Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This was a slow burning read, that picked up pace midway, and then goes like a rollercoaster. The mystery of the sisters found starved to death sets the tone of the book, and keeps you enthralled and gripped until the end.

This is a psychological thriller which was a slow burn for me.
This is not a fast paced plot driven thriller but is more like a character study.
If you like literary fiction you will enjoy this.

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

A Famished Heart is the second book in the Vincent Swan series. It’s set in Dublin in the 1980’s and captures the atmosphere and the times there quite accurately. Before actually picking up this read, I found the synopsis to be extremely thought-provoking. If I’m completely honest, I’ve always found the things people do in the name of religion deeply puzzling. As an atheist it just isn’t on the same wavelength, I can’t put myself into their shoes but, I can try to understand where they are coming from. Unfortunately, the book didn’t gleam that understanding for me.

I’ll openly admit that this is the first book that I have picked up in the Vincent Swan series and I’d happily give book one a try to see if it was just the religious aspect that I didn’t enjoy. If like me, you haven’t read book one, fear not, you can easily pick this one up and follow the story without being up to date in the happenings in the previous book.

Vincent Swan and his crack shot team of detectives are called into an investigation of a woman that appears to have starved herself to death whilst sitting in a chair. My god what a way to go! The local priest, Father Timoney found her and called it into the authorities. It is later discovered that the victim’s sister is also in a similar state cowering under her bed. At this point I did find it strange that the priest would have a set of keys for the sister’s house but then it was the eighties so maybe it was right enough.

I did find A Famished Heart to be very slow going. Until around the fifty per cent mark it just seemed to drag along with not very much happening and then the reader seemed to be bombarded with information in a very small timeframe. We are presented with the narrative that the sisters committed a joint suicide, but Swan feels there is more at play and with a suspension looming over his head he is being pushed towards tying it up by those higher up in the pecking order. Swan and his sidekick, Considine are not those kind of officers. The relationship between these two is probably about the best thing about the story. Great rapport and a willingness to do what’s right, not what’s easy.

A Famished Heart was a solid three star read but it didn’t really hit the mark for me. I needed it to move faster and to give us more. It just felt like it was lacking something more substantial. I enjoyed the characterisation, but the story left me not caring so much about the outcome.

Unfortunately I hated this book. I will not post a public review as I feel it is unfair on the author.
This just hasn’t been the right book for me

It's a fascinating read even if slow at times. It's not the usual mystery but it was a great read as it features interesting characters and an unusual plot.
The plot flows and it's character driven, analysing and concentrating on their life.
It was a good read, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This book keeps you on the edge until the last page. You won’t be able to breathe while reading. An amazing well written book.

A Famished Heart is the second book in the Vincent Swan series. Set in Dublin in the 1980's the book revolves around the death of two local women. Discovered by the local priest, Father Timoney, after he has not seen them for a while, they appear to have starved themselves to death as an ode to Jesus's 40 Days and 40 Nights in the desert.
While everything that is immediately presented seems like suicide our lead detective Vincent Swan cannot shake the feeling that there is something more at play. With restricted resources and a suspension looming over him, it would be easy to let this one slide, but he is not that kind of man. With the help of his partner Detective Gina Considine they try to unravel just what may have happened to these sisters.
The detectives have a great rapport and I thought Vincent Swan was quite a likeable character. He may have his faults, but he is certainly not as faulty as others in his company who seem to represent everything that was wrong about men in 1980's Ireland. We see less of his partner throughout the book, but the reasons for this are quite clear throughout. She is certainly making a name for herself on the force and does a lot of the heavy lifting in the background while Swan is otherwise occupied.
I feel it is necessary to bring up one aspect of the book that threw me a bit and that is that I felt like I was missing something throughout. There is a background story where Swan and some of his colleagues are being investigated for mistreatment of a prisoner. While more information about what happened is leaked throughout, I felt a little lost in these sections as to why it was all happening - but perhaps this was all part of the first book. So, while the overall story does work as a standalone, there are sections that hark back to book 1 that left me wondering what had happened (I guess I'll just have to go back ;-))
This is not as fast paced as other crime novels, but I am sure that is not supposed to be. It is a thoughtful book looking at the power of the church in the 1980's and Irish society as a whole at that time. It is a great story that I found incredibly intriguing. It was great to come back to the characters in the evening after work. If you are a fan of intricate crime drama, then this one is definitely for you.

I do love a book that starts with a shocking beginning and this book certainty ticks that box.

Francesca has been working in America as an actress for many years but her professional life is not going well. She receives a strange letter from her sister Rosaleen back in Dublin that doesn't really make much sense but then finds out that her and her other sister Berenice have both tragically died, apparently from starving to death but why would they do that ?

