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Thanks Ann. sorry it has taken me so long to post.

Thank you Tess another good review from you.

Review

Putting Out the Stars. Roisin Meaney.

I had previously read The Daisey picker by this author, which I enjoyed.
Found Putting Our the Stars a tad more serious. A very dramatic start - I wanted to know more about the aftermath of the accident, the people concerned and how it affected them all.

Eventually I got more interested in the story (stories) of Laura, Donal, Breffni, Cian, Andrew, Ruth and Cecily.

Quite a good story, I found that I liked most of the people (some of the time) with the exception of Andrew - would also have liked the other main males in the story as friends. :-)

The only other thing that niggled (besides not finding out about the victims of the r.t.a.) was the description of the illicit meetings of the couple having the affair and the rather coy way that the names were withheld. I felt that this was an "added extra" to keep the story interesting - possibly as an after thought - it would have been far better to name them.

The most cheering part of the story (for me) was the way Ruth came out of it. A strong happy woman with hope and plans for the future.
Also noted that she was the one to spot the family resemblance between father and son. Have very recently heard - via a crime reality crime show on t.v. - the hairdressers and beauticians give the best facial descriptions of people they have seen! Wondered if the author knew this fact.

felt a little sorry for Cecily - even if she did get my goat at times - keeping up appearances was overly important to her - I also wondered if her husband had been unfaithful. Wanted to give her a good shake and say "for goodness sake woman - live a little!"

Thanks Tess a good review of that book

Thanks Pammy, I will look out for Hurt the second Lucy Black book.

Review. Little Girl Lost by Brian McGilloway

Time was of the essence in this plot. I was gripped by the story - my anxiety kicked in and I read at speed, hoping that everything would be resolved soon - this was possibly a mistake as I may have missed a couple of (important?) things.

A high tension/high anxiety story - who was the little girl lost in the snow? Why had no one reported her missing? Why was she covered in blood? Who's blood was it? Would they be found in time?

Where was missing teenager Kate McLaughlin? Had she been kidnapped? Why was there no ransom demand? Would she be found in time?

What was going to happen to little Mary, would she get the help she so badly needed?

Who was Janet? What was the mystery that surrounded her/ Would she be found safe and well?

Could DS Lucy Black solve all these puzzles? Would she find the truth? How would she cope with the answers as the past is slowly revealed to her? Are there some truths she would rather not know?

Any or all of these "girls" could be the "Little Girl Lost" of the title> All are lost in some way, and all have a sad tale to tell.

I don't want to give away the plot of this thriller - but I reckon that if it were a film it would be a "weepy" I confess to shedding a few tears near the end of the book
A chilling crime story of greed, vengeance, evil and love.

Well worth reading.

Thanks Pammy will look for that tomorrow.

I only managed to read one book this time.

Little Girl Lost

Intriguing from the beginning, one girl kidnapped, a half frozen girl child found in the woods, traumatised so she cannot speak, with blood spatters half washed off by the snow. She is rescued by Detective Sergeant Lucy Black, the main character in the book. The story revolves around her search for parents of the little girl which produces links to the kidnapped girl as well as the problems Lucy has with her private life, her increasingly confused father and her relationship with her emotionally distant mother, now her boss. The twists and turns of the plot held me right to the end, as well as the insight into life in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and its lasting impact on peoples lives and thoughts. (Brian McGilloway was born in Derry.)

The second Lucy Black book, Hurt, was brought out November 2013 and is currently 61p for the Kindle edition. :-)

have read Little Girl Lost.
Will be back later with review.

Still reading Putting out the stars.

Review for A Week in Winter - Maeve Binchy.

So many guests passing through a guest house owned by Chicky.
Miss Nell Howe one of the characters, a retired school teacher , so rude,
very complex, she criticizes everything and anything, but there is an underlying
problem.
Nicola and Henry, husband and wife who find themselves shaken up with
their every day life of being doctors. They look for relaxation and calm and
find the solace they need
An american actor trying to hide from the limelight and find himself,.
Then there is a mother and and future daughter in law who do not always
see eye to eye and are forced to take a short holiday, its very awkward but
it needed to happen.

I enjoyed the book, not one of her best , I loved some and loathed some of the characters. Its a shame this was the last book written by the author, in the reading world she will be missed.


Review for A season To Remember - Sheila Flanagan

I read this book just before Christmas which was quite apt as to the story set
at the festive season.
A couple running a hotel in Ireland, they are having a financial crisis that hits the hotel, and have very worrying times ahead.
Christmas comes around and it seems people still want to get away as the rooms start to fill up.

Its like little short stories of each of the guests, I think it would be a shame to give too much away to those who have not read yet, but I would recommend this easy reading full of magic at Christmas time with love and families.

Putting out the Stars

Slightly different from the usual family stories. It showed what can happen when Mother interferes. Her daughter marries happily, but son marries only after his earlier love goes away and comes back married. The old spark flares and they meet secretly, only to be noticed by Mother whilst she, too, is out with a new flame. “Oh what a tangled web we weave” ....but reasonable reading.

Little Girl Lost

One young girl has disappeared and another, younger girl is found with someone else’s blood on her and she is unable to talk about her experience. DS Lucy Black has the job of unravelling the mystery which involves the connection between both girls. This book held my interest right to the end.

Review A Season to Remember by Sheila O'Flanaghan


A nice easy read. A series of stories about the visitors to The Sugar Lodge hotel over Christmas. In fact this was a very similar set up to A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy. Coincidence that they were both suggested the same time.

I am not sure that I liked the ghost sequence, somehow that didn't gell for me. We were launched suddenly into it with no indication of the fact that we had gone back in time and it took a while for me to work out what was happening.

I have read her books before and will read more, but not my favourite I have to say.


Review a week in winter by Maeve Binchy

An interesting plot with the chance of writing about more than on character in a story.
I didn’t think it was as good as previous books By MB. I enjoyed it is a way but it was a bit too light for me. Maybe it just wasn’t what I was expecting.
A hotel opens and this is the story of each of the first guests in that week etc.


review Putting out the stars by Roisin Meaney.
A fairly easy read, quite good for a wet Sunday afternoon’s reading material.
A doting mother of a spoiled self obsessed son who is unable to see that her actions both past and present, are the cause of so much pain felt by more than one person. The silly woman then feels hard done by because she is unable to see the one person she would love to see.
I liked Laura and felt she handled the situation as best she could and I was pleased to see how things turned out for her. I thought Donal was lucky to have her.
Breffni forgot how lucky she was to have such a good man, but then he really was happy as long as he could have his daughter.
I liked Frank and felt sorry for him as he was obviously lonely.
However, although well written I felt it was a bit contrived and predictable with rather too many coincidences. She does draw her characters well though.

Review Little girl Lost by Brian McGilloway

I don’t read a lot of detective stories unless suggested by Greaders or found on the shelf on holiday. And I had not read any books by BM before. However, I would read more books of his as I found this one well written and gripping.
I wish I had seen the pictures of the local scenery at the beginning before I read it as it would have been good to picture the story unfolding in the correct scenery. But I realised that he was describing somewhere he knew well.
I enjoyed it, good characters, felt so sorry for Lucy with her relationship with her father and Mother. But did like Lucy’s character. I wonder if he will write any more using her as the central character? I’d read them if her did.

Please review any of the following:

Little Girl Lost by Brian McGilloway 1 1 1

Putting out the stars 1 1

A season to remember 1 1

A week in winter 1 1

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