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Tag: travel fiction

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – A Place in the Sun by Jo Thomas

Posted on 15th August 2025 By Nicola

A Place in the Sun by Jo Thomas is published by Penguin and is out now. I purchased my own copy of the book. It’s […]

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Reviews

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – A Recipe for Christmas by Jo Thomas

Posted on 18th November 2024 By Nicola

A Recipe for Christmas by Jo Thomas is published by Transworld and available now in paperback, eBook and audiobook. I purchased my own copy of […]

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2

Reviews

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Hotel Where We Met by Belinda Jones

Posted on 23rd August 2019 By Nicola

I’m super happy today to be sharing my review of The Hotel Where We Met by Belinda Jones. My thanks to the author for sending […]

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Reviews

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shortbookandscribes

UK book blogger (Sheffield), Bookstagrammer and lover of all things bookish.
Just one person trying to read all the books.
Physical books only.

Ad/PR product. New review: Murder at World's End b

Ad/PR product. New review: Murder at World's End by @mossmontmomery. To be published by @vikingbooksuk on 30th October.
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Murder at World’s End is the first book in a new series to feature Stephen Pike and Miss Decima Stockingham. Stephen goes to Tithe Hall on a tidal island in Cornwall in 1910, as a new member of staff, just at the point when Halley’s Comet is due to pass Earth. There was a public panic and many believed the comet would destroy the earth so as Stephen arrives he finds the Viscount frantically making some rather irrational preparations. When the Viscount is found murdered Stephen teams up with Miss Decima, the Viscount’s elderly aunt, to try and solve the locked room mystery.
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As settings go, this was a perfect one for a locked room mystery. Not only is it a tidal island but everything was to be sealed and everybody was to be enclosed in their rooms until morning, so how the Viscount met his death is a true conundrum. I liked the two main protagonists and can see how they will work well together in a series. Stephen is a bit hapless at times but a kind and thoughtful person. Miss Decima is foul-mouthed and sharp as a tack. As a crime-solving duo they fit perfectly.
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I didn’t see the denouement coming at all so that was a clever bit of plotting, Murder at World’s End is witty and incisive and good fun for those who enjoy a historical crime caper.
⭐
Thank you to the publishers for the proof package.
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#bookreview #MurderAtWorldsEnd #historicalfiction #historicalcrimefiction #crimeseries #cornwall #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogger #reader #reviewbooks #reviewer #booksread #shortbookandscribes

Book Review: Women of War by @louisemorrish_books.

Book Review: Women of War by @louisemorrish_books. Published by @michaeljbooks and out now.
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Women of War tells the story of two remarkable women and their experiences in WWI. Edie Lawrence is a young suffragette and when war breaks out and she finds herself left with nothing, she decides to pursue her dream of being a journalist by dressing as a man and joining up as a soldier. When she is injured she is sent to a hospital set up by Dr Lucinda Garland who is in charge of a mostly female team. After her plans to set up a hospital in London were rejected by men who couldn’t countenance the idea of a female doctor, she works with the Red Cross in France to offer her invaluable services there instead.
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From beginning to end this is a story of plucky women metaphorically sticking two fingers up to anyone (any man) that says they can’t do something. The action all takes place over a few short months between August and December 1914 and portrays in all its horrors the hell of the First World War. Edie’s war is devastating - as soldiers returning from the front say to her, it’s basically a massacre. Lucinda and her colleagues deal with the fallout and the shocking injuries which are like nothing they have seen before.
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The leading female characters are based on real women and their courageous feats. Louise Morrish brings them to life in Women of War in alternating chapters from both Edie and Lucinda’s points of view. I found this to be an extremely engaging, heart-rending work of historical fiction, impeccably researched and so well-written.
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#bookreview #WomenOfWar #warfiction #firstworldwar #fortheloveofbooks #ilovereading #booklover #reader #reviewer #booksread #bookblogger #historicalfiction #histfic #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: A Wedding for the Home

