Three Summers by Karen Swan #ThreeSummers @karenswanauthor @bantambooksuk #BookReview @TransworldBooks

 

1950's Italy

1957: The summer of innocence

Amongst the lemon trees, Rafaella Parisi impatiently waits for the summer visitors to arrive in her small fishing village on the coast of Puglia. She may be dating Fon Giannelli, but there is one person she longs to see: Cosimo – son of the wealthy Franchetti family.

1958: The summer everything changes

After a devastating accident at the lavish Franchetti villa, Rafa makes a vow that changes the course of all their futures . . .

1961: The summer they meet again

When Rafa and Cosi’s worlds collide, Rafa faces an agonizing choice. Is she willing to risk the life she has for the future she once dreamed of?

Three Summers by Karen Swan was published on 26 February 2026 by Bantam. My thanks to the publisher who sent this copy for review. 

This review was originally published in The Mature Times - March 2026 edition. 

Three Summers by Karen Swan is a sweeping, sun-drenched novel that completely captured my heart. Lush, romantic, and quietly devastating, it’s the kind of story that lingers long after the final page.

Set against the evocative backdrop of coastal Puglia, the novel unfolds across three pivotal summers: 1957, 1958, and 1961, each marking a turning point in the life of Rafaella Parisi. As a young woman growing up in a small fishing village, Rafa’s world is shaped by tradition, family expectations, and the seasonal arrival of wealthy visitors. Among them is Cosimo Franchetti, whose presence awakens feelings that are as intoxicating as they are complicated. What begins as a story of youthful longing soon deepens into something far more layered, as one tragic summer alters the course of multiple lives.

Karen Swan masterfully explores themes of love, choice, sacrifice, and the weight of ‘what might have been.’ The time jumps are handled with elegance, allowing the reader to see how a single moment can echo across years. Rafa is a beautifully drawn protagonist; strong, conflicted, and perfectly human, and the Italian setting is so vivid you can almost smell the lemons and feel the heat shimmering off the stone villas.

This is historical fiction at its best. If you love stories about enduring love, fate, and the courage it takes to choose your own future, Three Summers is an absolute must-read.

Karen is the Sunday Times and international best-selling author of twenty-nine books which have sold over 5 million copies around the world. 

A prolific author, she writes two novels a year and her books are known for their evocative locations. Karen sees travel as vital research, and likes to set deep, complicated love stories within twisting plots.

A former fashion editor, she lives in Sussex, England with her family and three dogs.

Instagram @karenswanauthor

The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O'Neill #TheIrishGoodbye @heatheraimeeoneill @panmacmillan #BookReview

 

Three adult sisters reunited at their childhood home must confront a shared tragedy in The Irish Goodbye – the devastatingly beautiful debut novel from Heather Aimee O'Neill.

It’s been years since the three Ryan sisters were all home together at their family’s beloved house on Long Island. Two decades ago, their lives were upended by a tragic accident on their brother Topher’s boat that drove him to suicide. Now, the Ryan women are back for Thanksgiving, but each carries a heavy secret.

The eldest, Cait, is still holding guilt for the role no one knows she played in the boat accident, when she rekindles a flame with her high school crush, Topher’s best friend. Middle sister, Alice, has been thrown a curveball threatening her career and, potentially, her marriage. And the youngest, Maggie, is finally taking the risk to bring the woman she loves home to her devoutly Catholic mother.

When Cait invites a guest to Thanksgiving dinner, old tensions boil over and new truths surface. Far more than a family holiday will be ruined unless the sisters can find a way to forgive themselves – and each other.

The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O'Neill was published on 5 February 2026 by Mantle / Pan Macmillan. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

This review was originally published in the March edition of The Mature Times.

There is something quietly powerful about The Irish Goodbye. It is a story that quietly observes, and then gently breaks your heart.

Heather Aimee O’Neill writes with an assured, emotionally intelligent voice, capturing the complicated bond between sisters with remarkable tenderness. Cait, Alice and Maggie return to their childhood home on Long Island for Thanksgiving, a house filled with memory and grief following the tragedy that tore their family apart years earlier. Each sister arrives with their own secrets and guilts, and the tension rises from the very first page.