Francesca returns to Dublin to sort out the family home and there she meets the Detectives in charge Swan and Considine. They are convinced that something is very untoward in this case then they find out that lights have been switched off and fingerprints wiped from doors and light-switches.

If the sisters did starve themselves to death who else was in the house ?

I read a lot of crime and this one was very different from the fast paced page turners, the characters are well developed and there is a lot of detail in the police investigation but also in looking at the sisters lives and their religious beliefs.

An interesting read and if you like a in depth crime investigation and methodical detective you will enjoy this book.



For me, this was quite a visual read to imagine the bodies of the sisters found by Father Timoney. The first half had the third sister Frances and DI Vincent too playing their parts in the story.

My first book by author Nicola White, I was drawn very subtly into the story. The prose had a haunting mystery that soon developed as the pages turned. I too wanted to know what had happened to the sisters in that room. Vivid descriptions of Dublin and the way the author pulled all the pieces together slowly bringing the story to a close was quite fascinating.

A character driven story it was where the pace was quite slow, more in the first half. The reactions of the characters and the complex human psyche was the crux of the story which made it an interesting read.

Oh my Goodness, how do I review this one?

Viper Books hits the ground running with this first publication! A Famished Heart smells of novelty and intrigue. I was as happy as a kid on Christmas day when I opened my copy, ready to be transported away from home for a few hours.

The journey was no disappointment. I was expecting a good read; I was rewarded with a striking and evocative story laced with questions of faith, guilt, and that little pinch of I-don’t-know-what that makes me want to grab my copy again and brush my fingers on the pages.

A Famished Heart belongs to the literary crime fiction in my opinion. No, the author doesn’t drag you all the way up to a path where you have to check the dictionary to make sure you understand the prose. What I mean by literary crime is the captivating blend of normal life stories enhanced by a spectacular narration which allows you to be in the moment, and the painstaking look at police work through the lens of realism and humanity. The devil is in the details and Nicola White knows it all too well! Her pen is descriptive yet light, and the reading is simply delicious.

There is no beating around the bush. The opening gives you a place, a date, and a dead body. Nothing is rushed, the discoveries, the scene, the work. I was led through all stages as if I were visiting the place myself, but instead of standing on the outside, the writing permitted me to grab the nuances of the events through the viewpoints of several characters.

Hello Father. You discovered the McNamara sisters and gave me a hard time. I am cautious around the church. I spent many hours learning about Catholicism and rules sitting on a hard bench. The Ireland setting gave me the impression that the church was almost like a coat keeping everyone warm, whether you felt cold or not. The importance of religion is clear, yet the author pinpoints the good, the bad, and the ugly in a balanced way. I found that having a priest meet the sisters after their departure from life, as well as involving faith throughout the book was an ingenious key element in the plot, a strong thread to pull at to get a better understanding of whatever fate had in store for the poor sisters and their family. I could imagine fate and religion fighting for the remaining souls of this novel, and for a skeptical like me, it was both refreshing and mesmerising.

How could two parishioners vanish without anyone noticing? This question stayed on my mind for a long time. Was it their age? As you get older, you go out less, you socialise less… At least, that’s what they say. Was it the broken family bonds? Was there something wrong with them? At some point, I couldn’t help but imagine if someone would find me, miss me, if something like this was to happen. But… something like what? That’s the one-million question! With it comes a sneaky uneasiness, a taste of something rotten at the core of the events. I’ll admit it, I loved it!

The case itself takes a back seat in A Famished Heart. Like the spark that lits up a fire, the mystery gives way to a deep exploration of relationships. The characters hold the stage – the Father, the detectives, the niece, and Francesca, the sister who escaped to the US a long time ago. There is a lot to do with those ones. Knots to untangle, brains to use, matters to probe. The built of this novel reminds me of Jo Spain’s novels. One big event, and a million waves the readers must navigates to get answers to questions they were not even aware were floating around. I was entirely consumed by my reading. Not because of big races or a huge amount of twists, but because this slow-burning intrigue talked to my mind and heart. I was as much involved in the why as I was in the who. There was no frontiers and the only way to solve this puzzle is to let the novel do its work. Sit, and let your eyes decipher the world Nicola White depicts in a unique and brilliant way.

A Famished Heart is a subtle and fascinating novel with great depth.

