Book reviews

The third book in this series begins with a carbon monoxide leak, several dead, and a point of view character who's just waking up from a related coma.As Cassie O'Donnell awakens, she discovers she can't remember key details from around that time, or even some of the...

A humorous murder mystery set in 1973 - and the second in a series, though my first experience (and while there were references to the first, I understood everything well enough without having read it).I enjoyed this as it felt fresh compared to your average cosy...

The One Day You Were My Husband is a slow-burn psychological thriller/suspense. It opens with Rosie's husband Johan being torn away from her just hours after they marry, then quickly reverts to present day, where Rosie has moved on with her life. She is now a mum to...

Radiant Star rewards those who persevere. It's a standalone, technically, set in world of the Imperial Radch, but if this is your first Leckie, you might struggle. It centres around a religious location called Temporal Location of the Radiant Star, just as the Radch...

I've read Brookmyre before, albeit many years ago, so I was looking forward to Quite Ugly One Evening.The book features Jack Parlabane (of Quite Ugly One Morning), an aging journo who's crossed one too many lines, and ends up 'persuaded' into attending a cruise so...

An enjoyable, fast-paced detective story/thriller that sets the scene for a strong series to come.It begins when casino worker Esther thinks she's spotted a man with a gun, and becomes convinced he's about to murder someone. She calls the police with her concerns, and...

Children of Strife is the fourth book in a complex series - and I wouldn't recommend jumping in here. Tchaikovsky is an excellent writer, but this particular series builds up in layers. If you don't understand where the story's come from, you won't understand where...

I really enjoy the Forgotten series from Wes Markin, and book 6 was no exception, though I did find this one sadder than most. As always, it begins with a cold case, this time a body discovered in a disused railway tunnel. As Frank and Gerry investigate, they also...

Six Strikes is a dark and twisty tale.I'm not always a dark and twisty sort of reader, but I was for this book. Main character Maddie has had a horrendous youth, and she carries the trauma with her forward, going after wretched abusive men she calls 'fleas'....

A charming, cosy crime novel with an intriguing mystery.Bookshop owner Beth Cunningham has been embroiled in crimes before (please note here this is book 2 in the series, but I hadn't read book 1 and could still follow everything), but it's still a shock when her...

A clever title that might give the wrong impression.It's not chick-lit, and it's not a thriller about serial killer middle-aged women, either.Instead, Middle Rage is a slowburn contemplation of life as a woman in four different forms. There's Clover, the retreat...

A fun new outing from the author of the incredible Dungeon Crawler Carl series.Operation Bounce House follows the fate of some young farmers on the recently(ish) colonised planet New Sonora. Oliver Lewis and his sister are the last surviving members of their family,...

As you'd expect from the title and cover (it's always nice when these things align), this is a darkly humorous story of a sociopath and a body or two that get in her way. Lalla Rook is an ambitious sociopath, with a husband she needs to make partner, a rebellious...

A cult that isn't a cult springs up. Groups of people standing still, trying to become trees.Bren and his partner Caelyn encounter a group early on, an eerie group of strangers who believe they can become part of nature when they're ready. Bren and Caelyn walk away,...

A hard book for me to rate because it creeps up on you.It begins with two boys leaving a house party in 1999. Another boy's body discovered. Police who don't know where to look in a small town. Then there's a twenty year gap, another body, and finally progress can be...