Book Synopsis:

An enchanting new novella set in the magical world of Sunday Times bestseller Threadneedle and The Times bestseller Shadowstitch

At home one memorable summer, Miranda unearths a mysterious suitcase in her attic that once belonged to her late grandmother. Inside, she finds a strange and unopenable wooden box.

Determined to discover what’s inside, she ends up enlisting the help of Maya, the owner of a local spiritualist shop, and is drawn into a world of witchcraft, magic and temptation.

As she tries to keep up appearances as the perfect daughter, her discovery threatens to tear everything apart, putting everyone around her in danger.

Can she find a way to stay in control or would the box have been better left buried?

Taking place before events in Threadneedle and Shadowstitch, this is a perfect read for not just fans of the series, but for anyone who loves to be transported by magical fantasy.

My Review:

The Burial Witch is an absorbing, magical novella set in the world from the Thread Needle series.

In the Burial Witch we follow Miranda as she tries to survive in her perfect, ultra religious family who expect perfection at every turn. Her perfectly planned out summer comes unstuck when she accidentally finds a mysterious box in her parents attic and accidentally unlocks a hidden part of her family’s history.

I really enjoyed this book and read it over a couple of days. Miranda is an interesting character who I felt equal sympathetic to and frustrated with. She’s been having a hard time of late as she tries to keep up with her siblings and pushing herself too much so it was great to see her let herself go a bit. The descriptions of the Yoruba religion were very interesting to read about as I hadn’t known anything about it before so it was fascinating to learn more about it.

I thought this book had a great pace to it and I soon found the book very hard to put down. It was fun following Miranda on her journey and seeing her become more hopeful about her future.

The ending was interesting and while I wished it had ended in a slightly different way it was in keeping with Miranda’s character. I definitely want to go back and re-read Thread Needle.

Huge thanks to @harpervoyager_uk @harperfictionpr for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

About The Author:

Cari Thomas is author of the Sunday Times Bestseller, Threadneedle – her debut novel and the first in her Language of Magic series.

Cari grew up in the Wye Valley area of Wales and, after studying English Literature & Creative Writing at Warwick University and Magazine Journalism at the Cardiff School of Journalism, moved to London. She worked as a journalist and at a creative agency, before finally doing what she’d always wanted to do: quit her job and write a book about magic.

The result was Threadneedle. Be introduced to a world of wild, ancient witchcraft hidden within today’s London; where libraries made of books breathe dusty pages beneath the city, where witch clubs serve up magical cocktails and vintage shops sell memories. A world where magic gleams light and very, very dark.

Cari now lives in Wales with her husband and son. Discover more on her website: CariThomas.com

Good morning everyone and happy Bank Holiday Monday. Here are some of the books I’m currently reading or hoping to read this bank holiday and half term.

❤️ Dissection Of A Murder by Jo Murray*
🧡The Artist by Lucy Steeds
💚The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh
💚The Repentants by Kate Foster
🩵The Trouble With Sister Francis

I also have two books on my kindle I’m currently reading too:

💙The Burial Witch by Cari Thomas*
💜The Edge Of Always by Rebecca Ryan *

I’m actually half way through the books with stars next to them so I’m hoping to finish them and maybe get a start on one of the other books. The Burial Witch is actually a Novella so I’m hoping to finish that today and possibly post my review later. I think I always overestimate how much time I’ll have for reading with the kids around.

Today my husband is taking our two youngest to the local splash pad which they’re looking forward to. I don’t do well in the heat so I’m hoping to stay home. We’re then going to my mum’s to try out our new BBQ (if it arrives in time).

What are your bank holiday plans?

Book Synopsis:

The four of them had sat upon the fallen stones the night before Iris left.
Like the stones in their rings, the sisters were meant to stay together.
Now they were scattered across the world.

1931. When Iris Blackmore’s father knocks down the Sisters of Skara standing stones, a dark shadow falls on the Blackmore family. With his fortune lost and wife dead, his four daughters are forced to leave their home, taking only the rings they inherited from their beloved mother.
Iris is the first to depart, travelling east in search of an uncle who might be able to help the family.

