City of Destruction by Vaseem Khan #CityOfDestruction @VaseemKhanUK @HodderBooks #MalabarHouseSeries #BookReview

 

Bombay, 1951. A political rally ends in tragedy when India's first female police detective, Persis Wadia, kills a lone gunman as he attempts to assassinate the divisive new defence minister, a man calling for war with India's new post-Independence neighbours.

With the Malabar House team tasked to hunt down the assassin's co-conspirators - aided by agents from Britain's MI6 security service - Persis is quickly relegated to the sidelines. But then she is given a second case, the burned body of an unidentified white man found on a Bombay beach. As she pursues both investigations - with and without official sanction - she soon finds herself headed to the country's capital, New Delhi, a city where ancient and modern India openly clash.

Meanwhile, Persis's colleague, Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, lies in a hospital fighting for his life as all around him the country tears itself apart in the prelude to war...

City of Destruction by Vaseem Khan is published in hardback on 28 November 2024 by Hodder. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

It's hard to find a better historical crime fiction series than the Malabar House series from Vaseem Khan. These books are a heady mix of historical fact, mystery stories and the progression of our lead characters; Persis Wadia and Archie Blackfinch. You will be hard pressed to find a more diverse and unlikely crime fighting duo than these two. Persis; the first female detective in India, with a rich cultural background, having seen the rise of India and neighbouring Pakistan, and also the terror and destruction caused by recent events.  Archie Blackfinch, the staid British detective, based in the heat of India, but still dresses like the formal Englishman that he is. 

In City of Destruction Persis is without her trusty sidekick for most of the story. The novel begins with an attempted assassination. A gunman attempts to shoot the country's defence minister, a man who is dividing the nation with his calls for war. Persis blocks the assassination, but the young gunman is killed. Whilst it is clear that she was only doing her job, she struggles with his death, especially as he spoke to her with his dying breath and thrust something into her hand that is very mysterious. 

And so, Persis, in her usual headstrong way takes on this case, even though she's informed by her superiors that she shouldn't.  Members of the British MI6 service have been drafted in and it's clear that Persis is not wanted on the scene. This does not stop her and she finds herself becoming more and more involved; determined to find out more about the lone gunman and who was controlling him.

Meanwhile, a white man's body is found on the rocks by the sea. Burnt beyond recognition, but killed from a blow to the head. Persis is given this case, and whilst she'd rather be involved in the political drama, it's not long before this case also consumes her. 

This is a complex and multi woven story, with some incredibly well created characters. It is filled with Khan's humour, some of his descriptions, especially of people made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. Despite Persis' many flaws, one cannot help but really like her, her determination to get to the bottom of things, to find justice, to face danger and to keep going is so admirable. 

I do like to see the other side of her though. The times when she is at home with her father Sam, in their bookshop. Her memories of her late mother, and of course, her constant musings about Archie, and especially when she discovers that he may not have been entirely truthful with her in the past. 

The writing is charming, fascinating, educating. The plot line is skilful and gripping and the characters are a joy. The sense of place is so colourful, you can almost smell the streets of Bombay. Highly recommended. 

Vaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, the Baby
Ganesh Agency series set in modern Mumbai, and the Malabar House historical crime novels set in 1950s Bombay. His first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020, and is translated into 16 languages. The second in the series won the Shamus Award in the US. In 2018, he was awarded the Eastern Eye Arts, Culture and Theatre Award for Literature. Vaseem was born in England, but spent a decade working in India. In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House won the Crime Writers Association Historical Dagger, the world’s premier award for historical crime fiction. His latest book is The Lost Man of Bombay.

For more information about the world of his books please visit vaseemkhan.com where you can also keep abreast of Vaseem’s latest goings-on, competitions, events, and extracts from upcoming books via his newsletter.

Website: http://vaseemkhan.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VaseemKhanUK

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VaseemKhanOfficial/

Murder at the Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani #MurderAtTheChristmasEmporium @AndreinaCordani @ZaffreBooks #BookReview

 

Christmas shopping can be murder.

