A twisty, compelling novel about one woman’s complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in murder…

From the moment Lucy met her husband’s mother, Diana, she was kept at arm’s length. Diana was exquisitely polite, and properly friendly, but Lucy knew that she was not what Diana envisioned. But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice who helped female refugees assimilate to their new country. Diana was happily married to Tom, and lived in wedded bliss for decades. Lucy wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.

That was five years ago.

Now, Diana has been found dead, a suicide note near her body. Diana claims that she no longer wanted to live because of a battle with cancer.

But the autopsy finds no cancer.
The autopsy does find traces of poison and suffocation.
Who could possibly want Diana dead?
Why was her will changed at the eleventh hour to disinherit both of her adult children and their spouses?

With Lucy’s secrets getting deeper and her relationship with her mother-in-law growing more complex as the pages turn, this new novel from Sally Hepworth is sure to add to her growing legion of fans.

I wanted to read this book for a few reasons. Not only did the synopsis intrigue me but having a mother-in-law for the past 37 years and becoming a mother-in-law to my son’s wife 5 years ago, I was curious if there would be any similarities to my real life relationships and there were some.

Lucy lost her mother at the age of 13 so when she married Ollie she was hopeful that she would win his mother, Diana, over and have a warm and loving relationship with her. However, Diana was a bit standoffish, some would even say she was “frosty” and as the years went by, the relationship turned volatile at times.

The story alternates between Lucy and Diana’s perspectives both past and present but opens with the discovery of Diana’s body. At first, the police felt it was a suicide but there were items at the scene that might lead in another direction.

The suspense was ongoing throughout the story, which made it hard to put this book down. The characters convincing. Not only was the mystery of Diana’s death gripping, I also found the personal dynamics captivating.

Mothers of sons usually have to walk a fine line so as not to get the evil mother-in-law status, but in this case, Diana’s past had such a bearing on her personality that I felt for her.

In the end, a letter was found in her desk with the following words of wisdom that Lucy, 10 years after her mother-in-law’s death still lives by:
I worked hard for everything I ever cared about. And nothing I ever cared about cost a single cent.

An outstanding read! I am looking forward of reading more books by Ms. Hepworth.

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

THE AU PAIR by Emma Rous
Genre: Psychological Thriller / Women’s Fiction
Published by Penguin Group
Publication Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ASIN: B07C6HF9MG
Pages: 384
Review Copy From: Penguin Group via NetGalley
Edition: Kindle
My Rating: 5

A grand estate, terrible secrets, and a young woman who bears witness to it all. If V. C. Andrews and Kate Morton had a literary love child, Emma Rous’ The Au Pair would be it.

Seraphine Mayes and her twin brother Danny were born in the middle of summer at their family’s estate on the Norfolk coast. Within hours of their birth, their mother threw herself from the cliffs, the au pair fled, and the village thrilled with whispers of dark cloaks, changelings, and the aloof couple who drew a young nanny into their inner circle.

Now an adult, Seraphine mourns the recent death of her father. While going through his belongings, she uncovers a family photograph that raises dangerous questions. It was taken on the day the twins were born, and in the photo, their mother, surrounded by her husband and her young son, is beautifully dressed, smiling serenely, and holding just one baby.

Who is the child and what really happened that day?

One person knows the truth, if only Seraphine can find her.

Seraphine Mayes and her twin brother Daniel were born on a fateful day in June 1992 at the family estate. Later that day, their mother jumped to her death from the cliffs at the family home, the Summerbourne house. Was it suicide or something more sinister?

Twenty five years later, and nine days after their father died from an accident, Seraphine has found pictures that were never seen before and are creating more questions than answers. Before the accident, their father told them, along with their older brother Edwin that he has to tell them something.

It appears that Laura, Edwin’s Au Pair, was the one who took the picture that will thrust Seraphine into finding out the truth. But at what price will the truth cost?

The plot had twists and turns throughout. The characters believable but each one carried suspicion as to the lies that have been buried for so many years. Betrayals, secrets, love, and heartache are felt within the pages of this story.

A book that had me guessing with each turn of the page. An exciting read that I highly recommend!

Emma Rous is now on my “authors to read “list!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

I KNOW YOU KNOW by Gilly Macmillan
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published by William Morrow
Publication Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN-10: 0062698605
ISBN-13: 978-0062698605
Pages: 384
Review Copy From: Library
Edition: HC
My Rating: 5

From author Gilly Macmillan comes this original, chilling and twisty mystery about two shocking murder cases twenty years apart, and the threads that bind them.

Twenty years ago, eleven-year-olds Charlie Paige and Scott Ashby were murdered in the city of Bristol, their bodies dumped near a dog racing track. A man was convicted of the brutal crime, but decades later, questions still linger.

For his whole life, filmmaker Cody Swift has been haunted by the deaths of his childhood best friends. The loose ends of the police investigation consume him so much that he decides to return to Bristol in search of answers. Hoping to uncover new evidence, and to encourage those who may be keeping long-buried secrets to speak up, Cody starts a podcast to record his findings. But there are many people who don’t want the case—along with old wounds—reopened so many years after the tragedy, especially Charlie’s mother, Jess, who decides to take matters into her own hands.

