‘Death at the Village Garden Party’ by Debbie Young

Published by Boldwood Books,
31 July 2026.
ISBN: 978-183518592-6 (HB)

Two years ago Alice Carroll’s life had been at a low point: her partner of over twenty years had left her in order to travel and ‘find himself’, then she was made redundant from her job at a local museum. In search of a new start, Alice moved to the Cotswold village of Little Pride and bought a curiosity shop from its elderly owner who wished to retire. After a shaky start, both Alice and the shop have become popular in the village and she has made lots of friends, also she has started a relationship with a local millionaire, Robert Praed. Most extraordinary of all, Alice has shown a remarkable talent for investigation and has successfully solved several murders. 

Alice is still not completely accustomed to Robert’s great wealth and she is shocked when he tells her that he has purchased the house and estate of the late Duke of Bunbury, the last in a long aristocratic line who had led a dissipated life and died without issue. The estate is situated near the isolated and rural village of Cold Bottom and all of the villagers were tenants and employees of the late duke. Robert plans to open the house as a conference and wellness centre and intends to retain the status quo regarding the inhabitants of Cold Bottom, allowing them to retain their homes and jobs. 

 One of the ways in which Robert hopes to smooth the transition for the villagers is to reinstate the annual fair, which has been a tradition for generations, although the last duke had allowed it to lapse. Alice admires Robert’s determination to make bonds with his new tenants but everything she has heard about Cold Bottom makes her feel uneasy because, on her first visit to the village, she was threatened by the late Duke’s gamekeeper who pointed a gun at her. Her doubts increase when Robert asks Alice to deliver some flyers to the villagers to advertise the fair. She is accompanied by her friend Danny and they find the whole village deserted, apart from one aggressive old man who throws a chamber pot at them from the first floor window and subjects Danny to racial abuse.

This confirms Alice’s instinctive feeling that the villagers of Cold Bottom are hostile and the atmosphere there is sinister. Despite Alice’s misgivings, the fair goes well, even though most of the villagers take advantage of Robert’s generosity to drink far too much. When the fair is over and most of the people from the surrounding villages have left, Robert, Alice, Danny and Danny’s partner, Jack, are waiting in a marquee for the villagers to come and listen to a presentation about Robert’s plans for the estate. Only one villager turns up and before he enters the marquee, he is killed, shot in the back by a bolt from a crossbow. Afraid that they might become suspects, Alice and her friends start to investigate, but soon Alice receives threats, which warn her to stop probing before she too becomes a victim.

Death at the Village Garden Party is the fourth book featuring Alice Carroll and the other residents of Little Pride. It is a gently paced murder mystery with engaging and eccentric characters, perfect for those who enjoy a traditional cosy crime series.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron 

Debbie Young was born and raised in Sidcup, Kent. When she was 14, her family relocated to Germany for her father’s job. Debbie spent four years at Frankfurt International School, broadening her outlook as well as gaining the then brand new IB (International Baccalaureate). She returned to the UK to earn her BA (Hons) in English and Related Literature at the University of York, then lived and worked for a while in London and the West of England as a journalist and PR consultant.  In 1991 she moved to the Cotswolds. In 2002, she married a Scot named Gordon whom she met in Swindon – and not, as village rumour once had it, a Swede named Scottie.  She has written four series. Her most recent one is Cotswold Curiosity Shop Mysteries. Death at the Village Christmas Fair, is the fifth book in this series.
 

https://authordebbieyoung.com  

Carol Westron is a Golden Age expert who has written many articles on the subject and given papers at several conferences. She is the author of several series: contemporary detective stories and police procedurals, comedy crime and Victorian Murder Mysteries. Her most recent publications are Paddling in the Dead Sea and Delivering Lazarus, books 2 and 3 of the Galmouth Mysteries, the series which began with The Fragility of Poppies. Her most recent book is The Apples of Sodom.

www.carolwestron.com 

Whitby Lit Fest Announce Hugh Bonneville as Surprise Headline Guest

Tickets now on sale for four-day festival featuring John Boyne, Ann Cleeves, Joanne Harris, Si King, Greta Scacchi, Corinne Bailey Rae and more. 

