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Quick Book Reviews with Philippa Hall
Noelle W. Ihli on The Last to Drown + 3 Book Reviews
Ep. 507
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Five days, twenty strangers, eighty-four miles of whitewater and no way out. Today I am talking to bestselling thriller author Noelle W. Ihli about The Last to Drown, the book that has put me off whitewater rafting for life. Before that, three book reviews, and a swimming pool mystery I need your help with.
Three book reviews
- A Knock at the Door by Louise Candlish (out 5 November). A three-year-old goes missing on a weekend break. Eighteen years later, a young woman arrives at the door claiming to be her. I thought I knew where this was going and I was wrong. This could be Louise's best book yet, and she will be joining me to talk about it in a few weeks.
- The Angel of Death by Trevor Wood. The third DCI Jack Parker book. An anonymous killer in Newcastle is offering the terminally ill a dignified escape, while Jack tries to hide his own early onset dementia diagnosis. Superbly written crime with a fascinating lead, and now published by our friends at Orenda Books.
- Wreck by Catherine Newman. I listened to this on audio while swimming and laughed out loud in the changing room. Funny in places, much more moving than I expected, and a family you want to sit with at the dining table. The narration is spot on.
Author interview: Noelle W. Ihli on The Last to Drown
The Last to Drown follows Kaia, recently widowed, on the rafting trip her husband always wanted to take. Seven years earlier a guide murdered a group of rafters on the same stretch of river, and the true crime community has never stopped asking questions. We talk about:
- The family rafting trip in Idaho that gave her the idea, and why her guides were "slightly concerned" by her questions
- Writing 500 to 1,000 words a day, and making herself sit there like a naughty child in time out
- Why she cannot write on a plane or in an airport
- Grief at the heart of the book, and the conversation with her husband that inspired it
- Writing with real survivors in mind, and the line she will not cross
- Being a true pantser who does not know how her characters will get out
- Survival as a group effort and not something you do alone
- Where to start with her books: The Last to Drown or Gray After Dark
- The candy drawer that powers the words: peanut butter M&Ms and Twizzlers
Noelle is reading
- Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
- The Witch by Freida McFadden
- The forthcoming book by John Marrs
And finally
If you wear a swimming cap but leave all your hair out underneath it, please tell me why. I am intrigued.
Get in touch - links:
Quick Book Reviews Facebook Group | Instagram | quickbookreviews@outlook.com
Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.
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