When a long-dead body is found in the same location the boys were left decades before, the disturbing discovery launches another murder investigation. Now Detective John Fletcher, the investigator on the original case, must reopen his dusty files and decide if the two murders are linked. With his career at risk, the clock is ticking and lives are in jeopardy…

This year I have been addicted to psychological thrillers and this book did not disappoint.

What I also enjoyed, was the different approach of the story, whereas it was also a Podcast where Cody Swift would explain the new evidence he uncovered during the week in relation to the murder of his friends.

I thought I had this one figured out, however, once the mystery of the 3 deaths was unveiled I was a little disappointed. I thought it was a bit of a letdown BUT then came the last couple of chapters and I was floored.

Definitely a book to pick up if you are looking for a captivating read!!!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

THREE STRIKES by Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara and Charles Salzberg
Genre:Crime
Published by: Down & Out Books
Publication Date: September 10th 2018
Number of Pages: 350
ISBN: 978-1-948235-25-9
Pages: 350
Review Copy from: Authors
Edition: eBook
My Rating: 4

I Take Care of Myself in Dreamland

by Ross Klavan

Bartok is horribly scarred. Wounded in the Army, he roams through 1970’s New York, a city of perpetual night, punctuated by crime and populated by streetwalkers, hooker bars, strip clubs, easy drugs and a feeling of doom. There’s one thing on his mind: an experience he had when his Army truck exploded, an experience he calls Red River. More than bliss, more than spiritual. But nothing goes right. Bartok loses his girl, his money, any possibility of support and decides that he’s finished, he’s going to end it but before he does, he’s going out on the town for one last attempt to recapture the incredible experience of Red River. And when he does, he runs into others who see him as an easy mark for dirtier plans…plans that involve murder before suicide.

Bartok’s story is told by a driver for the mob, a guy who’s heard it all and usually keeps his mouth shut because when he begins a trip, it’s almost always one-way.

Jammed

by Tim O’Mara

Aggie’s back. After barely escaping with his life in “Smoked,” Aggie disproves the old adage of “Once burned…” This time around he’s heading from the Midwest to New York City with a sweet shipment of stolen maple syrup. He also has picked up an unwanted-and potentially dangerous-passenger; the fifteen-year-old daughter of his latest boss has hopped on for a free ride to the Big Apple and her on-line boyfriend. When they arrive in NYC, Aggie’s worst fears are realized when the “boyfriend” turns out to be a group of human traffickers. Aggie knew that running one of the world’s most valuable liquids across state lines was skirting the line between safety and danger, but he never knew it could get this sticky.

The Maybrick Affair

by Charles Salzberg

It’s a couple weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor and a young reporter, Jake Harper, who works for a small Connecticut newspaper, is assigned a routine human interest story. A reclusive, elderly woman, has quietly passed away in her small cottage upstate. Anxious for bigger stories, Jake begins his assignment by trying to find out who this woman was and what kind of life she led. As Jake investigates the old woman’s death he finds that years earlier she was tried and convicted of murdering her husband in a well-publicized, lurid trial in London, England. And, after digging further, he, unearths evidence that she might have had a connection to an even more famous British serial killer and that the ramifications of this story might affect America’s entry into the War.

Three novellas, two ‘new to me” authors and a few hours of escape!

Being novellas, and not wanting to give anything away, other than the synopsis above, each story was unique and captivating.

I enjoyed the writing style and descriptive narrative with each story. So much so, that I felt I was able to create vivid imagery as if it was a movie in my mind.

Each story had enough suspense that it kept me turning the pages.

I had read a book by Charles Salzberg, DEVIL IN THE HOLE, so I knew his story would be enjoyable and now I have 2 new authors that I want to read more of their work.

Definitely, recommend! Three stories that are highly entertaining and gripping!

Purchase Links: Down & Out Books | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara, and Charles Salzberg. There will be 4 winners of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card and three (3) eBooks. The giveaway begins on September 1, 2018 and runs through November 1, 2018. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Published by Ballantine Books
Publication Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN-10: 0425284689
ISBN-13: 978-0425284681
Pages: 352
Review Copy From: Library
Edition: HC
My Rating: 5

THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT—A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller

For readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale comes a “thought-provoking [and] complex tale about two families, two generations apart . . . based on a notorious true-life scandal.”*

Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.

As the synopsis states, Avery Stafford stumbles upon a mystery that involves her grandmother.

Based on a true life historical incident, this book was heartbreaking. Full of emotion, determination, loyalty, poverty, love, loss and family ties to last a lifetime.

The author writes an amazing fictional tale based on a horrific and dark side of adoption that took place in the 1930s.

