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Home Before Dark by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir (Paperback Release)

 

Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir.

Translated by Victoria Cribb.

Published in paperback 4th June 2026 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

November, 1967, Iceland. Fourteen-year-old Marsí has a secret penpal – a boy who lives on the other side of the country – but she has been writing to him in her older sister’s name. Now she is excited to meet him for the first time.

But when the date arrives, Marsí is prevented from going, and during the night her sister Stína goes missing – her bloodstained anorak later found at the place where Marsí and her penpal had agreed to meet.

November, 1977. Stína’s disappearance remains unsolved. Then an unexpected letter arrives for Marsí It’s from her penpal, and he’s still out there…

Desperate for news of her missing sister, but terrified that he might coming after her next, Marsí returns to her hometown and embarks on an investigation of her own.

But Marsí has always had trouble distinguishing her vivid dreams from reality, and as insomnia threatens her sanity, it seems she can’t even trust her own memories.

And her sister’s killer is still on the loose…

***********

Iceland, November 1967. Marsi strikes up a correspondence with a secret penpal. One night, she arranges to meet this boy, but when the time comes she is unable to make it to their assignation. That same night, her older sister Stina goes missing, leaving behind a bloodstained anorak on the roadside. She is never seen again. Marsi becomes consumed with an idea: that her sister's disappearance is connected to her penpal... because she has been pretending to be Stina.

Ten years later, the mystery of Stina's disappearance remains unsolved. Plagued with insomnia, and feelings of guilt she can never admit, Marsi returns home to her broken family for the anniversary of that fateful night. But this year something is different - her penpal has contacted her once again, and she is frightened he might be coming for her next. The time has come for her to find out once and for all what happened to her sister.

Every time I read one of Eva's cracking Nordic noir mysteries I am struck with the well-deserved comparisons between her work and that of the eminent Agatha Christie. I think this book, more than any of hers I have read before, shows every ounce of the talent that has earned her this reputation.

The story unfurls in two deliciously twisted timelines, through the narratives of Marsi in 1977, and Stina in 1967. In classic Eva style, she begins from the outset to lay plenty of false trails as the two timelines weave back and forth, delving into the tragic consequences of family dramas, friendship clashes, and coming of age struggles. 

Marsi's desperate quest for the truth drives the story, and she makes for a gloriously unreliable narrator. Chronic insomnia; the toll of the guilty feelings that haunt her; and half-remembered memories al warp her perception of events in past and present. As she delves into matters others would prefer she left alone, suspicion of those she thought she could trust only clouds her judgement further. 

The plot is devilishly clever. Eva deftly spins multiple threads of mystery about Stina's disappearance, shocking secrets, and Iceland's uncomfortable post-WWII history. She misleads, misdirects, and springs her carefully concealed traps like never before, all while immersing you in the gritty reality of a family torn apart by loss, and things that remain unsaid. And the atmosphere! It is thick with all the edgy suspense that comes from unsettled weather, brooding landscape, capricious characters with murky motivations, and unsettling locations you are bound to revisit in your nightmares.

I could not put this book down. Victoria Cribb's translation is crisp and viscerally gut-wrenching, doing full justice to the imagination of one of Iceland's most accomplished crime writers. Simply superb!

Home Before Dark is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats. You can support the very best of indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a proof of this book, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva moved to Trondheim, Norway to study her MSc in Globalisation when she was 25. 

After moving back home having completed her MSc, she knew it was time to start working on her novel. Eva has wanted to write books since she was 15 years old, having won a short story contest in Iceland. Eva worked as a stewardess to make ends meet while she wrote her first novel, The Creak on the Stairs. The book went on to win the CWA Debut Dagger, the Blackbird Award, was shortlisted (twice) for the Capital Crime Readers' Awards, and became a number one bestseller in Iceland. The critically acclaimed Girls Who Lie (book two in the Forbidden Iceland series) soon followed, with Night Shadows (book three) following suit in July 2022. You Can’t See Me (book four) was released in 2023, with Boys Who Hurt in 2024.

Eva lives with her husband and three children in Reykjavík.

A Strange Way To Die (The Hiroshi Suzuki Files: Book One) by R. Pearl and G. Bamford

 

A Strange Way to Die (The Hiroshi Suzuki Files: Book One) by R. Pearl and G. Bamford.

Published 21st May 2026 by Arlingham Press.

From the cover of the book:

An emperor marked for death.

