Book Review · Books

No Life For A Lady by Hannah Dolby [BOOK REVIEW]

No Life For A Lady by Hannah Dolby [BOOK REVIEW]

No Life for a Lady by Hannah Dolby transported me into the 1890’s, and our strong heroine Violet made that journey quite memorable!

No Life For A Lady by Hannah Dolby [BOOK REVIEW]

Pages: 400

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Head of Zeus

Format I read it in: Special Edition Uncorrected Proof

Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis:

Violet Hamilton is a woman who knows her own mind. Which, in 1896, can make things a little complicated…

At 28, Violet’s father is beginning to worry she will never find a husband. But every suitor he presents, Violet finds a new and inventive means of rebuffing.

Because Violet does not want to marry. She wants to work, and make her own way in the world. But more than anything, she wants to find her mother Lily, who disappeared from Hastings Pier 10 years earlier.

Finding the missing is no job for a lady, but when Violet hires a seaside detective to help, she sets off a chain of events that will put more than just her reputation at risk.

Can Violet solve the mystery of Lily Hamilton’s vanishing before it’s too late?

Thoughts:

I am beyond thankful to Tandem Collective, Head of Zeus and Hannah Dolby, for letting me join this special readalong. I was lucky to receive an exclusive interactive readalong edition copy, full with QR codes, challenges and topics to discuss whilst reading the book. The format of the book was very interactive and although it distracted me a bit, I enjoyed finding out about this period in history. What people wore, what was popular at the time, how the streets and towns used to look like, what were people’s main professions, and most importantly, what were the women’s roles in society at this point in time.

First of all, Violet is an amazing character. She knows exactly what she wants(to find her mum) and also what she doesn’t want (to marry). She hires a detective to search for her mum, and she’s also quite busy rejecting men left, right and centre – much to the annoyance of her father. 

The more clues are being discovered, the more unsure Violet is about the investigation and the detective. She starts interacting with Mr. Blackthorn in the hopes that he would be a better detective for this case, but Mr. Blackthorn is set to give up that career path. 

The book highlights the era so well, the way women are treated in society and the audacity that men have.

No respect towards women (with exceptions), yet all they seem to care about is reputation. The part that hurt and angered me the most is the lack of freedom, and no freedom of choice. To be rejected for books in a library, to be denied education and a career, if you so wish to have… Yet they are able to get away with murder. In an environment like this, where all the odds are stacked against her, Violet was a breath of fresh air. I loved that she would stop at nothing to achieve the things she wants.Her determination, dedication and sense of humour made this book so enjoyable. The pace of the book started slowly at first, but then it picked up, and by the end I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

About The Author:

No Life For A Lady by Hannah Dolby [BOOK REVIEW]

Hannah’s first job was in the circus and she has aimed to keep life as interesting since. She trained as a journalist in Hastings and has worked in PR for many years, promoting museums, galleries, palaces, gardens and even Dolly the sheep.

Hannah completed the Curtis Brown selective three-month novel writing course, and she won runner-up in the Comedy Women in Print Awards for this novel with the prize of a place on an MA in Comedy Writing at the University of Falmouth.

She lives in London and her debut novel, No Life for a Lady, will be published in Spring 2023.

Twitter – @LadyDolby

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Blog Tour · Book Review · Books

The Politician by Tim Sullivan (The DS Cross Mysteries #4) [BLOG TOUR]

The Politician by Tim Sullivan (The DS Cross Mysteries #4) [BLOG TOUR]

Huge thank you to the team at Head of Zeus, for the opportunity to participate on the blog tours for “The Patient” and “The Politician” by Tim Sullivan. Reading both books has been an absolute pleasure and I would recommend them both.

The Politician by Tim Sullivan (The DS Cross Mysteries #4) [BLOG TOUR]

About The Book:

The Politician by Tim Sullivan (The DS Cross Mysteries #4) [BLOG TOUR]


Pages: 400

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Publisher: Head of Zeus

Format I read it in: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★/★

Synopsis:

A ransacked room. A dead politician. A burglary gone wrong – or a staged murder?

THE DETECTIVE

DS George Cross loves puzzles – he’s good at them – and he immediately spots one when he begins investigating the death of former mayor Peggy Frampton. It looks like a burglary that went horribly wrong to most but George can see what others can’t – that this was murder.

THE PUZZLE

After her political career ended, Peggy became a controversial blogger whose forthright opinions attracted a battalion of online trolls. And then there’s her family: an unfaithful husband and a gambling-addicted son. With yet more enemies in her past, the potential suspects are unending.

THE SUSPECTS

Cross must unpick the never-ending list of seedy connections to find her killer – but the sheer number of suspects is clouding his usually impeccable logic. He’s a relentlessly methodical detective, but no case can last forever. And politics can be a dangerous game – especially for people who don’t know the rules…

My Thoughts:

With “The Politician”, I enjoyed the book from the first chapter until the very last. The gathering of the evidence at the beginning was intriguing, making us aware of everything that is found at the scene and creating a certain scenario. I loved the abundance of suspects that this book had. With the suspect being a retired politician and a social media figure with a lot of following, it opened up a can of worms when it came to suspects. I also loved the involvement of other people in this case, and seeing some new faces at the police station. 

