Ghost Notes by Doug Johnstone

 

Private investigators, the Skelfs, have their hands full trying to uncover a blackmailer, investigating a company using AI to support the grieving, and dealing with an unwelcome face from the past, all while trying to run their funeral business.

Ghost Notes by Doug Johnstone is book 7 in the Skelfs series. The series features a family of women who combine the running of their funeral home while also being private investigators. There's matriarch Dorothy, her daughter, Jenny, and her granddaughter, Hannah. The book works as a standalone novel, but, as with any great series, reading the previous books will give you greater insight into the characters.

Their role as private investigators is what drives the story. Sometimes, the investigation seeks out the women, other times it is triggered by something that happens in their daily lives. This time around it's a complete mixture of the two. Jenny is approached by a woman she went to school with who is now a successful businesswoman and is being blackmailed because she is having an affair. With Hannah, her wife's ex-husband resurfaces seeking help. The only problem is that she didn't know her wife had been married previously, and she now refuses to talk about it. Both women deal with a crisis of confidence, comparing themselves to others, and questioning their own value. It is unsettling to see two emotionally strong and highly intelligent women doubting themselves.

I felt Dorothy's story was the strongest, and really made me think about the way in which our society is heading. A company has used AI to produce a bot that allows people who are grieving to communicate with the person who has died. We are given a glimpse of how this unregulated industry can affect different people. We know that people deal with grief differently, and the same is shown in their interactions with the 'grief bots'. It was frightening to consider the extremes that could develop from these interactions.

Running alongside the investigations is the funeral business. I love the way that the novels inform us of the ways in which the business of death is constantly developing. Burial and cremation are no longer the only options, we are given a fascinating insight into modern methods. Throughout everything is a strong sense of community, of belonging, even if you die alone.

Author Details

Doug Johnstone is the author of Fourteen novels, includingThe Great Silence, the third in the Skelfs series, which has been optioned for  In 2021, The Big Chill, the second in the series, was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. In 2020, A Dark Matter, the first in the series, was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year and the Capital Crime Amazon Publishing Independent Voice Book of the Year award. Black Hearts (Book four), was published in 2022, with The Opposite of Lonely (book five) out in 2023. Several of his books have been bestsellers and award winners, and his first science fiction novel, The Space Between Us, was a BBC2 Between the Covers pick. He’s taught creative writing, been writer in residence at various institutions, and has been an arts journalist for twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers. He lives in Edinburgh.

No Good Reason by Hannah Brennan

 

Detective Liz Field is called to the aftermath of a fatal incident. Why would a young woman plough her car into a group of people at a bus stand outside a hospital? Not only is the incident difficult to understand, but it also has shocking repercussions for the team.

No Good Reason by Hannah Brennan is the third book in the Detective Liz Field series. You can find my reviews for the previous two books here on my blog. No Good Reason can easily be read as a standalone novel, but the previous two novels will give you greater insight into the characters and the dynamics between them.

The shocking opening immediately made me think about recent terror attacks in which vehicles were used as weapons. No doubt these news stories were the germ of the idea for the plot of this novel, but Hannah Brennan proves how easy it is for us to make false assumptions, particularly when fuelled by the frenzy of social media. In this case, the driver is as far removed from our idea of a terrorist as it is possible to be.

Courtney Baker, the driver, has had a troubled past, something which has seriously affected her health, but she now seems to have everything to live for. As Field interrogates her friends and colleagues, she begins to uncover a web of secrets. The problem is that none of the secrets seem to be big enough to murder someone to prevent them being revealed. All the characters come across as personable, which adds to the mystery of a possible motive. The shocking conclusion left me reeling. Not only does the narrative make you think about how vulnerable we are as we go about our daily lives, but it is also impossible to know what other people are thinking or planning. 

No Good Reason by Hannah Brennan will be published on 19th November 2026 in paperback and ebook format. My thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for a review copy.

Author Details

Hannah Brennan lives in South East London, where she was born and raised.

She studied English Literature at Durham University – alongside British Sign Language, which she uses in her role as a trustee for the Royal Association for Deaf People. After returning from the North East, Hannah has turned her love of pubs into a career, working in marketing and technology for many fantastic British hospitality brands.

Hannah is a fanatic book-collector, with a passion for crime fiction and television. She is also one of the organisers of Greenwich Writers, a South-East London writing group.

Hannah developed OCD as a teenager, and hopes that her debut novel, No Safe Place, may give readers a fresh insight into a frequently misunderstood and misrepresented condition.

The Whisper Man by Alex North

 

Writer Tom Kennedy hopes that the move to a new house will help his young son Jake overcome the trauma of finding his mother's body at home. When a young boy goes missing near their new home, locals immediately think about The Whisper Man, a serial killer who abducted children. However, the killer has been behind bars for twenty years.

The Whisper Man by Alex North is another of those books that has been sitting on my TBR for quite a while. Once again, it's the advent of a film being released that has pushed it to the top of the pile.

