My Year in Books 2024: December

My final book review post of the year! And as seems to be tradition, my December list is way longer than (I think) any other month's list. It's also dominated by Christmas-themed books, but I doubt that'll come as a surprise!

In case you're curious, here are my posts from the rest of the year: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson (2022)

Last month, I read Everyone on This Train is a Suspect, not realizing it was a sequel. It was a fun read, and I liked the narrator, so I was curious to go back to the first book. And I loved it. I completely fell in love with this book! The narrator is Ernest Cunningham, who makes a living self-publishing books about how to write crime fiction (with an emphasis on the Golden Age). Ern’s family is having a reunion in a mountain resort (for reasons that will become clear), and he is reluctantly attending. Pretty early on, a body is discovered on the mountain, and Ern suspects that it has something to do with his family. Because, as we know from the title, everyone in his family has killed someone. The book is written in a knowing, genre-savvy, metafictional style. Ern narrates his narration, even going so far as to tell us early on where we’ll find a death and breaking off at times to list the clues that we might want to consider. However, the characters are well-drawn, and there’s some genuinely harrowing backstory given that had me completely hooked. I really like Ernest as a narrator – he’s much more complex than the gimmick of his storytelling style. But the thing that I loved most was that, for all his explanations, narration and commentary, there’s one secret that Ernest resolutely keeps, a secret that no true Golden Age fan would ever reveal, and that made me very happy.

The Anti-Social Season by Adele Buck (2024)

Since we were away for our annual festive getaway, my thoughts turned to Christmas fiction. I don’t read a lot of romance, but it’s one of the genres that kinda dominates the festive season (along with murder mysteries), so I thought I’d dip my toe in the water. The Anti-Social Season is the story of Thea – a firefighter who’s dealing with burnout and wanting to leave her job – and Simon – a librarian. Thea is offered the job of running the fire department’s social media, and Simon (who runs the social media for the library) is tasked with mentoring her. It turns out, the two went to the same high school, and Simon had a huge crush on Thea when they were young. This is a charming enough story, with plenty of flirting and quite a bit of sex. The problem for me was that there isn’t really any reason for the two characters not to just get together from the start. Simon doesn’t really hold any ill feelings towards Thea for not noticing his crush, and there are no external factors keeping them apart. So, they do go on a date and end up in bed together pretty swiftly, and then they’re pretty much a couple for the rest of the book. I liked the characters, and the chemistry was good, but I think I need a little more suspense in a romance, or a little more build-up to the happy ending. Overall, it was a light-hearted, fun read though.

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor (2022)

The next book I read was a library book that I checked out in October. And it’s the second book this month that I completely fell in love with! This is a YA (older end of the age range) fantasy novel, so not the sort of thing I’ve been reading much lately. The eponymous hotel is a place of magic and decadence that manifests in different locations each day, promising guests a stay filled with wonder and enchantment. When the hotel comes to the town where she lives for the first time in a decade, Jani decides to orchestrate it so she and her sister (Zosa) can get jobs there. Of course, as soon as they’re inside the hotel (or maybe even before that), the cracks in the wonderous façade start to appear. Is being part of the Hotel Magnifique really such a good idea? I loved the descriptions of the hotel, and the growing air of menace. But most of all, I loved the character of Bel, who appears first as a ‘doorman’, ushering Jani and Zosa to their new jobs, but soon revealed as a much more integral part of the hotel. Bel is, by turn, attractive, mischievous, broken, traumatised, menacing and mysterious. Taylor does a really good job of making the reader get to know this character at the same pace as Jani, so our feelings towards him follow those of the heroine. Overall, this is just an incredibly fun read, and I couldn’t put it down!

The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson (2023)

’Tis the season for festive novellas. The next book I read was a quick Christmas-themed mystery. The blurb promised the ‘slickest of twists’, which may have been something over an overstatement, but there was still a nice little switch in the middle (though I’ll confess to having seen it coming). After a prologue set in New York, the story takes us back to England in 1989. An American student named Ashley is invited to spend Christmas with one of her uni friends, Emma Chapman, at a country house named Starvewood Hall. As you can probably imagine, Ashley is entranced by the Englishness of it all, and by the quaint Christmas traditions of the family and the local village. However, there’s something off about it all, and there’s an air of menace (I feel like I might use this phrase a lot in my reviews this month) to proceedings. Firstly, it’s not clear why Emma has invited Ashley to stay with her family, seeing as the two weren’t particularly close friends in London. And secondly, Ashley develops a pretty heavy crush on Emma’s brother Adam when she meets him. Through Ashley’s eyes, Adam seems like a swoon-worthy young English gent, but it’s quite clear from comments and actions by others that Adam isn’t quite the person she imagines him to be. As I say, it’s not too difficult to work out where things are going, but it’s still a very engaging read. And I did enjoy the darkness of Adam (weirdly).

The Clinic by Cate Quinn (2024)

The next book wasn’t a Christmas book, but I thought it would be nicely atmospheric. And I was right! The Clinic is a psychological thriller – not to be confused with the other psychological thrillers of the same name – set in a remote and very private rehab clinic. The protagonist is Meg, a dysfunctional woman who works in undercover security at a casino. Meg checks herself after her sister Haley, a famous singer, dies of a self-administered overdose during her stint in rehab at the eponymous clinic. Meg doesn’t believe that Haley’s death was an accident or suicide. However, her stay is only partly an undercover investigation – Meg is also an addict, hooked on alcohol and oxycodone. So, in addition to finding ways to investigate her sister’s death, Meg has to navigate her own detox and withdrawal. She meets a group of celebrities who are going through treatment together, and who knew her sister, and the dynamics between this group form part of both stories (the murder case and the rehab narrative). One of the things I liked was that, though it’s clear that some of the characters had pretty traumatic childhoods, this is presented through the odd comment and implication. The focus is on how the characters are addressing the long-term effects of childhood trauma, rather than explaining in detail how it was caused. The mystery is pretty gripping with some good clues. The solution is a bit mad, but then what else would you expect with such a setting!

