Hurt/Comfort (note: it’s not primarily a romance, but has a romance as a subplot later in the book)
The ice moves for no one, the trees do not answer, and the Svall obeys no master.
Selkie warrior Aalgur Thalon was born to fight in honor of the Dread One. She’s going to win the Dusk Trials, join the elite Duskingr Air Fleet, and kiss her old life as a deckhand goodbye. But when her body betrays her, Thalon is forced to give up the biggest part of her identity.
And that might just be the least of her worries.
Thalon must learn the strength of vulnerability as she faces battles she’s never trained for: Spindel Co. getting into everything and everywhere, villains in unexpected places, and worst of all, herself.
Gethan Dick’s stunning debut is a thought-provoking post-apocalyptic novel, fizzing with energy, anger, fear and ultimately hope. Water in the Desert Fire in the Night will appeal to fans of Claire Kilroy, Megan Hunter and Cormac McCarthy.
Here is a novel about hope, wolves, companionship and resilience, hunger and gold. It’s about an underachieving millennial, a retired midwife and a charismatic Dubliner who set out from London after the end of the world to cycle to a sanctuary in the southern Alps.
It’s about packing light and choosing the right companions and trousers: what’s worth knowing, what’s worth living, and holding on to your sense of humour in moments big and small. It’s about the fact that the world ends all the time. It’s about what to do next.
GETHAN DICK was born in 1980 in Belfast and grew up in the west of Ireland. She moved to London for an MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College. She then studied at Camberwell College of Art and shifted her creative practice towards text-based and co-created visual art. She moved to Marseille, France, where she has lived since 2011, working as one half of visual-arts duo gethan&myles with her partner, Myles Quin. They have two children, and in her spare time she swims, cycles, jumps off rocks into the sea or heads for the hills.
My thoughts: this was an interesting, thought provoking, funny, and thrilling book about what to do after the end of the world. Four people who live in the same street in Streatham, South London, meet properly for the first time after a mysterious illness has wiped out much of humanity and many animals. Society has collapsed and most of what we rely on has vanished.
Our narrator, Anduz, was raised by her communist parents in Cuba, before they moved to the UK, she’s a fascinating character, fluent in Spanish and German as well as English, she’s the funny, wry observer and protagonist. Joining her are retired midwife Sarah, stoner philosopher Pressure Drop, originally from Dublin, and Adi, who doesn’t quite believe the world he knew has gone.
Sarah has friends in France, living in a place that’s self-sufficient and safe, they just have to get there first. So on bikes with panniers packed full of essentials, the foursome set off, first for the coast to find someone who will sail them to France, and then across the country to their new home.
They meet with many different people along the way, some more welcoming than others, all just trying to survive. There are high points and terrible low ones, fear, love, friendship, community, violence, wild animals and heartbreak.
Through it all we see the relationship between the characters as they travel, evolve and strengthen. They must depend on each other at times for their survival. Their disparate skills and knowledge all that keeps them alive and moving forward.
I really enjoyed this book, I think it’s one that will stay with me for a while after reading, little thoughts popping up every now and then, moments from the book, things my brain is quietly weighing up in the background drifting through. For a first time writer, it’s an accomplished and intelligent debut and deserves to go far.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
DETECTIVE JACK MACINTOSH IS BACK — BUT SO IS A KILLER WHO KNOWS NO LIMITS.
After a three-month recovery from his last brutal case, Detective Jack returns to his desk expecting a fresh start. DS Cassidy hands him a cheese toastie and a reassuring grin. ‘Everything’s under control here, sir. You’ve got nothing to worry about.’ Then his phone rings.
The body of a young woman has been found hanging from a curtain pole in a vacant office building — but it’s the sinister detail that stops Jack cold. Stuffed in her mouth is a copy of the London Underground map. White City station circled in red. He’s back.
Seventeen years ago, six young women were found strangled to death. Their bodies strung up in abandoned buildings throughout the city. In their mouths, a copy of the London tube map. They called him the Central Line Killer. He was never caught.
The clock is ticking. Jack is in a race against time to unravel the twisted clues left by a killer who’s always one step ahead — and willing to go further than ever before.
Michelle Kidd is a crime fiction author best known for the DI Jack MacIntosh and DI Nicki Hardcastle series. Michelle qualified as a legal executive in the early 1990s, spending ten years practising civil and criminal litigation. But the dream to write was never far from her mind and in 2008 she began writing the first book in what would later become the DI Jack MacIntosh series. Michelle now works full time for the NHS and lives in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. She enjoys reading, wine and cats — not necessarily in that order.
