Murder on Oxford Lane by Tony Bassett

 

"Our team of trained offices have spent hundreds of hours probing every aspect of this case, and yet we've drawn a blank. This has proved an extremely challenging month. What we're hoping for now is some publicity so we can flush out this killer and resolve both cases".

Murder on Oxford Lane by Tony Bassett is a murder mystery, with a strong police procedural element.

This is the first book in a cosy crime series, set in the West Midlands. The countsryside setting and the passions brewing in picturesque villages will remind you of Midsomer Murders. There is a strong emphasis on the investigation, conducted by the police team.

One cold and frosty evening local businessmand and property developer Harry Bowers arrives home for a quick bite before rushing to the choir practice in the church hall. Only he never makes it to the practice. He was last seen in the local newsagent's, and afterwards seems to have vanished without any trace.

The wife takes her time to report her husband's disappearance. What has kept her so long to make a phone call to the police?

DCI Gavin Roscoe lives in the nearby village of Queensbridge, where his wife Helen runs the popular local tearooms. Roscoe and his team, including Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy, investigate the disappearance of the businessman.

This is Sunita's first case with Roscoe. After a shaky start and a criticism from her boss, Sunita starts to show initiative. She is also dealing with personal issues, as her ex is stalking her relentlessly. At first she tries to be kind to him, asking to stop sending her text messages. 

"She felt sorry for him, standing alone in the darkness, begging to be readmitted to her life. But she knew she must stand firm. Arun Halder... was no more than a relic from the past". However, Arun is a pest who cannot accept the truth that the relationship is over.

Despite the personal issues, Sunita shows her mettle. She is convinced that Harry Bowers has met a sinister end.

The more they dig into the businessman's life, the more secrets they uncover. His marriage has been a failure on both sides, and his business is in trouble as well. 

Then the body is found floating in the marina. Is it Harry Bowers?

DS Roy is struggling to win the respect of her colleagues. Slowly, her boss who at first thinks her lack of practical experience might hold her back, realises that she is going to fit in quite well.

It looks like the Midlands hasn't moved on with the times. The men in the community and even workplace are patronising and condensending. Sunita's been addressed to as a young lady, my dear Sergeant, a lady Sergeant etc. 

What's happened to the vanished chorister? And who's the man found in the river? Is Sunita Roy resilient enough to stand up to the prejudices of Middle England?

The story focuses on the police investigation which is gripping and insightful. The working relationship between Roscoe and Roy is evolving as the investigation progresses. 

Murder on Oxford Lane is a well-plotted police procedural. It is an easy read, with an intriguing storyline and a supreme setting. 

Purchase Link

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MURDER-OXFORD-LANE-gripping-suspense-ebook/dp/B09Q3L5YFT/

https://www.amazon.com/MURDER-OXFORD-LANE-gripping-suspense-ebook/dp/B09Q3L5YFT/

This post is part of the blog tour for Murder on Oxford Lane.

Many thanks to Tony Bassett, The Book Folks and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!

Author Bio –

Tony Bassett, a former Fleet Street journalist, has written a gripping series of crime novels set in the Midlands.

The first book in the series is called Murder on Oxford Lane. Published by The Book Folks, it concerns the disappearance of a property tycoon from a sleepy Warwickshire village.

Middle-aged DCI Gavin Roscoe and his relatively inexperienced sergeant, DS Sunita Roy, are confronted by suspicious deaths as they struggle to uncover what has happened to the businessman.

The second book in this Midlands crime series, The Crossbow Stalker, will be released shortly.

Tony decided to set this string of novels in Warwickshire and Worcestershire after spending many happy years working as a newspaper reporter in Worcester.

He first developed a love of writing at the age of nine when he and a friend produced a magazine called the Globe at their junior school in Sevenoaks, Kent.

At Hull University, Tony was named student journalist of the year in 1971 in a competition run by Time-Life magazine and went onto become a national newspaper journalist, mainly working for the Sunday People in both its newsroom and investigations department.

His very first book to be published, the crime novel Smile Of The Stowaway, was released in December 2018. It concerns a Kent couple who harbour a stowaway and then battle to clear his name when he is charged with murder.

Then, in March 2020, the spy novel The Lazarus Charter, was released. It involves foreign agents operating in the UK. The book has kindly been endorsed by Marina Litvinenko, widow of the murdered Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, and by Stan and Caroline Sturgess, parents of the innocent mother-of-three poisoned with novichok in Salisbury in 2018.

Tony, who has written at least four other novels which are as yet unpublished, has five grown-up children. He is a Life Member of the National Union of Journalists. He lives in South-East London with his partner Lin.

