My last 5 favourites in TBC 20/20 Blogger Event Thursday

I have to say that this has been a really difficult challenge for me and I spent a whole day struggling with my choices for my final top 20 list. I have read some amazing books this year since I started my blog but I have tried to go back a bit further to bring you books from the last few years mainly concentrating on the “big twist”. So I do feel awful that I have left out some amazing books that I love but it’s been a good balance with the other 19 bloggers who took part. So here are the final five!

16. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

The very first Jackson Brodie book which brings together three different “case histories” all of which are possibly connected but if so, how?
Another “fictional character crush” here with Jackson Brodie (looking nothing like Jason Isaacs from the tv adaptation in my head!) I love all the Jackson Brodie books but this was the first I read and loved as there’s a wonderfully dark humour written into the cleverly twisted plotting.

Case Histories: (Jackson Brodie) (Jackson Brodie series Book 1) is available at Amazon UK

17. I Let You Go by Clare Macintosh

A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn’t have prevented it….could she?
Don’t read ANY reviews for this as they will talk about “percentages” and I wouldn’t want anyone new to this book to be aware of ANYTHING happening in certain places. It’s a perfect example of “the twist” and as you know I’m all about the twist!

I Let You Go is available at Amazon UK

18. Look Behind You by Sibel Hodge

Chloe Benson wakes up bound and gagged in an underground tomb with no memory of how she got there. She escapes but why does no one believe her story?
This is the book that really got me into leaving reviews on Amazon. I loved this book so much I wrote my longest (to that point!) And most passionate review so I could encourage others to read it. And that review is still my most liked review on Amazon-so hopefully those readers loved this book as much as I did!

Look Behind You is available at Amazon UK

19. A Mothers Confession by Kelly Rimmer

Your husband took his own life. Tell the truth and destroy what’s left of your family? Or keep a secret that will tear you apart. What would you do?
This is one of my most recent reads but I had to add it in as I’m still thinking about it a week later!! One of those books you want to go back to so you can see how the characters are doing since you left them! It’s already an all time favourite and comes highly recommended by me!

A Mother’s Confession: A heartbreaking story with a breathtaking twist is available at Amazon UK

You can read my full review of A Mother’s Confession by Kelly Rimmer here

20. Valentina by S.E Lynes

A married couple who seem to live a perfect life buy a beautiful country cottage in rural Aberdeenshire but when Shona becomes friends with Valentina, things start to unravel….
One of my favourite books of 2016! Have recommended it to EVERYONE! This is a favourite as I really connected with the book due to its setting and the themes it explored-all beautifully written in such a way that it gradually creeps under your skin. Perfect!

Valentina: A Hauntingly Intelligent Psychological Thriller is available at Amazon UK

And you can read my review of Valentina by S E Lynes in full here.

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TBC 20/20 Blogger Event Wednesday Top Five

I’m over the half way mark now in my top 20 All time favourites that I’ve posted daily in THE Book Club 20/20 Blogger Event over on Facebook. I’ve added quite a few of the books mentioned by other bloggers to my wish list and have also loved seeing some great books that didn’t make my list (it was HARD to narrow it down!) have made it into others.

1. Asta’s Book by Barbara Vine

1905 Asta, her husband and their 2 little boys have left Denmark for London. Secrets are written in her diaries that are read many years later by her granddaughter. Are they the key to a missing child?
I have a very well worn paperback copy of this book I have had for years..it’s one of the few books I can happily read once every couple of years and still get something new from it each time. A beautifully written psychological suspense.

Asta’s Book: Psychological Thriller is available to purchase at Amazon UK

2. Sister by Rosamund Lupton

When Beatrice hears her sister Tess has gone missing she quickly flies home to London to search for her. But how much does she really know her own sister?
This is a truly gripping psychological suspense that again I have a well worn copy of alongside her other book Afterwards which makes me cry too much to read again! Beatrice is a fabulous strong woman character. And THAT ending!!!!!!

Sister is available for purchase at Amazon UK

3. Flowers for the Dead by Barbara Copperthwaite

Adam will do anything to make you happy, even if it kills you.
I have never EVER met a serial killer like Adam before in a book (or real life obviously!) One of the most unsettling books I have ever read so why did I love Adam so much!!?? A “fictional character crush” with a difference for me!

Flowers for the Dead is available to purchase at Amazon UK

4. The Burning Air by Erin Kelly

A family coming together in Devon for Bonfire night are all keeping secrets. But will those secrets come out before tragedy strikes?
Most of my top 20 books come with twists as I see them as a personal challenge to keep my grey matter young! This one has a great twist I did NOT SEE COMING!!

The Burning Air is available to purchase at Amazon UK

5. The Never List by Koethi Zan

Sarah and Jennifer keep a list of all the things NEVER to do, like get into a car with a stranger. But one night they break their own rules with terrifying consequences!
This was a book I found unputdownable! It’s addictive, gripping and scary!! It totally played on the fears I have for my girls when they are on nights out with friends -that one little thing can lead to them putting themselves in a dangerous position. Another one I bought for all my friends and family to read.

