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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Blood Daughter by Dreda Say Mitchell

Blood Daughter by Dreda Say Mitchell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - dipped in and out over 3 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Hodder

Source - BookBridgr

Blurb from Goodreads

They say blood is thicker than water.
That's not going to stop it being spilled.

Life hasn't been easy for the Miller family. Finally, mum Babs has had one bit of luck. She plans to share the profits with her daughters. She thought they'd be pleased...

But money always causes trouble, especially when it's desperately needed. Jen wants to make a better life for her kids. Tiff owes a lot of bad men a lot of money. And Dee is worried that her husband is getting back into the criminal life.

As the sisters fall out, a gold bullion heist brings more opportunities - and many more dangers. None of them are giving up without a fight...



My review

Guys this is book three in a trilogy, if you haven't read the previous two I advise you to do so. You can get away with reading this one off the bat as it does give you history of that which has passed. However, I think in order to fully appreciate the things the characters do and full impact of it you should have vested in the previous books. Babs is still in the jail but has come into a bit of money and wants to share it with her daughters. As you know money always causes issues and this family was already packing enough baggage for a whole crew! Jen, Tiff and Dee have very different attitudes towards what should happen to the money as well as their own personal dramas. As the tension builds between the siblings danger is lurking around the corner and no one has anyones back!

I do love the Miller family, they really have been through the mill already and the book is broken into different issues. Babs coping (or trying to) in jail, the sibling rivalry, the sisters personal issues, Dee's husband keeping away from the life and all manners of skulduggery. Like an onion there are many layers to the book, love, lies, violence, secrets, the past coming back to bite you in the bottom and death. You would think by the third book the story would be starting to slow or the author run out of ideas, not in this trio. The book keeps packing punches, hooking the reader and keeping the pace page after page.

I have read a few of Mitchell's books and have another couple on the tbr, each book is fresh and for this one giving some closure and rounding up a fabulous tale. You won't be disappointed and I cannot wait to see what Mitchell has next for us, 4/5 for me this time. Thanks so much to BookBridgr for providing me with a review copy! Blood Daughter is available to buy now from all good retailers, paperback and kindle.

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Blood Mother by Dreda Say Mitchell

Blood Mother by Dreda Say Mitchell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton

Pages - 480

Blurb from Goodreads

Book 2 in a trilogy following one family over forty years on an East London estate, BLOOD MOTHER goes back to the 70s to tell the next story in the Flesh and Blood series, perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers and Mandasue Heller.

Babs had all the world ahead of her, until she got pregnant and the father did a runner. Salvation comes in the form of a man who'll look after her. Or so she thinks. Stan Miller is really the devil in disguise... and over the next twenty years, Babs will have reason to regret she ever met him.

Starting in the 70s, BLOOD MOTHER is the second thrilling installment in the Flesh and Blood series, capturing a London that was very different from today but where some things still hold true: be careful what you wish for, and watch out for who you trust...




My Review

This is book two of a trilogy, book one looks at Bab's two kids growing up and their journey into adult hood. This book takes us back to the 1970s when Babs is just a slip of girl and spans over a few decades bringing us to the early 2000s. Babs is pregnant out of wedlock, if that isn't enough to rock the street, the father will shock and bring more grief for Babs. When she meets Stanley Miller he is the answer to all her prayers but nothing is ever free and Babs finds her actions and decisions have consequences that will haunt her and her children!

Ooooh you guys, this is a fabulous book. If you like skulduggery, lowlife characters, schemes, the grittier side of life you will absolutely love this one. You could get away with starting with this one however I would advise to read the first in the series so you get a better feel for the characters. With murder, prostitution, racism, secrets, lies, betrayal and loss the book covers a host of situations that will make some readers feel uncomfortable. It adds an air of authenticity to the depravity and level some folk find themselves when surrounded by poverty but also shows that even in the darkest of times and situations you have things that money cannot buy, friendship and loyalty.

If you enjoy Chambers and Heller then Mitchell is absolutely an author you need to sink your teeth into. Book three is out this week and I cannot wait to sink my teeth into it, highs and lows, sadness, love, laughter and darkness are just some of the themes that will take you on an emotional roller coaster with this one. 5/5 for me this time, I would have devoured it in a few hours if time had permitted, as it was I sunk it in under a day.

