Keep It In The Family by John Marrs

Keep It in the Family by John Marrs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read -

Pages - 380

Publisher - Thomas and Mercer

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

In this chilling novel from bestselling author John Marrs, a young couple’s house hides terrible secrets—and not all of them are confined to the past.

Mia and Finn are busy turning a derelict house into their dream home when Mia unexpectedly falls pregnant. But just when they think the house is ready, Mia discovers a shocking message scored into a skirting board: I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC. Following the clue up into the eaves, the couple make a gruesome discovery: their home was once a real-life murder house, with the evidence still concealed within the four walls.

In the wake of their traumatic discovery, the baby arrives and Mia can’t shake her fixation with the monstrous crimes that happened right above them. Tormented by the terrible things she saw, she is desperate to dig into the past to find answers.

Secrecy shrouds the mystery of the attic, but when shards of a dark truth start to emerge, Mia realises the danger is terrifyingly present. She is prepared to do anything to protect her family—but will the previous tenants stop her from discovering their secret?


My Review

We open with the prologue thirty nine years earlier that quickly paints a dark picture and then we go to modern day. We flip between different characters point of views, mostly Mia and Finn with some news clip transcripts/podcast chat etc. Mia and Finn are together, Mia is pregnant and they have took a huge gamble on this house. When they discover the message "I will save them all" carved into the woodwork Mia does some digging and things get dark, very very dark.

The chapters are short and as is Marrs's way, always a very early hook and he creates characters you love to hate. I did gasp a wee bit and switched back and forth a bit of like/dislike and I love when a book does that, pull the rug our from under you.

So many themes and I don't want to give anything away cos we don't do spoilers obvs but martial issues, toxic relationships, kidnapping, murder, really dodgy people and you will never look at suitcases in the same light.

I am having horrific reading slumps and this has pulled me out and I have read most of his boks, just checked ad three left to go, I need to bump them up the list for sure. If you haven't read Marrs do it, this is a great place to start, 4/5.

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Witch: The True Story of Las Vegas Most Notorious Female Killer by Glenn Puit

Witch: The True Story of Las Vegas' Most Notorious Female Killer by Glenn Puit
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 352

Publisher -

Source - Bought (in Vegas)

Blurb from Goodreads

Drawing on extensive interviews with the accused herself, here is the sordid, twisted, and surprising story of Brookey Lee West—a successful technical writer from Silicon Valley who became Las Vegas’ most notorious female serial killer.

In February, 2001, police uncovered the decomposed remains of Christine Smith bagged like garbage in a Las Vegas storage unit. She’d been dead for years. Next to the makeshift tomb were books on witchcraft and Satanism. It didn’t take long for authorities to discover that the owner of the foul Canyon Gate Unit #317 was Christine’s own daughter, Brookey Lee West. Further investigation revealed something even more shocking—a one-woman crime spree that spanned two decades, stretched from Nevada to California, and may have counted among its victims Brookey’s own husband and brother....



My Review

So I hadn't heard of this one, I have read/seen a lot of true crime but never heard of this case. We effectively open with the finding of a body in a storage unit, the police trying to find the owner of said storage unit. We then get a back history of the deceased person Christine Smith and her daughter and owner of the unit, Brookey Lee West. Christine's early life, upbringing, how she met her husband and their life. The beginning of Brookey Lee's life, the suspected murders and glimpses of who she was or presented to those who were in her life.

This book is different is that we get more of the victims past and lives than really we do of Brookey Lee West. I feel like I don't know a whole lot more of her than I did before I started the book, absolute I know more of her mum, dad, husband and some of the ways she interacted with them but otherwise I don't think we know her much at all. Most books on killers you get quite in depth of who they are/were but this leaves you, well it did me, with a lot more questions.

Interesting read and I would read other books on her, see what information and takes other authors manage to pull together, 3.5/5.

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The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days in and out

Pages - 410

Publisher - Quirk

Source - ?bought I actually can't remember but it is second hand

Blurb from Goodreads

Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia's life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they're more likely to discuss the FBI's recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood.

But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he's a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she--and her book club--are the only people standing between the monster they've invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community.



My Review

Set in the 1990's I actually thought it was set much further back, like the 60's just with the mindset of the wives and how the husbands/men essentially rule the roost. We open with our main character Patricia and her book club. Initially is it run but one of those judgey controlling amost like a HOA person who just loves to belittle and take charge. Anyway end up with Patricia and a few of the others having their own book club and reading true crime and they all become close. Patricia gets a new neighbour, James and things go a bit chaotic when Patricia finds James isn't what he initially seems to be.

