The Barbecue at No 9 by Jennie Godfrey #TheBarbecueatNo9 @jenniegauthor.bsky.social @HutchHeinemann @PenguinUKBooks @charlottebush2 #BookReview

 

FROM THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS . . .

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Barbecue at No. 9 by Jennie Godfrey is published on 12 February 2026 by Hutchinson Heinemann/ Penguin. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I was lucky enough to read a very early copy of Jennie Godfrey's debut novel; The List of Suspicious Things and reviewed it on Random Things in December 2023.  I predicted then that the book would be a massive success and I'm delighted to have been proved correct, winning awards and becoming a best seller, it has been huge. 

The 'difficult second novel' is a well known thing, and I sometimes think that it can be as worrisome for readers as well as authors!  We've loved the first book and expectations are high for book two. 

There is no need to worry!  The Barbecue at No. 9 is absolutely wonderful, and dare I say it?  It is, in my view, even better than its predecessor.

This time the story is set in the 1980s, it is the day of the Live Aid concert. A blistering hot summer day in 1985, and the whole world seemed to be waiting for the big event. A fund raising concert taking place in both London and in the USA. I was almost nineteen-years-old at the time and I remember that day so well. The anticipation of watching your favourite bands, being allowed to have music on the TV,  all day long, it was like a hugely extended version of Top of the Pops.  What a day! 

The residents of Delmont Close are all invited to a barbecue at Number 9; the home of the Gordons. House proud Lydia, her quiet husband Peter, and their two children Hanna and David - along with the dog Prince. 

This is the story of one day in the lives of an eclectic group of people who are only connected because they happen to live on the same street. Each and every one of them is a wonderful, carefully created character with their own voice. The author tells her story through alternating chapters, narrated by each characters. This is a fabulous way of story-telling, allowing the reader to know far more about the residents than they know about each other. 

As with her first novel, the author deals with some delicate and emotionally challenging subjects, but the subtle hints of humour and the overwhelming feeling of warmth make these so easy to digest. They are dealt with empathically and with a sensitivity that we've come to expect from Jennie Godfrey. 

Packed full of secrets, with some suspense and hints of danger along with way, this is a novel that totally took my heart. It is a really beautiful story of family, community, friendship and love. Highly recommended. 

Jennie Godfrey was raised in West Yorkshire in a mill-working family and her debut
novel, The List of Suspicious Things, was inspired by her childhood there in the 1970s. 

In 2020, Jennie gave up her corporate career to build a life around books. 

She is now a writer and part-time bookseller who lives, and writes, in the Somerset countryside

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The Cut Throat Trial by The Secret Barrister #TheCutThroatTrial @BarristerSecret @picadorbooks @barristersecret.bsky.social #BookReview

 

It is one of the biggest trials of the year. Three seventeen-year-old boys are accused of the brutal murder of an elderly teacher on New Year's Eve.

Each boy denies it.
Each points the finger at the other two.
But they can’t all be innocent.

The three defence barristers have only one job: to persuade the jury that their client is not guilty. But they’re up against a prosecutor who needs to win the case, no matter the cost.

Written with an expert insider’s knowledge, in The Cut Throat Trial a dramatic courtroom drama unfolds.

And you have a front row seat.

The Cut Throat Trial by The Secret Barrister, writing as S J Fleet was published on 28 August by Picador. I bought my copy at the airport when I flew out to Corfu in September. 

There’s something deliciously compulsive about a courtroom drama done well, and The Cut Throat Trial from The Secret Barrister absolutely had me hooked from the opening pages.

With three seventeen-year-old boys accused of the brutal murder of a retired teacher, the novel drops us straight into moral murkiness and never really lets us get comfortable. Each boy denies the charge, they all point the finger elsewhere, and the reader is  left constantly questioning not only who did it, but how justice can possibly emerge from such a tangle of mixed up stories. 

We get to hear from two of the accused in the dock, and are privy to all of their innermost thoughts too. We also listen the judge hearing the case and the barristers doing their utmost to defend their clients. There are flashbacks to the event and we hear witness accounts too. 

