Deadman's Pool by Kate Rhodes BLOG TOUR #DeadmansPool @K_RhodesWriter @OrendaBooks #BenKitto #BookReview

 

When Ben Kitto discovers the body of a young woman, buried near the ruins of an old isolation hospital on the island of St Helen's, he is convinced the killer is hiding in plain sight … and determined to take more lives. The breathtaking, gripping new instalment in the Isles of Scilly Mysteries series…

DI BEN KITTO RETURNS…

A SACRED ISLAND

Winter storms lash the Isles of Scilly, when DI Ben Kitto ferries the islands’ priest to St Helen’s. Father Michael intends to live as a pilgrim in the ruins of an ancient church on the uninhabited island, but an ugly secret is buried among the rocks. Digging frantically in the sand, Ben’s dog, Shadow, unearths the emaciated remains of a young woman.

A SHOCKING MURDER

The discovery chills Ben to the core. The victim is Vietnamese, with no clear link to the community – and her killer has made sure that no one will find her easily.

A KILLER ON THE LOOSE

The storm intensifies as the investigation gathers pace. Soon Scilly is cut off by bad weather, with no help available from the mainland. Ben is certain the killer is hiding in plain sight. He knows they are waiting to kill again – and at unimaginable cost.

Deadman's Pool by Kate Rhodes was published on 25 September 2025 by Orenda Books and is book eight in the Isles of Scilly mystery series. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour 

When I've looked back through my reading lists, I've found that I first read Kate Rhodes in 2014, over ten years ago. I haven't read all of her books, and I've certainly not read them in order (naughty!), but I've always enjoyed her style of writing. Deadman's Pool is the latest in the Isles of Scilly mysteries and it is outstanding. I have loved every single page of it.  Even if you've not read any of the others in the series, this one is so well written that I assure you, you won't get lost! 

From the very first page it pulls you straight into the salt-tinged world of DI Ben Kitto; this time, facing perhaps his most emotionally wrenching case yet.

The novel opens with the discovery of the body of a young girl. Buried on the shore of the island of St Mary's. No child has been reported as missing, Ben and his team have no idea how the body got there. 

Almost at the same time, a newborn baby is left on the steps of the police station, bundled carefully in a blanket, with no note, no clue, nothing. Ben feels that the two events feel somehow connected,  though how, he can’t yet see.

As the investigation deepens, whispers begin to surface about illegal migrant workers and conspiracy theories believed by the young people of the islands.   Mai is a young Vietnamese woman whose story runs parallel to Ben's investigation. Her chapters are some of the most haunting and powerful in the book. The author gives her a voice full of fear and fierce determination as she endures captivity and dreams of freedom.

What unfolds is a story about control, exploitation, and survival, but also about compassion and community and about how far people will go to protect one another, even in the darkest of times.

Kate Rhodes paints the Isles of Scilly beautifully. You feel the pull of the tides, the clatter of rain on windows, the creeping unease when the power goes out. It’s both gorgeous and menacing.

Ben Kitto is a detective that I really like, he is decent, a man wrestling with duty and the ghosts of past cases. His home life with Nina and baby Noah adds real heart; he’s not a brooding loner, but a man constantly trying to balance love and justice.

The author juggles the whodunit intrigue with social relevance, making this more than just a murder mystery; it’s a story about people who fall through the cracks, and those who refuse to look away.

Deadman’s Pool is dark, and at times brutal, but it’s also tender and deeply humane. The contrast between Mai’s desperate plight and Ben’s quiet determination is what gives the book its power. By the end, I was emotionally drained; the best kind of crime novel experience.

Kate Rhodes is an acclaimed crime novelist and an award-winning poet, selected for Val
McDermid’s New Blood panel at Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival for her debut, Crossbones Yard. 

She has been nominated twice for the prestigious CWA Dagger in the Library award, and is one of the founders of the Killer Women writing group. 

