Category: grief
+ crime fiction, fiction, grief, murder, murder mystery, police drama, police procedural, review, witchcraft, witches
Murder on Govan’s Head by Nicola Clifford
An elderly woman lies dead on the stone floor of St Govan’s Chapel, a tiny medieval church wedged into the Pembrokeshire cliffs. She wears a long white dress. Flowers are woven through her hair and threaded between her bare toes. A red rose rests in her hands. There’s not a mark on her. Detective Vicki Blunt has seen plenty of ugly deaths. She has … Read More Murder on Govan’s Head by Nicola Clifford
+ 1960s, 1990s, childhood, family, family drama, fiction, grief, India, literature, review, siblings, twins
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The year is 1969. In the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India, a skyblue Plymouth with chrome tailfins is stranded on the highway amid a Marxist workers’ demonstration. Inside the car sit two-egg twins Rahel and Esthappen, and so begins their tale. . . . Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, they fashion a childhood for themselves in the … Read More The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Fallowfield by Nicole Swengley
Fallowfield – where the past cannot rest Fallowfield Hall: once an avant garde art college, now abandoned and decaying. To journalist Rowan Woodhouse it is the fabled backdrop to her parents’ 1970s love story. But is there more to Fallowfield – and her family – than she’s been told? Struggling with the loss of her artist father, Rowan hopes a research project to celebrate … Read More Fallowfield by Nicole Swengley
+ crime fiction, folklore, gothic, Gothic mystery, grief, Historical fiction, humour fiction, Iceland, Iceland noir, Ireland, List, murder mystery, mystery, political thriller, politics, Scandi noir, superstition, thriller, witchcraft
My Top 10 Books of 2026 – Part Three
Here are ten of my favourite books of 2026 Part Three, excluding audiobooks, of which there are loads so far. As usual a disparate selection, with a fair bit of superstition thrown in, and my usual Gothic, plus Iceland, Ireland and politics. Where Are The Kings by Donal Ryan What a remarkable book this is. Ryan deals with suicide and mental health in such … Read More My Top 10 Books of 2026 – Part Three
+ family, family drama, fiction, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, grief, lies, mental illness, review, secrets, siblings, sisters
The Hollow Garden by Natalie Grace Lewis
Seventeen years ago, Kyra Masters fled the Hollow Garden and never looked back. Haunted by fragmented memories of her friend Eleanor’s death and the events that followed, she has spent years trying to build a life far from the estate that shattered her family and left her questioning her own mind. Following her aunt’s death, Kyra unexpectedly inherits the Hollow Garden. A sprawling Victorian … Read More The Hollow Garden by Natalie Grace Lewis
Knit One, Heist One by Donna Moore
Janus Lodge isn’t your typical retirement community. Sylvia Abercrombie and her knitting-obsessed gang of octogenarians are feisty, foul- mouthed, and fiercely protective of their home. So when a shady developer plots to evict them and build a ‘gentlemen’s club’, they hatch an audacious plan to save their sanctuary – by starting a secret knitwear empire with a scandalous twist. #KnitOneHeistOne X/Twitter @BadsvilleBroad @noexitpress #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours Instagram @badsvillebroad @noexitpress … Read More Knit One, Heist One by Donna Moore
+ 1960s, diary, family, fiction, grief, Historical fiction, Italy, loss, love, mystery, review, secrets
The Secret Diary of Rome by M.A. McLaughlin
A hidden diary. A story that’s waited a hundred years to be told . . . 1960, New York. Emilia Rinaldi restores broken books for a living. She knows how to bring lost stories back to life. The one story she cannot repair is her own. Then an unexpected gift from her late mother arrives — an antique music box containing a faded photograph … Read More The Secret Diary of Rome by M.A. McLaughlin
The Beasts of the Black Loch by Gay Marris
In 50,000 acres of remote Scottish mountains and moor sits Dorcha Hall: a former hunting lodge nestling amongst ancient forests, on the shores of the enigmatic ‘Black Loch’. At night, lights glow from within, smoke curls from its chimneys, and in the forgiving murk of the gloaming, it looks magical. In daylight, its mouldering plasterwork and failing plumbing present a less romantic reality. #TheBeastsoftheBlackLoch … Read More The Beasts of the Black Loch by Gay Marris
+ female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, loss, love, review
The Cartography of What Remains by Eva Schep (The Going Back Series Book #1)
She can go back. Not in memory. In fact. Since Tomas died, Lena has made her life small enough to survive. The chipped cup on the left side of the sink. The bread folded twice. The keys in the bowl by the door. And one impossible thing her grief allows. She can step into the kitchen they shared and stand in the fixed afternoon … Read More The Cartography of What Remains by Eva Schep (The Going Back Series Book #1)
Until the Next Letter by Hannah Claire
When sisters Libby and Rachel open a letter from their late mother, they discover that it’s the first of five. Each letter asks them to scatter their mother’s ashes in a different place, and travel together to the carefully chosen locations. What begins as an act of remembrance soon becomes a journey into the past. With every trip, the sisters uncover unsettling truths about … Read More Until the Next Letter by Hannah Claire
Fifteen Minutes by Amanda Prowse
‘One last touch, one last word, one last I love you…’ Fifteen Minutes – the new novella from Amanda Prowse that will take you on the wildest emotional adventure. It gets us all in the end, time. What if I told you that time was not as unyielding as you might have believed? What if I told you it was in fact a fluid, … Read More Fifteen Minutes by Amanda Prowse
+ 1960s, 1970s, adoption, childhood, family, fiction, friends, grief, Iceland, Iceland noir, lies, review, Scandi noir, secrets, sisters
Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir translated by Victoria Cribb
November, 1967, Iceland. Fourteen-year-old Marsí has a secret pen pal – a boy who lives on the other side of the country – but she has been writing to him in her older sister’s name. Now she is excited to meet him for the first time. But when the date arrives, Marsí is prevented from going, and during the night her sister Stína goes … Read More Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir translated by Victoria Cribb