Ad/PR product. New review: A Wedding for the Home Front Girls by Susanna Bavin. Published by @bookouture and out now.
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A Wedding for the Home Front Girls is the fourth book in this series and picks up where book three left off. Sally is about to wave goodbye to her husband Andrew as he goes off to join the war effort, Betty is newly and happily married to Samuel and Lorna is enjoying being back in a romance with George and taking it slowly after the problems they had the first time round. All three are still working at the salvage yard and it’s now 1941.
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I think this book is my favourite of the series so far. Perhaps it’s because I’m an old romantic and love a good wedding but I found it so lovely to see the girls come together and get stuck into helping to plan Lorna’s nuptials. As it’s wartime, nothing goes to plan and I found myself rooting for a happy ending for the handsome couple.
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There’s heartbreak too and I had to wipe a tear away but despite it all, there’s such hopefulness and camaraderie that I got to the end and closed the book with a satisfied sigh. I’m looking forward to book five but it will be bittersweet as it’s the final book in the series.
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A Wedding for the Home Front Girls is a delightful addition to the series and for any saga lovers the series as a whole is a must-read. I loved all the details of the wedding preparations and the dress, and it was a real pleasure to follow the girls as they went about their war work and their everyday lives.
👰
Thank you to the author for sending me a copy for review.
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#AWeddingForTheHomeFrontGirls #sagabooks #wartimebooks #fortheloveofbooks #reader #reviewbooks #bookblogger #reviewer #booksread #ilovereading #bookish #lovebooks #shortbookandscribes

#CoverReveal🥳🎉 #TheFamilyFriend by @claired

#CoverReveal🥳🎉

#TheFamilyFriend by @clairedouglasauthor sounds brilliant.

Preorder now ready for publication on 12th March 2026.

Synopsis:
When Imogen is told she’s inherited a country house near Bath, she thinks it must be a mistake. She last saw its owner, reclusive artist Dorothea Roe, sixteen years ago, during a tragic summer which changed her life for ever.
Now, with partner Josh in tow, it’s a chance for a fresh start.
But after discovering an old box with her name on it in Dorothea’s abandoned study, Imogen starts to believe the woman was trying to send her a secret message.
And when rumours begin to swirl that Dorothea was murdered, she starts to suspect that this gift might not be the life-line she thought it was.
Who would want to kill Dorothea?
Could it be tangled up in Imogen’s own dark family history?
And what if Imogen is now the one in danger?

@michaeljbooks

Ad/PR product. New review: Mix Tape by Jane Sander

Ad/PR product. New review: Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson. Published by Bantam and out now.
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Sheffield 1978 and Daniel and Alison are embarking on a teenage romance, boosted by their shared love of music. Daniel makes Alison a mix tape (remember those?!) and she’s never felt more loved than when she’s with Daniel, also finding a kind of safe haven with his family. Decades later, Alison has a very different life in Adelaide when a chance message from an old pal brings Daniel back into her life. They say you never forget your first love and although Daniel and Alison have made new lives, it takes no time at all until they’re settling back into rediscovering the invisible thread between them that has never been broken.
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Mix Tape is a lovely read, often one of emotional angst and very sad in places, but it’s ultimately uplifting too. Given that it’s about two people who are married to other people, the author hits just the right note to engender sympathy for Daniel and Alison from the reader which I don’t think is an easy thing to achieve with this kind of storyline. It’s nostalgic and I particularly loved being transported to late 70s Sheffield. The sense of place is strong and I felt glad that the author made my home city so recognisable whilst bringing the other locations of Edinburgh and Adelaide to life.
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Music is key to the story and so I enjoyed following the song choices throughout the book. It’s hard to long for an outcome that causes pain to some of the characters but I absolutely loved the ending, having a quiet little sob when I got there. I’ve been meaning to read this book since it was published. It’s taken me a while but I’m so glad I read Mix Tape. It’s a complex and moving story which is more than just a romance. I came for the love story and the Sheffield setting but stayed for the emotional and often messy journey the two main characters go on over such a long time. I thought it was a very enjoyable book.
📼
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy which I've had for rather a long time 😳
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#bookreview #MixTape #lovestory #Sheffield #Sheffieldfiction #fortheloveofbooks #musicfiction #ilovereading #lovebooks #shortbookandscribes

September Reads #ANewHomeAtTheWartimeHotel by Ma

September Reads

#ANewHomeAtTheWartimeHotel by Maisie Thomas - the first in a new saga series. A lovely easy read and I’m looking forward to book two.

#59Minutes by Holly Seddon - a riveting story with an explosive premise which put me in the heart of a disaster scenario. What would you do if you only had 59 minutes until a nuclear missile hits?

#MemorialPark by Louisa Scarr - an excellent police procedural and second in the series to feature police dog handler P.C. Lucy Halliday. A current day missing child case combined with a cold case linked to DCI Jack Ellis.

#WhatTheWifeKnew by Lia Middleton - this book combines a legal thriller with a domestic drama going on behind the scenes. Very fast-paced and full of tension and mystery.

