murder – Home | The Blind Scribe

Happy Monday bookish people! It’s time for another book review and the one I am bringing you today is for Once Upon A Crime by Robin Stevens. This book is a collection of short stories from the world of the Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens and I got it so that I could have a taster of the series before going out and buying them all.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Once Upon A Crime Plot:

I was intrigued to see how the short stories would all be plotted and I ended up really enjoying most of them. I felt some of them were a little long for a short story but they were filled with subtle details that made the world come to life. One of my favourite short stories in the collection was May Wong and the deadly flat because it was different to the others both in character and in plot. Reading this collection made me excited to pick up the main series.

Once Upon A Crime Characters:

The two main characters in this series is Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong. I think the characters are written beautifully and are very distinct. Personally I liked Hazel more because she is the quieter intelligent type and I can relate to the quietness of her character more than I can to the character of Daisy who is a lot more outgoing.

Once Upon A Crime Writing and Dialogue:

I really liked the writing in this book. Although it is a middle grade novel the writing didn’t feel too young. I felt comfortable reading it and enjoying it.

Once Upon A Crime Overall:

I gave this book four stars because I thought it was a great introduction to the characters and the world and I’m looking forward to starting the main series.

Blurb/Synopsis:

A thrilling new short story collection in the number-one bestselling, award-winning Murder Most Unladylike series.

Featuring six marvellous mini-mysteries, including four original, brand-new and never-seen-before stories:

The Case of the Second Scream: set aboard the ship carrying Daisy and Hazel back from Hong Kong

The Case of the Uninvited Guest: Uncle Felix and Aunt Lucy’s wedding is the target for an unlikely threat

The Hound of Weston School: the Junior Pinkertons investigate a mysterious arrival

The Case of the Deadly Flat: introducing Hazel’s little sister May, who’s determined to be the greatest spy ever

The Case of the Missing Treasure: the detectives crack fiendish codes to catch a daring thief who is targeting London’s famous museums

The Case of the Drowned Pearl: murder follows the Detective Society wherever they go, even on holiday…

The perfect book for all Detective Society fans and avid readers of the Murder Most Unladylike series.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Reviews

All My Lies by Sophie Flynn Book Review

May 3, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! Today is the first day on the blog/book tour for All My Lies by Sophie Flynn. Thank you to Anne Cater and Random T Tours for gifting me an e-copy of this book.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

All My Lies Plot:

The plot pf this book absolutely fried my brain. There were so many twists and misleading paths I didn’t know who or what to believe the whole way through. I probably read this book the fastest I have ever read through a thriller/mystery book. The plot of this book was like the driver of a car and I was the passenger forced into the front and unable to get out. It was fast paced and the mystery was the main subject of the novel, it had many layers and each one was explored thoroughly and with an intensity that kept me hooked. Some parts were confusing, however I think that was the point – the main character was confused and so was the reader. I felt the ending was extremely satisfying and I’m definitely a little smug that I managed to guess what happened.

All My Lies Characters:

It is a testament to the author that she managed to make me love a character on one page and by the end of the next page I could lose all trust in them. I loved this, for me it added to the sense of mystery because I never really knew who was telling the truth – including the main character. I felt a connection with the main character, Anna, the things she was going through with her husband is something that many people have also experienced and can connect to. I thought there was a wonderful balance between the personalities of the characters and each of them had grown by the end of the book.

All My Lies Writing and Dialogue:

Sophie Flynn’s writing is so smooth and easy to follow, it’s easy to get swept into the story simply because of this. The dialogue is something I really enjoyed about this book. Personally I felt that there was a tiny bit too much explanation in the dialogue but I still thought each line of dialogue matched the characters it belonged to.

All My Lies Overall:

Overall, I gave this book four stars because I wanted to keep reading so badly that I sped through it and enjoyed every second.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Perfectly paced, suspenseful and gripping – a real page-turner’ SOPHIE HANNAH, author of Haven’t They Grown

‘A rollercoaster ride with a cast of flawed characters – an excellent debut from Sophie Flynn’ CATHERINE COOPER, author of The Chalet

‘A twisty, intense and emotional story with suspense on every page’ TM LOGAN,author of The Holiday and Trust Me

Anna wants to escape.
She doesn’t know when her marriage to James began to feel like a trap or when he became so controlling. All she knows is that she needs to leave before it’s too late.

And she has a plan.
When Anna reconnects with her childhood sweetheart, Sam, she sees it as the answer to her problems. Finally, they’ll have a life together, like they’d always planned – the life she was meant to have.

But the lies are catching up with her . . .
On the morning of their escape, Sam goes missing. Anna knows he wouldn’t leave her, that something must have happened to him.
Her search for answers will force her to confront her past, something that she has been running from for a very long time . . .

