Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts

Monday, 14 September 2026

10 Ten Exciting New Releases for October 2026

 

Sometimes it is so difficult to restrict myself to just ten books due to be released in the following month. There are so many great looking books to choose from. I finally settled on the following ten, and I am sure you will agree, they do look exciting.

Happy Reading!


Flickers of Light in a Nazi Darkness by Lisa Waller Rogers

Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, marking the end of the Weimar Republic and the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship. As the tide of Nazism grew, so did anti-Jewish decrees which stripped away the rights of German Jews.

In May 1940, the Germans invaded and occupied the neutral country of the Netherlands. Little by little the Nazis took away the rights of the Dutch Jews and the only place they were safe was in their homes, until they weren’t. In 1942, Nazis conducted raids to deport them to labor and concentration camps. But not every Jew was caught. Thanks to the heroic action of Dutch resistance workers, at great risk to themselves, Dutch resistance workers hid Jews from the Nazis, and sought to keep them safe and fed through the long years of WWII. Not all of these efforts bore success, many Dutch workers were imprisoned and executed by the Nazis. Flickers of Light in a Nazi Darkness brings the story of some of these “Flickers of Light” resistance workers to life.

Preorder Link


 The Secret Keeper by Anstey Harris


Olivia has spent thirty years tending the cemetery next to her home, gently caring for the graves. Since her daughter Lizzie stopped speaking to her after a devastating accident, talking to the dead has been easier than the living.

Olivia thought there would be years ahead—time to persuade Lizzie to come home. But when she discovers her husband is dying, everything changes. Suddenly, time is very short.

For Lizzie to reunite with her parents, Olivia will have to face the truth of her choices, of the secrets she’s been hiding for years. She knows it is time. Time to bring the two halves of herself back together. But if she does, will those she loves forgive her? Or is it already too late?

An incredibly moving story that will stay in your heart, about the secrets we keep to protect those we love and how to find peace when time is running out.

Preorder Link


The Storyteller of Krakow by Carly Schabowski

It takes courage to tell your story…

Kraków, 1994. When an elderly woman named Lena meets a young girl, the child is carrying a toy bear, who she has named Wojtek. She quietly tells Lena it’s named after a bear who was famous in the second world war. This is a name Lena hasn’t heard in many years. And so she begins her story…

Kraków, 1940. When Lena was young, she loved to tell stories – about the places she would go, the battles she would fight, the great loves she might have – imagining herself the heroine in every tale. But when the Soviet forces invade her town, and take her to a Siberian gulag, leaving her with no family, no home, no strength to fight… her dreams feel further away than ever.

Until the Soviets change sides in the war, and Lena finds herself being rescued, and on an unexpected journey – one that runs in parallel with a tame bear named Wojtek. As their journey takes them across the Middle East, to Africa, and finally to war-torn Italy, she realized there might be a chance for her to live the life she always told stories about – fighting the hated Nazis.

But there is one thing missing… a great love. Lena knows she doesn’t need saving by a man. But when Wojtek the bear leads her to an injured stranger, she realises perhaps it’s not her who needs rescue. The only problem is that the man she’s led to is a German soldier, on the other side of the war from her…

Can love conquer all in wartime? Don’t miss this unforgettable story!

Preorder Link


All Yours by Pippa Nixon


A spicy second chance romance between a single dad and an old flame.

The last time games designer Fox saw Robyn was the morning after their amazing night together. He didn't even get her last name. But as a single dad to two boys, he's never had time for anything but his work and his family.

So when flame-haired Robyn shows up on his doorstep as his new live-in nanny, Fox is stunned. The connection burns just as bright, but they agree to keep it professional.

The longer they live under one roof, the harder it is to keep their promise. And where Robyn's concerned, Fox is playing for keeps . . .

Preorder Link


Loyalty and Lies on Dressmakers' Alley by Rosie Clarke


Times are changing. Is there a glimmer of hope on the horizon for the women of Dressmaker Alley?

London’s East End 1927

Yvonne White is content as head seamstress at Miss Susie, raising her beloved son alone and determined to keep the past behind her. So when John’s father suddenly reappears after years of silence, demanding a place in his son’s life, Yvonne’s hard-won peace is shattered.

Polly Blake spends her days exhausted by endless work and family responsibilities, caring for her invalid father and three younger brothers while her carefree twin, Patsy, falls in with dangerous company. Polly longs for happiness of her own, but trouble is never far away.

Meanwhile, Lady Diane’s dazzling fashion designs have made Miss Susie the toast of London. Yet as she accompanies the ailing Lord Henry to Italy, jealousy and uncertainty threaten everything she holds dear.