Whitby Lit Fest has announced a major last-minute addition to its 2026 line-up, with Downton Abbey and Paddington star Hugh Bonneville joining the festival as a headline guest. 

Tickets go on sale for this year’s festival today [31 August] available on the Whitby Lit Fest official website. 

The festival, which takes place across Whitby, runs from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 November. 

One of Britain’s best-loved actors, Bonneville is known to millions as Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, and as Mr Brown in the hugely successful Paddington films. 

But in Whitby he will be appearing in another role –bestselling children’s author – as he introduces his latest book, Rory Sparkes and the Spy Who Loved Tea. 

Bonneville will take to the stage at the Whitby Pavilion at 1pm on Saturday 21 November for a special family event packed with storytelling, spies, secret codes and some extremely suspicious cups of tea. 

His latest adventure follows unlikely young hero Rory Sparkes, who discovers a series of secret coded messages hidden inside a neighbour’s recipe book and becomes convinced a mysterious family is involved in a covert conspiracy. 

Things become stranger still when Rory’s mum, teachers and seemingly every adult around him develop an obsession with a particularly unpleasant new brand of tea. Could Rory finally have uncovered a genuine spy plot? 

Illustrated by Loretta Schauer, the book combines mystery, mischief and humour and is aimed at readers aged seven to 11. 

Bonneville will talk about creating Rory’s world, bring the story to life and take questions from young audience members and their families. 

His addition provides another major name in an already packed Whitby Lit Fest programme spanning crime, fiction, history, poetry, politics, food, film, children’s literature and the stories of the Yorkshire coast. 

Among this year’s headline guests are John Boyne, author of the international phenomenon The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas with his new novel, The Weight of Angels; Number One Sunday Times bestseller Ann Cleeves, marking 40 years in print and the publication of her 40th novel; Chocolat author Joanne Harris; Hairy Biker Si King; bestselling crime writers Elly Griffiths and Mark Billingham, and internationally acclaimed actor Greta Scacchi. 

The festival will also welcome Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae for a special family event celebrating her picture book Put Your Records On, inspired by her much-loved hit song. 

Other guests across the four days include Peter Oborne, Ch 4’s Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson, Louise Minchin, Lucinda Hawksley, Sally Coulthard, Jess Kidd, Laura Purcell, Andrew Lownie, Alistair Moffat, Sian Williams, Nicky Hambleton-Jones, Zaffar Kunial and many more. 

Events will take place at venues across the town, including Whitby Pavilion, Eighteen91, Flowergate Hall, Whitby Museum, Whitby Library, the Coliseum and the Jet Black Jewel. 

Lois Kirtlan, chair of Whitby Lit Fest, said: “We were already incredibly proud of the programme we had assembled for Whitby this November, so to be able to announce Hugh Bonneville as a surprise addition just as tickets go on sale is fantastic. 

“Hugh is loved by audiences of all ages, from Downton Abbey to Paddington, and we think families are going to have enormous fun discovering another side to him as the creator of Rory Sparkes. 

“The whole programme reflects what we want Whitby Lit Fest to be – big-name writers alongside exciting new voices, events inspired by Whitby and the Yorkshire coast, and everything from crime and history to politics, poetry, food, film and children’s books. 

“We would encourage people to take a look at the full programme and book early, particularly for some of our headline events and smaller-capacity venues.” 

Whitby Lit Fest opens on Thursday 19 November, with bestselling author Jess Kidd launching proceedings with a suitably seaside-themed mystery, before four days of conversations, performances, workshops, family events and literary encounters. 

Hugh Bonneville is at Whitby Pavilions (Northern Lights Suite) on Saturday 21 November, 1pm. Tickets £11 (adults) and £5 (children). 

For the full programme and booking information, visit the Whitby Lit Fest website.

Whitby Lit Fest - Inspired by and Celebrating Whitby

Interview: Lizzie Sirett in Conversation with Dave Sivers

Dave Sivers grew up in West London, England and left school at 16 to embark on a successful civil service career.

