+ 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 do next, and she soon realises that they have arrived at a place where nothing is as it seems. A bitterness runs through the land like poison, and the stories told by the islanders seem to be far more than folklore.
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Della settles in too easily, the island folk drawn to her strangeness, but Lily is plagued by odd and unsettling dreams, and as an annual festival draws nigh, she discovers that she has far more to fear than she could ever have imagined. Or does she…?
Chilling, atmospheric and utterly hypnotic, Small Fires is a contemporary gothic novel that examines possession, female rage, and the perilous bonds of family – an unsettling reminder that the stories we tell can be deadly…
Midsommar meets Midnight Mass in a folk horror, modern gothic masterpiece.
My Review
I know it’s supposed to but Small Fires really freaked me out. All those horrific folk tales. It’s like nothing I’ve ever read before.
Sisters Lily and Della killed their parents (allegedly though it was never proved) and fled to a remote Scottish island, a place filled with superstition, folklore, and belief in the Devil. I was waiting for Christopher Lee to appear and start building a Wicker Man.
Everyone who lives there appears to be mad, but in reality it is fear. Some of the stories – many based on Celtic/Cornish folklore – are horrifying, as children’s folk tales often are. The Boy at the Bottom of the Sea, Aine’s Well, The Poor Maidens etc have all been written by the author to enhance the back stories. Others you may recognise, like the stories of Gaia, Charon the Ferryman, the Dryads, the Pleiades. They are often told to children as a warning, like the story of Baba Yaga from my Polish heritage (I wrote the poem below some years ago – we are all influenced by the myths of our forefathers).
But it’s the story of Brid in particular, who killed her children, and lives in the Pale Bones, that is one of the most horrific. Some of these tales will infect my dreams (like the terrifying Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann that my mother owned when I was a child) and live in my consciousness for many years to come.
But back to the story. Della is the older sister. She’s big and tall and frightening. Lily is tiny and pretty. Children flock to her. On the island, Silas is different. He doesn’t believe any of the myths. But nothing is ever what it seems and people have many faces.
I loved this book, though I found it scarier than any serial killer thriller or slasher movie. The darkness is insidious. It creeps and slides, like the blood that seeps into the ground on the island.
Many thanks to Orenda Books for inviting me to be on the #blogtour
About the Author
Ronnie Turner grew up in Cornwall, the youngest in a large family. At an early age, she discovered a love of literature and dreamed of being a published author. Ronnie now lives in the South West with her family and three dogs. In her spare time, she reviews books on her blog and enjoys long walks on the coast. Ronnie is a Waterstones Senior Bookseller and a barista, and her youth belies her exceptional, highly unusual talent.
The Curse of Baba Yaga
Where are the servants? Don’t ask or
She’ll kill you, Baba Jaga, of the forest
Who kidnaps babies in the night.
The cat… The dog… The tree… The gate…
Her invisible servants, silent like the riders,
I am Day, says one, all dressed in white,
Who comes in red? I am the Sun,
Then dressed in black, I am the Night.
She’s coming now, look out, look out,
Sweeping their hoof-tracks with her broom.
The wailing wind begins to blow
While trees around her moan and groan
And shrieking spirits follow in her wake,
Leading you flailing to your doom.
Veronika Jordan
About Orenda Books
Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, kidnapping, murder mystery, mystery, police drama, police procedural, psycopath, revenge, review
The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter (Robert Hunter #1)
When the body of a young woman is discovered in a derelict cottage in the middle of Los Angeles National Forest, Homicide Detective Robert Hunter finds himself entering a horrific and recurring nightmare. Naked, strung from two parallel wooden posts, the victim was sadistically tortured before meeting an excruciatingly painful death.
All the skin has been ripped from her face – while she was still alive. On the nape of her neck has been carved a strange double-cross: the signature of a psychopath known as the Crucifix Killer. But that’s impossible. Because two years ago, the Crucifix Killer was caught and executed. Could this therefore be a copycat killer? Or could the unthinkable be true?
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Is the real killer still out there, ready to embark once again on a vicious and violent killing spree, selecting his victims seemingly at random, taunting Robert Hunter with his inability to catch him? Hunter and his rookie partner are about to enter a nightmare beyond imagining.
My Review
Welcome to my first post on this fab #blogathon. There will be one review per month.
