Hello and a very warm welcome to damppebbles. It’s Tuesday which means it’s time for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday post. I’ve decided to take part in That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday meme to mix things up a little here at dp. My original plan was to participate as and when I had the time to put a post together. That then turned into posting ‘weekly without fail’ until I was forced to take a break following surgery to both shoulders (that recovery happened to coincide with a complete and utter loss of reading and blogging mojo 🤷🏻‍♀️). But now I’m back and I’m going to take a much more chilled approach to all things bookish. Which means TTT will return to being a regular feature on damppebbles but a ‘no pressure’ one (that’s the plan anyway!).

The meme was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish but has lived with Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl since January 2018. It was created to encompass a love of books, of lists and to bring readers together. If you would also like to take part then you’re very welcome: the more, the merrier. Just make sure you link back to Jana’s post every week. If you don’t have a blog then no problem, just add your list to the comments below.

This week’s theme is: Destination Titles (titles with the name of places in them. These places can be real or fiction!) – inspired by Rachel @ Sunny Side. As I sit here writing this post, I glance over to the bookcase in the corner, hoping it will take only a second, maybe two, for my eyes to find the first title I can use in this list. The first few seconds pass, still no titles stand out. I’m approaching the thirty second mark and my heart starts to sink. Nope! Not going to happen. There are no books on my bookcase that have destinations in the title. Better move onto bookcase number two, or three, or four, or five…

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1. Murder Road by Simone St. James
Does this count? Not sure. Loved the book though so even if it doesn’t officially count, I’m including it so it gets a bit of a shout out!

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2. The Clinic by Cate Quinn
The clinic in the book is a very desirable destination to those who require its services. Just a shame, for those who never make it out alive, that they don’t advertise EVERYTHING on offer. I love Cate Quinn’s books. This book is very likely to appear in my top ten of 2024! And I look forward to hearing what Quinn has in store for us next.

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3. The Island by Catherine Cooper
It’s all about the destination in this book. And the murders of course! Set at an exclusive resort in the Maldives, this thoroughly engaging psychological thriller had me on the edge of my seat. Love, love, loved it!

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4. Canticle Creek by Adrian Hyland
Oh this book and oh this series! I hope Adrian Hyland is on the precipice of releasing the third book in the Jesse Redpath series and it makes its way to the UK very, very soon. I love Australian crime fiction and this is an excellent example.

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5. The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
I think I described this book as a bit bonkers in my review! I still stand by that. I’m not really sure this is what Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl had in mind for this theme but I’m going to run with it. Not a specific destination as such but you would head out to a writing retreat, right? Perhaps not this one. No, I would avoid this one. But a writing retreat is a destination, am I right?

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6. Lowbridge by Lucy Campbell
Ah! Here we go. This is more like it! An actual real life, fictional destination. Another small Australian town mystery to add to my collection. A small town with a very dark heart. I enjoyed this one.

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7. Outback by Patricia Wolf
Hoorah, another bona fide destination! And yes, it’s Australian. I do love Australian crime fiction. If you’ve made it this far into this week’s post then you probably don’t need me to tell you that. Three out of seven Aussie titles so far. And counting…

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8. Black Lake Manor by Guy Morpuss
I’m putting this one into the ‘does this count?’ category. Not sure, but it’s a great book and like Murder Road, deserves a good old fashioned shout out!

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9. Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi
Any and every opportunity I get to shout about Ronald Malfi’s I gladly take. Black Mouth is the local’s name for the place they live. A prosperous mining town until the day the mine collapsed, burying the coalminers alive and taking out acres of woodland and several houses in the process. The area, little more than a crater in the earth, was renamed Black Mouth as it looked, from above, like a gaping mouth with sharp, pointy fangs. Chilling and engrossing, I love everything Malfi writes.

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10. Kill Creek by Scott Thomas
Who doesn’t love a book about books (and writers)?! That’s what drew me to this novel. That and the cracking sounding blurb. AND my love of horror fiction. I enjoyed the story but perhaps struggled a little with some of the characters. Still, full marks for such a beautiful copy. Deckled edges and flaps, oh my!

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So there you have it. I feel my list this week is a little cobbled together. Does everything fit the theme? I’m not so sure…. Does it matter? Probably not 😂 I do feel this list is more suited to historical or romance readers. ‘The Lost Dressmaker of Paris’ for example. Or ‘Swimming to Lundy’. Or maybe ‘A Sicilian Affair’. So many titles to choose from! It seems most psychological thriller and crime titles stick with a less specific destination. For example ‘The Chalet’, ‘The Villa’, ‘The Escape’ or ‘The Ice Retreat’ (those last three are by Ruth Kelly and well worth picking up! The first is by Catherine Cooper and is also a BRILLIANT book!).

Have you read any of these books? What’s your favourite book with a destination in the title? Are you taking part in Top Ten Tuesday this week? Let me know in the comments.

So there we have it! If you fancy joining in next week then head on over to That Artsy Reader Girl’s blog to find out what the next topic is!

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