I’ve bought lots of books from the charity shop after reading the blurb on the back. I get annoyed when it doesn’t mention anywhere that the book is part of a series.
Luckily, Talking To The Dead turned out to be the first book in this series.

I’ve got about 4 books (that I know of so far) that are books from the middle of a series. I now have to collect the series if I want to read those books!

I’ve learnt my lesson now. I’ll Google each book before I buy it to make sure it isn’t part of a series.

Talking To The Dead

Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:

SHE KNOWS WHAT IT’S LIKE. . . .

At first, the murder scene appears sad, but not unusual: a young woman undone by drugs and prostitution, her six-year-old daughter dead alongside her. But then detectives find a strange piece of evidence in the squalid house: the platinum credit card of a very wealthy–and long dead–steel tycoon. What is a heroin-addicted hooker doing with the credit card of a well-known and powerful man who died months ago? This is the question that the most junior member of the investigative team, Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths, is assigned to answer.

But D.C. Griffiths is no ordinary cop. She’s earned a reputation at police headquarters in Cardiff, Wales, for being odd, for not picking up on social cues, for being a little overintense. And there’s that gap in her past, the two-year hiatus that everyone assumes was a breakdown. But Fiona is a crack investigator, quick and intuitive. She is immediately drawn to the crime scene, and to the tragic face of the six-year-old girl, who she is certain has something to tell her . . . something that will break the case wide open.

Ignoring orders and protocol, Fiona begins to explore far beyond the rich man’s credit card and into the secrets of her seaside city. And when she uncovers another dead prostitute, Fiona knows that she’s only begun to scratch the surface of a dark world of crime and murder. But the deeper she digs, the more danger she risks–not just from criminals and killers but from her own past . . . and the abyss that threatens to pull her back at any time.

My Thoughts

I was really looking forward to reading this book but I have to say I was very disappointed.
The blurb on the back says:

A detective with a disconcerting familiarity with corpses.

Listening to what the dead woman and her daughter are trying to tell her, and tracing the twisted path that led them to their deaths, quickly becomes an obsession for DC Fiona Griffiths. But searching for the truth wherever it leads will mean taking a journey to the last place she wants to go.

Her past.

I took from this that she had a way of ‘talking with the dead’. This was further backed up, or so I thought when I read the end of chapter 1 where it says:

Matthews is talking about formalities and I’m blathering answers back at him, but my attention isn’t with any of that stuff. I’m going to be a policewoman. And just five years ago, I was dead.

I couldn’t wait to find out what she meant by this. It turned out I had to wait right until the end of the book and by that time, I wasn’t really bothered any more.
The book seemed to go on forever but I never really got sucked into the story. I was often confused about what was actually going on and it took so long to get answers to everything that I stopped caring.

At the end of the book, Fiona found out something about her past that I think was meant to make me want to go and buy the next book. I won’t be bothering.

For more book-related posts, click here

I can’t really say much about The Stranger without giving away the story. I will say that I spent a lovely, relaxing weekend reading this book. It was hard to put it down and I was grateful when both Kaycee and Ella asked if they could sleep over at their friend’s houses because it meant I could read in peace!

The Stranger

Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:

The Stranger appears out of nowhere, perhaps in a bar, or a parking lot, or at the grocery store. His identity is unknown, his motives are unclear, his information is undeniable. Then he whispers a few words in your ear and disappears, leaving you picking up the pieces of your shattered world.

Adam Price has a lot to lose: a comfortable marriage to a beautiful woman, two wonderful sons, and all the trappings of the American Dream: a big house, a good job, a seemingly perfect life.

Then he runs into the Stranger. When he learns a devastating secret about his wife, Corinne, he confronts her. The mirage of perfection disappears as if it never existed at all.

Soon Adam finds himself tangled in something far darker than even Corinne’s deception, and realizes that if he doesn’t make exactly the right moves, the conspiracy he’s stumbled into will not only ruin lives—it will end them.

Harlan Coben

I don’t usually read the acknowledgements in books but for some reason, I read them today.  I was very happy to read that people can make donations to charities in return for Harlan to use their name as a character in one of his books.
This is a great idea and if I could afford it, I’d love to have my name as one of his characters! If you’re interested, it says on the Harlan Coben website that you can write to  charity@harlancoben.com

Sadly, (for me anyway because I LOVE it!) Christmas is behind us so I stashed away the feel-good Christmas novels and got stuck into The Orphan Choir by Sophie Hannah. It’s a bit of a change from my usual police thrillers but it has a hint of the supernatural which I also enjoy and I did enjoy this one.

