#Blogtour Consider The Ravens by Cressida Downing

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Consider the Ravens - A Gripping Medieval Mystery of Murder and Secrets on Lindisfarne,The Scribe of Lindisfarne by Cressida Downing. Published by No Exit Press, pub date 16 July 2026. Blogtour courtesy of Random Things Tours.

About the Author

Cressida Downing is a freelance editor, has worked in bookshops and for publishers, and owns a business taking people on reading retreats. She lives near Cambridge and has planned 6 further novels in the series. Follow @DowningCressida on X

About the book

The scribe Linnet is running from her criminal past and seeking sanctuary in the island of her childhood. She’s friendless in the monastery, the monks resentful of a woman scribe, and her only company is Tom the fisherman and a child, Isabelle – watchful, clever and unlikeable – with her partly tamed raven Pol.

The monastery bursar Oswyn threatens to expose Linnet’s past but she isn’t the only one with secrets to hide. Intent upon uncovering the monks’ misdeeds is the fanatic inspector, sent by the new Bishop of Durham to write a report on the monastery.

When Oswyn is found drowned, Linnet suspects the death is not accidental. After another death, Linnet realises there’s a killer amongst the brethren, and her own precarious position makes her vulnerable – unless she can first identify who it could be…

Review

Tones of Sansom and a smidgen of Umberto Eco, but with a light-hearted sense of mystery, mayhem and murder. Secrets are the currency of the power plays inside the monastery. Linnet walks a precarious tightrope of staying hidden in plain sight with her basic needs cared for, whilst managing to be in every corner when trouble shows its face. It's no wonder she has a hard time keeping her secrets from potential enemies.

Then again it's highly unusual for a woman in that era to be able to read and scribe. It creates questions and a spotlight finds her more often than not. Can Linnet keep herself safe, despite being driven by her curious nature and the need to solve dangerous mysteries.

An sudden death brings more unexpected attention to the doors of the monastery. An accident? Or perhaps something more dangerous is at hand. Linnet finds herself in the midst of everything - not really a good idea when you want to keep a low profile.

It's a bit of a slow starter, however I can only suggest sticking with it. It gains traction with each page and culminates in the setting in motion the next book in the series and also a few revelations. I think it has a lot of potential and can't wait to see where the author takes it.

Buy Consider the Ravens at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy via Bookshop org.

#Blogtour Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise, courtesy of #RandomThingsTours. Publishing 26th February 2026 - HB | Eriu | £16.99 - Available in Audio & eBook.

About the Author

Charleen Hurtubise has lived in Dublin, Ireland for over 25 years, having moved from Michigan, USA. She is a teacher and artist as well as a writer, and her short fiction, essays and poetry have appeared in various publications. She holds an MFA Creative Writing from University College Dublin (UCD) where she has also facilitated creative writing modules.

About the book

Can a great love survive a great deception?

In the wilds of Donegal, Ireland, 1999, Saoirse is an artist living an outwardly idyllic life. Her tender husband Daithí and two beloved daughters are regular subjects for her work, and in them she has found the safe home that she has always longed for. She tends not to talk about her past, and those that love her have learned to accept that the full story is too painful for her to disclose.

When her Dublin exhibition unexpectedly wins a prestigious award that invites a swarm of publicity, Saoirse is left panic stricken. The unanticipated recognition threatens to expose a decade's worth of buried memories and past crimes. Because what her family and friends don't know is that Saoirse has been on the run since she was seventeen, she has stolen an identity to survive, and whilst Ireland might now be her home, it wasn't her first - and now her past life is poised to reclaim her. Follow @charleen_hurtubise on Instagram

Review

If this author isn't already on your radar, then she should be and I am happy to see her get more of the recognition she deserves for her excellent writing and exemplary storytelling. Although this has less of a literary fiction feel than her Polite Act of Drowning, it is equally as gripping and memorable.

The exploration of emotional layers built like a pyramid brick by brick gives the story an imperceptible instability within the outside appearance of control and an almost nonchalant-like stability. Saoirse is a product and victim of her childhood, which also accounts for the majority of her choices. Risk taking, ignoring gut instincts and succumbing to her fate, even when that leads her on paths that are filled with fear, oppression and violence.

I enjoyed the way the last few chapters gave a more non-fictional view of attitudes and opinions about Sarah, instead of bending to a more frivolous fictional ending. It's also quite timely given the current dismissive attitude towards crimes against children at the moment. Internalised misogyny, victim-blaming, the blind support of men who rule the world and treat women with violence and cruelty. There is no such thing as an underage woman (or man), they are called children. Sarah the child. Saoirse the woman who is still Sarah the child.

