Angelena Boden

Elderly, charming Edna Reid lives in the small, English town of Hope, and has only recently retired from running a café, The Happy Oatcake. It's now run by Alisa, and Edna doesn't have to be up and in the still-cold kitchen at 6am. Instead, she occupies her time with crossword puzzles, and the occasional real-life mystery, to keep her mind sharp.

Widowed Kitty Merriweather has recently moved to Hope, and the Lavender Lodge, purchased by her late husband, Bob, when he was planning their retirement. Because make no mistake, Bob Merriweather did all the planning and the decision-making, leaving Kitty feeling that even after his death, the best she can do is to just go along with what he had planned.

Kitty believes that, now she's been widowed for a year, Bob wouldn't have wanted her to remain alone and unattached, so she has joined an online dating service--The Silver Rose Dating Agency. She is, unsurprisingly, not very tech-savvy, so she relies on Jack Beaumont, son of her late husband's former partner, to advise her on such matters.

It's not long before strange things are happening in normally quiet, peaceful Hope, and Edna Reid is determined to figure out what's going on.

There's a sudden rash of burglaries and petty thefts. The church organist, Ned Phipps, a computer professional with, theoretically, a good job with a nearby tech company, is drinking at the local pub, gambling, and getting into fights with John Snow, who is also a gambler, and has a criminal record. Ned's daughter, Indigo, is the leader, possibly the priestess, of what she and her followers claim is a Satanic cult. The church is suddenly plagued by vandalism.

Oh, and Kitty's handsome, charming new beau, whom she met through the Silver Rose Dating Agency, is, he says, in Bali on a job contract. First he needs a few pounds to top up his phone, because rates are so high there. Then, he drops in the water and needs a larger sum to replace it quickly. More objective people, such as her new friend, Edna Reid, find this suspicious, but Kitty isn't ready to listen.

And Kitty isn't the only one in town who has met someone through Silver Rose, and is now getting suspicious requests for money.

What's going on? And are these distressing events connected in any way?

It's a light, entertaining mystery, with some likeable, enjoyable characters. Even some of the unlikeable characters turn out to have some better traits than one might suspect at first. Nothing really heavy, here, and a good choice if you're looking for a light, upbeat read.

I received a free electronic galley from the publisher, and am reviewing it voluntarily.… (mais)

The Future Can't Wait is primarily the story of a mother and how she deals with her teenage daughter. Kendra Blackmore is a teacher of psychology, dealing with some fairly tricky students. One of the things teachers have to watch out for is the radicalisation of young people when they're at that most susceptible age. Her daughter, Rani, is hiding things and being surly, particularly with Kendra. Is she one of the young people she needs to look out for?

Added to this, Kendra's husband, David, is not supportive of her but he's clearly somebody who struggles with interaction, has a reliance on routines and prefers his own company. Kendra needs his support when Rani runs away but doesn't get it and I could really feel her utter despair as she spiralled into depression and distress with nobody really taking Rani's disappearance as seriously as she knows it must be.

The Future Can't Wait is set in Birmingham and has some very current themes. The setting is well-portrayed and very much a part of the story. This is a book which certainly enhances the worry of being a parent. What if your child gets mixed up with the wrong people, manipulated, and you have no idea what they are doing, who they are seeing?

This is Kendra's story and I felt so sorry for her. Rani is horrible to her and in a way so is David. But because it's Kendra's story it's hard to see it from the point of view of these other characters - is Kendra smothering Rani? Does she simply have no patience with David?

She turns to psychics and fortune tellers and I thought it was fascinating to see such a seemingly level-headed character becoming addicted to seeking this so-called help. It's so easy to read a horoscope and make it fit your circumstances but Kendra, in her desperation, wants to believe everything she reads or hears.

I must admit I was expecting something a little different from this book. I was expecting more about Rani and what was happening to her but it is really about Kendra and her all-consuming loss. I did feel that some of the threads could have been more fully explored and the ending left me a little confused and with more questions than answers. But I did enjoy this story and found the themes thought-provoking and convincing and the characters diverse and true to life.… (mais)