Along the way he gained a first-class honours degree from the Open University and moonlighted as, among other things, a nightclub bouncer and a bookmaker's clerk.

He is now a freelance writer and author.

His books include the Archer and Baines contemporary crime novels, the DI Nathan Quarrel series and the Lowmar Dashiel crime fantasy novels.
He lives in Buckinghamshire, England, with his wife Chris.

Crime Fiction Author | Dave Sivers

Lizzie:     You have just published your third book in the DI Nathan Quarrel series.  Can you tell us about this latest book and how DI Nathan Quarrel came about. Is Nathan based on someone or completely out of your imagination?

Dave:     Nate emerged from a character creation workshop run by the brilliant Julie Cohen. The first thing we had to do was pick two pieces of paper from a hat, which gave me the letters N and Q as the character’s initials. Over the rest of the workshop exercises, I got to know Nate quite well and I knew I wanted to use him at some point. So at that stage he was a character in search of a story. A little later on I had a story idea that wasn’t right for my Archer and Baines Series. Not that those are what you’d call cosy, but this was several shades darker. Now I had a story looking for a character. I put them together in what was to become In Ink and, not only were they right for each other, but I wanted to do more Quarrel books. I like that he’s a bit of a loner with trust issues, and I like how driven he is by the quest for justice. 

Lizzie:      Your first crime fiction series featured DI Lizzie Archer, recently transferred from the Met and hoping to make a fresh start, and Detective Sergeant Dan Baines, who has his own problems.  The first book in the series The Scars Beneath the Soul indicates that both characters have things in their past that they are trying to over come. There are currently seven books in the series.  Is their situation of damaged backgrounds something that particularly interested you?

Dave:     The series grew out of wanting to write a gritty contemporary crime series set in Buckinghamshire’s Aylesbury Vale, an area I know well. I knew I wanted a duo – a female DI and a male D – and I knew I wanted them to be a little different from other fictional cops. They came to me, totally out of the blue and fully formed, during a break between sessions at Crimefest in Bristol and, as you say, they both have their troubled backgrounds. Those are the people we meet (and who meet each other for the first time in The Scars Beneath the Soul. But I also knew that Lizzie and Dan were on a journey, as individuals and as colleagues. They’ve both come a long way over the seven books to date and I’ve enjoyed tagging along with them. I know many readers are equally as interested in where their lives are going next as in each individual mystery.  

Lizzie:     I see that your first two books published 2011 and 2012 were crime fantasies’. As there currently are only the two, can you tell us a little about that?   And what prompted the switch from fantasy to crime fiction?
Dave:      I’ve always written the stuff I like to read, which includes crime/thrillers and fantasy. I liked the idea of setting a private detective-type character in a sword and sorcery world. I really enjoyed writing them, and readers who like them really love them – but they’re a bit niche and so less popular than the contemporary stuff. Although, for no apparent reason, sales of the two books have been enjoying something of a resurgence over the past year or so, especially in the States.   

Lizzie:     Do you plan your books or just start writing and see where it takes you?
Dave:     There’s always a bit of a plan, but I don’t go in for extensive, meticulous plotting. The couple of times I’ve tried that, I felt a bit creatively straitjacketed and the story would inevitably bust its way out of the plan anyway. I always know how the story starts, where I think it’s going, and what some of the key plot points are. The details sort of emerge as I go along, and the direction of  travel sometimes changes a fair bit. In two of my books, the ending isn’t what I thought it was going to be at the outset.

Lizzie:          What triggers the idea for a new book?   Something that you see or read about, or a personal experience ….?
Dave: There’s always a ‘what if?’ and it can stem from all sorts of things. With Dead In Deep Water, it was a water-filled disused quarry near to where I live. The Blood That Binds was sparked by a news item I read in a free newspaper on a train home from London – it set me wondering what could happen next to the sort of people I’d been reading about. In Ink was inspired by dark thoughts about a group of rowdy young men who disrupted a quiet walk in New Zealand. Once I had that first Quarrel title, I thought all the books in the series could be called ‘In’ followed by a single-syllable word, and it’s surprising how simply kicking a title around can trigger a story themes; the second word is a clue to what happens to the murder victims. 

