As the nights draw in, gingerbread lattes and festive hot chocolates are on the menu, and the Little Duck Pond Café girls are gearing up for the cosiest time of the year. But new recruit Laurel just wishes she could sleep through the whole jolly affair! It might be October, but she’s still haunted by the events of last Christmas. Could a new start in Sunnybrook help to heal her heart?
Another gorgeously captivating book in this series by Rosie Green, one of my auto read authors. I just can’t get enough of this series!
I love Rosie’s novellas about the residents of Sunnybrook and the Little Duck Pond Cafe which brings them together.
This time we hear Laurel’s story, as she leaves her cheating boyfriend behind and moves to Sunnybrook to work in the Little Duck Pond Cafe. She is not looking for a new relationship but then she – literally – bumps into Josh.
I loved getting to know Laurel and seeing how her new friend Maddy helped the budding relationship along whilst planning her own wedding and dealing with some shocking family news.
These books never fail to leave me with a big smile on my face and I’m looking forward to reading Maddy’s Christmas Wedding as soon as it is available.
I highly recommend this series if you love stories of friendship, community and cakes. Oh and of course romance!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rosie Green’s Little Duck Pond Cafe series of novellas is centred around life in a village cafe and most can be read as stand-alone stories. (‘The Sunshine Sisters’ is a trilogy within the Little Duck Pond Café series and it would benefit from being read in order: Aurora, Skye and Blossom.)
Look out for ‘Maddy’s Christmas Wedding’, out later this year in time for the festive season!
The BRAND NEW instalment in Holly Hepburn’s page-turning Baker Street Mystery series
‘When did you become aware something was wrong?’
‘When the screaming began…’
Harriet White is no stranger to odd correspondence. Ensconced in the basement of the Baker Street building society, her job is to reply to the mail they receive on behalf of Sherlock Holmes.
But while letters to the fictional sleuth may be plentiful, telegrams are rare, and so when she receives one describing the grave situation of celebrated author Philip St John, her interest is piqued. The writer describes St John as being consumed by terror, seeing ghostly apparitions on the fens, and only at ease in the company of his loyal wolfhound.
Before long, Harry finds herself in Cambridgeshire under the guise of being Holmes’ assistant. The residents of Thurmwell Manor believe their master is cursed. Harry is sure there must be a logical explanation, but inside the echoey halls of the grand gothic house, her confidence in science and reason begin to crumble…
Can Harry solve the mystery before the fens claim their next victim?
Join Harriet White in 1930’s London for another glorious Sherlock Holmes-inspired mystery, for fans of Nita Prose and Janice Hallett.
The story is set in the 1930’s. Hollie works in the basement of the Abbey Road Building Society, whose offices just happen to span the fictional address of Sherlock Holmes. Hollie’s job is to reply to all the letters received addressed to Sherlock Holmes, under the guise of his secretary, advising Mr Holmes has now retired.
However, an urgent telegram piques her interest and her inner detective cannot be held back. With the help of her friend Oliver, she sets out to investigate.
The investigation takes her to a mansion on the fens, complete with wolfhound and a big nod to the most famous Holmes story, The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Harry is a very capable young lady with an excellent mystery solving skillset. She is wasted working in a building society!
I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the setting and the story which played out just like an actual Sherlock Holmes mystery! The addition of the myth of the ferryman added a creepy hint of supernatural to the story.
Brilliantly written it had me absolutely enthralled and I read it over two sittings.
I am definitely going to be reading the next in this series as well as reading the first book in the series too.
Many thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on the blog tour.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Holly Hepburn writes escapist, swoonsome fiction that sweeps her readers into idyllic locations, from her native Cornwall to the windswept beauty of Orkney. She has turned her hand to cosy crime inspired by Sherlock Holmes himself. Holly lives in leafy Hertfordshire with her adorable partner in crime, Luna the Labrador.
It is the year 1650. England is in a state of unrest following wars and the murder of the king. Witch hunting is in full swing.
After 6 years away, Ensign James Archer is ordered to return to his home town of Newcastle to investigate the executions of so called witches, and to find out how this could affect the coal trade. His personal task is to find his sister Meg, whom he fears may have been one of them.
Archer is having difficulties finding out whether his sister was one of the so called witches which were hung or whether she escaped with 12 or so others. It appears there are people who do not want him to find out the truth about the women who escaped death.
All he wants is to find Meg and take her to safety, perhaps making up somewhat for abandoning his family for London 6 years ago.