A killer wave that shouldn’t exist.

One agent caught in the crossfire.

When Hiroshi “H” Suzuki, a deadly Anglo-Japanese operative, is sent to track a phantom assassin in Paris, he uncovers a chilling link to a billionaire genius with a secret agenda.

As the clock ticks toward a global catastrophe, H is drawn into a high-stakes game of deception, desire, and ruthless ambition, where nothing is what it seems and failure isn’t an option.

***********

Hiroshi “H” Suzuki is an Anglo-Japanese secret service agent on a mission. His assignment is to discover how a successful German billionaire, Doctor Otto Adolf Khyller, is linked to the mysterious assassin known only as Jamal. 

H discovers that there is a lot more behind the billionaire's plans than the intelligence agencies could possibly imagine. A global catastrophe beckons. Can H foil Khyller's secret agenda in time...?

First published in 2015 by mother and son duo R. Pearl and G. Bamford, A Strange Way to Die is the first high-octane outing for charismatic Anglo-Japanese secret agent Hiroshi “H” Suzuki. This new edition relaunches the Hiroshi Suzuki Files series, and comes with a fancy new limited edition paperback make-over, featuring stunning sprayed edges.

The action kicks off almost straight out of the gate, after an intriguing Pacific Ocean-based prologue, and continues in the same fast-paced vein throughout - beginning with H tailing the excellently-named Khyller and his henchman through the street of Paris in his less than inconspicuous Bentley, on the way to the megalomaniac baddie's opulent French chateau. H is soon embroiled in Khyller's complicated machinations, which include an assassination enterprise targeting the Japanese Emperor no less.

Scene after, heavily Bond-inspired (with a touch of Jason Bourne), scene than play out across the globe, building up to an edge-of-your-seat climax of eco-thriller proportions which is as mad-cap as any Bond villain ever aspired to. Along the way, H cuts a swathe through dangerous situations in glamorous locations, in company of alluring women (and an accomplished female associate), firmly in the higher echelons of luxury living.

The vibe is very much 'visual spectacular' when it comes to the plot, and at times it a little restraint of the 'less is more' kind would work better in print form, especially when it comes to the cast of characters, which is too large for a first instalment as you never get to know most of them in any depth. I get the feeling that this has one eye on a cinematic iteration (currently in development), which, to be fair, would work well. I would certainly be happy to watch a screen adaptation, and await with interest.

There are some clever touches here that cut through the style and offer some substance though. H is actually rather intriguing on a number of levels, and an Anglo-Japanese spy with French connections is a refreshing twist on the more obvious British-American espionage scene. I very much enjoyed the thread about the unknown identity of his father, which hooks you into the next book in the series, Dead Men's Money (coming October 2026). And the flashbacks that reveal pertinent details of H's past are nicely done.

This is an ambitious opening to the series. It is a fun page-turner, and it kept me entertained through all the bangs, crashes, passionate clinches, and monologuing bad guy capers.

A Strange Way to Die is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats.

Thank you to FMcM Associates for sending me a copy of this book.

About the authors:

R. Pearl has a large family and lives in London with her husband David. Educated at Heathfield School and École de Commerce, Switzerland she has written extensively for magazines on British sporting heroes and is the co-author, along with her son-in-law, G. Bamford, of the Agent H series: A Strange Way to Die, Dying for Power, and the forthcoming Dead Men’s Money. She is currently working on the fourth book, Precision Strike.

G. Bamford is married and lives with his wife and three children in the Cotswolds. Educated at Ampleforth he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Parsons School of Photography in New York and is the founder of Bamford Watch Department. He is Deputy Chairman of JCB, the company founded by his grandfather.

Dwell by Rue Baldry

 

Dwell by Rue Baldry

Published in paperback 11th June 2026 by Northodox Press

From the cover of the book:

…they are within a painting, both openly staring, with the only movement the glittering of dust motes. Light halos the marble-white figure on the floor, burnishing his hair, sharpening his features...

January 1919. A new gardener at a snowbound boarding school catches everyone’s attention. It’s rumoured he is a war hero. He’s nineteen-year-old Albert, haunted by Great War experiences and fighting the temptation of one particular prefect. What they want is illegal. Being caught would ruin them. Then Albert’s past finds him, making their quest for a place where love can safely dwell look impossible.

Dwell brings into the open love between ordinary gay men which was forced to be secret in the early twentieth century. It is a tender, evocative coming-of-age love story exploring privilege and oppression, healing from trauma, redemption, belonging, and hope.

