An Unpardonable Act by Rhys Dylan (writing as Dylan Young)

August 7, 2026 By Leave a Comment


An Unpardonable Act by Rhys Dylan (writing as Dylan Young)
Publisher: Wyrmwood Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Truth is often buried where few dare to look.

A young girl disappears, echoing an unsolved murder from the past. The police think they’ve found their man, just as they had before. But they’ve already got it badly wrong once, forcing facts to fit a theory to convict an innocent man.

. Determined not to let that happen again, Detective Sergeant Anna Gwynne must go into the darkness that cloaks the worst of crimes and risk damaging herself in the process.

Can she get what she needs before another life is lost, or could the horror lead her down a path that puts her own life in grave danger?

DS Anna Gwynne works with a small team trying to re-investigate cold cases. The smaller team and slightly detached police work suits her well. But when their latest case is brought to them clouded with corruption and a distressing link to an extremely fresh case, and then Anna’s Inspector is sidelined she realizes perhaps too late that she’s been thrust into the deep end. And it’s time for Anna to stretch herself and start swimming through the mess.

I have been greatly enjoying this author’s Welsh based series and stumbled upon this reprinted older book of his quite by accident. I bought it from sheer curiosity and I wasn’t even half way through before I was quickly searching for more to order. This appears to be the first in a trilogy and while the main case and plotline is very well wrapped up within this book there are absolutely a few hooks – and a nefarious “bad guy” character – who I strongly feel will feature in the over-all arc of this trilogy.

I thoroughly enjoyed Anna’s character. Whip smart but also not your average police officer I was pleased as we learned more about her as the book progressed. Learning more about her was a good breath of fresh air against the at times emotionally heavy plotline. I found the plot to be layered and refreshing. I guessed at parts of mystery but found myself well surprised by a few other aspects of it so I really feel the author held a good balance here. I also really enjoyed that most of the puzzle was very logical (after you knew the answers – of course) and everything fit very well together without being obvious. I can very strongly recommend the mystery element of this story.

While I do feel some of the secondary team members could have been a little bit better fleshed out, I am hoping this will come to pass in the other two books of the trilogy. There was a lot of story crammed into this book and while more would have been nice a bloated book is not a good thing for anyone. So I understand this restraint.

A clever mystery, a nefarious bad guy and an excellent team with a strong female protagonist this is a great book and I’m eager to dive into the next two. Recommended.

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

When Death Calls by J M Dalgleish

August 6, 2026 By Leave a Comment


When Death Calls by J M Dalgleish
Publisher: Hamilton Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Blood is thicker than water… and runs just as freely…
When the body of a man is discovered face down one morning in the swimming pool of his upmarket family home, the team wonder if it is the result of a tragic accident or serious foul play.

DI Tom Janssen is currently suspended pending the outcome of the events at the close of his previous case. Using the time away from the office to consider his future, and how this will impact on his family life, Tom is invited to attend a school reunion which he reluctantly agrees to. Coming face to face with people he hasn’t seen in years leads to more than a reunion of old friendships. Some people find it hard to let go of the past while others foster long-held grudges. It isn’t long before Tom finds old feuds rekindled and scores that aim to be settled… one way or another.

Finding himself at the centre of a murder inquiry – only this time as a witness rather than an investigator – can he steer clear of the case or will temptation, and a search for the truth, be too much for him to ignore.

DI Tom Janssen is suspended and trying to make the best of his undesired time off. When his wife insists, they attend his high school reunion Tom is less than thrilled, but really has nothing else to pass the time with. Meeting back up with a bunch of people he hasn’t seen in decades might not be Tom’s idea of a good time, but he’s shocked when the following morning he hears that he’s now on the opposite side of a murder investigation – being a witness and possibly the last person to see the victim alive. Can Tom resist the impulse to help with the investigation?

I was thrilled when the author released another book in this series – it’s been a while – and I was delighted to read another investigation with Tom and his team. Even though Tom is suspended – and deeply unhappy about it – I admit that I was pleased to find Tom for the most part tried not to nudge his way into the investigation. Sure, he is deeply curious, and when a few tidbits of other people involved came his way he followed along. But I found it quite refreshing from other similar stories where he didn’t insert himself into the investigation or run his own shadow or side investigation.

