📖 Book of my Month ~ The Cut Throat Trial by S J Fleet ; The Secret Barrister

Pan MacMillan
Picador
28 August 2025

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book to review

 

It is one of the biggest trials of the year. Three seventeen-year-old boys are accused of the brutal murder of an elderly teacher on New Year's Eve.

Each boy denies it.

Each points the finger at the other two.

But they can’t all be innocent.

The three defence barristers have only one job: to persuade the jury that their client is not guilty. But they’re up against a prosecutor who needs to win the case, no matter the cost.

Because when the game is murder, the competition is deadly.

📖 My Review

I enjoy a good courtroom drama and this book really gives a sense of watching a complicated trial evolving in real time especially as we get to have a fly in the wall view of what’s happening to all of those who are involved in trying to prove either the guilt, or innocence, of three seventeen year old boys who are charged with the murder of an elderly man on New Year’s Eve. We get the prospective from each of the defence barristers along with that of the prosecutor and also a few sections in which the judge shares his experience in steering court procedures and keeping control of everything.

It’s a tense and fascinating crime drama and one that I could easily see transferred to a TV series as it explores the minutiae of the case, painting a picture of the accused and the way in which each boy, all unstable narrators, offer their version of events. I don’t want to say too much as that would be to do the story a disservice and this deserves to be read without any spoilers. There were some clever twists I didn’t see coming and whilst I thought I had the outcome of the trial pretty much sussed  out, I really hadn’t, and that is what made this such a clever story. I also realised just what a difficult job the jury had in making sense of everything and coming up with their decisions.

Cleverly done, with precise amounts of intricate detail, written by someone who understands the justice system really well and who puts a good case forward highlighting the drama, pathos and the unpredictability of reaching an appropriate verdict. 

I enjoyed reading this courtroom drama, which was just a little bit different, and so for that reason I am making The Cut Throat Trial the Book of My Month for September.

About the Author

The bestselling author, The Secret Barrister, writes fiction as S. J. Fleet. A junior barrister specializing in criminal law, they write for many publications and are the author of the award-winning The Secret Barrister blog. Their first book, The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken, was a Sunday Times number-one bestseller and spent more than a year in the top-ten bestseller list; it won the Books Are My Bag Non-Fiction Award and was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year and the Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year. Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies and Nothing But the Truth: The Memoir of an Unlikely Lawyer were instant Sunday Times top-ten bestsellers on publication. The Cut Throat Trial is their first novel.

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📖 Book of My Month ~ The Bride Stone by Sally Gardner

Head of Zeus 
31 July 2025

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book to review

The spellbinding new historical novel from multi-award-winning author Sally Gardner.

It is 1796. Duval Harlington, recently released from a French prison, is on his way home. He must reach his late father’s estate Muchmore House before the following evening if he is to inherit it.

But the inheritance rests on another condition: he must also be married. He is at a market, hoping to buy a fast horse, when he hears about a wife sale. He takes his chance and makes an extravagant bid for young widow, Edmée Hyde. To his delight and dismay, the bid is accepted and they marry, only to find that he and Edmée are both hiding life-threatening secrets.

📖 My Review..

Duval Harlington returns to England from France after being incarcerated during the latter years of the Revolution. On his return he discovers that, on his father’s death, he has now inherited the dukedom and the family estate of Muchmore. However, one of the terms of his late father’s will is that Duval must marry or lose the estate and with only hours before the deadline the race is on to find a bride. When he encounters a wife sale in a nearby village it seems like the only solution, and so, paying ten guineas, Duval chooses a young widow, Edmée Hyde, an enigmatic young woman, who has more than enough tragic secrets of her own. Together they take the path to their destiny.

What then follows is a fascinating story of two troubled young people, the traumas they have each suffered, and the secrets which they carry within them, all of which are explored in a compassionate love story which despite the many twists, turns and obstacles which come their way shows that the human spirit remains strong. Beautifully written, with a lyricism which belies its strength, there is much to enjoy in a story which is strong on historical detail, high in compassion and rich with scandal and intrigue. There are villains and champions, characters who make your blood boil and also those whose strength and kindness shines through the worst of human nature.

It is a story to be treasured and for that reason I am delighted to make The Bride Stone the Book of My Month for August.

About the Author

Sally Gardner gained a first-class degree at a leading London art college and became a successful theatre costume designer before illustrating and writing books. Her debut novel I, Coriander won the Nestle Gold  award, and she is also a Costa and Carnegie prize-winner. Her books have been translated all over the world and have sold over three million copies.