***********

January 1919. Fresh from the Great War, nineteen-year-old Albert accepts a job at the snow-bound boys' boarding school, Whiteborne. He is an object of frenzied excitement to the pupils, especially the excitable Lower Fourth crowd, who are sure he must be a war hero.

Albert remains quiet and aloof, haunted by his past, and determined not to be tempted into sin with the red-headed prefect who has caught his attention by channelling himself into his work. But the prefect, Edgar, has noticed him too. Despite the danger, the two are attracted to each other like moths to a flame, even though being together would mean ruin for them both... 

Dwell by Rue Baldry is a beautifully written novel that sensitively describes the experience of gay men in post Great War Britain through the heart-rending love story of Albert and Edgar - two young men close together in age, but with wildly different backgrounds.

The story unfurls through the perspectives of the lovers (with the occasional delicious revisit to Whiteborne). Baldry begins with Albert, who signed up to go to France at only fifteen to escape a poverty-stricken upbringing, and who has returned broken by his experiences. As Albert swings between punishing manual labour to keep his thoughts in check, and paralysing remembrances of his time in the trenches, you become aware that privileged Edgar has a secret too. He has recognised a kindred spirit in the handsome gardener, and cannot keep away from him.

Edgar makes it his object to break through Albert's fever-dream-plagued reality, and a tentative romance blossoms between them... until Albert's living nightmares bring chaos, and he flees the new-found security Whiteborne offered. But fate cannot keep the two young men apart. When Edgar attends university in grimy Birmingham to study medicine, the opportunity arises for them to live together in a semblance of happiness - as long as they can manage the tricky business of maintaining their privacy - but Albert's complicated past intrudes once more.

This is a queer romance set flawlessly in time and place, wreathed in the secrecy necessary to prevent Albert and Edgar's love being exposed. Baldry captures the underground gay scene of Birmingham in a way that fits incredibly well with the mystery surrounding the secrets Albert is keeping about his time in the trenches - secrets about much more than the usual horrors of war. The carefully crafted twists and turns, laced with palpable menace (and a monster in the shadows) reveal the true scale of Albert's fears, and the lengths he will go to in order to protect oblivious Edgar from harm. 

Baldry touches on so much about the backdrop surrounding her lovers by exploring attitudes to sex, the class divide, expectation, exploitation, prejudice, and religion, all while immersing you in a tender romance that thrums with moments where time seems to stand still. The post-Great War landscape is so well drawn, showing the problems veterans faced upon returning home, and how the social fabric of Britain was changing, especially for women. 

I cannot sing the praises of this incredible debut, with its lovely echoes of E.M. Forster's Maurice, enough. My emotions were shredded, with good reason given the constant feeling of peril, and pitch-perfect romantic suspense. There is is ample opportunity for Baldry to weave in joyful threads of friendship and allies to Albert and Edgar's cause too, which serve to make your spirit soar in an ending full of hope and healing. And, oh, how beautifully Baldry uses her title... a place to dwell, dwelling on thoughts... superb! I loved it!

Dwell is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats.

Thank you to Northodox Press for sending me a proof of this book.

About the author:

Rue Baldry has a BA in English Literature from York University and an MA in Literature with Creative Writing from Leeds University. She still lives in York, where she met her husband and they raised their five children. In 2015 she was a Jerwood/Arvon mentee, in 2017, the The Bridge Awards/ Moniack Mhor Emerging Writer, and in 2021, a Women's Prize Discoveries longlistee.

​Her debut novel Dwell is due to be published in February 2026 by Northodox Press, and her short story collection Nice Things is coming from Fly On The Wall Press December 2026.

Dwell, won the 2024 First Novel Prize. Other work of hers has won the 2023 Canada and Europe region of the Commonwealth Prize, come second in the Yeovil Prize, been longlisted for the BBC NSSA, and placed in the Caledonian, Bridport, Reader Berlin, First Page, Odd Voice Out, Retreat West, and Flash 500 competitions.

Thirty of her short stories have been published in journals such as Granta, Ambit, MIR Online, Mslexia, The Honest Ulsterman, Fairlight Shorts, Fictive Dream, Litro, Postbox, and The Incubator. Her plays have had amateur performances and professional workshops.

Stop Dead (Iceland Mysteries Book Two) by Katrín Júlíusdóttir

 

Stop Dead (Iceland Mysteries Book Two) by Katrín Júlíusdóttir.

