Some Of Us Are Liars by Fiona Cummins #SomeOfUsAreLiars @FionaAnnCummins @fionacumminsauthor.bsky.social @laurasherlock21 @panmacmillan.bsky.social‬

 

She must face justice. As her sister it kills me to say it. As his mother I demand it.

When Jen Miller entrusts her youngest child to the care of her beloved sisters, she has no idea of the devastating tragedy that is about to unfold.

To celebrate her sister's wedding, global superstar Winter Kellaway throws the party of the decade at her luxurious beachside estate. The decorations are flawless. The champagne is on ice. The guests have arrived. But one misstep will have heartbreaking consequences that will rock this close-knit family to their core.

With her life in pieces, how can Jen ever begin to forgive?

Saul Anguish, a brilliant but tormented young detective, is called in to investigate and uncovers a long-buried and shocking family secret. As the trail takes a dramatic turn, they must now all face the truth that you can never truly leave the past behind . . .

Some Of Us Are Liars by Fiona Cummins is published on 19 June 2025 by Macmillan. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

This author burst onto the scene in 2017 with her two DS Fitzroy novels, she then delivered some stand alone books and more recently she has introduced us to DS Saul Anguish.  I have devoured every single one of her books, she is an incredible talent. She writes beautifully, always with compassion and empathy even when dealing with the darkest of issues. 

Some Of Us Are Liars is not the traditional thriller, it is more of a slowly unfolding family drama. The title is very apt as the reader is never quite sure if the narrators are truthful or not.  We know that there has been a terrible incident which tears this family to pieces. These three sisters; Winter, Jenn and Alyssa have always been close.  Winter is a world famous actress and single, Jenn has two children with Phil and they are about to marry, Alyssa's daughter is just a few weeks old.

It is Jenn's wedding day and her small son Teddy is with her two sisters and the wider family whilst she gets ready. A terrible incident happens and Jenn's whole life changes in a couple of seconds. Will she ever be able to get over this?  Will she ever be able to even look at her sister again? 

DS Saul Anguish is investigating the incident and what he discovers will change the family dynamic forever. Long buried secrets are about to be uncovered and it becomes clear that the past can never be wiped out or changed. 

Saul doesn't play as big a part in this novel, although things are not looking great for him and Blue. He's a dark and solitary figure with his own demons which are sometimes a little macabre. The ending of the story makes it clear that he's not as far under the radar as he thinks he is! 

With her trademark beautiful writing, this is another well thought out and absorbing novel that raises so many questions. The issues touched upon are often emotionally challenging, but always dealt with sensitively. Recommended by me. 

Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former journalist and a graduate of the Faber
Academy Writing a Novel course. 

Rattle, her debut novel, was the subject of a huge international auction and has been translated into several languages. It received widespread critical acclaim from authors and reviewers. 

She has since written bestsellers The Collector, The Neighbour, When I Was Ten and Into the Dark in which she introduces DC Saul Anguish, a brilliant young detective with a dark past. 

Fiona lives with her family in Essex.

X @FionaAnnCummins

IG @fionacumminsauthor

@fionacumminsauthor.bsky.social‬

The Death of Us by Abigail Dean #TheDeathofUS #AbigailDean @Hemlock_Press #BookReview

 

It’s the story everyone wants to hear.

That spring night in South London, when Isabel and Edward’s lives were torn apart.

The night Isabel learned that the worst things wait, just outside the door.

The night Edward learned that he was powerless to stop them.

The night they never talk about.

When their attacker is caught, it's finally time to tell the story of that night.

Not to the world. Or to the man who did it. But to each other.

This is a story of murder. This is a story of survival. But most of all, this is a story of love.

The Death of Us by Abigail Dean was published on 10 April 2025 by Hemlock Press; the crime imprint from Harper Collins. 

I read and reviewed both of Abigail Dean's previous books; One Day and Girl A. I really like her writing style and her subject matter. She chooses to write about very dark subjects but she does it with such style and ease. I had been looking forward to The Death of Us for months. 

