From the Book Elf

  Voices From The Dead  by Tony Bassett Voices From The Dead by Tony Bassett  was published on 17th November  2025 by  The Book Folks Crime Thrillers. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to  Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me onto the tour. Synopsis The brand-new gripping crime thriller in the popular Detectives Roy and Roscoe series. A murdered beauty influencer. A buried secret waiting to surface. A killer who’s already one step ahead. In the picturesque Warwickshire town of Queensbridge, a retired nurse escapes to her hotel room looking for peace from the chaos of her great-nephew’s rowdy thirtieth birthday party. But to her horror she witnesses a brutal crime from her balcony — a young woman strangled in the room opposite. Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy — staying at the same hotel after attending a nearby wedding — is first on the scene, and quickly realises this isn’t a random attack. The victim, glamorous be...

Poole of Light  by R J Verity Poole of Light by R J Verity  was published on 16th September 2025 by Vasen Press. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me on the tour. Synopsis A coal-mining town. A flicker of light. A boy who dreams of more. Spennymoor, 1913.  When ten-year-old Jem Poole sees a moving picture for the first time, it ignites a spark. Raised in a northern coal-mining town marked by grief and hardship, he begins to dream of more than soot and survival. He dreams of light. Through war, reinvention, and the golden age of British cinema, Jem rises to national success, building a legacy of silver screens and stories that define a generation. But when a figure from his past reappears, long-buried memories resurface, and he must confront the truth of the life he has built – and the memories that never let go. Set against the backdrop of twentieth-century Britain,  Poole of Light ...

A Brotherly Devotion by Jill Bray A Brotherly Devotion by Jill Bray was published in July 2025. My thanks to Jill for sending me a copy to review and to Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me onto the tour. Synopsis YORK 1224: On a hot July night, Brother Clement is savagely murdered when returning from administering to Lady Maud de Mowbray. Simon de Hale, Sheriff of Yorkshire, is in his office when Abbot Robert visits to inform him of the murder, and request that he take responsibility for investigating the killing. Simon is unsure whether the murder is a crime against the Abbey, or if it is a more personal matter against the monk. Commencing their investigation, Simon and his deputy, Adam, ride out to see Lady Maud de Mowbray at Overton - the last person to see Brother Clement alive. When they encounter her son, Roger de Mowbray, they both take an instant dislike to him. Lady Mowbray reveals to Simon that she intends to leave her money to the Abbey, and Simon can see this bein...

No Oil Painting by Genevieve Marenghi No Oil Painting by Genevieve Marenghi was published by Burton Mayers. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a review copy and to  Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me onto the tour. Synopsis A respectable septuagenarian steals a valuable painting and later tries to return it, with a little help from her friends. Bored National Trust volunteer, Maureen, steals an obscure still life as a giant up-yours to all those who’ve discounted her. The novice fine art thief is rumbled by some fellow room guides, but snitches get stitches, camaraderie wins out and instead of grassing her up, they decide to help. Often written off as an insipid old fart, Maureen has a darker side, challenging ingrained ideas of how senior citizens should behave. Her new set of friends make her feel alive again. No longer quite so invisible, can this unlikely pensioner gang return the now infamous painting without being caught by the Feds? I wrote this afte...

The Fracture by Morgan Cry The Fracture by Morgan Cry  was published on 4th November by Severn House. My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me a copy to review and to  Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the tour. Synopsis Ex-police officer Blake Glover’s past threatens to catch up with him and destroy his small town life in this second instalment of the Blake Glover Crime series by Bloody Scotland co-founder Gordon Brown writing as Morgan Cry. Ex-police constable and now taxi driver Blake Glover thought retiring to his ho metown of Fraserburgh would be calm – until, while attending a local funeral service, he notices something disturbing: did the sturdy expensive coffin split as it was lowered into the grave? How could this be possible? Is there a cruel scheme taking place? As if this wasn’t enough, one of Blake’s customers from the night before has gone missing and Blake is the last person to have seen him alive. To make matters even worse, Blake is ...