What I loved most is the way this story unfolds through alternating perspectives. Each woman is fully created, flawed and deeply human. The author explores love, faith, sexuality, marriage and ambition with sensitivity, allowing the reader to see inside the characters’ inner lives without judgement. The setting is beautifully drawn too; the family home becomes almost a character in its own right, filled with nostalgia and pain.

This is a novel about forgiveness; of others, but more importantly of ourselves. It is about what families say, what they don’t say, and how silence can echo just as loudly as words.

Both devastating and hopeful in equal measure, The Irish Goodbye is a stunning debut: emotionally rich, thoughtful, and just unforgettable. A book to savour, and one that will stay with you long after the final page.

Heather Aimee O’Neill is the Assistant Director of the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop and the author of the poetry collection Obliterations (Red Hen Press / co-authored with Jessica Piazza) and the poetry chapbook Memory Future (Gold Line Press Award). 

As a writing teacher and developmental editor, she has helped hundreds of writers tell their stories. 

She lives in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, with her wife and two sons. 

This is her first novel.

www.heatheraimeeoneill.com

Instagram @heatheraimeeoneill

A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford #ABadBadPlace @franapunk999 @TransworldBooks #ScottishFiction

 

What happened to the dog walker who found the body?

Glasgow, 1979.

Twelve-year-old Janey won’t take her dog, Sid Vicious, for a walk. Not anymore. It’s Sid’s fault she found the murdered woman.

Janey claims she can’t remember what she saw at the abandoned railway, but the police think she’s hiding something. And they’re not the only ones interested.

Fear and rumour rip through the tight-knit community of Possilpark. Janey and her nana, Maggie, are dragged into the hunt for a murderer. And Maggie’s struggle to keep her beloved granddaughter safe becomes ever more desperate.

Because Janey’s memories can’t stay hidden forever.

And neither can the killer…

A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford was published on 12 February 2026 by Bantam Books. My thanks to the author who sent my copy for review. 

Frances Crawford’s A Bad, Bad Place is a striking and memorable debut that lingers long after the final page. Set in Glasgow in 1979, it opens with a chilling premise: twelve-year-old Janey discovers a murdered woman while out walking her dog. From that moment, the story unfolds into a tense and compelling exploration of fear, memory and community, all set against the gritty backdrop of Possilpark.

Frances Crawford places her characters firmly at the heart of the narrative. The novel moves between the perspectives of Janey and her grandmother Maggie, giving readers two very different lenses through which to experience the unfolding events. Janey’s viewpoint is especially powerful; her confusion, fear and stubborn silence feel authentic, and the way her memories surface slowly adds a constant undercurrent of tension. In contrast, Maggie’s chapters bring warmth, resilience and a fierce determination to protect her granddaughter. Their relationship anchors the novel emotionally and gives the story real depth.

The supporting cast helps bring Possilpark to life, creating a vivid sense of a tight-knit community where rumours spread quickly and everyone seems to know everyone else’s business. Crawford captures that atmosphere beautifully; the suspicion, the whispers, the unease that settles in once violence enters a place that feels so familiar.

The story builds steadily rather than racing along, this allows the mystery to deepen. The focus isn’t simply on solving the crime but on the ripple effects it has within the community, particularly on a child who has seen something she cannot quite process. This slower burn approach works well, creating a sense of mounting dread as Janey’s hidden memories threaten to surface.

One of the most distinctive elements of the novel is Crawford’s use of Glaswegian dialect, I often struggle with this. It does take a little time to settle into, but once you do, it adds authenticity to the novel. The dialogue feels natural and makes the setting seem even more vivid.

A Bad, Bad Place is an atmospheric, character-driven crime novel that stands out for its voice, its sense of place, and its emotional core. A confident and impressive debut, recommended by me. 

As a passionate advocate of lifelong learning, Frances was delighted to graduate age 60 with MLitt (Distinction) Creative Writing from Glasgow University. 

In 2023, she won Bloody Scotland/ Glencairn Crime Short Story Competition and the first chapters of her debut novel, A Bad, Bad Place, won Highly Commended in Moniack Mohr Emerging Writer 2024.

Frances grew up in North Glasgow, and credits the people of Possilpark and Milton as her writing inspiration. 

She still lives in Glasgow with her family, and likes libraries and punk rock.