Present day. Roz Chatton moves to London from Australia, bringing very little with her other than her mother’s old ring. Grieving and adrift, she stumbles on a painting of four ancient standing stones which ignites an uncanny connection to the ring on her finger.

Determined to learn more about the origin of the painting, Roz unearths the full story of Iris Blackmore, unravelling a family history she could never have imagined.

Four lost sisters. An epic journey home. Will you follow?

My Review:

The Sea Stones Sisters is a sweeping, absorbing dual timeline mystery perfect for fans of The Seven Sisters series and the first book in an intriguing new series. The story follows two remarkable women, Iris in the 1930 as she goes looking for help from distant relatives after the death of her father leaves them penniless and Roz in the present day who is uncovering some long buried family secrets. Unusually for me I enjoyed both timelines equally as it was great following Iris’s journey and Roz’s investigation into her family’s fascinating past. Connecting both timelines is the legend of the mysterious sea stones, ancient stones said to curse anyone connected to them.

I absolutely loved this book and managed to read it over three days, sneaking away to read it whenever I could. The author does an amazing job of setting the scene and I felt completely transported to misty Skara one moment and the hot, dusty Australian outback the next. The characters were fantastic creations who I warmed to quickly and I enjoyed following them throughout the book. There were some truly heartbreaking moments but some wonderful heartwarming moments in the story too which ensured I stayed fully absorbed in the story. I closed the book very sad to leave Iris, Roz and the lovely host of supporting characters behind but eager to read more in the fabulous series.

Huge thanks to Anne from Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour and to @headlinebooks for my copy of this book.

*The rainbow button canvas was my mother’s day present from my daughter which I absolutely love! She also made me another one which I’ll show later this week 🥰

About The Author:

After a haphazard early career that took her around the world, Eleanor Buchanan settled in York and began writing award-winning romance, historical, and time-slip novels under various pseudonyms.

She has now turned her hand to a brand-new series of enthralling stories that finally combines her passion for travel, her belief in the power of evocative love stories and her enduring fascination with the relationship between the past and the present. The Sea Stone Sisters is the first in a sweeping and spellbinding new series; a richly layered, dual-time story of love, loss, family secrets and finding your way home. (Headline, March 2026). Translation rights have been sold in 19 countries. The second in the series, The Moonstone Sister, will be published in January 2027.

Book Synopsis:

Through the lives of ten young people an award-winning nurse reveals the impact of gang culture on mental health.

Dorcas Gwata is an award-winning nurse specialising in mental health. She has worked closely with vulnerable young people exposed to the knife crime, sexual exploitation, drug use and poor mental health associated with gangs. In The Street Clinic, we accompany her in her work as she meets and cares for young people on the street and on their terms.

We meet Fuz, who is on trial for aggravated assault. There’s Abdul, who’s exploring his sexuality and has been humiliated online. Louise’s promising future is compromised by her controlling boyfriend. And there’s Zane, whose parents’ divorce opens up an emotional hole in his life that’s plugged by an ill-chosen new friendship.

Drawing on her own experiences of loss and social injustice, and twenty-five years on the NHS frontline, Dorcas offers a bird’s-eye view of London: its multicultural population, wealth inequalities, tireless healthcare professionals, and an NHS that doesn’t always work for everyone. And she asks the big questions: What lies behind London’s youth violence crisis? What is its impact on the mental health of its victims? How are the families of our young people and the wider community affected?

Exposing some uncomfortable truths about British society, The Street Clinic is also a powerful story of resilience, strength and, ultimately, hope.

My Review :

The Street Clinic is a fascinating, gritty and emotional insight into gang culture and knife crime in London.  Within its pages the reader is given access to a world that few of us will be familiar with and introduced to ten young girls and boys from different cultural backgrounds who are involved in the gangs that control the different postcodes of London.  We follow Dorcus, a mental health nurse, as she tries to help those on the periphery of the gangs through a system that is more accessible than traditional NHS system and helps involve the whole community in the fight back against knife crime.

