My top 10 favourite books of 2022

My top 10 favourite books of 2022

As the year nears its end again, there’s only one post left to publish. I read 67 novels this year and here’s my top 10 of 2022:

Looking forward to 2023 there are some books on my wishlist already so here’s my top 5 of my most wanted: 1. Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen, 2. The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (that cover!), 3. The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson, 4.  The Winners by Fredrik Backman and 5. Black Lake Manor by Guy Morpuss (locked room!). Those last two novels would be new authors for me too so hopefully I’ll love their writing.

I don’t see many changes on the blog for 2023, I’m going to continue reviewing a mix of backlist books and new books. It’s also a dream to reach 3200 followers on Twitter again (I went from 3212 to 3176 again after summer) but we’ll see. I have to be a little more present perhaps and I apologize to my blog friends for not doing a better job of it but work takes up most of my energy and what’s left is spent on reading, writing on my blog and fussing over my little furry companion.

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That’s a wrap for 2022! I’d love to hear if we have any top 10 reads in common or what’s on your wishlist.

And finally, I hope you have a wonderful end of year and I wish you a happy and healthy 2023, with many many books to read!

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My top 10 favorite books of 2021

My top 10 favorite books of 2021

Happy New Year to you! I wish you love, health, success, and general happiness! Oh and lots of great books in the future of course! There are new books being published this year by Ruth Ware, Megan Goldin, Sarah Pinborough, Fiona Cummins, Jennifer Hillier, Alice Feeney, and many others, and I want to read all of them!

But all in good time. For now, you’ll have to make do with my most favourite novels of last year. As always it was a difficult choice and there are at least two, three other titles that deserve to be on this list. I admit I changed the list at the last minute again too, because I still found the last novel I read this year deserved to be on the list too. So here are my ten favorites of 2021:

If you want to know which one gets the golden buzzer from me I’d have to say it’s No Exit. This was a new author for me and I was blown away. I’d love to reread all of my favorites at one point but this is definitely highest on my list. If you want to feel an adrenaline rush created by book, you need to read No Exit. Highly recommended!

So see anything you like that you haven’t read yet? Any title(s) we share? What’s on your list? Do let me know, I looove putting more books on my readlist 🙂 

Same book, different cover #17

battle-of-the-books

Happy hump day! I’m here to bring you again 5 new book covers (ok I was so fired up I even added an extra one so you get 6 book choices this time). It’s up to you to pick and choose your favorite cover. This is just for fun so there are no wrong answers! OK then, I’ll go first, then it’s up to you:

Bone China by Laura Purcell

Bone China 03   Bone China  Bone China 02

I choose cover 2. It has that historical and gothic feel to it which is missing in the third cover, and the first one feels a little too bare and colorless to me, it’s like it was the first draft and the second one is the one where they added all the color and extras and is actually the finished cover.

No Exit by Taylor Adams

No Exit 02  NoExit

I choose cover 2. I actually read the first one but it’s the great reviews that convinced me because I wouldn’t have picked it up based on this cover, it feels too ghostly and if anything, I try to stay away from ghosts. If you feel the same, I can reassure you, it’s a real handprint left on a window and you’ll find out soon enough there’s nothing ghostly about this book.

Then She Vanishes by Claire Douglas

ThenSheVanishes  Then She Vanishes 02

I pick cover 1. The second isn’t too bad either but the purple doesn’t feel as ominous as it should for me. Also I find it more chilling with the promise of someone vanishing in plain daylight than at night.

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

The Cheerleaders 01  The Cheerleaders 02

I definitely choose cover 2. I do like the tagline of the first one but I’m not a fan of the image. It gives me such an all American feeling and despite the title it feels too cosy and cheerful. The second cover with those little smudges of blood is more ominous and mysterious.

Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis

EightPerfectHours  EightPerfectHours02

I guess this one depends on how much you love winter and novels set in winter time. I don’t love winter at all so I definitely pick cover 1. Sorry!