Website

📖 Book of My Month ~ The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

 

Mantle Books
10 July 2025

Thanks to the publisher for the invitation to read this book

Following the murder of her husband in what looks like a violent street robbery, Hannah Cole is struggling to keep her head above water. Her confectionary shop on Piccadilly is barely turning a profit, her suppliers conspiring to put her out of business because they don’t like women in trade. Henry Fielding, the famous author-turned-magistrate, is threatening to confiscate the money in her husband’s bank account because he believes it might have been illicitly acquired. And even those who claim to be Hannah’s friends have darker intent.

Only William Devereux seems different. A friend of her late husband, Devereux helps Hannah unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his death. He also tells her about an Italian delicacy called iced cream, an innovation she is convinced will transform the fortunes of her shop. But their friendship opens Hannah to speculation and gossip and draws Henry Fielding’s attention her way, locking her into a battle of wits more devastating than anything she can imagine.

📖 My Review..

Struggling to keep her luxury confectionery business viable after the untimely death of her husband, Hannah Cole welcomes the arrival of William Devereux, a lively and generous friend of her late husband’s. Hannah soon comes to rely on Devereux’s charm and expertise but more especially his idea of producing iced cream which brings in customers to the Punchbowl and Pineapple many of whom are excited to try this new delicacy, a delight which intrigues Georgian London. 

However, there is more to this clever tale than the manufacture of iced cream, although Hannah’s ingenious method of production and subsequent flavours were tantalising, the tangled web of deceit which the author weaves together so skilfully is where the real crux of the story lies.  Who do we believe in this twisted tale of greed and corruption, the grieving widow charmed by a handsome face, or a handsome charlatan with an eye for the main chance.

Gloriously written with all the skill which this talented author brings to her stories, Georgian London with all its idiosyncrasies comes to life. From the undeniable greed of the gambling hells, to clever little secrets which, if left unchecked, will fester and gain momentum, especially when Henry Fielding, Westminster’s chief magistrate, starts to investigate Hannah’s husband’s suspicious death, with dramatic consequences.

There’s so much I loved about this fascinating story which fired my imagination from the start, I loved the small details of everyday life, the suppliers who kept Hannah’s confectionery business afloat, the hackney carriages which scurried about the city and the swarming underbelly of crooks and villains. Teeming with life, rich in history, and alive with deceit and corruption The Art of a Lie is another master class in historical crime writing from an author who makes the history of ordinary people seem vivid and vital.

Pure delight from start to finish, I have no hesitation in making The Art of a Lie the Book of My Month for July.

**To be published on the 10th July by Mantle Books**

About the Author

Laura Shepherd-Robinson was born in Bristol in 1976. She has a BSc in Politics from the University of Bristol and an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics. Laura worked in politics for nearly twenty years before re-entering normal life to complete an MA in Creative Writing at City University. She lives in London with her husband.

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📖 Book of my Month ~ In the Family Way by Laney Katz Becker

HQ
3 June 2025
Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

Ohio, 1965. Every week a group of suburban housewives meet for their Tuesday card game, sharing gossip, advice and confidences.

Lily Berg has the perfect life. She’s married to a doctor, with an infant daughter and another on the way. She can’t let her husband know she’s struggling but she knows she can trust her friends. Becca, Lily’s best friend and next-door neighbour, is everything Lily isn’t. She’s messy and brash and never on time for anything. When she falls pregnant with a fourth child she desperately can’t afford, she turns to Lily. Although Lily’s little sister, Rose, got married last year, she’s not ready to give up her independence. Her modern marriage appears to be perfect, but behind closed doors things are very different. And Betsy is fifteen, pregnant and frightened. When Lily takes her in, from the local home for unwed mothers, she has no idea how much it will shake up all of their lives.

Over six months, the group will be put to the test by secrets, forced to make impossible decisions and face up to a society that isn’t ready for women to have their own dreams and ambitions.

📖 My Review

Set in suburban Ohio in the mid-1960s, this is the poignant story of a group of women who meet regularly to play canasta where they share the small details of their daily lives and gossip about what’s going on in their community. However, scratch beneath the surface and each of the women are facing their own problems which will have devastating consequences in a world which offers women little independence or freedom. Marriage and motherhood is seen as the pinnacle of success but as Lily, Rose, Becca, Sarah and fifteeen year old Betsy discover pregnancy comes with consequences and sometimes painful decisions need to be made.