I totally get why this is a marmite read, there are some parts I really liked and felt done so so well and other parts really frustrated me. It also seems, to me anyway, that it bites off a lot more than it can chew. Like almost different stories and themes that are all crammed in together.

So the blurb pretty much straight out tells you James is a monster and absolutely hints at him being a vampire. Yet we don't see or hear that really until a good chunk later, there is a lot of buildup like the house wives and the book club I really liked that, we got to know them and like/dislike them. There is a few horrible scenes with animals which I hate and I get it it is to drive the horror and how scary those things would be.

The kid victims we don't really hear about them mostly in passing which is unusual in vampire books. Patricia was really infuriating at times, that scene with the fingers in the mouth because she was a nurse like what, that was just strange. How she went out of her way to help James in the beginning, I couldn't decide was that a vampire pull? Like a mind trick, I don't think it was, was it attraction, bored house wife, I don't think that was it either. Some stuff just left you scratching your head like what was the point? Patricia's actions and behaviours generally ripped my knittin but I was still rooting for her.

There are a few scenes that might trigger some, sa (assault), child victims but instead of the normal neck biting it is the top of the thigh. That was another thing, without spoilers but when Patricia sees what she sees why was her go to drugs? Like my brain just couldn't fathom it.

Things would happen and then there would be almost no follow up or explanation and I know sometimes the author likes the reader to draw their own conclusions but it left me a bit meh. I have read a ton of vamp books and as many movies so coming up with new ideas and lore isn't easy. Hendrix did manage to surprise me with some new things, well new to me anyway, so overall its a 3/5. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it, I did really like some parts, I was frustrated and annoyed with others. I have read him before and I will absolutely read him again.

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Spooky themed Giveaway

In case you missed it we have a wee bookmark giveaway on our insta, in prep for Halloween, CLICK HERE. We also have a giveaway for a Blind Date with A Book, two available, the winner pics one, this is a Facebook giveaway, pinned post. Please note the Insta and FB giveaways end the last day of September. Sorry this one is later but Rafflecopter is now gone so I needed to find a replacement, I have been looking at Gleam and think I have worked it out. This is our first competition using Gleam so if it goes well that will be our go to. So, what is the prize?

As shown, x1 small book protector, Beetlejuice themed. It will hold a small paperback or kindle, book not included, just shown so you can see it, it has a button on the top to clasp shut.

x1 candle with Freddy Krueger picture, it seems to be unscented, as pictured.

And it comes in a wee purple drawstring bag.

And lastly, I know them as bobbles but universally known as hair scruchies with horror characters cutesy print.

Enter using Gleam, below, please only fill in the entries you complete (all winning entries checked), this competition is open worldwide.

Spooky giveaway

Keeping 13 by Chloe Walsh

Keeping 13 by Chloe Walsh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 937

Publisher - Piatkus

Source - bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Falling in love was the easy part. What comes next is the test . . .

Johnny Kavanagh has been living a different life since his injury sidelined him. He's never known life without his beloved number 13 jersey, and he feels lost. Luckily for him, there is a mysterious girl who is now taking up most of his thoughts.

Shannon Lynch has always been good at keeping secrets. She has realized that evil men aren't only in stories. They are very real. After her traumatizing trip to Dublin, she is trying to find a way to protect her little brothers above all else. She is beginning to revert to her old self, hiding away so that she can try to contain the few scraps of her future she has left.

There's only one boy who can pull her out of the shadows into which she is retreating. The boy who owns her heart. But what she doesn't know is that secrets are about to be revealed that could change lives forever. Will Johnny and Shannon's love survive?

Following the beloved characters from Binding 13, Keeping 13 will cement your love for the Boys of Tommen universe. This book is perfect for readers looking for:

New adult/YA crossover Irish romance
Dual POVs
Friends-to-lovers
TikTok books
Sports romance


My Review

If you haven't read Binding 13 then DO NOT read this one first, I often read books out of sequence however book one is an absolute before this one. It goes through how they met, everything about Shannon's home life, how they got to where they are but most importantly, this book opens where Binding 13 stopped.

So we know from book one this isn't just a YA romance there are some really deep dark topics visited. I said in my previous review if the author hasn't had first hand experience with this then she has done very in depth research, if you have ever lived through any of this you know, I actually wasn't expecting the level of emotion some of those scenes evoked. The alcoholic abusive violent father, the way the mother behaved it really did pull the rug a bit but if you read book one you know all this and are prepared. Whilst we visit all of that Shannon and Johnny are a couple , Shannon still has some issues from Johnny's bunny boiler ex, I really really wanted karma to get her good. We see more of Shannon's family, siblings, Johnny's parents and pals and Johnny's injury, rehab and focus for his career and future.

