Alice Broadway’s Scar – an excellent conclusion to a fascinating trilogy

‘… they roar their approval – not joy at my return, but jubilation at Mayor Longsight standing above me, above them, ruling over his people. A man, made divinity.’ In the final novel of Alice Broadway’s Ink trilogy, Leora Flint is at the mercy of Saintstone’s leader, Mayor Longsight, having returned from Featherstone at the …

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Deborah Morgan’s Disappearing Home – one for the year’s Top Ten

There are some books which just don’t put a foot wrong – and this is one of them. The tale of ten-year-old Robyn, growing up on an estate in Liverpool in the late Seventies, is one which is simply and brilliantly narrated by Robyn herself. Morgan manages the difficult trick of getting a child’s voice …

A Long Shadow by Caroline Kington #BlogTour Review and Giveaway

Following the tragic death of her husband, Kate Maddicott decides to shoulder the burden of running the family farm for the sake of her young children. The farm has been in her husband’s family for generations, and Kate is keen to maintain a sense of stability for those she loves. Set at the height of …

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – my 10 favourite bits of an all-round bloody marvellous read.

This could be a very short review – essentially, I absolutely love this book and everyone should read it – but I thought I’d attempt to prepare for the forthcoming series by re-reading it for the millionth time and then listing my very favourite bits. If I were to do just that, I’d end up …

Helen Matthews’ Lies Behind the Ruin #BlogTour

I’d thoroughly enjoyed Helen Matthews’ first novel, Leaving the Village, which focused on human trafficking, and her new novel is just as fascinating. Following a fatal accident at her husband’s firm, for which he is held responsible, Emma and Paul Willshire attempt to begin a new life in France with their daughter Mollie. This is …

The first Booker Winner – P. H. Newby’s Something to Answer For (1969)

The announcement of the Booker shortlist is always a highlight for me. The lists often feature a mix of household names and, perhaps more excitingly, new authors who are making a break from the pack early on in their careers. Fiona Mosley’s Elmet, shortlisted in 2017, is one of the most powerful books I’ve read …

Chris Brookmyre’s Fallen Angel #BlogTour #review

I love a book which starts with a murder - it establishes the genre swiftly and we all know where we stand. The dead man is unnamed – we’ll get confirmation of his identity halfway through the novel – and the plotting is superb from the outset. Brookmyre is a talented crime writer, setting up …

Unlaced by the Highland Duke – Lara Temple #LochmoreLegacy

This is the second book in Harlequin’s Lochmore Legacy series and Lara Temple has now taken us back 26 years from Janice Preston’s His Convenient Highland Wedding. Preston’s novel had set up the story of the feuding clans, the Lochmores and the McCrieffs, and had introduced the central mystery of the brooch found amongst a …

Sally Nicholls’ Things a Bright Girl Can do

This is my second read from this year’s Carnegie Shortlist, and it is a far more complex novel than I had anticipated from the cover. Taking its title from a 1914 book, 301 Things a Bright Girl Can Do, Nicholls gives us three bright girls who each become a part of the struggle for female …

Kwame Alexander’s Rebound

Shortlisted for this year's CILIP Carnegie Medal Shortlist,  this coming-of-age novel, set in the summer of 1988, introduces us to Charlie Bell. He’s lost his dad, he doesn’t have the right trainers, and he’s full of the usual insecurities of adolescence. And yet he also has an excellent sense of humour and makes for a …