Dear Debbie - Freida McFadden

58%

13.10.26

This was less psychological thriller and more improbable farce but that made it a fun, unpredictable, easy read (although it did take mental health issues and the aftermath of violence a little too lightly).

Death on the Norfolk Express - Ross Greenwood

39%

21.09.26

The only thing I liked about this book were the local references. Otherwise, what I said about previous books in the series (Cromer and Fakenham) remains true - too many pointless characters, too much pointless exposition and relentlessly boring writing stops the story in its tracks (ha!).

The Ending Writes Itself - Evelyn Clarke

42%

11.08.26

Self-indulgent and confusing 'mystery' which seemed to hate everything about writers, editors and publishing - rather an ungrateful move for the two successful co-authors whose poorly written novel was going to sell well no matter how bad it was.

In Case I Go Missing - RN Swann

56%

30.06.26

A competent smalltown 'kids on bikes' (well, teens in cars) mystery that wasn't particularly distinct from similar YA stories and TV shows.

Human Remains - Jo Callaghan

56%

24.05.26

The pacing is poor, there's too much exposition, the fact checking is still dodgy (has the author ever actually listened to a podcast?), the characters are underdeveloped but still I keep reading this series so there must be something about it that engages me. Maybe I just hope that this time it will be better.

A Lesson in Cruelty - Harriet Tyce

41%

14.06.26

This was as messy and illogical as Harriet's performance on Traitors. 

Tib Street Ballroom - Keira Willis

43%

26.05.26

This was... exuberant, with strong sense of place (Manchester) and time (the 1980s), although the pop culture references were rather shoehorned in. And that was the problem - a better edit would have sorted the awkwardness, poor pacing and repetition. In particular, characters rolled their eyes on almost every page, which must be as tiring for them as it is for the reader.

Murder by Design - Lee Goldberg

41%

21.05.26

Like the designs in the story, great idea, poorly executed. 

The Woman on the Ledge - Ruth Mancini

56%

06.05.26

This was a fun read but so confusing, with its unnecessarily complicated 'explanation' for 'what really happened' and its interchangeable female characters. I wouldn't even say it was twisty - more that its unreliably unreliable narrator revealed unpredictable information as the story progressed.

The Vipers - Katy Hays

48%

03.05.26

This was beautifully written, with an eye on being lit fic - but pretty words are wasted when I have no idea what is going on. Too many flashbacks, too many inconsistencies, and withholding information from the reader does not, in itself, make a plot. Capri seems nice, though.

Your Time is Up - Sarah Naughton

51%

28.04.26

Who knew exams could be so exciting? Especially if 1) there are lots of flashbacks and 2) everyone leaves the exam room to generate the plot because exams are not exciting at all. But it was fine, even if the villain was obvious from the start and there was an unprofessional number of typos for a traditionally published book.

What Happened That Summer - Laura Pearson

43%

15.04.26

I didn't hate this but it didn't work for me. The podcast-transcript format can work well but here it seemed like a gimmick instead of the standard third-person narrative it should have been. Factual errors spoilt the immersion (when it is 9am in the UK, it is not, and never has been, 5pm in LA). The '90s setting was not convincing. The romance was hard to take seriously. The 'twist' was obvious from early on but was still never properly explained. All these things, as I say too often, could have been solved with a proper edit.

The Soulmate - Sally Hepworth

50%

25.03.26

The last book I read by Sally Hepworth I reviewed as 'ridiculous in every way', and this was no different. It was very silly in a way I didn't hate - but it could have been so much better and so much more memorable.

The Grapples of Wrath - Alice Bell

53%

17.03.26

I enjoy Alice Bell's idiosyncratic and effervescent style of storytelling so much that I was uncharacteristically willing to pay more than 99p for the ebook. Yet the little asides and esoteric cultural references, and even the relentless Britishness of it all, quickly become confusing and, ultimately, irritating, to the extent that this reads like a parody of her previous books. Another novel that would have benefited from another edit and proofread before publishing.

Perspectives - Laurent Binet

59%

04.03.26

I tend to avoid translated novels as they're usually sterile and stilted, but this was the opposite - smooth, fast-paced (for an epistolary novel - recounting a police chase by letter is an eccentric choice) and fascinating. Apparently, its cheeky take on Renaissance figures is controversial among those who know the period, but I don't, and it got me looking up most of the characters in Wikipedia. And I laughed out loud when the murderer turned out to be [x] because... of course it was.
 

Blade - Wendy Walker

53%

19.02.26

This ice-skating drama had all the elements of a really good literary thriller but they don't add up to a place on the podium. Some parts were really interesting - the potential for abuse at the heart of competitive sport, in particular - but it needed a stronger edit to avoid a forgettable performance.

Snowblind - Ragnar Jonasson

37%

14.12.25

A stilted translation, one-dimensional characters who were hard to tell apart, poor pacing, a plot that made no sense, and being told everything instead of being shown it - the much-celebrated (and rather monotonous) descriptions of snow were not enough to save this weak novel.

The House Across the Lake - Riley Sager

54%

07.12.25

Someone pointed out that all Riley Sager's books can be summarised as 'Young down-on-her-luck woman moves house, discovers neighbours' secrets, has secrets of her own.' This one definitely fits that mould, and is also pretty similar to Sarah Pinborough's supernatural domestic thrillers (like the one I've just read). Despite its cliches, this was still quite well written and pretty entertaining, if not all that engaging.

Insomnia - Sarah Pinborough

50%

01.12.25

Well, this certainly didn't keep me awake at night, in fact, quite the opposite, what with the slow pace and boring characters.

Grave Birds - Dana Elmendorf

43%

19.10.25

There was an atmospheric Southern Gothic thriller fighting to free itself from this poorly paced, poorly edited book. I'm all for genre fluidity but it didn't know what it was (Romance? Apocalyptic horror? Murder mystery? Not enough of any of those) and so ended up as an unfocused muddle.