Last Seen by Lucy Clarke - A Gripping, Unputdownable Thriller - A Perfect Bank Holiday Read

Last Seen is the latest unputdownable thriller by Lucy Clarke. It takes place amongst the summer community of Langstone Sandbank on England's south coast, but it could be any similar beach community where a tragedy tests the lifelong friendship of two women to the limit.
Seven years ago, best friends, Jacob and Marley, swim out to the yellow buoy and get into difficulties, but only Jacob is rescued. Marley's body is never found.
Marley's mother, Isla, turns to her best friend, Sarah and her husband, Nick, who spend the summer months at the beach hut next door, for support and comfort as they all come to terms with Marley's death.
But the title of the novel gives a clue to the conflict arising: Who was the last person to see Marley alive?  What were the circumstances of his death? Who was responsible?
This is a gripping novel, told in turns from Sarah's and Isla's point of view over the seven years since the incident, and gradually, coming together until the dramatic truth is revealed in the final chapters.
Lucy Clarke, as always, takes you right onto the beach. You can taste the salt; feel the sand between your toes; and squint into the sun reflected off the sea as you search with Sarah and Isla for their sons.
It is a moving story of summers spent on the beach and the secrets the sea keeps in its depths.

The Blue by Lucy Clarke - A Tense and Suspenseful Novel with the Exotic Backdrop of the Pacific Ocean

I loved The Sea Sisters and A Single Breath both by Lucy Clarke.
In the first, set in Bali, Katie is trying to unravel the truth about her sister's death, and in the second, Eva is finding out about the life of Jackson, her husband who's drowned, back where he used to live in Tasmania. You can read my reviews here and here. Therefore, as I liked them so much, I couldn't wait to read The Blue, set on a boat of that name sailing from the Philippines via Palau to New Zealand.
As in Lucy Clarke's first two books, The Blue starts off with a death. This time it's one of the travellers on the boat, whose body is floating in the sea.
The first two books explored the relationships between sisters and between husband and wife; this one explores and tests the lifelong friendship between Lana and Kitty.
It's told from Lana's point of view: 'Then' and 'Now', using the past and present tenses to easily identify when the action is taking place. It also beautifully encapsulates the wide ocean, and the confines of the small yacht with the six wanderers/adventurers on board; some sailing to something, some sailing away.

The crew are: Aaron, from New Zealand, who owns the boat; Denny also from New Zealand; the Canadian girl, Shell; Heinrich, the German; Joseph, the loner whom they'd picked up on Christmas Eve after they'd found him sleeping rough on a beach; and Lana and Kitty who'd decided to come to the Philippines on the spin of a globe.
There is obviously the mystery to solve of the drowned person, but also the reasons why each crew member is sailing and the complex relationships between each one which affect the outcome of the story.
I loved this tense and suspenseful novel with the exotic backdrop of the Pacific Ocean.
Lucy is now working on her, as yet untitled, fourth book which is due for release in Spring 2017, I can't wait!

A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke - A Great Summer Read!

I was pleased to find another book by Lucy Clarke because I enjoyed The Sea Sisters so much. (Find my review here.)
That book was about one sister following in the tracks of the other to find out how she  could have possibly committed suicide on the other side of the world; A Single Breath is about a wife following in the tracks of her husband, who has been drowned, all the way to Tasmania to find out who he really was.
These novels sound rather sad, dealing with death as they do, but it is Lucy's skill as a writer that brings the characters to life.

A Single Breath focuses on Eva, who witnesses her husband, Jackson, drowning off some rocks in Dorset, and decides to travel to Tasmania, as they had planned, to meet his family. Once there she finds she's not really welcome, but Jackson's brother, Saul, lets her stay in a shack which once belonged to Jackson, and gradually, she finds herself falling in love with him. The brothers are drawn beautifully: although they resemble each other, one is dependable and strong and the other, a dreamer and can't be trusted. I can't tell you too much, or I'll give the story away!
One tantalizing thing is that the chapters, telling the story from Eva's point of view, or Saul's, are interspersed with the thoughts of Jackson. How does that happen?
I loved Lucy's description of the sea and the scenes where Eva goes free diving.
This is definitely one of those books to enjoy on holiday!
If you do enjoy it, there was a brand new book out by Lucy Clarke on July 30th 2015 - The Blue.
Again, with a theme of the sea, I can't wait to read it as well!

My Summer Reads 2015

Here is Norman the Gnome guarding my summer reads for 2015. He looks very happy, doesn't he?
I'm happy too because I've already enjoyed books by all these authors, and I'm looking forward to reading some more of their work.

So, here we go!
The Olive Branch by Jo Thomas
I really enjoyed The Oyster Catcher (see my review here) so I was pleased to find her new book already on sale. This one is about Ruthie Collins who buys an Italian farmhouse on the internet.  Italy is one of my favourite holiday destinations and the blurb says that 'olives and romance might just flourish in the warmth of the Mediterranean sun'.
Sounds just my sort of read!

A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke
I was blown away by Lucy's debut novel The Sea Sisters last year: here is my review, so I'm looking forward to reading her new one. Eva witnesses her husband, Jackson, drowning and travels to Tasmania to meet his estranged family, only to find out that the truth about him was all a lie. I'm hoping to immerse(!) myself in the watery imagery which Lucy does so well, all over again!

Love on the Rocks by Veronica Henry.
Late last summer I read The Beach Hut and The Beach Hut Next Door (review here). Unlike Jo Thomas and Lucy Clarke, Veronica has written many novels and I was surprised that I hadn't come across them before. She is brilliant at bringing all sorts of different characters to life having been a script writer on Holby City, The Archers and Heartbeat, and she must have an encyclopaedic knowledge of every  job you can think of to make them realistic. This book is about Lisa and George who throw in their day jobs to buy a rundown seaside hotel, but I'm sure that it won't be all smooth sailing!

Bay of Secrets, Return to Mandalay and The Saffron Trail by Rosanna Ley
Ok, I've gone a bit mad here! I recently read Rosanna's first book The Villa, (review) and liked it so much, I decided to read all her others! These are set respectively in Spain, Burma and Morocco. In Writing Magazine (June 2015) she says that in Germany, her kind of writing is called 'love and landscape' where place and story are inescapably intertwined, and that's just what I adore. Exotic location, romance and multi-stranded narrative means a perfect summer read for me.

I hope you enjoy your summer reading and that I've given you some ideas for books to take on your holidays!

The Sea Sisters by Lucy Clarke is a Fabulous Summer Read!

The Sea Sisters is a fabulous debut novel by Lucy Clarke.
Katie takes an emotional journey to the best surfing beaches of the world, in the footsteps of her sister, Mia, who has been found dead in Bali.
With only Mia's journal to guide her she tries to unravel the truth about her sister's death.
Lucy explores the relationships between the sisters, and between them and Finn, the girls' friend from way back, and Ed, Katie's fiancé, as well as with their father, Mick.
Her descriptions of the sea, the beach, the carousel with the seahorses, are also totally mesmerising, captivating and absorbing.
They, whoever they are, always say 'If you only read one book this summer, you must read this.' Well in this case you must! I'm not surprised that it is a 2013 Richard and Judy Summer Read.

If you want to find out more about how Lucy wrote it and see her haunting promotional video, visit her website here.