12 Ways to Kill Your Family at Christmas by Natasha Bache

Blurb from Goodreads:

"All Olivia wanted was one last miserable Christmas with her husband’s awful family before moving to Australia. She didn’t expect a murder.

Now the snow has cut them off and she’s stuck in a stately country house, with her increasingly deranged relatives and the rising suspicion that someone is picking them off one by one.

As the bodies pile up and the festive façade starts to crack, Olivia must survive the season, or, at the very least, get through lunch without anyone else choking on a sprout."

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I really enjoyed this Christmas tale of murder.  It had the right amount of tension, intrigue and mystery wrapped up in a good plot and great, although thoroughly unlikeable, characters.

It's written at a good pace and I found myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions and I enjoyed trying to work out who the murderer was, who the next victim would be and how they would meet their end.

If you enjoy a good murder mystery and dark humour, this is the book for you and my thanks go to the author, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this enjoyable festive read.

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The Traitors Circle by Jonathan Friedland

Description from Goodreads:

"The Traitors Circle tells the true, but scarcely known, story of a group of secret rebels against Hitler. Drawn from Berlin high society, they include army officers, government officials, two countesses, an ambassador's widow and a former model - meeting in the shadows, whether hiding and rescuing Jews or plotting for a Germany freed from Nazi rule. One day in September 1943 they gather for a tea party - unaware that one among them is about to betray them all to the Gestapo. But who is the betrayer of a circle themselves branded 'traitors' by the cruellest regime in history?

In another page-turning work of nonfiction that reads like a thriller, Jonathan Freedland, acclaimed author of The Escape Artist, sheds light on one of the most dramatic episodes of the second world war, telling a story of courage, resistance and ultimate betrayal that has deep moral resonance for our own time, and asks what kind of person it takes to risk everything and stand up to tyranny."

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This is a heart-wrenching and compelling biography about a little-known Anti-Nazi group made up of ordinary citizens. The book details how their quiet discussions about a better Germany were enough to sign their death warrant and the fallout is devastating.

This is a non-fiction book but unlike many in this genre, it reads like a thriller and is one that I can recommend especially if, like me, you have little knowledge of German civilian resistance to the horrific regime during a very dark period in history and is a reminder not to tar everyone with the same brush.

Many thanks to the author, John Murray Press and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts on this important book.

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Deadly Mistake (simon Peake #2) by Rob Sinclair

Description from Goodreads:

"A knock on the door in the middle of the night catches ex-Special Forces Simon Peake off guard. He only recognizes the face of one of the three men standing on the other side, and the ‘help’ they need is to dispose of a dead body crumpled in the trunk of their car.  

The problem is - the woman in the trunk isn’t dead at all. In a matter of moments, Peake makes a call to help and protect this stranger, but it’s a decision that will drag him back into the dark and dangerous world of drug cartels, mob bosses, and rogue CIA operatives who will stop at nothing to use Peake as a pawn in their games.  

Having spent the last few months living in near seclusion in small town Georgia, Peake is once again faced with his past. He knows why these men have chosen to come to his door in their hour of need, but unfortunately for them, they didn’t realise what a deadly mistake that would be…"

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This, the second book in the Simon Peake series, is as explosive and action-packed as the first from the very beginning.

Simon Peake is trying to lay low after the shenanigans that happened in the previous book however, trouble seems to find him no matter how hard he tries to avoid it and he is not one to let anything lie.  Unfortunately, this only brings further strife to his door resulting in violent confrontations with plenty of nefarious characters.

This book is not for the faint-hearted; it’s full of action, graphic violence and multiple scenes of peril.  It’s written at a fast pace with oodles of tension and is recommended to those of you who enjoy reading action/thrillers and I am looking forward to continuing to follow Simon Peake's trials and tribulations in the future.  

Many thanks to the author, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this, the second in this explosive series.

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