The Empire Theatre is going from strength to strength under the care of Jack Treadwell and his team. But it isn’t all smooth sailing with his wife having writer’s block, his biological mother has a new romance, a starlet is involved in a death. There is also sabotage, intrigue and a feisty rat to contend with!
A Backstage Betrayal is the second book to feature The Empire Theatre in the 1920s. There is enough information about events in the first book to catch up but I would advise reading the frist book as it is fab!
We meet the stars and backstage team of The Empire as they embark on bolstering their business. There are lots of plot threads and my favourite was the emotional journey of young widow Sally Blow as she dreams of a life on the stage. The contrast between Sally’s paltry existance and the opulence of the theatre is striking and I instantly warmed to her. But despite the glitz, the theatre is under pressure and even in danger. Extra glamour is provided by Lillian’s new fiance, an exiled foreign royal, and this leads to a cameo from a member of the British Royal Family.
I was swept up in the life of the theatre and the characters all sprang to life. The style of writing is engaging and easy to read. The historical elements of the plot were well researched and underpinned the social and cultural dimensions to the plot and characters dynamics. I found myself really caring about the characters and willing them to succeed as they battle against intrigue, personal adversity and a bold rat!
A Backstage Betrayal is a wonderful historical novel.
Book description
Get ready to step into the roaring twenties…
1926. Running a theatre may appear to be all about the showbiz, but times are hard at The Empire. Following a turbulent period Jack Treadwell, erstwhile proprietor, his mother Lillian, and his playwright wife Grace, know they need to get things back on track – and how better than with the annual pantomime, a new venture, and an all-singing all-dancing talent contest, showcasing the best performers around.
But could Lillian’s new admirer, Grand Duke Nikolai Kuznetsov, be bringing disaster in his wake? Will The Empire be caught up in the scandal surrounding West End star, Stella Stanmore? And what are their enemies in Highbridge planning?
While Jack and Grace fight to ensure the show does go on, a royal visitor raises the stakes and a young widow, Sally Blow, dares to dream that the talent contest might be her big break.
As the talent contest draws closer, tragedy strikes. Amid the glitz and glamour there are strange goings on and a plot afoot. Is everything Jack and Grace have worked so hard for about to come crashing down? And could this be curtains for The Empire theatre?
Musical theatre legend Michael Ball brings his trademark warmth, wit and glamour to this sparkling new novel.
On the way to work and I climbed in the car and discovered my AWESOME husband had set the radio to Christmas! This made me soooooo happy and I don’t care that it is only October (two packets of mince pies consumed so far in the last month…)
We have been mega busy these recent weekends and the kids have gone back to school feeling like they haven’t had a break. I made the decision that we would have a more chilled weekend and barely do anything. Oh, other than a full guinea pig clean, cutting 25 sets of guinea pig nails, weekly shop, swimming lessons, homework, a slightly fraught game of Ludo etc. Maybe not as relaxed as I planned…
Marion Crawford thinks her dream is to teach in the slums but instead she finds herself as governess to Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. Can she shape the future of the monarchy and make the social difference she believes possible…?
The Governess is an historical novel set around the Royal Family during the 1930s and 40s.
Marion has good intentions and initially wants to teach the poorest in society. However she is then convinced that she can help the nation in a different way by shaping the future of the aristocracy so they in turn can make a difference to the poor. She then comes to the notice of the Royal Family and begins a career at the palace, getting a front row seat for the dramatic historic twists that hanged the monarchy forever.
I felt very sorry for Marion as she puts her whole life on hold to support the Royals during the abdication crisis, WW2 and beyond. Her marriage is unhappy and childless and she wasted her best years on her royal charges. In light of modern revelations about royal private lives, the reaction to her ‘betrayal’ is an overreaction and I felt desperately sorry for the way she is treated. However the ending focuses on the love and affection that endured her whole life.
I felt immersed in Marion’s life and think the author has researched well the characters and historical era. The audio narration was enjoyable to listen to and helped to bring the plot and characters to life.
The Governess is a very enjoyable historical novel and perfect for royalty fans.
Book blurb
Sunday Times bestselling author Wendy Holden brings to life the unknown childhood years of one of the world’s most iconic figures, Queen Elizabeth II, and reveals the little-known governess who made Britain’s queen into the monarch we know today.
In 1933, twenty-two-year-old Marion Crawford accepts the role of a lifetime, tutoring their Royal Highnesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. Her one stipulation to their parents the Duke and Duchess of York is that she bring some doses of normalcy into the sheltered and privileged lives of the two young princesses.
At Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Balmoral, Marion defies oppressive court protocol to take the girls on tube trains, swimming at public baths, and on joyful Christmas shopping trips at Woolworth’s. From her ringside seat at the heart of the British monarchy she witnesses the upheaval of the Abdication and the glamour and drama of the 1937 Coronation.
During the war, as Hitler’s Heinkels fly over Windsor, she shelters her charges in the castle dungeons (not far from where the Crown Jewels are hidden in a biscuit tin). Afterwards, she is there when Elizabeth first sets eyes on Philip. But being beloved governess and confidante to the Windsor family has come at a cost. She puts her private life on hold until released from royal service following Princess Elizabeth’s marriage in 1947.
