Book Reviews – Maddie Grigg

February book reviews

I’ve not done very well with books this month. This is a shame because the weather outside is frightful and there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book when the rain is lashing against the windows.

There were two novels I abandoned after a couple of chapters and then a three-star which was all right, but not that enjoyable.

However, there is one stand-out book for me and I’m still reading it. It’s A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia, due to be published in April. I didn’t expect it to be my thing at all, but it’s captivating. I’ll reveal more in next month’s reviews.

Being a reviewer for NetGalley is a real privilege. Especially when I go into a book shop and see all these titles I’ve already read, such as The Wardrobe Department *** by Elaine Garvey, Three Days in June **** by Anne Tyler, The Boy From The Sea **** by Garrett Carr and The Book of Doors **** by Gareth Brown.

One of my next reads will be the new novel by Elizabeth Strout, the author of Olive Kitteridge. But I have a few more to get through first, including my first purchase in a long time, Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household, published in 1939 and set around these parts, yet I’ve never read it.

In 1976, it was made into a television film starring Peter O’Toole.

And there has been talk that British actor Benedict Cumberbatch has his eye on the lead role in another film adaptation, although it’s all been a bit quiet of late.

Anyway, here’s my one and only book review for February.

Where The Truth Lies by Katherine Greene ***

Publication date: 24 March 2026

A murder rocks a small community in southern USA and threatents to blow apart the impending marraige of Rhett and Lucinda and their future happiness together. We think we know who did it and what and why it happened, but do we?

There are twists and turns galore in this thriller/whodunnit/domestic drama and I did not see the end coming. The story is told from various viewpoints, including the voice of the murdered woman, a device I always find difficult to take on board because how can she tell a story in the first person, past tense, when she’s dead?

I also didn’t much like any of the characters through which the tale unfolded.

Anyway, that aside, this was a tense and generally fast-paced novel which would be an ideal basis for a Netflix adaptation in the Harlan Coben mould.

January book reviews

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for advance review copies of these novels.

Witch Trial by Harriet Tyce ***

Publication date: 26 February 2026

Two teenage girls are on trial in Scotland for the killing of one of their friends. As the court case unfolds, primarily through the eyes of one of the burnt-out jurors – a heart surgeon – a ritualistic sisterhood is exposed, each one of the accused blaming the other, with witchcraft at the centre of it all.

This is a very difficult book to review without spoilers so I won’t ruin the unexpected twist. Suffice to say that this is a thrilling thriller, with viewpoints shifting like sand and the reader questioning what is real and what is fantasy.

An easy-to-read crime novel and highly recommended.

A Stranger in Corfu by Alex Preston ****

Publication date: 12 February 2026

Wow! What an imaginative use of one of the two small islands just opposite Corfu Town, the capital of the Ionian island. This was an intricate, exciting thriller set in a place I know so well.

Alex Preston envisages Vidos as the home – or sanctuary? – for compromised or spent MI6 agents. It’s not long before something happens and a tangled web of deceit begins to unravel as the body count stacks up.

I won’t say much more than that for fear of spoilers but this is a well-researched (both in terms of spyland and Corfu) novel which is multi-layered.

Very well written, easy to lose yourself within its pages and duplicitous characters.

Recommended.

The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley ****

Expected publication date: 2 April 2026

This is my first taste of Gwendoline Rlley and, despite the lack of a hard plot or storyline to the novel, I loved it.

Two forty-something Londoners, Laura and Putnam, have been friends for years. The contemporary story begins when Putnam loses his writer job at Sequence magazine. This is the springboard for a tale of friendship, with respective pasts and presents and ponderings about the future intertwining, like a commentary on midlife and how they got there.

It’s not a novel that goes anywhere much but the wit, matter-0f-fact descriptions and use of language make this a joy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this novel.

December book reviews

I’ve had some cracking books this month from NetGalley.

Here are three to look out for in early 2026:

How To Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson ****

(Expected publication date 24 February 2026)

Detective Sam Hansen comes back to work after a period of extended leave when she stumbles across a murder scene. A teenager has been killed in a London park and a copy of a book, How To Get Away With Murder, has been left next to the body.