Saoirse makes decisions in the moment, often with the best interest of others in mind. To an outsider it may appear calculated, but there is a tendency to save others before self. She is hypervigilant and vulnerable in equal measures, ergo recognising why Paul is a threat and falling prey to his abusive nature, despite it seeming to be a contradiction. Not unusual for a personality and instinct forged in fear, survival and emotional turmoil.

I really enjoyed the read. It has the making of a story told on-screen, the type of book and story that stays with you.

Buy Saoirse at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Eriu - Bonnier Books Uk, pub date 26th February 2026. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Bookshop org.

#Blogtour The Wish by Heather Morris

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Wish by Heather Morris. Published by Zaffre Books on 11th of September 2025. Tour run courtesy of Random Things Tours.

About the Author

Heather Morris is an international no.1 bestseller and has sold over 19 million copies worldwide. This brand-new novel is a fresh direction for Heather but speaks to all the themes that readers know and love her for: hope in the darkest of places, family, love and courage.

Born in New Zealand, Heather Morris is passionate about stories of survival, resilience and hope. In 2003, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who 'might just have a story worth telling'. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Lale's story formed the basis for The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the follow-up novel, Cilka's Journey. 

In 2021 she published the phenomenal conclusion to the Tattooist trilogy, Three Sisters, after being asked to tell the story of three Holocaust survivors who knew Lale from their time in Auschwitz Birkenau. Together, her novels have sold more than 18 million copies worldwide. Sisters Under the Rising Sun, a heart-wrenching novel based upon the experiences of women in Japanese POW camps, was published in 2023 to great acclaim. Heather's first contemporary novel, The Wish, will be published in September 2025. 

About the book

From the international No. 1 bestselling author Heather Morris comes a heartbreaking contemporary novel of a dying teenager's final wish, a lonely young man's journey towards connection, and the unexpected friendship they find together. Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, and John Green. 

Jesse is 15. She loves her friends, her little brother and her parents - even when they're arguing, which feels like constantly these days. But most of all, she loves playing video games. Even from her hospital bed. 

Alex is 29. He doesn't love a lot of things. To be honest, he's not really sure he knows how to. His desk at work, as VR games designer, is empty, much like his life feels sometimes. 

Then Jesse makes a wish. A simple one: a video experience made of her life, something to be there, just in case she isn't. One loving teenager. One lonely adult. Which one will get the happy ending?

Review

In a way the grief of a sudden death differs from one after a prolonged illness. The illness in itself becomes part of a strange grieving process with the possibility of saying goodbye. This story encapsulates the many ripples a tragic death can cause, especially when the dying person is a child or young person. It's perhaps the biggest tragedy, when a short life comes to an end. No time to experience life, to encounter different versions of themselves and the constant reminder of a ticking clock.

The moments experiencing life without the medical constraints and limitations of physical illness are perhaps the most tragic. Conversations with the universe, the sea, the world around her. The sea and waves that speak to Jesse all elements of a freedom and a future she craves.

The essence of the story is more about the way human connections can bring forth a strength, resilience and power that is undeniably an element specific to our race. Sometimes we are powerless in the face of tragedy, how we continue and how we face life afterwards is an individual journey that becomes easier when the path travelled is a shared one.

Morris is quite adept at pulling heartstrings and creating a story that remains with us in more ways than one.

Buy The Wish at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Zaffre in Hardback, eBook, and Audio pub date 11th September 2025. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Bookshop org.

#Blogtour A Murder in Paris by Matthew Blake

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour A Murder in Paris by Matthew Blake. Published by HarperCollins, pub date 3rd July 2025. Tour hosted by Random Things Tours.

About the Author

Matthew Blake is the No.1 international bestselling author of Anna O. Before writing fiction, he worked as a researcher and speechwriter in Westminster. He studied English at Durham University and Merton College, Oxford and now lives in London. Follow @Matthew__Blake on X

About the book

Imagine the past returning to you in fragments. A hotel room, a pillow, a lifeless body. Your ordinary, innocent life upended by one flash of memory. You can’t remember what led to the crime.

All you know is that you must return to the scene, to the clues that lie waiting in Room 11. But this is a mystery that goes far beyond that room, that night, that murder. Are you ready to unlock the truth?

Review

Although the historical aspect of this fictional plot is at the core of this read, it is always a important reminder that we only ever know parents and grandparents from personal experience and their past is often a sealed door. Grandparents who have lived through the most traumatic events of the 20th century often kept their memories and experiences before, during and after the war hidden away from family and the world.