 

Social Media Links –

www.tonybassettauthor.com

www.twitter.com/tonybassett1

www.facebook.com/tony.bassett.92505

www.instagram.com/tonyba1

Death in the Mist by Jo Allen

 

"The crag that sheltered the tarn from sun and wind was patched with snow, streaked brown with thin soil washed down from above. The surface of the water below it was still and menacing, black with the absence of light.

They said the sun never reached it. They said its depths were occupied by two immortal fishes. It was fifty feet deep and even in good weather it looked as if it went down for ever, to the very centre of the Earth. It was cold and it was dangerous. She swallowed back a tear".

Death in the Mist by Jo Allen is the murder mystery set in Cumbria. This is the seventh book in the DCI Satterthwaite series. It reads as a standalone, but it would help to understand the relationships of the main protagonists better if you read the previous books in the series.

The blurb on the cover catches your attention at once: 

A drowned man. A missing teenager. A deadly secret.

Every year, on the anniversary of her son Luke's disappearance, Emmy Leach makes a trip to the Cumbrian tarn, where she belives her son has perished all those years ago. He was a demanding teen, with a challenging behaviour. "After his disappearance, she chose to forget those things. Fifteen years on, she remembered only the joy of his presence and the aching pain of his absence". Though his body has never been found, Emmy believes he son is no longer alive.

While placing a bunch of daffodils in a jar on the rocks and thinking of her lost boy, she spots something in the icy water. It is an abandoned tent, and it appears that it contains something or someone inside it.

The police retrieve a body of a drug addict, wrapped in the tent. This discovery will set in motion a chain of events which will prove that the past casts a long shadow. 

DCI Jude Satterthwaite, his colleague and former partner Detective Sergeant Ashleigh O'Halloran and their team investigate the murder. Jude has to revive his first, unsolved case. 

The case reveals that Emmy's past is complicated. And someone will go to any lengths to protect the lethal truth. 

Discovering more about the past of the victim, Jude sees some parallels with his troublesome younger brother Mikey. Mikey is still bitter about the divorce of his parents, and resents Jude's overprotective behaviour. 

Luke had also struggled with his parents' divorce, and hated his step-father Rob. 

Emmy was aware of the mutual hatred betwen her son and husband, but sadly, chose her husband over her child. After Luke's disappearance, she cannot even properly grieve. "He'd [Rob] done everything properly and supported her, but she'd sensed early on that he'd felt only relief after her son had gone. She'd sensed, too, that her mourning, and the inevitable guilt that accompanied it, had quickly come to irritate him..."

Rob is manipulative and has a cruel streak. He controls who his wife meets and befriends. Emmy is isolated and is afraid of angering her husband. 

"In her heart of hearts, Emmy thought this unreasonable. though her need for Rob's esteem was great enough that she let it dominate her..."

After meeting Emmy, Ashleigh's own demons reawaken. Just like Emmy, she has been in a difficult coercive relationship. Her ex-husband was also dominant and controlling. She sees all the signs, and tries to help. Why does not Emmy see it herself?

Ashleigh is still besotted with her cheating ex, but she's wiser now. Jude observes that the case is upsetting Ashleigh more than it usually would. Her empathy make her one of the best interviewers on the team, but her mental state is fragile.

As a way of meditating, and trying to find balance in her thoughts, Ashleigh spreads her trusted Tarot cards. But now the cards don't bring any clarity or consolation.

It becomes clear that Emmy is in danger. There are too many secrets both her husband and she have from each other, and the police. 

Who is guilty? Who is the innocent party? The secrets of the past are about to come out.

Death in the Mist is a thought-provoking, melancholic read, which deals with issues of coercive control, manipulative behaviour, loss of self-esteem, isolation and misplaced sense of loyalty. It's the complicated love triangle that's in the mist. Mist of mistrust, unease, dishonesty and cruelty. Both men in Emmy's life, who claim to love her, are manipulative liars who would do anything to win.

Like the previous books in the series, Death in the mist is a wistful contemplation of the human relationships, our frailties and strengths.

It's a compelling story, with complex, believable characters and a shocking ending.

If you liked reading this review, you might want to catch up on the reviews of the previous books in the series.

Death at Rainbow Cottage

Death on the Lake

Death in the Woods

Purchase Links

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Mist-DCI-Satterthwaite-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B09KYJK6H9

US - https://www.amazon.com/Death-Mist-DCI-Satterthwaite-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B09KYJK6H

This review is part of the blog tour for Death in the Mist.

Many thanks to Jo Allen and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book.

