10 Ten Exciting New Release Books Coming in September 2026

The sweet little doggie in the photo above resonates with how excited I am about some of the new release books coming this month. Honestly, if it wasn't so hot I might well be leaping around excitedly myself!!

As always, I've limited myself to just ten. I hope you find something in this list that excites you too.

 In This Life or Another by Melissa Payne

On the brink of death, a man comes to terms with the life he lived versus the one he never pursued in an emotionally rich novel of parallel lives, redemption, and finding purpose.

On the eve of his sixtieth birthday, mechanic Rusty Wilson takes a bullet to save the patrons of a small-town Colorado diner—and awakens to a strange realm between life and death.

However, he finds that this limbo is not the end. There are still choices to be made and a lifetime to review. Paths open for a man who believes the life he did live was one of disappointments, grief, and devastating family estrangements. Given a chance to experience an alternate reality, Rusty is visited by figures from his past and present, sees what could have been if he had pursued a woman he loved from afar, and confronts a family secret that shaped everything. Now it’s Rusty’s choice: accept the imperfect existence he knew, or the what-if that could still be his.

At the heart of this poignant exploration of mortality, memory, and second chances is the profoundly simple question: What makes a life truly meaningful?

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

The English Bookstore in Bologna by Boo Walker

Against the sunlit backdrop of Italy, five expats discover each other—and rediscover themselves—in a charmingly funny and poignant novel by the author of An Unfinished Story and A Spanish Sunrise.

Tucked away on a cobblestone street in enchanting Bologna, Italy, is the only English bookstore in the city. It’s owned by prickly Sandy Cooke, who keeps love, and even romantic fiction, at a distance. Her employee, timid and hopelessly optimistic Moira, dreams of transforming the struggling shop into a vibrant community hub. Against the odds, one Bolognese summer, it becomes a haven for fellow expats at their own crossroads.

Bianca is a psychotherapist escaping both a breakdown and withering reviews of her new self-help book. On her heels is her father, George, wrestling with retirement—and regrets. He’s had a few, but the light of his life has always been his daughter. Then there’s Harold, a young and awkward barista from Denver recovering from his first belly-flopping high dive into love. Maybe it’s time for reinvention.

At the only English bookstore in Bologna, paths converge for five damaged souls who discover that healing doesn’t require much—just honest connection and an open heart.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

Under Story by Chloe Benjamin

At an isolated research station in Antarctica, biologist Laurel Salter washes dishes for a living ten hours a day, six days a week. She tells no one why she left her career, or why her marriage ended.

But even in this remote outpost, Laurel can't outrun her past. When a strange light appears across the ice and draws a group of physicists to McMurdo, her former husband, Eli, won't be far behind.

Laurel is captivated by the Arc: its surreal glow; the way it seems almost alive. And though Eli is reluctant to test her wildest theory, Laurel is convinced that the Arc leads down a rabbit hole and into a world they can barely imagine. Can she persuade him to risk everything to fix the burden that hangs between them - to turn back the clock and live their story a second time?

And this time, live it differently.

Once read, never forgotten, Under Story is a genre-defying exploration of the promise of this life, what might lie beyond it, and how far we would go for more time with the people we love.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

The Day Our Lives Collided by Laura Pearson

How do you know when you’ve met your soulmate?

It’s the first day of term, and the lives of three new university students are about to collide. They’re going to introduce each other to more friends too. People who will be in their lives forever.

They’re young when the weddings start. Tash and Adam seem destined for each other, only 22 but with a baby already on the way. Even when a chance remark from Adam’s best man about their other friend, Hayden, puts everything at risk.

By the time the second wedding comes around, everything’s changed. And even more by the third…

Because it turns out, our soulmates aren’t always who we think they’ll be. And life has a funny way of switching things around. Just when you least expect it.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

Tell Two Friends by Ann Garvin

A wickedly funny and empowering thriller about women, the manipulators who underestimate them, and keeping your dignity while saving the day by the author of I Thought You Said This Would Work.

Jane Baye is a regular person, good at a lot of things, but identifying the serial killer right in front of her isn’t one of them.

In 1990, college senior Jane wrote to an incarcerated woman because it seemed like a nice thing to do. Thirty-six years later, that felon, actually a man, has moved in next door. He’s watching her every move, with a decades-long plan for Jane that a nice person like her would never see coming.

Especially because Jane is wrapped up in her own problems: a small-town golden boy with talk of forever and a diabolical history of cheating. When she exposes her ex, the entire town of Wonder Lake turns against her.

It’s no wonder she doesn’t see what’s coming on the night of the Norwegian heritage festival.

But woe to those who mistake Jane for a pushover. When celebration becomes a fight for survival, the very qualities that make her ordinary become the weapons she’ll bet everything on.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

The Library of Lost Stories by Eloise Williams

It’s Christmas 1976, Noni and her dad have no money left and the bailiffs are getting ready to take away their home. Noni thinks that fixing the mobile library might be the thing to bring a spark back to her dad’s eyes and get him back to work. But the library van is stuck on Mrs Williams’ driveway and, according to the stories, she’s probably a witch.

Noni needs the help of Becca, Gareth, Clare and stray dog Jones to get the job done. But can Noni learn to trust her new friends and get the van started before she loses her home?