Perfect for fans of Louise Jensen, Phoebe Morgan and K.L. Slater, this is a twisty, tense psychological thriller about one woman’s hunt for the truth and her ultimate fight to break free.

Praise for All My Lies

‘I raced through All My Lies in a single weekend . . . I barely paused for breath until the final page. A must read’ HOLLY SEDDON, author of The Hit List

‘A fantastic debut that showcases how blind love can make us. Sophie Flynn has written a brilliant book that sucks the reader in and keeps them guessing throughout’ S.V. LEONARD, author of The Islanders

‘A fresh new voice in psychological suspense . . . Great characters, evocative writing, interesting locations and a page-turning plot with plenty of twists and turns. I can’t wait to see where Flynn goes next!’ SARAH LINLEY, author of The Trip

‘An exciting debut with a poisonous love triangle at its heart. Unsettling, compelling and twisty – perfect for thriller fans!’ RUBY SPEECHLEY, author of A Mother like You

‘I raced through this book, reading well into the early hours of the morning. Original, bold and highly compelling, this is a book that will stay with readers for a long time. It heralds the arrival of an exceptionally talented voice in crime fiction. A riveting debut!’ AWAIS KHAN, author of No Honour

‘A thrilling new voice – Sophie Flynn pulls the reader in with believable, strong characters and an explosive plot’ AMANDA BRITTANY, author of The Perfect Nanny

Sophie Flynn is a Cotswolds based psychological thriller author with an MA in
Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes. Alongside writing, Sophie is the Head
of Marketing at Jericho Writers. After being awarded a place at Swanwick
Writers’ Summer School on the TopWrite scheme for young writers in 2017,
Sophie began writing short fiction. She has since had many stories published
and placed in competitions with organisations such as Writing Magazine and
The Cheltenham Literature Festival.
When not writing, Sophie can mostly be found on muddy walks with her
husband and rescue dog or disappearing to Cornwall whenever possible. She
is represented by Kate Nash of Kate Nash Literary Agency.
To find out more, visit her website or follow her on Twitter.
sophieflynn.com | @sophielflynn

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths

April 19, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Monday Bookish people! This is book review 2 of 5 today. The first was The Windsor Knot by S J Bennett if you’d like to check that out. This review is for The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths. I was given a copy of this book for Christmas 2020 and I ended up reading it in January of this year.

In this book review I will give star ratings for four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy me book review.

plot of The Postscript Murders:

I found the plot of this novel to be exciting and fast paced. The opening was full of tension and set the scene beautifully. I felt that the ages of the characters was a unique addition to the plot of a murder mystery novel and this was what caught my interest to begin with. Throughout the novel I felt that the changes of location and the events that happened in each place continued to create tension filled scenes. I knew I was getting caught up in the story because I could feel my heart racing for most of the book. The plot was clever and intricate.

The Postscript Murders Characters:

The characters of this novel were quirky and interesting. I found them easy to connect to and this was one of the reasons I ended up enjoying the novel. There was a good balance between character and narrative which I enjoyed even though I usually enjoy character central novels the best.

Writing and Dialogue

The writing style was smooth and clear, it helped me to keep track of the story as it went between different days and locations. The dialogue was authentic and engaging, I felt that I knew the characters personally because of the great dialogue. In my opinion I think there were some points where I would have liked more dialogue and more explanation about what was happening in a scene.

The Postscript Murders Overall Rating:

I gave this novel four stars because the mystery was intricate, well plotted and well written and I found the characters engaging and humorous. At the time of reading it I gave it four stars because I had just read my first five star read of the year and I didn’t feel this book was quite up there with it however if I had read this book after a three star or another four star read my rating might have been different.

Blurb/ Synopsis:

“This droll romp is a latter-day Miss Marple.”— Washington Post

Murder leaps off the page when crime novelists begin to turn up dead in this intricate new novel by internationally best-selling author Elly Griffiths, a literary mystery perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz and Agatha Christie.

The death of a ninety-year-old woman with a heart condition should not be suspicious. Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing out of the ordinary when Peggy’s caretaker, Natalka, begins to recount Peggy Smith’s passing.

But Natalka had a reason to be at the police station: while clearing out Peggy’s flat, she noticed an unusual number of crime novels, all dedicated to Peggy. And each psychological thriller included a mysterious postscript: PS: for PS. When a gunman breaks into the flat to steal a book and its author is found dead shortly thereafter—Detective Kaur begins to think that perhaps there is no such thing as an unsuspicious death after all.

And then things escalate: from an Aberdeen literary festival to the streets of Edinburgh, writers are being targeted. DS Kaur embarks on a road trip across Europe and reckons with how exactly authors can think up such realistic crimes . . .

That’s it for this book review, I hope you enjoyed it!

Tag: murder

Book Review: Once Upon A Crime by Robin Stevens