

This is the ninth 'outing' for Ruth Galloway and Harry Nelson, and it hasn't lost any of the pull of the earlier books - in fact, I think that helped along by their personal stories the series actually gets more gripping. I've come to the series late, and, despite my best intentions to start at Book 1(The Crossing Places) and read my way through sequentially, I'm darting about the ongoing story of Ruth and Harry in a rather higgledy-piggledy order. It doesn't really matter though - the 'crime' aspect of each book is self-contained, and I've found it nice to be able to jump ahead and find out where Ruth and Harry's relationship is heading before going back and reading how it developed. I'm not entirely sure how I want it to progress - Ruth I feel deserves a happy ending; Harry I'm less convinced about.

Meanwhile there are crimes to solve.This time, everything is pointing towards the tunnels under Norwich as the location of nefarious goings-on. Seemingly unconnected events join up in a way that is credible rather than far-fetched, and there's quite enough in the twists and turns department to keep the reader guessing. The tunnels seem fascinating but its one story location I shan't be hurrying to visit. Griffiths is excellent at capturing atmosphere but whereas I've previously loved her windswept marshes, I wasn't so happy about narrow tunnels. Like Ruth, I'm not happy with small, claustrophobic spaces or people who merrily talk about the tonnes of rock above one's head ... Fortunately most of the action takes place above ground in King's Lynn, in places I recognise from holiday visits there, and Norwich (which I must visit now) and there's a mention or two of lovely Wells next the Sea. I'm starting to think I should plan a little Galloway and Nelson-themed tour of Norfolk for summer, though preferably without any crime  :)

Maryom's review - 5 stars 
Publisher - Quercus 
Genre - adult crime thriller

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

review by Maryom

When the bones of a child are found on the North Norfolk saltmarsh, DCI Harry Nelson half-hopes, half-dreads that they may belong to Lucy Downey who went missing 10 years ago when she was five years old, but these are far older bones. Forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway from the University of North Norfolk dates them as belonging sometime during the Iron Age, probably a ritual burial taking place in the tidal zone belonging to both land and sea. Nelson is struck by the similarities of how Ruth describes this pre-historic event, and instructions of where to find Lucy, contained in letters claiming to be from her abductor. He feels Ruth's knowledge of ancient sites along the coast, and her understanding of the beliefs behind these burials may be of help to him in his modern day, seemingly unsolvable case, and Ruth gradually finds herself involved in this long-standing puzzle. 

The Crossing Places is the first of the Ruth Galloway series, published back in 2009, and a book I've intended reading for quite a while - in fact since I first heard Elly Griffiths talking about the series three years ago.  I'd been intrigued by the mix of modern crime and forensic archaeology, and the setting, which for this story is the misty North Norfolk coast, where I know it's too easy to lose one's bearings and not know which way to head back to dry land - I've fortunately never been caught out on the marshes in a rising tide though, as happens in the story!  Anyway, when recently I spotted a free i-books download offer for The Crossing Places, I jumped at it.

I'd always wanted to start this series here at the beginning, and follow the characters and their changing relationships from the very start, although in some ways, having heard the author speak about them more than once, they were almost like old friends. 

The only downside to eventually getting round to something you've anticipated for so long, is that it might disappoint but happily this lived up to all my expectations. The plot is well-constructed, offering a variety of possible perpetrators and motives, easing into things gently but increasing the tension as Ruth herself is threatened, and the relationship between Ruth and Harry works well as a different thread. 

I loved the character of Ruth - that she's independent and determined to do things her way, ignoring all the presumably well-meaning advice from friends and family about losing weight or getting married and settling down. As it is, she's happy doing what she wants - pursuing her career, living with her cats in a small house in a place she loves, no matter how desolate others find it.

With the series now on Book 8, the Woman in Blue, I know that there's more to come in the relationship between Ruth and Harry Nelson, and more crimes for them to solve. I now intend catching up as quickly as I can.  

