#CoverCrush A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn

For new visitors do I want to explain that Cover Crush is something that my friend Erin over at Historical Fiction Reader came up with and I adopted the idea together with some other friends. And, now we try to put up a Cover Crush every week. You can check below my pick of the week for their choices this week!

Veronica Speedwell returns in another adventure filled with secrets and betrayal from Deanna Raybourn, the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey Mysteries.

Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell is whisked off to a remote island off the tip of Cornwall when her natural historian colleague Stoker’s brother calls in a favor. On the pretext of wanting a companion to accompany him to Lord Malcolm Romilly’s house party, Tiberius persuades Veronica to pose as his fiancée—much to Stoker’s chagrin. But upon arriving, it becomes clear that the party is not as innocent as it had seemed. Every invited guest has a connection to Romilly’s wife, Rosamund, who disappeared on her wedding day three years ago, and a dramatic dinner proves she is very much on her husband’s mind.

As spectral figures, ghostly music, and mysterious threats begin to plague the partygoers, Veronica enlists Stoker’s help to discover the host’s true motivations. And as they investigate, it becomes clear that there are numerous mysteries surrounding the Romilly estate, and every person present has a motive to kill Rosamund…

Thoughts:

Yes, this is a series I love so I'm eagerly awaiting this book. But, the cover is gorgeous as well, heck the covers for all the books in this series are great. Which makes me a bit sad since I don't own any of the books in hardcover. I've only read the books as eARCs. The sad truth about ebooks, admiring the covers are just not the same thing as with hardcover/paperbacks. Anyway, just look at the cover, there is Veronica about to catch some butterflies, although I bet she will be more likely trying to solve a crime of some kind...with Stoker...

Check out what my friends have picked for Cover Crush's this week:

Stephanie @ Layered Pages

Heather @ The Maiden's Court

Holly @ 2 Kids and Tired Books

Colleen @ A Literary Vacation

Meghan @ Of Quills & Vellum

Erin @ Historical Fiction Reader

#BookReview Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus @NeleNeuhaus @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress

Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On a rainy November day police detectives Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein are summoned to a mysterious traffic accident: A woman has fallen from a pedestrian bridge onto a car driving underneath. According to a witness, the woman may have been pushed. The investigation leads Pia and Oliver to a small village, and the home of the victim, Rita Cramer.

On a September evening eleven years earlier, two seventeen-year-old girls vanished from the village without a trace. In a trial based only on circumstantial evidence, twenty-year-old Tobias Sartorius, Rita Cramer's son, was sentenced to ten years in prison. Bodenstein and Kirchhoff discover that Tobias, after serving his sentence, has now returned to his home town. Did the attack on his mother have something to do with his return?

In the village, Pia and Oliver encounter a wall of silence. When another young girl disappears, the events of the past seem to be repeating themselves in a disastrous manner. The investigation turns into a race against time, because for the villagers it is soon clear who the perpetrator is—and this time they are determined to take matters into their own hands.

An atmospheric, character-driven and suspenseful mystery set in a small town that could be anywhere, dealing with issues of gossip, power, and keeping up appearances.

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WOW! What an absolutely stunning thriller! I had planned to read the latest book published here in Sweden (I AM YOUR JUDGE), but before that did I want to read the ones published in Swedish first. I was a bit confused at first before I realized that this actually is books four in the series. Which explained why it felt like you have missed a lot in the characters personal life (and cases they discussed in the book). Personally, would I have loved to read the books from the beginning, but I'm still thrilled to have discovered this series.

SNOW WHITE MUST DIE is a captivating crime novel. I liked the main characters Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein right from the start and I especially loved getting to know more about their personal lives. I felt that giving Pia and Oliver such rich personal lives really gave them depth, not to mention how interesting it was to read about Pia and her partner (he was a suspect in a case when they first met) and Oliver and his what he thinks "happy" marriage.