Reproductive health is a thread which runs through the story binding each of the characters together in such a unique way and as each of their personal challenges are revealed so a common sisterhood is forged and strengthened. Each character resonated, their individual stories both heartbreaking and uplifting, each expressing an emotional commitment in a powerful story about strong women who did what they had to do regardless of the consequences. 

Impeccably researched, In the Family Way is a story about women, for women and acts as a timely reminder of how far we have come in terms of being in control of our reproductive health and yet it also reiterates that marriage, pregnancy, abortion, domestic abuse, rape and divorce are as relevant today as they were then, and that women are just as vulnerable when choices are taken away from them, or even denied them. The story had such an emotional and powerful impact on me that I am delighted to make it the Book of my Month for June.

About the Author

Laney Katz Becker is a award winning author and writer. A native Ohioan , she now resides on the east coast of South Florida with her husband.

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📖 Book of My Month ~ Death on Wolf Fell by Nick Oldham

Severn House
6 May 2025

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

 

A tense and utterly addictive police procedural set on the Lancashire moors featuring Sergeant Jessica Raker.

Former Metropolitan Police firearms officer Sergeant Jessica Raker is on a mission to bring down a brutal organized crime group operating in the idyllic Ribble Valley.

The OCG's leader, Mags Horsefield, is determined to make one of the members pay for getting caught by the police, using her contacts to make sure he’s released from prison early . . . into her waiting clutches.

Jess knows Mags from their school days, but their lives now couldn’t be more different. A fire at a local mill puts Jess on the tail of Mags’ OCG; is this her opportunity to catch the Ribble Valley’s most wanted criminal? The battle lines have been drawn, but when Jess is called to an incident at Wolf Fell Hall, a series of terrifying events follow…

📖My Review..

I love a good crime novel where I can instantly be familiar with the characters and also picture the setting in which they go about their nefarious business. Death on Wolf Fell intrigued me particularly because it’s set in my home county of Lancashire and some of the places mentioned I have visited so can easily put everything into context. The story begins with a dramatic opener which gets this pacy police procedural off to an explosive start with a gangland madam determined to succeed and a feisty police sergeant who is equally ferocious in her determination to stop crime boss Mags Horsefield in her tracks.

Nick Oldham is a new author for me and whilst I haven’t read the first book in this Jessica Raker series, this second book hits the ground running with enough back story included so that I never felt as if I was floundering in a sea of what happened before. It’s gritty and occasionally violent without being gratuitously so which makes everything feel authentic, if rather gung-ho at times. I feel PS Raker is a central character who will grow more into her lead role as the series progresses.There was enough bad stuff going on to keep me guessing and I enjoyed the insight into Jess’s personal life, with her kids and mother, and her burgeoning interest in fireman Joe.

I raced through the story pretty quickly as once started I could put the book down eager for the final outcome and hoped that Jess Raker would sort the good guys from the bad. The story ends on a real cliffhanger which gave me hope that there will be another DS Jessica Raker novel following in the not too distant future and in the meantime I can read the first book in the series Death at Dead Men’s Stakes so I’m all caught up. I am delighted to make Death on Wolf Fell the Book of my Month for May.

About the Author

Nick Oldham was born in Belthorn, Lancashire, in 1956. He has been a police officer since the age of nineteen, spending the majority of his service in operational roles, before retiring in 2005. He lives with his partner, Belinda, on the outskirts of Preston.

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📖 Book of My Month ~ Greater Sins by Gabrielle Griffiths

Random House
Transworld 

27 March 2025

Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book

 

Who will cast the first stone?

1915, the Cabrach, Aberdeenshire. An isolated Scottish community is disturbed by a strange discovery : a body in a peat bog, perfectly preserved. Two people haul the body from the ground Lizzie : the wife of a wealthy local landowner, and Johnny, a nomadic singer and farm hand. At hearthside and inn, people whisper : what have we unearthed?

One unveiling brings others. For Lizzie, tenacious but trapped, the discovery reveals unanswered questions about her past while for Johnny, it threatens to uncover a history he’s trying to outrun.

As their stories entwine, a series of unsettling events befalls the isolated ruinous weather, a damaged soldier, strange occurrences that cannot be explained. Against the echoes of distant war, and with the boundaries blurring between right and wrong, everyone is looking for someone to blame…

📖 My Review..

An isolated Scottish community, a place filled with secrets, a bad harvest and the call to war, all combine to make local feelings run high, add into the mix a preserved body found in an ancient peat bog and you have all the right ingredients for a story which is rich in folklore, strong on superstition and thick with jealousy. 