She lives in Cambridge with her husband, the writer and film-maker Dave Pescod, and visited the Scilly Isles every year as a child, which gave her the idea for the critically acclaimed Isles of Scilly Mysteries series.

X @K_RhodesWriter

Genes Don't Lie by Zetta Thomelin BLOG TOUR #GenesDontLie @ZettaThomelin @RandomTTours #BookExtract

 

Genes Don't Lie examines the impact of secrets exposed after a DNA test reveals much more than expected. It begins as a narrative drawing the reader into the story, charting a journey of discovery, then moves into a plan for treatment and support, assisting the reader to make peace with their own story. We learn through stories and sometimes we need to recreate our own. 

With the cheap availability of DNA testing, people are stumbling into knowledge unprepared in unprecedented numbers and there is little help available. Who you think you are is a fragile edifice which can be so easily shattered, yet this sense of identity is vital to our resilience and well-being. This book addresses topics like identity, anger, belonging, grief, shame and family secrets which can affect us all.

Genes Don't Lie by Zetta Thomelin was published on 10 July 2025 by Grosvenor House Publishing. As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I am delighted to share an extract from the book with you today. 

Extract from Genes Don't Lie by Zetta Thomelin

INTRODUCTION

Genes don’t lie, but people do!
With the cheap and easy access to DNA testing now available, more and more people are

discovering they are not who they thought they were or that the make-up of their family has changed. It may have happened to you, and you want to know how to process it. It may have happened to a friend or family member, and you want to help them. I want to create a resource to help others facing such challenges to the sense of self that this brings.

It is not a new experience. In the past, finding out you were adopted would have brought the same challenges. It is now happening, though, on a larger scale. The genie is out of the bottle, and many do not know what to do next.

I had just finished writing my book, The Trauma Effect, about inherited trauma, where I shone a light upon a trauma in my family and examined how this impacted me when a new family story surfaced. I had made my peace with my family past at last, and then I found that my family story was an illusion.

An email popped into my inbox which changed everything. Yet another new family secret, about which I had no inkling, was now bobbing up into the light and I had to deal with it.

Every other book I pick up or TV drama I watch has the twist in the tail of someone discovering through DNA that they were not who they thought they were. With the increasing number of people interested in their ancestry, this can only continue to grow.

I was not the one most affected by my DNA test results; I was still my father’s child, but I discovered I had a half-sister, and it was so hard to know how to support her whilst trying to deal with my own changing landscape.

My story is far from unique. It is a story told up and down the land, but little is written to help with processing the story, the complete reframing of all you believed about your family and who you are. It was hardest, of course, for my sister, who said to me only the other day, ‘Nobody is talking about how it feels to be me, to find out I am someone other than who I thought I was’.

As I find it so therapeutic to write, I decided to write our story, our feelings, our journey, in the hope that if you share this story, you might feel less alone, and it may help your healing. If no such drama has touched your family, then maybe hearing of ours may help you to value your own story.

When I began to write, it automatically fell into the style of discourse with my father at first, a father who had become a stranger to me now. He was not the man I had loved, and I needed to get to know him again. I needed the opportunity to tell him how I felt and, if she would allow it, a little of how my sister felt. Then I could begin to understand it more. As I wrote the first section, it read rather like a novel, and I hoped this would engage the reader to follow the journey towards understanding.

The therapeutic part naturally followed as I delved deeper and deeper into the feelings of everyone concerned. I wanted to understand the emotions involved in such an experience and, very importantly, what identity means to us, as I think it is the challenge to identity that raises so much emotion. As I am a therapist, I then wanted to come up with a plan to help, presenting ideas that I have used with others on a similar path.

If such a thing has not happened in your world, some of the ideas here may still resonate, such as that of identity, loss and family constellations. So here is our story and journey towards healing. I hope that it can help your healing too.

Zetta Thomeli

Chapter one THE BEGINNING

I know about it now and there is no unknowing for any of us. I had a trigger that set my fingers tapping across the keys. It is my first time in France (the land my father loved so much) since I found out about it. My partner and I are in Paris, a city we had enjoyed separately and now want to share with each other.

