Lies and weddings

by Kevin Kwan

It begins with a killing. But hold on, Kevin ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Kwan hasn’t lost it, he proceeds to slay in his latest novel of the lives and loves of the super rich.

Eden Tong, a capable NHS doctor, lives with her father in the shadow (actually in the garden) of their lifelong friends the aristocratic Greshams. Led by bumbling Brit Lord Greshamsbury and his formidable wife Lady Arabella (née Leung), all seems fine until their only son and heir announces his undying love for the non-U Eden. The family goes into meltdown after a volcano disrupts their daughter’s massive wedding and ruins Lady Arabella’s showcase Hawaiian resort. Things truly fall apart as family secrets, bad actors, penury and loss of status threaten an end to the ancient house of Gresham. 

Like a display case in Tiffany’s, the dramatis personae are opulent and sparkling. Kevin Kwan doesn’t short the reader on details, offering educational pedigrees for each character so that we, too, can get our snob on. Each carries a chance for redemption but it hurts so good to revel in the bad. (I imagined uber-matriarch Lady Gresham in a pointy black hat clutching a poisoned apple when she appeared). The book has lots of old money and new money, but everyone’s got money. Even the weird Guru character turns out to be landed gentry of the DAR type. There’s lots of delicious name-dropping too so take notes for googling later. The mystery of that killing is woven in like a golden strand from a Persian rug.

‘Lies and weddings’ is a glorious slice of escapism for our paper plate lives. A peek into the problems of the super-rich (they do it so you don’t have to) is immense fun. The cast is diverse and their perils are cathartic. Kevin Kwan has also included a subtext of eco-responsibility that keeps the story relevant with a moral undertone amid the excess. I found this to be the best thing I read over Spring break. The fantasy of wealth and greed was balanced against the trials and tribulations that are all too human and recognisable. 

Thanks to NetGalleyUK and Random House, Cornerstone for the eARC.

Butter

By Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton

Rika, a 33 year-old journo working for a men’s weekly magazine in Japan, breaks out of her beige existence when investigating a serial killer. Manako Kajii, awaiting trial, is a romance fraudster who attracted her victims with delicious gourmet cooking. Rika requests one of her killer recipes and is granted an audience. Pursuing the truth with fangirl-level obsession, Rika discovers an untapped pleasure in food, friends and life.

Based on real events, Asako Yusuki has done something really clever by rendering a story that reads like a time capsule for our current era. It depicts the horsemen of the 21st century apocalypse: misogyny, fame, trolling, and body shaming. The book begins amid a heatwave-induced butter shortage, so even climate change gets a look-in. It is beautifully written and Polly Barton’s translation delivers an evocative account richly steeped in all the senses for the English reader to savour.

The story is a rich stew of ingredients. Each fully formed character benefits from a graceful, rounded construction, and no sense is left untouched in the author’s world-building. Rika’s tense journey to authenticity and meaning inspires empathy. Amid the Nigella-level food adjectives bob a few rolling metaphors that add to the brilliant poetic depth of the text. It’s an enjoyable read by a master storyteller.

‘Butter’ is a thrilling story that could be a ‘Julie and Julia’ remix by Stephen King. It’s coolly stylistic like Capote’s ‘In cold blood’ but hotly contemporary like Curtis Sittenfeld’s ‘Romantic Comedy’ and stingingly alert like Sarai Walker’s ‘Dietland’. I will be buying copies for all my friends. Fantastic. Thanks to NetGalleyUK and 4th Estate for the eARC.

The wrong daughter

by Dandy Smith

I could not put this book down.

Dandy Smith introduces us to Caitlin Arden, a twenty-something year 5 teacher who, sixteen years ago, watched in horror as her thirteen year-old sister Olivia was abducted from the family home by a masked man. Wracked by survivor’s guilt, Caitlin finds the only way to relate to her grief-stricken parents is to sacrifice her own dreams of travel and art and devote herself to being the dutiful daughter. When Olivia turns up out of the blue, Caitlin is convinced that Olivia is not all that she seems. Alone in her doubts about Olivia’s identity, Caitlin loses friends and family. Even her idyllic engagement is thrown into jeopardy.