With fear spreading through London’s East End as a killer stalks the shadows, the women of Dressmaker’s Alley must face secrets, heartbreak, and unexpected surprises before their lives change forever.

Things are looking brighter on Dressmaker’s Alley, but there are always those who want to cause trouble…

Preorder Link


The Pilgrimage of Primrose Honeychurch by Laura Jensen Walker


Primrose Honeychurch doesn’t really “get” people. Books, though, make perfect sense.

At seventy, the sharp-tongued recluse prefers to keep company with her own routines. But when a life-altering diagnosis leaves her worried she’ll never be missed, she decides it’s finally time to do something to leave her mark: something no one will ever forget.

Clutching her mother’s ashes and the book of her heart, Primrose hops on a plane, bound for Hay-on-Wye, the legendary Welsh “Town of Books.” Unfortunately, her literary pilgrimage just won’t follow the plot. After an accident derails her trip, she finds herself staying awhile with estranged family. But she senses a kindred spirit in the niece she’s getting to know, who uncannily understands the world much the same as Primrose herself does.

As rolling green hills and book-lined streets frame an unexpected season of discovery, what began as an unwelcome detour becomes something more profound. For the first time in her life, Primrose begins to glimpse the beauty―and courage―of true human connection.

Preorder Link


A Gala Ball at Tillingford Hall by Flora Dunn


Sahara Seaton-Smyth’s life is in disarray. Her modelling career has stalled; her ex, James, is never coming home; her beloved brother Seb is moving out; and the local vet has persuaded her to adopt a demanding orphaned piglet called Muffin.

To top it all, Sahara’s closest friend, Guy Tillingford, is losing his calm. In the run-up to the opening gala ball, Tin Tub Productions are filming a documentary about his crumbling country mansion, Tillingford Hall. Although he’s thrilled to be a first-time dad, his fiancée Alice’s due date is worryingly close to the big night.When Tin Tub ask Sahara to be a presenter, she’s reluctant to step back into the spotlight – until she learns she’ll be working with her old friend, popular TV historian Dr Tom Pemberton. With Tom’s reassurance, she takes a chance on a new career.

Since his wife Vittoria died, Tom has been juggling single parenthood with TV stardom. His eleven-year-old son Cory has retreated into video games, while his fifteen-year-old daughter Xanthe, an exceptional violinist, struggles with sudden fame.

Who better to help Tom navigate these challenges than Sahara?

But when she receives unexpected news about her health, will it bring them closer – or push them apart?

And with Alice’s due date so close to the ball, who will have the first dance?

Preorder Link


Dreadnought by Robin Bennett

On a remote Yorkshire headland known as Dreadnought, seven-year-old Cass Delaval begins to glimpse figures and fragments tied to a past that refuses to stay buried.

As the world edges toward conflict, Cass is drawn into a family mystery stretching back to the Second World War: a missing boy, a hidden weapon, and a family secret.

Because whatever has lain dormant on Dreadnought goes deep into our past … and it isn’t finished with us yet.

Dreadnought is a story of loyalty and hope, where the courage of one small girl may be our last defence.

Preorder Link


The Translator by Annabelle Marx


Detective novels, she said, were for simpletons and spinsters. But she translated them anyway – because someone she loved couldn’t live without them.

1936, London. Edie Adler slips into the back pew of a memorial service for her dearest friend, Vee Saunders – presumed dead, her body never found. As politicians murmur condolences to Vee’s powerful husband, Edie sits with a fury she can barely contain. She knows things about this marriage no one in the room would dare speak aloud. And she refuses to believe that Vee is gone. She closes her eyes and she’s back in the warm Mediterranean water – the salt on her skin, Vee’s hands keeping her afloat, that voice in her ear: don’t worry, I won’t let you sink…

1918, Malta. Edie, an officer in the newly formed Wrens, arrives on the sun-drenched island expecting cyphers, duty and discipline. What she doesn’t expect is Vee – a whip-smart nurse singing in the bathtub with a cigarette in one hand and a gin in the other. Vee teaches her to swim in secret coves, leads her astray in the basement bars of Valletta, and the two women forge a bond that will shape the rest of their lives.

As they take different paths – Edie to a small flat in Hampstead, swimming in the Ladies’ Pond each morning, long days as a social worker in the London slums – they stay bound by letters. Vee’s are vivid, full of mischief, then slowly, they darken. And then they stop. Two years of silence. Until a parcel arrives from Paris – three detective novels, all in French, no sender, no note – and Edie’s world shifts on its axis.

Preorder Link


The Secret Garden Murders by J.R. Ellis


A murder in a locked garden. A village full of secrets. Can DCI Oldroyd find a killer who has vanished into thin air?