As the dead bodies begin to mount, along with the tension, Archer finds himself in grave danger but will not give up his cause.
I was so excited to read this after seeing the author post about it on Twitter/X. I live in the north east and used to work in Newcastle so I could visualise a lot of the places in the book and imagine how they may have looked at the time thanks to the author’s vivid descriptions. Dark alleys with shadowy figures. Steep steps leading up from the Quayside. The stench of the streets.
The author has clearly done a great deal of research, as the story is loosely based on facts and many of the characters in the book were real people. The story he has created around the facts is completely believable. I enjoyed travelling along the streets, looking up some I didn’t know on the internet as I read. I also enjoyed reading the small amounts of Geordie language the author has added for authenticity. Hopefully non-Geordie readers will understand it! There was mention of some of the people the streets of Newcastle are named after.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Wicked of the Earth and hope there is more to come from AD Bergin.
Many thanks to Northodox Press for the advance copy.
‘There are a lot of shadows at Ravenswood, so you will need to be strong…’
The year is 1885 and a young woman is on the run, knowing if she’s caught, she’ll be hanged for murder. Moments from a safe haven, she collides with a gruff stranger, falling and breaking her ankle.
To her surprise, the man – Marcus Greybourne – convinces the local constable that she is his reclusive wife of ten years, Luna. He carries her back to the neglected and crumbling Ravenswood Hall, promising if she agrees to maintain this charade, he will keep her safe until her injuries have healed.
But the house is haunted by shadows and secrets. What’s more, the real Luna Greybourne is missing, without trace. Scratches and marks made by her around the house suggest witchcraft; and indeed Luna is known locally as the Ravenswood Witch; her reputation in tatters, like the wallpapers of the padlocked rooms she’d destroyed.
As strange happenings in the house continue, outside the screech of a raven echoes across oppressive woods that seem alive with dark magic. And the woman who is now pretending to be Luna can’t help but fear she’s escaped the noose for a far more terrible fate…
MY REVIEW
I thoroughly enjoyed No 23 Burlington Square so I jumped at the chance to read and review The Ravenswood Witch.
This is a very different theme and I loved it just as much.
A young woman literally falls for Marcus when she is running away from her pursuers, breaking her ankle. He saves her by stating to them that she is his wife. Carrying on with the charade to benefit him, she finds herself morphing into the role of Luna, the wife who has recently disappeared. The house is a mess, with what appears to be devil worship drawings on the walls everywhere. Feeling lonely when Marcus takes a trip, she nurses a half dead raven back to life and it befriends her, and appears to be trying to protect her.
Is Luna dead? Is she haunting the house? Is Luna the Ravenswood Witch? And what’s the mystery of the Ravenswood wood and the wishing well?
I raced through this in a day. However, I can’t believe I didn’t tie up the two storylines until quite late in the book! Such an immersive storyline which kept me glued from the first page to the last with quite a shocking revelation.
Highly recommend especially for witchy season!
Thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on the blog tour.
BLOG TOUR HOSTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jenni Keer is a history graduate who embarked on a career in contract flooring before falling in love and moving to the Suffolk countryside. Her lifelong passion for reading became a passion for writing and she had two contemporary romance novels published in 2019. She has now embraced her love of the past to write twisty, turny historicals, and The Legacy of Halesham Hall was shortlisted for the Romantic Historical Novel of the Year in 2023. Her latest release, At The Stroke of Midnight, has been described as Rebecca meets Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day.
Living with four grown up children and three cats (but just the one husband) she is frustrated by their inability to appreciate that when she’s staring into space, she’s actually working, and that watching television counts as research. Much younger in her head than she is on paper, she adores any excuse for fancy-dress and is part of a disco formation dance team.
Ten strangers. An old dark house. A killer picking them off one by one. And a missing girl who’s running out of time . . .
Ten strangers wake up inside an old, locked house. They have no recollection of how they got there. In order to escape, they have to solve the disappearance of a young woman. But a killer also stalks the halls of the house, and soon the body count starts to rise. Who are these strangers? Why were they chosen? Why would someone want to kill them? And who – or what – is the Beast in the Cellar? Forget what you think you know.
Because while you can trust yourself, can you really trust THE OTHER PEOPLE?
MY REVIEW
Mind blown.
What a brilliant locked room murder mystery! I couldn’t put it down and had to put my life on hold to finish it as I had no idea how it was going to end! I was not disappointed.