I found this to be an insightful and thought provoking read as I learned more about how children get caught up in the gangs not necessarily by any fault of their own and the different, often heartbreaking, factors that can lead to it. This book helped to challenge my preconceived ideas of how the situation should be dealt with and opened my eyes to a different system that could help those children at risk.  As you can imagine not every story has a happy ending but within each story there is a feeling of hope that change is achievable and more young lives can be improved.

About The Author:

Dorcas Gwata is an award-winning frontline Mental Health Nurse, renowned for her work across health, social justice, and leadership development.

In 2022, she was honoured as The Sun’s Best Nurse, and in 2024 she was named one of the 100 Most Influential BAME Leaders by the Health Service Journal. Dorcas has worked extensively under the Mayor of London’s Office, pioneering a ‘street clinic’ approach to support young people and families affected by gang culture, youth violence, and exploitation, applying trauma-informed care models to communities impacted by knife crime in London.

Dorcas is both a Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole Alumni, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, she played a leading role in tackling institutional racism and healthcare inequalities, advocating for policies that support global majority nurses and midwives in the NHS and in international health contexts..

As an Ubuntu Coach, Dorcas brings a transformational, humanistic approach to leadership development, grounded in the African philosophy of Ubuntu – “I am because we are.” She partners with both individuals and groups, guiding them to align with their inner values and collective purpose to enhance leadership effectiveness and authenticity.

An advocate of holistic wellbeing, Dorcas enjoys yoga, the arts, and spending time in nature. Her upcoming book, The Street Clinic, will be published by Picador Macmillan in February 2026.

Book Synopsis:

The Sunday Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ugly is back with a psychological masterpiece that will leave you questioning everything you know about love, identity and revenge.

Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into – Spyglass, an enchanting old house in the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls – nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that this stranger is his wife.

One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.

Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner named Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel and, as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.

My Husband’s Wife weaves a tangled web of deception, obsession and mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. Prepare yourself for the ultimate mind-bending marriage thriller and step inside Spyglass – if you dare – to experience a story where nothing is as it seems.

My Review:

The Queen of Twists does it again with another fabulously twisty, gripping read that I thoroughly enjoyed !

I was drawn into the story immediately with the intriguing opening and quickly found myself absorbed into the story as I tried to figure out what on earth was going on. Told from the point of view of several characters it soon becomes clear that everyone has secrets and is trying to hide something. Most of the characters are really unlikeable which makes it easy to stay neutral and just enjoy watching the story unfold.

I always love books where I can’t guess what’s happening and this book definitely kept me on my toes with multiple twists at the end that kept sending the story in a completely different direction than I anticipated. The ending was very clever and I loved seeing how everything ended up for all the characters.

If you’re a thriller lover you need to read this book as it’s utterly brilliant!

Huge thanks to Panmac Pinboard and Pan Macmillan for sending this to me it’s really appreciated.

About The Author:

Alice Feeney is a New York Times million-copy bestselling author of novels including His & Hers, Sometimes I Lie, Rock Paper Scissors and Daisy Darker. Her books have been translated into over thirty-five languages, and have been optioned for major screen adaptations, with His & Hers currently in production for Netflix, produced by Jessica Chastain, and starring Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal.

Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years. Her seventh novel, Beautiful Ugly, will be published around the world in January 2025.

You can follow Alice on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter. To find out the latest book and TV news, or to sign up for Alice’s free newsletter, please visit alicefeeney dot com

Book Synopsis:

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A storm gathering force.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny weather-lashed island that is home to the world’s largest seed bank. As Shearwater risks being lost to rising sea levels, the island’s researchers have fled, and only the Salts remain.

Until, during the worst storm in living memory, a stranger washes ashore. The family nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, but it seems she isn’t telling the whole truth about why she’s there. And when Rowan stumbles upon sabotaged radios and a recently dug grave, she realises that she’s not the only one on the island with a secret.

A novel of breathtaking twists and dizzying beauty, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love.

My Review:

Wild Dark Shore is an atmospheric, gripping and thought provoking read which I’ve continued to think about long after finishing it .

The story takes place on a remote, wild island off the coast of Australia which is slowly being claimed by the sea. The story is told through the point of view of the family that lives on the island and the mysterious Rowan who washes ashore during a storm. From the start things seem off on the island as Rowan discovers a fractured family cut off from the rest of the world, broken communication equipment and missing residents.

