Welcome to Litsy!

Maeve & Derwent are on the team to investigate a spate of attacks on police officers. Maeve is also struggling with her knowledge of Superintendent Godley's corruption & boyfriend Rob's preoccupation with something or someone else.

Re-reading this in a clearer state of mind than being angry at the author throwing Rob 'under the bus', I can see more nuance this time but Derwent's predatory behaviour in this one still rankles.

A fictional imagining of the life of Mary Jane Kelly, known to history as the fifth & final victim of Jack the Ripper in 1888. Little is definitively known about Kelly - we are even unsure as to whether that was her real name - so there's a lot of scope.

This started off a little 'Catherine Cookson' but I was quickly drawn into Mary's story which covers her early years up until leaving the village in Wales where she was born (in this story).

A spontaneous readathon that starts today 😂 Join me as I #ReadOuttheOld and get ready for 2025!!! Even though there is less than a week left of 2024, there is still time to wrap up a book or challenge, or maybe just pretend you had zero reading goals for 2024 and read whatever you want! 😆 Feel free to tag me and let me know what you're reading!!

I'm tagging my WinterGames team, but anyone is welcome to join!!

Molly is your average 15-year-old, wanting to join a band, live under the radar at school, & being totally embarrassed by her parents being 'The Rocking Stockings' a Christmas band. Back when Molly was just a small child & her parents were known as the 'Brussel Shouts', they made a Christmas record called 'Love Your Elf' & Molly starred as 'Little Elf Girl'. A fact Molly has been trying to hide ever since. (continued)

When Guy Haines meets Charles Bruno on the train he has no idea his life is about to unravel. On his way to see his estranged wife to hopefully obtain a divorce, Haines finds himself confiding in fellow passenger Bruno almost against his will. Bruno has his own trouble, namely his father, & during a quiet meal in Bruno's compartment, Bruno comes up with the idea of swapping murders.

This looked a promising thriller in the synopsis & I really enjoyed books set in/on isolated areas. I found this one a little underwhelming though. Although the idea is good, the POVs for Dee & Tori were not differentiated enough by their characters, & I had to keep checking who was narrating a particular chapter as it could have been either. (continued)

This penultimate (for now) book in the series examines the dark side of....Morris dancing. Yes the traditionally twee pastime involving dressing in a costume, with bells, & banging wooden sticks together! I might have been more incredulous had I not read a book earlier this year (or last year) about the old practice of wassailing & its more sinister side.

This is a comparatively short read for a crime thriller at under 300 pages but it packs a punch. I was simultaneously sympathetic to Madeleine & suspicious that she might not be being completely truthful. It was fairly fast-paced due to the length but I thought that the ending was a little weak. 4🌟

Full Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5966872614
Read 8th-9th Dec 2024

This is the fourth of the books set in the Jolvix world that I've read, & it's probably my second least favourite. The story line is good but I disliked the main character. Granted she has issues to do with both her childhood & the death of her first love, but she is absolutely horrible to ex-colleague & friend Ted at times. I found myself a bit irritated with her to be honest. 3.5 🌟

TWs: death, discussion of suicide, drug use/alcoholism.

My review is a bit too long to post here so see it in full at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/729121346

Read 6th-7th Dec 2024
4630 points (including 419 words found)

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