When Elenora Grey inherits her late aunt’s flower shop in the sleepy Devon town of Totnes, she hopes for nothing more than a quiet fresh start.
But Time & Thyme is no ordinary florist. Beneath the ticking clock of East Gate Arch, strange things begin to stir — flowers bloom out of season, a cash register writes its own orders, and upstairs, behind a locked door, is a man who shouldn’t exist.
He calls himself the clockmaker. Calm, unreadable, and impossibly out of time, he knows more about the shop — and Elenora’s past — than he ever admits. As Elenora rebuilds her life from the ashes of fear and regret, she’s drawn into a world where grief takes root and time itself can heal… or haunt.
Tender, atmospheric, and quietly magical, The Clockmaker is a story about second chances, the ghosts we carry, and the courage it takes to let time move forward again.
My Review
The Clockmaker is only a short novella but I loved every minute, every page. It’s a bit Evie Woods and The Lost Bookshop, which is one of my favourite books.
I loved the character of Elenora – we know she is escaping from something or someone – but as this is a short read, we only get a gist of her back story. But my favourite character was the clockmaker himself, who appears one day after Elenora moves into the bookshop. There is something magical and unreal about him, but we don’t find out until much later on. There are lots of other unexplained happenings, like the notes that appear in the till each day with requests for specific items.
I read so many dark crime novels, that it is refreshing to read something uplifting, even though it is sad at the same time. It will no doubt be one of my favourite books of the final quarter of 2025.
Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of #TheClockmaker blog tour.
About the Author
Roxan Burley is an author who delves into the intense world of urban fantasy, one where the segregation of magic has a powerful resonance on her characters abilities to change society. She also runs her own business as an interior designer. She lives in rural Devon where she is converting a barn with her husband, two children and their many pets. She spent her childhood lost in the world of magic and the possibilities it could create. She finally put pen to paper, despite the challenge of being dyslexic, with her debut adult novel Bloodstream of Moonlight in her Equal Rise series.
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Sisterhood can be fatal.
Leah has never been close to her younger half-sister, but she’s not surprised to get a frantic phone call late at night, asking for a ride. Amanda’s life has always been a snarled mess of bad choices and boyfriends, and it’s common for her to resurface mid-crisis.
But this time is different. Amanda is adamant about getting to the neighboring town of Belmont but won’t say why—only that her five-year-old son is in danger. But Amanda doesn’t have any kids.
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Before Leah can get answers, Amanda runs into the road and is killed by a passing car.
In the days that follow, Leah convinces herself that Amanda was confused that night, especially after the coroner finds hallucinogenic drugs in her bloodstream. But that doesn’t explain the nameless boy at Amanda’s visitation. Or the middle of the night phone calls with no one on the other end. Or the unshakable feeling of being watched.
Someone blames Leah for Amanda’s death. And that someone wants Leah dead.
My Review
I really wanted to like Leah, but I found it quite hard. It’s probably the way her relationship with her father has deteriorated since she discovered that he had fathered a child with a work colleague over twenty-five years ago. That child was Amanda – her half-sister. Her mum forgave him but Leah can’t. I know she’s hurt, but Leah, it’s not all about you. I think that’s my problem. She makes everything about her. And I’m not the only one who thinks so, but that comes much later.
So on to the story. Amanda has always been a bit of a loose cannon, so when she calls Leah saying she’s being threatened and needs a lift to a place Leah has never heard of, Leah refuses. Amanda is either drunk or high and Leah doesn’t want to get involved. But when Amanda runs off and is knocked down by a passing car, killing her outright, Leah is drawn in whether she likes it or not.
Then all sorts of scary things start to happen – Leah is being watched, but by whom, and what do they want? And someone blames her for Amanda’s death. And that someone wants her dead. It’s only the beginning, as Leah gets pulled into a web of deceit, where she no longer knows who to trust. Apart from irritating best friend and flatmate Emma of course. And then there is Parker – her father’s stepson from his recent marriage to the dreadful Nikki next door.
