A Maid on Fifth Avenue by Sinéad Crowley BLOG TOUR #AMaidonFifthAvenue @sineadcrowley.bsky.social @AriaFiction @RandomTTours @annerandomthings.bsky.social

 

In 1924, Annie, dreaming of a new life, leaves her home in Ballydrynawn, West Kerry, and boards a ship bound for New York. With Irish maids in demand, she soon finds work with the wealthy Cavendish family in their opulent Fifth Avenue mansion. Only Annie knows the secrets she left behind though and when her friendship with an Italian waitress named Elena deepens into something more passionate and dangerous for them both, Annie's past rises up to haunt her. Will be she be forced to flee again?

Now, Emer arrives at her family's holiday home in Ballydrynawn. Burnt out and desperate for more, Emer has run away from her new life in LA. But even as the village begins to work its healing magic, the past refuses to stay silent.

As Annie and Emer's past and future begin to intertwine in the shadows of the village's magical Fairy Tree, long buried secrets will be revealed.

A Maid on Fifth Avenue by Sinéad Crowley was published in paperback on 24 April 2025 by Aria. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour. 

I do love a novel with a dual timeline narrative. It is almost as though you are getting two books in one and in this one the author has expertly crafted the story seamlessly. With two incredibly created female lead characters this is a family drama with an air of mystery running through it. 

In 1924, Annie Thornton sets sail to New York. She has always dreamt of going to America but her mother's illness and her best friend's woes have stopped her in the past. Now it time for Annie and she begins work as a maid to the wealthy Cavendish family in their luxury Fifth Avenue apartment. Crowley really immerses her readers into time and place, and we become aware of the huge differences in the lives of the rich and that of the poor. When Annie meets Elena, her life will change dramatically. 

In the present day, Emer is holed up in the holiday cottage that her family own. She's fled LA and her high powered job. It soon becomes clear that despite the many years between them, there's a link between Annie and Emer. The author develops her story so well, with tension and a little suspense. She introduces characters who are obnoxious, but perfectly created. 

This is a fabulous historical novel filled to the brim with larger than life characters in a setting that is beautifully described. Highly recommended by me. 

Sinéad Crowley is a writer and broadcaster, whose three DS Claire Boyle crime novels were all nominated for the 'Best Crime' category at the Irish Book Awards, with the first two becoming Irish Times bestsellers. 

She is currently Arts and Media Correspondent with RTE News, the Irish national broadcaster.

@sineadcrowley.bsky.social

https://www.instagram.com/sinead.crowley/

Vianne by Joanne Harris #Vianne @joannechocolat.bsky.social @orionbooks.bsky.social @Joannechocolat @orionbooks #Chocolat #BookReview

 

Secrets.

Chocolate.

A touch of magic...

On a warm July evening, Sylviane Rochas scatters her mother's ashes in New York and lets the changing wind blow her to the French seaside town of Marseille.

For the first time in her life, Vianne holds the future in her own hands. Charming her way into a job as a waitress in a local bistrot, she knows that she is not here to stay - when her child is born in a few months, she must be gone.

As she discovers the joy of cooking, making recipes her own with the addition of bittersweet chocolate spices, she realises that it possesses its own magic in this town full of secrets.

Yet Vianne will never forget her mother's warning: that there is danger in revealing the true desires of those around her - and she must flee these cobbled streets before it's too late...

Million-copy bestselling author Joanne Harris returns to the world of Chocolat with the long-awaited story of Vianne, which begins six years before she opens her scandalous chocolaterie in the small French village of Lansquenet.

Vianne by Joanne Harris is published in hardback on 22 May 2025 by Orion. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

The day that my proof copy of Vianne arrived through my letterbox felt like every birthday and Christmas combined. Chocolat and the other books in the series have long been a favourite of mine. I had never imagined that Joanne Harris would come up with a prequel, and that we were about to learn more about Vianne's earlier life. Who she was before Lansquenet and the the chocolaterie, what she did in her earlier life, what made her the woman that we grew to love?

I don't know if Harris always knew about Vianne's early life, or if she's recently created this narrative, but I do know that it is totally and utterly beautiful. It took me all of around 10 minutes to be immersed in Vianne's world again, it was as though she'd never been away. 

