Changes

<metadesc>Book review siteExpert, with books full book reviews from most walks of literary life; fiction, biographynon-fiction, crime, cookery and children's books & self-published books plus author interviews and & top tens.</metadesc><h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>Hello from The Bookbag, a site featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - [[:Category:Fiction|fiction]], [[:Category:Biography|biography]], [[:Category:Crime|crime]], [[:Category:Cookery|cookery]] and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library and the bookshop. Sometimes it holds the latest releases, but at other times there'll be old favourites, books for the children, books for the home. They're sometimes our own books or books from the local library. They're often books sent to us by publishers and we promise to tell you exactly what we think about them. You might not want to read through a full review, so we'll give you a quick review which summarises what we felt about the book and tells you whether or not we think you should buy or borrow it. There are also lots of [[:Category:Interviews|author interviews]], and all sorts of [[:Category:Lists|top tens]] - all of which you can find on our [[features]] page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the [[Book Recommendations|recommendations]] page.

Reviews by readers from all the many walks of literary life. With author interviews, features and top tens. You'll be sure to find something you'll want to read here. Dig in! Find us on [[File:facebook.gif|link=https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk|alt=Facebook]] [https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk '''Facebook'''], [[File:twitter.gif|link=http://twitter.com/TheBookbag|alt=Follow us on Twitter]] [http://twitter.com/TheBookbag '''Twitter'''], [[File:instagram_classic_logo.png|link=https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/|alt=Follow us on Instagram]] [https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/ '''Instagram'''] and [[File:LinkedIn.png|link=https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-bookbag-1b12a264/|alt=LinkedIn]] There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' [[:Category:Reviews|reviews ]] at TheBookbag.

==Reviews of the The Best New Books==

'''Read [[Forthcoming Publications|reviews of books about to be published]].{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingauthor="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->Tom Percival<!-- Lange -->|title=The Wrong Shoes|-rating=5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Confident Readers[[image:161963502X.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwWill's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways.amazon.co.uk/dp/161963502X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Chaos He is bullied because he has 'the wrong shoes', he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and doesn't have enough money for even the most basic of Now by Erin Lange]]=== [[image:4things like food, and his dad can't work because he lost his job at the college, was working a cash-in-hand job on a building site and had an accident.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and dad are separated, [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Eliand Will's life seems bleak in every direction. And yet, he still has a talented hackertiny amount of hope. He is good at art, is one of those people who manage and clings to fly below the radar. When new friends offer him the chance to enter a prestigious competition moments of joy when he soon realises this golden opportunity has a sting in its tail. How many people can hand on heart say is drawing, that they have not made mistakes? Most people are fortunate not to have feel like a permanent online reminder, light at the very presence end of which refuses to allow you to adapt, to change, to grow. Eli has a few mistakes skulking onlinelong, moments of madness that if discovered would change his life foreverdark tunnel. [[The Chaos of Now by Erin Lange|Full Review]]isbn=1398527122}}<!-- Clár Ní Chonghaile -->{{Frontpage|-author=Sylvie Cathrall| styletitle=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''A Letter to the Luminous Deep|rating=5[[image:1787198146.jpg|linkgenre=http://wwwScience Fiction|summary= There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise.amazon.coAnd this is one of them.uk/dp/1787198146/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | styleisbn=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''0356522776}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008517061|title=Death in a Lonely Place|author=Stig Abell|rating=[[The Reckoning by Clar Ni Chonghaile]]==4|genre=Crime [[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]] As Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the blurb saysfuture of his life with his vet girlfriend, ''In a cottage in NormandyLivia and her daughter Diana, Lina Rose is writing to the daughter she abandoned as moving in together would mean a baby''…the whole of Chonghaile's second novel is a series lot of letters addressed compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to Diane. Lina is now move in with Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her seventies and Diane reservations about whether or not this is a mother the future she wants for herself. They have met just once since Lina gave and her up for adoption. daughter? It was not a good meetingFor the moment they’re enjoying life in the present and putting the future on the back burner. [[The Reckoning by Clar Ni Chonghaile|Full Review]]}}{{Frontpage<!-- Michael Pronko -->|isbn=1786482126|-title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Elly Griffiths[[image:B07GCYRY61.