Isolated Aldo

DV Bishop's Shadow of Madness is the 6th in the Cesare Aldo series. By this point in a writer's career an isolated location novel often appears in the list of books they have written. But coupled with snow and a personal journey this is a really good example of how a well planned series can …

The Chair’s latest Book

Now that my life seems to have hit its normal stride again, I've been focussing on the books that intrigued me from my trip to the Theakston's Festival. The latest in my library being Lisa Jewell's It could have been Her. After recently reading Let him in preparation for Harrogate, I didn't think Lisa could …

Dancing and Detecting

In the third Miller novel, Mark's background as a comedian has come to the fore once again. This storyline wouldn't work for Thorne as it starts off with several different comedic overtones. When somebody trips over a dog (don't worry the dog wasn't harmed) it is a rather unique opening to a book. But as …

The art of a child

In the ten years I've been reviewing the hardest books I've imagined I'd try to write are those within the wider sub-genre of crime fiction. Frances Crawford's A bad bad Place is a prime example of this with it's narrative split between 12 year old Janey and her grandmother Maggie, this also appeals to the …

Getting back into it

After 2 weeks away when reading was very difficult to concentrate on, surrounded by strangers just as uncomfortable as yourself, the latest in the series of which I've become a great fan of and cannot wait for the next one in September, seemed a perfect way of getting back into the flow of reading and …

A strange week

As I started The Angel of Death I did not know how much my own life would start to reflect the book. With family relations having dementia like the main character in this book who is in the early onset, I was always aware of it but it really hit home this week after I …

Preparing for Harrogate

With Harrogate coming up it is now the 10th year that I have visited the festival. One of the key highlights of the festival program for me has always been the debut panels, these panels have often introduced me to authors that will go on to have a very successful and varied career. But, for …

My reading at Newark

This weeks' Newark Festival was an eclectic one, with me appearing at three different events. One was the launch of the Newark Festival charity book that I wrote to raise money for them, the second was the Deadly Landscapes Panel, which featured Ajay Chowdhury, GD Wright and MJ Arlidge and the third panel was where …

Psychology in Nottingham

This Wednesday just gone I was at Nottingham Waterstones to see Mark Edwards and KL Slater. In the heat of this week it seemed weird to be talking about a book set on New Years Eve in a snowy Scottish enclave. But, this isolated location and succession type family will have you thinking of many …

The sign of Lock

Since Aide Lock first appeared, the most fascinating thing about Jo Callaghan's writing is the arc of this character. At the end of the third book in the series it was really dramatic and is really well illustrated with the impact at the start of this book. This is why I enjoy reading series and …