Broadchurch: The Novel (August 2014) inspired by the first season of 2013's mega-hit ITV series Broadchurch They are complicated families, their past and current lives closely entwined. Just how closely entwined becomes apparent during the course of the book. They support one another, play off against one another. Their children marry one another. It's all just one big happy family. Or is it? Eleanor, who is now reaching middle age, left her family behind with all its messiness – including Frank Churcher’s massive ego. She still sees them, but she’s steadfastly refused any money or help no matter how much she might need it. She owns a narrowboat and lives on England’s waterways with a surrogate daughter she’d adopt if she could. Her living situation can sometimes be a bit dicey but it’s safer away from her family’s mess and the media spotlight that seldom leaves them alone for long.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily. One book has influenced these families’ lives in more ways than one. It brought them fame and money. But it also brought them stalkers, nutters and a whole lot of pain. Especially for Nell, who is an obsession for a whole community of people who are enthralled with treasure hunts. Nell isn’t like the other family members. She made a choice to try and distance herself from the lot of them, and leads a very different life. From the very beginning, I struggled to understand why she would have anything to do with these celebrations. Her father’s book, ‘The Golden Bones‘, pretty much ruined her life. If that had been me, I wouldn’t have come anywhere near this anniversary. She has been working as a journalist since 1998, writing for newspapers, magazines including Red, Psychologies, Marie Claire and Elle, as well as writing psychological thrillers.

Since finishing this book I've been thinking how to voice my admiration for the author. I don't like rehashing the story because that's what blurbs are for, but I really do want to write down how this book made me feel after finishing it. If Agatha Christie remains elusive, it’s not for the want of those trying to find her. Janet Morgan’s official biography of 1984 and Laura Thompson’s equally detailed but ultimately more impressionistic portrait of 2007 have both been updated and reissued; and there are numerous other analyses that try to understand how the woman who routinely described herself as a housewife became Britain’s bestselling novelist of all time. Enter historian Lucy Worsley, whose declared intention is to rescue Christie, who died in 1976 at the age of 85, from the misperceptions that cling to her life and her works of fiction. Now the book is being republished….with extra clues as to the final set of bones…. BookTrail Travel to the locations in The Skeleton Key Whilst the story started out revolving around Frank Churcher’s famous book The Golden Bones, which has led to his fame and wealth but also to the formation of a worldwide fan base of “bone hunters” who have put his own daughter at risk (you will have to read it to find out why), it soon became more character driven, exploring the intertwined relationships of the Churcher and Lally families. As dark secrets were revealed, and family dynamics became more and more dysfunctional, my fascination with these characters made me loath to put the book down. There were quite a few “aha!” moments when pieces of the puzzle fell into place and revealed cleverly plotted twists. Kelly is a talented writer who not only knows how to utterly enthral her readers, but also to weave magic into the multiple threads that form her stories.

Gaia Vince’s new book should be read not just by every politician, but by every person on the planet, because it lays out, much more clearly than any existing scientific assessment, the world we are creating through global heating. Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive,’ is already deceptive – as it turns out are ALL the members of the combined, misaligned, co-dependent Churcher and Lally families. A solid winner from Erin Kelly, The Skeleton Key is a perfect choice for all fans of the family saga with a mystery woven thru it.Scary, moving and compelling: a beautifully-plotted, gorgeously-written triumph of a thriller’ NICCI FRENCH