It's Christmas Eve at the Emporium, a bespoke gift shop hidden in the depths of London's winding streets, where a select few shoppers are browsing its handcrafted delights.

But when they go to leave, they find the doors are locked and it isn't long before they realise this is no innocent mix-up. The shoppers have been trapped here by someone who knows their darkest secrets, who will stop at nothing until they have all been unwrapped - and there is a gruesome gift waiting in Santa's grotto . . .

For those that survive the night, it will be a Christmas to remember.

Murder At The Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani was published in hardback by Zaffre on 24 October 2024. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

Well, this one took me completely by surprise. I'm not sure why, but I was expecting a 'cosy crime's sort of mystery.  I think it may be the title; the word Emporium conjures up a sweet, cosy place. Somewhere to browse happily. Yes, there's murder in the title, but I wasn't expecting quite so many, or for it to be quite so dark. I loved it. I was totally engrossed by the setting, the cast of eclectic and cleverly created characters and the plot that weaves and twists so well. 

If you love the original Willie Wonka / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory story, and not the wiped-clean film version from the 1930s, then you will adore this. There's a definite feeling of Roald Dahl's original book, with hints of Willie Wonka played by Johnny Depp. 

The Emporium is a shop nestled in a dark alley in London. It's a famous place, having been around for many years. Recently a Montague, younger member of Verity family who have owned the site for years has re-opened the store.  Christmas Eve is a special night. A group of invited guests are VIP shoppers, with gold tickets, treated to a warming hot chocolate before they enter the store and given the run of the shop to find their perfect Christmas presents. 

The story starts way back in the Christmas Past when a young girl named Peggy is taken to the Emporium by her parents. Peggy's visit has its mishaps, and life for this youngster doesn't go well. 

We are then brought bang up to date by main narrator Merry. Merry wasn't really invited to the special night, but pinched the ticket sent to her boss and is determined to buy the perfect gift for Ross; the guy that she is in love with but who keeps swatting away her affections. 

The setting of this novel is exquisitely done. The author has created an Emporium that everyone would want to visit. Filled with hand crafted toys, bespoke perfumes and beautiful food, the imagery jumps from the page and the reader is transported into the shop. With gaslighting and secret tunnels, with floors of delectable delights, it's a wondrous place.

However, this is a murder mystery and the story soon turns to darkness. With some awful deaths along the way. The gold ticket holders begin to realise that this is far more than an ordinary shopping evening. There is more to the shop than they thought, and each of them have a link to Montague Verity - which is not a good thing. 

This is a wonderful read. Written with flair and imagination, with a setting that enchants and characters who are certainly more than they appear at first sight. Full of suspense and tension, it kept me reading until late into the night. Recommended. 

Before writing her first novel, Andreina Cordani was a senior editor and writer for women's magazines including Good Housekeeping and Cosmopolitan.

She is the author of two dark thrillers for young adults as well as two Christmas murder mysteries for adults. 

Andreina lives on the Dorset coast with her family where she reads voraciously, occasionally makes TikTok videos and swims in the sea. 

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Last Christmas by Clare Swatman #LastChristmas @clareswatman @BoldwoodBooks #BookReview

 

Last Christmas I gave you my heart...

Looking up at the departures board in Heathrow airport, her flight to New York boarding soon, Bea Preston knows that getting on that plane changes everything. Her life in London has grown stale, her relationship with boyfriend Dom has run its course, and New York has always been her dream. But it’s a risk – she’ll miss her parents, her friends, her job.

What if Bea could live both lives? In one she goes back home for Christmas, and in another she heads to the Big Apple. Would her fate remain the same, or can one decision really change everything? And will Bea get one happy ending - or two...

In a grand sliding-doors love story that spans oceans, years and lives, Clare Swatman’s unforgettable tale of fate and friendship is perfect for all fans of Jojo Moyes, Beth Moran and Ruth Jones.