Paris, the city of romance. The French, the lovers of Europe. Beauty surrounds us in the architecture, the clothes, the smells that escape the cafes and restaurants, and the sounds that pulse out of the organ at L’eglise de St-Pierre; we are entranced. There is the hustle and bustle of the streets of Montmartre, vendors touting their wares. We smile as we wander and wonder, hand in hand.

But beneath the veneer of the city are the cracks, the imperfections, and the slight smell of urine wafting up from the warming streets. The beggar with plastic bags upon his feet for shoes. The stark metaphor in Gare de Lyon, as we search for a map we can take away, to find only a vending machine for condoms, speaks boldly of the reality beneath the charm of the city, a metaphor of the city; maybe there is another metaphor there too.

I see beneath the intellect, the beauty and charm to the cracks beneath, the feet of clay, and relate it to my father, the man within.

We expect too much from the city of lovers; perhaps I expected too much of my father. I loved him too much, and now he has let me down and is not here to face the music, to see the damage he left behind him.

I cannot help but think of him here. When he was alive and I arrived in France, I would always phone and say, ‘Je suis arrivé en France, Papa’, and I would even hear his smile down the line. It is even more present here in Paris, the thought of him, the place he went from boy to man, a place he knew so well, and I want to talk to him, to shout at him. I want answers from him as I go over and over in my mind the stories he used to tell of that French side of his life, mining for clues, looking for signs of the man I did not know but thought I had.

Of course, you know Paris well, Dad. That was where you did your military service, at Le Bourget, the l’armee de l’air, following in your father’s footsteps – and such footsteps they were.

I remember the stories you told me as I wander these streets. You explained why you were here. You could have done your military service in England or in France. As you were aFrench national, you made an active choice to do it in France, but they did their military service at 21 and you were all of 18.

I remember you telling me how the other men teased you when you arrived because of the copious, nay, voluminous underwear that your mother had sent with your kit to make sure your private parts were kept safe from pressure. The men in your hut were tough lads, older than you, wise to the ways of the world. What a boy you must have seemed to them.

You said that rules in France are made to be broken. That triggers some thoughts now. You told me how you climbed over the wall to get off the air base to enjoy the delights of Paris. Did it begin then, I wonder? This young man away from home for the first time, handsome in his uniform, did you discover how women were drawn to you then? How easy it was for you? Too easy, perhaps. I had not thought of it before, so young and with Paris at your feet.

There was that night when you were caught on your way back to the base by an officer when you should not have been out. He piled you and your friends into the back of his car and smuggled you back onto the base. Now that would never happen in England. You would be on short rations for weeks. 

Zetta Thomelin is a therapist in private practice. 

She is involved in the governance of complementary medicine as Chair of BAThH, Vice-Chair of UKCHO and as a Trustee of the Research Council for Complementary Medicine. Prior to her career in therapy, she worked at News International and later in the Third Sector as CEO of Children with AIDS Charity. 

She is the author of three other books:

The Healing Metaphor, Self-Help? Self-Hypnosis! and The Trauma Effect – exploring and resolving inherited trauma..

www.zettathomelin.com

X @ZettaThomelin

IG @thomelinzetta

The Siege by John Sutherland #TheSiege @policecommander @orionbooks @johnsutherland.bsky.social #BookReview

 

Nine hostages. Ten hours. One chance to save them all.

Lee James Connor has found his purpose in life: to follow the teachings of far-right extremist leader, Nicholas Farmer. So when his idol is jailed, he comes up with the perfect plan: take a local immigrant support group hostage until Farmer is released.

Grace Wheatley is no stranger to loneliness having weathered the passing of her husband, whilst being left to raise her son alone. The local support group is her only source of comfort. Until the day Lee James Connor walks in and threatens the existence of everything she's ever known.

Superintendent Alex Lewis may be one of the most experienced hostage negotiators on the force, but there's no such thing as a perfect record. Still haunted by his last case, can he connect with Connor - and save his nine hostages - before it's too late?