The Never List is available to purchase at Amazon UK

TBC 20/20 Blogger Event Tuesday’s Five All Time Favourites

Here is the next instalment of my Top 20 All Time  Favourites that I have been sharing over on THE Book Club on Facebook in their 20/20 Blogger Event where 20 bloggers share their 20 ATF books over a period of four days. So here is day 2 and my next five favourite books….

1. Fingersmith by Sarah Water

The story is set in London 1862 where an orphan raised amongst petty thieves has her fate inexplicably linked to that of another orphan.
I’m not usually a huge fan of historical crime novels but this is an exception. It’s a detailed and intriguing work of genius that had me gasping out loud. Very VERY clever and one of the best plot twists ever.

Fingersmith is available to purchase at Amazon UK

2. Hide by Lisa Gardner

You can run, you can hide but can you ever escape your past?
I was buying books one day (shocking I know! So unlike me!) and got to the counter to be told it was 3for2 so just picked up a random book from a pile. That book changed my reading habits forever!!! It wasn’t a genre I read then but it blew me away with its edge of seat plot twists. When i finished it I bought every other book she had ever written. And loved them all! She is still one of my favourite ever authors.

Hide (Detective D.D. Warren 2) is available to buy here at Amazon UK

3. Little Face by Sophie Hannah

She had only been out of the house for 2 hours but when Alice goes to pick her baby from her cot she swears it’s not her baby. Her husband who was babysitting at the time says she is lying or is she mad? Can Alice convince the police she is telling the truth?
This is the first of the Culver Valley series and still my favourite-it’s not as long or as twisty as her others so a good point to start. It’s a mothers worst nightmare expertly handled by Sophie Hannah.

Little Face: Culver Valley Crime Book 1 is available to buy here at Amazon UK

4. No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

Teenager Cynthia Archer wakes one morning with a hangover and no sign of her family-they just seem to have disappeared into thin air. 25 years later a letter arrives that may answer the questions Cynthia still has. What happened to her family and why?
I loved this book from the moment I picked it up. Another favourite author of mine but this book is always the one I shout about. To have had the opportunity to talk to him about it over afternoon tea this year was one of the best days of my life!

No Time For Goodbye is available to buy here at Amazon UK

5. The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood

One fateful Summer day two 11 year old girls meet for the first time. By the end of the day they are charged with murder. What happened that day and why?
I had goosebumps reading this book as its so terrifying to read as a mum especially after reading about real life cases with a similar theme. You’ll want to read it with your fingers half over your eyes! A well handled fictional account of a difficult subject matter that will stay with you for days after with the “what if”s.

The Wicked Girls is available to buy here at Amazon UK

So that’s my halfway point! Join me again tomorrow for another five ATF books.

TBC 20/20 Bloggers Event Mondays Five All Time Favourites

I was asked last week to step in at the last moment to an event over on THE Book Club over on Facebook. Everyday for four days, twenty bloggers will post five of their all time favourite books with a brief description and why those books have made their top 20. So head on over there to check out everyone’s choices. As I love psychological suspense and thrillers I have chosen my top 20 favourite books with a twist and here are the first five!

1. A Place of Execution by Val McDermid

A journalist looking into the cold case of a missing 13 year old girl for a book she is writing, interviews the police officer who lead the search for her with far reaching consequences for them all.
This was my first Val McDermid book and my favourite-I re-read it every few years and am still amazed by her brilliance as a crime writer.

A Place of Execution is available at Amazon UK

2. Before I go to Sleep by S.J Watson

Every night a woman goes to sleep knowing that when she wakes up all her memories will have disappeared. But will a search to discover her past put her life in danger?
This book was unlike any book I had read up till that day. One of the cleverest plots I’ve ever come across. But please read the book do NOT WATCH THE FILM!

Before I Go To Sleep is available at Amazon UK

3. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

Mia goes home from a bar one night with a stranger but is she about to make the worst mistake of her life?
OMG I still love this book so much and make everyone read it! What a clever and engrossing plot that you won’t truly appreciate until the last page! I bought copies for all my friends and family!

The Good Girl: An addictively suspenseful and gripping thriller is available at Amazon UK

4. One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis

Lawyer Emily one day just ups and leaves behind  her beautiful home and happy family life to reinvent herself in London. But why? And will her past come back to haunt her?
EVERYONE, including Tina, herself knows how much I love and constantly recommend this book! It is the one that got me loving that BIG twist which I totally didn’t see coming. Not many people can fool me but this one certainly did and I’ve never forgotten that feeling of WOW!!!

One Step Too Far is available here at Amazon UK

5. Blood Ties by Sam Hayes (Samantha Hayes)

January 1992- a mother leaves a baby girl to pop into a shop, just long enough though for her to be taken. 13 years later and why does a mother not want her talented daughter to go to a school for the gifted in London? What is she hiding?
Again, everyone knows what a MASSIVE Samantha Hayes stalker (sorry I mean fan!) I am. I adore all her books but this is my very favourite-the first one I ever read. It shocked me totally!! I still have a very dog eared copy which I refuse to lend to people, I love it that much!

Blood Ties is available here at Amazon UK

So that’s it for my choices today!  I have included links to the kindle versions of the books on Amazon UK but am aware that as these books are older ones the kindle price may actually be higher than usual. Make sure your check back tomorrow for the next five. I have to add that they are in no particular order but are all in my top 20 favourite psychological thrillers/suspense of the past few years.