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GCYRY61/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalBuilders were demolishing an old house in Norwich -align: top; textthe site was going to hold seventy-align: left;"|===[[The Moving Blade (Detective Hiroshi 2) by Michael Pronko]]=== [[image:4five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway.5star There was no skull.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] The funeral is Was this a good time to rob a house in Tokyo - and even better when theyritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It're famous s difficult as most people will be there. Bernard Mattson had been famous - one of the great political thinkers - and renowned for Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is pregnant with his support child as a result of the American bases in Japanone night they spent together some three months ago. One of the great tragedies Her condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of his murder was that he was just a few days short of meeting up with his daughter Jamie: they hadnsickness.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=It't been estranged, but when Mattson and her mother divorced she took s unusual for anyone from the teenager Hardie family to approach the USA and father and daughter just drifted apartpolice. Jamie and her mother came back Neither side likes or has any respect for the funeral, but her mother departed as soon (or even before) she decently could, leaving Jamie other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to settle tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her father's affairsdeath. The only problem is that an awful lot of people seem very interested in Bernard Mattson's legacy - This person, he promises, is someone big and they're prepared it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be violent transferred to get their hands on an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date. Not much to ask, is it. [[? The Moving Blade (Detective Hiroshi 2) by Michael Pronko|Full Review]]new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}<!-- John Clare -->{{Frontpage|isbn=0008405026|-title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Jane Casey|rating=5[[image:1789552354.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789552354/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalIt's sixteen years since nine-align: top; textyear-align: left;"|===[[Storytelling: The Presenter's Secret Weapon by John Clare]]=== [[image:4starold Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Business and Finance|Business and Finance]] I was She was never found and the investigation ground to a little bit nervous when I picked up ''Storytelling: The Presenter's Secret Weapon''halt. After allNow, the majority of presentations which I've seen or given were her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in a business context and what was required was absolute professionalism, not an act put on for light entertainmenttheir bed. I needn't have worried though: Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the book is an essential guide to preparing bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and giving your presentation, with or without what has now come to be known as The Dreaded PowerPointher boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. IWhat looked as though it was going to be an open-and-shut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie've been making presentations successfully s disappearance: others (but Isuch as Derwent'll say more about this laters boss, Una Burt) in various professional situations for some forty or more years and I did wonder if the book would be able to teach me anything. It didare less convinced.}} <!-- Priestley -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0571379877| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet[[image:1408873109.jpg|linkrating=http://www3.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408873109/ref5|genre=nosim?tagCrime|summary=thebookbagEdward Jevons is a working-21]]  | style="verticalclass young man, obsessed with his upper-align: top; textclass friends, Robert and Stanza. Robert's a theatre director. He's also self-align: left;"| ===[[Treasure of the Golden Skull (Maudlin Towers) by Chris Priestley]]=== [[image:4obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] (If multiple categories use the same format, separated by comma + space)Sponge and Mildew are not the biggest fans of their school, Maudlin Towers. Who would be? It Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - and he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. Most men in Robert's run down. It's gloomy. You can't move for gargoyles and position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward thata relationship had begun between them but he's discounting not like most men: Edward is left to stumble upon the teacherstwo of them kissing in a dark passageway. But when they find out that there's no money left and the school might close they realise that}}{{Frontpage|author=Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No Trace|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=When a man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, tatty and morose as DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the Maudlin Towers iscase alongside her sidekick, it is ''homethe AI detective Lock. It''. So they set s their minds on a rescue mission..first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases. [[Treasure of the Golden Skull (Maudlin Towers) by Chris Priestley|Full Review]]<!