Legerdemain

Legerdemain is a new novel by Anne Wodehouse, the distant cousin to P. G. Wodehouse.

It's a romantic novel set in the rural Midlands back in the early 1970s.

A typically urban couple decide that they want to live the good life. For this, surely, will be the answer to the many problems of their lives?

When they arrive in their rural idyl, to live in a derelict farmhouse, they realised that perhaps things are not going to be as idyllic as they had hoped or thought?

As the wheels fall off their metaphorical hay cart, they meet some of the rather flamboyant local residents and realise that running away from your problems is never a good solution as they can all run very quickly after you.

It is a story of relationships that flounder and eventually fall to bits, of new relationships that suddenly pop up and become something more than they might have been, and all set against a backdrop of people weird, wonderful and, when you come down to it, just all very, very human folks, with all the faults and foibles that usually entails.

There's James, who drinks far too much and has a different lie and excuse as to why he drinks to excess to match every drink he takes.

There's his wife, Sarah who is sickened and utterly defeated by what her husband has become and their two children, too.

James will remain in the city in a flat, whilst Sarah and the children will live in a self-sufficient smallholding in the country.

There are marriages, deaths and the hope of unexpected new beginnings both in the city and out of the city.

Legerdemain is published by the Book Guild at £9,99, in paperback.

Legerdemain is ideal to be packed for your summer holidays and you can buy it at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, just to the right hand side of this review.

The Voice and the Echo

In The Voice and the Echo BJ Bulckley brings their readers a gritty story of the last 40 years of social and political unrest.

It follow the lives of five neophyte journalists as they stumble from the heady days of the 1960s when everyone was going to change the world, right through to the less-than-inspired Noughties, with the cynical "do whatever it takes" attitude epitomised by the excesses of the tabloid press of the day.

The journalists the reader is asked to follow are Marcus Roache, Clive Parkhouse, Clara Tomlinson, Dave Shearman and Mike Boddington.

They meet together when they are tasked with producing the university's newspaper, The student Voice.

We are with Marcus and Clive, through the ensuing 40 years of major news stories and world events, strikes, political unrest, corruption of police officers and the "institutional racism" of the police during those years. And of the problems and excesses within the tabloid press.

And what happens to the very believable characters within it.

It is published by Matador at £9.99.

Charlie Green and the Pirate's Treasure

Charlie Green and the Pirate's Treasure is the first novel for West Sussex-based writer Martyn Blunden.

He was inspired to write this book by watching his young daughter's pretend play games.

The hero of Charlie Green and the Pirate's Treasure is Charlie Green himself.

He is a feisty and brave boy of 11 years of age, he lives with his mum, his little sister and his older brother.

The family moves to a new house which is next to an abandoned airfield.

An abandoned airfield, next to the house? What a brilliant place for children to play on! After all, it was only used for grazing sheep and there were some footpaths crossing it, so what could possibly be wrong?

But... why were the local villagers so agitated about the airfield and its rusting hangers and crumbling concrete control tower? Why were they so insistent that the children should never be allowed to play there?

And why was there a face at the attic window of their new house? A window to a room nobody had access to?

Of course, the boys decide to search through the hangers, even though they are aware of the villager's warnings and the entreaties of their own mother.

They find that the workshop area of the hanger is filled with valuable tools and they also find that there is a special and very secret airplane with amazing powers.

The previous owner of the property, a man called Oliver, had vanished under mysterious circumstances many years previously.

But Oliver had been searching for a treasure map of Captain William Kidd, the Scottish sailor and Captain who was hung,  some say unjustly, as a pirate.

Oliver is actually trapped, back in time, on board a 17th century sailing ship.

But what did Harry the local postman know about Oliver and his mysterious little trips?

Could the children reach back through the years? If they could, would it be possible for them to save Oliver?

This is an exciting adventure yarn for all children and adults.It is published by Matador at £8.99 in paperback and needs to be on your Christmas filler list!

It's available via the That's Books and Entertainment online bookshop, along with thousands of other books, CDs, DVDs, etc.

Next of Kin

Next of Kin is a fictional book that is rooted in the factual observations of its author, Bernadette Maclean.

The story is set in a typical village in rural Ireland and it commences with a funeral of one of the most valued members of the life of the village, which is called Prim.

The village has just witnessed the funeral of an influential and very wealthy village inhabitant, Luke Mulryan.