The novel is unusually structured and is narrated by the two lead characters; Isabel and Edward. Isabel's chapters are told in the first person with Edward's sections being narrated in the third person. This is such a great way to distinguish between voices. The events take place over twenty-eight years but the story is not in chronological order.  The reader is taken back and forth, from the now to the then and back again. 

Isabel and Edward were attacked in their own home when they were aged thirty. Their attacker, known as the South London Invader, had many victims over the years, and whilst Isabel and Edward both survived, their marriage did not. 

Twenty-eight years later and retired police officer Nigel Woods has been caught and identified as the South London Invader. It is his court case and victims are invited to submit and read a victim statement. Isabel and Edward have reunited for the trial. Isabel is so keen to read out her statement. Edward is not so happy at the thought of reliving that time, or even thinking about how that one violent act seemed to have ended his marriage. 

This is a tense, deeply moving and very emotional novel. The reader feels like a sometimes unwelcome onlooker, being exposed to Isabel and Edward's innermost thoughts and the flaws and cracks in their relationship that are not going to be mended. 

Isabel's narration, spoken directly to Nigel Woods is almost suffocating at times, it is so very honest and open, yet bleak and almost unbearable at times. Edward's words and actions seem to be more measured, yet he still has many issues to address during the novel. 

This is disturbing, yet beautifully and flawlessly written. It is a gripping thriller, it is also the story of a marriage,  a story of love and a story of survival. Highly recommended.

 

Abigail Dean was born in Manchester and grew up in the Peak District. 

Abigail has worked as a Waterstones bookseller and a lawyer. 

Her debut novel, Girl A, was a New York Times and Sunday Times top ten bestseller and a Kindle number 1 bestseller. 

The rights to Girl A have sold in 36 territories and a television series is being adapted with Sony.

IG @abigailsdean

A Maid on Fifth Avenue by Sinéad Crowley BLOG TOUR #AMaidonFifthAvenue @sineadcrowley.bsky.social @AriaFiction @RandomTTours @annerandomthings.bsky.social

 

In 1924, Annie, dreaming of a new life, leaves her home in Ballydrynawn, West Kerry, and boards a ship bound for New York. With Irish maids in demand, she soon finds work with the wealthy Cavendish family in their opulent Fifth Avenue mansion. Only Annie knows the secrets she left behind though and when her friendship with an Italian waitress named Elena deepens into something more passionate and dangerous for them both, Annie's past rises up to haunt her. Will be she be forced to flee again?

Now, Emer arrives at her family's holiday home in Ballydrynawn. Burnt out and desperate for more, Emer has run away from her new life in LA. But even as the village begins to work its healing magic, the past refuses to stay silent.

As Annie and Emer's past and future begin to intertwine in the shadows of the village's magical Fairy Tree, long buried secrets will be revealed.

A Maid on Fifth Avenue by Sinéad Crowley was published in paperback on 24 April 2025 by Aria. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour. 

I do love a novel with a dual timeline narrative. It is almost as though you are getting two books in one and in this one the author has expertly crafted the story seamlessly. With two incredibly created female lead characters this is a family drama with an air of mystery running through it. 

In 1924, Annie Thornton sets sail to New York. She has always dreamt of going to America but her mother's illness and her best friend's woes have stopped her in the past. Now it time for Annie and she begins work as a maid to the wealthy Cavendish family in their luxury Fifth Avenue apartment. Crowley really immerses her readers into time and place, and we become aware of the huge differences in the lives of the rich and that of the poor. When Annie meets Elena, her life will change dramatically. 

In the present day, Emer is holed up in the holiday cottage that her family own. She's fled LA and her high powered job. It soon becomes clear that despite the many years between them, there's a link between Annie and Emer. The author develops her story so well, with tension and a little suspense. She introduces characters who are obnoxious, but perfectly created. 

This is a fabulous historical novel filled to the brim with larger than life characters in a setting that is beautifully described. Highly recommended by me. 

Sinéad Crowley is a writer and broadcaster, whose three DS Claire Boyle crime novels were all nominated for the 'Best Crime' category at the Irish Book Awards, with the first two becoming Irish Times bestsellers. 

She is currently Arts and Media Correspondent with RTE News, the Irish national broadcaster.

