Death in Winter

Death in Winter is a new crime novel from veteran crime writer Ian McFayden who is certainly going to please his fans and new readers alike with his sixth Inspector Carmichael novel!

It's just four days until Christmas Day and there's a good covering of snow on the ground, and the villages and small towns of rural Lancashire are abundant in Christmastime good cheer and bonhomie.

Inspector Steve Carmichael is really looking forward to a rarity for a detective of his standing and experience in the force, a long and very indulgent break over the Christmas period in his own home, surrounded by his own family.

But there's the little -or not so little- incident which involved a woman who mysteriously disappeared after boarding a train home.

This has the unfortunate effect of totally ruining his plans for a traditional Christmas.

But this still leaves Inspector Carmichael and his equally dedicated team of police officers with a real conundrum to solve. What on earth has happened to Hayley Bell?

Interviews with her husband  -is he really as eccentric as he appears?- and with her friends (or her "so-called" friends)  seem to be less than helpful, as they start to dig through the facts and sift through what evidence they can find.

So... what really happened to Hayley Bell? Inspector Carmichael begins to form the impression that all is not quite what it seems in this case. And he is never wrong and never misses his mark.

Though readers will be kept guessing right through to the end of this intricately plotted crime novel.

If you have a crime novel fan you need to buy a Christmas present for, then you seriously do need to buy them this novel!

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99.

You can purchase it via our very own online bookshop (it's powered by Amazon) and you will find the bookshop here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

James and the Amazing Gift

James and the Amazing gift is a wonderful book that will make a stupendously great Christmas gift for young boys and girls.

It is debut children's picture book by author and polymath Nicola J. Rowley.

It tells  the story of a little boy called James. And James has an amazing gift. He doesn't just like ot smile, he absolutely loves to smile!

From the moment he was born, people realised that James was a very special little boy. For he loved to smile all the time. And he was happy all of the time.

And he had an even more special gift. He could make other people smile, too!

And as he grew older, he used his amazing gift to help other people to feel happier and to smile, too.

Actually as I am writing this book review, I am smiling, too, so James' amazing gift does work!

Please do buy this beautifully illustrated children's book.

It is published by Matador and costs £7.99.

You can buy it here at our very own gift and bookshop >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

You can also purchase it here http://amzn.to/2gW9olM.

Please do note that every copy of this book that is bought and put into a Christmas stocking this Christmas will result in money being donated to a very important charity, called Contact The Elderly, it is a UK-based charity that aims to stop loneliness amongst older people.

Beyond All Doubt

Beyond All Doubt is a new crime thriller novel from the pen of Evesham author Paige Elizabeth Turner.

Intrigued by the recent advances in the uses of DNA in the solving of crimes and several cases where a previous conviction has been overturned by the re-analysis of DNA samples with the use of new and advanced techniques, Paige Elizabeth Turner has been inspired to write her debut crime thriller set within this very arena.

The body of Juanita Morale's is discovered in the River avon in the small English market town of Evesham. This was after she took a late afternoon river cruise on the boat of river cruise operator Barry Simmons who is suspected of having murdered her.

There's a lot of gossip about her death and Trevor, her fiance, decides to launch his own investigation to try to get to the bottom of what actually happened to Juanita.

But is Trevor really all that he seems?  Is he as pure as he wants the other residents of Evesham to think? Perhaps he isn't.

Other bodies start to appear and when a journalist working on the local paper the Evesham Record who was investigating Juanita's murder is, herself, found murdered in her car, people began to question if there is a link between the killings.

DI Marchant and DS Olivia Watts are investigating the murders and despite the extreme misgivings of DS Watt, DI Marchant arrests Barry Simmons and charges him with murder.

During the subsequent trial CPS lawyer Godfrey Postlewaite presents a compelling case, yet defence barrister Belinda Pace gives as good as she gets.

But which one of them is right? Who is the murderer of Juanita Morales? And is her murder really related to the other deaths?

This is a remarkable debut novel published by Mastador and it will make a super Christmas present for the crime thriller fan in your clan. And at £8.99, it's a real snip.

You can purchase it here at our very own book and gift shop >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

  

The Great Wizard Wars

The Great Wizard Wars is a fantastic new novel for children of 7 to 11 years of age and their mums, dads, grandparents and older siblings who might like to read them with their children.

It's an exciting story about the battle between good and not so good (well, bad, really!) wizards.

Many, many years previously, there had been a terrible wizarding war, which had caused untold misery until eventually, common sense had prevailed and a binding truce had been signed.

Now, modern witches and wizards are going about their professional, yet extraordinary,  lives in a peaceful and peaceable manner, keeping themselves hidden from the rest of humanity.  

However, the ancient truce has been smashed in two and a Dark Army of witches and wizards with evil and mayhem on their minds has arisen and it is their avowed aim to destroy the descendants of their foes, the good witches and wizards of long, long ago.

Well, that was the plan. The reality is a good deal more comical than you might presume. For the evil witches and wizards are backward and despicable and they launch their attacks on the modern, peaceable witches and wizards with magical weapons that or just so out of date, it's unbelievable!

They also have control over some remarkable scary mystical creatures who they can employ to do their evil bidding! But not really! For the mystical creatures all have mystical minds of their own and which are completely out of the control of the bad witches and wizards!

The bad witches and wizards also cannot decide who should be their leaders, so they begin fighting amongst themselves in a truly mind-blowing way!

