In many ways I feel quite envious of people who haven’t yet discovered the Crow Investigations series of books. The Magpie Key is the eighth title in that collection and I thoroughly recommend reading them all in sequence. Although you could take this as a standalone book it would be […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Painter has created a wonderful supernaturally infused underworld in London that rivals Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series. Here the central character is Lydia Crow, heir apparent to one of the four magical family dynasties. Working as a private detective from the family cafe she tries to stay clear of the […]
Estimated reading time: 1 minute
You’ve probably discovered Tess Gerritsen even if you’ve never read any of her books. She was the author of the the hugely successful crime series which was turned into the TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander. The Shape of Night is a new stand […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Meeting up with an old friend like Vianne Rocher is always a pleasure and if, like me, you are a fan of Harris’s Chocolat series this book is unmissable – even if you do find yourself hunting through the cupboard for some chocolate goodness while you are reading it. Not […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Edinburgh student, Rose MacLeod, has been losing time for as long as she can remember. Days and weeks just disappear, leaving her with terrifying gaps in her memory. Now she is seeing disturbing visions; waking nightmares of violence and death. Around the world young women like her are being killed […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
This isn’t a new book. In fact it came out in October 2017 but I’ve only just discovered it thanks to my Audible trial subscription. If you’ve ever read any of the Wilkie Collins Victorian gothic chillers you’ll know what I mean when I compare The Silent Companions to this […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
The only trouble with getting an early review copy of a new book is that you’ve got an even longer wait till book 2 arrives! I’ve been a fan of Sarah Painter for some time now. Her stories are always a little bit quirky and have a thread of the […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
I’ve always thought of a writer’s retreat as a serene oasis in the middle of nowhere where authors sit quietly tapping away on laptop keyboards, sipping whiskey on the rocks and thoughtfully rubbing their chins occasionally. Mark Edwards has created a decidedly unrelaxing destination in his small town in Wales, […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
You can always rely on Sarah Painter to come up with something a little bit quirky, with a touch of the supernatural. In Beneath the Water there are two parallel stories being told. Letters from new wife Jessie back to her family from 19th century Edinburgh and the very modern […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
There is something about a ghost story that makes it perfect winter – and indeed Christmas – reading! Zoe Adams arrives on a remote Scottish island. Ostensibly to paint the beautiful rugged landscape but it is also an escape from a failing marriage back home in America. Renting the McBride […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
The fifth and final book in the Cainsville series sees Liv facing a choice between the two supernatural forces vying for her support. As it looks increasingly like she is close to making her decision both parties decide to up the ante and force her to choose them. The only […]
Estimated reading time: 1 minute
With the new series Midnight, Texas launching on Syfy in the UK this Thursday it feels like a good time to get to grips with the books behind the show. It took me a while to get round to reading this one. I’d been a little disappointed with more recent […]
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Amanda Hocking is one of my go-to authors for a good supernatural story and Freeks has all the ingredients that that make me very happy. Set in 1987, the story is interlaced with the music of the time and had me wishing that there was a playlist set up to […]
Estimated reading time: 22 minutes
Betrayals is the fourth book in the supernatural Cainsville series by Kelley Armstrong. Dark stories of fae and enchantment and the wild horsemen of the underworld leading the wild hunt. This book continues on from Deceptions. A little time has passed and Olivia now has her PI licence and is […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
With the recent launch of the fourth book in the Cainsville Series – Betrayals – it feels like the perfect time to go back and revisit Cainsville and books one through to three. Better known for her supernatural series about werewolves (that inspired the TV series Bitten) Armstrong has come […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
UK Publishing Date: 1 Apr 2016. 330 pages. This is a tale of two extraordinary women separated by eighty years but both bound together by the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton. In 1938 Grace Kemp starts at the hospital as a trainee nurse. Abused by her father’s friend she found […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
UK Publishing Date: 25 Feb 2016. 528 pages. Did I love this or hate it? I’m still not entirely sure. In Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl the main character is a girl called Cath who writes fan fiction. Specifically Harry Potter fan fiction featuring an orphan wizard called Simon and a vampire […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
UK Publishing Date: 27 Feb 2014. 433 pages Silence of the Sea is book number six in the Thora Guðmundsdóttir series of Icelandic crime mysteries. While it can be read as a standalone book I thoroughly recommend that you read the others in the series first as it adds so […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
UK Publishing Date: 27 August 2015. 512 pages. Another one with a supernatural theme for Halloween! Its been a while since my last Derek Landy book. I did enjoy the first couple of Skulduggery Pleasant books so thought that this might make an interesting change. Amber is a tubby teenager […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes