The Baby Box by Linda Palmer

March 23, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The Baby Box by Linda Palmer
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Camryn Jacobs, direct descendant of witches persecuted at Salem, has a problem. Fireman Declan Walsh, a lycan, is standing on her front porch at two in the morning with an infant car seat hanging off his arm. Asleep inside it is a baby witch who was surrendered in accordance with the town’s “baby box” law, which states that infants may be left in a customized vault at the fire station—no questions, no blame, no repercussions—if the parent/s cannot care for it.

Declan isn’t about to hand over the baby to human foster parents, the reason he braved a winter storm to get to Camryn. He asks if she will consult her coven tomorrow and, until then, take in the baby. He even volunteers to stay over and help. Camryn can only agree that this magical baby can’t go to foster parents who aren’t preternatural. She also agrees to let Declan stay over, a happy surprise for him. He’s been careful not to confess the reason she popped into his head the moment he saw the baby–he’s had his eye on her for a while but wasn’t sure if she’d go for a witch-wolf relationship.

As the hours pass, they all get to know each other. A definite spark ignites between Camry and Declan, but the coven’s head witch has a shocking personal agenda that threatens not just their budding romance, but the baby and Camryn’s ancestral home, as well.

There’s a fine line between being busy and being overwhelmed.

Turning a baby box deposit into a mystery was what originally drew me to this title, and I thought this conflict was handled nicely. It’s difficult to go into much detail about why the baby was abandoned without giving away spoilers, but I enjoyed mulling over the possibilities as Camryn and Declan received a crash course in infant care and tried to figure out where that little one came from. I certainly wouldn’t know what to do if an infant showed up in my life, especially under such mysterious circumstances. This was a unique romantic mystery that relied on new life to keep the characters guessing instead of the usual homicide that I’d expect to find.

Due to how many different genres were included in this story, there were a few times when I felt as though that worked against the cohesiveness of the plot because of how much was going on simultaneously. Focusing on the romantic elements could have been a good way to tie everything together more securely. Love, both romantic and platonic, was what kept Camryn going when she was in a tight spot, so having a few additional scenes that explored her budding romance would have felt completely appropriate to me. With that being said, this was a minor criticism of something I thought was otherwise well done.

The strong world building here was a huge draw for this reader. There was never a good stopping point which meant that I was always eager to come back when I did need to take breaks. I especially enjoyed the scenes that explored the complicated historical relationships between witches like Camryn and lycans like Declan. It was something I could have kept reading about for dozens of pages due to how complex it was and how each community reacted to members who dated out.

The Baby Box was heartwarming.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Cat Came Back by Anne Kane

March 20, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Cat Came Back by Anne Kane
Publisher: Changeling Press
Genre: Erotic Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Cat’s come back to town. Jacob plans to keep her here.

When Catherine’s aunt dies in a suspicious accident, she comes back to her hometown to settle the estate. She expects it to be an easy job, but she doesn’t count on being chased by a pack of wild wolves, and an unknown enemy who sprays graffiti on the house and throws bricks through her windows. When the local police force proves less than helpful, it’s up to Cat to find out what’s going on with the help of her all too human lover, Jacob.

Known as the Mad Trapper, Jacob has been in love with Cat since high school. Now that she’s back in town he intends to show her that a human-shifter relationship can be just what a were-cat needs to keep her out of trouble.

Who says you can never go home again?

The chemistry between Cat and Jacob was smoking hot. Things escalated between them quickly in the beginning, so it was useful for me as a reader to know they had a previous history together and therefore knew they could trust one another. Given everything else that was going on in that scene, it made sense that she would seek out someone who had previously helped her when shifting into her feline form had lead to unexpected consequences.

It would have been helpful to have more plot development in general. This was something that I found most noticeable when it came to the mystery storyline that never quite had as much time to grow as I would have preferred to see. There was so much more that could have been done with these scenes and the crime they explored, and I would have happily gone with a higher rating if they’d been given more attention.

I was intrigued by the shifter world building in this book as well, especially when it came to the history of romantic relationships between shifters and humans and why so many folks were hesitant to date across that social barrier. These are details that are best left for other readers to discover for themselves but just know there were good reasons for these two characters to be a little wary of getting involved with each other despite their chemistry and previous interactions.