House of Correction by Nicci French

House of Correction 01  House of Correction 03  House of Correction 04  House of Correction

Hmm well I’m spoilt for choice this time but I’m going for cover 2. I actually have nr 4 which looks nice as well and certainly stands out in my library with the vivid blue color but cover 2 reflects that feeling of confinement so well that I’m eager to find out more. The third cover makes me expect a story set somewhere in the seventies or eighties for some reason so I wouldn’t really pick this one either.

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So that’s it. Tell me your thoughts! If you can’t get enough, check out Battle Of The Books – #16

My top 10 favorite books of 2020

My top 10 favorite books of 2020

Every single year it’s such a difficult decision to make! I read so many great books this year and I have at least 20 titles that I want on my list. I finally (after changing titles two more times) made a selection among my 4 and 5 star reads and here are 10 favourite reads:

My top 10 involves: Two romance novels and 8 thrillers OR 7 paperbacks and 3 e-books OR two young adult novels and 8 contemporary adult novels OR 7 proof copies and 3 books I bought myself (What Lies Between Us was in my Capital Crime book club box too so actually 4 books I bought myself then). A bit diverse but overall my favorite genre (thrillers) and format (paperback) takes up the majority again.

If you’re a fan of lists you can also check out my favorite books of the previous years: 2019201820172016

So any thoughts about my list? Are any of the titles I listed in your top 10 as well?

Same book, different cover #14

battle-of-the-books

Happy hump day!

I’m back with 5 new book covers to pick and choose your favorite one. This is just for fun so there are no wrong answers! OK, I’ll go first, then it’s up to you:

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

The Turn of the Key 01  The Turn of the Key 02  The TUrn of the Key 03

I have cover 2 and I’m also going with that one. I like how big the font is, it’s so in your face that it feels like that’s the most ominous of all the covers.

The Suspect by Lesley Kara

The Suspect 01  The Suspect 02  The Suspect 03

Even though I have the second one, I actually like the first cover most of all. There’s just something about a message slipped beneath a door…

Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louise 

DearEmmieBlue  Dear Emmie Blue

They do look alike but I still like the first one more, it’s much clearer this way.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

AGoodGirlsGuidetoMurder 02   AGoodGirlsGuidetoMurder

That’s easy as well, I definitely choose cover 2! The first is too chaotic for me and the second is much organised and nicer to look at.

The Holdout by Graham Moore 

TheHoldout  The Holdout 02

Not so easy but I think cover 1. It’s a really clear image, one person is holding them up and I also like that they chose a different colour to make it even clearer.

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So that’s it. Tell me your thoughts! If you can’t get enough, check out my previous post in the series: Battle Of The Books #13 

Also don’t forget to check out the Secret Library Book Blog where Nicki regularly holds a book battle with AUDIObooks.

Same book, different cover #13

battle-of-the-books

I’m back with 5 new book covers to pick and choose your favorite one. This is just for fun so there are no wrong answers! OK, I’ll go first, then it’s up to you:

Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain

Dirty Little Secrets 01  Dirty Little Secrets 02

I choose cover number 2. It feels much more ominous and makes me wonder what goes on in that house.

The Rumour by Lesley Kara

The rumor 02 The Rumour

Definitely cover 2, it’s so telling of the gossip at the school gate, which is how the whole story starts.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Force of Nature 02   Force of Nature

Difficult! The first gives me strong ideas about it being in the wilderness and forest, the second one is more open but looks like it really is the storm that could be dangerous for the chances to survive with nowhere to hide. After careful weighing of both, I stick to cover 2.

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

Sometimes I Lie 02  Sometimes I Lie

That’s easy, I definitely choose cover 2! I love the two sides represented like this. She’s not Alice falling down a rabbit hole, is she?

The Sight of You by Holly Miller 

The Sight Of You The Sight Of You 02

Oh I was sold as soon as I saw the first cover and that hasn’t changed. It feels like I’m getting an emotional story, especially with a tagline like that, whereas the second one only screams romance to me.

