I so enjoyed Beverley Kendall’s Token reviewed here that I couldn’t resist taking part in this tour for her latest book One in a Million. My thanks to S-J of Books and the City for inviting me to take part. It’s my pleasure to share my review today.

One in a Million is published by Simon and Schuster on 27th March 2025 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here. 

One in a Million

Megastar Whitney “Sahara” Richardson has everything planned – including when she’ll have kids. But a medical mix-up makes her the biological mother of a child she didn’t carry and whose father she’s never met. 

World-famous Whitney “Sahara” Richardson is at the top of her game. With four Grammys, an Oscar nod, and a half-billion-dollar clothing line, her career is skyrocketing. Even her headline-grabbing dating life is looking up. And if everything goes as planned, marriage and children are just a few years away. However, a mix-up at the fertility clinic where her eggs are stored puts the cart before the horse, and Sahara suddenly has a daughter… whose biological father is reluctant to share.

My Review of One in a Million

Whitney ‘Sahara’ Richardson has everything mapped out – or so she thinks!

One in a Million is fast paced romp of a read, being sheer escapism, making it a perfect beach book. Without giving away the plot, of course there’s everything one might expect in this kind of fiction. There’s a forced proximity as Whitney and Myles unwittingly find themselves sharing a child. There’s enemies to lovers as the two find they actually have far more in common than just Haylee. And of course there’s a happy ever after ending. But the plot encompassing these elements is huge fun, very sexy and totally absorbing as it gives an insight into the world of the rich and famous that we mere mortals can only dream of. At the same time, there’s witty dialogue and some real humour that add extra dimensions, making it huge fun to read.

Speaking of extra dimensions, there are themes in One in a Million that might just surprise those readers who eschew this kind of fiction. The stresses of living life in the world’s spotlight, the nature of corporate business and ethics, different types of law and a consideration of biracial heritage all weave throughout the story, so that the narrative is informative and intelligent as well as a cracking read that shows true emotions on occasion. 

Having read the first book, Token, I was pleased to see recurring characters like Kennedy and equally pleased to find they didn’t dominate this narrative so that it isn’t necessary to read the books in order (though I suggest you do). It was highly entertaining discovering more about Whitney. She’s a fabulous protagonist, being beautiful, quick witted and independent and yet with a vulnerability and an occasional tendency to judge others negatively too quickly so that, whilst she is an attractive, successful global megastar, she’s also relatable and real. This is a book about real people. 

I also very much enjoyed meeting Myles – but then who wouldn’t? You’ll need to read One in a Million to find out why for yourself.

The dynamics and relationships that involve Haylee provide the pivotal action for the narrative. I have absolutely no interest in children and don’t have a maternal atom in my body, but I found this element truly fascinating. There’s a super consideration of parenthood and what actually constitutes being a mother. This aspect makes One in a Million highly pertinent to today’s society. 

I thoroughly enjoyed One in a Million. It’s a varied and engaging narrative that can be read on several levels that I recommend completely. I’m looking forward to meeting these people again in future books. 

About Beverley Kendall

Beverley Kendall discovered her love of books while growing up in, the then, small city of Barrie, Ontario Canada. With her love of books and romance, she always wished that everyone would find their happily ever after. She currently writes sexy historical, new adult and contemporary romances. As the mother of one too bright and mischievous young boy, she pulls full-time duty on all fronts. When she’s not writing full-time, running The Season review website or mothering, she’s probably reading or sleeping and dreaming of a time when she’ll have time for her favourite hobbies: knitting, crocheting and sewing. Beverley has lived on two continents, in three countries, two provinces, and four states. She stopped her nomadic existence and settled in the southeast. All things artistic feed her creative passion, but none more than writing.

For further information, visit Beverley’s website, and follow her on Bluesky and Facebook.

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My grateful thanks to Amy Turnbull at Luath Press for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for the children’s book The Good Witch of Abbotsford by Alasdair Hutton illustrated by Bob Dewar. It’s my pleasure to help close the tour by sharing my review today.

The Good Witch of Abbotsford was published by Luath on 1st November 2024 and is available for purchase here. 

The Good Witch of Abbotsford

Meet Morag, a kind-hearted witch on a magical adventure in the enchanted woodlands of Abbotsford!

When the wicked leader of her coven plots to kidnap the local children, Morag must use her magic and bravery to stop the evil scheme. With a race against time and surrounded by darkness, Morag sets out to rescue the children and bring peace back to Abbotsford.

Will she succeed in overcoming the evil powers and saving the day?

Find out in this thrilling tale of courage and magic!

My Review of The Good Witch of Abbotsford

Young witch Morag has an evil plot to stop.