This is a tense and witty crime thriller, with alternating chapters from Sam’s point of view and then chapters of the book written by a person called Denver Brady, who describes himself as a serial killer.

It’s a really clever premise, tautly written, well-plotted and with a self-deprecating lead character, who is easy to like. I was very suprised this is a debut novel. I hope it will be the start of a series.

An easy, page-turning and satisfying read. Recommended.

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke ****

(Expected publication date 9 April 2026)

Natalie is a God-fearing, clever woman who is married into a patriarchal political family in the USA.

She’s an egotistical bitch who devises a plan to become an ‘influencer’ when the money runs dry. She sets up home with her handsome but stupid husband as a ‘trad wife’ on a ranch out in the middle of nowhere, raising her many children and working the farm in a wholesome, simple way remiscent of the pioneer men and women who ‘made America great’.

But it’s all a sham – no-one sees the nannies, the pesticides and the immigrant workers whose labour keeps the facade from falling down.

And then Natalie finds herself in the actual past, where the reality of her life on Yesteryear Farm is far, far different from the picture she has painted her adoring public.

Will she be able to get back into her present? And what’s behind her terrifying time travelling journey?

I romped through this book, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Razor sharp, a very unlikeable heroine and dystopian in the mould of Margaret Atwood.

Big Nobody by Alex Kadis *****

(Expected publication date 5 March 2026)

Constantina Costa is an angry teenager living with her Greek Cypriot father in 1970s UK. She plots to kill him, referring to him as The Fat Murderer because she holds him responsible for the death of her British mother and two younger brothers.

Connie finds solace in her love for Marc Bolan and David Bowie, whose posters she frequently consults in her bedroom about her miserable life, which has been so touched by tragedy and darkness. She develops a loving relationship with Vas, a Greek Cypriot boy who ‘gets’ her and is a ray of sunshine in a world where Greekness threatens to suffocate her.

I absolutely adored this sweary and nostalgic coming-of-age novel (which is totally from my era) and was cheering Connie on from the sidelines.

The scenes in which Connie is enveloped by her Greek heritage and ‘aunties’ were incredibly warm and funny, and I loved the music, food and pop culture references.

This would make such a great television series. The sassy Connie deserves her moment on the small screen.

Highly recommended.

October book reviews

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of these two novels in exchange for an honest review.

I’m currently reading Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall, who is coming to speak at the always excellent Bridport Literary Festival. Set in Dorset in the 1950s and 1960s, the novel is being turned into a film by Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine.

I’m also just about to start The Widow by the master of the courtroom drama thriller, John Grisham. It comes out later this month.

Good People by Patmeena Sabit *****

Expected publication 10 February 2026

The Sharaf family live in Virginia, USA, after fleeing from war-torn Afghanistan to safety in America. The couple have four children and the nub of the plot is what happens when the older daughter embraces a western way of life and rejects the family’s traditional Muslim culture.

The story is told chapter by short chapter through the voices of the people who know the family or are somehow involved in the aftermath of a terrible incident which threatens to tear the family apart. It takes a while to learn what has happened and to whom, by which time we have learned more about the family and their pursuit of the American dream.

The bystander narration works well, like a documentary, but we can never really be sure of the interal workings and motivation of the characters because we are never inside their heads. This ‘reportage’ style is effective, with unreliable narrators vying to give their opinions, making for a powerful narrative, full of speculation and sometimes prejudice.

However, it is also tricky because all we know about the family is what others tell us. At the end, we’re still not sure if the outcome is just or not, because we don’t know the truth. This is slightly frustrating, but is a really thought provoking device because it confirms or goes against the reader’s own thoughts and prejudices.

The novel does not shy away from racism and Islamophobia, and the discussions around that make it an even stronger book.

It was a compelling story, which flowed very easily. I thought the author did a terrific job in capturing the different voices in a totally authentic way.

Recommended.

A Far-flung Life by M L Stedman ***

Expected publication 3 March 2026

This is one of those novels that I romped through (apart from the middle, which sagged a bit for me) and then spent several days pondering the story.