-- Bolton -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786074311But when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786074311/ref=nosim Will they be able to solve the case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the case and, potentially, out of a career?tag|isbn=thebookbag-21]]139851120X}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"1399613073|title=Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson|rating=4.5|genre=[[The Syndicate by Guy Bolton]]===Thrillers[[image:4.5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Set in Post War America, with a society finding its feet again, this thriller weaves its way through Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the glitz first day of Hollywood, the dirt of Mob rule medical school and the birth of an American institutiontheir friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Whilst most of this book Anjali is set in Hollywood the whole story sits in the shadow free spirit of the birth of Las Vegasgroup and she becomes a GP. We open with the murder of When we first meet them they're at a high level Mob boss drug and when the Police alcohol-fuelled party and FBI refuse to properly investigate, his associates decide it's going to bring end in their own detectivetragedy. Retired legend, Jonathon Craine, only wanted a quiet life away from the Studios, the Police, and most of all The Mob but they wouldn We don't let him have that. From know who suffered the shocking start to tragedy or the dramatic conclusion this is a great and compelling readconsequences. [[The Syndicate by Guy Bolton|Full Review]] <! Twenty-- Rossner -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. This time, it's their teenage children who are involved.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604[[image:035651143X.jpg|linktitle=httpThe Trading Game://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/035651143X/refA Confession|author=nosim?tagGary Stevenson|rating=thebookbag-21]]4.5|genre=Autobiography| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Sisters If you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. A hoodie and jeans replaces the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner]]=== [[image:4starpin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Raised in a small village surrounded by woodland There was no posh public school on the border of Moldova and Ukraine, sisters Liba his CV - but he had been to the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright - extremely bright - and Laya have lived he has a sheltered life - although there are whispers facility with numbers which most of troubling times ahead for Jewsus can only envy. When their grandfather takes ill, their parents must leave the sisters behind while they travel He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his sickbedability at what was, but life for Liba and Laya is about to drastically change. Before their parents leaveessentially, Liba discovers that the fairy tales she heard as a child are in fact true card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as she learns that her Tati can turn in to a bear and her Mami in to a swantrader. Liba must carry this secret in order to help protect her sister, but the arrival of a mysterious group of men in the village carries more danger as Laya is dragged under their spell. Both sisters must stick together if they are }}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035021803|title=The Antique Hunter's Guide to survive what is happening around them and they soon realise that their new-found magical heritage may be what saves themMurder|author=C L Miller|rating=3. [[The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner|Full Review]] <!-- Auxier -->5|-genre=Crime| stylesummary="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1419731408It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up.jpg|link=http://www She's back now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole.amazon Freya's former mentor and Carole's close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to say the least.co.uk/dp/1419731408/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align Arthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to the village: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Arthur, she feels, let her Monster by Jonathan Auxier]]=== [[image:5stardown badly.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Nan is a climber Even though they were in business together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to be near the man or pursue the best chimney sweep in Londonprofession she loved. She is growing fast After the split, so what will happen to her when she gets too big to climbworked in a cafe, when people realise she is a girl? Everything changes, when she is stuck in a chimney, set met and married James (on fire, and saved by a golem. A story the rebound from the love of outcastsher life, who was murdered) and friendships, told through two tales, the girl Freya and the sweep, and the girl and her monsterJames have now divorced. Both intertwined beautifully, so }}{{Frontpage|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover|title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that you have a fairy tale within a fairy tale. Moments Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of sadness slip easily into glorious happiness, then swiftly into heart-breaking tragedythings to come. This is a heart-warming and engaging read for both young and old. [[Sweep: The Story of a Girl and her Monster by Jonathan Auxier|Full Review]] <!-- Sarah Hilary -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1472248961.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472248961/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Come and Find Me (DI Marnie Rome Book 5) by Sarah Hilary]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] There's no reason to think that Lara Chorley and Ruth Hull have anything in common, other than a rather strange infatuation with writing to Michael Vokey, a sadistic inmate of Cloverton Prison. They crave his attention and can't believe that he's as evil as his trial suggests. It might not have become important was it not for the riot at the prison, which ended up with Vokey killing two inmates, blinding and maiming more - and escaping under cover of the smoke from the fire he caused. Not surprisingly staff and inmates at Cloverton are unwilling to talk about where they think Vokey might be hiding out - they have wives, children and friends who might be at risk. [[Come and Find Me (DI Marnie Rome Book 5) by Sarah Hilary|Full Review]] <!