My thoughts: This is a clever read with lots of twists and turns, a serial killer has returned, where has he been since the late 90s? He’s killing young women and leaving their bodies hanging in windows of abandoned buildings along the Central line.
The case is still open from his previous spree of murders, and there’s a link to a series of assaults in Yorkshire too. Is this the same man?
Jack and his team want to stop him before any more women die, but they can’t figure out the links between the victim or why the killer is sending a retired journalist copies of the Tube map. Why involve her?
Asking the detective who investigated the last spate of deaths for his input, Jack attempts to unravel the complex web of connections between the killer, a man in Wandsworth prison, the journalist and the victims.
His friend, Rob, is also looking for someone – his sister Genete. Separated by the care system, as his biological mother dies, will he find his sister, and will she help the police find their killer?
The writing kept me hooked, with every little clue and connection the team made, as well as wondering just how much Carter can eat!
Smart, enjoyable crime fiction with interesting characters and a great plot.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Instead of escaping reality to this fantastic city, this city of phantoms, I was rushing towards it – hard fate awaited me in this soupy shade of a place…
In the oppressive heat of summer in Bologna, English detective Daniel Leicester is reliving his beloved wife Lucia’s final days. Vivid memories have been awakened by the sight of her bicycle, missing since the accident that killed her, ridden by a stranger through the city’s tight medieval streets.
As unfinished business bleeds – quite literally – into the present, the sickening realisation that Lucia’s death wasn’t accidental dawns on Daniel. He embarks on a quest for the truth, and this most personal of crusades leads him to two contrasting worlds: the secretive, ancient realm of freemasonry, and the revolutionary ‘Reclaim Bologna’ activist movement.
What links these two opposing factions? Is there a chance Lucia wasn’t the woman Daniel believed her to be? And will the truth be too painful, or too perilous, to bear?
Tom Benjamin grew up in the suburbs of north London and began his working life as a journalist before becoming a spokesman for Scotland Yard. He later moved into public health, where he developed Britain’s first national campaign against alcohol abuse, Know Your Limits, and led drugs awareness programme FRANK. He now lives in Bologna.
Find Tom on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at tombenjaminsays.
My thoughts: I’ve read a couple of books in this series before so I knew I would enjoy it. In investigating his late wife’s death, Daniel is also filling in some of the gaps in his back story too. We learn why they moved to Italy, and then why they really moved to Italy.
He’s wrapping up the last few investigations before the summer, and heading to the family summer house, or so he thinks. Instead he is being flooded with memories, of Lucia, of his involvement with a rather peculiar aristocrat who was a member of the Masons, but had to flee the city.
After seeing Lucia’s distinctive bicycle, missing since her death, he starts following and investigating a group of local protesters, who are wrecking holiday homes in the city, demanding that the local government house locals not tourists. The police would very much like to speak to these people too.
Daniel discovers a web of connections between his client, the protesters, his former acquaintance and Lucia’s death. It all ends in truly dramatic fashion, and a headache for the police to sort out.
Moving between time lines as Daniel roams the city looking for the bicycle, and hoping to get some answers, his only assistance a reluctant Dolores, and the drones Carlos operates from the comfort of his sunlounger. Bologna in the summer is a hot, sweaty mess, much like Daniel.
This series is really interesting and enjoyable, Daniel is a likeable and wry protagonist, and Englishman in a country he still, despite years living there, doesn’t quite understand.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Ray Eke has always found peace in his job, collecting litter for the city council. Until the day he finds the brutalized, bloodless body of a girl on his round. He recognizes her immediately too. Lauren Pascoe went missing three years before. It’s also clear she hasn’t been lying on the roadside verge all this time. Someone’s clearly been holding her prisoner. Keeping her as their very special toy.
The police know it couldn’t have been Ray, whose gentle heart is obvious to all. But then another girl is taken. And she’s someone who Ray had a connection to, back in his previous job as an accountant, before his breakdown…
The twists in this novel are guaranteed to leave readers with their jaws on the floor. Just when you think you know who the killer is, you’ll have your mind blown!
Anita Waller is the author of many bestselling psychological thrillers and the Kat and Mouse crime series. She lives in Sheffield, which continues to be the setting of many of her thrillers.
My thoughts: Well, this was deeply unsettling stuff, the police have a nightmare of a case on their hands. Lauren went missing three years ago and now her broken, tortured body is found dumped by the road still dressed in the clothes she was wearing when she went missing.
Opening a cold case when it isn’t good news must be quite hard but the team are dedicated and willing to dig until they get some answers. And then Hannah goes missing. She just popped out to get some milk for the office, and then she was gone. If it is the same person, then she’s in for a world of pain.