Erik has a very recognisable ‘voice’ in his writing. It’s hard to explain what I mean by that. It’s a no-frills, no-nonsense, fast paced style which is sometimes quite shocking. Like starting with a row between two of the main characters – then one walks into the road and is immediately mowed down by a car. But don’t let that fool you. It goes from simple to twisty and complicated very quickly and will keep you on your toes and probably up half the night reading.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Erik Therme has thrashed in garage bands, inadvertently harboured runaways, and met Darth Vader. When he’s not at his computer, he can be found cheering on his youngest daughter’s volleyball team, or watching horror movies with his oldest. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa—one of only twenty-eight places in the world that UNESCO has certified as a City of Literature. Join Erik’s mailing list to be notified of new releases and author giveaways: http://eepurl.com/cD1F8L
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When two teenagers are found brutally murdered on the island of Lidingö, dressed in white tunics and wearing crowns of candles, former French police officer Maïa Rehn joins local Commissioner Aleksander Storm to unravel a mystery with a shockingly dark heart. The highly anticipated sequel to the international bestselling gothic mystery, Yule Island.
As Autumn deepens into darkness in Lidingö, on the Stockholm archipelago, the island is plunged into in the space of a week, two teenagers, the son of the island’s mayor and that of a powerful businessman, are brutally murdered. Their bodies are left deep in the forest, dressed in white tunics with crowns of candles atop their heads, like offerings to Saint Lucia.
Maïa Rehn has fled Paris for Lidingö, where her husband has grown up, trying to come to terms with the death of their only daughter in a car accident. But when the murders shake the island community, the former police commissioner is drawn into the heart of the investigation, joining Commissioner Aleksander Storm to unravel a mystery as chilling as the Nordic winter. As they dig deeper, it becomes clear that a wind of vengeance is blowing through the archipelago, unearthing secrets that are as scandalous as they are inhuman.
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But what if the victims weren’t who they seemed? What if those long silenced had finally found a way to strike back? How far would they go to make their tormentors pay?
And you – how far would you go?
Dressed in a white tunic and adorned with candles, a teenager is found dead on the island of Lidingö, his skull smashed in. Twenty-three years earlier, a young girl was also found murdered in the same place, in the same garments, traditionally intended to celebrate Saint Lucia. At the time, the victim’s boyfriend was convicted of her murder, which he has always denied. Was he innocent? Has the real culprit struck again? But why now? Commissioner Aleksander Storm, with the unexpected help of French policewoman Maïa Rehn who recently moved to Sweden, stubbornly attempts to untangle the bizarre case and, in the process, uncovers a long-buried secret that holds the key to a deeper, darker mystery that will put everyone at risk…
My Review
This was a very interesting story that turned out to be far more complicated than it seemed initially. Two young teenagers murdered in the same fashion as a young woman twenty-three years earlier. The victim’s boyfriend was arrested, convicted and imprisoned. He insists that he was not guilty, but then don’t they all. We, the reader, don’t really know at this point. I didn’t have a clue.
Back to now and local Commissioner Aleksander Storm is dealing with the first murder. He is joined by former French police officer Maïa Rehn who left Paris to stay in Lidingö in Sweden, where her husband Ebbe grew up. She is trying to come to terms with the death of their only daughter in a car accident a year ago. It’s only near the end that we discover more about her back story, and it was not what I expected.
All the killings revolve around the legend of Saint Lucia, who I confess I had never heard of. She was a martyr who survived an attempt at being burnt at the stake and was eventually put to death by the sword. She was first tortured by having her eyes removed, though some versions of her story say that she gouged them out herself, yet she could still see. When she was buried, her eyes had been miraculously restored (Source Wikipedia).
But why were the three victims dressed as Saint Lucia? I could not have worked any of it out myself because the plot is far deeper and more involved. Eventually it goes in a totally different direction. Best to just go with the flow.
This is the third of Johana Gustawsson’s solo novels I have read including The Bleeding and Yule Island, both of which I adored as much as #ScarsOfSilence. Once again, David Warriner’s translation is seamless. I have also read Son written together with Thomas Enger.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Known as the Queen of French Noir, Johana Gustawsson is one of France’s most highly
regarded, award-winning crime writers, recipient of the prestigious Cultura Ligue de
l`Imaginaire Award for her Gothic mystery Yule Island. Number-one bestselling books
include Block 46, Keeper, Blood Song and her historical thriller, The Bleeding. Johana lives in Sweden with her family.
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.
+ 1940s, 1980s, family, gay, Historical fiction, nazi germany, poland, war, World War Two
The Last Orphan by Carly Schabowski
1939, Poland: Would you save a child in a warzone? Marcin is just hoping to keep himself safe during the Nazi invasion.
