My Book Reviews for October 2026
My Book Reviews for October 2026 comprise a Cold War thriller, a romantic comedy, a police procedural, a cosy mystery/fantasy and two horror titles.
Michael Braun is a 39-year-old bilingual Brit, operating as a lazy but effective journalist in West Berlin. His specialism is exposing ageing Nazis. It’s 1990, the Wall has fallen and the Stasi (the East German secret police) are finished. Paperwork the East Germans haven’t managed to shred includes a file on a senior Nazi figure, who’s been living in West Berlin in plain sight since 1945. Having got wind of the story, the editor of the Berliner Tageblatt contracts Michael Braun to track down the Nazi and write an exposé.
What should be a bread-and-butter job for Braun turns into a dangerous nightmare where the hunter becomes the hunted. How is the elderly war criminal able to anticipate his every move? Someone seems to be wielding exceptional and violent power to stop the journalist at all costs.
Seasoned thriller readers may also stay one step of the protagonist throughout, but this is a good yarn with authentic depictions of Berlin and East Germany.
I lived in West Berlin briefly in the 1980s and also visited East and West Berlin in 1990, just before reunification. I’ve been back several times to visit in this decade. This novel captures the city of 1990 perfectly.
The book has pace, suspense and the good and sleazy atmosphere of a Cold War noir. I loved it.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
From the blurb:
Noémi Blanc loves happy endings. In fact, she runs a cozy bookshop brimming with them. Following a friend’s tragic accident, Noémi is sworn off adventures (and love), and even refuses to bake her mouth-watering, crowd-attracting cookies.
Shay Cassidy craves adventures. In a whirlwind of costumes, he opens a pop-up business next to the bookshop, stealing Noémi’s footfall. His quirky activities and rival cookies quickly capture the interest of the small town, igniting Noémi’s competitive spirit.
As the festive season looms, tensions simmer and loyalties are tested. Noémi is determined to reclaim her customers and prove that her bookshop is a treasured part of the village. But Shay’s charm and wit are hard to ignore – even for Noémi. With the bookshop’s success hinging on a festive event and Shay’s lease almost up, Noémi must decide if she’ll open her heart to a chance at happiness and save the bookshop in time for Christmas.
Another cookie-crisp helping of loveliness from experienced romcom writer Anita Faulkner. She returns to the themes of Christmas and baking for this new book. As always, she features a quirky support cast, including independent traders and crafters. The good news is we'll get to meet them again as this is the start of a new series.
This is an independent review of an early copy. I thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.
This fifth book in the Glasgow Southside Crime Series is another demanding investigation for DCI Alex Scrimgeour and DS Mark Nicholson. Once again both are distracted by their various domestic woes as the body count rises. This time Mark takes the lead in a challenging serial killer case while also dealing with a private mystery of his own.
Part thriller, part police procedural with Scottish grit and humour, this is a solid go-to crime series.
From the blurb: When a successful businessman is left for dead in a tenement close, police in Glasgow are flummoxed. Who could want him dead? His wife has a strong financial motive but the decoding of a mysterious inscription on his forehead points to a motive of revenge. Then a second mutilated body is found.
Can Mark keep his mind on the job for long enough to work out how exactly these deaths are related to each other? He has enough worries of his own, what with juggling work, being a single parent to two-year-old Gus and now his boss Alex is edgy and distracted. He’s hiding something, but what?
With the help of DC Megan Webster, Mark vows to catch the twisted killer before they strike again but are they on the right path? Is the killer hiding in plain sight after all
The Spiral Path by Anthony Aberford (The Aunt Lily Yorkshire Dales Mysteries Book 2)
There’s quirky and there’s Anthony Aberford…
Aunt Lily, the cake-eating, trike-riding righter of witchy wrongs is back. She’s sensed another disturbance. Ilkley Wellness Centre has attracted the attention of a second-rate coven near Hebden Bridge. The Wellness Centre is run by Marjorie, Adalene, Meghana and Christina, whom we met in book one. They and a host of eccentric characters join forces with Aunt Lily to prevent evil taking over Yorkshire. This fluently written fantasy takes in ley lines, potholes, witchcraft and Norse Mythology.
Funny, fantastical and very Yorkshire.
With thanks to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an early copy.
Although language and attitudes reflect the 1974 publication date, this is a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin horror classic. When giant rats maraud through London, it falls to a high school teacher to lead the charge against them.
This is the blurb: The first victim was a former paper salesman drinking himself into oblivion down by the docks. Next a child and her beloved dog, then six drifters fighting over a bottle of gin - all devoured by a black, writhing mass of giant rats. As London descends into panicked chaos, high school teacher Harris is pulled head-first into the nightmare when a student arrives with a rat bite on his hand. And he quickly realises that this is no ordinary creature, nothing like anyone has ever seen before. With their intelligent, wicked-looking eyes and razor-sharp teeth, the balance of power between man and rat has suddenly - shockingly, horribly - shifted. The rats have had their first taste of human blood. And they're hungry for more . . .
Taken from the blurb:
Eden is one of seven elite ballerinas invited to the remote, crumbling Deveraux Manor to compete for a solo of a lifetime. The manor, a former retreat for dancers, has been shuttered for a decade. Now, its doors have been reopened by the legendary prima ballerina Leanora Karagianni. Only one finalist will join Leanora's prestigious new ballet and dance the lead.
As Eden pushes her chronically ill body to its limits and fights a dangerous attraction to Leanora, the other ballerinas take every advantage they can. But the competition soon turns lethal and it becomes clear that the dancers are battling more than each other. For the manor has an agenda of its own.
I recently read and enjoyed The Residency by C.D. Major about a competition to become an artist in residence at a remote mansion. The Finalist takes the same trope of the haunted house/puppeteer to the world of ballet. There’s horror in the manor but also in what the elite ballerinas are forced to put their bodies through.
This fluently written literary horror may well appeal to ballet enthusiasts as well as haunted house fans. Also, fans of The Residency are in for a treat.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.