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So that’s it. Tell me your thoughts! If you can’t get enough, check out my previous post in the series: Battle Of The Books #12 

Also don’t forget to check out the Secret Library Book Blog where Nicki holds a book battle with some AUDIObooks.

 

10 most anticipated reads of 2020

Can't Wait

Happy New Year to all my readers!!! I wish you all the very best and a great year to come!

I don’t know what 2020 will bring for the most part, but one thing I do know for sure: there will be plenty of amazing books to read! I have listed 10 novels that are already on my wishlist. I have read and loved previous novels from 9 of these authors and there’s one author I haven’t read yet but her debut novel has a 3.91 average on Goodreads so I have a good feeling I’ll love her writing, and her next novel sounds like one I don’t want to miss either.

Here are 10 of my most anticipated books:

The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne

You have been cut off from society for fifteen years, shut away in a mental hospital in self-imposed exile as punishment for the terrible thing you did when you were a child.

But what if nothing about your past is as it seems?

And if you didn’t accidentally shoot and kill your mother, then whoever did is still out there. Waiting for you.

For a decade and a half, Rachel Cunningham has chosen to lock herself away in a psychiatric facility, tortured by gaps in her memory and the certainty that she is responsible for her parents’ deaths. But when she learns new details about their murders, Rachel returns, in a quest for answers, to the place where she once felt safest: her family’s sprawling log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns–as her mother did years earlier–that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all.

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendrickx and Sarah Pekkanen

You probably know someone like Shay Miller.
She wants to find love, but it eludes her.
She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end.
She wants to belong, but her life is so isolated.

You probably don’t know anyone like the Moore sisters.
They have an unbreakable circle of friends.
They live the most glamorous life.
They always get what they desire.

Shay thinks she wants their life.
But what they really want is hers.

Beast by Matt Wesolowski

In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old vlogger, Elizabeth Barton, had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death.

Three young men, part of an alleged ‘cult’, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong’. However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible.

Elusive online journalist Scott King speaks to six witnesses – people who knew both the victim and the three killers – to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire’…

Both a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller, and a bleak and distressing look at modern society’s desperation for attention, Beast will unveil a darkness from which you may never return…

The Switch by Beth O’Leary

Eileen is sick of being 79.
Leena’s tired of life in her twenties.
Maybe it’s time they swapped places…

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.

Once Leena learns of Eileen’s romantic predicament, she proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.

Leena learns that a long-distance relationship isn’t as romantic as she hoped it would be, and then there is the annoyingly perfect – and distractingly handsome – school teacher, who keeps showing up to outdo her efforts to impress the local villagers. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, but is her perfect match nearer home than she first thought?

His & Hers by Alice Feeney

There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying.

Anna Andrews finally has what she wants. Almost. She’s worked hard to become the main TV presenter of the BBC’s lunchtime news, putting work before friends, family, and her now ex-husband. So, when someone threatens to take her dream job away, she’ll do almost anything to keep it.

When asked to cover a murder in Blackdown–the sleepy countryside village where she grew up–Anna is reluctant to go. But when the victim turns out to be one of her childhood friends, she can’t leave. It soon becomes clear that Anna isn’t just covering the story, she’s at the heart of it.

DCI Jack Harper left London for a reason, but never thought he’d end up working in a place like Blackdown. When the body of a young woman is discovered, Jack decides not to tell anyone that he knew the victim, until he begins to realise he is a suspect in his own murder investigation.

One of them knows more than they are letting on. Someone isn’t telling the truth. Alternating between Anna’s and Jack’s points of view, His & Hers is a fast-paced, complex, and dark puzzle that will keep listeners guessing until the very end.

The Keepers by John Marrs

Everyone has secrets. They know yours…

In the 21st century information is king. But computers can be hacked, files can be broken into. So a unique government initiative has been borne. Five ordinary people have been selected to become the latest weapon in thwarting cyber terrorism. A revolutionary medical procedure has turned them into the ultimate secret keepers – the country’s most secretive information has been taken offline and turned into genetic code implanted inside their heads.

