Now, I shouldn’t be reviewing Disaster Dates & Lucky Escapes by Tess-Smith Roberts today. I was supposedly taking a day off from the blog, but when lovely Rosa Patel from Octopus books kindly sent me a copy recently in return for an honest review I thought I’d take a quick look – and here we are!

Published on 26th October 2023 by Octopus imprint Kyle Books, Disaster Dates & Lucky Escapes is available for purchase through the links here.

Disaster Dates & Lucky Escapes

Waterstones Best Humour Books of 2023

Meet serial dater Olive. She’s just a regular gal looking for love, but navigating the wild world of modern dating is getting her no closer to finding the one – why are there so many weirdos out there?!

Follow Olive on her quest for companionship, as she goes on dates that go from bad to worse to even more disastrous, including a man who disappears after going to the toilet in a restaurant and is later spotted on shift waiting tables; a woman who vomits all over her on the beach; and a professional triangle player who gets into a fist fight and jumps out of not one but two moving cabs.

Will Olive ever find the one? And will they be everything she’s looking for?

My Review of Disaster Dates & Lucky Escapes

A comic strip style book about dating.

If you’re looking for a literary masterpiece worthy of the Nobel Prize for Literature, don’t pick up Disaster Dates & Lucky Escapes! If, however, you want a funny, entertaining and relatable insight into the world of dating, this book is perfect.

I must comment on the quality of the hardback because it is just brilliant. A strong, robust cover and heart smothered end papers make Disaster Dates & Lucky Escapes a great gift book. I loved the vibrancy of the illustrations as Olive Pitt tries a variety of ways to find love, and the cartoon nature of the people means that they feel generic and inclusive. There’s no-one who is conventionally beautiful or body perfect to make readers feel inadequate. I thoroughly appreciated the fact that Olive considers dates with men and women in a natural manner too.

But the strength of Disaster Dates & Lucky Escapes lies in its humour. Tess Smith-Roberts presents disastrous dates with panache, from Olive’s experience with men who only care about oranges, to women obsessed with pancakes, so that there’s both an absurdity and a relatability. I thought it brilliant that Olive was still not satisfied when she found someone who did love her and it’s the love Olive discovers by the end of the book that is such an important concept.

Disaster Dates & Lucky Escapes is enormous fun with an uplifting final message. It’s also a book that made me oh so glad to be a middle aged heterosexual woman who’s been married 40 years. I don’t think I’d survive long in Olive’s world of dates, but you’ll need to read the book to discover why! I thoroughly enjoyed this diverting, entertaining and funny book.

About Tess Smith-Roberts

Tess Smith-Roberts is an Illustrator based in London. She approaches her work with humour, bold shapes, and a playful use of colour. Classic still life paintings, bad dance moves, and food (especially fruit!), are the main inspirations for her work.

For more information, visit Tess’s website, follow her on Twitter/X @TessSmithRobert or find Tess on Instagram.

It was way back in 2019 when I had the most fantastic time at Capital Crime and wrote about it here. Since then life has conspired against me attending. There was the small matter of a global pandemic and then I had to take my Mother to a medical appointment only to discover that the rail strikes meant I couldn’t attend. This year, I was so looking forward to this brilliant festival, only to discover that I would be on a cruise ship celebrating my 40th wedding anniversary so I missed it again.

I am determined I’ll be at capital crime in 2024. Here’s why:

Capital Crime 2024

Headliners

IAN RANKIN, IRVINE WELSH, ANN CLEEVES, ANTHONY HOROWITZ AND KELLYE GARRETT TO HEADLINE CAPITAL CRIME 2024

Capital Crime 2024 to be held in Spring at the Leonardo Royal Hotel for second year, from 30^th May to 1^st June.

Capital Crime, the celebrated crime and thriller festival led by Goldsboro Books’ co-founder and managing director David Headley, has announced that it will be returning in 2024 to its new home of the Leonardo Royal Hotel, from 30^th May until 1^st June 2024.

