Hi all – hope you are having a good weekend and have had a good week.
My main news this week is our kitten finally got to come home with us. We’ve been waiting for what seems like forever because he was so small when we found out about him from the rescue centre. He’s just 8 weeks old now and so cute it means everything else this week has basically faded into the background. In between been completed distracted I did manage to get some reading and blogging done though…just to say!
Blog wise, I wrote two reviews. The first was Only The Brave by Mel Sherratt. This is the third in the DS Allie Shenton series, all of which I’ve really enjoyed, and was a cracking piece of crime writing. The second was The Bones of You by Debbie Howells which I was left with slightly mixed feelings about. It was well written, with some great descriptive passages, and the plot was a real page turner but I struggled with the central character so couldn’t lose myself in it completely. For the book blogger hop, I asked whether people used blog rolls and what the benefits were.
Book wise, I finished The Girls by Emma Cline (see my Tuesday Intro for more details) but still don’t feel I’ve left the book behind – it’s rattling around my head – and, after watching the movie, re-read The Woman in Black by Susan Hill which I’d first read over 20 years ago, making me feel old! (Link to goodreads). I’ll be reviewing both this week. I also picked up a few books, one of which will be my next reads….
When identical twin Coco goes missing during a family celebration, there is a media frenzy. Her parents are rich and influential, as are the friends they were with at their holiday home by the sea.
But what really happened to Coco?
Over two intense weekends – the first when Coco goes missing and the second twelve years later at the funeral of her father – the darkest of secrets will gradually be revealed…
Inspector Conny Sjöberg and his police colleagues are perplexed by the brutal killing of a family in their Stockholm apartment.
With no clues, the murder inquiry starts with working out how was it possible for the mother, who worked as a cleaner, to afford a multi-million dollar property?
Despite a heavily reduced team, with experienced officers ill, injured or mysteriously missing, Sjöberg struggles to keep the investigation on the rails. But Conny has problems of his own – from a woman he cannot get out of his head, to a shocking revelation about his own past – all of which threaten to compromise the hunt for this heartless killer…
When a young boy discovers the body of a woman beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London park, Detective Erika Foster is called in to lead the murder investigation.
The victim, a beautiful young socialite, appeared to have the perfect life. Yet when Erika begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the murder and the killings of three prostitutes, all found strangled, hands bound and dumped in water around London.
What dark secrets is the girl in the ice hiding?
As Erika inches closer to uncovering the truth, the killer is closing in on Erika.
What about you – what have you been up to?
emma
This week, I’m linking in with Kimba at the Caffeinated Book Reviewer and her Sunday Post and with (a little early) Katherine at Book Date for It’s Monday, What Are you Reading? Head over to see what other bloggers have read, written about or just added to their shelves.
One Readers Thoughts 
Cute kitty! How fun… The Darkest secret sounds quite good, I like the suspenseful sound of it.
LikeLike
I’ve read really good reviews of The Darkest Secret so I have high hopes…fingers crossed!
LikeLike
Gorgeous kitten! I loved The Darkest Secret-Alex Marwood is a favourite author of mine x
LikeLike
I know – I am in love with the little guy. I have heard great things about Alex Marwood and for 99p on Amazon thought I couldn’t go wrong!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I shall worship him from afar-my hubby hates cats!! Alex Marwoods book The Wicked Girls is one of my favourite reads so check that one out if you ever get a chance as well.
LikeLike
How can you hate cats? Though not a huge fan of dogs myself so probably know the answer. I am looking forward to the Alex Marwood as I’ve heard so much good stuff about it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have had 3 cats but he isn’t that keen, he is more of a dog person. Our dog Darcy is more like a cat than a dog, she loves to curl up on my lap or in the sun just like a cat (she’s probably the same size as one too!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve got The Bones of You to read (but it’s not out for ages here so I’m leaving it for the moment). Only the Brave sounds interesting though.
And I’m really glad you got to take your kitten home! So cute!
LikeLike
He is such a good distraction and so cute! I have really enjoyed the Mel Sherratt series. It will be interesting to see what you think of The Bones of You.