Author Bio –

Jo Allen was born in Wolverhampton and is a graduate of Edinburgh, Strathclyde and the Open University, with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in geography and Earth science. She's been writing for pleasure and publication for as long as she can remember. After a career in economic consultancy she took up writing and was first published under the name Jennifer Young, in genres of short stories, romance and romantic suspense. She wrote online articles on travel and on her favourite academic subject, Earth science. In 2017 she took the plunge and began writing the genre she most likes to read -- crime.

Jo lives in the English Lakes, where the DCI Satterthwaite series is set. In common with all her favourite characters, she loves football (she's a season ticket holder with her beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers) and cats.

 

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/JoAllenAuthor

https://twitter.com/JoAllenAuthor

https://www.instagram.com/joallenauthor/

An Escape to Remember by T.A. Williams

 

"...she felt remarkably relaxed, unusually relaxed. Something told her the Grand Hotel del Montferrato was going to prove to be a perfect place of escape and a little oasis of calm. And she could certainly do with some of that".

An Escape to Remember by T.A. Williams is a glorious romance, set in the hills of Turin.

When Louise Rhodes arrives home from her work trip a day earlier, hoping to surprise her boyfriend Tommy, she is shocked to find him in bed with another woman. "In the space of a few seconds her whole life had been turned upside down. Tommy had been the man with whom she had been planning to spend the rest of her life but now those dreams were in tatters".

Louise is heart-broken, and wonders, "Was she the problem? Had she not been loving enough or considerate enough or understanding enough? Of course it was likely, that her job had been part of the problem... No, whatever contributing factors there might have been from her side, the blame here lay squarely on Tommy's shoulders".

Thankfully, her boss Joseph (unaware of the drama at home) comes with a grand project. He wants Louise to go to Italy, as he has just signed off on a deal to purchase a hotel in the hills of north-west Italy, just below the Alps. 

The Grand Hotel del Montferrato is old, quirky and picturesque, and has been operating for over a hundred years, but it's "bearly ticking over at present" and needs a major renovation. 

Joseph sends Louise to Italy with a plan, "Go through it from head to toe. Make any changes you think fit to the property itself, the facilities, the management and staff at all levels. Get rid of any dead wood and turn it into one of the best luxury hotels at all levels". That's quite an ask.

Louise is glad to have a new purpose. As it happens, the hotel is in dire need of renovations, but the staff working there prove to be loyal and hard-working. "Just like the orchestra playing on the Titanic, they had carried on as normal while the hotel had slowly started to sink beneath the waves".

Having arrived to Italy, Louise is determined to stay away from men. 

"Her upcoming trip to rural Italy sounded as though it would provide a place to escape from the memory of Tommy and his woman".

To complicate matters even further, Joseph invites Louise for dinner, and their conversation leaves her confused. Is Joseph interested in her?

Her old flame, Paolo has re-appeared in her life. He was Louise's first real great love. The romance ended abruptly when Paolo "made it brutally clear that his career took priority over everything - including her". He's having marital problems back in the States, and considers it a sign from above, that he and Louise might get back together. 

Tommy is still pretty much in her thoughts too. 

And there's an enigmatic Count Vittorio Emanuele Dellarosa, whose family has owned the hotel for many years. He inherited the failing business and sold it along with everything else. Vittorio is a recluse, who lives in the old mill, quite close to the hotel, with Leo, his big brown Labrador.

There is a wave of sadness surrounding him, he works as a professor at Turin University but barely ventures in the local society, as if he has given up on any chance of finding his personal happiness. What is the tragedy behind his seclusion?

Louise feels "an immediate and inexplicable feeling of familiarity, almost as if the two of them had already met". Vito appears to be polite, but very reserved, unlike his dog Leo who seems to be deliriously happy to meet her every time she walks in the countryside around the hotel.

"Her head was spinning with conflicting thoughts of four men. First, there was Tommy and the still open wound caused by his infidelity, second was the former love of her life who had moved to the other side of the globe, only to reappear like magic, third her boss whose intentions she couldn't fathom, and now, suddenly, this unknown man who had made such an inexplicable first impression on her..."

Louise is excellent at her job as a company troubleshooter for the luxury hotel chain, and gradually the hotel is returning to the glory days. She knows what she is doing, but finds it not that easy to stay focused purely on the job, as she keeps thinking of the handsome hermit Vito.

His tragic past and her newly-minted policy of staying away from men make it almost impossible for any romance to bud. Will Louise and Vito have a chance to open their hearts to each other?

An Escape to Remember has been a perfect antidote to depressive thoughts, and I needed a bit of happy escapism, with beautiful landscapes and gorgeous food. And though I'm not a dog person, I couldn't but smile at the antics of the impulsive and uninhibited Leo. He is such a character that he often steals the scenes.

There are several supporting characters who make the leading story even more compelling. The stories of the hotel staff, Calogero, Domenica and Luigino, interweave into the main plotline, helping it build to a beautiful ending.

