A Neighbour's Guide To Murder by Louise Candlish (Audiobook)

 

When Gwen discovers that her middle-aged neighbour, Alec, is advertising for a flatmate, she's surprised, and then suspicious when she learns that all the prospective candidates are young women. She decides to take her new neighbour, Pixie, under her wing, little realising what is to follow.

I was completely drawn in by all the twists and turns of A Neighbour's Guide To Murder by Louise Candlish, thanks to the gripping prologue and the superb narration of Greta Scacchi and Kristin Atherton.

Columbia Mansions, an exclusive mansion block in London, is home to an array of interesting and affluent owners. Brilliant characterisation from the author means that the tenants are varied and distinct. The main character is Gwen, a seventy-year-old divorcee. Gwen comes across as a bit judgmental, nosy and gossipy, although she'd be adamant she's the complete opposite. Alarm bells start ringing for Gwen when she discovers that her next-door neighbour is looking for a young woman to flat share. 

The young woman concerned is Pixie, who certainly lives up to her name; she comes across as naive, scatterbrained, impractical and mischievous. When Gwen meets Pixie, she seems to be entranced by her, but as the story develops, we discover that her protectiveness is probably more to do with guilt.

When Gwen learns of the arrangement between Alec and Pixie, she becomes indignant. Pixie seems to just shrug it off, and this makes Gwen even more incensed. Determined to unmask Alec, she involves other tenants of the mansion block. It's at this point that she loses control of events, and we begin to wonder who is being truthful.

There are numerous twists and turns. There were times when I felt that I'd nailed down who the villain of the piece was, only for everything to be turned on its head. Each new disclosure in this devilishly wicked story left me gasping. Even when the story seems to reach its conclusion, revealing exactly what happened in the gripping opening, the author still manages to throw in a few more shocking twists.

Author Details

Louise lives in a South London neighbourhood not unlike the one in my books, with her husband, daughter and a fox-red Labrador called Bertie. Books, TV and long walks are her passions - and drinking wine in the sun with family and friends.

She recently celebrated her 20th anniversary as an author with the news of two prestigious awards for her 90s-set thriller THE ONLY SUSPECT: the Capital Crime Fingerprint Award for Thriller of the Year and the Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction.

OUR HOUSE is the novel many know her for, as it's now a major four-part ITV drama starring Martin Compston and Tuppence Middleton (watch the full series free on ITVX). This is the novel that turned her career around, winning the 2019 British Book Awards Book of the Year - Crime & Thriller and shortlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, the Capital Crime Amazon Publishing Best Crime Novel of the Year Award​, and the Audible Sounds of Crime Award. It was also longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award and the Specsavers National Book Awards. A Waterstones Thriller of the Month, it recently received a Nielsen Bestseller Silver Award for 250,000 copies sold.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

 

Cora, a young slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia, knows she faces a bleak future. Given the chance to escape, she's initially reluctant, but a shocking event eventually spurs her on, and we follow her as she uses the underground railroad to escape her owner and evade slave-catchers.

One of the good things about being part of a book group is that you are occasionally forced to read out of your comfort zone. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is certainly well outside my usual genre. It took me a couple of pages to get used to the author's writing style, but once I'd settled down, I found the story very accessible and engrossing.

I vividly remember watching the TV mini-series Roots as a teen (it's shocking to consider this was almost fifty years ago) and being appalled by the treatment of slaves. As a result, the description of the treatment of the slaves wasn't anything I didn't already know. What I did find different was the story being told from the perspective of a teenage girl. In Cora's words, "Know your value and you know your place in the order", as a young, orphaned, female slave, she is well aware that her value is low. Treatment of slaves by owners and overseers was brutal, with horrific punishments for wrongdoings. Cora faced all of these alongside abuse from other slaves.

Despite the story being set over a hundred and fifty years ago, and the book being written ten years ago, I found lots of parallels with what is happening in America today: the description of the patrollers as "attracting a type....in another country they would have been criminals",  and how the patrollers would break into homes and places of work to kidnap slaves who thought they were free. Hypocrisy resonates throughout the story. The Declaration of Independence, claiming that "all men are equal," didn't apply to slaves. In fact, the only time that this was true was when body snatchers provided cadavers to students; under a scalpel, all bodies are the same.