With a sorceress’s flair, Dandy casts a glamour over each character so the reader is left wondering who to trust and desperate to unpick the evolving mystery. Each cast member is treated like a favoured child by the author. They have recognisable idiosyncrasies, desires and doubts. You will find something to love about all of them, even the bad ones.

If you value your manicure, read it with gloves on. It’s thrilling. The plotting gallops effortlessly though as hazardous as the Grand National. Dandy Smith proves herself an architectural whizz with story structure, but wields her pen like an artist. There are beautifully described scenes like her sister’s eyes blue as ‘glacial lakes and summer skies’ the fatally gothic Ledbury Hall where the library ‘smells of strong coffee, of leather and learning,’ and an ‘Eastenders’ worthy wedding catfight that will have you in stitches. The setting is the modern grandeur of Bath steeped in the laid-back beauty of Somerset with a lusty dose of the more dark and mysterious Yorkshire. It’s immersive and cinematic writing.

If you’re a fan of strong contemporary female characters where sisters do it for themselves, then this book will grip you like a vice. It has all the rich psychological unpicking of Lisa Jewell or Ruth Ware. If you haven’t read ‘One Small Mistake’ and ‘The Perfect Match’ then rush out and get copies. A Dandy Smith novel is a wedding dress with a beautifully heart-shaped bloodstain. She is certainly an author to follow. Thanks to NetGalleyUK and Embla Books for the eARC.

Half a soul – Regency Faerie Tales v1

by Olivia Atwater

Theodora (Dora) has been cursed by a member of faerie gentry who yanks away half her soul. Left with a telltale mark, she is spurned and ridiculed by her aunt.  Her cousin, and champion, the lovely Vanessa, is a whisper from twenty which is nigh spinsterhood in Regency society. Vanessa does not take no for an answer when it comes time to mingle in London society, enabling her to take Dora along. Dora and Vanessa soon set their bonnets for some smouldering leggy types and here begins the adventure.

The story has action and adventure and a soupcon of magic that moves the plot along. In time-honoured tradition there is a gaggle of gossipy aunts determined to chaperone the pair into submission and provide lots of backstory. There’s a couple of glorious baddies – the maleficent Lord Hollowvale and the miserable Master Ricks – both oozing with evil, a Darcy-esque lead and some upstanding young men of good character (it must be said). There’s a captivating subplot in a notorious Workhouse that inspires empathy and outrage.

I was delighted and captivated by this Austentatious romance half set in the world of faerie. Dubious at first (faerie is not my thing), any scepticism melted as the story flowed smooth as a chocolate fountain. Dora is a brilliant neuro-diverse main character and many readers will become besotted with the golden Lord Sorcier. I don’t know how Olivia Atwater managed such a engaging, meaningful and believable tale except she must have one foot in faerie-land as well. I cannot wait to dig into the Atwater Scandal Sheets and read more Regency Faerie Tales. Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley UK for the eARC.

The rising tide

by Ann Cleeves

Vera and her team are called to action after a minor celeb is found hanged on Holy Isle. Though pathologist Paul Keating suspects suicide, Vera thinks otherwise. Questioning begins of the other visitors to Pilgrim’s House, who happen to be part of the victim’s fifty-year school reunion. A meticulous forensic examination of the sixty-somethings unravels old mischief and messy lives in true whodunit fashion. Soon another body turns up dead and the police effort steps up.

This latest outing of Vera and her crew really packs a punch. While it begins with very little to go on, they rootle through the details like landmine-sniffing rats. Ann Cleeves holds back the details and creates a cast of tight-lipped unreliable witnesses that create an uphill climb for the team. The author has more surprises in store for them – not all happy – so keep a hanky close by.