Last Christmas by Clare Swatman was published by Boldwood Books on 27 August 2024. My thanks to the author who sent my copy for review. 

I have read and loved almost all of Clare Swatman's previous novels. She has become a go-to author for me and her novels have accompanied me on many holidays. I've had my copy of Last Christmas on the shelf since the summer, but have only just read it. I'm not a huge fan of the traditional Christmas book, I love a bit of Christmas themed crime, but Christmas is not my favourite time of year.  I would usually have taken this book away with me to either Cyprus or Portugal earlier this year, but just couldn't bring myself to read a book plastered with a Christmas scene whilst laying in the sunshine. 

Saying that, this really isn't a 'Christmas book'. It is set around the dates in December, but it is not themed around the festivities. I do wonder if the title may be a little off putting to some people, this would be a great beach read, but I'm not sure that people who choose it from the book shop when buying their holiday books. Maybe a change of title?  Lots could work. I don't know though, I'm not a publisher, or a marketer, and I am sure that these things have been considered. 

Last Christmas feels a little different to Swatman's other novels. It has been compared to the film 'Sliding Doors' (I've not seen the film, but know the plot). It's far more than a traditional romance, it's structured very cleverly, it's intriguing and springs surprises along the way. 

We meet main character Bea in the prologue, at Heathrow Airport on 22 December 2022. Bea has a ticket to fly to New York. It's clear that she loves the thought of the city, having seen so many on-screen images over the years. However, it is also clear that Bea is a little unsure about her journey. She receives messages on her phone from her boyfriend Dom. She is then knocked over by another passenger, her belongings scattered all over the floor. This is when the story turns into 'Stay' or 'Go'.

Bea is a character who can be difficult to like. It's pretty obvious that she's had to deal with some emotional times in her life in London, but she doesn't make life easy for herself at all. She makes some odd decisions at times, appearing a little selfish and unsympathetic. 

So, in a nutshell, and that is incredibly hard to do without giving too much away. The reader joins Bea over many years, all during the same time of year and with different outcomes according to what choice she made. We are introduced to both of Bea's love interests, great guys but treated quite badly at times by Bea whose inability to make a firm decision becomes a theme throughout the book.

Excellent writing from Clare Swatman as always, with a plot that needs some good concentration but has been expertly paced. It's very intricate and a lot of work has gone into this one to ensure that it flows well. 

Clare Swatman is the author of three women’s fiction novels, published by Macmillan, which have been translated into over 20 languages. 

She has been a journalist for over twenty years, writing for Bella and Woman & Home amongst many other magazines. 

She lives in Hertfordshire

www.clareswatmanauthor.com

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IG @clareswatmanauthor

Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers #ShyCreatures @ClareDChambers @wnbooks #BookReview

In all failed relationships there is a point that passes unnoticed at the time, which can later be identified as the beginning of the decline. For Helen it was the weekend that the Hidden Man came to Westbury Park.

Croydon, 1964. Helen Hansford is in her thirties and an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital where she has been having a long love affair with Gil: a charismatic, married doctor.

One spring afternoon they receive a call about a disturbance from a derelict house not far from Helen's home. A thirty-seven-year-old man called William Tapping, with a beard down to his waist, has been discovered along with his elderly aunt. It is clear he has been shut up in the house for decades, but when it emerges that William is a talented artist, Helen is determined to discover his story.

Shy Creatures is a life-affirming novel about all the different ways we can be confined, how ordinary lives are built of delicate layers of experience, the joy of freedom and the transformative power of kindness. 

Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers was published in hardback on 29 August 2024 by W&N. The paperback edition is published in June 2025.
I bought my trade paperback edition at the airport last month. 

I have read all of Clare Chambers books, going back years. She was always an author who seemed to go under the radar a little bit, I didn't know many people who had read her work. It was the publication of her novel Small Pleasures in November 2023 that really brought her to readers attention. That novel was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and was featured on BBC's Between The Covers. I loved it and have been eagerly awaiting the publication of Shy Creatures for months. 