Four heroic young witches and wizards find themselves in dangerous situations as they fight off the evil hoards, yet a curious twist of fate forces them to participate in a very unforeseen showdown.

It's a wild and very interesting read -I think you'll like Gnashers the giant talking snake- and it will be a welcome addition to the Christmas stockings of many a young boy and girl this Chirstmas.

It's published by Matador at £6.99 and is available for purchase at our very own gift and bookshop which you will find here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

Georgina A song of youth

Georgina A song of youth is a new novel by Cedric Paul Foster.

It relates the story of Georgina, who is an extraordinary woman.

She is somewhat stifled at home. Her mother is overprotective and her father is demanding and very ambitious.

So, what is Georgina (Gina, or Georgy as she is more usually known to all save for her poor mother) supposed to do?

Simple! She runs away from home and finds herself living in France.

But as with much in life, that might, actually, mean leaving one set of problems and finding them replaced with an entirely different set of problems.

For Gina's story is set in the late 195os, when times were somewhat different and the life of a very young woman living by herself in a very foreign foreign country might prove, to put it diplomatically, a little problematic?

However, Gina does have one advantage over many of her contemporaries, in that she is exceptionally beautiful and is able to take up a career as a model. So long as she can evade the clutches of predatory males who mean her no good whatsoever!

But Gina manages not only to evade the lotharios, she even prospers and becomes a hugely successful woman in her own right becoming very rich in the process and carving out a life for herself which also included long lasting happiness.

It's an interesting novel, which allows you to share the life of an very remarkable woman and the friends which she shares her life with.

And yes, it will make a very good Christmas gift and you can purchase it here at our very own book and gift shop >>>   https://goo.gl/apr0hq.

It is published by The Book Guild at £8.99.

The Will

The Will is a new novel by prize winning poet and author Jane Mann.
It tells the story of what happens to Hannah Delany.

At age 27 Hannah has to return to the UK from Hong Kong to attempt to disentangle the mystery that surrounds the death of her father and also of his will. And of the letters that he may, or may not, have written.

As she undertakes her investigations she finds herself having to burrow her way, with great tenacity, through lies, deliberate deceits and falsehoods, obfuscations and obstructions.

Some people seem to be trying to manipulate her, to thwart her efforts to learn the truth.

But despite their best, or worst, efforts, they seem unable to stop Hannah in her quest for the truth.

But she learns information that she might not have wanted to learn, really. Such as the disturbing and malevolent motives behind the actions of some people. Motives that might even mean that Hannah's own life is now at risk.

And what, exactly was Hugo's role in all this? And what of the family's home, Yadrahna, built in the 1840s of Cotswold stone?

And the skeleton? Who was it the remains of? And what had happened to them?

And who was Olga Slade? And what was shee doing at Yadrahna?

This is a compelling mystery novel which is very much wirtten in the style of a modern Gothic Novel.

It is published by Matador at a very reasonable £8.99 and will make a most excellent gift for the person who likes the mystery novels with more than a hint of the gothic about them.

You can purchase it online at our very own book and gift shop, here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy

Love Across the Decades

In his new collection of short, romantic stories, writer Steven Baker (who we just met, you will remember!) has produced an entirely different work to his novel that your review has just written about.

Love Across the Decades covers five different love stories that cover, as the title indicates, different love stories from periods including The Great Depression, The Second World War, the post Second World War era, the 1960s and then, almost, but not quite, up to the modern times with an excursion into the 1990s.

But these are no Mills and Boon style fantasy romances. These are romances that deal with a whole host of human issues and human emotions.

How a family are tested to breaking point by the utterly unexpected and totally devastating loss of a young child, love at first sight, pregnancy, a man who found romance late in life, very late in life, in fact!

And we learn of the difference between a peccadillo and an armadillo.

We learn of the crushing isolation of being single whilst being at a certain age and all this whilst trying to pull at a dance.

And how even if the location of a marriage proposal is not, of itself, especially romantic, that by some magic, the location is, somehow, rendered romantic. Such as a bus, for example.

Yet how such a proposal may engender a spark of envy in the heart of someone who is less fortunate.

All Human emotion is here. Even the odd glimpse of canine emotion, too.

This book is a romance, yet it is unusual as it is real life, lived by ordinary people who just happen to fall in love. Or not, in some cases.

It's published by The Book Guild and is available for purchase at our very own book and gift shop which you will find here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy

Battling Spirits and Kindly Hearts

Battling Spirits and Kindly Hearts is a new novel from author Steven Baker.

It tells the story of young Londoner Michael Forbes. His was a typical East End childhood. Poverty, hardship  but lots of love. And, with his parents, Frank and Honeysuckle, the annual event that many Cockney families looked forward to, the hop picking holiday in the garden of England, Kent.

But the year was 1939 and with the advent of war life would change for the Forbes family and for all of their neighbours, too.

Upon the outbreak of war his parents took the decision that Michael should be evacuated.

But his planned evacuation was no 60 mile journey to the countryside by bus or train. The evacuation of Michael was a journey of nearly 11,000 miles. For he was to be evacuated to live with his aunt in Melbourne, Australia.

We follow Michael through his life as he copes with the loneliness that he is faced with as he is separated from his parents, and how he learns to cope with living in an utterly different environment so many miles from home.