Reading another Vera is like slipping into very comfortable house slippers. There is the familiar band of players, the glorious and grim Northumberland setting, the drip drip drip of forensic detail. Ms Cleeves ekes out new background details for Vera and her squad to answer any questions of motivation and desire and regret. If you’ve seen the TV series, it’s impossible not to see those faces as you read, but in a good way.

The books are laid out as police procedurals, “who was where when”, and this one doesn’t disappoint. The author lays traps and false leads, too, as well as a good deal of foreshadowing. Even if you work out the killer’s identity early on, there is plenty to puzzle through. I saw Ann Cleeves talk at our local Bookshop on a promo for her Matthew Venn series. I asked her what she was reading and she put me on to Mick Herron (who I now adore!), it was good he gets a cameo in the book (and perhaps a prescient one).

If you are a fan of Agatha Christie’s ‘Miss Marple’ series, if you like Scandi noir from Henning Mankell, Camilla Läckberg or can’t live without Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti, go for Ann Cleeves and her troupe of detectives: Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn. I love Vera so much I created a playlist on Spotify to listen to while I read. (Try the Unthanks for some true Northumberland magic.)

Thanks to NetGalley UK and Pan Macmillan for the eARC. *****

The Agathas

Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

Castle Cove is just an ordinary seaside town…with skeletons in its closet. Two young women have died in mysterious circumstances, while another went missing for a week. When an heiress from the local high school washes up dead, two local girls from different sides of the track form a deadly detective duo as adults blur lines and local police botch the investigation.

Alice Ogilvie is a popular, wealthy underachiever while Iris Adams is a poor but intelligent loner with a posse of nerd friends. When Iris is asked to tutor Alice by the school guidance counsellor, she jumps at the chance to make a few extra bucks. Alice, an Agatha Christie fan, soon becomes obsessed by her friend Brooke’s murder. Smelling a cosy little reward offered by the girl’s wealthy grandmother, Iris isn’t far behind and the ‘Agathas’ are born.

There is plenty to love about this story, the action and tension are high, Alice’s backstory provides an ongoing mystery, and the frustration of corrupt police and unreliable adults kept my knuckles firmly in the white zone. Iris’s backstory is also complex and will keep you guessing until the last chapter. There is humour, too, and all-too-real life dilemmas that firmly ground the story in the everyday making it even more chilling.

All the characters are brought to vivid life, even Dotty of Dotty’s Doughnuts jumps off the page. True to the eponymous detective, there are more red herrings than a fish supper – and delicious ones at that. There are a few winks and nods to popular culture for the sharp-eyed and enough teenage angst to bring you out in spots. I really liked the way the authors handled the social media aspect. Sometimes this can be so clunky, but it married up expertly with the story.

Kudos to Kathleen and Liz for pulling off the impossible (unless you’re David Levithan and Rachel Cohn) and co-writing a seamless and brilliantly energetic YA murder story. If you liked their own books, ‘Girl in pieces’ and ‘The lucky ones’, you’ll be in your element, and if you’re a Karen McManus or Holly Jackson fan you will surely be in seventh heaven. There are hints at another case for the Agathas, and I will be checking the socials for updates.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oneworld for the eARC : *****

Femlandia

by Christina Dalcher

Who would have the thought things could get any worse? But in Femlandia, Christina Dalcher serves up a dystopian look at the utter breakdown of society. It’s a violent world where the economic infrastructure has collapsed. The power has run out and utilities have run dry. The shops have been looted and it’s every man for himself. Literally.

Miranda’s husband, a dotcom entrepreneur, took the quick way out (like many others) and drove his Maserati off a mountain. Miranda and teenage daughter Emma hold out for as long as they can but soon take to the road to seek sanctuary at one of the country’s female-only compounds: Femlandia. Slight problem. Femlandia was founded by Miranda’s mother Win, and to say they don’t get along is a stretch.

Accepted into the womyn’s enclave, Emma, who has heretofore been an absolute angel goes into feral-teenage mode and Miranda is sneered at by her stepsister Jen who runs the show. Miranda is just a shade too trophy-wife for everyone and her skills are limited to the somewhat indulgent ‘primate-communication-specialist’. But soon, Miranda smells a rat in the womyn-haven.