I liked how Tom was clearly interested but also very respectful of his team conducting the proper police investigation. I found that quite refreshing.

Readers who enjoy a British police procedural murder mystery should find this a good book and quite easy to pick up. With Tom suspended from duty his team is all still present but not as “front and center” as usual so this is actually quite a good book to my mind to pick up if you haven’t read any of the previous installments or if you’re a few books behind in the series. A lot of this book focuses on Tom and on the characters and setting and not as much as usual on the rest of the team and their dynamics.

With a strongly plotted mystery and a number of interesting and layered characters I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable mystery book. Recommended.

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

Balancing the Woofs by Tara Choate

August 5, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Balancing the Woofs by Tara Choate
A Canine Accounting Caper #3
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Irene Lisner feels like her life is finally on track. Her sister Angie has moved hundreds of miles away. Her mother, Jennifer, appears to have followed Angie, so is rarely around. Goose, the new dog, is fun, and energetic, and the two are about to start agility training. Her MS symptoms look to be easing up. Work feels smooth, with no big cases on the horizon. She even has a boyfriend. It’s all too good to be true.
When she is assigned to help another department with a standard audit—the a non-standard review sends things into a downward spiral.

An unmarked plane crashes in the desert. A creature escapes from its burning wreckage, a byproduct of experiments in biological and chemical warfare—a cat.

As the multi-eyed feline mutant known as Kiki roams the Mojave Desert, terrorizing the crumbling town of Calpacia at its border, some seek to capture her. Gun-for-hire Salvadore Shaw, disgraced former Soviet Petrov and his group of mercenaries, and a professor and his chimpanzee assistant commence a vicious race to intercept Kiki’s rampage.

Who will survive the savagery of the Mojave Cat? Not many, if any.

Change is the only constant thing about life.

Irene’s relationship with her body is of my favorite aspects of this series. Like many other invisible illnesses, multiple sclerosis can grow worse or better with time. Seeing how the protagonist dealt with her symptoms and the uncertainty of how she’d feel a few days, weeks, or months in the future made everything else about her life feel more urgent. This isn’t a topic I see covered enough in fiction, so I was once again thrilled to find in this universe.

I did find myself wishing that Irene’s new dog, Goose, was given more time to shine. The previous books in this highlighted her relationship with a different pet of hers, and I was hoping for more canine-inspired conflict and humor than I found here. My fingers are crossed that any sequels in the works will include this as I’ve truly come to appreciate Irene as a character.

The ending was immensely satisfying, especially as it related to the many personal problems Irene was struggling with while she worked on this case. I liked the way she began to reorganize her life to better suit her limitations and am so curious to see how this works out for her in the future. While I don’t know if Ms. Choate has any personal experience with chronic illness and would certainly never ask her to divulge such personal information, I was impressed with how true to life these scenes felt to me as someone who has a disability. Everything from measuring out energy carefully on bad days to figuring out how to make sustainable changes for the sake of one’s health was beautifully described here, and I must tip my cap to the author for revealing a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes for some folks.

Balancing the Woofs was a gentle and heartwarming read.

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

TV Review: Widow’s Bay (Season 1)

August 3, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Widow’s Bay (Season 1) created by Katie Dippold
Directors: Hiro Murai, Ti West, Sam Donovan, and Andrew DeYoung
Starring: Matthew Rhys, Kate O’Flynn, Kevin Carroll, and Dale Dickey
Publisher: Apple TV
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Horror, Paranormal, Historical, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A New England mayor trying to boost tourism on his island must navigate strange events suggesting it might be cursed.

It may be a small town, but it’s anything but sleepy.

The plot twists in this show were fantastic, and I was surprised by them on more than one occasion. What made them even better was how much effort the creator put into not only giving the audience fantastic clues but also making plenty of space for alternative interpretations of them as well. This meant that even when I was wrong about where the plot was headed, I still felt satisfied by my attempts to predict the ending of season one as my theories were perfectly reasonably at the time.