Luke had made his fortune -and it was rumoured to be a considerable fortune, at that- in running a highly successful racehorse business.

Luke had made promises to a number of the inhabitants of Prim. But, as the book carefully reveals, some relatives of Luke had designs on his fortune. And as they are without scruples so were none too careful about how they might be able to lay their dirty hands on the money!

However, even the most well thought through plans can come awry when there is added to the mix the greed of the plotters, the lusts of the flesh, gambling and even a little bit of marital infidelity.

And then a sprained wrist -not even the wrist of a main protagonist!- brought about the precipitous and dreadful downfall of the plotters.

This book is a rare triumph. It is the first book by Bernadette Laclean and is set within the type of rural village that she was raised in in County Longford, Ireland.

It is written with joy, clarity and with great sympathy, even, perhaps for some of the characters who might not deserve any sympathy!

It is published by the Book Guild in paperback at £12.99 it is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

I can heartily recommend this book.

Starganzia

Starganzia is a thrilling science fiction novel for children. Apparently it is based upon a car racing game invented by author Jay K Price to keep her son and his friends amused and the works of Dr Immanuel Velikovsky.

The novel tells the story of Marco, Suzy and Jo, and their arrival at Schloss Montrosa, which is a castle that is chock full of magic, microchips and mystery.

They are to stay there for the summer holidays as the guests of their uncle, Professor Egbert  Able, who is a secret scientist.

Soon they find themselves in an adventure that they never could have imagined!

They find a riddle in the castle library, a riddle that leads them on to a quest, a quest to save the very fabric of the universe itself!

They meet a crazy variety of mysterious creatures and denizens of different worlds whilst they are on their quest.

But disaster looms in the form of Spondoolix, the evil and very greedy king of Spondoola.

Will the three children get home?

The book is published by Matador at £9.99 in paperback and is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find to the right of this review.

Taking a Chance

Taking a Chance is a new novel written by Lesley M. Francis. It is, in fact, her debut novel.

It tells the story of the relationship between Imogen and her mother, Ada.

When Imogen was 50, Ada was dying.

As people do, Imogen begins to reminisce about the history of their relationship.

Imogen has a quirky way of coping with problems, which the reader will learn about.

However, whilst Imogen (who is one of those poor souls describable as being: "Too nice for their own good") is lovingly and patiently nursing Ada through this, her final ailment, Ada makes a confession to Imogen.

This revelation is an utter bombshell with the capability to not only totally destroy the once living relationship between mother and daughter it also has the power to smash the entire family to pieces.

Ada had employed charm throughout her life to get what she wanted. It must have come as a very rude awakening to realise that there are people, such as the staff at HMP Holloway Prison who... but that's getting a little ahead of ourselves.

To find out why Ada ended up in Holloway Prison and the secret that she nearly took to the grave, but, perhaps rather foolishly, didn't, you will have to read Taking a Chance!

It's an exceptionally well-written and well-realised novel, published by Matador at £9.99, available from the that;s Books and Entertainment bookshop.

The Politician's Daughter

The Politician's Daughter is another Petra Minx mystery written by Marion Leigh.

Oddly enough this is the first mystery novel about RCMP sergeant Petra Minx, but the distribution of the novel has been taken over by Matador for the publisher Rudling House.

Matador published the second Petra Minx novel Dead Man's Legacy, last year.

But to the matter in hand.

The daughter of a prominent Canadian politico took a job for the summer onboard the Titania, described as a megayacht.

Unfortunately, she went missing and so it was that Petra Minx, RCMP Marine Unit Sergeant, is ordered to cut short her holiday and to begin an investigation into the disappearance.  

Due to the fact that secrecy is of the essence, Petra Minx decides that she will handle the case as an undercover investigation.

She obtains a position on the boat as a hostess. The Titania was the last place Emily, the missing girl, was seen alive.

But onboard are several surprises for Sergeant Minx, including the fact that her dear friend Carlo is working as a barman on the Titania, on behalf of Interpol.

Nobody on the Titania denies that Emily was there. But it would have been nice if all of the different stories for the reason why Emily left the Titania could have matched!

So, what exactly happened to Emily? Is she alive or dead? And exactly why is Carlo on board?

What does he know? What can he and Petra find out?

This is another exciting novel about a character who has the potential to become as famous as Poirot.

The book is published by Rudling House at £8.99 and is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find just to the right of this review.