Happy New Year. I hope you had a relaxing and healthy festive season. One of my resolutions is to tackle some of the unread books on my shelves of which there are many. They include proofs I’m yet to read but I did have a push before Christmas to get a flavour of what’s coming in 2022. Here are my recommendations of books you’ll really want to read this year. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash Cash is an excellent writer and this is an interesting tale on the impact of a crashed plane on an island community in North Carolina. Beautifully written, the c ..read more

Book festivals are the literary heroes of 2021 who have brought authors to readers in trying circumstances. Organisers have had to deal with ensuring the safety of attendees, uncertain audience numbers, short notice changes to line-ups, and the mechanics of new technology. However, the good news is that festivals have taken place to the delight of everyone. To celebrate this achievement, I’ve asked eleven festival organisers and event chairs to tell me their top five books of the year. People programming book festivals often read as much as reviewers but we rarely hear about the books they lo ..read more

Of course, it doesn’t need to be Halloween for you to read a gothic novel. Gothic is equally suited to relentless, cloud-free hot days as it is to long, gloomy nights . We read gothic not just for the atmosphere but to occupy the space between this world and the next and to feel the sense of fear at the unexplained or the unnatural. Here are three excellent books I’ve read recently that contain classic gothic tropes in a contemporary setting. Fragile by Sarah Hilary Former foster child, Nell Ballard, takes up a job in Starling Villas desperate to hide her background. However, her scheming to ..read more

It’s been a while since I posted. I had a busy summer beginning a new book and I’ve also just started a new role as Royal Literary Fund fellow at Sheffield University. What I have neglected to do though is write a post to say that I have a new Rhiannon Ward book out. The Shadowing is set between Bristol and Southwell workhouse in Nottinghamshire. My protagonist Hester, a Quaker, sets out on a journey to discover what happened to her sister who eloped a few years earlier. In Southwell, she discovers a plot of missing children and terrified mothers. I loved writing the book during lockdown and ..read more

I’ve always loved the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. My mother had a book of verse which included Robert Browning’s poem on the story and the bit I loved best was the casual reference to a strange tribe who may or may not have been descended from the lost residents. For this is the question that most intrigues us. What happened to the children? Maxim Jakubowski’s latest book, The Piper’s Dance, begins with an intriguing premise. That the piper took the children to an island where they’ve resided for centuries, some getting older while others stay young. This section of the novel has a wo ..read more

It’s always good to read a new novel set in the Peak District especially one written by one of my favourite crime writers. There’s so much wonderful landscape to choose from in the Derbyshire Peaks but Satincliffe never lets it get in the way of a good plot. Scarlett is abducted after school by her estranged father, the violent Gregory Martin, and her kidnapping brings back terrifying memories for the young girl. They meet 17 year-old Dylan, county lines drug dealer whose life is spiralling out of control following death of addict Petey. Ron is a retired detective looking after a property whi ..read more

I see I haven’t posted since February! I’ve had a busy few months and things will be getting even busier over the summer and the autumn. I’ve a good few crime reads stacked up to review which I’m going to get cracking on next week. In the meantime, here’s some book news from me. My next novel, The Shadowing, is published on the 16th September. It’s another Rhiannon Ward book set this time in the 1830s. When Hester, a Quaker living in Bristol, learns of her sister Mercy’s death at a Nottinghamshire workhouse, she travels to Southwell to find out how her sister ended up at such a place. Haunted ..read more

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed my reading but I’ve been busy working on various projects, more news of which soon. However, I’ve been powering through books on my kindle which has been a godsend during this lockdown. Sound of the Sinners is the latest book by Hull author Nick Quantrill. Private eye Joe Geraghty is back in Hull to attend the funeral of his old friend and colleague, Don Ridley. The city has changed during his stint in Amsterdam and Geraghty becomes convinced that his friend’s death was no accident. A cold case, it appears, is coming back to life and it’s Geraght ..read more

As we gladly say goodbye to 2020, the good news is that we should be able to meet up in more normal circumstances at some point in 2021. My reading this year has been a little different as I’ve relied on well-loved authors such as PD James and Josephine Tey and also read widely outside the crime genre. However, I’ve also enjoyed some outstanding crime novels which were published in 2020 and have discovered four exceptional reads for 2021. First up my top five crime reads of 2020 (in alphabetical order).   1. The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves: Vera, snow and family secrets. What mor ..read more

In the middle of the second lockdown in England, I’m reading more than ever. It’s such a shame that bookshops have had to close their doors but good news we can still order online. I’ve read some great new crime books recently and my reading pile is tottering with novels for the coming weeks. As soon as No Exit Press sent an email saying they had review copies of Angel‘s Inferno by William Hjortsberg, I couldn’t wait to read the book. It’s the follow up to Falling Angel which was made into the successful film, Angel Heart. I reread the original book for a workshop I was giving on novels which ..read more