-- Rachel Lynch -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07GBS8Y5H.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GBS8Y5H/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Dead End (D I Kelly Porter) by Rachel Lynch]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] The seventh earl of Lowesdale was found hanging in his study by his teenage grandson, Zachary. Initially everyone assumed that the nonagenarian, hard-partying aristocrat had finally realised that the glories of his youth were long past and had decided to take the quick way out. When forensics discovered signs of foul play DI Kelly Porter was called in. It's not the only problem she has though: two young hikers have gone missing on the fells near Ullswater and she is in charge of the search. When they're not found within a couple of days her team uncover links to two other unsolved disappearances - and the girls all look startlingly similar. [[Dead End (D I Kelly Porter) by Rachel Lynch|Full Review]] <!-- Davidson -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1912242052.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1912242052/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[O Joy for me! by Keir Davidson]]=== [[image:3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Art|Art]], [[:Category:Biography|Biography]], [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] ''Oh Joy for me!'' gives Coleridge credit for being ''the first person to walk the mountains alone, not because he had to for work, as a miner, quarryman, shepherd or pack-horse driver, but because he wanted to for pleasure and adventure. His rapturous encounters with their natural beauty, and its literary consequences, changed our view of the world''. [[O Joy for me! by Keir Davidson|Full Review]] <!-- Wooding -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:147321484X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/147321484X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] A land under occupation. A legendary sword. A young man's journey to find his destiny. Aren has lived by the rules all his life. He's never questioned it; that's just the way things are. But then his father is executed for treason, and he and his best friend Cade are thrown into a prison mine, doomed to work until they drop. Unless they can somehow break free . . But what lies beyond the prison walls is more terrifying still. Rescued by a man who hates him yet is oath-bound to protect him, pursued by inhuman forces, Aren slowly accepts that everything he knew about his world was a lie. The rules are not there to protect him, or his people, but to enslave them. A revolution is brewing, and Aren is being drawn into it, whether he likes it or not. The key to the revolution is the Ember Blade. The sword of kings, the Excalibur of his people. Only with the Ember Blade in hand can their people be inspired to rise up . . . but it's locked in an impenetrable vault in the most heavily guarded fortress in the land. All they have to do now is steal it... [[The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding|Full Review]] <!-- Felix Francis -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471173119.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471173119/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Crisis by Felix Francis]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] By training Harrison Foster is a lawyer, but he's working as a crisis manager for a London firm. He was called to Newmarket after a fire in a stable killed six very valuable horses, including the Derby favourite. On the surface it looked like a simple fire, but it wasn't long before Harrison discovered that all was not as it seemed, not least because there were human remains along with the charred bodies of the horses. As all the staff were accounted for, who was the human victim? Harrison was completely new to the world of thoroughbred racing: in fact he knew little about horses and positively disliked them. [[Crisis by Felix Francis|Full Review]] <!-- Thompson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0356511367.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356511367/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Rosewater by Tade Thompson]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless - people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumoured healing powers. Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn't care to again - but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history and coming to a realisation about a horrifying future. [[Rosewater by Tade Thompson|Full Review]] <!-- von Doviak -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785657178.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785657178/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Charlesgate Confidential by Scott Von Doviak]]=== [[image:3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] In 1946 a gang of criminals pull off an audacious art heist, making off with priceless works of art from a Boston Museum. These missing art works are never found. In 1988, a student finds himself caught up in the mystery of the missing art and hot on the trail of the multi-million-dollar reward. In 2014, the art is still missing and now dead bodies are turning up at the eponymous Charlesgate, filled with alumni celebrating their 25th reunion. As the body count rises, will we discover the truth behind the art theft decades earlier? [[Charlesgate Confidential by Scott Von Doviak|Full Review]] <!-- Minette Walters -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1760632163.