New review: In a house of lies - I. Rankin

Inspector Rebus serie - Book 22
Rebus never disappoints, even after 22 novels. Yes, I might have liked him to be a bit more in the centre of the story, but cannot complain really.
Great crime plot, with a lot of turnings and surprises, never a dull moment and Rebus is always Rebus, my favourite inspector ever. The past comes to haunt him and some other colleagues, but Rebus manages not only to get away with it, he also manages to be the showstopper at the end and get involved in the cases. I really loved him!
I am just a bit worried on how long Rankin will continue to write about Rebus, who has now been retired for a couple of books and he is not in his best physical state?

Overall rating:  7,5    Plot: 7,5   Writing style: 8    Cover:  7

Title: In a house of lies

Author: Ian Rankin
Publisher: Orion
Pages: 384
Publication year: 2018

The Plot:

Everyone has something to hide

A missing private investigator is found, locked in a car hidden deep in the woods. Worse still - both for his family and the police - is that his body was in an area that had already been searched.

Everyone has secrets
Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is part of a new inquiry, combing through the mistakes of the original case. There were always suspicions over how the investigation was handled and now - after a decade without answers - it's time for the truth.

Nobody is innocent

Every officer involved must be questioned, and it seems everyone on the case has something to hide, and everything to lose. But there is one man who knows where the trail may lead - and that it could be the end of him: 

The Author:

Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into thirty-six languages and are bestsellers worldwide.
Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards including the prestigious Diamond Dagger in 2005. In 2004, Ian won America's celebrated Edgar Award for Resurrection Men. He has also been shortlisted for the Anthony Award in the USA, won Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the Deutscher Krimipreis. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Hull, the Open University and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Book Review: Anatomy of a scandal - S. Vaughan

Too slow pace, uninteresting, quite predictable. I didn't survive the first half.

Overall rating:  Abandoned    Plot: 5   Writing style: 4    Cover:  6

Title: Anatomy of a scandal

Author: Sarah Vaughan

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 400

Publication year: 2018

The Plot:

A high-profile marriage thrust into the spotlight. A wife, determined to keep her family safe, must face a prosecutor who believes justice has been a long time coming. A scandal that will rock Westminster. And the women caught at the heart of it. 
Anatomy of a Scandal centres on a high-profile marriage that begins to unravel when the husband is accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is sure her husband, James, is innocent and desperately hopes to protect her precious family from the lies which might ruin them. Kate is the barrister who will prosecute the case – she is equally certain that James is guilty and determined he will pay for his crimes.

The Author:
From The Author's website:

"I'm a novelist and journalist who has always wanted to write fiction. My first novel, The Art of Baking Blind, was published in 2014 by Hodder, and nine other countries. The Farm at the Edge of the World, followed in 2016, and in 2017 became a bestseller in France. Anatomy of a Scandal heralds a shift in genre: part courtroom drama, part portrait of a marriage, part psychological thriller, it will be published in January 2018 by Simon & Schuster UK and Emily Bestler Books, US, and translated into 17 other languages. I'm now completing another novel in a similar vein - exploring what happens when women's lives are touched by darkness or crime.

Though I didn’t start writing fiction in earnest before I turned 40, I have put pen to paper – or fingers to a keyboard – every day of my career. Before writing novels, I was a journalist, writing under the byline Sarah Hall. After journalism college and work at The Times, I trained with the Press Association and spent 11 years on The Guardian as a news reporter, health correspondent and political correspondent. I left after having my second baby and began to freelance.

Long before that,  I read English at Brasenose College, Oxford. Reading Beowulf may not have helped me become a novelist but reading and thinking about writing for three years undoubtedly did. I now live just outside Cambridge with my husband, two young children, geriatric cat and puppy. When I'm not writing, I love to walk, run, read."