We meet Vianne in Marseille, France. Her and her mother had been living in New York, her mother has recently died and this is the first time that Vianne will travel alone. She's not really alone though, as she is pregnant, her child is due in a few months time. 

Stumbling across a small bistro, Vianne eats. Louis, the landlord, offers her a room for a couple of nights and Vianne negotiates a job in the kitchen. It is there, guided by the recipe book written by Louis' late wife that Vianne discovers the joy of cookery and food. She has some fans in the bistro and one noticeable enemy. 

It is meeting Guy and Mahmed that really changes Vianne's life though. These two would-be businessmen who are experts in all things chocolate pass on their knowledge to Vianne, she sprinkles that chocolate magic amongst her new found colleagues and friends. 

We all know how talented this author is and she has excelled herself with Vianne. That trademark blend of magic and food and sumptuously created characters just jump from the pages and the reader is drawn in so deeply. It's very difficult to put this one down. 

Deliciously irresistible, intriguing and magical, this is the perfect prequel for fans of Chocolat, and for Vianne! Highly recommended. 

JOANNE HARRIS is an Anglo-French author, whose books include twenty novels, three cookbooks, and many short stories. 

Her work is extremely diverse, covering aspects of magic realism, suspense, historical fiction, mythology, and fantasy. 

In 2000, her 1999 novel Chocolat was adapted to the screen, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. 

She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, an honorary fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and in 2022 was awarded an OBE by the Queen.

@joannechocolat.bsky.social

www.joanne-harris.co.uk

The Devils Draper by Donna Moore #TheDevilsDraper @badsvillebroad.bsky.social @fly_press @flyonthewallpress.bsky.social #BookReview

 

When whispers of abuse at Arrol's department store reach Mabel, a determined policewoman, she knows she must act. Enlisting the help of Johnnie, a cunning thief, and Beatrice, a savvy businesswoman, they embark on a perilous journey to uncover the truth.

Set against the backdrop of 1920s Glasgow, where women's voices are often silenced, this thrilling tale weaves together crime, justice, and the fight for equality. As the trio inches closer to exposing the scandal, they realize that in a world where women are rarely believed, their very lives may be at stake.

The Devil's Draper by Donna Moore was published on 1 May 2025 by Fly On The Wall Press. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

Back in September 2023 I read and reviewed Donna Moore's The Unpicking and loved it. It went on to be one of my top books of that year. The author says in her notes that she didn't intend to write a sequel to The Unpicking, but she has, and I am so happy that she did. It's another beautifully written story packed to the rafters with superbly crafted, strong female characters. It is an absolute joy to read. 

Whilst this is most certainly a sequel, it is also a strong stand alone novel and readers that are not familiar with the earlier book will not struggle at all. This talented author explains, but doesn't add tedious detail, it's cleverly done. 

It's 1920 and the setting is once again, the great city of Glasgow. Mabel is one of only two policewomen in Glasgow. She is treated as a 'statement taker' by her male boss, yet she's probably far more astute than most of the male officers in the force. There are a couple of male officers that treat her with respect, but on the whole she's treated with contempt and pushed into a corner. 

Mabel becomes aware of rumours of mistreatment of female workers at Arrol's, a local large department store. The owner is a well respected man in the community and getting anyone to believe the word of a lowly shop girl over a business owner is difficult. However, Mabel is determined to get to the bottom of this. 

Enter Johnnie and Beatrice; two new characters. Johnnie is a member of a shop lifting gang and Beatrice runs her own business. Between them, these three women will investigate and expose the truth. 

This is a wonderful piece of historical fiction, it exposes the treatment of women in the 1920s and it is interesting to make comparisons to life now, a hundred years later. The plot flows effortlessly, the characters are beautifully formed and the setting is sublime. Highly recommended by me. 

Donna Moore is the author of crime fiction and historical fiction. 

Her first novel, a Private Eye spoof called Go To Helena Handbasket, won the Lefty Award for most humorous crime fiction novel and her second novel, Old Dogs, was shortlisted for both the Lefty and Last Laugh Awards. 

Her short stories have been published in various anthologies. 