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Q & A with Dreda Say Mitchell

Warm welcome to the fabulous Dreda Say Mitchell, here to talk about her new book Blood Sister, the first in a new trilogy. You can read my review here.





1. What gave you the idea for Blood Sister?

I was enjoying writing my new DI Rio Wray thriller series when I did one of the many prisons visits I do, talking about my life and being a writer. On this occasion it was a woman’s prison and chatting to the inmates re-ignited my interest in writing about the working class people I grew up with, especially the women. And of course the trials and tribulations, including crime. So that’s how I came up with writing the Flesh and Blood trilogy; about the lives of three generations of women in one family spanning four decades.



2. Tiff and Jen are night and day, did you think of creating them like that straight away or did you take a while to mould them?

Pretty much straight away. I wanted two sisters who have the same goal – to get off The Devil’s Estate – but who go about it in very different ways. One, on the straight and narrow and the other on the criminal highway. I had a total ball writing them.



3. Did you know straight away it was going to be a trilogy?

I knew I wanted to write a criminal saga and that was going to take more than one book. I’ve written a trilogy in the past and found it to be a good way of planning a series of novels.



4. Will book two be a 10 year span?

Blood Mother spans thirty years. We start in 1972 and end up in 2003 where Blood Sister ends.



5. Without giving the game away, what can we expect from book two?

Love, love, love Blood Mother. This is Babs’ – Tiff and Jen’s mum’s – story. Babs is a young woman who finds herself in trouble – twice over! She finds herself pregnant in the early seventies, which was a harsh and unforgiving time to be an unwed mum. Then she thinks she’s found the man who will save…but he turns out to be more Devil in disguise than knight in shining armour.



6. Are you reading anything just now?

2 books I’ve recently read that I couldn’t put down.



The Unseeing – Anna Mazzola
Cut To The Bone – Alex Caan
Both are debuts authors who I predict amazing things for!



7. For anyone who hasn’t read your work before, how would you describe it?

The Flesh and Blood trilogy and much of my work is about women behaving very badly indeed! But also exploring their vulnerabilities and their relationships. And, at the centre of it all, is crime.



8. Where can fans find you?

Twitter: @DredaMitchell Facebook: Like my author page at Dreda Say Mitchell and follow/friend me at DS Mitchell.



And if that isn't treat enough, I am offering up my copy of Blood Sister as a giveaway prize. All you have to do is complete the entries in the Rafflecopter below.


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Blood Sister by Dreda Say Mitchell

Blood Sister by Dreda Say Mitchell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - <1 day

Pages - 400

Publisher - Hodder

The first in a trilogy following one family over forty years on an East London estate, BLOOD SISTER is non-stop drama, perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers and Mandasue Heller.

There are two ways out of Essex Lane Estate, better known as The Devil. You make good, or you turn bad.

Jen Miller is determined not to make the same mistakes her mother did. She's waiting to find herself a good job and a decent man.

Her younger sister Tiff is running errands for a gangster and looking for any opportunity for fun and profit. But she might just be in over her head...

The choices you make and the plans you have don't always turn out like you expect. Especially when you live on The Devil's Estate. Jen and Tiff are about to learn that the hard way.

At least they can rely on each other.

Can't they?


My Review

Jen & Tiff Miller are sisters living and doing what they can to get through life on Essex Lane Estate, locally known as The Devil's Estate. Jen wants a better life than what their mother has managed, Tiff just wants to have fun and not be bored. Each sister makes choices that will shape their life and time on the estate & learn that with all choices come consequences.

Oooh this is a fabulous start to what is to be a trilogy, Jen is the smart one who won't lower herself to settling for any of the boys going nowhere on the estate. Tiff is bored, known to the police and not adverse to getting inebriated down at the graveyard. When an opportunity to get involved with some known faces arises Tiff grabs it with both hands. Both sisters are drawn into the world that keeps places like The Devil's Estate going, corruption, violence, death & money are just the beginning. The time span of this novel is over ten years, 1993 to 2003, setting the stage and introducing some of the key characters who are guaranteed to keep the readers on their toes. An explosive beginning to what I am sure will be a great trilogy although I am not sure what the next novel will hold, I cannot wait until it is out 4/5 for me this time. Thanks to BookBridgr for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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