We are returning to France for another great summer read by Gillian Harvey . The Village Cafe in the Loire was published by Boldwood on July 12th. High-flyer Becky Thorne cannot believe what she’s being told. She doesn’t need to be signed off for burnout! Life has been a bit chaotic lately, that’s all. As if dealing with her enviable job and permanent meddling from her mother aren’t enough, she’s also inherited a café in the Loire from an estranged great-aunt, complete with sitting tenant who refuses to budge. But nobody stands in Becky’s way! Ignoring her best friend Amber’s advice, she decides to storm over to France and sort the tenant out. Then she can finally get the café sold and jump back on the career ladder. What she doesn’t count on is the tenant being Pascale, who is six feet of tall, dark, handsome and extremely grumpy about her plans for change. Not to mention the village and the secrets it holds about her past. Becky’s path to succes...
The Murmurs by Michael J Malone #Review #repost
Prior to the publication of Book 2 in the Annie Jackson series, I am delighted to repost my review of Michael J Malone's gothic thriller, The Murmurs .
In the beginning there was fear.
White-hot, nerve-shredding fear.
Terrifying premonitions of deaths.
And then they started…
The Murmurs…
On the first morning of her new job at Heartfield House, a care home for the elderly, Annie Jackson wakens from a terrifying dream. And when she arrives at the home, she knows that the first old man she meets is going to die.
How she knows this is a terrifying mystery, but it is the start of horrifying premonitions … a rekindling of the curse that has trickled through generations of women in her family – a wicked gift known only as 'the murmurs'…
With its reappearance comes an old, forgotten fear that is about to grip Annie Jackson.
And this time, it will never let go…
A compulsive gothic thriller and a spellbinding supernatural mystery about secrets and small communities, about faith, courage and self-preservation, The Murmurs is a startling and compulsive read from one of Scotland's finest authors…
My Thoughts
Written with such an effortless style, this thriller flows from start to finish. A dual timeline, you follow Annie's story in the present and some years back, as well as discovering more about the curse which has haunted her family from centuries ago, told through a journal. This make for a story which is rich in atmosphere, with credible characters who find themselves in a web of intrigue, secrets and subterfuge. Annie has to try to make sense of what appears to be inner voices which warn of death and danger. Her family dynamics are difficult to decipher, both by her and the reader, for much at the book but there is a satisfying explanation by the end.
You cannot escape the sense of foreboding throughout the story with nothing quite what it seems. At the centre, Annie's relationship with Lewis, her twin brother, is a steadying influence. With death, murder, disappearance and deceit, overlaid with a supernatural flavour, I found this to be an intriguing read. With devout evangelism and hints of witchcraft side by side, the story plays out largely against an isolated backdrop where no questions are asked. Just as Annie avoids looking at people's faces for fear of what she will see there, there is a sense of fear niggling away on the sidelines, throughout.
In short: a gothic thriller full of twists and turns
About the Author
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Michael Malone is
a prize-winning poet
and author who
was born and
brought up in
the heart of
Burns’ country. He
has published over
200 poems in
literary magazines throughout
the UK, including
New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood
Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish
Association of Writers. His psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a
number-one bestseller, and the critically
acclaimed House of
Spines, After He Died
and In the Absence
of Miracles soon
followed suit. A
former Regional Sales
Manager (Faber &
Faber) he has also worked as an IFA and a bookseller. Michael lives in
Ayr.
You can read my review of House of Spines here and After He Died here and In the Absence of Miracles here. and A Song of Isolation here and Quicksand of Memory here.
Book link: Amazon UK
Thanks to Michael Malone, and Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater of Orenda Books for a copy of the book.
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