The Italian setting is so vividly described, you feel transported to Italy. The author has an impressive knowledge of the Italian cuisine too. I kept nodding my head at the food descriptions, yes, I'd be happy to eat that, and that, and that. Bravo for all the Italian food desciptions, totally spot on!

Fabulous escapism with oodles of atmosphere and romance. Made me want to re-visit Italy straight away.

This post is part of the publication day event for An Escape to Remember.

Many thanks to T.A. Williams, NetGalley and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

Purchase Link - mybook.to/AnEscape

Author Bio – I’m a man. And a pretty old man as well. I did languages at university a long time ago and then lived and worked in France and Switzerland before going to Italy for seven years as a teacher of English. My Italian wife and I then came back to the UK with our little daughter (now long-since grown up) where I ran a big English language school for many years. We now live in a sleepy little village in Devonshire. I’ve been writing almost all my life but it was only seven years ago that I finally managed to find a publisher who liked my work enough to offer me my first contract.

The fact that I am now writing escapist romance is something I still find hard to explain. My early books were thrillers and historical novels. Maybe it’s because there are so many horrible things happening in the world today that I feel I need to do my best to provide something to cheer my readers up. My books provide escapism to some gorgeous locations, even if travel to them is currently difficult.

Social Media Links –

Website: www.tawilliamsbooks.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/tawilliamsbooks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrevorWilliamsBooks/

Badlands by Gary Kruse

 

Badlands

Surf. Sand. Smugglers. Murder.

 

Willow has run as far as she can.

From her home.

From the friends she betrayed.

From the family who betrayed her.

From her own name.

But a cry for help will bring her back.

Back to face her family.

Back to face the sins of her past.

Back to face the darkness at the heart of Cornwall.

In the search for her sister, Willow will face deception and betrayal, before she’ll find love – and herself. But will she uncover how close the enemy is, or will she become another victim of the Badlands?

 

Purchase Link - http://mybook.to/badlandsdarkstroke

Author Bio – Gary Kruse is a multi-genre writer of flash fiction, short stories and novels. He lives with his family in Hornchurch on the Essex/London border.

He began writing as a teenager after seeing the Craft in the cinema and wondering what would happen if the coven of witches from the Craft came face to face with the Lost Boys (the vampires, not Peter Pan's crew!).

His work has appeared online and in print anthologies and his short story "Mirror Mirror" was shortlisted in the WriteHive 2021 Horror competition, and subsequently featured in the "Duplicitous" anthology.

His short story "Hope in the Dark" won first place in the November 2021 edition of the Writers' Forum Short Story competition.

His debut novel “Badlands” is published through Darkstroke on 21st January 2022.

 

Social Media Links –

www.twitter.com/@KruseGowerWrite

www.instagram.com/@gowerkrusewrites

www.facebook.com/gary.kruse.1029

https://garykruse.co.uk/

Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi

"In even the most innocent scenes there is darkness to be found at the corners," he said, "from the way the light falls on the frame."

"Are fictional detectives fundamentally dishonest?" She thought about the question. "That could be the title of a doctoral thesis". He waited for her to answer, the silence punctured by birdsong. "I would say no. No more than fiction itself".

Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi is an entertaining and quirky detective novel. You can compare it to a game of Cluedo, as you move from chapter to chapter, master the act of deduction, following the clues to solve the murder mystery.

Julia Hart arrives to an island in the Mediterranean where the reclusive Scottish author and mathematician Grant McAllister lives his solitary life. His book of mysteries, published many years ago, during the golden age of detective fiction, might be published again, with an introduction and re-edited material. 

McAllister's claim to fame is that he came up with a mathematical theory of crime fiction. His book of stories is meant to support his theory. "All of these stories derive from a research paper that I wrote in nineteen thirty-seven, examining the mathematical structure of murder mysteries... The aim of that research paper was to give a mathematical definition of a murder mystery".

The paper lists all of the possible permutations of detective fiction. When Julia queries that there must be an awful lot of these permutations, the professor explains, "Strictly speaking, there are infinitely many, but they divide into a small number of archetypes. In fact, the main structural variations can be counted on two hands. The stories were written to illustrate these major variations... The mathematical definition is simple... Effectively, it just states the four ingredients that comprise a murder mystery, with a few conditions applying to each one".

"The first ingredient is a group of suspects; the characters that may, or may not, have been responsible for the killing".

"The second ingredient of a murder mystery is a victim, or a group of victims. Those characters that have been killed in unknown circumstances".

Following that logic, you might guess that the third ingredient is a detective, or a group of detectives. "Those characters that are trying to solve the crime. I considered this one to be optional, which is to say that the group of detectives can have nobody in it... We make no restriction on the size of the group".