First of all, let me just say that in my humble opinion the series has improved massively over time. The Crucifix Killer is the first in the series and the books get more sophisticated with each passing year. In this one I guessed the killer quite quickly and I wasn’t convinced they would be physically capable of doing what they did. And while everyone raves about the ending, it wasn’t what I expected.
There is quite a bit of ‘info-dump’ about the way things work in California, which was useful, but a bit odd in the telling. Finally, all the women are blonde and beautiful, the men muscular and toned, but I guess it’s California and that is what we expect, but I hope we have moved on a bit.
But to the positives, and there are loads. I like Robert Hunter and his new partner ‘rookie’ Garcia. Robert lives alone, doesn’t have a girlfriend, or even a cat (thank goodness), as I would spend the whole book worrying about it. The killer has no boundaries after all. The murders are very gory (yes that’s a positive), there are other secondary stories to give more depth and interest, and it moves at a cracking pace. Without sounding sexist, I feel it would be more suited to a male audience, but then it was written 15 years ago. It didn’t really ‘speak’ to me. Hence 4 stars, but I gave the only other book I have read so far – Written in Blood – 5 stars.
As an aside, if anyone says they like a cosy crime, but anything more extreme is not for them, what do I recommend? I resist the temptation to say ‘have you ever read Chris Carter?’ as that would just be wicked!
Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogathon.
About the Author
Born in Brazil of Italian origin, Chris Carter studied psychology and criminal behaviour at the University of Michigan. As a member of the Michigan State District Attorney’s Criminal Psychology team, he interviewed and studied many criminals, including serial and multiple homicide offenders with life imprisonment convictions. He now lives in London. Visit his website www.chriscarterbooks.com
+ audio book, childhood, dark humour, family, fiction, ghosts, grief, Ireland, loss, Magical realism, mystery, psychic, review, supernatural, superstition
Himself by Jess Kidd
Blending strange kindnesses, casual violence and buried secrets: an unforgettable debut from a dark new voice in Irish fiction.
When Mahony returns to Mulderrig, a speck of a place on Ireland’s west coast, he brings only a photograph of his long-lost mother and a determination to do battle with the village’s lies.
His arrival causes cheeks to flush and arms to fold in disapproval. No one in the village – living or dead – will tell what happened to the teenage mother who abandoned him as a baby, despite Mahony’s certainty that more than one of them has answers.
Between Mulderrig’s sly priest, its pitiless nurse and the caustic elderly actress throwing herself into her final village play, this beautiful and darkly comic debut novel creates an unforgettable world of mystery, bloody violence and buried secrets.
My Review
Back to Audible and I’m reading Jess Kidd’s first novel, Himself. The story takes place in 1976 when Mahony returns to the place of his birth, Mulderrig on Ireland’s West Coast, to try and find out what happened to his promiscuous, teenage mother Orla Sweeney. Everyone says she left town, dumping her ‘illegitimate brat’ at the orphanage. Mahony – that very same ‘illegitimate brat’ – is not convinced.
He enlists (actually I think she enlisted him) the help of aging actress Mrs Cauley, who believes Orla was murdered, but then she loves a drama. There are those in the town who want to run him out, those with something to hide. They hated Orla for shamelessly flaunting her bastard for the whole town to see. The vile Father Quinn in particular, and nurse Annie Farrelly amongst others.
And did I mention that Mahony *…’sees dead people… walking around like regular people’ (*quote from The Sixth Sense). In my review of The Hoarder I said I hoped someone sees ghosts, and I certainly got a lot, particularly six-year-old Ida and Mrs Cauley’s last ‘partner’ creepy Johnny.
Three books in and I’ve come to the conclusion that the author’s favourite word is ‘arse’. I’ll have to leave this off my Amazon review in case they are offended and refuse my musings. When said with a soft Irish lilt it never fails to bring a giggle – how childish of me, I know.
I absolutely adored this book, so on to The Night Ship, and once again I hope for plenty of superstition and the supernatural.
About the Author
Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from county Mayo and has been praised for her unique fictional voice. Her debut, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2016. She won the Costa Short Story Award the same year. Her second novel, The Hoarder, published as Mr. Flood’s Last Resort in the U.S. and Canada was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2019. Both books were BBC Radio 2 Book Club Picks. Her latest book, the Victorian detective tale Things in Jars, has been released to critical acclaim. Jess’s work has been described as ‘Gabriel García Márquez meets The Pogues.’