Horror and mystery are even more enticing to me when mixed together, and I loved digging into the history of Widow’s Bay as secrets were slowly revealed and a few explanations as to why this small community had such terrible luck were put forward by various characters. The paranormal themes only made everything scarier and more thrilling, and I’m hoping that these types of scenes are given even more screen time in the future as they provided ample opportunities not only for frights but also for some memorable character and plot development as well.

Speaking of small towns, I thought this was an honest portrayal of both what it’s like to live in a rural community as well as what it feels like to move to one and interact with people who have all known each other for their entire lives and may not always be that interested in getting to know outsiders. The tensions between various groups of people including newcomers, lifelong residents who wanted to see their community grow, and those who strongly preferred for things to remain the same forever were well written, fair, and sometimes downright hilarious. Honestly, I could understand everyone’s perspectives even if I didn’t necessarily agree with all of them, and I thought this added some nice conflict as well early on when the paranormal antagonists weren’t as active yet.

This first season of Widow’s Bay has me eagerly anticipating what might happen next. What a wild ride!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings, Movie Review, Television Show Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Toll For the Dead by MS Morris

July 30, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Toll For the Dead by MS Morris
Publisher: Landmark Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A solemn funeral. A bitter schism. A brutal murder.

When the much-loved lord of the manor, Henry Burton, passes away, the villagers of Hambledon-on-Thames gather to pay their respects at his funeral. But the day is marred when the churchwarden is found brutally battered to death in the north transept of the church.

Called to investigate, Detective Inspector Bridget Hart soon unearths a tangled web of old grudges and simmering feuds beneath the tranquil idyll of this sleepy South Oxfordshire village.

Bridget and her team must look beyond the thatched cottages and rose-covered houses to uncover the truth and prevent another death.

Almost every villager in the small township of Hambledon-On-Thames have gathered for the funeral of the old squire. After the service, when the bell-ringers are doing their toll for the dead, the local churchwarden is brutally murdered as she cleans up after the service goers. Bridget and her team are called in to investigate – only to find this case has a number of complications.

I have found this to be an excellent addition to an enjoyable series. The ending really left me feeling as if the author plans to leave this series here. The final chapter or two really seemed to me to tie up a number of the more longer-running story arcs and leave this in a good place.

While this might be the final book in the series – I still feel that the story, and the murder plot in particular, really was well encapsulated in this book. While the team and a lot of the history between them working together has a longer reach than just this book I felt the author explained everything really well and there was a good flow to the story that means I do think readers should feel comfortable if they pick this book up having had no exposure to any of the previous stories.

I also enjoyed the fact this was a multi-layered plot and held my attention throughout the book. There were some interesting secondary characters and quite a few different wheels turning so I found myself invested and interested throughout the story.

For a solidly written British police procedural style of mystery this is an excellent author and a book I can definitely recommend.

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

Death in Little Puddlebury by B.L. Bandy

July 29, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Death in Little Puddlebury by B.L. Bandy
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Contemporary
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Snowdrop

Harriet Harbottle came to Little Puddlebury for peace, quiet, and perhaps the chance to write the sort of cozy mysteries she once edited for London’s famed publishing house, Wetherby & Finch.

Instead, she finds a corpse.

At the village spring fete, Harriet purchases a battered Edwardian ledger from a table of unwanted books. Hidden inside is a forgotten will tied to the grand manor house of Swincombe Hollow. The document threatens to overturn generations of inheritance and expose secrets the village has long preferred buried.

Before Harriet can learn more, the village solicitor is found dead in his office. The police call it an unfortunate accident. Harriet is not convinced.

With the help of her loyal Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Bramble, an endlessly gossiping neighbor named Gladys, and a foul-tempered stray cat who despises rain, Harriet begins untangling the history of Swincombe Hollow and the people desperate to keep its past concealed.

But in Little Puddlebury, old money hides sharp teeth behind polished smiles. And someone is willing to kill to keep a dead woman’s final wishes
from coming to light.

