My Book Reviews for April 2026
My Book Reviews for April 2026
My Book Reviews for April 2026 comprise a romcom, a cosy crime/magical realism crossover, three psychological thrillers, two feelgood stories, a domestic noir/folklore horror crossover, two literary coming of age stories, a satirical character study and two mysteries.
Meet Me at Apple Blossom Lane by Anita Faulkner
I don’t read many romance novels but I watch a fair few Hallmark Christmas films. I’m always struck by the unrelenting cheerfulness of the female leads and the featured settings. So, when this novel opened with a cynical love coach and introduced Hartglove, a place voted not only the Most Loveless Town of the Year but also Least Cheerful Town Around, I was intrigued. Bring on the genre flip.
Alyssa is a love coach whose online profile has garnered thousands of followers and attracted an agent. But the carefully curated image isn’t entirely truthful. Alyssa doesn’t actually believe in romantic love since a devastating teenage break-up twelve years earlier.
Her agent gets her a job to road test publicly a love match app – in the grimly acclaimed Hartglove. She will be matched with a guy the app selects before they undertake seven tasks together. Problem is: Hartglove is the hometown she left for good after love of her life Devan broke her heart. An even bigger problem is: Devan is the owner of the love match app, determined to get the townsfolk back on track with their love lives. And the biggest problem of all: with no money to pay her rent and on the brink of being evicted, Alyssa can't turn down the job.
This is Anita Faulkner’s fourth novel and she’s establishing some trademarks for her writing:
• Vividly drawn secondary characters, many proudly running independent cafés and craft shops
• Quirky resident animals – peacocks, a ferret, a denim-clad cat and now a mouse named Pikachu
• Icons to delight Bookstagram – campervans, gingerbread, pumpkins and, this time, blossom
• Emphasis on the Com in RomCom – lots of saucy humour
• Romp in the Rom – spicy bits that have me, a delicate crime thriller reader, clutching my pearls
• Female leads on moving journeys of self-discovery
• Beautiful endings
Romantic Comedy fans are in for a laughter-filled, apple-blossom-scented treat.
This is an independent review of an early copy. With thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
The Conservatory by Anthony Aberford
Adapted from the blurb: Some secrets are best left buried; others are better never planted!
In a Victorian conservatory, four women from the local wellness centre – Adalene, Christina, Marjorie and Meghana – discover that their friend's mysterious death, amongst her toxic plants, was not an accident.
When eccentric homoeopath Aunt Lily arrives on her tricycle, she seems just the person to help uncover answers. But who is she really, and why is she there?
A 17th-century journal holds dark secrets that could change everything. And an enigmatic stranger will stop at nothing to find it – making false promises and real threats. Can the friends resist his temptations and unlock the book's hidden secrets in time?
Cosy crime meets magical realism in this witchy wonder.
Although there's a cosiness about the four sleuths and their teenage children, they tackle issues of empowerment and manipulation. And there's nothing cosy about the vivid and chilling descriptions of the exotic plants in the conservatory.
The mysterious Aunty Lily is a bold and bonkers character, sometimes likeable, sometimes suspicious, always memorable.
The writing is fluent. Not only does the author capture the female viewpoints and sense of sisterhood in the modern-day timeline, he also gives a flavour of the seventeenth century language of the Medicina de Herbarium journal extracts without them sounding corny or unwieldy.
A good start to a new, genre-bending series.
This is an independent review of an early copy. With thanks to the author for the opportunity.
Upon publication, I will post my review on my blog and on Amazon.
The Girls of Maple Close by Amanda Brittany
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Daisy is a true-crime podcaster who focusses on the motivations of convicted killers. When Daisy discovers a miscarriage of justice, the wife of the real killer vows revenge and Daisy goes into hiding at her grandfather’s house.
But Grandad still lives in Maple Close where Daisy went following traumatic events in her childhood. The gated street was a place of sanctuary with her grandparents, but it was also the location of a night of notorious violence when a teenage girl, Zara, brutally attacked three other girls, leaving two dead and one with horrific injuries. Another friend, a teenage boy, went missing the same night and was never found.
