📖 Book Review ~ The Killing Stones by Ann Cleeves

Pan Macmillan
7 October 2025

My thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to review this book 

For the first time since the beloved Shetland series, Detective Jimmy Perez is back. He's traded the stark beauty of Shetland for the wild isolation of Orkney, but the darkness of human nature follows him everywhere.

When a ferocious storm rages across the islands, it leaves behind more than just damage: it uncovers the body of Archie Stout, a popular, larger-than-life member of the community.

The murder weapon? A Neolithic stone, bearing cryptic, ancient inscriptions.

Now living in Orkney with his partner, Willow, and their young son, Perez is drawn into a case that is chillingly personal – Archie was a friend from his own childhood. And the island is full of familiar faces, all of whom are potential suspects in the killing.

Perez must immerse himself in the lives of the islanders, separating truth from local legend before a desperate killer can strike again . . . and threaten the new life he's desperately trying to build.

📖My Review..

Having been a huge fan of the TV Shetland series when Detective Jimmy Perez was in charge I was excited to have the chance to read something new about him, catching up with him on Orkney, where he now makes his home, with his partner (and boss) Willow Reeves and their growing family.

The story hits the ground running with the discovery of body, which is made even more confusing as Archie Stout is a popular islander, with no known enemies. Brought into the case Perez finds that his loyalty is tested as Archie was a close childhood friend and the emotional stakes run high. However, in order to uncover the truth about the murder Perez must ask some difficult questions of the islanders which is difficult for all those who knew and liked Archie.

I enjoyed the story, it was good to be back in Perez’s company and the dynamics work well between him and Willow. There are enough twists and turns to keep the momentum going and I enjoyed trying to work out who did what, and when. There is a real a sense of atmosphere and the whole Orkney experience is done well, bringing place and people alive. I could sense the notion of a storm brewing and the complexity of the investigation all adds effect to what is another good crime /thriller from this established author.

About the Author

Ann Cleeves is the author of forty critically acclaimed novels, and in 2017 was awarded the highest accolade in crime writing, the CWA Diamond Dagger. She is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn, who can be found on television in ITV’s Vera, BBC One’s Shetland and ITV’s The Long Call respectively. The TV series and the books they are based on have become international sensations, capturing the minds of millions worldwide.

📖 Book Review ~ The Boleyn Secret by Alison Weir

Headline Review
May 21 2016

My thanks to the publisher for the invitation to review this book

A Boleyn woman is no stranger to secrets...

At twelve years old, Kate Carey attends her aunt, Queen Anne Boleyn, to the scaffold. Horrified by what she witnesses, Kate is convinced that King Henry VIII has sent an innocent woman to a terrible death.

As the Boleyns fall from favour, Kate serves her now motherless cousin, the young Lady Elizabeth. Bound by Boleyn blood, the two girls are like sisters, until Kate marries for love - and leaves a jealous Elizabeth behind.

At court, Kate cannot ignore the sly looks thrown her way, nor the whispers behind her back. Only when her mother, Mary, lies dying, does she learn the life-shattering truth that the Boleyns have been hiding for years.

It is a secret that will haunt Kate throughout her life, as her family flee into exile, only returning home when Elizabeth becomes queen. But the bond between the Boleyn cousins will never be the same again..

📖 My Review..

I have been privileged to read several new Tudor inspired novels this month and I am pleased to say that whilst the Tudor period in English history has been covered extensively in fiction, there is always something new to enjoy. 

This latest novel by Alison Weir gives us the story of Katherine Carey who, after Anne Boleyn’s tragic death, was placed into the household of the Princess Elizabeth. Katherine Carey grows up in the shadow of the Tudor crown, her mother, Mary Boleyn, lives her later life in relative obscurity however, Katherine starts to move in court circles when she is placed as Lady-in-Waiting to Henry’s new wife, Anne of Cleves. It is Katherine’s proximity to the Tudor monarchs and her role within it, both as a young woman and later as a wife and mother, which forms the premise of the story over a long timeframe.