When a woman is found strangled in the locked garden of historic Bishop Hewick Hall in Yorkshire, DCI Jim Oldroyd needs to solve a seemingly impossible murder. The only door was bolted from the inside and the kitchen garden walls are too high to climb. If no one could enter or leave, how did the killer commit the crime and escape?

As Oldroyd and his team investigate the victim’s past, they discover Clarissa Morden wasn’t the kind elderly woman she appeared. Instead, she was a ruthless blackmailer who kept coded records of her neighbours’ darkest secrets. Her list included a local cabinet maker, the Bishop Hewick Hall manager and even her next-door neighbour―suddenly it seems as if half the village has a motive for murder.

When a second body is discovered in the local river, it seems this quiet corner of Yorkshire may never be the same again. Can Oldroyd unlock the secret of the impossible locked garden murder and find the culprit? Or will the killer strike again in this tranquil village to keep their secrets hidden…

Preorder Link

Tuesday, 4 August 2026

Murder at Christmas by T. A. Williams - #bookreview #blogtour


My phone started ringing as Oscar and I were on our way back from an early-morning assignment. An American would have referred to what we were doing as a stakeout, but I try to avoid using that world unnecessarily, because my ever-hungry Labrador is all too familiar with the word 'steak' and I don't like to get his hopes up...


***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from Rachel's Random Resources. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***

The Blurb

A festive gathering...

Private investigator Dan Armstrong, accompanied by his wife and his canine sidekick, Oscar, are spending the days before Christmas in a luxurious Alpine chalet tucked away in a hidden valley. It should be the perfect escape, except the owner is in fear for his life.

A house full of secrets...

Amid perfect winter wonderland scenery, the more Dan discovers about his host and the other guests, he realises that all is not as it seems. What should be a happy family party is riddled with rancour, mistrust and hatred.

A killer in the snow?

Then the snow falls – fast and heavy – and within moments, someone is dead. Accident, suicide, or murder? As the snow closes in, Dan has to work out if he's looking for a killer, or whether he and Oscar are barking up the wrong tree.

A brand new instalment in the page-turning Armstrong & Oscar cozy mystery series, this time in the snowy Italian Alps.


My Review

I have been wanting to read this series for a while now. Whilst I would usually start a series at the beginning, I was offered this book as part of the blog tour and I simply couldn't resist. This works perfectly as a standalone story and I enjoyed it very much.

It seems somewhat ironic to be reading a Christmas book during a heatwave, but I so enjoyed reading about Private Investigator Dan Armstrong and his faithful canine friend, Oscar. Call me fickle, but almost any book which has a dog on the cover has my immediate attention.

Asked by a friend to visit the house and talk to its owner, who is in fear of his life, Dan is employed to stay and look into this. There is an interesting cast of characters staying at the house, and Dan and Oscar have to investigate whether one of them is a killer.

The Italian setting of this book was gorgeous and the descriptions of the snowy scenery sounded like something from the front of a Christmas card. Gorgeous imagery alongside the claustrophobia of the snow causing the guests in the house to be trapped until the snow was cleared. Add into that scenario a potential murderer amongst the guests and you have this fabulous novel.

The author knows just how to bring his characters alive on the page. In the same way that Oscar is an excellent judge of character, as dogs so often are, and combined with Dan's intuitive yet experiential nature, I was left fully trusting the judgement of the duo.

Using both narrative and dialogue to move the story along, the pace of the book was perfect for the genre. Without doubt, the author is an excellent storyteller and this book has left me wanting more. I may well go and start at the beginning of the series now. There are sixteen other books in the series for me to enjoy, and I can't wait to get stuck in.


Book Details

ISBN: 978 1837031627

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Formats: e-book, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages: 256 (paperback)

Series: Book 17 in the Armstrong and Oscar Cozy Mystery Series


Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

In his own words: I’m a man. And a pretty old man as well. I studied languages at Nottingham University a long time ago and then lived and worked in France and Switzerland before going to work in Italy for seven years. My Italian wife and I then came back to the UK with our little daughter (now long-since grown up) where I ran a big English language school for many years. We now live in a sleepy little village in Devonshire. I’ve been writing almost all my life but it was only 13 years ago that I finally managed to find a publisher who liked my work enough to offer me my first contract.

I started off writing romances but after 28 of them, I knew I wanted to try something different, and so the first of the Armstrong and Oscar cozy mysteries, Murder in Tuscany, was born three years ago. I’ve been having a lot of fun ever since getting to know the dynamic duo (and introducing them to people all over the world). These books are cosy crime [a genre I didn't even know existed when I started writing them). They are murder mysteries, but not gory, over-violent stuff, but stories designed to exercise the brain of the reader and to put a smile on their face. Maybe it’s because there are so many horrible things happening in the world today that I feel I need to do my best to provide something to cheer my readers up. My books provide escapism to some gorgeous locations all over my beloved Italy.

