Sally QuilfordBesprekingen

An enjoyable light novel in a pseudo-gothic style, featuring a young and quite sensible woman who is the companion to a somewhat eccentric elderly lady on a halloween house party. I was concerned it might be a tad scary for my tastes, but the amount of tension was just right for me, and I liked the book very much.

There's an inevitable romance that follows a mostly predictable path, although there are secrets and surprises that gradually emerge. Overall, it made an excellent choice on my Kindle for reading on an aeroplane.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/12/a-collector-of-hearts-by-sally-quil...

A 'cosy crime' novel, mostly taking place on the set of a historical film production. Cleverly written, keeping me guessing until near the end. Tense, sometimes unputdownable, but without gore or gratuitous unpleasantness.

Good characterisation and a nice pace. One or two typos and a few cliches, but otherwise a good read.= with a romantic subplot as well as the crime 'whodunit'.

Recommended if you like this genre.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/07/take-my-breath-away-by-sally-quilfo...

It's England in 1948 and the Sullivan family are renting Lakeham Abbey. When Anna Parageter, the housekeeper admits to being guilty of murder, their son Percy wants to find the truth. So he asks that everyone who was in the vicinity at the time to write their recollections.
I enjoyed this well written murder mystery, and found the characters believable of that period. I liked that you saw the events from everyone's perspective.
A NetGalley book

A collection of short stories with romantic themes. Some were previously published in women's magazines, and many have brief introductions at the top, explaining how the stories were inspired.

Some are conventional romances, with quite a theme of new brides or brides-to-be having second thoughts. A couple are moving wartime stories, and there are some with an unexpectedly surreal or supernatural element. Then there's a much longer one at the end which is based on a legend, and which I found quite disturbing. But I very much liked all the others.

The writing is good, nicely paced and with excellent characterisation. It was ideal for reading while travelling, as it was easy to pick up and read just one or two stories at a time. Only available in Kindle form.

Full review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2019/08/with-this-hand-by-sally-quilford.ht...

Unlike most of the 'Midchester' series by Sally Quilford, this is set in Victorian times. A young woman, daughter of the local Vicar, is the main character and I found her well-written and sympathetic.

There's a murder, and a lot of intrigue; the writing is good but rather a large and complex cast and I found myself confused more than once about who was whom, and what their relationship was to others in the story. A disadvantage of reading on the Kindle is that it's much more difficult to flick back to check details.

However, my Kindle is ideal for travelling, and this novella made a good read on a recent flight. It was short enough that I could finish it in about three hours, and interesting enough to keep me reading. Like others in the series, this stands alone.

A very enjoyable light crime/romance novel, originally a pocket novel but now only available in Kindle form. Featuring a struggling actress burdened with a large mansion, and some paintings in the attic. A young man seems keen but something's not quite right about him... and whatever happened to a French schoolgirl who vanished from the building when it was a school, many years earlier...?

Excellent characterisation, and an intriguing storyline, if a tad confusing in places. I could never have guessed the outcome, but this isn't the kind of fiction that relies on logical deduction. Instead it's character-based with several ongoing subplots, and I enjoyed it very much.½

This is the third in the 'Bobby Blandford' series of light crime fiction. It's character-based as much as plot-based, and I liked it very much. Sally Quilford's books are inexpensive (occasionally free) for the Kindle.

Bobby is a young, enthusiastic and somewhat accident-prone policewoman in a small town in the UK, in the early 1960s. She has to fight some prejudice, and tends to take things personally, but she's likeable and I was pleased to read another episode in her life.

The writing is good, the story fast-paced with a few surprises here and there, and I was quickly caught up in the story. It's not a particularly long book, and made ideal reading for a recent plane journey.

Recommended.

I started reading this short story collection on a plane journey, and finished it the following day. Darker stories than normal for women's fiction, but very well-written, and in places quite thought-provoking. The title story is set in the 1980s miner's strike in the UK. Others feature in inanimate objects with minds of their own, various forms of mental illness, and some stories which are quite surreal.