Shy Creatures begins in 1964 as the reader is introduced to Helen Hansford, a thirty-something art therapist who is currently working at a local psychiatric hospital. Whilst Helen appears to all and sundry as a single woman, she has been in a relationship for three years with married doctor Gil.

Chambers excels in creating relatable, realistic characters who the reader gets to know quite intimately. She also creates an incredible sense of time and place. Her detailed descriptions of the hospital; Westbury Park, and the patients, staff and treatments is vividly and colourfully done. 

Helen's life is a round of work, and illicit meetings with Gil. Things change for her when William Tapping is admitted to the hospital. William has spent at least the past twenty years hidden away in his house, with just his elderly aunts for company. His hair and beard are long and matted, and he does not utter a word. He is admitted to the hospital after a fracas at home, his Aunt is admitted with him, but does not live very long. 

William is now alone and it is Helen who takes it upon herself to discover more about his history, to encourage his talent for art and to try to find the man under the dirt and the hair. 

This is an extraordinary story. The author takes the reader back to William's childhood, we learn about his time with his Aunts, his short time at school and about the only friend he really had. We realise that something very serious has happened in the past, but it is not until later in the story that this is revealed. The reveal is tenderly handled, and Chambers' ability to deal with some of the darkest issues is wise and tender. 

This is a coming-of-age story, coupled with the tragedy of misplaced love. The setting is sublime and the characters are wonderful. Highly recommended. 

Clare Chambers's first job after university was working for Diana Athill at André Deutsch. Her first novel Uncertain Terms was published in 1992 and she is the author of eight other novels.

Small Pleasures, her first work of fiction in ten years, became a word-of-mouth hit on publication, was selected for BBC 2 Between the Covers book club and for BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, and was selected as a Book of the Year by The Times, the Evening Standard, Daily Telegraph, Spectator, Metro, Red and Good Housekeeping. It also won Pageturner of the Year Award at the British Book Awards 2022 and was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2021.

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The Palace Dressmaker by Jade Beer BLOG TOUR #ThePalaceDressmaker #JadeBeer @RandomTTours @HodderBooks #Giveaway #Prize #Competition #Win

 

A royal princess. A dress lost for decades. A love story waiting to be uncovered...

London, 1988: Meredith has landed her dream job at London's most prestigious fashion house, creating beautiful gowns adorned with intricate beads and embroidery. But now Meredith is about to create a dress like no other for the most famous woman in the world: Diana, Princess of Wales.

As Meredith pours her heart into this career-defining dress, she works under the handsome and exacting William in the workroom.

William, and this commission, could end up changing her life in more ways than one...

New York, 1997: The red carpet has been rolled out on Park Avenue for the auction of Princess Diana's dresses for charity. Of the eighty items listed for sale, only seventy-nine will sell.

Because dress Number 19 is missing...

England, 2018: Jayne has met all the neighbours in her new building bar one: Mrs Chalis on the first floor. When she finally meets Meredith Chalis in the hallway, she is taken aback by how upset she seems and offers her help. Entering her home, Jayne immediately knows something is very wrong. The house is in complete disarray and there is no sign of Meredith's husband.

But then Jayne sees the most beautiful evening dress thrown over a chair and reads the note laid beside it.

Jayne realises that Meredith has an incredible story to tell... and only she can help uncover it...

The Palace Dressmaker by Jade Beer was published on 5 November 2024 by Hodder. As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour I am delighted to have one copy to give away. Entry is simple; just fill out the competition widget in his blog post. UK entries only please. 

GOOD LUCK!

One copy of The Palace Dressmaker by Jade Beer

Jade Beer is an award-winning editor, journalist and novelist who has worked across the
national press, women's glossies, weeklies and digital channels for more than twenty years


Instagram @jadebeerbrides

Black Storms by Teresa Solana BLOG TOUR #BlackStorms @TeresaSolana1 @CorylusB t. #PeterBush #TranslatedFiction #BookReview

 

A country that doesn't acknowledge its past is destined to repeat its mistakes.