The Siege by John Sutherland was published in February 2023 by Orion. I bought my copy at Bay Tales earlier this year and had it signed by the author. 

I listened to author John Sutherland on a panel at Bay Tales Crime Festival earlier this year and was fascinated by his story. I had no idea that police negotiators did that part of their job on a purely voluntary basis, with no pay. It's an incredible thing to have to do, so dangerous and so much depends on you.

I decided that I must read the books and started at the beginning with The Siege, which I bought at Bay Tales and the author signed for me.  I read it whilst on holiday in Corfu last month and was glued to it, it's brilliant read. 

From the first few pages I knew that  The Siege was going to take me somewhere uncomfortable but important. The premise is gripping: nine hostages; ten hours; and a demand that sees ideology, desperation and grief up against the mechanisms of policing and community.  The author's own experiences add such authenticity to the story too.

Told in three voices; the hostage taker Lee James Connor; one of the hostages Grace Wheatley and the negotiator Alex Lewis. These characters have real depth, and I was especially fond of Grace. She's an ordinary person, she has her own grief and for me, she really carries the story.

I found the whole hostage situation really frightening, that realisation that actually, this could and does happen to ordinary people. It's really well handled, with gradual suspense built through short chapters.

Lee James Connor is a fascinating character, it would be so easy to paint him as just evil, but the author does a great job in the portrayal of a man who is angry and feels isolated, despite his horrific views and what he is doing, we are led to think about he got to the position that he's in today which is totally relevant to the times that we are living through now. 

I really liked The Siege. It’s a thriller with heart-felt emotion and is tense, disturbing, but also human. It’s not just about the physical hostage crisis, but the emotional, ideological one. 

If you like thrillers to make you think after, to care about more than just “will they survive?”, then this one is for you. It's a powerful read. Recommended by me. 

John Sutherland joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1992, serving for more than 25 years,
until his early retirement on medical grounds in 2018. 

Having started out as a uniformed PC, responding to emergencies on the streets of inner London, he rose through the ranks to become a highly respected senior officer. His last operational posting was as the Borough Commander for Southwark. He is an experienced Hostage & Crisis Negotiator, having served on both the national and international cadres.

Since leaving the Met, John has become an established author. His first book,'Blue: A Memoir’, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller and his second, ‘Crossing the Line’ was selected as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. His first novel, ‘The Siege’ - which introduced readers to the worlds of police negotiators Alex Lewis and Pip Williams - was published by Orion Fiction in June 2022 and shortlisted for the Specsavers Debut Come Novel of the Year. Its sequel, The Fallen, was published in 2023 to significant critical acclaim and the third book in the series, The Stalking Season, will be released in 2025.

The Writer's Table by Valerie Stivers, illustrated by Katie Tomlinson #TheWritersTable @valerie_reads @Frances_Lincoln @RandomTTours

 

These are the dishes that fuelled great writing. 

Ever wondered what Iris Murdoch might have served for supper, or how Emily Dickinson took her tea? The Writer’s Table brings together dining habits and favourite recipes from some of the world’s most beloved authors, offering a delicious glimpse into their everyday lives and kitchen rituals. 

Each recipe is paired with a short introduction to the author and dish, along with clear instructions and modern ingredients, making it easy to recreate literary comfort food at home. With beautiful illustrations throughout, the book is a feast for the eyes as well as the table making you feel closer to the writers you love. 

Writers and recipes featured include: 

• Leo Tolstoy’s Sour Schi  
• Jane Austen's White Soup
• Colette's Cherry Clafoutis
• Barbara Pym's Toad-in-the-Hole
• Truman Capote's Chicken Hash
• Andrea Camilleri's Sardines a beccafico
  
  

Perfectly giftable, irresistibly browsable and full of charm, The Writer’s Table is a celebration of food, creativity and the simple pleasures that connect us all. A must-have for readers, home cooks and anyone who’s ever wondered what their favourite author had for dinner.

