Tennison - Prime Suspect 1973 by Lynda La Plante

Celebrating #TeamTennison all of the Tennison books in prep for the tenth which is yet to be published. Over the next ten months we will be reading/reviewing all the Jane Tennison books (I also aim to watch the tv show). Thanks to Tracy from Compulsive Readers for getting me on board for the tours.

Tennison: Prime Suspect 1973 by Lynda La Plante
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 7 days

Pages - 624

Publisher - Simon and Schuster

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

In 1973 Jane Tennison, aged 22, leaves the Metropolitan Police Training Academy to be placed on probationary exercise in Hackney where criminality thrives. We witness her struggle to cope in a male-dominated, chauvinistic environment, learning fast to deal with shocking situations with no help or sympathy from her superiors. Then comes her involvement in her first murder case.


My Review

Book one of the series and whilst I have read La Plante before this is my first of this series. Jane Tennison is a rookie and in her probationary period in Hackney, it is the early 1970s so it is a very heavily male environment. There is sexism, racism, chauvinistic, jealousy, hierarchy, prostitution, murder, drugs and homophobic tones in interactions. I think it brings the reality of the times in that profession/time and it is set in a high crime area.

There is a lot going on, we get the dynamics of the officers, the way the police works, how women were viewed and the metal of Jane's character. Starting a new job in that type of environment, that time period women where expected to be more about settling down. Even Jane's family expect the job to be backseat to what they deem high importance ie rehearsal dinners or family dinners, inviting people around.

There are a lot of shady characters within the book and like or loathe them they do make for compelling reading. I would have gotten through this quicker if not for work/life, it is a chunky book, over 600 pages and I am looking forward to reading the rest in the series. I have book two ready and waiting and looking forward to seeing what Jane and co are facing next, 4/5.

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Love heart bookmark x1 competition

So this competition is open worldwide. The winner picks x1 love heart page corner, as pictured, from those shown (you pick your prefered colour). I did try to get another packet like the last lot (with a black heart as it was very popular) however it is just pot luck what colours you get.

The colours are as shown, please specify the one you would choose if you win. Colours are deep brown, light pink, tan brown, deep blue, moss green & yellowish tan.

If you haven't used one of these before you get a few pages and slide on onto the edge of them, the love heart pops out at the side.

The listing says leather so just an FYI. To enter just complete the entries you want to via Rafflecopter. This one is open worldwide, GOOD LUCK if entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wee giveaway x1 £5 Amazon Voucher

Sorry we have been so behind on competitions, we have had a lot on. I aim to get another one up soon too but at least this one is now live.

UK ONLY guys sorry, as it is for x1 £5 Amazon voucher, Amazon only allows me to gift within the UK. I will get another competition listed that is worldwide but for now, this is UK only.

Please note the prize is an evoucher that will be emaiiled to you, the picture above is just for visual.

To enter, please fill the options in the Rafflecopter you wish to take part in/complete. Please use the Rafflecopter to provide the email address where to send the voucher if you are the winner. Once the winner is drawn - if you have provided the email address it will be sent automatically. If you have not we will contact you via whatever option you have left on the Rafflecopter. If the prize if not claimed within 48 hours (we sometimes try give folk a bit longer but generally we say 48 hours) then a different winner will be generated. That is it, good luck everyone entering.

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One Moment by Becky Hunter

One Moment by Becky Hunter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 306

Publisher - Corvus

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

An emotional, heart-wrenching and uplifting story about friendship, love and sacrifice, perfect for fans of David Nicholls and Holly Miller.

One moment in time can change everything...

The day Scarlett dies should have been one of the most important of her life. It doesn't feel fair that she'll never have the chance to fulfil her dreams. And now, she's still ... here - wherever here is - watching the ripple effect of her death on the lives of those she loved the most.

Evie cannot contemplate her life without Scarlett, and she certainly cannot forgive Nate, the man she blames for her best friend's death. But Nate keeps popping up when she least expects him to, catapulting Evie's life in directions she'd never let herself imagine possible. Ways, perhaps, even those closest to her had long since given up on.

If you could go back, knowing everything that happens after, everything that happens because of that one moment in time, would you change the course of history or would you do it all again?



My Review

So as always no spoilers and the death is mentioned in the blurb and happens opening chapters so no spoilers guys don't worry. Evie and Scarlett are besties, they are polar opposites and we know early on Evie has some struggles but we don't know exactly what. The morning it happens the girls are awkward with each other but Scarlett has to rush off and they will make it up with she gets home. Sadly Scarlett won't get home, an accident will see her ripped out of Evie's life and Nate will be brought in. Evie can't bear to look at him and yet he has answers and Nate want's to help so fate has flung them together. Evie needs to navigate through her health issues/personal problems and Nate wants to be there for her. Between the two of them and Scarlett's ghost hanging around overseeing all we follow them from before the accident, to the accident and the ripples and aftermath of what follows.