As for the case, there were many characters to keep track off. That is the hard part of the book, but I never really felt that it bothered me much. I was so engrossed in the case. Wanting to know more about what happened to the two young women that disappeared years ago. Could this case have something to do with the woman that fell from the bridge? Cold cases are my favorite kind of crime novels and I love reading about small towns with many secrets. There were moments when it felt like everyone was hiding something...

SNOW WHITE MUST DIE is a splendid book and it was easy to give it five stars! This is a series that I recommend with all my heart!

#BookReview Hem ljugna hem (You Were Made for This) by Michelle Sacks (SWE/ENG) @Southsidstories

You Were Made for This by Michelle Sacks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SWEDISH REVIEW

New York-borna Sam och Merry flyttar med sin lilla son Conor till en idyllisk stuga i skogarna utanför Sigtuna, som Sam har ärvt. Där planerar de att starta ett nytt hälsosamt liv. Sam kan lämna sin akademiska karriär bakom sig och ägna sig åt filmskapande. Merry tillbringar dagarna som den perfekta hemmafrun tillsammans med sonen: hon syltar, saftar, bakar och lagar ekologisk barnmat.

Men någonting i idyllen skorrar falskt. Merrys bästa väninna Frank är den första som lägger märke till det när hon kommer på besök. För varje dag blir sprickorna i fasaden mer och mer tydliga. Vad gör Sam egentligen när han är inne i stan och letar efter samarbetspartner? Och hur kommer det sig att Conor hellre tyr sig till Frank än till sin mamma?

Sakta men säkert upplöses illusionen framför läsarens ögon i denna mörka, psykologiska spänningsroman. Den bild av huvudpersonerna, deras drivkrafter, hopp och ömsesidiga svek som tecknas av debutanten Michelle Sacks är mästerligt detaljerad och trovärdig.

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HEM LJUGNA HEM är en thriller som verkligen kryper in under skinnet på en. Redan från början känner man att något är fel, kolossalt fel. Och att det kommer att bli värre blir mer uppenbart ju mer handlingen fortskrider.

Sam och Merry lever lyckligt tillsammans med sin lilla son Conor i en liten stuga i skogarna utanför Sigtuna. Allting är frid och fröjd, livet är perfekt. Merry är den perfekta hustrun och mamman och hon stormtrivs i sitt nya liv i Sverige. Tillsammans med Sam som står för brödfödan ser de fram emot att se sin son växa upp i det idylliska Sverige.

Men är allting verkligen så bra och varför oroar sig Merry för att hennes bästa väninna Frank ska komma på besök? Är livet i Sverige verkligen så bra som de vill ge sken att det är?

Boken berättas utifrån tre perspektiv, Sam, Merry och Frank. Och bilden de återger är inte så idyllisk, tvärtom faktiskt. Sista delen av boken är faktiskt skrämmande obehaglig och visar verkligen att bilden man har av en människa kan vara skrämmande falsk.

HEM LJUGNA HEM är en skrämmande thriller om masker vi människor bär, att man inte vet allting om varandra. Samt hur barndomens trauman kan påverka en senare i livet. Vem vet vad för slags människa man har gift sig med, eller känner man verkligen sin bästa vän?

Tack till Southside Stories för recensionexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

‘A chilling, gut-wrenching thriller.’ Helen Fields A bold, sharp, gripping debut about a couple whose perfect life in the Swedish countryside is not what it seems…

A gripping page-turner for fans of The Couple Next Door, Michelle Sacks’s You Were Made For This provocatively explores the darker side of marriage, motherhood and friendship.

Doting wife, devoted husband, cherished child. Merry, Sam and Conor are the perfect family in the perfect place. Merry adores baking, gardening, and caring for her infant son, while Sam pursues a new career in film. In their idyllic house in the Swedish woods, they can hardly believe how lucky they are. What perfect new lives they've built for themselves, away from New York and the events that overshadowed their happiness there.

And then Merry's closest friend Frank comes to stay. All their lives, the two women have been more like sisters than best friends. And that’s why Frank sees things that others might miss. Treacherous things that unfold behind closed doors.
But soon it's clear that everyone inside the house has something to hide. And as the truth begins to show through the cracks, Merry, Frank, and Sam grow all the more desperate to keep their picture-perfect lives intact.