All the grieving parents – of the killer, of the victims and of the missing boy – still live in Maple Close. When the mother of the convicted girl discovers Daisy has returned, she asks her to investigate the case on her podcast. Daisy is convinced of Zara’s guilt but agrees to look into what caused her to kill.
Daisy visits the disused cinema where the girls’ mutilated bodies were found and realises someone is watching her. Not only does raking up the past threaten to reignite Daisy’s trauma, it also leads her towards danger from someone who wants her enquires into the Maple Close murders to stop.
The writing was invisibly good, making this a smooth read. Daisy was a rounded protagonist who took the reader with her throughout the narrative. The mystery unravelled in a suspenseful way and led to a shocking denouement. It was a self-contained standalone mystery thriller but would also make a terrific start to a series.
This is an independent review of an early copy. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
Growing Old Disgracefully by Karen King
This is a nice feelgood story. From the opening chapter, the author puts her protagonist in a rotten pickle. Nancy comes home from work to find a note from her husband, announcing he’s left her, taken all their savings and she’ll have to sell the house as the mortgage won’t be paid off as he’d led her to believe. This struck me as a very believable scenario. What can a woman in her sixties with a parttime job do to overcome this whopping emotional and financial blow?
Nancy decides a sensible option might be to take in lodgers. Nice, middle-aged people, like herself, who still work and won’t hang around the house all day but won’t stay out until all hours either.
The trouble is the three people she takes in are anything but sensible. Partly by design and partly by accident she ends up with:
Self-indulgent Jackie, who dresses well but does her best work as a life model with her clothes off;
Phyllis, who works at a mystical crystal shop and won’t leave the house without reading her tea leaves;
Marvin, singer in a sexagenarian rock band. (A bit on the young side, methinks, compared with The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, AC/DC and even Def Leppard.)
Gradually the lodgers’ lifestyles rub off on staid Nancy, and she learns to embrace her unexpected change of circumstance.
I particularly liked the way it kicked up a gear in the last quarter of the book when all the characters played a part in achieving a desired result. Even Cobweb the cat lent a paw to the task. I punched the air.
This is an independent review of an early copy. I thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
Welcome to the Family by Kate Gray
Matriarch and renowned artist, Marianne, invites her sons – feckless older son Luke and sensible younger boy Theo – for a holiday at her Tuscan villa. Also present are various household staff, Marianne’s second husband Gerry, her old friends Richard and Evelyn, Luke’s wife Fenna and their children, and Theo’s new girlfriend Rosie.
At one time welcomed for the spending power they and other tourists brought to the village, the family is now shunned by locals. This follows an incident some fifteen years earlier that rocked the community and attracted lurid media headlines in Italy and in the UK.
This slow-burn story is told from the engaging viewpoints of the two ‘outsider’ women. ROSIE is determined to make a good impression on Theo’s intimidating mother but makes the mistake of asking about the headline incident and incurs the wrath of Theo’s brother Luke. The other narrator is FENNA, Luke’s wife. A successful model but struggling with their toddler daughter and newborn son, she has to cope with Marianne’s passive-aggressive barbs about her parenting skills and with Luke’s inattentiveness and unpredictability. Rather than welcoming Rosie as an ally, she is suspicious of the newcomer and, despite her exhaustion, starts to snoop.
A does-what-it-says-on-the-tin suspense novel, this is ideal for readers after a family spin on the destination thriller with some turns along the way.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
This story depicts the deterioration of a marriage, from the viewpoint of the wife, Ellie, but played out in front of Libby, the young daughter who has developed a fondness for a carving of a mermaid on a wall in their new home. To put husband Ethan’s affair with a young woman in his sea swimming club behind them, the family has moved far from the coast to the Peak District.
But local folklore is rife with mermaid tales and Libby’s old mermaid doll – supposedly discarded before the house move – has reappeared and become a favourite toy. When the family dog disappears and teenage son Zack starts behaving strangely, Ellie becomes convinced Ethan’s ex-lover has followed them to Derbyshire and intends not only to lure him to her like a siren but also to destroy Ellie’s family.