Book Review: The clockmaker's daughter - K. Morton

My heart is bleeding... I have adored Kate Morton and all her novels so far, I love her writing style, so rich, descriptive and modernly old fashioned; I love her plots, moving between past and present, always with a mystery in them and always set in beautiful houses.
But I really did not like this last novel of hers, The clockmaker's daughter. I found it too slow, nothing much happened for the first half of the book, and even the building up of the mystery was dragging on too much for my liking. I liked the descriptions of London, but I felt that the characters were liking anything "new", not read before and most of all I did not like the voice of Birdie and the too ghostly chapters where she talks about herself and her visitors.
Such a disappointment, but I am confident I will still love her future books!

Overall rating:  5    Plot: 5   Writing style: 6    Cover:  7,5

Title: The clockmaker's daughter

Author: Kate Morton
Publisher: Mantle

Pages: 592

Publication year: 2018

The Plot:

In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward

Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor on the banks of the Upper Thames. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe’s life is in ruins. Over one hundred and fifty years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist’s sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river. Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?

The Author:
Kate Morton is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author. Her novels - The House at Riverton (The Shifting Fog), The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper and The Lake House - are published in over 40 countries, in 34 languages, and have all been number one bestsellers around the world. Kate's new book, The Clockmaker's Daughter, will be published in September/October 2018.
Kate Morton was born in South Australia, grew up in the mountains of southeast Queensland and now lives with her family in London and Australia. She has degrees in dramatic art and English literature, and harboured dreams of joining the Royal Shakespeare Company until she realised that it was words she loved more than performing. Kate still feels a pang of longing each time she goes to the theatre and the house lights dim. 

Book Review: Home fire - K. Shamsie

Difficult to judge this novel: the theme is so actual and raw and very interesting for me to dive into. But, I felt it was a half job, as in I didn't really find that depth in it to satisfy my curiosity on the matter. I also found the characters quite cold, detached even in all the tragedy they are living.
I didn't get a sense of "closure, completion" and for this reason I must say it was not as mind blowing as I thought it was going to be.

Overall rating:  6    Plot: 6,5   Writing style: 5    Cover:  6,5

Title: Home fire

Author: Kamila Shamsie
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 288
Publication year: 2017

The Plot:

Isma is free. After years spent raising her twin siblings in the wake of their mother’s death, she is finally studying in America, resuming a dream long deferred. But she can’t stop worrying about Aneeka, her beautiful, headstrong sister back in London – or their brother, Parvaiz, who’s disappeared in pursuit of his own dream: to prove himself to the dark legacy of the jihadist father he never knew.
Then Eamonn enters the sisters’ lives. Handsome and privileged, he inhabits a London worlds away from theirs. As the son of a powerful British Muslim politician, Eamonn has his own birthright to live up to – or defy. Is he to be a chance at love? The means of Parvaiz’s salvation? Two families’ fates are inextricably, devastatingly entwined in this searing novel that asks: what sacrifices will we make in the name of love?

The Author:

Kamila Shamsie was born in 1973 in Pakistan. She is the author of four previous novels: In the City by the Sea, Kartography (both shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize), Salt and Saffron and Broken Verses. In 1999 she received the Prime Minister's Award for Literature and in 2004 the Patras Bokhari Award - both awarded by the Pakistan Academy of Letters. Her latest novel, Burnt Shadows, was shortlisted for the 2009 Orange Prize. Kamila Shamsie lives in London.

Book Review: The Mitford murders - J. Fellowes

The plot of this novel really intrigued me: 20s in England, an upstairs-downstairs kind of setting, the Mitford sisters who achieved notoriety for their controversial lives and their public political divisions between communism and fascism. 
The "crime" part of the novel is ok, but quite guessable from the beginning. What I liked most of the novel is the peek into the lives of the "poor and the rich" of that historical period.
Overall a very pleasant read and I will read the following books in the serie as the Nancy sisters fascinated me.