DS Cross was the star of the book again, unsurprisingly. I just love his method of gathering evidence and eliminating suspects. The case was quite twisted with a lot going on, and he managed to stay on top of it, with Ottey always there to support. I enjoyed Carsons’s downfall too – it was funny how he always does the wrong thing. Maybe he learns something this time around and changes in the next book. Family relationships were a big topic in this book and it was interesting to see different family dynamics. Even DS Cross had his own family mystery to unravel. 

“For someone who struggled to make relationships with the living, he had no such problems doing so with the dead.”

The pacing of the book wasn’t always great, but there was new evidence frequently enough to keep me going. I feel that involving a bit of a mafia family from Albania was a bit cliche, but being born in Macedonia and having seen some things in my life, the description wasn’t too far off. 

I wasn’t surprised by the reveal – I could spot the signs from the second interaction.

However, there wasn’t only one mystery to unravel this time. As we keep reading, and clues are being discovered, there are multiple things that require DS Cross’s attention and I was here for it. “The Politician” kept me entertained, and I never thought I would say that sentence in my life. But it did, I really enjoyed it, and same as “The Patient” I warmly recommend it. It’s not always that you have a DS on the spectrum that warms up to you as a reader as DS Cross did to me. His personality adds a uniqueness to a mystery book, and his methods are so amazing to read. Now I will have to get the first two books of the The DS Cross Mysteries series to complete my collection and eagerly wait to read about DS Cross’s next case.

About The Author:

The Politician by Tim Sullivan (The DS Cross Mysteries #4) [BLOG TOUR]

Tim Sullivan is a crime writer, screenwriter and director, whose film credits include A Handful of Dust, Jack and Sarah, and Cold Feet. His crime series featuring the socially awkward but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross has topped the book charts and been widely acclaimed. Tim lives in North London with his wife Rachel, the Emmy Award-winning producer of The Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman.

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Blog Tour · Book Review · Books

The Patient by Tim Sullivan (The DS Cross Mysteries #3) [BLOG TOUR]

The Patient by Tim Sullivan (The DS Cross Mysteries #3) [BLOG TOUR]

I am so happy to be joining a wonderful group of book bloggers on the blog tours for “The Patient” and “The Politician” by Tim Sullivan. Thank you very much to the team at Head of Zeus, for allowing me to be a part of it and introducing me to the amazing work of Tim.

The Patient by Tim Sullivan (The DS Cross Mysteries #3) [BLOG TOUR]

About The Book:

The Patient by Tim Sullivan (The DS Cross Mysteries #3) [BLOG TOUR]


Pages: 407

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Publisher: Head of Zeus

Format I read it in: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★/★

Synopsis:

No fingerprints. No weapon. And no witnesses. Can DS Cross prove it was murder?
THE DETECTIVE
DS George Cross doesn’t rely on guesswork and he has no time for false assumptions. He is a detective who goes off the evidence in front of him, not ‘hunches’ or ‘gut feelings’. He does not know what these are.
THE CLOSED CASE
When a young woman is found dead, the Bristol Crime Unit is quick to rule it a suicide as the woman had a long history of drug abuse. But her mother is convinced it was murder, saying that her daughter had been clean for years and had been making strides in a new therapy programme.
THE ANSWER
As an outsider himself, DS Cross is drawn to cases involving the voiceless and dispossessed and, here, the evidence states that this woman was murdered – Cross just has to prove it. But under pressure from his boss to shut down the case, and with numerous potential suspects, time is rapidly running out to get the answers that this grieving family deserve.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed “The Patient” very much, and it pleasantly surprised me on numerous occasions. Before I start, I should note that this book can easily be a standalone. I didn’t read the first 2 books of the DS Cross Mysteries series, and didn’t feel like anything was missing. 

DS George Cross is a character that I warmed up to instantly. We need more characters on the spectrum in books. His personality shined through the pages and that only serves to prove the amazing writing skills of Tim Sullivan. 

For a 400 page book, the pace is quite fast, although I struggled a bit around the middle.

The pace at the end was incredible and I couldn’t put the book down. In regards to the investigation, I was intrigued by the unorthodox method of eliminating the suspects. Usually, we have a lot of suspects and near the end, they are still around as possibilities. However, in this book we don’t go by the rules. The suspects were eliminated one by one, which narrowed down the suspect list significantly as we were getting closer to the end of the book. I found this refreshing and welcomed it, although it did make me expect more plot twists. 

At the very end, that last clue that was somewhat crucial to the case – I think it was very coincidentally discovered. And knowing DS Cross, it doesn’t seem like him to not explore that avenue much earlier. But aside from that, I really loved the case, the investigation, the interviews and the resolution. The book touches on some very sensitive topics on drug addiction, suicide, euthanasia, grief and therapy. I learnt a lot whilst reading the book and I always cherish that when it happens. “The Patient” was a clever adventure with a brutal twist and a thriller I enjoyed devouring. This one will keep me tinkering over it for quite some time. 

About The Author:

Tim Sullivan is a crime writer, screenwriter and director, whose film credits include A Handful of Dust, Jack and Sarah, and Cold Feet. His crime series featuring the socially awkward but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross has topped the book charts and been widely acclaimed. Tim lives in North London with his wife Rachel, the Emmy Award-winning producer of The Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman.

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