Harriet Harbottle is a retired book editor having moved into a cottage left to her by her aunt in a village named…you guessed it…Little Puddlebury. This is the perfect English cozy in a little English village. Not the stuffy type of village, but definitely the “let me put the kettle on dear” type. Puddlebury is a place where everything is everyone’s business. In fact, Harriet finds they sometimes know what she is going to do before she does it.

This is a well-written, quick 170+ pages. The characters are quite visible, and a few have their own personalities. I did find it a bit slow now and then but not enough to stop me reading it. What did keep me reading it was Harriet’s delightful bit of sarcasm and humor and her wonderful King Spaniel named Bramble.

This is Book 1 in the series, and it looks as if Book 2 is already published. I’ll have to see what Harriet and Bramble get into next.

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

Move Fast and Break Things by T. C. Weber

July 27, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Move Fast and Break Things by T. C. Weber
Publisher: Freedom Thorn Press
Genre: Horror, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Luis García is a suburban family man whose life is turned upside down when immigration officers bash down his door and arrest him, along with his wife and kids. They are taken to a detention camp, separated, and subjected to harsh and unsanitary conditions. But Luis’s nightmare is just beginning. He and his fellow prisoners are targets for an organ harvesting scheme. And Luis is chosen for an experimental brain procedure that could drive him to madness.

Nothing in life is guaranteed.

Luis was a gentle and quiet man who assumed the best of everyone around him. He was honestly just about the last person I’d ever expect to find in such a scary story, and that made his experience all the more attention grabbing. What I found most interesting about him was how his trusting approach to the world affected everything he did, from small things like his use to technology to huge decisions he needed to make in the last few scenes.

It would have been helpful to have stronger plot development, especially as it pertained to the experimental brain procedure. There were times when my credulity was strained during the passages that explained what the doctors were doing to Luis and how his body reacted to those procedures. This is something I’m saying a reader who loved the premise overall and would have happily given it a higher rating if those scenes were given more time to shine.

The ending was as horrifying as it was memorable, and I mean that in the best possible way. I liked seeing how the author incorporated real-world events, including the development of AI, into his storytelling while stretching the possibilities out to root this firmly in the horror genre. Those last few sentences in particular are going to live on in my imagination for a long time as I explore all of the possible directions the plot could have gone from there.

Move Fast and Break Things was a wild ride.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

TV Review: The Quilters

July 27, 2026 By Leave a Comment

Title: The Quilters
Director: Jenifer McShane
Producer: Jenifer McShane
Starring: Joe Satterfield
Publisher: Netflix
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars (10 on IMDB)
Reviewed by Astilbe

In this award-winning short documentary, men in a Missouri maximum-security prison design and sew beautiful, personalized quilts for foster children.

Rehabilitation begins with empathy.

I adored the sensitive and kind framing of this documentary, especially given the fact that many of the men who sew these quilts have been incarcerated for decades or even for the rest of their lies for what were in a few cases hinted to be terrible crimes. It’s not always easy for filmmakers or audiences to see the humanity in people with these kinds of violent pasts, so I appreciated the fact that as little time as possible was spent exploring what, exactly, they did to end up in a level 5 facility. Those details, while obviously important in other contexts, were not relevant to work these inmates were doing for children living in foster care or with disabilities like autism.

As someone who knows little about sewing, I was fascinated by the many detailed steps it requires in order to sew a quilt, weighted vest, or weighted blanket. For example, I didn’t know that cloth needs to be ironed and stretched out before being sewn together or what happens if those steps aren’t done properly. The inmates were trained carefully on their craft, and the items they produced were incredible. It was especially interesting to see how every inch of an item was inspected methodically before being shipped out to the children who were waiting for their gifts.

Regret and forgiveness were two of the deeper themes of this documentary that played out quietly in the background. A few of the men featured will probably never leave the maximum-security prison in Missouri where they have already lived for decades, so hearing their thoughts on the many years they’ve had to consider their life choices was especially poignant. I don’t want to share too many spoilers about what they’ve learned along the way, but I will say that they have had a lot of time to work through their feelings and I liked the way they expressed them.