Maryom's review - 5 stars 
Publisher - Quercus 
Genre - adult crime thriller

Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths

review by Maryom

It's November 1951 and Brighton is getting ready for Christmas with lights along the prom and panto in the pier theatre - even the weather is getting in the mood with snow blanketing the town. For DI Edgar Stephens and his team, the snow isn't welcome at all - it's merely hampering the police's efforts to trace two missing children. Thirteen year old Annie and best friend twelve year old Mark had been playing on the street with other children, rehearsing one of the rather gruesome fairy-tale inspired plays that Annie used to write, but in the few minutes it took to walk to the sweet shop they had disappeared. When their bodies are discovered, with a trail of sweets seemingly pointing to them, the immediate suspect is the shop-owner, but to Edgar the whole scene seems reminiscent of the tale of Hansel and Gretel. He seems surrounded by too may leads, and too many suspects - the young teacher who encouraged Annie's writing? the neighbour who allowed the children to perform in his converted garage? or maybe there's a link to a previous murder, many years before, in which a child star appearing in the panto Babes in the Wood was killed?
Edgar's friend, and war-time colleague, Max Mephisto, in Brighton playing evil villain Abanazar in Aladdin, comes to his help with behind the scenes theatre gossip but, as a stage magician, feels that somehow the investigation is being distracted in the classic "smoke and mirrors" way...

Oddly, I've been to a couple of  Elly Griffiths 's events, really enjoyed them and left feeling I really must read her books - but not got round to it! I'd intended to pick up this new series at the beginning - but again I've failed, and jumped in at Book2. Although I'll go back and read the first, The Zig-zag Girl, this second stands well alone. The back story is explained enough for a new-comer to understand, though I'd guess there are spoilers for book one in there, but really this story stands on its own. It unfolded in a way to keep me hooked - first the desperate search for the children, then the sad discovery of their bodies, with insights into possible motives and suspects revealed gradually, as and when discovered by the police, but not deliberately with-held by the author (I hate that!). Set in the 1950s there are obviously a lot of modern methods unavailable to DI Stephens and his colleagues - but in some ways this can lead to a more engrossing story; the answer isn't found by an anonymous scientist in a lab but by old-fashioned observation and deduction.
There's also an intriguing personal story going on for Edgar Stephens, which I won't divulge but which has me wanting to know what will happen next in his life. In this respect, I think readers ARE going to be teased - with Edgar being led in a direction they won't want him to go!
I'm now a confirmed Elly Griffiths fan and my only regret is not having made the effort to read her work before - but on the plus side, there's lots waiting for me to discover and I don't have to wait for a new book to be published.


Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Quercus
Genre - adult historical crime

Love Notes For Freddie by Eva Rice

"The long hot summer of 1969.

The Shredded Wheat factory - and the boy who dances there.

First love, last love and all the complicated stuff in between."



 review by Maryom

Marnie Fitzpatrick is young and privileged. Her mother was a celebrity hairdresser.Her step-father's a famous actor. She attends the exclusive St Libby's girls' school just outside Welwyn Garden City and has a flair for maths. But ....on one fateful afternoon her life is about to be turned upside down...
Freddie Friday is a young man who wants to dance, but with grandparents to care for sees no way he can realise his dreams. All he has to look forward to is a life of monotonous work at the city's Shredded Wheat plant/
Meanwhile Julie Crewe, Marnie's maths teacher, feels her life is behind her. for six weeks when she was young, she danced barefoot in the park with a young man and fell in love. The relationship and her dancing career crumbled at the same time...and nothing since has ever lived up to those few precious weeks.

Love Notes for Freddie is at heart a bitter-sweet teen-romance/coming of age story in which Eva Rice re-visits that time in life when it seems anything and everything could happen. Too old to be classed as children, too young to be set in adult ways, Freddie and Marnie are at a time of their lives when the possibilities opening for them seem endless. Julie Crewe, on the other hand, just moving into her forties, represents what happens when those possibilities DON'T materialise. The message behind the story is definitely one of 'cease the day'; if a chance offers itself, grab it!


I was a little disappointed that the story of Marnie's school-rebel friend Rachel wasn't explored more. Marnie seems to just take life as it comes, accepting both good and bad as they're thrown at her; Rachel is very much one who takes life and shapes it round her, and I think she had a more interesting story to tell.


Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Quercus
Genre - teen/ YA

The Rocks by Peter Nichols

review by Maryom

Divorced couple Lulu and Gerald have lived almost side by side on the island of Mallorca for the past 50 years; Lulu at her welcoming, guest-filled hotel Villa Los Roques, Gerald in quieter style at his farmhouse C'an Cabrer among his olive and lemon trees. The incident which ended their relationship caused a rift between them which could not be healed, so despite their proximity, they've rarely seen or spoken to each other in all that time. Their story starts at its end and unwinds backwards to its beginning - almost like a film shown in reverse - through the complex relationship between their families, to the event that altered their lives and shaped their futures.