Cat Came Back was a wild ride.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Have You Seen Him by Kimberly Lee

March 18, 2026 By 2 Comments

Have You Seen Him by Kimberly Lee
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Thriller, Suspense
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Rose

What if everything you believed about yourself was totally wrong?

For David Byrdsong, life is a series of daily obligations. An attorney, he lacks both ambition and the ability to commit to a long-term relationship with his girlfriend, Gayle. Abandoned by his family at an airport when he was eleven, he learned to blunt his feelings, despite his subsequent adoption by a loving couple.

Until one day, when David discovers his own face in a missing child ad. Suddenly driven to uncover the truth about his past, he is forced to tap into his inner strength as he encounters corporate conspiracies, murdered bystanders, and distressing suspicions about the only family he’s ever really trusted. David enlists Gayle’s help—and the help of an unlikely stranger with secrets of his own—as he attempts to find his true family, whoever they are.

Thrilling, exploratory, and propulsive, Have You Seen Him is a story of lost identity, dangerous secrets, and a deeply personal pursuit of the truth.

This book is full of excitement as well as great character development. This book had me flipping pages to see what would happen with David and Gayle and their search to find out the truth. I absolutely loved them both and could so see this on the screen (Netflix, are you listening?). These are not one-dimensional characters, either… they have flaws and they are definitely not perfect. But, they work together and this, in my opinion, is one of the strengths of the book.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but it certainly won’t be the last.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Murder Never Retires by Faith Martin

March 16, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Murder Never Retires by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Hillary Greene returns to Thames Valley Police HQ, acting as a consultant for the Crime Review Team, looking into murders which the police have never been able to solve.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to go back. But solving crimes is irresistible for Hillary Greene. And it doesn’t hurt that her new boss is devastatingly handsome.

Twenty years ago, mother-of-three Anna McRae was found beaten to death in her kitchen with a rolling pin. She’d been having an affair with her brother-in-law, so the prime suspect was Anna’s sister Debbie. But the evidence never added up.

However as Hillary digs deeper, more secrets and betrayals emerge. Who wanted Anna dead and can Hillary finally bring her justice?

Meanwhile, Hillary is distracted by an unknown admirer, who quickly seems to be going from suitor to stalker.

Can Hillary solve a fiendishly complex case from the past while fending off unwanted attention?

Retired DI Hillary Greene has spent the last year and a half enjoying her life, cruising the Oxford canals and taking life as it came. While Hillary wasn’t convinced she wanted to come back to her old job, solving crimes and doing her work still sang strongly in her blood. When she returns to Thames Valley Police HQ it’s only to look at the lay of the land, but she is immediately captured by a cold case and soon has to admit she might not be quite as ready for the quiet life as she’d assumed.

Hillary has somewhat returned from early retirement, and I found this a greatly enjoyable story. With a new section, new team and a bunch of new characters I thought this was an excellent way to continue the series but give it a new and fresh feel.

Readers should be aware the meat of the book – the cold case murder investigation Hillary and her team are given – runs along very similar lines to the earlier books in this series. The tone and style of the book is enjoyable and a British police procedural style of novel. Even though this book is well into the series the fact the mystery stands very well alone and virtually all the cast and characters are new and freshly introduced means I feel this book would be an excellent point for anyone to jump in if they had been curious or not discovered this author and series before.

With a solid plot and a few threads left hanging clearly for future books this is a great murder mystery and a series I strongly enjoy. Recommended.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Secret Places by Heather Peck

March 6, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Secret Places by Heather Peck
Publisher: SilverWood Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A body in a bunker: a secret buried for decades…

When a skeleton is discovered in a long-abandoned WWII bunker, goat farmer Tristan Smith’s quiet life on the Yorkshire moors shatters overnight.

DI Greg Geldard takes the case, uncovering a tangle of lies that reach far beyond the moors. Each clue draws him closer to a truth someone is still desperate to hide.

As another victim disappears, past and present collide in a deadly pattern. Will Geldard expose the killer before history repeats itself?

DI Greg Geldard and his team is called to investigate when a human skeleton is found among other sheep remains in an abandoned WW2 bunker. Very few people knew about the bunker – though the current farm owner had been told by the previous owner that the shaft was a waste disposal site used for normal deaths of the various farm animals. Who was responsible for the remains, and can DI Geldard and his team uncover what really occurred?