But once he befriends his Jewish neighbors, his fate is sealed, and when their building is raided by the Nazis, Marcin finds himself hiding their son, Adam.
Marcin vows to keep Adam safe at all costs. But as he starts an impossible journey across the borders of wartorn Europe towards safety, he begins to realize Adam isn’t the only child who needs his help. And when they encounter more orphaned children in hiding, Marcin becomes determined to save as many as possible. Even if that will put his own life—and Adam’s—at terrible risk.
What Adam and the other orphans don’t know, is that Marcin has a secret. He did something terrible in Poland. Something he can never forgive himself for. Until many years later, where he’s living his life peacefully in rural Washington, USA, and he answers a call from another mother in distress. Marcin is needed again. But this time, it’s Adam’s daughter who needs him…
My Review
It was interesting at the end of the book to read what the author had to say about trauma, grief, guilt, and the effect of alcoholism on many of those who had survived the war. My Romanian-Jewish mother, diagnosed with agoraphobia and chronic anxiety, I now believe was suffering from PTSD following her escape from the Nazis in Vienna in 1938.
My father on the other hand, was Polish. He lived in the countryside, not in the city, and by the time the Germans had taken Warsaw, he had joined the army and was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp north of Siberia. Like some of the orphans in the book, he ended up in the UK, where he remained.
In spite of her mental illness, my mother never drank alcohol, but was addicted to prescription barbiturates. My father drank a bit, but not to excess. I have no experience of trauma-induced alcoholism, or heavy drinking, as we see with Clara, her father or Marcin. Clara also uses recreational drugs – again I have no experience.
I can, however, see why alcohol and drugs would provide an escape from the reality and horror of war. But in Marcin’s case, we are seeing his guilt as well.
Clara also witnessed something no child should ever see. I can imagine how it must have affected her, but I still found her behaviour a bit self-indulgent many years later when her mother is ill and undergoing chemotherapy. My sons would probably accuse me of a lack of empathy because I am a ‘boomer’ and we don’t get it. So forgive me if I come across as judgmental, but I really wanted her to put her mother first before it was too late.
The individual stories of the rescued children like Sara, Zophia, Anna and the others were beautifully written and very emotional. How can we even begin to imagine being thrown from a train while our parents were taken away to be gassed in a concentration camp? It doesn’t bear thinking about and I hope it never happens again. We can live in hope.
Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of #TheLastOrphan blog tour.
About the Author
Carly Schabowski is a lecturer and the USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction, including The Rainbow, with translations in over ten countries. She is a former journalist, and is currently an associate lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, where she completed both her MA and PhD.
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Lucy Potter is a successful artist but she has done no new work in months. She fears she has lost the creative spark that sustained her and enabled her to express her view of the world. Will she ever regain it?
The chance discovery of an old notebook while on a walk in the woods provides a welcome distraction, raising questions she cannot answer. Who wrote it, why is it in code, what secrets does it hide? And why does it include the address of a house that does not exist?
Partial decoding of the notebook, surely written many years ago, reveals troubling incidents in the life of an unnamed girl. Deeply affected by the girl’s plight, Lucy feels impelled to find out who she is or was and what happened to her. Could she still be alive?
Lucy’s search for answers has an outcome she could never have anticipated. But will the re-appearance in Lucy’s life of fellow artist Rex Monday help or hinder her attempts to re-establish her position in the art world – and provide the stability she needs in her personal life?
As the story unfolds, we are drawn into the world as seen through Lucy’s eyes. A world of colour and light, of shape and pattern and texture, inviting us to see it that way too.
My Review
This was such a change from my usual diet of crime fiction, Gothic horror, psychological thrillers and Scandi noir. A very gentle read, character driven, and for those who love art and an intriguing mystery.
Lucy’s career is in a slump. As a successful artist who has exhibited in Paris and New York as well as London, she now can’t find the inspiration for new work. But a reunion of her art college peers reintroduces her to fellow artist Rex Monday and they soon begin a relationship, though they both keep their own homes and studios. And Lucy finds her spark again, though it may or may not have anything to do with Rex.
In the meantime, while out walking, Lucy finds an old notebook, written in code. With the help of a friend of a friend, they manage to decode part of it and what is revealed shows a very unhappy childhood of an unnamed young girl. But is it real? Or is it fiction? There are plenty of clues to lead her to the owner of the notebook, and a separate story unfolds.