The book also looks at Michael in his later life as he looks back on his life, remembering all the people who he met along the way and thinking especially of those who helped him to develop into the adult that he grew into.

It is an extremely compelling novel with a narrative that grips the reader.

It is published by The Book Guild and will make an excellent Christmas gift for the lover of well-written modern fiction.

It costs £8.99 and is available for purchase from our very own book and gift shop here>>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy

And so to Aldi!

It's the pre-Christmas season, and so it's time to get yourself to Aldi.

I have to admit that my wife and I made a slight error after we got back from our Aldi Christmas shop.

Well, you know how it is, you get the Christmas drink in and you sort of accidentally (yeah, really!) open a bottle of the Aldi Californian Merlot, enjoy a few glasses each and then, you'll use chicken breast fillets from Aldi, naturally, use some of the rich, delicious wine to produce a chicken chasseur that is so tasty that it almost makes your cry.

All served up with the rest of Merlot and some of the rice you bought from Aldi.

However, the rest of what you bought is safe (odd how it's usually the Merlot that's at risk of accidental consumption!)  and the pantry and the fridge is now stuffed full of glace cherries, dried mixed fruit, icing sugar, caster sugar, granulated sugar, at least three types of flour, butter and vegetable shortening.

This week we are scheduled to start on the Christmas cake and the Christmas pudding. (HINT: You forgot the Aldi rum and brandy! Pop back into town to visit Aldi to pick up the rum and brandy tomorrow, after work!) 

My wife may possibly, time willing, be baking her prize winning Aldi cake, her Anni's Vodka Cherry Baked Well Cake.

http://thatsfoodanddrink.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/annis-vodka-cherry-baked-well-cake.html

Actually, we might modify this recipe with the addition of some marzipan and white sugared icing and transform it into a new and utterly delicious Christmas Cake. Though we might need to add vodka to our shopping list. I'll have to check with my wife. Though we could make it a truly unique Chirstmas cake with the switching of vodka for run or brandy? Let's see what happens!

And no doubt we could also add mince pies to the list of purchases, too?

But I don't want you to run away with the idea that Aldi is only about the highest quality festive foods at prices that other supermarkets last charged 15 years ago!

Heavens to Betsy, no! There's so much more to aldi than that!

There's a bewildering array of  Christmas gifts for everyone from the tiniest tot to the most venerable great uncle, great aunt or great grandparent! 

Toys, tools, radios, techno gadgets, car accessories, homeware and much, much more!

There's even special gift packs of the finest Single Malt Scotches (complete with a highly informative and beautifully illustrated miniature guide to the whiskies of Scotland.) 

And don't forget the special  Commemorative Team GB Champagne at just under a tenner a bottle at a stunning £9.99!

There's a fantastic range of wines, beers, spirits. Plus there are special Christmas hampers, some of which are only available on line at  https://www.aldi.co.uk.

Three Kings of Coconut from Cocofina

Top-rated British coconut brand Cocofina has announced the launch of a trio of organic coconut products.

They come in a very special and inviting gift pack, and it is just in time for Christmas!

It's described as "The quintessential tempting treat for all lovers of the remarkable
palm tree."

And it's the absolutely perfect present for the hard-to-buy for family member or friend this Christmas.

It's ideal for vegans and for those who have to be careful about what they eat, have to watch their GI intake, or who just love good, natural foods.

This gift pack is packed with organic coconut oil, nectar and butter which come in 350ml jars neatly packaged in a smart label revealing box.

Cocofina Organic Coconut Oil (350ml) is cold pressed, virgin, unrefined and accredited by
the Soil Association UK.

It has a pleasantly light texture, sweet aroma and subtle, nutty taste due to the unique processing method.

It has a multitude of uses in cooking and baking and can be used as a natural moisturiser or hair conditioner, too! (EDITOR: Wow! Talk about versatile?)

Cocofina Organic Coconut Nectar (350ml) is produced by painstakingly concentrating the
sap of the coconut blossom.

The nectar is a more naturally produced alternative to regular, refined sugar and is perfect in tea, coffee or as an ingredient for cooking and baking with. It has a floral aroma, sweet taste and a rich texture.

Cocofina Organic Coconut Butter (335g) is produced by grinding the white coconut meat and
contains nothing other than 100% organic coconut.

It's ideal for spreading and baking, it has a high lauric acid content, smooth texture, nutty aroma, and creamy taste and has naturally antiviral and antibacterial properties.

Also, and this is very good news, the nectar has a low GI and is a great honey alternative for Vegans, while the butter is high in fibre, dairy and gluten free.

It can be dissolved in hot water and then filtered through muslin cloth to produce your very own coconut milk, added as a thickener to your favourite curry, to rice to make coconut rice or drizzled warm over food.

The organic coconut oil is a perfect Vegan alternative to butter and can also be used for oil pulling, as a makeup remover, lip balm, massage or baby oil, after tanning or to soothe eczema.

Price? A nifty £19.99.

Cocofina gift packs are available in store from Lakeland, As Nature Intended and online at
www.cocofina.com.

Cocofina products are also available at our own gift shop, here>>> https://goo.gl/m5aVoo.

Cotswold Gin is a very different type of Gin

Although describing itself as a London Dry Gin, there is so much more to Cotswold London Dry Gin than one might expect.

Yes, it is a traditional, clear as crystal London Dry Gin.

But there is so much more to it than that.