Why murder a sick old man nearing retirement? An investigation into the death of a professor at the University of Barcelona seems particularly baffling for Deputy Inspector Norma Forester of the Catalan police, as word from the top confirms she's the one to lead this case.

The granddaughter of an English member of the International Brigades, Norma has a colourful family life, with a forensic doctor husband, a hippy mother, a squatter daughter and an aunt, a nun in an enclosed order, who operates as a hacker from her austere convent cell.

This blended family sometimes helps and often hinders Norma's investigations.

It seems the spectres of the past have not yet been laid to rest, and there are people who can neither forgive nor forget the cruelties of the Spanish Civil War and all that followed.

Black Storms by Teresa Solana was published on 25 October 2024 by Corylus Books. It is translated by Peter Bush. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour.

Before I start talking about the actual writing and plot of this book, please take a moment to look at the amazing cover. The cover design is by Cade Roach and it is absolutely amazing. I could look at it for hours, it is so in-depth and totally fits with the story line. A real genius cover. 

Black Storms is not a long book, my paperback copy is just over 230 pages in length, yet it is a cleverly complex tale of murder and intrigue set in the stunning city of Barcelona. Solana begins the novel with an intriguing, mysterious chapter that introduces the reader to a murderer. Known at the beginning as 'the man who was about to commit murder', this is wonderfully written and sets the scene for the whole novel. 

We are introduced to Deputy Inspector Norma Forester of the Catalan police. This is a woman who carries a lot of baggage along with her. There is almost as much about Norma and her wide and eclectic family as there is about the case, and it's incredibly well told. Each of the characters (and there are a lot of them) have their own distinctive traits, they are an unusual extended, blended family who often drive Norma to despair, but are always loyal and supportive. 

As Norma begins to investigate the murder of a professor from the University of Barcelona, she draws many blanks. There seems to be no motive, the professor was elderly and ill and had no known enemies. The murderer has left no clues, it's most certainly a puzzle. It is only when Norma discovers that an old friend of the professor was also recently murdered that she begins to look deeper into how the two cases may be connected. The first case appeared to be a case of a robbery gone wrong, the man was brutally stabbed, the circumstances are nothing like the professors's case. However, Norma is still convinced that there is a link. 

This is fine crime fiction, with twists and turns to keep the reader engaged throughout and the added bonus of learning more about Norma and her family. There's some humour that lessens the darkness of the plot, and adds another dimension to the story. 

Clever and multi layered. Black Storms is a great crime novel that incorporates some recent history in a setting that is brought to life wonderfully. Recommended. 

Teresa Solana’s fiction is solidly rooted in Catalonia, which forms the atmospheric backdrop to the stories that have made her one of Spain’s best-known writers of crime fiction.

Her a distinctive style blends humour, satire and thought-provoking social issue.

Her new series features Deputy Inspector Norma Forester – and both her colourful family life and her background as the granddaughter of an English member of the International Brigades.

Several of Teresa’s novels have been translated into English, and she was highly commended for a CWA dagger for a story in her collection The First Prehistoric Serial Killer.

Teresa Solana has won several national and international awards, including the Crims de Tinta for Black Storms.

X @TeresaSolana1

Peter Bush is an award-winning translator from Catalan, French, Spanish and
Portuguese to English.

He's a former Professor of Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia, and director of the British Centre for Literary Translation.

The Party by Tessa Hadley BLOG TOUR #TheParty #TessaHadley @JonathanCape @RandomTTours #BookExtract

 

Evelyn had the surprising thought that bodies were sometimes wiser than the people inside them. She’d have liked to impress somebody with this idea, but couldn’t explain it.

On a winter Saturday night in post-war Bristol, sisters Moira and Evelyn, on the cusp of adulthood, go to an art students’ party in a dockside pub; there they meet two men, Paul and Sinden, whose air of worldliness and sophistication both intrigues and repels them. Sinden calls a few days later to invite them over to the grand suburban mansion Paul shares with his brother and sister, and Moira accepts despite Evelyn’s misgivings.

