This week, my wife and i spent a few days in Cornwall, exploring Truro and walking along the sunlit banks of the River Fal. Reading took a back seat but the excellent Waterstones in Truro meant that book buying was inevitable.
Anyway, here’s what’s been happening this week and what’s up next.
I only finished two books this week but that was still about a thousand pages read. I enjoyed both books. One was high-engery fun, the other was moving, deeply immersive and a splendid end to a six-book series that I stared seven months ago.
‘Hidden In Smoke‘ (2025) is the third book from Lee Goldberg featuring LA arson investigators Sharpe and Walker. It also features homicide detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone and Danny Cole, the criminal mastermind with a heart of gold from the first Sharpe and Walker book, ‘Malibu Burning’
It’s a fast-paced, energetic, often funny book that combines complex arson investigations with a heist on a high-tech museum and a sting on a very bad man.
Like its predecessors, it was a lot of fun.
I love Lee Goldberg’s ability to use bizarre facts and incidents from real life to create exciting and surprising plots. Most of all, I love the way he’s turned the characters from the Eve Ronin books and the Sharpe & Walker books into an ensemble cast who I know will make me smile.
Now I’m hoping that Danny Cole will get his own spin-off series.
At 600 pages, ‘The Sins Of Our Fathers‘ (2021) was a long crime novel, but I was grateful for that, as it was the last book in the series. The story was immersive, people-centric and trope-free. Emotions, fleeting and or irrepressible, were captured perfectly. The plot was powered as much by anger, envy, guilt and a struggle for hope and purpose as it was by solving the murders. Telling the story in two timelines within one lifetime showed the long shadows trauma and regret cast over our lives.
This was a wonderful read. It was so much more than a crime novel. It was a book that understood that we all make mistakes and that all of the mistakes have consequences, that life can be crap and people can be awful, that greed and the lust for power breeds predators who hunt us, but that kindness, forgiveness and the ability to find and hold onto the things that matter to us offers, if not salvation, then at least meaning.
I found eight great books this week. One was a pre-order for the second book in a series. Four were being promoted as new releases by Waterstones in Truro and were too good to miss. Two were special offers from Amazon and one was a free novel from BAEN.
In January 1989, Birdie wakes to the news she’s been waiting eighteen years to hear. Jimmy Maguire, the man who killed her sister, has been freed from jail. Birdie sends her kids to school and then leaves for London with a gun and a plan: to find Jimmy and make him pay.
But there’s another side to the story, and Birdie is about to enter a world of family lies, worn-out loyalties and long-buried betrayals . . .
I remember Emma Stonex’s first novel, ‘The Lamplighters‘, being well received, but the mystery of the vanishing lighthouse men didn’t appeal to me. The premise of her latest novel, ‘The Sunshine Man‘ (2025), is very much my kind of thing: a tale of revenge that doesn’t follow the normal tramlines of vengeance and is told from the perspective of the person seeking revenge and the person they’re trying to punish. I’ve gone for the audiobook format, where each point of view gets its own narrator. I’m hoping for something gripping and thought-provoking.
Journalist Cat Conway is looking forward to an easy assignment covering a major wellness and self-actualization summit at the Pinerock Resort, featuring Bliss Bondar and Bree Guthrie, creators of the Welcome, Goddess empire and widows with attitude. Cat’s mother, Marian Conway, bestselling author and defiantly mediocre parent, is on the agenda—and so is murder.
When one of the influencers turns up dead, suspicion falls on the high-profile guests. Could the killer be a jealous business partner? Or the Instagram-famous poet? The academic who takes vicious aim at the wellness movement? The empowerment guru whose wife hates him? Or Cat’s mother, who has a reputation to protect and a shocking secret to hide?
Cat’s pulled into investigating another celebrity death, but this time while struggling with the possible demise of her livelihood: The Quill & Packet is struggling financially, and may be headed toward its final edition. A convoy of protesters, angry at Cat’s reporting, has besieged the Quill’s newsroom. Can Cat rescue her mother and her newspaper, or will the killer stalking Port Ellis beat her to the deadline?
I had ‘Widows And Orphans‘ (2025) on pre-order after reading ‘Bury The Lead’, the first book in the series, last month., The first book was fun, but the main character was a little flat. I’m hoping she’ll bloom in this book. The audiobook is narrated by Marnye Young, who I thought did a good job on ‘Bury The Lead’. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample.
In a place and time unknown, two elderly sisters live in a walled garden, secluded from the outside world. For as long as they can remember, Evelyn and Lily have only had each other. What was before the garden, they have forgotten; what lies beyond it, they do not know.
