I couldn't put down The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

I began reading The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton on my Kindle on the train to the RNA Conference in Sheffield, and was totally engrossed in the story of Laurel Nicolson who, along with her baby brother, are the only witnesses to a murder in the summer of 1961.
Kate Morton takes the reader back to the events of 1941 in war torn London, and forward to 2011 and Laurel's attempts to discover the truth before her elderly mother, Dorothy, passes away.
The story centres around Dorothy, Vivien and Jimmy. How they grow up and how their lives become entwined, and what this has to do with the mysterious murder.
It is a fantastic read, and is hard to put down with all the twists and turns of the intricate plot. I was really kept guessing until the end.
Kate is as good at describing Vivien's childhood home in Tambourine Mountain, Australia, as she is at describing London in the Blitz, and all her characters are believable and true.
I have to mention that I was thrilled to get a hardback copy of the book at the Conference, but because it was 600 pages long, it was too heavy to read in bed, so I finished the novel on my Kindle! Also, because it was so long, it took me four weeks to read it instead of two, but it was worth it!
Have you read any of Kate Morton's novels?

Summer Reads for my Garden

Now that summer's here, I thought that I would sort out some books to enjoy in the garden. It's easy to keep buying them and end up with a pile gathering dust and no time to read them, but we writers are always being advised to Read, Read, Read, so here are my choices:

• Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes. I love her novels, but I haven't read this one, published in 2007, and republished this year. It's set in New South Wales, and is also a story about Liza who protects whales, and the man who comes into her life and turns it upside down.
• The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker.  This book looks really exciting. Set in America, it's about Julia and her family who wake up one ordinary Saturday to find that the rotation of the earth has begun to slow, making the days get longer! I love sci-fi stories that are founded in reality, rather than fantasy ones, so this one sounds just right.
• The Beach Hut by Veronica Henry. Coming back down to earth and home to North Devon, this story follows the families who visit the seaside at Everdene each year, their love life and their memories of summers past. I think it may be a little like In the Summertime by Judy Astley, which I also hope to read, (if only I could read faster!)
• The Italian Wedding by Nicky Pellegrino. Off to Italy now. I'm going to read this book because I loved  her Recipe for Life which I reviewed last July. This one is about two feuding Italian families, and two love stories, (sounds a bit familiar!) but if it's anything like the last, I  know I'm going to love it.
• A Cornish Affair by Liz Fenwick. This is Liz's second novel, and like the first one, The Cornish House, I was able to buy it and get it signed by her at the RNA Conference. Originally from Boston, she now lives in Cornwall, and her love for the county shines through in her writing. This story is again about a Cornish house, and Jude, who leaves her fiancé at the altar, and ends up uncovering the secrets of the house's past. I can't wait!
• My last book, The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton, was actually on the bottom of my pile because it was the biggest, but I had began to read it on my Kindle on the train to the conference, and was lucky to get a hardback copy in my goody bag. Wow! It follows the story of Laurel who witnessed a terrible event one summer afternoon, fifty years ago, when she was sixteen, and the secret that her mother has kept throughout her life about why it happened. Will Laurel find the answer before it's too late?

These books are definitely going to keep me busy, and I will review them for you as I finish each one.

What have you got in your pile to read?