A dynamic and gripping read! One that will stay with me for a long time!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

AFTER NIGHTFALL by A.J. Banner
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Published by Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: Aug. 10, 2018
ISBN-10: 1503949249
ISBN-13: 978-1503949249
Pages: 256
Review Copy From: Library
Edition: HC
My Rating: 5

Beware of friends with secrets…

Imagine your closest friend utterly betraying you. Years later, when she seeks forgiveness, you invite her to your engagement party as a gesture of reconciliation. But seething hostilities rise to the surface, ruining everyone’s evening. After an awful night, your friend’s battered, lifeless body is found at the bottom of a rocky cliff.

Newly engaged Marissa Parlette is living this nightmare. She should be celebrating her upcoming wedding, but she can’t shake the image of her friend lying dead on the beach. Did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she take a purposeful step into darkness? Desperate for answers, Marissa digs deep into the events of the party. But what she remembers happening after nightfall now carries sinister implications: the ugly sniping, the clandestine meetings, the drunken flirtations. The more she investigates, the more she questions everything she thought she knew about her friends, the man she once trusted, and even herself.

Bestselling author A. J. Banner keeps readers on a razor-sharp edge in this intricately plotted novel of psychological suspense…in which nothing is as it seems.

This was a “new to me” author but after seeing many great reviews and recommendations in the FB book groups I follow, I thought I would pick it up at my local library.

This is an edge of your seat read from the first word to the last. An elaborate puzzling plot that had me thinking I knew who the murderer was and then thinking it was another character. Not even close! And for the motive, WOW!, didn’t see that coming.

This author is now on my “authors to read” list and I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

Gripping! I definitely recommend it if you enjoy psychological thrillers.

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

THE LIAR’S ROOM by Simon Lelic
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Published by Berkley
Publication Date: January 15, 2019
ASIN: B07CKPBT1W
Pages: 352
Review Copy From: Publisher
Edition: ARC
My Rating: 4

ONE ROOM. TWO LIARS. NO WAY OUT…
Susanna Fenton has a secret. Fourteen years ago she left her identity behind, reinventing herself as a counsellor and starting a new life. It was the only way to keep her daughter safe.

But everything changes when Adam Geraghty walks into her office. She’s never met this young man before – so why does she feel like she knows him?

Then Adam starts to tell her about a girl. A girl he wants to hurt.

And Susanna realises she was wrong.
She doesn’t know him.
BUT HE KNOWS HER.
AND THE GIRL HE PLANS TO HURT IS HER DAUGHTER…

The addictive new thriller with an ending you’ll never guess, The Liar’s Room is perfect for readers of Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door and A J Finn’s The Woman in the Window.

SIMON LELIC – THRILLERS TO KEEP YOU UP ALL NIGHT:

After reading THE NEW NEIGHBORS, I knew I wanted to read more by this author and was lucky, very lucky to receive an ARC.

…”the past has a way of catching up” pg.268

Susanna has escaped her past but her secrets are still hidden, or she thought until a new client has come in for counseling.

Secrets are revealed but with a price! A taut and intense read filled with tension as each page is turned!

I enjoyed this chilling tale!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

Synopsis:

When her child’s life is at stake, a mother will do anything to save him.

Clara McNair is running out of time to save her son, James. When the two-year-old is diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, only an experimental treatment can save his life. She desperately needs money to pay for the surgery, but she’ll have to travel back to the site of her darkest memories to get it.

Clara has escaped the demons of her youth—or so she thinks. It’s been ten years since the mysterious disappearance of her parents. Widely suspected of murdering her mother and father, Clara fled west to start a new life. Now, a documentary film crew is offering cold, hard cash—enough to pay for James’s treatment—in exchange for the sordid secrets of her past.

With no other choice but to delve into a long-ago tragedy, Clara must unravel the lies surrounding that terrible night. Facing hostile gossip, Clara is fighting to clear her name and learn the truth about what really happened. But how far will she go into the dark to save her son—and herself?

Click Here to get your Audiobook copy of A Mother’s Lie, today!

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published by: Relay Publishing
AudioBook Release Date: April 23, 2018
AudioBook Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
ISBN: 978-1979295420
Purchase Links: Amazon | Audible | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

Author Bio:

Jo Crow gave ten years of her life to the corporate world of finance, rising to be one of the youngest VPs around. She carved writing time into her commute to the city, but never shared her stories, assuming they were too dark for any publishing house. But when a nosy publishing exec read the initial pages of her latest story over her shoulder, his albeit unsolicited advice made her think twice.

A month later, she took the leap, quit her job, and sat down for weeks with pen to paper. The words for her first manuscript just flew from her. Now she spends her days reading and writing, dreaming up new ideas for domestic noir fans, and drawing from her own experiences in the cut-throat commercial sector.

Not one to look back, Jo is all in, and can’t wait for her next book to begin.

Catch Up With Our Author On: Facebook & Goodreads!

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Jo Crow. There will be 5 winners of one (1) A MOTHER’S LIE by Jo Crow audiobook. The giveaway begins on October 2, 2018 and runs through October 8, 2018. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

<

h3> </h3