There are tense acts of violence and an unfolding of many sad tales of women’s oppression at the hands of men. Though set up like a Cormac-McCarthy-meets-Handmaid’s-Tale this is no literary tour-de-force. The surprises of the denouement greet the reader a mile off and it is not an adventure-strewn nail-biter. But still, the concepts introduced by Ms Dalcher about humanity and its lust for power and its struggle to organise properly are profound. Femlandia serves up an ending in the tradition of Shirley Jackson – not nicey-nice at all.

I am sure book groups from age 14+ will revel in the amount of discussion they will get from this book. For that reason alone, you should put it on your purchase orders. But be warned, it’s not about feminism, it’s about the human ability to create a mess and not clean it up. Thanks to NetGalley UK and HarperCollins eARC. It was a frustratingly enjoyable read that I finished in a single sitting.

Madam

by Phoebe Wynne

Twenty-six year-old Classicist Rose Christie has the auspicious honour of being the first external hire to the elite Caldonbrae Hall in over a decade. The select girls’ school is top of the league tables; its pupils come from the wealthiest and highest-ranking families. Nicknamed Hope after its Victorian founder, Rose soon begins to feel the irony of the moniker. Gothic in appearance, the school looms over the bleak North Sea and down on its Scottish neighbours. Rose soon gets the creeps from the Common Room’s secretive and heavy atmosphere and feels haunted by her predecessor. She becomes the victim of a girl’s false accusation. The school upgrades the care of Rose’s ailing mother, a fact that Rose discovers third hand. When Hope life begins to pinch, Rose finds that the ties that bind her to Caldonbrae are deep, strong and weird. And they’re not letting go.

I do love Gothic! If you are a fan of books like Rebecca, Jane Eyre, All my secrets or Century then you will feel right at home. Phoebe Wynne follows the tradition of big imposing architecture with hidden corners and repressed emotions in grand form. You can tell she’s a Gothic fan, too, and her enjoyment comes through the story. This title falls in that crossover territory of YA and Adult fiction but shouldn’t let anyone down. The themes are dark but not disturbing (too much) and it shouldn’t give you nightmares, maybe only duskfoals. (There’s a particular scene with the unctuous Head of History – no pun intended – that I shall not soon forget!)

For all the deftness in handling the genre, I kept wishing the author would get on with the foretold climax. It was pretty clear what was going on at the school, but, like a plotline in Eastenders it went on and on. I found it difficult to believe that Rose wouldn’t have had her guard up after the snubbing and abuse she receives from day one by both staff and pupils. But, her description is so deliciously dark that I enjoyed it. She describes the Juniors as having the ‘energy of a hot hairdryer’, ‘dark eyes like bullets’ and the ‘power of Caldonbrae Hall pinned Rose against its walls, choking her own courage.’ Loved it.

The reader is left little clues as to the real purpose of Hope Hall (is this a nod in the direction of Rose’s sur-namesake?) The fathers are the ones who the girls talk about and who take the reins of their daughters’ education while mothers are arranging chrysanthemums, overdoing it on the cocktails, and planning trips to the Opera. Many of the mothers (and indeed the staff) are old girls, we discover, its dark legacy spanning generations. The male members of staff are held in higher regard and referred to as ‘Sir’ while the women must hold the awkward honorific of ‘Madam’. In one interaction, the girls pepper Rose with question after question rifling off so many ‘Madam’ this and ‘Madam’ that that it reminded me of a Fast Show sketch (Suit you Sir).

The female characters do draw the short straw in the book. With few exceptions, they are sniping, backbiting automatons without a brain cell between them. The staff exact terrible punishments on the girls and are complicit in events that would wither the Sisterhood. Even Rose’s mum, the Feminist, loses her religion, as it were, and suggests Rose might like to be looked after for the rest of her life. I found Rose’s Classics lessons a thing to look forward to. I enjoyed the choices that the author made. The strong women from Greek and Roman ancient texts. This summer I listened to Emily Wilson’s translation of the Odyssey which was a revelation. Madam was right in step and I am now motivated to seek out the Classics and read them in a more feminist way.

