Tag: Kate Gray

Welcome to the Family by Kate Gray

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

What is it about Italy that seems to make it the perfect setting for any book? This time, summer in Tuscany is the setting for a rather tense family-centred thriller by Kate Gray, and it is a book that I absolutley loved; in fact, it is safe to say that I could not put this book down. And, before I go any further, I need to say a massive thank you to Mountain Lion Press for sending me this proof copy because it is one of my most anticipated reads of the year. Kate Gray is an auto-buy author for me to this has been an extra special treat.

One hot summer, Rosie is invited to stay with her boyfriend’s family in their home in Tuscany. What should be a summer of rest and relaxation, turns into a summer of mystery and secrets. Is Theo’s family as picture-perfect as the setting would suggest? And why do all the locals seem to give them a wide berth, and treat them with suspicion?

As the hot summer days pass, more secrets seem to come to the surface. The historic murder of a British schoolgirl seems to be taking centre stage again, especially as another young local woman goes missing. Do the family know what happened to her? Or, are they just the victims of circumstances as the outsiders in the town?

Spoiler-free, this book is a brilliant read. It was a great bit of escapism during these rather cold and stormy days we have been having.

I enjoyed that the story is told from a number of different points of view. This adds to the mystery and tension as you are considering who is the unreliable narrator, or how different characters view moments in the tale. It really has you playing armchair detective.

I think the biggest endorsement I can give this book is that it kept me up past my bedtime. I had to keep reading as I reached the conclusion of the book to find out exactly what was going to happen, and if justice was going to be served.

So, publishing in April, I would absolutely be adding this to your wishlist, because it is a thrilling read in a stunning setting.

The Summer Party by Kate Gray

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

I was lucky enough to win a copy of ‘The Summer Party’ by Kate Gray from another wonderful book lover. I was so incredibly excited when I won this, as ‘The Honeymoon‘ was a fantastic thriller and has been passed round numerous friends who have also loved it (love being able to share books with friends), so I knew I was in for a treat with ‘The Summer Party’, and I was not wrong. And it was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, just in time for the summer break.

Kate Gray again takes us on quite the thrilling summer adventure. This book really reminded me of ‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie, it was a brilliant locked-room mystery and, to me, that is quite the compliment, as it shows that this is up there with one of our greatest mystery writers. When the Flavour’s Summer Party is at a new exclusive summer resort on the sourthern coast, the whole business is over the moon, and when some of the team are invited to spend the whole night on the resort, it seems like a dream. Of course, it is soon more like a nightmare, as they fight to find out exactly why the night is not going as they would hope – and does it have some connection to the death of a work colleague after the Christmas Party? (Parties are really not good news for this business).

There was a twist where I actually gasped out loud (good job I was reading at home) and there are so many red herrings and moments, where everything you think you know is turned completely on its head, that it is impossible to put this book down. In fact, I read it in two days, because I just had to know what was going to happen next.

The characters are an interesting bunch, especially when they are thrown together on the island overnight. It adds another dimension to the story when you are slowly figuring out why these ‘random’ colleagues have ended up in quite so sticky a situation.

This is an ideal summer read, especially if summertime is your time for a thriller. This is a claustrophobic, summer-heat, locked-room mystery – with more than one mystery amongst its pages. I will definitely be sharing this book with my friends and recommending it each time I am asked for a thriller. I hope that we have more thrillers from Kate Gray soon, as I will most definitely be reading them.

The Honeymoon by Kate Gray

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

This is definitely a case of ‘Bookstagram made me do it’ – I had seen ‘The Honeymoon’ by Kate Gray all over bookstagram and I was getting a severe case of FOMO. Especially after a fantastic post by a lovely friend actually reading ‘The Honeymoon’ on honeymoon. Also, as we have established that I am in a real thriller mood, I could not really let this book pass me by.

When I spotted it at a bargain price, I knew I had to pick up a copy and break my self-imposed shopping my shelves challenge. And I was disappointed by my decision.

‘The Honeymoon’ was an absolutely fantastic thriller which I could not put down from the moment that I started it. There was so much suspense and intrigue amongst the pages that I kept needing to know what was going to happen next. Told between the perspectives of two newly weds, Erin (who has recently married Jamie) and Sophia (who has recently married Mark), we meet them on their honeymoon in Bali as they meet each other. However, after a tragic death on the final night of the honeymoon, the couples remain in each other’s lives on their return to England, where nothing is quite as it seems.

This is such a clever novel full of twists and turns that will lead you to struggle to put this book down. One brilliant part of this book is that you are never sure if the narrators are reliable or not (I am still wondering about one of them now, even after finishing the book) – and you are literally left surprised until the very last chapter of the book. Even the twist I thought I saw coming was not exactly as I imagined, which is definitely a sign of a great thriller – when the reader is constantly surprised or left guessing.

I think that Kate Gray could be a name we will see in the thriller genre for some time to come, and I hope we see more from her very soon because I, for one, would be keen to read whatever might come next.