I get a call from the school. My husband hasn’t picked up our 7-year-old daughter.
This is the day my life changes for ever.
Earlier, I was scrolling through Facebook when something caught my eye. A photograph. The caption beneath: PLEASE CAN ANYONE HELP ME? HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?
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It’s my husband and our daughter.
The man I married eight years ago isn’t who I thought he was at all. My husband has been lying to me . . .about everything.
My Review
What a great story! I hate to say it though that Claire really got on my nerves. Whatever did she think she was doing? Her daughter is devastated when dad Tom fails to pick her up from school, but instead of being there for her, she swans off playing amateur detective, leaving the poor child with her sister Gwen. Abandonment issues in later life no doubt.
To make it worse, when she goes to the police station, the officer in charge is her ex, Adam, who she ditched for Tom, breaking his heart. The consensus of course is that Tom has probably upped and left her (I have some sympathy there). But as he’s an adult he’s not technically a missing person. Instead of telling her to sling her hook, Adam decides to put his career on the line to help her ‘unofficially’. But rather than leaving it to his many years’ experience in solving crimes, she does the exact opposite, putting herself and others in danger. I’m not including the cruise competition, because I’d have done exactly the same thing.
There are quite a few threads going on here. It starts with a Facebook post that simply says: PLEASE CAN ANYONE HELP ME? HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? Except that the person posting is called Lydia French and the picture is of Tom and their daughter. But ‘Lydia’ claims they are HER husband and child. And so the mystery begins. I’m not giving anything away, but Claire has got it all so wrong.
However… it was brilliant and I really couldn’t wait to read on to the end. It’s really well plotted and exciting with believable characters and a storyline that promises to spiral out of control. Thank goodness for Adam and Gwen, who keep everything in perspective.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Lisa Hall is the bestselling author of six psychological thrillers and the Hotel Hollywood time-slip murder mystery series. Her debut novel Between You and Me was a Kindle UK number one bestseller, sitting in the top spot for over four weeks. Lisa has a First Class Honours degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. She lives in Kent with her husband and their three children.
Lisa’s Social Media
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/lisahallauthor/
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Website : https://www.lisahallauthor.co.uk
Book Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222440949-eight-years-of-lies
Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/eightyears-zbt
+ childhood, children's books, childrens fiction, fantasy, fiction, magic, review, secrets, siblings, sisters, time travel, whimsical
Haworth’s Enchanted Chronicles by Charlotte Waters
In the heart of Haworth lies a secret—one that spans centuries and bridges worlds.
When a group of time-travelling children stumble upon an ancient, shimmering key, they are thrust into an enchanting adventure that takes them far beyond the moors and into magical lands filled with wonder, danger, and creatures beyond imagination.
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Guided by mysterious forces and shadowy guardians, the children must unlock the truth hidden in the past and navigate a future that holds the fate of both realms. With each discovery, they find that magic is not just in the world around them—but within themselves.
Step into the enchanted, where history and magic collide, and nothing is as it seems.
My Review
In this book, the author envisages the Brontë siblings as children. They live in a world of magic, where they can time travel, and they embark on a quest. They find a key that will reveal the secrets of the past and they become the guardians of those secrets. Oh, and they talk to mice.
It’s exactly the kind of book I would have loved as a child (I was a huge fan of Alan Garner’s Weirdstone of Brisingamen in which two children realise that they hold the key to the magic that binds them). It’s set in Alderley Edge, which is a real place like Haworth in Enchanted Chronicles. And yes I’ve been to visit the setting of Weirdstone – I haven’t been to Haworth – yet.
The children are of course the four Brontës – Anne, Emily, Charlotte and Branwell. (There were actually six but Maria and Elizabeth died in childhood.) Charlotte and Emily are the best known, having written Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights respectively. I love Wuthering Heights best of all – I became a bit disillusioned with Jane Eyre after studying Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys for my OU degree which looks at Bertha before she was locked in a room by Mr Rochester. But that’s another story!
It was strange reading about ‘real’ children in this book – I’m not sure that poet and artist Branwell was very nice as an adult – but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. I love to think that Emily would have loved this book – only a child with such a vivid imagination would have grown up to write Wuthering Heights.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Charlotte has always found joy in storytelling, a passion that began in school and blossomed further as her nephews and niece grew up. Storytime became an exciting ritual, filled with imagination and wonder, sparking her drive to create magical worlds of her own.
