Times and Places

Times and Places is an interesting novel from Keith Anthony.

It is a decade since the death of Justine, the daughter of Fergus and his wife, Sylvie. Fergus is bedevilled by anxiety and he and his wife decide to take a cruise.

On the cruise Fergus meets a wide variety of characters, some he finds interesting and enchanting, others irritate him or even leave him feeling disgusted.

He begins to feel conflicting emotions and a whole chain of rather bizarre happenings on board the ship leaves him feeling even more anxious than before.

By the clever use of flashbacks Keith Anthony explores the life of Justine, her romance (albeit short lived) the way that she lost her life and a subsequent police investigation into her death is begun.

Meanwhile, back in the present day on the cruise ship, Fergus finds himself at a mental breaking point, convinced that he has done something truly terrible.

Has he done something truly terrible? Even if he has not, by the time the ship returns to port, his life will have been changed for ever.

It's a quirky, character-driven novel which is also emotionally charged, so do expect to have a few moist eyes, at least.

It's published by The Book Guild at £9.49.

Fire and Honey

Fire and Honey is a novel by C J Evans that is set in the Caribbean.

Susan and Andrea believe that they deserve romance and adventure, plus something to distance themselves a little form their troubled pasts.

And so it is that the two women decide to seek both adventure and romance amongst the Caribbean islands.

And, as if by magic, they meet two utterly charming men and all seems set fair for the romance and adventure that they were craving.

Or does it? Because things are never quite what they seem and soon the two women find themselves drawn into a web of mystery, intrigue and lies, where past evils lurk beneath the surface and ancient curses seem to hold sway and threaten to engulf everyone they come into contact with.

Will Susan and Andrea survive and find happiness? Or will they be destroyed by the dark forces that swirl around them?

This book is published by The Book Guild at £7.99.

The Hanging Women

The Hanging Women is a mystery novel from John Mead. It's a mystery novel with a difference, for it is set against the backdrop of the Chicago of 1886.

Retired Sheriff Jack Stevens makes a grim discovery, the corpses of two young women, one white, one black, hanging from chains in a warehouse.

The position they are in denotes that their killer had thought them guilty of treachery.

Who were the women? Who had determined that they had to die?

Stevens feels duty bound to participate in the investigation, even though he is formally retired. The case is a convoluted one, and it quickly sucks him into a dangerous world of extremists, notorious street gangs battling for supremacy in Chicago and dubious undercover spies and detectives.

With the infamous Haymarket riots and bombings to contend with along with the actions of the city's largest and most deadly street gang, the Dead Hands, can Stevens track the killers down before things really start to get out of hand?

This is an exciting mystery novel and it is clear that John Mead has researched his subject matter very well and has brought the Chicago of the 1880s to life.

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