Immersive and occasionally unsettling, The Wych Elm by Tana French is an engrossing exploration into the fracturing of one’s identity amidst an unexpected crisis. The story revolves around Toby, a charismatic young man from Dublin who suffers a debilitating head injury after a brutal home invasion. French pairs this personal jeopardy with the shocking discovery […]
Ware’s In a Dark, Dark Wood follows Nora, who has been invited to a former friend’s hen-do (bachelorette party to Americans). She doesn’t want to go, but another friend, Nina, convinces Nora. Perhaps she should have listened to her instincts to stay away. Especially given that Clare is marrying a man who dumped Nora after […]
The Undertaker’s Daughter by Debra Webb is a novella setting up the Undertaker’s Daughter series, and introduces Rowan DuPont, a forensic psychologist working with Nashville police to catch a killer who’s shaping up to be of the serial variety. Even creepier, each victim thus far is almost the spitting image of Rowan. Could she be […]
The Weighing of the Heart by Paul Tudor Owen was a fascinating look at the psychological ramifications of crime on two young souls brought together in the Big Apple. Nick Braeburn, in need of a place to stay, is directed to the Peacock sisters by their nephew. They have a small room in their sprawling […]
So, I finally got around to reading The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware! The story follows Lo Blacklock, a travel mag writer, as she sets off on a ’boutique’ cruise ship (read large yacht) sailing around the Norwegian fjords. She’s there to do a piece on the ship and it’s amenities. Her first […]
Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood is a kid’s historical fiction novel about the sinking of the SS City of Benares by a German U-Boat. Among the passengers were children being sent from London to Canada to keep them safe from the bombings. We see the story through the eyes of a survivor, 13yr old Ken […]
***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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Eilidh works as estate manager at the beautiful castle manor of Thistlecross. Annabel, the estate owner, has planned a holiday for her three estranged sons, inviting them home for the week, hoping to reconcile. Things are tense from the get-go. While the boys /say/ they forgive their mother for the abuse their father inflicted on […]