This was a new to me author and while I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and plot it was a refreshingly different manner of the story being told. The author regularly moved the perspective from the current investigation back to the previous owner and slowly pieced together what occurred in some of the lags as the investigators dug deeper into the story. I often find perspective shifts – and time shifts in particular – quite jarring but I have to admit I found the author did a smooth and excellent job with this. I do admit I don’t think this will suit all readers, and in particular the reader is exposed to some of the story that the detectives aren’t privy to – which I did find unusual.

I thought the characters were well drawn and interesting. I also found the setting of rural York gave a good atmosphere and was different to a lot of the more city or London based police procedural stories. The pace of the mystery was a little slow – but that was mostly as the investigation moved along actually trying to uncover what had happened. Readers eager for a fast-moving plot might not enjoy this book as much as I did, but I thought the writing and pacing was really quite good.

Fun and fresh, I found this an interesting book and a good first read – for me – of this author. A good story and a series I hope to continue with. Recommended.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Storm Stayed by Yvonne Rediger

March 3, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Storm Stayed by Yvonne Rediger
Publisher: Brown Wolf Publishing
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Contemporary
Rating: 4 stars
Review by Snowdrop

Welcome back to Musgrave Landing. Accessible by ferry across the Samsum Narrows, this island village is home to some quirky characters and some even odder visitors. Sometimes the visitors bring misfortune with them and other times the villagers supply their own brand of trouble. Whether the people are locals or from away, apparently a few are capable of murder.

Maisy Wyatt, is on loan from Jane’s Eats & Treats to Mrs. Roque. The housekeeper has a grand vision for the Highmere House Conference Centre. She has spared no expense with the food or service for the minor literary celebrities who will be their first guests. It won’t matter if the December weather turns bad, it takes a lot to faze Mrs. Roque.

The other new employee Tiffany Zach, will work alongside Maisy to care and feed a cantankerous group of authors from Dunn Wolf Publishing. The situation doesn’t improve when the lead author and owner of the publishing house, Ziola Nutt, announces she has a six-figure media contract with a video streaming company. This news causes shock, disappointment, and anger among the rest of the writers when they find out she will not give them credit for their work, nor any of the royalties.

Worse still, the electricity goes out during a nasty storm. Cell phones are going dead, roads are blocked by fallen trees, and ferry traffic is halted. No one can get off the island. Not even the murderer.

When you have a story set in a lovely, grand bed and breakfast full of authors as guests, you know there could be trouble. And the publisher, oh my, the publisher, has nothing but bad news to deliver. Most of it has to do with less money in people’s pockets, and then there are bragging rights they find out she has about her own new book. What a brewing tempest for trouble. But what is really blowing up is a terrible storm trapping them on an island with no electricity. Have I set you up for this? Good.

This is the first book I have read by Yvonne Rediger, and it is Book 4 in a series titled “Musgrave Landing Mysteries”. I will say there were just a few spots that I thought slowed down a bit. There are a lot of characters, all quite interesting, but a little difficult to keep track of now and then.  It’s still a very good plot and a fun book to read. Hope there are more.

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The Hematophages – Splatterings by Stephen Kozeniewski

February 27, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The Hematophages – Splatterings by Stephen Kozeniewski
Publisher: French Press Publishing
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Historical, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In a galaxy riven by paranoid greed, profane forces marshal to consume humanity…

– On an abandoned ice moon, broadcasts from a long-dead civilization warp both body and soul.

– On a bizarre medical asteroid, a deranged physician discovers a gruesome “cure” for parasitic infection.

– On a deep space derelict, time becomes utterly meaningless and suffering transcends infinity.

– And on Earth itself, a lake transforms into pure blood and becomes infested with the hate-filled, eel-like aberrations known as…

The Hematophages.

With this quartet of short stories, Splatterpunk Award winner Stephen Kozeniewski is delighted to welcome newcomers to the brutal universe Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviewer calls “the gold standard for the Space Horror subgenre.”

Meanwhile, veteran ink surfers will find a treasure trove of new material to broaden their event horizons, including extensive background information from the author and a never-before-published tale of alien terror.

So, strap on your boom suit, ready your eye spoon, and try to prepare yourself for…

Splatterings.

They’re the same universes but with bigger problems this time.