Together, the five know every secret – the truth behind every Government lie, conspiracy theory and cover up. Only somebody has discovered who the secret keepers are. And one by one, they are being hunted down…

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

From the author of Jar of Hearts, a mother driven to the edge by the disappearance of her son learns her husband is having an affair with the woman who might have kidnapped him.
Four hundred and eighty seconds. That’s how long it took for someone to steal Marin Machado’s four-year-old son.

Marin had the perfect life. Married to her college sweetheart, she owns a chain of upscale hair salons, and Derek runs his own company. They’re admired in their community and are a loving family. Up until the day Sebastian is taken.

A year later, Marin is a shadow of herself. The FBI search has gone cold. The publicity has faded. She and her husband rarely speak. The only thing keeping her going is the unlikely chance that one day Sebastian reappears. She hires a P.I. to pick up where the police left off, but instead of finding him, she discovers that Derek is having an affair with a younger woman.

Kenzie Li is an artist and grad student—Instagram famous—and up to her eyeballs in debt. She knows Derek is married. She also knows he’s rich, and dating him comes with perks: help with bills, trips away, expensive gifts. He isn’t her first rich boyfriend, but she finds herself hoping he’ll be the last. She’s falling for him—and that was never part of the plan.

Discovery of the affair sparks Marin back to life. She’s lost her son; she’s not about to lose her husband, too. Kenzie is an enemy with a face, which means this is a problem Marin can fix. But as she sets a plan in motion, another revelation surfaces. Derek’s lover might know what happened to their son. And so might Derek.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

In this new thriller from the author of The Escape Room, a podcast host covering a controversial trial in a small town becomes obsessed with a brutal crime that took place there years before.

After the first season of her true crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall is now a household name―and the last hope for thousands of people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.

The small town of Neapolis is being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. The town’s golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping a high school student, the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season Three a success, Rachel throws herself into interviewing and investigating―but the mysterious letters keep showing up in unexpected places. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insists she was murdered―and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody seems to want to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

Electrifying and propulsive, The Night Swim asks: What is the price of a reputation? Can a small town ever right the wrongs of its past? And what really happened to Jenny?

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?

What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.

He Started It by Samantha Downing

From the twisted mind behind mega hit My Lovely Wife comes the story of a family—not unlike your own—just with a few more violent tendencies thrown in….

Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven’t all been together in years. And for very good reasons—we’ll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and—more importantly—secure their inheritance.

But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone.

It’s even harder when you’re all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory—a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won’t stop following your car—and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there’s a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons.

But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.

So are any of these on your list too? Any other novels that I should know about? Do let me know!

The Belgian Reviewer’s top 10 of 2019

Bookmark

I’m finally ready to share my top 10 of the year. It was so difficult to choose only 10 and I made changes to this list twice but I’m happy with every book that’s on it and I’m trying not to feel too bad for the ones that should be on it too. I opted for books that were unique, orginal, with great twists and endings that really stay with me, even months after reading, so this is what you get then :-).

Of these 10 novels there are new authors for me (Søren Sveistrup, Heidi Perks, Louise Beech..), there are debut novels that really deserve to be on everyone’s readlist (The Doll Factory, The Escape Room) and there are a few authors who you can find (again and again) on previous lists of the past years (Matt Wesolowski, John Marrs).

 

 

Out of these 10 novels I read 7 in paperback and 3 in e-copy, and it’s all thanks to the wonderful publishers that I had a chance to read these amazing novels, so I’m eternally grateful for that, thank you loads if you’re reading this! I’m also extremely thankful for the e-copy that I won in a giveaway and turned out to be an unexpected revelation and an author I want to follow from now on. Last but not least, I find it really telling that I read 4 Orenda Books titles this year and 3 of them made it on the list. They have such great authors I shouldn’t be surprised really.

So what do you think, did I choose well? Any titles that are on your list as well? Let me know in the comments! 

WWW Wednesday (09-10-2019)

WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a book list hosted by Taking on a World of Words, and I’m happy to participate today.