I made lots of notes while reading the book, there’s much to enjoy. The writing is expertly handled and the Gothic-ness is spot on. The sense of place was strong, I really got the ‘you’re not welcome here’ vibe coming from the Scottish, and I agreed with them. Even though it takes Rose quite a long time to realise her job is indeed a curse, she is plucky and stalwart and victim of circumstance wrought upon her. Rose finds her courage and becomes the master of her own destiny though marred by the hand of the gods.

Miss Austen Investigates

by Jessica Bull

During a ball at the grand Tudor manor of Lord John and Lady Harcourt, a body is found in the laundry closet, brutally murdered. Enter Jane, fresh from the stolen embrace of her true love Tom Lefroy, who immediately smells a rat! She knows the victim as a Mrs Renault, a milliner she has recently encountered at the Basingstoke market. All seems lost when Jane’s mild-natured non-verbal brother Georgy is arrested but the razor-sharp Austen mind goes into overdrive to discover the actual culprit.

The author, Jessica Bull, has done a nifty job of combining fact and fiction to create an energetic mystery steeped in Georgian Britain. We don’t find the slight and sickly Jane who lives out her spinsterhood with her parents; the Jane of Ms Bull’s world is full of beans and questions and keen to take on the patriarchy. Any close reader of the Austen canon would agree, the clues are there as to Jane Austen’s astute investigative nature and adventurous attitude. I thought all the characters were unique and believable. The destitute family caring for Georgy is lovingly portrayed and a welcome addition.

The plot is well-paced and deliciously enticing. There are cliffhangers, clues and red herrings enough to keep you guessing and reading. The little missives to her sister Cassandra at the end of the chapters serve as a reminder of the suspects and their motives and add to the generous seasoning of good humour that underpins the text. I adore the cover too, a clever take on the silhouette art popular at the time.

I do enjoy a light cosy mystery and this was the best I’ve read in a long while! It’s a fun mash-up so if you’re a fan of Agatha Christie or Richard Osman but you have a hankering to be invited to trip the light fantastic at Bridgerton, this will surely keep you in nights. But not too many, it’s a fast read! Thanks as evert to NetGalleyUK and Penguin Michael Joseph for the eARC.

First lie wins

By Ashley Elston

Evie and Ryan make a picture-perfect couple in their Louisiana town. It’s a charmed life where Evie soon discovers she’s not the only one getting in the first lie. Cue tailspin when Evie meets a woman at a party who is literally her double, name and all. When tragedy strikes, Evie must make some gut-wrenching decisions to save her life and her existence.

The rest of the book gives us insight into Evie’s mysterious past (is she a con artist? a spy? a disruptor?) and confusing present, laid out jigsaw-wise for the reader to consider and fit together. Into the mix we have the ubiquitous and mysterious Mr Smith who uses voice-changing technology to issue orders, and the brooding George who delivers bits and pieces to make it all work. The reason for Mr Smith’s existence and his motivation is murky until the thrilling end. But Evie’s no fool, she’s got a side hustle with bestie Devon who can crack a code or a CCTV feed without popping a sweat.

It was refreshing to read a novel about a hard-boiled woman grifter, and Ashley Elston has created a largely believable world for her to work in. I admit to playing catch-up with the plot points, but they were all there, and so the story pulled together in the end. I liked the Killing Eve vibe with a touch of Mission Impossible. The author stayed true to her main character as well, who grew a lot over the course of the book but never lost heart. This is my first Ashley Elston book and it was clever and gutsy and I will definitely look for more.

Thanks to NetGalleyUK and Headline for the eARC.

Piglet

by Lottie Hazell

Piglet is counting down the days to her wedding. She is comfortable: works in publishing, has a house with her long term boyfriend and about to get a foot up the class ladder. What Piglet doesn’t know is that Lottie Hazell is calling the shots and things are about to get messy.

