I haven’t been able to settle to anything this week. Partly it’s the dreary, wet, cold, grey weather that I’ve returned to; partly it’s all the small things that eat at my time like midges biting into me and partly it’s because I know that I’m trying to figure out what to do next. My reading suffered a little but my book buying got a ‘lift me out of this mood’ boost.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve read and bought this week and what’s up next.

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I’ve only finished two books this week, both by authors I’ve read before. One was a bit disappointing and one was a lot of fun.

Constance Campbell has made a few questionable decisions in the run-up to her 40th birthday. So in a way, moving 2,000 miles away from everything she’s ever known makes perfect sense.
Creel Creek, Virginia, is the last place either of her ex-husbands would ever think to look for her. What better place to hide from her humiliations than a town too small to warrant a mention on a map?
Laid off, and recently divorced from husband number two, this former workaholic moves in with her estranged – and very strange – grandmother. A grandmother who informs Constance that she comes from a long line of powerful witches. And on the day she hits the big 4-0, she’ll come into her powers.
It turns out that she’s not the only paranormal person in town. Under the sleepy surface, the small town is teeming with supernatural beings.
When Constance finds the town’s resident vampire dead, things go from surreal to scary. The local sheriff is convinced that a killer is lurking in the shadows, hunting anyone with supernatural abilities…including witches like her.

I picked this up because I enjoyed ‘The Scrying Game‘ (2021). ‘Midlife Curses‘ (2020) was the debut novel by the same husband-and-wife writing team who publish as Catherine Zane Thomas. It was also included in my Audible membership, so my wife and I decided to listen to it on a long drive.

‘Midlife Curses‘ was a little disappointing. It was entertaining enough to enliven a long drive through the rain, but it didn’t leave me with any interest in reading the next book in the series. 

Three things caused the book to fall short of its potential:

• The main character is too passive. She’s supposed to have been a co-founder of a successful start-up in Silicon Valley, but there’s no sign of the energy, organisation or drive that you need to survive there in her behaviour once she hits this small town in Virginia. OK, she’s about to turn forty, her past is in ashes, and she’s just discovered that she’s a witch living in a town full of covert supernaturals plus a murderer, but even so, her lack of oumph made the novel drop in the middle like a cake that’s failed to rise.
• The pacing was off. There were some exciting action scenes and some surprising plot reveals, but they didn’t hit as highpoints.
• Cris Dukehart’s narration was flat. She seemed particularly to struggle with the podcast episodes that drive part of the plot. They came across as lifeless, and it was hard to tell the voices of the two women podcasters apart. 

A man from Callum’s past shows up claiming he lost the last herd of unicorns — and his sister.
Should be a hard pass, but Callum can’t resist a damsel in distress.
Now G&C London, Private Investigators, are diving into Leeds’ magical underbelly, dodging criminal dynasties, cross-dressing trolls, attack lizards, and philosophical donkeys.
Find the sister. Get out before the Watch gets involved.
Why? They’ve killed me three times already.
Yeah. I preferred extinct unicorns

This was my third visit with Gobbelino London, and the best so far. I think this series has finally hit its stride. 

This time, Gobbelno is at the heart of the action, the plot is darker and more complicated, and I got to learn more about Callum’s backstory. 

As usual, the humour leavens the story, and the action scenes are a joy.

Now I understand why this series is so popular. I’ll be back for more soon.

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This week, I’ve been buying books so that I have something to look forward to (apologies to all the wonderful books in my TBR pile but there’s no denying the call of the new). One of the three audiobooks is a novel that I’ve been waiting for, The other two are my wife’s choices from recently published novels. The four Kindle books are all ‘They’re only£0.99 each, and they look interesting so where’s the harm?’ choices.

It’s the summer of 1985 and the residents of Delmont Close are preparing a neighbourhood barbecue to watch the biggest music event in history: Live Aid. A day like no other that will end having reached millions and changing the lives of all who attend.

House-proud Lydia Gordon, whose idols are Princess Di and Delia Smith, is determined to put on a show that will impress everyone – with her posh garden and state-of-the-art television, and her sweet husband and two children, Hanna and David.

But as the guests flood into number nine, so do all of the secrets that have been kept in the close.

Rita, a new neighbour from Australia, is hoping for a fresh start but harbours a shocking event in her past; Steve, a young Falklands veteran, battles his own demons; and Mr Wilson is surely too good-looking to ever be trusted.

But as the hours count down to the last performance of the night, it’s Lydia who faces the heart-breaking truth that her immaculate home and flawless family might not be so perfect after all.