An unforgettable, heartwarming novel and the perfect Christmas gift.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

Heartbreak for the Irish Midwife by Seana Tinley

Belfast, 1939.

When World War Two is declared, Maisie Canavan is working as a newly-qualified midwife in Belfast's Royal Maternity Hospital, helping women and babies across the community - no matter what their families' background is. She's just moved back home from London after having her heart broken, but focusing on helping new life enter the world is enough to distract her thoughts, and she's determined not to let herself fall for someone again.

But as she works more and more with Dr Alex Lowe, Maisie is pulled in by his kind grey eyes and gentle heart. Maisie and Alex find themselves drawn together - but they come from opposite sides of the Irish political divide, and the world around them isn't ready to accept love between a Catholic and a Protestant. They have no choice but to keep their feelings a secret . . .

As bombs begin to rain on Belfast, and she sees Alex risking his life to care for the whole community, Maisie can't help but wonder why two people in love should be kept apart.

Can she find the strength to go against her own community for love - or will the dangers of war mean her heart is broken for a second time . . .

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

Until the Last Day by Cynthia Ellingsen

The fate of two strangers becomes part of the heartbreaking history of a celebrated painting in a novel of suspense and forbidden love by the bestselling author of The Lost Letters of Aisling.

The historic art gallery Hatterfield House symbolizes hope for cancer survivor Hannah Caddell. Like the art she painstakingly restores, Hannah needs to be brought back to life herself. Everything is upended when she and a new client, Lucas Henry, are held hostage by gunmen in search of a world-renowned painting from the Cuban Missile Crisis that, decades ago, captured both dread and beauty in a time of cataclysmic fears.

In 1961, Maryann Linnegan can’t see beyond her narrow future as a traditional wife and Florida socialite. Then she falls unexpectedly, deeply in love with Elio, a construction worker and Cuban immigrant. Their forbidden love couldn’t possibly survive beneath the weight of expectations. But when the Cuban Missile Crisis threatens to end the world as they know it, will they choose each other in spite of it all?

Past and present converge as Hannah and Lucas find a startling connection between the painting and the long-ago love story. As the mystery reveals itself, Hannah wonders who she can trust and what she must risk to protect a profound work of art—and to make it out alive.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

The Golden Hours by Louisa Young

Continuing the story of one of the most beloved families in British literature, The Golden Hours is the brilliant new novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s iconic Cazalet Chronicles written by her niece, the bestselling author Louisa Young.

Our lives have changed so much . . .

It’s December 1962, and the Cazalet family are gathering to celebrate Christmas. With the family’s beloved Home Place long sold, Polly and Gerald have offered up their rambling stately pile, Fakenham Hall in Norfolk, to parents, siblings, cousins and children.

The old guard – brothers Hugh, Edward, Rupert and their sister Rachel – look on as the England they knew and understood fades from view. Cousins Polly, Louise and Clary, all now on the brink of turning forty, are struggling to balance the demands of midlife with their personal desires – however secret. And then there are the young – a new generation growing up in a society on the cusp of real change.

In this spellbinding novel, familiar faces reappear, newcomers are introduced, and the legacy of the Cazalets carries on into the Swinging Sixties.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

Beneath David's Throne: Michal's Story by Melissa Alfredson

THEY CALL JERUSALEM DAVID'S TRIUMPH.

Michal calls it her cage.

Once a princess of Israel and the woman who helped secure King David's crown, Michal now lives as a discarded queen in the palace her husband built upon the ruins of her father's dynasty. Childless and increasingly sidelined as new wives and their sons rise around her, she clings to the fragile power her name still commands.

But when the house of David fractures under rival claims and hidden betrayals, Michal is drawn into the deadly politics of succession as she fights to protect the young princess Tamar, the one soul in the palace she cannot abandon.

As prophecy closes in around David's throne and old wounds refuse to stay buried, Michal must confront the legacy of her father, the silence of the husband she once loved, and the God whose purposes she cannot escape.

Darkly lyrical and psychologically charged, Beneath David's Throne is a work of literary historical fiction steeped in the court intrigue and dynastic politics of ancient Israel. For readers of The Red Tent and The Marriage Portrait, this first novel in the Beneath David's Throne saga reclaims Michal, daughter of Saul—the forgotten woman who stood closest to David's throne.

History remembered her as barren. This is the story it left out.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

(Header photo courtesy of Joe Caonie/Unsplash)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

(all opinions are my own)

Secrets in the Water by Alice Fitzpatrick - Meredith Island Mystery - #bookreview

The Blurb

Emma Galway's suicide has haunted the Meredith Island for fifty years.

Back on the island to lay her grandmother to rest, Kate can't avoid reflecting on the death of her aunt. Learning that her late mother had believed Emma was murdered and had conducted her own investigation, she decides to track down her aunt's killer. With the help of her neighbour, impetuous and hedonistic sculptor Siobhan Fitzgerald, Kate picks up where her mother had left off. When the two women become the subject of threatening notes and violent incidents, it's clear that one of their fellow islanders is warning them off. As they begin to look into Emma's connection to the Sutherlands, a prominent Meredith Island family, another islander dies under suspicious circumstances, forcing Kate and Siobhan to confront the likelihood that Emma's killer is still on the island.