Growing up near Haworth, Charlotte spent countless hours immersed in the history and atmosphere of the Brontë sisters’ legacy. Her deep love for the Brontës and the literary magic of Haworth inspired much of her writing. In fact, she was named after Charlotte Brontë, who has always felt like a guiding force in her creative journey.
Her debut series Haworth’s Enchanted Chronicles seamlessly blends her love for history and fantasy, bringing together time travel, magical creatures, and the rich backdrop of the Brontë era. The series showcases her ability to craft stories that enchant readers of all ages.
Charlotte is now continuing her literary journey, drawing on her experiences and love for storytelling to create captivating adventures that capture the hearts of her audience.
Charlotte’s Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569536789442
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlottewatersauthor
Book Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222664489-haworth-s-enchanted-chronicles
Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/haworthsenchanted-zbt
Don’t Make Me Laugh balances anger and humour with the deftest of touches.
It is a story about power and control and manipulation, about gendered roles in both the workplace and our personal lives, and about how women are set up in competition with each other.
And ultimately – satisfyingly – it’s a story about fighting back.
Praise and Reviews
‘This is fantastic – a sharp, funny, sometimes painful story about terrible egos and narcissism in the world of stand-up. I devoured it furiously. It’s fiction, if that’s not clear… #notallcomedians’ *Jenny Landreth *
‘Set in the stand up comedy world, it is a powerful portrayal of how the projection of who you might be on stage can lead to manipulating those who might fall for who you seem to, how this potency can be used to manipulate and, through self interest and ego, destroy others. Having spent much of my working life in the stand up world, it was often an uncomfortable read. It is also a good
education in the techniques and tricks that surround our worlds and so often poison them. This is a disconcerting and wise book.’ Robin Ince
‘This book is by turns gut-wrenching and heart breaking, but at its heart it’s a timely, furious call for change. I loved it.’ Will Maclean (author of The Apparition Phase)
‘A great book, an important book that will start a discussion that needs to be had…my heart was in my mouth’ Marian Keyes
‘Exhilarating, viscerally thrilling and SO timely – an ambitious dark comedy that really delivers. Hugely smart, with so much emotional depth and resonance’ Daisy Buchanan
‘Sharp, dark and outrageously funny’ Marianne Levy
‘This is an honest, funny, devastating and timely book’ Jenny Colgan
About the Author
Julia Raeside is a journalist and broadcaster who has written for the Guardian, Times, Observer and The Big Issue among others. She makes regular contributions to BBC Radio, including review spots on Radio 4’s Front Row and Lauren Laverne’s 6 Music show. She lives in London with her husband, kid and cat.
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+ alcoholism, brothers, crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, kidnapping, mystery, obsession, police drama, police procedural, review, thriller
Hollow Ground by Freya Wallace
In the rugged wilderness of Dartmoor, school teacher Sophie Parsons vanishes without a trace during a weekend trek.
For Detective Inspector Jacob Knox, Sophie’s disappearance stirs unsettling echoes of a previous case involving another woman who vanished in the same desolate moorland six months earlier.
As Knox delves deeper, he uncovers the complexities of Sophie’s personal life, including a secret affair with a charismatic colleague and a tense relationship with her long-term boyfriend, Peter.
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But Sophie’s tangled love life is just the beginning of Knox’s troubles. A local legend about a beast stalking the moors resurfaces, fueling public fear and media speculation.
Is it just a myth, or could something more sinister be at play?
With time running out and the possibility that two women have been claimed by the moor, Knox faces his toughest case yet—one that will test him professionally and personally.
As the case unfolds, Knox realizes the dark truths buried beneath the surface of Sophie’s life may be the key to unlocking the mystery.
Introducing DI Jacob Knox, Hollow Ground is a gripping crime thriller set in the eerie beauty of Devon’s Dartmoor, blending elements of mystery, suspense, and psychological depth to explore the blurred lines between human vulnerability and the unknown.
My Review
So where’s The Beast of Dartmoor or The Hound Of The Baskervilles I hear you ask? That was all a bit of a red herring, as it’s only the media that love to print that sort of thing. Sophie Parsons and Rachel Simmons may be missing, but it’s definitely down to a human connection and not a giant dog or panther.
