From the Book Elf

The Madness  by Dawn Kurtagich The Madness by Dawn Kurtagich  was published on 28th August 2025 by Graydon House/Harper 360.  My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis With one unexpected email from her estranged best friend Lucy, Mina Murray’s carefully curated life is turned upside down. Leaving behind her psychiatric practice in London, along with her routine and the calm it brings, she returns to the windswept shores of Wales. Faced with everything she’s left behind, she soon discovers that Lucy’s symptoms mirror those of her mysterious amnesiac patient, hundreds of miles away. With nothing but an untreatable sickness connecting the two women, and with Lucy’s life on the line, Mina finds herself asking questions and being drawn ever-deeper into a web of secrets, missing girls, and the powerful, nameless force at its center—one that has been haunting her...

A Deadly Affair in the Dales  by Maria Malone A Deadly Affair in the Dales by Maria Malone was published on 14th August 2025 by No Exit Press/ My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour Synopsis Meet Sergeant Ali Wren and her trusty companion Officer Police Dog Wilson, a springer spaniel with a nose for trouble. Together they serve the small Yorkshire town of Heft, where everyone knows everyone else’s business. And if they don’t, that’s a cause for concern… Ali, who has just returned home to Heft, needs all her diplomatic skills, not to mention a huge sense of humour, to navigate the requirements of her job. Drama lurks around every corner, from rogue parking in the disabled bays to a feud between the long-established Hooley bakery and a fancy new ‘cakery bakery’. When Brian Bright reports his wife Melody missing, at first Ali thinks it’s just another routine case. The eviden...

Secrets in the Dales  by Diane Allen Secrets in the Dales by Diane Allen was published on 14th August 2025 by Pan Macmillan. My thanks to the author and publishers for sending me a copy to review and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis In the sleepy Yorkshire Dales, the peaceful existence of Sally’s family is shattered by the outbreak of the Second World War. With her father navigating the challenges of wartime farming, and her mother striving to keep the home fires burning, young Sally is determined to do her bit. The war brings unexpected challenges, but none so disarming as Luca – an Italian POW who introduces Sally to a love that threatens to unravel everything she holds dear. As secrets threaten to surface and the war rages on, Sally must face a battlefield of her own, torn between love and duty. Will her choices lead to heartbreak or hope ? My Thoughts Secrets in the Dales by Diane Allen is a heartwarming story about a lovely fami...

The Dead and the Dying  by Lin Anderson The Dead and the Dying by Lin Anderson  was published on 14th August by Pan MacMillan .  My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me a copy to review  and to Random Things Tours for inviting me on the tour. Synopsis An ancient grave. A modern evil. The Dead and the Dying is a pulse-pounding instalment in the Rhona MacLeod series, perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Martina Cole and Silent Witness. In the dim morning light, Orkney’s Skaill Bay is the backdrop for a calamity of nature’s making. When forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod joins the rescue efforts as a volunteer, she uncovers more than she bargained for: a human skeleton entombed in a stone crypt. The grave is believed to hail from the Viking Age, but Rhona's analysis of the content points to more recent and sinister evil. And a shadow is thrown over the investigation when the skeleton is finally identified – and unsettling connections emerge between the ...

  The Unravelling Of Julia  by Lisa Scottoline  The Unravelling Of Julia by Lisa Scottoline  was published on 14th August by No Exit Press .  My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to  Random Things Tours for inviting me on the tour. Synopsis When Julia’s husband is brutally murdered in a random attack, her life unravels in ways she never could have foreseen. Haunted by his death and spiraling into despair, Julia seeks refuge in a secluded Italian villa she has mysteriously inherited from a stranger. But her sanctuary becomes a prison as she uncovers disturbing connections to her own past – and faces chilling threats that may not be imaginary. Caught between a heritage she doesn’t understand and a darkness she can’t escape, Julia must confront secrets that could cost her what little she has left. The Unraveling of Julia is a gripping, atmospheric tale of grief, memory, and a descent into psychological terror that ...