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Posted on by Debbie

Friday Fiction – Bodies, Mermaids and Sand Talk

Welcome to Friday Fiction #3

I started this Friday Fiction series to share what I’ve been reading, what has taken my fancy or what I’d like to read. This is week 3!

My first post was a YA series, Seventeen and Rage, and last week I featured a book written by a fellow blogger, Ritu, Marriage Unarranged.

This series was sparked by an item on my list – 12 things to do before turning 60 – to write more book reviews and share them on my blog. I’m always interested in what others are reading.

I’m an avid reader and have set a goal of 100 books for my 2020 Reading Challenge. You’re very welcome to follow along on my progress or even join me on Goodreads.

The Body in the Dales (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries #1) – J R Ellis 3*

The Body in the Dales (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries, #1)

The blurb from Goodreads:

An unpopular victim. An impossible crime. A murderer on the loose.

A body is discovered deep in a cave beneath the Yorkshire Dales. Leading the investigation into the mysterious death are experienced DCI Jim Oldroyd and his partner DS Carter, a newcomer from London.

The deceased is Dave Atkins, well known throughout the village but not well liked. While there is no shortage of suspects, the details of the crime leave Oldroyd and Carter stumped. How did Atkins’s body end up in such a remote section of the cave? When someone with vital information turns up dead, it becomes clear that whoever is behind the murders will stop at nothing to conceal their tracks.

Oldroyd and his team try to uncover the truth, but every answer unearths a new set of questions. And as secrets and lies are exposed within the close-knit community, the mystery becomes deeper, darker and more complex than the caves below.

My review:

This wasn’t a bad read necessarily with a reasonable plot and a well described location. I just didn’t connect with all the characters and found the continuing unanswered questions became a bit annoying and drawn out. This is book 1 of a series of 4 titles and I downloaded them for free from my Kindle Unlimited membership, so I will try the remaining books as they were a bit of escapism into the English countryside. If you enjoy crime and mystery in a delightful English setting then this series may work for you.

When we believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal 4*

When We Believed in Mermaids

The blurb from Goodreads:

Her sister has been dead for fifteen years when she sees her on the TV news…

Josie Bianci was killed years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions—grief, loss, and anger—that Kit finally has a chance to put to rest: by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.

After arriving in New Zealand, Kit begins her journey with the memories of the past: of days spent on the beach with Josie. Of a lost teenage boy who’d become part of their family. And of a trauma that has haunted Kit and Josie their entire lives.

Now, if two sisters are to reunite, it can only be by unearthing long-buried secrets and facing a devastating truth that has kept them apart far too long. To regain their relationship, they may have to lose everything.

Mr review:

I really enjoyed this book and it provided some release from real life for a while. It was written from each of the sisters perspective and told the story well through their eyes. It was contemporary with well described characters and I felt the story was well paced.

I didn’t realise until after I’d finished it that I had read another book by this author and I had enjoyed that one too – The Art of Inheriting Secrets

My sister’s recommendation – Sand Talk

Here is the first part of my sister’s recent post An Answer. The full post is worth reading to understand the huge impact this book had on her. I thought it was well worth sharing and asked her permission to do so.

Tyson Yunkaporta’s book Sand talk: How Indigenous thinking can save the world has answered a big question for me. One I’ve been seeking an answer to for years. The way he answered the question was humbling, but it was an answer nevertheless and I was instantly calmed by it.

It made sense.

Source: Sharon Pittaway

Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World

So what are you currently reading?

Sharon had mentioned this book a week or so ago in response to this question and after reading her post, I’m intrigued to read it too. It’s now on the list!

Leave me a quick comment with what you’re reading at the moment and how it’s going. Do you find time to read or is it something you have to force yourself to stop and do?

Thanks for joining me for Friday Fiction and I look forward to reading with you again soon.

Deb xx

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17 Replies to “Friday Fiction – Bodies, Mermaids and Sand Talk”

  1. That mermaid book has been on my list for some time… it’s so hard to find the time to read everything I want to! I’m currently reading Little Fires Everywhere. I saw that Hulu is going to be coming out with a series based on the book and I wanted to read it before watching.

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  2. I have the Body In The Dales on my Kindle to be read pile. I’m reading Jill Mansell’s It Started With A Secret. I’m also listening to my first ever audio book – Michele Obama’s one, narrated by the author.

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  3. I’m reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. It was a Christmas present and to be honest did not appeal at first. However this modern retake on the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, the Greco-Trojan wars to avenge for the kidnap of Helen, wife of Menelaus and the hubris of Achilles is so well told that I can say with hand on heart this is one of the best books I have read for a long time. It is very rich in detail and not a quick read but it is so evocative that I would highly recommend it.

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  4. I absolutely loved Sand Talk, I read it towards the end of last year and it was without a doubt my favourite read for the year. Really enjoy seeing that others were also captivated by Tyson Yunkaporta
    Currently reading BeWildered by Laura Waters, a NZ hiking memoir.

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  6. Double-checked to be sure we are Goodreads friends, and we are. I had seen the mermaid book and wondered about it. Will add it to my to-read shelf. Same with the Marriage Unarranged.

    I am just beginning Deb Keyworth’s friend’s book A Million Dreams by Dani Atkins. And also reading The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy. And Handcrafted by Clint Harp. Just finished They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poems by David Bowles, a children’s poetry book. So good!!

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  8. Hi Deb, I’ve just downloaded When We Believed in Mermaids. I’ve mentioned to you that at the moment I’m drawn to British Crime and I had actually looked at downloading The Body in the Dales. I would recommend L.J. Ross, DCI Ryan series. I’ve come to know the characters and although some of the plots are a bit grim, I find I can’t put the book down once I’ve started. Thanks for the book reviews and it certainly keeps us on track to read more (although I never need an excuse! ). Have a lovely weekend. xx

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