Month: March 2024

Book Review: Now Is Not The Time For Flowers by Stacey Heale

Posted on by Libby Price

Stacey Heale first hit my radar when she was a guest on the Don’t Buy Her Flowers podcast talking about grief. A friend had recently died – and I found the podcast really powerful – and immediately sent it to my friend’s equally young widow for when she felt ready to listen to it. I’ve subsequently followed Stacey on social media where she’s shared much of her life – and that of her fabulous daughters – as they navigate their lives (and hair colour and footwear!)

I’ve recently become a ‘DBHFer’ – having been a customer of Don’t Buy Her Flowers since it started (I waxed lyrical about them 9 years ago on this blog!) Being a DBHFer is essentially being an ambassador and in a kind of ‘focus group’ for the brand (if only all focus groups involved #gifted gin and chocolate!) and as Stacey’s book is now available in Don’t Buy Her Flowers packages, they asked if I’d like to receive a #gifted copy in return for an honest review. Given the title has a very similar vibe to the concept of Don’t Buy Her Flowers – it does seem like it will be a great fit.

Here is the blurb for the book:

“When Stacey Heale’s husband, Greg, was diagnosed with incurable cancer on their daughter’s first birthday, everything changed. She quickly realised how little is spoken about what the harder times in our lives really look like, leaving us lost to navigate the unknown alone.
Confronted with a new life she was not prepared for, Stacey began to untangle the brutal realities of life and death – and the fundamental differences between our expectations and reality.
Now is Not the Time for Flowers is Stacey’s unflinchingly beautiful and raw memoir that addresses the big conversations that imminent death dictates, boldly taking the reader on a journey through the full spectrum of our lives and their complexities. Told through vignettes of her own life and the death of her husband, Stacey offers a movingly honest, insightful and humorous account of modern womanhood through the lenses of love, desire, motherhood, death, grief, identity, personal growth and the challenges and questions that our lives force upon us.
Now is Not the Time for Flowers is a powerful call to arms for us to discuss the messy and unexpected truths of our nuanced lives.”

Stacey says at the start that her debut book is not a guidebook for death, but is her own experience.  It’s been driven by her husband dying and leaving her a young widow with two small daughters, but it is much more than just about Greg’s diagnosis and death.  Stacey talks honestly and frankly about this, but also other aspects of her life and loves. 

It is not written in a strict chronological order – but is instead grouped into chapters within specific topics – love, desire, mother, bodies, death, grief, identity and growth. The chapters are different lengths and have really interesting titles. It feels like Stacey is talking to you in a very personal way rather than regurgitating a story from start to finish.

It’s definitely not all doom and gloom – it’s funny, entertaining, thought provoking – making you think about things you might not ever have considered before but will affect us all at some point.  It’s also incredibly well written – Stacey is an excellent communicator on her Instagram – and her writing is equally as eloquent. And yes, of course, it made me cry.

Different elements of the book will be relevant to different people at different times in their lives. It’s definitely the sort of book you could go back to and read again and find something new. One thing that has stuck with me is the comment ‘There are no medals at the Shit Olympics’ – and that people go through awful, awful things all the time. Some years ago I remember a friend, who had recently lost his wife to breast cancer, discussing another friend whose 11 year old son had just died from a brain tumour and him saying ‘I just can’t imagine what they’re going through’, whilst I’m thinking ‘I just can’t imagine what both families have been through’.

I obviously hope that lots of the book won’t be relevant to me personally for years and that my husband lives a long and healthy life – and in that way, reading this book reminded me of when I did a paediatric first aid qualification when my eldest kids were much younger. The theory back then being that even if I was an emotional wreck if one of my own children was injured – there might be a time when I needed to be the slightly emotionally removed responsible adult for someone else’s child in an emergency. In the same way – as well as making me ruminate about my own life and loves – I think this book will also help me be far more aware of how to be a support if someone I know is going through the terminal diagnosis or death of a loved one.

Now Is Not The Time For Flowers was released on 28 March 2024 – and is now available in Don’t Buy Her Flowers gift packages too – I can highly recommend Montezuma chocolate to accompany it (thanks DBHF HQ!)

Book Review: Murder On The Dance Floor by Katie Marsh

Posted on by Libby Price

Having recently enjoyed the first book in the Bad Girls Detective Agency series by Katie Marsh, How Not To Murder Your Ex, I was delighted to see that the second book was available on Net Galley ahead of its release later in March 2024, and I was granted an advance review copy.