As always, with this historian’s fiction work there is fine attention to historical detail, the place and people are well described alongside what it might have been like living through such a turbulent time in history. My only criticism is that the book felt over long, granted there is a lot of information packed within the story, especially about Katherine’s eventful personal life as the mother of sixteen children and wife to Sir Francis Knollys who was a respected Tudor courtier. The Boleyn secret at the heart of the novel is one which has long been speculated over and whilst I knew what the secret would reveal it didn’t stop me enjoying the novel as an interesting look at yet another side of the Tudor court particularly as we go through the years of Tudor rule and Katherine’s relationship with Queen Elizabeth I.

About the Author

Alison Weir is a bestselling historical novelist of Tudor fiction, and the leading female historian in the United Kingdom. She has published more than thirty books, including many leading works of non-fiction, and has sold over three million copies worldwide. Her novels include the Tudor Rose trilogy, which spans three generations of history’s most iconic family – the Tudors, and the highly acclaimed Six Tudor Queens series about the wives of Henry VIII, all of which were Sunday Times bestsellers. Alison is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an honorary life patron of Historic Royal Palaces.

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📖 Favourite Read of the Month ~ The Secret Thread by Eve Chase

Penguin Michael Joseph 
28 May 2026

My thanks to the publishers for the invitation to read this book

Even the darkest secrets unravel in time . . .

Mimi Mott, celebrated designer and famously private style icon, is auctioning off her legendary estate, intent on telling the true story of her life in objects. 

In London, her new assistant, Jo O’Mara, is determined to win Mimi’s trust. But Jo carries a secret of her own, and time is running out to unpick the past before the auctioneer’s hammer falls. 

Who is Mimi, really? A woman who rose from humble beginnings to build an interiors empire – but at what cost? What happened in that remote Wiltshire manor house where Mimi and her family worked during the summer of 1969? Who died the night of the glittering party that stole the headlines?

As the auction countdown begins, Jo is drawn into an intoxicating world of obsession, sisters and secrets – and must risk everything to unravel the truth, one thread at a time.

📖 My Review

 

Jo O’Mara is given the task of cataloguing a series of very personal items which the celebrated designer, Mimi Mott feels encapsulates her eventful life. As Jo becomes immersed in Mimi’s story, she begins to learn more about her childhood, growing up at Rushwood, a remote Wiltshire estate, where Mimi’s parents worked as gardeners. The story works really well and as we move back towards Mimi’s time spent at  Rushwood we start to learn about hidden family secrets, of Mimi’s difficult relationship with her parents and siblings, and of her dangerous connection to the wealthy family who call Rushwood home.

The story flows beautifully, with a cast of characters who quickly make their mark on the story. I was equally at home in the past with Mimi as she grows from feisty teenager into the style icon who becomes Mimi Mott. Jo’s own personal story is just as compelling and the hidden secret which she is keeping from Mimi is explored well and adds a different dimension to this cleverly plotted family drama. Reminiscent of time and place, the latter years of the 1960s come vibrantly to life and sit very comfortably alongside Mimi’s story in the subsequent years of her life. 

Fast becoming one of my favourite authors this latest novel from this talented writer captured my interest right from the start, the pages practically turning themselves as I raced through the story eager to learn more. The Secret Thread is a beautifully written family drama which moves effortlessly between past and present and which captures the essence of sibling rivalry and some deeply buried secrets. This is such a lovely read I am delighted to make to make The Secret Thread my Favourite Read of the Month for May.

About the Author

Eve Chase writes bestselling, page-turning mysteries. Her novels include The Midnight Hour, a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and Amazon no.1; The Glass House, a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and Sunday Times bestseller; The Birdcage, The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde and Black Rabbit Hall. A winner of the Saint-Maur en Poche prize in Paris for Best Foreign Fiction and longlisted for the HWA Gold Crown Award, her work has been translated into twenty languages. She lives in Oxford.

📖 Book Review ~ The Serial Killer Gene by Alice Hunter

Avon Books UK
7 May 2026

My thanks to the publisher for the copy of this book 

I should never have taken that DNA test. Then maybe things wouldn't have gone so wrong…

Lily thought she was an ordinary woman with an ordinary life. But when a DNA test seems to reveal she carries the 'serial killer gene', she is terrified by the thought of passing it onto her future children. She decides to break off her engagement and move back in with her devoted mother, Eva — until unexpected sparks fly with a charismatic journalist, and Lily finds herself diving into a wild, intoxicating new relationship.