Published 21st May 2026 by Orenda Books.

Translated by Larissa Kyzer.

From the cover of the book:

Thousands of runners.

One killer.

Icelandic detective-in-training Sigurdís is studying criminal psychology in the USA, but her plans are thrown into disarray when she discovers that her boss and mentor, Garðar, has been put on leave from Reykjavík CID as a result of his investigation into Sigurdís’s father’s death.

Returning to Iceland to deal with the fallout, Sigurdís finds herself pulled into a disturbing case: controversial TV personality Olga Einarsdóttir has been stabbed to death during the Reykjavík Marathon. Struggling to locate a runner wearing bib number 1407, who was seen near the murdered woman during the race, the police soon discover that several masked runners were wearing the same number.

As the mystery deepens, Sigurdís and her fellow detective Unnar soon learn exactly how unpopular Olga was – not just with the interviewees she humiliated on live TV, but with her own son, her business partner, a widower who insists that she had a hand in his wife’s death, and her ex-husband, who died in suspicious circumstances thirty years ago…

As her exploration into Olga’s past becomes ever darker and more harrowing, Sigurdís must also face the truth about her own father, while searching for an attacker who will go to any lengths to cover up their crimes…

***********

Newly graduated from her criminal psychology studies in Florida, Icelandic detective-in-training Sigurdís is considering her options. It seems likely she will stay in the USA and apply to join the FBI, like her American boyfriend, Jeff, but then a phone call from back home changes everything. Sigurdís' boss, and mentor, Garðar, has been suspended after a recent audit of Reykjavík CID, and the investigation into the death of her father has been reopened. 

Sigurdís returns to Iceland to rejoin Reykjavík's CID team, and be near her troubled family and friends. She is soon drawn into a high profile murder case. TV journalist Olga Einarsdóttir has been stabbed to death while taking part in the Reykjavík Marathon, seemingly by a fellow runner, but this one solid clue is shown to be far less useful than the police hope when they discover more than one competitor was wearing the number 1407.

The case becomes even more complicated when the CID team realise quite how unpopular Olga was. Many people had cause to dislike her, from her own family to those upset by her controversial programmes, and it is going to take time eliminating them all from the investigation. Meanwhile, someone is stalking Sigurdís from the shadows...

Sigurdís is back in her second gripping adventure, picking up the threads of Katrín Júlíusdóttir's delicious debut, Dead Sweet. Sigurdís has been following a new direction, but she finds herself right back in the turmoil of her past, when the case into her father's apparent suicide is reopened. Although therapy has given her a way to start coming to terms with the trauma associated with growing up in a house blighted by domestic abuse, it takes all her new-found control to wade through the questions and difficult memories this turn of affairs throws up - not to mention the disruption this brings to her relationships with her brother and mother, and her police career. 

In parallel, Sigurdís and the CID team (hello again, handsome Unnar) have a very tricky investigation on their hands with the death of the very unpleasant Olga Einarsdóttir, whose murder opens up a whole can of bitter worms related to her present and her past. And the plot only thickens the more Sigurdís uncovers, opening up tangled lines of inquiry around past misdeeds, the lengths people will go to protect their secrets, legacy, and revenge - all classic Nordic Noir fare, with a chilling modern twist.

My favourite thing about Júlíusdóttir's writing is the way she blends the police procedural elements of her books with the personal lives of her characters. She uses themes of broken families and childhood trauma incredibly well, so the private lives of the characters complement her crime plots to perfection. It is psychologically fascinating to be in Sigurdís' head, especially when it comes to the strategies she is coming to rely on to bring light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel. I loved the up-turn in her romantic life too - the chemistry between her and Unnar is a welcome addition the otherwise menacing mix (poor old Jeff, he never stood a chance).

This was a very satisfying second instalment of the series, and I cannot wait to see what happens next!

Stop Dead is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats. You can support indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a proof of this book, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Katrín Júlíusdóttir has a political background and was a member of the Icelandic parliament from 2003 until 2016. Before she was elected to parliament, Katrín was an advisor and project manager at a tech company and a senior buyer and CEO in the retail sector. She worked from a young age in the fishing industry, was a store clerk and also worked the night shift at a pizza restaurant. She studied anthropology and has an MBA from Reykjavík University. 

Katrin's debut novel, Dead Sweet, was published in English in 2023, and longlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize.