The information we get about Piglet is spare (what is her name? what has Kit done?). Compared to the long luxurious passages detailing the food Piglet encounters, Piglet’s bio reveals itself like frightened mice in a night kitchen. As a reader, I was more than a little frustrated with the slow burn of the first third of the book, but I’m glad I changed gears. I found a better ride coasting in neutral through the rest of the book.

Lottie Hazell’s cagey character writing is purposeful and gifts us a greater appreciation of Piglet’s potential to grow into personhood. Her indulgent food writing with Nigella-level adjectives hints at Piglet’s depths. Piglet’s uncomfortable association with her family makes the denouement even more meaningful. The scenes involving the dress, the food and the aftermath is so well-written and choreographed with tension, it easily competes with any fight scene from a Guy Ritchie film. Themes include appetite, sisterhood, getting things wrong and the lasting power of friendship. There’s humour, too, as Piglet morphs into a baseball bat wielding bridezilla for her final transformation.

Thanks to NetGalleyUK and Transworld/Penguin Random House for the eARC.

Reykjavik

by Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdottír

On a remote Icelandic island a windy boat ride away from Reykjavik, a 15 year-old girl goes missing from the home of a well-known barrister and his wife. A police officer is deployed from the mainland to investigate, but he only goes through the motions and returns to Reykjavik empty-handed and bare-headed. There the story goes cold until thirty years later, when an ambitious reporter begins digging further and the mystery heats up.

It’s 1985 and Iceland is steeped in bicentennial celebrations while Reykjavik plays host to the historic Reagan-Gorbachev meeting. There’s plenty to keep the front pages going, but Valur, the journalist, keeps digging on his cold case; his only confidante is his sister Sunna. But something is rotten, and soon the journalist with the nose for a story gains all the wrong attention. The novel is a marvellous noir thriller, every inch an homage to Agatha Christie, as well as a love poem to Reykjavik.

Ragnar Jónasson is a well-known thriller writer and his expertise shines through in the book. He is a deft hand with characterisations and plotting. And, true to its Icelandic setting, plenty of red herrings. The addition of Katrín Jakobsdottír (Prime Minister of Iceland) as author lends a cool political pedigree and extra touch of freshness to the writing. I barrelled along with the story, marvelling at the way Jónasson fleshes out the place and people as (I imagine) Katrín Jakobsdottír sheds light on the power play politics of relationships.

If you’re a Christie fan, you’re going to love this book and, if like me, you gravitate toward the Scandi side of crime fiction (Mankell, Läckberg, Sigurdardottir) you won’t be disappointed. Uniquely, the authors kick the cops out early on and go rogue with amateur sleuths. After beginning with the unwelcome (and overdone) ‘missing girl’ scenario, we are spared any gratuitous scenes of violent devastation (Larsson) in favour of clue-collection and puzzle-solving a la the more cosy variety of crime writing. Also in its favour for the non-Icelandic speakers (me) there is a dramatis personae list and corresponding pronunciation guide and it’s based on a real life mystery. Winner! I’m going to read Ragnar’s back catalogue now and look forward to a new instalment from this writing pair. Thanks to NetGalleyUK and Michael Joseph for the eARC.

The other side of Mrs Wood

by Lucy Barker

Mrs Violet Wood, esteemed medium, wows London’s gentry with brilliantly choreographed séances accompanied by lavishly catered parties alongside her assistant par excellence Miss Sarah Newman. If Mrs Wood’s dodgy knee and age-related complaints weren’t enough, the failure of her financial investments and the diverted attentions of nouveau-Suffragette Miss Newman make her fear the future. Might the real-life spectre in the form of a girl with a gift for clairvoyance be the retirement package she craves?

Author Lucy Barker announces her story is inspired by true events and while credible, the world and work of the Victorian medium is vividly imagined. Like ‘Beyond Black’ by Hilary Mantel, this is a behind-the-scenes look at the work of a psychic and the importance of a rock-solid assistant. With the threat ever-looming of exposure and social damnation, is it any wonder the story takes a page out of the ‘All About Eve’ Betty Davis playbook?

