This is my back-up TBR if I manage to get through the ARCs. This a bit more flexible though as I'm a mood reader so may add in some others.

#TeamCreepinItReal #EarlyBirdPoints #Scarathlon @StayCurious

My Scarathlon ARC TBR List! These are my must reads.

#TeamCreepinItReal #Scarathlon #EarlyBirdPoints

@StayCurious

Running behind schedule already 😒 hope I can catch up over this weekend. Goal 20 hours reading over 4 days.

#20in4 @andrew65

When Vicar Merrily Watkins is asked by Huw Owen to give a talk to a new group of possible Deliverance workers, she is surprised to see ex-SAS man, Syd Spicer, hidden away in the shadows. Now back in the Regiment but as its chaplain, he seems withdrawn & troubled, but will not talk to Merrily about it. In other areas, there are strange goings-on in the fields around Herefordshire & crime is finding its way into the countryside (continued)

In 1993, Jess's mother, Nora, enrolled on a charity hike to walk a stage of the Appalachian Trail in the US. Nora never returned from the hike & Jess & her father were left without answers as to what had happened, just that she had disappeared from camp. Thirty years later, Jess (now an investigative reporter) receives an email with a link to a headline saying that a body has been found just off the trail - has her mother has been found at last.

It's Christmas & Washington Poe has been dragged to a baby shower for boss DI Flynn by colleague Tilly, so he is eternally grateful when they get a call about a case. A serial killer is amputating their victims' fingers (one when alive & one from their dead body) & leaving the fingers displayed in public places in Cumbria, including a church font & a butcher's shop. (Continued)

The village of Ledwardine is in danger of being flooded. The awful weather coincides with the appearance of a TV crew whose show televises archaeological digs & it looks as if there may be some hope to save the buried ancient standing stones. Meanwhile an infamous & controversial atheist rents the converted barn next to the dig. Is this the perfect storm to uncover the hidden history of the village or a perfect nightmare for Merrily? (cont'd)

1920s London & Forster, struggling artist, finds an invitation to the most glamorous party of the year held by a reclusive & mysterious host. Upon appearance of the first proper snowfall of the year, the invitations appear without warning, simply inscribed with ‘Tonight‘ & a clue to the theme. Forster attends the party with his flatmate, Marvin, & their friend, Rose & it's as magical as he could ever have dreamt. (Continued)

Have you been feeling that in the last few years things are slightly off with the world? I know that I sometimes look around & wonder what the hell is going on. There's a feeling that we have truly stepped through the looking glass. Naomi Klein calls this the Shadow or Mirror world, which leads her onto Doppelganger culture: the world of the Shadow selves. (cont'd)

Had to DNF @ 44%. I love the time period & setting, & the historical research is so detailed - so detailed that unfortunately the mystery element is getting lost. Reading it is like wading through treacle.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Atlantic Books/Corvus Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC, but I am having to DNF this one.

Cara is just trying to get through this year & prepare for college like everyone else. As she queues for her lunch she watches the school caretaker sweeping the floor - nothing unusual in that, except this particular caretaker died & only Cara can see him. She is a ghost-speaker, a talent inherited from her mother's family, but out of obligation to her mother she tries to ignore it (except for speaking to her grandmother Laolao who is also dead).

Junie Hayward is sort-of friends with Athena Liu: they met at university & both wanted to be writers, but whilst Athena's career is on an upward trajectory, Junie has struggled. Junie finds herself at Athena's flat after drinks one evening, where there is a terrible accident & Athena is suddenly dead. Junie called for an ambulance but there is nothing they can do, but when Junie leaves Athena's flat she takes Athena's latest manuscript. (cont'd)

After attending a party, teenager Hayley DaSilva arrived home to a bloodbath. Her mother, twin brother, & his friend had all been stabbed to death & her youngest brother, 9-year-old Ethan was missing. Her father, Leonard DaSilva, confessed to the murders. Hayley fled her past & moved to America. Fifteen years later, DI Seb Locke receives a call to say that the bones of a young child have been found in a shallow grave. (Continued)