I found the story of the notebook owner more interesting than that of Lucy herself to be honest. She had a colourful life with a horrible mother (as documented by her), and an interesting relationship with others including her older husband. If I was Lucy I would also have searched for the truth. A beautifully written book with more than its share of drama, and just enough mystery to keep the reader intrigued.
About the Author
Christopher Bowden lives in south London. He is the author of six novels, each with a colour theme. The Amber Maze, published in September 2018, is the latest. His previous books have been praised variously by Andrew Marr, Julian Fellowes, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Shena Mackay. Of his third novel, The Red House, Sir Derek said, “Very entertaining, cleverly constructed and expertly paced. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Website:
www.christopherbowden.com
Being the middle child can feel invisible. Ellie knows what it’s like to be stuck in the middle – squished in the middle seat, wearing hand-me-down shoes, too small for rides and too big for a stroller.
Sometimes, it seems downright unfair! But maybe the middle isn’t so bad after all.
Genre: Children’s (3-9)
Pages: 24
Publisher: Yorkshire Publishing
Illustrations: Vanessa Alexandre
With playful rhymes and heartwarming charm, Being Middle celebrates the joys, challenges, and surprising perks of being a middle child. The second book in the award-winning BEING ME series, this delightful story is perfect for middle kids who sometimes feel overlooked – and for families who want to remind them just how special they really are.
My Review
I’m not in the middle,
I’m the youngest of two.
I then have two children,
And they also have two.
But I do understand
This much is true,
That a baby can hog
All the limelight from you.
I’d have loved a baby sister, brother not so much, I already had an annoying older one of those. I never thought about being in the middle, being the youngest was already a pain. In this story, we hear from Ellie, the one in the middle and how she feels invisible.
But her mum explains to her that being in the middle is the best place to be. You have a sibling to look up to she tells her, and one who looks up to you. You are the bridge between here and there. You are the filling in a sandwich and the cream in an Oreo biscuit.
It’s a lovely little story and the illustrations are fabulous.
Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of the #BeingMiddle blog tour.
About the Author
Lori Orlinsky is a multi award-winning, bestselling children’s book author who lives in Chicago. Her newest book, Being Middle, is a humorous and heartfelt celebration of the often-overlooked middle child. While Lori may not be a middle child herself, she does have her hands full raising one, and her real-life daughter Ellie served as the inspiration for the story.
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She opened the wrong door. Now her life will never be the same.
When Lucy Foster visits her old friend, she doesn’t expect to hear a baby crying behind a locked cellar door. But what she finds shatters everything she thought she a terrified teenage girl and a newborn, hidden away like a secret shame.
As Lucy’s quiet life spirals into a media frenzy, and as the town turns against her, one thing becomes clear—someone is watching. And they want Lucy to stop helping the girl in the cellar.
Because the truth is darker than anyone imagines. And unlocking it may cost Lucy everything.
A gripping psychological thriller packed with secrets, lies, and jaw-dropping twists, Behind a Locked Door is perfect for fans of Freida McFadden, Lisa Jewell, and Shalini Boland.
My Review
I shouldn’t really give this five stars as a lot of it is so far-fetched, but I adored it. In the second half, it was so exciting I had to keep listening until the end (this was on Audible). It’s got everything, murder, psychopaths, kidnapping, mystery, secrets, suspense…
Psychology teacher Lucy Foster is a single mother to fifteen-year-old Theo. His dad is in prison for drug-related offences. He was Lucy’s teen sweetheart and she hasn’t really dated since. When Lucy rescues Alice and new born baby Jess from the basement of her friend Miriam’s house, where they have been locked up, Theo becomes a bit obsessed.
When Alice is well enough to go home, she begs Lucy to help her start again so social services don’t take baby Jess away. But Lucy doesn’t really want the responsibility – she doesn’t know Alice and has enough to do taking care of a teenager who she recently had to drag away from an illegal rave. But Alice is emotional and persuasive and Lucy struggles to say no.
Unfortunately, her relationship with Alice has caused all sorts of problems including a stalker and creepy notes and carvings left in her garden. She decides to back off but Alice starts seeing Theo behind Lucy’s back.
This wouldn’t be the great story it is without lots of twists along the way and Behind A Locked Door has plenty of those. There are times when the twists are believable, but Lucy’s ludicrous behaviour is over the top to say the least. She’s a school teacher after all, not a vigilante. It would almost be amusing if it wasn’t so scary. I just loved it, every crazy minute.