The three W’s are:
What did you recently finish reading?
What are you currently reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

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What I finished reading:

I received this novel orginally in a book subscription box. It was an ok read but not outstanding in my opinion as it was pretty predictable. I have no idea yet how to review this one so it’s still very much a work in progress.

Little Broken Things by Nicole Baart

LittleBrokenThingsdef

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What I’m reading now:

I have C.J. Tudor’s third novel ‘The Other People’ to read now (yay!) but I also have the first one thanks to a blogfriend who sent me her proof copy, so I’m happy to do things in the right order. I started this novel on vacation actually but the holiday was over sooner than the book was finished :-). It’s an easy read and has a very enjoyable writing style so I know it’s an author I want to read more books from and I’m thrilled that I can now.

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

TheChalkMan def

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What I’ll (probably) read soon:

A difficult choice and I still haven’t read the novel I mentioned in my post last month but I’m thinking it’s cold and wintry already so it might be a perfect timing for nordic noir. Red Snow is the second novel in the Tuva Moodyson series, the follow-up of Dark Pines and I can’t wait to see where it’ll take Tuva this time.

Red Snow by Will Dean 

RedSnow def

TWO BODIES

One suicide. One cold-blooded murder. Are they connected? And who’s really pulling the strings in the small Swedish town of Gavrik?

TWO COINS

Black Grimberg liquorice coins cover the murdered man’s eyes. The hashtag #Ferryman starts to trend as local people stock up on ammunition.

TWO WEEKS

Tuva Moodyson, deaf reporter at the local paper, has a fortnight to investigate the deaths before she starts her new job in the south. A blizzard moves in. Residents, already terrified, feel increasingly cut-off. Tuva must go deep inside the Grimberg factory to stop the killer before she leaves town for good. But who’s to say the Ferryman will let her go?

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So that’s it, what are you reading this week? Share your link in the comments below so that I can come and take a look !

WWW Wednesday (04-09-2019)

WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a book list hosted by Taking on a World of Words, and I’m happy to participate today.

The three W’s are:
What did you recently finish reading?
What are you currently reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

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What I finished reading:

Amazon just told me that I purchased an ecopy of this novel on 30 July 2017. The author, Alice Feeney, recently published a second book so that meant it was definitely time to read the first one. Of course I enjoyed this read, I didn’t expect it any other way with such a great book title :-).

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

SometimesILie def

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What I’m reading now:

I don’t know if you’ll remember this from Twitter but I won a signed paperback copy of this novel in a UK giveaway last year. The only problem is that I don’t live in the UK. One of my lovely blogfriends was so kind to have it delivered to her address so that I only had to pay shipping from the UK. It’s definitely different from what I’m used to reading but I need some peptalk to face my own fears right now so I thought this book would be perfect at this time. And it turns out I quite like it!

A Semi Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland

ASemiDefinitiveListofWorstNightmares def

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What I’ll (probably) read soon:

I’m finally having my vacation next week and this one’s on my readlist. Why did I choose this one? First of all, I received the proof copy from one of my loveliest blog friends a while ago and second of all, I saw the title and blurb of her next book and that interests me as well, so I better start with this one now if I want to read  Six Wicked Reasons later this year (I might even have a chance to listen to it as my first audiobook).

Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain

DirtyLittleSecrets def

Six neighbours, six secrets, six reasons to want Olive Collins dead.

In the exclusive gated community of Withered Vale, people’s lives appear as perfect as their beautifully manicured lawns. Money, success, privilege – the residents have it all. Life is good.

There’s just one problem.

Olive Collins’ dead body has been rotting inside number four for the last three months. Her neighbours say they’re shocked at the discovery but nobody thought to check on her when she vanished from sight.

The police start to ask questions and the seemingly flawless facade begins to crack. Because, when it comes to Olive’s neighbours, it seems each of them has something to hide, something to lose and everything to gain from her death.

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So that’s it, what are you reading this week? Share your link in the comments below so that I can come and take a look !