And if each of their neighbours is guilty of hiding something, so are the Gordons at number nine …

I loved Jennie Godfrey’s debut novel, ‘The List of Suspicious Things’ (2024), so I bought her second novel as soon as it was published on Thursday. 

I remember the day of the Live Aid concert very clearly. It was my last summer in London. The concert was on a sunny Saturday, and my not-yet-wife and I listened to the concert on the radio in a bedsit in Chalk Farm. I’m hoping that Jennie Godfrey will revive some of those memories and wrap them around an intriguing plot. 

Welcome to the Poppy Fields, where there’s hope for even the most battered hearts to heal.

Here, in a remote stretch of the California desert, lies an experimental and controversial treatment center that allows those suffering from the heartache of loss to sleep through their pain…and keep on sleeping. After patients awaken from this prolonged state of slumber, they will finally be healed. But only if they’re willing to accept the potential shadowy side effects.

On a journey to this mystical destination are four very different strangers and one little dog: Ava, a book illustrator; Ray, a fireman; Sasha, an occupational therapist; Sky, a free spirit; and a friendly pup named PJ. As they attempt to make their way from the Midwest all the way west to the Poppy Fields—where they hope to find Ellis, its brilliant, enigmatic founder—each of their past secrets and mysterious motivations threaten to derail their voyage.

This is Nikki Erlick’s second novel. Like her first, ‘The Measure‘ (2022), it’s a high-concept piece of speculative fiction. My wife picked this one out on the basis of the premise. 

We went with the audiobook version, which has ten narrators and high production standards. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample. 

If you want a story that will change your life, Chiron’s bookshop is where you go. For those lucky enough to grace its doors, it’s a glimpse into a world of deadly bargains and powerful, magical books.

For Cassandra Fairfax, it’s a reminder of everything she lost, when Chiron kicked her out and all but shuttered the shop. Since then, she’s used her skills in less . . . ethical ways, trading stolen books and magical readings to wealthy playboys looking for power money can’t buy.

Then Chiron dies. And if Cassandra knows anything, it’s this: the bookshop must always have an owner.

To restore the shop, she’ll need the help of Lowell Sharpe, a rival bookseller who is everything Cassandra is not – and knows it, too.

But as she is plunged into a world of unscrupulous collectors, deadly ink magic and shady societies, a dark force threatens to unravel the bookshops entirely . . .

This was also my wife’s pick. We almost bought the hardback because it’s gorgeous, but decided to go with the audiobook first as neither of us has read Georgia Summers before. The plot sounds border-line Romanstasy to me but it’s about bookshops and magic (it’s not a big stretch for me to link those two) and it’s set in contemporary London, so I’m hoping it will be an exciting fantasy.

Beyond the edge of the galaxy lies the Unknown Regions: chaotic, uncharted, and near impassable, with hidden secrets and dangers in equal measure. And nestled within its swirling chaos is the Ascendancy, home to the enigmatic Chiss and the Nine Ruling Families that lead them.

The peace of the Ascendancy, a beacon of calm and stability, is shattered after a daring attack on the Chiss capital that leaves no trace of the enemy. Baffled, the Ascendancy dispatches one of its brightest young military officers to root out the unseen assailants. A recruit born of no title, but adopted into the powerful family of the Mitth and given the name Thrawn.

With the might of the Expansionary Fleet at his back, and the aid of his comrade Admiral Ar’alani, answers begin to fall into place. But as Thrawn’s first command probes deeper into the vast stretch of space his people call the Chaos, he realizes that the mission he has been given is not what it seems.

And the threat to the Ascendancy is only just beginning.

I’ve never read a Star Wars novel. There are so many of them, written by so many authors, that it’s a little daunting to know where to start. I decided to start in ignorance. If I were a deeply committed Star Wars fan, I’d know who Thrawn was, but I’ve just been watching the movies at the cinemas as they came out from 1977 onwards, and I haven’t come across him, so I picked his backstory as my starting point. Who knows, this may be the start of a new reading addiction. 

New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson’s Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder. 

Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family—which includes his Methodist minister father; his passionate, artistic mother; Juilliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother—he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years. 