She is married to critically acclaimed author Bjarni M. Bjarnason, who encouraged her to start writing. They have four boys and live in Garðabær.

 May 2026 Reading Round-Up

May was an absolute stonking month on the book front - several of these will be making my

'Books of 2026' list!

I've been steeped in darkness; consumed with gothic gorgeousness; triumphed at the wins of unlikely helpmates; been there for hopeful beginnings, happy reunions, and heart-breaking endings; AND enjoyed the company of some incredible women!

You can find my reviews of these fourteen laughter-inducing and tear-jerking gems by clicking on the pictures below.

All Cats Are Grey by Susan Barratt

Greta Garbo and the Rise of the Modern Woman by Scott Reisfield

Falling for the Protagonist by Bex Goos

Beneath the Orange Blossom by Emma Cowell

Thornby Manor by Stephanie Bramwell-Lawes

Elizabeth and Marilyn by Julie Owen Moylan

The Mysterious Mr Quin by Agatha Christie

Under the Blazing Sun by Jenny Lund Madsen

Dark is the Morning by Rupert Thomson

Body of Lies by Jo Callaghan

The Repentants by Kate Foster

Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Rose and Renzo by Carolyn O'Brien

Keep following for more incredible reads!

How can it be June already?!

Rose And Renzo by Carolyn O'Brien

 

Rose and Renzo by Carolyn O'Brien.

Published 16th May 2026 by Northodox Press.

From the cover of the book:

Manchester 1936

Fascism looms in Europe, and Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts are on the rise.

After the death of their father, two sisters arrive in Manchester's vibrant 'Little Italy': creative misfit, Rose, and her much older sister, Ivy. Fearing Rose's impulsiveness, Ivy seeks to control Rose, forcing her to give up her cherished place at art school.

Frustrated and desperate to pursue her passion, Rose meets Renzo, a painter arrived from Europe. Their connection is instant and powerful. Yet as their feelings deepen, Renzo's past in Mussolini's Italy remains a mystery.

As Blackshirts march across the city, Rose is drawn to the fight against fascism, even as she's compelled to face the devastating question: just which side is Renzo on?

***********

1936. After the death of their Reverend father, Rose and her much older sister Ivy move to the industrial centre of Ancoats, Manchester. Manchester's 'Little Italy' is a far cry from the quiet Cheshire countryside, but creative Rose is looking forward to attending the city's art school in the autumn, as her beloved late mother wished. Unfortunately, Ivy has other plans - seeking to control Rose's independent spirit, she forces her to give up her dream and take an office job at one of the city's mills.

Rose is desolate, and totally unsuited to office work. However, her heart lifts when she meets Italian artist Renzo, the nephew of their downstairs neighbour, kindly Zizi Lili. An instant connection sparks between them, and the seeds of romance begin to bloom. But the ugly rise of fascism on the international stage is infecting the city. Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts are determined to make Manchester a power base, and in 'Little Italy', where support for Mussolini and his cronies is openly spoken of, Mosley is finding sympathetic ears. Rose begins to wonder where Renzo's loyalties lie...

It makes my heart skip when I discover a novel that ticks every box on my literary want list, and Carolyn O'Brien has done just that with Rose and Renzo, a delicious love story set against the rise of fascism in the 1930s.

The story unfurls from the perspective of Rose, an artistically gifted twenty-year-old. For all her modern ideas, and fashionable shingled haircut, Rose still has a lot of growing up to do, particularly when it comes to the harsher side of life - and Ivy is determined that she should be shaken from her 'foolish' ways when she uproots them to live in Ancoats. 

Surrounded by poverty, and the grime of the mills, Rose remains resolute that she will fulfil her dream of attending Manchester Art School, especially when she meets Renzo, who seems to understand her inner artistic soul like no one since her mother. Even though she rejects Ivy's dour outlook, Rose gradually finds her eyes being opened to the plight of those affected by the actions of Mosley and his British Union of Fascist thugs. With her political awakening, she begins to question what Renzo believes in.

As someone endlessly fascinated by the between-the-wars period, I am so impressed by how much Carolyn covers in these pages. She brings time and place alive in a fractured city reeling from financial pressures, capturing how and why Mosley's propaganda provoked hatred and violence in the wake of worrying developments in Italy and Germany - and how the political landscape changed as a result.