Authors and speakers confirmed so far are:

• Ian Rankin, creator of Inspector Rebus
• Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh
• Ann Cleeves, author of the Vera and Shetland series
• Author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz
• Rising star of US crime fiction Kellye Garrett
• Author and barrister Rob Rinder
• Elly Griffiths, creator of the Ruth Galloway series
• Silo creator Hugh Howey
• Alex Michaelides, author of the global bestseller The Silent Patient
• An unforgettable new voice in cosy crime Paula Sutton, otherwise known as the queen of cottage-core and the face behind Hill House Vintage

The full line-up will be announced early next year.

Early bird weekend tickets for next year are on sale now at www.capitalcrime.org.

Fingerprint Awards

Also returning are the festival’s Fingerprint Awards, which this year saw authors including Erin Kelly and Adele Parks celebrated for the first time ever; and the social outreach initiative, which aims to demystify the industry for young state-school Londoners considering a career in publishing.

In August 2023, Capital Crime returned triumphantly to London, in its brand-new home of the Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s, with a star-studded three days of panels, events and launches with over 100 leading voices from crime fiction, including a sold-out event with Richard Osman and Miles Jupp.

Capital Crime co-founder David Headley said:

‘Next year’s line-up is already shaping up beautifully, with some of the most talented writers from all around the country signed up – and from the US, we’re delighted to welcome the enormously exciting Kellye Garrett and Silo creator Hugh Howey. I’m so delighted that Capital Crime champions authors not only on stage, but with our Fingerprint Awards where the readers vote for their winners in each category – every year our lineup reflects what fans are reading and this year’s lineup is very exciting.’

Capital Crime Festival Director Lizzie Curle said:

‘We loved our brilliant new venue in St Paul’s, and from the feedback we’ve received from authors and attendees, so did everyone else! I’m honoured that we’ll be welcoming some of the best crime writers from around the world to join us in London, to celebrate crime and thriller writing with the authors, readers and fans who make Capital Crime possible. Our 2024 festival promises to be bigger and better than ever before.’

About Capital Crime

Capital Crime is a crime and thriller festival located in London. Built around the reader, Capital Crime is modelled on the extremely successful mass participation, multimedia conventions that engage and delight audiences in new and innovative ways. Capital Crime is committed to producing an inclusive, welcoming festival that will deliver something for everyone.

You can find out more on Twitter @CapitalCrime1, on the Capital Crime website and on Facebook and Instagram.

Don’t forget – early bird weekend tickets for next year are on sale now at www.capitalcrime.org.

I have all Janice Hallett’s books waiting for me on my TBR, but life has always got in the way of my reading them, despite all the fabulous things I’ve heard about them. Consequently, I was determined to participate in the blog tour for her latest, The Christmas Appeal, and would like to thank Anne Cater of Random Things Tours very much indeed for inviting me to take part.

The Christmas Appeal is published by Viper and is available for purchase through the links here.

The Christmas Appeal

One dead Santa. A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth?

Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up.

Of course there’s also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?

My Review of The Christmas Appeal

Femi Hassan and Charlotte Holroyd have an intriguing email from Roderick Tanner KC!

The Christmas Appeal is simply delicious. I wolfed it down in a day because it was so entertaining I simply couldn’t set it aside. The story is so cleverly constructed through emails, texts and police interviews and whilst this rapid fire mixture ought to be tricky to follow, it simply isn’t because Janice Hallett’s attention to detail makes it sublimely mesmerising and totally engaging. It’s not really possible to say too much about the plot without spoilers, but I will say there are some surprises and it’s completely diverting.

The pantomime setting is so pertinent to the story. Everyone is playing a part, the farcical nature of some aspects, the heart-warming sensation at other times, the decrepit church hall where the panto is to be held – all the aspects combine into a wonderful relatable and yet unusual coherence. I just loved it.

What took me by surprise was the immense wit in the book. I rarely laugh aloud when I’m reading but The Christmas Appeal had me snorting with laughter. It’s the way Janice Hallett shows such insight into the human psyche through her humour and observation that makes it so appealing. In this brief book she encompasses family and friendships, snobbery and social climbing, the underprivileged and the criminal, deceit and manipulation with such dexterity that the reader can imagine each character vividly.

And what characters they are. I think I found The Christmas Appeal so engaging because I feel as if I have met every type portrayed here. From the moment of reading the Halliday round robin Christmas message I was hooked. I know these people!

