Gulf Weekly Book Club

BOOK OF THE WEEK with Linda Jennings. Without A Trace, Lesley Pearse, Isbn 9780241961537 (Penguin) BD 4.500 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members

Top of the charts this week; international number one bestselling author Lesley Pearse brings a compelling story of courage, friendship and love in her brand new novel Without a Trace. Coronation Day, 1953.

In the Somerset village of Sawbridge, young shopkeeper Molly Heywood slips away from the celebrations to her friend’s cottage and makes a shocking discovery: Cassie is dead and her six-year-old daughter Petal has vanished without a trace.

In her grief, Molly seeks help from her childhood friend George, now the village policeman, but no one can find Petal. The only clue is a letter from London, where Cassie once lived. Despite George’s reluctance and her growing feelings for him, Molly resolves to go to London in the hope of discovering the missing child.

Arriving in the big city, Molly quickly learns it’s a dangerous place for a country girl on her own. But there’s hope too – in the Blitz-ruined East End, she unexpectedly finds friendship with strangers from Cassie’s past and, with handsome, mysterious workman Charley, the possibility of something more.

However, the closer Molly gets to the truth, the more perilous her journey becomes. She has given up everything – her home, happiness and a chance at love – all to find Petal. But is she also risking her life?

Excellent timing with Queen Elizabeth II about to become the world’s longest-serving monarch on September 9 (and obviously not a publishing coincidence) this latest novel by popular author Pearse will delight her fans and enchant newcomers to her stories with exactly the right feel for the moment.

Read it now in paperback
14th Deadly Sin, James Patterson, ISBN 9780099594567 (ARROW) BD 4.500 (for Gulf Weekly Book Club members)

A new terror is sweeping the streets of San Francisco. And the killers look a lot like cops … As Detective Lindsay Boxer investigates whether the perpetrators are brilliant impostors or police officers gone rogue, she receives a chilling warning to back off.

On the other side of the city, an innocent woman is murdered in broad daylight in front of dozens of witnesses. But there are no clues and no apparent motive.

With killers in disguise, a maniac murderer on the loose and danger getting ever closer to Lindsay’s door, could this be one case too many for the Women’s Murder Club?

Another gripping and thought-provoking novel from the master of crime writers with this, the 14th book in the Women’s Murder Club series, which shot straight into the charts at Number 2.

My favourite read of the week
The Wisdom Of Trees: A Miscellany, Max Adams, Isbn 9781781855461 (Head Of Zeus) BD 8.400 (for Gulf Weekly Book Club members)

Every year, when my summer break comes to an end and it is time to come back to work, I am always saddened to leave my garden in Kent and the beauty of our lovely trees in the ‘Garden of England’.

So I am sharing with you one of my very favourite books – a passionate and informative celebration of trees, embellished with delightful images from John Evelyn’s arboreal classic SYLVA (1664), which never fails to lift my spirits.

Trees are marvels of nature, still-standing giants of extraordinary longevity and in an eclectic and beautifully-written sequence of essays and anecdotes Max Adams explores both the amazing biology of trees and humanity’s relationship with wood and forest across the centuries.

This is one of those ‘dip into it’ books where you can learn how to make charcoal, find out why birch bark makes the best fire-lighter and how the wood of the venerable yew tree ensured that the English prevailed at Agincourt.

It really is a little gem of a book and a perfect gift for anyone who cares about the natural world and our interaction with it or just to have on the coffee table because it is so charming.