My Review

I love a book about hidden secrets and there are plenty in this novel.

The book is set in a small town on an island in Wales. The inhabitants know one another well. When the main character, Kate returns to the island she decides to continue with the investigation that her mother began into the death of her aunt which occurred some fifty years previously. It quickly becomes clear that somebody does not want her to ask too many questions.

There are some quirky characters on the island. I found Kate easy to engage with and her friend, Siobhan was a humorous addition to this cast of characters. I found all of them to be well fleshed out and utterly believable. 

I liked the way this cosy mystery was written. It was evocative and entertaining, was paced well and kept me hooked. The resolution came as a surprise. I love it when that happens.

As a debut novel this is excellent. This is the first in a planned series based on Meredith Island. A Dark Death is due to be released in the UK in June 2025 and I am very much looking forward to reading it.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1988754604

Publisher:  Stonehouse Publishing

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  340 (paperback)

Buy Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Amazon CA

Stonehouse Publishing

About the Author

Alice was born on the English side of the northern Welsh border and was raised in a small town in southern Ontario. After abandoning the idea of becoming the youngest person to win the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry, she earned both her BA in Fine Arts and BEd in English and Drama. Along the way, she received my MA in Interdisciplinary Studies.

She has taught creative and therapeutic writing, English as a Second Language (ESL), and high school English and drama while publishing literary short fiction and personal essays. 

Then she turned her hand to writing mysteries.

The Meredith Island Mysteries, a traditional mystery series set on a Welsh island, features historical novelist Kate Galway. The second novel in the series was a finalist for the Killer Nashville Claymore Award. That Which is Lost is a standalone crime novel set in Massachusetts.

A member of Crime Writers of Canada,  Sisters in Crime, and Crime Cymru, when she is not writing, she can be found singing or reading mysteries with her cats.

You can also find Alice at:

https://www.alicefitzpatrick.com/

Instagram

Twitter / X

(book courtesy of the publicist)

(all opinions are my own)

How Not to Murder Your Ex by Katie Marsh - #bookreview #blogtour

 

On the many occasions Clio had imagined murdering her husband, it had never been anything like this. Her mind's eye had always turned away from what came next - avoiding the gore that would accompany the click of a trigger or the scream that might follow his flailing body after it was pushed from a cliff. She had never been serious, anyway. Everyone knew that. It was just Clio saying her piece, moaning about Gary the way she always did. People thought it was funny - last week her darts team had even stuck his picture over the bullseye for their Friday night match...

***

It is 5:30 am on Clio's forty-fifth birthday and her hated ex is lying dead on her doorstep. Even worse, this is no accident. Someone’s killed him...

When single mum Clio’s ex Gary turns up dead on the doorstep of her caravan – the one she’s been forced to live in ever since he stole every penny she had – there’s only one suspect. Her.

What’s more, she doesn’t remember much about the night he was killed – not just because of the forgetfulness that’s been plaguing her along with the hot flushes – but because she definitely had one too many cocktails with her two best friends Amber and Jeanie.

Clio does remember them talking about how much they all hated him though. And, in the frame for murder, she has to ask herself – if she didn’t kill Gary, who did? One of his many enemies? Or someone a little closer to home? And can she and her friends find the real killer before it’s too late?

***

This is an excellent book about the friendship of three women, Clio, Amber and Jeanie. It is about the lengths they will go to protect their friend when she is wrongly accused of murder.

In fact, whilst there is much to recommend this book, it is the friendship between the three women that is to the fore. They never doubt one another, and at all times the bond between them is their focus, sometimes to the detriment of their own families. At other times, it is the wider family that drive their actions and cement their bond even further.

Throughout the book, the chapters are presented from the perspective of each of the three women which provides further insight into their thoughts and actions. However, the are also chapters devoted to the perspective of the murder victim, Gary. He was not a character that the author intended us to like. In fact, the insight into his mind and conceitedness was sufficient to make us sympathise with Clio even further.

There were sufficient twists and turns in the mystery element of this book to keep me guessing. In fact, it was only shortly before the reveal that I realised who the murderer was.

The book finished at a point where there is ample scope for this to become a series. I sincerely hope that the author does continue with this as the book was both engaging and entertaining and I would love to read more of these characters.

ISBN:  978 1785138768

Publisher:  Boldwood Books

Formats:  e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages:  308 (hardback)

About the Author:

Katie Marsh wrote five bestselling, uplifting women’s fiction novels before turning to cosy crime for Boldwood. Previously published by Hodder, the first in her new crime series  How Not To Murder Your Ex, following the fortunes of the Bad Girls Detective Agency, will be published in December 2023.

(ARC and all media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)

Playing the Witch Card by KJ Dell'Antonia - #BookReview

 

Other people, when forced to start over, do so in appropriate places. New York. Los Angeles. Bozeman. Only Flair would wind up in Kansas, dragging a hand-painted, life-sized figue of Jack Skellington into her bakery and wondering where to hide it until the horror show that was Halloween in Rattleboro finally lurched to an end this weekend.

Flair hated seeing even the outside of her tidy space besmirched with the trappings of a ridiculous holiday that invited exactly the kind of chaos that she normally kept firmly at bay...