And finally, the fourth component is the murderer. "A killer, or a group of killers; those responsible for the deaths of the victims. Without that it's certainly not a murder mystery". The condition is that the killer(s) must be drawn from the pool of suspects

The concept is an intriguing one. 

The book is divided into chapters with seven different short stories, which are not connected between themselves, except by the genre (murder mystery). Each of the stories has hidden inconsistencies, or "jokes", as the author tries to explain later. The reader is supposed to work them out, if they are smart enough to pay attention to all the details.

Each chapter goes on like that: under the pretext of editing and re-writing the book of crime stories, Julia reads a story to McAllister to stimulate his memory, then she explains to him what she thinks the inconsistencies are, and keeps pestering him for personal information. He is happy enough to talk about his stories, but is reticent about his personal affairs, and rightly so.

It appears Julia suspects McAllister of being involved in an old unsolved murder case, which happened many years earlier.

The stories are quite underwhelming, unpleasant, and leave a nasty aftertaste. The writing clearly emulates the style of the golden era of the British crime story, but in an amateur way (which will be explained at the end of the book). It might be presented as the homage to the classic crime stories, but overall these are derivative and affected stories.

The fifth story, Trouble on Blue Pearl Island, is described as the homage to Agatha Christie (And Then There Were None), but it's not so much the homage as the direct stealing borrowing of the crime setting and scenario.

Some of the stories are plain disturbing. You can argue that all murder stories are disturbing, but here they are so clinical, unemotional, merciless and plain unpleasant. I don't think there is a single likeable character in the book, including Julia who has her own agenda and hounds the old man with her cleverness and cunning.

As it happens, by re-writing each story Julia is trying to trick McAllister into confession regarding the unsolved murder mystery which happened years earlier in London, dubbed as The White Murder. She believes he might have been involved or at least knows something about it.

As a reader, you feel somewhat cheated, since it's not something that you can predict, following the plot.

The ending with the solution to the "main" murder mystery is rather heavy-handed and not very plausible. 

Eight Detectives has been lauded as a box of delights by The New Yorl Times (see the endorsement on the cover), which I tend to disagree with. 

I had rather high expectations, reading the book endorsements and reviews in the papers. The narrative is very dry, as if dissected with the precision of the scalpel, and arranged on the mortuary slab. Totally devoid of any human emotion. 

You can argue it's clever, in a textbook-style of writing, but it's lost its soul on the way. 

To find a positive slant, I liked the cover design of this book, it's playful, curious and original. There are way too many crime stories now with the almost identical figures of women in red/yellow/blue shown from the back against some dark, stormy, gloomy background. There are so many of them, they begin to morph into one design. I wonder if these design artists all studied art in the same school.

SPOILER ALERT!

If you haven't read this book, please do not read further, as there are some major spoilers.

In the end we find out that the stories are actually written by a woman (and later re-written by another woman). Yes, there are plenty of women who write crime stories, and some of them do pile on a lot of gruesome details, but... The style of these stories feels masculine to me. The re-written story about the nasty sadistic detective, where he drowns the young woman in the bathtub, then tortures the "suspect" for the confession... That ending with the body on the mortuary slab being all his. I don't see this necrophiliac story as a work of a woman.

Have you read Eight Detectives? Did you find it a box of delights?

Love's Legacy by Natalie Kleinman

 

"To herself the young Miss Worthington had long acknowledged that marriage, that most traditional of all occupations for a young woman, would be the most expedient. Two things, though, stood as a bar to this being a resolution. Firstly, she had to find a man willing to marry her, other than the major, of course, and secondly she had no ambition to enter the state of matrimony without love".

This quote, very Austenesque in style, gives us a glimpse of a conundrum facing young Patience Worthington, the heroine of Love's Legacy by Natalie Kleinman. 

It's an enchanting love story, mixed with beautiful Regency settings, both in the countryside and in Bath, with wonderful characters.

Patience has just lost her father, a countryside reverend. She's left with no home and very little money.  "With the passing of Reverend Nicholas Worthington went also the last vestige of her security. At twenty-two years old Patience was alone, with only a small bequest from her father to support herself".

Upon her father's death, Patience finds a letter addressed to her, from her late mother who died several years earlier. This letter reveals some of the family secrets, and the hint to the big scandal, which made her family reject her.

On his deathbed, the Reverend asked his daughter to seek support at her estranged uncle's household. The two brothers had a falling out many years ago. In the letter the Reverend begs his older brother, the Viscount, to put aside their differences and take Patience into his household, the vast Worthington Place. As it happens, her uncle has died as well, and the current viscount is her cousin Gideon. 