Survival can equal becoming the perpetrator or the collaborator, becoming part of the institution, which means betraying the innocent. The question is what happens when you are no longer safe on the side of oppressor? 

Olivia knows her grandmother is becoming more forgetful, but she certainly doesn't expect the famous French reclusive painter to spiral herself into a potential murder suspect. The past and present meld together to become a doubtful jumbo of facts, false memories and perhaps something else entirely. 

Trauma, memories and flashbacks are past companions that have lived dormant, but now they are awake and grasping for connections. Is Olivia's grandmother really capable of killing someone? Is she really who she says she is - is her entire life a lie?

It's a poignant and riveting read, and if this is your first by Blake, then I also highly recommend reading Anna O.

Buy A Murder in Paris at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HarperCollins, pub date 3rd July 2025. Buy at Amazon com. Bookshop org. Buy via HarperCollins.

#Blogtour The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

The 40 Rules of Love has sold over 500,000 copies internationally and is one of Elif's most successful novels, a standout backlist title. Redesigned with a beautiful new package along with the rest of her backlist to tie in with the paperback publication of her latest novel There are Rivers in the Sky.

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak, published 3rd July 2025 by Penguin Uk.

About the Author

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist, whose work has been translated into fifty-six languages. The author of nineteen books, thirteen of which are novels, she is a bestselling author in many countries around the world. Shafak's last novel, The Island of Missing Trees, was a top ten Sunday Times bestseller, and was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and the Women's Prize for Fiction. Her novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the RSL Ondaatje Prize. There Are Rivers in the Sky is her latest novel. Follow @Elif_Safak on X

About the book

Ela Rubinstein has a husband, three teenage children, and a pleasant home. Everything that should make her confident and fulfi led. Yet there is an emptiness at the heart of Ela's life - an emptiness once fi led by love.

So when Ela reads a manuscript about the thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi and his mentor Shams of Tabriz, and his forty rules of life and love, she is ready to look at her life anew. Compeled to embrace change, she embarks on a journey to meet the mysterious author. It is a quest infused with Sufi mysticism and verse, taking Ela and us into a faraway world where faith and doubt are heartbreakingly explored. The Forty Rules of Love is a mesmerising tale of discovery, language, truth and, of course, love itself.

Review

I think there was a side note of unfulfilled and unhappy people, especially women, who are susceptible to anything that looks like a solution to their problems It makes them vulnerable to persuasion and concepts that suggest a happier life, a better body, someone who loves and desires them.

It's easy to get swept away by the idea of something more when life has become a series of repetitive actions, emotional necessities and overall nothing more than societal expectations and daily routines.

It's an exploration of faith, spirituality and love - the Sufi concept or path of love. Whilst I admire the prose and the deep meaningful rules, I think it's a fallacy to believe that a life without love is of no account. The assumption that everyone encounters a love or love in general, is a gross overestimation of how everyone experiences life and relationships with the people around them.

It's novel of dual paths, that of Ela and then that of Rumi and Shams. Despite being centuries apart the three collide in thoughts, shared pathways and steering the course of their lives. The story lives a little in a hype bubble of its own creation.

Buy The Forty Rules of Love at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Penguin Uk, pub date 3rd July 2025. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Burial Witch by Cari Thomas

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Burial Witch; a Threadneedle Novella by Cari Thomas, published by Harper Voyager 5th of June 2025.

If you've read Threadneedle and Shadowstitch, The Burial Witch fits between the two previous books, along with The Hedge Witch - it's novella length.

About the Author

Cari Thomas has always loved magic, inspired by her upbringing among the woods and myths of Wales’s Wye Valley. She studied English and Creative Writing at Warwick University and Magazine Journalism at The Cardiff School of Journalism. Her first job was at teen Sugar magazine, where she ran the book club and quickly realised she wanted to be the one writing the books instead. 

She went on to work at a creative agency, spending her spare time researching magic and accumulating an unusual collection of occult books. She wrote her first novel, Threadneedle, while living in London, wandering the city and weaving it with all the magic she wished it contained. She now lives in Monmouthshire with her husband and son, who bears the appropriately Celtic name of Taliesin. Follow @carithomas_auth on X

About the book

“The unopenable box. A mythical object that appears in fairy tales and folklore across all cultures around the world. Sometimes the box can only be opened by the right person at the right time, such a rightful heir, and in other tales it is considered a warning. A test given to the protagonist who are typically forbidden from opening the box. When they eventually succumb, what they unleash cannot be put back in.”

