‘Whoever did it must have read it.’ When local author and recently retired teacher Liam Allerton is found drowned in Barnes Pond, just like the retired teacher in his debut novel, it’s a curious case of life imitating art – or rather, his death imitating his art – but when DI Garibaldi reads Allerton’s novel, it seems this is only the first of some startling coincidences… What’s it about? The eerie similarity between the deaths of Alex Ballantyne and his author, Liam Allerton, begins with a drowning. Alex dies the night of his retirement drinks at The Sun pub; Liam dies the night of his book t ..read more

King Lear is meant to die – but the actor performing the title role isn’t. When Sir Nigel Viliers collapses and dies on stage during the opening night of King Lear, everyone around him appears to be startled: Sir Nigel is a leading light of the London stage – so it’s even more startling when it seems his death may be due to unnatural causes. When Doctor Alexander Gregory is asked to advise the police regarding the mind of the deceased actor and any potential killer, he soon realises that all the evidence is pointing to an event from Sir Nigel’s past. Perhaps he wasn’t universally loved after a ..read more

Today I’m excited to be part of the cover reveal for L. C. North’s new thriller ‘Clickbait’  Isn’t it pretty? But of course, we shouldn’t judge a book purely by its cover, so here’s the blurb to tempt you further: ​——————————— ‘We’re not famous anymore. We’re notorious.’ For over a decade, the Lancasters were celebrity royalty, with millions tuning in every week to watch their reality show, Living with the Lancasters. But then an old video emerges of one of their legendary parties. Suddenly, they’re in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons: witnesses swore they’d seen missing ..read more

How do you stop a murder when it’s already happened? I was hooked by the tagline and reassured from reading previous McAllister books that such a brilliant premise wouldn’t fizzle out or otherwise disappoint. This, I was certain, would be a brilliant read – and it was. What’s it about? Jen is waiting up for her teenage son one dark October night when she witnesses him stab a complete stranger. This isn’t the Todd she knows, but before Jen can get any information out of her son, the police arrive, Todd confesses and he is taken away to be charged. Full of questions, Jen and her husband fol ..read more

A murdered woman. A missing husband. An impossible crime scene. The strapline sounded a bit like a locked room mystery, but this is a police procedural with a purpose. When a wealthy woman is found dead in her locked London mansion by her cleaner, the key questions that arise are: what is the meaning of the 4 objects deliberately posed surrounding her body? Who hated her enough to commit this level of violence? And where is her husband? Although these questions are addressed, there’s a stronger focus on a series of historic crimes, which resulted in damage to our new heroine, Laughton Rees: th ..read more

Imagine that a novel virus caused chaos and led to significant restrictions on public movement and… Oh. Hello Covid-19! No need to imagine the government crackdown or the population’s reactions. But actually, that just makes ‘Songs by Dead Girls’, first published in 2018, EVEN BETTER because it’s so perfectly pitched. Now I don’t mean that Kelly perfectly predicted the government response to Covid, but her unerring insight into the realities of public health enforcement mean that the world building in this series is completely convincing. For me, one of the most striking instances of this insi ..read more

Loved the premise; loved the outcome; loved the atmosphere. ‘The Silence of the Sea’ is apparently Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s sixth novel featuring lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir, but it worked perfectly well as a standalone. I like a story where the main focus is on the current investigation, rather than on the protagonist’s current life issues, and this story definitely does that. (There is a minor story thread involving Thora’s son, but it doesn’t impinge on the main plot.) What’s it about? When a luxury yacht crashes into a port in Reykjavik, those waiting ashore are stunned to discover it is comp ..read more

Local drug dealer found dead – very dead. Death is surely an occupational hazard for drug dealers, especially those who are actively engaged in turf warfare, but when Tadeusz Filipowski’s body is examined, it becomes clear that more than one person really wanted him dead. It’s up to Heart of England police detective sergeant Sunita Roy to establish who actually killed the recently released gangland boss – and who just wanted to! Meanwhile her boss, detective chief inspector Gavin Roscoe, is investigating suspicions of corruption in a neighbouring police force. Can he nail down the offendi ..read more

No one even knew they were together. Now one of them is dead. I loved this premise. Even better? I thoroughly enjoyed the execution too and devoured this book over the course of just a few days. What’s it about? When Covid-19 reaches Ireland and lockdown looms, a tentative couple who’ve only been on two dates decide to move in together to ride out the storm. Ciara sees an opportunity to build a relationship without anyone interfering. Oliver sees a chance to hide who he really is. 56 days later, police arrive at Oliver’s apartment to find a decomposing body inside. Has lockdown created the opp ..read more

‘I think I might have killed her…’ These are not the words Frank Philips expect to hear when he attends his local AA meeting, but they are the words that will haunt him when he learns that a woman was murdered that night – and that the killer may now be targeting other members of that meeting… The Blurb When investigative reporter Jan Mason discovers that a young woman found strangled to death in her Chelsea flat is the daughter of a prominent politician, she knows she has a big story on her hands. What she doesn’t know yet is that a mystery man has just told a stunned Alcoholics Anonymous mee ..read more