Their obsession soon turns toxic, and as they spiral out of control Lily’s traumatic past resurfaces, leaving her questioning everything she thought she knew. Could she be the monster she fears she is?

Confronted with a sudden, horrifying murder, Lily's only choice is to turn to the one person who has always protected her: her mother. But Eva is hiding secrets that could destroy them both…

📖 My Review ..

After a devastating breakup with her boyfriend and hampered by the knowledge that a recent DNA analysis has thrown up the possibility of her carrying a serial killer gene, Lily return to her mother’s house, a place which has always been her refuge when life became complicated. When Lily meets the charismatic Margo she immediately embarks on a passionate and eventful relationship which questions everything that Lily thought she knew about herself, her mother and the secrets at the heart of her family.

Quick paced, filled with several twists and turns and with some genuinely dark moments I didn’t see coming, The Serial Killer Gene is another clever psychological thriller from an author who knows how to crank up the tension in a story which doesn’t take a break in its momentum until the whole fascinating story has been revealed.

About the Author

After completing a psychology degree, Alice Hunter became an interventions facilitator in a prison. There, she was part of a team offering rehabilitation programmes to men serving sentences for a wide range of offences, often working with prisoners who’d committed serious violent crimes. Previously, Alice had been a nurse, working in the NHS. She now puts her experiences to good use in fiction.

Twitter @Alice_Hunter_1 #TheSerialKillerGene

📖 Book Review ~ The Fourth Queen by Nicola Cornick

Boldwood
9 May 2026

Thanks to the publisher for the copy of this book

Now: When Jenna arrives at Winterhill House, she’s instantly transported back… to the priory that stood there before, the life she lived before, and the secret she kept in her past life for the fourth queen of a despotic king.

1539: King Henry VIII is intent on destroying the Catholic church, and with the dissolution of the monasteries, beautiful young prioress Marris is about to lose everything. She knows she has to do whatever it takes to keep her sisters safe, even agreeing to marry the wealthy man who has been gifted the priory land.

But when she marries him, she also finds herself catapulted into the court of the king. And her mastery of the German language makes her an ideal companion for his new queen, Anna of Cleves. It’s destined to be a short marriage… But after the divorce, when Anna finds herself in trouble, it will be Marris she turns to.Will Marris risk her life to help the fourth queen? Because defying the king is the highest treason, and keeping this secret will put everything Marris has fought to keep safe in the gravest danger..

📖 My Review..

I always think of Anna of Cleves as being the most forgotten of Henry VIII’s Queens as she was the first one who escaped with her life intact and thanks to some clever negotiations came away from the beleaguered marriage with her dignity and her coffers largely intact. In this fascinating dual time story the author gives us an altogether different view of Anna of Cleve’s time at the Tudor court and does so by cleverly intertwining both past and present in a totally believable story about Jenna in the present who remembers in vivid detail her time as Anna’s confidente in the Tudor court.

The author has given us a very believable account of being able to recount a past life, and wouldn’t it be fascinating if it were true? I was totally convinced by Jenna’s recollection as her time as Marris North and yet was also totally invested in the modern day story and Jenna’s dilemma of having to rescue something from the past, with all sorts of added complications.

With fine attention to every single detail, the story is richly atmospheric, combining snippets of history with a real sense of time and place. I raced through the book in just a couple of afternoons, eager to learn more and keen to travel back in time with two very believable heroines who together help to make the story such a joy to read.

About the Author

Nicola Cornick is the international bestselling and award-winning historian and author of over 40 novels featuring women from the footnotes of history, and has been translated into 25 languages.

Facebook: @Nicola.Cornick

Twitter: @NicolaCornick

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📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems about Bluebells from Candlestick Pres

Candlestick Press
May 2026

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet 

One of the most beloved of British wildflowers, bluebells are a brief glory in our ancient woodlands. They appear in April or May and dazzle us for a short while with their scent and colour, making us think of other blue places such as the sea and the sky. No wonder they are also beloved of poets.

The ten poems gathered here offer heady encounters with bluebells in woods, on hillsides and under hedges. They reflect the fact that even if we go looking for them, bluebells always manage to astonish us:

“there! – a flood of sky in the under-wood,

thousands of cloudless blues on strings.