#MixTape by Jane Sanderson - I enjoyed this story of lost first love, particularly because part of it is set in Sheffield where Daniel and Alison first met.

#TheCampaigners by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - book 14 follows on the depiction of the Napoleonic Wars up to the bloody battle of Waterloo and the defeat of Napoleon. Another fantastic instalment.

#AWomanOfSubstance by Barbara Taylor Bradford - I first read this epic tale of Emma Harte and her rise from a servant at Fairley Hall to one of the most powerful women of her time many years ago. I’ve always wanted to reread it but would it live up to my memories? Well yes, it did. I read it very slowly alongside other books because of its 800+ page length and I loved being back in Emma’s world.
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#SeptemberReads #September2025Reads #SeptemberReads2025 #monthlyroundup #monthlywrapup #fortheloveofbooks #ilovereading #historicalfiction #crimefiction #crimeseries #thrillerfiction #sagabooks #epicreads #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #bookblogger #booksread #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New #publicationday review: What th

Ad/PR product. New #publicationday review: What the Wife Knew by @liamiddletonauthor. Published by today!
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I can never resist a legal thriller but What the Wife Knew combines the legal world and the buzz of a trial with a domestic drama going on behind the scenes. I felt this mixed it up quite nicely and offered a fresh addition to the psychological thriller genre.
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Francis Joseph is on trial for murdering his wife. His defence? She did it to herself. In a last minute change of representation, barrister Harry takes on the job of defending Frank at his trial. Waiting at home for Harry is Piera, his wife, a barrister herself but who is on maternity leave. What Harry doesn’t know is that Piera has a secret and it could ruin everything.
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I found this to be a very fast-paced read. The first section is all from Harry’s point of view as he undertakes to try and get Frank acquitted. I particularly enjoyed following the trial (written with great skill from an author who really knows what she is talking about), knowing that the outcome would shape the next section which is from Piera’s point of view and addresses what she’s hiding.
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It all unfolds in a quite exhilarating way and I flew through the pages. What the Wife Knew is easy to read yet full of tension and mystery until eventually I did indeed find out what the wife knew. I thought it was an excellent read.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy and happy publication day Lia 🎉
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#bookreview #WhatTheWifeKnew #legalthriller #psychologicalthriller #grippingreads #fortheloveofbooks #ilovethrillers #booklover #bookish #shortbookandscribes

New review: Memorial Park by @louisascarrwriter. P

New review: Memorial Park by @louisascarrwriter. Published by @canelo_co and out now.
🐕‍🦺
I’ve been looking forward to reading Memorial Park since I finished the first in the PC Lucy Halliday series, Gallows Wood. I loved that book and knew there was a lot more to come for Lucy and DCI Jack Ellis and that was proved with the events of this second book.
🐕‍🦺
It begins with a three year old girl going missing. Lucy is a police dog handler and is called in with her newest dog, Iggy, to see if he can pick up any trace of a scent of little Rosie Logan. Whilst Jack and the team are working on this case, new information comes to light in the cold case of his childhood best friend, Theo, who went missing when both boys were eleven.
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I enjoyed the cold case aspects most of all (I find these cases particularly interesting in fiction) but it’s very difficult to read at times, utterly shocking and it made me emotional. I really enjoyed the two main characters’ progression through this book, a sense of closure for Jack and a tentative new beginning for Lucy. After I’d read Gallows Wood I noted down two things that were unresolved. One was resolved in this book and I’m looking forward to reading book three to see if the other one is brought to a conclusion.
🐕‍🦺
The dog handling aspect of these books makes for such an interesting and different focus. I wonder if Iggy will be needed for the next case, or if Moss, Lucy’s other dog, is required to use his special skills to search for a body. I found Memorial Park to be an excellent police procedural with a compelling storyline. I recommend it but do start with Gallows Wood so you understand the progression of the characters and the cases.
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#bookreview #MemorialPark #policeprocedural #policedogs
#crimefiction #crimeseries #ilovereading #fortheloveofbooks #booklover❤️ #reader #reviewbooks #reviewer #bookblogger #booksofinstagram📚 #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: 59 Minutes by Holly Sed