Overall rating: 7      Plot: 7     Writing style: 7      Cover:  9

Title: The Mitford murders 

Author: Jessica Fellowes
Publisher: Sphere
Pages: 432
Publication year: 2017

Plot:

It's 1919, and Louisa Cannon dreams of escaping her life of poverty in London, and most of all her oppressive and dangerous uncle.

Louisa's salvation is a position within the Mitford household at Asthall Manor, in the Oxfordshire countryside. There she will become nurserymaid, chaperone and confidante to the Mitford sisters, especially sixteen-year-old Nancy - an acerbic, bright young woman in love with stories.

But when a nurse - Florence Nightingale Shore, goddaughter of her famous namesake - is killed on a train in broad daylight, Nancy and amateur sleuth Louisa find that in postwar England, everyone has something to hide . . .

The Author:

Jessica Fellowes is an author, journalist and public speaker, best known for her work as author of five official companion books to Downton Abbey, various of which have hit the New York Times and Sunday Timesbestseller lists. Former deputy editor of Country Life and columnist on the Mail on Sunday, she has written for publications including the DailyTelegraph, the Guardian, The Sunday Times and The Lady. Jessica has spoken at events across the UK and US, and has made numerous appearances on radio and television. She lives happily in London and Oxfordshire with her family, an energetic Labradoodle and two chickens.

Book review: Vox - C. Dalcher

What would you do if from a free professional woman you'd be forced to be a subdued housewife you can say just 100 words per day and if you go over you are electrocuted? How would you help your daughter thrive in these conditions? How would you keep loving your son who is totally taken by this new extremism, brainwashed to believe in the pure family, where the husband is meant to provide for the family and the woman is a step below the man and has no right without the man saying so?
What a scenario this book presents, surrealistic and yet not so far from what some fanatic think in reality. It reminds me a bit of Margaret Atwood's novel, but this one seems more possible to me, and for this reason it is scarier.
The book really makes you reflect on what freedom and rights women have concurred during the years and how we need to keep them live and never lose sign that they are important rights - like being able to vote, so make sure we do so, as it is a right we fought long and hard to obtain.
It also makes you think how easy it is to brainwash a population, especially the young minds, it happened in real life before so it could happen again
Maybe the second part is a bit too sci-fi/adventure for my liking and the end is quite predictable, but overall a very thought provoking novel, worth reading.

Overall rating:  7,5    Plot: 7,5   Writing style: 7    Cover:  6,5

Title: Vox

Author: Christina Dalcher
Publisher: HQ
Pages: 384
Publication year: 2018

The Plot:

Jean McClellan spends her time in almost complete silence, limited to just one hundred words a day. Any more, and a thousand volts of electricity will course through her veins.

Now the new government is in power, everything has changed. But only if you’re a woman.

Almost overnight, bank accounts are frozen, passports are taken away and seventy million women lose their jobs. Even more terrifyingly, young girls are no longer taught to read or write.

For herself, her daughter, and for every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice. This is only the beginning…

The Author:

Christina Dalcher earned her doctorate in theoretical linguistics from Georgetown University, specializing in the phonetics of sound change in Italian and British dialects. She and her husband split their time between the American South and Naples, Italy. VOX is her debut novel.

Book Review: Letal white - R. Galbraith

Cormoran Strike serie - book 4
Loved it! I think it is the best novel yet in the serie, both for the crime plot itself and for the personal stories of Cormoran and Robin and the relationship between the two.
The book is written in a masterly way, you just want more, even if it is over 600 pages. The written English is rich and sophisticated and at the same time it represents so well the accents and the slang of the characters.
Intense plot with several motives and parallel crimes going on, it never stops to surprise and grip.
I love Cormoran, he is such a laid back yet intense detective.
A must read and I cannot wait to see the TV adaptation too!

