Book Reviews – Page 2

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.

July book reviews

I’ve read a bumper crop of novels this past month, thanks to NetGalley and the publishers who’ve given me advance copies in exchange for honest reviews.

There have been some really brilliant ones, which I’ve very much enjoyed. Also a couple of stinkers (in my opinion) but I’ve decided that anything I’ve awarded fewer than three stars won’t appear here. All my book reviews – for the stellar and the stinkers – are on Goodreads.

One of Us by Elizabeth Day *****

Publication expected September 2025

Razor sharp, well written, intriguing and right on trend – that’s One of Us by Elizabeth Day.

Martin, a former art critic and now working as a university professor at Cambridge – but not that university – has a secret about his old school friend, Ben, who is now an eminent Tory politician on a star-studded trajectory to becoming prime minister.

Everyone around Martin has secrets. In a ruthless world of political scandal, privilege, passion, insecurity, betrayal and lies, his desire for revenge has repercussions far greater than he could ever have imagined

Told from the viewpoints of all the major players, this was a cracking read, a kind of House of Cards for 2025 but told on a much more personal level, with humour, insight and keen observations, and characters with more than a passing resemblance to some famous politicans.

Highly recommended.

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox *****

Published July 2025

From the outset of this novel, the reader has an ominous feeling about the house on the hill where the ‘party of liars’ is about to convene.

Set high above the Texas countryside, the gothic-style property is haunted by ‘The Mother’, according to local legend and stories. After years of dereliction, the house has been restored into a designer mansion, with one side stripped back and glazed, almost like a dolls’ house.

This is the venue for a 16th birthday party where secrets, lies, murder and mystery come to the surface. Whose is the body hinted at that has fallen from a balcony? And who did the deed?

Party of Liars is that perfect crime novel to binge – short chapters from multiple viewpoints, shifting perspectives and timelines but not (hurrah!) confusing to follow.

Very well written, with pace and panache, the narrative featured tricky subjects but keeps the reader hooked throughout.

Highly recommended.

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan ***

Publication expected September 2025

This was a novel that revealed its storyline quietly and slowly in a family saga that spans two generations in small town America, spanning World War II and the end of the Vietnam War. It’s a novel with vividly drawn characters, all with their own motivations, wants and desires. And it’s the desires that come to haunt them – is it better to keep a secret or, faced with living proof that desire has happened, come clean and face the repercussions? And if you do come clean, is there ever a right time to do it?

It was beautifully written in parts, and reminded me of the novel, Stoner. It had me thinking for several days afterwards about the consequences of reckless acts and repressed feelings, which has to be a good thing in a novel.

I enjoyed the first and third parts but struggled with the middle, hence I’m giving it three stars.

Love, Mom by Iliana Xander ***

First published October 2024.

When Kenzie receives letters from her (dead) mother, who was a bestselling novelist, she unravels a network of lies, secrets and tragedy.

She never got on with her late mother but finds herself sucked in and intrigued by the mystery, which she sets out to resolve with her friend.

Set in small town USA, this was an interesting, undemanding yet gripping novel, full of twists and turns and good and bad characters and an unexpected direction and a climactic ending.

It was a clever story and great plot, which would work well as a film or TV series. However, as a reader I wanted to know more – there were characters and parts of the story I felt were underdeveloped. It felt like a YA novel (maybe it was) and lacked a bit of depth.

For this reason I’m giving it three stars.

The Lucky Winners by K L Slater ***

Publication expected August 2025

Down on their luck and struggling to pay the rent, Dev buys his wife, Merri, a ticket for a prize draw to win a luxury house in the Lake District. Merri is a glass half-empty sort of person because of something terrible that happened years ago. She’s cross with Dev, a glass half-full kind of person, for spending £20 on the ticket. They end up winning first prize and move to this grand show home overlooking Lake Windemere. But Merri can’t shake off the ghosts of her past and locals seem to be lining up against them.

This is a light thriller, with a dual timeline to help make sense of Merri’s seeming paranoia. It’s tautly written, would work well as TV drama but wasn’t as suspenseful or thrilling as I’d hoped, although the ‘winning a luxury house’ aspect was very topical.