In her day job she works as an adult literacy tutor for marginalised and vulnerable women, facilitates creative writing workshops and has a PhD in creative writing around women’s history and gender-based violence.

www.donnamooreauthor.com

badsvillebroad.bsky.social

Human Remains by Jo Callaghan #HumanRemains @JoCallaghanKat @simonschusterUK #KatandLock #AIDetective #BookReview

 

DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock are back in a cutting-edge new thriller.

The truth will always come out, but at what cost? 

Fresh from successfully closing their first live case, the Future Policing Unit are called in to investigate when a headless, handless body is found on a Warwickshire farm. But as they work to identify the victim and their killer, the discovery of a second body begins to spark fears that The Aston Strangler is back. And as the stakes rise for the team, so do the tensions brewing within it.

When DCS Kat Frank is accused of putting the wrong man behind bars all those years ago, AIDE Lock – the world's first AI Detective – pursues the truth about what happened with relentless logic. But Kat is determined to keep the past buried, and when she becomes the target of a shadowy figure looking for revenge, Lock is torn between his evidence-based algorithms and the judgement of his partner, with explosive results.  

When everything hangs in the balance, it will all come down to just how much an AI machine can learn, and what happens when they do . . .

Human Remains by Jo Callaghan was published in hardback on 24 April 2025 by Simon & Schuster and is the third book in this series. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I ADORE this series!  Jo Callaghan is truly one of the finest crime authors we have, she's created an original and unique detective duo in Kat Frank and AIDE Lock.  Along with the precise and compelling plot lines, she's also expert at creating relationships between her characters. Her human characters, especially Kat, are perfectly created, showing all aspects of humanity and dealing with grief and the effects so very well. 

Whilst Human Remains can be read as a stand alone story, I'd recommend that people read the first two books in the series first. Readers will then be more aware of the back story of all of the characters and how they've moved on through the series. 

The title of this novel is apt.  Kat and Lock are called in to investigate a case where human remains have been discovered. However, it's not a simple case of identification as the body is minus its head and hands. As they do their best to try to identify the corpse, another body is found.  Despite the fact that Kat successfully caught the Aston Strangler some years ago, there's suspicion that the wrong man was jailed and that these killings are the work of the real Strangler.  Kat is hounded by a podcaster who is determined to blacken her name. 

Kat has more to hide than anyone knows and it is her determination to keep certain things quiet that make Lock's quest for the truth more difficult. The reader is also not aware of the truth and this adds an air of mystery and suspicion whilst reading. Add an anonymous narrator who is absolutely determined to do harm to Kat to the mix and you have a tense, thrilling read that really is difficult to put down. 

Jo Callaghan has left readers with a huge question at the end of this book, and I am desperate to know just where she is going to go next with this duo. There's a lot to discuss, a great deal to think about, in terms of advancements and AI and our future. 

An incredible story. One of my favourite series for sure and highly recommended. 

Jo Callaghan works full time as a senior strategist, carrying out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce. 

She was a student of the Writers' Academy Course (Penguin Random House) and was longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Writing Competition and Bath Novel Competition. 

After losing her husband to cancer in 2019 when she was just forty-nine, she started writing In the Blink of an Eye, her debut crime novel, which explores learning to live with loss and what it means to be human. 

She lives with her two children in the Midlands, where she spends far too much time tweeting as @JoCallaghanKat and is currently working on further novels in the series.

Dangerous by Essie Fox BLOG TOUR #Dangerous @essiefox @OrendaBooks #HistoricalFiction #Byron #Venice

 

Fiction can be fatal…
 
Living in exile in Venice, the disgraced Lord Byron revels in the freedoms of the city.
 
SCANDAL
 
But when he is associated with the deaths of local women, found with wounds to their throats, and then a novel called The Vampyre is published under his name, rumours begin to spread that Byron may be the murderer…
 
MURDER
 
As events escalate and tensions rise – and his own life is endangered, as well as those he holds most dear – Byron is forced to play detective, to discover who is really behind these heinous crimes. Meanwhile, the scandals of his own infamous past come back to haunt him…
 
MYSTERY
 
Rich in gothic atmosphere and drawing on real events and characters from Byron's life, Dangerous is a riveting, dazzling historical thriller, as decadent, dark and seductive as the poet himself…

Dangerous by Essie Fox was published on 24 April 2025, in hardback, by Orenda Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour 

Looking back on my reading log, I find that I've been reading Essie Fox's novels since 2011 when I read her debut; The Somnambulist. I've always been entranced by her stylish writing.  I would never claim that historical fiction is my go-to genre choice, but there is something about her ability to weave an intoxicating story with amazing characters that makes me return to her books. 

