New Arrivals
There’s Something About Darcy by Gabrielle Malcolm (eARC, courtesy of Endeavour Media)
For some, Colin Firth emerging from a lake in that clinging wet shirt is one of the most iconic moments in television. But what is it about the two-hundred-year-old hero that we so ardently admire and love?
Dr Gabrielle Malcolm examines Jane Austen’s influences in creating Darcy’s potent mix of brooding Gothic hero, aristocratic elitist and romantic Regency man of action. She investigates how he paved the way for later characters like Heathcliff, Rochester and even Dracula, and what his impact has been on popular culture over the past two centuries. For twenty-first century readers the world over have their idea of the ‘perfect’ Darcy in mind when they read the novel, and will defend their choice passionately.
In this insightful and entertaining study, every variety of Darcy jostles for attention: vampire Darcy, digital Darcy, Mormon Darcy and gay Darcy. Who does it best and how did a clergyman’s daughter from Hampshire create such an enduring character? A must-read for every Darcy and Jane Austen fan.
Rivals by Sam Michaels (eARC, courtesy of Aria and NetGalley)
The streets of Battersea are about to get a new leader, one who will rule with an iron fist.
It’s the 1930s and Georgina Garrett has risen up from her tough beginnings to become the new boss of the Battersea gang. But not everyone is pleased with a female taking charge…
With rival gangs trying to steal her turf, untrustworthy men in her midst and her dad lost deep in the bottle, Georgina has a lot to tackle. With her friends and family in constant danger and those closest to her questioning her leadership Georgina must use her wits to show that she’s made for this job.
The Garrett name is one to be feared and Georgina will begin to change the face of Battersea forever…
The House That Alice Built by Chris Penhall (eARC, courtesy of Choc Lit and Rachel’s Random Resources)
Home is where the heart is …
Alice Dorothy Matthews is sensible. Whilst her best friend Kathy is living it up in Portugal and her insufferable ex Adam is travelling the world, Alice is working hard to pay for the beloved London house she has put her heart and soul into renovating.
But then a postcard from Buenos Aires turns Alice’s life upside down. One very unsensible decision later and she is in Cascais, Portugal, and so begins her lesson in ‘going with the flow’; a lesson that sees her cat-sitting, paddle boarding, dancing on top of bars and rediscovering her artistic talents.
But perhaps the most important part of the lesson for Alice is that you don’t always need a house to be at home.
Requiem for a Knave by Laura Carlin (eARC, courtesy of Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley)
After the death of his mother, young Alwin of Whittaker leaves the only home he has ever known to seek answers about his unknown father through a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. On the journey, Alwin falls in with a band of violent and marauding soldiers and is witness to their terrible crimes. When Alwin later joins up with a group of pilgrims, he must hide his identity . . . but he is not the only one with secrets to keep.
Rosamund, a young woman travelling the same path, has much to conceal too. The journey to discovering who he really is will lead Alwin into great danger and great passion. These are dark times, and through them, Alwin must shine a light. Will the revelations to come destroy everything that came before?
Asylum Road (Jake Caldwell 4) by James L Weaver (eARC, courtesy of Lakewater Press)
Nearly two years ago, former mafia leg-breaker Jake Caldwell had ruthless drug lord Shane Langston staring down the wrong end of Jake’s pistol. Instead of pulling the trigger like he should have, Jake let the law handle it.
Now Langston’s escaped from a Missouri maximum security prison with a deadly goal – kill the men who put him there. With Langston’s crosshairs focused on Jake and his best friend, Sheriff Bear Parley, the duo must scramble to protect those they love and stop Langston’s bloody quest for vengeance.
As the hunt for Langston intensifies, Jake and Bear stumble upon a hard-nosed gang of bikers with their claws deep in murder, meth, guns and sex trafficking.
Teaming up with some new allies to unravel the mystery and nail Langston, Jake finds himself caught up in a game of cat and mouse with some seriously deadly consequences.
Death Makes No Distinction by Lucienne Boyce (eARC, courtesy of the author and Rachel’s Random Resources)
Two women at opposite ends of the social scale, both brutally murdered.
Principal Officer Dan Foster of the Bow Street Runners is surprised when his old rival John Townsend requests his help to investigate the murder of Louise Parmeter, a beautiful writer who once shared the bed of the Prince of Wales. Her jewellery is missing, savagely torn from her body. Her memoirs, which threaten to expose the indiscretions of the great and the good, are also missing.
Frustrated by the chief magistrate’s demand that he drop the investigation into the death of the unknown beggar woman, found savagely raped and beaten and left to die in the outhouse of a Holborn tavern, Dan is determined to get to the bottom of both murders. But as his enquiries take him into both the richest and the foulest places in London, and Townsend’s real reason for requesting his help gradually becomes clear, Dan is forced to face a shocking new reality when the people he loves are targeted by a shadowy and merciless adversary.
The investigation has suddenly got personal.
On What Cathy Read Next last week
Blog posts
Monday – I shared my Five Favourite August Reads.
Tuesday – This week’s topic Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books I Enjoyed That Are Outside My Comfort Zone.
Wednesday – WWW Wednesday is the opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next…and have a good nose around to see what other bloggers are reading.
Thursday – I joined the blog tour for A Superior Spectre by Angela Meyer, publishing my Q&A with the author.
Friday – I took part in the blog tour for One Day in Winter by Shari Low, sharing my review of the book to mark its publication in paperback. (It was previously published under the title One Day in December.) I also revisited my review of Sleeping Through War by Jackie Carreira as part of the book’s birthday blog blitz.
Saturday – I participated in the 6 Degrees of Separation meme creating a chain of books from A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles to Winter in Madrid by C J Sansom.
As always, thanks to everyone who has liked, commented on or shared my blog posts on social media this week.
On What Cathy Read Next this week
Currently reading
Planned posts
- Blog Tour/Book Review: The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
- Book Extract: Hands Up by Stephen Clark
- Waiting on Wednesday
- Book Review: The Courts of the Morning by John Buchan
- Blog Tour/Book Review: Wicked By Design by Katy Moran
