A really fun read that had me laughing out loud many times whilst reading. A really entertaining book

Absolutely brilliant! “Toujours gai”
… what a fantastic book with great characters. Really brought to life in an easy style and good narrative. Not literary fiction but not needed. I did have some challenges with the formatting with the diary entries in the early chapters so I nearly DNF’d but I’m so glad I persisted. What a pair of legends, with a superb set of supporting characters. Everyone had their place, there were no seemingly random characters or events.

5* delightful

I read The Excitements at home curled up on the sofa in one day flat. I should have read it in the Peter Jones cafe which is where this excellent book starts. Archie is sat waiting for his elderly aunts to join him for lunch, a kerfuffle ensues. It is the first of many kerfuffles for Penny and Josephine are not your regular nonagenerians, they are both decorated war heroes and love going on excitements with their nephew. We follow the trio as they go to Paris to receive the Legion d’honneur and uncover an international jewel thief on their way. Absolutely excellent in every way.

Cosy crime is not really my cup of tea, but I thought I’d give it a go anyway. I have to say I loved that the two sisters were old ladies, as you don’t get many of these as main characters. However, I found the book really hard to get into and saw a lot of things coming. Glad I tried it but think I’ll be sticking to my usual brand of twisty dark thriller in future, too cosy for me. 3 stars!

I want to be like Josephine or Penny and be a 90 yrs old like them. I loved these two bad/good old ladies, very clever and vivacious. I loved them since the first chapters as I loved ARchie.
I cannot find a fault in this fast paced, action packed and very entertaining book that kept me reading till late in the night.
I can't wait to read other stories by this author as I loved this story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Nonagenarians with attitude, an agenda and a very specific set of skills. Delightfully entertaining

I very much enjoyed this tale of two nonogenerian sisters, WW2 heroines who live for their "excitements" in the declining years. Loved all the characters, their adventures past and present and sorry for the novel to end. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Josephine and Penny Williamson are elderly WW2 veterans - officially they were a WRN and a nurse, respectively, the truth however is very different.
Travelling to Paris with their devoted nephew, Archie, to collect their Legion D'honneur awards, adventures from the ladies' past come back to haunt them!

I was immersed in this fun blend of history, mystery, heist, crime and humour straight away and learned more about WW2 operations along the way. The story is very detailed and told in part via flashback, which is not chronological so it's easy to miss bits which become relevant later on, if you're not careful. Nonetheless, an enjoyable read, and I'd expect nothing less from Chrissie Manby (writing here as CJ Wray).

I absolutely loved this book and devoured it too quickly which I regretted! A wonderful read with engaging characters. Truly magnificent!

What a fun cozy read. Chapter one introduces us to Archie Williamson waiting for his two great aunts Josephine and Penelope ‘Penny’ in a department store cafe when a woman comes in calling for him. It appears Penny has been caught red handed stealing a tiny crystal elephant. Archie manages to smooth it over and they leave without the police being called. Another ‘excitement’. Josephine and Penny are in their 90’s and Archie’s first memories of them is when, as a 7 year old, he visited Grey Towers the Williamson ancestral home in Scotland. He was fascinated by his Aunts, then in their 60’s, then and still is now. They are very close. Well written and perfectly paced this is such an entertaining read.

Briefly, alongside the present storyline of Josephine and Penny, alongside Archie and their housekeeper Arlene, visiting Paris to collect the Legion d’honneur there are flashbacks, in multiple timelines, to the Aunts pasts. As far as Archie knows during WWII Penny joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry( FANY) whilst Josephine joined the Women’s Royal Navy Service (Wrens) but the ladies had a much more exciting life than they ever shared with Archie, or even with each other.

The sisters are amazing characters ‘toujours gai’ they demand excitements every day and are full of life; always have been. I love how they ‘chat’ in morse code when they are in difficult situations and the way nothing seems to faze them. There’s a bit of everything in this book, war heroism, young love, older romance, jewel thieves, secrets, disappointments, successes and failures but most of all family mixed with a good dose of charm and humour. Delightful.

such a fun read! i loved following the exploits of these later in life sisters (darent call them old!!)
a charming story which was an easy read

I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved the characters, especially the Sisters. It was entertaining and interesting to read about their adventures and their early lives.
This book is very well written and I didn't want to put the book down. I was racing through the pages. It is an excellent book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

A tale that spans decades of deceit & secrets with a sly grin. The joie de vivre of Josephine and Penny is joyous, their sheer defiance of the perceptions of women during war and the battle against time is refreshing. They both revel in thwarting the expectations of the elderly and for a few hours you can live vicariously through their adventures. The Williamson sisters bring mayhem in their wake but with a delightful sparkle and some gusto!