I read William Kent Kreuger’s ‘Iron Lake‘ (1998), the first book in the Cork O’Connor series, in 2014. I liked the writing, but couldn’t get inside O’Connor’s head, and I was put off by the heavy use of foreboding. I’ve never gone back to the series, but I’ve seen lots of praise for Kreuger’s writing, so, when I was offered a copy of his standalone historical novel ‘Ordinary Grace‘ (2013) for £0.99, I decided to take a look. found that it had won a whole bunch of Best Novel awards: Barry Award for Best Novel (2014), Anthony Award for Best Novel (2014),  Edgar Award for Best Novel (2014), Left Coast Crime Award for Best mystery set within the United States (The Squid) (2014) and decided to give it a go.

One week into lockdown, the tenants of a Manhattan apartment building have begun to gather on the rooftop each evening and tell stories in this exciting new twist on the novel.

With each passing night, more and more neighbours gather, bringing chairs and milk crates and overturned buckets. Gradually the tenants – some of whom have barely spoken to each other before now – become real neighbours.

With each character secretly written by a different, major literary voice – from Margaret Atwood to John Grisham and Celeste Ng, Fourteen Days is a heart-warming ode to the power of storytelling and human connection.

Includes writing from: Margaret Atwood, Sylvia Day, Emma Donoghue, Dave Eggers, Diana Gabaldon, Tess Gerritsen, John Grisham, Erica Jong, Celeste Ng, Tommy Orange, Doug Preston, R.L. Stine, Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Meg Wolitzer and many more.

This sounds like an interesting experiment: a collaborative novel, set during lockdown and written by authors whose books I’d normally buy. I’m looking forward to finding out how well it works.

A knock on the cabin door on indigenous land in the wintry woods of Minnesota.

Tap tap tap.

Driving down the boreal roads of rural Minnesota to his one-room cabin after a long shift, Dr. Alder’s eyes snap open, his old Civic screaming to a stop in front of a massive bull elk, its head tilting back unnaturally, its maw open. Comet Goodwin, the closest comet to Earth in modern history, lights up the sky in an otherworldly greenish tint with its long, jagged tail of fire.

Tap tap tap.

Alder’s world ignites in a blinding white flash. The car windows shatter inward. The elk is gone. A sharp smell fills his nostrils. His phone is dead.

If he can get the car started again and get back to his cabin, maybe he can make sense of all this…but first he must survive the frozen silence of the night and the evil that stalks within it.

We must stay together always.

Another £0.99 offer. I hate the cover but like the premise so I’m rolling the dice and hoping to find a new author to follow.

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For my next reads, I’ve picked escapist novels: one about a doctor to the supernatural community, one about an assassin returning to work after the birth of her first child and one about a woman who cleans crime scenes for a living.

When Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, is called to Paris to present at a medical conference, she expects nothing more exciting than professional discourse on zombie reconstructive surgery.

Unfortunately for Greta, Paris happens to be infested with a coven of vampires – and not the civilised kind. If she hopes to survive, Greta must navigate the maze of ancient catacombs beneath the streets, where there is more to find than simply dead men’s bones.

I read ‘Strange Practice’ (2017), the first book in this series six years ago. I’ve been meaning to get back to it ever since. I bought this book thinking I’d use it in last year’s Hallowen Bingo but it didn’t make the cut so I’m dragging it to the top of my TBR pile this week.

It’s Lex’s first day back at work after maternity leave. She worries about the separation from her daughter as she leaves her with the nanny – but it’s normal to worry, right? But Lex isn’t a ‘normal’ mother. She’s an elite-trained killer who works for a covert department within Her Majesty’s Secret Service. She’s just been given the assignment of her life, but can she juggle motherhood with the life of an assassin?

I love the premise. If the humour works, it should be a lot of fun. There’s a second book in the series, ‘The Nursery‘(2019) and Asia McKay has just published a novel with the intriguing title ‘A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage‘.

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner. But the bloody messes don’t bother her, not when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister being pushed in front of a train.

But the killer was never caught, and Cora is still haunted by his last words: bat eater.

These days, nobody can reach Cora: not her aunt who wants her to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, not her weird colleagues, and especially not the slack-jawed shadow lurking around her doorframe. After all, it can’t be real – can it?

After a series of unexplained killings in Chinatown, Cora believes that someone might be targeting East Asian women, and something might be targeting Cora herself.

Soon, she will learn . . . you can’t just ignore hungry ghosts. 

I’d been havering about adding Kylie Lee Baker’s ‘Keeper Of Night‘ fantasy series to my TBR. When I saw that she’d produced a standalone novel and that it was being promoted on Amazon for £0.99, I decided to use it to sample her work. I love the original title for this novel (which doesn’t seem to be being used in the UK), ‘Bat Eater And Other Names For Cora Zang.’