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1760632163/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Turn of Midnight by Minette Walters]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] At the beginning of 1349 there is a glimmer of a hope that the ravages of the Black Death might be passing. In Devilish in Dorset the population is well, because of Lady Anne's strict rules about quarantine, which are regarded as heresy as they go against the strict rules of the church, but their stores of food are dwindling and they know that when they are exhausted they will have no choice but to leave. What will they find on the outside? Are they the only survivors? [[The Turn of Midnight by Minette Walters|Full Review]] <!-- Hendrix -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690122.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690122/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] The night manager of a Best Western, Kris Pulaski is washed up and unhappy. Few know of her past as guitarist of 90's Heavy Metal band Dürt Würk – a band once tipped for greatness, but destined to obscurity after lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career, rocketing to stardom as ''Koffin''. When a shocking act of violence turns Kris's life upside down – she is forced to look back to a past she has tried to forget – and to a deal Hunt made that may have sabotaged more than just the band. In a journey that will take Kris from a dusty hotel to a hellish music festival, she's determined to face the man who ruined her life. But with dark forces rising and threatening everything Kris holds dear, will Kris be able to defeat the odds? Or will Hell truly be unleashed on the Earth…? [[We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix|Full Review]] <!-- Steve Burrows -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786074389.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786074389/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Tiding of Magpies: A Birder Murder Mystery by Steve Burrows]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] DCI Domenic Jejeune's most celebrated case was his rescue of the Home Secretary's daughter when she was kidnapped. It's always been his deep regret that he failed to rescue the man who was kidnapped with her and this has all resurfaced now that the case is being reviewed. Long-buried secrets are bound to come to light, even though the officer reviewing the case, DC Desdemona Gill, is a fan of his to the extent that it's almost embarrassing. The review isn't the only problem he has though: a body has been found on some waste ground, but it's so badly burned that identification is difficult - and made more difficult by the indecision of the Medical Examiner. [[A Tiding of Magpies: A Birder Murder Mystery by Steve Burrows|Full Review]] <!-- Neil White -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785764608.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785764608/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]''

I've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you're eighteen. Well, I must confess that there have been more than a few decades of technology in my lifetime. I've kept up reasonably well with what's advantageous to me but I'm left with the feeling that it's all getting away from me. Some of it is - frankly - quite frightening. Of course, I could research the possibilities and the probabilities and end up down rabbit holes without really understanding whether I'm reading someone who knows what they're talking about or the latest conspiracy theorist. I needed people I knew I could trust and who could deliver information in a way I could understand.}}{{Frontpage|author=Sunny Singh|title=Hotel Arcadia|rating=3.5|genre=Thrillers |summary=The Hotel Arcadia is a luxury hotel in an unnamed city that has suddenly been violently taken over by a terrorist group. Hiding from the terrorists who are rampaging through, killing everyone on site, there is Sam, a wartime photographer and Abhi, the hotel manager. As Abhi continues to try to care remotely for the residents who are still alive in the hotel, he forms a bond with Sam who refuses to be cowed by events, and keeps on venturing out of her room to try to capture what's happened through her photography. Although they only ever talk over the phone, their friendship grows as Abhi tries to help her keep safe and they both wait to see if they will be rescued before they are discovered by the terrorists.|isbn=086154742X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529153298|title=The List of Suspicious Things|author=Jennie Godfrey|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|summary=It's 1979 and Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister. (A woman? I mean, honestly...) She's not what's worrying Miv's family, though. Women have been disappearing. Well, they've been murdered, but to have 'disappeared' doesn't sound quite so frightening. Miv's upset because she's overheard that her father wants to move the family 'Down South'. When you're from Yorkshire, Down South is a frightening, foreign place, best avoided. For Miv, the move would mean leaving her best friend, Sharon, and she'll do anything to prevent that. She's not worried about the dangers or that her Mum's stopped talking - to anyone.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1398524085|title=Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?|author=Nicci French|rating=5|genre=Crime| stylesummary="verticalCharlotte Salter was expected at her husband's fiftieth birthday party but never turned up. Her children, sons Niall, Paul and Ollie and her daughter, Etty. are all worried but -align: top; textstrangely -align: left;"her husband, Alec, is not. Shortly afterwards, Etty and Greg, find the body of Greg's father, Duncan Ackerley, in the river. It was an easy assumption for the police to make that Duncan had murdered Charlie and then committed suicide when he couldn't stand the guilt. The Salter children are not convinced but there's little else they can do but get on with their lives and wonder about what really happened.