It is 1915 when the bulk of the story takes place and though everything seems to run smoothly, it is a place of secrets. Johnny is a charmer, likes a dram or two of whisky, ekes out a living from the land and takes work wherever he finds it, whilst Lizzie Calder lives in the big house, she is married to William, a wealthy local man who signs up as soon as war is declared. On the surface, Johnny and Lizzie have little in common other than a desire to discover more about the peat woman, despite locals thinking that she was once a witch and is therefore the cause of all the misfortune which has recently befallen the village.

Beautifully written, with a sparseness which mimics the bleakness of its setting, this imaginative novel reveals its secrets ever so slowly. Harsh complexities sit alongside hidden nuances so that it becomes impossible to know where the truth lies. Johnny is an unlikely hero and Lizzie an unlikely heroine but their combined stories work so well that days after finishing the novel I’m still blown away both by the story and the characters, and so for that reason I’m delighted to make it the Book of My Month for April.

About the Author

Gabrielle Griffiths grew up in Aberdeenshire and now lives in Brighton. She was a Madeleine Milburn Agency mentee in 2021 and is a graduate of the Curtis Brown Creative novel writing course. Her short fiction has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize.

#GreaterSins

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📖 Book of My Month ~ The Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey

Harper Collins
Hemlock Press
27 February 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of the book

 

On a small island off the coast of Scotland, an isolated community is grieving. Eighteen-year-old Alan Ferguson was found at the foot of the lighthouse – an apparent suicide.

DIs Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to investigate. A raging storm keeps them trapped on the island for four days. And the locals don’t take kindly to mainlanders.

As George and Ritchie question the island’s inhabitants, they discover a village filled with superstition and shrouded in secrets.

But someone wants those secrets to stay buried. At any cost.

📖 My Review ..

DIs Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to the remote island of Eilean Eadar, which lies off the coast of Scotland, in order to investigate the mysterious death of eighteen year old, Alan Ferguson. The arrival of the detectives is met with a mixture of excitement, distrust and downright malevolence from many of the islanders who resent any intrusion from the mainland. Whilst Alan Ferguson’s untimely death can be regarded as a tragic suicide, there are questions to be answered however, the islanders do not give up their secrets easily, and become more distrustful as the story progresses. 

There is a genuine air of tension which builds gradually and even the detectives start to feel the pressure of being cut off from everything. I took a while to warm to the detectives, especially Georgina (George) who carries the burden of a past trauma which affects her judgement and makes her rather unpredictable. The story is definitely creepy, with a genuine air of mystery, from the stark sentinel of the lighthouse, which lures above the island, to the turbulent sea and the ever present danger of being surrounded by people with secrets to hide.

Well written, imaginatively described, The Wolf Tree is a locked-room type mystery which builds the tension deliberately slowly, which mirrors the slow pace of life on the island where nothing is ever rushed. Eilean Eadar is a place of dark secrets and with twists and turns I didn’t seen coming, this is definitely a thrilling story which kept my attention from start to finish. I liked it so much I am delighted to make The Wolf Tree the Book of My Month in March.

About the Author

Laura McCluskey is a Melbourne-based writer, editor and actor. She created the production company Sibylline Films and co-founded Three Fates Theatre Company. The Wolf Tree is her first novel.

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📖 Book of my Month ~ Grace of the Empire State by Gemma Tizzard

Headline
28 January 2025

Thanks to the publisher for the invitation to read this book

As the Great Depression bites, show dancer Grace's Irish immigrant family can't afford the rising rents, nor the medicine that her little sister urgently needs. When her twin brother is injured and can no longer work on the construction of the half-built Empire State Building, Grace steps up - literally. She trades her dancing shoes for worker boots, braving deadly metal work hundreds of feet in the sky.

But survival isn't guaranteed. Failure could mean not only losing her job, but also her life, and the livelihood of her family and team. Sparks fly across the great metal beams, as a terrible accident and a split-second decision leaves Grace re-evaluating everything that she thought she knew about herself.

📖 My Review..

It’s not often I experience vertigo when reading a book but from the nerve wracking opening chapter of this fascinating novel my heart was quite literally in my mouth as I observed Grace O’Connell take those first few steps out onto the shell of the Empire State Building in 1930s New York.

When her twin brother Patrick is injured at work and with her family’s, already precarious, financial state affected by the deep depression, Grace takes her brother’s place in a four man team of riveters employed to work on the outer shell of the Empire State Building. This is no place for a woman but with her identity hidden, and masquerading as her brother, Grace grows in skill and confidence but is always aware that being hundreds of feet above street level, with nothing but steel and air below her, definitely brings its own dangerous challenges.