May book reviews

I’m a reviewer for NetGalley, which means I get to read books before they are published, in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve had some great ones (and not so great ones) lately. My happy genres are crime thrillers, literary fiction, coming-of-age novels (particularly those set in small communities) and heartwarming fiction.

My reviews are posted to Goodreads.

Here’s three stonkingly good books I read earlier.

By Your Side by Ruth Jones *****

Published 22 May 2025.

Linda Standish has worked for her local council in Inverness for years and is in the little-known lost heirs department. Her job is to find out what she can about the deceased and track down their relatives, tying up loose ends and bringing things together in a tidy fashion.

Linda is now in her mid-fifties and the department is facing a shake-up. In her last ‘case’ before taking redundancy, Linda finds herself on a tiny island, investigating the life of Levi Norman, a hermit of a man no-one knows very much about.

This was my first Ruth Jones novel – I love her screenwriting and also her television roles (especially Nessa in Gavin & Stacey), so was pleased to be sent this book from NetGalley and the publishers.

I was not disappointed.

By Your Side is a lovely, easy read, with lots of humour, heart and warmth, and holds its head higher above its women’s commercial fiction competitors by really getting to the kernel of characters and taking the reader with them, laughing with them, crying with them, and wanting to find out what happens.

The dual narrative between Linda in the present and Levi and his family in the past works very well, with the reader quite comfortable in both time zones. It’s pacy, funny and would make a great Sunday everning television series, with Ruth (obviously) taking the role of Linda.

Highly recommended.

***A Beautiful Family* by Jennifer Trevelyan *******

Expected publication 24 June 2025.

In New Zealand in 1985, 10-year-old Alix and her 15=year-old sister, Vanessa, go on a sun-baked holiday with their mother and father, staying in a bungalow not far from the beach and a brackish lagoon.

When Alix meets a boy, Kahu, about her own age, they set out to solve the mystery of a young girl who disappeared two years earlier. At the same time. Vanessa meets a dubious friend, Crystal, who she knows from school.

Set over a few weeks of Antipodean summer, this debut novel is a coming-of-age story meets suspenseful thriller, the first part more the former and the second part more the latter.

This beautiful family on the surface is one that is full of secrets and domestic dissatisfaction, as the reader soon establishes through Alix’s narration. Jennifer Trevelyan captures beautifully the child’s confusion and sense of bewilderment at not just what is happening but at life in general. There are so many things that Alix does not understand or appreciate their significance.

A Beautiful Family is an extraordinary novel, written in the first person, past tense from Alix’s viewpoint, and with a linear narrative. This makes a refreshing change from so many modern novels featuring multiple narrators, flashbacks and the present tense.

Alix is an unlikely heroine but smart, funny and endearing. I found the novel completely absoring and could not put it down.

The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North *****

Published 13 May 2025.

Daniel Garvie was just a child when he saw a little boy at a service station with a terrifying stranger who turns out to be a serial killer known as The Pied Piper. The encounter has always haunted Dan, who is now a criminal psychiatrist working with imprisoned murderers.

When he receives the news that his father has apparently committed suicide, he goes back to the island where he was brought up. He finds himself caught in a race against time in pursuit of the truth.

The Man Made of Smoke is an incredible, horrible thriller. I had me on the edge of my seat with filmic moments that made me shudder.

Weaving the story through multiple viewpoints, Alex North pulls off a masterpiece in the crime/horror/thriller genre.

Pacy, insightful, frightening, atmospheric, very well written and a great denouement I did not anticipate.

I have no hesitation in giving five stars to The Man Made of Smoke. A terrific read if you like this sort of thing – which I do.

Book reviews #2

Apologies, I haven’t blogged for ages as publicising Bridport Literary Festival and involvement in ongoing projects with Windrose Rural Media Trust have been keeping me busy.

BridLit is over now – a great success, hurrah! – while my work with Windrose, a registered charity, is opening up into new pastures.

I realise I haven’t posted any book reviews since August, which is remiss of me because it’s not as if I haven’t found the time to read.