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035906708|title=Diva|author=Daisy Goodwin|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=[[The Darkness Around We tend to think of Maria Callas as Greek, but she was born to Greek parents in Manhattan, New York, in December 1923 and only moved to Athens when she was thirteen. Her original surname was Kalogeropoulos but her father changed it to 'Callas' to make it more manageable in the States. When she was back in Athens - supposedly so that she could get appropriate training for her voice - she was raised under the Nazi occupation by Neil White]]a mother who mercilessly exploited her and made no secret of her preference for her elder sister, Jackie.}}{{Frontpage|author=Christopher Edge|title=Black Hole Cinema Club|rating=4|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Lucas and his friends are all booked in for a movie marathon at their local cinema, a place that has the nickname of 'The Black Hole'. All big movie fans, they're looking forward to lots of exciting films, and many, many snacks! However, as the movie starts, they very quickly realise that something about this new film format is very different, and they are swept up into an adventure they couldn't even imagine. But as they lurch from one film genre to the next, can they figure out what on earth is going on? Will they ever get back to the cinema, and to their real lives?|isbn=1839942738}}{{Frontpage|author=Rachel Greenlaw|title=Compass and Blade|rating=3.5|genre=Teens|summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''

[[image:4starRosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks.jpgMira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. But when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear.|linkisbn=Category:0008664730}}{{Frontpage|author=James Sherwood Metts|title=Planet Storyland|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary= Things have been a bit sticky for the Earthlings. AI and automation have been proceeding apace, often replacing jobs they're paid to do and other tasks that took time to accomplish. Just as they were beginning to get used to all this technological change and starting to think of other, new ways to spend time, along came an awful pandemic. Life was pretty much shut down and, along with it, all the many daily social interactions on which they depend so heavily.|isbn=1736128426}}{{Frontpage|author=Matthew Tree|title=We'll Never Know|rating=4.5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary= Timothy Wyndham wants nothing more than to be different from his father, a drunk and chronic underachiever whose dreams of being exceptional at any of his artistic passions all failed miserably and who had endless crises of self confidence. So Tim applied himself to his studies, cultivated his abilities rather than his daydreams and set himself high but achievable ambitions.|isbn= B0CVFXPGP8}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|Crime]]summary='' There's a part of me that wants to keep this just to myself for however long I can. This secret magic of my own, all mine, at last. I just want to enjoy it for a while.''

Lizzie Barnsley was escaping Within a remote mountain pass, far away from the world, lies Silverton; a town under the protection of the Briar's, a family of witches who protect the town and the wider world from the Darklands. Though she has always wished for magic, Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her abusive boyfriend when family for generations and as such since she was murdered on young, her training as a steward revolved around letters and administration rather than spells and potions. When her grandmother suddenly dies, Ellie's cousin Audra becomes the Briar Witch, the town's leader, and Ellie takes her place beside her. As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the rare ability to communicate with the dead, putting her at the heart of a maelstrom of chaos. Reeling from one family secret to another, Ellie must decide who to trust and determine what to do as the canal towpath on New YearBriar witches' legacy, everything they have sacrificed to survive, is under threat.|isbn=1803364548}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529900360|title=The Ghost Orchid|author=Jonathan Kellerman|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=It hadn't been Lt Milo Sturgis's Evefault that Alex Delaware had been badly injured but he felt responsible and even after Alex recovered, Sturgis was reluctant to ask for his help on difficult cases. It obviously wasnHis assertions that there were only open-and-shut cases which didn't need the boyfriend as he help of a psychologist only worked for a while. Finally, it was still being held by LizzieRobin, Delaware's friends at partner, who nudged Milo into asking for help again. She knew that the involvement was something that the pubman she loved needed. The next case did look simple, but before long Peter Box was arrested and chargedthough. Two lovers were murdered in the swimming pool of a remote property in Bel Air. He'd sought treatment at was the local hospital for heir to an injury Italian shoe empire and she is married to his head an extremely rich man and it's not the Italian. But which of them was the same shape as primary target?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529395224|title=Letting the Cat Out of the heel Bag: The Secret Life of Lizziea Vet|author=Sion Rowlands|rating=3.5|genre=Animals and Wildlife|summary=Siôn Rowlands fell into veterinary science accidentally. His father was a GP and Rowlands didn't want to follow in his footsteps, particularly when he considered the strain that being on-call put on his father's shoe life. When he was seventeen he took the opportunity of doing work experience with a family friend who was a vet and was convinced this was the job for him. Before long, he was at Liverpool University. It hadn't - as with so many students - been his dream since he was a child. If anything, he'd wanted to be a professional footballer.