Wait for a wind to play them. Wait for them to ring –”

from ‘Bluebells’ by Cheryl Pearson

This is an anthology to read when the bluebells are in full bloom – and to return to later in the year when we long to be reminded of the intoxicating beauty of those glorious days of spring.

Selected and introduced by Katharine Towers

Poems by John Clare, Stanley Cook, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Helen Dumore, Sylvia Kantaris, Patrick Kavanagh, Cheryl Pearson, Anne Stevenson, Charles Tomlinson and Katharine Towers.

Cover illustration by Jane Burn.

📖My Review

From its exceptionally pretty cover, to the beauty of the ten poems about bluebells, this anthology is the perfect antidote to the gloom of winter as nothing suggests spring more beautifully than a carpet of delicate bluebells. I’m fortunate to have an ancient woodland nearby where bluebells have been undisturbed for many years, they carpet the woodland floor with a delightful delicacy, hushed and unhurried, stunning in their simplicity.

“No one can count the bluebells

That gather together

Until they fill 

The woods with waves of colour..”

from Bluebells by Stanley Cook

As a child, I remember gathering armfuls of bluebells and taking them home for my mother to put into vases, the air delicately scented with the crisp, sharp smell of flower filled afternoons in the spring sunshine.

“In every wood hedgegap they’re shining through

Smelling of spring and beautifully blue 

- Childhood & Spring now beautifully dwells

Their memories in the woods we now walk through..”

From Bluebells how beautifull and bright they look by John Clare

This is a delightful anthology of ten really lovely poems which celebrate the special beauty of our native bluebells. Welcoming the spring months of April and May, bluebells shimmer and dance in early morning light or weave and glow in the crisp spring sunshine. This beautiful collection is the perfect gift instead of a card for anyone who loves the start of early spring, maybe celebrating a birthday or an anniversary or quite simply as a gift to one’s self as a reminder that beauty exists in the natural world, it’s there, to be found, in quiet places. A special shout out to the talented illustrator who has captured the beauty of the bluebell with a delightful cover and colourful end papers.

©️Jaffareadstoo 

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle 

Blue Sky @candlestickpress.bsky.social

📖 Publication Day Book Review ~ The Jewel Keepers by Sara Sheridan

Hodder&Stoughton
14 May 2026

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

Men would kill for this treasure.

The McKenzie women will guard it with their lives.

London, 1837. When 25-year-old Araminta McKenzie-Moore is summoned from Richmond to her great aunt's deathbed in Edinburgh, it's the first time she's met her extended family. The McKenzie women, however, have been keeping a close eye on her. For they have a long, secret and dangerous history as Jewel Keepers to the Scottish Crown and they need Araminta to play her part to solve a puzzle which stretches back generations.

But the McKenzies are not alone in this high-stakes treasure hunt though history. They're being pursued. The last of her line, if Araminta succeeds, she will uncover something more valuable than mere jewels - a secret that will change the lives of all women living on this, the cusp of the Queen Victoria's rule.

📖 My Review ..

The McKenzie women have been the secret jewel keepers for the Scottish Crown for generations but Araminta only discovers this when she is contacted by a great-aunt she didn’t know existed. Araminta’s arrival at the home of her great-aunt in Edinburgh is tinged with sadness and with more questions than there are answers Araminta is soon plunged into a dangerous world of intrigue and long buried secrets. Racing against time she tries to solve a puzzle which has been set by her female ancestors in order to keep the jewels safe.

The Jewel Keepers is a tightly knit cat and mouse style treasure hunt which sees Araminta pursued by some dastardly villains as she attempts to make sense of the clues which have been left for her. Georgian  Edinburgh, both the place, and its people, come alive and there is an authentic historical feel to the story. Overall, this is a fascinating story about strong women who have been trusted with a powerful secret and who must do everything they can to keep that secret from falling into the wrong hands.

About the Author

Sara Sheridan has written over 20 books including novels, non-fiction, tv tie-ins and ghost writing. Her novel The Fair Botanists was the Waterstones Book of the Year 2022. Sara has also written two plays for BBC Radio 4 and has reported from both Tallin and Shariah for Radio 4’s Our Own Correspondent.

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