I’m aware I haven’t really said anything particularly lucid about The Christmas Appeal but that’s because I don’t want to spoil the read for others. Let’s just say I thought it was a cracker of a book and would make the perfect gift for someone to enjoy on Boxing Day. I thoroughly enjoyed it – though I won’t necessarily go to a panto this Christmas season now I’ve read it and if I do, I won’t be eating the sweets!

About Janice Hallett

Janice Hallett studied English at UCL, and spent several years as a magazine editor, winning two awards for journalism. After gaining an MA in Screenwriting at Royal Holloway, she co-wrote the feature film Retreat. The Appeal was inspired by her lifelong interest in amateur dramatics. Her second novel, The Twyford Code, was published by Viper in 2022 and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels in 2023. When not indulging her passion for global adventure travel, she is based in West London.

For more information you can follow Janice on Twitter/X @JaniceHallett, or find her on Instagram.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

My enormous thanks to Jo Hardacre at Macmillan Children’s Books for sending me a surprise copy of The Ice Children by M.G Leonard, illustrated by Penny Neville-Lee. Now, I have about eleven million (only a slight exaggeration) books on my TBR but I always enjoy children’s fiction and The Ice Children kept calling to me so I’m delighted to share my review today.

Published by Macmillan Children’s Books today, 2nd November 2023, The Ice Children is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

The Ice Children

At the stroke of midnight on the dawn of December, five-year-old Finn Albedo is found frozen in the city park standing on a pedestal of ice. His heart is beating, he is smiling serenely, but no one can wake him.

Finn’s big sister, Bianca, suspects that the beautiful sparkling book Finn got from the library has something to do with it, but the book has vanished. Does the tall mysterious stranger who first discovered Finn know more than they will admit?

Each day, more children are found frozen and Bianca realizes she’s running out of time. Her quest to discover the truth and rescue her little brother hurls her into a fantastical winter wonderland, full of beauty and danger, where all is not as it seems.

Can Bianca save her brother and the other Ice Children before they are forever lost?

My Review of The Ice Children

Finn has been turned to ice.

The Ice Children is a magnificent children’s book and thoroughly magical. Firstly, it is atmospherically illustrated throughout by Penny Neville-Lee with images that support less confident young independent readers, and which enhance and exemplify what’s happening. From the gorgeous endpapers, through the winter spirit animal inspired ice crystals at the start of each chapter, to the dramatic pictures supporting the text, the illustration elevates The Ice Children into the most perfect gift book.

The plot simply races along as more and more children become frozen in suspended animation and Bianca tries to establish what has happened to her little brother Finn. M.G Leonard weaves in elements of traditional tales with fantasy and adventure so that The Ice Children feels as if it is a natural part of established children’s fiction whilst being absolutely fresh and modern too. Themes of family, climate change and the environment are explored without preaching, but in ways that show just how we are affecting our planet and how important children are to the future of the world. I loved the status this gives to children and thoroughly appreciated the fact that Bianca is a strong, intelligent and feisty girl as the protagonist so that there is a touch of feminism here too.

The celebration of winter is just wonderful.  M.G Leonard’s descriptions of cold, ice and snow are so beautifully written and so vivid that there’s a dramatic and visual quality to the story. Indeed, I thought the language was perfect. The rhyming couplets spoken by Pitter and Patter, Jack’s appearance, and the references to food all added layers of interest and mystery, with the inscriptions next to the frozen children and Ishild’s riddle all helping children to understand the power of language. I found the concept of story as a powerful means to explore new worlds very touching, but you’ll need to read The Ice Children to discover quite why.

In fact, there’s considerable emotion throughout the story because the characterisation is sensitively handled. The relationship between Bianca and Pordis is just lovely and the dynamics with her parents, as well as the emotions she feels when confronting Finn in Winterton are strong and relatable. Through The Ice Children young readers get to explore and understand love, family, friendships, fear, grief, happiness and sadness in an enchanting and entertaining manner. 

Aimed at readers aged 8-12, I have a feeling that The Ice Children will bring a lifetime of joy to any reader and become a family favourite returned to and shared across generations. I thought it was utterly brilliant. 

