2026 has been a good year for audiobooks, so once again I am giving them their own post.

I could have chosen all of them to be honest, but I only pick four each time.

The Mourning Necklace by Kate Foster

I’m a huge fan of Victorian Gothic mysteries so my first Kate Foster read The Repentants was a little early for me, set in Scotland in 1790. The Mourning Necklace, also set in Scotland, begins in 1724, so even earlier. But no matter as I loved this as well.

The books opens with Maggie Dickson surviving her own hanging. How is that even possible? She wakes up in a coffin and makes her way home to her family. The revelation is far more complicated than a simple survival. But we have to read on to find out.

The book then goes back in time to tell us how Maggie ended up being hanged and what for. Nowadays it beggars belief, but that’s how things were for women in the 18th century.

For my full review click here

Shibby Magee by Carrie Kabak

Shibby Magee is definitely one of my favourite books of the year so far. One cannot help but love Shibby and her twin sister Dorah, both such endearing characters in their own right. And so many of the others are memorable, if not always likeable, like housekeeper Alice Duffy, Traveller and best friend Kitty Dooley, father Benny, Moochie de Barra, and the spiteful, judgmental Nanny Magee.

The book follows a dual timeline. We briefly meet a pregnant Shibby, aged 45, at the beginning, then jump back to the twins as children on the day their mother, Vera Coffey, walks out and leaves them behind. We follow their lives as they attend the local Catholic school, befriend Kitty, and try to connect with Benny, who runs the bakery. Nanny Magee is horrible to them, so Alice becomes their surrogate mother. I loved the warmth and humour in this part of the book. Eventually the twins are sent to boarding school in England.

For my full review click here

The Beholders by Hester Musson

I never expected to love this as much as I did. I had never heard of this author, but Gothic is my favourite genre.

When the old lady that housemaid Harriett looks after is dying, she asks her to take care of Clara, wife of popular Liberal MP Ralph Gethin at Finton Hall. But all is not as it seems. While Gethin is considered to be a good man, looking after the poor and needy, even destined for the top job, he is in fact a monster. He is cruel to his wife and allows all sorts of unsavoury things to go on in the house.

Of course no-one would believe Clara, who is considered to be unstable. She doesn’t even appear to care for their baby son Edward. But Clara has an agenda and it involves Harriett, but it could put both of them in mortal danger.

For my full review click here

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

This is not my first book by this author – I read Daughters of Night in February 2021 – I had completely forgotten. But The Square of Sevens is in a different league. One of my favourite books of the year, it is so cleverly plotted, it literally took my breath away.

Set in London, Bath, Devon and Cornwall, our main character, simply known as Red, is initially a child of eight or nine, travelling with her father ‘making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient Cornish method of ‘The Square of Sevens’.** Red can already read the cards and they are getting along nicely until her father dies and she is taken in by Robert Antrobus, who is fascinated by all things scholarly. It is here that Red becomes a lady, now known as Rachel Antrobus.

For my full review click here