And, Carolyn does so much more! Her characters are wonderfully vivid, springing from the page in all their 1930s glory - you will find figures to love and hate amongst them - and the chemistry between Rose and Renzo is electric. She delves beautifully into messy family dynamics through the difficult relationship between Rose and Ivy - such a gulf between them, fuelled by jealousy and loss. She explores the life-shattering impact of war, and how this ripples through time; touches on fashion, changing social attitudes, the class divide, faith, and immigrant communities... not to mention, prejudice, human frailty, ignorance, legacy, and even desire. She also does a stellar job of shining a light on the connection between art and politics, especially when it comes to expressing ideas and emotion.

One of my favourite things about this novel is the spectacular way Carolyn floods the story with themes of freedom and resistance, making it a timely reflection on the present. If this does not send you down rabbit holes about the past, and set you pondering on how history repeats itself, I will eat my fedora.

What an utter joy this novel is. It is packed to the gills with cleverly wielded themes, oozes historical detail, and celebrates both love and art through Rose and Renzo's heart-wrenching romance. I adored it, inhaling it in a single sitting, and it is one of my favourite novels of 2026, by far.

Carolyn's previous novel, The Song of Peterloo, is now firmly in my sights, and I wait expectantly for her next book!

Rose and Renzo is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Northodox Press for sending me a review copy of this book.

About the author:

Carolyn O’Brien is a historical fiction writer from Manchester. Her writing has a strong sense of the north-west of England and its radical past, as illustrated in her first novel The Song of Peterloo and Rose & Renzo.

The Song of Peterloo was published in 2019 to coincide with the Peterloo Massacre bicentenary commemorations. It was well reviewed and continues to be used as a teaching resource in schools and adult learning programmes.

Carolyn loved writing from an early age and read English at Cambridge University before qualifying as a solicitor. Prior to publication of her first novel, Carolyn enjoyed several successes with short stories including the Rome Short Story competition which she won and a shortlisting for the Bridport Prize, as well as publication on-line and in numerous anthologies and magazines.

She continues to live near Manchester with her family.

Carolyn can be found on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads as @carolynmanc

Carolyn is represented at Jenny Brown Associates by Lisa Highton.

Waiting On A Friend by Natalie Adler

 

Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler.

Published 26th May 2026 by riverrun.

From the cover of the book:

East Village, summer of 1984. Renata is a young dyke-about-town who has the ability to see ghosts, which has been happening more and more frequently as her friends have started dying of what has recently been named AIDS.

So, when her best friend Mark dies, she assumes she'll see him again. There's no way Mark wouldn't give her a chance to say goodbye, would he? But to her disappointment - and increasingly, her concern - Mark doesn't appear.

Renata has other problems, too. A mysterious, police-like force has begun ridding their East Village neighbourhood of anything abnormal or inexplicable. At first, she's sure they're scam artists, but it becomes clear they're actually trapping ghosts. With her band of lovably eccentric pals and lovers, Renata is determined to fight back against the erasure of her friends' memories and the sanitizing of her beloved New York.

Both heartbreaking and healing, tragic and triumphant, Waiting on a Friend is a magical retelling of queer history and a celebration of youth and camaraderie. With pathos and humour, empathy and an edge, Natalie Adler freshly reimagines the past for a new generation, reclaiming the spirit of resistance and determination that would become one of the era's defining legacies.

***********

East Village, New York. Summer, 1984. Renata is a young lesbian in New York City. It is a summer punctuated with loss after loss of her queer friends, which is particularly hard for her, as she has the gift of 'seeing dead people'

However, the one ghost she does want to see, that of her recently deceased gay best friend, Mark, refuses to appear. Instead, she is being haunted by Francois, a friend of theirs who died a particularly gruelling AIDS related death. Francois appears at inopportune moments, his face a mask of pain, frequently accompanied by piercing screams. It is a happening not conducive to conducting romantic relationships, so when she hears of the strange Manhattan Remediation organisation who claim to be able to remove 'discomfort' from your living situation she gives them a call...

Set against the heartrending AIDS and heroin crises of the mid-1980s, Natalie Adler's novel is a powerful exploration of loss, violence, stigma and prejudice. In the midst of a constant battering of grief, Renata is trying to negotiate her own childhood trauma with her addict mother, while wading through the appearances of ghosts all over New York - most significantly in her own flat, which Francois refuses to vacate. At the same time, she longs for a glimpse of her bestie Mark, who she has shared so much with, but who does not respond to her yearning.