 The Rocks is a story of love and betrayal played out over three generations against a backdrop of sun, sea and, yes, sex in the Mallorcan village of Cala Marsopa, once a remote, off the beaten track spot which changes through the 1960s as the tourist-trade booms and the stark beauty of the island is 'developed' as a holiday destination; the pleasure-seeking lifestyle of Lulu and guests, more in tune with the new influx of visitors, contrasts sharply with Gerald's deep attachment to his land. It's a place I've never visited but, as when I read Helen Walsh's The Lemon Grove, I felt myself to be absolutely there - swimming off the rocks or strolling along dusty lanes and through olive groves.
Against this wonderful backdrop, the lives of Lulu, Gerald and their families play out, and from the way little accidental happenings shape events, generally for the worst, it's almost as if the old Greek gods were behind the scenes pulling the strings. 
 The story develops in an unusual way by starting in the present, 2005, and moving backwards to 1948, evolving in a thriller-type way with the big reveal saved till last. As the reader travels back in time, they uncover the failed relationships and doomed love affairs that tie these two families together; the characters are obviously fully aware of what has happened, but the reader is in the dark and I was constantly intrigued by the hints dropped of what happened in, say, Algeciras or why Gerald abandoned his plans to trace Odysseus's route home from Troy to Ithaka.
It's a story of misunderstandings, mishaps and failures in relationships, which doesn't sound like a good read - but it is! An excellent one, in fact.
Right now it's a great way to lose yourself somewhere warm and sunny far away from February's cold and damp, but for me at least, it will be a book to come back to, even though I know the ending(or beginning), to trace the intricate plotting and see how the jigsaw pieces fit together.



Maryom's review -  5 stars
Publisher - Heron Books (Quercus)
Genre - Adult

The Visitors by Simon Sylvester

review by Maryom

17 year old Flora has always lived on the small Scottish island of Bancree - and it's always seemed a dull, safe sort of place, that she can't wait to leave. When newcomers, a man and his daughter, move into an abandoned house on lonely Dog Rock, Flora is curious about them. After-all, why would anyone pick such an out-of-the-way place to live?  Flora and the daughter Ailsa quickly become friends but the father seems withdrawn and menacing, not making any attempt to fit in with the community.
 At the same time, people have been disappearing from the island - maybe they've just fallen in the sea and been washed away, or got lost on the way home from the pub and are now lying in a ditch, but could there be a killer at large?


The Visitors is a mix of coming of age novel, psychological thriller and myth, set on a remote weather-beaten island somewhere vaguely in the Hebrides. It opens well, setting the scene as Flora and her boyfriend part company as he heads off south to university, capturing her frustration that she must wait another year before it's her turn to head off into the wide world. With another disappearance plus the arrival of newcomers, the atmosphere of fear and mistrust builds, and in between Flora listens to traditional tales of the selkies - sea-creatures, half-human, half-seal, that capture the hearts of fisherman  - and wonders if all these things are related. 
 Now, I'm not averse to novels that mix and mash up reality and fantasy, and as fond of a gothic thriller as the next person - I loved Lauren Beukes' Broken Monsters and The Shining Girls both of which are in a similar vein mixing murder and supernatural, and Amy Sackville's different take on the selkie myth, Orkney - but this didn't grab me. I wondered why, because the story-telling was good and the main characters believable. Then checking links and such for this post, I realised - too much is given away in the 'blurb'; instead of leaving the mystery to unfold as the book is read, most of the reveals are given away in it. It's rather a pity as I think if I'd read it 'cold', I'd have enjoyed it much more.

Another of the shortlist for this year's Not The Booker Prize - see also my review of Iain Maloney's First Time Solo
Maryom's review -  3.5 stars
Publisher - Quercus 
Genre - Adult/YA crossover, thriller,

The Vintage Girl by Hester Browne

review by Maryom

Evie Nicholson has a passion for antiques - not the quick turn-round high profit items that her boss would like her to find but the intimate little things that have stories to tell - old jewellery or a ragged teddy bear. So being asked to value the  family heirlooms at Kettlesheer Castle in the Scottish Borders, is almost a dream come true. The castle lives up to all her romantic expectations with history stretching back hundreds of years, turrets on every corner and a gala ball, complete with piper, at the weekend - if only Evie didn't have two left feet when it comes to dancing! She soon finds that castle-life isn't all fun - most of the time it's desperately cold and the McAndrews need to turn their antiques into hard cash to meet running costs while their son and heir, Robert, would happily just sell up totally. So while he tries to convince Evie to join in the dancing at the ball, she works on changing his attitude too - and in the process stumbles on a family secret that would be better not aired in public.