Dangerous is something a little different for this author. Whilst it is still firmly a historical fiction book, it is also most certainly and crime story; a novel filled with mystery and ill doings where Lord Bryon himself is both the suspect and the investigator. 

'Mad, bad and dangerous to know' .... a phrase that has been used as the title of novels, on a music album and was originally said about Lord Bryon by one of his many lovers. Essie Fox has recreated this well known historical figure as he is banished to Venice and conjured up a wonderfully gothic and mysterious story about him and his life. 

From the dirt and filth of Venice, to the glitz and the glamour of the wealthy parts, the reader travels through it all. We enter brothels alongside Bryron as he cannot ignore his desires and we witness him discover the body of a woman in an alley. This is his downfall. Immediately Bryon becomes the suspect, not helped in the least by the publication of a book that details wounds to the neck - vampire-like, just like those on the real life victims. 

This is an extraordinary novel that totally swept me away to Venice. I can't say that I like Bryon, he's a rogue for sure, but I totally enjoyed his story and the author's treatment of him. It is impeccably researched with Venice taking a leading role of its own, alongside the charismatic and decadent Bryon himself. 

Fans of historical fiction will adore this one. Highly recommended. 

Essie Fox was born and raised in rural Herefordshire, which inspires much of her writing. 

After studying English Literature at Sheffield University, she moved to London where she worked for the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, and then book publishers George Allen & Unwin, before becoming self-employed in the world of art and design. 

Essie now spends her time writing historical gothic novels. 

Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4’s TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey, set in the early years of silent film, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. Essie’s Victorian gothic novel, The Fascination, debuted at number 10 on the Sunday Times bestseller list, and was widely acclaimed. 

Essie is also the creator of the popular blog: The Virtual Victorian. 

She has lectured on this era at the V&A, and the National Gallery in London. 

She lives in Windsor. 

X @essiefox

Still Got It by Claire Carver BLOG TOUR #StillGotit #ClaireCarver @0neMoreChapter_ @RandomTTours #BookReview

 

One beautiful Greek summer and a second chance at love.

Grace Foreman never expected to find herself widowed before she turned sixty – but when she packs her bags for a summer on a gorgeous Greek island, the last thing on her mind is a holiday romance. Grace would rather take a chance on a tan … or maybe a new summer wardrobe…

But then Grace meets ex Special Forces soldier Will Lancing – and although Grace isn’t looking for love, she soon finds out she’s still got it when it comes to playing the dating game…

Still Got It by Claire Carver was published on 10 April 2025 by One More Chapter. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour 

As a massive fan of all things Greece, I was instantly attracted to this book. Add the fact that the lead character is a woman of a certain age and I was in! 

Grace has been widowed for a few years now. Her marriage to Phil was great, they had two daughters who are now grown up and living their own lives. Grace has made a decision that has even startled herself. She's taken a summer teaching job on a Greek island. The novel begins as she arrives. 

Claire Carver obviously loves Greece too! Her descriptions of this beautiful island, and it's people, the food, the landscape is just perfect and I wanted to Google my next Greek getaway immediately! 

This is a love story, it's romantic but it's a little different. Grace is older, she has experience. She has a nice life already and is not sure that she needs to alter that. However, when her old friend Sofia visits her on the island for a week, she realises that there is life out there for her after all. 

This is a warm, uplifting read that deals with some serious issues as well as being very funny in places. Grace is a wonderfully created character who I really enjoyed getting to know. 

It's full of romance and sunshine and is recommended by me. Perfect for your holiday reading list.

 

Claire’s love of Greece started more years ago than she cares to remember. Corfu was her first destination as a teenager, and since then she has travelled extensively around the country, particularly the islands, and is even learning Greek, very slowly. 

The sunshine, the culture, and the warmth of the Greek people, not to mention the food, inspired her to write her debut novel, Still Got It, to be published on April 10 by One More Chapter, part of HarperCollins. 

