ShortBookandScribes December Book Haul

I’ve ended up with quite a few new books from last week so I thought I’d share them with you.

I went out for the afternoon with my mum last Thursday to Dobbies Garden Centre. After a festive lunch we had a mooch about and it’s far too easy to spend a fortune in that place. I said no more Christmas decorations as we’ve got so many but I couldn’t resist this book bauble and this gaudy but totally joyous rainbow wreath.

There was a nice selection of fiction too at 2 for £6 and so I got these four (I couldn’t only get two, could I?!).

Bucket List by Russell Jones

Two lonely strangers. One chance encounter. Six winning numbers.

Dot is a lonely pensioner. Max is a young offender. But a chance meeting in their local park changes everything for this unlikely duo. They soon find they share a wicked sense of humour and a penchant for petty crime.

When Dot wins the lottery, Max helps her make a bucket list of all the things she’s always wanted to do but never had the chance.

The pair gradually realise that it’s not just expensive gadgets, fast cars and fun fairs that make them happy. And that the secret to living a rich life isn’t money . . .

Readers of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Keeper of Lost Things will love this book.

Night Climbing by Sarah Day

INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY, NIGHT CLIMBING IS ABOUT TWO WOMEN’S UNWAVERING PURSUIT OF TRUTH, SURVIVAL, AND FAMILY.

When Sylvia’s son, Cyril, vanishes during a perilous school trek in the German mountains, her world crumbles. A pre-trip postcard from Cyril hints that his teacher – now lauded for his rescue efforts – knew more about the stormy conditions than he has admitted. Sylvia shifts from frantic mother to justice seeker.

Meanwhile in Hofsgrund, a German mountain village, Nazi flags and Hitler Youth parades are rapidly appearing, and Hilde senses life’s irreversible change. The English schoolboys’ rescue shakes the community, sparking political strife. Neighbour turns on neighbour, endangering Hilde and Sylvia’s quest for Cyril.

The Tower by Kate London

‘Draws you in and doesn’t let you go. A must read.’ Rosamund Lupton

She could not escape the horror of it: falling unstoppably, irretrievably until the hard concrete reaches up. That last glimpse of them at the edge.

A long-serving beat cop in the Met and a teenage girl fall to their deaths from a tower block in London’s East End. Left alive on the roof are a five-year-old boy and rookie police officer, Lizzie Griffiths.

Within hours, Griffiths has disappeared, and DS Sarah Collins sets out to uncover the truth around the grisly deaths, in an investigation which takes her into the dark heart of policing in London.

Close to the Edge by Anna Britton

Two detectives under fire. One missing student. No answers.

Chaos breaks out as DS Gabe Martin leaves Southampton Crown Court. Gunshots ring out. She and DI Juliet Stern are hit. The culprit disappears without a trace.

Despite her injuries, Gabe is determined to work. She’s assigned to the search for missing art student Henry Garside. As she delves into his case, it becomes clear nothing about the investigation is as it seems.

Is Henry’s disappearance an isolated incident? Was the shooting a simple act of retribution – or is there some far bigger and more sinister at play? When Juliet asks for her help in the search for their shooter, Gabe feels powerless to refuse, even if it means meddling where she shouldn’t. Increasingly caught between her loyalty to Juliet and her job, Gabe becomes dangerously close to crossing a line…

A gripping immersive crime thriller from an exciting new talent. Perfect for fans of Cara Hunter and Susie Steiner.

Bucket List caught my eye on Joanne’s blog and I liked the sound of it.

Night Climbing was already on my wish list and sounds so good (and I must admit to being a little dazzled by the cover).

I’ve enjoyed watching the TV series that is based on The Tower and I do love a police book.

I haven’t yet read Anna Britton’s first book, Shot in the Dark, but I do have it and it’s for fans of Cara Hunter (that’s me), so I thought why not get ahead and buy book two!

My pre-order of Ten Seconds by Robert Gold also arrived. I really enjoyed the first two books, Twelve Secrets and Eleven Liars.

***Broadchurch meets Harlan Coben in the most compulsive thriller you’ll read all year. Whether you’ve read Twelve Secrets and Eleven Liars, or whether you’re discovering Robert Gold for the first time, this is your next addictive read.***
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After a tense birthday celebration in Haddley, journalist Ben Harper watches his boss, Madeline, get into the car that has come to collect her. He walks home, never imagining that by the next morning, Madeline will be missing.

To find Madeline, Ben will have to return to the now infamous murder case that made her journalism career over a decade ago. A case which, Ben quickly discovers, was never as simple as it seemed.

But time is of the essence, and soon it’s not just Madeline’s life on the line . . .

I also couldn’t resist buying this copy of A Novel Solution by Sue Clark at a bargain price of £2.13 for the hardback on Amazon. I read and enjoyed her first book, Note to Boy, a few years ago. This edition of A Novel Solution is, in my opinion, a perfect hardback. There’s no dust jacket and it’s a bit more compact than a standard hardback.

‘It’s a bit tricky to find. Just down the lane from the old ochre pit.’

With these words, Trish, badly bruised by life, is catapulted into the world of celebrity author, Amanda Turner.

Her marriage on the rocks, no job, and at odds with her teenage daughters, Trish vows to reinvent herself. ‘Like Madonna,’ she tells her teens. ‘Only as a writer.’

Naively, she pins her hopes on arrogant Amanda to nurture her and weekly classes begin at Amanda’s gloomy house in the woods. Trish takes an instant dislike to Amanda’s strapping young handyman, Pavel. Her suspicions grow, as an air of foreboding – as well as a nasty smell – hang over the house.

When Amanda vanishes, it’s left to Trish to mount a rescue. Is she woman enough for the job? Will she ever write that bestseller?

Funny and touching, A Novel Solution is an engaging and uplifting story of a woman’s struggle to sort her life out.

Do you like the sound of any of these books? I’d love to know.