On hearing of her plight, Gideon offers Patience to stay at one of his properties on the Worthington estate.

 Mary Petersham, her former governess, now a trusted companion, accompanies Patience. They are very fond of each other. Mary, more mature and sage than Patience, thinks this is the perfect place for them both. They are secure and well-provided, the little cottage is cosy and charming.

However, Patience (who doesn't quite live up to her name) is less tolerant of her current situation. Having discovered, that her late mother and the Viscountess have parted in hostile circumstances years ago, she doesn't feel comfortable, staying on sufferance from her relatives. "The son didn't want her. He was only doing what he saw as his duty. Her aunt refused even to meet her. No, the sooner she could contrive a way to leave, the better".

Sparks fly among them. Hester, the Viscountess, is still holding the old grudges, which puts Gideon in an awkward position. And Patience is a mulish headstrong and obstinate character.

She is too proud to accept Gideon's charity, and finds an opportunity to leave Worthington Place and stay with her mother's relatives in Bath. She is "determined to carve out a life for herself on her own terms".

While in Bath, Patience becomes an instant success among the local society. Gideon visits Bath often enough, for them to become friends. They seem to enjoy each other's company, and have a lot of things in common, yet the misunderstandings threaten their blossoming relationship. He is over-protective, and she is wilful. 

When their growing bond stretches to the point of splintering due to the dark secrets and the shadows of the past, will Patience and Gideon be able to let the bygones be bygones and open their hearts to each other?

Love's Legacy is a delightful Regency romance story, which will appeal to the fans of Jane Austen, Mary Balogh and Georgette Hayer. Vivid and evocative, Love's legacy is utterly enchanting, entertaining and romantic. 

My favourite character is Mary. She is a talented amateur artist who blossoms into the true professional. Art becomes more than her hobby. She doesn't need a man in her life to find her true self. She is loyal, caring, gentle and wise. The book celebrates female friendship and companionship. 

Life in the Regency Bath is evoked with an attentive eye for historical detail. The scenes at the Pump Room ("There is no better place to observe life than the Pump Room...") and observations of the Society will transport you back in time. The dynamics of the households will keep you captivated, while the romance is slowly building up, and is delicately drawn.

This is the third book by Natalie Kleinman that I've read, and it's my favourite yet.

You can see my previous reviews of Natalie's books here:

The Ghost of Glendale (review)

and The Ghost of Glendale (book excerpt)

When Only Pride Remains

This book review is part of the blog tour for Love's Legacy. Many thanks to Natalie Kleinman for my e-copy of the book!

About the Author:

Natalie's passion for reading became a compulsion when she attended a ten-week course in creative writing some sixteen or so years ago, She takes delight in creating short stories of which more than forty have been published, but it was her lifelong love of Regency romance that led her to turn from contemporary romantic fiction to try her hand at her favourite genre.

Raised on a diet of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, she is never happier than when immersed in an age of etiquette and manners, fashion and intrigue, all combined into a romping good tale.

She lives on the London/Kent border, close to the capital's plethora of museums and galleries which she uses for research as well as pleasure. A perfect day though is when she heads out of town to enjoy lunch by a pub on the river, any river, in company of her husband and friends.

Natalie is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, the Society of Authoors and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

You can find out more about Natalie on Twitter @NatKleinman, Facebook/NatalieKleinmanAuthor and on her website nataliekleinman.com

Social Media Links –

 https://nataliekleinman.com/

https://www.facebook.com/NatalieKleinmanAuthor/

https://twitter.com/NatKleinman

https://www.instagram.com/nataliekleinman6279

Home Comforts Degustabox

 

Home Comforts is the theme of the latest Degustabox.

Degustabox is a monthly food and drink subscription box. It's an excellent way of discovering new products which have only just appeared in the shops, or those which have been around for a while, but you haven't had a chance to try them yet.

Thanks to Degustabox, I have found new favourites to add to our shopping list, including some products which I otherwise wouldn't have tried.

Each time a monthly box arrives, its contents are a total surprise. You get a good selection of foods and drinks.

If you haven't tried Degustabox subscription box yet, and would like to have a go, I have a £3off discount from your first box (and you can unsubscribe any time), just use code DKRLN when placing an order. 

What did we get in Home Comforts Degustabox box? This month's selection will appeal to chocoholics.

McVitie's Blissfuls (£2.59) has been selected as the Product of the Month. Enjoy crunchy biscuits with a smooth cream filling, either Belgian Chocolate Cream with Hazelnut or Caramel. It's a lovely multi-textured treat, great with a cup of tea or coffee.

They are delicious, and the resealable pouches help to keep them fresh longer.