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex (2021)

I bought this book in Mousehole, when we were there to see the Christmas lights. I like to read at least one book set in Cornwall during our annual holiday there, and since we stay very close to a lighthouse, this one seemed like a good fit. Stonex’s novel is about three lighthouse keepers who go missing from their tower at New Year in 1972 (yes – bonus! – this is also sort of a Christmas book). The disappearance in Stonex’s book is fictional, but there are a couple of nods to the real-life Flannan Isles case from 1900. I really enjoyed The Lamplighters. The narrative moves between 1972, showing scenes from the perspective of each of the keepers in turn, and 1992, when a novelist has decided to write a book about the case and is contacting the three women (two wives and a girlfriend) who were left behind when the men vanished. All six of the main characters are fascinating, for different reasons, and because we see things from their perspectives or in their words, it’s easy to feel very connected to them. Personally, I felt the most sympathy for Vince, the youngest and most junior keeper, whose troubled past has led him to working for Trinity House (the official authority for lighthouses). Although the book is unashamedly inspired by the 1900 case, the 1970s setting is really interesting, as lighthouses were being automated at this time, consigning the role and way of life of the lighthouse keeper to history.

The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose (2024)

Another Christmas novella now… earlier this year, I reviewed The Maid, the first book in Prose’s Molly the Maid series for my radio show. The Mistletoe Mystery is a Christmas Special (a bit of a trend this year), so although it’s part of the series, it’s not a whodunnit mystery like the others. It’s basically the story of Molly and her boyfriend Juan Manuel spending Christmas together. But his behaviour is a little odd, leading Molly to believe that there’s a different sort of mystery to be solved. There’s a lot of Christmas in this book, but I think it’s really one for fans of the series. Well, specifically, fans of the character of Molly. This book is absolutely a Christmas Special, so it wouldn’t make a lot of sense if weren’t already familiar with the series. Unfortunately, I’m not a massive fan of Molly, and this book just highlights her worst traits (she’s self-absorbed and judgemental) without allowing her to show off her better traits (she’s good at solving murders). Mostly, the story revolves around everyone at the Regency Grand Hotel bending over backwards to make sure Molly has the best Christmas ever, while she barely gives anyone else’s enjoyment a thought. I know a lot of people really like the character though, and if you’re invested in her relationship with Juan Manuel then this is a must-read instalment in the series. If, like me, you find Molly a little bit self-involved, then it might be one to skip.

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson (2024)

I started off this month by reading Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, so it was pretty obvious that I was going to be reading Stevenson’s Christmas book at some point. This isn’t as short as some of the other Christmas Specials I’ve read, and it does work as a story in its own right. I’m not sure this would be the best place to start the series, but, unlike with the last book I read, if this was your first introduction to Stevenson’s Ernest Cunningham series, you wouldn’t be completely lost. In this book, Ern is called by his ex-wife Erin who has been arrested for the murder of her partner. Erin’s partner ran a theatre project to support recovering drug addicts, and he was murdered just before Christmas (and also just before a big magic show at his flagship theatre). Stevenson’s book is as funny and knowing as his previous two, with lots of explanations as to how Golden Age detective fiction works, along with some nice commentary on the ‘rules’ of the Christmas Special that I liked. It’s structured like an advent calendar, with 23 clues in 23 chapters (Door 24 is the big reveal, of course). I’ll confess to/show off about working out a big bit of the mystery, but I was still stumped by some of the other clues – as it should be. Although the Christmas element is the appeal with this one, it’s a decent mystery outside of that. Poor old Ern though.

The Examiner by Janice Hallett (2024)

The last book I read in December was one I’d been looking forward to, but which turned out to be a little bit of a disappointment. I’ve loved all of Janice Hallett’s novels so far (including her Christmas Special, which I read last year). The Examiner is very much in the mould of her first novel, The Appeal, which I adore. The reader is presented with a series of documents, with a brief note to say that ‘something’ has happened but no further explanation. In this case, it’s a collection of reports and chat transcripts relating to a group of six art students on an MA course. As with Hallett’s other novels, there’s a lot of comedy, particularly in the chat transcripts, and her ability to let readers get to know characters through limited and non-standard storytelling techniques is, once again, incredible. However, in many ways, this novel treads the same ground as The Appeal, so it held far fewer surprises than (my favourite so far) The Twyford Code. I had some issues with the mystery itself as well, but it’s quite difficult to say what I didn’t like without spoiling the book for those who haven’t read it. Suffice to say, I prefer mysteries that look like big, shadowy conspiracies but turn out to be much more domestic in the end, rather than the other way around. I wonder if it’s time to update Ronald Knox’s Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction to include… well… things I won’t spoil here.

My Year in Books 2024: November

I read some good books this month. Admittedly, it's still a short list, but they were all good one!

If you're curious, here are my posts from the rest of the year: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October

The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale (2020)

I got this one out of the library in late October. My local library had a lovely display of spooky books set up for Halloween, which I completely ruined by checking several of them out (sorry!). Initially, I wasn’t going to get this one, as I felt like I’ve read quite a lot of non-fiction about hauntings. Also, although I enjoyed The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (the only other book by Summerscale that I’ve read), it didn’t set my world on fire. However, I did take a look at the blurb and it instantly reeled me in. This is a narrative non-fiction account of Nandor Fodor’s investigation into a poltergeist case in 1938. Alma Fielding is an ordinary woman from near Croydon who experiences a series of ‘paranormal’ incidents that she believes are hauntings. Fodor, in his role at the International Institute for Psychical Research, meets with Fielding and tries to work out the nature of the haunting. I am so glad I ignored my initial reservations and chose this book – I absolutely loved it. The way Summerscale contextualizes the haunting, not only in terms of the wider societal picture in the late 30s, but in terms of understandings and fashions in paranormal beliefs, was just wonderful. It made me think differently about poltergeists, to think about them in terms of class and geography – and there’s a beautiful line (I won’t ruin it) differentiating a poltergeist from other types of ghost that’s one of my favourite sentences of the year!

