Category: folklore
+ Edinburgh, fiction, folklore, gothic, gothic horror, Historical fiction, mythology, review, Scotland, superstition, witchcraft, witches
The Witch, The Seed and The Scalpel by Scott O’Neill
Edinburgh 1841. ‘Reaching out like a hungry white worm it twisted and spiralled, tasting the air. Then, evidently attracted by the flow of warm blood, it squirmed its way under the surface of my skin.‘ Every autumn without fail, a strange seed appears on the chestnut tree that marks the spot where the witch Margaret McKay was murdered. Legend states that anyone who catches … Read More The Witch, The Seed and The Scalpel by Scott O’Neill
+ crime fiction, folklore, Historical fiction, List, murder mystery, Nordic noir, Scandi noir, supernatural, superstition, thriller, World War Two, WW2
My Top 10 Books of 2025 – Part One
Here are my favourite ten books of 2025 Part One, not counting audiobooks. Quite a disparate selection for a change. Audiobooks to follow. Late Venetian by GN Lawson If you are looking for a fast paced thriller, Late Venetian is not for you. But it’s already one of my favourite books of 2025 so far. I’m not sure why – maybe because the two main characters … Read More My Top 10 Books of 2025 – Part One
+ audio book, Australia, fiction, folklore, Historical fiction, mythology, Netherlands, review, superstition
The Night Ship by Jess Kidd
Based on a true story, an epic historical novel from the award-winning author of Things in Jars that illuminates the lives of two characters: a girl shipwrecked on an island off Western Australia and, three hundred years later, a boy finding a home with his grandfather on the very same island. 1629: A newly orphaned young girl named Mayken is bound for the Dutch … Read More The Night Ship by Jess Kidd
+ cover reveal, fiction, folklore, gothic, gothic horror, murder, mythology, review, superstition, witchcraft
Small Fires by Ronnie Turner
Poison runs through this land like blood… When sisters Lily and Della Pedley are persecuted for the shocking murder of their parents, they flee from their home in Cornwall to a remote and unnamed island in Scotland – an island known for its strange happenings, but far away from the whispers and prying eyes of strangers. Lily is terrified of what her sister might … Read More Small Fires by Ronnie Turner
+ 1930s, 1960s, 1990s, family, fiction, folklore, Historical fiction, love, Native American, religion, review
A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power
The long-awaited, profoundly moving, and unforgettable new novel from PEN Award–winning Native American author Mona Susan Power, spanning three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day. From the mid-century metropolis of Chicago to the windswept ancestral lands of the Dakota people, to the bleak and brutal Indian boarding schools, A Council of Dolls is the story of three … Read More A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power
+ crime fiction, fiction, folklore, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, loss, murder, murder mystery, mystery, mythology, obsession, review, Scandi noir, Sweden
Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson translated by David Warriner Paperback Tour
This brilliant book is now out in paperback. Art expert Emma Lindhal is anxious when she’s asked to appraise the antiques in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found. As she goes about her painstaking work and one shocking discovery yields clues that … Read More Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson translated by David Warriner Paperback Tour
+ audio book, diary, fairies, fiction, folklore, Historical fiction, Ireland, love, magic, Magical realism, mythology, review, secrets, stories
The Story Collector by Evie Gaughan
In a quiet village in Ireland, a mysterious local myth is about to change everything… One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life. In … Read More The Story Collector by Evie Gaughan
Reawakening by Alethea Lyons Cover Reveal
After centuries of suppression, the magic of England is Reawakening Return to the world of The Seer of York with this collection of new tales set in the aftermath of The Hiding. Harper, Grace, Saqib, Heresy, and AJ bond as a team and as a family to save innocents, supernatural and human, despite hunters pursuing them. Introducing Zero, a starlight cat with a bleak … Read More Reawakening by Alethea Lyons Cover Reveal
+ audio book, child abduction, fantasy, folklore, Historical fiction, kidnapping, Magical realism, mythology, review, superstition
Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield
On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours, when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it … Read More Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield
Conditions Are Different After Dark by Owen W Knight – Publication Day Party
In 1662, a man is wrongly executed for signing the death warrant of Charles I. While awaiting execution, he asks to speak with a priest, to whom he declares a curse on the village that betrayed him. The priest responds with a counter-curse, leaving just one option to nullify it. Genres: Contemporary Horror, Alternative History, Dark Fiction, Mystery, Folklore, Thriller, Commercial Fiction Over four centuries … Read More Conditions Are Different After Dark by Owen W Knight – Publication Day Party
+ devil worship, fiction, folklore, gothic, gothic horror, magic, mythology, review, superstition, wales
The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman
There’s something mysterious about the village of Penhelyg. Will unlocking its truth bring light or darkness? Meirionydd, 1783. Henry Talbot has been dismissed from his post at a prestigious London hospital. The only job he can find is as a physician in the backwaters of Wales where he can’t speak the language, belief in myth and magic is rife, and the villagers treat him … Read More The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman
+ fiction, folklore, gothic, grief, poetry, review, Scotland, superstition, thriller, witchcraft, witches
Crow Moon by Suzy Aspley
When the crow moon rises, the darkness is unleashed… Martha Strangeways is struggling to find purpose in her life, after giving up her career as an investigative reporter when her young twins died in a house fire. Overwhelmed by guilt and grief, her life changes when she stumbles across the body of a missing teenager – a tragedy that turns even more sinister when … Read More Crow Moon by Suzy Aspley
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