Just like Kettlesheer Castle itself, The Vintage Girl has all the romantic features you could want - a sympathetic heroine, a choice of handsome bachelors, an inconvenient girlfriend or two, a magical setting and, of course, a happy ending. The plot has a little more bite than the average rom-com with as much emphasis on Evie's 'treasure-seeking' as on any romantic entanglements, and although you expect all will end well, it isn't too predictable exactly HOW this will come about. While many romcom novels are fine to while away a few hours in a cosy armchair or sunning on a beach, few have enough plot to entice me back for a second or third reading - this one will. I've loved Hester Browne's style of chick lit since my daughter discovered The Little Lady Agency accidentally in an airport bookstore -and I'm glad to say I thoroughly enjoyed this too.

Maryom's review -  5 stars
Publisher - Quercus 
Genre - rom-com/chick lit, 

Buy The Vintage Girl from Amazon

How To Love by Katie Cotugno

review by Maryom

Serena always had big plans for her life - to leave her Florida home, go to college, travel the world and write about her journey. What her plans didn't include was getting pregnant at 16 while her boyfriend Sawyer took off leaving no word! Move on a few years and Serena has a toddler Hannah, and a new steady boyfriend Aaron. Then Sawyer breezes back as if nothing happened, wanting to pick up where they left off. Serena and Sawyer had only been together for a few months but he'd been the love of her life. Is she willing to take him back now?

This is a really readable, entertaining story but a little too light and fluffy for my taste. It's definitely got an unusual twist for a teen-romance....but...somehow it seems to be giving the wrong message to a teenage readership. There's none of the gritty 'bringing up baby' realism of Malorie Blackman's Boy's Don't Cry or the emotional impact of Juno , no real feel of the responsibilities and pressures brought about by having a child, particularly alone.
It's very much a 'true love conquers all' story and although I'm sure many readers will love the ending, I wasn't happy. How To Love is fine as an escapist love story but please don't treat it as anything else.

Maryom's review - 3.5 stars
Publisher - Quercus
Genre - teen romance

Buy How to Love from Amazon

The Night is for Hunting by John Marsden

Review by The Mole

This is the sixth book in the Tomorrow series and we start to see the story come to a head. There is just one more book to come in the series and here we see the team - reduced by casualties over the war - start to feel threatened in their own sanctuary - Hell. Having collected some 'feral' children along the way they are also encumbered by their responsibilities of protection.

Once again the story moves along at what is a surprisingly slow pace. Surprising because it's only when you look back after having read it that you realise all the real action was packed into just a few short pages. But it didn't feel that way at the time of reading.

The action, as always, feels very cinematic and very intense but I found myself less sympathetic or concerned about the characters. Fi tells Ellie how she has become hard and cold and while this is true she has also become less likeable too.

The scene is now set for the final book in the series and I cannot believe the end will bring that much of a surprise to the readers because, as with all good series, we expect the hero to come through and love to succeed. Marsden has, however, killed off a few characters along the way so will they ALL be standing at the end? We must wait and see - but not for long now as the final book comes out 7th November 2013.

Despite everything a most enjoyable read but don't leap into the series - if nothing else read book one for background but much happens in between so try reading them in series - you will enjoy it.

Publisher: Quercus
Genre: Teenage fiction

Buy The Night is for Hunting (The Tomorrow Series) from Amazon

Sammy Feral's Diaries of Weird by Eleanor Hawken

Review by The Mole

Sammy Feral is a normal boy whose family own a zoo and whose family are just a little bit weird. In the first Sammy Feral (Sammy Feral's Diaries of Weird) book his family were all turned into werewolves. He met Donny and Red, cryptozoologists, (who are also a little bit weird - in their own way) as he tried to find a way to get them back to normalish. I say normalish because he's hardly normal himself - he can talk to weird animals that don't exist. These are fun books that are captivating for the younger reader with lots of black and white illustrations.