About the Author
Sarah A. Denzil is a Wall Street Journal bestselling suspense writer. She is also known as young adult author Sarah Dalton.
Sarah lives in Yorkshire with her partner, enjoying the scenic countryside and rather unpredictable weather.
She is the author of international bestselling psychological thriller Silent Child, which topped the bestseller lists on Amazon in the US, UK and Australia.
You can read now read Aiden’s Story, a short story and sequel to Silent Child. It’s completely free here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/n7lb74chp3
Find out more at: http://www.sarahdenzil.com/
Join the newsletter for updates: http://eepurl.com/cwAmZD
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Email: sarah@sarahdenzil.com
+ childhood, family, fiction, gay, ghosts, loneliness, loss, love, motherhood, mystery, review, secrets, siblings, supernatural
The Season of Secrets by DE McCluskey
To make sense of what was happening around you, could you believe?
‘This could be your mother’s last Christmas,’ were not the words Alison wanted to hear so close to the holidays.
Determined to spend one last festive season with her ailing mother, Alison, her daughter Grace, and Anthony her brother, decide to make the journey back to the town where they grew up.
However, an uninvited guest comes with them. Lisa, Grace’s imaginary friend is along for the vacation too.
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When Grace then starts acting out of character, blaming Lisa for urging her on the strangely familiar sounds around the house begin. An old Christmas tune resonates through the rooms, carrying with it long forgotten memories of their late father, the Spirit of Christmas, and the town’s boogieman, Old Mr Sharpe.
As dark, long hidden secrets begin to unravel they find that if they want to make sense of what is happening around them, then they must believe.
The Season of Secrets is a tale of ghosts, forgotten memories, and secrets, from DE McCluskey author of The Boyfriend, The Twelve, Reboot, and The Contract.
My Review
When I saw that the author writes in the horror genre, I was put off initially, as I don’t read horror or watch horror movies anymore. But I do like a bit of the supernatural, especially ghosts, though no demons please. I love the type of book where a soul can’t rest until someone discovers how they died, finds their body, and gives them a proper Christian burial. Other religions equally apply.
In The Season Of Secrets, eight-year-old Grace has an imaginary friend called Lisa. But is that all she is? An imaginary friend?
A few days before Christmas, Alison and Grace head over to Alison’s mother’s house, where they will meet up with her brother Anthony. Lisa is coming too, Grace informs them. The house was their childhood home. Their mother is very ill and this will be her last Christmas, the doctor has told them.
But when Grace starts acting strangely and even disappears in the middle of the night, terrifying mum Alison and Anthony, they begin to wonder whether there is more to it than that.
For Alison, memories come flooding back of a time when she was eight years old and Anthony was six. It was Halloween and some local children dared them to go to Old Man Sharpe’s spooky home. It almost ended in disaster. And all the time they can see a light up ahead and hear an old hit song from the late 1960s about the magic of Christmas, sung by ‘Johnny Plaid’.
It’s all very eerie and a bit scary (I don’t scare easily I hasten to add), and full of secrets, memories and old loves. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. You don’t have to believe in ghosts, but it probably helps!
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Born in Liverpool in the UK, Dave McCluskey left school and began working in a music shop selling guitars and drums and playing in bands around the local music scene. When he realised that fame and fortune, and rock god status, was proving elusive, he decided to go to university to see what they had to offer. This led to him wasting almost 30 years of his life playing around with computers.
He became an author in his 30s having been an avid reader since he was a child. He writes as DE McCluskey, mostly in the genre of horror (mainstream, extreme, and comedy), although he has been known to dabble in thrillers, romance, science fiction, fantasy, and also children’s books (cleverly disguising his pen name as Dave McCluskey, no one would ever put those two names together).
He began by creating comics and graphic novels, thinking they would be easier to write and sell than traditional novels (how wrong he was). He then made the switch into the media of novels and audiobooks as someone told him that way lies the riches and the fame he has always craved.
Even though the riches and the fame has continued to elude him, he has not looked back since.
His books include the highly regarded The Boyfriend, Zola, Reboot: A Cosmic Horror, The Twelve, Cravings, CRACK, and the historical thriller In The Mood for Murder.
Dave remains an avid football fan although sometimes he wonders why, and he has been known to lurk around the stand-up comedy circuit in the North-West of England.
He lives at home with his partner, their two children, and a sausage dog with an ego, just because he will soon be getting his own children’s book series, called Ted (the series will be called The Adventures of Lord Teddington of Netherton).
