A powerful, poignant and beautifully written novel from John ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Boyne, "The Absolutist" is the story of two British WW1 soldiers who are bonded through the terrors of the trenches and the horrors of warfare. One survives - forever damaged - and the other one is brought down by a firing squad on charges of cowardice.

Tristan Sadler survived the...

Mark Watson, one of Britain’s top comedians has written a moving, sensitive novel about strangers brought together by random circumstances. Xavier Ireland is an Australian living in London who has a popular late night radio phone-in show where people share their problems. For all the calm advice he doles out though, Xavier harbours a secret tragedy, one that he's come half way around the world to...

The cover of this book piqued my interest. I checked the blurb and decided to give it a try. I found I got involved in the plot and the characters very quickly.

The American ‘uber’ woman keeping all the various aspects of her life in harmony until one day she has an accident and all the carefully balanced parts of lifestyle slip away from her. Does it really take a shock to the...

Browsing the shelves looking for something to read, nothing seemed to appeal and then I discovered a Joanne Trollope book. I looked at it. Had I read it before, probably but did not remember the characters or plot. I smiled thinking this is the author for whom the phrase ‘aga saga’ was coined. The saga type genre has got a predictable writing format but since this is an early...

Has a friend ever said you must read this? You reply alright but in reality will only read the book if it lands on your lap. But my friend was so persistent and asked every time I spoke to him so I decided to read afore said book. 

I really enjoyed this evocative story. It is an enchanting look at a young boy living in Belfast before the Troubles. In a catholic neighbourhood he is...

Dark Fire is number 2 in the very successful historical crime series, set in the sixteenth century during the reign of Henry Eighth. The main protagonist is hunchback lawyer-detective, Matthew Shardlake, who finds himself defending a young girl on a murder charge. He is also on a mission for Lord Cromwell (first...

Browsing for a book and I thought – this looks good. I always like a cover which intrigues. Yet the cover is the clue to the plot and I did not see it until the end. This was a compulsive read, set in Ireland – well observed and plotted book of family relationships. 

The death of an Irish architect’s wife leaves him to bring up his three year old daughter alone....

This was a very enjoyable read, I think!  It was an unexpected read, I was intrigued by the setting, it appealed to me as gardener and also its Italian setting. So why was I not overwhelmed by the book?

The classical illusions, using Greek and Roman mythology to hide the puzzle was at times confusing as my knowledge of these topics is non existent. Yet the solving of the puzzle was...