You can also find the author at:

Author Website

X

Facebook


My Other Blog Posts Featuring Cosy Crime

Murder on the Farm by Kate Wells

The Wonderland Murders by Millie Ravensworth

How Not to Murder Your Ex by Katie Marsh





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

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Monday, 3 August 2026

The Novel Detective by Teresa Dovalpage - #authorQ&A #blogtour

 In her metafictional mystery The Novel Detective (Soho Crime, July 2026), author Teresa Dovalpage steps directly into the pages of her own story. In this candid Q&A, she discusses ghosts, the underground secrets of 1980s Havana, and what happens when a mystery writer becomes her own protagonist.


The Blurb

A metafictional mystery set in Cuba past and present about a writer returning to her long-lost hometown, seeking the truth about two suspicious deaths.

2020: Teresa, a Cuban-born mystery writer now living in America, gets an unexpected call from her childhood best friend, Estrella, inviting her to Havana. Estrella is determined to get answers about a case that has haunted them both for decades: the purported murder-suicide of a teacher and a student at their high school. Though Teresa doesn’t quite understand why Estrella is taking the story so personally, she’s along for the ride—as she always wanted to write a novel about this case.

1980: Fourteen-year-old Teresita, bespectacled, awkward and mystery novel–obsessed, is “nosy, but not a tattletale.” She knows who’s been skimming off the top of the amphetamine stash in her mother’s pharmacy, which teacher keeps cyanide in his cabinet at school and that their classmate Yoyi is sleeping with their English teacher. Over the course of one fateful day, Teresita gets closer than ever to learning the “Truth of Life”—her catchall term for the intricacies of adult existence—even if it means coming face to face with death.

Directly inspired by the author’s own childhood in Cuba and adult life in the United States, drawing upon the tradition of Latin American magical realism, this is a resonant tale at once personal and universal, full of nostalgia, candor and danger. 



Welcome to the blog Teresa.

Q  In the 1980 timeline, Teresita is obsessed with finding the “Truth of Life.” What does that phrase mean to a fourteen-year-old in Havana?

A Teresita is at that awkward age where she’s no longer a child, but not yet an adult. For her, the “Truth of Life” is the secret code that adults use to navigate a world that she finds full of contradictions. It’s about understanding why a classmate meets with a teacher in a “tunnel of love” and discovering how enjoyable (or icky, as it turns out to be) it is to kiss a boy for the first time. Plus living in 1980 Cuba, she needs to understand how the world actually works once the revolutionary anthems stop playing.

Q  The book is described as metafictional. How does your perspective as a real-life mystery writer influence the way the fictional Teresa approaches the investigation?

A  It adds a layer of creative self-consciousness. The adult Teresa is investigating a crime while thinking about how the case would work as a literary plot. She’s analyzing clues like a mystery writer, looking for hidden reasons and character arcs, even as real-world Havana throws her curveballs that don’t fit into a neat three-act structure. It’s a story about a writer investigating a detective story, which allowed me to play with all the tropes of the genre.

Q We meet Teresita’s childhood best friend, Estrella, in both timelines. What role does she play in pushing the story forward?

A  Estrella is the ultimate catalyst. While teenage Teresita is the observer, Estrella is the one who takes things personally, gets into fights and acts out. In 1980, she’s the rebellious girl joking about the school’s “mustard and ketchup” uniforms and doing Santería ceremonies to attract a boy she likes. In the modern timeline, she’s the one who pulls Teresa back to the crime scene and asks her to find out what really happened. Every detective needs a partner who provides the emotional stakes, and for Teresa, that’s always been Estrella.

Q  Teresita knows some dangerous secrets, like who is stealing amphetamines in the pharmacy where her mother works and the affair between a teacher and a student. How much of this was a reality for students in Cuba back then?

A  When a society is highly monitored, the underground thrives. Growing up, things like black-market jeans, diverted pharmacy supplies, inflated grades, and banned Beatles songs were just part of daily life. We had a saying back then: “Whatever is not prohibited is compulsory.” I wanted The Novel Detective to capture that exact tension. Behind the facade of perfect socialist behavior demanded by teachers like Irma, absolutely everyone had a secret they were desperate to protect.

Q  What do you hope readers take away from your specific blend of Cuban nostalgia and atmospheric mystery?

A   I hope readers see that nostalgia isn’t always sunny. You can miss the place you grew up while still acknowledging the shadows that lurked there. I wanted to portray a Havana that is still beautiful, but one that is also crumbling and facing immense shortages and hardships. Ultimately, I want readers to walk away feeling like they’ve spent time in the Manzana de Gómez, both as tourists in a luxury hotel, and as students who know exactly where the “tunnels of love” lead.