As the night unfolds in this unfamiliar, glamorous new setting, the sisters learn things about themselves and each other that shock them, and release them into a new phase of their lives.

The Party by Tessa Hadley was published on 31 October by Jonathan Cape. As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour I am delighted to share an extract from the book with you today. 

Extract from The Party by Tessa Hadley 

The party was in full swing. Evelyn could hear the sexy blare of the trad jazz almost as soon as she got off the bus at St Mary Redcliffe and began walking over to the Steam Packet, the pub which Vincent – who was a friend of Evelyn’s older sister Moira – had commandeered for that evening. He’d decided they all needed a party to cheer them up, because the winter had been so bitter, and because now in February the incessant rain had turned the snow to slush. It was raining again this evening; the bus’s wiper had beat its numb rhythm all the way into town, the pavements were dark with wet, the gutters ran with water. Frozen filthy formless lumps, the remainders of the snow, persisted at the street corners and in the deep recesses between the buildings, loomed sinisterly in the gaping bombsites. Crossing the road, Evelyn had to put up her umbrella – actually her mother’s worn old green umbrella with the broken rib and the duck’s head handle, which she’d borrowed without asking on her way out, because she’d lost her own somewhere. Probably she’d get in trouble for this tomorrow, but she didn’t care, she was too full of agitated happiness. Anything could happen between now and tomorrow. Evelyn couldn’t believe her luck, that she was going to an actual party – and not just any dull ordinary party but this wild one with her sister’s friends, in a half- derelict old pub with a terrible reputation, hanging over the black water in the city docks. If her parents had known where the party was they’d never have let her out, but she’d lied to them so fluently and easily, saying that Moira had promised to look after her, and that they were meeting in the Victoria Rooms. She was proud of herself. Who knew that you could be a Sunday school teacher one minute, asking the children to crayon in pictures of Jesus holding up a lantern, with a lost lamb tucked under his other arm, and then lie to your parents with such perfectly calibrated inno- cent sweetness? 

The rain didn’t matter, Evelyn was impervious to it. Picking her way between the streams of water rip- pling on the roads, not wanting to spoil her fashionable unsuitable black ballet flats, she enjoyed the contrast between this desolate outer universe and the heat of her life burning up inside. When she’d had to change buses at the Centre, she’d gone into a cubicle in the Ladies public toilets to take off her wellington boots, and also the decent wool dress she’d put on over her actual party clothes, so that her parents couldn’t see what she was wearing: skin-tight black slacks zipped up along the inside of her calves, black polo-neck jumper, wide red leather belt with a black buckle. Evelyn was very thin, with a long neck – a swan neck, she thought – and flat stomach, jutting hip bones; she hoped that she looked spectacular, hair scraped back from her face like a dancer’s and breasts thrust up in a new brassiere. She longed for and feared the moment when she would shed her thick winter coat and reveal herself. To tell the truth she feared everything: part of her wanted to get straight back on the 28 bus and go home. Peering at her reflection in the square of tin which served as a mirror above the sink in the Ladies toilet, she had clipped huge false pearls on her ears – those were her mother’s too – and painted her mouth stickily with red lipstick. The boots and the dress were bundled now into a shopping bag which she’d have to jettison somewhere, along with her coat and the umbrella, for collection later.

 

Tessa Hadley is the author of eight highly praised novels, Accidents in the Home, which was long listed for the Guardian First Book Award, Everything Will Be All Right, The Master Bedroom, The London Train, Clever Girl, The Past, Late in the Day, Free Love and three collections of stories, Sunstroke, Married Love and Bad Dreams. 

She won the Windham Campbell Prize for Fiction in 2016, The Past won the Hawthornden Prize for 2016, and Bad Dreams won the 2018 Edge Hill Short Story Prize. 

Her stories appear regularly in the New Yorker.