Influenced by the cover design of The Good Witch of Abbotsford I confess that I had been expecting a light hearted and simple story about the triumph of good over evil. However, this story was darker than anticipated and felt very much part of the tradition of fairy stories and morality tales, drawing on well established concepts of witches, and referencing tales and fables like Sleeping Beauty and the Pied Piper. This has the effect of making the book feel well grounded in folk-lore and classical children’s literature.

With plenty of white space between paragraphs and super illustrations by Bob Dewar, The Good Witch of Abbotsford is a book that would be perfect for young readers moving onto chapter books. Those at the younger end of the age range might benefit from an adult reading with or to them, because it might feel a little scary and the vocabulary is challenging on occasion. That’s by no means a criticism. Alasdair Hutton doesn’t patronise his audience, but rather he introduces them to new words in context that broadens vocabulary. 

The plot is fast paced and exciting for young readers with considerable consideration of good and evil and plenty of peril and danger that is resolved well. I thought it was inspired to have Morag in contact with her grandmother rather than a parent, because this gives status to children not in traditional family units whilst providing respect for older generations. Morag is a super character and feels all the more realistic because she isn’t averse to some devious behaviour of her own – for the right reasons, enabling children to appreciate that good and evil are not always clear cut but that being kind to others is always preferable. 

The Good Witch of Abbotsford is a story KS2 children will particularly enjoy, either as a class or home reader, or through independent reading.

About Alasdair Hutton

Alasdair Hutton has been the Voice of the Tattoo since 1992. He has been writing and telling stories for children since he was at primary school. In addition to being writer and narrator of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, he has written and introduced hundreds of events and concerts in Scotland and around the world. He won a David Thomas Charitable Trust Writing Award for one of his short stories and wrote the history of the 15th Scottish Volunteer Battalion of the Parachute Regiment to which he belonged for 22 years. He worked for the BBC in Scotland and Northern Ireland and has been a Member of the European Parliament for the South of Scotland and Convener of Scottish Borders Council. He lives in the Scottish Borders town of Kelso and writes little stories for his grand-daughter Aline who lives far away in America.

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Regular visitors to Linda’s Book Bag will have noticed a dearth of blog tours this year. Life is just too complicated to commit to them at the moment. However, I couldn’t resist taking part in this one for Barbara Henderson’s latest middle grade book I Don’t Do Mountains as I have loved every one of her books that I’ve read and always want to shout about them from the rooftops. My thanks to Barbara for inviting me to participate. I only wish I’d had time to read and review as well as share a lovely guest post from Barbara.

You’ll find my other reviews of Barbara’s books as well as other features here. 

Published by Scottish Mountaineering Press on 17th March 2025 I Don’t Do Mountains is available for purchase in all the usual places as well as directly from the publisher here. 

 I Don’t Do Mountains

Adventures are good things for people in books.

But I am not a person in a book. I am Kenzie. I like to READ about adventures, not actually have them.

A hillwalking expedition? With a group of strangers AND Sorley Mackay, the most annoying boy in the universe?
Bookworm Kenzie can’t believe her bad luck when her teacher announces plans for a three-day hillwalking expedition into the Cairngorms. She tries everything to get out of the trip, but soon the group heads to the hills with mountain leader Bairdy and set up camp for the night.

Bairdy’s stories of ancient magic fill Kenzie’s mind, but in the cold light of morning, they discover that the mountain leader has vanished, his tent left untouched. They are alone.

Take a walk – how Barbara Henderson learned to appreciate the outdoors – despite her best efforts!

A Guest Post by Barbara Henderson

Every Sunday afternoon, it was the same unwelcome rallying cry: Get ready, Barbara. We are going for a walk.’ 

To which my inevitable answer was: ‘What? Again? Noooo.’

I’m a country girl who grew up on the edge of a village, the brooding darkness of Germany’s endless forested hills no more than a stone’s throw away. I spent all day outdoors as it was – playing in the garden, exploring the woods and burns all around our house, walking to my cousin’s house which was even more remote. I wasn’t fair! Why did my evil parents have to impose a walk. Walks were pointless, in my humble opinion. You went from A to B to A again, without the freedom of playing or taking adventure detours along the way. And what were you to do while placing one foot in front of the other? Talk? Look around? It was the very idea of purgatory for eleven-year-old me!

And yet. My parents pointed out different trees which I learned to identify by their leaves. We spotted deer and hares, collected bird feathers and investigated wild boar tracks on the forest ground. My parents were keen foragers for mushrooms and berries too – yawn! This made those walks even longer. Come on, I’d whinge. I want to go home!

Home to read my book, most likely. I was a voracious reader as a child, and my idea of adventures was to disappear, quite safely and without any physical effort, between the pages of a great story. There! That was better. 

