The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards Happy Publication Day

Happy publication day, out to buy NOW, here is my review, I was lucky enought to get an arc but kept my review til today.


The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over a few days

Pages - 336

Publisher - Michael Joseph books

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

A dinner party in a beautiful Notting Hill townhouse turns into a sinister game, as six old friends are forced to spill their darkest secrets…or else.

Six friends reunite in London to celebrate the life of their recently deceased ex-employer, a professor that brought them together in 1999 to help build a dating website based on psychological testing.

But what is meant to be a night of bittersweet nostalgia soon becomes a twisted and deadly game when the old friends find themselves held at gunpoint. They are given an ultimatum: reveal their darkest secrets to the group or pick each other off one-by-one.

It soon becomes clear that their current predicament is related to their shared past. The love questionnaire they helped develop in 1999 for the dating site was also turned into a tool for weeding out The Wasp Trap. This and the other tragic events of that summer long ago may help reveal the truth behind a killer hiding in plain sight.

Alternating between the past and present with a colorful ensemble of characters, The Wasp Trap is a fast-paced and twisty thrill ride that is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Alice Feeney.#


My Review

It has been over 20 years since everyone was together, getting together to celebrate the man who had once brought them all together, all those years ago. Six friends who live very different lives coming to their affluent pals, the duo of the group who have done the best and now having a posh meal at their fancy gaff. No expense spared, all the stops are pulled out however the night takes a turn and the six are forced to face the past and come clean about secrets they would rather stayed buried.

The first part of the book they are all kind of feeling each other out, catching up with the missed past twenty odd years. Then a turn of events, violence and shocking admissions as they try to get to the bottom of what is wanted. We then go back to when they were all pulled together on a project as we try to figure out, along with the character, what exactly the secret is.

Tense, shocking, violent, a forced game of cat and mouse almost with people being put on the spot to choose and try and figure "the secret". Psychological thriller, the guests/friends are clueless just like the reader so we are all figuring out, or trying to figure out what is going on. The threat of violence is constant and looming and as moments tick by (we are very much clock watching) tempers fray and fear climbs making everyone volatile in an already tense and dangerous situation, 4/5.

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Stolen Ones by Angela Marsons

Stolen Ones by Angela Marsons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Pages - 324

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

25 years ago he took a girl. Today he takes another.
One August afternoon, eight-year-old Grace Lennard skips into the garden of the childcare centre she attends and vanishes into thin air.

Hours before, Steven Harte walks into Halesowen police station and confesses to having information that will lead Detective Kim Stone to Melody Jones – the little girl who was taken from a playground exactly twenty-five years ago. But something about his confession is off and Kim dismisses his claims.

Arriving at the scene of Grace’s disappearance, Kim finds a chilling piece of evidence: the heart bracelet belonging to Melody. Now Kim must play Steven’s twisted game if she is to find Grace alive. But they’re going to play by Kim’s rules.

With only twenty-four hours to make every second of Steven’s interrogation count, and scan his behaviour for hidden clues, Kim and her team soon link Steven to the abduction of several vulnerable girls – two were kept for a year and then released, unharmed – but where are Melody and the others?

Then small bones are discovered in the grounds of a local park, and Kim fears the worst.

Kim may be close to convicting a killer, but there’s another who wants revenge against her – Dr Alex Thorne – the evil woman Kim did her best to keep behind bars. Alex is about to reveal a shocking secret to Kim that will hit her where it hurts the most. And if Kim lets Alex mess with her head, she might not be able to save Grace and find the other missing girls in time.

An edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave your heart in your mouth. You will be totally hooked on the utterly addictive, number one, multi-million-copy bestselling Detective Kim Stone series.


My Review

Book fifteen guys! If you haven't read the others you should because 1. They are fab and 2. There is a huge backstory, the team have been through a ton. However you could read this as a standalone but as we see characters from previous stories and they are epic anyway, go read them.

Stone is on the case, a child goes missing from a public place and it looks like she hasn't been the only one, this has happened before. When Steve Harte, millionaire, walks into the police station voluntarily, hinting at knowing about child disappearances, teasing clues/information about an old missing child case. Stone has no time for his crap, she has a kid missing and an old case has no bearing on this or does it? When kids disappear, when crimes happen folk often say they have information, the admit to know, they know stuff so Stone has no time for Harte's nonsense and all Harte wants is to talk to Stone, tell what he knows, under his conditions.....