The Writer's Table by Valerie Stivers is published today; 9 October 2025 by Frances Lincoln and is illustrated by Katie Tomlinson. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour 

This is quite possibly one of the most beautiful books that I own. The illustrations are stunning, it's the kind of book that you can pick up at any time and discover something new. 

I honestly think this book was made for me, I'm an avid recipe book collector and reader, and of course, I love fiction and anything to do with literature. A combination of food created and loved by famous authors, or featured in their books is just perfection. 

Katie Tomlinson's illustrations are stunning. Her style is quite simple line drawings with plenty of colour and expertly portray each of the authors and recipes. 

Valerie Stivers writes a column called 'Eat Your Words' for the Paris Review and in 2017 she began to collect these stories and recipes for her coloumn. 

There is a chatty, friendly feel to the book as she features some authors discussing their various food likes, or things that they've included in their works, instead of an actual recipe. 

From Jane Austen’s White Soup to Truman Capote’s Chicken Hash and Colette’s Cherry Clafoutis, this exquisite literary cookbook features 50 favourite recipes from renowned authors, showcasing the meals that shaped their lives and work, and will make an ideal gift for both food and book lovers. Highly recommended

Valerie Stivers is the literary columnist for UnHerd, and hostess of a popular cooking-from-literaturedinner salon series in New York City. She is the co-host of The Fretful Porpentine: Music & Books podcast, and previously wrote the 'Eat Your Words' column for The Paris Review, in which she developed recipes and cooked from classic novels. She now cooks from Catholic literature for Our Sunday Visitor Magazine, and writes frequently about books for publications such as Compact and First Thing. 

She can be found on Substack as The Writer's Table, on Instagram @ivalleria and on X @valerie_reads

Katie Tomlinson is an award-winning visual artist and illustrator whose work blends bold linework with vibrant colour and narrative flair. With experience across editorial, publishing, and print design, her illustrations have appeared in international campaigns and independent publications alike. 

Live, Laugh, Leave Me Alone by Harper Ford #LiveLaughLeaveMeAlone @beccamascull.bsky.social @AvonBooksUK #BookReview

 

Lucy is fifty, frazzled and fed up. After spending half her life working, she’s tired, and her idea of inner peace involves a sofa, wine and a takeaway.

But when her boss announces his retirement, Lucy gears up for a well-earned promotion – that is until Tara, her annoyingly perfect colleague, swoops in, dazzling the CEO with her #BossBabe energy and commitment to a wellness bootcamp so hardcore it sounds like a cult.

Desperate to compete, Lucy lies about joining the same program ― even though her body feels more landfill than temple. Now she’s trapped in four weeks of ice baths, crystals and green juices… not to mention jade eggs in unspeakable places.

As the wellness madness escalates and rivalries flare, Lu starts to wonder if she actually might be growing as a person – or if that’s just the kombucha talking? And why can’t she shake the feeling that maybe Tara isn’t as perfect as she seems?

LIVE, LAUGH, LEAVE ME ALONE is a hilarious and relatable exploration of what it really means to 'live your best life', perfect for fans of Marian Keyes, Alexandra Potter and Fiona Gibson.

Live, Laugh, Leave Me Alone by Harper Ford was published on 25 September 2025 by Avon Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I read this one whilst on holiday in Corfu last month. More than once, I snorted out loud with absolute glee at the story, this earned me more than one side-eye from other people around the pool. However, like our heroine Lu, I am in my fifties (nearer to sixty if I'm truthful), and I just don't give a damn. I'll snort if I want to! 

Not only is this novel incredibly funny, it is also extremely relatable if you are a woman of a certain age. It is one of the best examinations of middle age for women that I've come across for a very long time. 

Lu is knackered. She's worked her way up in the same firm for many years and is now in charge of HR. She hates having to deal with people, she knows that the staff don't see her as a friend, she's just the person who enforces rules that make life harder for them ... in their eyes anyway.  However, when her boss announces his retirement Lu is determined that she will be promoted.  Enter Tara - the woman who appears to be perfect in every way, a hard person to like, let alone to even consider having to work for. When Tara talks about a wellness programme, Lu knows that she has to compete and she joins up too. 