Yeah we have a ghost in the book, taking us back in the past to her and Evie, following around from the accident and thereafter. Evie's personal journey through loss, grief, anger pretty much all the stages of grief but with the addition of the ghost of her pal (no one can see nor hear her it is just us readers who know of her presence and how she processes her sudden death).

The book is a bit bittersweet, Scarlett is such a force of life and Evie is so recluse, has issues and that is before the sudden devastating loss of her bestie. It is a journey of personal growth, acceptance and all the things we see and feel after such a huge and unexpected loss. The book gives sadness, loss, hurt, hope, joy even humour in some parts, it is a bit of a rollercoaster. I think depending on your own experiences and where you are at in life will see how you gel with the book. 3.5/5 from us this time, this is my first time reading this author and would read her again for sure.

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We Can Be Heroes by Paul Burston

We Can Be Heroes: A Survivor's Story by Paul Burston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - as able over 4 days

Pages - 319

Publisher - Little a

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Activist. Journalist. Survivor. One man’s journey from prejudice to Pride. Paul Burston wasn’t always the iconic voice of LGBTQ+ London that he is today. Paul came out in the mid-1980s, when ‘gay’ still felt like a dirty word, especially in the small Welsh town where he grew up. He moved to London hoping for a happier life, only to watch in horror as his new-found community was decimated by AIDS. But even in the depths of his grief, Paul vowed never to stop fighting back on behalf of his young friends whose lives were cut tragically short. It’s a promise he’s kept to this day. As an activist he stormed the House of Commons during the debate over the age of consent. As a journalist he spoke up for the rights of the community at a time of tabloid homophobia and legal inequality. As a novelist he founded the groundbreaking Polari Prize. But his lifestyle hid a dark secret, and Paul’s demons—shame, trauma, grief—stalked him on every corner. In an attempt to silence them, he began to self-medicate. From almost drowning at eighteen to a near-fatal overdose at thirty-eight, this is Paul’s story of what happened in the twenty years between, and how he carved out a life that his teenage self could scarcely have imagined. Emotional but often witty, We Can Be Heroes is an illuminating memoir of the eighties, nineties and noughties from a gay man who only just survived them.


My Review

I never used to read non fiction and now I find myself reading more and more. Paul Burston writes non fiction too (check out his other books, he has actually a fair few under his belt) so when this popped up (absolute bargain price for the treebook too) I had to get a copy (3 actually, one for me, my brother and BDWB for my workies). Paul takes us through his life experiences - how he dealt with being gay at a time when there was so much hate/stigma (lets face it even now in places we are still having to deal with this homophobic/prejudice) to becoming a fierce activist and out and proud.

Paul gives us a very real/stark/warts and all look at his life from being a youngster to the struggles he faced/addiction/relationships and one of the most important ones, his relationship with himself. He has been through some very dark times on his own personal journey and within the gay community. He has become a voice for the voiceless and done some amazing and tireless work but it has been a harsh road to get to where he is now.

We follow him through the years, the issues faced by gay people just for trying to be their true selves, love, proud and seen. The book isn't just a memoir, a survivors story it is also an education of what many of his community experienced and he himself between relationships, family, friends, the dating scene, work life. It is a busy book, Paul has achieved much and is still going strong, emotive at points the book shows Burston's absolute strength of character for all he has survived, achieved and helped to shape him as the individual he is today, 4.5/5.

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The Last Passenger by Will Dean

The Last Passenger by Will Dean
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 482

Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

When Caz steps onboard the exclusive cruise liner RMS Atlantica, it’s the start of a vacation of a lifetime with her new love, Pete. On their first night they explore the ship, eat, dance, make friends, but when Caz wakes the next morning, Pete is missing.

And when she walks out into the corridor, all the cabin doors are open. To her horror, she soon realizes that the ship is completely empty. No passengers, no crew, nobody but her. The Atlantica is steaming into the mid-Atlantic and Caz is the only person on board. But that’s just the beginning of the terrifying journey she finds herself trapped on in this white-knuckled mystery.



My Review

Caz and her new boa Pete are going away for a bit of luxury, booked onto the cruise liner The Atlantica. Caz feels a bit guilty leaving behind her job, family/mums care even for just a few days but her and Pete are getting to know each other and she deserves a wee bit of time away. However after the first night of fabulousness and being spoiled she goes to sleep and awakes to find the ship completely abandoned. No guests, no staff and no clue as to what happened. The ship is in the mid-Atlantic ocean, surrounded by water/elements and silence. How will Caz survive and can she find out what happened to the rest of her crewmates/staff and Pete?