The protagonist in “The Blood-Red Lake” was awoken from a nap by his daughter, Marina, after she noticed the lake near their home had changed in some alarming ways. I liked the nightmare-like qualities of this short story and thought it was spooky, but I also found myself wishing that there had been a stronger explanation for the strange things that were happening in and near the water.

“Derelictus” showed what happened in the distant future when some scavengers found an ancient spacecraft that was launched by the country formerly known as the United States but that didn’t appear in any of the formal records of previous space missions. The mystery elements of the plot were well done, and I would have happily dove even more deeply into them. I also liked the main character’s stubborn streak and how it influenced his decision to explore this vessel and report back on what he found there.

Anneka was desperate to get out of quarantine to see her wife and newborn twins in “Blackfish.” The reason why she was stuck in quarantine is best left for other readers to discover for themselves due to how important it was to the storyline later on, but as I slowly pieced together the clues I was intrigued by how my opinions of all of the characters had shifted. There is definitely something to be said for playing around with the reader’s expectations only to trust us to land on the best answer in the end. I would have happily read a full-length novel about Anneka if one were written.

Imagine building an old-fashioned castle in outer space. “Gerstein” explored a partially-completed version of this blueprint long after the original investors had run into problems. This was the goriest story in this collection, and I thought each plot twist that revealed another layer of horror only made the entire thing more frightening. Just like in “Blood-Red Lake,” I once again found myself wishing for a deeper explanation of what the antagonists were hoping to accomplish, although there was enough here for me to make some pretty educated guesses about their motives. These are minor criticisms of a collection I thought was otherwise well done and memorable, and I look forward to hopefully reading more of Mr. Kozeniewski’s work in the future.

The Hematophages – Splatterings was deliciously scary.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Stained With Blood by MS Morris

February 24, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Stained With Blood by MS Morris
Publisher: Landmark Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

A battle. A killing. An echo of history.
Scarborough Castle, high on the headland, is the picturesque backdrop for an English Civil War re-enactment. But the day takes a sinister turn when the town’s MP is shot and killed in broad daylight. DCI Tom Raven is quickly on the scene, but the investigation is soon commandeered by a senior officer from Counter Terrorism, leaving Raven sidelined.

When cryptic letters are received, taunting the police, it becomes clear that democracy itself may be the target. The MP had received a number of credible death threats and suspicion quickly falls on a Russian tycoon with interests in the town. But the murdered man had many enemies, and the list of people wanting him dead quickly grows longer.

As more lives are claimed by a ruthless mastermind driving the narrative, only Raven stands between justice and an outcome stained with blood.

DCI Raven is at the end of a well earned week off when at a local Civil War re-enactment the local MP is brazenly shot and killed. With questions of potential terrorism hovering DCI Raven is fine when a Super is brought in to lead the investigation, confident that his team is up for the challenge. Can they work out what was really going on behind the scenes?

I have been enjoying this British police procedural mystery series and found this to be a strong addition. I like how these books have a good balance between the murder mystery plot and movement in the main character’s private lives. As the series has moved along I also have appreciated that the authors somewhat highlight different team members through each of the stories so over time we readers get a better feel and connection to the characters.

While I feel this book absolutely progressed a number of the team members’ personal story arcs I didn’t feel this detracted from the main mystery in any way – the killing of a local MP at a community civil war re-enactment. The various layers of a small town overlapping also added what I thought was an interesting context in how everyone’s lives interweave together and how normal it was for people to simply know each other and have shared histories.

I’m very much enjoying the fairly recent addition of DCI Raven’s daughter – Hannah – to the mix and absolutely am hoping that she sticks around for at least a while. Her character in itself interests me, but I also admit to really enjoying that she brings out some of Raven’s better qualities and makes him more relatable to his colleagues. I see this as a very positive aspect to the story as a whole.

With a solid murder mystery and a number of interesting sub-plots that are slowly moving along I thoroughly enjoy this series and am looking forward to the next one coming.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Ghost Town by Dr. James R. Gregory

February 23, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Ghost Town by Dr. James R. Gregory
Publisher: Morgan James Fiction
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In the isolated coal mining town of Sulphur Creek in the late 1800s, young Sammy Murphy’s world is a blend of shadowy tunnels and unspoken secrets. Born into solitude and pushed into reclusion, Sammy’s quiet life starkly contrasts with the booming industry that surrounds him. But as he searches for connection in an era of ruthless expansion, he finds himself at odds with forces far greater than he imagined.

