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.

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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.

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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.

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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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The Foaming Deep by MS Morris

February 17, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The Foaming Deep by MS Morris
Publisher: Landmark Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A hidden cove. A tangle of lies. A deeply buried secret.
When a young woman’s body is found at a cave entrance by the pretty fishing village of Robin Hood’s Bay, DCI Tom Raven is called to investigate. A trail of footprints leads from the body on the shore to the nearby youth hostel. But the killer’s identity is far from clear as the picturesque façade of Robin Hood’s Bay conceals more than it reveals.

Meanwhile, Raven has been given a tantalising clue to the truth behind his mother’s death at the hands of a hit-and-run driver over thirty years ago. As he works to untangle the facts, he discovers a secret far darker than anything he could have imagined and must battle the inner demons that threaten to destroy him and everything he holds dear.

A young woman’s body is found on the beach at the entrance to a local cave. DCI Tom Raven and his team are called to investigate, but with a number of people upset at the returned local lady the case appears quite murky at first. When things begin to lead in a number of different directions Raven and his team need to keep a handle on a quickly escalating situation.

I have been enjoying this Yorkshire based British police procedural series and found this to be an excellent addition to it. There were a few sub-plots revolving around the main murder mystery and I thought this really helped keep the pace of the book feel like it was moving forward at a good clip. There was also progress on a few of the longer-term story arcs which I also thought were very well woven into the story.

Readers looking for a high action story might not find this book really suits those sorts of tastes. I enjoyed the smaller town feel and the fact that we had space to learn about the numerous secondary characters. The mystery is absolutely front and center here and I think more traditional mystery readers should feel this is a great book. I did think that readers should be able to pick this up as a standalone. While it’s well into the series aside from the background history between DCI Raven and his team all the plot really is well contained in this book, and I feel readers should be able to enjoy this without having read anything previously.

With well drawn characters and a multi layered mystery plot I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable story and a great series.

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Smoldering Lies by LT Ryan

February 11, 2026 By 1 Comment


Smoldering Lies by LT Ryan
Publisher: Liquid Mind Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

In the ashes of the past, a mystery burns.
In the gripping world of Maddie Castle, every fire ignites a deeper mystery. When community developer Brandon Adams faces a series of arson attacks, he enlists Maddie’s help, unaware that the flames are just the beginning of a much larger intrigue.

As Maddie delves into the case, she uncovers a web of environmental activism, strained family ties, and hidden agendas. But the closer Maddie gets to the truth, the more dangerous her path becomes.

Caught in a maze of betrayal and corruption, Maddie must navigate through this perilous journey, where every clue leads to more questions.

Will she uncover the arsonist’s identity, or will the flames of truth consume everything she holds dear? Join Maddie and Tempest in this thrilling tale of mystery, family secrets, and a quest for justice that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Maddie Castle continues to work on the disappearance of her partner’s young sister-in-law, but bills need to be paid so when a rich local businessman hires her to look into a series of arson attacks against his properties the money on offer is simply too good for Maddie to turn down. Can she juggle the two important cases and still meet the challenges that keep popping up?

I have been really enjoying this series. While there is a lot happening in Maddie’s personal life – which I find is a really good contrast to the equally crazy but highly different stress related to her job – this book seems to really focus on the two main cases. Maddie continues to chip away at finding the missing young Daisy. This plot has been arching over a number of books and readers should be aware that while progress is made, this mystery is not completed in this book.

The arson attacks, however, are unique to this book and are solved in what I found was a very satisfying manner. Maddie has a slightly different outlook to the normal PI or ex police officer and that’s part of what makes me feel this series is both refreshing but also realistic. The world is made up on grey, things usually aren’t starkly black and white. Maddie both sees and embraces these realities, and I enjoy reading about it.

Readers should be aware this book is well into the Maddie Castle series and while I strongly feel this book can be picked up and enjoyed by itself there is a lot of linking and history with the other books. I feel readers will experience a deeper connection and better emotional satisfaction if they’ve read at least a few of the previous books. That said the author did a really good job explaining everything so I don’t feel readers will be lost or miss out if they pick this book up by itself.

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

The Chilling by Riley James

February 10, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The Chilling by Riley James
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Keen to flee the wreckage of her marriage, Australian scientist Kit Bitterfeld accepts a coveted winter research position at Macpherson Station in Antarctica. On the way there, Kit and her fellow researchers field a distress call from a nearby ship. By the time they reach the vessel it is on fire and the crew has vanished. A lone survivor is found, but he can’t remember who he is or what has happened.

They bring the survivor, eventually identified as geophysicist Nick Coltheart, to Macpherson but it’s clear that something is wrong. More and more of Kit’s colleagues are acting strangely. And she can’t shake the suspicion that Nick knows more than he’s letting on. With the winter darkness setting in, Kit must figure out the truth before they are completely cut off from the outside world. But is the danger lurking out on the ice, or is it closer than she thinks?

Kit Bitterfield is at the end of a rather long and bitter divorce. An Australian Scientist, she’s eager for a fresh start preferably somewhere far away. So when an opportunity comes for her to take on a coveted winter research position at Macpherson Station down in Antarctica, she jumps at the chance. Only her and the teams arrival is delayed when a nearby distress signal from another ship comes in, and by the time they reach the signal there is no sign of the other crew and only the charred remains of a burnt out ship. They find one lone survivor, but he has no memory of anything including himself and soon Kit is doubting everything around her, including her colleagues and her own safety.

I am always a total sucker for a book revolving around adventure or scientific research around Antarctica so I happily grabbed this even though I’ve never heard of the author before. I quickly found myself sympathetic to Kit, finding her an enjoyable and relatable character and when she joined the crew heading into the cold I was absolutely hooked. I did feel at times, especially towards the middle of the book, that Kit was a little paranoid – I never really grasped 100% why she felt so suspicious of Nick and his amnesia. The best rationale I could make was she’d been burned badly by her ex-husband and her near paranoia was linked to that, but I did feel it jarring me out of the book a few times.

Overall though I really enjoyed the mystery, eager to discover what happened on the other ship and hoping Nick would be able to recover his memories and help the crew work out what happened. It was clear there were at least a few sub-plots swirling in the mists with this book and quite a few undercurrents that kept me eagerly turning the pages.

Readers who are hoping for an action packed or fast paced novel might not find this quite fits the bill for them. I found this to be a slower burn of a story – plenty of characters and plots intertwining and everyone with their own agenda and perspective. So I really feel there is loads crammed into this story and I definitely thought it all was woven together very well, but in the deadly cold and with ships being a big part of the transportation this is not a Bond style of action adventure filled with adrenaline and chases. There were a number of solid plotlines – some which I guessed and others that were a delightful surprise as they unfurled throughout the book.

I will be certain to keep an eye out for any future books coming from this author.

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