From the Book Elf

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 ...

 The Man Next Door by E.M. Scott The Man Next Door by E.M. Scott  is published by Bedford Square Publishers. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to  Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the tour. Synopsis Retired police detective inspector Thomas Maitland has rented a house in Cornwall; he's going to paint his way to recovery from the experiences of the spring. A local woman with an intriguingly expensive collection of modern art wants to put on a show of his work. But Maitland's next door neighbour, also his landlord, is unsettling, and when he finds his benefactor dead at the bottom of her garden, Thomas Maitland feels death casting its net over him again. My Thoughts This is a fascinating read from cover to cover . A read in which you will find yourself questioning and re-questioning what is happening and more importantly, in my case, who exactly is The Man Next Door referring to , because believe you me it  changes....

The Wee Small Hours  by Rosa Temple The Wee Small Hours by Rosa Temple was published by Island Dream Books.  My thanks to the author and publisher  for sending me a copy to review and to  Random Things Resources for inviting me onto the tour. Synopsis A cosy small-town romance about sleepless nights, unexpected friendships, and finding love when you least expect it. Annie Lambert hasn’t slept properly in years. Her remedy? Moonlit walks through her quiet Herefordshire town, where secrets linger and stories whisper in the shadows. When her mother returns to Australia, Annie inherits the crumbling family home—and a place in the Monday Afternoon Knitters Circle, a trio of spirited seventy-somethings determined to fix her life stitch by stitch. Suddenly, Annie’s small-town world is anything but quiet. A homeless man and his loyal dog become her closest confidants. A charming ex-footballer arrives as a new client. And her rugged builder seems to have more than bricks on h...