Two sister haven’t been seen for months until one day Father Timoney breaks down their door and finds they have starved themselves to death. But some people aren’t really convinced that this was a suicide and believe someone was there. Watching them as they died.
This books was really interesting and I enjoyed the development of the characters as the story develops. I fell the books is well written with lots of interesting details.
Despite this, I felt that it was quite slow paced and it took a long time to develop and even when it does, it has little action. The story focus more on the three main characters rather than the investigation or even the crime itself.
I have to admit that, although thrilling in some parts, it didn’t really resonate much with me and I struggled to engage completely in the story possibly because I like more focus in the action and discovery. I would still recommend it to friends who prefer slow paced stories and more focused on the characters rather than the investigation and crime as it is still quite a pleasant read.
I would like to thank #netgalley and #serpentstail #profilebooks for the opportunity to read #afamishedheart prior to its publishing date on 27/02/2020 in exchange for an honest review

Thanks to NetGalley and Serpent's Tail/Profile Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"A Famished Heart" is one of those novels draws you in - almost imperceptibly, into its narrative embrace and the fertile imagination of its author, Nicola White. It is not one of those novels that grab you by the throat from the first page, but the undoubted quality of White's storytelling becomes increasingly evident as the story progresses. For me, this change of pace was welcome and I savoured every page as a result. This is a haunting, gothic-like tale of an almost ethereal quality where reality seems almost dreamlike. The world the author has built for us, however, is all too real; its evocation of 1980s Dublin, vivid and compelling. This is a character-driven novel, however, and this is where Nicola White displays her prodigious talent. There is the mystery element of "A Famished Heart", of course. Specifically, whether or not the Macnamara sisters committed suicide when in the grip of some religious mania. Was someone else involved in the deaths and how do the characters of Vincent Swan, Father Timoney and Frances Macnamara, the third sister, fit into the overall narrative? Undoubtedly, there is a more than satisfying mystery at the heart of the story, but this novel is also about character and the human condition - its complexities and frailties. In this Nicola White has proved an astute observer and I enjoyed every page as a result.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Serpent’s Tail/Profile Books for an advance copy of A Famished Heart, a stand alone set in Dublin in 1982.

When Father Timoney discovers the dead bodies of Berenice and Rosaleen Macnamara in their home DI Vincent Swan is asked to investigate. He’s not quite sure what to make of it as the sisters have obviously starved to death but did they do it willingly or did they have help?

Although it is quite different to my usual reading matter I enjoyed A Famished Heart as it held my attention from start to finish. There is a crime, but it’s not really the author’s main preoccupation as she is more interested in three specific characters, Vincent Swan, Father Timoney and Frances Macnamara, the third sister who returns from the States on news of the deaths. The sisters’ deaths serve as a background to an examination of these characters’ lives and their reactions to it. It seems to wake them up to different ways of looking at life and to taking some life decisions.

As a result the novel, for crime fiction readers, is necessarily slow with little action, investigation or even discoveries. The first half is definitely inconclusive. There are more events and even a little action in the second half and a few tense moments when Swan has to deal with a threat but the overall pace is slow. Despite this slowness I found the characters fascinating as they deal with their problems.

I don’t think A Famished Heart will appeal to all readers but I thought it was a good read.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t really enjoy this book as much as I was expecting after reading the overview which I found intriguing.
It did take quite some time to get into the story as the pace was quite slow with not a lot happening but around the halfway mark it did seem to perk up and I did finish the book as I was interested to read the the outcome. It was a well written read but I found the characters all to be a bland however this may not be the case for others who read it.
So for me it was just a 3 star read that just didn’t quite hit the mark.
My thanks to NetGalley and Serpents Tail / Profile Books, Viper for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’m afraid I found this one hard going. The synopsis was interesting but the characters just didn’t engage me. It wasn’t pacy enough for me.

It took admittedly a little time to get into, but after getting used to the various characters and the measured early pace of the plot, I eventually became quite engaged in the story as it headed to a thrilling climax. The story primarily set in early 1980's Dublin concentrates alternatively on the lives of three characters who's story are linked by a gruesome discovery. The main characters are Francesca Macnamara, a once famous but now struggling Irish actress now down on her luck in New York, Father Timoney, a rather troubled and disillusioned parish priest and Detective Vincent Swan, a policeman who is soon be suspended facing a trail for police brutality.

There are all linked by the discovery of The Macnamara sisters who in an act of religious mania have apparently starved themselves to death. But is there more to the deaths than suicide?, for something seems not quite right. Nicola White has produced a descriptive account of 1980's Dublin with references to the social, economic and political situation at the time. It is one of those books that grew on me as the characters developed in relation to their changing circumstances. Certainly worth a read if you like a mystery with a little substance.

I couldn’t finish A Famished Heart. Loved the sound of the synopsis but not enough happened to keep me interested.

2.5 stars


I felt like the book took a long time to go nowhere.
Then suddenly a lot happened.
Unfortunately,the lot that happened didn't come soon enough to save me from not being overly keen on the story.