Thank you so much for being on the blog today, Teresa.


Book Details

ISBN: 978 1641298285

Publisher: Soho Crime

Formats: e-book and hardback

No. of Pages: 333 (hardback)


Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

Teresa Dovalpage is the author of fourteen novels, four collections of short stories in English and Spanish, and four theatre plays. Her Havana Mystery series, published by Soho Crime, began with Death Comes in through the Kitchen (2018). Subsequent novels include Queen of Bones (2019) named by NBC News as one of the ten best books by and about Latinos of the year; Death of a Telenovela Star (2020); Death under the Perseids (2021), and Last Seen in Havana (2024) which Sarah Weinman praised in The New York Times for exploring “how familial bonds can fray, yet manage to hold steady, across the decades.” Last Seen in Havana was also an Amazon Editor’s Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense. The Novel Detective is a metafictional mystery inspired by the author’s own childhood in Cuba and adult life in the United States.

You can also find Teresa at:

Author Website

Facebook

Instagram





(media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Friday, 24 July 2026

The House of Twisted Shadows by J.H. Mann - #bookreview #blogtour

The first snow flurries danced in the breeze as Amelia Tremayne stepped out of her red Austin-Healey sports car and strode towards Tyler House. Her skin prickled at the sight of a building she had spent ten years trying to forget...

***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from Rachel's Random Resources. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***


The Blurb

A HOUSE ON THE EDGE

 A DAUGHTER DRIVEN TO OBSESSION

A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Winter 1962. Amelia Tremayne has spent the past ten years in London trying to forget the lonely clifftop house where her father was killed. Tyler House was built shortly before the Second World War on Cornwall’s stormy coast by a wealthy German outsider. Its most unsettling feature is a vast glass dome that bends the light, casting twisted, elongated shadows across the walls.

Amelia’s father, Douglas Tremayne, a noted historian, was researching a controversial book about Tyler House’s Nazi origins - and its links to powerful figures in the local community.

As Amelia begins to uncover the truth about her father’s death, she is pulled into a web of buried secrets - and into a forbidden love that could destroy everything she holds dear.

INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY


My Review

This book is an exciting story which I enjoyed reading.

The main character, Amelia, is obsessed with Tyler House, her childhood home in Cornwall. However, Tyler House is creeping closer to the edge of a cliff.  Ten years prior, her historian father was murdered there and Amelia believes the manuscript that he was killed for is hidden somewhere in the house.

In some ways, Tyler House was the main character in this book. It has a dark history, and an eerie, brooding presence. Within its rooms and hallways, secrets are hidden. The author did a fabulous job of describing the house and its rapid decline into the sea beneath. 

The author skillfully brought his characters, setting and story alive on the page. He knows exactly how to create atmosphere, from the decaying house through to the heavy snowfalls which isolated the village. He portrays the sense of isolation and captivity really well.

This novel is full of suspense and tension and kept me turning the pages. It is well worth reading and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a suspenseful mystery with some eeriness thrown in.


Book Details

Publisher: Dark Spider Books

Formats: e-book (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages: 344

Series: Part of the Wild Cornwall series


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author


J.H.Mann is an award-winning journalist and writer living in the South West of England. His second novel, The Echoing Shore, was a Yeovil Literary Prize award winner and the Adult Fiction Winner of the 2025 Selfies Book Awards at the London Book Fair. His third novel, The Silver Tide, has just been shortlisted for the 2026 Selfies Book Awards. He has strong family links with Cornwall. His novels are inspired by the many stories told by his mother and father and his own experiences as a shore-based volunteer for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). He lives with his wife, Nicola, and their lively whippet Patch.

You can also find him at:

Author Website

Facebook

Instagram

Tik Tok


My Other Blog Posts of Based in Cornwall

The Cornish Rebel by Nicola Pryce

The Letter by Ruth Saberton

A Mother's Hope for the Cornish Girls by Better Walker

The Vanishing Act by Jo Jakeman

Don't Look Away by Rachel Abbott

The Rescue by S.L. Rosewarne





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

(all opinions are my own)


Friday, 5 June 2026

The Drowned Siren by Callisto Lodwick - #bookreview

12.5 hours after the party

The reporters arrive a few hours after the police. They swarm onto the street of the town like cockroaches, rushing around with their shining, shell-like cameras.

***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from the publisher. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***


The Blurb

She was driven by success.

Now, she’s driven by obsession.

After years of being viewed as plain and boring, university student Eleanor is thrilled when the beautiful Cheyenne notices her and starts showering her with attention.