This is a nice little 'locked room' genre mystery where the main players are isolated in one location, here the Alaskan wilds. I liked the plot, it's very simple but effective. I didn't like the main character, Holly, though. The most interesting person is Lydia who presents as a nice older lady but with flashes of something else hidden away. (continued)

A look at the timing & planning behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln & those who were possibly responsible. Eschewing the popular theory of John Wilkes Booth being a 'lone wolf' who killed the president due to his hatred of Lincoln, this book argues that Booth was part of a network & took orders from people higher up in the Confederate government. (Continued)

A group of seven friends travel to Ashwood Manor, a mansion which is being turned into a museum. Before the big opening the group get to stay at the Manor, on Sparrow Island, for a week's holiday after graduating. Izzy is there with Kassidy, latest crush Marlowe, Kassidy's bf, Blaine, athlete & rower Ellison, theatre kid Fergus, & newcomer to the group Chloe. There are tangled group dynamics & secrets galore, which culminate in a murder. (cont)

This second book in the series manages to be even better than the first. With a fiendishly clever plot & some funny yet endearing exchanges between Poe & Tilly (who has received a promotion & has her own team!), & there's a particularly comically description of a Michelin-starred type menu from Poe's point of view. It's a very entertaining read. (Continued)

This is a dual narrative plotline - both characters feel there is something odd going on at first but can't work it out. From the very start, the story hits the ground & starts running & the pace never lets up. I just thought I had worked out what was happening when the author revealed a twist that had me reconsidering everything. This is a great read if you like thrillers that clip along at such a pace you can barely catch your breath. 4.5🌟

In a dystopian future, Grace Gunnarsson works for Janus Justice, a private contractor that has taken control of the treatment of offenders. Their treatment has Tiers One through to Four, with the first two dedicated to the reforming of criminals & taking away their need to offend to survive, whilst the second two levels are more punitive. Grace works for Tier 2 as a psychiatrist but is asked to step in for a colleague on a Tier 3 treatment. (cont)

Jane Seymour is one of the least written about of Henry VIII's six wives, mainly for the fact that relatively little is known about her compared to say Anne Boleyn or Catherine of Aragon. Known chiefly for being the quiet, dutiful wife who finally provided Henry with a male heir before tragically dying shortly afterwards, little evidence of what Jane was actually like survives. (Continued)

Det Ray Flowers is currently on sick leave recovering from a petrol bomb attack where he was badly burned. They were never able to catch who did it or find out why. Ray moves into a cottage left to him by his aunt following her death. The village is quaint & Ray starts to have strange dreams about a young woman named Kitty. Reading his aunt's diaries, Ray finds out that Kitty visited his aunt too & that Kitty lived & died in the 17th century.

Laure Mesny has wanted to reach the top in the world of classical ballet & has worked hard & sacrificed so much, but Laure is Black & it seems no matter how hard she works, it will never be enough. Instead she watches her best friend receive unwarranted preferential treatment because of who her mother is, so when the opportunity arises for Laure to receive the power to control those around her & gain an advantage, she takes it. (Continued)

Real Estate is competitive so Kirstin gets in at the ground level (literally) by finding out from funeral homes when someone rich dies. That way she can attend the funeral & network - hopefully benefitting from any property sales commission. When she attends the funeral of Caroline Milford (author & child psychologist), it seems that Kirstin may have struck gold. (Continued)

The book itself is comprehensive in covering her entire life & there are some lovely photos at the end, although it may have made more sense to have them distributed throughout the book. 4🌟

For a more thorough review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5354871767 I couldn't really cut it down enough for here & have it make sense.

Hurricane 'Sadie' causes devastation in Florida whilst 400 employees holed up in 'FantasticLand' are cut off from outside help. The employees are expected to be OK as there are emergency plans in place as well as plenty of food & water available in the park. When the Florida National Guard enter the park several weeks later, they are greeted by the sight of dead bodies & signs of violence. Something went badly wrong in FantasticLand. (continued)

Vicar & deliverance consultant (aka exorcist) Merrily Watkins is called in to 'cleanse' the Master House, a property on the England/Wales border, recently purchased by the Duchy of Cornwall (i.e. Prince Charles as was). Two workers on the site have refused to return to work after a strange experience in the house. Directed by the Bishop to get it sorted quietly & quickly, Merrily is drawn into a mystery which has its roots in the Knights Templar.