Those helping slaves escape frequently risked their own lives. Abolitionists were fervent in their desire to put an end to slavery. Unfortunately, the message the general public received wasn't always accurate. The scenes in a museum where Cora has to participate in various tableaus of the life of a slave are extremely sanitised and laughable by modern standards. To the public, the life of a slave would not seem particularly extreme.

The cat-and-mouse game that plays out between Cora and the slave-catcher, Ridgeway, adds an extra layer to the story. While Cora's capture and return to her owner has a monetary value, Ridgeway's desire to catch her becomes an obsession. The time and effort expended far outweigh any payment he will receive. We see an example of this when a captured slave is killed simply because it doesn't make financial sense to return him. It is this preoccupation that leads to the horrifying and shameful conclusion, highlighting that even people who were born free or became free men were still considered to be worthless by slave catchers. 

**As I'm writing this, I've discovered that there is a mini-series based on the book. I'll certainly be checking it out.**

Author Details

Colson Whitehead is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of eleven works of fiction and nonfiction, and is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, for The Nickel Boys and The Underground Railroad, which also won the National Book Award. A recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships, he lives in New York City.

#Readalong Behind Her Smile by Caroline England

 

Laurie Dunn is forced to move back home when her relationship ends. Returning to her family home causes lots of long-buried memories to resurface, memories Laurie isn't entirely sure are real.

I will admit that the cover of Behind Her Smile by Caroline England didn't appeal to me; what did appeal was the glowing endorsement from one of my favourite writers, M. W. Craven. When an author you love says "In the very top tier of psychological thrillers", you'd be silly not to give the book a go. Hence, I leapt at the chance to take part in the Readalong organised by Love Books Tours.

As the story opens, we meet a disillusioned Laurie, she's completely dumbfounded at the sudden end of her relationship with Nico. At almost thirty, the last thing she expected was having to move back home. This return to the family home brings about lots of possible directions the story could go. Firstly, a failed romance leading to the possibility of finding new love. Unexpectedly finding her father sleepwalking hints at a possible psychological thriller. Unsettling dreams, with hints at sinister events, even make you wonder if we're heading into horror story territory.

What we end up with is an amalgamation of all three, with a little bit of organised crime thrown in. With so many different threads, it takes a little while for the story to really flow, hence I was a third of the way in before I really started to take an interest in what was happening to Laurie.

Laurie's old boyfriend, Finn, is a great character. I really enjoyed his backstory and the way it wove in to what was happening to Laurie. Jules, Laurie's older sister, comes across as cold and unemotional; it was hard to believe the pair are sisters. However, you do begin to wonder if Jules' behaviour is a result of things that happened during their childhood. Laurie's father is a strange character. Obviously intelligent, he is regularly sidelined in the story, despite the knowledge he has of past events.

I enjoyed the way in which the different threads converged at the conclusion. I certainly didn't predict the ending or spot any of the "villains" as I was reading.

Behind Her Smile from Caroline England and Bullington Press is available in paperback and ebook format. My thanks to Love Books Tours for my place on the Readalong.

Author Details

Caroline is the CWA Short Story Dagger shortlisted author of psychological suspense thrillers BENEATH THE SKIN, the best selling MY HUSBAND'S LIES, BETRAY HER, TRUTH GAMES, THE SINNER, THE STRANGER BESIDE ME. Her new thriller, THE RETURN OF FRANKIE WHITTLE, is out 8 Feb 2025. She also writes gothic-tinged psychological thrillers as CE Rose - THE HOUSE OF HIDDEN SECRETS, THE HOUSE ON THE WATER'S EDGE, THE SHADOWS OF RUTHERFORD HOUSE, THE ATTIC AT WILTON PLACE

Caroline writes multi-layered, dark and edgy ‘domestic suspense’ stories that delve into complicated relationships, secrets and the moral grey area.Drawing on her days as a divorce and professional indemnity lawyer, she loves to create ordinary, relatable characters who get caught up in extraordinary situations, pressures, dilemmas or crime. She admits to a slight obsession with the human psyche, what goes on behind closed doors and beneath people’s façades. She also enjoys performing a literary sleight of hand in her novels and hopefully surprising her readers!

Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward

 

A chance meeting spurs teenager Riley and her young brother, Oliver, to escape the abusive home they are living in. High in the mountains lies Nowhere, the remains of a ranch once owned by a film star and now the refuge of the Nowhere Children. Is the haven as idyllic as it sounds?

While Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward isn't my usual genre of choice, I did enjoy The Last House On Needless Street (you can read my review here), so I was keen to read the author's latest offering. I'm a bit of a wimp; I really do scare easily, so I always approach anything classed as horror with trepidation. If you're anything like me, I'd say not to worry; this is more mystery/suspense than out-and-out horror, the horror element is implied.

The majority of the story is told from Riley's perspective. At fourteen, she's living with a distant relative after the death of her mother. Riley is a resourceful and determined character; she's extremely protective of her seven-year-old brother. The pair face daily abuse from their relative, so you can fully understand her desire to leave. The trip to Nowhere isn't an easy one, with Riley having to make some difficult decisions on the way. Once the pair finally arrive, they find it difficult to believe that a group of children is living in the grounds of a burnt-out mansion, away from the authority of adults. I was pleased that Riley remained a little skeptical about the setup.

Throughout the narrative, we hear from other characters: a documentary filmmaker who is interested in the Nowhere Children, a fireman who helped try to put out the blaze that destroyed the mansion, and the architect who lived in the mansion for a while with its owner, Leaf Winham. 

Winham is a mysterious character. Made famous through the films he made, he sought privacy and isolation on his ranch. There were times when I thought he sounded like a Peter Pan character, someone who didn't age and surrounded himself with lost and unloved children. Following the fire at the mansion, there were doubts about his death. I then began to wonder if there was more of a supernatural element to Winham. 

What isn't obvious is how all of the various characters are linked, and what the underlying mystery of Nowhere is. As more and more is revealed, my disquiet began to grow, but there was still a level of uncertainty surrounding what was happening at Nowhere, all down to the skillful storytelling of the author. When the different narratives finally converged, I was left shocked, particularly when we learnt more about the filmmaker. As for the conclusion, I loved the ambiguous, thought-provoking ending, leaving the reader still wondering about the future of the Nowhere Children.

Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward will be published on 19th February 2026 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Viper Books for a review copy.

Author Details

Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in the US, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen and Morocco. She read English at the University of Oxford and spent several years working as an actor in New York. When she returned to the UK she worked on her first novel while writing for a human rights foundation, then took an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Her first novel, Rawblood, was published in 2015 and won the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel in 2016. She won again in 2018 for Little Eve, which also won the prestigious Shirley Jackson Award. In 2021 she published her bestselling novel The Last House on Needless Street, which was both a Richard and Judy Book Club and BBC Two Between the Covers Book Club pick. It was awarded the August Derleth Award in 2022, making Ward the only woman to prize three times. She was shortlisted again for her fourth novel, Sundial, in 2023. Her fifth novel, Looking Glass Sound, was shortlisted the Fingerprint Genre-Busting Book of the Year in 2024.

Adrift by Will Dean

 

Peggy Jenkins lives on a narrowboat with her husband, Drew, and their teenage son, Samson. Life revolves around the struggle to make ends meet and supporting her husband in his writing. It's imperative that nothing disturbs Drew's writing; woe betide anyone who does!

The last book I read by Will Dean was the unbelievably claustrophobic One At A Time (previously published as The Chamber, you can read my review here). I honestly didn't think it would be possible to write anything as oppressive, but the author has almost accomplished this in his latest offering, Adrift. The close confines of the living arrangements on board the narrowboat are so well described that you can almost feel the walls pressing in on you. More importantly, the fact that every movement is observable and every sound magnified makes you apprehensive, as there's nowhere to hide.