Ad/PR product. New review: 59 Minutes by Holly Seddon. To be published on 25th September by @orionbooks.
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59 Minutes has an explosive premise: what would you do if you only had 59 minutes until a nuclear missile hits? The story is told from the perspectives of three women: Carrie is in central London, an obvious target area for the bomb, and just wants to get home to her partner and child; Frankie is on a short break in Devon and doesn’t have much in the way of supplies to be able to hunker down and hope that shelter will save her; and Mrs Dabb’s daughter hasn’t come home from school at the usual time – where is she and can she make it back?
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The chapters are short and punchy, alternating between each main character, often with a cliffhanger to keep up the fast pace. It’s the situation we all hope we never have to live through and for each woman it becomes a race against time, as humanity descends into chaos and debauchery in the time that is left.
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There are some really strong plot surprises that I just didn’t see coming at all – bravo to the author for those. I did feel the last section could perhaps have been wound up a bit quicker but on the whole I found this to be a really riveting book which put me right in the heart of a disaster scenario that felt all too real and possible.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #59Minutes #thrillerfiction #fortheloveofbooks #ilovereading #bookblogger #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #booksread #shortbookandscribes

Instagram post 18010033337619482

Instagram post 18010033337619482

Ad/PR product. New review: A New Home at the Warti

August Reads I had such a great reading month in A

August Reads
I had such a great reading month in August – ten books!! – but I’m under no illusions that it will continue now it’s back to school and the lazy summer holidays are over.

Here’s what I read:

#GettingAway by Kate Sawyer - I loved this story of one family through the holidays they take. Full of emotion and nostalgia.

#TheShellHouseDetectives by Emylia Hall - First in a series featuring Ally and Jayden who turn detective when a man is found at the bottom of the cliffs. I loved the setting and will be reading more in the series.

#APlaceInTheSun by Jo Thomas - I can never go wrong with a Jo Thomas. This one is set in Tuscany with a community kitchen and three feuding Nonna’s and it will make you hungry!

#TheHometownBookshop by Jenna Warren - A delightful book with a bookshop/seaside setting. Actress Charlotte returns to her home town to help with her sister’s bookshop which is run by stuck in his ways Greg.

#WatchingYou by Helen Fields - Absolutely gripping read with a twisty storyline, maverick characters and a killer with an agenda.

#TheLifeAndLovesOfBeccaValentine by Laura Pearson - An emotional read with a unique concept. Written with compassion and sensitivity.

The Best of Intentions by Caroline Scott - An inter-war story set at Anderby Hall where a community of artists have come together. It has a charm to it and some really well-drawn and interesting characters but it didn’t really gel with me overall.

#Unsound by Heather Critchlow - I love this series featuring crime podcaster and investigator, Cal Lovett. Unsound is dark, tense and devastatingly moving, as Cal deals with his sister’s murder trial alongside a new cold case of a missing Edinburgh student.

#TheVictory and #TheRegency by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - Books 12 and 13 of the Morland Dynasty series and another two brilliant books.

Book post and stats on my blog post.
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#AugustReads #August2025Reads #AugustReads2025 #monthlywrapup #monthlyroundup #histfic #crimefiction #feelgoodfiction #shortbookandscribes

New review: Unsound by @heather.critchlow. Publish

New review: Unsound by @heather.critchlow. Published by @canelo_co and out now.
🎙️
Unsound is book three in the series featuring podcaster Cal Lovett and it's a series that I love reading. In this book Cal is living through the trial of the man believed to have killed his sister, Margot, a strand that has run through all the series so far. When he's asked to look at the cold case of an Edinburgh University student who went missing thirteen years earlier, it feels like more than he can handle but he agrees to take it on.
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This is a fantastic crime story written with such empathy that several times a lump formed in my throat. Cal is already struggling with his sister's case and so dealing with the investigation into what happened to Arran, alongside his daughter's first term at the same university that he was attending when he disappeared, really piles the pressure on him and he starts to shut down emotionally.
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Unsound is a dark, tense and devastatingly moving story that had me flying through the pages. I like the podcast element, although it doesn't account for that much of the book, and I always love a cold case storyline. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next for Cal in book four.
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#bookreview #Unsound #crimeseries #crimebooks #fortheloveofbooks #booklover❤️ #ilovereading #bookblogger #reader #reviewer #booksread #podcast #shortbookandscribes

Exciting #CoverReveal 🥳🎉 #CallerUnknown by

Exciting #CoverReveal 🥳🎉

#CallerUnknown by @gillianmauthor will be published on 9th April 2026. It sounds heart-stoppingly brilliant and I can't wait to read it.
📞
Synopsis:
Simone's holiday to Texas was meant to be some much needed bonding time with her teenage daughter, Lucy.

