First Monday Crime -- by Joy Kluver

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I'm part of a group called First Monday Crime and we have author events on the first Monday of most months. Tonight it's my turn to moderate and I thought I'd tell you about the books I've been reading for this event.


56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard



No one even knew they were together. Now one of them is dead.

56 DAYS AGO
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores.

35 DAYS AGO
When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who - and what - he really is.

TODAY
Detectives arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.

Can they determine what really happened, or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?


I loved this book! Not just a Covid novel but THE Covid novel that all others will have to live up to. The balance was just right - enough about Covid without being overwhelming. A wonderful storyline with superb twists that caught me out.


Twelve Secrets by Robert Gold



A SMALL TOWN. A SHOCKING CRIME.
YOU'LL SUSPECT EVERY CHARACTER. BUT YOU'LL NEVER GUESS THE ENDING.

Ben Harper's life changed for ever the day his older brother Nick was murdered by two classmates. It was a crime that shocked the nation and catapulted Ben's family and their idyllic hometown, Haddley, into the spotlight.

Twenty years on, Ben is one of the best investigative journalists in the country and settled back in Haddley, thanks to the support of its close-knit community. But then a fresh murder case shines new light on his brother's death and throws suspicion on those closest to him.

Ben is about to discover that in Haddley no one is as they seem. Everyone has something to hide.

And someone will do anything to keep the truth buried . . .


This felt like it could be a TV serial, complete with Eastenders drums at the end of each chapter. With lots of inter-linking stories, you have to keep up with all the secrets being exposed. 


The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett



It's time to solve the murder of the century...

Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a copy of a famous children's book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. Wanting to know more, he took it to his English teacher Miss Iles, not realising the chain of events that he was setting in motion. Miss Iles became convinced that the book was the key to solving a puzzle, and that a message in secret code ran through all Twyford's novels. Then Miss Iles disappeared on a class field trip, and Steven has no memory of what happened to her.

Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Steven decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. Was Miss Iles murdered? Was she deluded? Or was she right about the code? And is it still in use today?

Desperate to recover his memories and find out what really happened to Miss Iles, Steven revisits the people and places of his childhood. But it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn't just a writer of forgotten children's stories. The Twyford Code has great power, and he isn't the only one trying to solve it...


If ANYONE is able to work this out then I'll be stunned! I have no idea how Janice Hallett wrote this and I'll definitely be asking her about it. Told through the transcripts of audio files, we follow Steven's journey as he attempts to crack the Twyford Code to solve the mystery of his missing teacher.


The House of Ashes by Stuart Neville



 For Sara Keane, it was supposed to be a second chance. A new country. A new house. A new beginning with her husband Damien.


Then came the knock on the door.

Elderly Mary Jackson can't understand why Sara and her husband are living in her home. She remembers the fire, and the house burning down. But she also remembers the children. The children who need her, whom she must protect.

'The children will find you,' she tells Sara, because Mary knows she needs help too. Sara soon becomes obsessed with what happened in that house nearly sixty years ago - the tragic, bloody night her husband never intended for her to discover. And Mary - silent for six decades - is finally ready to tell her story . . .


I had to put this down a few times because it was so tense! The book is set in Northern Ireland and one of the characters is written using some dialect. It's easy to understand and adds great authenticity to that character's story.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all these books and I'm looking forward to talking to the authors tonight. If you want to join us then it's a free Facebook Live event on our Facebook page. You'll have to like the page to join but you can always unlike us afterwards! You'll find us on First Monday Crime at 7.30pm GMT.

Comments

Wendy H. Jones said…
I love th sound of all of these and am definitely going to seek them out. Thank you
7 March 2022 at 20:28
Ruth Leigh said…
These all sound fabulous! Thank you so much for the recommendations.
13 March 2022 at 15:33
Sarah said…
More books and authors to add to my list of ones to look out for.
Thanks 😊
15 March 2022 at 17:54
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