This is where the novel gets even more hilarious. We've all seen the wellness gurus on line, those people who can promise everything, as long as you hand over the dosh. Lu experiences so many ridiculous sounding treatments that my snorting laughter went overboard! 

The novel does take a serious turn though and although it is still funny, the author deals with wellness fakery excellently. She looks at the development of friendship in middle age along with rage, flushes and how bloody annoying people are! 

Wonderfully written with characters to shout for and a plot that is utterly entertaining. Highly recommended. 

Harper Ford is the pen-name of author Rebecca Mascull. 

As Mascull, she is a historical novelist, who also writes saga fiction as Mollie Walton and historical fiction as Ava Miller. 

Rebecca has been listed in a variety of awards, such as nominated for the Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award, to twice being a finalist in the Romantic Novelists’ Association Saga of the Year Award. 

She writes short fiction for magazines including My Weekly, and blog posts for The History Quill, Writers & Artists and The Royal Literary Fund. 

She mentors emerging writers for Curtis Brown Creative and Writing East Midlands, as well as via Reedsy. 

Rebecca has a Masters in Writing, a PGCE in English and is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

She provides reader and writer services on her website Becca Novelista and runs a newsletter on storytelling from Substack as Rebecca Mascull.

The Red Chair by Jill Treseder #TheRedChair @Jill_Treseder @RandomTTours #BookExtract @SilverWoodBooks

 

Twenty years after fleeing her abusive ex-lover, Naomi has inherited Mill End – their isolated retreat in North Devon. But she is shocked to find that someone else is already in residence – an unwelcome bête noir from her past.

As her former tormentor continues to exert his control from beyond the grave, Naomi is left reeling from a succession of disturbing memories and events, while she struggles to reconnect with the present. Is it solitude she needs? Or friendship?

And why is she so unsettled to discover that local artist, Meghan, has taken possession of a chair from Mill End, a chair that Naomi remembers painting herself?

"Painting that chair had been thrilling. The first scarlet brushful gave her goosebumps. If only she’d known then what the chair would be used for.”

The Red Chair by Jill Treseder was published on 24 September 2025 by Silverwood Books.  It's been an honour to work with Jill many times over the years to help bring attention to her books with Random Things Tours.  Today I am delighted to share an extract from The Red Chair with you. 

Extract from The Red Chair by Jill Treseder 

Late spring, bluebells an indigo wash under the trees, in places so intense it hurt. An acid-green light filtered through the canopy of new beech leaves. It made Naomi thirsty. Her old Land Rover nudged forward at walking pace, sinking into the ruts, clambering over roots.

Always further than she thought, this trek through the woods. One more gate than expected. Each one closed today. Stop, get out, breathe in bluebells, almost peppery, open gate, drive through, get out again and close gate. Each time she went through the ritual, she felt her pace slowing, threshold by threshold. 

As she came out of the wood the light changed, rinsed clear to the far horizon. There it was. Scoop of valley like a glass brimming with Atlantic blue, and that wonky roofline nestling under the towering shoulder of the cliff. She turned off the ignition and yanked on the handbrake. She had to walk.

She stood at the top of the steep track, breathing seaweed air, listening to the silence. Just the tick of the cooling engine, the drone of a bee in the gorse. There were the two chimneys and the window she’d used to escape. More than twenty years ago. A love-hate relationship if ever there was one, a volatile see-saw. She’d stayed in it far too long. Be that as it may, it was generous of him to make the place over to her. Unexpectedly generous. She’d been in a fever of anticipation ever since she got the solicitor’s letter. Typical Wilson, only managing to be kind from beyond the grave. 

The breakers rolled in, hypnotic. Every so often one towered over the others and took her breath away, along with all sense of time or tiredness. Eventually, shouldering her bag, she followed the cobbled path to the door of the cottage and fitted the huge iron key into the lock.