Soon, the lines between friendship and love become blurred, at least for Eleanor.

Until she realises that Cheyenne’s love isn’t unconditional … Years later, Eleanor’s life has changed completely.

After moving to LA to pursue her dreams, she now lives mostly in isolation.

Her days are spent locked up in her hotel suite, dreaming up revenge fantasies.

As her past and present collide, Eleanor is forced to ask the question she dreads most: what happens when your darkest fantasies become reality?


My Review

This was a gripping read that kept me hooked throughout.

Eleanor has always been friendless, but when she arrives at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, she hopes she will make friends. However, it is not until she stumbles across Cheyenne, a student from LA in America who is glamorous and popular, that she begins to feel she has a friend. However, just as Eleanor revels in being accepted, Cheyenne shrugs her off like an old coat.

This rejection is central to the whole story and the author enables the reader to really get under the skin of her main character, and we are able to witness the obsession and her need for revenge. 

In fact, even when Eleanor finds career success, she is totally consumed by her need for revenge. She is unable to shake off the rejection even when she finds acceptance elsewhere. The author has created a fascinating character who leaps off the page. She possesses a dark and narcissistic personality which completely pulled me into her story.

The narrative begins twelve and a half hours before a party. The timeline soon shifts to three years and eight months before the party. We then move back and forth across those time periods, but at no point did I find this confusing. The reader knows that something devastating will happen at the party, but it is only as we progress through the book that it becomes apparent. 

This was a very atmospheric book which had a dark and pernicious undertone running throughout. It has twists and turns aplenty and a narrative that kept me hooked. 

Although the main character was unlikable, I was gripped by how this story was going to play out. Usually, I like to identify with the main character of a book, and whilst this wasn't the case with Eleanor, I could empathise with her rejection and desire to be loved. Her inner rage oozed from the pages and culminated in an extremely well-written novel which will appeal to readers.

This was a fabulous novel and will appeal to those who enjoy a dark story with an unreliable narrator. I highly recommend it.


Book Details

ISBN:  978 1917415187

Publisher:  Datura

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  336 (paperback)


Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Vinted

Datura Books

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

Callisto Lodwick was born in New Jersey, then lived for many years in Switzerland and San Francisco, finally settling in England. She is currently studying English Literature and Classics at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She has been a finalist in Building U’s $1000 for 1000 Words, Peninsula Library Systems’ YANovCon and the Layla Beben Writing Contest.

You can also find Callisto at:

Author Website

Instagram




(ARC and media courtesy of the publisher)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Thursday, 21 May 2026

10 Ten Exciting New Releases in June 2026

 


There are some fabulous books being released in June.

During the latter half of the month, I will be taking a two week break for a holiday. Although, I won't be posting during that time, rest assured that some of the little beauties in this list will be sneaking into my suitcase and keeping me company.

I hope you find something in this list to entice you too.


The Promise of Wonder by Katherine Webb


A tragic accident. A misguided accusation. Are some mistakes unforgivable?

England, 1889. In her family’s rambling manor house in Dorset, fifteen-year-old Theodora Hallewell dreams of magic, adventure, and Toby Meriwether. As Toby prepares to leave for university, Theo plans a midnight gathering—one last chance to make Toby notice her. By dawn, a tragic mistake will shatter the world as they know it.

Years later, Toby has built a respectable life in London, scarred by the past but determined to put it behind him. Theo, struggling with the aftermath of what happened, has begun to fear that the life she has built is more fragile—and far more dangerous—than she ever imagined. Both live under the shadow of that fateful night—until a startling discovery casts what happened in a whole new light, and offers a chance to right the wrongs that have haunted them for so long.

Spanning three decades, The Promise of Wonder is a spellbinding story of lost love, atonement, and the long journey towards forgiveness.



The Underground Sisters by Soraya M. Lane


Amsterdam, 1940: Schoolteacher Aletta knows the war will soon reach her and the Jewish children in her class. When her family hide an injured Allied airman in their home, they must decide: how much will they risk when resistance could prove deadly?

Paris, 1940: Since her mother’s death, Chloe has dedicated herself to protecting her brothers. So when the SS accuses Claude of being in the Resistance, she sacrifices herself to save him.

Forced together in Ravensbrück concentration camp, Chloe, Aletta and her mother, Emma, forge an unbreakable bond. Surrounded by unimaginable cruelty, they mount their own kind of resistance―secretly teaching children and preserving fellow prisoners’ precious memories. In a place designed to strip away humanity, their friendship becomes an act of defiance, their determination to bear witness a lifeline of hope.

As the war rages on and whispers of a longed-for liberation grow, can their courage and sisterhood see them through to freedom? And if they survive, how can they ever be the same?