The Only One Left by Riley Sager (2023)

I got this book on the same library visit as the previous one, though it wasn’t part of the Halloween display. It probably could’ve been though, as it’s a nicely Gothic tale. It begins with a live-in carer called Kit being given a less-than-ideal assignment. In 1929 (the book is set in 1983), the Hope family were murdered in their cliff-top mansion. The only survivor was the seventeen-year-old daughter Lenora. Lenora was never charged with the murders, but the town has always believed that she was guilty. There’s even a Lizzie Borden-esque rhyme about her. A series of medical conditions have left Lenora bedridden and unable to speak, and Kit is called in to provide constant care to the seventy-one-year-old (possibly) murderess. Kit has her own darkness to deal with, which makes it hard for her to turn the job down. When she arrives at Hope’s End, she finds a decrepit 1920s mansion, complete with its own Danvers-like housekeeper, Mrs Baker. She also discovers that, although Lenora can’t speak, she can type, and she might just be ready to start typing out her story. This one has a lot of twists – some I saw coming, and some I didn’t. It’s a little reminiscent of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, but told in a very different style and tone. I loved the atmosphere of this one, and it's difficult to not find yourself rooting for a character that you really don’t expect to like. And it’s a proper page-turner too.

Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson (2023)

Completed a hat-trick of library books with this next one. I checked this one out at the same time as The Haunting of Alma Fielding and The Only One Left, and I read it in the same weekend. I wasn’t convinced initially, as the cover looked a bit derivative of some notable celebrity mystery novels that aren’t really to my taste, but I was totally swayed by the blurb from Stuart Turton (which, if you’ve read the book, you’ll know is pretty funny). This is a knowing bit of meta-fiction – a murder mystery narrated by someone who keeps up a running commentary on his own narration, breaks the fourth wall, and openly points out genre conventions. The plot is that a group of crime writers gather on a luxury train in Australia for a literary festival with a twist (it’s on a train). When one of the writers is murdered, the others (particularly the narrator) try to investigate the crime (or cover it up maybe). The plot isn’t very original, and the clues are pretty clunky and obvious, but I did enjoy this one. The story is fun to read, though most of the twists are things you’ll have seen before. I didn’t realize till I started it that this is a sequel, so I think I will be going back to the first one at some point. The writing style was very engaging, and I liked the narrator (especially because he was never quite as reliable as he believed).

My Year in Books 2024: October

Well, I've not really improved my reading-for-fun streak this month. In my defence, I was really tied up with Halloween events this month, and I had a few books to read for review. I did start another novel, but I didn't finish it by the end of the month, so sadly today's post only has one title on it.

In case you're curious, here are my posts from the rest of the year so far: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September

Coup de Grâce by Sofia Ajram (2024)

I got this in my Abominable Books box this month, and I was so intrigued by the premise that I jumped straight in. The book is about a man called Vicken who is travelling on Montreal’s Metro with the intention of ending his own life. He reaches a station at the end of the line, only to discover that there’s no exit and no trains leaving from the platform. The building that Vicken finds himself in is a labyrinthine, impossible space that defies logic. I was drawn to this idea, as I do enjoy a bit of impossible architecture. Some of the descriptions of the Metro station are dizzying and utterly bizarre, so I wasn’t disappointed in that aspect at all. To be honest, I wasn’t disappointed by anything in the book, though it’s certainly not subtle. It’s told through first-person narration, so a lot of it is about Vicken describing his state of mind to the reader. The subway station is a pretty obvious metaphor, though there are times when Vicken denies this is the case. However, the nature of the metaphor is a bit more elusive than you might expect, and there are certainly moments that will give the reader pause. Ajram uses a narrative technique in the final section of the book that I really enjoyed (though I won’t say what it is, as I don’t want to spoil it). The book resists a trite or placatory conclusion, and that really worked for me. Enjoyed this one.

My Year in Books 2024: September

Well, just one book on this month's list. Like last month, I seem to have been so busy with writing and research that I haven't had much time for reading for fun. Ah well. I'm sure I'll catch up.

In case you're curious, here are my reviews from the rest of the year so far: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August

Fellside by M.R. Carey (2016)

I loved The Girl With All the Gifts (who didn’t?), but somehow I missed Fellside when it came out. I might be late to the party, but I finally decided to put that right. Fellside is a long book, but I found myself quite immersed in it. It’s also not quite the story I was expecting. The story begins with Jess Moulson, a young woman who wakes up with horrific burns and no clear memories of how she got them. When she’s arrested and tried for starting a house fire in which a young boy died, Jess accepts that she’s done something terrible. Jess is convicted and sent to Fellside, a maximum security prison in Yorkshire. There’s something in Fellside – a ghost, I guess you could call it – that wants to speak to Jess, if she’ll listen to the message it has for her. I went into this one expecting the story to focus on the events that led up to the fire for which Jess was charged, but this turned out to be more of a side-plot. The real story is about what’s going on inside Fellside, and a drug operation run by the larger-than-life Harriet Grace. I’ll admit I worked out what was going on before the big reveal (specifically the one related to the ghost that’s speaking to Jess), and I did find some elements of the story to be a bit too drawn out. However, it’s very readable and at times I couldn’t put it down.

My Year in Books 2024: August

I only read two novels in August, as I was buried in writing for a new project I'm working on. That's my excuse anyway.

