A Midsummer Night’s Scheme – Harper Kincaid

"When a gal's treasured childhood home of Vienna, Virginia, has two murders in six months, it makes her realise there really is no place like home - and maybe that's no longer a good thing." We first met Quinn Caine in To Kill a Mocking Girl, as she returns to her home town to work as …

Stacking the Shelves – February 2023

The month started with an ARC approval on the 1st, promising good things for February 😉 ARCs I'm going to call this a really nice haul, and manageable - how unlike me 😉 Juliet E McKenna's The Cleaving is a 'feminist retelling of the Arthurian legends', which promises to be high on historical detail giving characters …

The Mimicking of Known Successes – Malka Older

"The man had disappeared from an isolated platform; the furthest platform eastward, in fact, on the 4º63' line, never a very popular ring." When a scholar disappears from a remote station on the platforms orbiting Jupiter, investigator Mossa is called in. It seems obvious that he has - like so many before him - simply …

Gothikana – RuNyx

"There was nothing scarier than a blind old woman with whites for eyes suddenly gripping your arm under a full moon night." What else to review on Valentines Day, than a romance? A dark, overly sexed-up, gothic romance, of course! 😉 Corvina Clemm has led a sheltered life, mostly alone with her mother and the …

Glass Onion (2022)

I know, I'm a bit late to the party and really, does the world even need another glowing review of Glass Onion? But, here we are 😉 Knives Out (2019) was such a fun movie, twisting the 'whodunnit' to the point where it's a very rewatchable film (I know, because I did just before seeing GO) …

Murder at the Bookstore – Sue Minix

"People watching is a necessary activity for a writer." Jen's favourite writing spot is in her local bookstore, Ravenous Readers, and the owner, Aletha, has become a good friend. However, Jen's woes are about to get far worse than struggling to produce a sequel to her best-selling mystery: she's about to become a murder suspect! …

The Game is a Footnote – Vicki Delany

"Despite being the oldest house in West London, Massachusetts, Scarlet House has led a quiet, peaceful existence." When strange things start to happen at a historical re-enactment house, the trustees ask local sleuth, Gemma Doyle, if she'll look into it for them. Bookshop owner and definitely not consulting detective Gemma is reluctant, but thinks it'll …

Confess, Fletch (2022)

The last thing you expect - or want - to find in your luxury Air BnB is a dead body. But when I.M. 'Fletch' Fletcher (Jon Hamm) stumbles over a woman's corpse, his investigative journalist skills kick in - not least to try and clear his own name after the police decide he's the prime …

Enola Holmes 2 (2022)

We first met Enola Holmes (2020), younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft, as she investigated the disappearance of their mother on Enola's sixteenth birthday. Shenanigans of course ensued, and now-independent Enola has decided to capitalise on the experience by setting up her own detective agency. It doesn't quite go to plan. Prospective clients are aghast …

Bookclubbed to Death – VM Burns

"'Snickers, come!' I yelled." Bookshop owner and newly published mystery writer, Samantha Washington, tries to play good samaritan by allowing a local writers' group to meet in her store after their usual location is flooded. She instantly falls foul of the group's leader, (in)famous critic, Delia Marshall. The whole event is marred by both Delia's …