Meanwhile the sinister Manhattan Remediation team are gadding about the city, hoovering up spirits in a way reminiscent of the (who you gonna call...?) Ghostbusters guys - and storing the troublesome spectres in a storage facility. Francois disturbing presence leads Renata to call for help from them, but she begins to suspect there is something odd about their intentions, that involves gentrifying the area for Yuppies to move in rather than helping out its unsettled eclectic residents.

The themes run thick and fast in this beautifully written novel, rich in explorations of loss, violence, stigma and prejudice. It is a time those of us old enough to have lived through cannot fail to forget. But it is not all darkness, as friendship, love, dark humour, and the journey towards emotional healing play a part in the story too. Renata's voice is incredibly vivid, and I loved how Adler delves into her struggles with the living at the expense of her preoccupation with the dead - especially when it comes to affairs of the heart. 

This is one of those books that lingers in the mind, not just for the difficult memories it evokes of time and place, but for the thought provoking way Adler echoes the elements of trapped ghosts in those about the people left behind and unable to move on. Highly recommended!

Waiting on a Friend is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to riverrun for sending me a proof of this book.

About the author:

Natalie Adler is an editor at Lux magazine. She was a 2022-23 Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction. She has an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College and a PhD in comparative literature from Brown University. She is from New Jersey and lives in New York City.

The Repentants by Kate Foster

 

The Repentants by Kate Foster.

Published 28th May 2026 by Mantle.

From the cover of the book:

Her scandal. His revenge. The unforgettable new historical novel from award-winning author, Kate Foster.

St Monans, Fife, Scotland 1790. Two women are forced to publicly repent in church, one for adultery the other for breaching the sabbath. Wealthy housewife, Florrie, and salt serf, Eliza, form a quick and unusual bond over their mutual humiliation. So when Florrie's husband decides she must accompany him on a trade venture to Iceland, she insists Eliza comes as her maid.

Far from home, isolated and fearful, the two women grow ever closer. Then Florrie's husband reveals his sinister plan: he will leave her in Iceland, banished for the shame she has cast upon him. Florrie must escape, but when she turns to Eliza for help she realizes nothing is quite as it seems . . .

Inspired by an attempt by Scottish merchants to annex Iceland as a remote prison for the British Empire, The Repentants is a chilling tale of betrayal, exile and survival from the Women's Prize long-listed author of The Maiden, Kate Foster.

***********

St Monans, Fife, Scotland 1790. When wealthy housewife Florrie is tempted from her unfulfilling marriage bed into the arms of a Danish merchant, she hopes her infidelity will go unnoticed by her cold husband, Jonny. Unfortunately for Florrie, she is caught midst passionate tryst, and forced to repent her sins in front of St Monans' church congregation. 

Her public humiliation is shared by Eliza, a poor salt serf who works for Jonny as little more than a bonded slave. Eliza's sin is one of breaching the sabbath, and although she also claims to repent her transgressions, Florrie is fascinated by Eliza's independent spirit.

When Jonny decides his business interests lie in far-off Iceland, Florrie has to accompany him on this long journey. She insists that Eliza comes too, to act as her maid. The two women form an uncomfortable bond - both chaffing at being dragged to this strange land. But it is not until Jonny reveals his sinister plan, that the real danger of their situation is revealed...

I have loved every one of Kate Foster's previous novels, so had high hopes for The Reptentants - and I was not disappointed. It takes its inspiration from a bold plan by Scottish merchants and British entrepreneurs to establish a prison ship in Iceland, in an attempt to annex Iceland from Denmark as a British penal colony. The concept was eventually dropped in favour of sending British convicts to Australia, but Foster cleverly puts Jonny at the forefront of this aborted scheme, weaving him into history through a business proposal to use the prisoners as workers at a new salt works in Iceland - in cahoots with a silver-tongued Danish merchant, and devious Count Levitau, a deliciously melodramatic Dane who sees himself as the future overseer of Reykjavik.

The story moves between eighteenth century Scotland, Iceland and Demark, unfurling through the perspectives of Florrie, Eliza, and Hallgerd - an Icelandic woman with an absent husband, whose grand house Count Levitau is determined to lay claim to by nefarious means. Each woman is an unwilling participant in unfettered male ambition, and your spleen soon rises at the way they are treated.

Twists and turns abound as revelations are spilled about how the women's fates are connected, and their relationships pitch and toss as entitlement, spite, and recriminations enter the fray. But eventually they come together to fight a common enemy - the men who think they can use them as stepping stones to fortune - in a glorious tying up of storylines that will have you punching the air with revenge-filled glee.