As she tried to turn it, a voice called from inside, ‘I don’t know who the hell you are, but you can bugger off out of here.’

Naomi froze. The place was supposed to be empty. What on earth was going on? And why did that voice seem alien and yet faintly familiar? Why did she not feel afraid? The door was already unlocked. No wonder the key wouldn’t turn. She dropped it into her pocket and lifted the metal ring. Pull and twist, that familiar action. The door swung half open.

‘I thought I said, bugger off.’

That voice again. Gravelly. Harsh. Bluffing. The memory teased and vanished. She stepped inside, into the dimly lit passage.

He was standing in the kitchen doorway against the light from the window. But it was enough. Memories slotted into place. Wilson’s brother.

‘Hell’s teeth! It’s Naomi! What the devil are you doing here?’ He stepped back, steadying himself against the table – still that scrubbed pine top with blue paint peeling off the legs.

The light fell across his face. Heavy-framed glasses, ginger moustache. He’d had a beard back then. A strange jutting affair, the colour of carrots. Barbarossa, they used to call him. Yes, it was Gordon, all right.

‘I’m taking possession, Gordon. That’s what I’m doing here.’

‘The hell you’re not. I live here. It’s my place now.’

‘Wilson left it to me. He left it to me in his will.’

‘The hell he did not! At least…’

She took a breath. ‘We’ll see about that. But meanwhile, I need a wee. You’re not going to bar the way, I hope.’

He gestured graciously. ‘Be my guest.’

She sat on the toilet, head in hands. His guest! The devious toad. Bad memories flooded in. Wilson’s neediness, Gordon’s saccharine hostility. Days of barbed comments and innuendo flaring eventually into a bitter row. After the first lyrical months of love, Wilson had been unpredictable, one day almost worshipping her, the next manipulative, punitive. But when they were alone it had worked, even if it felt like walking on eggshells. When Gordon visited, he needled and provoked, looked out for cracked eggs and made sure they got broken.

So what had gone wrong? Why was he here? She ran her hands under the tap and dried them on her trousers, avoiding the grubby towel.

‘Scotch?’ Gordon said when she emerged. 

‘For old times’ sake? Good for shock.’

She shook her head. ‘Nothing for me. I just want to know why you’re here.’

‘I’m guessing you didn’t wait for the second letter.’

‘Second letter?’ She paced to the window and looked out on the path that led to the waterfall. Second letter. Doubt crept in, knotting her stomach. That phrase at the end of her letter. Further information to follow. Await our instructions before taking action. Something like that. She’d assumed it was lawyer-speak for nothing much.

‘The second letter containing the small print,’ Gordon said.

She paced back to the table, staring at him.

He gulped his whisky. ‘They said I might get a visit.’

She escaped back to the window.

‘For Christ’s sake sit down. You’re making me twitch.’ Another gulp. ‘Look. We’d better have a civil conversation.’

She swallowed a retort and sat down. ‘What do you mean, they said you’d get a visitor? And what small print?’

‘A visit from the other beneficiary. But you see, I wasn’t expecting you. I’m in shock too. You see, he always said you loved this place more than him. So I knew he wouldn’t leave it to you. Wouldn’t give you the satisfaction. I was expecting one of his other women. Penelope, for instance. Or the dreaded Deirdre. But I was wrong.’

He was appraising her across the table. That teasing look.

‘You’ve worn well, Naomi. The years have been kind to you.’

She wasn’t rising to that one. The years, she noticed, had not been kind to him. Bags under the eyes, the whites turning sepia. She repeated her question. ‘What small print?’

‘The bastard. He’s playing us off against each other.’

She swallowed her impatience. ‘But he couldn’t leave it to both of us. Could he?’

‘That’s in the small print. You own it, but I have lifetime tenancy. The right to live here until I die. He giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other. Poor Naomi. I feel quite sorry for you. He gives you your dream. I bet you were thinking how generous he was. And then he turns it neatly into a nightmare. For me too. Clever really. You have to hand it to him.’ He smiled across at her and chuckled.