***

When Flair Hardwicke returns to the tiny town of Rattleboro to take over her grandmother’s beloved bakery, she believes she’s prepared for anything. All she needs is her daughter Lucie, and to get as far away from her cheating ex-husband as physically possible. But sweet treats weren’t the only thing her grandmother was known for in Rattleboro, and as determined as Flair is to avoid it, a misbehaving deck of tarot card-shaped cookies draws her back into the web of family magic she’s fought so hard to escape.

Even worse: her first love is in town. Flair hasn’t spoken to Jude Oakes, now a famous chocolatier, since he broke her heart at seventeen. When Flair finds she’s accidentally summoned Lucie’s father to Rattleboro under a curse she can’t break, the recipe for Halloween chaos seems to be complete.

But not everything in Rattleboro is as it seems. As Flair’s family is threatened, she is forced to put aside everything she thinks she knows about love, witchcraft, motherhood―and herself. Because Flair might think she’s done with magic, but magic certainly isn’t done with Flair.

***

This is a lighthearted cozy witchy book that is ideal to read in the run-up to Halloween.

Set in the town of Rattleboro, this book oozes with the atmosphere of this small town in America. It sparks with rivalry, romance and relationships. It was very much about the relationship between mother and daughter.

The main character, Flair, is at times funny and there were many times I chuckled at her reactions. Indeed, many of the characters were larger than life. I particularly enjoyed watching the relationship between Flair, her mother and her daughter play out. 

Flair originally left Rattleboro in an attempt to leave behind her magical skills, and she certainly does not want her daughter, Lucie, to be any part of it. However, now that she has inherited her grandmother's bakery, she is back in her home town, attempting to resist it's and her magic. However, when she makes tarot shaped biscuits they are imbued with a magic of their own and she and the magic are thrust back together.

This is a fun and entertaining read which will appeal to fans of light hearted witch themed books.

ISBN: 978 1803366845

Publisher: Titan Books

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  336 (paperback)

About the Author:

KJ Dell’Antonia is a New York Times best-selling author whose novels The Chicken Sisters and In Her Boots explore the same themes she once explored as a journalist: the importance of finding joy in our families, the challenge of figuring out what makes us happy and the need to value the life we’re living more than the one in our phones and laptops, every single time. Her third novel, Playing the Witch Card, throws magic into the mix, but witchcraft, like reality TV and literary fraud, rarely really solves anyone’s problems. She is also the former editor of the New York Times’ Motherlode blog, the co-host of the #AmWriting podcast,  and a passionate bookstagrammer (@kjda).  She lives in Lyme, New Hampshire, with her husband, children and assorted dogs, cats, chickens and horses.

(author photo and bio courtesy of the author's website https://kjdellantonia.com/)

(ARC courtesy of NetGalley)

(all opinions are my own)

Ten Exciting New Releases in September 2023

 September is almost upon us and with it comes some fabulous new books to be released. 

Here are just ten that I think look great.

Murder on the Farm by Kate Wells

Lambing season always brings the unexpected… But no one expected murder

Jude Gray never thought she’d find herself widowed and running a working farm full-time, but here she is, living in the small Malvern village her husband Adam spent most of his life in.

After a particularly gruelling lambing season, she is looking forward to some time off, but there’s no rest for the wicked, especially when she finds the body of one of Adam’s oldest friends on her farm.

Unimpressed with the local constabulary's efforts, Jude starts an investigation of her own. But as the body count rises, danger creeps ever closer to Malvern Farm.

A killer is on the prowl. And all that stands in their way is one woman – and her dog.

The Kitchen Witch Handbook by Aurora Kane

A magical life begins at home with this warm and lively introduction to the traditions and practice of kitchen witchcraft.

As spiritualists, healers, and herbalists, witches throughout history have developed various methods of healing through potions, spells, and remedies worldwide. Despite their efforts for good, many have suffered from years of persecution, which has led to a general misunderstanding of their craft. The Kitchen Witch Handbook combats that, providing an assortment of magical traditions from a fresh, modern perspective. If you are interested in Wicca and traditional kitchen potions, spells, and rituals, The Kitchen Witch Handbook is the perfect magical reference. 

This hands-on guide introduces the home-based folk witchcraft that has been practiced for countless generations. Learn to weave your magical intentions into food and cooking and use everyday ingredients for mystical purposes.

Brimming with beautiful photography and illustrations, this intriguing and accessible volume offers: 

Guidance on creating a magical kitchen and kitchen altar, 100 Recipes and kitchen spells, including a candied lime money spell, rosemary protection cookies, and a lavender simple syrup for clarity and calm, tips on how to incorporate magic and intention into cooking, a glossary of correspondences and magical properties for fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients and a framework for creating your own unique spells at home using the ingredients you have on hand.

Preorder Link*

The Figurine by Victoria Hislop

Of all the ancient art that captures the imagination, none is more appealing than the Cycladic figurine. An air of mystery swirls around these statuettes from the Bronze Age and they are highly sought after by collectors - and looters - alike.