We follow Miranda Richardson, a highly strung, highly driven member of the covens who discovers a mysterious, unopenable box in her parent’s loft.

Taking place between events in Threadneedle and Shadowstitch, this is a perfect magical read for fans of the series, collectors and all dreamers.

Review 

The Language of Magic world has been opened up to include novellas, which allows both author and reader to experience characters individually. The magical worldbuilding began with the popular Threadneedle book. In a way it reflects the hive of magic, the coven and the connections, whether they be great or small, and how the entirety can be explored even when following the smallest link.

I love that aspect of the series, and that it is written with an emphasis on younger readers, yet also leaves space for the older readers who enjoy a great magical yarn.

In this novella length story we learn more about Miranda and her struggle to align the magical secrets she encounters with the devout rigidity of the religious dogma she and her family follow. The imbalance and anxiety she experiences when the taught evil reveals itself as something curious and non-threatening. It makes her question herself, what she believes and the family history.

I found that core element interesting, however the short read is heavily laden with preachy pious dialogue and interactions. The magic was never given a chance to emerge, shine and enchant. Instead it's an angsty, dark, fearful chapter in an otherwise adventure laden magical series. I won't even start with the other aspects of Miranda's arc that could have been written in a better way.

For me this was a case of 'what it says on the box doesn't reflect actual contents of said box' and perhaps what it said on the box is was what it should have been. Not sure how this has passed editorial - just from a worldbuilding, plot and character arc perspective - and the sensitivity reading, without setting off a few alarm bells.

I'd go as far as to say, whilst I have highly recommended the previous Threadneedle - The Language of Magic books and adventures, including buying them for younger readers as gifts, I would hesitate to recommend this one. 

The cover art and design of this book series is par excellence though - they are beautiful, they would look great in a clothbound version.

Buy The Burial Witch at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HarperVoyager; pub date 5th June 2025. Buy at Amazon.com.

#Blogtour The Children of Hiroshima by Sadako Teiko Okuda

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Children of Hiroshima: The True Story of How I Searched for my Family in the Ruins of the City by Sadako Teiko Okuda. Published by Monoray, 8th of May 2025.

About the Author

Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, in 1914, Okuda was teaching sewing on a small island some 35 miles off Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. Even from that distance, both her sight and hearing on her right side were permanently damaged. From 1960 and until her retirement, she taught home economics at a non-traditional high school in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.

About the book

‘The little boy did not cry or speak. He just stood there and stared at me intensely. With great effort I stood up and tested to see if I could walk with my injured foot. When I did, he came to stand even closer to me and, without saying a word, grabbed my little finger very tightly.’

Sadako Teiko Okuda was living in Osaki-shimo, an island off the mainland of Japan, when the bomb hit Hiroshima on the 6th of August 1945. There was a blinding flash and the window next to Sadako smashed, a shard of glass leaving a painful burn on her neck. Soon, news came that her niece and nephew who lived in Hiroshima were missing. There was only one thing she could do - leave the relative safety of the island and set off into the city to find them.

Over the following seven days Sadako roamed the ruins of the city, desperately searching for her family and coming across dozens of displaced children. With only water and a little medicine, she provided care, compassion and tenderness in the face of unprecedented tragedy. And in turn, they helped her to find hope in the very darkest of times. 

Told simply and powerfully in daily diary entries, The Children of Hiroshima is an extraordinary and deeply moving human story of loss, innocence and hope.

Review

A story retold using snippets from diary entries, memories noted, painful reminders, but equally an important historical reference from an eyewitness that needs to be remembered. These brief moments and encounters only graze the cusp of the tragedy and trauma Sadako must have seen and experienced. Indeed instead of drawing the focus to the physical horror there is an emphasis on human connection, the fragility of said connections and how one moment can make a difference.

To comfort, care and lay aside personal priorities - finding her relatives - to ensure strangers feel safer in their last minutes or hours. It speaks volumes of the compassion Sadako exhibited, but in equal measures of the lack of hope, the senseless destruction and the magnitude a nuclear event has on humanity.

Not spoken about as frequently as the Holocaust, however the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 are not only one of the biggest tragedies of that time period, but also one that should also be noted as a key warning.

There is no real way to reconstruct, evaluate and recount the actual devastation that was caused by the nuclear bombs the US dropped on Japan. Without a doubt there is no way to justify what in reality was a test in real time on real victims or that the perceived threat justified dropping not one but two bombs of that magnitude.