Orphan Choir

It tells the story of Louise. She’s married to Stuart and mother to Joseph who is away at boarding school. He’s only 7 and Louise has really struggled with the loss she has felt since Joseph went away.
He’s a musical prodigy who was offered a free place at the prestigious Saviour College School so he could be a part of their choir.

Louise’s neighbour has become a noise nuisance and Louise ends up phoning the council to complain after trying to sort it out herself fails.

Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:

Louise Beeston is being haunted.

Louise has no reason left to stay in the city. She can’t see her son, Joseph, who is away at boarding school, where he performs in a prestigious boys’ choir. Her troublesome neighbor has begun blasting choral music at all hours of the night—and to make matters worse, she’s the only one who can hear it.

Hoping to find some peace, Louise convinces her husband, Stuart, to buy them a country house in an idyllic, sun-dappled gated community called Swallowfield. But it seems that the haunting melodies of the choir have followed her there.

Could it be that her city neighbor has trailed her to Swallowfield, just to play an elaborate, malicious prank? Is there really a ghostly chorus playing outside her door? And why won’t they stop? Growing desperate, she begins to worry about her mental health.

Against the pleas and growing disquiet of her husband, Louise starts to suspect that this sinister choir is not only real but a warning. But of what? And how can it be, when no one else can hear it?

In The Orphan Choir, Sophie Hannah brings us along on a darkly suspenseful investigation of obsession, loss, and the malevolent forces that threaten to break apart a loving family.

Reviews

I nearly didn’t read this book because I made the mistake of reading some reviews before starting it. I try not read reviews before reading the book. After struggling to choose between three books, I figured some reviews would help.

It didn’t really help though because Orphan Choir didn’t seem to have many favourable reviews! I decided to give it a go anyway because I like Sophie Hannah.
I’m glad I did; I enjoyed it but I would have enjoyed it more if the supernatural element had started earlier in the book.

I started Last Christmas at the end of November last year. I’d been reading a book or more a week all last year but December was busy and I slowed right down.
I was glad I’d been able to get ahead at the start of the year because I found myself only being able to read a few pages each night before going to sleep.

Last Christmas

This is the first book in a series by Julia Williams. It was an ok read but seeing as the story took us through a whole year in the life of Catherine and Marianne, it wasn’t as Christmassy as I’d like.
I didn’t know it was the first in a series until I read some of the Goodreads reviews.

I’m not sure if I’ll bother reading the next books. I’ll probably bring them home if they come into the charity shop but I’ll not put any effort into trying to find them.

Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:

It’s the most wonderful time of year. Isn’t it?

Discover the true spirit of Christmas with this seasonal treat for fans of Love, Actually and The Holiday. Discover the true spirit of Christmas! Catherine Tinsall is dreading Christmas. As the ‘Happy Homemaker’ she is an online sensation, but the reality couldn’t be more different. With Catherine’s marriage in tatters, her children running wild and her mother increasingly forgetful, seasonal cheer is running low. Husband Noel also hides a secret: he’s facing the axe at work. Until he chances upon the village of Hope Christmas, deep in the Shropshire countryside, which could be the second chance he’s searching for. If he can save it from the developers!

In Hope Christmas itself, schoolteacher Marianne Moore is trying to heal her battered heart. But Christmas is a time for families, and memories of what she’s lost haunt her at every turn. Meanwhile, Gabriel North faces a lonely Christmas but hides his sadness for the sake of his son. Will his wife ever come home? Or does love lie elsewhere? All four need a Christmas miracle. And it might just happen – courtesy of a mysterious guardian angel! Forced to reassess their lives, will Catherine, Noel, Marianne and Gabriel discover what the meaning of Christmas really is? An irresistible gift of a tale that will warm the hearts of Christmas-lovers and Scrooges alike!

Goodreads Reading Challenge 2017 – I completed my first Goodreads reading challenge in 2016 and I enjoyed it so much I decided to do it again in 2017.

Looking back at my 2016 post, I said I was going to challenge myself to read 45 books in a year. When I signed up to the challenge, I decided to set my number at 52 which is 1 book a week.
I started off strong and got ahead which really helped when it came to the busy summer months.