When Helena inherits her grandparents' apartment in Athens, she is overwhelmed with memories of the summers she spent there as a child, when Greece was under a brutal military dictatorship. Her remote, cruel grandfather was one of the regime's generals and as she sifts through the dusty rooms, Helena discovers an array of valuable objects and antiquities. How did her grandfather amass such a trove? What human price was paid for them?

Helena's desire to find answers about her heritage dovetails with a growing curiosity for archaeology, ignited by a summer spent with volunteers on a dig on an Aegean island. Their finds fuel her determination to protect the precious fragments recovered from the baked earth - and to understand the origins of her grandfather's collection.

Helena's attempt to make amends for some of her grandfather's actions sees her wrestle with the meaning of 'home', both in relation to looted objects of antiquity ... and herself.

Preorder Link*

Stone Mother by Malve S. Burns

Imagine growing up in a German family right after WWII with no knowledge of your country's horrendous Nazi past or an understanding of your own family's fierce internal struggles.

Marie is a dreamy child of a doctor whose family is offered refuge within the walls of Falkenburg Castle after the war. Within the safety of this thousand-year-old "stone mother," Marie begins her coming-of-age journey dominated by her troubled, often violent mother and comforted by her beloved father.

Soon, Marie is forced to leave the castle and is bounced from a Dickensian Children's institution, to an inspiring private prep school for girls in Heidelberg, to the wild Alaska Highway, and back to Germany, where, at age fifteen, she discovers the full extent of Nazi atrocities and contemplates suicide.

With the help of her mother's former teacher and the spirit prince of Falkenburg Castle, Marie begins to understand her mother's pain. She finds a way to accept-though never condone-what she cannot change. Ultimately, when she faces the transgressions of both her mother and her motherland, she is inspired to engage more fully with her new Germany.

The Book of Beginnings by Sally Page

Her new chapter starts now…

Jo Sorsby is hiding from her past when she agrees to run her uncle’s beloved stationery shop. Glimpsing the lives of her customers between the warm wooden shelves, as they scribble little notes and browse colourful notebooks, distracts her from her bruised heart.

When she meets Ruth, a vicar running from a secret, and Malcolm, a septuagenarian still finding himself, she suddenly realizes she isn’t alone.

They each have a story that can transform Jo’s life… if only she can let them in.

The perfect gift for book lovers, The Keeper of Stories meets The Lost Bookshop in this gorgeous novel about secrets, second chances and finding friendship in the most unlikely places.

Preorder Link*

The Pit by Peter Papathanasiou

With DS Manolis on leave in Greece, Senior Constable Sparrow receives a phone call from a man who wants to turn himself in.

Bob is sixty-five years old, confined to a Perth nursing home. But thirty years ago, he killed a man in the remote northern Kimberley mining region. He offers to show Sparrow where the body is, but there's a catch: Sparrow must travel north with him under the guise of being his carer.

They are accompanied on the drive by another nursing home resident: Luke, thirty years old, paralysed in a motorbike accident. As they embark on their road trip through the guts of Western Australia, pursued by outback police and adrenaline-soaked miners, Sparrow begins to suspect that Bob's desire to head north may have sinister motivations. Is Luke being held against his will? And what lies in store for them when they reach their goal?

Preorder Link*

The Two-Tailed Snake by Nod Ghosh

North-east India, 1945. Tensions are rising, but fourteen-year-old Joya doesn't pay much attention to 'political business' - she is more concerned with doing well at school and having fun with her best friends.

Yet when her father disappears without a trace, Joya's life falls apart. Forced to drop out of school and support her mother by working in a garment factory, she refuses to accept that her father is gone forever, spending her nights sewing him a suit from scraps of fine material.

But as political unrest grows and rumours of corruption spread, Joya questions the true nature of her father's disappearance. And who is the sinister figure known only as the two-tailed snake?

You'd Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace

I have a gift. I see people as ghosts before they die.

Of course, it helps that I'm the one killing them.

The night after her father's funeral, Claire meets Lucas in a bar. Lucas doesn't know it, but it's not a chance meeting. One thoughtless mistyped email has put him in the crosshairs of an extremely put-out serial killer. But even before they make eye contact, before Claire lets him buy her a drink, before she takes him home and carves him up into little pieces, something about that night is very wrong. Because someone is watching Claire. Someone who is about to discover her murderous little hobby.

The thing is, it's not sensible to tangle with a part-time serial killer, even one who is distracted by attending a weekly bereavement support group and trying to get her art career off the ground. Claire will do anything to keep her secret hidden - not to mention the bodies buried in her garden. Let the games begin...

Preorder Link*

The Worst Medieval Monarchs by Phil Bradford

Stephen. John. Edward II. Richard II. Richard III. These five are widely viewed as the worst of England’s medieval kings. Certainly, their reigns were not success stories. Two of these kings lost their thrones, one only avoided doing so by dying, another was killed in battle, and the remaining one had to leave his crown to his opponent. All have been seen as incompetent, their reigns blighted by civil war and conflict. They tore the realm apart, failing in the basic duty of a king to ensure peace and justice. For that, all of them paid a heavy price. As well as incompetence, some also have reputations for cruelty and villainy, More than one has been portrayed as a tyrant. The murder of family members and arbitrary executions stain their reputations. All five reigns ended in failure. As a result, the kings have been seen as failures themselves, the worst examples of medieval English kingship. They lost their reputations as well as their crowns. Yet were these five really the worst men to wear the crown of England in the Middle Ages? Or has history treated them unfairly? This book looks at the stories of their lives and reigns, all of which were dramatic and often unpredictable. It then examines how they have been seen since their deaths, the ways their reputations have been shaped across the centuries. The standards of their own age were different to our own. How these kings have been judged has changed over time, sometimes dramatically. Fiction, from Shakespeare’s plays to modern films, has also played its part in creating the modern picture. Many things have created, over a long period, the negative reputations of these five. Today, they have come to number among the worst kings of English history. Is this fair, or should they be redeemed? That is the question this book sets out to answer.