Each day is spent in languid service to their home: tending the bees, planting the crops, and dutifully following the instructions of the almanac written by their mother. So, when a nameless boy is found hiding in the boarded house at the centre of this new Eden, the reality of their existence is irrevocably shattered. Who is he? And where did he come from?
I really want ‘The Garden‘ (2025) to turn out to be an engaging dystopian novel with strong Gothic undertones. I’m hoping it doesn’t slide into magical realism. Clik on the YouTube link below to hear a sample.
Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man’s severed head sits in the centre of the floor. Each of the women – the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him – has a very good reason to have done it, yet each swears she didn’t. In order to protect each other, they must figure out who did.
Against the ticking clock of a murder investigation, each woman’s secret is brought to light as the connections between them converge to reveal a killer.
‘Speak Of The Devil’ (2023) is a debut novel, which is always a bit of a gamble but I love its premise: a New Year’s Eve party in 1999 with seven women staring at a man’s severed head.
Here’s how it starts:
“31st December 1999
Fireworks pop and fizzle in the dark sky above the city, hours before the new millennium, and Maureen watches them for a second before she pushes the window open and closes the curtains. Sarah has already lit the candles, and hands her one as she sits back down.
Eight faces are illuminated, ghastly and sunken-eyed in the flickering light. Seven women sit in a semicircle, their bodies pointing towards a kind of altar in the middle of the room.
They all look at him, some of them just glancing now and then, some of them staring, unable to avert their gaze. Only one of them knew he would be here; the others are in varying states of horror at the sight of him. Even the one who brought him is horrified, maybe more so than the rest.”
It’s s good start but what really sold me was the Author’s Note that preceded it which reads:
“Speak of the Devil is about a group of brilliant women, and all their flaws. It is about the difficulty of finding justice in a society that doesn’t often listen when we tell our stories. It is informed by the world around us – by the experiences of women I know, by the news, by my own life – and therefore is very dark in places. I have included a list of resources for anyone affected by the subject matter at the back of the book.
I wrote this novel because I am always, under the skin, under the polite smile, absolutely furious.”
How could I resist a story by a furious woman?
1994: When Gardaí Julia Harte and Adrian Clancy are called out to a sleepy housing estate in Cork to investigate a noise complaint, they are entirely unprepared for what they find. What happens next will haunt Julia for the rest of her days, leaving her plagued with nightmares and terrified of the dark. There is a serial killer at work in Cork, one as clever as he is deadly. Julia may not be a detective yet, but after the harrowing events of that night, she is determined to be the one to catch him…
2024: Julia Harte has chosen just the right place to disappear. Now a retired detective with an illustrious career behind her, she has moved to a tiny cottage in a remote part of Ireland where she hopes to find peace. But then she receives a phone call from her old Superintendent – two women have been murdered, their bodies marked and staged, just like in ’94.
It’s happening again. Only this time, the stakes are even higher. Julia must return to Cork to face down a vicious killer and the memories that haunt her still. Yet Julia is no longer a naïve junior officer but a seasoned, tough professional who proves more than a match for any murderer…
‘The Dark Hours’ (2025) is another debut novel. This one is an Irish crime story set in Cork and featuring a retired detective: Irish crime, old people and sins from thirty years past coming back to haunt you – that’s my kind of book.
LIVE THE LEGEND!
Gloria “Glory” McArdle plays Vixen the Slayer in a straight-to-syndication TV show where even the fans say the villain is the better actress. The wizards of Erchanen have been searching all the worlds to find a hero, and Vixen the Slayer is the last name on their list.
The Warmother, imprisoned a thousand years before by Ginnas the Warkiller, has broken free of her ancient chains. If a hero can’t be found somewhere in all the universes to fight for them, the people of Erchanen are toast. But is it Glory they’re looking for… or Vixen?
It all seemed to be a perfectly straightforward misunderstanding when Belegir was explaining it in Glory’s dressing room. The reality—if you could call it that—isn’t just fighting for her life. Faced with a challenge like that, what can a girl do but pick up her magic sword and her stuffed elephant and give her trademark battle cry: “Hi-yi-yi-yi! Come, Camrado! Evil wakes!”
I was told recently about BAEN’s free library of Science Fiction novels. I got ‘Agent Of Change’ (1988) from there and had fun reading it so I went back to see what else was on offer. I picked ‘The Warslayer’ (2002) because it sounds quirky and satirical and I’ve never heard of it, I’m hoping it will make me laugh and maybe even think a little.
My five-year-old son Jack has been saying extraordinary things. “I remember when I was bigger,” he says. “Before I died.”
At first, we thought it was just imagination. But then he started mentioning details about our family’s lake house – things he couldn’t possibly know. He talks about his “other mommy” and describes the day my nephew drowned in the lake.
