Two Heads Are Better Than One

Antony Johnston

PUBLICATION DATE: 20/11/25

PUBLISHER: Allison & Busby

SYNOPSIS

It’s almost Christmas, and actress and amateur sleuth Gwinny Tuffel is still pondering what to buy DCI Birch (retired) and whether she could adopt a new furry friend. But sorting through her late father’s papers leads her into his mysterious past, pointing to an enigmatic ‘liaison’ now living in a Somerset commune populated by a group of retired spies. When Gwinny and Birch are unexpectedly snowed in at the remote farmhouse, they find that any skeletons in her father’s closet have been joined by a body in the attic. Surrounded by people for whom keeping secrets is second nature, along with an energetic Cocker Spaniel, Gwinny and Birch are embroiled in a murder case once again. Will they uncover the culprit and escape in time for Christmas?

MY REVIEW

Another splendid outing for Gwinny and her boyfriend, ex Met DCI Birch.

I am loving this series and was delighted to be offered an early copy of Gwinny’s Christmas outing. Thank you to the publisher.

When sorting out some files in her late father’s study, Gwinny stumbles across a file. An intriguing file as her father had never mentioned the man named in it. Now Gwinnie is about as curious as they come, so it didn’t take long for her to convince Birch to join her on a visit to one of her father’s acquaintances who, now living in a remote farmhouse with a group of ex colleagues, might be able to shed some light on the file.

Of course it wouldn’t be a Dog Sitter Detective book without a murder, and an unplanned stopover finds Gwinnie cut off in bad weather in a house with a murder to solve. With Birch and two dogs along for the ride, we are guaranteed an addictive page-turner. 

The perfect read for today’s snowy weather!

Superb characters and plenty of laugh out loud moments makes this series a top cosy crime read. Get it on your list!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Antony Johnston is one of the most versatile writers of the modern era. 

The Charlize Theron movie ATOMIC BLONDE was based on his graphic novel. His murder mystery series THE DOG SITTER DETECTIVE won the Barker Book Award. His crime puzzle novel CAN YOU SOLVE THE MURDER? reinvented choose-your-own-story books for a mainstream audience and was a Waterstones Paperback of the Year. The BRIGITTE SHARP spy thrillers are in development for TV. And his productivity guide THE ORGANISED WRITER has helped authors all over the world take control of their workload.

Antony is a celebrated videogames writer, with genre-defining titles including DEAD SPACE, SHADOW OF MORDOR, and RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE to his credit. He also consulted on the Emmy Award-winning SILENT HILL ASCENSION, making him the only writer in the world to have worked on all of the ‘big three’ horror gaming franchises.

His immense body of work also includes Marvel superheroes such as DAREDEVIL, WOLVERINE, and SHANG-CHI, the award-winning ALEX RIDER graphic novels, the post-apocalypse epic WASTELAND, and more. He wrote and directed the sci-fi film CROSSOVER POINT, made entirely in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic.

An experienced podcaster and public speaker, he also frequently writes articles on the life of an author, and is a prolific musician.

Antony is a former vice chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, a member of International Thriller Writers and the Society of Authors, a Shore Scripts screenwriting judge, and sits on the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain’s videogames committee. He lives and works in England.

Lynette Creswell

Publication Date: 14 November 2025

Ages: 3-7 years

SYNOPSIS

The eggs are ready, but the Easter Bunny’s sick.

When the Easter Bunny catches a cold, the Egg Hunt is in jeopardy. Determined to save the day, two brave hoglets, Prickles and Primrose, team up with their friend Rosie Rabbit on a race against the clock to decorate and hide the eggs.
With mischievous Freddie Fox up to his old tricks and a secret helper working behind the scenes, surprises await at every turn.

Can Prickles and Primrose save the hunt?

Through teamwork, kindness, and a sprinkle of wonder, the friends embark on an unforgettable adventure, ensuring the hunt remains as special as ever.

A delightful tale in the spirit of Peter Rabbit and The Gruffalo.