X @franapunk999

How To Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson #HowToGetAwayWithMurder @BeccaPhilipson @TransworldBooks #BookReview #SerialKiller

 

Denver Brady claims to be the most successful serial killer of our time – and that’s precisely why you’ve never heard of him.

But with the publication of How to Get Away With Murder, his manual for aspiring serial killers, that’s about to change.

When a copy of Denver's book is found at a crime scene, DI Samantha Hansen is given the job of tracking down the elusive author.

As Denver and Sam’s stories unfold and converge, it becomes clear that there’s more to both than meets the eye.

And once Denver’s book goes viral, the pressure to find and bring him to justice brings Sam to breaking point.

But in this dark and twisted tale, who is hunting whom?

How To Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson is published on 12 March 2026 by Bantam. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

How to Get Away with Murder by Rebecca Philipson is a dark, clever and hugely readable crime novel that kept me turning the pages late into the night. At around 350 pages, it’s the kind of thriller that’s very easy to get engrossed with, the chapters are short, the tension builds quickly and the premise is immediately intriguing.

The novel centres on Denver Brady, a man who claims to be the most successful serial killer of modern times, and this is because nobody has ever heard of him. When his book, How to Get Away With Murder, begins circulating online, it quickly attracts attention. But when a copy of the book turns up at a real-life crime scene, the situation becomes far more sinister. DI Samantha Hansen is tasked with finding the mysterious author before more lives are lost, and what follows is a gripping investigation that slowly reveals there is far more going on beneath the surface.

One of the most compelling aspects of the novel is the “book within a book” idea. Passages from Denver’s manual are woven into the story, and the way the fictional instructions echo the real crimes adds an extra layer of tension. It’s an ingenious premise and the author is very clever with her use of it, creating a sense that the killer is always one step ahead of the police.

The investigation is led by Samantha Hansen, a strong and complex protagonist who is returning to work after a difficult period away from the job. Her determination to prove herself again, while dealing with the pressure of a high-profile case, adds an emotional thread that runs throughout the story. She’s supported by an interesting team of colleagues, and their interactions help ground the darker elements of the plot.

The story moves at a steady pace, with plenty of twists and revelations along the way. I really enjoyed how the narrative alternates between different perspectives, gradually bringing the threads of the story together. Rebecca Philipson does a great job of keeping the reader guessing without making things overly complicated.

For me, it was the concept of the novel that really sold it. The idea of a killer openly publishing a guide to murder, and daring the police to catch them, is both chilling and incredibly compelling. It creates a tense, atmospheric read that crime fiction fans will find hard to resist.

Overall, How to Get Away with Murder is a smart and entertaining thriller with a memorable premise and a satisfying mystery at its core. It’s a solid, enjoyable crime novel with a difference,  and I’ll definitely be interested to see what Rebecca Philipson writes next.

Rebecca Philipson grew up in a mining town in County Durham, where she still lives. 

Educated in a small convent, she set up her own business at 21 and won both the North East Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Artemis Award for inspirational women in business. 

Rebecca was inspired to write How to Get Away with Murder after starting a True-Crime blog during the pandemic, and becoming fascinated by the ways in which serial killers are treated like celebrities.

In her spare time, Rebecca enjoys all things book-related, netball, travelling and spending time with friends and family.

www.rebeccaphilipson.com

Instagram @rebeccajphilipson

X @BeccaPhilipson

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Saoirse by Charleen Hurtibuse BLOG TOUR #Saoirse @charleen_hurtibuse @bonnierbooks_uk @eriubooks @randomthingstours @RandomTTours #BookReview #IrishFiction

 

In the wilds of Donegal, Ireland, 1999, Saoirse is an artist living an outwardly idyllic life. Her tender husband Daithí and two beloved daughters are regular subjects for her work, and in them she has found the safe home that she has always longed for. She tends not to talk about her past, and those that love her have learned to accept that the full story is too painful for her to disclose.

When her Dublin exhibition unexpectedly wins a prestigious award that invites a swarm of publicity, Saoirse is left panic stricken. The unanticipated recognition threatens to expose a decade's worth of buried memories and past crimes. Because what her family and friends don't know is that Saoirse has been on the run since she was seventeen, she has stolen an identity to survive, and whilst Ireland might now be her home, it wasn't her first - and now her past life is poised to reclaim her.