LikeLike
Kittens are so much fun. I really enjoyed The Woman in Black and really need to read more of her books. I love the classic ghost stories and need to find more, especially with the Halloween season approaching in a few months.
Have a great week!
Stacy Renee @ Lazy Day Literature
LikeLike
He’s very distracting. I love good ghost stories too and this is definitely in that category! Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
Congratulations on your new kitten! He’s adorable 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you…much more entertaining than the tele!
LikeLike
I have The Girls, and hope to start reading it in the next couple of weeks. I have several “girls” themed books for June.
I’m curious about The Last Lullaby…thanks for sharing.
Cute kitten! Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
LikeLike
Your kitten looks adorable and hope he is settling in well:). I’m intrigued that you’re revisiting The Woman in Black – have you ever managed to get to see the stage play? It is genuinely frightening – I took my children to see it when they were studying for their GCSEs and we managed to get some remaindered tickets for the third row from the front. A woman in front of us actually screamed… Though don’t bother with the Daniel Radcliffe film – while there is a nice sense of suspense, they MANGLED the ending. Looking forward to reading your review in due course. Have a week full of kittenish fun:). Here’s my Sunday Post – https://sjhigbee.wordpress.com/2016/05/22/sunday-post-15th-may-2/
LikeLike
He is already making himself at home and thankfully hasn’t destroyed anything (yet). I’ve seen the play a couple of times and it is brilliant. I don’t know if I screamed but I was definitely spooked. Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Woman in Black is my favorite scary book, and I look forward to reading The Girls. Not sure how you were able to get any reading or blogging done with that cute little kitten!
LikeLike
Thankfully he sleeps a lot…on me (so lovely) so I have no choice but to sit and read. I really enjoyed re-reading The Woman in Black. Still as spooky.
LikeLike
Congratulations on your kitten – how very cute!! The book that most interests me is The Last Lullaby which I haven’t heard of before 😊
LikeLike
Isn’t he. I am all Googley eyed over him (however you spell it). I’m really looking forward to The Last Lullaby. The rest of the series has been so good. Have a good week.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your new kitty is a cutie. I love the markings. And I’m drooling over your books. We like the same kind and several of these are new authors for me too!
My Sunday Post
LikeLike
What a sweet looking kitten! I wish we could get one but my husband is so allergic to them. 😦
Happy Reading! Dani @ Paulette’s Papers
LikeLike
Oh no. Allergies are the worst. So lucky we don’t have them.
LikeLike
These sound like some pretty interesting books! Here’s my Sunday Post:
https://rabbitearsblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/23/the-sunday-post-meme-14/
LikeLike
I hope so! Thanks for stopping by and have a good week too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my gosh, that kitten is so cute, Emma. What is his name?
LikeLike
Isn’t he. We called him Lucky. And I think he’s going to be a lap cat…yay!
LikeLike
I love thrillers. The Last Lullaby and The Girl in Ice both sound very intriguing. I hope you enjoy them!
My It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? post.
LikeLike
Me too – I have high hopes for The Last Lullaby especially as I’ve read the other two in the series recently and really enjoyed them. Fingers crossed it’s a hat trick!
LikeLike
Great post! I have The Girls up next on my TBR and can’t wait to read it – just from reading the synopsis I think it’ll be one that haunts me too. I read The Darkest Secret earlier this year and it was brilliant, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Hope you have a good week ahead. 🙂
LikeLike
I hope you enjoy The Girls. I didn’t expect to get as drawn in so so glad I requested it! Have a good week.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How did you find The Woman in Black movie?
I hope you enjoy your upcoming reads, and the new kitten too!
LikeLike
Unfortunately I spent most of it thinking I don’t remember this from the book. My husband enjoyed it though and hasn’t read the book. I did enjoy re-reading it though .
LikeLike
How exciting to have a kitten in the house, I bet it takes up a lot of time as you delight in it. So playful. Enjoy your reading, all new to me but I bet they will be just what you like.
LikeLike
It is great….very distracting!
LikeLike
[…] will be reviewing this week and The Last Lullaby by Carin Gerhardsen (you can read on overview in last week’s update). I also picked up a couple of new […]
LikeLike