Lizzie: Do you have a favourite part of the writing process?
Dave: My two favourite parts are: the beginning, when I’m starting something shiny and new and I’m excited to start getting the ideas in my head onto the page; and the latter stages where I can (hopefully) see where I’m going and I’m, if not on the home straight, at least into the latter stages of the race. My least favourite, which I think many writers can identify with, is the bit in the middle, where I’m not as confident as I was at the start, can’t see the way ahead so clearly, and wonder why I ever thought this was a good idea. You just have to push on. Sooner or later you’ll land back on your road map, and you can go back later and sort out the saggy bits.

Lizzie: I see that your books are independently published. Was this always your plan, or did you find it difficult finding a publisher?
Dave: I’ve always wanted my stories to be read but, when I really started striving for publication, you really did need to be represented. It was encouraging that agents usually asked to see the complete manuscript and their letters, although not the responses I wanted, were actually quite positive; this, and people whose opinions I respected believed in my work, kept me going. When  I took early retirement from the day job, I decided that I needed a new strategy and, almost simultaneously, ebooks, print on demand, and digital self-publishing were taking off. The world had moved on from the bad old days of vanity self-publishing, where unwary writers paid a ‘publisher’ good money for a big box of books of varying production quality, with nowhere to sell it and no way to market it. Now we had digital bookstores, especially Amazon, the Internet and social media. I did my research, contacted a couple of successful pioneers, and decided it was a good business model for me. I love the freedom and being my own boss, and I have a brilliant team of beta readers, professional editor, the best cover designer in the business, plus criminologists who can help me with ‘plausible authenticity’. Indie publishing has come miles from those early days and is now an established part of a publishing landscape is much richer and more varied than it used to be. 

Lizzie:     Do you write for a certain number of hours each day or set yourself a target of x number of words.
Dave:     I’d like to say I have a set writing time, but I wear several hats and no two weeks are the same. I try to take stock on a Sunday of what’s coming up and slot my writing sessions into the diary. I make sure, even in a week where there’s a lot going on, that I make some progress; otherwise I get frustrated and then it’s harder to get back in the groove. 

Lizzie:     In 2013 you co-founded the BeaconLit book festival, which takes place annually in Ivinghoe, Buckinghamshire, and raises precious funds for Beacon Villages Community Library. Are you still involved in this?
Dave:     Very much so. I’m the Programme Director, which means that it’s my job to find the authors. I’m proud that publishers now pitch bestselling authors to us and we’re also able to attract the very best debutants. It’s a one-day festival with a unique atmosphere and we strive for a fairly eclectic programme. We’re entirely run and staffed by volunteers who, like me, have busy lives to juggle, but the reaction from authors and audience alike is very rewarding.

Lizzie:     Who are the authors whose work you enjoy and why?
Dave:     So many… I adore Jane Casey’s Maeve Kerrigan series: she combines the personal journeys of her main characters with a compelling mysteries, which is what I like to do. Others, including Cara Hunter, Caro Ramsay, Mark Billingham, Val McDermid and Elly Griffiths also strike that balance. I loved Erin Kelly’s The Night Stairs, which I read before interviewing her for BeaconLit, and I can’t wait to read more. But the debut authors I also read for BeaconLit always introduce me to brilliant non-crime books that I might not otherwise read. Try Mr Sidhu’s Post Office by Amman Brar and Mother, Ghost, Mango Seed by Natalie Gregory.

Thank you for talking to us Dave, and congratulations on winning first prize 16 April 2026 in
Chiltern Writers annual short story (shared with Tony Flower)
for your short story The Three Hundredth.

