Second Strand

Second Strand is the latest novel from Devon's very own mystery writer, Carolyn McCrae.

Alex and Teri are in a difficult situation. They have been together for 12 years and they are now on the verge of splitting up and and going their separate ways.

However, an elderly neighbour is found dying, which forces them to put their plans on hold at least for the immediate future.

But the police have decided that their only suspect for the killing is Alex and he quickly vanishes, leaving no trace.

Teri decides that she must know what has happened and wants, obviously, to know where Alex is, so she hires two private  investigators, Skye and Fergal, to find Alex and to see what they could find out about the death of their late neighbour.

However, Skye and Fergal uncover some rather startling facts about a hitherto unknown link between Alex and the victim, a link that proves surprisingly difficult to trace.

Skye and Fergal are sure that Alex is innocent, however they realise that the murder is actually linked to another, as yet, unsolved slaying in the same town two years previously.

Is Alex innocent? And if Alex is innocent, what is the exact nature of the link between Alex and the latest murder victim? And who committed both murders?

It's a very intelligently written book and explores not only the traditional nuts and bolts of a murder mystery but examines the frailties of human relationships and how things can go wrong without people even noticing.

This book is heartily recommended as the ideal stocking filler for the mystery novel reader in your life. Or it might even make an even better present for you!

You can buy it at the That's Book and Entertainment book shop, which you will find just to the right hand side of this book review. Along with a whole plethora of other books and a wide range of gifts, presents and Christmas foods and drinks.

Stay Put? Make a Move?

Thomas Nevins is an international labour and human resource development consultant.

He is the founder and chief consultant with TMT Inc., which you can find at www.tem-aba.com.

He established TMT in Tokyo almost 40 years ago, in 1978.

He is the author of a number of books aimed at the business community, covering human resources, employment matter and the like.

And now there is his latest book, Stay Put? Make a Move, from Lake Waccabuc to Omotesando.

Thomas Nevins claims that the book came about because he took dictation from his blind dog.

And, from his prosaic and very touching description of his dog (who started to lose his sight from age three) one can only presume that he might, indeed, have received some sort of inspiration to pen this book from his dogged (no pun intended) canine companion.

The book weighs in at nearly 400 pages and it is a book that is both fun and yet also of serious intent.

There are hundreds of stories, little and some large snippets of pop culture and a stupendous range of facts, current and/or historical, of people, places and things.

Tom also uses the book as a way to gently and amusingly make a sort of a sales pitch for moving to Tokyo and enjoying life in this Japanese city.

Learn about love hotels (which have bigger baths than most other hotels, apparently) about the very strict drinking and driving laws in Japan, the man who kept two hissing monkeys as pets, and took them for walks, one on each shoulder.

He also relates his early life in America, which included petting the cows of one of America's wartime leaders and how he got sick from eating a tin of beef stew and related that he realised it was all his own fault.

It's a stunning work of social history filled with praise and criticism in almost equal measure.

It's published by Matador at a very reasonable £12.99 and will make an excellent Christmas present for the person in your life who loves facts and opinions. It is also available as an e-book.

You can learn more about Thomas Nevins by visiting www.thamasnevins.co.uk where you will also see a video trailer and picture tour of Tom's New York hometown and the area in which he lives in Tokyo.

birds on the water

Privilege and the Mental Race War

Beer & Cheer - "Fields of Anfield Road" (3D 360°)

Blood, Sweat and Schemes

Blood, Sweat and Schemes is the latest crime novel by Rob Watkins.

Bob is in trouble. He had a one time only quick fling, when he and a woman called Charity were thrown together as they escaped death by boredom at a particularly tedious party.

That event occurred well over a decade ago. And now Bob is very happily married to his wife, Sue.

However, by a set of extraordinary coincidences his one time fling has become the boss of his wife.

And it becomes painfully clear that the one time fling is out to try to mess up Bob's happy married life and test it to way beyond breaking point. But just for some fun, you understand!

Charity blackmailed Bob into servicing her sexual needs and it seemed that every time he attempted to escape from Charity's clutches, something truly dreadful would happen to one of his loved ones.

But far from something perpetrated for the mere fun of it, Charity has upped her game substantially.

Because now? Now she wants vengeance. Real, bloody vengeance.  A deadly sort of vengeance of Biblical proportions, that could result in severe injury or an even a more severe death or several deaths.

Will Bob be able to sense the danger that he and his family are in, at the hands of Charity?

Will he be like a lamb to the slaughter?

Or will he be able to face Charity down and deal with her like-for-evil-like?

This is a thrilling book and a mere snip at £8.99, this Book Guild Book is a must for all lovers of crime and thriller novels.

You can buy it via the That's Books bookshop.

When the Ice Melts

When the Ice Melts is a novel by Phyllis J. Burton.

The writing of When the Ice Melts came about as the result of Phyllis J. Burton reading a  article about a woman whose son was in a long-term coma.

Phyllis J. Burton began to wonder what it would be like to be in such a situation and so she decided to write her novel, When the Ice Melts.

It explores the story of Sarah Wenham and what happened when her husband fell victim to a tragic accident that resulted in him being in a hospital's ICU, only kept alive by a life support machine.

Successful solicitor Tom Wenham was severely injured in a plane crash which left him in a coma.

Several months later his wife needs to give her authority to have the life support machine switched off, which results in the death of her husband.

Subsequently Sarah begins to doubt that her decision was the correct one. Should she have insisted that the doctors at the hospital continue with the operation of the life support machine?

Or had she, actually, made the right choice?

Pricked by her conscience she protects her emotions by building a thick wall of ice between herself and the outside world.

However, Sarah finds that she in physically unable to cope with the volume of work within the legal practice that she had operated with her husband, so she decides to take on a new partner to help deal with the casework.

John Bradley is selected as the new partner and Sarah shields herself from him behind her wall of ice.

She attempts to do her best to, somehow, get on  with her life and takes a weeklong break on a Greek island.

She meets silver tongued and handsome Theodorus, but the revelation that he is, actually, a serial womaniser makes her reject his advances.

She returns home to her life in England.

But something is happening. Someone is stalking her, someone who seeks vengeance upon her.

When she vanishes in mysterious circumstances John Bradley becomes frightened for her safety and he launches a desperate attempt to find her.

But can he find her in time? And what has happened to her?

If you like your romance novels with a bit of a thrilling edge to them, then this is just the right book for you.

It's published by Matador and costs a rather keenly priced £7.99. It's available from That's Books.