About M.G. Leonard

M. G. Leonard has made up stories since she was a little girl, but back then adults called them lies or tall tales and she didn’t write them down. As a grown up, she has written stories about fantastical beetles, beautiful birds and thrilling train rides. Her books have been translated into over forty languages and won many awards. She is the vice president of the insect charity Buglife, and a founding author of Authors4Oceans. She lives in England, by the sea, with her husband, two sons, a dog called Nell, and a variety of exotic beetles.

For further information about M.G. Leonard, visit her website, follow her on Twitter/X @MGLnrd and find her on Facebook and Instagram.

I understand that M.G. Leonard will be at the Guildford Book Festival on 25th November and you can buy a ticket here.

About Penny Neville-Lee

Penny Neville-Lee was raised on a healthy diet of Saturday cartoons and MGM musicals. Never happier than when creating, she spent her early years drawing and making and was rarely found without a doodle somewhere in the margins. Penny studied MA Painting at the Royal College of Art. After several years making large oil paintings of gloomy woods in the company of Radio 4 and some studio mice, she had her small son, shifted to the kitchen table and realised there might be something in those doodles after all. Penny is inspired by small people, bright colours, a blank page and newly sharpened pencils. She lives in Manchester with her two children, husband and very adventurous cat.

For further information, visit Penny’s website, or follow her on Twitter/X @PennyNevilleLee.

Many moons ago when I submitted a thesis on Charlotte Bronte for my degree I became fascinated by that literary family. Today sees a brand new imagining of Emily Bronte’s character Heathcliff and I was so interested to hear more I simply had to invite Nicola Edwards onto Linda’s Book Bag to tell me more. My enormous thanks to Julia Forster for putting us in touch with one another.

Let’s see what Nicola has to say:

Staying in with Nicola Edwards

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Nicola. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Thanks for having me, Linda.

I rather think I know, but tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought my debut novel, This Thing of Darkness, a dark reimagining of Heathcliff’s lost years in Wuthering Heights. The novel is out today.

How exciting! Happy debut publication day Nicola. So, what can we expect from an evening in with This Thing of Darkness?

The novel has been described by early readers as ‘visceral, disturbing and deeply compelling’, a ‘brave and unflinching’ account of a dark period in English history. Heathcliff’s brutality is very much a product of his environment and what befalls him as he ventures into the world. He is not the same person when he returns to the Heights, and I explore this transformation. I use multiple first-person narrators, so we see Heathcliff’s development through a prism.

This sounds utterly brilliant Nicola. I’m thrilled to have This Thing of Darkness waiting for me on my TBR. I have a feeling I’ll love it.

What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I’ve brought my most precious copy of Wuthering Heights, a gift from my husband when I first began to write This Thing of Darkness. I’m not sure of the precise date, but I know it was published in the mid-1800s due to the use of the Bronte pseudonyms. I was incredibly excited when I read Ellis and Acton Bell on the front cover!

I imagine you were. What a wonderful gift.

Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat about This Thing of Darkness Nicola. I can’t wait to dive in and discover more about Heathcliff. Happy publication day once again. 

This Thing of Darkness

The storm that dismantles a dynasty… 

1780. Wild and windswept Yorkshire. Sixteen-year-old Heathcliff runs from the only home he has ever known in a squall of pain and fury.

Blown into an inn on the edge of the moors, sodden, rejected, and hankering for revenge, he steals a horse and sets out for Liverpool in search of answers. The town he arrives in is a brutal new world, brimming in equal measure with risk and opportunity. Here, Heathcliff might map his future, make his fortune, forge a role for himself. But at what cost…  

Reimagining the three years during which Heathcliff is absent from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, This Thing of Darkness traverses countries and oceans in pursuit of one of literature’s best known characters.

This Thing of Darkness is published today, 2nd November 2023, by Aderyn Press and is available for purchase in all the usual places including here.

About Nicola Edwards

Nicola Edwards is a PhD candidate at the University of Bangor and teaches English and Classics in a school in North Wales. Nicola has worked as a journalist and has lectured on race and representation in the media for Race Council Wales. Her non-fiction writing has appeared in Wales Arts Review. This Thing of Darkness, her first novel, won the Michael Schmidt Prize at the Manchester Writing School.