 Archer and Baines Books

Dead Deep Water
Evil Unseen
The Blood That Bines
Too Long Gone
Die in the Dark
Price to Pay

DI Nathan Quarrel
In Ink
In Ice
In Flames

Lower Dashiel  Fantasy Mysteries
A Sorcerer Slain
Inquisitor Royal 

‘Death in a Scottish Tower’ by Lydia Travers

Published by Bookouture,
16 March 2026.
ISBN: 978: 1-80550133-6 (PB)

The third novel in the Lady Poppy Proudfoot series is set mainly in Glasgow in 1924. ‘My lady’, as she is addressed by more or less everyone in the story, is visiting Glasgow University, her alma mater, as she has established a scholarship there to encourage women to study law at a time when this was far from common and not encouraged by the male-dominated academic world. This state of affairs is to have repercussions in the story. During the visit a champagne reception is abandoned when a female student plunges to her death from the university tower. Having been told shortly before the incident that another female student had died in similar circumstances 18 years previously, Lady Poppy is immediately suspicious. Were the deaths suicide or were both women pushed? Before long she is again in cahoots with the handsome Inspector MacKenzie. Her hopes that this liaison will lead to more than a successful investigation is one of the many threads in the novel. 

As the pair look into the cases, clues begin to emerge. There is a threatening note referring to the first death, and then a replica dress is deliberately left close to the tower. Suspects start to appear. Malcolm Kennedy, a university porter who had a brief period as a student at the time of the first death and has a history of alcohol-fuelled violence, is one possibility. Another is the ghastly Professor Lorimer, a pompous man who does not approve of the education of women (‘Women shouldn’t be educated’, he observes at one point, ‘it muddles their brains.’). His equally unpleasant wife shares his views. It seems to be a loveless marriage. A self-absorbed male poet friend of one of the students is a further dodgy character. 

The plot is thickened by the fact that two groups of students at the times of both deaths style themselves the Four Marys, the ones 18 years previously because their first names were Mary and the current group because their middle names are Mary. As students studying the past, they owe their group names to the original Four Marys, the ladies-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots. It is no surprise, then, that events lead Lady Poppy and Inspector MacKenzie to Lochleven Castle where that monarch had been imprisoned in the 16^th century. A crucifix is involved, as is a tramp who spends the summer on the island where the castle is situated. Two more student deaths, neither of which are at the tower and both of which are clearly murders, makes it even more important that the perpetrator is found quickly. 

The villain is known some time before the end of the novel. It is then a matter of how to ensure that self-incrimination takes place. In this Lady Poppy is assisted by Inspector Mackenzie. There is a physical struggle at the end, but this diverting story fits firmly into the cosy crime genre. Lady Poppy is an enthusiastic maker of notes as the investigation proceeds. A number of characters other than Inspector MacKenzie enliven the novel. Lady Poppy has her long-suffering and slightly disapproving maid Elspeth in tow as well as her well-behaved and biddable Labrador Major Lewis. In Glasgow she stays with her equally well-heeled friend Lady Molly Darling. 

The big question is, of course, whether Lady Poppy will achieve her designs on Inspector MacKenzie. She succeeds in spending an unexpected and distinctly unromantic night with him, but the end of the novel suggests that she is getting closer to her aim. There is doubtless more to come!
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Reviewer: David Whittle

Lydia Travers writes historical cosy crimes; and historical romances under the name Linda Tyler. She is an award-winning author. Born in London, she moved progressively north until settling with her husband in a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. She has kept chickens, bred dogs and raised children. A former legal academic and practitioner, she runs self-catering holiday accommodation, sings in a local choir and is walked daily by her dog. She loves to read reviews from readers who have enjoyed her novels. Lydia is a member of the Crime Writers Association.

David Whittle is firstly a musician (he is an organist and was Director of Music at Leicester Grammar School for over 30 years) but has always enjoyed crime fiction. This led him to write a biography of the composer Bruce Montgomery who is better known to lovers of crime fiction as Edmund Crispin, about whom he gives talks now and then.

Death in the Dales: October 2026.

Sedbergh Crime Festival

is the third annual Festival of Crime Writing in
Sedbergh, England’s Booktown.

Sedbergh is proud to welcome distinguished members of the Crime Writer’s Association to guide our audience through the pleasures and difficulties of crafting brain teasing who-dun-its!