Domestic noir meets folklore horror in this well-written story of paranoia, legend and obsession, with a fully realised protagonist and evocative descriptions of crags and meres in this rugged inland setting.
This is an independent review of an early NetGalley copy. I thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read it.
The Unforgettable Mailman by April Howells 21 April 2026
In 1966, the Chicago Post Office shut down for three weeks to deal with a backlog of ten million items of mail. (I rather think Royal Mail is going the same way; since Christmas, we’ve received a thud of 25 to 45 letters on our doormat once every two weeks with no deliveries in between.)
April Howells has created a heartwarming fictional story about this event.
The story is told from the viewpoints of various lively characters:
Henry is an eighty-year-old man who takes it upon himself to deliver some of the backlogged post.
Stan is a retired postal worker and Henry’s friend. Against his better judgement, he helps Henry break into the post office and steal a sack of letters.
Fletcher, the hesitant security guard, catches a glimpse of Henry and gets in trouble for failing to stop the theft. He’s tasked with tracking down the elderly thief.
Stokes, the incompetent, nasty post office manager, fixates on finding Henry rather than solving the backlog.
Brenda, Stokes’s put-upon assistant, is tired of getting overlooked and may just have a way of dealing with the crisis for her own ends.
Roger, an awkward, unhappy teenager, crosses paths with Henry as he undertakes his clandestine mail deliveries.
We also meet various recipients of the post Henry delivers and, through the contents of the letters and in their dialogues with Henry, we get a snapshot of their lives and learn more of Henry’s poignant backstory.
I liked the author’s use of short chapters and this kept me turning the pages. The fluently written story is light in tone but touches on social and racial unrest and inequality in 1960s America. Has it been optioned yet? Shift the setting back two months and there’s a Christmas feelgood movie just waiting to be made.
This is an independent review of an early copy. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
Upon publication I will post this review on my blog and on Amazon.
The Unforeseen by Claire Ackroyd
This story focuses on sibling rivalry and ponders whether blood is ultimately thicker than water.
Lara, who is mother to toddler Poppy, has been unstable in her past and is now having disturbing dreams about her estranged sister, Hannah.
Social media influencer, Hannah, lives the dream with her travel vlog and gorgeous boyfriend, Chris.
The sisters will be forced to meet at their mother's fiftieth birthday celebrations in the Peak District.
Chapters are told alternately from each sister's viewpoint and we see their differing perspectives on what happened in the past and what is happening now.
This is a slowburn psychological thriller, suitably twisty and tense.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Fallout by Eleanor Ansthruther
Fifteen-year-old Bridget lives in Surbiton with her annoying little brother, her chain-smoking dinner lady mother and her nuclear-shelter-obsessed father.
Fed up of another weekend at home with them, Bridget lies that she has her parents’ permission and joins her neighbour and her art teacher on a day trip to Greenham Common.
The story reveals the transformative effect of the peace camp not only on Bridget but also on the mother-of-five and dutiful housewife neighbour; on the lonely art teacher; and on Bridget’s mother, who is forced to visit the camp when Bridget decides to take up residence there instead of going back to school.
As a youngster in 1982, I remember seeing the Greenham Common women’s peace camp on the TV news, but I had no sense of the fear or paranoia around a possible nuclear weapons strike on the UK. The first time I saw a Protect & Survive leaflet or video was last year when I visited Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker, a decommissioned Cold War bunker, now a museum in Essex. Doubtless, some families turned their downstairs loo into a fallout bunker like Bridget’s dad. Maybe it was a Surbiton thing, like The Good Life.
This is a literary story with hints of humour, coming of age and social history (albeit perhaps through the lens of 2026 rather than the early 1980s). Ideal for fans of feminist reading.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Upward Bound by Woody Brown
Taken from the blurb: Upward Bound is a daycare centre for Los Angeles’s disabled community. Among the clients and staff are Carlos, a charismatic aide who lost his mother as a boy, and Jorge, who is gentle, nonspeaking and prone to escape despite Carlos’s best efforts. Tom, a beautiful young man with cerebral palsy, pines for Ann, the lifeguard for the summer who feels out of her depth. Then there’s Dave, the centre’s director. He wanted to be an actor but finds himself on a very different path.