My wife said: "I am a lover of the traditional London Dry Gin style of gin. It was the first type of gin I was introduced ot as a young person, so it will always hold a special place in my heart.

"When I heard about Cotswold London Dry Gin I was intrigued as to what the difference was."

We tried it one afternoon and were both enamoured of this new. yet quintessentially English gin.

Yes, there were the vital floral ingredients of  the traditional London Dry Gin, yet there was definitely something subtly different about Cotswold London Dry Gin.

What on earth was it? It was a pungent difference, but using the world pungent in an entirely positive meaning.

There was an interesting, yet delicate earthiness to this particular type of gin. 

Was there a distinct Cotswold difference? Some herbs or floral essences used in it that are only to be found within the spectacularly beautiful Cotswold region of England, over toward the West of the country?

To be honest, we don't know. But what we do know that the splendid difference was there.

(Actually, the difference is explained on their website and it makes perfect sense!)

What we do know is that the Cotswold Gin Company have taken London Dry Gin and have given it a very welcome and friendly re-make. But not to such an extent that it is unrecognisable. And that takes a considerable amount of skill, knowledge and expertise.  

It is perfect by itself, and it plays well with other drinks and mixers and we can say that this belongs in your Christmas drinks cabinet!

To learn more please or to buy a bottle at £34.95 visit them at https://www.cotswoldsdistillery.com/

More Sherlock Holmes than James Herriot

More Sherlock Holmes than James Herriot is subtitled The Veterinary Detectives.

Written by one such veterinary detective, Roger S. Windsor, the book records the stories of the life of Roger Windsor, from  what he self-describes as a "naive student at vet school" to a junior vet in general practice.

Eventually through a series of twists and turns in his professional life, Roger found himself living and working in Africa, where he ran the Veterinary Investigation Service's laboratory, in Botswana.

The stories he tells are an amazing collection of tales (not tails!) of the vicissitudes and woes of a large variety of animals of just about every type you could imagine and some that your imagination might have had problems getting its head round.

The book starts with his pre-Africa career and covers a wide range of subjects such as the "farmer" who cut the beaks off his birds so badly that they were starving to death, because they couldn't eat.

There were incidents of TB to be dealt with, Mastitis, Foot and Mouth disease and so forth,

Eventually Roger found himself working in Botswana with the Veterinary Investigation Service.

This brought a whole host of very different, or sometime similar, veterinary problems.

For example on the back cover of the book are two very handsome looking vultures, something not seen by a vet in the UK!

Dealing with feline enteritis is distressing, but dealing with feline enteritis in a big cat orphanage brought about somewhat unique problems and epidemics in herds were a particular worry.

I is illustrated with a number of high quality images which help tell the story in a charming and delightful way.

This is a remarkable book and will make an ideal  Christmas present for anyone even mildly interested in animal care.

The book is published by The book Guild at £9.99 and it is available for purchase at our very own book store >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

Actual Reality

We have all heard of Virtual Reality, but what of Actual Reality?

Cat Mantra has spent his working life as a journalist and as a performer, with such luminaries as the Ants, of Adam and the Ants fame, in his more recent history.

But in his debut novel he peers into the near future.

Josh Mantra and his faithful digital companion Tate travel through time and space as they fight evil foes and save the innocent from disastrous outcomes.

Join them as the zip back and forth, from the old Wild West to black holes in the midst of a distant star system.

Josh is a typical boy of his age, 12, and he has the typical life. School, his mates, his family and, of course, video games.

But on his birthday he receives a present from his dad, a very special gift it was. An Actual Reality crystal that had the power and capability to project the holder to anywhen and anywhere.

However, this is not a toy for Josh. It is a tool that he will need in his new role with the IDF, the Inter-Dimensional Federation.

Because it has been determined that only Josh is capable of taking over from his very own father in the business of taking on a variety of life-saving missions and tasks throughout the entire multiverse!

But first he must undergo comprehensive tests and training.

And then? He is out there for real, on his first mission!

This is a fantastic Sci-Fi/fantasy romp and it is aimed at children aged 12 to 14. And probably their parents, too, who might get a sneaky read if they are lucky!

It is published by The Book Guild at £7.99 and it will make an ideal stocking filler present.

You can purchase it at our very own book and gift emporium, via the portal which is this way >>>
https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

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A Cuddle of Cats

A Cuddle of Cats is the perfect Christmas present for all cat lovers, everywhere.

It is written by author Heather Cook and it is copiously illustrated by photographs taken by Roger Cook.

A Cuddle of Cats is described as "Rhymes and Recollections" and this is exactly what this book is all about.

There are poems about cats, stories about cats and also, as the subtitle points out, recollections about cats.

Some of the poems are amusing, yet some of them, especially Why? on page 1, are of a more serious nature.

The person who you buy this book for will read about the cats of Salisbury Cathedral, what happens when a new cat door is installed, the problems of Benjy, a cat who is brain-damaged and who has some habits that might be annoying, or amusing, or, perhaps, both.

How cats can capture the hearts of men. Or as Heather so succinctly puts it, "have the great lump completely under her paw."

This is a book that is guaranteed to warm the heart of every cat lover. And guess what, folks? You have found them the purrfect Christmas stocking filler in this book.