MY REVIEW

Another wonderful children’s book from Lynette, continuing her series of Hoglets stories.

At just over 30 pages, and many of them with full page illustrations, this is a book which can be read quickly and is sure to become a bedtime favourite.

Children will enjoy trying to spot the coloured egg in every illustration.

An uplifting story of friendship, being helpful, and also teaches children not to steal.

Adorable.

Huge thanks to Lynette for my early review copy of the book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynette was born in London, but moved to Burnley, Lancashire when she was a small child. From the tender age of five she was raised by her grandmother and given books to help keep her quiet. Lynette found she had a passion for reading and subsequently started writing once she began school.

Years later, Lynette’s husband was so impressed with her ability to capture children’s imaginations with her stories that he encouraged her love of writing by buying her a laptop in the hope she would write something more substantial. So, with a little push in the right direction, Lynette decided to write a fantasy trilogy and the subject would be something that all children love to read about (and most adults too) – magic!

Her inspiration came from childhood books written by Enid Blyton. The Enchanted Wood and The Faraway Tree were her first real taste of fantasy and the reason why she writes today. 

Her first novel, Sinners of Magic, was published in 2012 and is now receiving attention from both London and American film producers. Betrayers of Magic became the second book of the series followed by Defenders of Magic. 

Lynette has since had one of her short stories published in America, hitting No 4 in the US bestsellers charts. The Witching Hour is only available via Amazon Kindle.

Lynette now lives in North Lincolnshire with her husband and King Charles spaniel, Ruby. All of her grandchildren are the apple of her eye.

You can contact Lynette via her website and blog: http://www.Lynetteecreswell.wordpress.com

Follow her on Twitter: @Creswelllyn

Brian Price

Publication Date: 4 November 2025

Publisher: Hobeck Books

SYNOPSIS

Pleasure or murder?
Was journalist Jenny Pike seeking extreme pleasure or was she murdered? Mexton police and her partner are suspicious. Things just don’t add up. Who would want Jenny killed and why? If she was murdered, then why was there no trace of the killer?

Deadly weapons
A mystery gunman is injured as his weapon blows up in his face. Someone is making blank weapons lethal. Mexton police are baffled. Meanwhile, a ruthless gangster is after a stolen laptop, and he will stop at nothing to get it back. What is on that laptop?

A dangerous turf war
Soon Mexton is in turmoil with illegal firearms, a vengeful crime boss and an impossible crime to solve. A turf war between drug dealers looms and the police seem powerless to stop it. Can DC Mel Cotton and her colleagues solve the riddles facing them without getting killed? Can a lethal conflict be prevented, before someone gets seriously hurt?

MY REVIEW

If you are in need of a new crime thriller series, you need to read Brian’s ‘Fatal’ series centred around the very capable and very brave DC Mel Cotton. She gets herself into, and out of, a lot of very dangerous situations.

I have read and thoroughly enjoyed 5 of the 6 in the series and I must buy and read the one I’m missing.

So this is book 6 in the series and is mainly about two rival drug gang leaders and an increasingly dangerous turf war. There are also a few other crimes cleverly weaved in to the narrative. So many murders for a small police force to investigate.

The dead bodies pile up. The tension builds and builds. The action does not let up for a second. I stayed awake until after 1am on two consecutive nights as I couldn’t put it down! 

The whole story reads as very authentic thanks to Brian’s own experience and his meticulous research.

Must say, I can’t get a certain Bananarama song out of my head now!

I very highly recommend this addictive series. Love the characters, the setting, the action, the tension. It really doesn’t get better than this!

Many thanks for Rebecca at Hobeck for my spot on the tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brian Price is a chemist and biologist who retired from the Environment Agency in 2016. He is the author of Crime Writing: How to write the science and runs a website offering tips on science for crime writers (www.crimewriterscience.co.uk). He taught science and technology courses for the Open University for 26 years. He has advised number of leading crime writers on scientific aspects of crime.

