From the Book Elf

Wayward Women  by Rhonda Carrier and Tracey Davies Wayward Women by Rhonda Carrier and Tracey Davies  is published by Bedford Square. My thanks to the authors and the publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Things Resources for inviting me onto the tour. About Wayward Women Wayward Women is a unique, searingly honest, devastatingly raw two-person memoir about the friendship, travels and sex lives of two fifty something women finding their way again after divorce. It’s an entertaining, emotional and geographical journey that bounces around the world from Florida to India, Lapland to Hong Kong, as the authors -both leading travel writers - relay their experiences as midlife women – love, loss, parenthood, divorce, menopause – along with the tales of the inspirational women they meet along the way, and the growth of their friendship. My Thoughts I have to be honest I was drawn to the book by the sentence above the title; Sex, Friendship and the Midlife Reset. For ...

Murder in Moonlit Square  by Paul Waters Murder i n M oonlit  Square by Paul Waters was published on 15th January 2026 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 onto the Tour. Synopsis When semi-retired Irish nun Sister Agatha Murphy meets Avtar Mehta round the back of his historic Delhi hotel, they form an instant bond over a sneaky smoke and good gossip. Then a street robbery outside the hotel, a dead body inside it, and the disappearance of a pilgrim guest bring the local police to the hotel, determined to close their cases quickly, and with them the Delhi Haveli Hotel. Sister Agatha and Avtar must race to stay one step ahead of the police, the Indian secret service and a hidden killer – as well as keeping their sense of humour through a terrorism scare in the run up to Christmas on the colourful streets of old Delhi. My Thoughts I absolutely loved Murder in Moonlit Square. It is ...

Solo  by Caroline Swinburne Solo by Caroline Swinburne  was published on 28th September 2025 by The Book Guild . 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 Cate was a top musician in a leading orchestra—until a disastrous solo humiliated her on the world stage. Traumatised, she abandons her instrument, retrains as a language teacher, reinvents herself online, and travels the world. Ten years later, after her mother’s death, Cate returns to her bleak Midlands hometown, where she’s drawn into mentoring Sarah, a talented teenage horn player with no professional training. Sarah dreams of making music her career, but her family can’t afford a decent instrument or lessons. She learns by ear, her talent undeniable but her future uncertain. Cate is the only one who can help. When a local amateur orchestra announces a concert featuring the piece that once destroyed Cate’s car...

  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...