Come Back to Me by Sara Foster is a release or reprint of her 2010 debut novel. I’ve read several of Foster’s books but discovered her after this was published. The events here come about thanks to a bizarre act of fate and what ensues could potentially be a second chance, and a time to do the right thing this time around… or it could be time to realise past decisions weren’t necessarily the wrong ones.
Murder at 30,000 feet by Susan Walter is yet another excellent thriller from the American author who I discovered two years ago through Lie By The Pool. If you’re looking for a new-to-you author with an excellent backlist I highly recommend Walter, who is also a screenwriter and director… which I think is evident in her writing – placing readers firmly in the midst of the novel’s events through its narrative or ‘the action’, rather overly descriptive place-related prose. Here that action is fast-paced and, though we jump about in time a little, Walter ekes out the who and the why, creating tension and suspense.
The Detective Up Late by Adrian McKinty is the seventh in the Sean Duffy series. McKinty has been busy with some excellent standalones so the last time we met Duffy was in the spectacularly named Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly, released in 2017.
I was thinking there’d be a very long gap between books, but on further investigation (ie. looking at Goodreads) I noticed that this book was in fact originally released in 2018 and I missed it at the time. Unfortunately in my review of book six, I cagily comment on changes being afoot for Duffy though don’t offer any spoilers. It meant I started this with absolutely no idea what had happened in the previous outing. I soon discovered however that he’s moving to Scotland with his girlfriend and their three year old daughter and transitioning to a part-time role with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Ocean in Winter by Elizabeth de Veer. I’d requested it from an online review platform thinking perhaps it was a mystery or thriller (ie. my reading bread & butter). It’s not, but that was fine.
de Veer cleverly plots this out in almost a circular way. We start near the end before moving back in time. The book unfolds from three sisters’ points of view. The opening scene tells us a little of the history before we reach those events, but holds back on details to sustain the intrigue.