 Yeti Rescue


A Mongolian Death Worm turns up at his zoo, he’s not that surprised. The Death Worm needs help: his best friend, Bert the Yeti Chief, has gone missing. 
 Can Sammy summon the Ministry of Yetis and rescue Bert? He’s going to need help from his old friends Donny and Red, not to mention a very reluctant Wish Frog…


The Hound Curse

To make some extra money for Feral Zoo, Sammy, Red and Donny decide to promote their cryptozoology business – investigating animals that don’t exist. What could possibly go wrong?
Everything! Hired to check out sightings of a ghost dog, the friends uncover the terrifying legend of the Hell Hound. Anyone who is seen by this terrible beast is struck with a death curse. So when Sammy’s best friend Mark runs into the deadly dog, Sammy knows he doesn’t have long to figure out how to save him!

Publisher - Quercus Kids 
Genre Children's 8+ supernatural adventure

Buy Sammy Feral's Diaries of Weird from Amazon

Linked by Imogen Howson

review by Maryom

 As long as she can remember, Elissa has suffered from distressing hallucinations in which she feels she's seeing the world through someone else's eyes - a world which is full of white masks, machines, wires and above all, pain. Doctors have tried to help in various ways but things have only got worse. Now as a last resort, an operation is being planned which will remove part of Elissa's brain. But at almost the last minute, she discovers that she actually IS seeing through someone else's eyes - those of Lin, the twin she never knew she had but has always been linked to telepathically. Together they try to outrun the people who have subjected Lin to years of scientific abuse - and uncover a secret agenda that the government will kill to protect.

Linked is an exciting, fast-paced, sci-fi, conspiracy theory read - and just in case that doesn't tick all the boxes for you, there's a little romance as well. This book had been sitting on my TBR pile for quite a while with me vaguely thinking I'd get round to reading it sometime - and I SO wish I'd picked it up sooner. The premise of twins separated at birth but still telepathically linked had me intrigued - especially with the hint of government secrets and cover-ups - but I hadn't imagined it would be as compelling as I found it. It's the kind of book that draws you in instantly and doesn't let you go till the very end. I was a little worried when I saw an advert for a sequel, but it's a perfectly rounded-off stand alone novel.
Although set on strange planets with interstellar travel, it isn't about aliens from outer space but is primarily a conspiracy-theory  thriller about the horrors that one sector of society will inflict on another in the name of scientific advancement. It's aimed at teens and young adults, but I feel it could appeal to many older readers too.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Quercus
Genre - teen/ YA  sci-fi, conspiracy theory, thriller

Buy Linked from Amazon

The Last Wild by Piers Torday

review by Maryom

Kester Jaynes, twelve -just about to be thirteen- lost the ability to speak when his mum died six years ago. Now he lives in the Spectrum Hall Academy for Challenging Children, along with others who don't quite fit society's expectations. To be accurate, it's more of a prison than a school but then Kester's whole world is barren and pretty unpleasant - people huddle in the remaining cities, the countryside is devastated and all the animals died due to the 'red eye' virus. At least, that's what everyone believes but Kester is about to discover that at least one small group of animals has survived and that HE is the one person who can help them.

The Last Wild is a thrilling often funny adventure story set against a chilling dystopian backdrop. In a world where all animals were believed to have died of the 'red eye' virus, Kester is the last hope of the few who've survived so far hidden from the watchful eyes of people who would cull them to prevent the spread of the virus and those who see them as dinner. At times it's so funny that you forget the depressing scenario but it does carry a stark environmental warning.
A great adventure book for children who love cartoon films such as Ice Age or Madagascar.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Quercus
Genre -   Children's adventure, 9+

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Undone by Cat Clarke

review by Maryom

Since childhood Jem Halliday has been in love with the boy next door - Kai. The only snag is, Kai is gay. Jem makes the best of it and they still continue as best friends, spending every spare minute together but then the unthinkable happens - Kai is 'outed' online is such a way that he takes his life. Jem's world falls apart. She almost follows him but is stopped by receiving the first of a series of letters written to her by Kai in his last hours and deciding that revenge on those she believes responsible would be a better plan....

Is it possible to like a book if you don't like the main character? I often say it isn't but in this case maybe it is. I started this book a while ago - and put it down because I didn't like Jem and her attitude - she's far too self-centred. Then, I decided to give it another go and got hooked reading it; although she was still annoying. The story centres on Jem's plan for revenge on the people she feels were responsible for Kai taking his own life - the so called Team Popular, the girls and guys at school that she feels everyone wants to be. As she infiltrates their clique, she grows to see that the people she'd disliked from a distance aren't all bad, that a lot of what she'd thought about them was just her perception and that once she's got to know them they are likeable. As the story progressed, I definitely felt more sympathy for Team Popular than I did for Jem.
It's a no-holds barred story about growing up and finding oneself - and as a parent I didn't like the casual assumption that all 16 year olds drink and have sex; maybe some, let's hope not all, do, but it's too easy for teens to fall into the assumption that that only weirdos and the terminally un-cool don't and this book seemed to re-inforce that outlook.