This is one of those books that absorbs you completely, I simply couldn't put it down. The opening pages, in which a young child is abducted, immediately set the scene. The sense of being watched and followed by someone unknown makes your skin crawl. As the story then cuts to Tom Kennedy and his son, the sense of creepiness continues and never lets up for the remainder of the novel.

Moving to a new home was meant to be a fresh start for Tom and Jake. The reason behind the move is slowly revealed and adds an emotional element to the storyline. What Tom doesn't realise is that the home he has chosen has connections to a notorious serial killer. These connections put the life of Jake in danger; there is one scene in particular that had me wondering if I could read on.

The big question is who is committing the crimes since the original killer was caught? For one of the detectives, Pete Willis, it's a case that he's never been able to forget. It is easy to empathise with Willis, a man who has lost his wife and now devotes everything to the job. He's never been able to find closure as one of the Whisper Man's victims has never been found. 

There is an almighty twist that I really didn't see coming, and it worked well in posing questions about memories and imagination, particularly in childhood. The identity of the antagonist wasn't as much of a surprise. However, the conclusion was one of those that has you holding your breath, wondering who is going to survive the nightmare situation.

Author Details

Alex North was born in Leeds, England, where he now lives with his wife and son. The Whisper Man was inspired by North's own little boy, who mentioned one day that he was playing with "the boy in the floor." Alex North is a British crime writer who has previously published under another name.

Chain Reaction by Lee Child and Andrew Child (Audiobook)

 

A face from Reacher's past tracks him down. General Susan Turner is in charge of the army's new investigation unit. One of her team has been murdered under unusual circumstances. Not knowing who she can trust, she needs someone outside the army to help her investigate.

Having just finished the disappointing Exit Strategy by Lee Child and Andrew Child, I was pleased to receive a review copy of the audiobook Chain Reaction, book 31 in the Jack Reacher series. After being underwhelmed by book 30, I obviously approached this one with a little trepidation. I needn't have worried, as it was immensely better, one of the better Reacher books of recent years. This is the first Reacher book I've listened to, and while I enjoyed this version, the narrator didn't work for me, but that is personal preference. Maybe I expected Reacher to sound like Alan Ritchson.

From the very opening, the story will appeal to long-term fans of the series. For anyone new to the series, it gives a quick introduction to Jack Reacher; a wanderer who goes where he wants, when he wants, and has no social media or cell phone. The problem is how do you track down someone with no fixed address? 

The narrative is pacey, avoiding the overly descriptive prose that really didn't work well in the previous book. There are lots of villains for Reacher to deal with, and the vast majority of them are dispatched swiftly, in the Reacher-style we are familiar with. Reacher uses his insight into human nature, honed through his years as an army MP, and his situational awareness, to great effect. At one point, Reacher is aided by one of the best characters that has cropped up in the books, an elderly Chinese acupuncturist. Her observational skills give Reacher a run for his money.

We have a clear picture early on of whom the villains are, but what is difficult to figure out is what they are trying to hide. As the conclusion approached and everything fell into place, the nefarious reason behind the deaths of so many people became glaringly obvious.

Chain Reaction by Lee Child and Andrew Child will be published on 20th October 2026 in hardback, ebook, and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for a review copy.

Author Details

Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. He was born in Coventry, raised in Birmingham, and now lives in New York. It is said one of his novels featuring his hero Jack Reacher is sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds. His books consistently achieve the number-one slot on bestseller lists around the world and have sold over one hundred million copies. Two blockbusting Jack Reacher movies have been made so far. He is the recipient of many awards, most recently Author of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Andrew Child is a British thriller novelist. Under the name Andrew Grant, he is the author of nine acclaimed thrillers. Since 2020, he has collaborated with his brother, Lee Child, continuing the legacy of one of the world’s most iconic thriller heroes. He lives on a wildlife preserve in Wyoming with his wife, the novelist Tasha Alexander.

Exit Strategy by Lee Child and Andrew Child

 

A case of mistaken identity sees Jack Reacher approached by a man who wants to disappear because his life is in danger. Reacher is never one to take the easy way out, so he offers to help the man uncover who is threatening him.

I'm a die-hard Reacher fan, having stumbled across the series when the second book was published. One of my annual treats was always the purchase of a new Reacher novel as soon as it was published (I remember when that used to be round about Easter, now it's October). Of late, however, I've found my enthusiasm waning, to the extent that I've only just got around to reading Exit Strategy, which was originally published in October 2025. With the thirty-first book in the series about to be published, I figured I should get caught up.

With thirty full-length novels spanning almost thirty years, some work better than others, with the earliest books in the series being the most memorable. Unfortunately, Exit Strategy is one of the weakest. 

The storyline is very disjointed. The main storyline, antagonist, and location all provided an interesting plot, but were not strong enough to carry a full-length novel. Overly descriptive information about buildings and storage areas seemed to be used to pad out the narrative. One of the things I love about Reacher is that he regularly gives his opponents the chance to walk away, although we secretly love that they don't, leading to some fast and bone-crunching takedowns. This time around, the violence seems to have been ramped up a notch, and at times, this made for uncomfortable reading.