@sineadcrowley.bsky.social

https://www.instagram.com/sinead.crowley/

Vianne by Joanne Harris #Vianne @joannechocolat.bsky.social @orionbooks.bsky.social @Joannechocolat @orionbooks #Chocolat #BookReview

 

Secrets.

Chocolate.

A touch of magic...

On a warm July evening, Sylviane Rochas scatters her mother's ashes in New York and lets the changing wind blow her to the French seaside town of Marseille.

For the first time in her life, Vianne holds the future in her own hands. Charming her way into a job as a waitress in a local bistrot, she knows that she is not here to stay - when her child is born in a few months, she must be gone.

As she discovers the joy of cooking, making recipes her own with the addition of bittersweet chocolate spices, she realises that it possesses its own magic in this town full of secrets.

Yet Vianne will never forget her mother's warning: that there is danger in revealing the true desires of those around her - and she must flee these cobbled streets before it's too late...

Million-copy bestselling author Joanne Harris returns to the world of Chocolat with the long-awaited story of Vianne, which begins six years before she opens her scandalous chocolaterie in the small French village of Lansquenet.

Vianne by Joanne Harris is published in hardback on 22 May 2025 by Orion. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

The day that my proof copy of Vianne arrived through my letterbox felt like every birthday and Christmas combined. Chocolat and the other books in the series have long been a favourite of mine. I had never imagined that Joanne Harris would come up with a prequel, and that we were about to learn more about Vianne's earlier life. Who she was before Lansquenet and the the chocolaterie, what she did in her earlier life, what made her the woman that we grew to love?

I don't know if Harris always knew about Vianne's early life, or if she's recently created this narrative, but I do know that it is totally and utterly beautiful. It took me all of around 10 minutes to be immersed in Vianne's world again, it was as though she'd never been away. 

We meet Vianne in Marseille, France. Her and her mother had been living in New York, her mother has recently died and this is the first time that Vianne will travel alone. She's not really alone though, as she is pregnant, her child is due in a few months time. 

Stumbling across a small bistro, Vianne eats. Louis, the landlord, offers her a room for a couple of nights and Vianne negotiates a job in the kitchen. It is there, guided by the recipe book written by Louis' late wife that Vianne discovers the joy of cookery and food. She has some fans in the bistro and one noticeable enemy. 

It is meeting Guy and Mahmed that really changes Vianne's life though. These two would-be businessmen who are experts in all things chocolate pass on their knowledge to Vianne, she sprinkles that chocolate magic amongst her new found colleagues and friends. 

We all know how talented this author is and she has excelled herself with Vianne. That trademark blend of magic and food and sumptuously created characters just jump from the pages and the reader is drawn in so deeply. It's very difficult to put this one down. 

Deliciously irresistible, intriguing and magical, this is the perfect prequel for fans of Chocolat, and for Vianne! Highly recommended. 

JOANNE HARRIS is an Anglo-French author, whose books include twenty novels, three cookbooks, and many short stories. 

Her work is extremely diverse, covering aspects of magic realism, suspense, historical fiction, mythology, and fantasy. 

In 2000, her 1999 novel Chocolat was adapted to the screen, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. 

She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, an honorary fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and in 2022 was awarded an OBE by the Queen.

@joannechocolat.bsky.social

www.joanne-harris.co.uk

The Devils Draper by Donna Moore #TheDevilsDraper @badsvillebroad.bsky.social @fly_press @flyonthewallpress.bsky.social #BookReview

 

When whispers of abuse at Arrol's department store reach Mabel, a determined policewoman, she knows she must act. Enlisting the help of Johnnie, a cunning thief, and Beatrice, a savvy businesswoman, they embark on a perilous journey to uncover the truth.

Set against the backdrop of 1920s Glasgow, where women's voices are often silenced, this thrilling tale weaves together crime, justice, and the fight for equality. As the trio inches closer to exposing the scandal, they realize that in a world where women are rarely believed, their very lives may be at stake.