Here’s the blurb:

“They DID promise her a killer hen weekend…

Jeanie’s getting married, and – despite her completely impossible four sisters – her best friends Clio and Amber are determined to give her a bachelorette weekend to remember. They’re in matching pink T-shirts and the drinks are flowing…
But the night turns out to be unforgettable for all the wrong reasons when a girl turns up dead on the dancefloor. And – even though she’s a stranger – she is wearing one of Jeanie’s hen T-shirts.
Who is she? And why are the police convinced that the hens are involved? Can the newly-formed Bad Girls Detective Agency solve the murder? And in time to get Jeanie up the aisle?
Unputdownable mystery set on the English coast – perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, Bad Sisters and How to Kill Your Family.”

The book follows on 6 months after the initial book in the series – with Jeanie on her hen weekend before getting married to Tan, the father of her 18 month twins. There is the usual friends and family politics of such a weekend – but then there’s a murder on the dancefloor. (Interestingly the song of the same name by Sophie Ellis-Bextor appears to be a timeless classic, with my teenage kids enjoying it when out clubbing just like we did back in the 90s – even before Saltburn made it a global hit recently!)

Now I’m just going to throw up a little niggle at this point. The murder victim has the same surname as the crime family in the first book of the series, and it’s a distinctive surname, not a Smith or a Price – but NO ONE MENTIONS THIS AT ALL. I’m assuming this is an oversight – and the surname may even change before the book is published – but it seemed really odd to pedantic old me!

Since solving the murder of Clio’s ex husband in book one, the ladies have formed a detective agency – and use their skills to try and solve this new murder. There are lots of references to the first book – and characters that reappear (like Marg the septuagenarian drug dealer) but I think it would still stand alone, as enough of the back stories are explained if needed. However, I think reading ‘How Not To Murder Your Ex’ first would be a good plan (and it’s currently free to download if you have Prime!)

Whilst this is primarily a ‘cosy mystery’ – there are lots of other issues discussed too – family dynamics, relationship secrets and lies, female friendships to name but a few. The different characters – particularly Jeanie’s sisters – are well described and thought out, and the camaraderie between Jeanie, Clio and Amber is again evident. I also liked the storyline of Jeanie’s relationship with her own Mum.

Overall I really enjoyed this new book – another fun and escapist read – and I’m looking forward to seeing what the Bad Girls Detective Agency get up to next!

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Net Galley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: How Not To Murder Your Ex by Katie Marsh

Posted on by Libby Price

I love books – just in case the content of this blog hadn’t given that away?! And I recently spent time at a party interrogating one of the Editorial Directors, Emily of Boldwood Books about the current state of the industry (I’m also really interested in business, and generally finding out ‘stuff’!) She did thank me the next day for attending her TEDtalk! One of the things we discussed was how ‘cosy mysteries’ are a super popular genre at the moment. For those of you not in the know, the definition of a cosy mystery is (according to Wikipedia – and thus spelt the American way!)

“Cozy mysteries, also referred to as “cosy mysteries” or “cozies”, are a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially-intimate community. Cozies thus stand in contrast to hardboiled fiction, in which more violence and explicit sexuality are central to the plot. The term “cozy” was first coined in the late 20th century when various writers produced work in an attempt to re-create the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.”

I asked Emily for some recommendations of books Boldwood have published – and she very kindly sent me this (she did send me others too before her writers think she has favourites!!)

Here is the blurb:

“It is 5:30 am on Clio’s forty-fifth birthday and her hated ex is lying dead on her doorstep. Even worse, this is no accident. Someone’s killed him…
When single mum Clio‘s ex Gary turns up dead on the doorstep of her caravan – the one she’s been forced to live in ever since he stole every penny she had – there’s only one suspect. Her.
What’s more, she doesn’t remember much about the night he was killed – not just because of the forgetfulness that’s been plaguing her along with the hot flushes – but because she definitely had one too many cocktails with her two best friends Amber and Jeanie.
Clio does remember them talking about how much they all hated him though. And, in the frame for murder, she has to ask herself – if she didn’t kill Gary, who did? One of his many enemies? Or someone a little closer to home? And can she and her friends find the real killer before it’s too late?
Unputdownable mystery set on the English coast – perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, Bad Sisters, and How to Kill Your Family.“

I enjoyed this from the start. It alternates between the ‘current’ timeline when Gary’s body has been found – with the last day of Gary’s life, to set the scene as to who might want to kill him. And there are lots of potential murderers as Gary was not a nice person at all.

The description of Clio and her friends Amber and Jeanie was very realistic (as a woman of a similar age!) – and you can tell there is plenty to fill them out back story wise – with one having young twins, and the other having just been kicked out of the local police force.

As the group of friends start their investigations, so do the police, and everything intertwines – whilst at the same time you’re finding out more about the colourful set of characters. There are interesting alliances between people who may otherwise be sworn enemies – but come together in an attempt to solve the mystery of Gary’s death.

I really enjoyed the book – it was a fun, escapist read with a ‘girl power’ / friends forever vibe. I liked it so much I requested a copy of the second book in the series from Net Galley which I am currently devouring!