I don’t know if I’m going to manage 52 books again next year but I’m going to give it a go 🙂

Goodreads Reading Challenge 2017

It took me a while to finish Love By Degree because it was a bit slow. I didn’t really care about the characters so I wasn’t bothered whether they got together or not!
It wasn’t very Christmassy either which was disappointing.

Love By Degree

Here’s the blurb from Goodreads

Going back to college, hitting the books. That’s Ellen Cunningham’s new life. But money’s a little tight and she’s lucky enough to find inexpensive lodging in a house with three young college boys. Ellen plays housemother, a situation that works for everyone ? except Reed Morgan, the absentee owner. He’s not pleased to find his house occupied by a bunch of college kids and Ellen. Especially Ellen.

Buffalo Valley is the fourth book in Debbie Macomber’s Dakota series. I haven’t read any of the other books but didn’t find this a problem, I was able to read it as a stand-alone book.

Buffalo Valley

Here’s the blurb from Goodreads

It’s a time of change for a small prairie town called Buffalo Valley in North Dakota. It has a will to survive, to prosper. And the outside world has discovered it. A large retail conglomerate plans to move in, which would surely destroy the independent businesses… and maybe the town.

It’s a season of change for Vaughn Kyle. Just out of the army, he’s looking for a life to live–and waits for his reluctant fiancée to make up her mind. Vaughn decides to visit Buffalo Valley and Hassie Knight. He was named after Hassie’s son who died in Vietnam and she thinks of him as a surrogate son.

He arrives at her store one snowy day and finds not only Hassie but a young woman named Carrie Hendrickson. Will the season bring peace and joy–to Vaughn and to the town?

As he begins to love Carrie, Vaughn questions his feelings for the woman he thought he loved. He wants to stay in Buffalo Valley and fight for its way of life. A life that’s all about friends and family

Can This Be Christmas is a lovely, feel-good Christmas story that only has one thing wrong with it; it’s too short!

Debbie Macomber is the queen of the Christmas stories. I really enjoyed this one and I need to see if it has been made into a TV movie. If not, it should be 🙂

Can This Be Christmas

Here’s the blurb from Goodreads

In this short hardcover, Debbie Macomber shows how a group of train travelers stranded in a New Hampshire depot on Christmas Eve find the true meaning of Christmas.

Len Dawber, a navy man stationed in Maine, is desperate to get home to Texas, where he intends to propose to his sweetheart Amy. Cathy Norris, devastated by her husband’s recent death, doesn’t expect to enjoy the holiday with her daughter’s family in Boston. Burned-out computer salesman Matt McHugh, emotionally estranged from his wife and two kids, nurses his resentment and contemplates divorce. Kelly and Nick Berry fear they’re losing the closeness they once shared as they struggle to adjust to their new roles as adoptive parents.

When a blizzard forces these characters, and several others, all cranky and argumentative, to spend the night before Christmas together, they find that a little kindness and the courage to open their hearts go a long way toward making it a Christmas to remember.

I didn’t realise Return to Promise was part of one of Debbie Macomber’s series. It’s the 8th book in her Heart Of Texas series, but it was fine to read as a stand-alone book.
Usually, I’d be annoyed to learn that I’d read book 8 without reading any of the others, but I really didn’t mind this time.
My only complaint about it was that I’d read it thinking it was a Christmas story but there wasn’t much about Christmas in at all.

It was still an enjoyable, easy ready, which is what I need right now. I’m really busy what with Christmas coming so these shorter books are great for this time of year 🙂

Return To Promise

Here’s the blurb from Goodreads

The Twelve Days Of Christmas is one of those stories where the female lead does something she doesn’t want the male lead finding out and you spend most of the book worried that he will find out and everything will go wrong!

Of course, he found out and of course, everything went wrong but of course, it all got sorted out and a happy ending was had by all!

Twelve Days Of Christmas

Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:

Julia is infuriated by her grumpy neighbour, Cain, who can’t even be pleasant when they bump into each other.

So on the suggestion of her best friend, Cammie, Julia concocts a plan. She starts a blog in order to clinch her perfect job, and now she has a subject. Over the next twelve days, she is going to kill Cain with kindness – and Christmas cheer – and document it for all to read about.

But as the experiment goes on, Julia realises she underestimated the effect it would have on Cain, and on their relationship, and things take an unexpected turn…