Foster held me spellbound, infusing atmosphere, and reams of historical detail into her story - time and place thrum, and there is an unsettling urgency about the situations the women find themselves in that tugs at your emotions. Florrie, Eliza and Hallgerd are as beautifully drawn as I have come to expect from Foster, painted in authentic shades of grey. She excels in delving into their hopes and desires (sexual desire once again handled so well), showing how they are judged for wanting to take charge of their own lives.

Another cracking novel from Kate Foster, ringing with feminist themes - and an absolute must if you love stories about the forgotten voices of women in the past!

The Repentants is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and ausio formats.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan for sending me a proof of this book.

About the author:

Kate Foster worked as a national newspaper journalist for more than twenty years before becoming an author. Growing up in Edinburgh, she became fascinated by its history and often uses it as inspiration for her stories. Her previous novels include The Maiden, which won the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut of the Year and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, The King’s Witches, and The Mourning Necklace. The Repentants is her fourth novel..

 She lives in Edinburgh with her two children.

Body Of Lies (Kat And Lock Book Four) by Jo Callaghan

 

Body of Lies (Kat And Lock Book Four) by Jo Callaghan.

Published 21st May 2026 by Simon and Schuster.

From the cover of the book:

Human suspicion. AI manipulation.

When truth can be rewritten, who can you trust?

DCS Kat Frank is back at the Future Policing Unit after a devastating loss - and straight into her most disturbing case yet.

On Halloween night, a local MP is found murdered. Beside the body is a taunting message in binary code, aimed directly at Kat:

Catch me if you can.

The victim was a vocal opponent of AI. The motive looks political. But as Kat investigates with her partner, AIDE Lock - the world’s first AI detective - the case spirals into something far more dangerous.

Then a cyberattack takes down the National Grid.

With the country in chaos and lives on the line, Kat and Lock must track a killer who is always one step ahead. But in a world of deepfakes, deception and digital ghosts, instinct is no longer enough.

Kat must decide whether to trust the one thing she still fears most: her AI partner.

Because this time, Lock may not just be solving the case.

He may be changing what it means to be human.

Can Kat stop a killer before the lights go out for good?

***********

DCS Kat Frank has not been home since the terrifying hostage situation that saw DI Rayan Hassan become collateral damage in a last ditch attempt to save her. Being back in the house means coming to terms with more loss and trauma - and deciding whether she can still trust her AI partner AIDE Lock. 

She and her FPU (Future Police Unit) team need to pick themselves up and get back to work without Hassan, and the opportunity presents itself when an anti-AI campaigning MP is murdered and strung up for all to see on a historic pillory in Coleshill.

There is something strange about this case from the start. The local powercut that coincided with the murder is odd, and the killer seems determined to taunt Kat and Lock. But the full scale of the dark motivation behind the crime only comes to light when a massive cyber attack on the National Grid brings the country to a dangerous standstill - just as the government are considering an AI bill which might see Lock finally get the body he desires... 

This concluding volume of the gripping Kat and Lock series is the most ambitious, tense, and thought-provoking of them all. When a slow-burn murder investigation blows wide open into a national security situation of epic proportions, Kat and her team must race against the clock to find a killer and a cyber-terrorist. With the country on its knees, and lives in the balance, Lock is central to the investigation, but can they trust him to have human interests as his priority in the light of recent events?

Callaghan goes all out in this story, and I was kept teetering on the edge of my seat as the twists and turns culminate in a jaw-dropping finale that is as chilling as it is emotional - one which is so cleverly fore-shadowed earlier in the story. Trust issues keep things interesting, and every member of the team has a vital part to play - plus Kat's son Cam on his trusty bicycle! 

I cannot wait to see what comes next from Jo Callaghan, because this has been quite a ride!

Body of Lies is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to The Book Club reviewers group on Facebook for providing me with an ecopy.

About the author:

Jo Callaghan works full time as a senior strategist, carrying out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce. She was a student of the Writers' Academy Course (Penguin Random House) and was longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Writing Competition and Bath Novel Competition.

After losing her husband to cancer in 2019 when she was just forty-nine, she started writing In the Blink of an Eye, her debut crime novel, which explores learning to live with loss and what it means to be human.

She lives with her two children in the Midlands, where she spends far too much time tweeting, and working  on further novels.