I absolutely loved this book. It was so enjoyable, I started reading the last few chapters as soon as I woke up – I have a small puppy and having taken her out to ‘potty’ at 6 am, I intended to go back to sleep when she did, but ended up reading until the alarm went off. I needed to get to the end.
It’s not so much a whodunnit – it’s more of a why, and that’s what makes it so interesting. I’m not saying we know all along who is responsible because we don’t, but the reasons are very unusual to say the least.
Our intrepid hero detective DI Jacob Knox is going to be a great ‘leading man’, I can tell already. He’s a complex character and a dog lover (enough said), who gets really involved in the crimes he’s investigating, while trying to reconcile his career with his personal life. It already cost him his marriage. He’s tall, dark and handsome, hair flecked with silver… (no that’s not how the author describes him, I’m simply using my imagination…) and has a German Shepherd called Dylan.
I found the whole concept really engaging and believable, and couldn’t wait to find out the connections between the missing women, and what relationships they might have had in common. Knox has a great team to help him with all the research, sidekick and partner Ava, and the usual IT wizards and forensic experts. Then there’s Lucy, his dog minder, and his alcoholic brother Caleb.
I’m really looking forward to Knox’s next case.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Freya Wallace is a crime writer based in Devon. Her debut novel, Hollow Ground, introduces DI Knox in the first book of an atmospheric new series set against the backdrop of her local area. A lifelong reader, she always wanted to see a gripping crime series unfold in the place she knows best.
When she’s not writing or reading, Freya can be found walking her two German Shepherds along the local beaches.
Freya’s Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571745819033
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freyawallaceauthor/
Book Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221437258-hollow-ground
Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/hollowground-zbt
Demons of the past aren’t easily left behind…
At Sunnyside, women serve in silence. Mae—an outspoken, rebellious outcast—has a penchant for getting in trouble. Her only ally is Lily, the perfect follower. When their husband dies and the cult’s new leader claims Lily as his bride, the facade of peace crumbles. Mysterious deaths haunt the commune, and Mae’s attempts to protect Lily only get her banished to the woods, leaving Lily vulnerable without her protection.
Faced with a heartbreaking choice, Mae makes a desperate decision the night before Lily’s wedding and escapes the cult. But the past clings to her like a shadow. Heartbroken and alone, Mae meets Charlotte, a true-crime podcaster obsessed with uncovering the dark secrets of Sunnyside. Charlotte offers Mae a chance to start over, but only if she’s willing to talk.
As Mae begins to reveal the cult’s sinister secrets, she comes dangerously close to admitting the truth about what happened the night she fled—something far more twisted than anyone can possibly imagine. And it’s only a matter of time before the past catches up to her and she’s forced to confront the nightmare she thought she’d left behind…
My review will be posted on 9th March as part of the #KillingLily #blogtour.
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About the Author
Author of the psychological thriller Killing Lily to be published by Bloodhound Books on 20 February 2025
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+ family, feel-good, fiction, grief, loss, love, review, short stories, short story, sisters
The Bookstore Keepers by Alice Hoffman Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories #3
The Gibson sisters weren’t expecting to speak to each other ever again after Isabel ran off to New York and left Sophie alone.
But here they are, years later, running the family bookstore together on Brinkley’s Island, Maine. Isabel also thought she’d left Johnny Lenox behind, but whether or not she knew it, Johnny was always going to be there for her.
Five years into their happily ever after, Isabel and Johnny are making the most of their second chance at love. Then one night, Johnny awakens from an extraordinary dream…and their world is irrevocably altered. Isabel does her best to give Johnny space as he struggles to accept the new chapter life has opened for them. But Johnny can’t do it alone—no one can. As the whole family is soon to discover, seasons change, but love never does.
My Review
A mixture of sad and happy in the third book in the Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories. Sisters Isabel and Sophie are still running the family bookstore, which is now so successful that book lovers come for miles to visit. They are both married and living contentedly nearby.
But one day Isabel’s husband Johnny faces a sad event and Isabel must let him work through his grief. In the meantime Sophie’s daughter Violet is coming home having graduated from university and has something to tell her mother. She can’t face it and confides in Isabel instead.
It’s another beautiful short story from one of my favourite authors, that examines love, grief and family. I read it in one sitting with my puppy on my lap (yes I finally gave in after three dog-free years) and enjoyed every minute.
