Despite it being very busy recently I have been continuing with my Aim for this year and still reading more.  Here are my Books so far for April 2026 :

“The Santa Killer” by Ross Greenwood – *****

I have now read quite a few of Ross Greenwood’s books and this is Number 6 in the D.I. Barton Series. 

Barton is sent to investigage the brutal attack on a local women, just two weeks to go before Christmas.  She did not know her attacker and does not have in her history any reason for the attack.  If it is a random attack it is going to be very hard to find the person who did it.  A few days later the woman’s daughter draws a picture of the attacker and it is Santa Claus.  At first Barton is unsure of her accuracy of her seeing the attacker as she has learning difficulties but she insists that was who attacked her Mom.  She calls him “Bad Santa”!  “He’s got a list, it is quite precise and it won’t matter even if you’re nice!”

I love these books.  They do not have blood, guts and gore in them just D.I. Barton and his team working to find out who is doing this terrible crime just before the Christmas holidays.  They are not quite cosy crimes but they read well and have a good outcome.  I gave it Five Stars.

“The Crucifix Killer” By Chris Carter – *****

Again I have read several of Christ Carter’s books out of sequence but this one is the first of the Robert Hunter Series.  

The body of a young woman has been found in an abandoned cottage in LA and Robert is tasked with finding out who did it.  However on the back of her neck is a double cross and when Robert sees this his blood runs cold.  This was the sign of the Crucifix Killer who Robert caught and two years ago was executed.  Is this a copycat killer or did they in fact arrest and convict the wrong person?  Robert and his new rookie partner, Garcia, must try and find out the answers and stop the killer before more bodies are found.

I like Chris Carter’s writing but here is a trigger warning he does write graphically so if you don’t like that sort of thing, this book is not for you.  I gave it Five Stars.

“She Started It” by Sian Gilbert – ***

I picked this book up as I liked the premise.  Poppy Greer is getting married and she has asked four of her old school friends to be her Bridesmaids.  In the invitation to her Hen Party there is a first class airplane ticket to whisk them off to a secluded Caribbean island for a long weekend!  The four friends are stunned, over the years their friendships have drifted and they have all gone off in different directions, one married, two in high flying jobs  and one who is making a splash as an Internet Influencer.  The Island is stunning although once there they cannot leave until the boat which takes them there comes and gets them on the fourth day.  The day begins well with drinks on the stunning patio and Poppy is there and much changed since their school days.  However Poppy was always on the outside of the group looking in, which is why they don’t know why she has asked them to be her Bridesmaids?  As the hours go by secrets start to be revealed and by the fourth day only two of them will be left alive!

This was a book with, as I said, a good idea but half way through I did not like any of the women and there was a lot of filling rather than getting on with the story.  The twist at the end was good but you can see it coming.  It was okay but that is why I only gave it Three Stars.

*****

“The Weekend” by T.M. Logan – *****

I first found T.M. Logan as Jayne picked one of his books for our Cosy Girl Book Club.  I loved his writing and as he lives in Nottingham, my Home Town, and sets a few of his books there I was hooked. 

Six friends are spending a long weekend together in a fabulous cottage in the Yorkshire Dales for New Year’s Eve, something they have done every year.  Over the years their children have come with them but now they are all older and so it is just the friends now.  Whilst out for a hike on the moors on New Year’s Eve the weather closes in and they seek shelter in a cave.  Whilst they are waiting out the storm they find an old, dirty backpack hidden in a crevice and when they open it find it is full of money.  They discus it when they get back to the cottage and agree to hand it in at the Police Station when they return home to York. 

That night another tradition after dinner is to play Poker and for the fun of it decide to use the money from the backpack rather than the chips.  After the game a discussion ensues as to whether they should keep the money instead of handing it in and although all six were agreed earlier in the day, the alcohol has now made three of them change their minds!  Thus begins a long and very slippery slope downwards and secrets and lies begin to come out and then the real owner of the bag finds them.  All six are caught up in a nightmare and there appears to be no way out!

Yes this got Five Stars from me!

“It’s Not What You Think” by Clare Mackintosh – *****

Wow never heard of this author before but this book was sooooo Good!  Well crafted and the twist you sort of know is coming but then when it does arrive you won’t believe it!

Nadeeka is sure that her Partner, Jamie, is having an affair.  This happened to her before with her ex-husband and she does not want a repeat of that.  She is rushing to get home to try and confront him when the Police stop her for speeding.  She manages to persuade them she needs to get home but when she does, she finds the Police outside her home and a crime scene inside!  Jamie is dead on the living room floor and the Police don’t know why.  The Policeman in charge takes her to her ex-mother-in-law’s home where her two girls are and gives her his card and says he will be in touch later in the week. 