So this is different, we know a kid is missing, taken and someone rocks up to the police, wanting Stone and hinting at knowing stuff. It isn't often we have a potential bad guy coming into the cops espesh at the beginning so you immediately distrust what he is projecting and we, along with Stone have to go at his pace to see if he knows anything. Plus we have the investigation into the kid and if that isn't enough the B*TCH is back. Crack pot Alex since her arrest has never been able to quite let go of Stone and now she is reaching out, why now?

I love that we have two parts if you like, the investigation/Harte and Alex. Alex is the kind of character you love to hate, I mean she is a sicko who will use any and all people and means to get what she needs and just to entertain herself.

This book takes us in new directions, cat and mouse and you don't really know what is the end game, sometimes you can work out where the book is going. From the kidnap side I had no idea and Alex always keeps you on your toes. Page turner as always - suspense, shocking behaviors from some of the characters, twists, turns - you name it - you will be entertained as always and kept going from the start. Marsons always delivers that, when we were on the investigation I wanted more Alex, when on Alex I wanted to know what was happening with Stone and the team. 4.5/5 for me this time, I cannot wait for the next installment.

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Q&A with author Douglas Skelton

Welcoming Douglas Skelton to So Many Books, So Little Time. Thanks for taking time out to chat today us especially with this week being the launch of Thunder Bay, Skelton's newest creation. Available to buy NOW, here is the link to Amazon available in tree book and ebook format.





Tell us about your newest book "Thunder Bay"

Thunder Bay sees weekly newspaper reporter Rebecca Connolly defy her editor’s orders to visit the island of Stoirm. Roddie Drummond, a man cleared fifteen years before on a Not Proven verdict for the murder of his partner Mhairi Sinclair, is returning for the funeral of his mother. His return will stir up old passions and memories. Rebecca has a personal reason for visiting the island – her father was born there but refused ever to speak about it or his family. She wants to know why.


Is the Island & Thunder Bay based on a real place and if not what inspired its creation. If it is what made you choose that one to write about?

It’s completely fictional, although I’ve used elements not just of other islands I’ve visited but also the mainland. I wanted to control the history and the mythology, both of which play a part in the story, and the idea of characters being cut off – by the water, by the weather – is something many writers are attracted to in order to make the stories more claustrophobic.


This was my first book of yours, is this a good place to start or would you rather new readers start with another of your titles, if so which and why?

New readers can certainly start with THUNDER BAY as it’s planned as the first in a new series. There are four Davie McCall books – gritty, Glasgow crime – beginning with BLOOD CITY. The two Dominic Queste books, the first is THE DEAD DON’T BOOGIE, are lighter but still thrillers, while THE JANUS RUN is a stand alone chase thriller set in New York.


I personally loved the wee legends/myths you put in the story, are any of them based on truth and why did you choose to include them?

All the legends are based on stories from across Scotland. The witches of the mountain, the petrified sisters, the water horse are all fairly common themes on Scottish folklore. The mountain on Stoirm is actually based on Schiehallion in Perthshire.


What research did you carry out for the book, if you can share without spoilers

I suppose the research was carried out over a number of years of visiting islands and reading about history and folklore. There was a bit of reading about vegetation in the Hebrides. The rest was made up!


The book has more than one timeline, going past to present and back and forth did you know this was what you wanted when penning it?

I always knew I would move back and forward between the present and the events of fifteen years before. I don’t plan my books in any way but as it gestated in my mind – and it’s been there for some considerable time – I knew that would be the structure I would follow.


Is it easier to write in one timeline or both? Which do you prefer?

Each one was difficult! This book is a departure from my usual style. In the past I’ve followed the Raymond Chandler suggestion of having two guys kick the door in with guns in their hand. This story did not lend itself to that, so it was a more challenging write for me.


How do you keep track of so many threads of stories and characters?

Often with difficulty! As I said, I don’t plan but I will make notes on bits of paper, which are strewn across my desk. I really should be more organised. I might get on better!


What is next for Douglas Skelton? Are you writing or thinking about your next book?

The process has begun on the next one. I have a title and a plot. Unusually I even have an ending! For me that’s a silver lining. All I need to do now is write it. Every silver lining has a cloud.


Where can fans connect with you?

I’m on Twitter @Douglasskelton1 and my website www.douglasskelton.com


Thanks so much Douglas, here is to smashing it to no.1 - If you haven't been spoiled enough by the Q&A I am offering my pre loved copy of the book. To be in with a chance of winning just use the Rafflecopter below to enter, the more entries you complete the more times your name goes in.


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