Overall, I found Undone a rather sad read that left me with a huge sense of loss that so many lives could be ruined by one stupid act.

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Quercus
Genre - YA  

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Don't Look Back by S B Hayes

review by Maryom

When they were young, Sinead and her older brother Patrick would play a game they called 'Following Patrick's Footsteps' - wherever he went, she had to follow, doing exactly as he did. Now grown up into a domineering, manipulative drug addict, used to having all his whims gratified, particularly by his mother, Patrick has disappeared. Behind him he's left a series of clues for Sinead to follow, just like in their old childhood game. Can she follow in his footsteps one last time and save him? and, if she does, will she finally be free of the hold he has over her?
The trail leads to a mysterious country house and to a young man who's returned to his family home in search of answers of his own...

Don't Look Back is a YA thriller with heavy supernatural overtones. You have to suspend disbelief as you read - not for any supernatural element (that goes without saying) but to accept that anyone could be as domineering, manipulative and self-centred as Patrick - and that he's been allowed, even encouraged, to continue that way. The attitude of his mother doesn't make any sense nor does Sinead's compulsion to join in his 'game'. Accept all this though and it's a good story. One clue leads Sinead to the next - and inevitably into danger.

I didn't like the ending though. Things didn't feel resolved - but maybe that's because the outcome wasn't the one I'd have chosen.


 Maryom's review - 3.5 stars
Publisher - Quercus
Genre - YA supernatural thriller

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Guinea Pigs Online - Viking Victory by Jennifer Gray and Amanda Swift

Review by The Mole

When a builder threatens to build houses on the copse behind Coco's house the guinea pigs are forced into action to to stop him. Writing blogs to drum up support they then move to direct action. They make a new friend in Olaf who is a Viking who promises big things as he leads them into action but will they succeed?

My favourite guinea pigs are back. This mixed bag of misfits cause more laughs than actually achieve anything but they are masses of fun. With black and white illustrations throughout and easy read pages this book will delight the early reader and the established fans as well.

The book also contains bonus activities and a recipe so parents can join in the fun and make Banoffee's Banana Boat of Yum. There is also more stuff to do on the Guinea Pigs Online website and so keep them reading.

A great series of fun adventures that kids will really enjoy.

Publisher - Quercus Kids 
Genre - Readers 5+

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The Feral Child by Che Golden

review by Maryom

"Maddy is fed-up. Since her parents died, she's been stuck with her grandparents in the tiny village of Blarney. She's sick of Ireland, sick of her stupid cousins, and, most of all, she's sick of her granddad's ridiculous stories about the faerie people who live in Tír na nÓg. But as Halloween approaches, strange things start to happen in the village. And when the little boy next door disappears, Maddy begins to think her granddad's stories aren't so silly after all... And so, Maddy and her cousins Roisin and Danny set off on an incredible journey to a land ruled by an ancient and powerful evil; a land of breathtaking beauty and deadly dangers; a land no adult dares to venture, even to rescue a child. To face evil as old as earth takes courage as bold as youth. "

The Feral Child is an exciting fantasy adventure for the 9+ age range set partly in the real world of Blarney but mainly in the faery land of Tir na nÓg. Here, faeries and the weird and wonderful creatures of Celtic mythology come to life; some are helpful; most are terrifying.

Maddy is a very rebellious sort of heroine - she doesn't fit in with her grandparents - and doesn't want to! So if granddad says 'Don't go near the castle at night', then Maddy is drawn there and if granddad says 'Don't have anything to do with the faery folk', then Maddy's bound to take them on! This kind of spirit that's needed though to enter the faery mound and attempt to rescue an abducted child. Her irritating cousins tag along out of nosiness but prove they're more helpful and dependable than Maddy realised.

An adventure filled with peril and excitement with some scary passages.  The creatures of Tir na nÓg are not to be confused with kind picture book faeries. Younger more sensitive readers may find some of the violence disturbing.

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Quercus
Genre - Children's 9+ Fantasy

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