The author has captured to perfection the sheer scale of the danger faced by all those who once worked on this iconic building. The constant fear of falling, the heat of the metal, the unpredictability of the weather and the absolute terror that Grace would be discovered meant that I raced through the book in a couple of sittings. I was eager to learn more about this intrepid young woman whose love for dancing gives Grace the strength and poise she needed to keep her balance on the steel beams. The  city of New York, deep in depression, came alive, the hustle for jobs, the unscrupulous landlords who took but never gave back, the overwhelming power of friendship and the deep abiding loyalty of all those who tried to protect Grace’s secret.

Grace of the Empire State is so impeccably researched it brought history alive in a really authentic way and so, knowing absolutely nothing about the construction of the Empire State Building I was inspired to look at the archive photographs of Lewis Hines, the official photographer, and marvelled at the bravery of the ‘sky boys’ those structural workers who risked their lives as they put the gigantic steel frame together.

It’s definitely going to be one of my reads of the year and for that reason I am delighted to make Grace of the Empire State the Book of My Month for February.

About the Author

Gemma Tizzard has a degree in American Studies, with a particular interest in twentieth century American history and untold women’s stories. From Berkshire, she now lives in Southampton, where she works as a marketing manager. She also writes romantic comedies and was longlisted for the 2021 and 2022 Comedy Women in Print (CWIP) Unpublished Novel Prize. Grace of the Empire State is her first historical novel.

Keep up with Gemma Tizzard on Instagram @gemma_tizzard.

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📖 Book of my Month ~ The Players by Minette Walters

 

Allen & Unwin
2 January 2025

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

A gripping tale of compassion, imposture, trickery and surprising alliances set against the backdrop of The Bloody Assizes, from the bestselling author of The Last Hours and The Swift and the Harrier.

The much-anticipated sequel to The Swift and The Harrier

England, 1685. Decades after the end of the civil war, the country is once again divided when Charles II's illegitimate son, the Protestant Duke of Monmouth, arrives in Dorset to incite rebellion against his Catholic uncle.

Armed only with pitchforks, Monmouth's army is quickly defeated by King James II's superior forces and charged with high treason. Those found guilty will be hanged, drawn and quartered.

As Dorset braces for carnage, the redoubtable Lady Jayne Harrier and a small group of trusted allies - including her courageous son and the independent-minded daughter of a local lawyer - contrive ways to save men from the gallows.

Compelling and powerful, The Players is a story of guile, deceit and compassion during the dark days of The Bloody Assizes. Secrets are kept and surprising friendships formed in a dangerous gamble to thwart a brutal king's thirst for vengeance...

📖 My thoughts..

Having been impressed with The Swift and the Harrier when it was published in 2021, I was excited to discover that the much anticipated sequel was to be published in 2025. 

As the novel begins in 1685 we have now moved considerably on from the English Civil War and whilst King Charles II's reign brought a period of stability to the country, his brother, and successor, King James II is a very different monarch. When the Duke of Monmouth, the illegitimate eldest son of Charles II incites insurrection examples must be made of those supporters who took part in the ill-fated rebellion and it is there where we meet again with Lady Jayne Harrier who lives in Dorset with her son Elias, Duke of Glanville. We learn something of what has gone on in the previous years with Jane but largely the book focuses on the events following the Monmouth rebellion and the Bloody Assizes which took place in the aftermath when James II was hellbent on revenge.

The story brings a true sense of the injustice which was meted out to Monmouth supporters whether they be guilty, or innocent, and whilst Lady Jayne and her son do what they can to ameliorate the damage, history still carries the scars laid down by Judge Jeffreys and his harsh punishments. The characterisation is, as always, excellent with a whole host of fully rounded fictional figures who sit very comfortably alongside those from history. The timeline is recreated with a fine eye for even the smallest detail and the way in which time comes to life is testament to the author's skill at bringing history alive. 

I've have enjoyed reading The Players so much that I am delighted to make it the Book of My Month for January.

About the Author

Minette Walters is one of the world's best-selling crime writers. She is the author of twelve novels, winning the CWA John Creasey Award for The Ice House, the Edgar Allan Poe Award in America for The Sculptress and two CWA Gold Daggers for The Scold's Bridle and Fox Evil. The Last Hours and The Turn of Midnight mark an exciting new direction for Minette. She lives in Dorset with her husband.

Website

Social Media

#ThePlayers

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