About the Author
Alice Hoffman is the author of more than thirty works of fiction, including The World That We Knew, The Rules of Magic, The Marriage of Opposites, Practical Magic, The Red Garden, the Oprah’s Book Club selection Here on Earth, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, and The Dovekeepers and Magic Lessons. She lives near Boston.
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, family, fiction, friendship, grief, loss, murder, police procedural, revenge, review, secrets
The Only Child by S Englefield
How well do you really know the people you love?
After her parents are killed in a tragic accident, Amelia Simpson retreats from her old life and moves to the sleepy Isle of Wight to be near her grandmother, her last remaining family.
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But as the people closest to her start to die and secrets from her parent’s past are uncovered, Amelia is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her childhood and the people that she loved the most.
In order to find the killer, Detective Inspector Jennifer Stone will have to delve into Amelia’s past where she learns that there’s no such thing as a perfect family and that stopping them may end up costing her everything that she holds dear.
My Review
Three years ago we went as a family to the Isle of Wight to celebrate my granddaughter’s sixth birthday (she’s about to turn nine). We stayed in Ryde and spent her birthday on the seafront. I hadn’t been there since Bob Dylan played the Isle of Wight Festival in 1969 and I was still at school.
So I was very excited to read a book that takes place on the island as it’s pretty rare. It’s not exactly the crime centre of the universe, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Something a bit Midsomer Murders probably.
Amelia Simpson’s parents both died in a car accident when she was young, and a number of years later she decides to move to the island to be near her grandmother, her only living relative. She owns a flower shop, has a lazy boyfriend of six years called Sam, a cat named James (who Sam is jealous of – yes really), and a ghastly best friend Megan, who has anger issues – sorry but I thought she was dreadful.
Initially, the most exciting thing to happen is when the owner of a rival flower shop puts a brick through Amelia’s shop window. But when people close to her start to die, Amelia realises something far more sinister is going on, but she has no idea who would want to target her. Quite a few people have a minor motive it would appear, but not enough to carry out a revenge vendetta on this scale.
The Only Child is an interesting concept and for much of the book I was convinced I knew who the killer would turn out to be. How wrong I was, but then it wouldn’t be half as much fun if it was that easy to work out.
This is the first in a series featuring Detective Inspector Jennifer Stone and her team, so we are also setting the scene for more to come.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Scott Englefield grew up on the Isle of Wight. Despite being surrounded by idyllic beaches and woodland walks, he was often to be found with his head buried in a book. His love of reading endured into adulthood and now he spends his free time writing crime and psychological thrillers, often having to stop to fend off his cat James who believes his keyboard is the perfect place to sleep.
He is in his mid-forties (and feels it) and lives with his wife, son and cat in the East of England. He grew a beard once – his wife hated it.
Scott’s Social Media
Website: https://senglefield.com/
Book Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222108619-the-only-child
Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/onlychild-zbt
A disgraced former MP, Teddy Chesterton, is dying.
He wants to put things right with his ex-wife, Laura, the only woman he has ever loved, but who left him after believing he deceived her.
Teddy finds out that Laura has recently been widowed and invites her to come with him to Venice.
To his surprise, she accepts.
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They first meet at a gallery where Teddy’s university friend, Paul Merrick works, and Laura is offered the chance to work in London to help stage an exhibition of paintings by Tiepolo.
Paul asks Laura to do him a favour and authenticate a sketch by the younger Tiepolo. She is told subsequently that what she believed to be a genuine Tiepolo was a fake, and her reputation in the art world is ruined.
She blames Teddy for his part in getting her involved with Paul. They divorce, and Teddy goes to prison for money laundering.
Upon his release, he visits Paul, who explains that he had nothing to do with the sketch being a fake and that it was copied by a forger to whom he had unwittingly sold the original.
In Venice, Teddy gives Laura a pile of papers that prove Paul did not set out to deceive her about the sketch he asked her to authenticate.
Teddy knows that he has done what he set out to do, even if everything is just too late.
My Review
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 are in their late seventies looking back (no I’m not that old!), but there are still so many things I can identify with. First of all, I live in Gloucestershire where they move with the children, but while I am an art fan and paint a bit, I have never ventured into politics.
The book is written from the points of view of Laura (who is Jewish as was my mother), and Teddy, whose turn of phrase made me laugh. I once worked with someone who always referred to her parents as the ‘Aged Ps’, so it made me laugh when Teddy uses that phrase (though he more usually refers to them as Ma and Pa). For those who like me had to look it up, it’s from Dickens’ Great Expectations. There are so many other words and phrases he uses that made me chuckle and even laugh out loud. Not very PC though, so don’t be shocked or offended. I’ve met a few ‘Teddys’ and that’s just how they speak.