Brian’s first crime novel, Fatal Trade, was published, as an ebook and paperback, by Hobeck Books on 14th September 2021. A free novella, Fatal Beginnings, is available from Hobeck Books at http://www.hobeck.net. The sequel, Fatal Hate, was published in April 2022 and third novel in the series, Fatal Dose, came out on 31st January 2023. Fatal Blow, the fourth book, is due out on 17th October.

Several of his short stories appear in the anthologies Cuckoo, Lock and Key and Seventy Three, produced by the writing group Writers in Stone, and he has had stories published in the charity anthologies, The Dark Side of Christmas and Cooking the Books (published by Hobeck). His short story The Scent of an Ending appeared in the Crime Writers Association collection Music of the Night.

Find out more about Brian at http://www.brianpriceauthor.co.uk

Rosie Green

SYNOPSIS

A Hallowe’en wedding is taking place in Sunnybrook! One well-loved Little Duck Pond Café regular will be walking down the aisle at a reputedly haunted manor house miles from anywhere – and it’s set to be the spookiest and most fun Big Day ever. But when the local river floods and the wedding party is stranded there overnight, weird things start to happen. Are ghostly antics at play here? Or is there something far more sinister going on? Will the wedding even go ahead?

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DSBXXNT5
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSBXXNT5

MY REVIEW

Rosie never fails to sweep me away in her gorgeous romantic novellas.

Another wonderful story, and it’s nice to read about romance in the older characters.

Clara is a famous and very successful florist with her own TV programme, resigned to her single life. Or is she? When her one true love, Mark, unexpectedly appears back in her life she realises she never really got over him. But is he really over his ex wife?

Mick and Sylvia are planning their Halloween themed wedding in an old gothic Manor House, and there may even be a ghost! 

The perfect Halloween romance read with a touch of the supernatural and plenty of secrets, and I honestly don’t know how Rosie fits so much story and depth of characters into her novellas, but she does. I adore every one I have read and hope they keep coming.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Welcome to my author page!

Rosie is the author of the popular, long-running Little Duck Pond Café series, set in the fictional English village of Sunnybrook. She loves to write stories that are full of drama, romance, mystery, family and friendship – happy endings guaranteed, of course! She has also written romantic comedies under the name Catherine Ferguson. 

Having studied English at Dundee University, she worked as a journalist and then moved to Surrey, where she set up an organic fruit and veg box scheme. She then gravitated back to my birthplace and now lives with her family in the beautiful county of Northumberland. 

Autumn Wishes & Fireside Kisses is out now; and A Merry Little Christmas will be published in November. New books for 2026 include The Other Lizzie Bennet (January), Rumours, Romance & Rhubarb Crumble (March) and A Cornish Escape (May).

Follow Rosie on Twitter – https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green88

Karen Storey

Publication Date: 10th October 2025

Publisher: Burton Mayers Books

SYNOPSIS

Gordon Slee fears he was never meant to be born. Anxious since childhood after hearing he was an accident, the forty-two-year-old is still struggling to escape the shadow of his high-achieving family.

But a glimmer of hope is on the horizon – a huge promotion within his hotel group is up for grabs, and he is sure that his time has come to make a mark on the world.

However, within his own department, redundancies are afoot. He may lose his job before he gets the chance. Until he learns of a historic covenant that preserves the right for sheep to run through the company’s top London hotel. Could he convince his boss that he’s the man to save the hotel from catastrophe?

Up in Bryn Nefyn, North Wales, live the descendants of the covenant owner. The elderly sheep farmer and his aging hippy brother could use the money the hotel might offer. But along with their strong-willed American shepherdess, they laugh at Gordon’s attempts to negotiate a deal. Surely, they couldn’t use a covenant that’s been forgotten about for over a hundred years. Or could they?

For lovers of upmarket commercial fiction with a touch of romance and comedy, The Approval of Sheep is an uplifting story about family and love, overcoming adversity and discovering our reason for our place in this world.

MY REVIEW

When Rachel kindly sent the email for the blog tour, I just had to sign up to review this baa-rmy story!