The writing is smooth and riveting, with the right amount of realistic tradecraft. Lucy Barker creates strong profiles for her characters and an Austen-esque ease to chronicling social interactions. The somewhat vague portrait of her late husband’s former accountant, Mr Larson, renders a bit of welcome tension to the slowly unravelling storyline of Mrs Wood’s decline. The ever present media reports add a relevant social commentary and the emerging feminism and socialism of the early twentieth century is a fitting backdrop.

If you like your Victoriana steeped in entrepreneurship and female empowerment, this is surely the read for you. Fans of Mantel’s ‘Beyond Black’, ‘Affinity’ by Sarah Waters or the larger than the after-life character of Mme Blavatsky will find this book well in their comfort zone. Thanks to NetGalley UK and Fourth Estate for the eARC.

The Sh!te before Christmas

by Serena Terry

Tara Gallagher is 36, pregnant and this is her life. Well, a good few weeks of it. As if organising the perfect Gallagher Christmas and birthing the perfect baby weren’t enough, she manages to fall out big time with her sexist boss and winds up under house arrest with her errant teenage daughter. And what should her wondering eyes should appear, but a kinky empty Amazon box addressed to her husband and her trampy mammy Pammy who has dumped the pool boy?

This is a comeback tour of Mammy Banter, and Serena Terry gives us a fresh and hilarious take on some all-to-real situations that will surely set you off laughing. Even if Christmas isn’t your thing, Tara and her friends The Rebel Mums and their homespun wisdom (the remedy for removing pee stains is a keeper) will warm your cockles at any time of the year. And you will be comforted by the easy banter between the friends, lovers and relatives. It will feel like your favourite warm cardy, with all its moth holes, spew stains and bobbles.

The writing is spot-on funny with the kind of sassy comedy that miscommunication and misplaced toys allow. The storytelling is faultless and barrels along toward the inevitable crescendo and catharsis of showdown at ToteTech. If you like intelligent funny writers like Michelle Gallen or Dawn O’Porter or the comedy that Motherland or Scummy Mummies deliver, you will love spending a few hours reading Tara Gallagher’s latest adventures.

Thanks to NetGalley UK and HarperCollins for the eARC.

One small mistake

by Dandy Smith

Elodie Fray, on the cusp of her 29^th birthday, is a woman on the edge. Having ditched a career for a McJob in a coffee shop hoping for an all-too-elusive publishing contract, she feels the pressure of friends and family (and her agent) to get a real job. Pushed into a corner, Elodie lets slip that she has indeed won a book deal (ok), but her stalker has other plans (not ok).

Dandy Smith creates a three-dimensional world that is so believable you have to stop yourself to check if you’ve been to THAT coffee shop or THAT party or met THAT millennial. While the female characters contemplate motherhood or child-free careers, the men are offstage working late (hm) or out of town (hmmm). She goes all Dandy Smith on a few of the male characters: the tasty sensitive cop Christopher, lovely cruciverbalist George and of course the brooding quick-to-anger Jack, but it’s the girls we’re here for in ‘One small mistake’.

Elodie, the main character, takes a lot. I mean a lot. When I was one third of the way through the book (I read the Kindle version) I thought ‘how much further can this go?’ But by two-thirds through I went full Perez Hilton (cue streaming tears) ‘Leave Elodie alone!’ I’m so glad the author did, the perils of Elodie made for good reading and I zipped through it loving every minute.

The book has the creative edge of ‘The Paris Apartment’ by Lucy Foley, the cold bloodedness of anything by Camilla Läckberg, and the social and relationship angst of ‘All her fault’ by Andrea Mara. Though much took place in a locked room, action ran rampant to move the story at a pace. This is not a cookie cutter psych thriller – you may even shed a tear for the villain. There’s a lovely afterword from Dandy Smith where she stresses the importance of not giving up. Given the amount of devilry she threw at her characters, this seems sage advice.