Bees, Bugs, and Butterflies by Ben Raskin Raskin’s Bees, Bugs, and Butterflies is a lovely non-fiction children’s book that looks at gardens, and how they function as an ecosystem. A big focus is on pollination and why it’s so necessary. Kids will learn all about the various critters that help gardens function and flourish. There […]
***Trigger Warning: sexual assault, moments of physical violence graphicness (few and far, but there) Go Home, Afton by Brent Jones is a tense suspense novel told from the point of view of Afton, an introverted young woman working as a children’s librarian at the local Wakefield library. But Afton harbours a dark secret. Deep down, […]
The Day is Ready for You by Alison Malee is a poetry collection divded into three parts: unmoveable things, a restless pause, and prayers like exhales. The entire collection is free-verse, and written in all lowercase text. Part one seems very anger filled, with themes of a wanting for love, the inculcated beliefs of being […]
Island of the Mad is the latest of Mary Russell’s memoirs, lovingly curated by Laurie R King. This adventure finds the intrepid sleuthing duo headed to Holmes’ least favourite place- Venice. Russell’s friend Veronica has asked her help in finding her aunt Vivian, who has gone suddenly missing, along with jewels and money that, to […]
Oliver Twist: The Mystery of Throate Manor by David Stuart Davies follows what may have become of young Oliver from Charles Dickens classic, Oliver Twist. Oliver is a man grown now, a junior at the law firm of Gripwind and Biddle, with Jack Dawkins as his clerk. Oliver and Jack are sent to Throate Manor […]
The Murder of Mary Russell is a fascinating glimpse into the life of a person oft in the background, yet of a very essential nature in the life of Sherlock, and later of Mary. This story, despite the title, is about Mrs Hudson. From her earliest years, to current day, we learn all about the […]
****Trigger warning: themes of domestic abuse, and rape, albeit tastefully done. Cudney’s Father Figure was an intense, psychological read weaving past with present in one young woman’s search for a missing piece in the puzzle of her life- the identity of her father. Brianna Porter is on the cusp of adulthood, ready to go off […]
Drawing Dead, by Brian McKinley, is set in 1930s New York, a time when the Mafia ruled supreme in the area. We first meet Faolan O’Connor, a hitman known as ‘the Wolf’, as he is preparing to go out on a job to take out Dutch Schultz. Faolan himself is also marked for death this […]
Nightmare’s Eve by Stephen H Provost is an intriguing collection of poems and short stories focusing on the darker side of life. From waking nightmares, and death, to the haunting madness of the human psyche, these stories and poems run a gamut. There are tales set in the modern or near modern world, tales from […]
Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milan is the first in the series by the same name. It follows several different, sometimes overlapping perspectives. During a ferocious battle at a river, which featured several of our main male protagonists- Karyl, Jaume, Falk, and Rob Korrigan- Voyvod Karyl is betrayed by his comrades and left for dead. To […]