Claire, Reyva, & Mariana are late arrivals to summer camp. They are dropped off at the dock & hike up to the lodge. It's very quiet - too quiet -& there's a strange smell in the air but Claire can't quite place it. When they reach the lodge, it has been burned to the ground & it seems that there were no survivors. The 3 girls are now trapped with little food & water, no phone signal, & no-one will come looking for them for over a month. (Cont.)

Calamity Jane is a figure I'd heard of mostly from the Doris Day musical. This book tries to separate the person from the myths - many of which Calamity had started herself. Born Martha Canary, Calamity Jane lived her life according to how she wanted to do so. Not one to be constrained by gender rules, she wore 'men's clothing', rode astride horses rather than side-saddle, swore, drank, & spent more than one night in jail. (continued)

In 1920 Sarah arrives at Darkacre Hall to work as a nurse/companion for the youngest Stilwell brother who was wounded in WWI. Leonard Stilwell lives at the Hall with older brother, Maurice, & Maurice's wife, Ida. Their lifelong friend Victor makes up the strange quartet. Things seem placid on the surface but there are dark secrets hidden below, strange supernatural occurrences begin & both Maurice & Leonard suffer from night terrors which (cont'd)

In 2410, humanity has solved all its issues & left the confines of Earth & travelled to other planets to colonise them for themselves. Noah Peterson is a Criminal Profiler living & working on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, & he is called in to consult on a series of gory murders. His police colleagues become suspicious of Noah when he is seen in the vicinity of several of the murders just before they are committed (continued)

New York in the 1920s? I am there for that! I'm a big fan of the whole flapper, speakeasy, Louise Brooks era. I really liked Zia, the main character, & seeing her develop from being a quiet woman older than her years & only interested in raising her son, to a more confident modern woman was wonderful. The book starts out at quite a slow pace, but once The Orchid Hour becomes involved, the story picks up. (Continued)

My Sister Milly by Gemma Dowler is a deeply personal account of the aftermath of the disappearance of her thirteenth year old sister, Amanda 'Milly' Dowler in 2002. Milly disappeared on her way home from school one evening & it wasn't until months later that her body was discovered in local woods. I remember seeing the videos of Milly ironing & having a laugh which were shared by her family & the media when she went missing. (Continued)

Oh this was a good one! The author skilfully lets the reader become invested in the main character before turning the narrative 180 so we then start to doubt her. Is Lucy hiding something? Does she know more than she is saying? It's very well done & although I worked out some of what was happening, I didn't work it all out. So why not the full five stars? (Continued)

This is a murder mystery set in Malaysia amongst a group of young tourists. I thought that the plot itself was well crafted with some clues carefully laid out in the narrative. Georgia very much feels on the outside of what is going on - the rest of the group seem to have had some sort of get-together the first night but failed to invite Georgia & Oscar. (Continued)

Five former flatmates from Oxford uni receive an invitation to an old classmate's memorial. Henry Bellinger died in their final year & his family are unveiling a memorial to him. Caro, invites George, Lily, & Travis to stay at her home the night before, not knowing that the fifth friend, Elle, will be gate-crashing. Old secrets & rivalries are gradually revealed including infidelity & drugs, but did one of them actually commit murder? (continued)

I really enjoyed the author's “Wrong Place Wrong Time“ so requesting this ARC was a no-brainer. The first half was a bit slow & I didn't really enjoy it much due to the main character. The second half of the book actually saved it though. There were some good twists & the main plot line itself was very well done. Verdict: first half slow & MC was difficult to empathise with, but the second half pulled it round with some well-timed twists. 4🌟

#RushAThon hosted by @DieAReader @Andrew65 & @GHABI4ROSES starts tomorrow.

