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.

January 2026 Reads

 

Happy 2026! The start of a new year is always filled with promise, but what a pity the weather doesn’t support that feeling. I was fortunate to have a week booked for some winter sunshine, fully intending to spend the week reading. Unfortunately, I caught a terrible bug and spent half the holiday (and the subsequent five days) feeling very under the weather. As a result, I didn’t manage quite as much reading as I’d hoped.

My first read of the month was for my book group, Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce. Alison is a barrister whose personal life is spiralling out of control. Alison is finding the cycle of self-destruction difficult to break, resulting in her husband leaving her. The storyline is dark and disturbing, with a shocking ending.

I loved Nightwatching, the debut novel of Tracy Sierra, so I was really happy to get a review copy of Warning Signs. Young Zach finds himself stranded in the snowy Colorado mountains with his father and some of his business associates. Danger lurks, but is it from the unpredictable terrain, a mysterious creature, or something closer to home? From the ominous opening through to the nail-biting conclusion, you are on the edge-of-your-seat.

I took part in the Readalong of Behind Her Smile by Caroline England. The opening chapters hint at lots of possible directions the story could take: a new romance, a psychological thriller, a possible stalker, an organised crime thriller, or a horror story. Once the different threads began to coalesce, I began to take an interest in what was happening to the characters, particularly the love interest, Finn.

My second Readalong of the month was Sleep No More by Guy Hale. This is the concluding book in the Shakespeare Murders series. Set in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1972, Oliver Lawrence is on a murder spree to avenge the death of his father and his own failed career. As the police net slowly tightens, Lawrence becomes more extreme. You begin to wonder who his next target will be.

I’ve put off reading All The Colours Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker for so long. My recent holiday seemed the perfect time to dive in. This starts off with the abduction of a young boy from a small southern US town. Rather than a standard crime thriller, this becomes a tale of devotion and obsession as the young boy and his friend spend twenty-five years searching for answers. The boy wants to find the girl who was held captive with him, while his friend wants to bring the captor to justice. It is difficult not to become engrossed in the lives of everyone concerned.

In A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford, we meet twelve-year-old Janey and her Grandmother, Maggie, who live among the tenements of Glasgow in the 1970s. Janey stumbles across the mutilated body of a murder victim. As Janey struggles to come to terms with what she has seen, Maggie treads a fine line between keeping her granddaughter safe and appeasing a local crime lord. Filled with distinctive characters and a sense of community despite the obvious deprivation.

The tagline on the cover of Adrift by Will Dean reads “Three of them aboard. Mother, son, and wickedness,” describes the book perfectly. Husband and wife Drew and Peggy, along with their son, Samson, are reduced to living on a narrowboat. Both Peggy and Samson spend most of their time tiptoeing around Drew, doing everything in their power to placate him. Peggy simply wants to protect her son, who has problems of his own he hasn’t told his parents about, but she begins to lose her grip on reality. Drew is one of the most loathsome characters I’ve come across in a while.

I approached Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward with a little trepidation. The book is classified as horror, and I’m a complete wimp. Fourteen-year-old Riley and her young brother, Oliver, escape an abusive situation and find themselves at Nowhere. The property, which used to belong to a film star who died in a fire, is now populated by children who will do anything to protect their way of life. Intertwined with narrative from other characters, this is more suspenseful than horror, giving a vague sense of unease the more you read.

The only audiobook I managed to get through this month was The Mudlarkers’ Club by Jane Riley. A gentle and uplifting tale about a woman who turns to her unusual hobby of mudlarking to distract her from the end of her marriage. Along the way, she makes new friends and together they support each other through their personal problems.

Publication dates to watch out for:-

Warning Signs by Tracy Sierra will be published 12/2/26 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The Mudlarkers’ Club by Jane Riley will be published 12/2/26 in paperback, ebook and audio format.

A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford will be published 12/2/26 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

Adrift by Will Dean will be published 19/2/26 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward will be published 19/2/26 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The Mudlarkers' Club by Jane Riley (Audiobook)

 

Gemma is completely blindsided when her husband tells her that their marriage is over. To take her mind off things, she throws herself into her hobby of mudlarking and makes some new and supportive friends along the way.

