A real crime thriller

A body is discovered with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together like a puppet, nicknamed by the press as the ‘ragdoll’.

Assigned to the shocking case are Detective William ‘Wolf’ Fawkes, recently reinstated to the London Met, and his former partner Detective Emily Baxter.

The ‘Ragdoll Killer’ taunts the police by releasing a list of names to the media, and the dates on which he intends to murder them.

This is the real deal and a crime novel that has plenty of terrible murders, a race against time, and real grown up detectives. This really is a book that lives up to its hype of being gripping, thrilling, pulse racing and compulsive. Is this really a debut novel?  If so a star is born.

Ragdoll by Daniel Cole is published by Orion in Hardback RRP £12.99

Seeds of doubt

I didn’t mean to read this book as I have so many others that looked more interesting, and mostly by authors I have already encountered.

Maybe it was the name that induced me to pick it up as I have a granddaughter called Poppy, but anyway I started to read it and had to carry on to the end.  The subject was one close to my heart and I suspect many others of my generation.

Emily and Peter have retired, against his wishes, to live in their holiday home by the sea in Lyme Regis.  They intend to spend their days together driving around and enjoying long lazy picnics and walks in the countryside.  But of course, their idyll did  not become reality.  Like many men Peter struggled with retirement and found it difficult to get motivated.  The weather was bad and they had no friends in the Dorset community.  Emily, like many women, made an effort, joined classes and made friends.

They both met Poppy, a charismatic artist who cast a spell over both and charmed them into relationships which involved lies and intrigues.  Tests are placed on their marriage and relationships with old friends and Emily’s stepdaughter.

The book cleverly weaves them all in a conspiracy of sex and deceit, and threatens to ruin the plans of a comfortable life together after retirement.

Certainly worth reading.

Poppy’s Seed by Bethany Askew published by Matador in paperback RRP £7.99

Escape from the country

Every so often, like having a piece of cake, I enjoy a good chick lit read.  This may be a misnomer for a book that has real life struggles of an ordinary woman with aspirations of a better life, romance, settled family the chance to be someone more than a working mother.  Because our heroine is so easily identifiable, reading of her journey to what we know will be a happy ending, is  satisfying and if we can have a few laughs along the way, then so much the better.

And this is exactly what we get with Catherine Alliott so I have no hesitation in recommending her latest novel which follows the tussles of Molly who is trying to hold on to the farm she was left with when her husband was suddenly killed.  Her family of three almost grown-up children, an eccentric mother, and long-suffering father, give her varying degrees of support in patching up the farm house, paying the bills and holding everything together.

The legacy of a house in London harks Milly back to her previous city life and the fantasy of sophisticated living with no financial worries.  But in the true revelation of this genre there are mishaps, hurdles, and unexpected romances to keep us interested.

Exactly what you expect with enough good characters, plot twist but ultimately the conclusion you wanted.

Good writing makes good reading whatever your taste and nearly everyone likes cake so definitely a book to read with a cup of tea.

About Last Night by Catherine Alliott is published by Penguin random house on 9th March in hardback and in June in paperback.