Ray Eke, who works for the council collecting rubbish, found Lauren, and he knew Hannah too. Can this seemingly benign musician be involved? It seems unlikely, but as they struggle to find any evidence of who might have taken both victims, and as what they do uncover seems to point in one direction…oops, no spoilers but the twists will make your head spin.
I enjoyed this but was definitely creeped out at the same time, the things Lauren endured are horrific. And the shocking moments towards the end, the last page *shudders*. So good but also so sinister.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Fleeing from domestic violence, Chloe Morgan spent months hotel hopping in fear until the paperwork was finally signed off on the mortgage for her new home. Moving across the country and into a house situated on the outskirts of a quaint village will grant her the fresh start she needs and freedom from her dangerous ex-partner, Martin.
The relief and excitement is palpable, but as Chloe gets to know the strange new residents of The Glen, something feels just a little off, and her new neighbourhood might not be the idyllic dream she thought. She may have run from one nightmare, directly into another…
A.D Jones brings you Little Horn, a novel packed with mystery, intrigue, and confusion as Chloe tries to rebuild her life following the harrowing events of her past.
A.D Jones lives in the North of England; where he spends his time favouring books over people and can be found writing or devouring said books to review online. He loves Coca-Cola, Twin Peaks, all things horror, and cult movies. He dislikes the movie ‘The Karate Kid’ with a passion that burns brighter than the sun.
His debut novel – Umbrate was released in October 2023 to positive feedback. He also has multiple short stories in print through publishing houses such as Dark Village Publications and January Ember Press. You can find him on Instagram – the_evergrowing_library
My thoughts: Chloe is very brave and very lucky, leaving an abusive relationship is not easy and not everyone makes it out alive. Buying a house sight unseen is a bit crazy, but she’s hoping a fresh start and a clean break from the past will lead to better things.
Shame all her neighbours are so weird. She makes one friend, who might not be who she says, and has to deal with a dose or two of crazy from across the road. But things seem to be going OK, until events take a decidedly weird turn. Finding a secret notebook from the previous owner of her house lets her in to exactly how strange her new neighbours are and then, well, now she’s got a hell of a problem to deal with…
Creepy, clever and quite funny in places, this is why it’s definitely best not to get to know your neighbours too well!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Detective Mike Nash thought that moving back to Yorkshire from London would give him a quieter life. Instead he finds a sleepy little town where nothing is what it seems . . .
Two dead bodies, locked in a disused mortuary. In the basement of a hospital that shut its doors over twenty years ago. The irony isn’t lost on veteran DI Mike Nash.
The victims have been shot in the head, execution style — by a consummate professional who knows exactly how to cover their tracks, leaving no evidence and no solid leads for Nash to go on.
The deeper Nash digs, the more he fears the past will come back to bite him. These bodies are tied to a dark history of crime and betrayal, and a past case with more loose ends than Nash cares to remember. It’s not long before a third body surfaces. This time the scene’s awash with DNA, belonging to a man who died decades ago. Now Nash must face the chilling possibility that his oldest adversary is behind it all, watching and waiting to take his own brand of deadly vengeance . . .
Bill Kitson was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire. His father, a wool merchant, was a fan of crime books giving Bill access to his diverse thriller collection from a young age. Educated at Ashville College, Bill worked in the family business before spending over thirty years as a bank executive. A keen cricketer and sportsman, the highlight of his career came when he umpired a one-day international at Lords. He and his wife now live in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, where he writes crime, romance, and general fiction. Bill’s interests include Cricket, Crime, Crete, Cookery, Cryptic crosswords – and also Alliteration.
My thoughts: This was really good, very clever, compelling and just convoluted enough. When a fire at an old hospital building reveals two corpses in the former mortuary, both with gun shot wounds, the bullets and the victims are linked to a series of underworld killings, almost like someone was cleaning house.
Then there’s a dummy with a bullet hole or three, a dead hitman, a pair of lovers on the run, and all sorts of other complications in this far from simple case. Could it all be linked to a man Detective Mike Nash knew at school? Even though he’s dead.
As the team investigate and attempted to ID ‘The Keeper’, the criminal shot caller they believe might be behind it all, other interested parties are making plans of their own. Can Mike get to the bottom of this and help out a charming former celebrity at the same time?
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Tensions are high at the Three Counties Show when accusations of cheating add fuel to a longstanding feud. For Jude Gray, whose only hope was to not make a fool of herself showing her Kerry Hill sheep, farming life has never been so dramatic.