The opening pages, which take place twenty-one years earlier, are ominous ones, but don't immediately seem to fit the rest of the story. As you become immersed in the narrative, the connection slowly dawns and you are filled with shock and untold questions. Further questions arise when you discover the conditions Peggy and her son are living under, the emotional, financial and physical abuse they suffer is disturbing. I found my anger intensifying the more I read, wondering why an intelligent woman would remain in such a relationship. Much of my anger was directed at Drew, one of the most loathsome creatures I've come across in literature. He's one of those quietly menacing characters whose intimidation of his family has gone on for so long that a simple glance from him will have them cowering.

While all of this is taking place, Samson is dealing with problems of his own. He's been targeted by school bullies, and the abuse he has to face daily is distressing. My heart went out to him. There's no rhyme or reason for him being targeted, and he knows that at some point, another poor soul will take his place. At the forefront of his mind is simply surviving each day so that his parents don't find out; he doesn't want to add to his mother's burden or draw the wrath of his domineering father.

There are people watching out for Peggy and Samson, trying in their own small way to offer help and support. Unfortunately, Drew is well aware of this and always seems to be one step ahead. You begin to realise that he will go to any length to prevent his from wife leaving. Everything builds to a climactic ending, one in which you are filled with terror, wondering who will be the victor.

Adrift by Will Dean will be published on 19th February 2026 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a review copy.

Author Details

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands and had lived in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying Law at the LSE and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a house in a boggy clearing at the centre of a vast elk forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. His debut novel in the Tuva Moodyson series, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s Book Club, shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize and named a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year. Red Snow was published in January 2019 and won Best Independent Voice at the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards, 2019. Black River was shortlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Award in 2021. Will also writes standalone thrillers: The Last Thing to Burn, First Born, the top twenty hardback bestseller The Last Passenger and One at a Time.

A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford

 

Twelve-year-old Janey struggles to come to terms with stumbling across the mutilated body of a young woman. With the police unable to find the murderer, it's up to her grandmother, Maggie, to keep Janey safe among the tenements of 1970s Glasgow.

As soon as you start reading A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford, you are drawn into the world of Janey Devine and her grandmother, Maggie. The author has given both characters such clear and distinctive voices that you almost feel as if you are a fly on the wall. Alongside such well-rounded characters, the author has also painted a vivid picture of the Glasgow tenements in 1979. As I read, I found it easy to imagine the day-to-day living, the scramble to make ends meet and the culture of the time. 

Janey is a typical pre-teen; happy to spend time outside away from prying adults, cheeky, apprehensive about her move to "big school", and devoted to her grandmother. When she finds a dead body as she's walking her dog, Sid Vicious (brilliant name for a dog), her life grinds to a halt. Not only is she traumatised by what she's seen, but she's also hiding a secret. Looking at this scenario with a modern eye, it's obvious that Janey has PTSD. Unfortunately, in 1970s Glasgow she just needs to pull herself together and get on with it.

Protecting Janey is her grandmother. Maggie has her own issues; she's still finding it difficult to come to terms with the tragic death of her daughter's family, a tragedy that left Janey in her care. Once again, a sign of the times means that she is simply expected to get on with things. Money is a major issue; there's never quite enough to see the week out or to put aside for treats. The offer of a better job puts Maggie in a difficult position; more money is welcome, however, it will put her and Janey directly in contact with a local crime lord, someone who has a vested interest in finding the murderer.

There is a very strong sense of community; everyone living in Possilpark is managing day-to-day, but they look out for each other. Neighbours watch each other's children, and occasionally feed and clothe them. The thought that one of them could possibly be the murderer makes Janey far less trusting than she normally would be, and makes Maggie feel guilty about leaving her granddaughter alone.

As I read, there were times when I had fond memories of a simpler childhood, one without the inherent dangers around today, where children played outside, and the street lights coming on were the sign to go home. The book is a stark reminder not to think of those days as being idyllic. We are reminded of the lax ways in which the police carried out their investigations and how domestic abuse was known about but ignored.

Janey's secret weighs heavily on her mind. I wanted to scoop her up and protect her. The problem, however, is that I didn't know who I wanted to protect her from. The author has managed to skillfully sew distrust around a number of possible characters that you are never sure who the murderer is until the final reveal.