At the heart of Upward Bound is Walter, a recent college student returning to the company of his peers after a family tragedy. Around him, a story unfolds of friendships forged, connections missed and the dreams – some new, others almost forgotten – that shape us. With his wit, empathy and astonishing gifts as a storyteller, Woody Brown immerses us in life as we have never experienced it before.
Told in a traditional storytelling rather than showing style, this delves deeply into the viewpoints of several people connected to the daycare centre and provides insights into the lives of individuals with complex disabilities. Ideal for readers looking for underrepresented narrators and protagonists.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Taken from the blurb: Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and has the social media accounts to prove it. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in the 1800s. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A test from God? One thing Natalie does know is that it’ll make one hell of an Instagram post…
This is part satire on the trad wife/social influencer phenomenon and part study of a character in mental decline. We see episodes from Natalie’s past, which help explain why she strives for traditional perfection today.
The story is fluently written but jumps about as befits the narration by a protagonist in turmoil.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Taken from the blurb: Ro waits for her son on the evening of his twenty-first birthday, but Sam never comes home. His footprints in the dust of three abandoned houses offer the only clue to his final movements. One set in. One set out. Five years later, Ro returns to Carralon Ridge for the annual memorial of Sam’s disappearance. The skeletal community is now an echo of itself, having fractured under the pressure of the nearby coal mine. Few people remain. If the truth is to be found in the town, does it lie among them?
This is a study in grief and reminiscence as well as a slowburn mystery. Fans of Jane Harper's books will love her evocative descriptions of the dying town and the mine on its outskirts.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Among the Ruins by Claire Coughlan
Taken from the blurb:
Dublin, summer 1970. Nicoletta juggles work as the women’s editor at the Irish Sentinel with twin baby girls at home. When she’s approached by a barrister, Louise Leonard, whose aunt has just died, she’s drawn into a story that could have dangerous consequences. Was Helen Leonard murdered, as her niece thinks? And who was the mysterious nurse who has now vanished, but to whom Helen left everything? As Nicoletta investigates, she has to fight not only her own family’s disapproval of her being a working mother, but also society’s. And as she unpicks the mystery of Helen Leonard’s death, she’s unaware that danger lurks around every corner…
The narration is delivered in a traditional storytelling style and is ideal for readers looking for a mystery featuring a well-drawn female protagonist and set against the social mores of the early 1970s.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
My News
Gloucestershire Crime Series
It’s two years since the launch of my Gloucestershire Crime Series. I marked the occasion with a visit to Painswick Rococo Garden. The bluebell wood there inspired the opening scene in book 1, Her Deadly Friend. You could say, I returned to the scene of the crime…
Her Rising Star, the third book in the series will be published on 26 May. DI Steph Lewis comes under an unforgiving media spotlight in this twisty locked room mystery, where murder is committed live on air.
While attending a West Gloucestershire Police conference at Cheltenham Town Hall, Steph is summoned to a nearby film studio. A chat show panellist has collapsed during a live broadcast.
At the scene, Steph discovers the man sprawled on the floor. The livestream is still running, other panellists are horrified and the studio is in chaos. Is the death accidental, the result of a severe allergy, or is there more to the fatality than meets the eye?
Despite intrusive press interest in the case, Steph must investigate her suspects: the producer, the studio runner, the cameraman and the diverse cast of panellists.
Nothing about this on-screen death adds up.
Is just one of them a murderer? Or do they all have something to hide?
Please click here to order a copy.
My new newsletter provides writing tips for emerging writers. The first post gives a snapshot of what I got up to last year and explodes the myth of the thousand-words-a-day word count. Other posts discuss the value of writing buddies; the different edits a manuscript goes through; how to punctuate direct speech; and dealing with rejection. April’s newsletter will feature a guest article by Brian Price on how to avoid science howlers when writing fiction. Subscribe for free: Dr Rachel Sargeant | Substack