Overall rating:  9     Plot: 8     Writing style: 9      Cover:  6,5

Title: Letal white

Author: Robert Galbraith
Publisher: Sphere
Pages: 656
Publication year: 2018

The Plot:

When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike's office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. While Billy is obviously mentally distressed, and cannot remember many concrete details, there is something sincere about him and his story. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts from his office in a panic.Trying to get to the bottom of Billy's story, Strike and Robin Ellacott - once his assistant, now a partner in the agency - set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.And during this labyrinthine investigation, Strike's own life is far from straightforward: his newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Plus, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than it ever has been - Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much more tricky than that . 

The Author:

Robert Galbraith's highly acclaimed novel The Cuckoo's Calling was an international number one bestseller, garnering praise from critics and crime fans alike. The second and third novels in the series, The Silkworm and Career of Evil, also topped the bestseller charts. Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike series is now a major new television series for BBC One, produced by Brontë Film and Television.
Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym of J.K. Rowling, bestselling author of the Harry Potter series and The Casual Vacancy.

Book Review: Siracusa - D. Ephron

Unfortunately I was not taken by this novel at all. I did not like the characters, any of them, and I normally "need" to identify with one, at least partially, to really like a book. I did not like the style either, too much movie-script like for my liking.
I did not find it sophisticated at all, as I read in other reviews, I just found it quite sad and depressing and empty of any meaningful insight.

Overall rating:  5    Plot: 6   Writing style: 5    Cover:  7,5

Title: Siracusa

Author: Delia Ephron
Publisher: One World Publications
Pages: 304
Publication year: 2016

The Plot:

New Yorkers Michael, a famous writer, and Lizzie, a journalist, travel to Italy with their friends from Maine – Finn; his wife, Taylor; and their daughter, Snow. “From the beginning,” says Taylor, “it was a conspiracy for Lizzie and Finn to be together.” Told Rashomon-style in alternating points of view, the characters expose and stumble upon lies and infidelities past and present. Snow, ten years old and precociously drawn into a far more adult drama, becomes the catalyst for catastrophe as the novel explores collusion and betrayal in marriage. 

The Author:
Delia Ephron is a journalist, playwright and screenwriter (including the smash hit You’ve Got Mail), as well as a bestselling author of both novels and non-fiction. She lives in New York, and co-wrote the movies Michael, Bewitched and Hanging Up. 

Book Review: The love letter - L. Riley

Loved this novel! Firstly I really liked the main character, Jo, and the behind the scenes one too, Sir James. Then it is a mix of espionage, royal family secrets, love, friendship and journalism.
It is very fast pace and I was glued to the pages for three nights as it gripped my attention so much.
Sure, the plot is not that realistic, but who knows!?!, and yet you never feel it is completely out of the ordinary as I normally do with espionage movies.
A great escapism novel which I devoured. Highly recommend it!

Overall rating:  8,5     Plot: 8     Writing style: 8,5      Cover:  6

Title: The love letter

Author: Lucinda Riley
Publisher: Pan MacMillan
Pages: 624
Publication year: 2018

The Plot:

1995, London.When Sir James Harrison, one the greatest actors of his generation, passes away at the age of ninety-five he leaves behind not just a heartbroken family but also a secret so shocking, so devastating that it could rock the English establishment to its core . . .Joanna Haslam is an ambitious young journalist, assigned to cover the legendary actor’s funeral. The great and the good of the celebrity world are there. But Joanna stumbles on something dark beneath the glamour: the mention of a letter James Harrison has left behind, the contents of which others have been desperate to conceal for over seventy years. As she peels back the veil of lies that has shrouded the secret, she realizes that there are other forces attempting to prevent her from discovering the truth. And they’ll stop at nothing to reach the letter before she does.

The Author:

Lucinda Riley was born in Ireland, and after an early career as an actress in film, theatre and television, wrote her first book aged twenty-four. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages and sold fifteen million copies worldwide. She is a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller.
Lucinda is currently writing The Seven Sisters series, which tells the story of adopted sisters and is based allegorically on the mythology of the famous star constellation. The first four books, The Seven Sisters, The Storm Sister, The Shadow Sister and The Pearl Sister have all been No.1 bestsellers across Europe, and the rights to a multi-season TV series have already been optioned by a Hollywood production company.

