Deception

In this debut mystery thriller, Deception, from Maggie Belvoir, the reader is asked a very interesting, yet very serious question. Exactly how well do you know your friends? And exactly how well do you know the members of your own family?

Life is great for the O'Brien family! No, it's really good, thank you! They have all the trappings of a successful life. A massive house, lovely holidays abroad, and they have two lovely daughters, Scarlett and Siobhan.

Scarlett has a friend called Margot .Poor Margot has had a bit of a troubled past and when she is adopted into the O'Brien family, everything's good! No, really good, thank you! Margot seems like the piece of the family that was missing.

However, jealousy and sibling rivalry suddenly start to raise their very unpleasant heads and the family begins to become fragmented.

Things become worse when tragedy strikes and the family begins to unravel with even greater speed.

Frank Du Pont, a police detective with an insufferably huge ego decides to take over the murder investigation and makes a vow that he will bring the killer to justice.

But will he? And what is the secret agenda that he is hiding from his colleagues and everyone else? And does he have a secret that he is very keen to keep hidden?

The truth, when it does come to light, could prove even more shocking to the family and the community than anyone could have anticipated.

It's an exceptionally well-written detective thriller and it's to be hoped that Maggie Belvoir will be writing for many more years to come.

It's published by Matador at £9.99.

Acts & Monuments

Barry Todd, the protagonist of Acts & Monuments written by Alan Kane Fraser, is a good guy. How does he know this? Because everyone tells him so!

He is a hardworking member of the team at Monument Housing Association as he strives to ensure the the poor and vulnerable are provided with a safe and decent place to live.

Everyone expected Barry to be promoted to the position of Director at Monument Housing Association, including Barry. But, instead, the promotion is given to the insufferable Langley who had been drafted in from the world of commerce to bring in 'private sector disciplines' to the charity.

There were already issues between Langley and Barry, and the fact that Langley had been promoted to Director made the entire situation worse. And part of what Langley had done (firing Barry's wife) had meant that finances at the Todd household were tighter than they needed to be.

Barry had always been good, had been a good person and a good, loyal employee of the Housing Association, but he was now beginning to doubt that "being good" was good enough. At least for Barry.

And then, by apparent serendipity, an opportunity falls into Barry's lap. He finds himself in the situation where he would be able to steal £50,000 of the Monument Housing Association's money in such a way that it would be impossible to trace the theft back to him.

A tenant, Iulia Niolescu, comes to Barry. She is desperate for assistance and he realises that he has been presented with an ideal opportunity to use some of this money to do somebody some good.

But he finds that the situation begins to spiral dangerously out of control nd he is forced to take desperate measures to stop his deceptions and the theft of the money from being revealed.

But then things really began to fall to pieces. And at the end of the novel there's a very disturbing twist.

This is an amazingly well-written novel and although a work of fiction the author has used to very good advantage their intimate knowledge of the world of Housing Associations.

The book is published by Matador and costs £8.99.

(Incidentally it was with interest that I realised that I have previously seen an example of the work of Alan Kane Fraser as I saw his award-winning play, Random Acts of Malice being performed at the Belfrey (sic) Theatre in Wellington, Shropshire, as it was the winning play in the inaugural Derek Lomas Award for Best News Play at the Wellington Drama Festival.)

(Note: The image used is the cover illustration of the book and is E R Hughes' Night with her train of stars and her great gift of sleep (c) Birmingham Museums Trust.)

Designs of a Gentleman

Designs of a Gentleman is a prequel to Judith Thomson's Phillip Devalle series.

It's 1662, Charles II as been King for two years. Restoration England was an exciting place to be. But it was also a pl;ace of opportunity for ambitious young men such as Philip Devale.

Philip Devale was the young son of an earl who had decided to travel to London in a determined effort to make something of himself.

There had been the plague, the great fire of London, a war against the Dutch and there were politicians who were plotting and scheming top make sure they would come out on top. There was also the spectre of religious hatred and intolerance.

Throughout the years filled with adventure that were before him liker an open, yet unwritten book, Philip learns that not all people in Court are honest, that there's a dark side to it and that he must keep his wits about him as he fights in the army of the Sun King and is a courtier in England.

It's a novel that is well researched and well written and will be a welcome novel on the bookshelves of lovers of historical fiction.

It's published by Matador at £9.99.

Sorak's Legacy

In Sorak's Legacy Sorak has become elected to the Chair of the city Senate. He had remained in the city after returning with Nasa and her son from their home which was in the hidden valley.