The Quilters was a beautiful and heartwarming look at how dramatically people can change for the better when given the chance.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings, Movie Review, Television Show, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Academy of Unusual Skills by Matt Baker

July 24, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The Academy of Unusual Skills by Matt Baker
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Welcome to The Academy of Unusual Skills, the only school where balancing a broom on your face, flipping an oven mitt, and turning a towel into a chicken can land you on the honor roll.

Part comedy book, part hands-on training manual, The Academy of Unusual Skills teaches readers more than 100 strange, silly, oddly impressive tricks using everyday objects. From coin snatching and card throwing to hat tricks, snack-based stunts, minor miracles, science illusions, juggling, balancing, and other strangely cool life skills. This book is your official guide to becoming unusually impressive.

Written by professional comedian, stunt performer, and three-time Guinness World Record holder Matt Baker, this book combines step-by-step instructions, hilarious faux-academic nonsense, and over 350 illustrations. Each skill is designed to build coordination, confidence, creativity, and showmanship, or at the very least, give you something weird to do at parties.

Whether you’re a curious kid, a bored adult, a future variety performer, a teacher looking for fun activities, or someone who simply believes life should contain more silliness, The Academy of Unusual Skills is your ticket to a world where useless is useful, silly is serious, and being bad at boring is practically required.

Classes are now in session.

Being called weird is a compliment at this academy.

There were such a wide variety of tricks included here that I suspect there will be something for everyone. Some of them looked like they’d require a good deal of practice given how many different steps were required to make them work, while other ones could probably be mastered in a single afternoon or even sooner than that. I appreciated that and thought it made this a better read.

Some of the entries made me a little nervous due to the risk of injury associated with them. For example, throwing food up into the air and then attempting to catch it with one’s mouth can be incredibly fun, but it can also be a choking hazard when the edible item in question is the same size and shape as a person’s windpipe. As much as I loved the concept of a school for learning unusual things in general, I do wish there had been a few safety warnings included before those ideas as this is a topic that could easily appeal to kids or young teens who might not yet have the life experience to realize the dangers of certain actions.

Mr. Baker has a playful sense of humor that works well with the themes of this book. I especially enjoyed the sections that sent readers off for breaks that were included in a few different spots. For spoiler reasons, I won’t share the exact natures of these pauses as they’re best left as surprises, but they showcased his creativity and made me chuckle as I took note of which tricks I might want to learn in the future.

The Academy of Unusual Skills was an amusing book for adults who want to learn a few party tricks.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Hillary’s Final Case by Faith Martin

July 22, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Hillary’s Final Case by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Can Hillary finally close the case of the missing young women?

Can she take down one of Oxfordshire’s most wanted criminals?

Can she handle her new boss?

Can she help one of her team get answers on his long lost sister?

And will she really get married and leave her beloved boat?

FIND OUT THE ANSWERS IN THE FINAL HILLARY GREENE BOOK!

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

This is a crime mystery full of well-observed characters, which will have you gripped from start to the absolutely thrilling conclusion.

Hillary’s life is reaching another changing point – with a new boss, a new series of linked missing girl cases and a huge change in her personal life. Can Hillary keep her wits about her as things reach their inevitable tipping point?

I was pleased to see that – despite the title – this is not the final book in the series. The author had taken a sabbatical from the series so it was quite a relief to find there are still a few more books to come.

Retired DI Hillary Greene has been solving cold cases for a while now, but her last case opened a can of worms that I was pleased to see take center stage in this book. This particular plot has been percolating a while in the background and I found it deeply satisfying to see it all come to a head. I was even quite impressed I guessed some of these answers myself though there was still plenty of mystery to keep me eagerly turning the pages.

I do feel this book can be enjoyed by itself – but have to admit readers who have read some of the previous installments might find a greater emotional connection and satisfaction than someone just picking the book up on a whim. This is quite a culmination and having read the series myself I could see some of the hooks and I grasped the slightly different sense this book had.

Readers who enjoy a British police procedural mystery should find this a solid read with a good and complicated plot and a fresh, somewhat modern take on the regular mystery. I have been greatly enjoying this whole series and found this an excellent addition. Recommended.

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