On their first night in the desert, Simone wakes to find Lucy missing and a mobile phone in her place. The phone rings: Lucy has been taken and, in order to get her back, Simone must commit a crime.

As Simone prepares to follow the kidnapper's instructions, she feels certain that there is nothing she wouldn't do to save Lucy. But becoming a wanted woman is just the start...

@michaeljbooks

New review: The Life and Loves of Becca Valentine

New review: The Life and Loves of Becca Valentine by @laurapauthor. Published by @theboldbookclub and out now.
Note: the title was changed after I bought my copy.
✨
The Life and Loves of Becca Valentine has a unique concept: the idea that the children whose mother you may become are there at your side, from your own birth, hidden from view but awaiting their own conception. It sounds a bit bizarre but the way the story is written makes it incredibly plausible. There are four of them in the beginning, Samuel, Lucy, Thomas and Eliza and it's Eliza who narrates the story.
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Through her we witness Becca meeting Anthony and Ryan. Each of the siblings knows who their father is and from their potential conception dates they know that they can't all make it all the way to being born. It's an ingenious way to take what are essentially the ups and downs of Becca's romantic and home life and turn it into something even more intriguing, almost a race for life. The siblings can't help but think about themselves but they also want to do what is best for Becca, somebody they have spent years alongside.
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It's a lovely novel and quite an emotional one for the reader who not only sees Becca's difficulties, but also the beforelife situation as each conception date gets closer and closer. This is a book that is written with compassion and sensitivity, a love story in more ways than one. I really enjoyed it.
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#bookreview #TheLifeAndLovesOfBeccaValentine #emotionalfiction #lovelyreads #bookblogger #reader #reviewer #booksread #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #bookish #bookphotography #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Watching You by @helenf

Ad/PR product. New review: Watching You by @helenfields_author. To be published by @avonbooksuk on 28th August.
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Watching You is the DS Lively/Dr Connie Woolwine mash-up Helen Fields fans didn't know they needed but wonder now how they managed without it. DS Lively is an old-school, un-PC Edinburgh cop and Connie is an unconventional forensic profiler with some rather unique methods of getting to the bottom of what has occurred. Both have appeared in previous books, together and apart, but this book has them working closely together to try and solve a series of deaths.
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This is another completely gripping story from Fields. It has it all: a twisty storyline; maverick characters; a killer with an agenda; a love story element; and all the gory details of killings that I have come to expect from this author. I really loved how characters from other books were brought in and there's a very short paragraph near the end that absolutely made my heart sing with joy (no more spoilers but if you know, you know!).
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Watching You has everything I want from a crime thriller. It raised my heart rate with all the excitement and then lowered it again with a satisfied 'aah'. I have a feeling there's lot more to come for all my favourite characters. I can't wait!
👀
Thank you Laura Sherlock and the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #WatchingYou #crimethriller #policeprocedural #thrillerfiction #thrillerbooks #fortheloveofbooks #5starreads #bookblogger #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #booksread #bookphotography #ilovereading #ilovethrillers #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Hometown Bookshop b

Ad/PR product. New review: The Hometown Bookshop by @bookcornersaltburn. To be published by @fairlightbooks on 21st August.
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The story of The Hometown Bookshop is told in alternate chapters by Charlotte and Greg. Greg is the manager of Seaswept Books in the seaside town of Shellcliff on the North Yorkshire coast. The shop isn't exactly thriving and when it's bought by Sarah, she brings her sister Charlotte on board to help revive it.
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It wasn't exactly in Charlotte's plans to go back to her home town. After ten years in a West End play she thought she was well set up in the acting business. Strangely, as time goes on, she starts to enjoy being back in Shellcliff and the challenge of making the bookshop work, not to mention the local amateur dramatics group production.
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I absolutely loved this delightful book. The bookshop/seaside setting was utter perfection for me and I particularly enjoyed the chapters set there and all the ideas Charlotte had to update the place, despite Greg's horrified face! I had a real soft spot for Greg, stuck in his ways and a bit lost, and I grew to like Charlotte too who found a new direction that she didn't even know she needed.
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The Hometown Bookshop is a gorgeous, joyful and uplifting read. It's light-hearted yet has emotional depth of feeling as past woes threaten both Greg and Charlotte's futures. I was completely enamoured by it, an ideal summer read about life, love, friendship, reinvention and books.
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Thank you to the publishers for the review copy.
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#bookreview #TheHometownBookshop #booksaboutbooks #5starreads #lovelyreads #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #bookish #ilovereading #reader #reviewbooks #reviewer #bookshops #bookblogger #shortbookandscribes

New review: A Place in the Sun by @jothomasauthor.