Preorder Link*

The Lost Flock by Jane Cooper

The Lost Flock is the story of the remarkable and rare little horned sheep, known as Orkney Boreray, and the wool-obsessed woman who moved to one of Scotland’s wildest islands to save them.

It was Jane Cooper’s passion for knitting that led her to discover the world of rare-breed sheep and their wool. Through this, Jane uncovered the ‘Orkney Borerary’ – a unique group within the UK’s rarest breed of sheep, the Boreray, and one of the few surviving examples of primitive sheep in northern Europe.

As her knowledge of this rarest of heritage breeds grew, she took the bold step to uproot her quiet suburban life in Newcastle and relocate to Orkney, embarking on a new adventure and life as farmer and shepherd.

Jane was astonished to find that she was the sole custodian of this lost flock in the world, and so she began investigating their mysterious and ancient history, tracking down the origins of the Boreray breed and its significance to Scotland’s natural heritage.

From Viking times to Highland crofts and nefarious research experiments in Edinburgh, this is a so-far untold real-life detective story. It is also the story of one woman’s relentless determination to ensure a future for her beloved sheep, and in doing so revealing their deep connection to the Scottish landscape.

An unforgettable story of a heritage breed and the importance of its existence.

Preorder Link*

*Disclosure: I only recommend books I would buy myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains an affiliate link from which I may earn a small commission.

Ten Exciting New Releases in June 2023

 

I can hardly believe that June is only a couple of weeks away. I am quietly confident that this month will bring weather which is nice enough to sit in the garden with a book. Fingers crossed everyone!

Here are ten new releases that look exciting.

The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman's Life by Rune Christiansen

Winner of the Brage Prize, the most prestigious award in Norwegian Literature, The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman's Life is a quiet, beautiful exploration of solitude and how we relate to other beings. It has been lauded by European critics for doing something very rare: offering deep pleasure and joy in reading with little theatrics.

Having grown up as an only child in Northern Sweden, Lydia is used to isolation and being on her own. She fills her days with her love of animals, nature, and hard work. She eventually settles into a career as a vet in rural Norway and embraces the rhythms of rural life. In a series of poetic sketches, Lydia tends to the animals in her community, spends time with her aging parents, and falls in love. Despite an increasing need for closer human contact that begins to encroach on her contented solitude, ultimately it is Lydia's satisfaction with her inner life that speaks of an elegance and hope often lost in these clamoring times.

Written in concise prose, the gravity and tranquility of this novel make it a gift― a soothing, contemplative offering about the depths of our inner worlds.

True Crimals by Robert Bryce Milburn and Richard Adrian

Dax and Daryl, two small-time crooks, concocted an ambitious plan to retire—frame themselves for kidnapping and murdering a rap superstar's trophy wife in an unsolved missing person case! To guarantee their capture, they broke into the crime scene and left behind some incriminating evidence—their blood, saliva and... *wink, wink* more intimate organic material—in the hope that the notoriety it gained would attract Hollywood producers and land themselves a movie deal! Their plan worked—and then it immediately backfired! Their dream becomes a nightmare, and they now have to prove their innocence or face the consequences of the death penalty.

The Twilight Garden by Sara Nisha Adams

In a small pocket of London, between the houses of No.77 and No.79 Eastbourne Road, lies a neglected community garden.

Once a sanctuary for people when they needed it most, the garden’s gate is now firmly closed. And that’s exactly how Winston at No.79 likes it – anything to avoid his irritating new next-door neighbour.

But when a mystery parcel drops on Winston’s doormat – a curious bundle of photographs of a community garden, his garden, bursting with life years ago – a seed of an idea is planted . . .

Somewhere out there, a secret gardener made a decades-old promise to keep the community’s spirit alive. And now it’s time for The Twilight Garden to come out of hibernation . . .

Sweeping through the 1970s to a modern corner of London, this is a life-affirming story of small spaces, small pleasures – and a community lost and found.

The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes

For Alice and her partner Joe, moving to the sleepy Cotswold village of Penton is a chance to embrace country life and prepare for the birth of their unexpected first child. He can take up woodwork; maybe she'll learn to make jam. But the rural idyll they'd hoped for doesn't quite pan out when a dead body is discovered at their local antenatal class and they find themselves suspects in a murder investigation.

With a cloud of suspicion hanging over the heads of the whole group, Alice sets out to solve the mystery and clear her name, with the help of her troublesome dog, Helen. However, there are more secrets and tensions in the heart of Penton than first meet the eye. Between the discovery of a shady commune up in the woods, the unearthing of a mysterious death years earlier and the near-tragic poisoning of Helen, Alice is soon in way over her head.