I opted out of those Sunday afternoon walks as soon as I was a proper teen. However, when I moved to Scotland to study, something very strange happened – I began to miss all the things I had previously resented in my upbringing. I began to set the table for the formal coffee and cake afternoons which I had detested. I began to listen to classical and choir music which I had drowned out with Springsteen back home. And, much against my better judgement, I began to develop an interest in birds, and gardens and… going for walks! Who had I become?

In my defence, if there was ever a country made for walking in, it was Scotland! It began innocently enough, with short wanders in and around the beautiful city of Edinburgh. Before long, we were taking weekends away to the Borders, Aberfeldy and Glencoe. What was happening to me? When my husband’s job took our family to the Highlands, I had to admit I was a lost cause – I had turned into my parents. Like my mum and dad before me, I am mother to three (now grown-up) youngsters who protested against the obligatory weekend walks almost as much as I had done. But they can also identify most birds and have experienced first hand wading through Scottish muck on the way to a foggy hilltop, or being assaulted by a million midges on a coastal campsite. My latest story, I Don’t Do Mountains, is about that experience – being a young person who has no choice but to engage with the great outdoors – but who cannot quite resist the lure of it either. 

Most people passing me in the street would not class me as a typical outdoorsy type – and I am not muscly, lithe or weatherbeaten. I am not even tough. But how could I not fall in love with birdsong and breeze, and the wild places on my doorstep. 

A typical Sunday afternoon in our house now will be quiet. No rallying cry, no protest. Just the creaking of the chairs as we smilingly get our walking boots on and head out for a walk.

It goes without saying.

****

Thank you so much Barbara, and yes, I think we all become our parents in some ways, so I’m off to dig out my walking boots – though sadly Fenland Lincolnshire doesn’t offer many mountains…

About Barbara Henderson

 

Barbara Henderson is the award-winning author of eleven books, including the Young Quills Award-winning novels The Chessmen Thief and The Siege of Caerlaverock, as well as Rivet Boy, winner of the Books for Topics Curriculum Support Award. Her historical and eco-fiction for children is widely studied in schools. Barbara is based in the Scottish Highlands where she still teaches Drama, but she loves to travel and spread the story-love in classrooms across the country. When she gets the chance, she likes to head outside, often to the nearby hills.

For further information, visit Barbara’s website, find her on Facebook or follow Barbara on Instagram and Bluesky. 

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There’s a slightly convoluted story behind my ‘meeting’ Suze of Suze’s Reading Club. We are both members of a Facebook group where I was recently interviewed, having been asked to model some book related clothing, and we realised we had books in common. 

When I found out Suze runs a reading group, I was interested to find out more and luckily she agreed to pop over to Linda’s Book Bag to answer a few questions. Let’s find out more.

An Interview with Suze

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Suze. We met vicariously through Facebook and I know you run Suze’s Reading Club. Can you tell me a bit about what you do?

I tutor students with reading and writing through online one to one sessions and I also run a children’s and an adult’s online reading club.

And why did you set it up? 

I am passionate about reading and writing, and the importance of literacy in our lives, and I wanted to be able to help children with these skills. I also work full-time as a Librarian in a High School and have responsibility for literacy, so my business is a natural extension of what I already enjoy!

Brilliant! I used to be a literacy consultant so I fully understand the importance of literacy. How does the club work?

 My reading clubs are for around 7-11 year olds. They run on a half-term basis, for five or six consecutive weeks. The majority of reading is completed outside of the sessions, and we meet once a week to discuss the book, its themes, characters and plot and complete enjoyable activities based around our weekly focus. It is a great motivator for children who struggle to read without a focus and children enjoy coming together to discuss the books.  I have some children who are still in my reading club from when I started my business over two years ago!

You have clubs for both adults and children. Why do you think it’s important to include both?

I love reading myself, and felt it was important to offer a reading club for adults too. My adult reading club is great for motivating people to find the time to read and my readers enjoy coming together to chat with other like-minded people about books. It’s lovely to be part of an online reading community!

Do members have to buy books?

Yes. We read one book each month and members can choose how they read. We’re all different! Some members read hard-copy books, some read on kindle and some prefer audio book. It just depends on what works for you! Many of my readers buy used books, so the reading club is very affordable. The three-monthly membership is currently £18 and this includes author-meets and access to a Whatsapp Book chat group. I am also offering a free trial first session.

What happens if authors want to feature in the club?

We do have author meets. We vote for our book each month, but I also invite authors to join us some months. We are looking forward to three author meets over the next couple of months. It’s great for readers to have the opportunity to meet and chat with the author of the book they’ve just read!

Sounds great. It’s not just reading that you support though is it?

 

I support writing too and currently work with students from 6-18 on all aspects of writing from handwriting to punctuation, grammar and creative writing.

How can blog readers get involved in your reading clubs?