It’s a story of second chances and taking risks at any age. Grace Foreman, a widow, and mother of two grown up daughters, grabs the opportunity to escape the daily grind and work as a teacher at a language school on a little-known Greek island for a whole summer. 

Sparks fly, and not in a good way, when she meets Will Lancing, the ex-army head of security at the villa next door. As Grace adapts to life on the island, making friends and relaxing in the sun, can she truly overcome her grief over her husband’s death and give romance another chance? 

Claire is a long-time journalist and tv producer, who has worked in features, showbiz, and interiors. She is married with two grown up children and lives in southwest London. 

Instagram @clairecarverauthor

There Came A-Tapping by Andrea Carter #ThereCameATapping @andysaibhcarter @LittleBrownUK #BookReview

 

Since losing her parents in a car crash as a teen, Allie has struggled to cope. Meeting Rory finally made things easier. She's come to rely on him for almost everything, so when he disappears while filming a documentary in the West of Ireland, she fears she'll come undone. Again.

Tap...

When a couple arrive at the Dublin apartment she and Rory share, claiming to be the new tenants, Allie is distraught. Why did Rory let out their home without telling her? And - where is he?

Tap-tap...

She seeks refuge at the run-down and reputedly haunted Raven Cottage in the Slieve Bloom mountains, where she and Rory were planning to move one day. Allie slowly starts to build a life for herself - and begins to believe that she might manage to make it alone.

Tap-tap-tap...

But then Rory's car is found submerged at the end of a pier, nowhere near where he was supposed to be - and the body in the driver's seat isn't his. Alison starts to revisit her memories of their time together, and begins to question if she can trust them...

A gripping, haunting thriller that will give you chills - perfect for fans of Tana French, Erin Kelly and Jane Casey.

There Came A-Tapping by Andrea Carter was published in hardback on 27 March 2025 by Constable / Little Brown.  My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I really enjoy Andrea Carter's Inishowen mystery series and was intrigued to learn that she'd had a stand alone crime novel published. 

As with her mystery series, this one is beautifully written. The setting is wonderful. Carter has always excelled at recreating the isolation of the Donegal landscape in her series, and she does it just as beautifully in this book which is set in the Slieve Bloom mountain area.

The reader meets lead character Allie as she is waiting for her partner Rory to return home from a work trip. As time passes and it gets later and later, Allie becomes concerned. She contacts his work colleagues who tell her that Rory left before they did, and they are all safely home now.  Allie suffered a great personal loss a few years ago, losing both her parents. Rory is her rock, he's there for her to lean on, she struggles to get through life and cannot bear to think about life without him. 

And then, a couple appear, wanting to look around Allie and Rory's flat. It seems that they are the new tenants. Allie had no idea that Rory had let out their home. He didn't tell her. 

She has no choice but to to seek refuge at Raven Cottage. A run down and isolated cottage in the Slieve Bloom mountains. It had been their plan to live in the cottage one day, but not this soon, not before it was fully renovated and certainly not just one of them. 

The cottage is in a terrible state and Allie's frame of mind is not much better.  The final straw is when Rory's car is found in the water at the end of a pier. Rory had no reason to be there, and it soon becomes clear that the body in the car is not Rory. 

Allie seems to go slightly mad. She is convinced that she hears tapping noises in the cottage. 

This is a tension filled story that kept me guessing right until the final chapters. The cottage, the accompanying Ravens and the tapping are so frightening, I found myself jumping at the slightest sound whilst reading the novel! 

Allie is a complex character, we are never quite sure of her, or if her memories are true. There are many questions to be asked during her narrative and this adds to the depth and atmosphere of what is a riveting and chilling story.

I really enjoyed this novel and hope that the author writes more stand alone stories soon. Recommended by me. 

Andrea Carter grew up in Ballyfin, Co. Laois. 

She graduated in Law from Trinity College, Dublin, qualified as a solicitor and moved to the Inishowen peninsula. 

Having practised law for twenty years, more recently as a barrister, she now writes full time. 

She was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2019 and her first three books have been optioned for television. 

She lives in Dublin with her husband and dog.

X @andysaibhcarter

Instagram @andysaibhcarter