I LOVED the start of this book and how we are teased into the dramas/shocks and surprises. I mean you immediately think well you are just needing to sit it out and wait for help, you have electricity, food and luxury at your disposal and yet as the layers of the story are revealed we find just how horrific things are and are to become for poor Caz.

For me the book is a mixed bag, what I liked I really liked and what I disliked I really disliked. It is hard to go into it without risking spoilers which we never do. The book bounces between current day on the ship and the survival that is endured and going back into Caz's past and her reflections on her father and the huge impact his betrayal/choices have had on her.

Tense, atmospheric, shocking the book certainly has you turning the pages wanting to see what is coming next. The characters I didn't like for the most past, in fact the majority I wasn't a fan of but unlikeable characters can make for a great book. 3/5 for me this time, I love a story of abandoned places/spooky/weird and this book has a bit of all of that with some curve balls along the way.

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Hidden Scars by Angela Marsons

Hidden Scars by Angela Marsons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days as able

Pages - 356

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Netgalley

While Jamie’s cold, lifeless body lay in the morgue, Detective Kim Stone stared at the empty board in the incident room and felt her anger boil. Why were there no photos, details, or lines of enquiry?



When a nineteen-year-old boy, Jamie Mills, is found hanging from a tree in a local park, his death is ruled a suicide. Detective Kim Stone’s instincts tell her something isn’t right – but it’s not her investigation and her temporary replacement is too busy waiting for the next big case to be asking the right questions.

Why would a seemingly healthy boy choose to end his life?

Why does his mother show no sign of emotional distress at the loss of her son?

Still mending her broken mind and body from her last harrowing case, Kim is supposed to be easing back into work gently. But then she finds a crucial, overlooked detail: Jamie had a recent injury that would have made it impossible for him to climb the tree. He must have been murdered.

Quickly taking back charge of her team and the case, Kim visits Jamie’s parents and is shocked to hear that they had sent him to a clinic to ‘cure’ him of his sexuality. According to his mother, Jamie was introverted and prone to mood swings. Yet his friend speaks of a vibrant, outgoing boy.

The clues to smashing open this disturbing case lie behind the old Victorian walls of the clinic, run by the Gardner family. They claim that patients come of their own accord and are free to leave at any time. But why are those that attended the clinic so afraid to speak of what happens there? And where did the faded restraint marks identified on Jamie’s wrists come from?

Then the body of a young woman is found dead by suffocation and Kim makes two chilling discoveries. The victim spent time at the clinic too, and her death was also staged to look like a suicide.

Scarred from an ordeal that nearly took her life, is Kim strong enough to stop a terrifying killer from silencing the clinic’s previous patients one by one?

A compulsive page-turner that will have your heart hammering in your chest and leave you absolutely reeling when you discover the explosive final twist. If you’re a fan of Karin Slaughter, Val McDermid, and Robert Dugoni, you’ll love Hidden Scars.



Can be read as a standalone.


My Review

If you haven't read the previous books you should because they are awesome but the precious book is really required as it helps understand DI Kim Stone's transition from what happened previously to where she finds herself now. Everything that transpired before has long lasting ripples and helps the reader grasp everything Stone has dealt with to get to this point. Her team is epic but Stone's replacement is an absolute tool, everything that is wrong with a leader/supervisior. With Stone just coming back and not quite there to take over the lead she can't ignore what makes her her and this suicide doesn't sit well and before we know it there is another "suicide" that calls for a closer look.

Kim Stone is such a great character, she has flaws, she is human but her inner compass pushes her past just about everything to do the right thing for the victims they come across as officers. This book has a trio of main themes, Stone and her recovery, the case(s) of course and the team dynamics and sexuality/LGB.

Some parts of the book are absolutely heart wrenching to read, what people will do to their supposed loved ones if they are gay, the lengths some gay people will go to in order to fit into what societal norms are expected in some areas of the world and the absolute extremes of this. I really struggled with that and whilst it is a fictional book/characters there are absolutely clinics/camps/conversions still active and it is 2023!

Murder most horrid, some really horrific individuals that will make you absolutely enraged and an abundance of things going on with our favourite team! You would think by book 17 things would be beginning to get overdone or boring or even just dropping in quality/ideas, nope. Marsons manages to keep it freh, the readers engaged and create more shady horrors that have us cheering on for our team to catch the baddy, 5/5 for me this time!

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