I am still not quite sure why Laura married him though. He’s a bit of a cad and a bounder (I think he’d approve of the description), while Laura is just so nice. He’s not even handsome, quite short, and a bit chubby, with pink cheeks. He refers to his old school Harrow as ‘The Dump’, and talks about fagging as being not that bad, unless you looked like a choir boy, which he didn’t.
There’s a warmth about Laura’s side of the story with her family in New York, and I loved her relationship with art teacher James after she divorces Teddy. Poor Teddy. I think in reality, he’s a bit of an anachronism.
I almost forgot to mention the part where Laura’s second husband James takes her to see the Severn bore. She had no idea what it was, but of course living so close, we have seen it many times. It’s quite the spectacle and would have been a real treat. Oh and I’ve just signed up for a free art taster class – haven’t really done much since Covid – must be inspired by James.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
“Apart from three years studying History of Art and Philosophy at University College London, I have lived my entire life in the North West – born in Warrington, lived and worked in Manchester, and fourteen years ago moved to north Cumbria.
“After several years of freelance arts journalism, I ran a NW-based public relations agency called Lawson Leah in the 1990s, then worked for various organisations in the construction industry, as CEO of Construction for Merseyside Ltd and then Director of the Civil Engineering Contractors’ Association. I have been a guest lecturer on urban regeneration and chaired a housing association for three years, and now work part-time as a consultant.
“I have had articles on a range of topics, including the arts, construction, engineering, housing and economic development published in numerous magazines, as well as poetry and a guidebook to waterway walks in the NW.
“My approach to writing tends to involve identifying a problematic situation and then finding a means of resolving it. I derive particular pleasure from finding the right words to achieve that. I was first inspired to write, as a teenager, after reading The Catcher in the Rye, and latterly find inspiration in the daunting novels of Bellow, Nabokov and Pynchon.”
Book Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223607899-late-venetian
Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/latevenetian-zbt
‘A blistering mystery. With I Dreamed of Falling, Julia Dahl proves she’s simply one of the best thriller writers working today’ Gillian Flynn
‘A riveting crime novel… Vivid and haunting and not to be missed’ Megan Abbott
Roman Grady is the sole reporter for the local newspaper in a tiny Hudson Valley town – a town so small that every store opening is considered newsworthy.
But when Roman’s longtime girlfriend Ashley, the mother of his four-year-old son, is found dead, he realises he had no idea what was really going on in her life.
And when he starts asking questions, he’s not prepared for the answers. What was Ashley doing at the cliffside home of her troubled ex-girlfriend? How did no one in a house full of people see what happened to her? And why does it seem like everyone in town suddenly has something to hide? As Roman and his mother dig into Ashley’s last few months, the truths they uncover threaten to expose painful secrets. The kind of secrets that can get you killed.
About the Author
Julia Dahl is the author of four previous novels, including Invisible City, which was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, and has been translated into eight languages. A former reporter for CBS News and the New York Post, she now teaches journalism at New York University.
Praise and reviews
- Spectacular reviews for this break-out novel by Edgar Award-winner Julia
Dahl. It’s a Multi-layered crime novel: devastating portrait of a working-class
community; tragic family story; suspenseful who- and whydunnit - For people who loved Mare of Easttown, Chris Whittaker’s We Begin at the
End, or Jane Harper’s character- and location-driven novels
‘With this suspenseful, poignant book, Julia Dahl delivers not only an intricately crafted thriller, but also a profound portrayal of generations of life in the Hudson Valley, and of the making and unmaking of family. Its characters will stay with you for long after you’re done reading’ – Clemence Michallon
‘
All the characters here are memorable, but four-year-old Mason and his bottomless, bewildered grief are particularly well drawn. A family and a story to remember’ – First Clue
‘Devastating crime novel’ – Library Journal
‘The definition of gut-wrenching… I Dreamed of Falling is a perfectly crafted thriller that goes beyond a classic whodunit. Layered with complicated character arcs, unforeseen twists, and well-thought-out details, this novel―and the circumstances surrounding Ashley’s death―will be on the minds of readers well after they’ve finished’ – Booklist
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