It's published by Matador at £7.99 and you can purchase your two copies (well, you're going to buy one for yourself, too, right?)  at our very own retail emporium which you can find here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

That's Books and Entertainment: Telling Tails: the Confessions of a Handyman

That's Books and Entertainment: Telling Tails: the Confessions of a Handyman: You may have heard of author E. James Chapman before.  His first book The Train Now Standing at Platform 3 is a pure joy to read. (I have...

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Peggy

Peggy is the story of a little girl called Susan.

She loves ponies. But she doesn't have one of her own because her father cannot afford to buy one for her.

However, on the eve of her birthday she decides to take a walk in the woods where she meets with the ancient God Zeus,

Zeus gives Susan a very special gift, a pony called Peggy.

But Peggy is no ordinary pony, Peggy is a direct descendent of the winged horse, Pegasus and, yes, Peggy, too, has the power of flight.

Peggy's wings can magically appear or disappear at will and Peggy understands everytihng that Susan tells her.

Of course, Susan is thrilled and overjoyed with her new pony, yet she knows she must do everything within her power to keep the secret of her new pony safe.

Zeus has presented Susan with a letter that she can use to show her parents that Peggy is a gift, yet poor Susan has to go through some hilarious events in order to keep Peggy's secret safe!

She does this with the assistance of her confidante, Mickey, a local farmer's son.

But her secret is discovered by a villain who has an eccentric turn of mind who thinks that he fancies to own Peggy, the magical flying pony all for his own nefarious ends.

But how will he fair against Susan, Mickey, Peggy and the influence of Zeus, an ancient Greek God?

This charming and amusing book is a perfect Christmas gift for all little girls who own a pony or who dream of owning a pony. And also for their mums who had those dreams, too.

It is published by Matador Children's Books at £8.99 and it is available to buy here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

The Haunted Painting on the Wall

The Haunted Painting on the Wall is a new spooky novel for children from the imagination of author Devika A. Rosamund.

Tracy and Sebastian are brother and sister. They accept an invitation to stay at a castle in the Scottish Highlands, which is owned by their great aunt.

And whilst they are there, they decided that it would be a great idea to create a bit of adventure for themselves by seeking out the secret of the castle, which, legend said, was a secret and long-lost special hidden chamber with the stone walls of the castle. Which housed a priceless family treasure.

But little did Tracy and Sebastian know that they were heading toward a great and terrible danger!

For hiding deep within the walls of the castle lurked a ghost. A ghost that was evil and malevolent, who had haunted the castle for 400 long and bitter years, waiting to be able to wreak its revenge.

Unknown to anyone living, witchcraft had once been practiced in the castle and sinister forces were ready to be unleashed.

In Tracy's bedroom is a painting on the wall. It is a mysterious painting on the wall. A haunted painting which contains a secret. A dangerous, terrifying secret.

What will happen? Will the children discover the secret of the painting? Will they learn the location of the secret chamber?

Or will the evil ghost get the better of them?

This book is aimed at children between 9 t o11 years of age.

It is published by Matador at £6.99 and will make an ideal stocking filler for children who love ghostly stories.

It can be purchased here >>>  https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

The Film Director's Wife

We all love a good autobiography, especially if it can shed light on the lives of the rich and famous from the perspective of someone who was there and who was a part of the clan, so to speak.

The Film Director's Wife is one such book.

It is written by Mo Enfield, who was married to famed International film director, Cy Enfield.

Born into an isolated community in Yorkshire, Mo was then whisked away to the famed Roedean lady's college where she studied for five years before she became a successful catwalk model, including working with Dior in London and Paris.

At the same time as she was carving out a successful career as a model, London was becoming home to a fairly large number of Hollywood writers, refugees from the McCarthy era witch hunt, fleeing from the risk of being hauled up before the Un-American Activities Committee.

Amongst these motion pictured luminaries were the likes of Carl Foreman, Joseph Losey, Sam Wanamaker (incidentally the father of British actress Zoe Wanamaker) Jack Berry and, of course, Cy Enfield, future husband of Mo.

They became a couple and decided to marry at Caxton Hall. Her parents steadfastly and cruelly refused to attend the wedding. Apparently they felt that he husband to be was too old for their daughter, a divorcee, a communist and a Jew.

Despite this somewhat inauspicious beginning to their married life, they spent 40 very happy years and man, wife and parents to their brood of children.

Mo tells their story -pretty much all of it, one gathers from reading the book!- which includes stories of many of the film/movie industry and high celebrity life of the last four decades such as fellow models including Jean Shrimpton, Michael Cane, Terrence Stamp, Joe Levine, Stanley Baker, Germaine Greer and many others including Burton and Taylor. Yes. That Burton and Taylor!

As well as being a leading film director, Cy was also an extremely talented inventor. Read about his genuinely revolutionary invention of the Microwriter.

The book is also copiously illustrated with a wide range of photographs, some publicity stills and some truly charming photographs culled from family albums and, in my opinion, all the better for that!

The Film Director's Wife is an ideal Christmas gift for the film/movie buff, people who love autobiographies and those of you who were moving in those circles. Are you in the book? For the remarkably reasonable price of £8.99 you can buy this Book Guild publication to find out!

You can buy it from our own retail establishment which you can find here >>> https://goo.gl/qPctIy.

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Arcanum

Arcanum is a stunning psychic novel that is set in Ireland, in the past and the present.

It is written by author Ann Mann.

A troupe of Irish dancers vanish. This mysterious event leaves the police absolutely baffled and the entire world mystified. After all, a while troupe of Irish dancers cannot just disappear? Can it?