Nutritional values: 72kcal and 4.8g of sugar per biscuit.

Subscribers will receive one of two flavours in their box.

Available in all major supermarket chains.

KitKat 2 Finger White Chocolate Biscuit Bar (£1.99) is the latest addition to the KitKat range. It is made with sustainably sourced cocoa (Cocoa Plan and Rainforest Alliance-certified). You get the classic crispy wafer biscuits, covered with the smooth and creamy white chocolate.

No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, and suitable for vegetarians.

I'm not the biggest fan of the white chocolate (with a few rare exceptions), but my guys are the opposte, they adore white chocolate. White KitKat disappeared so fast, I even haven't had a chance to sample any.

Nutritional values: 106kcal and 9.6g of sugar per bar.

Available in all major supermarket chains.

Urban Fruit Wellness Strength (£2.85 -£3) is a blend of tropical fruit in bite sized cubes.

Blended fruit bites are made with pineapple, mango, passionfruit, strawberry and beetroot. Just fruit and veg, and nothing else. They are fruity, flavourful and chewy. With 37% of your RI per 100g of potassium, which contributes to normal muscle function.

High in fibre, gluten free and vegan friendly, 1 of your 5 a day, these tasty snacks are available in three flavours: Strength, Immune and Glow.

Handy to have in the pantry for the mid-afternoon snack.

Nutritional values: 312kcal and 58g of sugar per 100g (one pack is 85g).

Available in-store at Waitrose, Tesco and online on Ocado and Amazon.

Mikado Milk Chocolate (£1.50 for 75g pack) is a well-known brand of chocolate biscuits. These thin crunchy sticks dipped in smooth chocolate are utterly irresistible. One stick is only 11kcal, though it's hard to stop at one.

These sticks come in a handy flip-top pack which makes it easier to snack.

Available at all major supermarkets and online.

Bounce Choc Brownie (£1.99) is a plant-based protein ball, filled with a squishy nut butter centre and coated with chocolate. High in protein, fibre and all the good stuff, dairy-free, gluten free, vegan.

Nutritional information: 178kcal, 9.8g of protein and 10.3g of sugar per ball.

Available in Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Co-Op, Holland & Barrett and on Amazon.

BelVita Soft Bakes Choc Chips (£2.79) are soft bakes, made with wholegrain cereals and chocolate chips and added minerals. BelVita promises to give you energy for the whole morning. Soft Bakes are gently baked to preserve nutritional qualities inside and provide slow release carbohydrates through your morning.

No colours or preservatives, source of fibre, calcium, magnesium and iron, suitable for vegetarians.

Nutritional values: 200kcal and 9.9g of sugar per biscuit.

Available in all major supermarket chains.

MIGHTY Chocolate Shake (£1.60) is a smooth, rich and creamy plant-based (yellow split peas), dairy-free milkshake alternative. It is sweetened by agave syrup (thus no artificial sweeteners or sugar). This chocolate drink has 40% less sugar than other flavoured drinks.

100% vegan, made with real cocoa, source of vitamin D, B12 and iodine.

Each portion contains 11g of plant protein.

Available at Tesco and on www.mightydrinks.com

Tea India UK Masala Chai (£2.50) is a delicious, rich and warming blend of black tea, cinnamon, cloves and anise, offering you an authentic chai experience.

Brew as a normal cup of tea, or simmer in hot milk for a creamy chai latte. I like to add a teaspoon of honey to this aromatic chai. Dairy milk works perfectly with chai, but some plant-based milks like oat milk or almond milk are great with this brew as well.

Available in Waitrose, co-Op, Sainsbury's, Booths, TK Maxx, on Ocado, Amazon and teaindia.co.uk.

Tilda Limited Edition Katsu Curry Rice (£1.59) - it's always  interesting to see what new flavours Tilda would add to their range of rice in pouches. Some Limited Editions are a big hit, and you wish they would join the range for good, some are slightly less exciting. I tend to have a pouch or two of Tilda rice in the pantry for a quick meal, when I don't have time to cook rice from scratch (saying that, I always buy big bags of Tilda rice too). It's a great side dish for a variety of Asian-inspired meals.

Katsu Curry rice promises an ultimate comforting restaurant favourite dish. It is aromatic and flavourful, cooked with mild curry spies and vegetables (carrots, onion) as well as coocnut cream. 

Recommended Retail Price ranges between £1 and £1.59. Available in all major supermarkets.

Knorr Vegetable Stock Cubes (£1.45) is another handy staple, which might enhance a big variety of dishes. It's been promoted recently as an ingredient for #CheatOnMeat campaign. 

