My Review (4 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) This collection of nine short stories is inspired by the author’s experience of living in Thames Valley towns, mixing modern-day themes with tales and legends from the area between London and the heart of rural England. As with all short story collections, there are those which stand…
Category: Historical
‘The Way of All Flesh’ by Ambrose Parry
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Edinburgh, 1847. Medical student Will Raven begins an apprenticeship to the renowned Dr Simpson where he meets housemaid Sarah Fisher – who also has an interest in medicine. Though the two initially don’t hit it off, they share a concern about a series of gruesome deaths in the…
‘Divided Empire’ by Brian Kitchen
My Review (4 stars out of 5) Britain, 391 AD. While the powers-that-be in Rome vie for control of the empire, Flavius Vitulasius and his pal, Siward, are engaged on a confidential mission – an important document, the ‘Pagan Concord’, could rip Britain apart leading to civil war between the Christians and Pagans. Teaming up…
‘King of Kings’ by MJ Porter
My Review (4 stars out of 5) Following his father’s death, King Athelstan rules over the English, unifying the territories of Wessex, Mercia and York. But uniting the Scots and Welsh to ensure peace and protect against invasion from the Norse Vikings, isn’t so easy. Set against him, is his own stepbrother, Edwin, who believes…
‘The Haunting of Borley Rectory’ by Sean O’Connor
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Moving into Borley Rectory in 1928, Eric and Mabel Smith discovered a human skull in a cupboard. Subsequent events suggested the house might be haunted. Within a year, the family had moved out. Reverend Lionel Foyster and his young wife then moved in and became aware of what…
‘This Fearful Thing’ by LM West
My Review (5 stars out of 5) 1645, Suffolk. After fleeing her childhood tormentor, Ann moves to Southwold where years later she marries and has children. Content with her life, she believes the past is behind her. But when a familiar face returns to torment her, Ann finds herself accused of witchcraft. With women in…
‘The Poisonous Solicitor’ by Stephen Bates
My Review (5 stars out of 5) In 1922, solicitor Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong was tried and found guilty of killing his wife by poisoning her with arsenic. Hanged for her murder, the case caused a scandal not only in Hay-on-Wye where he lived but across the whole country. My first introduction to this story…
‘A Rising Man’ by Abir Mukherjee
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Calcutta, 1919. After the horrors of war and the death of his wife, Captain Sam Wyndham is keen to make a new start. Joining Calcutta’s police force seems like the perfect solution, as it offers a location and position that couldn’t be more different from his recent experiences.…
‘Bad Side of a Wicked Moon’ by Caleb Pirtle
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Finding oil in East Texas brings strangers into the town of Ashland, and Eudora Durant and her new lover Doc know very well that strangers sometimes mean trouble. When a hearse turns up in the town one morning, it drops off an unexpected cargo. Meanwhile, the local sheriff…
‘Before the Fall’ by Orna Ross
My Review (5 stars out of 5) In 1995, pregnant Jo Devereux is still living in Ireland. Caught between her relationship with former lover Rory and the desire to return home to San Francisco, Jo battles with the past and its possible impact on her future, as she unravels her family’s possible involvement in the…
Colin Garrow 