The final showdown was over far too quickly. I really did expect the underground areas to be used far more extensively after we were told so much about them. If this had been my first Jack Reacher novel, I doubt I'd pick up another. Thankfully, I'm just going to treat it as a blip.

Author Deatils

Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. He was born in Coventry, raised in Birmingham, and now lives in New York. It is said one of his novels featuring his hero Jack Reacher is sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds. His books consistently achieve the number-one slot on bestseller lists around the world and have sold over one hundred million copies. Two blockbusting Jack Reacher movies have been made so far. He is the recipient of many awards, most recently Author of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Andrew Child is a British thriller novelist. Under the name Andrew Grant, he is the author of nine acclaimed thrillers. Since 2020, he has collaborated with his brother, Lee Child, continuing the legacy of one of the world’s most iconic thriller heroes. He lives on a wildlife preserve in Wyoming with his wife, the novelist Tasha Alexander.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

 

Tova Sullivan cleans at the local aquarium. She enjoys the solitude of the late night work. One night, she discovers that Marcellus, the aquarium octopus, has escaped its tank. Helping Marcellus return to his tank begins a strange connection between the pair.

Remarkable Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt has been on my TBR pile for what feels like forever. Every time I see wonderful praise for the novel, I feel guilty that it is still lingering, waiting to be read. With so many books to read, one about an octopus just didn't grab my attention; and then a film was released. Like any book lover, I was determined to read the book first, and I'm so glad I did. No disrespect to a lovely, feel good film, but the book offered so much more.

Marcellus opens the narrative, telling us all about his life at the aquarium, a life which is quickly dwindling. A boring diet and lack of stimulation sees Marcellus escaping his tank on a regular basis. Tova finds him during one of his escapes, and this begins their strange friendship. Both characters are isolated. Marcellus was captured, while Tova chose to cut herself off from the small community she lives in. Tova has never really recovered from the disappearance of her teenage son thirty years ago. His body has never been found and most of the community assume he took his own life.

A stranger arrives in town looking for his father is the catalyst for the story. Cameron lacks purpose in life, he can't hold down a job, his relationship has just ended, and if it wasn't for his aunt and friends he'd be homeless. A little bit of detective work has him convinced that a property developer in the Pacific Northwest is his father, which sees him ending up at Sowell Bay, the hometown of Tova.

Initially, Cameron isn't a particularly likeable character, he acts as if the world owes him a living. Luckily, some of the residents see something in him and offer him support. When Cameron starts working at the aquarium, an unlikely friendship forms between him and Tova. Marcellus is a keen observer of the pair, spotting something they haven't.

The story offers so much; accepting the love and support of friends, avoiding isolating yourself, trusting people, avoiding being judgemental, being willing to try new things, and most of all, living. Life should be filled with joy and laughter. Don't hide yourself away, counting down the clock. As the ending approached, I found myself filled with emotion, worried that everyone concerned was throwing away the opportunities being offered them. I will admit to wiping away a tear or two at the conclusion.

Author Details

When Shelby Van Pelt isn’t feeding her flash-fiction addiction, she’s juggling cats while wrangling children. Her debut novel, REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES, will be published by HarperCollins in May 2022. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she’s currently missing the mountains in the suburbs of Chicago.

The One by John Marrs

 

Scientists have discovered a gene exists that links you to one other person, your perfect partner, THE ONE!

The One by John Marrs has sat on my TBR pile for quite a while. Having read one previous book by this author, I was expecting a 'normal' thriller, not this Black Mirror-esque story. I love dystopian fiction that is subtle, that changes society so slightly that it's hard to distinguish between fiction and reality. The One fits the bill perfectly.

A simple DNA analysis can identify your ideal partner, the only person in the world that matches your profile perfectly. The story follows five people who have taken the plunge and had their DNA analysed.

• Mandy is a 37-year-old divorcee who has been matched with Richard. The only problem is that Richard is dead.
• Jade is living back at home after completing her degree and hates her dead-end job. She's been matched with Kevin, who lives on the other side of the world - and seems to be hiding something.
• Nick is in a stable relationship, just months away from marrying his girlfriend, when he's matched with Alexander. Nick is adamant that he's not interested in a same-sex relationship.
• Christopher has been matched with Amy. You can't imagine how two complete opposites could be paired. Amy is a police officer and Christopher is a serial killer.
• Ellie, a wealthy businesswoman, has been matched with Timothy. Ellie's life revolves around the business she created. She doesn't have time for a relationship, but Timothy's gentle and funny personality breaks down the walls she has built around herself.

I loved following each relationship. Having five very different threads kept the pace flowing, with the inevitable cliffhangers keeping you turning the pages. The story raises so many moral dilemmas, it is impossible not to feel sympathy for many of the characters. Some of the 'thriller' elements seemed obvious, but the author threw in twist after twist to keep the suspense going.

As secrets are revealed, there were a mixture of emotions. At times, I felt relief, at others there was a wave of sadness. There was also an unsettled feeling at the way in which some of the threads were concluded. I'm certainly going to check out the next book in the series very soon.

Author Details

John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in London and Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. His books include No1 bestseller and Netflix series The One, The Passengers, award winning What Lies Between Us and The Good Samaritan.