My reviews of the two books I read are below, but if you're interested, here are my reviews from the rest of the year so far: January, February, March, April, May, June, July

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward (2023)

I ended up with two copies of this book. I got it out of the library, but then I discovered that it was included in my Abominable Book Club subscription box. Obviously a sign that I needed to read it! This one is a bit of a weird one, as the premise described in the blurb doesn’t really come into the story until a good chunk of the way through. The book actually starts with Wilder Harlow arriving with his parents at Whistler Bay, a town on the New England coast, to spend the summer. He meets two other teens – Harper and Nat – and they begin a holiday friendship. So far, so coming-of-age. And when the creepy local story of the Daggerman (a shadowy figure who supposedly stalks the town) rears its head, it feels like this might be a story we already know. However, that’s not quite what’s going on in Looking Glass Sound. The first signs are the little fragmentary chapters that intersperse sections of the narrative, and a couple of chapters that are told from an entirely different perspective. The storyline described in the blurb – that Wilder, as an older man, returns to Whistler Bay to write a book – doesn’t start until the second part of the narrative. I enjoyed the utter unreliability of the narrators in this one, and there are some really subtle clues that things aren’t as they seem. However, the introduction of a supernatural element was a step too far for my tastes.

The Suspect by Rob Rinder (2024)

The second book I read this month was another library book. I’ll admit I got this one out because I liked the look of the cover, although I’m a little wary of the fashion for celebrity-authored whodunnits at the moment. And The Suspect is a whodunnit, of course. The premise is that a daytime TV presenter is murdered live on air. All signs point to the show’s celebrity chef, who is arrested and charged with the murder. As the trial approaches, junior barrister Adam Green is tasked with getting some background on the people involved in the case, but he quickly discovers that things might not be what they seem. There was a lot to like about this one, particularly the depiction of the TV world (with some characters bearing uncanny resemblance to real celebrities). However, the mystery isn’t anything mind-blowing, and it’s quite easy to see what’s going on if you’re familiar with the genre. Another issue is that this one is a direct sequel to The Trial, Rinder’s debut novel, and it does spoiler some elements of the first book. You also probably do need to have read the first book to understand who all the characters are in Green’s chambers, as the book does assume prior knowledge. If you’re not familiar with how barristers chambers work, then you might get a bit lost in places. I enjoyed The Suspect, and it was an easy read, but I struggled a bit with getting to know the secondary characters.

My Year in Books 2024: July

Time for my mini-reviews of the books I read in July. Only two books on this month's list, I'm afraid, but in case you're interested, here are my review posts from the rest of the year so far: January, February, March, April, May, June

Death by Laura Thalassa (2021)

In May, I posted about the first three books in Laura Thalassa’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse erotic romance series. You may remember, it was a bit of a revelation for me (pun intended). I loved the first three books, particularly Famine, and I was planning to wait to read the final one. I didn’t actually wait that long in the end. Death is, as I expected, a bonkers thing of beauty. The final horseman – the one we’ve been told is the worst of the four, and a ‘dour asshole’ (quote from Famine) – arrives on earth to make the Last Judgement. But Death isn’t quite the creature we’ve been led to expect. Yes, he’s terrifying. But he’s also the embodiment of the concept of Death, so his very existence is intricately connected to life. He’s also really sexy, of course, but why wouldn’t he be? Death is at once foreboding, apocalyptic, noble, melancholy, lonely and horny. And when he meets Lazarus, a woman who for some reason cannot die, he begins (of course) to question his purpose. I loved this one – Death is surprisingly easy to fall in love with, for all his utter oddity. But my favourite thing was when a familiar trio turned up to try and thwart their brother’s plans. I genuinely gave a little squeal when Famine arrived with characteristic drama. Which was embarrassing, as I was reading the book on the tram at the time. I can’t explain it, but I genuinely love this series.

The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry (2024)

The next book was one of the novels included in a recent Abominable Books box. The blurb sounded right up my street. Harry is a single mum who gets a job cleaning for Javier Castillo, a reclusive horror film director who lives an isolated life in his Chicago mansion. The house is filled with horror memorabilia, including props from Castillo’s own films. However, there is also a cloud of mystery around the director’s retreat from Hollywood and the nature of the scandal that led to it. When Castillo encourages a more social relationship, inviting Harry and her son Gabe to dinner at his house, it starts to become clear that there may be another presence in the mansion, and Harry starts to become anxious about her and her son’s safety. The set-up for this one is really great, and the titular house is atmospheric and evocative. Harry is a well-drawn character, and her reasons for staying in a job that is both demanding and kinda creepy are plausible. However, the book runs out of steam in the final third, and the pacing starts to go off as we move towards the conclusion. The problem is that the mystery just can’t be sustained. Castillo’s retreat from Hollywood happened just a few years before the book begins, so it’s a matter of a simple internet search to uncover the scandal. From there, it’s fairly easy to work out what might be going on, and the book tumbles towards a rather abrupt ending.

My Year in Books 2024: June

Time for my list of the books I read for pleasure in June. It's not my longest list, but not my shortest either. And I really liked almost of all them!

In case you're curious, here are my posts from the rest of the year so far: January, February, March, April, May

A Very English Deceit by Malcolm Balen (2009)

We were on holiday for the first couple of weeks in June, and I read a few books while we were away. We were staying in various places around North Yorkshire, and one of the places we stayed was a Landmark Trust property, built in the 1760s, that had once belonged to William Aislabie. His father was John Aislabie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer who presided over the South Sea Bubble. There was a copy of Balen’s book in the cottage, so I felt like I had to read it! I loved this book for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it helped me feel immersed in eighteenth-century history and the background of the place we were staying. Secondly, and maybe more importantly, it’s a really fun read. The story of the rampant corruption, deception and fraud perpetrated during the South Sea Bubble is almost unbelievable (or, sadly, maybe it’s actually completely believable), and it requires you to understand a bit about the social and economic circumstances of the early eighteenth century (mostly in England, but you also need to understand a bit about Scotland and France). This isn’t a period of history most people know much about – it falls between the big ‘eras’ that people know from school or popular culture. Balen tells the story with energy and humour, carrying you along with the narrative, but also giving the right amount of background information. It’s a bit mind-blowing, but it also explains a lot about modern British politics and economics.