Poor Gordon. Recently dumped by his girlfriend after proposing. Now he is trying to keep his job in a top London hotel, and maybe secure a promotion, by visiting a farm in Wales. He is hoping to convince them to sell their covenant which allows them to run their sheep through the hotel. Just in case they ever decide to actually run their sheep through the hotel. Surely they wouldn’t …. or would they? Completely bonkers idea and I just had to read it!

There are a lot of highs and lows for poor Gordon, who doesn’t know whether he is coming or going, and I was hoping so much that he would end up on a high.

After living with the two brothers who own the sheep farm, and getting to know the shepherdess, not only does he find new friends who are more like family; he also finds himself and what is really important in life. There is even a touch of romance weaved in which I didn’t expect.

I adored Gordon’s story and the quirky characters, including the sheep. Loved the fact he fantasised about being the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Hilarious. His story will resonate with many of us who don’t feel we have yet found our place in life. 

I’m left with a big smile on my face and a warm happy feeling inside. I’d love to see this as a film.

Huge thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on the tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Storey is an award winning fiction writer and has been featured on the acclaimed book podcast, The Bestseller Experiment. As well as a novelist, she is a prolific short story writer. Her stories have been published in various anthologies and placed in several international competitions. 

Her memoir pieces have also been published within the New York Times bestselling book series, Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Originally from New York City, Karen lives in Warwickshire, England and has written articles for American in Britain magazine. She lives with her husband, whose surname Storey was the perfect wedding gift. They share their home with a snarky cat who writes Karen’s monthly author newsletters and a crazy little Bichon Frise dog who barks at his own reflection. You can visit her website and subscribe to her newsletter at http://www.karenstoreyauthor.com

The Approval of Sheep is Karen’s first novel.

Social Media Links –

Instagram karenstoreyauthor https://www.instagram.com/karenstoreyauthor/

Threads karenstoreyauthor https://www.threads.net/@karenstoreyauthor

X StoreytellerK https://twitter.com/StoreytellerK

Facebook Karen Storey https://www.facebook.com/karen.okeefe.773

Blue Sky karenstoreyauthor https://bsky.app/profile/karenstoreyauthor.bsky.social

GIVEAWAY

Giveaway To Win a signed copy of The Approval of Sheep and a luxury Welsh chocolate bar featuring a sheep by the award winning Welsh chocolatier, Sarah Bunton. (Open to UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the link below. The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.

I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

https://gleam.io/31Hye/win-a-signed-copy-of-the-approval-of-sheep-a-welsh-chocolate-bar-

Karen Storey is also running more giveaways over on her Instagram / Newsletter – take a look here for more details – https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMrpDcusjRN

Book 1 of The Philippines Thrillers

Murray Bailey

Publication Date: 24/10/25

SYNOPSIS

A gripping noir thriller that exposes the dark heart of a nation in turmoil.

Journalist Martin Gillie has vanished, and his wife wants him found. It seems like a straightforward case for newly arrived Ash Carter. But in post-war Philippines, nothing is ever straightforward.

Carter follows a trail that leads from the smoky boxing rings of Manila to the rebel-haunted provinces. And as Carter digs, with each uncovered clue, the stakes rise higher. The police can’t be trusted. The military has its own agenda.
Carter begins to wonder: Is Martin Gillie hiding from something—or someone? And if Carter finds him, will either of them live to tell the story?

MY REVIEW

A new book and a whole new series to keep my addiction to Murray’s Ash Carter books fuelled! I am overjoyed that Ash Carter returns in a new series set in The Philippines. 

An unplanned stopover in Manila is apparently fate as Ash reconnects with his old colleague and friend Bill Wolfe who now lives there and runs a bar. They rekindle their friendship as Ash tries to coax Bill out of retirement from his PI job.

Ash just can’t resist helping a woman whose husband, an investigative reporter, has gone missing. The search for the reporter, as well as following what he was investigating, takes Ash into dangerous territory. And there is also the case of a kidnapped and murdered baby to solve which is personal to Bill.

