Category: review

The Whistling by Rebecca Netley

Alone in the world, Elspeth Swansome has taken the position of nanny to a family on the remote Scottish island of Skelthsea.Her charge, Mary, is a troubled child. Distracted and secretive, she hasn’t uttered a word since the sudden death of her twin, William – just days after their former nanny disappeared. With Mary defiantly silent, Elspeth turns to the islanders. But no one … Read More The Whistling by Rebecca Netley

Be Guid Tae Yer Mammy by Emma Grae

Kate and her Granny Jean have nothing in common. Jean’s great claim to fame is raising her weans without two pennies to rub together, and Kate’s an aspiring scriptwriter whose anxiety has her stuck in bad thought after bad thought. #BeGuidTaeYerMammy @emmagraeauthor@annecater @RandomTTours #RandomThingsTours But what Jean’s Glaswegian family don’t know is that she dreamed of being a film star and came a hairsbreadth away from making … Read More Be Guid Tae Yer Mammy by Emma Grae

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

‘What is wrong with you?’ Laura has spent most of her life being judged. She’s seen as hot-tempered, troubled, a loner. Some even call her dangerous. Miriam knows that just because Laura is witnessed leaving the scene of a horrific murder with blood on her clothes, that doesn’t mean she’s a killer. Bitter experience has taught her how easy it is to get caught in the … Read More A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

Real Beauty by Cat on a Piano Productions / Theatrephonic

Black Beauty is a kid’s book isn’t it?Student Anna is writing about the mythology of the horse and the absence of the author in literary history. Because no-one cares about female Victorian writers like Anna Sewell.But there’s a real horse in the house. And it’s hungry and distressed. Real Beauty is about as surreal as it gets! Written by Tilly LunkenDirected by Emmeline Braefield StarringGareth Turkington as … Read More Real Beauty by Cat on a Piano Productions / Theatrephonic

Angels of Mud by Vanessa Nicolson

In Angels of Mud we jump through time, between the interwoven stories of mother and daughter. The reader is immediately transported to Clerkenwell soon after the end of World War II, where they learn Mary’s story; about her marriage and the upbringing of her daughter Cara. Through this narrative, Nicolson paints a vivid picture of women’s lives in one of London’s Italian communities. #AngelsofMud … Read More Angels of Mud by Vanessa Nicolson

Freckles by Cecelia Ahern

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with… When a stranger utters these words to Allegra Bird, nicknamed Freckles, it turns her highly ordered life upside down. In her current life as a parking warden, she has left her eccentric father and unconventional childhood behind for a bold new life in the city. #Freckles @Cecelia_Ahern @fictionpubteam @annecater @RandomTTours #RandomThingsTours But … Read More Freckles by Cecelia Ahern

Buried by Elle Croft

You’re trapped underground with a serial killer. Would you save their life to protect your own? The ArtistNo one knows who The Sculptor is. A successful artist, who’s works sell for millions – each one with a deadly secret at the centre of each piece. The KillerThere’s a serial killer on the loose – dismembering women’s bodies and leaving them washed up along the … Read More Buried by Elle Croft

The Late Train to Gypsy Hill by Alan Johnson

Gary Nelson has a routine for the commute to his rather dull job in the city. Each day, he watches as a woman on the train applies her make up in a ritual he now knows by heart. He’s never dared to strike up a conversation . . . but maybe one day. Then one evening, on the late train to Gipsy Hill, the … Read More The Late Train to Gypsy Hill by Alan Johnson

Love in a Time of Hate by Matthew Langdon Cost

“A Voodoo ritual?” Emmett stared dumbly at her. A young man from Maine fights for social equality in New Orleans after the Civil War while pursuing a murderer of prostitutes, becoming enmeshed in voodoo, and falling in love. “Education is the tool that makes us all equal, whether we are Black, white, Indian, woman, or man,” Manon said. #LoveInATimeOfHate @MattCost8 @annecater @RandomTTours #RandomThingsTours Much like Louisiana’s … Read More Love in a Time of Hate by Matthew Langdon Cost

Love Under Lockdown by Michael Estorick

It is Midsummer’s Day 2016, the day of the Brexit referendum, when Bill, much given to all-consuming enthusiasms, finds ominous patterns on his cellar floor. Up and down the land, the result is viewed as either triumph or catastrophe, dividing close families and shattering long relationships. Not so the two old sparring partners, Bill and Pete, whose friendship ‘a bouillabaisse of habit, shared experience, … Read More Love Under Lockdown by Michael Estorick

The Beloved Girls by Harriet Evans

‘It’s a funny old house. They have this ceremony every summer . . . There’s an old chapel, in the grounds of the house. Half-derelict. The Hunters keep bees in there. Every year, on the same day, the family processes to the chapel. They open the combs, taste the honey. Take it back to the house. Half for them -‘ my father winced, as … Read More The Beloved Girls by Harriet Evans

The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #17) by Louise Penny

You’re a coward. Time and again, as the New Year approaches, that charge is leveled against Armand Gamache. It starts innocently enough. While the residents of the Québec village of Three Pines take advantage of the deep snow to ski and toboggan, to drink hot chocolate in the bistro and share meals together, the Chief Inspector finds his holiday with his family interrupted by … Read More The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #17) by Louise Penny