You can find Dave hanging around social media like a bad smell. He is most active on Facebook but has been known to pop up on Instagram and TikTok. He is not active on Twitter, or X as it is now known, as that platform is terrible.
Where can you find them?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/demccluskey/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demccluskey_author
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@demccluskey
Book Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242452780-the-season-of-secrets
Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/seasonsecrets-zbt
“Why fit in when you were made to stand out?”
Sox is a microbe. One day, he trips and is catapulted into a human body. He bumps into Nova, or rather, Nova crashes into him!
Publisher: Blossom Spring Publishing
Genre: Children
Page Count: 29 pages
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Nova says strange things, making Sox feel confused. Soon, the mysterious Bammies start chasing them. It all sends Sox into a sizzle!
Join Sox in an adventure with crashes, chases, sizzles and giggles along the way.
My Review
Sox in a Sizzle is written in rhyme. This makes it easy to read and understand, and entertaining for younger children.
Sox went out walking,
Stepping forward, unaware.
That slipping on their saggy sock
Would fling them swiftly in the air!
Sox is a microbe who is accidentally catapulted into a human body. Here he meets Nova who tells him:
“Get your skates on snappy,” Nova shrieks.
“The Bammies are coming,
And we need to be quick.
Find somewhere to hide, or we’ll be in a fix!”
Sox and Nova must hurry to get away from the Bammies. It all sends Sox into a sizzle.
Sox in a Sizzle is aimed at children with autism and is the first in a series of short stories with neurodivergent characters at its core. I would like to have known what the Bammies are.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Sox in a Sizzle is the first of what I envision will be a series of books of short, fun,
playful stories with neurodivergent characters at its core. I am an autistic creative artist
based in North Yorkshire, UK. I was nonspeaking until aged 15 and developed a passion
for reading from a young age. Books were both my escape and connection with the
world.
My background is in mental health nursing. I then retrained and completed a diploma in Art & Design and a BA Fine Art degree. Leading on to be a freelance artist. I have set up art and wellbeing groups in a broad range of community and hospital settings. As well as delivering support for autistic adults with a late diagnosis.
When not creating, I find much joy in live music, getting out walking in nature, and being inspired to read new authors at my book group.
My son was diagnosed as autistic at age 5. I remember it creating a sense of complete isolation for both of us, at that time. Not being in contact with any other adults or children who understood. We are all different and unique in our own way. I believe it’s important to celebrate and accept difference. To be happy with who we are, has a huge impact on our health.
+ 1960s, alcoholism, fiction, France, friends, friendship, gay, ghosts, haunting, journalist, literature, London, love, music, obsession, racism, review, supernatural
The Music of the Cosmos by Carole Bulewski
“We must discover the Music of the Cosmos.”
With these words, visionary, depraved and intensely artistic Gaius piques the curiosity of Sam and his friends, young lads from Kent who have come to Swinging Sixties London in search of musical success.
To further their quest for the otherworldly Music of the Cosmos, the boys leave London for Paris, and experiment with the help of psychotropic drugs designed by a mysterious patron who only Gaius has ever met. While traveling through rural France to escape the madness of that countries May 1968 revolution, events take a turn for the tragic – and the supernatural.
Genre: Historical / supernatural
The Music of the Cosmos, Carole Bulewski’s debut novel is a supernatural delight. Well written, thought-provoking imagery, that will paint glorious psychedelic images in your mind.
The Music of the Cosmos will play on in your head long after you’ve finished it.
My Review
My first observation is that the young friends from Kent are so young. They leave school and go to London when they are sixteen. They make music, write songs, and try to earn a living. I went to the Isle of Wight Festival in 1969 with two friends when I was sixteen and thought that was outrageously adventurous.
Then Sam (our first person narrator) meets mixed-race Alfie, who also joins the band. Life is strange, fun and they are so independent. Until they meet Gaius, who is very wealthy and holds drug fuelled orgies at his house. He is obsessed with The Music of the Cosmos. Of course we know that this is basically music they play when tripping on little yellow pills, similar to LSD I suppose, though I have never done any drugs stronger than a couple of joints in my late teens. I was always too scared.
This wouldn’t normally be the type of book I would read, but it’s beautifully written and Sam is so endearing, as is his best friend Joe to whom he is recounting the tragic events that occurred forty-five years ago after Joe left the band to pursue his love of journalism.