I thought the author did an amazing job with the descriptions of the isolated island that the characters find themselves on and I loved exploring it alongside them all. It often seemed like a character itself prone to quick weather changes that helped or hindered the characters and I wish it existed in real life as I’d love to be able to explore it myself. The family was just brilliant, especially the fabulous Orly and despite initially being a little apprehensive of them I slowly found myself falling in love with them as the story went on.

The mystery side of the story was really well done and I loved following Rowan as she slowly discovers all that has happened on the island. There were multiple twists that I didn’t see coming and sent the story in a completely different direction to what I had assumed which I always love. The ending, oh my goodness what an amazing ending! I was in tears as I read and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I finished reading. I was very sad for the book to end as I really didn’t want to say goodbye to the wonderful family. It’s one of those books I’d love to see a sequel to (even though I know there never will be) as I just want to be able to spend more time with them.

Huge thanks to @canongatebooks for sending me a copy of this book. Highly recommended by me, don’t hesitate just read it!

About The Author:

Charlotte McConaghy is the author of the New York Times, USA Today, and Indie Bestseller WILD DARK SHORE, named Amazon’s Best Book of the Year So Far for 2025; as well as the New York Times Bestseller ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES, winner of the Indie Book Award for Fiction 2022; and the international bestseller MIGRATIONS, a TIME Magazine Best Book of the Year and the Amazon Best Fiction Book of the Year for 2020. Her books have been translated into more than 25 languages, and are being adapted for film and television. She lives in Sydney with her partner and two children.

Book Synopsis:

Sofas, secrets and a snowbound road to trouble…

Helsinki, 1982. Recently divorced postal worker Ilmari Nieminen has promised his daughter a piano for Christmas, but with six days to go – and no money – he’s desperate. 

A last-minute job offers a solution: transport a valuable antique sofa to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost town in Finland. 

With the sofa secured in the back of his van, Ilmari stops at a gas station, and an old friend turns up, offering to fix his faulty wipers, on the condition that he tags along. Soon after, a persistent Saab 96 appears in the rearview mirror. And then a bright-yellow Lada.

That’s when Ilmari realises that he is transporting something truly special. 

And that’s when Ilmari realises he might be in serious trouble…

A darkly funny and unexpectedly moving thriller about friendship, love and death – The Winter Job tears through the frozen landscape of northern Finland in a beat-up van with bad steering, worse timing, and everything to lose…

My Review:

The Winter Job is dark, funny and oddly heart-warming story of misadventure.

The story follows two recently reunited friends as they transport a valuable sofa across snowy Finland. Sounds simple enough right? However a simple journey soon turns into a wild car chase as the friends are pursued by two communist intent on stealing the sofa to sell and use the profits to fund their cause as well as a crazy, psychopath called Otto.

I thought the characters in this book were brilliant and I really enjoyed following them throughout the book. Ilmari and Antero were easy to warm to and I loved following them on the journey they go on both physically in the car but also emotionally as the conversation in the car turns into a bit of a heart to heart. The bad guys in the book were fantastically evil and Otto especially made my blood run cold as I read as I was never completely sure what he was going to do next.

Overall I loved this book and I can’t wait to read more from this author soon. The story is very gripping with lots of tension that ensured I couldn’t put the book down. The author includes lots of red herrings in the story which kept me guessing and some very funny scenes mixed with some subtle humour that had me laughing out loud as I read. There are some rather dark, gruesome scenes that might not be to everyone’s taste but I really enjoyed going on this rather madcap adventure with some amazing characters.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Karen from Orenda Books for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. The critically acclaimed My Brother’s Keeper was published two years later. In 2011, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for ‘Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2011’ and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. The Finnish press labelled The Healer – the story of a writer desperately searching for his missing wife in a post-apocalyptic Helsinki – ‘unputdownable’. Two years later, in 2013, they crowned Tuomainen ‘The King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published.