New review: A Place in the Sun by @jothomasauthor. Published by @bantambooksuk and out now.
☀️
Thea arrives at a small village in Tuscany with her two children ready to take up residence in the house her late husband Marco bought for them. She doesn't know what her long-term plans will turn out to be but she soon becomes embroiled in village life, with Giovanni who runs the community kitchen and the three feuding Nonnas, fighting over whose lasagne is the best.
☀️
I loved the idea of the community kitchen, a place where anyone can go for a meal or the dishes can be brought to you if you can't get there yourself or need the company at home. Thea has a lot to get over with losing Marco and their family life together but slowly she starts to integrate with the locals and realises that she has a future after all.
☀️
A Place in the Sun is full of Jo Thomas' particular winning blend of food and travel fiction, making me both want to eat the food that the characters enjoy and to travel to the destination, in this case it's Tuscany. This is feel-good fiction at its very best, a joy to read from start to finish. I always enjoy books by this author but this one might just be a particular favourite as it's light-hearted and so easy to read, yet doesn't shy away from some difficult subjects. I absolutely loved it!
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#bookreview #APlaceInTheSun #feelgoodfiction #travelfiction #foodfiction #italianstories #Italy #5starreads #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #ilovereading #reader #reviewer #booksread #bookblogger #shortbookandscribes

New review: The Shell House Detectives by @emyliah

New review: The Shell House Detectives by @emyliahall_author. Published by Thomas and Mercer and out now.
🌊
The Shell House Detectives are Ally Bright and Jayden Weston. They hadn't intended to become detectives but the story leads them into solving a local mystery. Ally is a long-time resident of Porthpella in Cornwall, living in a weatherboard house in the dunes (which I thought sounded like absolute perfection). In the midst of a personal loss, she is taken aback one night when a young man comes to her door. When that man is later found at the bottom of the cliffs and Jayden, a former policeman, is one of the first on the scene, he and Ally end up trying to work out what happened to him and how he's linked to a missing local woman.
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I thought Emylia Hall's prose was beautiful in this book. It's clear how much she loves Cornwall and beach life. Whilst this book may be deemed to be something of a cosy mystery, it's got a lot more warmth to it and is a very thoughtful piece of storytelling, about grief and loss, companionship, and about greed and jealousy. There are a few thoroughly unpleasant characters but mostly there are likeable ones, superbly well-drawn and who felt like old friends by the end of the book. I really liked the local beat bobby who was a bit of a buffoon but with a little polishing could turn out quite well.
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I adored the whole setting of the fictional Porthpella, Ally's house and the little beach café in particular, but the small seaside village feel too. I'm going to get myself a copy of the second book in the series now, The Harbour Lights Mystery, as I definitely need a return visit to Porthpella.
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#bookreview #TheShellHouseDetectives #cosymysterystory #Cornishbooks #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #reader #readcrimefiction #booksread #bookblogger #reviewer #readersofinstagram #shortbookandscribes

New review: Getting Away by @mskatesawyer. Publish

New review: Getting Away by @mskatesawyer. Published by @zaffrebooks and out now.
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Getting Away is about all the holidays we take throughout our lives, from the simple trip to the beach with family to the fancy holidays abroad. It's also about the family dynamics that occur, just like when any family gets together. We see the holidays through the eyes of the Smith family taking us from the 1930s through to the 2020s.
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I knew as soon as I heard about the premise that I wanted to read this book and I absolutely adored every bit of it. Sometimes a book that skips through time in this way, linking the characters by events, doesn't work so well as it misses out some of what has happened to them in the meantime (between holidays in this case) but Kate Sawyer does a wonderful job at following the characters through the years, letting the reader know what has happened to them not by simply telling them, but by revealing it slowly through their actions and feelings, with tiny details and what is left unsaid allowing us to read between the lines. I came to care about all the characters and looked forward to seeing them through each decade.
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There are some lovely strands running throughout. In the 1930s it all begins with Betty and Jim and the spectres of WWI and a lost love. The family continues through their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and I felt like I knew them all really well by the end.
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Getting Away is a social history of everyday life and the power of the holiday, and it is also a multi-generational, beautifully portrayed family story. It's easy to read (I powered through it) but is also emotional and full of nostalgia. I found it very hard to put it down. It's absolutely perfect and is easily one of my favourite books of this year.
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