Apart from Gaius, other people appear in their lives, like Martin, who is a friend of Gaius and is in his twenties, and seems to be the steadying influence in the band. In Paris we meet Daniel, with whom Sam spends a lot of time.
The second part of the book is set during the protests and strikes in France in May 1968. The band are left stranded when they run out of petrol on their way to Spain and have to stay at a supposedly haunted house. This is where the book turns sinister and terrifying, with a touch of the supernatural.
The Music of the Cosmos is both original and unique, maybe not a standard modern genre, but something akin to “Psychedelic Literature: A specific movement focused on the use of hallucinogenic drugs and the resulting altered states of consciousness, often with philosophical or spiritual interpretations.” It certainly made for an interesting read.
Many thanks to Hygge Book Tours for inviting me to be part of the #blogtour
About the Author
Born and raised in the south of France, Carole Bulewski moved to the UK at the end of the second Millennium, eventually settling down in London after a few years in the South West of England, a place that has inspired her many a supernatural story since – writing first in her native French, but now almost exclusively in the English language.
Although writing has always been Carole’s preferred means of expressing herself, having written her first fairy tale at the tender age of seven, music in one form or another plays an important part in her life, and consequently in her writing. For not only do musicians make great characters in supernatural and horror stories, but they also have the ability to conjure up a parallel universe where different rules apply.
In her writing, Carole explores how the supernatural can creep into the most mundane of situations. The Music of the Cosmos, her first novel in the English language, takes the reader on a journey through the extraordinary era that were the late Sixties, from Kent to Swinging London, the Paris of May 1968 and southern France, from the perspective of a musician whose use of chemical substances might have altered his perception of reality. The Music of the Cosmos was published in February 2018.
Since then, Carole has been working on a trilogy, the Queen’s Park trilogy, the first instalment of which, The Piper and The Fairy, was released in 2020. The two following novels, Water of Life and The Little God of Queen’s Park, were released in 2021.
Carole is also a member of urban baroque group Firefay.
Social Media Handles
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+ fiction, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, illegitimacy, jealousy, marriage, mythology, obsession, review, superstition
House of Splinters by Laura Purcell
Not every house is a home…
Belinda Bainbridge has spent her life in the shadow of her anxious mother, so when her father-in-law dies at The Bridge, his remote ancestral seat, she is secretly thrilled. His death means she, her husband Wilfred and their children can relocate and finally begin to create their own happy home born a merchant’s daughter, she will now be lady of the manor.
But their new home quickly proves far from ideal. The garden is a wilderness, the estate is struggling financially, there are whispers about the mysterious death of a servant many years before while their young son, Freddie, seems unusually fixated on the strange wooden figures – so-called ‘silent companions’ – that were once owned by his ancestors.
When Wilfred’s charismatic brother, Nathan, arrives unexpectedly from abroad, bringing a very different account of the family’s past, Belinda begins to question what her husband has told her. What really lies behind the sad history of the house?
And are Belinda’s children truly safe here?
The outstanding new haunted house story from Sunday Times bestseller and multi award winner, Laura Purcell. Adored by readers, The Silent Companions was picked for both the Radio 2 Book Club and the Zoe Ball ITV Book Clubs, and reignited readers’ passion for classic gothic tales for a new audience. House of Splinters revisits her iconic setting of The Bridge for a fresh new tale to chill and thrill new readers and existing fans to their very depths.
My Review
I’ve loved all of Laura’s books, but The Silent Companions has always been my favourite. I couldn’t believe we would be revisiting spooky house The Bridge, where it was set, in her latest novel House of Splinters.
There is something very creepy about the whole concept of ‘silent companions’. Each of these strange wooden figures resembles someone who lived at the house many years before, from the murdered footman Roberts and Wilfred’s late father, to Henrietta Maria, a supposedly wicked child who committed a series of heinous crimes and was eventually killed by her own mother, Anne Bainbridge.
Like Wilfred’s sister who was said to have the gift of sight, Freddie can see and talk to Henrietta Maria, or Hetty as he calls her. And he must take care of his baby sister Lydia and keep her from harm.
But when Wilfred’s estranged younger brother Nathan turns up after 18 years, things take a stranger turn. He is nothing but charm and charisma, but why was he sent away? And what is his relationship now with his brother?
Once again I listened to this on Audible and I am now waiting for Laura’s next Gothic mystery. It was brilliant and scary with some shocking moments I didn’t expect.