So here are some novels I’d like to recommend.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

*****

First published 31 March, 2022.

I came late to the Lessons in Chemistry party but I loved everything about this novel.

An inspiring, hopeful narrative with meaning and feminist optimism, laugh out loud moments and the most wonderful characters to root for in 1960s America.
I borrowed the book from a friend and had only a short time in which to read it. But it didn’t matter, I was hooked from start to finish.

A brilliantly clever debut, easy to read and very memorable.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin

*****

Expected publication 11 February, 2025.

What an extraordinary novel! I found it to be beautifully written, very witty and unusual in its second person telling (such a difficult perspective to pull off, but Alice Franklin does it superbly) of the story of a young child growing up in a suburban household in south east England. It seemed very American to me at times, in its use of language and experimentation, which gave gravitas to this coming-of-age story about a little girl who feels different. It was incredibly moving and warm, I was hooked.

As I fell into the story, I wondered where on earth it was going to go, so when I reached the part of ‘Little Alien’s’obsession for and pursuit of the truth behind the Voynich manuscript, a 15th century codex of uknown origin (which I’d never heard of), it took me into an entirely unexpected realm altogether.

Tender, insightful and funny – and hugely original.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this novel. It’s one I won’t forget in a hurry.

The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr

****

Expected publication 6 February, 2025.

When a baby is found by the sea in Donegal, on the north west coast of Ireland, the child is taken in by a young fisherman and his wife. They adopt the boy, call him Brendan and bring him up alongside their small son, Declan. The story follows Brendan and Declan’s stories and that of their parents, set against the brooding backdrop of a landscape almost cut off from the rest of the world. As the children grow up, what emerges is one of those quiet and satisfying tales of family life – with joy and heartbreak, conflicts and misunderstandings – told from the various viewpoints of the characters through an eavesdropping voice of a villager acting as a narrator.

An astonishing debut, haunting and gentle, with well-drawn characters and atmosphere to make the reader feel part of the community in which Brenda and Declan are growing up,

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

That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz by Malachy Tallack

***

Published 24 October 24.

The novel starts off in 1957 with Sonny, a young man from Shetland, working on a whaling ship in the South Atlantic. We move on to the present day to his son, Jack, now in his early 60s, and flit back and forwards to Jack’s life now and his formative years with his father, Sonny, and mother, Kathleen, in the house on Shetland where he was brought up and still lives. Jack is obsessed with country music and the chapters are interspersed with his handwritten songs.

This is a quiet, thoughtful, beautifully written literary novel, where not much happens but with a haunting, evocative depth to it that is hard to explain or define but leaves the reader wistful and contemplative.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel.

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

*****

First published 10 September 10.

Only Elizabeth Strout can write a slow-paced novel about the quiet minutiae of everyday life in a small town where nothing much happens (except everything does,) to such great effect. I had this book on my ‘to be read’ pile for a while, savouring just seeing it there and knowing the pleasure I would get from devouring it a month or so down the line. Her books don’t ever have much of a plot, but the depth of emotions and feelings she is able to convey by just a character’s look or nod of the head is astounding.

In Tell Me Everything, the familiar characters of Lucy Barton and an elderly Olive Kitteridge feature strongly in the cast, which is led by nice Bob Burgess, who comes to realise that he is in love with his dear friend, Lucy. This is a novel about family, relationships, friendships, misunderstandings, brutality and the things that might have been.

For me, nothing Strout writes will ever top the wonderful Olive Kitteridge, whiich is one of my favourite books. But Tell Me Everything comes very close. There is something about her measured, sometimes old fashioned style of writing which I absolutely adore.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book.

Book reviews #1

I read so many novels, I’ve decide it’s time I started sharing some of my reviews.

I’m a reviewer for The Historical Novel Society and NetGalley. I get through books like chocolate biscuits.

I’ll try to post reviews on the last weekend of every month.

The Maiden of Florence by Katherine Mezzacappa

*****

The Maiden of Florence is based on a true story about Giulia, a young woman who, in 16th century Italy, was plucked from an orphanage to prove the virility of a prince marrying into the powerful Medici family. Her task done, a comfortable life is arranged for her. But she can never forget what happened, nor escape the unwanted attentions of the lecherous minister who facilitated the ‘test’ in the first place.