A Death at Fountains Abbey by Antonia Hodgson (2016)

I bought this on a whim in a charity shop in Ripon, just before we went to the Landmark Trust property. I spied the name ‘Aislabie’ in the blurb, and I vaguely remembered that was the surname of the man who built the cottage we were going to. Little did I know that I was about to get temporarily obsessed with Aislabie history! I read this alongside Balen’s book about the South Sea Bubble, which was a mad experience. Hodgson’s novel is a (fictional) murder mystery, set in the 1720s on the estate of John Aislabie, who’s a central character in the story. Hodgson does a great job of making Aislabie unsympathetic (because of his role in ruining so many lives), but also sympathetic (because he’s a human being, who lost his wife and child in a fire). I’m not usually a fan of historical fiction, but I definitely enjoyed this one. Reading a non-fiction book alongside it meant I could see how much research Hodgson had done, but she uses this lightly so it doesn’t bog the story down. This is actually the third book in a series about Thomas Hawkins, a roguish investigator (of sorts), and his girlfriend Kitty. Tom is employed by Aislabie to deal with death threats he’s received at his estate at Studley Royal. But then… things escalate and a body is found. Never mind the history, I absolutely fell in love with Tom and Kitty, and I want to read more of their adventures!

The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer by Joël Dicker (2018)

Hmmm… now something a bit different (and not in a good way). I actually started this one before I read the previous two books. It was a library book that I took on holiday, as it was supposed to be a gripping murder mystery. ‘Gripping’ is not the right word for this one. I struggled through about two-thirds of it while we were in Whitby, more out of stubbornness than anything else. The story’s premise is that, in 1994 four people are murdered in a small town. The police solve the crime, but twenty years later, a journalist (Stephanie Mailer) starts to reinvestigate the case. And then she goes missing, and the original detectives have to accept that they may have made a mistake. This is a premise that sounds like something I’d enjoy. However, the execution left a lot to be desired. The dialogue is incredibly stilted – almost amateurish. At first, I put this down to the fact that I was reading the book in translation, but I quickly became disabused of this. The characters’ motivations and behaviours didn’t make any sense, and the plot is a strange mixture of convoluted and shallow. I’m not even sure why I finished this one, as I found that I really didn’t care about finding out who did the murders and why (and the Stephanie Mailer storyline really wasn’t a central part of the plot in the end). This was a really frustrating book to read, and not one that I’d recommend.

The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North (2016)

Another library book I took on holiday, but one that was a lot more enjoyable than the previous book. I’ve read a few of North’s books, so I had an idea what I was getting into with this one. Hope Arden, the main character and narrator, is a girl with a difference. People can’t remember her. That doesn’t mean she’s a bit bland and anonymous – they literally can’t remember her, and that includes her parents. People can spend time with Hope, get to know her, even be intimate with her, but as soon as she’s out of sight, she’s literally out of mind. As a young woman, Hope feels she has no choice but to turn to crime as a way to survive. Her ‘gift’ makes her very good at committing crimes, which is lucky because it stops her doing anything else with her life. Within a few years, Hope is a jet-setting, international thief, flitting from one glamorous location to another in search of bigger and better prizes (and, of course, survival). This brings her into contact with Perfection, a sinister, secretive high-end lifestyle app that’s aiming for market dominance in the creepiest possible way. What follows is partly a thriller (and a gripping one), and partly an exploration of identity and human connection. As with North’s other books, this one is pretty brutal in places, and heart-breaking in others. I think, of all her characters, I found Hope the most sympathetic and likable. I really enjoyed this one!

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley (2024)

I got really excited about this one, as I didn’t know it was coming out. I loved Foley’s first two mystery novels (though I didn’t enjoy the third quite as much). But what really excited me was that this is a book set at the Summer Solstice that was published in time for the Solstice. Publishing isn’t usually as seasonal as that! I read this one at Midsummer, of course. As with Foley’s first two novels, this is a murder mystery set at a fancy holiday resort. In this case, it’s a luxury woodland wellness retreat, run by Francesca Meadows and her architect husband Owen Dacre. The retreat is due to open at the Summer Solstice, with a grand gathering of rich guests, potential investors and (of course) social media influencers. Among the guests is Bella, a woman who looks the part but doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the guests. And among the staff are Eddie and Michelle, two locals who have decided to work at Francesca’s retreat, despite the fact that its construction and opening has mostly faced opposition from the local community. The story jumps back and forth between the events of the Solstice and its aftermath, when the police arrive to investigate a body on the beach. As with The Hunting Party and The Guest List, readers are left guessing as to the identity of the victim, as well as the culprit. I really enjoyed this one, and it was perfect to read at Midsummer.

My Year in Books 2024: May

I had quite a bit of my own writing to do this month, so I didn't read much for pleasure until towards the end of the month. I actually started the first book on this list at the beginning of May, but it took me a few weeks to read all of it, as I just couldn't find the time. In the final week of May, something very weird happened that meant I very quickly read three novels back-to-back, but more on that below!

In case you're interested, here are my reviews from the rest of the year so far: January, February, March, April

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz (2024)

I started this month with the latest in a series that I’ve really enjoyed so far. Close to Death is the latest instalment in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series. The overall premise of the series is that the character ‘Anthony Horowitz’ has been tasked by his publisher to write books based on his escapades with former police officer Hawthorne. Together, they solve fiendishly complicated murders, with Horowitz playing Watson to Hawthorne’s Holmes. I’ve loved the meta-fictional fun of these books, with references to the ‘real’ author’s career scattered throughout. Close to Death is a little different to the other books in the series. In this one, rather than investigating a crime that has happened in the ‘present’, Horowitz decides to take another look at an old case on which Hawthorne advised the police. The murder is – supposedly – solved, with the culprit already identified. Horowitz’s task is to go through the case files and write it up as a narrative, but Hawthorne only gives him a little information at a time. I liked the set-up for the crime – it takes place in a small gated estate, with a cast of quirky characters. However, I’m not sure the formula works that well. The conceit (that Horowitz has to work things out as he goes along) doesn’t quite make sense, and the investigation keeps getting side-tracked by his determination to uncover the increasingly implausible secrets of Hawthorne’s identity. I enjoyed it, but it’s not as strong as the previous books in the series.