I am such a huge fan of Murray’s books, and am delighted to confirm this is another exciting, fast paced thriller full of action and intrigue. From the street gangs to the Mayor’s office, there is nowhere off limits to find the shocking truth.

Huge thanks to Murray for sending me an advance copy of the book and having me along on his blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Murray Bailey Is the author of the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father’s experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s. From the prequel series, based in Cyprus and Israel, The Prisoner of Acre won the 2025 Page Turner Award. A post-Singapore series is based in the Philippines. The Heretic Cypher is the first book of a trilogy featuring a young Robert Langdon-type character decrypting secret messages written by an ancient Egyptian. 

Murray is well traveled, having worked in the US, South America and a number of European countries throughout his career as a management consultant. However he also managed to find the time to edit books, contribute to articles and act as a part-time magazine editor.

Murray was born in Manchester and now lives on the south coast of England with his family and two dogs, Teddy and Muffin.

David Jarvis

Publication Date: 23/9/25

Publisher: Hobeck

My rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

SYNOPSIS

When a butterfly flaps its wings in the Caribbean, it causes storms in Europe.

The British King and Prime Minister have arrived in Georgetown, Guyana, along with the leaders of the other fifty-five countries in the Commonwealth, for its biennial meeting. Two shots ring out causing panic on the steps of the Mahaica Convention Centre.

The previous month, Tina Persad, an MI6 agent with Caribbean experience, had been sent to find out whether rumoured threats to the meeting were real or not. Then days before it was due to start, she had disappeared without trace.

Michaela ‘Mike’ Kingdom, a CIA analyst in London, may have been the last person to see her alive when they had a drink together in The Green Feathers. With Tina missing, Mike makes it her mission to find her friend, despite warnings not to get involved.

The butterfly may have already flapped its wings, but can Mike find Tina before the Heavens open?

MY REVIEW

This is book 5 in the Michaela (Mike) Kingdom series, although is the first I have read. I found it absolutely fine to read as a stand alone. The author briefly refers back to happenings in previous books, however, I did not feel I needed to know any more background.

The story is told from the point of view two ‘secret squirrel’ agents; Mike who is a CIA analyst based in London and her friend Tina, an MI6 agent. Firstly we mainly follow events from Mike and then we catch up with Tina and find out what happened when she disappeared.

We are taken on a journey from London to the Caribbean to France as we follow drug smugglers and one of their reluctant raw materials suppliers, and a plot to kill either the PM or the king who will both be attending a Commonwealth meeting in Guyana. The book opens with this scene playing out, although we don’t know at this point who has been killed. We are then taken back to the run up to this shooting.

When Tina goes missing, presumed dead, following a weekend visit to Mike, Mike will stop at nothing, even potentially losing her job, to find out what has happened to her friend. Who can she trust?

Wow this was a very multi layered read with so much going on I really had to concentrate. Expertly plotted with characters so well written they jumped off the page and descriptions so vivid I felt I was right there in the centre of the action. The author does a great job of summarising and tying up all the loose ends, and answering a few questions I had as we reach the end of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline; this is exactly what I enjoy reading and also watching on TV. Perhaps Prime or Netflix will be lucky to sign up David’s books as this one would definitely make a great film!

I already have bought one of the previous books in this series as I will be reading them all.

Thanks so much David, for sending me a copy.

Maureen Myant

Publication Date: 30th September 2025

Publisher: Hobeck

SYNOPSIS

An errant crisp packet is all that stands between DI Alex Scrimgeour being murdered on his way to work. Who would want Alex dead? Or was it perhaps a case of mistaken identity? If the bullet wasn’t meant for Alex, then who was it meant for and why?

Alex’s journalist daughter, Kate, newly in his life and now happily settled in the same city, is obsessed with finding out more about a spate of apparent teenage suicides in the city. What do the deaths have in common, if anything? And who are the two mysterious ‘friends’ claiming that some of the teenagers were suicidal despite their families believing otherwise?