With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach Finland (2018) was an immense success, with The Times calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’, and Little Siberia (2019) was shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. The Rabbit Factor is the first book in Antti’s first-ever series. The Rabbit Factor is also in development to become an Amazon Studios film starring Steve Carell.

Follow Antti on Twitter @antti_tuomainen, or on Facebook: facebook.com/AnttiTuomainen.

Book Synopsis:

Annie and Lewis search for the son of an old enemy, who may hold the key to ending Annie’s curse. Their investigations lead back to the past, uncovering something that could destroy the most powerful people in the country. The compelling, chilling next instalment in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series…

Two men, centuries apart, dream of being a wolf. 

One is burned at the stake.

Another is locked in a psychiatric hospital for most of his life.

And Annie Jackson is about to find out why…

Vowing once again to remove herself from society, Annie is back living alone in her little cottage by the shores of a loch. But when an old enemy – now locked up in a high security hospital – comes calling, begging her to find the son that she was forced to give up at the age of seventeen, Annie is tempted out of seclusion. The missing boy holds the key to ending Annie’s curse, and he may be the only chance that both she and Lewis have of real happiness.

Annie and Lewis begin an investigation that takes them back to the past, a time etched in Scottish folklore, a period of history that may just be repeating itself. And what they uncover could destroy not just some of the most powerful people in the country, who will stop at nothing to protect their wealth and their secrets, but also Annie’s life, and everything she holds dear…

Dark, immersive, and utterly compelling, The Howling is a story of deception, betrayal, and misplaced power, and a reminder that the most public of faces can hide the darkest of hearts…

My Review:

The Howling is a creepy, atmospheric and gripping read that’s perfect for this time of year.

In The Howling we follow twins Annie and Lewis as they try to solve the mystery of a curse that has been plaguing their family for generations. Still reeling from a near death experience, Annie and Lewis find themselves investigating a mysterious order who are determined to keep their secrets hidden.

I absolutely loved this book and flew through it in a couple of days. The descriptions of the secret order with all it’s hidden rooms, secret members and history was fantastic to explore. It helped drew me into the story as I wanted to learn more about them. The link to events in the past as well as to a mysterious boy called Lewis was very intriguing and I had to keep reading to find out how everything connected.

This is actually the third book in the series, which I didn’t realise when I started reading but I feel you could read it as a standalone as everything you need to know is explained. I’ve already ordered the other books on the series though and I’m looking forward to reading them soon.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orenda books for my proof copy.

About The Author:

Michael J. Malone was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country, just a stone’s throw from the great man’s cottage in Ayr. Well, a stone thrown by a catapult, maybe.

He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings.

BLOOD TEARS, his debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize (judge:Alex Gray) from the Scottish Association of Writers and when it was published he added a “J” to his name to differentiate it from the work of his talented U.S. namesake.

He can be found on twitter – @michaelJmalone1

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/themichaeljmalonepage

And here’s my newsletter – subscribe for lots of cool stuff! – https://michaeljmalone.substack.com

Book Synopsis:

Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of rural Australia.

But disquiet soon interrupts this secluded life. First, the skeletal remains of a sister who disappeared decades before are returned to the monastery, resurfacing years of grief and pain. And then, an unexpected and troubling visitor plunges the narrator further into her past…

Book Review:

Stone Yard Devotional is a quietly powerful, moving book that has stayed with me.

In the book we follow an unnamed, middle-aged protagonist who has joined a Women’s monastery (interestingly not called a convent in the book) to escape a difficult marriage and to get away from life.  The quiet and tranquillity of the setting allows her to reflect on her life and past experiences from school and her childhood.  I found it fascinating to follow her throughout her daily life at the monastery and to learn more about her past, especially what brought her to the monastery in the first place.

I though the book had a slow, steady pace to it (perhaps to match the slow pace of the monastery) though it was incredibly readable with just enough happening to ensure I kept reading.  We follow the main protagonist as she meets up again with a girl everyone bullied at school and deals with a mouse plague that brings a lot of violence to their otherwise quiet existence.  Some of her recollections were quite emotional to read about, particularly her experiences as a child that seemed to still haunt her as an adult.  I found myself thinking about my own experiences and what my own attitude would be in a similar situation.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be recommending it to others.  I buddy read this with my sister and we both wondered whether the mouse plague was meant to symbolise something profound that went over our heads.  I think it would make a great book club read as I think there would be a lot to discuss.