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa (2018)

Right… time for something a little unexpected. I stumbled upon a series of books by accident while I was looking up something else online. I’ve got a bit of a thing for representations of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in popular culture, and I was searching for a horror book that I vaguely remember having some cool horsemen in it. Instead, I stumbled on Thalassa’s series… of erotic dark romance novels. I can’t pretend I wasn’t intrigued… erotic Horsemen of the Apocalypse? This I have to see. (And disclaimer: I do not generally read either erotica or romance.) The first in the series was available to read for free on Amazon Prime, so I thought I’d read it for a bit of a laugh. I’m sure you can imagine what happened next. I genuinely couldn’t put Pestilence down. The apocalypse in it is horrible – the premise is that the horsemen arrived on earth a number of years earlier, laid waste to human technology, and then disappeared. Now, the first rider has returned, bringing with him a devastating plague to complete the destruction of humanity. A hardy band of survivors draw lots to see which of them is going to attempt to kill the horseman and save mankind, and young firefighter Sara draws the short straw. But the horseman can’t be killed, and in his anger at being attacked, he takes Sara prisoner. Things… erm… develop from there. It’s brutal, violent, funny, sexy and utterly weird. And I’m inexplicably hooked.

War by Laura Thalassa (2019)

So, obviously, the next book I read was War. Of course it was. I bought it the second I finished Pestilence. The premise is kind of similar to the first book. After Pestilence relinquished his role in the apocalypse, his brother War awoke and returned to earth. If anything, War’s attack on humanity is even more horrific than Pestilence’s, not least because this book is set in Palestine and Israel, giving it a truly unsettling quality (and the book doesn’t shy away from reminding us that the Horsemen of the Apocalypse may not be any worse than humanity itself). However, War is a different type of romance character. Where Pestilence was an otherworldly being who became fascinated by the human experiences being with Sara offered (he is a virgin when they meet, though obviously not by the end of the book), War is more the swaggering, sexually dominant alpha male type. When he meets Miriam (the female lead), he announces that she is his wife, and we have something almost along the lines of forced-to-marry-the-billionaire erotica, except with the added horrors of warfare in all its pitiless cruelty. And zombies. This one has a lot of zombies. The romance here was less to my taste, partly because of the ‘you’re my wife now’ plot and partly because of a pregnancy storyline that took things in a different direction. It turns out, if I’m reading about horny horsemen, I want it to stay horny and not get all domestic. Who knew?

Famine by Laura Thalassa (2020)

I’d seen a couple of reviews – and there are suggestions in the first two books along these lines as well – that said Famine is the least human of the four horsemen. Reviews referred to him as ‘a psycho’ and ‘sadistic’, the only one of the horsemen who is torturing humans for his own personal agenda, rather than a straightforward divine plan. I was fairly certain this one would end my love affair with this series, as that doesn’t sound romantic or erotic to me. Well, here comes another plot twist… I just couldn’t get enough of Famine. The third horseman has returned after the previous two have left the scene to be all cosy with their new families, but the book doesn’t begin with his return. Instead, we’re several years into Famine’s destruction of the world. And his destruction is certainly crueller and more sadistic than anything that has come before. He seems to really be enjoying himself. Step forward Ana, a young prostitute who, it turns out, has met Famine before. The reveal of Ana’s previous encounter with the horseman, and the explanation for Famine’s particular brand of sadism, is beautiful, heartbreaking and devastatingly human. Their relationship is funnier and sweeter than in the other two books, and it manages to be both a slower burn and way hotter than in the previous two books. Turns out, when it comes to agents of divine destruction, I’m a sucker for a broken pretty boy with a thing for supernatural plants.

My Year in Books 2024: April

I didn't think I'd read much this month until I sat down to write this post. It feels like I haven't had any time for reading for pleasure, but it turns out I did read six novels. Who knew?

Reviews of the six books I read in April are below, but in case you're curious, here are my posts from the rest of the year: January, February, March

Martin Harbottle's Appreciation of Time by Dominic Utton (2014)

The first book I read this month was a library book (of course!). It’s got quite a simple premise: a tabloid journalist called Dan is frustrated by constant delays and disruptions on his daily commute, so he decides to start writing emails to the Managing Director of the train company (the eponymous Martin Harbottle). His intention is that the emails he sends will take up as much Martin’s time as Dan has lost through delays to his journey. But then, Martin Harbottle starts to respond to the emails and a weird correspondence begins. I enjoyed this book on the whole, but it did have some slightly irritating qualities. The positives: the character of Martin Harbottle is very charming, and his emails to Dan are both funny and surprisingly touching. The format of the book (entirely told through the emails) is something I enjoyed a lot. The negatives: Dan is not a likeable character in the slightest. His attempts at humour are grating, and he lacks self-awareness about how his behaviour impacts on those around him. While Martin does attempt to gently correct some Dan’s worst tendencies, this doesn’t get through to him in any meaningful way. There’s a whole load of background about the demise of the News of the World (or a fictionalized version), Dan’s wife’s post-natal depression, and Dan’s grief for his father, that doesn’t really go anyway. In the end, I found myself gleefully hoping that Dan’s trains would be delayed even further, just to annoy him.