The weekend kicks off on Friday 16th October with Detour a 1945 Film Noir introduced by expert Matthew Booth who will explain why this is a cult classic. The evening includes a Pie’n’Peas supper.

Saturday 17th October offers a morning session including: Crafting Puzzles with Martin Edwards and Anthony Johnston; Hidden Histories, is truth stranger than fiction? with Carrie da Silva; and The Long Arm of the Law, three policemen-turned-writers give you the inside story, Roger Price, Nick Oldham & Simon Dinsdale.

Saturday’s afternoon session from 3pm includes: My Local Murder, The Gorse Hall Mystery with Dolores Gordon Smith; Haunted Places with Tom Mead, Victoria Dowd, & Kate Ellis; A Murder Mystery with Martin Edwards, an experience!

On Sunday 18th October we have:. Killer Thrillers with Simon Michael, Catherine Yaffe & David Beckler; The Lady Killers with Deborah Swift, Fiona Veitch Smith, & Priscilla Masters; A Mystery, The Secret History Of Crispin Darke with Matthew Booth.aa

The following authors will be appearing in the festival. 

• 
  Matthew Booth
• Martin Edwards
• Victoria Dowd
• Tom Mead
• Kate Ellis
• Antony Johnston
• Fiona Veirch-Smith
• Deborah Swift
• Simon Dinsdale
• David Beckler
• Roger Price
• Priscilla Masters
• Nick Oldham
• Dolores Gordon-Smith
• Simon Michael
• Christine Poulson
• Catherine Yaffe
• Carrie de Silva
• Marsali Taylor
• Jean Briggs – Festival organiser

Crime At The Coast.

 

‘Unseen’ by Heather Critchlow

Published by Canelo,
20 August 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-83598102-3 (PB)

 Heather Critchlow continues her ‘Cal Lovett Files’ in this riveting sequel to ‘Unknown’.  The reader is lead into a satisfying, carefully crafted and labyrinthine plot. 

Cal Lovett makes podcasts about true crime.  It’s a subject he is immersed in, because his beloved older sister Margot was murdered when he was a child, and so far nobody has been brought to justice.

Bella Davies used to have a loving mother and two sisters until a brutal attacker murdered them one sunny afternoon by the river. Bella was left for dead, and it was assumed that she was too young to have any cogent memories of that day, until her visceral reaction to a voice heard on the television proves otherwise. 

Bella and Cal both believe that there is one man responsible, and he is not the man who is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Bella’s family.  They both believe that Jason Barr is the killer, and Bella begs Cal to re-examine the case. 

The story begins with Jason Barr being sentenced in court for taking Cal hostage the previous year at knifepoint.  He’s locked away in prison, but that’s not nearly enough for Cal.  That won’t see justice for Margot or bring her back.  Cal is determined to nail him on a capital charge. 

As Cal starts digging, and Bella’s memories begin to resurface, danger starts to emerge.  These crimes may have been committed many years ago, but there are powerful people committed to hiding the truth, and it becomes clear that they are willing to murder again. 

Again and again, the solution seems tantalisingly close, but there is the fact that doesn’t fit the coincidence that is too neat, and the instinct that there is more to discover. 

How deep does this go, and will they survive to see the true killer brought to justice?  And are there crimes worse than murder?
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Reviewer:  Jane Andreoli

Heather Critchlow grew up in rural Aberdeenshire and trained as a business journalist after studying history and social science at the University of Cambridge. Her short stories have appeared in crime fiction anthologies Afraid of the Light, Afraid of the Christmas Lights and Afraid of the Shadows. She lives in St Albans.
 

Jane Andreoli. I have been in love with words ever since my mother read me bedtime stories before I could read for myself. As a writer, I enjoy creating mysteries with twists in their tails, and I love a well-crafted plot. My literary heroes are Jane Austen for her superb social observations, Shakespeare for the amazing way he crunched the English language into new shapes to express his emotions, Margery Allingham for her satisfyingly convoluted plots and Phil Rickman for his masterful command of supernatural atmosphere.  I also love Douglas Adams and Sir Terry Pratchett for their humour, satire, and social commentary. I have an honours degree in English, but fortunately that was so long ago that I have forgotten all those pretensions and rediscovered the joy of creative writing.  I am now a published author, currently working on my next book. I have just reached that delicious stage where the characters become autonomous and start making their own decisions.  Anything could happen and probably will.