A new society, based on equality between the genders is slowly and painstakingly being established.

The harsh and rigid control mechanisms of the old ways are gone and everything is more free, although free, the new society that is emerging is not perfect.

However, there are people who are still not happy that the old ways have gone. In fact, there is a body of females who are resentful of the efforts that Sorak is putting into to creating a new, more equitable and fairer society.

It become clear that there are people who are living in the forest on the far side of the plain that surrounds the city.

Some believe that the original founders of the city had arrived in a space going vessel and had made landfall in that area of the forest.

Nasa decides to seek out the forest dwellers. And it seems that evidence confirms that the ancient stories about the beginnings of the people of the city are, in fact, true.

Contact is, eventually, made with the forest dwelling people. But what, exactly, is the truth of the situation?

Would the city be able to survive the turmoil and the violence that would ensue?

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99.

Two Become One

Two Become One is a book by Richard Lodge and Brian Swinyard as they explore the meaning of life as they come face to face with their own diagnoses in an interesting and unique book of poetry and photography.

The book raises some very interesting and emotive questions about life, death, living, love and a whole host of other topics.

The book is a masterful blend of poetry and photographs, designed to help explore the meaning of life.

Both of the authors have been diagnosed with illnesses and they have teamed up with The Motor Neurone Association and Sarcoma UK to share half the proceed and to also bring comfort and ease for those people who are looking for answers to some of the puzzles and conundrums of everyday and not-so-everyday, life.

The poetry is beautiful as are all the images. The poems and the photographs all contain wisdom that has been crystallised and refined until they are like boats of burnished gold floating on the Sea of Infinity. 

You really must buy multiple copies of this book as there will be several people in your life, perhaps including yourself, who will without a shadow of a doubt, richly benefit from this book.

It is published in hardback by Matador and costs £10.99.

Plague

Plague is an hilarious look at medieval history, written by Jonathan Forth.

Apparently there needs to be a war between England and France. Who says so? The Pope. Why? He believes that peace has prevailed for far too long.

People have become lax, which is, the Pope believes, a result of living a life that is far too peaceful. If there were a war between England and France, goes his Papal reasoning, people who become so scared that they'd return to church services and, as a consequence of this, money would be put on the collection plates. After all, when the plate is passed round the church, who wants to be the odd one out by not making a 'voluntary' donation?

He has a very daring and gorgeous assassin who is primed to kill Edward, King of England. Who must die a painful and horrible death just at the time when King Philipe of France is visiting England.

However, much to the Pope's chagrin, the plague has already reached Europe and it's now a bit of a race to see who kills King Edward: The plague or the assassin.

Sir Walter, vassal to the King, is charged with sorting the situation out. But what, exactly, is causing the plague? Strongly scented French cheeses? Is it fornication as the Church pontificates? The fireball that appeared in the sky? Or something else?

But as an interesting aside, what would happen if Death and the Plague were to get together and work in harmony?

And what exactly would be the reward of the Pope?

This book is a very amusing romp through some of the lesser known avenues of Medieval history.

It's published by Matador at ££9.99.

Ayeme's Circus of Redemption

In Ayeme's Circus of Redemption, a new novel from novelist Keith Blackburn, we meet Arthur. Arthur used to be a teacher at a very good grammar school. But that was  long time ago, before alcohol had taken its toll on him.

After an unfortunate meeting with a white delivery van he awakes in a hospital bed. However, it's no ordinary hospital, this one has fireplaces in the rooms and Arthur (registered for some reason as Ayeme) manages to escape from the hospital ward by the simple means of going through the fireplace.

He emerges into a completely different place, wearing completely different clothing, weighed down by a very heavy rucksack.

He is in a moonlit garden, which is imbued with peace. On the other side of the garden he espies a woman who is dressed in black who is conversing with a man who is wearing  top hat and tails.

He realised that they are planning a funeral. In some way that he cannot define, Ayeme feels a connection of some sort with the woman, so he attaches himself to the procession which finally reaches a church which is in the middle of a wood.

And then things begin to get really interesting as he sets off on an odyssey of a journey, he meets and interacts with a variety of rather interesting and intriguing characters, as he attempts with varying degrees of success, to try to work out what is happening and what is going on.

And what, exactly, is the circus of redemption? Who is it attempting to redeem?

It's a stunningly original book, sadly it is the last book written by Keith Blackburn who passed away in October 2018.

The book is published by The Book Guild at £9.99.