My Book Reviews for February 2026 (Part One)
My Book Reviews for February 2026 (Part One)
My Book Reviews for February 2026 (Part One) comprise an escapist romance, a dual-timeline historical novel, a police procedural, a Western-style mystery, a literary crime novel, a folkloric psychological thriller and an action thriller.
The Floating Venice Bookshop by Annabel French
Art gallery manager, Beth, is enjoying a secondment in Venice when the funding for her post is suddenly pulled and she faces the unwelcome prospect of a return to London. She is offered first refusal on a barge bookshop that’s for sale and, against her usually cautious nature, makes the purchase.
She finds herself the owner of not only a tired, overstocked shop but also of the resident cat, Polo. Her first task is to weed the books and, with the help of her carpenter friend Cesca, refashion the existing furniture and build new shelving to provide a much-needed update. (I loved these scenes. As an ex-librarian who ran several library new-build and refurbishment projects, I was itching to jump into the pages and help her.)
Calling on her gallery management skills, she plans to allocate space on the barge for temporary art exhibitions. Enter Marco, Cesca’s brother, who runs a PR agency that represents local artists. Despite a mutual instant attraction, Beth and Marco keep their business heads on to collaborate. Beth hopes for more from the handsome Italian, but every time he seems to warm to her on a personal level, something makes him retreat.
This is a delightful escapist novel with lots of descriptions of Venetian architecture, culture and food. The central characters are likeable and the plot is engaging.
This is an independent review of an early copy. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
The House of Hidden Letters by Izzy Broom
A does-what-it-says-on-the-tin dual timeline historical novel.
Desperate to flee problems in the UK, Skye enters a one-Euro lottery to win a house. Her luck is finally in when she becomes one of the winners of houses abandoned after World War Two in a Greek village. The stipulation of the win is that each new owner must renovate their property to traditional Greek standards.
The other winners are: a lively Australian woman; an Anglo-American couple; a British man and his young son; and three squabbling British sisters.
Naturally, attractive but mysterious thirty-something builder, Andreas, is on hand to provide the construction expertise and the will-they-wont-they romantic interest.
As the title suggests, when it comes to clearing a long disused chimney, Skye and Andreas discover a cache of letters. Enter the second timeline – the same Greek village in the early 1940s – where we meet Katerina, a spirited young woman who falls in love with Stephanos. But there's no happy ever after as war looms closer. Eventually, Italian soldiers occupy the island and commit atrocities.
Both storylines feature engaging protagonists and evocative descriptions of Greek countryside, villages, food and culture.
This is an independent review of an early copy. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
Kate, ex detective turned police dog handler, is called with her dogs to search Memorial Park for a missing three-year-old girl. Thus starts an investigation that will involve Kate and her former boss DCI Jack Ellis in a complex inquiry and lead to dark discoveries in a thirty-year-old cold case.
The main characters are engaging, the story moves at a good pace and the roles of the police dogs are well explained and woven into the plot.
(Contains descriptions of child abuse.)
This is the second story in the Kate Halliday series set in the Southampton area. Although it works as a standalone, a lot of mention is made of the dramas in book one, so it might be worth starting the series at the beginning.
This is a well-written police procedural. I will look out for other books by this author.
The Dark Below by Sherry Rankin
When her promising but troubled student Chase is found dead in a disused military weapons silo, Criminology professor Teddy is called upon by the police to answer questions about Chase’s recent state of mind. But, as an ex-cop, Teddy isn’t ready to accept that Chase died by suicide. She soon makes a nuisance of herself with her former colleagues due to her observations of the crime scene.
Her old boss sets her to work with her estranged former partner Raina. Because of an incident that prompted Teddy to leave the police, Raina has good grounds to hate Teddy. But the two women must collaborate on the case.
The writing is crisp, the characters well-drawn, and the plot confidently delivered. Sherry Rankin is particularly good at creating setting with vivid descriptions of the remote town and former military base. With its frequent mentions of horses and ranches, this slow-burn mystery is reminiscent of a western.
This is the second novel I’ve read by this author. Please click the following link for my review of the first: The Killing Plains.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford
From the blurb: Glasgow, 1979. While walking her dog, twelve-year-old Janey finds a murdered woman on an abandoned railway. When the victim is named as daughter of a local hardman, Janey's nana, Maggie, is afraid. Janey claims she can’t remember what she saw that day, but the police think she’s hiding something, and they’re not the only ones interested.
Maggie tries desperately to keep Janey safe but is battling long-buried secrets of her own. As fear and rumour stalk the streets, Maggie becomes convinced she will lose her beloved granddaughter forever - especially when Janey starts to remember exactly what happened in that bad, bad place...
Written from the perspective of two unique and authentic characters – the traumatised child and her distraught grandmother – in a gritty, believable setting (putting me in mind of My Name Is Leon and Orangeboy), this novel is ideal for fans of literary crime novels that are grounded in realism.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce
Alice Webber is a thirteen-year-old girl who claims she's being haunted by a witch. Living with her family in the remote Cornish village of Banathel, Alice's symptoms are increasingly disturbing.
Journalist Sam Hunter approaches newly qualified psychologist Mina with a proposition. Taking this job will give Mina some experience, Sam will get the scoop of a lifetime, and Alice will get better - Mina is sure of it.
But as Alice's behaviour becomes increasingly inexplicable and intense, the dark cracks in Banathel begin to show. The village has a deep history of superstition and witchcraft. They believe there is evil in the world, and they have ways of . . . dealing with it. Mina is desperate to understand how deep their sinister traditions go - and how her own past may be the biggest threat of all.
Fluently written with a rounded protagonist. Ideal for fans of slow-burn psychological thrillers that delve into folklore horror territory with shades of Midsommar.
This is an independent review of an early copy. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
Deception Island by R.S. Burnett
From the blurb: When a rescue team arrives at Deception Island to evacuate scientists from an erupting volcano, they discover everyone has vanished without a trace. Cut off from the outside world and trapped on an island with deadly secrets, Abbie must uncover the truth before the volcano – or something far more sinister – claims her life.
This is an all-action novel featuring a female commando. It is an ideal story for action thriller readers.
This is an independent review of an early copy. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
My News
I’m delighted to reveal the cover, created by the Hera Books design team, for my dark thriller, An Ordinary House, which will be published in September. As my editor, Jennie Ayres, put it: “The bright orange contrasts with the grey of the house, hinting through the colour palette at that juxtaposition between such a very normal house and horror and darkness within.” Please click here to see the darkly atmospheric artwork.
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; the second discusses the value of writing buddies; and the third is about the different edits a manuscript goes through. Later this month, I’ll be writing about direct speech – speech tags and punctuation. Subscribe for free: Dr Rachel Sargeant | Substack