‘The Bestseller’ by Jenny Knightsby

Published by Mountain Leopard Press,
18 June 2026.
ISBN: ‏978-1-03543631-6

The Bestseller, Jenny Knightsby’s debut novel, is impressive, and not only because it is her first attempt at crime fiction. Although, by profession, a full-time NHS hospital doctor based in West London, in this book Knightsby quickly establishes herself as a confident and accomplished part-time author. She writes in fluent, flowing prose, offering authentic-sounding dialogue and pin-sharp observations. Her plot maintains a quick pace and is replete with surprising twists and turns. Best of all, the novel is peopled by all-to-believable characters—flawed but often engaging—harboring their own secrets and lies. It is probable that Kingsby’s years of meeting and treating the public on the wards and observing people at their most vulnerable accounts for the authenticity of the insights into human nature that are such an attractive feature of this novel.    

Knightsby has confessed to an interest in psychologists and people working in publishing, and both types appear in The Bestseller. It is the story of couple’s therapist Helena who finds one patient, a beautiful young woman named Belle, particularly challenging. She has never met Julius, Belle’s husband, because Belle is reluctant to admit to him that she has even engaged the services of a therapist. Helena becomes convinced Julius is a coercive individual who engages in the domestic abuser’s tricks of gaslighting and insults (and, on occasion, compliments and presents) to ensure his wife’s compliance and unquestioning obedience to his wishes. What she perceives as Belle’s plight so arouses Helen’s fascination and indignation, coupled with fear that her patient is in danger, that she breaks the therapist’s cardinal rule of confidentiality, relating details of the case to her best friend Tala, an unsuccessful novelist. Helena’s and Tala’s relationship goes back to university days when, with Dylan—who later becomes Helena’s husband—they were best friends and roommates. In the second timeframe, there is a palpable tension between Dylan and Tala that Helena is at a loss to explain. 

In a nod to recent trends in crime fiction, The Bestseller is told in two timelines—the period when the three friends were students and the present, when they are adults in their thirties—and through two perspectives: those of Tala and Helena. Knightsby manipulates this technique, like the best of crime fiction writers, to add nuance and subtlety to her story. 

Tala’s publication of a book called Your Enemies Closer propels the action of Knightsby’s addictive thriller. After stealing a proof copy of the book, Helena is horrified to find it seems to be based on what she has confided to her friend about Belle and Julius’s relationship. To her dismay, Tala’s book becomes wildly popular: a ‘bestseller’. Helena is terrified that her disclosure of private details of a patient’s therapy might destroy her career but, even more, fears that Belle and, possibly, even she and her husband might be in danger from a Julius infuriated by the public exposure of his darkest secrets.   

This is a book to savour and enjoy while also one that sets the pulse racing. Highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Wendy Jones Nakanishi/aka Lea O’Harra. 

Jenny Knightsby grew up primarily in London and has lived in New York, Winnipeg, Leeds, and Nice. She worked as an NHS hospital doctor, a career that honed her storytelling and observational skills, before transitioning to fiction writing. Her debut novel, The Bestseller, is a psychological thriller that has already received critical recognition, being shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize 2024, the Spotlight First Novel Award, and the Cinnamon Literature Award. 

Lea O’Harra.  An American by birth, did her postgraduate work in Britain – an MA in Lancaster and a doctorate at Edinburgh – and worked full-time for 36 years at a Japanese university. Since retiring in March 2020, she has spent part of each year in Lancaster and part in Takamatsu on Shikoku Island, her second home, with occasional visits to the States to see family and friends. An avid reader of crime fiction since childhood, as a university professor she wrote academic articles on it as a literary genre and then decided to try her hand at composing such stories herself, publishing the so-called ‘Inspector Inoue mystery series’ comprising three murder mysteries set in rural, contemporary Japan. She has also published two standalone crime fiction novels.