But if the police cannot do something, anything, to find and rescue the Irish dancers, their colleagues and friends will not let them down!

Silas Murphy and Clodagh Trevor decide that if the police can't find them, then they will!

But what can they do? Where can they start? The two friends commence their investigation and soon find themselves embarking on a, frankly, bizarre, convoluted and labyrinthian investigation that transcends both space and time.

They find it necessary to use techniques that no modern police officer would even dare to contemplate, but as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures and they duo employ ancient divination techniques to help them in the quest for their missing friends.

But where or when had they gone?

Who, or what, had taken them?

And would they be rescued?

This is a mysterious story and very well told.

It will make a excellent Christmas present for those who like their fiction of a more mystical nature.

It is published by Matador at £7.99 and is available for purchase here >>> https://goo.gl/WNNZUm.

That's Books and Entertainment: A new Detective Inspector Moon novel is out! Blood...

That's Books and Entertainment: A new Detective Inspector Moon novel is out! Blood...: Blood Ties is the latest novel in the Detective Inspector Charlie Moon series. It's two years on from the events in the novel The Si...

The A to Z of Stuff The Indispensable compendium of wisdom

The A to Z of Stuff, The Indispensable compendium of wisdom, as it is subtitled is one of those "must buy" Christmas presents that we see every so-often.

It is compiled and written by prolific author and travel writer David Fletcher.

Like many of us, David became more than a little bit irked and frustrated with the large volume of knolwedge that we are flooded with every single day of every single week.

And what makes it worse is that this knowledge is, for the most part, utterly and completely useless and pointless.

"Life," points out David, "is filled with trivia. More and more, it seems, every waking minute of our lives is accounted for by the inconsequential, the irrelevant, the incidental, the positively wasteful and by a whole host of other stuff that serves no purpose whatsoever, other than to distract us from what is really important."

David Fletcher set out to look for a remedy for this ill, something to act as a counterblast to all of the stuff that we are constantly bombarded with, 24/7, 7 days a week.

Eventually he hit upon the antidote which became his latest book, The A to Z of Stuff!

The book covers many, many different and diverse subjects. Anarchy, education and how dire it is compared to the good old days, the BBC -referred to as the Bloated Bureaucracy Corporation, democracy and how it works, or rather doesn't work, the European Union and how it operate or rather how it fails to operate. Did you know that the European Union has an official with the job title of: "The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy?"

Nor did I, but after reading The A to Z of Stuff, I now know this and, as they say, once the bell is rung, it cannot be unrung.

David coins a monumentally superb name to describe a certain type of EU tax haven, deluxembourg.

He will probably gain few friends in Luxembourg by accurately, though perhaps somewhat harshly, as being "parasitical."

Other subjects such as the United Kingdom, Quaggas (it's on the page after a poem, do check both out) the actual and mysterious continued existence of dinosaurs (see NHS), drones, young people, religion and lots more, receive the keen eye and laser-like probing of the dry with and machine-gun like delivery of David Fletcher.

It's published by Matador at £10.99 and is, as has been pointed out, a must buy Christmas present. No stocking should be without it, this year!

You can purchase it from the comfort of your own armchair or Smartphone when you visit our gift buying emporium, which is filled with enough Christmas food and drink to satiate an army and thousands of books and gifts. You'll find the portal just this way >>> https://goo.gl/WNNZUm.

That's Books and Entertainment: Religion Can Be Fun

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Love is Small Talk

Love is Small Talk is a delightfully drawn and very amusing book of cartoons by Fred Jefferies.

It's a large format book and it is, says Fred, "inspired by heaven's 'little angels'".

Fred provides his readers with a peep into the magical and make believe world of little kids which, points out Fred, he is providing for the delight of bigger kids.

It's a "must buy" Christmas gift for Christmas 2016.

It's charmingly and very colourfully illustrated with a whole array of very well drawn and oh-so-believable little characters. And they are little characters in more ways than a little!

Meet children by themselves, with dogs, with prams, with dogs in prams, at the seaside, in the park, in the dark, having a lark,  having a party in fact just about everything is illustrated within  these magical pages.

Why is this book of cartoons so popular? The cartoons are funny, yes, that's true. But there's more to it than that.

This book of cartoons is so popular because it takes the reader back to a time when they were the kids taking part in apparently bizarre conversations.

It is published by The Book Guild at a very reasonable £7.99 and will make an ideal book to flip through during and long after the Christmas period.

The book is available to purchase at our own book and gift shop, along with thousands of other great gift ideas, please do check it out:-  https://goo.gl/WNNZUm.

Olverum Bath Oil the perfect Christmas gift

Olverum Bath Oil is the perfect Christmas gift for the person who you know just loves to luxuriate in a nice, hot bath, aided and assisted by a nice, perfectly natural bath oil.

Which is where Olverum Bath Oil comes inot its own!

Olverum Bath Oil is a unique and utterly luxurious bath oil that is a carefully and skillfully prepared blend of ten highy exotic and eminently useful essential oils.

They have been carefully chosen and selected to combine together to create  Olverum Bath Oil, which is designed to help remove stress and reduce tension in both the mind and also the body, too.

Olverum Bath Oil is designed to help bring balance back into your life and help you go back to your natural, stress-free self.