Despite pressing domestic issues, Kate can’t let the matter go, plunging her into a potentially dangerous situation.

When his would-be killer turns up dead, Alex is forced to look further back into the past to discover what motivated the shooting. Who is behind the vendetta? Can they be stopped before the next attempt is more successful?

MY REVIEW

This is the 4th book of Maureen’s I have read and thoroughly enjoyed them all. This one has an ending which makes me want to immediately pick up the next (I hope!) book and carry on reading.

In The Fallen, the fourth in the Glasgow Southside Crime Series, we are taken into the depths of Glasgow, the drug gangs and the lengths they will go to in order to recruit new dealers.

I was immediately gripped by the attempted hit on DI Alex Scrimgeour, just as he is leaving his flat. He has absolutely no idea who might want him dead.

As well as that investigation, we have a series of suicides by children, who did not appear suicidal in the days leading up to their deaths. Alex’s daughter is a journalist and is sure the deaths are suspicious do begins her own investigation.

This is a brilliantly written crime thriller with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader on their toes. I really enjoyed reading about the personal lives of the characters, especially Alex and his daughter Kate, as much as I enjoyed the plot lines. I loved the addition of the stray  cat too, who adopted Alex! In amongst the crimes and investigations and personal struggles there are a few real laugh out loud moments.

An absolute page turner.

Thanks so much to Rebecca at Hobeck Books for my spot on the blog tour. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maureen Myant has a PhD and MLitt in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. She is the author of the Glasgow Southside crime series featuring DS Nicholson and DI Scrimgeour. They are published by Hobeck Books. Although they can be read as standalone novels they are best read in sequence. The Confession was published in 2022, followed by The Deception (2023) and The Shame (2024) The fourth in the series, The Fallen, will be published in Autumn 2025. She is currently writing the fifth book. A standalone psychological drama, What Lies Beneath was published by Hobeck Books in November 2024. Maureen is also the author of a historical novel, The Search, which is set in wartime Czechoslovakia, Poland and Germany. A former psychologist, Maureen lives in Glasgow.

Felix Francis

Publication Date: 25/9/25

Publisher: Zaffre

Blog Tour Organiser: Ransom PR

SYNOPSIS

Imogen Duffy is a young Irish jockey, whose fledgling career is given a huge boost when she wins a prestigious horse race at the Cheltenham Steeplechasing Festival. But all is not well in her life. She has a violent and controlling boyfriend, also a jockey, and he becomes increasingly jealous of her success. As a result, she tries to break off their relationship, but he won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. He attacks her, and claims that he’d rather kill her than allow her to leave him.

Imogen flees her home in Ireland, coming to England to get away from him, and to continue her riding career at a racing stable in Lambourn, where she finds increasing success. But the abusive boyfriend follows her across the Irish Sea, stalks her, steals from her, attacks her again, and then tries to ruin both her career and her reputation.

Imogen’s desperate father turns to Sid Halley for help, and Sid reluctantly agrees to investigate, but then finds that he is also being stalked and threatened. Can Sid find out what the hell is going on, and before it is too late?

MY REVIEW

Another thrilling read from Felix Francis, set in the hugely competitive world of horse racing.

This is very much a two part read. 

Everything is going really well for Imogen, as a talented up and coming jockey in Ireland,  until she tries to dump her controlling boyfriend who is a fellow jockey. He doesn’t like that at all and becomes threatening, both verbally and physically, spreading awful rumours and turning up at her home. Actually frightened for her life, she luckily lands a new job and moves to England to escape him. Unfortunately he follows her.

The first part of the book is fast paced as we follow Imogen through her many races, (jockeys have a very hard life) with plenty of descriptions of horse racing talk converted to layman’s terms for those of us who don’t know much about horse racing. It is all quite fascinating. However, she is in constant terror of Liam turning up at her door or trying to hurt her during a race where he is also competing.

