From the Book Elf

The Nowhere Girls by Carmel Harrington The Nowhere Girls by Carmel Harrington  was published on 26th January 2026 by Headline Books. 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 On a cold afternoon in December 1995, two young girls are found abandoned on a platform at Pearse Station in Dublin. Thirty years later, investigative journalist Vega is determined to find out what happened to the so-called 'Nowhere Girls'. Where did their mother go? Why did no one come forward to claim them? And where are they now? Searching for answers takes her on a journey with twists she never could have imagined. And one that could put everything else she knows at risk; including her new relationship, her career, and her life as she knows it. My Thoughts I thoroughly enjoyed this moving story from start to finish. The story of two little girls left on a station platform by their mother starts you off on an ...

Broken Wings  by Barry N Rainsford Broken Wings by Barry N Rainsford published on 6th February 2026 by Sleeping Dogs. 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 When the body of a young woman is discovered in a remote North  Yorkshire barn DI Zara Fisher is called back before she is ready. Haunted by her own past and exiled to an anger management group back to duty for“difficult” officers, she’s forced to share therapy with three equally broken colleagues. But when their so-called routine cases begin to echo one another, they uncover a web of secrets stretching from the Dales to darkened corridors of power. Broken Wings is a darkly humorous, rain-lashed thriller about guilt, obsession, and the dangerous comforts of denial. My Thoughts  I was initially drawn to Broken Wings due to its setting in Yorkshire and being a “Yorkshire Lass” anything Yorkshire always intrigues me....

Under Vixens Mere  by Kit Fielding Under Vixen's Mere by Kit Fielding  was published in 2025 by Inkspot . My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Rachel for inviting me onto the tour. Synopsis If poor Harry Jones hadn't lowered himself into the water one freezing winter's night, a long-buried secret would never have come to the surface. If … Big Ed and Milly had been able to have children, Karen hadn’t longed for love and romance, Lorrie hadn't finally ditched Petra, Dinah hadn’t found out the truth about Barry, Jed hadn't dealt drugs and got Anna pregnant, Carl Thomson hadn't come looking for him, and Moses hadn't heard the commotion … then there would be no story of Vixens Mere to tell My Thoughts As an avid walker of canals and Nosey Parker of canal boats I loved the concept of this book about the different characters moored up in Vixens Mere. The sinister story that develops through present, and past, happe...

A Body in The Banjo  by Elaine Spires A Body in The Banjo by Elaine Spires was published in 2025. My thanks to Elaine for sending me a copy to review  and to Rachel for inviting me on the tour. Synopsis It ’ s November 1958 and Dagenham is excitedly awaiting Bonfire Night. Cissie Partridge isn ’ t too keen on fireworks but she generously donates to the local children doing Penny for the guy. Cissie is content with her lot. She loves her husband Harold. She shops, she cooks, she reads at every opportunity and she volunteers at the Dockland Settlement. Observant and sharp, she gets on with all her neighbours. Then, one morning, she finds a body … My Thoughts For me Elaine’s books are the type of cosy mystery books that you go to when you need to read but don’t want to read anything too taxing. Allowing you to enjoy your “Me Time “ without leaving you traumatised at the end of it. Right from the beginning I envisaged a Hetty Wainthropp style character in Cissy and I wasn’t disapp...