The decades of destructive aftermath, consequences on an entire population. The result being the surrender of the Japanese and yet the taste of something akin to a war crime lingers. There is simply no justification then or now for using nuclear weapons. This was eighty years ago, one can only imagine the horror of a 21st century evolved nuclear event. Our political leaders and self-appointed dangerous dictators at the end of the switch, they are a danger to us all.

This book is not only a story that should be remembered, it's also a reminder of how violence and destruction is committed with such ease and a lack of foresight, especially when the perpetrator/s have zero repercussions and their country is so far away that they never encounter or suffer from the aftermath of these decisions.

Buy The Children of Hiroshima at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray; pub date 8th May 2025 |  Paperback |  £8.99. Buy at Amazon.com.

#Blogtour The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper - published by William Morrow 22nd May 2025.

About the Author

A native New Englander, Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting an MA and teaching high-school literature and history.

Her debut novel, The Other Alcott, was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. More novels—Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific—followed, all centered on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. Hooper now lives in Seattle with her husband and two teenage daughters.

About the book

When a young librarian discovers historic dollhouses in a hidden room, she embarks on an unexpected journey that reveals surprising secrets about the lost miniatures.

Tildy Barrows, Head Curator of a beautiful archival library in San Francisco, is meticulously dedicated to the century’s worth of inventory housed in her beloved Beaux Art building. She loves the calm and order in the shelves of books and walls of art. But Tildy’s life takes an unexpected turn when she, first, learns the library is on the verge of bankruptcy and, second, discovers two exquisite never-before seen dollhouses.

After finding clues hidden within these remarkable miniatures, Tildy sets out to decipher the secret history of the dollhouses, aiming to salvage her cherished library in the process. Her journey introduces her to a world of ambitious and gifted women in Belle Époque Paris, a group of scarred World War I veterans in the English countryside, and Walt Disney’s bustling Burbank studio in the 1950s. As Tildy unravels the mystery, she finds not only inspiring, hidden history, but also a future for herself—and an astonishing familial revelation.

Spanning the course of a century, The Library of Lost Dollhouses is a warm, bright, and captivating story of secrets and love that embraces the importance of illuminating overlooked women.

Review

Imagine stumbling across a secret room full of history and one that inadvertently reveals secrets about your own family history and past. It's not something Tildy expects to come across, but in the end she welcomes the accidental opening of hidden doors.

Behind this particular hidden door are exquisite dollhouses filled with secrets, miniatures and stories. In a way the houses are individual stills of a life lived, a library of a different sort. A visual representation of secrets, a way to speak without saying a word, but right there in plain sight.

At times it felt as if the story was pulling in multiple directions and no real consensus on which direction to take, the result being a lack of connection or perhaps an inability to create one that results in the reader really establishing a concrete link. The miniatures and dollhouses are a fascinating topic, especially when historical links are drawn into the story. The fact history washes out, erases with impunity, the presence and actions of women who contributed to the world we live in, regardless of which skill, action or in what capacity - it's something we need reminding of and of said women.

It's more of a comfortable genre mixing read, it lacks the strong direction and identity to be more than that, which is fine. There is a large demographic for uncomplicated and comfortable. 

Buy The Library of Lost Dollhouses at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks - Harper 360, pub date 22 May 2025. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Kill Creatures by Rory Power

'From the New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls comes a gripping dark thriller – perfect to read in a single sitting that unravels friendship, jealousy, desire, rage and revenge, with a shocking twist that will leave you breathless.' 

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Kill Creatures by Rory Power - published 5th June 2025 by Scholastic UK.

About the Author

Rory Power grew up in New England, where she lives and works as a story consultant for TV adaptation. She received a Masters in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia, and is the New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls, Burn Our Bodies Down, and In a Garden Burning Gold. Visit itsrorypower.com or instagram.com/itsrorypower

About the book

Last summer, Nan's three best friends disappeared into Saltcedar Canyon.

She's spent the year since grieving their loss and avoiding questions about what happened that night. Now, on the anniversary, she's ready to say goodbye, and so are the girls' families, who have reconvened to hold a memorial. But their vigil is interrupted by the shocking return of one of the missing girls alive. Everybody is overjoyed. Everybody, that is, except Nan, who was pretty sure they were dead. After all, she's the one who killed them.

Review

Colour me surprised, this was a really good read. I'll definitely be reading more by this author going forward.

This is a tense dark domestic psychological thriller. Four girls go on a secret midnight escapade and only one of them returns. Nan is dreading the vigil for her best friends, but perhaps not because of the loss and the painful reminder of their disappearance. Instead she finds the entire dramatic exercise a tad boring and time-consuming. The last thing she expects is the unexpected reappearance of someone she knows is dead - she knows because she was there when it happened, in fact she is the killer.