The Devil's Draper by Donna Moore was published on 1 May 2025 by Fly On The Wall Press. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

Back in September 2023 I read and reviewed Donna Moore's The Unpicking and loved it. It went on to be one of my top books of that year. The author says in her notes that she didn't intend to write a sequel to The Unpicking, but she has, and I am so happy that she did. It's another beautifully written story packed to the rafters with superbly crafted, strong female characters. It is an absolute joy to read. 

Whilst this is most certainly a sequel, it is also a strong stand alone novel and readers that are not familiar with the earlier book will not struggle at all. This talented author explains, but doesn't add tedious detail, it's cleverly done. 

It's 1920 and the setting is once again, the great city of Glasgow. Mabel is one of only two policewomen in Glasgow. She is treated as a 'statement taker' by her male boss, yet she's probably far more astute than most of the male officers in the force. There are a couple of male officers that treat her with respect, but on the whole she's treated with contempt and pushed into a corner. 

Mabel becomes aware of rumours of mistreatment of female workers at Arrol's, a local large department store. The owner is a well respected man in the community and getting anyone to believe the word of a lowly shop girl over a business owner is difficult. However, Mabel is determined to get to the bottom of this. 

Enter Johnnie and Beatrice; two new characters. Johnnie is a member of a shop lifting gang and Beatrice runs her own business. Between them, these three women will investigate and expose the truth. 

This is a wonderful piece of historical fiction, it exposes the treatment of women in the 1920s and it is interesting to make comparisons to life now, a hundred years later. The plot flows effortlessly, the characters are beautifully formed and the setting is sublime. Highly recommended by me. 

Donna Moore is the author of crime fiction and historical fiction. 

Her first novel, a Private Eye spoof called Go To Helena Handbasket, won the Lefty Award for most humorous crime fiction novel and her second novel, Old Dogs, was shortlisted for both the Lefty and Last Laugh Awards. 

Her short stories have been published in various anthologies. 

In her day job she works as an adult literacy tutor for marginalised and vulnerable women, facilitates creative writing workshops and has a PhD in creative writing around women’s history and gender-based violence.

www.donnamooreauthor.com

badsvillebroad.bsky.social

Human Remains by Jo Callaghan #HumanRemains @JoCallaghanKat @simonschusterUK #KatandLock #AIDetective #BookReview

 

DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock are back in a cutting-edge new thriller.

The truth will always come out, but at what cost? 

Fresh from successfully closing their first live case, the Future Policing Unit are called in to investigate when a headless, handless body is found on a Warwickshire farm. But as they work to identify the victim and their killer, the discovery of a second body begins to spark fears that The Aston Strangler is back. And as the stakes rise for the team, so do the tensions brewing within it.

When DCS Kat Frank is accused of putting the wrong man behind bars all those years ago, AIDE Lock – the world's first AI Detective – pursues the truth about what happened with relentless logic. But Kat is determined to keep the past buried, and when she becomes the target of a shadowy figure looking for revenge, Lock is torn between his evidence-based algorithms and the judgement of his partner, with explosive results.  

When everything hangs in the balance, it will all come down to just how much an AI machine can learn, and what happens when they do . . .

Human Remains by Jo Callaghan was published in hardback on 24 April 2025 by Simon & Schuster and is the third book in this series. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I ADORE this series!  Jo Callaghan is truly one of the finest crime authors we have, she's created an original and unique detective duo in Kat Frank and AIDE Lock.  Along with the precise and compelling plot lines, she's also expert at creating relationships between her characters. Her human characters, especially Kat, are perfectly created, showing all aspects of humanity and dealing with grief and the effects so very well. 

Whilst Human Remains can be read as a stand alone story, I'd recommend that people read the first two books in the series first. Readers will then be more aware of the back story of all of the characters and how they've moved on through the series. 

The title of this novel is apt.  Kat and Lock are called in to investigate a case where human remains have been discovered. However, it's not a simple case of identification as the body is minus its head and hands. As they do their best to try to identify the corpse, another body is found.  Despite the fact that Kat successfully caught the Aston Strangler some years ago, there's suspicion that the wrong man was jailed and that these killings are the work of the real Strangler.  Kat is hounded by a podcaster who is determined to blacken her name. 

