Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan

 

Paperback read but ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

CW: animal abuse and suicide

Detective Alec Nichols has been summoned to a very unusual crime. The discovery of sixteen severed horse's heads partially buried in a field. Alec calls in Veterinary Forensics expert Cooper Allen to assist with the investigation.

Soon blackmail, hidden anthrax, family secrets and more abused animals are revealed.

This book does not go where you expect it. I really enjoyed the writing style but it felt like the author lost track of his plot and didn't know where the story was going. Several threads were abandoned, the ending wasn't exactly explained and also made no sense.

Steff Out x

The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything by Kara Gnodde

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

2/5 stars

CW: suicide

Mimi lives with her brother, accomplished mathematician Art, but she's feeling lonely. Art comes up with an algorithm to get her the best result on a dating app, both of which are soon forgotten when she meets Frank at a mathematics awards that Art has dragged her to. To Mimi Frank seems perfect, Art is not so sure.

This was very slow going and the plot feels thin. Apart from the relationship drama Art is working on some kind of famous maths problem which if proven could cause a lot of trouble and then there's the trauma around their parents deaths.

There are points where not a lot seems to happen and I almost DNFd several times. I kind of wish I had because the overall pay off is not there. I just found this book underwhelming overall.

Steff Out x

A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

4/5 stars

Haze and her husband Fox were a serial killer team murdering bad men across Europe. They have very opposite backgrounds, Haze is a Brit, grew up in care under multiple abusive foster families. Fox is American, born into privilege until his parents discovered his first kill and exiled him to England.

Both agreed to retire when they had daughter Bibi but Haze in particular is struggling. She's mostly a stay at home mum - she's also a successful artist but her main inspiration was their kills - which leaves her time to dwell. Fox seems to be having a successful business career but both are hiding things.

I loved the characters and I thought it was brilliantly written but I do wish it had come to that big climax a little bit sooner. I certainly hope that there's a sequel though!

Steff Out x

What July Knew by Emily Koch

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

Despite giving them the same rating I did prefer this to Keep Him Close and I think the author does better at these domestic sort of stories than thrillers.

July is 10 years old, as far as she knows her mother died in a car crash when she was 2, she knows very little about her and if she asks her dad too many questions he'll teach her a Lesson but then July's teacher sets their summer homework as a report on someone they know and July decides to use it to try and get some more information about her mother.

This was definitely well-written, everything felt very realistic and I liked the descriptions and the characters were all well-defined but my biggest issue was the pacing. So much of the important plot happens in the last quarter or so, there needed to be more in the earlier stages where the story felt quite flat. We also don't get much of an end past a character writing a letter which tells us a few important things.

I also want to make a specific comment about how much I loved the growth of July and her stepsister Sylvie's relationship from playground rivals that couldn't be seen together to what happened at the end was a beautiful arc.

Steff Out x

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

Set in some kind of future vaguely post-apocalyptic Scotland where poverty is rife and magic exists. 14-year-old Ropa is a ghostalker, delivering messages from the dead to the living for cash when a particular ghost asks for help finding her missing son Ropa ends up caught up in something new and dangerous...

I liked the characters in this, Ropa was sharp and witty and her interactions with her gran and her sister Izwi were lovely, her best friend Jomo was lovely, a real loyal to the end type, and new friend Priya was a firecracker. A wheelchair user but it definitely does not hold her back!

I also thought elements of the story were good, the talking to ghosts and the library in particular but there was a mention of fae which seemed very out of nowhere and the overall pacing wasn't brilliant. Also I understand this is the first in a series but the ending was very abrupt.

Steff Out x

Keep Him Close by Emily Koch

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

2/5 stars

Alice's son Lou has just died following a night out. Indigo's son Kane has confessed to killing him but is that the truth?

Alice finds herself getting close to Indigo, first by accident when she visits the library where Alice works but then she deliberately orchestrates further meetings. Indigo herself refuses to believe her boy has done wrong, is she right or is she blinded by a mother's love?

I kept reading because I wanted to know the truth. Neither of our main female characters are particularly likable, Alice is cold and judgemental and Indigo is fussy and obsessed with everything containing radiation. The plot is thin and weak and everything takes way too long to be resolved and when it is it makes the ending weak.

Steff Out x