In the depths of winter, the bright and cheerful cover, along with the hint at an uplifting story, meant that The Mudlarkers' Club by Jane Riley really appealed to me. As I listened along to the excellent narration from Lucy Hilton-Jones, I found pure escapism as I was sucked into the fascinating world of mudlarking and the lives of the people Gemma met.

Being a big fan of thrillers, I was aware of the existence of mudlarkers; most crime readers will have read a book that featured a mudlarker uncovering a body, or a body part, as they scour the banks of the Thames. It was fascinating to see the enjoyable side of this hobby.

Very little time is spent on Gemma's disastrous relationship at the beginning of the story. This means we quickly meet the other members of The Mudlarkers' Club. The author has ensured the club members are from a variety of backgrounds, with a wide spread of ages. Each one of them has a personal issue they are struggling with. This complete spread gives readers/listeners something we can all probably identify with, even if it's just to appreciate how lucky we are. The mix of secretiveness brought on by shame, a reluctance to ask for help, or just sheer pigheadedness really helped me to understand why some people struggle with problems and end up in a downward spiral.

As the club members get to know each other, they are able to open up and share their troubles. There's a complete lack of judgment, and, as you would expect, the adage "A trouble shared is a trouble halved" is used to great effect.

Alongside the interpersonal relationships, we also learn some riveting information about mudlarking. From the thrill of the find, right through to the disappointment of discovering that the "treasure" uncovered is worthless modern junk. I did enjoy the section that poses the question about what future generations will think as they uncover our discarded trash.

This isn't one of those books that grips you from the start and has an earth-shattering conclusion. It slowly draws you into the lives of the group of friends, filling you with hope, in a genuinely heart-warming tale.

The Mudlarkers' Club by Jane Riley will be published on 12th February 2026 in paperback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and HQ for a review copy.

Warning Signs by Tracy Sierra

 

Zach and his father, Bram, are taking part in a father-son weekend in the snowy Colorado mountains. Bram is keen to impress the business associates he's invited along and has little regard for the dangers that are constantly lurking in such hostile territory. Zach, however, is well aware of how unpredictable everything can be.

I loved Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra, so didn't hesitate at the chance to read her latest novel, Warning Signs. Dare I say that this is even better than Nightwatching? From the ominous opening, through to the nail-biting conclusion, you are on the edge of your seat as the pace never lets up.

The story opens with Zach, his younger sister, Bonnie, and his mother, Grace, skiing to a mountain retreat. Grace has lots of experience in the mountains, she used to be a member of the Mountain Rescue team and is keen to pass her knowledge on to her children. Grace refuses to take shortcuts; she's respectful of the power and danger the landscape possesses and is determined that her children will be the same.

We then move quickly to a year later, this time around Zach is with his father. The contrast between mother and father is extreme. Bram is only interested in money and power; not only is he an expert at manipulating people, but he's also a bully and wouldn't hesitate to take shortcuts if he felt it would benefit him. This immediately leads you to wonder why Zach is alongside him on the trip, and where Grace is.

As the pair traverse the countryside, you get a sense of the danger hidden within the breath-takingly beautiful scenery. There's also an eerie feeling, like the scene setting of a horror movie, with lots of little hints about what could follow. The landscape itself is a character within its own right; stunning and enticing, with a fickle nature, ready to turn on you at any moment. 

Zach is a brilliant character, one of those you want to protect. He's empathetic, intelligent and intuitive, unfortunately, he's also terrified of Bram. We slowly learn his backstory and want to leap to his defense whenever he has to interact with his father. It takes a while for him to find his voice, and when he does, you feel like cheering.

This really is an adrenaline-fuelled read, as we witness the true nature of many of the characters and the story metamorphoses into something entirely different from what I was expecting. My heart was racing as Zach frantically raced towards safety and was thwarted at every turn. The conclusion is one of those where you hold your breath, hoping for the best but fully anticipating the worst.

Warning Signs by Tracy Sierra will be published on 12th February 2026 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Viking for a review copy.

Author Details

Sierra was born and raised in the Colorado mountains. She lives in New England and is the author of two novels, Nightwatching and Warning Signs. When not writing, she spends time with her husband and two children.