CAN YOU SOLVE THE MOTHER OF ALL MURDERS?

Unorthodox Love by Heidi Shertok

Penina has grown up believing the Orthodox Jewish teaching that there is one soulmate out there for everyone. But now she's twenty-nine and single, she's staring to wonder if she's the exception.

She has tried everything to find 'the one' and after yet another disastrous date, she can feel even her faith starting to dwindle.

Add to that spending her days surrounded by diamond engagement rings in the jewellery store where she works and her new boss, Sam Kleinfeld, making her life a living hell, and Penina feels more hopeless than ever.

Until she meets Zevi, a handsome, successful, Orthodox singleton just like her. Who has a rather unusual proposal. Could Penina be about to get everything she's ever wanted?

But then there's Sam, her pain of a boss, who she just can't stop thinking about...

The Choice by Michael Arditti

As a woman in the early 1980s, Clarissa Phipps is unable to pursue her vocation to the priesthood.  Instead, she joins the BBC's religious affairs department, where she is sent to interview celebrated artist, Seward Wemlock, about the panels he is painting for an ancient Cheshire church.

 Thirty years on, Clarissa, now rector of that same church, chances upon Brian, the chief bell-ringer and husband of her closest friend, fondling fifteen-year-old David.  Dismissing David's claim that they are in love, Clarissa is obliged to act. Will she choose friendship or conscience, sympathy or her official duty of care?

The fallout from that choice forces her to reflect on the original controversy over Wemlock's panels and her concerns about his relationship with the teenagers who modelled for Adam and Eve.  Had she acted on the whispers that reached her at the time, how many lives - her own included - would have turned out differently?

I Heard What You Said by Jeffrey Boakye

Before Jeffrey Boakye was a black teacher, he was a black student. Which means he has spent a lifetime navigating places of learning that are white by default. Since training to teach, he has often been the only black teacher at school. At times seen as a role model, at others a source of curiosity, Boakye’s is a journey of exploration – from the outside looking in.

In the groundbreaking I Heard What You Said, he recounts how it feels to be on the margins of the British education system. As a black, male teacher – an English teacher who has had to teach problematic texts – his very existence is a provocation to the status quo, giving him a unique perspective on the UK’s classrooms.

Through a series of eye-opening encounters based on the often challenging and sometimes outrageous things people have said to him or about him, Boakye reflects on what he has found out about the habits, presumptions, silences and distortions that black students and teachers experience, and which underpin British education.

Thought-provoking, witty and completely unafraid, I Heard What You Said is a timely exploration of how we can dismantle racism in the classroom and do better by all our students.

Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch

An atmospheric, feminist retelling of the early life of famed villainess Morgan le Fay, set against the colourful chivalric backdrop of Arthurian legend.

When King Uther Pendragon murders her father and tricks her mother into marriage, Morgan refuses to be crushed. Trapped amid the machinations of men in a world of isolated castles and gossiping courts, she discovers secret powers. Vengeful and brilliant, it's not long before Morgan becomes a worthy adversary to Merlin, influential sorcerer to the king. But fighting for her freedom, she risks losing everything – her reputation, her loved ones and her life.

My Heart Was a Tree by Michael Morpurgo

Discover the beauty and wonder of trees in this stunningly illustrated collection of poetry and stories celebrating trees and what they mean to the world around us . . .

Inspired by the woods around his home, the mighty forests that support our life on Earth, and the Ted Hughes poem which gives this book its title, My Heart Was a Tree is a celebration, and Sir Michael Morpurgo's love letter to trees.

There are stories from an ancient olive remembering Odysseus and Penelope, and from a eucalyptus that gave shelter to a koala; from a piece of driftwood that was made into a chair, and from a tiny sapling carried by a refugee as a reminder of home – these are poems and stories that will amuse, move and energise families and readers of all ages to appreciate the beauty and wonder of trees.

Yuval Zommer's beautiful, detailed illustrations bring the natural world to life, and make My Heart Was a Tree a book to pore over for hours and hours, discovering something new each time.

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd Robinson

‘My father had spelt it out to me. Choice was a luxury I couldn’t afford. This is your story, Red. You must tell it well . . .’

A girl known only as Red, the daughter of a Cornish fortune-teller, travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient method: the Square of Sevens. When her father suddenly dies, Red becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar.

Now raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendour of Bath, her fortune-telling is a delight to high society. But she cannot ignore the questions that gnaw at her soul: who was her mother? How did she die? And who are the mysterious enemies her father was always terrified would find him?

The pursuit of these mysteries takes her from Cornwall and Bath to London and Devon, from the rough ribaldry of the Bartholomew Fair to the grand houses of two of the most powerful families in England. And while Red's quest brings her the possibility of great reward, it also leads into her grave danger . . .

The Wonderland Murders by Millie Ravensworth - #bookreview #blogtour

 

The message on Penny's phone had read:

Nana Lem's been taken to St Agnes' Hospital. She's asked for you. It's critical. Come quickly.