As a mother, I’m torn. Part of me wants to believe Jack, to think that somehow Zack has come back to us. But my husband is adamant it can’t be true.
Then at a family dinner at the lake house, Jack whispers something that shatters everything: “It wasn’t an accident.”
‘The Lake House Children‘ (2024) is another book featuring an older member of law enforcement. This time, it’s an FBI Agent who is about to retire. The book caught my eye because it sounds like a spooky psychological thriller (I love books where the adults are afraid of their children) and because, although it’s set on an eerie lake in America, it’s written by an Englishman who used to be a journalist on a windsurfing magazine, which is possibly even more bizarre than the plot.
Stranded in the Welsh mountains, seven reality show contestants have no idea what they’ve signed up for.
Each of these strangers has a secret. If another player can guess the truth, they won’t just be eliminated – they’ll be exposed live on air. The stakes are higher than they’d ever imagined, and they’re trapped.
The disappearance of a contestant wasn’t supposed to be part of the drama. Detective Ffion Morgan has to put aside what she’s watched on screen, and find out who these people really are – knowing she can’t trust any of them.
And when a murderer strikes, Ffion knows every one of her suspects has an alibi . . . and a secret worth killing for.
‘A Game Of Lies‘ (2023) is the second DC Morgan book. I have the first book, ‘The Last Party‘ (2022), in my TBR pile. I know I should have waited until I’d read it before I bought the next book, but the premise is just too tempting. I abhor reality TV, so schadenfreude alone should carry me through this book.
Click on the YouTube link below to hear an extract from the audiobook.
Three brothers are at the funeral. One lies in the coffin.
Will, Brian and Luke grow up competing for their mother’s love, but she is unable and unwilling to love all of them.
As adults, the competition continues. One brother always has what another one wants – status, money, success, a woman, the love of a child, his mother’s attention.
But maybe there’s a chance to even things up. Perhaps with one brother gone there would be more to go around.
II’m becoming a Liz Nugent fan. Her ideas are off-centre, her people are real and her writing is engaging. ‘Lying In Wait‘ and ‘Strange Sally Diamond’ were both five-star reads. I’m hoping that ‘Our Little Cruelties‘ (2020) will make it a hattrick.
Two mothers. Two daughters. One devastating truth.
Alex Blake was terrified of water, and had been since she nearly drowned at age five. So when police find her body in the river and rule it a suicide, her mother, Jen knows they’re wrong. But no one will listen to a grieving mother.
The police dismiss her. Her husband thinks she’s in denial. Even their neighbours, the Higgins family, urge her to accept the truth and move on. But something isn’t right. Why was Alex messaging Lia Higgins, Jen’s former best friend, the day she died? And why is Lia now so desperate to shut down Jen’s questions?
The more Jen digs into the perfect family next door, the more she realises Alex was keeping secrets. Dangerous ones. Someone knows what really happened to her daughter. And they’re determined to keep Jen from uncovering the truth.
I’ve been reading Michelle Dunne since her first novel, ‘While Nobody Is Watching’ came out in 2020. She’s gone from strength to strength. Her third novel, ‘The Good Girl’, was a hard-hitting, twisty, psychological thriller with a remarkable main character. I’m hoping that ‘A Good Mother‘ (2025), her fourth novel, will also deliver a punch.
When Nicola Bridge moves back to Dorset after years as a CID detective in the big city, the last thing she expects is for the picturesque village of Fleetcombe to become a grisly crime scene.
Jim Tiernan, landlord of the White Hart pub, has been found dead, the body staged with macabre relish on an isolated country road. As soon as she starts asking questions, Nicola realises everyone in the village has something to hide.
Frankie, the hairdresser who isn’t a skilled enough actor to conceal they’re lying about the night of the murder.
Eddie, the delivery driver whose heart starts racing every time he drives past the crime scene.
Deakins, the embittered farmer still living in the shadow of a supposedly murderous ancestor.
And even the little girl, hidden at the top of the playground slide, who’s watching them all.
Whispers. Rumours. Lies. But Nicola knows that somewhere among them, a killer is hiding in plain sight.
The cover of ‘Death At The White Hart‘ (2025) caught my attention. It’s a debut novel, which gave me pause, but when I saw that Chris Chibanall was the creator of ‘Broadchurch‘ and the showrunner for ‘Doctor Who‘ my curiosity overcame my caution. Worse case, this will be a novel that won’t fully come to life until it’s made into a TV series. Even so, it’s likely to be entertaining.
Mike Finn's Fiction 
The Lake House Children sounds intriguing. I’ll look forward to seeing what you think.
I love Baen covers. They are so distinctive, even before you see the logo. This one sounds bizarre. But possibly a fun bizarre. It has Galaxy Quest vibes.
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