Tag: 20 Books of Summer

#BookReview Wrecker by Noel O’Reilly

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About the Book

Shipwrecks are part of life in the remote village of Porthmorvoren, Cornwall. And as the sea washes the bodies of the drowned onto the beach, it also brings treasures: barrels of liquor, exotic fruit, the chance to lift a fine pair of boots from a corpse, maybe even a jewel or two.

When, after a fierce storm, Mary Blight rescues a man half-dead from the sea, she ignores the whispers of her neighbours and carries him home to nurse better. Gideon Stone is a Methodist minister from Newlyn, a married man. Touched by Mary’s sacrifice and horrified by the superstitions and pagan beliefs the villagers cling to, Gideon sets out to bring light and salvation to Porthmorvoren by building a chapel on the hill.

But the village has many secrets and not everyone wants to be saved. As Mary and Gideon find themselves increasingly drawn together, jealousy, rumour and suspicion is rife. Gideon has demons of his own to face, and soon Mary’s enemies are plotting against her…

Format: Hardback (384 pages) Publisher: HQ
Publication date: 12th July 2018 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I’ve had Wrecker, Noel O’Reilly’s debut novel, on my bookshelf for quite a few years but I was prompted to pick it up – and include it on my 20 Books of Summer reading challenge list – after I read the author’s latest novel, The Darlings of the Asylum.

Set in a small Cornish fishing village, Wrecker‘s protagonist is the headstrong, independent-minded and sharp-tongued Mary Blight. I loved the pithy, sarcastic dialogue the author creates for her and the way her inner thoughts show us the things she’d like to say but can’t. Mary dreams of a life beyond her current hand-to-mouth existence caring for her sick mother and younger sister. Unlike most of the other villagers she can read and write. She doesn’t much care what other people think about her, although she discovers that this can make you enemies and mean you find yourself alone and vulnerable.

The residents of Porthmorvoren have become used to supplementing the meagre income they earn from fishing or working for the local squire by salvaging goods from ships that run aground on the treacherous coast. Pillaging crates of goods, even the odd trinket is one thing but committing an atrocity such as the one visited on a drowned woman is quite another. I enjoyed the occasional inclusion of sensationalist newspaper reports concerning the individual dubbed the ‘Porthmorvoren cannibal’.

Gideon Stone, rescued from the sea by Mary (an event cleverly echoed in the final scene), at first seems the upright, pious and devout minister he professes to be, fuelled by a desire to rid the villagers of their superstitious ways. Mary is attracted to him, not just as a man, but because he seems to offer a way out of her humdrum life. The fact he is married is a mere obstacle to be overcome. Unfortunately Gideon’s favouring of Mary, notably her appointment to the role of Sunday School teacher, only serves to increase the enmity towards her.

I confess I never really warmed to Gideon, especially as we discover more about his past. Mary begins to wonder too. ‘What was I to make of Gideon Stone? Wheat and chaff seemed all mixed up in him. On the one hand, he was a soaring spirit who risked life and limb to save the souls of his fellow men. But in the shadows of his past lurked another man, a frail sinner, lost in drink and unable to master his base urges.’

The author populates the book with colourful characters, including the puritanical Aunt Madgie, Pentecost, a giant of a man and regular visitor to the ‘kiddlywink’ (local pub), and Gideon’s simpering wife with her affected airs and graces, and laughable play-acting.

Wrecker is an engaging story told in a spirited style with a memorable female protagonist.

In three words: Atmospheric, lively, dramatic

Try something similar: The Mermaid’s Call by Katherine Stansfield

About the Author

Noel O’Reilly was a student on the New Writing South Advanced writing course. He has worked as a journalist and editor at the international business media company RBI, and is now a freelance writer. His first novel is Wrecker and The Darlings of the Asylum is his second. He lives in Sheffield. (Photo: Author website)

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#BookReview The Night Raids by Jim Kelly #20BooksofSummer23 @thewaterclock

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About the Book

A lone German bomber crosses the east coast of Britain on a moonless night in the long, hot summer of 1940. The pilot picks up the silver thread of a river and, following it to his target, drops his bomb over Cambridge’s rail yards. The shell falls short of its mark and lands in a neighbourhood of terraced streets on the edge of the city’s medieval centre.

DI Eden Brooke is first on the scene and discovers the body of an elderly woman, Nora Wylde, in a house on Elm Street, two fingers on her left hand severed, in what looks like a brutal attempt by looters to steal her rings.

When the next day Nora’s teenage granddaughter Peggy, a munitions worker, is reported missing, Brooke realises there is more to the situation than meets the eye.

Format: Paperback (352 pages) Publisher: Allison & Busby
Publication date: 20th August 2020 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

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My Review

The Night Raids is the third in the author’s historical mystery series set in WW2 Cambridge, the follow-up to The Great Darkness and The Mathematical Bridge. (You can read my reviews by following the links from the titles.)

Those who have read the previous books will know what a wonderful character the author has created in Detective Inspector Eden Brooke. His cruel treatment by the enemy during World War One damaged his eyesight, leaving him extremely sensitive to light so at times he has to wear tinted glasses. It has also left him with chronic insomnia meaning he’s often to be found roaming the city of Cambridge at night in the company of other ‘nighthawks’, individuals who, because of their job or inclination, work when most are asleep. But his intuition and sense of justice are undimmed.

He’s a keen night swimmer and, not for the first time, it’s during one of his swims that he detects the first sign of something not quite right going on in the city. However, it’s not long before he has other serious matters requiring his attention. But are these isolated incidents or is there some connection between them? At one point, he observes, ‘I have a series of events which seem to lack every coherent sense of cause and effect.’ A detective’s nightmare perhaps but a reader’s dream when it comes to an absorbing plot.

I loved the little insights into his domestic life which also reflect the realities of wartime. Brooke’s son and his son-in-law are on active service and his wife, Claire, and daughter, Joy, are working as nurses.

It’s early on in the Second World War but already the impact on Britain has become noticeable in both town and countryside: people heeding the call to ‘Dig for Victory’ by planting up front gardens and road verges with vegetables, previously unproductive farmland once again under crops, Land Girls working in the fields. The effects of German raids are all too obvious as well with streets littered with bombed-out houses. I liked the way the author gives us the German perspective as well, showing the impact of Allied bombing raids on German cities and the fact that grief and loss is common to both sides. In fact, this alternate perspective becomes pivotal to the storyline in more ways than one.

As we discover, crime doesn’t stop because there’s a war on and in fact it can be the perfect cover. There’s plenty that can go on undetected during a blackout or the confusion that follows a bombing raid. People are displaced, houses are left unprotected and shortages can leave people prey to opportunists.

The Night Raids is skilfully crafted crime mystery with an atmospheric setting and great period detail. If you were a fan of TV’s Foyle’s War I think you would love it. I really hope there will be another book in the series at some point.   

In three words: Intriguing, atmospheric, suspenseful

Try something similar: The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear

About the Author

Jim Kelly (now writing as J.G. Kelly) was born in 1957 and is the son of a Scotland Yard detective. He went to Sheffield University, later training as a journalist and worked on the Bedfordshire Times, Yorkshire Evening Press and the Financial Times.

His first book, The Water Clock, was shortlisted for the John Creasey Award and he has since won a CWA Dagger in the Library and the New Angle Prize for Literature. He lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire. (Photo: Author website)

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