Kemps Books in Malton latest recommendations

Kemps has some exciting events over the next couple of months, including author signings throughout the Malton Food Lover’s Festival at the end of the month, and an announcement surrounding a new endeavour with Kemps Cooks.

All details can be found on the website or in-store; meanwhile, here are some worlds to escape into!

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective is a Regency mystery co-written by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar. Kelly writes critically acclaimed, best-selling historical fiction for all ages, while Sharmini has written, directed and produced numerous short films and plays. United in their love for Jane Austen, Kelly and Sharmini have created a cosy historical crime novel set two years after the events in Pride and Prejudice.

Caroline Bingley is staying with her brother, Charles, and his wife, Jane, in their country estate in Derbyshire when her close friend Georgina Darcy sends a cryptic letter informing Caroline that she has travelled to London in pursuit of her missing maid, Jayani. Despite the treacherous wintry weather, Caroline sets off to the capital to find the two young women before they encounter danger. However, they soon find themselves at the centre of a cold-blooded murder that implicates Jayani. Determined to uncover the perpetrator, Caroline delves into the world of poverty and exploitation alongside her loyal servant, Gordon, to clear Jayani’s name. In turn, she discovers the brutality and misdeeds of the East India Company and is not short of suspects.

Combining inspiration from two literary greats, Jane Austen and Agatha Christie, this book is a cosy mystery that encapsulates Regency London. It highlights the polarisation between the rich and poor, as well as racial prejudice and colonisation, all while having an engaging mystery and nefarious characters at the heart.

9780008683689

HarperCollins, 9.99

Paperback

Mrs Spy by M.J. Robotham

After aspiring to be an author from childhood, twenty years working as a midwife, and a Creative Writing MA, M. J Robotham is now a full-time author, writing historical fiction as Mandy Robotham. Mrs Spy is a 1960s spy thriller, and the second book written under the pen name M.J. Robotham.

Maggie Flynn is a widowed mother living with her Beatles-obsessed teenage daughter, Libby, and her bohemian mother, Glinda. Ostensibly, Maggie lives a typically quiet life in 1960s London, but leads a double life working as a ‘watcher’ for MI5, stalking London’s streets in myriad disguises. Following the death of her husband, Davy, in a so-called accident, Maggie learned of his concealed life of espionage and pledged to help the British government observe Communist spies at the height of the Cold War. In her latest task, Maggie must look after a recent Russian defector. This consists of making Yuri breakfast, which Maggie finds mundane compared to her other precarious missions; however, an offhand comment by the defector plummets Maggie into a tempest of emotions. Yuri knew Davy, and not only did he work for MI5, but it was not an accident that killed him, as she was told; he was murdered. Maggie now strives to discover what happened to her husband and, in turn, is plunged into the heart of espionage, riddled with conspiracy and subterfuge that could put Maggie and her family in danger.

Mrs Spy palpably exudes 1960s London, combining cultural and political elements unique to the time, and is overall a distinct novel in the vast spy genre.

9781035914234

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 16.99

Hardback

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven

Laura Steven is a bestselling author of Young Adult novels. Her previous work includes The Society For Soulless Girls, a sapphic horror retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll & Hyde, and Every Exquisite Thing, a reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Our Infinite Fates is her most recent YA novel, a fantasy romance spanning 1000 years.

Evelyn and Arden are fated to be together in every life, no matter who or where they are. But they are also destined to die together before they turn eighteen, and it is one of them who kills the other. In this life, Evelyn is Branwen Blythe, living in contemporary Wales and is desperate to save her little sister, who needs a bone marrow transplant after being diagnosed with cancer. Evelyn has the chance to save her, but the operation is scheduled after her looming eighteenth birthday and thus her own impending death. Evelyn is desperate to find Arden in this life and plead with him to let her live past eighteen, but she has already tried and failed to reason with him in previous lives.

Told through multiple timelines and Evelyn’s perspective, we follow her quest to discover why the two souls are intertwined and destined to be hunted. We travel from Ancient Greece to twentieth-century Russia, from American asylums to the trenches of the First World War, learning about the duo’s different backstories and personalities. It is a whimsical tale of two souls trapped in a perpetual cycle of love, death, and betrayal, united by a visceral emotional connection.

9780241671092

Penguin Random House Children’s UK, 16.99

Hardback

Is A River Alive by Robert Macfarlane

Robert Macfarlane is a renowned nature writer and best-selling author. His previous books include Underland, Landmarks, and The Wild Places, which examine themes of memory, landscape, nature, environmentalism, and travel. His newest work is a profound exploration into the primitive idea that rivers are living beings and should be recognised as such and, therefore, protected.

Robert takes us on a vivid global journey to remarkable places teeming with history and incredible people, signifying this transformative idea that rivers are not mere matters for human use. The structure of this book epitomises the flow of rivers, taking us to the cloud forest of Ecuador, to the wounded rivers of southern India, and finally to a spectacular wild river in Quebec. Each is imperilled by mining, pollution, and dams as humans partake in the perennial harming of nature. Robert highlights the imperative work that anthropologists and Indigenous communities are doing to combat the damage inflicted throughout history, stemming from colonialism to the modern day, as he joins activists on three continents to illuminate the magnificence of nature and questions whether rivers are anthropomorphic.

With personal anecdotes and political assertions, Is a River Alive? enlightens us to new perspectives, emphasising water as an essential element for life and condemning privatisation. Through poetic prose, Robert examines legal implications while weaving cultural and natural history, offering a compelling perspective on the rights of nature.

9780241624814

Penguin Books Ltd, 25.00

Hardback

Cuckoo by Callie Kazumi

Callie Kazumi is a British-Japanese writer who started work on her first book after being gifted Stephen King’s On Writing. As an avid reader-turned-author, Callie brings us a psychological thriller and her debut novel, Cuckoo.

After spending a perfect evening together the night before, Claire is excited to surprise her fiancé Noah at work for their anniversary, only she is the one who is surprised when she is informed that Noah does not work at the company, and has not for nine months. This revelation sends Claire spiralling, and to make matters worse, Noah will not answer any of her calls or messages. He’s vanished. With the help of her friend Sukhi, Claire finds the social media accounts he claimed never to have, and discovers that Noah may not be as loyal as he seemed; her fiancé has been living a double life. Fuelled by the abuse she received from her narcissistic mother as a child, Claire becomes obsessive and is determined to win Noah back. However, not all is as it seems, and it soon escalates dangerously out of control.

With diary entries and flashbacks woven throughout the contemporary timeline, we learn much about Claire’s character and the unreliable narrator she has become. It is a fast-paced psychological thriller that is equally disturbing and engrossing.

9781804949757

Cornerstone, 9.99

Paperback