Based on true events, this is an inspiring testament to the power of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit.



Dwell by Rue Baldry


January 1919 - A new gardener at a snowbound boarding school catches everyone's attention. It's rumoured he is a war hero.  He's nineteen-year-old Albert, haunted by Great War experiences and fighting the temptation of one particular prefect. What they want is illegal.

Being caught would ruin them. Then Albert's past finds him, making their quest for a place where love can safely dwell look impossible.



Just Emilia by Jennifer Oko


The past, present, and future collide in a DC Metro elevator as three women get caught up in a gripping time-traveling tale of memory, emotion, and unspoken truths about their shared history. Synopsis: When Emilia Fletcher finds herself trapped inside a Washington, DC Metro elevator, getting out is the least of her problems. Sharing the confined space with her are Em, a troubled teenager plagued by suicidal thoughts, and Millie, an elderly woman yearning to mend ties with her estranged daughter. As the hours drag on, hunger, exhaustion, and panic set in, revealing an almost incomprehensible truth: they are the same person. Locked in an uncompromising match of memories, the three women excavate and attempt to reckon with the shared shame and suffering stemming from an unresolved trauma that has cast a profound shadow over their lives. Brimming with biting humor, compassion, and quick-witted insight, Just Emilia is remarkable journey of self-discovery.



Collapse by Edourd Louis


Édouard’s brother spends much of his life dreaming. He lives in a poor, working-class world, where he imagines that he will become one of the finest butchers in France, that he will travel, that he will make his fortune, that he will restore cathedrals, that he will earn his father’s love.

But his reality allows none of this. There is no way to escape, no one who can show him how, and everything about him – his drinking, his violence, his behaviour with women and with others – condemns him.

At thirty-eight he is found dead on the floor of his small studio apartment. This book is the story of his collapse.



Bad Deeds by Andrew Hunter Murray


Alex used to break into houses illegally. These days, it’s his job.

Alex is part of a small firm of consultants who break into offices and homes to test their security. It’s fun, it’s well paid, and he’s very good at it. It’s almost like he’s grown up at last.

But when he gets fired from his firm, evicted from his flat and dumped by his girlfriend, all in the same evening, he decides to steal one last job from his company without their knowing. A job they had already decided not to accept.

Big mistake.

Before long, Alex is in remote northern Scotland, following the trail of an ambitious young man who supposedly fell to his death with no witnesses in sight.

And if Alex doesn’t get to the truth soon, he may well be the next one over the edge...



A Time to Be Born by Dawn Powell


Amanda Keeler is a bestselling novelist, famed for her martini-soaked parties. It's a glamorous life, paid for in full by marriage to a tedious, teeth-grinding newspaper tycoon.

When a meek friend from her provincial past arrives in Manhattan, Amanda plots to use her as cover for an affair-until she realises that they have both fallen for the same man.

Sophisticated, scandalous and acidly funny, this is a portrait of a woman determined to have everything, even if it costs the one thing she never meant to gamble: her heart.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.



How to Survive in the Woods by Kat Rosenfield


Emma Sharp knows the rules of survival. From being raised by a doomsday-fearing father and hardened by the startup world, she has learned how to endure - especially in her marriage to Logan Grant, a charismatic tyrant who keeps her under tight control. To Emma, her marriage is a cage: it keeps you in, but it also keeps you safe. Until it doesn't.

When Emma forms an unexpected bond with Logan's former girlfriend, the two women form a plan to help Emma reclaim her life. Destination: the punishing final stretch of the Appalachian Trail.

After all, bad things happen in the woods all the time.

As the three venture deeper into Maine's backcountry, desire and dread curdle into something unpredictable, dark and deadly. Someone is lying. Someone is watching. And in the remote heart of the forest, someone is about to be lost . . . or found.



Lisa Doyle is Absolutely Fine by Mo Fanning


Lisa Doyle is fine. Absolutely fine.

At least, that's the story she's been telling herself.

Her best friend is getting married. Everyone around her seems to have a partner, a plan, and a life that makes sense. Lisa, meanwhile, has four glasses of wine in her, a talent for making bad situations worse, and a growing sense of being left behind.

So she does what any sensible woman in a crisis would do. She announces that she's engaged.

There is only one problem.

Brian does not exist.

Now Lisa needs a fiancé before the wedding, her actor flatmate is far too willing to get involved, and the real Brian, who is very much married and very much her boss, is starting to look at her in ways that suggest this lie may have got seriously out of hand.

Warm, witty, and painfully recognisable, Lisa Doyle is Absolutely Fine is a grown-up romantic comedy about love, pressure, friendship, and the exhausting performance of holding everything together when you're quietly falling apart.