My goal is to read 15 books minimum (13 ARCs & 2 book club reads).

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, best known as the creator of the perennially admired detective Sherlock Holmes, was a complex man. Originally trained as a doctor, he gained fame as an author & yet professed a dislike for the popularity of his most loved character. This book looks at his life, his wide-ranging interests including spiritualism, & his involvement in real life criminal cases where he considered miscarriages of justice had taken place.

A disappointing end to what had been a great series. There was a lot of running from here to there with Jess being injured & mainly slowing everyone else down, but stubbornly refusing to actually rest. The conflict between the outside nations & the Library started off well (the giant automaton of Poseidon sounded terrifying) but then fizzled out. (Continued)

Based loosely on a factual events in Charles Dickens' life (he did work in a boot-blacking factory around age 12 for a short period whilst his father was in Marshalsea prison for debts but the rest is fictional), the author cleverly weaves together the factual & fictional. Young Charley was a great main character - likeable, smart & caring - but his father & mother were difficult to like. (continued)

This is obviously an updating of the Hades/Persephone Greek myth with some changes. Gone is the abduction & in its place, Persephone becomes the architect of her own destiny. I really enjoyed it for the most part, it had an intriguing feminist spin in that it took a (admittedly shallow) look at the pantheon of gods & their particular brand of patriarchy. (Continued)

Florence is pleased to be given the job of team leader on one of her employers' infamous travel challenges. Two employees are chosen to head two teams which compete to be the overall winner via a series of competitions & the prize this year is the top job which is why Florence's rival is Jacob, son of the company owner, Hugo. Not only that but Hugo will also be undertaking the trip & a rival travel company will also be there. (Continued)

This is the story of the author retracing the footsteps of missing couple, Bessie & Glen Hyde. The two young newly-weds set out to voyage on the Green & Colorado rivers through the Grand Canyon in a sweep scow on their honeymoon in 1928. They kept their family up to date with regular letters sent from outposts until they disappeared (continued)

Had to DNF this at 35%. Wasn't holding my attention at all.

Blackthorn Ashes: an exclusive development seems like a dream come true for the first six families to move in. All too soon, things start to go wrong, tempers are frayed, & deaths occur. The survivors are evacuated out of the site, never to return - except Agnes fears her younger brother, Christie, is drawn to the place. She decides to find out what happened, but finds out that everyone is hiding something. (Continued)

In the society where Eddie (Lavender Voclain) & best friend Margot live, resources are scarce & to ensure overpopulation is not a problem, everyone is inked with two playing cards when they are born - one on each wrist. Every New Years Day the Pick happens, two playing cards are drawn & any citizen who has the two matching cards as their tattoo are executed.

Eddie is in the midst of the final weeks of school, where (continued)

Following the events of the first book & their unmasking of a killer, the three Dahlias reunite on the set of 'The Lady Detective' film which is being shot on location in Wales.

This is a nice little follow-up to the first book. It's refreshing to read about three generations of women working together & developing a real friendship. (continued)

AD 381, five years after Roman governor, Lupicinus, ordered the slaying of a king of the Goths & his attendants at a feast in their honour. This act led to war within the Roman Empire & Emperor Valens was killed following defeat in battle. Now the Goths have embraced Christianity & become part of the Empire, except for Fritigern, brother of the murdered king. He has sworn that he will have vengeance on those responsible for his brother's death....

It's a mixed bag where some are rather easy to work out & a little disappointing, but the majority are rather good, they seem complicated but have deceptively simple answers that make you think “Of course!“ at the reveal. I rather enjoyed reading these but they left me feeling a bit dissatisfied as you had no sooner started getting into the story than it finished. I'm looking forward to getting around to finally reading the series of novels. 4🌟

Opinions seem split on this one, but I thought it was a return to form following the disappointing (to me) The House Across the Lake. I thought it was absolutely gripping & couldn't put it down. I have noticed that there seems to be a stock figure repeated across the author's books: a ruggedly good-looking handyman/ neighbour/ex-boyfriend who may or may not be involved in whatever is going off. I digress: anyway, very little romance (continued)