We have an ‘And Then There Were None’ Christie set up. 10 guests, all strangers, waking up in their bedrooms in an old mansion. None have any memory of how they got here. The doors are locked. The windows are shuttered. They are told they must find an abducted girl before she dies and each have a 12 hour countdown timer attached to their wrist. When they find her they will be released.
10 very different personalities. With hidden secrets.
A ‘Beast in the Cellar’ who pops up now and again to discuss the progress and pose questions.
The book is narrated from the POV’s of each ‘guest’. Very very clever.
And the mention of the Hispaniola! Omg I remember that at Scarborough!
Fasten your seatbelts for a heck of a ride in April 2025.
Thank you so much to Jamie-Lee Nardone for a super early e-arc to review.
From the author of House of Salt and Sorrows comes the breathtaking fairy tale retelling readers have been waiting for
When death calls, she must answer.
Hazel has always known she was different from her siblings. A thirteenth child, she was promised at birth to Merrick, the god of death.
Under his care, Hazel learns the art – and magic – of healing. Word of her extraordinary gift spreads throughout the kingdom. But all gifts come with a price. When Death claims a soul for himself, it is Hazel who must end their suffering… permanently.
Soon, destiny brings her to the royal court where she meets Leopold, an infuriatingly alluring prince with a disdain for everything and everyone. Here, Hazel faces her biggest dilemma yet: to carry out her duties or follow the urges of her own heart. Can she go against the will of Death himself to save someone who is marked to die?
MY REVIEW
Just wow. I am absolutely blown away by this utterly fabulous retelling of Godfather Death, a Grimms fairy tale. I hadn’t heard of this one but my daughter quickly filled me in on the basics so I had an idea what to expect.
Hazel is the thirteenth child of poor parents who are already struggling to feed and keep their existing 12. Before she is even born, her parents accept an offer from The Dreaded End – the God of death himself – to take Hazel away on her birthday. She has to wait 12 years, not knowing when he will claim her, when he eventually takes her on her twelfth birthday.
With a snap of his fingers a pretty house in a valley in ‘the between’ is created just for her with everything she could possibly need. He leaves her and she lives alone for a year studying the books he has left for her so she can fulfil her destiny and become a healer.
Given the ability to see when a patient should die rather than be healed, she begins to struggle with this responsibility on her shoulders, especially when she is summoned to heal the king and sees he is destined to die. Can she really go against her godfather’s wishes and save the king? Or is it destiny that he should die? Will things be better or worse if he lives? All these questions fighting for an answer in her mind.
There is so much to this story including the excellent world building and the characters. I could visualise the settings and feel the struggles Hazel encountered. I lived the story for a few days, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it, and although much of it is dark, there are brighter moments in the form of Prince Leopold. Of course every gothic retelling needs a bit of romance. Not too overly done, thankfully.
I’m going to be reading everything else this author has written and I’m hoping so much this is going to be my next Fairyloot subscription book!
I have no doubt this is going to be one of my very favourite books of the year. I’m even planning a re-read already, and I never re-read a book!
Hugest thanks to Black Crow PR for kindly sending me a proof.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
#1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin A. Craig has always loved telling stories.
After getting her B.F.A. from the University of Michigan, in Theatre Design and Production, she stage managed tragic operas with hunchbacks, séances, and murderous clowns, then decided she wanted to write books that were just as spooky.
An avid reader, decent quilter, rabid basketball fan, and collector of typewriters, brass figurines, and sparkly shoes, Erin makes her home in West Michigan with her husband and daughter.
To find out more about Erin and the worlds she creates, follow @penchant4words on Instagram and Threads.
WHEN YOU’RE AT THE TOP OF YOUR GAME, ONE PHONE CALL CAN BRING IT ALL CRASHING DOWN . . .
THE BRAND NEW 2024 NOVEL FROM THE MASTER OF THE RACING THRILLER. ______________________
Chester Newton is a successful racehorse syndicate organiser and his company, Victrix Racing, is having its best year yet. When his prized horse, Potassium, wins the world-famous Epsom Derby, Chester is set to become the next big thing in British horse racing.
But one phone call changes everything.
Someone hiding behind a voice scrambler and an untraceable phone is demanding he fixes a race – and they’re willing to go after Chester’s family if he fails to comply.
Chester’s business is the only thing in his life that isn’t falling apart. With his marriage on the rocks and his children growing increasingly distant, he is not willing to let someone destroy the success he’s spent his life building.
Then his daughter is kidnapped and, very suddenly, it’s not just his livelihood that’s on the line. Now Chester must discover just how far he will go to protect his family . . .