Even the smell of it as you carefully place it into your hot bath will start to make you feel better, even before you slip inot the hot water after you have added the Olverum Bath Oil!

15ml is enough for three baths, so you can see that it is a powerful and highly concentrated yet entirely natural wonder treatment for your bath.

There is Siberian Fir, Ground Nut oil, Lavandin oil, Eucalyptus oil, Geranium Flower oil and many other oils and special ingredients

It was originally developed in the 1920s by Franz Otto Klein, a highly successful wine maker in Germany's Mosel Valley, when he formed a passion for learning about the therapeutic properties of essential oils.

He and his wife Edith created their own experimental laboratory where they developed their unique product, which has remained unchanged and highly popular to this very day.

The 125ml size costs £26.00 and will be enough for 25 baths, the 250ml size will be £48 and enough for 50 baths. Their main stockists  are Liberty, Harvey Nichols and www.houseoffraser.co.uk.

Bored? This super stocking filler will remove all boredom!

Author Graham Lanceley has written a new book that will certainly provide the reader with hours of harmless fun and amusement as they read through his choice of fifty alternative sports and pastimes!

Learn about games, pastimes and sports that are modern inventions or which the origins of which are shrouded in the mists of our ancient history.

Learn about hobbies from A to Zed. Astronomy, amateur radio, beekeeping, bellringing, gem cutting at home, geology and many more.

There are sports a-plenty, from the modern sport of tchoukball to the ancient sport of jousting, they are all here in this most excellent book.

Fancy caving? Or some ancient British pub games? Morris Dancing, postcard collecting, fencing, Falconry, water dowsing, Bandy (it's on page 9!) Equestrian vaulting, Fives?

You'll find all these and many more, with clear but brief instructions of how to get involved in them.

What about some extreme sports? From Zorbing to Ultimate Frisbee, this book will give hours of pleasure and will make a super Christmas present for people form 8 to 88 or even older!

It is published in paperback by The Book Guild at the nifty price of £7.99.

You can purchase it at our very own retail establishment -along with thousands of other books, gifts and DVDs, etc- which you will find here https://goo.gl/GMfXdS.

Ben and the Spider Lake

Ben and the Spider Lake is another magical book from children's author Angela Fisher.

She returns to the Spider Kingdom for this her third book.

It is the summer holidays again and Ben, together with his dog Scoot and his family plus his best friend Jess travel to a small cottage close by the Dark Mountains.

He learns that the lane at the back of the cottage is to be dug up. This is a disaster for it would result in homelessness or even injury for the families of spiders who live under the lane.

Ben must locate Lox, who is the guardian of the Spider Gate.

With Jess, Ben tries to work out a way to help move the spider kingdom subjects  to a safer location.

But they only have one month before to workmen arrive!

Where can they be moved to? How can they be moved?

Will there be any help forthcoming? Or does Ben's gran know more than she is letting on?

The book is ideal as a Christmas present for any children between 3 to 6 for parents, grandparents or other relatives to read with them.

This book is published in hardback by The Book Guild at £9.95 and it is available for purchase at our own shop https://goo.gl/KD9so0 along with thousands of other books and gifts of all types.

Mischief

Mischief is the latest novel by popular writer Liz Vincent.

It tells the story of the younger generation of the Lange family, who readers met in her previous novel, Malice, published last year in 2015.

Grace Langhe is maturing and growing up,. Her mother is worried that Grace seems to be channelling for her grandmother Madge, a somewhat domineering and forceful personality in the family.

Thomas comes onto the scene and Grace falls for him and she enters into a relationship that some might describe as troubled or even risky.

Yet Thomas is not quite what Grace had presumed him to be and the relationship comes to a dramatic conclusion that leaves Grace feeling justifiably traumatised.

Grace feels that, somehow, Grandmother Madge is looking out for her and trying to steer her in the right direction.

Grace leaves to work away from home with her best friend Lucy.

Through Lucy she meets a young man called Seth, though the circumstances of their meeting are a little strange, to say the least. She decides to keep her relationship with Seth a secret from her parents. After all, things had had very badly wrong with Thomas and she was so hurt by her experience that she doesn't feel able to confide in her parents that she is in another relationship.

After a time she reassess her life and decides to take up the opportunity to train to become a journalist.

Quite by chance she catches up with an old friend from her school days who she has seen in years, Jade. Jade is extremely proud of her handsome boyfriend. Thomas!

Grace reveals the less-than-savoury truth about the dark unpleasant true side to Thomas' personality and eventually they join forces to formulate a plot to get revenge on Thomas.

The revenge serves a dual purpose, because it also means that Grace is pushed into the limelight and her career in journalism grows and prospers.

But all the while, Seth is there, being her rock.

She and Seth wed and start their life together. But strange things are happening. What if Madge did not merely approve of her marriage to Seth, but actively arrange for it to take place?

But what, exactly, was really taking place? And what was the link to the long dead crusader with the tomb in the church?

This is an intriguingly mystical book and to reveal more of the plot would spoil this extraordinary story.

It is published in paperback by Matador and will make a very welcome stocking filler for lovers of fiction with historical and modern flashes.

It costs £9.99 and is available for purchase here: https://goo.gl/vwb28W

Gifts to buy? Then get them Faith In Nature!

The Faith In Nature range is chock full of great beauty and skincare products that do have a great level of Faith in Nature.

For they are all made from natural ingredients. And organically sourced, where this is appropriate.