What follows is an extremely complicated cat and mouse game, I would hazard a guess that neither the reader, Nan nor the undead girl know exactly who is the cat in this scenario or indeed the mouse. Is Nan going to have to fix her mistake, that's if she actually did it, right? If she killed her friend why is she alive? Or is there something bigger going on - is it really more than just teenage rage, perhaps an overactive imagination, but that doesn't explain the other missing girls does it?

I would love to see this developed into a small screen series, it has the right kind of pithy characters and plot to captivate a large audience. Power is an author with a depth of understanding when it comes to the often complex intricacies of the teenage mind, especially that of the female variety. Friends, enemies, frenemies - from besties to willing to kill in the blink of an eye, such is the irrational and dangerous world of the teenage mind and hive.

Buy Kill Creatures at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Scholastic Uk, pub date 5th June 2025. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill - published 22nd May by Bedford Square publishers - courtesy of Random Things Tours.

About the Author

Edward Underhill grew up in the suburbs of Wisconsin, where he could not walk to anything, so he had to make up his own adventures. He studied music in college, spent several years living in very small apartments in New York, and currently resides in California with his partner and a talkative black cat. 

He is the author of the young adult novels Always the Almost and This Day Changes Everything. The In-Between Bookstore is his first book for adults.

About the book

If you had one chance to talk to your younger self… would you? What would you say?

A healing novel about a trans man in New York who - almost 30, laid off, broke - moves back to his small Illinois hometown. Darby left Oak Falls, Illinois years ago, hoping to find a community and to leave behind the memory of his childhood best friend, Michael, and the painful way their friendship ended. 

He walks into the bookstore he worked at in high school and feels an eerie sense of déjà vu  – everything is exactly the same. Even the newspapers are dated 2009. And behind the till is a teen who looks a lot like Darby did at sixteen... a teen who just might give him the opportunity to change his own present for the better – if he can figure out how before his connection to the past vanishes forever.

Review

Always an interesting concept - the question of whether someone would choose to return to their past, their younger self or a specific moment in time, in order to change something that could possibly alter the trajectory of their already trodden path.

In this case the glitch in time is only accessed via a bookstore that holds core memories for the main character, but the glitch isn't always accessible, which in turn generates a certain amount of doubt. Is it merely self-doubt creating a scenario that would erase uncomfortable memories or is this something more monumental.

Darby the 30-year-old encounters teenage Darby in a strange glitch of magical realism, more importantly the pre-transition version of themselves that has yet to embark on the journey towards understanding self and identity. It's a very important period of time that changes relationships, bonds, and decisions going forward.

What is communicated ten-fold is the magnitude and almost worm-like presence of a sense of 'not quite right' buried deep in the psyche and the physical body, that takes over every element of thought and interaction. It explains why older Darby wants to help younger Darby find their path and in doing so spare them some confusion and pain. One could of course throw in the Butterfly Effect and consequences of changes, just to generate a little grey cell action and raise philosophical, perhaps even moral questions. 

This is the first venture away from YA and into adult fiction for the author, and although it's a interesting read I don't think we've quite managed to shake the general vibe of the young adult sub-genre. Ironically, given the story and plot, I would define it as a bridge building exercise in transition. I also think the In-Betweenness of it all serves a far greater purpose, which readers will find intriguing.

I enjoyed the concept and the story.

Buy The In-Between Bookstore at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Bedford Square; pub date 22nd May| Paperback| £9.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker

 It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker.

About the Author

Ellen Baker is the author of Keeping the House and I Gave My Heart to Know This. She has worked as a bookseller and event coordinator at an independent bookstore. Originally from the Upper Midwest, she currently lives in Maine. Follow @EllenBakerBooks on X

About the book

In 1924, four-year-old Cecily Larson’s mother reluctantly drops her off at an orphanage in Chicago, promising to be back once she’s made enough money to support both Cecily and herself. But she never returns, and shortly after high-spirited Cecily turns seven, she is sold to a traveling circus to perform as the “little sister” to glamorous bareback rider Isabelle DuMonde. With Isabelle and the rest of the circus, Cecily finally feels she’s found the family she craves. But as the years go by, the cracks in her little world begin to show. And when teenage Cecily meets and falls in love with a young roustabout named Lucky, she finds her life thrown onto an entirely unexpected—and dangerous—course.