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YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS is a thriller that really gets under your skin. You feel that something is wrong right from the start, really really wrong. And as the story progresses do you just know that it will get worse.

Sam and Merry live happily together with their little son Conor in a small cabin in the forests around Sigtuna. Everything is perfect, life couldn't be better. Merry is the perfect wife and mother and she loves life in Sweden. Together with Sam, the breadwinner in the family is Merry now looking forward to seeing their son grow up in idyllic Sweden.

Is everything really that good and why is Merry worrying about her best friend Frank visiting? Is life in Sweden really that good as they are trying to make it out to be?

The book is told from three POV, Sam, Merry, and Frank. And the picture they are showing is not that idyllic, vice versa instead. The last part of the book is actually quite chilling and really shows that the image we have of a person can be horrifying wrong.

YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS is a frightening thriller about the masks we humans are wearing that you can never know everything about each other. It also shows that childhood traumas can have consequences later in life. Who knows what kind of person you have married or do you really know your best friend?

I want to thank Southside Stories for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

#BookReview Falco by Mons Kallentoft (SWE/ENG) @Kallentoft

Falco by Mons Kallentoft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SWEDISH REVIEW

Femte delen i Herkulesserien är en personlig hämnd mot Zack, och ett terrordåd mot hela Stockholm.

En tonårsflicka utför ett kallblodigt terrordåd i Stockholms tunnelbana. Flera personer dör innan kriminalinspektör Zack Herry skjuter ihjäl henne. Sverige befinner sig i chock. Är flickan en ensam galning eller har hon agerat på högre order?

Polisen Roger Dahl anmäls försvunnen, och hittas kort därpå brutalt mördad. Dahls senaste uppdrag var som hanterare åt Copper, som har infiltrerat en ökänd knarkliga. Nu kräver Copper Zack som ny hanterare. Problemet är bara att ingen vet något om Coppers sanna identitet.

Samtidigt som Zack kämpar med tilliten i den nya kärleksrelationen han håller på att inleda, dras han allt djupare in i utredningen. När bitarna slutligen faller på plats står tusentals människors liv på spel.

FALCO är Mons Kallentofts och Anna Karolinas första gemensamma bok. Genom att spetsa det högaktuella kriminaldramat med personliga konsekvenser blir det en berättelse som berör, lika mycket som den skrämmer.

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FALCO är den första boken jag har har läst i serien om Zack Herry. Det är också den första boken där Mons Kallentofts och Anna Karolina samarbetar. Tidigare samarbetspartner för Kallentofts var Markus Lutteman. Fördelen jag har är att jag inte kan jämföra denna bok med de tidigare, dock kan jag säga att att FALCO är väldigt, väldigt bra. Så bra att jag är både ivrig att läsa de tidigare fyra böckerna samt längtar efter nästa bok.

Eftersom jag inte har några tidigare kunskaper om Zack och hans kollegor så var allting nytt för mig, men jag kände aldrig att det var något problem. Tvärtom, jag fann ett stort nöje i att lära känna Zack. Jag har en förkärlek för poliser med olika slags problem, vare sig det är psykiska eller fysiska. I detta fall så har vi en man med ett drogproblem. En sak som verkligen tilltalar mig är kopplingen till Herkules myten. Den delen av berättelsen fängslar mig då jag har älskat den grekiska mytologin sedan jag var mycket ung och att använda sig av Herkules myten i en nutida kriminalserie tilltalar mig. 

Terrorattacker är ett ämne som är väldigt nutida, något som berör oss alla. I denna bok så hamnar Zack mitt i en terrorattack i en tunnelbana och vetskapen av att han har skjutit ihjäl en ung flicka plågar honom i boken samtidigt som han försöker ta reda på Coppers identitet och stoppa knarkligan. Det händer så mycket i boken men jag tänker inte avslöja mer än att slutet är väldigt rafflande.

FALCO är en alldeles strålande kriminalare, med en spännande och berörande handling!  

