Mystery Monday
The bad news is, it's Monday. The good news, it's Mystery Monday on The Princess and the Pen, where I highlight a few mystery novels on my radar. I come across so many mysteries on Goodreads, from social media and word-of-mouth recommendations and Mystery Monday will feature a small selection of those. Some are debut authors, others well-established. One thing they all have in common, though, is that they might make my to-read mountain topple over! This week I am featuring a trio of books I got via NetGalley recently and am looking forward to reading in the coming weeks.
If you would like to participate in Mystery Monday on your blog, feel free to use the image and please link back to The Princess and the Pen:-)
Happy Reading!
Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan is first this week. I have to admit, I was first intrigued by the cover, but the story does sound rather intriguing as well.
(Publication 5th December 2017)
Blurb: "An astonishingly incisive and suspenseful novel about a scandal amongst Britain’s privileged elite and the women caught up in its wake.Sophie’s husband James is a loving father, a handsome man, a charismatic and successful public figure. And yet he stands accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is convinced he is innocent and desperate to protect her precious family from the lies that threaten to rip them apart. Kate is the lawyer hired to prosecute the case: an experienced professional who knows that the law is all about winning the argument. And yet Kate seeks the truth at all times. She is certain James is guilty and is determined he will pay for his crimes. Who is right about James? Sophie or Kate? And is either of them informed by anything more than instinct and personal experience? Despite her privileged upbringing, Sophie is well aware that her beautiful life is not inviolable. She has known it since she and James were first lovers, at Oxford, and she witnessed how easily pleasure could tip into tragedy. Most people would prefer not to try to understand what passes between a man and a woman when they are alone: alone in bed, alone in an embrace, alone in an elevator… Or alone in the moonlit courtyard of an Oxford college, where a girl once stood before a boy, heart pounding with excitement, then fear. Sophie never understood why her tutorial partner Holly left Oxford so abruptly. What would she think, if she knew the truth?"
Laura Elliot's Guilty is next and the first book I'll read by this author, though her name has popped up in my recommendations rather often (not sure what's taken me this long). It will only be published at the end of the year, but if you are on NetGalley you might be approved for an early copy, too. Have any of you read her prior books? What did you think?
(Publication 22nd June 2017)
Blurb: "It begins with a phone call. It ends with a missing child. On a warm summer’s morning, thirteen-year-old school girl Constance Lawson is reported missing. A few days later, Constance’s uncle, Karl Lawson suddenly finds himself swept up in a media frenzy created by journalist Amanda Bowe implying that he is the prime suspect. Six years later … Karl’s life is in ruins. His marriage is over, his family destroyed. But the woman who took everything away from him is thriving. With a successful career, husband and a gorgeous baby boy, Amanda’s world is complete. Until the day she receives a phone call and in a heartbeat, she is plunged into every mother’s worst nightmare. "
Death Trap by Patrice Chaplin is last on my list this week, though by no means the one I am least interested in reading with endorsements such as this:
‘Powerful romantic fiction in the tradition of Emily Bronte.’ - Guardian
Blurb: "Elle is not yet thirty and she is already bored with her life… Drawn in by Elle’s mysterious charms and effortless grace, Catherine feels herself slipping into a whirlwind romance.But as the cracks in Elle’s façade appear, Catherine grows anxious and disturbed.When things start to go downhill and the glamourous life they’ve built together seems more and more like an illusion, Catherine begins to doubt her own reality.Who is Elle?Where does her money come from?What is she saying when she’s on the phone for hours speaking languages Catherine doesn’t understand?As Elle is revealed to be less and less what she seems, Catherine becomes fixated on the strange hollowness that has appeared in Elle’s eyes.Perhaps Elle is not a charming socialite after all, but something far more sinister. Half love story, half thriller, Death Trap is the gripping tale of Catherine and the mysterious Elle."