Final Cut by S.J. Watson (2020)

I got sucked in by the blurb of this one, even though it’s a genre that I’m trying to avoid at the moment. A filmmaker called Alex travels to a small Yorkshire seaside town called Blackwood Bay to make a documentary. Alex wants to make a film about the town itself, which is a ‘ghost town’ due to economic decline and diminishing tourism, but her production company push her to investigate the town’s darker secrets, particularly the story of a teenage girl who’s gone missing. Alex (who, in case you hadn’t guessed, has dark secrets of her own) knows that there have been a couple of girls who’ve gone missing from Blackwood Bay over the past decade, and one of them (a girl called Daisy) is believed to have killed herself. Given that Watson is best-known for Before I Go to Sleep, it wasn’t a surprise to find memory issues being part of the plot in this one as well. This time, it’s fugue states and dissociation, and as with the previous book, you have to suspend a bit of disbelief about whether memory really does work in such a neat and narratologically convenient way. The story that’s revealed about Blackwood Bay isn’t mind-blowing, and some of the reveals are easy to guess. My favourite part of the book was the setting, and I enjoyed the moments when Blackwood Bay itself became the main character. Overall, an easy and enjoyable enough read but not the most exciting book I’ve read.

The Spoiler by Annalena McAfee (2011)

Not sure why journalism ended up being a mini-theme this month, but here’s the second book I read about nefarious Fleet Street journalists (although the first one wasn’t explicitly about Fleet Street, of course). McAfee’s novel juxtaposes two different types of journalism – and two different types of journalist – both of which are now a thing of the past. The main story is set in 1997, in the final days of print’s supremacy (there’s a subplot about the rise of a newspaper’s website that’s rather entertaining). Tamara Sim works for The Monitor, a respectable broadsheet, but finds herself stuck writing fluff pieces for the paper’s gossip and lifestyle section. Out of the blue, she is asked to write a 4000-word article about veteran correspondent, Honor Tait, whose stellar career has included reporting on (among many other things) Nuremberg and the Korean War. Tait is very reluctant to engage with Sim, and Sim is comedically out of her depth talking to Tait. This is interspersed with drafts of Tait’s own attempt to reformulate her memoirs, which hint at the possibility of another side to the feted journalist’s life and work. The pace is a bit slow, and the humour is uneven, but there’s something quite engaging about Sim and Tait. The ending is pretty clever too, though I won’t give anything away about that. Reading the book in 2024 is interesting too, as you’re looking at a 2011 take on a 1997 take on journalism through mid-2020s eyes, which is oddly fascinating.

The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan (2022)

Another psychological thriller now, and I chose this one because I’m a sucker for the ‘cottage in a remote location’ setting. Three couples are due to stay at Dark Fell Barn, a holiday cottage on a remote farm, for a get-away. On the first night, only the wives arrive at the cottage, as their husbands have all been delayed for different reasons. When they get there, a gift is waiting for them – a bottle of champagne, with a card warning them that one of their husbands is about to be murdered. Cue storms, stumbling around looking for mobile reception, running down an uneven country track in the dark, and generally distrusting one and another (and the absent husbands). A fourth figure – Edie – looms large over the story, though she is not at the cottage with the others. The women’s husbands have all been friends since school, and Edie has been an integral part of their group since then. They were a bit in love with her, but it was Rob who Edie chose. The story takes place after Rob’s tragic death, with Edie staying away from the group in her grief. But is she somehow behind the sinister gift? Does she blame someone in the group for Rob’s death? This one is a quick and easy read. There are a few surprises, a few games being played with first-person narration, and a few red herrings, but ultimately it doesn’t go much further than that. I enjoyed it well enough though.

The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton (2024)

I got this one as soon as it came out, because I absolutely loved Turton’s debut novel (The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) and because the premise looked intriguing. The story is set after the apocalypse (or maybe during, if things don’t go to plan). Humanity has been nearly eradicated by a mysterious fog filled with dangerous flesh-eating insects. The last few survivors have made it to an island, protected by a shield that can keep the fog at bay. The island is run by ‘Elders’, three scientists who are desperately working on a solution, and inhabited by villagers, who maintain a highly regulated lifestyle under the command of the Elders, aided by an AI (a sort of post-apocalyptic Siri). Or so it would seem… All this is thrown into question when Niema, the leading scientist on the island is murdered, and her death causes the island’s security system to begin to shut down. On top of that, everyone’s memories of the event have been erased. One of the villagers, Emory, is tasked with solving the murder, and she has just 107 hours to work out what has happened or the shield will drop and the fog will engulf the island. But as Emory tries to work things out, she discovers far far more than she bargained for – the truth about the island, the Elders and even the villagers themselves is much more complicated than she could have imagined. I really enjoyed this one, and I couldn’t put it down!

My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino (2024)

This was the last book I read this month, and I finished it just at the beginning of May. I thought it would be a good one to read as Beltane began. And it was, but I have mixed feelings about it. I got the novel in my Abominable Books horror subscription box, and it had all the hallmarks of folk horror. The protagonist is Leah, who lives in small-town Winston, Pennsylvania. Leah tries to be good, going to church and school, and taking care of her baby brother Owen. The girls in the town know that if they aren’t good, then they will be taken by the Lord of the Wood (as others have been). But Leah is tired of being good – and she harbours a secret – so one night she asks the Lord of the Wood to take her baby brother away. (And yes, this is all as Labyrinth-y as it sounds, which is only lightly lampshaded.) The town turn against Leah and demand that she retrieves her brother… and this is where I started to have mixed feelings. It turns out, it’s not actually folk horror. The bigoty of the town is painted with such heavy-handed stokes, and there is absolutely no menace at all to the Lord of the Wood or his domain. And when you find out how sexy and sweet the Lord of the Wood is, you realise this book belongs to a very different genre. It’s an okay read – but it isn’t horror.

My Year in Books 2024: March

Just one book on this month's list. It's been a busy few weeks, and I haven't had a lot of time for reading. It's a good book, though, and one I'd definitely recommend!