The novel weaves between flashbacks to a complicated childhood in Michigan, and Saoirse's journey to and in Ireland to forge safety for herself.

Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubuse was published on 26 February 2026 by Eriu / Bonnier Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour 

I read and reviewed Charleen Hurtubuse's debut novel; The Polite Act of Drowning on Random Things back in July 2023. I loved that book and said at the time that I looked forward to reading more from the author. So here we are, with the much anticipated follow up; Saoirse - it's another winner for me! 

Saoirse is a quietly powerful novel that explores identity, survival, and the complicated space between reinvention and deception. Set largely in the rugged landscape of Donegal in 1999, this is a story that unfolds with a steady, thoughtful pace, revealing its emotional depth layer by layer.

Saoirse herself is a fascinating central character. An artist living what appears to be a peaceful life with her gentle husband Daithí and their two daughters, she seems to have found the stability and belonging she longed for. Her family are not only the centre of her world but also the focus of her art, and there’s a tenderness in these domestic scenes that grounds the novel beautifully. Yet from the beginning there is a quiet sense that Saoirse is holding something back. She avoids speaking about her past, and her family know not to ask questions, they do not push for more information. 

Saoirse has an art exhibition in Dublin which wins a prestigious award, and along with that comes publicity that begins to feel like a threat to her privacy.  The author handles this tension with great skill, gradually revealing why Saoirse lives with such caution. Through a series of flashbacks, the narrative moves between rural Ireland and Saoirse’s earlier life in Michigan, offering glimpses into a childhood and adolescence that shaped the woman she has become.

My mother was from Donegal and I spent every summer of my childhood there, so the setting was very familiar to me and the author has brought the place to life on the page, Donegal is wonderfully evoked. The wild, coastal landscape feels almost protective, yet also isolating, just like Saoirse’s own emotional state. It’s easy to imagine how someone seeking safety might choose such a place to disappear into, and the contrast between the quiet Irish community and the memories of America adds an extra layer of intrigue.

What stood out most for me was the complexity of Saoirse as a character. She is not always easy to understand, but she is entirely compelling. Her decisions, often made in moments of pressure or fear, reflect someone who has spent much of her life simply trying to survive.

This is an evocative and absorbing novel about the weight of the past and the fragile nature of the lives we build for ourselves. Thoughtful, unsettling at times, and deeply human, Saoirse is a memorable read that lingers long after the final page. I’d happily recommend.

Charleen Hurtubise has lived in Dublin, Ireland for over 25 years, having moved from
Michigan, USA. 

She is a teacher and artist as well as a writer, and her short fiction, essays and poetry have appeared in various publications. 

She holds an MFA Creative Writing from University College Dublin (UCD) where she has also facilitated creative writing modules.

Instagram @charleen_hurtubise

The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent #TheTruthAboutRubyCooper @liznugentwriter @penguinukbooks #BookReview

 

If my sister hadn’t been beautiful, none of it would have happened.

Ruby Cooper and her sister, Erin, live an idyllic life in their close-knit church community in Boston. But when Ruby is sixteen, she is involved in an incident that causes her family’s world to implode.

Across decades, the fallout leaves a wake of destruction behind Ruby in Dublin and Erin in Boston.

Not that Ruby wants to think about the past.

But it can’t stay a secret forever.

The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent is published on 12 March 2026 by Penguin. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.
This review was also featured in the March edition of The Mature Times.

The Truth About Ruby Cooper is one of those quietly dazzling novels that creeps up on you, it’s beautifully written and structured, and full of emotional intelligence. From the opening pages, the author confidently guides the reader with elegance. It’s a book that needs to settle for a while. 

There is, undeniably, a central theme that could feel problematic in less careful hands. It touches on sensitive territory, the sort of subject matter that risks being mishandled, sensationalised, or even misunderstood. The author approaches the themes carefully and with empathy, giving Ruby a complexity that can be infuriating and also strangely compelling. It’s a delicate balancing act, and it’s done exceptionally well.

Ruby herself is a wonderfully vivid creation; flawed, layered, and despicable, yet ultimately human. The secondary characters enrich her world without ever overwhelming it, and the relationships between them feel tender, fraught, and real. The structure, too, is masterful: the story unfolds in a way that feels natural, each piece clicking gently into place.