Book Review: Sabbia nera - C. Cassar Scalia

 Carbura lento, questo giallo all'italiana, e mi ci e' voluto un po' sia per farmi coinvolgere dal delitto sia per capire se questa vicequestore palermitana mi piaceva o meno. Ho faticato inizialmente a districarmi con le parole in dialetto catanese!
Da un terzo del romanzo in poi, davvero bello, Vivina mi sembra un po' un mix tra una versione femminile di Rocco Schiavone di Manzini ed una versione meno procace di Lolita Lobosco ella Genisi. Un bel giallo, di quelli lenti ma intensi e una Catania e dintorni, soprattutto mangereccia, che fa venire voglia di farvi un salto subito. Una protagonista con un passato pesante, un trauma ancora non superato, ma una grande determinazione e bravura.
Leggero' sicuramente il seguito, come si presume vi sia dal finale.

Overall rating:  7    Plot: 7,5   Writing style: 7    Cover:  6

Title: Sabbia nera

Author: Cristina Cassar Scalia
Publisher: Einaudi
Pages: 392
Publication year: 2018

The Plot:

Mentre Catania è avvolta da una pioggia di ceneri dell’Etna, nell’ala abbandonata di una villa signorile alle pendici del vulcano viene ritrovato un corpo di donna ormai mummificato dal tempo. Del caso è incaricato il vicequestore Giovanna Guarrasi, detta Vanina, trentanovenne palermitana trasferita alla Mobile di Catania. La casa è pressoché abbandonata dal 1959, solo Alfio Burrano, nipote del vecchio proprietario, ne occupa saltuariamente qualche stanza. Risalire all’identità del cadavere è complicato, e per riuscirci a Vanina servirà l’aiuto del commissario in pensione Biagio Patanè. I ricordi del vecchio poliziotto la costringeranno a indagare nel passato, conducendola al luogo dove l’intera vicenda ha avuto inizio: un rinomato bordello degli anni Cinquanta conosciuto come «il Valentino». Districandosi tra le ragnatele del tempo, il vicequestore svelerà una storia di avidità e risentimento che tutti credevano ormai sepolta per sempre, e che invece trascinerà con sé una striscia di sangue fino ai giorni nostri.

The Author:

Cristina Cassar Scalia è nata nel 1977 ed è originaria di Noto. Medico oftalmologo, attualmente vive e lavora a Catania. Ha pubblicato per Sperling & Kupfer La seconda estate (2014, Premio Internazionale Capalbio Opera Prima) e Le stanze dello scirocco (2015). Per Einaudi ha pubblicato Sabbia nera (2018), di cui sono già stati opzionati i diritti per il cinema e la tv, ed è il primo romanzo con protagonista il vicequestore Vanina Guarrasi.

September 2018 Wrap up

I have not read as many books as usual this moth, but the ones I read were quite long I have to say!
Very satisfied with September novels, really loved them all but one - here they go:

(click on the titles to read the full mini review)

The murder at the vicarage - A. Christie

Miss Marple debut, entertaining and astute as ever. I'd never get tired of Christie's novels.

Rating:  7,5 out of 10

The wonder - E. Donoghue
Engrossing and gives a lot of food for thought - Recommend it!
Rating:  8 out of 10

Sabbia nera - C. Cassar Scalia
Un bel giallo siciliano con una vicequestore tosta
Rating:  7 out of 10

The forever house - V. Henry
Cozy, warm, pleasant. A treat!
Rating:  7,5 out of 10

Siracusa - D. Ephron
Too cold and detached for my liking, all the characters really annoyed me!
Rating:  5 out of 10

The love letter - L. Riley
Royal family, espionage, secrets and love story. A great read!
Rating:  8,5 out of 10

Letal white - R. Galbraith
Loved it! Gripping plot, love Cormoran. Amazingly written, the best in the serie!
Rating:  9 out of 10