Kat has more to hide than anyone knows and it is her determination to keep certain things quiet that make Lock's quest for the truth more difficult. The reader is also not aware of the truth and this adds an air of mystery and suspicion whilst reading. Add an anonymous narrator who is absolutely determined to do harm to Kat to the mix and you have a tense, thrilling read that really is difficult to put down. 

Jo Callaghan has left readers with a huge question at the end of this book, and I am desperate to know just where she is going to go next with this duo. There's a lot to discuss, a great deal to think about, in terms of advancements and AI and our future. 

An incredible story. One of my favourite series for sure and highly recommended. 

Jo Callaghan works full time as a senior strategist, carrying out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce. 

She was a student of the Writers' Academy Course (Penguin Random House) and was longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Writing Competition and Bath Novel Competition. 

After losing her husband to cancer in 2019 when she was just forty-nine, she started writing In the Blink of an Eye, her debut crime novel, which explores learning to live with loss and what it means to be human. 

She lives with her two children in the Midlands, where she spends far too much time tweeting as @JoCallaghanKat and is currently working on further novels in the series.

Dangerous by Essie Fox BLOG TOUR #Dangerous @essiefox @OrendaBooks #HistoricalFiction #Byron #Venice

 

Fiction can be fatal…
 
Living in exile in Venice, the disgraced Lord Byron revels in the freedoms of the city.
 
SCANDAL
 
But when he is associated with the deaths of local women, found with wounds to their throats, and then a novel called The Vampyre is published under his name, rumours begin to spread that Byron may be the murderer…
 
MURDER
 
As events escalate and tensions rise – and his own life is endangered, as well as those he holds most dear – Byron is forced to play detective, to discover who is really behind these heinous crimes. Meanwhile, the scandals of his own infamous past come back to haunt him…
 
MYSTERY
 
Rich in gothic atmosphere and drawing on real events and characters from Byron's life, Dangerous is a riveting, dazzling historical thriller, as decadent, dark and seductive as the poet himself…

Dangerous by Essie Fox was published on 24 April 2025, in hardback, by Orenda Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour 

Looking back on my reading log, I find that I've been reading Essie Fox's novels since 2011 when I read her debut; The Somnambulist. I've always been entranced by her stylish writing.  I would never claim that historical fiction is my go-to genre choice, but there is something about her ability to weave an intoxicating story with amazing characters that makes me return to her books. 

Dangerous is something a little different for this author. Whilst it is still firmly a historical fiction book, it is also most certainly and crime story; a novel filled with mystery and ill doings where Lord Bryon himself is both the suspect and the investigator. 

'Mad, bad and dangerous to know' .... a phrase that has been used as the title of novels, on a music album and was originally said about Lord Bryon by one of his many lovers. Essie Fox has recreated this well known historical figure as he is banished to Venice and conjured up a wonderfully gothic and mysterious story about him and his life. 

From the dirt and filth of Venice, to the glitz and the glamour of the wealthy parts, the reader travels through it all. We enter brothels alongside Bryron as he cannot ignore his desires and we witness him discover the body of a woman in an alley. This is his downfall. Immediately Bryon becomes the suspect, not helped in the least by the publication of a book that details wounds to the neck - vampire-like, just like those on the real life victims. 

This is an extraordinary novel that totally swept me away to Venice. I can't say that I like Bryon, he's a rogue for sure, but I totally enjoyed his story and the author's treatment of him. It is impeccably researched with Venice taking a leading role of its own, alongside the charismatic and decadent Bryon himself. 

Fans of historical fiction will adore this one. Highly recommended. 

Essie Fox was born and raised in rural Herefordshire, which inspires much of her writing. 

After studying English Literature at Sheffield University, she moved to London where she worked for the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, and then book publishers George Allen & Unwin, before becoming self-employed in the world of art and design. 

Essie now spends her time writing historical gothic novels. 

Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4’s TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey, set in the early years of silent film, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. Essie’s Victorian gothic novel, The Fascination, debuted at number 10 on the Sunday Times bestseller list, and was widely acclaimed. 

Essie is also the creator of the popular blog: The Virtual Victorian. 

She has lectured on this era at the V&A, and the National Gallery in London. 

She lives in Windsor. 

X @essiefox