When a body is found, belonging to one of the competitors, there is no shortage of suspects. Every sheep farmer in this close-knit community has a motive and beneath their show-ready smiles, they all have something to hide. Experience has taught Jude that when there’s a murderer at large, nobody is truly safe. And with secrets simmering beneath the surface, this may be her most challenging investigation yet.
Can she unearth the truth before it’s too late?
A gripping new instalment in the Malvern Farm Mystery series, perfect for fans of Frances Evesham, Merryn Allingham, and Faith Martin.
Kate Wells is the author of a number of well-reviewed books for children, and is now writing cosy crime set in the Malvern hills, inspired by the farm where she grew up.
My thoughts: I never thought a county fair would have so much scandal and intrigue, they don’t sound like they would be that exciting. Especially among the sheep farmers, who you would think would be more like their flocks, placid and cuddly. Not so this lot.
Jude is only showing two of her flock, but the more experienced farmers have more animals, and history. Lots of history, prickly, difficult history. Which Jude slowly learns as things go sideways and someone is killed. Was the murderer former musician turned eco warrior farmer/social media nuisance Zander? I was surprised he wasn’t the victim, the way he was carrying on.
Or will it be one of the farmers? Someone who knew the victim of old and was acting out an old grudge? Jude helps Binnie out with this case from the inside, the other sheep farmers are happier to confide in her than the police. But there’s other secrets and schemes going on and now Jude is in a bit too deep…
Another cracking case for Jude to solve in between mucking out and taking the always adorable Sebbie to school or out on the tractor. Her sister’s wedding plans are coming along nicely, or expensively, depending on how you look at it, and the farm is doing well. As long as Jude doesn’t end up as another victim of this killer.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
The Yorkshire village of Beddingfield is home to the wonderful women of the Allen family: teacher Robyn, wannabe chef Jess, teenage tearaway Sorrel and matriarch Lisa, who holds the whole family together. But underneath her warmth and brilliance, Lisa has a secret – she longs to know who she really is.
In Hudson House, the grand manor on the edge of Beddingfield which is now a care home, lives seventy-something Eloise Howard. With film star beauty but memories fading fast, Eloise is slowly taking one foot at a time back into her past. Born into a prestigious family, her father the owner of the local Hudson’s Mill, Eloise’s life was destined to be one of finishing schools and balls. But when her path crossed Junayd Sattar’s, the most striking and kindest man she had ever met, nothing would ever be the same again.
When Lisa begins to spend time at Hudson House and befriends Eloise, the two women form an unbreakable bond. But unbeknownst to them both, they share secrets that, once uncovered, will change everything they believed about their own lives.
In her unmatched warm and uplifting voice, Julie Houston’s funny and profoundly moving tale of forbidden love, friendship and family ties will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page…
Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Fiona Gibson and Cathy Kelly.
My thoughts: Yay! We’re back in Beddingfield in another fun, heart warming, enjoyable book from Julie Houston. Picking up a short while after the last book, we find Robyn still teaching at the worst school in Yorkshire, and all loved up with former barrister turned hopeful restauranteur Fabian.
Her mum, Lisa, is doing much better now under the care of her doctors and at a bit of a loose end volunteers at the care home where eldest daughter Jess works. There she meets Eloise, who used to live in Hudson House when it was a private home. Lisa is also wondering about looking into her biological parents, even if that means tackling her awful adoptive ones.
With the help of her girls, and a few friends, she starts to piece the past together, but what she uncovers is not what she was expecting at all. A love story across class and racial lines, heartbreak and tragedy, but in piecing it all together, she might just find happiness of her own. As long as none of her daughters have a crisis…
Funny, warm, witty and wise, this is a great book to curl up with of an evening, or out in the sun. Whatever the weather feels like doing really!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Welcome to the tour for When the Witch Visits by Michael Rands. Read on for more!
When The Witch Visits
Publication Date: April 18, 2025
Genre: Paranormal/ Horror Comedy/ Supernatural Fantasy
Rick and Kayleigh Zapp are living proof that perfection sells. With their idyllic family, overflowing bank accounts, and millions of online followers, they’re the world’s second-most beloved power couple. But on the night a hurricane rages through their town, a witch appears in their garden and tells Rick he has one year to live—unless he can repair the flaws in his seemingly flawless life.
As Rick’s paranoia builds and Kayleigh hides a secret that could topple their empire, their social media influence continues to grow—thanks in part to their increasingly twisted friendship with the enigmatic Max and Maxine Maxwell, the world’s most beloved power couple.
Humorous, dark, and eerily timely, When The Witch Visits is a horror-comedy for the age of the online personality.
ramblingmads 