Review: The Woman in the Window

Title: The Woman in the Window

Author: A.J. Finn

Publisher: 25 January 2018 by Harper Collins

Pages: 448 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: fiction, mystery, suspense

My Rating: 3.5 cups

Synopsis:

What did she see?

It’s been ten long months since Anna Fox last left her home. Ten months during which she has haunted the rooms of her old New York house like a ghost, lost in her memories, too terrified to step outside.

Anna’s lifeline to the real world is her window, where she sits day after day, watching her neighbours. When the Russells move in, Anna is instantly drawn to them. A picture-perfect family of three, they are an echo of the life that was once hers.

But one evening, a frenzied scream rips across the silence, and Anna witnesses something no one was supposed to see. Now she must do everything she can to uncover the truth about what really happened. But even if she does, will anyone believe her? And can she even trust herself?

My Thoughts

This book is presented as a psychological thriller which reads at a good pace, even if the plot appears somewhat familiar. I quite liked the book as it reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 mystery/thriller film with James Stewart, ‘Rear Window’. Here, instead of a broken leg, we have a lead who, not only suffers from agoraphobia, but also is presented as an unreliable narrator with the amount of alcohol and prescriptions drugs consumed. Anna Fox is suffering from a personal tragedy and her connection to the outside world is through the internet and the few visitors to her home. Basically she spies on her neighbours and witnesses a crime. Or did she?

I believe the author has done a solid job here in making you a part of Anna’s world through her thoughts and fears - even at times if it is somewhat repetitive. It can be difficult to sympathise with Anna with her counting of wine bottles and daily pill intake. Whilst trying to make you fully appreciate the depths of her despair, it just makes the story drag. The writing is short, sharp and engaging, but somewhat predictable in areas, with twists that may or may not surprise you.

I did enjoy the throw back to ‘Rear Window’, especially Anna’s  love for old movies that run in the background as I have always adored the old classic Hollywood movies. There were often interesting parallels and it made you question whether something really did happen, or if Anna just saw it in a movie. Ultimately, if you're looking for a readable mystery, this one definitely fits the bill. I don't think it's one where you'll find memorable characters but it certainly keeps you turning the pages.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

Review: Tiny House on the HIll

Title: Tiny House on the Hill (A Tiny House Novel)

Author: Celia Bonaduce

Publisher: 15 August 2017 by Kensington Books, Lyrical Press.

Pages: 304 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: Women's Fiction

My Rating: 3.5 cups

Synopsis:

Home is where the heart fits . . .

Summer Murray is ready to shake things up. She doesn’t want to work in risk management. She doesn’t want to live in Hartford, Connecticut. So she plans a grand adventure: she’s going to throw out all the stuff she doesn’t want and travel the country in her very own tiny house house shaped like a train caboose. Just Summer, her chihuahua-dachshund Shortie, and 220 square feet of freedom.

Then her take-no-prisoners grandmother calls to demand Summer head home to the Pacific Northwest to save the family bakery. Summer has her reasons for not wanting to return home, but she’ll just park her caboose, fix things, and then be on her way. But when she gets to Cat’s Paw, Washington, she’s shocked by her grandmother’s strange behavior and reunited with a few people she’d hoped to avoid. If Summer is going to make a fresh start, she’ll have to face the past she’s been running from all along . . . 

My Thoughts:

One day, Clarissa (Summer) Murray finds herself at a cross roads in her life (instigated by the accidental shrinking of a cashmere jumper of all things!) and decides to quit her risk management job, downsize her life, and hit the road with her dog, Shortie, in a caboose shaped Tiny House, with grand plans to make and sell home-made purses at craft markets across the country.

Just before Summer embarks upon her adventure she is contacted by her irascible Grandmother Queenie, who demands she return to Cat’s Paw Washington to help save the family bakery, Dough Z Dough. Even though she is reluctant to face the people she left behind Summer decides to make Cat’s Paw the first stop on her adventure so that she can fix what needs fixing and then move on to her life on the road.  After collecting her new home from the intriguing and attractive tiny house designer/builder Bale (the king of mixed messages and “maybe” flirting!) Summer’s trip across country provides a number of amusing insights for the reader into the life of the tiny house traveller. From dealing with surly tiny-house-hating RV park operators, unravelling the intricacies involved with the proper Walmart over-night parking etiquette, and accepting the difficulties of parking the whole rig to do a spot of shopping, the reader follows Summer's journey as she makes her way back home.  There, parked in her snug little home atop her favourite hill, she must not only come to terms with all the issues that she had turned her back on years before, she must also make some decisions about her first love vs. the new-comer vying for her affections.

A story of second chances, growth and acceptance, Tiny House on the Hill is a charming read that cleverly taps into the reader’s curiosity about the life and travels of the Tiny House community. Let’s face it, haven’t we all watched the Tiny House reality TV shows and thought to ourselves …..”why not me?”. While for me, the romantic resolution wasn't as satisfying as I like, it was overall, a delightful story and I look forward to reading more by this author.  A solid 3.5 stars from me!

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

Review: Eleventh Hour

Title: Eleventh Hour (Kit Marlowe #8)

Author: M.J. Trow

Publisher: 1 July  2017 Severn House Digital 

Pages: 336 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre:  historical fiction, mystery, Tudor

My Rating: 3.5 cups

Synopsis:

1590. The queen's spymaster is dead. Nicholas Faunt, believes he was poisoned and has ordered Kit Marlowe to discover who killed him. Marlowe consults the leading scientists and thinkers in the country, but is convinced that someone is hiding a deadly secret. To outwit the killer, Marlowe must devise an impossibly ingenious plan.

My Thoughts

‘Sir Francis Walsingham is dead.’ There was no point in trying to break it any other way than directly. Dee had to swallow his cry of surprise. ‘What?’ he mouthed. ‘When? How?’ Marlowe shrugged. ‘When? Two days ago at the eleventh hour. As to how, it depends on whom you ask,’

I was attracted to this book on a number of bases - Tudor, playwrights and mystery! What a great idea to make a twist and propose Walsingham died perchance from sinister means rather than of natural causes! Sign me up!

What I failed to note, however, was that this was book eight in a series. Luckily they are indeed standalone and Trow’s writing of both person and place was well done. I found Kit Marlowe to be a fabulous lead character, such charisma and delightful in his detective role. Assigned the job of hunting for the truth, an array of famous characters cross his path in his search to unveil the villain. I loved Trow’s portrayal of many of these notable Tudor characters; of particular note is the fun way he presented William Shakespeare. So many famous characters Trow brings vividly to life in this classic whodunit.              

         

‘You are the School of Night,’ Marlowe began.

One of you in this room killed the Queen’s Spymaster. I intend to find out who.’

Problems arise for me because no one was as strong as Marlowe in engaging the reader, and at times I found the plot to be a little confusing. I also found the inclusion of a supernatural element a little out of order. However, if you are a fan of this series, you will undoubtedly be delighted with this latest instalment, embarking with Kit Marlowe on another famous adventure. 

“You have a knack for these things,’ he said. ‘A nose for treachery –and I mean that in the nicest possible way. I want to know what was in that cup and who put it there.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release