Tack till Bookmarks förlag för recensionsexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

The fifth part in the Herkules series is a personal revenge against Zack and a terrorist attack against Stockholm.

A teenage girl performs a cold-blooded terrorist attack in Stockholm's subway. Several people die before criminal investigator Zack Herry kills her. Sweden is in shock. Is the girl a lone madman or has she acted on higher orders?

Policeman Roger Dahl is reported missing and found shortly after brutally murdered. Dahl's latest mission was to handle Copper, who infiltrated an infamous drug gang. Now, Copper wants Zack as a new handler. The problem is that nobody knows anything about Copper's true identity.

Zack is both struggling with a new relationship and the investigation. When the pieces finally fall into place, thousands of people's lives are at stake.

FALCO is Mons Kallentofts and Anna Karolinas first joint book. By adding personal consequences to this high-level criminal drama does it become a tale that touches you as well as it scares.

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FALCO is the first book I have read in the Zack Herry series, it's also the first collaboration between Mons Kallentofts and Anna Karolina. Kallentofts wrote the Hercules series with Markus Lutteman and has now shifted writing partner. On the plus side since this is the first ever book I have read in this series so I have nothing to compare it to. However, I can say that I liked FALCO so much that I really really want to read the previous books. AIn addition to the one that will come after this one.

Since I have no previous knowledge of Zack and his colleagues was everything new for me. This was never a problem. Vice versa actually, I really liked getting to know Zack since I have a fondness for cops with different kinds of problems, whether it be mental or physical. In this case, Zack has a slight drug problem. Another thing that really made me take this book to my heart was the connection to the Hercules myth. I've had a fondness for Greek mythology since I was very young and adding aspects of the Hercules myth to a modern setting appeals to me.

Terror attacks is a subject that is very modern, something that touches us all. Zack has to deal with the guilt of having to kill a young girl who kills several people in a subway station. He also has to try to figure out who Copper is and trying to stop the drug gang. I won't spoil the story in the book, I just want to say that the ending is very thrilling.

FALCO is a fabulous crime novel, with a thrilling and touching story!

Thanks to Bookmarks förlag for the review copy!

#BookReview The Disappearing by Lori Roy @LORIROYauthor @DuttonBooks @FreshFiction

The Disappearing by Lori Roy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Lane Fielding fled her isolated Florida hometown after high school for the anonymity of New York City, she swore she'd never return. But twenty years later, newly divorced and with two daughters in tow, she finds herself tending bar at the local dive and living with her parents on the historic Fielding Plantation. Here, the past haunts her and the sinister crimes of her father--the former director of an infamous boys' school--make her as unwelcome in town as she was the day she left.

Ostracized by the people she was taught to trust, Lane's unsteady truce with the town is rattled when her older daughter suddenly vanishes. Ten days earlier, a college student went missing, and the two disappearances at first ignite fears that a serial killer who once preyed upon the town has returned. But when Lane's younger daughter admits to having made a new and unseemly friend, a desperate Lane attacks her hometown's façade to discover whether her daughter's disappearance is payback for her father's crimes--or for her own.

With reporters descending upon the town, police combing through the swamp, and events taking increasingly disturbing turns, Lane fears she faces too many enemies and too little time to bring her daughter safely home. Powerful and heart-pounding, The Disappearing questions the endurance of family bonds, the dangers of dark rumors and small town gossip, and how sometimes home is the scariest place of all.

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Lane Fielding swore that she would never return to her hometown. Twenty years later, after a bitter divorce has she no other choice but to return home with her two daughters. Now she works in the local bar and living with her daughter and her parents on the historic Fielding Plantation. She's haunted by the past, the alleged sinister crimes by her father who once was the director of an infamous boy's school. There is a partial event from childhood that Lane has long tried to forget, but the past will soon catch up with her. And, it all starts with the disappearance of Susannah, a young girl...

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!

#CoverCrush Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

For new visitors do I want to explain that Cover Crush is something that my friend Erin over at Historical Fiction Reader came up with and I adopted the idea together with some other friends. And, now we try to put up a Cover Crush every week. You can check below my pick of the week for their choices this week!