Not my usual reading matter at all, but I enjoyed this collection very much. Some endings are a tad inconclusive, but that allows readers to form their own conclusions. Recommended to anyone who likes darker-than-usual short stories.

Only available in Kindle format.

Bobbie Blandford, a young policewoman is embarking on her second year in Stony End as this story opens, set in 1961. This novella covers some quite serious issues, including the struggle of women to be accepted as equals to men.

Bobbie gets involved in a murder investigation, which she thinks may be linked to an unsolved mystery from the past. However this isn’t just crime fiction; alongside Bobbie’s work is her romantic involvement with Leo, the local doctor.

Sally Quilford has a gift of creating memorable and likeable characters. It’s over two years since I read the first book in the series, ‘The Last Dance’, but it quickly felt as if I were meeting an old friend. However it’s not necessary to have read the earlier book as this one stands alone.

The settings feel realistic, and the pace of the book is good. The mysteries aren’t full of red herrings and clues; but for people who like crime stories featuring a low-key romance, and some great characterisation (albeit with a few caricatures), I would recommend this.

This is a fast-paced book set in the middle of the 20th century, and I enjoyed very much. The main protagonist is a believable person, confident and loyal, even though life has not treated her well. We first meet her when she's eight, during the war, trying to find her father.

Most of the book takes place after she's grown up, involving a gentle romance, with inevitable misunderstandings. It’s nicely done, with some unexpected twists and turns. The characters, even some of the minor ones, are three-dimensional, and I found myself caring what happened to them; by the time I was half-way through, it was difficult to put down.

Definitely recommended for those who like post war-years romantic fiction.½

An intriguing title for a collection of short stories in the light crime genre. Some were previously published in magazines. Three or four feature a young police officer, Dandy McLean; some are set in a particular place involving the same characters; some are one-off stories. Each is complete in itself.

There’s quite a mixture of style within these short stories. The one giving the unusual title to the collection is light and satirical. Others are more traditional, with a body appearing at the beginning, and a bit of a mystery. One features a thoughtful message about being a parent.

These made ideal reading while on holiday. I pulled out my Kindle at odd moments, with five or ten minutes being sufficient to read any of these stories. There’s nothing particularly gory, and each story was different in style and content. Some are rather predictable, one is oddly surreal, and others left me guessing to the end.

All in all, I enjoyed this collection. Only available in ebook form.

I had forgotten that this Kindle book isn’t a novella, but a short story of around 5000 words. The genre is that of a light romantic thriller, and the plot moves at quite a pace.

Sally Quilford is skilled at creating believable characters, and I had no difficulty relating to the narrator of this story, a young woman called Valentine. She’s unemployed and trying to take shelter from the rain when she’s surprised by a sudden kiss from a stranger.

It’s a great opening that drew me right in. Most of the action takes place in Venice, so rapidly that I felt a bit confused in places. Thrillers aren’t my preferred genre, although this one is free of gore and bad language, and short enough that there’s little suspense.

Unfortunately I found the main male character a bit flat. He is caricatured as a ‘northerner’ by the way he spoke, but I didn't really believe in him. I was also unconvinced by a rather sudden intimate scene that wasn't necessary to the plot.

Nevertheless, as with all this author’s books the story is well-written and the ending satisfactory. It was good to read on a coach journey; I finished it in less than fifteen minutes, despite having to page backwards a couple of times to remind myself what was going on.

This novella, which I read on my Kindle, is part of the Midchester series of light mysteries. It's set in 1944 and begins with the odd disappearance of stockings from people's washing lines. Betty, the pub landlord's daughter, gets into conversation with the elderly Peg who keeps an eye on everyone and is reputed to have been quite a sleuth in her younger days.

There are some recuperating American airmen in a hospital nearby, one of whom finds Betty very attractive. She likes him too, but feels obligated to stay faithful to the memory of Eddie, her best friend from childhood, who asked her to wait for him before he went off to war. He has been missing in action for a couple of years but his parents are convinced he is still alive...