Of course, Penny had to go. Firstly, there was that word 'critical'. Secondly, Nana Lem, her last surviving and definitely favourite grandparent, had asked for her. Thirdly, the message had come from Penny's cousin, Izzy... Fourthly, given that Penny's job at a London hotel had recently come to a crashing end (for reasons she did not want to go into), she was very much at a loose end.

***

A quirky and funny series for fans of a good mystery and compelling characters. Can you solve the crime before our dressmaking duo?

After losing her job at an exclusive London hotel, Penny Slipper is only too happy to help when her grandma asks her to take charge at the Cozy Craft sewing shop in charming rural Suffolk.

With cousin Izzy on hand as the expert dressmaker and Penny’s head for business, what can possibly go wrong?

But Penny’s in town for less than a day when the local librarian is poisoned and Penny fears she might even be accidentally responsible. Penny and Izzy are forced to turn detectives to uncover the true cause of death, while finishing a costume commission for their first customer.

Matters take a further deadly turn when a second body is discovered.

Can Penny and Izzy unpick the mysteries of the past and sew the pieces of this puzzle together before it’s too late?

***

This is the first in a four part series of books set in the Cozy Craft sewing shop. Being relatively nifty with a needle and thread myself I was instantly attracted to a book set in craft environment.

It was a fun book to read, full of eccentric characters. Penny and Izzy are the main characters and they complement one another very well. Penny is level headed and is the perfect foil for Izzy's, often outlandish ideas.

There are some lovely characters in this book, not all of them human. Arabella, the poetry loving pig, features just as much as some of the other secondary characters. I loved the name of the farmer, Stuart Dinktrout, and the book is littered with similar things, suggesting this is going to be fun from the very start.

It has all of the components that a reader would expect to find in a cosy crime mystery. At the beginning I thought I would work out who the murderer was quite quickly. However, the 'whodunnit' aspect kept me in the dark until the very end.

This made for a nice easy read and had I had time it could have been read in a single sitting.

ISBN:  979 8374205138

Publisher:  Independently published

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  250 (paperback)

About the Authors:

Millie Ravensworth isn’t just one writer but two! The Millie Ravensworth books are the product of long-term collaborators Heide Goody and Iain Grant. Heide and Iain have been writing together for more than a decade. Together they have written various comedy novels and, in recent years, have written the Sam Applewhite series of comedy crime novels.

In their own words: “There are a number of reasons why we did this but part of the reason is because of the algorithms Amazon uses to identify what books readers might like. Not everyone who reads one series by us will necessarily like books we've written in another series. Therefore, to avoid confusing the AI algorithms and to avoid disappointing some readers, we've written the latest batch of books under the pseudonym of Millie Ravensworth,” said Iain.

“We write other books under our own names but they’re nothing like the Millie Ravensworth books,” said Heide. “The fifth book in the Cozy Craft series is coming out in the middle of May and we hope to have book six written soo

n too. I hope people will continue to enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy writing them.”

(book courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources) 

A Most Unusual Demise by Katherine Black - #BlogTour #Excerpt

 

I am excited to be bringing you an excerpt from this book today, as part of the blog tour. Any book with a dog on the cover has to be good. Right?

A Most Unusual Demise by Katherine Black.

The Blurb

Retired librarian and bookshop owner May Morrigan lives in the affluent village of Blackheath with Fletcher, her best friend since they met decades ago, and May’s two dogs. What could be more normal? But May is not your average little old lady . . .

After an unpleasant church volunteer and an annoying local butcher meet their untimely ends, Fletcher and May team up to do some sleuthing. Soon, the elderly pair start working with a young journalist to investigate the case of a missing girl and its possible link to previous unsolved crimes. May finds this new project quite intriguing. She’s never met a murderer before—and now she just may get the chance, if they play their cards right . . .

Excerpt

Back home, May warmed her still elegant hands over the radiator in her front room. Her

home, a regal double-fronted Georgian named Greenway, stood on a slight rise, providing a

picturesque view across the heath to St Julian’s church and Blackheath Village on the other

side. She could almost believe that she lived in a countryside hamlet, if not for the traffic and

the glass towers of Canary Wharf on the horizon.

Greenway, built in 1730, was a popular brothel until May’s great-great-grandfather won the

house in a game of cards in the back room of the Three Tuns. The following week the

harlots moved out and the Morrigan clan moved in. A Morrigan had lived there ever since.

May had been born, kicking and screaming, in an upstairs bedroom. After a decade away,

first studying and then travelling, the death of her father had pulled her back to Blackheath.

She brought a husband, James, with her and they made Greenway their home. May knew

every inch of the building, from the chimney pots on the roof to the darkest depths of the

cellar.

She looked out at the heath, with its big sky and open space. It comforted May. Like her

home, it was a constant. On her desk were vintage postcards from the 1800s, and it was

much the same. Same buildings, same green with the church perched on one side and the

village crowding around the upper corner. It had all existed long before May and would

continue long after.

James had been gone for over a year, after two years of fighting that wretched disease. May

had given herself over to grief, mourned her loss, and now it was time to move forward.

Today was about new beginnings, about making the most of the time she had left. She ran

her hand across the pocket of her cardigan, feeling the reassuring shape of the little

container. Yes, it would be a pleasure to take charge of her life again.