Review: Where the Silence Calls

Where the Silence Calls by M.J. Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another great story featuring D.I. Ridpath. This time people are getting set on fire. But it is discovered that the victims were murdered prior to the burning. And they are starting to happen daily.

Ridpath and his associates are in a rush to solve this mystery before more people are incinerated.

Review: Where The Dead Fall

Where The Dead Fall by M.J. Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just love this series. D.I. Ridpath is recovering from bone cancer and he really doesn't want to have to give up his job as Detective Inspector on the Manchester Police Force. However, for various reasons, mainly to let him ease back into the job, he is seconded to work in the coroner's office. At first he seems to think that this job is a big come down for him, but it seems he is mistaken with that.

An excellent read. Gets right down to the story.

Review: Where The Truth Lies

Where The Truth Lies by M.J. Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just started this terrific (new to me) series and love it. DI Thomas Ridpath has just been through nine months of treatment for bone cancer and feels ready to return to work. However the force wants him to take three months of working with the coroner's office, probably to ease him back into work. He is in remission now but has been gravely ill.

The first job he is charged with involves a young girl that was murdered ten years before and the brother of the girl wants the case to be reopened. He believes they have the wrong man in prison for her murder.

An excellent read.

Review: White Chrysanthemum

White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

'Look for your sister after each dive. Never forget. If you see her, you are safe.'

Hana and her little sister Emi are part of an island community of haenyo, women who make their living from diving deep into the sea off the southernmost tip of Korea.

One day Hana sees a Japanese soldier heading for where Emi is guarding the day’s catch on the beach. Her mother has told her again and again never to be caught alone with one. Terrified for her sister, Hana swims as hard as she can for the shore.

So begins the story of two sisters suddenly and violently separated by war. Moving between Hana in 1943 and Emi as an old woman today, White Chrysanthemum takes us into a dark and devastating corner of history — and two women whose love for one another is strong enough to triumph over the evils of war.

Very hard to read, but very interesting and well written.

Review: In Five Years

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dani and Bella have been friends since they were seven years old and are closer than any two people can be. They cheer each other on in all their endeavours. On the day that David, Dani's live in boyfriend, proposes to her she falls asleep and has a dream that involves where she will be in five years.

Time goes on and the dream is almost forgotten, or at least put on the back burner. One day Bella confides in Dani that she thinks that she is pregnant but this turns out to be very bad news.

An interesting story. I would have given it another star except that I thought the women were just too sweet and syrupy.

Review: We Were the Lucky Ones

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fantastic, emotional read. Georgia Hunter was fifteen when she learned that her family had been holocaust survivors. At that time she heard snippets of the stories from the past and she filed it away thinking to herself that someone ought to write about this.

Little did she know at the time that it would be herself that did the writing. Georgia spent several years researching and talking to the people who are left and hearing their stories of survival.

Absolutely wonderful writing.