I enjoyed this book very much. Sally Quilford has a gift of characterisation, bringing her people to life so realistically that several of them got right under my skin as I read. There's quite a large cast, and several related subplots; it could have been confusing, but somehow wasn't. The background of a small village during World War II is nicely painted, introducing a bit of social history without making me feel as if I were being educated.

It's more of a light romance in a historical context than a whodunit; the stocking mystery (and related incidents) recurs through the book, but the solution comes as a bit of an anticlimax, although I had not guessed what it would be. It had almost become an irrelevance as I was so much more interested in the various relationships in the book.

Recommended as a light read.

This is a crime fiction novella set in 1960. Bobbie is a young woman who has just finished her training as a policewoman. We first see her managing to stop a runaway car, only to invoke the ire of a good-looking but angry doctor.

Bobbie finds that the her immediate boss, is somewhat dour but essentially kind-hearted, and one or two of the other officers are fatherly and friendly although there is inevitably some hostility and some condescension towards a woman in the police force over fifty years ago. Before long an unusual murder is committed and Bobbie is frustrated to be kept on the desk, or making tea.

There are several threads in this story, nicely interwoven. The writing is good; the characters come to life, the conversations are believable, and there is a good balance of description and action. The story is written in the first person, and in places Bobbie, as an elderly woman in the 21st century, makes comments on the past with hindsight.

This isn’t Agatha Christie with a careful trail of false clues and an unexpected resolution. It’s character-driven light crime fiction, with a low-key romance included; somewhat predictable, although not entirely; enjoyable to read. There is a sequel already which I look forward to reading at some point.

Recommended. It’s inexpensively available for the Kindle.

This novella, only available in Kindle form, is primarily crime fiction rather than romance. The story is about Nell Palmer, a young British woman who is taking part in a house-swap scheme over the summer. We meet her being shown over a large and attractive house on an island off the coast of New England. Colm, brother of the house’s owner, is doing the showing and it’s clear from the start that there’s going to be some kind of romantic attachment between the two.

I found the start a little slow-moving, but we quickly learn that there’s a mystery to Nell’s past; she hasn’t just come to the US for a holiday. Instead, she has escaped from a stressful situation back home, where it seems that she made a bad judgement....

Sally Quilford creates three-dimensional and distinctive characters whose personalities shine through a rather melodramatic plot. The writing is good, free from the bad language and explicit scenes that spoil so many books these days, and while some of the events are unpleasant, there’s no gore or gratuitous violence. I had to suspend reality a little, but the pace is excellent and kept me reading so that I finished it in one sitting. There are surprises, and high drama, and some unexpected twists and turns as well as a comfortably predictable ending.

Recommended as a good, light read.

Sally Quilford has done her research well; this is not her usual genre of fiction, and while this Regency romance novella does not quite have the natural authenticity of (say) Georgette Heyer, it reads realistically, on the whole.. The characters are very nicely drawn, and the conversations believable.

My biggest problem with this book is that it’s too short. There were, I felt, sufficient subplots and themes to have made this a full-length novel; as it was, some plot threads are resolved too quickly, and in the later part of the book, when the heroine takes centre stage, her unpleasant stepsister almost vanishes from the scene - we only learn in passing what she has been doing.

I also found the heroine a bit irritating after a while; she gets it into her head that the hero does not love her, despite every effort on his behalf to show that he does. So she spends a lot of time introspecting about how unhappy she is.

Still - overall I thought it a pleasant read, and look forward to more in this genre by this author. Three and a half stars would be fairer.

The setting is a stately home in England in 1921. Millie is the heroine; a young impoverished woman whose father was recently executed as a spy. She has taken a post as companion to the rather controlling Mrs Oakengate. We meet them as they arrive at Fazeby Hall for a house-party.

There are quite a few other characters introduced fairly rapidly, and I found the number a bit overwhelming; it was hard to work out which ones were going to be significant. The story is a light thriller - crime fiction with a romantic element, originally published as a pocket book, so a short novella that I read in a couple of hours.

The plot has quite a few twists, some of which I was expecting, and some of which surprised me. The writing is fairly fast-paced with little description; happily, there wasn’t any unpleasant suspense and the the romantic element is very low-key.

