Category: Victorian Britain
+ family, fiction, ghosts, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, haunting, revenge, review, secrets, supernatural, Victorian Britain
The Shroud by Ava Monegan The Making of Madame Theda #1
A fraudulent medium. A house full of secrets. And a killer who can’t let either of them leave. Madame Theda is a fraud. She wears mourning clothes without having lost anyone. She owns a past that isn’t hers. And she claims to speak to the dead, but can’t. When she is hired to investigate a haunting at the isolated Blackheath House on the English … Read More The Shroud by Ava Monegan The Making of Madame Theda #1
+ adventure, austria, fiction, gothic, Gothic mystery, Historical fiction, murder, review, supernatural, Victorian Britain
The Thief and the Labyrinth by Alys Clare A World’s End Bureau Victorian Mystery #6
A missing girl. A charming thief. And a case that doesn’t add up. November, 1882. American agents Henry and Johanna McClellan arrive in London on an urgent mission: track down Bruno Schmidt, a silver-tongued lecturer and suspected thief who has eloped with a young woman called Ava. Ava’s powerful father wants her home — as discreetly and quickly as possible. But the McClellans are … Read More The Thief and the Labyrinth by Alys Clare A World’s End Bureau Victorian Mystery #6
+ crime fiction, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, Historical fiction, List, murder mystery, mystery, supernatural, superstition, thriller, Victorian Britain
My Top 10 Books of 2025 – Part Four
Here are my favourite ten books of 2025 Part Four, including audiobooks, of which there are quite a few. As usual a disparate selection, though somewhat heavy on the Gothic. One Tiny Cry by Christina Delay This was crazy bonkers at times and I loved every minute. Anything to do with religious cults is up there with my favourite genres, and One Tiny Cry is one … Read More My Top 10 Books of 2025 – Part Four
+ audio book, audio drama, family, family drama, fiction, Historical fiction, literature, review, siblings, sisters, Victorian Britain
The Household by Stacey Halls
In a quiet house in the countryside outside London, the finishing touches are being made to welcome a group of young women. The house and its location are top secret, its residents unknown to one another, but the girls have one thing in common – they are fallen. Offering refuge for prostitutes, petty thieves and the destitute, Urania Cottage is a second chance at … Read More The Household by Stacey Halls
+ crime fiction, dark humour, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, Historical fiction, List, murder mystery, mystery, supernatural, superstition, thriller, Victorian Britain
My Top 10 Books of 2025 – Part Three
Here are my favourite ten books of 2025 Part Three, including audiobooks, as I haven’t listened to enough to have their own post this quarter. As usual quite a disparate selection. The Empty Cradle by Lisa Rookes This was so good. I’m not sure how a story could be scary, creepy, and really funny at the same time. I think that’s because it’s so well … Read More My Top 10 Books of 2025 – Part Three
+ female friendship, fiction, friendship, Historical fiction, murder, murder mystery, revenge, review, secrets, spiritualism, supernatural, Victorian Britain
The Crooked Medium’s Guide to Murder by Stephen Cox
London 1881. Can two crooked women stop a murder? Extravagant medium Mrs Ashton and her lover, blunt working-class Mrs Bradshaw, run a spiritualist scam. Mrs Ashton secretly reads minds. Believing that Mrs Ashton is genuine, grieving Lady Violet craves the truth behind her mother’s untimely death. #TheCrookedMediumsGuidetoMurder X/Twitter @stephenwhq @RandomTTours #bookX #booktwitter Instagram @stephencoxauthor @randomthingstours #bookstagram #blogtour#Victorianmurdermystery #historicalmurdermystery #spooky #paranormal #sapphic #LGBTQ #womensleuths #BritishDetectives But Lady Violet’s powerful husband Sir Charles hates spiritualists. … Read More The Crooked Medium’s Guide to Murder by Stephen Cox
+ crime fiction, dark humour, feel-good, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, Historical fiction, humour fiction, List, Magical realism, murder mystery, mystery, supernatural, superstition, thriller, Victorian Britain
My Top 10 Books of 2025 – Part Two
Here are my favourite ten books of 2025 Part Two, including audiobooks, as I haven’t listened to enough to have their own post this quarter. Again quite a disparate selection. The Cure by Eve Smith I’m so out of my comfort zone here. Firstly, I don’t usually read speculative fiction, sci-fi or dystopian future novels. And secondly, I don’t think this is entirely fiction, … Read More My Top 10 Books of 2025 – Part Two
+ fiction, Historical fiction, journalist, mental illness, murder, obsession, prostitution, revenge, review, secrets, Victorian Britain
Murder At The Lunatic’s Ball by R S Leonard
A Victorian asylum. A woman imprisoned. A deadly secret. England, 1875. London journalist, Harris Mortimer, visits a Hampshire lunatic asylum to investigate society’s treatment of the insane, only to find himself in a fateful encounter with a beautiful woman claiming to be wrongly incarcerated. Horrified by a series of murders, he soon becomes drawn into the strange world of the asylum and begins to … Read More Murder At The Lunatic’s Ball by R S Leonard
+ 1940s, 1950s, fiction, guest post, Historical fiction, loss, love, review, Victorian Britain, World War Two, WW2
The Butterfly Girl by Tania Crosse spotlight post
A heart-wrenching tale of wartime spirit, love, loss and the courage of a young nurse during the Plymouth Blitz. 1941. The midst of the Blitz. Bombs are raining down on the city. In one terrifying moment, trainee nurse Pippa Luscombe’s life is turned upside-down when her hospital takes a direct hit. As Pippa comes to terms with the full extent of the tragedy, she … Read More The Butterfly Girl by Tania Crosse spotlight post
+ audio book, childhood, fiction, gothic, Historical fiction, kidnapping, review, supernatural, superstition, Victorian Britain
Things in Jars by Jess Kidd
Bridie Devine, female detective extraordinaire, is confronted with the most baffling puzzle yet: the kidnapping of Christabel Berwick, secret daughter of Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick, and a peculiar child whose reputed supernatural powers have captured the unwanted attention of collectors trading curiosities in this age of discovery. Winding her way through the labyrinthine, sooty streets of Victorian London, Bridie won’t rest until she finds … Read More Things in Jars by Jess Kidd
+ crime fiction, dark humour, feel-good, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, Historical fiction, humour fiction, List, Magical realism, murder mystery, mystery, supernatural, superstition, thriller, Victorian Britain, World War Two, WW2
My Top 10 Books of 2024 – Part Three
Here are my favourite ten books of 2024 Part Three, not counting audiobooks. Quite a disparate selection for a change. Audiobooks to follow. Gallows Wood by Louisa Scarr I read this in ten staves with the Pigeonhole online book club. It was almost unbearable waiting for the next instalment. The book was so exciting, the suspense nail-biting. While this is the first in a … Read More My Top 10 Books of 2024 – Part Three
+ audio book, gothic, Gothic mystery, Historical fiction, murder, review, secrets, Victorian Britain
The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory, The Burial Plot is an unstoppable historical thriller about murder, manipulation, and a young woman trying to wrestle power from the hands of a dangerous man. But he’s always one step ahead . . . London, 1839. Where the cemeteries are full and there is money to be made in death, Bonnie and Crawford … Read More The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal
