The Nightingale’s Castle by Sonia Velton

Abacus (2 May 2024)

Thank you to Abacus and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.

★★★☆☆

This imagining of Erzsébet Báthory “the Blood Countess” set in early 17th century Hungary is an elaborately embroidered historical tale of women, daughters and accusations of witchcraft.

The Countess’s teenage maid, Boróka, is a key character in this more sympathetic depiction of the Countess, who is as much a victim of her widowed status as the potential crimes of her close knit circle.

As the Countess is brought to trial, the link between her and Boróka becomes clearer as she is forced to choose her loyalties.

This is a carefully researched and beautifully written story with very believable characters, but I would have preferred the novel to have been more linear and plot driven.

Lady MacBethad by Isabelle Schuler

Raven Books (Paperback: 25 April 2024)

Thank you to Raven Books and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.

★★★★☆

Born a Pict princess after her family has lost the throne, Gruoch becomes obsessed at a very young age by her grandmother’s prophecy: one day she will be queen.

Scheming and disciplined, she chooses a favourable engagement over the chance of love when still barely on the cusp of her teens.

However, in a fickle and highly political and gendered world, Gruoch finds herself scrabbling for survival, still determined to be queen and unafraid of bloody revenge.

A compelling story of Lady Macbeth’s life before the Scottish play with a carefully embroidered character steeped in history and myth yet still very human.

I’d love to see Schuler write a follow-up, especially as I can’t picture this Gruoch and MacBethad handling events the same as Shakespeare’s and I want to know how the author interprets or imagines what happens next.

Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda

Quercus (9 April 2024)

Thank you to Quercus and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.

★★★☆☆

Drawn back to her hometown after her father’s death, Hazel is sucked back into the small town life she left ten years ago, including the ghost of her mother’s disappearance and her complex relationship with her two brothers.

Their father’s will reveals more surprises: the family home has been left to Hazel rather than the two flesh-and-blood sons who followed their father’s footsteps into the local police force.

When Hazel’s sister-in-law seems to go missing, Hazel is forced to confront the mysteries of her family’s past and rise to the challenge of her inheritance.

Another compelling small town psychological thriller by Megan Miranda (although I did guess part of the ending straight away).

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

Vintage (4 April 2024)

Thank you to Vintage and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.

★★★☆☆

After a night out, Lauren comes home to find a strange man in her house who seems to be her husband.

Gradually, Lauren realises that her attic is generating husbands; a new man comes down the ladder every time her ‘husband’ goes into the loft.

The range of men varies endlessly, all a result of possible partners and possible futures with the very occasional repeat.

Focused on how to choose which husband to keep, Lauren begins to realise that the life that comes with that choice is equally important, most especially how it affects the lives of her family and friends.

A quirky groundhog day debut which plays with the concept of ‘The One’.

Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham

HarperCollins (1 Feb 2024)

Thank you to HarperCollins and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.

★★★☆☆

Reeling from the tragic death of her best friend, Margot has barely got through her first year of college. Lonely and grieving, when she falls under the bright beam of Lucy Sharpe she is captivated by her gregarious personality.

Moving in with Lucy, Nicole and Sloane on a whim, Margot finds herself readjusting to close female friendship. There are parties, dares and secrets, and their relationship with the male frat house next door is a powder keg waiting to catch, especially when a ghost from Margot’s past moves next door.

Six months later, someone is dead and Lucy is missing. Is it too late to find out Lucy’s secrets? And are the remaining girls truly innocent?

Lucy is hard to like, but Margot also has her own guilty secrets. The connecting lines between the characters seem tenuous and coincidental at first, until the full story is revealed.

A weaving story of the fine line between love and obsession, fraught with lies and jealousy.

For fans of The It Girl and The Secret History.

The Wrong Sister by Claire Douglas

Penguin (14 Mar 2024)

Thank you to Penguin and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.

★★★☆☆

When Tasha’s sister and brother in law are attacked whilst housesitting for her, Tasha is devastated. Her guilt and distress are only compounded when she receives the note “it should have been you“.

The presence of additional familial DNA at the crime scene throws them into further chaos. Could their third sister, abducted as a baby, be involved?

