Much Needed Rain

Much Needed Rain is a gripping debut crime thriller from R. G. Oram.

David Lewelyn is an extraordinary person. He knows when you are lying. Every single time. You can try to control your breathing, make your expression as neutral as you can, but it doesn't matter. He'll know if you are lying.

However, things come closer to home for David when Hannah who he employed as his secretary is found dead in her apartment. She had been bound hand and foot and her murderer had slashed her body repeatedly. 

Because he was with her at her apartment mere hours before she was killed, the LAPD immediately suspect him of being the killer. 

But his DNA does not match the DNA of the killer that had been found in the apartment. In fact, there is no match for the killer's DNA on the National Database.

But does this mean that he should be ruled out as a suspect? Should he be allowed to provide his expertise to the police investigators, under the circumstances? After all, as her employer, he knew her better than anyone else.

Whatever suspects the police manage to find all seem to have incontrovertible alibis. 

However, the truths that they finally uncover are perhaps worse than they could ever have imagined and they discover that murder can be either a game or a very lucrative business.

And that sometimes there are people who just can't be trusted.

This is a very good debut thriller and it's to be hoped that this is the first of many books from R. G. Oram.

It will make a gritty thriller of a Christmas present for the thriller fan in your life. You can order a copy here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

A New Man

A New Man is an interesting and very important autobiography from Charlie Kiss.

Charlie was a proud feminist and also a proud lesbian.

Charlie admits to having a few vague doubts about her sexuality, but it was with a shock that Charlie realised, one day, that she was not, after all, a woman, or a lesbian, but was, in fact, really a man.

The result of this realisation was that Charlie's life was turned upside down as she became isolated from family and friends, suffered from a complete collapse of her identity and went through periods of mania. She was even homeless for a period of time.

However, Charlie's story is, ultimately, a very inspirational one as it shows how she was able to continue her life without medication.

Eventually, however, Charlie is strong enough to realise that "he" is "her" real identity and so Charlie began to transition from a Lesbian woman into a heterosexual man.

He began to quickly adjust to his new role as a heterosexual male and is now happy in his own body.

It's an inspirational book and a very moving account of what happened to Charlie.

It costs £13.99 and is published by Matador and is available from https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

Marvin's Seaside Adventure

Louise Crowther's Marvin's Seaside Adventure tells the story of Marvin. Marvin is an elderly and rather rusty Mini car who has stood, neglected and uncared for, on the forecourt of a rural garage for many years.

Nobody even gave him a second look, he was not loved or even cared for, very much.

However, every week he did have a treat, his regular trip to the carwash. But! One week something truly extraordinary happened to Marvin! He went in his old, rusty self, yet this time he came out transformed back to what he had originally been, a shiny, beautiful Mini car!

He is magically taken to the seaside where he meets up with Larry who is a young lifeboat and they soon become very good friends.

But one day, disaster looms! Larry was showing off in the sea and he soon gets into difficulty!

What can Marvin, his new friend do, to save Larry the Lifeboat?

This is an amazingly fun book for children which is ideal for reading to them and showing them the stunning and super bright illustrations, from Dave Hill.

It's a must buy Christmas stocking filler and you can order it at https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

Lebensraum 2018 How to Fight World War III

Lebensraum 2018 How to Fight World War III is a novel from Ian Muir who brings us a thrilling tale of the very near future.

The novel mixes historical and current facts and events into a disturbing fictional account of how a modern-day Hitler could arise in Germany.

The surge of immigration into Germany has brought about a disaster of global proportions and in this novel readers can see how all these dreadful events are the result of the mind of a man who makes the term Machiavellian redundant.

Wolfgang Schuschnigg is the man, but as he tells his story the reader must struggle to uncover if he is telling the truth or if he is merely delusional?  He desires to ensure that Germany is, once again, a racially pure nation and a major superpower. But what is he? The new Fuhrer or an evil but spent old man?

He ruminates on his life, from his childhood during which he suffered from neglect, and right up until the moment when he is appointed to be the new Chancellor of Germany.

This is an interesting science fiction novel and will make an interesting Christmas present for sci-fi fans and those who like future history books.

It's published by the Book Guild at £8.99 and can be bought here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

DP Goes A-Roving

DP Goes A-Roving is a fantastical historical tale from author Nicholas Romano.

Dino is a young boy who is trying to make some sense from a matriarchal mother, an absent father, Blackshirts v Partisans, a vile war and the trials and tribulations of first love.

In the immediate post-war years Dino meets up with an idealistic philosopher who seems a little bit unlucky, ends up serving some time in the nick, meets up with some old comrades and his wartime sweetheart.

These events prompt our hero to leg it, moving to and island where he meets up with some truly bizarre characters. And hilarity (well, sort of) ensues.

Eventually he returns home and undergoes a somewhat dramatic reunion with his family and then the fun starts, involving castles and cliffs and the like.

It's an unusual and slightly bizarre book, but one that is very readable indeed.

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99 and you can order it for Chirstmas here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

Whisper of Death

Whisper of Death is a new novel from published author Paige Elizabeth Turner.

It is a follow-up to her novel Beyonds All Doubt, which sees investigator Olivia Watts once again enmeshed in an investigation into another high-profile mystery.

Only a short time (mere hours, really) after she had been happily preparing lunch in her own home, Joyce Beecham was dead in hospital.

Why? How had she died? Was it murder?

Into this maelstrom steps Olivia Watts, principal investigator of new frecently founded business, 'Watts Happening? Investigations.'

Olivia's company has been commissioned by a legal acquaintance of hers, Alexander Beecham, to investigate his mother's suspicious death.

Olivia's investigations soon turn up matters that some people might have thought best left hidden, including a clandestine marriage, some nasty sibling rivalries and some financial transactions that, on the face of it, seem to be problematic to say the very least.

Whilst rummaging through family closets she unearths a few skeletons and meets up with Lord Bennington, an inventor best described as somewhat eccentric who seems to have some close connections to the Beecham clan.

She also finds an estranged relative who she believes to be her number one suspect. But is she?

Can Olivia solve the murder? Will she receive the support of her on-off boyfriend and former supervising officer, DCI Stafford?

This is another excellent novel form Matador about a character who is becoming a firm favourite with me, Olivia Watts. I love a good murder mystery at Christmas and this is my pick for Christmas 2017.

It'll be a great Christmas gift for the murder mystery fan/s in your life and you can order it here  https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

Dreaming of a Divine Life

Dreaming of a Divine Life is an amazing memoir from Joanne Lee Philpot.

The book commences with the dream of a yoga teacher's dream of making a retreat in the countryside of Italy.

But it soon becomes much more than that when Joanne sees it transformed into a journey of self-realisation and self-discovery.

Joanne realised that if she took the time and made the effort to see the positive in all experiences, including the negative experiences, and learning to be more of a giver than a taker, by seeking out and learning the truth about relationships and "choosing  love over fear and by learning to feel good and cultivate compassion for others, I hope that my readers will relate to my difficult experiences," Joanne said, in regards to the purposes behind writing her book.

Her dream turned inot a bit of a nightmare, to be honest. The dream of a wonderful yoga retreat in the Italian countryside turned out to be an uncompleted house in the hills in which she found herself struggling to raise her four kids!

But she became aware that sometimes a travail or a problem may, in reality, be a blessing in disguise and a moment that we can learn from and use the4 experience to grow spiritually.

It's a book of interesting spiritual concepts but it is in no way preachy or overwritten so will be a useful book for everyone who wants to learn about the yogic way of life.

It's published by Matador at £9.99 and will make an ideal present this Christmas. You can order it here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.