Then everything changes for part two of the book which focuses on Imogen being arrested and jailed. A retired PI is approached by Imogen’s father and asked to help investigate and clear her name. This second half is all about looking for the gaps in the prosecutors argument and doing some more digging.

And that is quite the ending!

I thoroughly enjoyed being immersed into the world of horse racing. Imogen’s fear of her ex was palpable and I had my heart in my mouth much of the time. And then the tone changes completely as I was immersed into a different race against time to prove Imogen innocent.

I smiled at the mention of Felix’s father’s – Dick Francis – statue at Aintree. Wonderful!

This is the third book by Felix Francis I have read and I’m here for more to come. This is my favourite so far.

Thanks as always to Sophie at Ransom PR for my spot on the tour and for my finished copy of the book. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FELIX FRANCIS is Dick Francis’s younger son. Born in 1953, Felix studied Physics and Electronics at London University and then embarked upon a 17-year career teaching Advanced Level physics at three schools, the last seven as head of the science department at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire. After leaving teaching, Felix then became a businessman, spending 13 years as deputy chairman of World Challenge Expeditions Ltd, before starting his third career as an author.

As a child, Felix remembers that conversations around the Francis breakfast table were somewhat unconventional. “The production of a Dick Francis novel has always been a mixture of inspiration, perspiration and teamwork. The first one was published when I was nine, and I grew up in a house where talk would be about the damage a bullet might do to a man’s guts rather than the more mundane topics of everyday life”.

Over the next 40 years, Felix assisted Dick with both the research and the writing of many of his novels. They shared a love of racing and often worked together on plot and character details at Dick’s home in the Cayman Islands. This partnership allowed Dick to draw upon Felix’s knowledge and experience as a physics teacher and marksman in Twice Shy, and as an outdoorsman in Longshot.

With the publication of Under Orders in 2006, Felix took over the writing of the ‘Dick Francis’ novels from his father. This was followed by Dead Heat in 2007, Silks in 2008, and Even Money in 2009. Crossfire was the book Felix was working on when Dick died in February 2010, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in the Dick Francis brand. Since then there have been many more ‘Dick Francis’ novels, with Felix’s latest, Dark Horse, published in September 2025.

Laura Pearson

Publication Date: 12 Sept 2025

Publisher: Boldwood

SYNOPSIS

What if the answer to one little question could change your whole life?

Soon after Anna goes on the best date of her life with a man called James – she and her best friend Nia visit a fortune teller. Who tells Nia that she will have one great love. But all she tells Anna is that her future is with a man whose name begins with a J.

It won’t be James though – he never calls. And then Anna meets Edward – gorgeous, kind, loving. He’s all she’s ever dreamed of. Until he asks her to make a choice about their future.

If Anna says ‘yes’ to him, her life will go one way. If she says ‘no’, it’ll go another. Both of the worlds could be happy. Both of the worlds could be heartbreaking… But as Nia meets her one great love in both worlds, which of Anna’s answers – yes or no – will bring her life together with the person who she’s fated to be with?

MY REVIEW

Oh I do love a sliding doors story and this was a cracker.

Anna and Edward are married, then he drops a bombshell of a question. Should Anna say yes or no?

The book is written in alternating chapters ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ and we meet Anna every year on her wedding anniversary to see where each decision takes her life.

I loved the fact some people and events appeared in both timelines (fate?) although often in very different ways.

The friendship with her best friend was strong in both timelines which I loved. 

I could identify so much with many of Anna’s struggles. She is written honestly and with nothing hidden. 

So does fate always take us to the same place, or can we change our life by a simple butterfly effect decision. And was the psychic who told her where her future lies correct? Well I couldn’t wait to find out, and via a few tears I did.

I absolutely loved this book and appreciate Boldwood Books sending me an advance e-copy to review. 

I now want to read more of Laura’s books! 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laura Pearson is the author of five novels. The Last List of Mabel Beaumont was a Kindle number one bestseller in the UK and a top ten bestseller in the US. Laura lives in Leicestershire, England, with her husband, their two children, and a cat who likes to lie on her keyboard while she tries to write.