MY REVIEW
This is the second novel I have read by this author, No Reserve being the first, and I have enjoyed both.
In Syndicate we meet Chester Newton, who successfully runs a horse owning / racing syndicate which he set up from scratch. He is married with two grown up children, although the marriage is showing cracks after 25 years.
When one of his horses wins the Epsom Derby, he is at the top of his game. But a phone call and attempted blackmail could be the end of his success. He makes a bad decision for a good reason and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out if he would get found out! He is quite a cool cucumber though, coping with every setback with a cool calm demeanour. At least on the outside.
I enjoyed learning about the background to how horse ownership syndicates work, the types and different distances of horse races and the way the horses and riders are weighed. Even the types of bets, which I have never understood. All very interesting.
Thanks to Poppy and Sophie at Ransom PR for my early copy of the book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Felix Francis studied Physics and Electronics at London University and then spent seventeen years teaching Advanced-Level Physics. The younger son of crime writer and Naional Hunt jockey Dick Francis, Felix assisted his father with both the research and writing of his novels in a father-and-son writing partnership. Since Dick’s death, Felix has written ten successful novels
Independent of the government, Carter is looking for work and thinks the unsolved death of a police officer. Sergeant Cox appears to have been murdered by a skilled assassin. The police have few clues and fewer suspects, but the suggestion that there may be a boxing connection intrigues him.
In this novella, set between Singapore Girl and Singapore Boxer, Carter confronts fighters in the ring and the streets to solve who killed Sergeant Cox and why.
MY REVIEW
Hurrah for a new Ash Carter thriller / mystery. That makes me a very happy book blogger indeed!
Singapore Worlds is the sixth Ash Carter book but this time is a novella which sits between two existing books in the series.
Ash, an ex SIB investigator, is at a loose end when he is asked to investigate the murder of a police officer, as the police force are at a loss. With his usual gusto and focus on the task, he begins to uncover clues which lead him to an unexpected turn of events, including a second murder. He follows a lead into a back street boxing for money set up where anything goes – which is just his thing.
I thoroughly enjoyed this new addition to the series. Such a great character and I just can’t get enough of Ash Carter! Hoping for more 🙏
I highly recommend Murray’s books, the Ash Carter series and also the Blackjack series if you enjoy fast paced thrillers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Murray Bailey Is the author of Amazon bestseller Map of the Dead, the first of the series based on his interest in Egyptology. His main series however is the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father’s experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s.
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 lives on the south coast of England with his family and a dog called Teddy.
New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café tells the story of Tori who, after being dumped and left stranded by her long-term boyfriend Ryan on a trip of a lifetime to Asia, returns home to the sleepy Sussex village of Blossom Heath with her tail between her legs and her dreams shattered. Donning her frilly apron to help her Mum, Joyce, behind the counter at The Cosy Cup Café, Tori starts to believe – with the help of a hunky fireman and a clowder of rescue cats – that perhaps the secret to her future happiness might lie closer to home than she ever thought possible.
If you love your romance with a side order of cake, cats and cosy community dynamics, this is the purrfect uplifting, feel-good read from the winner of the RNA Katie Fforde Debut Novel of the Year 2023.
MY REVIEW
I can’t thank Sarah -Jade Virtue enough for introducing me to this author by way of winning her giveaway for a copy of the book.
What a gorgeous, emotional, cat filled, feel good story of new beginnings and a supportive community. Just what I needed.
I was fully immersed in Tori’s story and new venture – to update her mum’s successful village café to a cat café. Having just returned from Thailand, minus her boyfriend who dumped her after four years, she brings the idea of the many cat cafés she visited, as well as ideas to add some of the food she enjoyed on her travels into the new menu. If anyone is thinking of opening a cat café, this book has so many ideas! I’m delighted to read there is a real Cosy Cat Café in Kent.
Of course there is a spanner in the works. Violet has been against the cat café from day one and Tori believes she is running a campaign to put people off visiting the café.
There is a new love interest and none other than Leo, a fireman *swoon*, but is Tori ready to trust her heart to a new relationship after being so badly hurt by her ex?
Delighted to see this is the second book in the Blossom Heath series and I will be reading book one whilst I await book three.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julie Haworth writes uplifting stories about friendship and community, bursting with romance and charm, from her home in the bustling city of Chelmsford, Essex. Her debut novel, Always By Your Side, won the RNA’s Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award for 2023. Julie is still pinching herself that she’s realised her lifelong dream of becoming a published author!