Full of red herrings and misdirects, you’ll only guess the twists if you stay right on your toes (and Google a few terms).

I prefer to have a greater chance of working out the ending! However, you have to respect the clever and complex stories that this author always comes up with.

Another interesting thriller by Claire Douglas.

Saltblood by Francesca De Tores

Bloomsbury Publishing (25 April 2024)

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.

★★★★☆

In the late 17th century, Mary is raised as a boy so that her mother can claim her dead infant brother’s income. Still posing as biological male as a servant, in the navy and then in the army, it is ironically only when she becomes a pirate that Mary presents herself as a woman.

At sea, Mary’s deftness and skill speak for themselves. Mary finds herself in an in-between world where she is neither Mary nor Mark and is frustrated by the arbitrary attempts to be confined by one or the other.

Meeting the ruthless Anne Bonny – a female pirate also raised as a boy but undoubtedly now identifying as a woman – introduces her a different kind of love, a love which she must with their captain, Jack Rackham. There is a freedom to being at sea that Anne chooses even over her children.

The greatest encapsulation of Mary is not her lovers or her garb, but the crow which has accompanied her for years. The crow can neither be named nor owned, she just is, a facet of life at sea.

A fascinating and surprising erotic historical novel of gender, sexuality, and freedom.

The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman

Harvill Secker (11 April 2024)

Thank you to Harvill Secker and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.

★★★☆☆

Dismissed from his post in London after a patient dies, doctor Henry Talbot takes up a new position in a rural Welsh mining town.

His employer – Lord Julian Tresilian – needs a doctor on site to take care of his incapacitated cousin Lady Gwen and to keep an eye on her unconventional daughter, Linette. Whilst Julian owns the mines, Linette owns Plas Helyg and is mistress of the estates.

The neglected villagers are reluctant to accept Henry’s help, especially as an Englishman, trusting more deeply in traditional cures and superstitions. Teaming up with Linette and traditional healer, Rowena, Henry works to earn their trust.

However, something deadly is afoot. The previous doctor died in mysterious circumstances, and Gwen’s illness is not as it seems. Julian’s library of occult tomes points to something more sinister, as does the gold ring which some of his elite acquaintances wear.

Fighting against a shadowy network and an ancient force, Henry and Linette must solve the mystery of Plas Helyg before it’s too late.

An eighteenth century tale of monsters and myths.

All The Devils by Catelyn Wilson

Penguin (19 Sep 2024)

Thank you to Penguin and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.

★★★☆☆

Convinced that her sister Violet is alive, Andy enrolls at Ravenswood Academy to find out what happened to her.

There is something dark in the school and Andy quickly realises that Violet’s elite friendship group cannot be trusted.

After finding clues in her sisters room and in the greenhouse that reference the way of Anubis, Andy ends up teaming up with mysterious new student Jae to unravel and expose the inner workings of the academy.

However, finding out what happened to Violet and preventing further atrocities may just mean moving beyond the realms of the earthly world.

An imaginative combination of dark academia and mythology. I’d be interested in what happens next.

For fans of Joanne Harris’s Runelight series.

The Puzzle Wood by Rosie Andrews

Raven Books (9 May 2024)

Thank you to Raven Books and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.

★★★★☆

Taking a governess job at Lockesley Abbey under false pretences, newly widowed Catherine is desperate to find out what happened to her estranged sister in the same role.

There is something sinister in the woods that surround the Abbey, including noises and lights at night. There are rumours of a monster in the mines.

Sir Rowland Bridewell, head of the family in his father’s absence, is a foreboding character with savagely trained dogs. His wife is never present, confined by illness. His daughter runs wild around the halls and his father’s ward is a sinister and cruel presence.

Combined with the complex forces at the abbey, something which gives Catherine terrible nightmares lurks in her past, just beyond the reach of memory.

Meanwhile, Arthur Sidstone takes over from his grandfather as Abbey doctor, making a pact to protect the wood that his grandfather is obsessed with from the grasp of the Bridewells.

When there is a death at the Abbey, Catherine turns to Arthur and to Ned – a miner and the housekeeper’s nephew – to help unravel the great web of lies and mystery.

A chilling and spooky novel with a clever ending.