If you'd like to see my other reviews from this year so far, they're here: January, February

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce (2020)

I’ve really enjoyed the other books by Rachel Joyce that I’ve read, particularly (as will come as no surprise) The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I was a little trepidatious about this one as it’s not set in the present day, and I’m not a massive fan of historical fiction. Okay, the 1950s isn’t the most historical you can get, so it wasn’t too much of a worry. The Miss Benson of the title is Margery Benson, a woman in her mid-forties who has led a pretty mundane and unfulfilling life. Margery works as a domestic science teacher, earning very little money and absolutely no respect from her colleagues or her students. Since she was a girl, Margery has dreamt of travelling to New Caledonia in search of a golden beetle that may or may not exist. One day, pushed to the edge, Margery walks out of her job, places an ad in the paper for an assistant, and starts making plans to go. Unfortunately, her advert doesn’t get the calibre of applicants she was hoping, and she somehow ends up boarding the ship with a younger woman called Enid Pretty, who is literally the antithesis of Margery. It’s not too much of a spoiler to say these two women will discover an unexpected friendship, and it’s also not a spoiler to say (in a book by Rachel Joyce) that this discovery will be both joyful and melancholy. But mostly joyful. The ending made me cry as well, as expected.

My Year in Books 2024: February

Time for this month's list, but it's not a very long with this time. I read two novels for pleasure in February, but I guess that's better than none.

My reviews for this month are below, and if you're interested my other post from this year is here: January

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes (2023)

This month began with a library book, and one with (surprise, surprise) an intriguing premise. Maya lives in Boston with her boyfriend, but one night she sees a video that brings back memories of a traumatic event from her past, so she travels back to her hometown to make sense of it all. That might sound a bit pedestrian, but there are some things you should probably know. The traumatic event was that Maya’s best friend Aubrey dropped down dead without explanation, after talking to Maya’s boyfriend Frank. And the video that she saw was of the same thing happening to another girl… and Maya recognized the man she was talking to as Frank. Another important thing to know is that Maya is going through benzodiazepine withdrawal at the start of the story, and she’s self-medicating with alcohol. Maya returns to her mother’s house to try and make sense of these events and her own unreliable memories, and to prove that Frank had something to do with Aubrey’s death. By doing this, Maya also reconnects with her family history and rediscovers the book that her Guatemalan father was writing at the time of his death (which happened before Maya was born). There’s quite a lot going on here, and some parts of the book are really compelling. I’m not sure the Frank storyline was really for me, though, as for all the intrigue, the explanation was a bit simplistic and far-fetched. Maya’s family relationships and background were much more engaging.

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (2022)

I really enjoyed Foley’s previous novels The Hunting Party and The Guest List, so I was looking forward to this one. Sadly, I’m not sure it quite lived up to its promise. The book is (funnily enough) set in a weird old apartment building in Paris. Jess – a woman with a rather messy lifestyle – arrives at the building to stay with her half-brother Ben. But when she gets to Ben’s apartment, he’s nowhere to be seen. After a while, Jess starts to suspect that something bad has happened to Ben. The book is actually told through multiple perspectives, so we learn more about the other inhabitants of the apartment block, as well as their relationships with Ben. Unfortunately, the big reveals that are to come are quite obvious early on, so it becomes a case of waiting to see when Jess will catch up. I enjoyed the setting – which I expected to, given the author’s previous work – but the characters were quite difficult to deal with. It wasn’t so much that they were unlikeable, though they all were, but rather that I struggled to understand the motivations for their behaviours. The final explanation put some of the weird behaviour into perspective, but there were multiple minor weirdnesses that were never quite explained. It felt a bit like the characters had to behave oddly in order to keep the mystery going. If they’d all just tried to behave normally, Jess would have figured out what happened to Ben a lot sooner.

My Year in Books 2024: January

A new year and a new set of book review posts. I read quite a bit in December, but actually I've been struggling a bit with reading for fun again. I've got plenty of books on my to-read pile, but I've been find it hard to find the time and the concentration for reading them all. I'm hoping this will get better as the year goes on though.

That said, I did read two amazing books in January!

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett (2023)

I’ve absolutely loved all of Janice Hallett’s books, so I was definitely looking forward to this one. I got this one out of the library on a recent visit, and as I had a day off I decided to read it all in one go. Like Hallett’s other books, this one has a quirky narrative format and tricksy storytelling style. It’s not quite as tricksy as The Appeal and The Twyford Code, and so it’s slightly easier to work out what you’re looking for and where the clues are in this one. The story is about a true crime writer, Amanda Bailey, who is tasked by her publisher with looking into the case of the Alperton Angels, a cult who committed mass suicide seventeen years ago. The so-called Alperton Angels had planned to sacrifice a baby prior to their deaths, but this plan was thwarted and the baby – along with its teenaged parents – were removed from the scene. No one knows what happened to the baby afterwards, but now that it will be reaching eighteen years of age, Amanda thinks this might be the angle she needs for her book. Unfortunately, an old colleague/rival, Oliver Menzies, is also writing a book on the case, so Amanda has to try and stay one step ahead of him. Of course, this being a book by Janice Hallett, things aren’t quite what they seem. I really enjoyed this one, though it didn’t quite beat The Twyford Code for me. Very engrossing story though!

Five Minds by Guy Morpuss (2021)

I read Morpuss’s second novel Black Lake Manor at the end of 2022/beginning of 2023, and really enjoyed it. I don’t know why it took me so long to read his debut novel, but I’m glad I have done now. The story is set in the near future when an undefined totalitarian regime has stepped in to control overpopulation and depletion of resources. Human beings now have a choice of how to live: be a worker (live your life as normal, but work for it), be an android (have your consciousness downloaded into an artificial body with a lifespan of 80 years), be a hedonist (enjoy your life without having to work, but only with a lifespan of 42 years), or join a commune (five minds inhabiting one body, enjoying 5 lifespans). This is the story of a commune made up of Alex, Kate, Mike, Sierra and Ben, who are each conscious for 4 hours a day, controlling the body that they all share. So far, so Black Mirror. But Five Minds is actually so much more intriguing (and the mind-bendy sci-fi context is very light-touch). It’s a mystery novel told through multiple narrators who can never co-exist or communicate with one another. Someone is trying to kill off members of the commune, and it’s possible one of the members is a traitor – but how can they ever work out the truth, if they each only get four hours at a time? This is such a good book – highly recommended.