Perfect for readers of Mhairi McFarlane, Beth O'Leary, and Marian Keyes.



The Cider Girls Join the Fight by May Ellis


1941, Somerset: the shadow of war is closing in.

Two years into the conflict, Rose is adjusting to life as a Land Girl, working the Somerset fields alongside Jimmy, the farmer’s son whose watchful, protective attention she can neither escape nor ignore. Thankfully, she has found companionship in Daisy, a district nurse, and Elsie, an ATS clerk. New friends thrown together by the necessities of war, they call themselves the Cider Girls.

As the threat of invasion grows, the girls prove their courage to the commanding officer of a secret resistance unit and are drawn into a dangerous world of espionage, coded messages and hidden loyalties.

But there is trouble close to home too. Daisy knows she is in love with her lifelong friend Mattie, but will she speak the truth before it’s too late? Elsie’s life is shattered by the tragic death of her sister, leaving her with an impossible choice. And Rose finds her work in the resistance increasingly hard to hide.

In a world of secrets and sacrifice, can the Cider Girls’ friendship see them through the darkest days yet?



(all opinions are my own)
(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Friday, 24 April 2026

The Other Killer by Heidi Field - #bookreview #blogtour


 Standing on the pavement outside the prison is a rush like I haven't felt in twenty years, like someone's been standing on my chest for two decades and they just stepped off...

***

It has recently come to my attention that I must make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from Zooloo's Book Tours. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.


***


The Blurb

You can change your name. Change your life. But someone knows exactly who you are.

Twenty years ago, Mason Tucker was tried and convicted as the teenager who helped lure young boys to the serial killer known as the Pied Piper of Peasedale. After serving his twenty-year sentence, Mason is freed and hopes to remain invisible while he rebuilds his life as an adult, hoping to become a man he can be proud of. A new town, a new flat, a new job and a new purpose.

But living with secrets is challenging, and protecting his anonymity, the woman who stood beside him, and her child becomes impossible when the past pushes back. Hard. Within days of his release, Mason suspects he’s being stalked. He’s threatened and twice attacked. He never imagined being outside would be more dangerous than being in prison. The police aren’t an option. One headline will destroy him.

Someone wants him punished, not redeemed, and as danger closes in, you will never suspect where the next threat comes from.


My Review

Although this book is the third in a series, it also works brilliantly as a stand alone novel. In fact, the author was on the blog last year talking about her first book in this series, The Other Boy, and I reviewed the second book in the series, The Other Mother. Both that and this latest book are excellent and very well worth reading.

This book begins with the release from prison of Mason, also known as the Peasedale Accomplice. He has served twenty years and now wants to live quietly, with a change of name and anonymity. However, within days he realises someone knows about his past and he is being stalked.

The chapters, which are all told from Mason's perspective, flit between past and present. This enables the reader to understand how he was drawn into such wrongdoing in the past. The present day chapters demonstrate to the reader that although he has had a hard life in prison, he shows a level of naivety of life on the outside. Whilst he truly desires to help youngster, Kenny, I couldn't help but think that it would end badly for Mason, whilst truly hoping that it wouldn't.

The author tells her story very well. It is full of twists and turns and kept me gripped from the first page to the last. She knows just how to drag the reader in and how to keep them enthralled. I found myself constantly wanting to get back to this book when I wasn't reading.

She understands her characters well and thus portrays them with detail, understanding and compassion. I was really moved by Mason's story and his desire for a second chance at life. He is a character that will stay with me long after the book is finished.

This is an exceptional series of books which I highly recommend. That said, there are times that this novel is dark and graphic, and readers should be prepared for this. It won't suit everyone and if that is you then I would give this one a miss.


Book Details

ISBN:  978 1970840629

Publisher:  Tule Publishing Group

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  344 (paperback)

Series:  Book 3 in The Peasedale Wood Killers series


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author


Heidi Field was raised in the beautiful countryside of the South of England with her parents and her two sisters. In her twenties she was a freelance Sports Massage Therapist. She achieved a Degree in Zoology at the age of thirty and then went on to raise two boys and became the stepmother of three more young children. She still lives near her family home with her partner, their Great Dane and the children that have yet to fly the nest. 

In her early forties Heidi completed a Masters in Creative Writing at Winchester University. She entered the course hoping she would become a children’s fantasy writer and left with a burning desire to write contemporary mysteries and thrillers. 

Heidi wanted to put relatable people in extraordinary situations, challenge them, push them to their limits and watch them fight for their sanity. The Other Boy is her first novel.

You can also find Heidi at:

Author Website

Bluesky

Facebook

Instagram

X





(ARC and media courtesy of Zooloo's Book Tours)

(all opinions are my own)