Scandinavian fiction: if it isn’t dominating our TV screens it’s creeping onto our bookshelves. Whether or not you’re a fan of the trend, it’s often appealing to read novels set abroad and learn a little about another culture – and sometimes, a surprising amount about our own! Hélene Fermont’s second novel, We Never Said Goodbye, is […]
Sometimes a book surprises you. Last year that book was David Young’s debut novel, ‘Stasi Child’ – winner of the CWA Historical Dagger award. Despite my vague belief that I don’t really enjoy reading historical fiction, despite my occasional professed boredom with another story focusing on life in post-WW2 Germany, I LOVED ‘Stasi Child’. It’s […]
Sometimes giving books the benefit of the doubt is a Good Thing. Having been underwhelmed by ‘Five Go Parenting’ and ‘Five on Brexit Island’ I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy the latest instalment in Bruno Vincent’s ‘Enid Blyton for Adults’ series: ‘Five Forget Mother’s Day’. What’s it about? George has, somehow, managed to fail to […]
It’s the mother of a missing child’s most cherished wish: the child, returned. But what if you had doubts? What if your long-lost daughter wasn’t being completely honest about the circumstances surrounding her abduction? What if you started to wonder if your daughter – your real daughter – might be dead after all? Who might […]
Mother’s Day is fast approaching. This is an opportunity for hardworking mothers everywhere to receive thanks for their sterling efforts raising the next generation to say please and thank you, wipe their own noses and bottoms, and eat their peas using cutlery, not their fingers. Depending on the ages of any children you possess, you […]
Recently, my Kindle broke. Having lasted a good five years, its life was brought to an abrupt end when a passing two year old threw it from the sofa to the floor. This wasn’t a throw from a great height (two year olds aren’t tall). There was no force or venom involved (though two year olds […]
Talented author and all-round-lovely-bloke G. J. Minett has his second novel, ‘Lie in Wait’ released in paperback today. To celebrate, I am reposting my original review . Enjoy! Then go book shopping. Go on. It’s a Wednesday. Three whole days to go ’til the weekend. Treat yourself – and your shelf. Last year I read and LOVED G. […]
I can’t resist the lure of a good secret. A plot that promises to reveal one will always intrigue me; a narrative that develops this promise effectively will always keep me hooked, reading on into the small hours, keenly anticipating the resolution. Having read ‘The Silent Fountain’, I feel certain Lucy Whittaker is a girl […]
”It is a war,’ Emilio said quietly, as he always did. As though, somehow, that made everything right. As though, in war, people were allowed to become someone else entirely.’ In Sarah Day’s debut novel, ‘Mussolini’s Island’, it is 1939/1940 and war with other nations looms, but there are more immediate concerns for Emilio and […]
Today I’m welcoming Lee Cockburn to the blog to discuss ‘Porcelain’. This is Lee’s second crime story featuring Detective Sergeant Taylor Nicks and this post is part of the blog tour. Want to know more? Here’s the blurb: High-powered businessmen are turning up tortured around the city of Edinburgh with one specific thing in common — […]