For further information, visit Nicola’s website, follow her on Twitter/X @nicanned and find her on Instagram.

I’m a huge fan of SJI Holliday’s writing and would like to thank Susi for making sure I received an early proof of her latest book, The Party Season in return for an honest review. I also owe thanks to Kimberley Nyamhondera who subsequently sent me a surprise finished copy of The Party Season which I will be donating to my local library so that other readers get to enjoy it too.

Recently (and rather belatedly) I reviewed Susi’s The Lingering here.

I reviewed Susi’s Substitute here and The Last Resort here. You’ll also find my review of Willow Walk here, an interview with Susi to celebrate The Damsel Fly here and my review of her outstanding Violet here.

The Party Season is published in paperback by Hodder on 9th November and is available for purchase through the links here.

The Party Season

It’s the most deadly time of the year…

The festive season is in full swing – parties, mistletoe and Christmas crackers abound.

In a hotel bar, a woman approaches you. Her party dress glitters with sequins.

What you don’t know is that your life is now in her hands – and there’s only one thing that will determine whether you live or die.

Are you a good person? Are you really? . . .

My Review of The Party Season

Be careful who you chat to at the Christmas party bar! 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Party Season. It’s a bit like a spider’s web; each strand is connected and vibrates with meaning and menace but it isn’t until the final pages of the story that the reader finds if their guesses as to how it all is linked are correct. This makes for an immersive read.

The plot is fast paced and engaging and whilst there are characters that SJI Holliday has used before, The Party Season is a self-contained police thriller that can be read entirely independently. That said, I so enjoyed the police team dynamics that I’d love this to be a series developing Eddie and Becky’s lives further and I now want to go back and read The Deaths of December where they first appear.

Eddie and Becky are a super duo. There’s connection and understanding between them that makes them feel human, but SJI Holliday doesn’t force a more personal relationship so that they also feel realistic. I liked the pragmatism of how their work is carried out against a backdrop of cutbacks as this aspect made me consider real policing constraints more and gave The Party Season an authenticity and added realism.

However, it is the party girl herself who is the most interesting character. As she uses an arbitrary ‘naughty or nice’ selection process for the men she is about to murder, she should be anathema to the reader. But SJI Holliday explores the reasons for the party girl’s behaviour with humanity and compassion so that the reader is on her side whilst still being unnerved by her behaviour. This is such clever writing and manipulation of the reader.

Consequently, even as it entertains, The Party Season, considers bigger issues. Morality, revenge, #metoo, family and relationships, for example, give layers of consideration that add depth. At the same time, there’s a truly seasonal mention of Christmas songs that make the reader feel Christmassy even as the body count rises and which add a lightness to a disturbing series of murders.

The Party Season is well balanced between reality and traditional Christmas sentiment so that it’s the perfect antidote to saccharine Christmas schmaltz. Reading The Party Season may have entertained me brilliantly, but it may also have put me off Christmas parties for life! I really enjoyed it.

About Susi Holliday

Susi (S.J.I.) Holliday grew up in East Lothian, Scotland. A life-long fan of crime and horror, her short stories have been published in various places, and she was shortlisted for the inaugural CWA Margery Allingham prize. She lives in London (except when she’s in Edinburgh) and she loves to travel the world.

Her serial killer thriller The Deaths of December, featuring Detective Sergeant Eddie Carmine and Detective Constable Becky Greene was a festive hit in 2017.

Writing as SJI Holliday, she also has three crime novels set in the fictional Scottish town of Banktoun, which are a mix of police procedural and psychological thriller. They are: Black Wood, Willow Walk and The Damselfly – all featuring the much loved character, Sergeant Davie Gray.

Also as SJI Holliday, her spooky mystery The Lingering was released in September 2018, followed by Violet – a psychological thriller set on the Trans-Siberian Express – in September 2019. Violet has been optioned for film.

You can find out more about Susi Holliday on her website and on Facebook or Instagram and by following her on Twitter/X @SJIHolliday.