When she’s not busy writing or running her copywriting business, Julie can mainly be found shopping, drinking ridiculous amounts of coffee and hanging out with her two rescue cats. Julie is also a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors.
Julie loves to chat with her readers and you can find her on Twitter @jhaworthauthor or over on Instagram @juliehaworthauthor
THE RETURN OF FIN MACLEOD, PETER MAY’S MUCH-LOVED HERO OF THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING LEWIS TRILOGY.
A MURDER
The body of eighteen-year-old TV personality Caitlin is found abandoned on a remote beach at the head of An Loch Dubh – the Black Loch – on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. A swimmer and canoeist, it is inconceivable that she could have drowned.
A SECRET
Fin Macleod left the island ten years earlier to escape its memories. When he learns that his married son Fionnlagh had been having a clandestine affair with the dead girl and is suspected of her murder, he and Marsaili return to try and clear his name.
A RECKONING
But nothing is as it seems, and the truth of the murder lies in a past that Fin would rather forget, and a tragedy at the cages of a salmon farm on East Loch Roag, where the tense climax of the story finds its resolution.
The Black Loch takes us on a journey through family ties, hidden relationships and unforgiving landscapes, where suspense, violent revenge and revelation converge in the shadow of the Black Loch.
MY REVIEW
What a fabulous book! I couldn’t read it quickly enough!
This is the third book I have read by this author. What a talent. I’ll be reading the first three in this series without a doubt as I loved Fin, now ex police, and I want to get to know him as he was in his earlier life as a police officer.
Fin returns to his roots on the Isle of Lewis when his son is arrested for murder. Using his skills as an ex policeman, he begins to investigate the death of Caitlin whose body was found on the beach. Clearly this is a small island where everyone knows everyone else’s business and he reacquaints himself with some of his childhood friends. Not all of them are particularly friendly now and resent his presence as father of the murderer.
This is a story of secrets, lies, family bonds, friendships, bullying, and of course murder. Everything in the mix to produce an addictive thriller. There is also the addition of environmental issues which Peter has thoroughly researched and which add more depth to this story. He has cleverly woven these into the plotline. There is the heartbreaking beaching of a pod of whales, based on an actual event, and an unsettling delve into the huge business of salmon farming. Having read a few years ago about how bad the conditions are at salmon farms I eat wild salmon now, and so will you after reading this!
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the characters, and the flashbacks to the relevant events in their youth which have have made them the adults they are today. The relationships. The young boys who think they are invincible. The mothers looking back on their lives and wondering what they would have done differently.
A superb fast paced thriller by a hugely talented man.
Many thanks to Poppy and Sophie at Ransom PR for my spot on the blog tour and my hardback copy of the book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter May is a writer I’d follow to the ends of the earth” New York Times
Peter May is the multi award-winning author of:
– the Lewis Trilogy set in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland;
– the China Thrillers, featuring Beijing detective Li Yan and American forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell;
– the Enzo Files, featuring Scottish forensic scientist Enzo MacLeod, which is set in France. The sixth and final Enzo book is Cast Iron (January 2017, Riverrun).
He has also written several standalone books:
– I’ll Keep You Safe (January 2018, Riverrun)
– Entry Island (January 2014, Quercus UK)
– Runaway (January 2015, Quercus UK)
– Coffin Road (January 2016, Riverrun)
May had a successful career as a television writer, creator, and producer.
One of Scotland’s most prolific television dramatists, he garnered more than 1000 credits in 15 years as scriptwriter and script editor on prime-time British television drama. He is the creator of three major television drama series and presided over two of the highest-rated serials in his homeland before quitting television to concentrate on his first love, writing novels.
Born and raised in Scotland he lives in France.
His breakthrough as a best-selling author came with The Lewis Trilogy. After being turned down by all the major UK publishers, the first of the The Lewis Trilogy – The Blackhouse – was published in France as L’Ile des Chasseurs d’Oiseaux where it was hailed as “a masterpiece” by the French national newspaper L’Humanité. His novels have a large following in France. The trilogy has won several French literature awards, including one of the world’s largest adjudicated readers awards, the Prix Cezam.
The Blackhouse was published in English by the award-winning Quercus (a relatively young publishing house which did not exist when the book was first presented to British publishers). It went on to become an international best seller, and was shortlisted for both Barry Award and Macavity Award when it was published in the USA.
The Blackhouse won the US Barry Award for Best Mystery Novel at Bouchercon in Albany NY, in 2013.
Two Heads Are Better Than One 