A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous break up. “Beautifully layered and complex…I devoured Daisy Jones & The Six in a day, falling head over heels for it. Daisy and the band captured my heart.”—Reese Witherspoon

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the real reason why they split at the absolute height of their popularity…until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

Thoughts:

I like how the woman's face dominates the cover and I do get a 70s feeling looking at the cover. The cover intrigued me, made me want to know more about the book. Somehow I get an old paperback cover feeling looking at the cover, like the ones you can find browsing bargain books that is quite old and well-read. 

Check out what my friends have picked for Cover Crush's this week:

Stephanie @ Layered Pages

Heather @ The Maiden's Court

Holly @ 2 Kids and Tired Books

Colleen @ A Literary Vacation

Meghan @ Of Quills & Vellum

Erin @ Historical Fiction Reader

#BookReview Tiffany Blues by M.J. Rose @AtriaBooks @FreshFiction

Tiffany Blues by M.J. Rose
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

New York, 1924. Twenty‑four‑year‑old Jenny Bell is one of a dozen burgeoning artists invited to Louis Comfort Tiffany’s prestigious artists’ colony. Gifted and determined, Jenny vows to avoid distractions and romantic entanglements and take full advantage of the many wonders to be found at Laurelton Hall.

But Jenny’s past has followed her to Long Island. Images of her beloved mother, her hard-hearted stepfather, waterfalls, and murder, and the dank hallways of Canada’s notorious Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women overwhelm Jenny’s thoughts, even as she is inextricably drawn to Oliver, Tiffany’s charismatic grandson.

As the summer shimmers on, and the competition between the artists grows fierce as they vie for a spot at Tiffany’s New York gallery, a series of suspicious and disturbing occurrences suggest someone knows enough about Jenny’s childhood trauma to expose her.

Supported by her closest friend Minx Deering, a seemingly carefree socialite yet dedicated sculptor, and Oliver, Jenny pushes her demons aside. Between stolen kisses and stolen jewels, the champagne flows and the jazz plays on until one moonless night when Jenny’s past and present are thrown together in a desperate moment, that will threaten her promising future, her love, her friendships, and her very life.

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1924, New York. Jenny Ball is one of a dozen burgeoning artist invited to Louis Comfort Tiffany's distinguished artist colony. She has always dreamed about becoming a painter and now together with a close friend the dream is starting to become real. Jenny wants to travel to Paris and study art there, and this stay at the art colony is a start. Little does she know that her past will rear its ugly head. That the past she has tried to leave behind will turn staying at Laurelton Hall to not a dream come true, rather a nightmare.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!

#BookReview Abandoned by Allison Brennan @Allison_Brennan @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress @FreshFiction

Abandoned by Allison Brennan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Investigative reporter Max Revere has cracked many cases, but the one investigation she's never attempted is the mystery from her own past. Her mother abandoned her when she was nine, sending her periodic postcards, but never returning to reclaim her daughter. Seven years after the postcards stop coming, Martha Revere is declared legally dead, with no sign of what may have happened to her. Until now.

With a single clue―that her mother’s car disappeared sixteen years ago in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay―Max drops everything to finally seek the truth. As Max investigates, and her mother's story unfolds, she realizes that Martha teamed up with a con man. They traveled the world living off Martha’s trust and money they conned from others.

Though no one claims to know anything about Martha or her disappearance, Max suspects more than one person is lying. When she learns the FBI has an active investigation into the con man, Max knows she’s on the right path. But as Max digs into the dark secrets of this idyllic community, the only thing she might find is the same violent end as her mother.

New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan weaves the intimate, unputdownable story of an investigator confronting the most important--and most dangerous--mystery of her career.

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Investigative reporter Max Revere takes on a very personal case. Her own mother's abandoned her when she was nine. Only sending postcards over the next seven years before they stop coming. The only clue Max has is her mother's abandoned car in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay. There she starts to dig for the truth, but not everyone is glad that she is in town digging for clues.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!