Set in the Australian outback, mostly in the 1950s and 60s, this is a family saga which starts with a terrible tragedy and then more trauma is piled on top.

Sounds depressing, but it wasn’t. The author writes well and it’s an easy read, with short chapters from different perspectives – family and the few characters around them.

It’s about family secrets, coming to terms with awfulness and how you deal with it. Everyone is coping with their own personal tragedy and the interaction between the characters is like when snooker balls are hit by a cue.

Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans (a much better title than A Far-flung Life) was made into a successful film. I’m not sure that this would work so well, as some of the subjects tackled are difficult to handle on the big screen although, in the novel, they work because the reader empathises with the characters, largely because of the writer’s skill.

I enjoyed this book and will recommend it. I didn’t love it and, to be consistent with my ratings, I’m giving it three stars.

August book reviews

Two Kinds of Stranger by Steve Cavanagh ****

(Expected publication March 2026)

Another solid novel by Steve Cavanagh in the Eddie Flynn series.

Even if you’ve not delved into Eddie’s world before, you’re in for a treat with this thriller.

Lawyer Eddie Flynn is hired to defend Ellie, a social media celebrity whose perfect world is turned upside down when she is accused of the murder of her husband and her best friend. The two victims were having an affair, which Ellie had revealed inadvertently in real time when she was doing a live stream at her perfect aparment in New York.

Eddie is pitted against the cunning of charismatic sociopath, Logan, a chilling killer, while, at the same, time protecting his own daughter, ex-wife and her husband when they are pulled into Logan’s complicated web.

This is a bingeworthy novel, which could easily be read in one sitting.

As soon as it hooks you in (which is very quickly), Two Kinds of Stranger will have you turning the pages to reach the climactic conclusion.

Recommended for lovers of taut, high-speed thrillers and seat-of-the-pants courtroom dramas.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for an advance review copy of this novel.

The Predicament by William Boyd ***

(Expected publication September 2025)

I have loved William Boyd’s previous novels but this was my first foray into Gabriel Dax territory.

Boyd turns the spy novel on its head – a bit of a pastiche, written with verve and wit and a surprising lead character who seems to bumble through things and situations – including romance – and comes up smelling of roses.

It’s the early 1960s and travel writer Dax is called upon by MI6 to carry out several top secret assignments, the last of which involves President John F Kennedy. It’s comic but Boyd’s gift for writing makes this a very readable novel and not at all clunky. I did feel a bit overwhelmed by plot and some of the villains and for that reason I’m giving it three stars.

The Killing Stones (Shetland #9) by Ann Cleeves

(Expected publication October 2025)

Jimmy Perez, the detective protaganist of the ‘Shetland’ series of novels, returns for another quiet thriller. But this time, he’s in Orkney, where he is happily settled down with Willow and their young son, James.

When his best friend from childhood, is brutally murdered on an ancient archaeological site, Jimmy and Willow are drawn into a tangled web of murder and mystery in a small, island community, where everyone knows everyone else’s business, newcomers never quite fit in and where legend and folklore run deep.

Archie’s death is followed by two more gruesome killings, both at other significant sites on the islands. Can Jimmy and Willow solve the crimes and keep the community safe?

This is a solid, reliable and thoughtful thriller where, of course, everything is not quite so straightforward as it seems initially. A list of suspects reveals itself to Jimmy and Willow, together with some plausible motives. I had my suspicions about the killer’s true identity quite early on but not the reasons for their actions.

This was my first Ann Cleeves’ novel, having only seen the Shetland television series previously. Perez was nothing at all like Douglas Henshall who plays him on screen, but I still had the image of the actor in my head when I visualised the detective.

For me, there was too much telling as opposed to showing and that annoying thing when you as the reader know that the protagonist has been told something important because the author tells you that but the ‘what’ is not revealed to you until the end.

A map of the Orkney islands at the beginning of the novel would be useful, especially in a print version.

NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for advance review copies of these novels.

NetGalley is an online platform for booksellers, librarians, educators, and media professionals to discover and recommend books. Publishers and authors offer free digital books and audiobooks to the NetGalley community of book advocates and industry professionals.

I have been a NetGalley member since 2021.