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

 

Alison's professional life as a barrister is going well; unfortunately, her personal life is the complete opposite. Her marriage is on the rocks, and she's having an affair with a solicitor she regularly works with. Alison is determined to end the affair and get her marriage back on track, but things begin to spiral out of control when she's handed her first murder case.

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce was my book group's read for December. It was a book that I already had on my TBR pile, so I was looking forward to reading it. The novel isn't an easy read because of the content. None of the characters are likeable, and Alison's behaviour is extremely questionable. For me, this behaviour was the biggest stumbling block that kept me from loving the book. Alison is a highly intelligent woman, yet she's willing to risk her marriage and degrade herself for sex with a man who isn't interested in a relationship. Alcohol plays a big part in many of Alison's poor choices. It is clear that she's in a profession where networking over drinks at the end of the day is important. In a male-dominated profession, she needs to make every effort to keep up with those around her.

The murder case is a fascinating thread. Wealthy Madeleine Smith is accused of the brutal murder of her husband. Alison is keen for her first murder case to go well, however, Madeleine simply wants to plead guilty and get things over and done with. I immediately began to wonder why so was so quick to admit her guilt. Despite Madeline's admission, Alison needs to carry out her due diligence. She's convinced that something is "off". As she digs into Madeleine's home life, we begin to see parallels between the two women.

Shocks and twists galore kept me turning the pages, making me wonder if my assumptions were correct. I certainly didn't foresee the surprising conclusion of the story. 

Author Details

Harriet Tyce was born and grew up in Edinburgh. She graduated from Oxford in 1994 with a degree in English Literature before gaining legal qualifications. She worked as a criminal barrister for ten years, leaving after having children. She completed an MA in Creative Writing – Crime Fiction at UEA where she wrote Blood Orange, the Sunday Times bestselling novel, winner of a gold Nielsen Bestseller Award in 2021. It was followed by The Lies You Told and It Ends At Midnight, both also Sunday Times bestsellers. A Lesson in Cruelty was published in 2022 and met with great critical acclaim and her fifth novel Witch Trial will be published on 26 February 2026. She is a contestant on series 4 of The Traitors.

So, I Met This Guy... by Alexandra Potter

 

Journalist Flick Lomax is on the hunt for a story about romance scams and hopes to persuade Maggie Fletcher, a victim of one such scam, to tell her story. The pair bond as they chase the perpetrator of the fraud around Europe.

I'm always on the lookout for light-hearted reads to give me a break from all the murder and mystery I usually read. When I started So, I Met This Guy... by  Alexandra Potter, I was expecting something quite frivolous. This book is anything but frivolous. Yes, the tone is light, and there's a little bit of romance and plenty of hair-brained moments, but the underlying story is quite a serious one. 

Having seen plenty of news articles about romance fraud, you wonder how people fall for such trickery, and then dismiss the story. The author has used the book to show the scheming way in which con men worm their way into people's lives and affections, making it easy to understand how an individual can easily fall under their spell. What the novel also does is show the aftereffects. Maggie is left destitute, having lost her business, home and life savings. In an effort to avoid the knowing looks and judgement of friends and neighbours, she uproots herself and moves miles away from everyone she knows.

The tone is lightened by a madcap chase around Europe and some beautiful descriptions of locations Flick and Maggie visit. Added to this is a wealthy American woman, Birdy, whom they meet on their journey. Birdy is a fantastic character, I'm pretty sure the author could write a whole novel featuring her alone.

Things aren't easy, as they always seem to be just a little bit too late to catch the con-man, which all adds to the rising tension. By the conclusion, lots of different storylines converge, leading to an extremely satisfying ending for everyone involved.

So, I Met this Guy... by Alexandra Potter will be published on 29th January 2026 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for a review copy.

Author Details

Alexandra Potter is the bestselling author of numerous romantic comedy fiction novels in the UK, including One Good Thing and Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up, one of the bestselling books of 2022 and 2023 and the basis of a major TV series. These titles have sold in twenty-eight territories and achieved worldwide sales of more than one million copies, making the bestseller charts across the world.

Yorkshire born and raised, Alexandra lived for several years in LA before settling in London with her Californian husband and their Bosnian rescue dog. When she’s not writing or travelling, she’s getting out into nature, trying not to look at her phone and navigating this thing called mid-life.