A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford will be published on 12th February 2026 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for a review copy.

Author Details

As a passionate advocate of lifelong learning, Frances was delighted to graduate age 60 with MLitt (Distinction) Creative Writing from Glasgow University. In 2023, she won Bloody Scotland/ Glencairn Crime Short Story Competition and the first chapters of her debut novel, A Bad, Bad Place, won Highly Commended in Moniack Mohr Emerging Writer 2024.

Frances grew up in North Glasgow, and credits the people of Possilpark and Milton as her writing inspiration. She still lives in Glasgow with her family, and likes libraries and punk rock.

All The Colours Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker

 

The abduction of a young boy from a small southern town results in a lifelong obsession when he suddenly returns. The boy is determined to find his fellow captive, a girl who helped him survive the ordeal, while his best friend is hellbent on finding his captor.

You would have had to be living in a cave not to have seen all the praise heaped on  All The Colours Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker since it was first published in the summer of 2024. I've no idea why this has sat on my TBR pile for so long, possibly the length, more likely my recurring fear that it might be a bit too "literary" and require lots of concentration to read. As usual, with books like this, I decided it would be an ideal holiday read. I'm kicking myself that I worried about either; yes, there are almost 600 pages, but those are split into 261 chapters, and the writing draws you in.

The story covers a span of twenty-six years, opening in 1975 and introducing us to twelve-year-old Joseph 'Patch' Macauley and his best friend, Saint Brown. Both are considered outsiders in the small town of Monta Clare. Saint is being raised by her grandmother, Norma. Her intelligence and interests set her apart from other girls her age, and her friendship with Patch is looked at with distaste. Patch is also being raised in a household with a lone adult. Money is tight as his mother struggles with her mental health, leading to her regularly losing her job. The bigger problem, however, is that Patch was born with only one eye. As a result, he wears an eye-patch, hence the nickname.

As the story opens, I felt as if I was reading something akin to a boy's own adventure story, particularly when Patch stumbles across a school friend being assaulted in the woods. Leaping to her defense, Patch ends up being abducted. His abductor keeps him in a small, dark room. Occasionally, another abductee, Grace, spends time in the room. It is Grace's presence that gives Patch the willpower to survive, as she describes in vivid detail places she's visited and things she's done. 

When Patch finally manages to escape, he vows to find Grace, a vow that consumes his life for the next twenty-five years. At the same time, Saint is determined to find and bring to justice the man who abducted Patch. Throughout the time he was held captive, she never gave up hope of his safe return, even putting her own life in danger to uncover the truth.

You are drawn into the lives of Patch and Saint as they both search for something elusive. Although the friendship between the pair remains strong, it's obvious that Saint is in love with Patch, but Patch is oblivious to this as he is obsessed with finding Grace. While you are willing them both to be successful in their quest, you also want them to realise that what they really need is each other.

The supporting characters are wonderful. The writing is so descriptive that they are easy to visualise.  Sammy, in particular, is an amazing character; his support of Patch is unflinching. Sammy is neither a father figure nor a role model, which is what makes him such an enigmatic character. 

I felt that a span of twenty-six years meant that the story meandered a little, but I was so engrossed by the lives of Patch, Saint, and the other characters, that I kept turning the pages, desperate to see if questions would finally be answered.

I also need to take a moment to mention the cover artwork. While the cover of the hardback (set against a white background) is beautiful, the black background on the paperback is stunning. As you read the story of Patch's incarceration it really makes you appreciate what you can see.

Author Details

Chris Whitaker is the author of the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling All The Colours Of The Dark. His other acclaimed and bestselling novels include We Begin At The End, Tall Oaks, and All The Wicked Girls. Chris’s novels have been translated into thirty languages and have won the CWA Gold Dagger, the CWA John Creasey Dagger, the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, the Ned Kelly International Award, and numerous awards around the world. His books have also been selected for the Read With Jenna Book Club, Waterstones Thriller of the Month, Barnes & Noble Book Club, Good Morning America Book Club, and for BBC2’s Between The Covers. All The Colours Of The Dark is currently in development with Universal Pictures. Chris was born in London and lives in the UK.