Recommended if you like this kind of book and want to read something rather shorter than a standard novel.

Someone is waiting in a pub in Midchester in 1946. A young woman walks in, and the two speak briefly in their own tongue and arrange to meet elsewhere. Clearly they have been lovers... perhaps they will be again. But there’s something very chilling about this introduction.

We then leap forward twenty years, and meet Guy Sullivan, a film star who is staying in Midchester to have a break. Eager young journalist Cara arrives to interview him, and there's a distinct - and unexpected - spark of attraction. The story switches between the two viewpoints, mostly taking place in 1966.

I’m not a huge fan of crime fiction, but I downloaded this book when it was free for the Kindle a few months ago. And I found myself liking it very much. There’s a gentle ongoing romance which takes the edge of the crime, and some secrets which are evidently connected with the increasingly nasty voice from 1946.

Perhaps far-fetched, but it was cleverly written, with different storylines unfolding together. The writing is crisp, and while this is a short book which does not give time for much depth of characterisation, I found myself liking Cara very much, and Guy too. I was also pleased to see references to the Vicar and Meredith, who featured in the prevous Midchester book I read a while ago.

Recommended.

‘The Steps of the Priory’ is a historical saga, set over about thirty years; it begins in 1917 and ends just after the second World War.

The opening sequence sees the teenage Becky running through the streets with her friend Jed, clutching a bundle which we quickly realise is a baby. She drops it on the steps of the Priory, owned by the Harcourt family, in the hope that they - or perhaps one of their servants - will take the baby in and look after him.

The baby is discovered and adopted, but his rescuers tell nobody, so no connection is made until quite a way through the novel…

Becky is a believable young woman with a miserable home life, but she has plenty of friends. And here’s where my only problem with this novel lies: there are a LOT of characters and I found it difficult to distinguish some of them. I read this book in just a few days, but couldn’t remember who was married (or in love with, or parents of) whom, other than the main protagonists. Sally Quilford has quite a gift of characterisation, and some of her people stood out as likeable and memorable. But it was hard to keep track of the minor ones.

Still, the story is good and moves at a good pace. Leaps forward in time are handled well without jarring, and the plot lines all tie together nicely. I had guessed most of what was revealed in the final pages, but that didn’t matter; it was satisfying to find that I was right, and had spotted some subtle clues that others might have missed.

If I’m being picky, there’s one subplot (involving a most unpleasant doctor) which didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the book. And there’s rather too much description of intimate details for my tastes. But it’s mostly not too sordid, and on the whole I thought this a very good read. It's billed as the first in a series, so I look forward to the sequel.

Meredith has been brought up by a loving aunt, but has always rather hankered to live with her more eccentric aunt Peg, who makes a hobby of solving real life murder mysteries, somewhat in the style of Miss Marple.

High drama happens in a train carriage, where she meets an elderly housekeeper, a vicar and his wife, another young vicar (who is rather attractive), three teenagers, and an elderly war veteran. They get talking; before Meredith arrives at her destination, a terrible crime has taken place.

It's not a long novel, and I read it in just a couple of days. the plot is a bit complicated, but the characters are distinct and believable. Despite the brevity of the novel, I could picture them all in my mind.

Set in the middle of the 20th century, the story reminded me more than once of Georgette Heyer's crime mysteries. Recommended.

Shelley is taking a package holiday on a small Greek island, but she doesn't really feel part of the group. She's had a tough year, and definitely doesn't want any new romantic entanglement.. but she's rather attracted to one of the staff.

Odd things are happening, too. She meets an elderly man, but nobody else seems to have seen him. She finds some letters, and then they vanish. Shelley almost begins to wonder if she's going crazy - and doesn't know who she can trust.

Suspense is high in places, which kept me reading longer than I'd intended at times. The story is fast-paced with just the right amount of description for my tastes, and some good characterisation. It's a pocket novel, so much shorter than a normal book, and not many subplots; but I found myself feeling quite involved with Shelley, and enjoyed it very much. Recommended.