Jill Treseder was born in Hampshire and lived all her childhood in sight of the sea on the
Solent and in Devon, Cornwall and West Wales. She now lives in Devon overlooking the River Dart.

After graduating from Bristol with a degree in German, Jill followed careers in social work, management development and social research, obtaining a PhD from the School of Management at the University of Bath along the way.

Since 2006 she has finally been able to focus on writing fiction, and has published five full length novels and two novellas.

Other People's Fun by Harriet Lane #OtherPeoplesFun @HarrietLane_ @wnbooks @harrietlane.bsky.social @wnbooks.bsky.social #BookReview

 

'I look. I can't stop looking. That's the deal, isn't it? We all know that's how it works. If someone wants to be seen - and oh, how they want to be seen - then someone has to watch.'

Ruth is alone, unnoticed and at a loss: her marriage has ended, her daughter is leaving home and her job is leading nowhere.

But luckily Sookie is back in her life - vivid, self-assured Sookie, who never spared the time for Ruth when they were teenagers, but who now seems to want to be friends. What could possibly go wrong?

As Ruth is caught up in Sookie's life, she sees that everything is not as simple and Instagrammable as Sookie would have you believe. But what has that got to do with Ruth, and what can she do about it?

Unputdownable, funny, spiky and subtle, Other People's Fun is a novel about modern life and the lies we tell our neighbours, friends, families and selves through the hall of mirrors that is social media. Filled with Harriet Lane's trademark creeping unease and forensic observation, this marks the long-awaited return of the mistress of literary suspense.

Other People's Fun by Harriet Lane is published on 30 October 2025 by W&N. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I was absolutely delighted when I discovered that Harriet Lane had written a new book. Her first two novels; Alys Always (2012)  and Her (2014) are two of my all time favourite books. I was convinced that we wouldn't get another story from her, but here we are, over ten years later and I am thrilled to say that Other People's Fun is excellent.  The author delivers something that is both familiar and uneasy: a novel that asks quietly discomforting questions about who we are, how we present ourselves, and what we believe about the people we think we know.

Ruth is at a point in life when things feel unsteady: her marriage has ended, her daughter is leaving home, and work isn’t giving her much satisfaction. The novel opens as she attends a school reunion and Sookie re-enters her life. Sookie, was one of those people in school who seemed to have everything, but who never made much effort with Ruth back then. Sookie is vibrant, sure of herself, and seems, in many ways, enviable. 

But as the story progresses, what looks like glamour begins to seem more fragile, more constructed. The life Sookie shows Ruth, and the rest of the world has huge gaps. As Ruth becomes drawn into Sookie’s world, the lies, the omissions, the performance of a life lived to the full start to peel away.

The author's strength here is the creeping tension. The book is not in your face dramatic but quietly so with a creeping tension.  The reader feels that something is not quite right, it is unsettling and so satisfying to read. 

The character creation is fine and precise. Ruth is well drawn, she is sympathetic, flawed, someone you want to suceed. . Sookie’s charisma is intoxicating, and the contrast between what Sookie shows and what she hides in a way that feels believable. 

Other People’s Fun is, in so many ways, what this author does best: incisive prose, morally ambiguous characters, and a sense that ordinary life has its own kind of horror. It’s not a comforting read, but it’s a compelling and worthy one. It made me think about how easily we can slide into comparing ourselves, how fragile our façades are, and how often we see others as more complete, more enviable, than we feel we are ourselves 

Sharp, well observed and darkly witty, this is a fabulous read. Highly recommended. 

Harriet Lane has worked as an editor and staff writer at Tatler and the Observer. 

She has also written for the Guardian, Vogue and the New York Times. 

She is the author of two other novels, Alys, Always and Her. 

She lives in North London.

www.harrietlane.co.uk

X @HarrietLane_

BlueSky @harrietlane.bsky.social