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0861541774|title=A Nye of Pheasants|author=Steve Burrows|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=DCI Domenic Jejeune's close friend and her blood former colleague, Danny Maik, has taken a short holiday in Singapore to meet up with an old ally, Guy Trueman. Maik was involved in a street brawl - he would later maintain that he was on facing a man armed with a knife - and he killed a Ghurka. Initially, he faced a charge of manslaughter but evidence came to light that suggested that he might have planned to murder the man. Now he could be facing the shoedeath penalty. Dan Grant was called Domenic Jejeune can do nothing to help as any interference from another police force could provoke a diplomatic incident and wouldn't help Danny at all.}}{{Frontpage|author=Alexander McCall Smith|title=The Perfect Passion Company|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=The Perfect Passion Company is a dating agency in Edinburgh, run by Ness and operating as an alternative to all the online apps in providing a more personal, tailored service. Ness has asked her younger cousin Katie if she could come and look after the business, as Ness is planning to take a trip to Canada to get away for a while. Katie is coming out of a break up with a bad boyfriend, and so jumps at the chance to come home to Edinburgh. And so begins this new story from Alexander McCall Smith, bringing us to represent Boxan Edinburgh we already love, thanks to 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie novels, but with some new characters who quickly begin to charm. Katie has no experience in running a business, or in match-making, but Ness has full confidence in her abilities, and there's always her very helpful (and rather handsome) neighbour, William, to lend a problemhand…|isbn=1846976596}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0811771741|title=InstaKnits for Baby|author=Melissa Leapman|rating=4|genre=Crafts|summary=Melissa Leapman's ''InstaKnits for Baby'' gives us a collection of knits from toys to blankets. Box wonSome will be quick knits - others are of the 't talk long, cosy afternoons in front of the fire' variety. The projects are divided by the time they'll take to complete - less than five hours, five to ten hours, ten to twenty hours and more than twenty hours. All the projects are attractive, modern and useable. I perhaps show my age when I wonder about 'social-media-worthy projects' but that's me being picky.}}{{Frontpage|author=Dean Koontz|title=The Bad Weather Friend|rating=4.5|genre=Paranormal|summary=Benny is having a terrifically bad day. He loses his job, he loses his fiancee, and his house gets trashed. Oh, and someone has delivered a really weird, disturbing coffin- wonsized object to his home, and it't talk s possible that whoever or whatever was inside is the thing that has trashed his house! The thing is, Benny is the very last person to deserve all this bad luck. He is a nice person. A really nice person. So fortunately for Benny it turns out that the police or delivery to Granthis house is a new friend, a bad weather friend called Spike, so how who has been sent to help him since Benny is clearly under attack from nefarious forces for being a good person. Spike is going to take care of Benny, and will certainly take care of Benny's enemies, if he , Benny, and Harper (a waitress slash Private Investigator who finds herself roped into Benny's wild adventure) can figure out who exactly they are.|isbn=1662500491}}{{Frontpage|author=Adam Stower|title=Murray and Bun|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers |summary=Murray is supposed to be a humble, tidy and friendly cat, one who is able to represent sleep and eat and eat and sleep and, well, whatever takes his fancy next of the man? two. And had Box killed Lizzie? But he's a bad magician's cat, so his favourite bun has been turned into a hyperactive sticky rabbit called Bun, and the catflap they both use can chuck them out, not into the regular back garden, but into a world of frightening adventure and whiffs. It This time round it drops them into a Viking land, where a troll hunter is expected – well, one much bigger than Murray was obvious that , to be honest, but he's turned up and he hadn't known her - so why ll have to do…|isbn=0008561249}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0C47LV1PC|title=Fragility|author=Mosby Woods|rating=4|genre=Literary Fiction|summary= Can you make a ''Yo birthing person'' joke? And if you could, is the question should you make it? Or is the question if you did, would he kill herit land? [[The Darkness Around Her by Neil White|Full Review]]catch is that the answer for both could well be.... no.

<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->''Fragility'' is set as the city of Portland, Oregon, cautiously begins to emerge from the restrictions imposed during the covid pandemic}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529431735|title=The Winter Visitor|author=James Henry|rating=4|genre=Crime|}summary=It's February 1991 and Essex is bitingly cold, which made Bruce Hopkins' return all the more surprising. He'd been exiled on the Costa del Sol as a wanted drug smuggler for a decade. The return has come about because he's had a letter from his ex-wife, saying that she's ill and hasn't long to live. It's hard to feel any sympathy when Hopkins is abducted, stripped to his underwear and sent to a watery grave in the boot of a stolen Ford Sierra. Is it a warning from a Spanish gang or a problem closer to home?