And they carry their very genuine care and concern for the natural environment throughout their offering, as they insist on using plastic bottles that are made from recycled materials wheber this is possible.

The range of beauty products is award winning, so you know you will be buying your Christmas gift recipients only the best that is available.

Take for example their Pineapple and Lime Shampoo, with added organic mango extract.

It is specially formulated and blended to be perfect for people who have hair types from normal to oily.

I have very oily hair which often defeats lesser shampoos. But not Faith in Nature Pineapple and Lime Shampoo! Not only does it smell great, I could actually feel it doing my scalp good as I massaged it in.

And there's also the complementary Faith in Nature Pineapple and Lime Conditioner, also with organic mango extract, formulated for normal to oily hairy.

It also has a great scent to it and it help condition even the most oily of hair types!

And they also have a range of absolutely perfect handmade soaps, including the wonderful Coconut soap that is carefully blended with organic coconut.

There's a wonderful range of beauty and skincare products, plus an amazing range of gift sets, ideal for Christmas presents.

To purchase please visit  http://www.discount-supplements.co.uk/faith.

(We would like to thank Discount Supplements for their help with arranging the review samples for our review team.)

The Heroes of Elwhen

The Heroes of Elwhen is the first part of a six part series for children, from the pen of Staffordshire author G. H. Cawser.

It is guaranteed to transport young readers to a fantastical and wonderful land, the land of Elwhen.

Joh and Sally-Annie are both city kids, born and bred. However, they like to speond the long, summer months on the farm that is owned by their Uncle Ned.

No matter what rural adventures have befallen them previously, it's likely that nothing could prepare them for the great adventure that was about to befall them, when they would depart on a magical journey to a wondrous world.

They and their cousin Gerald have time for one final trip to the very summit of the mysterious Barrow Hill.

But before they can make for home they are drawn into an amazing world the likes of which they couldn't ever have imagined, a land called Elwhen.

They are soon captured by Belladonna, a witch who they encounter soon after they arrive in Elwhen, so the three children find themselves involved in a struggle that could conceivably destroy Elwhen.

They want to return home, but learn that that dream would be an unattainable one, when they are tricked and cajoled into hunting down an amulet with magical powers. The Jewel of the Isle.

But what if the jewel is already within the purview of the witch? What would she do? Could she take the jewel and use it to her nefarious ends?

They are threatened by the witch and her army of trolls. All seems lost, but they are not without hope, resources or help. They meet with a wizard, Mr Thurlan, who offers them his assistance and the use of a very important waygaerth "for a moment of need."

This will make a wonderful Christmas gift for children who love fantasy novels.

It's just £6.99 and is available for purchase here https://goo.gl/6HLMeo.

Blackmail

Blackmail is the debut thriller novel by retired judge, Michael Stokes.

Stokes uses his training as a lawyer and his experiences in the courtroom as both an advocate and a judge to create this thriller.

A group of professional criminals plan and execute a daring robbery.

However, the gang of professional crooks bungle the operation and as a result a security guard is shot and left seriously wounded.

Michael Doyle, the leader of the gang is not too concerned by this rather unfortunate turn of events.

After all, hasn't he been able to concoct an apparently cast iron alibi that means that he could not have been anywhere near the scene of the crime?

However, his clever alibi is put at risk by the discovery of DNA evidence that link a gang member with the injured security guard.

CCTV images link Doyle and his gang member to the scene of the crime and both are subjected to arrest.

Smart lawyers seem to have the DNA evidence excluded on a technicality. However, Doyle's girlfriend is a smart cookie -as they say- and with her knowledge of the law, she believes that these machinations do not have a viable chance of succeeding.

However, someone decides to take matters into their own hands and the wife and child of a judge are kidnapped.

If the judge issues a ruling that is to the liking of the kidnappers, then his wife a son will be released. If not....

But what will the judge do?

Who is responsible for the kidnapping? Is it Doyle's girlfriend? Or perhaps there is someone from the past life of the judge who has an axe to grind and a point to make?  

Will his family be save? Or are they already dead?

If the judge rules in favour of the defence, will his family be released unharmed? Or not?

And who is the mole behind the major robbery?

This is a stunningly good debut novel. I hope that it will be the first of many thrillers from the pen of Michael Stokes. (More are planned, so please keep an eye out for them.)

It is published by Matador at £9.99 and is a good, substantial read of well over 500 pages.

If you have a lover of legal thrillers to buy a Christmas present for, this will be an excellent and well-received gift.

You can buy it from us at this link https://goo.gl/6HLMeo

The Boathouse

The Boathouse is a romantic debut novel from Dane Anthony Howard.

It's the story of how a young couple,  Ben and Louise, fall in love one summer in North London.

The story of how they meet, fall in love and how their romance blossoms and grows during one idyllic summer is set against a backdrop of poetry, of rock and roll and even a modicum of drugs and sex.

But as the love story moves form North London -Primrose Hill, to be more precise- and the English Lake District, their relationship is hit by a terrible double tragedy that shatters their romance and changes lives for ever.

For a debut novel this is a stunning work and it is to be hoped that this is the first of many novels from Dane Anthony Howard.

The book is published in paperback by The Book Guild at a very reasonable £6.99 and is available from us at our retail site at this address https://goo.gl/6HLMeo.

It will make an excellent Christmas gift for those who do not always expect a happy ending to the novels they read.