Happiness Seeker by Jennifer Burkinshaw,

 

So, this month I’m recommending: Happiness Seeker by Jennifer Burkinshaw

Yes, again I’ve chosen a text for younger readers again.  I could hardly put this one down.  

Allie is at Grange-Over-Sands on a school trip. The very place is beautiful and dangerous at the same time.   

There are other delights and dangers too. Allie is irritated by the relationship developing between her best friend and her nemesis. Then she becomes romantically involved with the mysterious Mareno. He is threatened not just from the shifting sands and strong currents. Allie’s attempt to put this right is doomed to failure.  When her greatest enemy attempts to right a wrong, four lives are put in danger. There are deaths and near misses. This text tackles some modern but also age old problem: migration and modern slavery.            

Happiness Seeker is beautifully narrated by the very talented Jennifer Burkinshaw.    

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay may go to Bridge House publishing.  

 

 

 

Igloo by Jennifer Burkinshaw

This is a gentle romance at the same time as being a gentle coming of age story.

Niv does not like skiing nor does she want to go to university. Her passion is for working with wood.  Then along comes Jean-Louis with his one set of problems mainly to do with his dysfunctional mother. Can Niv survive her poor GCSE results? Can her relationship with Jean-Louis continue? Will she regain her mother’s trust and affection? All of this set against a backdrop of snow, mountains and two igloos.

There is pace and tension a plenty in Jennifer Burkinshaw’s Igloo.     

 

Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys

 

A mysterious adventure that navigates tricky cross-class relationships.

Who is the odd-looking woman who has murdered someone and who has been killed?

The book opens with this figure being escorted by two policemen from a ship that has docked in Sydney. We are kept guessing right up unto the very end. In the meantime, we meet many women who may have committed this crime and we might even decide there are several passengers on board the ship that we might feel like murdering if we were trapped with them for several weeks

The action takes place in 1939 and our travellers arrive in Australia within a few hours of the beginning of World War II. Protagonist Lily is travelling on an assisted passage to find work in service. This scheme existed to remedy a labour shortage in Australia.  Young women travelled tourist class and were well looked after as well as being given the chance to see something of the world before they settled down into domestic service. They would have to stay for at least two years. 

Rachel Rhys draws her characters well and keeps us guessing about what actually happens in Dangerous Crossing. 

Find your copy here.    

Meet Me at the Museum, by Ann Youngsen

 This is a story of a mature couple finding love through a series of letters on which they get to know each other intimately. It starts off with a simple query addressed to a professor who has died.  A colleague replies on his behalf.  The story of their lives comes to us through the letters. We begin to empathise with the characters. They both have much sadness in their lives and we watch as they sustain each other through the writing of the letters.

Meet Me at the Museum was nominated for the Costa First Novel Award in 2018.

 Grab your copy here.     

 

The Haunting of Highdown Hall by Shani Struthers

This is one of those books that I like to read on holiday. In fact, earlier in the week I said I wished I was on holiday so that I would have more time to read it. It’s an easy read and it’s a page-turner.

Psychic Surveys is a company of psychics and sensitives who cleanse places of spirits that have got stuck and not yet passed on to the next world. Ridding Highdown Hall of a troubled spirit proves to be particularly difficult. In this particular story, yes, we have paranormal activity and that may not be what every reader likes. But we also have romance, pace and the type of questions that keep readers engaged in a crime story. Just why won’t Cynthia, a glamorous starlet who died young, make her way into the light? 

Twists and turns in the plot keep us on our toes. At the same time the characters are convincing and we’re engaged with them throughout. Shani Struthers’ writing gives us a filmic picture of the settings.

This is another success for Crooked Cat, a publisher that takes risks, works hard, and quite sensibly uses print-on-demand. Well done everyone!