About The Author:

Charlotte Wood is the author of seven novels and three books of non-fiction. Her novel Stone Yard Devotional was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize and other awards. It was described by the UK Guardian as ‘a quiet novel of immense power’ and as ‘extraordinary’ by Ron Charles at the Washington Post who wrote, ‘The fact that “Stone Yard Devotional” not only stays aloft but soars would seem to deny the laws of literary physics.’ It has also been praised by authors Anne Enright, Tim Winton, Karen Joy Fowler, Hannah Kent and Paula Hawkins among others.

Her previous books include The Luminous Solution, a book of essays on the creative process; the international bestseller, The Weekend; and The Natural Way of Things which won a number of prizes including The Stella Prize and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Her features and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Literary Hub, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Saturday Paper among other publications.

Book Synopsis:

Saskia is building a home for herself out of the ruins of an old castle. Surrounded by forest, hidden away from everyone and everything, the place is special – it’s the only connection she has left to her father and it’s a hard-won chance to escape from her difficult past and create a new future. She’s spent her whole life trying to find a way to make this project work and finding someone to help her realise her dream has been almost impossible.
 
When local builder Owen finally signs up to manage the construction, things get off to a very bad start. But forced to find a way to work together, both realise that first impressions aren’t always the right ones, and when Owen discovers the forest is hiding a secret that could bring work to a halt, he realises he’s much more invested in the project – and Saskia – than he thought . . .

My Review:

The Forest Hideaway is a beautiful, atmospheric read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Firstly I really loved the fabulous characters of Saskia and Owen who were great fun to follow throughout the book. They both seemed so real which made it very easy to warm to them and get behind their efforts to restore Gair Castle. Saskia has over a lot of personal obstacles to get to where she is and I loved Owen’s sense of fairness even though I can understand why it was infuriating at times. The gorgeous doggie Brodie was another wonderful character who never failed to make me smile.

The forest setting was beautiful and I loved the author’s vivid descriptions that made me feel that I was actually there. I love walking in a forest as I always feel so at peace when I’m there and the author managed to make me feel like this as I read which I thought was really clever. There’s a history of magic and folklore in attached to the forest too which I found very intriguing.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be recommending it to others. It does start off a bit slowly as the author sets the scene but soon picks up to become a very absorbing read. It was fun watching the characters grow slowly closer together as well as unpicking the mystery surrounding the Forrest.

Huge thanks to Sara Jade from Simon and Schuster for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author:

I’ve been writing since I was a teenager, which is now a distressingly long time ago! I started out as an entertainment journalist – actually, my earliest published work was as a reviewer of science fiction and fantasy books. I went on to become a staff writer and then an editor for print magazines, before beginning to write non-fiction making-of books tied in to film and television, such as The Art and Making of Penny Dreadful and Wonder Woman: The Art and Making of the Film.

I now write both children’s and adult fiction – my first novel was called The Diamond Thief, a Victorian-set steampunk adventure book for the middle grade age group. That won the Redbridge Children’s prize in 2014, and I went on to write two more books in the series before moving on to other adventure books including The Golden Butterfly, which was nominated for the Carnegie Award in 2017, The House of Hidden Wonders, and a YA horror called FIR, which was shortlisted for the Lancashire Book of the Year Award in 2018. My last children’s book (to date) is called The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott, and was published by Little Tiger in 2023.

My debut adult novel, The House Beneath the Cliffs, was published by Simon & Schuster in August 2021. Since then I’ve written three more: The Lighthouse Bookshop, The Forgotten Garden, and The Secret Orchard, which is out in September 2024. My adult fiction tends to centre on small communities – feel-good tales about how we find where we belong in life and what it means when we do. Although I have also published full-on adult horror stories, which are less about community and more about terror and mayhem…

I was born in Kent but now live in a very small house in an equally small village in northern Cumbria with my husband, who owns a bookshop in the nearby market town of Penrith.