Welcome to Litsy!

A true crime podcaster and her wife are snowed in at a Scottish hotel they'd gone to for a long weekend to rekindle their relationship. A guest falls or is pushed from a turret balcony, the first of many deaths on this less than idyllic getaway.

Great fun as a parody and a good mystery as well. The more familiar you are with Cluedo, the more puns you will appreciate. I smiled and groaned and gave the little grey cells a good workout.

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Catching up from last weekends reading and I'd enjoyed the birdwatcher so much I picked up the next in the series in which DS Culpidi takes centre stage. She is a single mum police officer transferred from te met to Kent police and is a great character as are those surrounding her. The plot features migrant workers and their exploitation by gang members. Definitely a series I will be going back to soon.

Not an easy read. I'd not seen the experience of social interaction from an autistic woman's point of view so recognisably depicted: oh, the relief!... until it started to feel all exposing and nasty.
I couldn't bear how casually cruel almost everyone was to Sunday.
I was intrigued by her fluency in sign language.
It did get rather repetitive (a saggy middle caused by all those horrendous dinners?)
I thought the ending hit the right note.

True crime podcaster Liza & stockbroker Hanna plan to spend the weekend at a romantic Scottish castle to try & save their marriage. & then the bodies start dropping.

This was quite delightful. Loved our main characters & their relationship. The side characters were all quirky, & the humor was spot on. & lots of red herrings! The last few murders ended up getting a little ridiculous, but I was honestly charmed. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Stressful day at work, so I made brownies! #AudioBaking

This one wrecked me. It‘s small in scope, but the ache it planted in my chest was big & deep & lingering. Mother/daughter relationships can be hard. So can those with ex-in-laws or new friends. But for Sunday, the novel‘s neurodivergent protagonist, they‘re further complicated by the canyon between who she is & who others want/expect her to be. The hurts & hardships caused by this gully - some accidental, some not - were enough to break my heart.

There is a palpable tension and anxiety that builds in this novel because the MC Sunday seems so vulnerable, though there isn‘t anything explicitly threatening in it. I could feel how Sunday‘s rich inner emotional life conflicted with the flat affect of autism she presented. It was a relief when she quit struggling to conform to social expectations and allowed herself to just be. Worth a reread!

This book. 💔 An exquisitely written, heart wrenching story of motherhood, cruelty and betrayal. The narcissistic Vita and cowardly Rolls. Beautiful Sunday. And young Dolly in the middle of it all. A powerful start to my reading year.