My Book Reviews for February 2026 (Part Two)
My Book Reviews for February 2026 (Part Two)
My Book Reviews for February 2026 (Part Two) comprise two psychological thrillers, a Great War memoir, a timeslip mystery, comedy cosy crime, literary suspense and literary horror.
Missing… Rose Malone by Linda Huber
Care worker Rose Malone vanishes after her last shift before she’s due to go on a week’s holiday. The only people who think there’s anything wrong are her friend Josiane, her boss Val, and Matt, the guy she’s been dating. They carry out their own searches and try to convince the police that something is wrong.
As the weeks pass, the police take them more seriously but can’t give the case their full attention because of the murder of another young woman. Rose’s friends continue their enquiries and risk getting themselves into hot water.
Reading this page-turner was a bit like watching a series of The Traitors. As well as the faithful trio, there’s another – sinister – viewpoint character. The reader watches his every move and wills Josiane, Val and Matt to see him before he sees them. As the tension builds and despite the information she gives the reader, the author does a great job of making the reader think that all is not as it seems. Doubt is cast on a range of characters, including the missing Rose.
There was great world building – I could fully imagine the small town of Tallerton, the work of the care agency, the hospital and the cottage renovation – and the characters were drawn with depth and care. The suspense builds, slowly at first, then speeds to a startling conclusion.
Tense and unpredictable, this is Linda Huber’s best suspense novel yet. I loved it.
This is an independent review of an advance copy. I thank the author for the opportunity.
The Girl in the Doorway by Louise Mangos
From the blurb: When bookseller James meets homeless student Emma on a London street, the attraction is instant. But after a magical Christmas break in the glitzy ski resort of St. Moritz, they return to find his flat has been burgled, and the police want to question James about the suspicious death of another homeless person. As he and his friend Sally chase clues from the West End of London to the snow-laden mountains of Switzerland to solve the mystery of his stolen antique books and family heirlooms, James is forced to ask himself whether he has been desperately unlucky, blinded by love, or worse.
A slowburn thriller with three distinctive, rounded narrators – James, Emma and Sally –and set in two well depicted locations: Central London and the Swiss Alps. I won this novel in a Twitter giveaway run by the author. I really enjoyed it and also bought a version for my Kindle.
On That Day I left My Boyhood Behind by Norman Woodcock and Susan Burnett
In 1914, at the age of seventeen, Norman Woodcock was called up. He didn’t return home until 1919. In the intervening five years, he served in Gallipoli, Greece, Egypt, Palestine and France. Although he didn’t say much about his wartime experiences, in later life he began to write down his thoughts and memories.
His granddaughter, Susan Burnett, has complied his stories and interspersed them with a factual commentary. I’ve read quite a few Great War diaries and history books, especially about Gallipoli. I consider Norman’s words – sometimes matter of fact, often scathing, and occasionally tender – to be some of the clearest and most compelling I’ve encountered. Similarly, Susan’s sections are fluent and well researched.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining an overview of the conflict as well as reading about the fighting close-up from a private soldier’s perspective.
The Singapore Secret by Clare Willis
Taken from the blurb: When her beloved grandmother, Dotty, passes away aged one hundred, Annabel discovers letters and photographs hidden in her desk that document a secret life as a young woman in Singapore. But Dotty has never travelled further than her small village in Cornwall... What could have made her conceal this past life? And who is the bridegroom standing proudly next to Dotty in a faded wedding photo, who is clearly not Annabel's grandfather? Determined to uncover the truth, is Annabel prepared for what she will find?
Singapore, 1942: The war is drawing ever closer, and Dorothy faces a heart-rending choice to flee the country she has come to call home. With warplanes advancing across the ocean, she is boarding a boat full of evacuees when something is urgently pressed into her arms.
Told in a straightforward and, in spite of the subject matter, fairly gentle style, this is a solid addition to the present-day/wartime dual timeline historical fiction genre. The chapters on the sinking of the S.S. Kuala and the notorious Changi Jail were well researched, and there’s a useful historical note at the end of the book.
This is an independent review of an early copy. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz
Sarah Lotz effects another smooth genre shift, this time into comedy/cosy crime set in a village in rural England.
With shades of Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders but told in a breezy, tongue-in-cheek style, this story is about down-on-her-luck loner, Niamh, who reluctantly joins forces with an apparition of the protagonist of her mother's bestselling thrillers to solve her mother's murder.
This is an independent review of an early copy. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
Taken from the blurb: Peggy and her fourteen-year-old son, Samson, live on narrowboat in Derby. Together, they battle against the hardness and manipulation of the man they live with. To the outside world he is a husband and father. To them, he is a captor.
This is a literary study of toxicity, gaslighting and domestic abuse, set in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Tense and claustrophobic.
Readers who enjoyed Will Dean's The Last Thing to Burn will appreciate this similarly dark story.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
From the blurb: High in the mountains sits Nowhere, a verdant valley surrounded by walls of rock. … Its last owner was its most famous: movie star Leaf Winham, who built Nowhere House as a refuge to hide from his fame... and to hide his crimes. …Years later, Nowhere valley has become a sanctuary for runaway children, a place where adults cannot enter. Drawn by this promise, fourteen-year-old Riley pulls her brother Oliver from his bed in the middle of the night, hoping to find a new family. But the Nowhere Children are fierce in defending their valley and their secrets. For something dark lives in the ruins of Nowhere House, something that asks a terrible price for sanctuary...
Ideal for readers of literary horror that features complex and intricately woven plotlines.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
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