About the Author
Laura Purcell is a former bookseller and lives in Colchester with her husband and pet guinea pigs.
Her first novel for Raven Books The Silent Companions won the WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award 2018 and featured in both the Zoe Ball and Radio 2 Book Clubs. Other Gothic novels include The Corset (The Poison Thread in USA), Bone China, The Shape of Darkness (2020) and The Whispering Muse.
Laura’s historical fiction about the Hanoverian monarchs, Queen of Bedlam and Mistress of the Court, was published by Myrmidon.
The Olympitis father and daughter team are back with this second instalment of the Whispers in the Park series…
Now in vibrant colour, Whispers in the Park: The Prophecy is the thrilling second book of Emmanuel and Olympia Olympitis’s enchanting series. As winter draws in around St James’s Park, a mysterious new arrival sends shockwaves through the centuries-old school for grey squirrels. A red squirrel – descendant of the school’s legendary founder – joins the ranks in a haunting echo of an ancient prophecy.
Meanwhile, for young students Shane and Sophie, and their new friend Rufus, their tranquil life among the foliage is about to become increasingly perilous. St James’s is soon under threat from the shadowy underworld of cunning foxes, ruthless rats and powerful enemies as a sinister plot emerges against the nearby royal palaces. But with Headmaster Horatio Hoyland on high alert and the ever-watchful Siamese detective Sam on the case, there is always hope that disaster can be averted.
Bursting with charm, intrigue and unforgettable characters, Whispers in the Park: The Prophecy is a spellbinding tale of courage, friendship and the fight to protect a legacy – perfect for fans of The Wind in the Willows and Redwall.
My Review
Everyone at St James School for squirrels knows about the prophecy. But is it real and will it come true?
“From Egypt’s sands, a warning clear,
In London’s oak, the end draws near …
“A red-furred son, so brave, so small,
Will stand alone to save them all.”
But when Rufus the red squirrel arrives, it is obvious that he is descended from the Founder of the school. But is he the red-furred son, so brave, so small? Being a well-mannered, intelligent squirrel, he soon fits in and makes friends, in spite of being much smaller and ‘different’. He is very good at writing – his father is a journalist, and editor of The Inverness Chatter – and football, though not very good at other sports or academic subjects.
In the meantime Fabian the wily fox is plotting a robbery with the help of the stoats and rats. Well two actually, the first one at Clarence House will be a distraction, while the second one will be the real thing. It’s all very complicated and involves wealthy property developer Silus, who hates red squirrels. It also involves gangsters from Chicago. Who knew!
But Fabian hadn’t banked on the involvement of Sam the Siamese cat, who is the detective we met in book one. She is convinced there is more to the robbery than anyone is letting on. She threatens Reinfeldt the rat for information, reminding him how he got his scar and lost an eye.
‘Fortunately, he was too slow, and the kitten leaped up as he lifted the crowbar in the air, raking his face with her claws. These claws in fact.’ Sam examined them fondly for a minute. ‘Yes. I was that kitten.’
Thinking the crime was solved, Hoyland quotes the Prophecy, but Rufus tells him that he forgot the last two lines.
‘What last two lines? That’s all there is,’ gasped Hoyland, ‘that’s the complete Prophecy. What are you talking about?’
‘Not quite.’ Rufus’s voice had deepened still more, full of doom. He was in a trance. ‘The last two lines are:
“But treason’s stain must never mark
The Crown, or all will end in dark.”
And so the crime really is solved…. for now.
As well as being a lovely story, The Prophecy also teaches children about diversity – Rufus is red and small – as well as respecting each other’s race and culture. I love the squirrels, in fact they are amongst my favourite animals, but it’s Sam the Siamese cat that stole my heart, maybe because she is like my neighbour’s cat Woody, who I can just picture being a feline detective.
Many thanks to Grace Pilkington Publicity for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.
Email: gracepilkingtonpublicity@gmail.com
About the Author and Illustrator
Emmanuel Olympitis is a British businessman who has held many public company directorships during his career. He is also the author of critically acclaimed By Victories Undone and Marked Cards.
Olympia Olympitis is a full-time illustrator based between London and Wiltshire, having studied at City and Guilds of London Art School and The University of Edinburgh. Specialising in house portraiture, landscape illustration and bespoke wedding & event stationery, Whispers in the Park was her first book.
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