Enter Barry Bacon, an ambitious industrialist who fancies himself a peer to magnates like Andrew Carnegie. Driven by unbridled ambition, Bacon’s dreams stretch far beyond the soot-covered rooftops of Sulphur Creek. But as the weight of his empire bears down, his unchecked arrogance threatens to unravel everything he’s built.

As Sammy faces an unexpected awakening brought forth by a fleeting love, and Bacon’s empire teeters on the brink of collapse, both men must face truths that transcend time—true love extends beyond mere attraction and real power is more than forceful arrogance.

A little intrigue goes a long way.

The strong, steady pacing kept my interest levels high from beginning to end, and this was accomplished while including characters who tended to have quiet, reflective personalities and a preference for avoiding conflict when possible. These are the sorts of folks I love to read about and don’t get to meet in fiction nearly as often as I’d prefer to. I appreciated the fact that the plot, while sometimes rightfully given precedence over character development in the most dramatic moments, never overshadowed the gentle souls who inhabited this world. Having such a natural ebb and flow to what or who was being described worked alongside the pacing even if some scenes did temporarily veer a little further into one direction or the other. As someone who has been writing book reviews for many years, this doesn’t happen as often as I’d like to see, and it’s made me incredibly curious to see what the author writes next.

There were a few memorable plot twists that kept me wondering what might happen next. I especially appreciated the fact that not every aspect of the storyline was tied up neatly by the final scene. There was enough of a resolution to make me feel comfortable saying goodbye to these characters while still having a few things left to mull over that could make for a reasonable starting point for a sequel if the author ever chooses to write one. I have no way of knowing if that will occur, of course, but I enjoy having that possibility, however faint, dangled in front of me all the same.

Dr. Gregory did an excellent job of balancing the thriller, romance, and historical fiction themes here. It isn’t necessarily easy to write something that includes multiple genres, especially with a plot that already filled with so many different types of conflict, from quiet internal struggles for some characters to life-threatening events such as natural disasters in other scenes. They were all blended together so seamlessly that I’d need to pause for a moment before deciding which genre to mention first while describing this tale to someone else. It truly was a little of everything in the best sense of that term.

Ghost Town made me feel as if I’d stepped into a time machine to visit the past. What a ride!

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

Death In The Long Walk by Hilary Pugh

February 19, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Death In The Long Walk by Hilary Pugh
Publisher: Housemouse Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Is it ever too late to be a detective?

Jonny Cardew is bored. He’s worked hard all his life at a financially rewarding but dull job when all he ever wanted to do was to solve murders. Now he has retired he has a chance to fulfil his ambition. A meeting over breakfast with three quirky characters and a dog in need of rehoming will change his life.

When a body is found at a nearby beauty spot the police believe it to be a case of death by natural causes. Jonny and his friends think differently and set out to discover the truth. On the way they meet some decidedly suspicious people all with motives to kill.

The Breakfast Cub detectives are on the case but will they solve it?

Jonny Cardew has worked his whole adult life in a financially stable and reliable job, but has been deadly bored. He’s always had a secret desire to solve a murder, and now he’s finally retired he’s eager to do so – just unsure how to go about it. When a body is found locally and the police think it’s natural causes, Jonny is determined to investigate. With some newly acquired friends and a bunch of enthusiasm, can Jonny and his Breakfast club friends really become detectives?

I’d never heard of this author nor the series, but it sounded deeply intriguing and so I bought this on a whim. I found the murder-mystery to be highly enjoyable with a strong cast of secondary characters and a realistic and relatable main character with Jonny. I thought this was a slower burn kind of mystery, while the plot and pacing was good it definitely wasn’t an action-oriented kind of story and readers should be happy to settle in for the gradual build up.

As the mystery unfolds there were a few good scenes where the action did move at a good clip, but overall, this had more the feel of “amateur sleuth’ rather than spy or espionage action heavy adventure. I thought the mystery itself was well plotted and I particularly enjoyed that there were a few red herrings – as Jonny and his crew tried to put everything together.

I found this to be an enjoyable and strongly relatable story about normal people working together and building friendships and coming together to solve a murder. A fun and well written story I’m eager to read the next in the series. Recommended.

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