In 2015, Cecily is now 94 and living a quiet life in Minnesota, with her daughter, granddaughter, and great-grandson. But when her family decides to surprise her with an at-home DNA test, the unexpected results not only bring to light the tragic love story that Cecily has kept hidden for decades but also throw into question everything about the family she’s raised and claimed as her own for nearly seventy years. Cecily and everyone in her life must now decide who they really are and what family—and forgiveness—really mean.

Sweeping through a long period of contemporary history, The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson is an immersive, compelling, and entertaining family drama centered around one remarkable woman and her determination to survive.

Review

Hidden within the folds of familial relationships and complexities is the realisation that the parents we know often only allow us a brief look into their lives, before they disappear again. The child, the teen and the young person who came before is often an unknown entity to the family and children they create. Secrets, trauma, mysteries and many a chapter locked in deep vaults forever.

If a DNA project had never opened said vault then chances are Cecily would have taken her past and her memories to the grave. Instead something as simple as a genetic story of connections opens up the door to answers and healing.

I think it's important to note the atrocities committed in the name of profit, of virtue signalling and with a general lack of empathy. Just another massive statistic of children, girls and young women who were left traumatised and maimed in the name of the greater good. Tragic.

It's a story that would work well on-screen and in a sense is written in a way that plays to that thought. Historical fiction with a nod to a contemporary family structure, which includes both flaws and bonds.

Buy The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Mariner Books, pub date 20 Feb. 2024. Buy at Amazon com. Via Bookshop org.

#Blogtour The Blackbirds of St Giles by Lila Cain

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Blackbirds of St Giles by Lila Cain.

About the Author/s

LILA CAIN is the pseudonym for two authors writing together. 

Kate Griffin won the Faber/ Stylist Magazine competition with Kitty Peck and the Music Hall Murders and went onto to write three more novels in the series before writing her first standalone novel, Fyneshade. Follow @KateAGriffin on X

Born to Windrush-era Jamaican parents, Marcia Hutchinson worked as a lawyer before founding educational publishing company Primary Colours and was awarded an MBE for services to Cultural Diversity in 2010. Her solo debut novel Mercy is due for publication in summer 2025. Follow @marciathewriter on X

About the book

Some things are earned. Some things are worth fighting for…  

It’s 1782, Daniel and his sister Pearl arrive in London with the world at their feet and their future assured. Having escaped a Jamaican sugar plantation, Daniel fought for the British in the American War of Independence and was rewarded with freedom and an inheritance.   

But the city is not a place for men like Daniel and he is callously tricked and finds himself, along with his sister Pearl, in the rookeries of St Giles – a warren of dark and menacing alleyways, filled with violence and poverty.   

The underworld labyrinth is run by Elias, a man whose cruelty knows no bounds. But under his dangerous rule is a brotherhood of Black men, the Blackbirds of St Giles, whose intention is to set their people free.   

Can Daniel use his strength, wit and the fellowship of the other Blackbirds to overthrow Elias and truly find the freedom he fought for…? 

Review

Daniel's story begins with loss and simultaneously the severing of vicious ties to embark on a path to freedom. The version of the freedom he encounters is just another type of oppression and slavery. Tyranny comes in all shapes, sizes and colours, because surviving often means becoming what you despise the most.

It's a story that is sure to anger and infuriate, especially because of the injustice, the threats, the constant state of danger and battle to stay alive. The kindness and friendship that sets Daniel on his path to St Giles is rarely experienced gain after the death of his friend and comrade. The truth is the world is full of racists, thieves and cutthroats.

I couldn't connect to the core atmosphere of naiveté, the lack of self preservation and inability to have a realistic take on the majority of situations. The past experiences of both of them, but especially Daniel, should have instilled a greater sense of survival and definitely a lack of trust. It makes for great drama, but surely prior experience, trauma and life lived under extremely dire circumstances would give the majority of people a better instinct for survival. 

Given the ending I think it's possible we might be hearing more about Daniel and Pearl in the future - The concept would make great tv by the way. Here's to vindication, retribution and a little more justice for Daniel, Pearl and the Blackbirds in general.

Buy The Blackbirds of St Giles at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏:  Simon & Schuster UK, pub date 30 Jan. 2025. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Deadbeat by Adam Hamdy

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Deadbeat by Adam Hamdy.

About the Author

Adam Hamdy is a Sunday Times, Kindle, and international bestselling author and screenwriter who works with studios and production companies all over the world. The author of 15 novels including 6 books in the multi-million bestselling Private series co-written with James Patterson, Adam lives in Mauritius.

