Book Review: The Serial Killer's Wife by Alice Hunter

Last Updated: 10 May 2025

AD* | They’re saying he’s a monster. And they’re saying she knew.

Beth and Tom Hardcastle are the envy of their neighbourhood – they have the perfect marriage, the perfect house, the perfect family.

When the police knock on their door one evening, Beth panics. Tom should be back from work by now – what if he’s crashed his car? She fears the worst.

But the worst is beyond imagining.

As the interrogation begins, Beth will find herself questioning everything she believed about her husband.

They’re husband and wife – till death do them part...

Book Review: The Baby is Mine by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Last Updated: 10 May 2025

AD* | When his girlfriend throws him out during the pandemic, Bambi has to go to his Uncle's house in lockdown Lagos. He arrives during a blackout and is surprised to find his Aunty Bidemi sitting in a candlelit room with another woman. They both claim to be the mother of the baby boy, fast asleep in his crib.

At night Bambi is kept awake by the baby's cries, and during the days he is disturbed by a cockerel that stalks the garden. There is sand in the rice. A bloodstain appears on the wall. Someone scores tribal markings into the baby's cheeks. Who is lying and who is telling the truth?

Book Review: A Public Murder by Antoinette Moses

Last Updated: 10 May 2025

AD* | 'My mother was a very difficult person, Inspector, and not always a very nice one. I can think of any number of people who would want her dead.’

The shocking murder of the archaeologist, Stephanie Michaels in the new Leotakis Gallery in Cambridge is clearly going to be a troublesome high-profile investigation from the outset. But to track down the killer, DI Pam Gregory has to travel to the Greek island of Crete where she finds herself on a journey she never expected, one which will change her life forever.

Book Review: The Boyband Murder Mystery by Ava Eldred

Last Updated: 10 May 2025

AD* | 'I have long believed that loving a boyband brings with it a wealth of transferable skills, but I'd never imagined solving a murder would be one of them...'

Harri and her best friends worship Half Light - an internationally famous boyband. When frontman Frankie is arrested on suspicion of murdering his oldest friend Evan, Harri feels like her world's about to fall apart. But quickly she realises that she - and all the other Half Light superfans out there - know and understand much more about these boys than any detective ever could.

Now she's rallying a fangirl army to prove Frankie's innocence - and to show the world that you should never underestimate a teenage girl with a passion...

Book Review: A Far Distant Land by David Field

Last Updated: 10 May 2025

AD* | A journey to a new world, but can you ever leave your old life behind...?

Australia, 1788

After eight long months at sea, The Lady Penryn has docked in Australia – transporting over 100 female convicts from England. Amongst them is a young woman calling herself Mary Murphy, serving seven years for offences of dishonesty.

Second Lieutenant Daniel Bradbury of New South Wales Marine Corps, looking to start a new life in Australia, is in charge of the female prisoners. And when Mary is bullied on board, he steps in and rescues her.

As the passengers come ashore and begin creating the new settlement of Port Jackson, Mary and Daniel grow closer, but it soon becomes clear that Mary is not who she first pretended to be.

The unfamiliar and unforgiving climate, the ever-present threat of native attack, and the residual snobbery of the old English society that travelled with them across the Equator, combine to throw obstacles in the path of this new settlement. And growing tensions threaten to pull Daniel and Mary apart.

But in the end, nothing can stand in the way of what destiny has prescribed for them...