What really elevates this book is the insider knowledge. The legal system is laid bare in a way that feels authentic, sharp, and occasionally chilling. The defence barristers aren’t there to find the truth, they’re there to win for their clients, and the their determination to win, whatever the cost mentality adds a real edge. It’s tense, claustrophobic, and often unsettling, with moments that made me pause and reflect on how fragile the idea of 'justice' can be. 

Whilst the plotting is clever and the courtroom scenes are gripping, there were moments where the pacing dipped slightly for me, and I found some characters more fully rounded than others. Still, this is a thoughtful, gripping legal thriller that entertains while also asking some uncomfortable questions. If you enjoy intelligent crime fiction with substance and a strong sense of place, I recommend this, and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for what The Secret Barrister does next.

The bestselling author, The Secret Barrister, writes fiction as S. J. Fleet. 

A junior barrister specialising in criminal law, they write for many publications and are the author of the award-winning The Secret Barrister blog. 

Their first book, The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken, was a Sunday Times number-one bestseller and spent more than a year in the top-ten bestseller list; it won the Books Are My Bag Non-Fiction Award and was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year and the Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year. 

Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies and Nothing But the Truth: The Memoir of an Unlikely Lawyer were instant Sunday Times top-ten bestsellers on publication. 

The Cut Throat Trial is their first novel.

www.thesecretbarrister.com

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Five By Five by Claire Wilson #FiveByFive @ByClaireWilson @MichaelJBooks @PenguinUKBooks #ScottishCrimeFiction @byclairewilson.bsky.social #BookReview

 

Just because the most dangerous criminals in society are caught and locked up, doesn’t mean they stop committing crime.

That’s where Kennedy Allardyce comes in – monitoring not just the prisoners, but also the staff.

And she’s just stumbled across her most dangerous foe yet – rumours of a corrupt guard with lethal influence. And what’s worst, it seems they’ve already realised Kennedy is on their tail.

At least one thing is giving her joy – a blossoming relationship with Molly, a beautiful, enigmatic new guard.

Wouldn’t it be awful if the killer she’s hunting turned out to be the woman she’s falling for?

Five By Five by Claire Wilson was published on 14 August 2025 by Michael Joseph / Penguin. I was thrilled to meet the author at a crime fiction event in Scotland last year, where she kindly signed a copy for me. 

Claire Wilson works as an Intelligence Analyst within the Scottish prison system. She pitched her debut novel at the Pitch Perfect event during the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in 2022, and in 2023 she went on to win the Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers Prize. Five by Five was published by Penguin Michael Joseph in 2024.

Five by Five is a fast-paced, gripping thriller set deep inside the Scottish prison system. I was particularly appreciative of the glossary of Scottish prison terminology included at the beginning of the book. These terms add authenticity and depth to the story while also teaching the reader a thing or two, whether we’ll ever need to know them in real life is another matter entirely!

The lead character, Kennedy Allardyce, is a brilliantly crafted protagonist. Flawed and vulnerable at times, she is nonetheless fiercely dedicated to her work as an intelligence analyst and determined not to let the prisoners run the prison. Kennedy is essentially a spy: listening in on prisoners’ phone calls, decoding their coded language, and trying to prevent trouble before it erupts.

Drugs are circulating inside the prison, and Kennedy knows the supplier goes by the name Scout. After a violent incident leaves her both physically and psychologically scarred, she comes to a chilling realisation; Scout is an insider, a fellow officer.

Struggling to trust anyone, Kennedy grows close to officer Molly Rana. There is undeniable attraction between them, but the question lingers: is Kennedy opening herself up to something genuine, or walking straight into a trap? Only time will tell.

Claustrophobic, dark, and brimming with tension, this is the kind of novel that has you holding your breath for pages at a time. A triumph of sharp writing and clever plotting, Five by Five is a compelling, masterfully executed thriller that I highly recommend. Bring on book two!

Claire Wilson is from central Scotland. 

Her debut novel Five by Five was the inaugural winner of the Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers' Prize. 

The book is based on her day job as an Intelligence Analyst in a Scottish Prison and has gone on to be shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, the CrimeFest Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award, Capital Crime's Debut Award and longlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger.

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