In a majestic story of love, sacrifice, and allegiance, bestselling novelist Holden shines a captivating light into the years before Queen Elizabeth II took the throne, as immortalized on the popular television series The Crown.
A mutilated body is found lacking head and hands to prevent identification. A mother begs Detective Madison Harper to find her missing baby. But Madison has her own worries as her fiance vanishes in the middle of the night…
The Crying Girls is the 8th book in the Detective Madison Harper series. There are a few plot threads that follow on from the last book (which I have somehow missed 🙁 ) so I would advise reading the books in order.
Madison is deluged with crime cases to investigate but her focus is affected by Nate’s disappearance. Events in the last book have taken their toll on his mental health and he needs space so steals away in the middle of the night, not even taking his beloved dog Brody with him. Madison’s son Owen also has something major to announce which also takes her by surprise and adds to her emotional turmoil.
Most of the book is written in the present day to show Madsion and her investigation. However, there are some chapters from the perspective of a teenager held captive. It soon becomes clear from that timeline that this plot thread goes back many years. I guessed the connection between the two timelines around the halfway point and then enjoyed seeing how Madison worked it out. However there were other twists that I had no clue in advance!
The style of writing is easy to read and the chapters are quite short meaning that the plot develops quickly. There are some gruesome passages about the forensic details of the bodies: these are presented objectively but the characters have a natural reaction against their findings.
The Crying Girls is a tense and enjoyable crime thriller with some great twists.
Dawn breaks over the mountains. Not a single part of the girl’s once-beautiful body is free from pain. She prays she’ll slip into a blissful unconsciousness, but the sound of an engine rouses her. Her swollen eyes struggle to focus as she raises a bruised arm and waves from the long grass. A decision that will cost her much more than her innocent little life…
With her partner missing, Detective Madison Harper has her work cut out for her juggling the discovery of a body in the murky shallows of Lost Creek and a distraught mother searching for her missing baby boy. She barely has time to eat or sleep. But someone in this small town has lost a loved one, and a child’s life could be in danger. Madison’s sense of duty drives her on, poring over cold case files and interviewing inhabitants of the trailer park near where the headless body was found.
Without a face to identify, or teeth to match to dental records, the decapitated victim is almost impossible to name. Then the postmortem reveals a single red rose stem forced down his throat. What monster would do such a thing? What message were they trying to send? It feels like a dead end until Madison returns home to find the photo of a distressed-looking girl on her windshield. Written on the back is a message that grips her with ice-cold fear: Sofia. Day 1.
Now hunting for a missing child, a murderer and a missing girl, Madison is pushed to her limit. As terror chokes the close-knit community, she vows that no more innocent lives will be lost on her watch. But as these cases connect, and she comes face to face with the twisted individual at the heart of it all, will there be anyone left to save?
A totally addictive and twist-packed crime thriller guaranteed to get your heart racing! Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot.
About the author:
Wendy is the bestselling author of the Detective Madison Harper series and the Dean Matheson series, as well as two standalone thrillers: The Birthday Party and The Night She Vanished.
She is a former coroner’s assistant turned crime writer. Some of her books have been shortlisted for various writing competitions and awards, including the International Thriller Writer Awards.
You can find more information on her website.
Follow Wendy on Amazon for new book alerts (click the Follow button next to her profile pic).
The only social media Wendy uses is her Facebook author page: Wendy Dranfield Author.
A body is found frozen after disappearing over a decade ago. Tyler is convinced there is a link to his father’s apparent suicide but his usual supportive superior officer (and also his godmother) has vanished along with a corrupt cop on the run…
Cold Reckoning is the third book in the DS Adam Tyler series. Some dimensions of the plot directly lead on from the last book Nighthawkingso I would advise reading the series in order.
Tyler generally handles cold cases and this one is frozen! The victim is linked to a murder 16 years ago that Tyler’s father was investigating. The body has been hidden for all that time but why and where? Tyler hopes this is a chance for his father’s death to be reviewed and finally proved not to be a suicide. He has made an unlikely alliance with his colleague Doggett but both are trying to keep new recruit Mina Rabbani away from the case for her own safety. One senior officer has gone on the run rather than face corruption charges and another has vanished completely (massive cliffhanger from previous book!)
This was my favourite book of the series so far. I felt much more in tune with Tyler and his focus on finding the truth about his dad merged seamlessly with the new case. He lets his emotional side come to the fore and this allows him to build relationships with his colleagues. The style of writing is clear and I liked the segments about Edith which added mystery as to how they related to the main plot threads.
Cold Reckoning is a tense and engaging crime thriller and police procedural.
Book blurb:
The darkness from his past will finally come to light.
For sixteen years, DS Adam Tyler has been searching for answers to his father, Richard’s, death. Convinced it wasn’t suicide, he has been investigating the case in secret.
When a body is found in a frozen lake, linked to a cold case from 2002, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the death of his father—except Tyler knows Richard was investigating the same case shortly before he died. And Tyler doesn’t believe in coincidences.
As he throws himself into finding out what really happened that day, Tyler uncovers a string of botched investigations, mysterious disappearances and, ultimately, deep-seated police corruption. There are dangerous people who don’t want Tyler asking questions—and the truth always comes at a price.