It’s a shocking, harrowing scenario and, to be honest, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about reading such a horror story, imagining bleakness and a tale without hope. The novel sat on my shelf for a while before I had the courage to read it. But when I started it, I just couldn’t put it down.

Katherine Mezzacappa uses every tool in her writer’s armoury to create an astonishing novel, weaving fact with credible fiction to totally immerse the reader in Giulia’s world, a world in which men of money and power call all the shots. The Maiden of Florence is beautifully written and diligently researched, with all the senses in action, making this reader feel uncomfortably prurient when the act is described and as injustice after injustice is heaped upon the protagonist.

Giulia is treated so brutally. Inside, she is raging, yet she manages to retain a quiet dignity to equip her well in the years that follow.

This is a novel with tenderness, hope, justice and love at its heart. The Maiden of Florence is my book of 2024.

The Engraver’s Secret by Lisa Medved

*****

In 17th century Antwerp, an engraver is on his death bed when he reveals to his daughter, Antonia, a terrible secret. Something he did when he worked in the studio of artist Peter Paul Rubens will have dangerous repercussions for his family for generations to come.

Meanwhile, in the present day, Rubens aficionado Charlotte secures a short-term position as a university lecturer in Antwerp. She has a secret of her own, which may be affecting her judgement when she makes a major discovery.

In a dual timeline, handled deftly by the author. Antonia’s and Charlotte’s stories intertwine, building layers of intrigue to reach a thrilling conclusion. Along the way, we get to know the two women, the times in which they live, the prejudices they face and the towns and workplaces they inhabit.

The Engraver’s Secret is that rare thing – solid, well researched and fascinating historical fiction combined with a fast-paced thriller, all wrapped up in terrific writing which flows off the page. The novel is a real page turner, and I couldn’t put it down. A Dan Brown for discerning readers of art history fiction.

Witness 8 by Steve Kavanagh

****

This is a fast-paced crime thriller with ex-con-man turned criminal lawyer Eddie Flynn defending a respected surgeon and family man wrongly accused of murder in a rich neighbourhood of New York. Throw into the mix some capable sidekicks, assassins, corrupt police, preening officials and an unlikely baddie in the shape of a young mother’s help with a sick mother, and you have a real page turner of a novel with a twist at the end which I did not see coming.

I’m familiar with the genre but not the author or his protagonist. I’d definitely read him again.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance reader copy of Witness 8. Thoroughly recommended.

Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey

***

This is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

The story is told from the viewpoints of two characters, Milly and Pip, over the course of forty years. They are both Irish and live in London. When they meet, Milly is a barmaid and Pip is a promising boxer but becomes an alcoholic.

The pair live their largely separate lives against a backdrop of a London which is changing hugely, with buildings and locations crucial to the characters deteriorating over the years.

It is a melancholy, gentle and sometimes brutal novel. If you are expecting a romance with lots of dramatic ‘will they, won’t they’ moments to punctuate the narrative, this is not it.

Pivotal events are sometimes told in a retrospective, detached way, which, as a reader, I found frustrating.

The character of Pip was explored more fully than Milly’s and there were times when I felt that the author held back on what motivated Milly by not delving into her backstory.

I found the novel compelling and capitivating but it felt to me like something was missing, and I did not care for the ending. For that reason, I am giving it three stars.

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

The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier

I’ve enjoyed some of Tracy Chevalier’s novels in the past but really struggled with this novel, which follows the fortunes of a female glassmaker from the Rosso family on Murano.

Her ability to transport you into certain eras and to describe complicated processes are expertly done but, for me, the narrative plodded, with more telling than showing.

The device of showing the same characters through the centuries, hardly ageing, didn’t work for me, as there was no reference to this in their everyday lives, apart from an omnipresent narrator at the beginning of each section. It seemed forced, artificial, and I think it would have been much more interesting, readable and brave if she had followed the dynasty generation by generation or gone the whole hog and done a Matt Haig-type How To Stop Time treatment.