I buy it to add to soups, both vegetarian and chicken-based. But you can also add it to pasta, gravy or sauces. Made with carefully selected herbs and spices, vegetable stock cubes complement the natural flavours of vegetables and legumes.

Available in all major supermarket chains.

And finally, Pizza Express VHouse Light Sachet (£0.50 for the sachets, or £2 for the full sized bottle). Recreate a PizzaExpress salad at home, with a delicious light dressing. It's a perfect partner to a variety of fresh salads

This reduced fat dressing is made with white wine vinegar, rapeseed oil and herbs. 30% less fat compared to the standard House dressing.

Available in all major supermarket chains. The sachets are currently not available to purchase.

Off-Target by Eve Smith

 

"Don't cry.

"It'll happen, Susan. We just need to be patient."

My fingers clench. I am so sick of these phrases:

Give it time.

Just keep trying.

Relax, it'll happen.

He pads up behind me. "Really. It's going to be OK."

Nearly four years. Forty-seven cycles of Big Fat Negatives. In what messed-up world is that "OK"?"

"There's a lesson there.

Nature has no moral code. No ethical qualms about collateral damage.

It's about survival: of yourself and your progeny.

That's it".

Off-Target by Eve Smith is a dark speculative fiction, set in the near future.

Teacher Susan Rawlins and her husband Steve have been trying for a baby for years, without any success. Steve is egoistically insisting on doing it the "natural" way only, on the grounds that his life was nearly ruined when his ex-wife and he tried to conceive using the IVF. Having being nearly bankrupted before by the costs of the IVF, Steve is dead set against going that route again.

The tension between the two is building up. To distract herself from the gloom, Susan agrees to come to the musical festival in Oxford with her colleague Marty.

Susan who enjoys her G&T a bit too much, gets drunk and reckless, and has a one-night stand. Soon afterwards she finds out she is pregnant. Susan is torn. Here is her chance to have the longed-for baby, but her husband will most likely leave her, if and when she reveals the truth.

Susan's best friend Carmel offers a possible solution. She knows just the right people who would help with the cutting-edge DNA-altering procedure. The ethical and moral dilemmas put aside, Susan goes to one of the Eastern European clinics to edit the foetus's DNA, including the health modifications to remove any possible health problems in the future. 

Dr Stakhovsky, an unscrupulous genius of the HGGE (human germ line genome editing), explains, "It's not dissimilar to correcting a complex polygenic disorder: same basic editing principles, same AI. Just a few more algorithms". This controversial procedure is illegal in the UK, and "regulators in the UK insist it would be "highly irresponsible" to relax the rules, warning these procedures could have "far-fetching, unknown impacts".

In desperation, Susan decides to go through the procedure. Steve doesn't need to find out. Ever.

When her child is born, Susan names her Zurel after a rare tulip.

Eleven years later, her daughter displays the selective mutism and challenging behaviour. Susan is terrified, "Could this be happening as an indirect result of the edits? Some kind of... change that might have presented symptoms later...? A - what do you call it - "off-target effect?" The doctors claim there is nothing physically wrong with Zurel. There is some other explanation, but what might have caused the problems?

The world is shaken by the reports of young people having mental problems and a wave of suicides among them. There is something in common with all these young people, they have all being subjected to the gene editing procedure. Susan believes her secret is safe. But how long can this secret last?

"Fiction is a very useful place if you have questions rather than answers", says Kamila Shamsie in a recent talk to Pankaj Mishra (see The Guardian, Saturday/Books, 19/02/2022).

After reading Off-Target by Eve Smith I have more questions than answers too, mainly where do you draw a line between genetic editing and eugenics.

The authors might be understandably fond of their characters, and thus not necessarily impartial, while as a reader I can be as judgmental as I want. Susan's decision is unethical on so many levels.

She wants to keep her man at all costs. And he is not exactly a gift. Selfish, controlling and manipulative. 

It's not easy to relate to any of the main characters, they all seem to be ego-centric and unscrupulous. You feel sorry for the child, but even she is hard to warm up to. 

Off-Target is a heady mix of sci-fi and thriller, thought-provoking, disturbing and pacy. It's a gripping tale with plenty of twists you don't want to miss.

Genetic engineering has been explored in fiction before, from Aldous Huxley to Margaret Atwood, from Robert Crichton to Dean Koontz, from Kazuo Ishiguro to Suzanne Collins, and many more. These days it is more topical than ever. How far do we go to play God?!

I was thrilled to attend the Off Target book event at the local Waterstones. This was the first local event after the beginning of the pandemic, and I hope there will be more to come. 

Eve Smith read extracts from her book and answered the questions from the audience. She talked about the writers who have inspired her and what were the initial ideas for Off-Target.

The creepy doll's head installation was created by Patty from Waterstones.