What lingers is the humanity of the novel. It’s thoughtful, engaging, and astute in its understanding of how we tell stories about ourselves—and how those stories can both shield and expose us, and those connected to us. 

A beautifully crafted, yet controversial read that deserves to be talked about.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Liz Nugent worked in film, theatre and television.

Her five novels - 
Unravelling Oliver, Lying in Wait, Skin Deep, Our Little Cruelties and Strange Sally Diamond - have each been Number One bestsellers and she has won five Irish Book Awards, as well as the James Joyce Medal for Literature.

She lives in Dublin.

Instagram @liznugentwriter

www.liznugent.com

Tombstoning by Doug Johnstone BLOG TOUR #Tombstoning @doug_johnstone @writerdougj @orendabooks #20YearsofDougJohnstone #ScottishLiterature

 

Your best mate just fell off a cliff in mysterious circumstances. You

were the last person to see him alive. What do you do?

If you're David Lindsay from Arbroath, you leg it – and don’t go back. Not for fifteen years.

Then Nicola Cruickshank – yes, that Nicola, the girl you always fancied but never had the guts to speak to – gets in touch. She wants you back for a school reunion. At the very place it happened. Of course you say yes. Not to lay ghosts to rest, but because you still fancy Nicola.

The thing is, if you are David Lindsay, then returning to Arbroath isn’t going to bring closure. Because when someone else tumbles off the cliffs – an act the locals now call tombstoning – David has a choice: run away again, or finally find out why people around him keep dying...

Tombstoning by Doug Johnstone was published on 12 February 2026 by Orenda Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour 

I am a massive fan of Doug Johnstone's writing. His novel Breakers is my second favourite book of all time (coming second to the incredible The Handmaid's Tale).  His voice is unique; gritty and heart felt, compassionate and witty, sweary and relevant, and perfect. 

When I heard that Tombstoning was being reissued for its twentieth anniversary, complete with an introduction by Christopher Brookmyre, I wondered how this early novel would feel two decades on. I needn’t have worried. This is a five-star read all over again: darkly funny, sharply observed and quietly devastating.

At the heart of the novel is David Lindsay, who fled Arbroath fifteen years ago after his best friend Colin fell to his death from the cliffs. David was the last person to see him alive. Colin had everything to live for. He was walking in the opposite direction. None of it made sense. So David did the only thing he felt capable of doing; he ran.

Now living in Edinburgh and working as a web designer, David is lured back to his hometown for a school reunion by Nicola Cruickshank. Yes, that Nicola, the one he always fancied and never quite had the courage to approach, although he has a hazy memory of a New Year's Eve snog. His motivations for returning are quite self serving, and that’s one of the things I loved most about this story. David is flawed, often selfish, occasionally cowardly, but always utterly believable.

The author's writing is tight and purposeful; there are no wasted words, or scenes. The pacing is beautifully controlled, the tension building really subtly that I sometimes didn’t realise quite how anxious I’d become until another death at the cliffs; an act now known locally as “tombstoning" made me feel quite terrified. It's a though the past, and the present have collided.

As in all of this author's novels, there is an incredible sense of place. Arbroath is vividly depicted; the cliffs, the sea, the small-town claustrophobia and unexpected warmth. You can almost feel the salt in the air and the weight of shared history pressing down on everyone. It’s a picture of a town that David once dismissed as small and stifling, only to discover that perhaps he hasn’t escaped it, or his own past, quite as successfully as he imagined.

There’s also a tenderness here beneath the dark humour and creeping dread. This is a story about guilt, about the stories we tell ourselves to survive, and about the uneasy business of growing up.

As debuts go, Tombstoning is remarkably assured. Reading it now, you can see the seeds of the bold ideas and emotional depth that characterise the author's more recent work. Gripping, intelligent and emotionally resonant, this is a novel that stands the test of time, and one I wholeheartedly recommend.

Doug Johnstone is the author of nineteen novels, many of which have been bestsellers. 

The Space Between Us was chosen for BBC Two’s Between the Covers, while six of his books have been shortlisted or longlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year or the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year.
Doug has taught creative writing or been writer in residence at universities, schools, writing retreats, festivals, prisons and a funeral directors.
He’s also been an arts journalist for twenty-five years.
He is a songwriter and musician with ten albums released, and drummer for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers.
He’s also co-founder of the Scotland Writers Football Club.