There is so much emotion in this one too, we know of Shannon's struggles but I feel we get more than a glimpse into Joey, aw Joey I just wanted to hug him. Domestic violence has such a long reach in the impact it has, far beyond the physical side of it. There is just so much to process, I loved the development in Shannon and Johnny's relationship, Gibsie and Claire get a bit more glimpses in this one. I haven't read the blurbs for the upcoming books but I am hoping Gibsie gets one.

With a lot of the main character(s) being teens there is a lot of sex type talk, banter, words/phrases that some may find offensive but it lends authenticity to the group/age of the characters. I don't have the next in the series, I do have two of the books in the series but I think one is that last and the other may be the fourth so I need to buy them. They are thick chunky books and I have been having readers block but I sank this, 900 odd pages in 3 days. They absolutely grab you, pull you in and I think if you come from that type of background you get emotionally wrought, ooft, 4.5/5.

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A Promise Of Ankles by Alexander McCall Smith

A Promise of Ankles by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 297

Publisher - Abacus

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

The latest, delectably witty installment of Alexander McCall Smith's sumptuous 44 Scotland Street series.

For the residents of 44 Scotland Street, life in Edinburgh's intriguing New Town is a thing to be relished. After all, there are new faces to excite Domenica's anthropological imagination, precious moments with his triplets for Matthew to savor, and the prospect of a trip to the promised land of Glasgow for young Bertie.


My Review

Book fourteen of the 44 Scotland Street series, if you haven't read them go back to the start just so you have back story for our residents. Irene is spending most of her time in Aberdeen but still makes an appearance to dampen everyones spirits. For one who has done and is doing what she did she sure has a cheek to be looking/talking down on Stuart, Nicola et al. Wee Bertie finally gets to go and see the holy grail (to him) good auld Glasgow with his wee bestie Ranald Braveheart McPherson.

Stuart is dabbling with the thought of dating again, Bruce, vain arrogant Bruce is his usual nightmare self, just out there doing what he does best, mad serial dater! An unusual finding may be of great importance to the museum with Angus and Domenica in the middle of it all. I did think this book was going to be more and feature more with Cyril (dog) due to the title so I was a wee bit disappointed by how little he actually did feature.

It is always nice to dip into Scotland street especially as my book before this one was so heavy and dark. I have ordered the next book in the series and whether I just like them or love them I am always looking forward to the next, 3/5.

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Say Her Name by Dreda Say Mitchell & Ryan Carter

Say Her Name by Dreda Say Mitchell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days (in and out)

Pages - 308

Publisher - Thomas and Mercer

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

In this chilling thriller from the bestselling authors of Spare Room, one woman just wants the truth about who she really is. But she’s not the only one looking…

It’s twenty years since Eva, a biracial woman, was adopted as an eight-year-old, and Cherry and Carlton ‘Sugar’ McNeil have always been the only parents she’s wanted or needed. But when she’s dealt the double blow of Cherry’s death and her own suspension from work, Eva decides it’s time to discover who she was before she was theirs.

Against Sugar’s advice, Eva joins a DNA database, desperate for a match that will unlock her identity. And when a positive hit comes, she’s excited to learn there are relations out there who might hold the key. But the closer Eva gets to uncovering her past, the more it appears someone is trying to stop her finally finding the truth…

As she continues to dig, Eva is drawn into a dark and merciless underside to society, where black women disappear without a word. Names erased from history, no search parties, no desperate pleas for their return. Once, someone tried to save Eva from all this. Someone wanted a better life for her. But now that she’s torn down the facade of her life, has she come too far to be spared again?



My Review

Eva's mum has died and they are saying their goodbyes, Cherry is being laid to rest and whilst Eva is grieving and trying to be there for her dad she is thinking about her birth mother. Cherry and "Sugar" adopted Eve when she was just eight years old and now Cherry has gone Eva wants to know about her biological mum. Currently off work suspended Eva hasn't told anyone and as she digs into her past Sugar is becoming even more secretive and aloof, he knows more than he is letting on and Eva won't let it drop. Eva gets a hit on a dna database, she has blood family out there and things are getting stranger and dangerous. What is Sugar hiding, why did he leave the police force, why was Eva left to be adopted when she has blood relatives?

So Eva is a biracial woman and whilst we are in present day searching for her biological mother and the truth we get flashbacks to when she was little and through her years in "care". It is a busy book and the present day has a lot of mystery, threats and an overall feeling of something bad is coming. When we are in the flashbacks to when Eva was a wee on, the heartbreak, racism is something I will never understand. hurting little kids, cruelty ooft my heart, I just wanted to hug little Eva. The book deals with some hard hitting themes that I can't list all because well hello spoilers but it is really good, emotive, shocking and reels you in, 4/5 for me.

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