His most recent standalone novel, Deadbeat, has been described as a superlative thriller by Publishers Weekly. His previous standalone novel, The Other Side of Night, was one of the New York Times Best Thrillers of 2023 and appeared on several best books of the year lists.

Adam has a degree in Law from Oxford University and a degree in Philosophy from the University of London and was a strategy consultant prior to becoming a writer. A fan of extensive research, Adam is well versed in finance, technology and science. He is also published in numerous world-class scientific and medical journals.

A former boxer and kickboxer, seasoned skier, rock climber, sailor, and CPSA gold marksman, Adam also seeks thrills off the page. Follow @adamhamdy on X

About the book

The author of the Scott Pearce series (Black 13, Red Wolves, White Fire) is back with a taut thriller following a desperate single father as he searches for the anonymous employer who hired him as a hitman.

Peyton Collard was a good man once, but his life changed after a horrific car accident. Divorced, drunk, and severely damaged, Peyton is offered a life-changing sum of money to kill an evil man. But as he goes on a vigilante journey that leaves a trail of bodies across California, Peyton wonders about the identity of his anonymous patron. Soon, his questions become an obsession, and he embarks on a tense and potentially deadly investigation to discover the truth about the murders he’s committed.

Review

I really enjoyed the author within the book writing his own story plot - Peyton Collard becomes larger than life and at some points there appears to be some melding of people. 'Side-eyes Hamdy.' The story becomes an insightful introspective reflection of life, connections, choices and roads taken. Who better to tell it than a desperate man who is happy to take a life for the right reason, but who decides whether it was the right reason or indeed is there anything that warrants the punishment and finality of death?

Running alongside there is also the intriguing question of how much responsibility we as individuals carry for the greater scheme of things, such as pollution and climate change. Is the denial of individual culpability the easiest escape route for the majority of us? Does that stance become a way of life, a coping mechanism, and make us almost indifferent to the pain and suffering around us?

The bigger picture, at least for Peyton, is who decides whether he becomes the weapon to be wielded against others. Is it always power, money and influence that is the deciding factor? Is anyone really going to cry a tear if someone who deserves it, gets what is coming to them?

It's ironic that the subject matter of this core question is playing out in real time, as we watch the people defend an assassin, because the victim was a key player in a company at the core of suffering for many people.

Hamdy is an author to watch, and I highly recommend this read.

Buy Deadbeat at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Pendulum Central, pub date 3 Dec. 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Disappearance by Remigiusz Mróz

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Disappearance by Remigiusz Mróz. 'The no.1 bestselling crime thriller - now a hit TV series.'

About the Author

Remigiusz Mróz is the author of over 50 novels across 9 series and various standalones and is recognised as the most popular author in Poland according to the National Survey and the Nielsen Bookscan. He has sold eleven million books in Poland alone, with each book becoming a bestselling and remaining in the charts for several months post publication. Remigiusz's work has been sold in multiple territories including Germany, Italy, Japan, Czech Republic, Hungary, UK and more. Follow @remigiuszmroz on X

About the book

A three-year-old girl disappears without a trace from her wealthy parents' summer house. The alarm was on all night long and the windows and doors were locked. Investigators do not find any evidence of an abduction and fear the worst.

Experienced lawyer, Joanna Chylka, and her novice protégé, Kordian Orynski, are tasked with defending a married couple charged with murder by the prosecutor's office. The trial is circumstantial in nature, but everything seems to point to the parents' guilt - after all, when you eliminate what is impossible, whatever remains must be the truth.

Review

I think Joanna Chylka doesn't really fit into the norm when it comes to being a lawyer or a sleuth. She adheres to the rule of laugh - sometimes. She isn't frightened to stand up to and stare down those who are in her way. She excels at the game of law and enjoys the sparring in equal measures.

This new case she has been drawn into is a bit of a conundrum. A missing child, a locked room/hose scenario and two parents who appear to have secrets to hide. Suspicion soon falls on the parents, which means Joanna has to try and defend them, and as she says quite eloquently - she doesn't need to know whether they are guilty or innocent. Not sure her colleague Kordian feels the same way though.

With that in mind - the apparent misbalance in attitude and approach towards the legal and criminal aspects of the case - makes the end of the story even more interesting. In fact it is enough to make you wonder how much of the professional persona is an act, because it is thrown out of the window when a choice between life or death has to be made.

I really enjoyed the more fractured, often stoic approach and the overall voice and style of this author. I would definitely recommend and read more.

Buy The Disappearance at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏:  Zaffre, pub date 5 Dec. 2024.