Rave Reads of the Year – 6
Rave Reads of the Year – 6
Welcome to Rave Reads of the Year – 6. This month I invite author friends to share one of their Rave Reads of 2025. Today’s choices come from Rob Gittins, Rosemary Gemmell and Julie Anderson. #RaveReads2025
Rob Gittins’s Rave Read
A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor
A Schooling in Murder, by Andrew Taylor, published in 2025 is set during the closing months of World War II. It takes place at Monkshill Park, a country house on the Welsh borders that's now a third-rate girls' boarding school. The book narrates an investigation into the death of one of the teachers, but there's a twist. The narrator is not only the detective, but also the victim. I found this novel atmospheric and affecting with its story of a woman trapped between two worlds and unable to leave either until her own murder is solved. It's a love story as well as a detective story and the reveal regarding the identity of the killer - and the secondary reveal as to why - is beautifully done. Highly recommended.
Rob Gittins is a successful TV screenwriter of thirty years’ experience and a novelist, his latest title being the spy thriller, Year Zero.
Rosemary Gemmell’s Rave Read
Hieroglyphs and Homicide by Tracy Higley
One of my favourite reads this year was the first in a new historical mystery series set in 1920s Egypt, Hieroglyphs and Homicide by Tracy Higley. I had already read and enjoyed a time-slip trilogy to Ancient Egypt by the same author and this new character, archaeologist Clarissa Bell, does not disappoint. As well as the assured writing and characterisation, the story is filled with excellent background detail, setting, and humour. I’m now looking forward to the next in the series, Palm Trees and Poison.
Rosemary Gemmell writes short stories, articles and historical and contemporary novels, including Scottish Gothic novel Highcrag.
Julie Anderson’s Rave Read
The Cambridge Siren by Jim Kelly
My book recommendation is The Cambridge Siren by Jim Kelly, part of his Nighthawk series. I had not come across DI Eden Brooke before, part of the depleted Borough police force in central Cambridge in WWII, but I intend to renew acquaintance with him after reading this. He investigates murders as thousands die elsewhere during the ongoing war. The wartime setting is superbly realised, the mystery bound up with potential sabotage as well as fraud and murder. So is the physical location - an eerie Cambridge without its students, gone to the front.
Julie Anderson writes historical crime novels set in south London in the years following WWII including The Midnight Man.
Other Rave Reads of the Year Posts
#RaveReads2025
Linda Huber, Georgia Hill and Maggie Christensen
Michael Wood, Penny Batchelor and Terri Nixon
Fergus Smith, A.S. Andrejevic and Anne Coates