Nadeeka is living a nightmare but knows that she is going to have to sort things out, including getting back into their home.  The Policeman meets her at the house and they go in and everything has been cleaned, the only thing slightly out of place is her sofa.  He explains that the cleaning crew have been in and it is a relief that she can come home, but can she?  He goes through some more details with her and then leaves.  Later that week she rings the station as she has some more questions and the Duty Officer says that no such Policeman works there or anywhere in the area?  She goes to the Police Station and speaks to another Detective and the mystery begins to build.  They cannot find Jamie’s body either, it is not in the Morgue where it is supposed to be.  Nadeeka has no idea what is happening but her nightmare is only just beginning.

Not gory just lots of good twists and turns until the end.  Best book I have read this year!

“When I Kill You” by B.A. Paris – ***

I have read a few of B.A. Paris books so far and was looking forward to this one, but….

Nell Masters has a job working for a charity just outside London and has a wonderful mews house near the centre which was left to her by her Great Aunt.  She also has a great new Boyfriend, Alex, the only problem being that he spends two weeks in London and two weeks in Washington DC.  She is happy.  She has a few friends and gets on well with them but this is because fourteen years previously she was not Nell but Elle and she witnessed an abduction of a young girl from her flat window.  Later that young girl was found dead and then in a bar Elle thought she saw the man who drove the young woman off.  Thus begins months of Elle stalking him trying to prove that he is the killer until one day he starts to chase her and gets himself killed in the road.  The Police do not blame Elle for it but she is partly to blame for watching him again so she tells the Police she is going abroad but doesn’t.  She changes her name, goes to live in her Great Aunt’s home which was left to her and gets a new job.  

However someone has found out who she really is and she senses that she is being followed but by who?   Is it the wife or the son of the man she hounded or is it someone else?  Then her home is broken into, nothing taken just a bunch of dead flowers left for her!

I did finish the book and it was okay but It did not have the wow factor and I got to the end of the book and thought hmm bit of a waste of time!!!!  Hence the Three Stars.

*********

“The Mother” by T.M. Logan – *****

Do you, when you find an Author and like that first book, then go and get all their other books?  I do!  So this is another T.M. Logan book and I think I only have one more of his books to get!

Heather is getting her Boys ready for bed and waiting for her MP husband, Liam, to return from his office in London.  He gets home but has more work to do and takes a drink into his study, leaving Heather with her wine on the sofa.  She goes up to bed and takes a sleeping pill.  The next morning she finds the Police actually in her home, her Boys are not there but Liam is, dead on the floor in his study.  She is accused of his murder and found guilty at trial and sentenced to eighteen years in prison.  She is released on bail after nine years determined to find out who actually did kill Liam because it was not her!  Despite her Bail conditions being she must stay away from Liam’s family and particularly her Boys she begins to dig into that night and suddenly finds she is being stalked, are they the killers or is it the Police or someone else trying to stop her finding the truth.

There are a lot of twists and turns in the book and quite a few red herrings and the final reveal is a good one.  Not too much blood, guts and gore but it is a clever plot hence my Five Stars.

“Entitled” by Andrew Lownie – ****

I finished this at the weekend.  I do read other books and non-fiction occasionly, although crime and thrillers are my go to.  We all know the press version of these two and obviously all the information that has come out from the Epstein files which lead to the once Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, having all their Titles taken away and now being called plain old Mr Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Ms Sarah Fergusson!

The book goes into depth about Andrew’s life from birth and Sarah’s as well and how they met, married and divorced.  Mr Lownie has managed to get access to a lot of people who have either worked for the Yorks, as they were, or who have had dealings with them through charities or their money making schemes!  It also looks at their two Daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and their working lives.  

Alot of the information you will already know but it is enhanced by the dicsussions Mr Lownie has had and he does not put his own opinions forward about them until the very end.  You cannot believe how stuipid Andrew & Sarah are and the messes they managed to get themselves in both politically, financially and with The Royal Family!

My Opinion of this is that we will be reading the same book in twenty five years time about Harry & Meghan.  Not the Epstein bits of course, but certainly about their dogged pursuit of money just like Andrew & Sarah especially after the latest faux Royal tour in Australia!  These four are really birds of a feather.

I did actually listen to this on audio, whilst cleaning (!) and it is narrated by Mr Lownie himself and I did enjoy the book very much.  **** Stars

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I hope you have found a book or two that you might like out of this collection.  I will show you the two books Jayne and I have had for our Cosy Girl’s Book Club next week.  Have a wonderful weekend. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco