Julie Shackman – Q&A

The Highland Lodge Getaway by Julie Shackman was published by One More Chapter on 26 October 2023. Julie kindly answered a few of my questions. 1. Tell us a little about The Highland Lodge Getaway. Lottie Grant loves the festive season so much that she works at the incredibly successful Christmas shop, Christmas Crackers, in…

Balancing the Books – November 2023

So that’s November done for another year. We’ve celebrated someone either being failing or trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament, it’s rained, snowed and done everything else in between with the weather and the days are so short if you blink you’ll mis daylight. I also hit a reading slump where I couldn’t…

Victoria Dowd – Q&A

Victoria Dowd is the author of The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, Body on the Island, The Supper Club Murders and A Book of Murder. Her latest novel, Murder Most Cold was published by Joffe Books on 10 November 2023. Victoria kindly answered a few of my questions. 1. Tell us a little about Murder…

Left on the shelf – are book reviews a missed opportunity?

A recent article in The Bookseller by Heloise Wood saw Jess Gulliver lament the reduction in column inches for book reviews and pondered where publishers would go next, saying that they had to become creative in seeking those small review spots. It lead me to wonder what impact that would have on the free review…

The Man Who Didn’t Burn by Ian Moore – review

Published by Duckworth Publication date – 12 October 2023 Source – review copy Juge d’instruction Matthieu Lombard is a broken man. Still grieving the loss of his wife, he has been absent from work for a year, under a cloud for suspected evidence tampering. When the body of an English man is found in a…

Kathleen B Jones – Q&A

Cities of Women by Kathleen B Jones was published by Keylight Books on 19 October 2023. Kathleen kindly answered a few of my questions. 1. Tell us a little about Cities of Women. CITIES OF WOMEN is a dual timeline novel that interweaves the contemporary story of Verity Frazier, a disillusioned professor lacking passion and…

Balancing the Books – October 2023

There are piles of leaves on the streets, piles of sweets in the house and piles of books in every room. October has been and gone and Autumn is settled in nicely, thank you very much. It was a month of ups and downs books wise. Lots of lovely books arrived, lots of books were…

The Premonitions by Banana Yoshimoto, translated by Asa Yoneda – review

Published by Faber Publication date – 12 October 2023 Source – review copy I had a premonition of setting out on a journey and getting lost inside a distant tide … It was the beginning of summer, and I was nineteen years old. Yayoi lives with her perfect, loving family – something ‘like you’d see…

A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett – review

Published by Doubleday Publication date – 10 October 2023 Source – review copy Far away and long ago, when dragons still existed and the only arcade game was ping-pong in black and white, a wizard cautiously entered a smoky tavern in the evil, ancient, foggy city of Morpork… A truly unmissable, beautifully illustrated collection of…

Balancing the Books – September 2023

So Autumn is here. The days are getting shorter, there’s a nip in the air and soon a whole host of tiny scary monsters will be roaming the streets. Which makes it the perfect season to stay inside with a book. In the coming month I hope to tackle the reading room and get it…