What a delicious pair of feisty reprobates the twinkly Aunts are. This was an exhilarating read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

What a rollercoaster. The story begins with a pair of sisters in their late nineties who have clearly mastered the art of growing old disgracefully. They mercilessly torment their great nephew Archie with their high jinks and we are just along for the ride. But as the story unfolds across the present day and the sisters' lives in World War 2, it becomes both more thrilling and more poignant. Secrets that have been kept for many decades finally come to light in and old scores are settled, with some glamorous international crime thrown in for good measure.

A thoroughly enjoyable read.

The Excitements

What a fun read. Great to have elderly ladies as the main characters. Great detail to bring some history to life.

This was a read from my online bookclub and I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it.

A charming tale about the two Williamson sisters who are both now in their nineties, and their nephew Archie. As a young lad, Archie loved going to stay with his aunts and they introduced him to many books and activities which were not always suitable for his age.
Archie is now the provider of 'excitements' for his aunts. There are plenty of fun adventures as we learn about the lives of the sisters. Both played important roles during the second world war and each of the sisters had their fair share of love but also great sadness.
We learn of how they'd interact using morse code and this comes in very useful when their final adventure takes place. No spoilers, but it was in Paris.
This is a delightful story, lighthearted with plenty of fun parts and you get to see the fiesty side of the sisters. I felt instantly drawn to the characters of Josephine and Penny, though both very different there is a warmth to them. I was rooting for things to work out for Archie too.
A really enjoyable read.

This delightful novel was nothing like I thought it would be, I expected to read a crime novel in the style of Miss Marple with a pair of elderly investigators. Whilst this novel does feature elderly ladies, and there is crime, it is so much more than that. It is also a historical novel with a lot of emphasis on Penny and Josephine’s contributions during the war, which led to them travelling to Paris with Archie, their great nephew to receive the légion d’honneur. Also on the journey are two other friends, even though the relationship isn’t always friendly and Arlene, Penny’s housekeeper.

The part of the novel that is set in the modern day, where Archie has to keep a sharp eye on his aunts shows the devotion between them. He was taught a lot in his childhood by them, mostly self defence with differing results and they would love nothing better than to be with the man of his dreams. They’re not just aunts to him, they’re his best friends.

The other part shows both of them when they were younger, their teenage years where they suffered heartbreak and their time during and just after the war. It felt like a very honest account with the training, terror, occasional boredom and comradeship.

I’m not sure if this book was written as a standalone but I would definitely read a follow up. It as a perfect read for me.

The Excitements is the fabulous tale of Josephine and Penny, two elderly female World War II veterans, who accompanied by their great-nephew Archie, travel to Paris to receive the Légion d'honneur for their part in the liberation of France and to embark on one last adventure!
A brilliantly entertaining story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading!

This is a heart-warming story of 2 elderly sisters in their 90's who are always looking for the next 'excitements' in their lives! Penny and Josephine are WW2 veterans and are often invited as guests of honour to major events. They are invited to Paris where they are to receive some awards for their part in the war. The story flips from the present to the past where there stories are revealed as to what they actually got up to! Its a fun and entertaining story that made me laugh out loud! Lots of surprises are revealed.

A heartwarming read of two elderly women, in their 90s, Penny and Josephine, who are about to receive rewards for their service and their nephew Archie, who's taking them back to France. There are flashbacks to these women and their roles in WW2. There are dual time lines, but they are not introduced to the same point of time but jump about the time period's revealing a little bit more of the heroines lives both before, during and after the war, depending on the relevance to the current day story. There are many plot lines, not all of them making sense, (eg preparing to go to France and using it as an excuse for their behaviour when they didn't yet know they were going) but that didn't detract from the story which overall is a totally charming read. I fell in love with the Aunts and their adventures/excitements, so all in all, a jolly good romp.
Thank you to Tracy's book of the month club and net galley for a pre publishing read in exchange for my honest review.