Please visit my Facebook page to get a flavour of my offers. You can also send me a whatsapp message or message me on messenger via my Facebook page. 

What advice would you give to others thinking of doing something similar?

Go for it! I feel very fortunate to be able to do what I love! It’s a pleasure to work with some amazing students, families and adult readers. 

And when you’re not involved in running Suze’s Reading Club, what do you like to read?

I read a lot of thrillers and mysteries and am currently reading my eleventh book of 2025. I have set myself a Goodreads target to read 25 books in 2025! I am currently enjoying The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose.

I enjoy Nita Prose books too. Thanks so much for telling me more about Suze’s Reading Club and good luck with whatever comes along next. This sounds such a great idea.

For further information, visit Suze’s Reading Club on Facebook.

It’s my absolute pleasure to welcome T.M. Payne to Linda’s Book Bag today to discuss her latest book in the DI Sheridan Holler series. Tina is such a witty, mischievous and friendly person that I have a feeling we’re in for quite an evening!

Let’s find out more:

Staying in with T.M Payne

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Tina and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Thank YOU for inviting me. I promise to wipe my feet before I come in…oh and was I supposed to bring wine?

Er, no. I can’t drink wine as it makes me ill. I can, however, drink champagne so, you know… next time…

Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought Play With Fire, which is the third in the DI Sheridan Holler series, and I’ve chosen that one because it’s out today! 14th March.

Happy Play With Fire publication day. 

I have to say, it’s still strange to think that I’m talking about book 3 in the series already. 

I imagine so. I think when we first met you’d only just written book one. Tell us a bit about the series.

The first book, Long Time Dead was published in April 2024, the second called This Ends Now was out in October and now here we are talking about the third one.

I’d also like to share (am I talking too much?) that I have recently signed a further four book deal with my publisher, Thomas and Mercer, so there will be at least seven books in the series.   

Wow! That’s fabulous news. Congratulations.

What can we expect from an evening in with Play With Fire?

PLAY WITH FIRE sees the return of DI Sheridan Holler and her team….and of course, Maud the cat, who is gearing up to be somewhat of a favourite amongst readers. It sounds a bit strange that a cat is an important character when I’m writing a crime fiction series, but I’m a huge animal lover and had to have a cat in there. If I had my way, there would also be dogs, a giraffe and probably a penguin, but they’d be difficult to place in a crime novel. Not that I won’t try one day. (Don’t tell my agent…our secret, eh?)

My lips are sealed Tina!

I have said before that although I kill off characters in my books (being crime fiction and all that) I will never kill off Maud, no matter how old she gets as the series progresses. The wonderful Anna Mazzola actually reliably informed me recently that the oldest cat lived until the ripe old age of 38, so Maud’s going to be fine.

She should last those next seven books then!

Tell me about the setting for the series.

So, the series is set in Liverpool and the Wirral, although I’m originally from Hampshire, but call myself an adopted scouser. I’ve lived on the Wirral for six years now, having met my wife, Susie, nine years ago, who’s a scouser. I fell in love with the place the very first time I visited her (I kind of liked Susie too, of course) and just had to set the series here. Honestly, scousers have the best sense of humour and I like to feed that humour into my characters. Even though the subjects I write about can be quite dark, I think it’s important to keep a bit of humour in there.

I totally agree – a bit of Shakespearean light relief, but how did you come to that conclusion?

I spent 18 years in Norfolk police and 14 of those as a Case Investigator in the Domestic Violence Unit. It was heavy going dealing with high-risk victims of domestic abuse every day, but my colleagues and I would (never at the expense of a victim) grab moments when we laughed out loud. It’s a coping mechanism when you’re working in a job like that, it gets you through the toughest of days. And so, I inject humour into Sheridan and her team, because I know how police officers need to let off steam and I think it keeps that authenticity when you’re writing about what goes on in a busy CID or specialist unit, or any job that involves high levels of stress.

Absolutely.

I also thought that as I have quite a lot of experience working in domestic abuse, I’d include this in the books. So, there’s a character called Anna Markinson, who’s a detective sergeant, and she’s not only a colleague of Sheridan’s, she’s also her best friend. I wanted to show that anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse, even a police officer.

I think it’s always surprising what goes on behind closed doors Tina. Exploring those experiences through fiction is an important means of bringing them out into the open.

So have you always been involved in crime – in the best possible way of course?

I’ve pretty much always worked in the criminal justice system. I trained to be a store detective when I was in my early twenties and loved it. However, looking back it was such a dangerous job. I once had a massive kitchen knife pulled out on me and on another occasion, I got thrown in a river when I chased a kid onto a campsite after he’d nicked a load of stuff from the shop I was working at. It wasn’t the kid who threw me in, just to be clear, but some of his family. They were very nice about it and laughed while they picked me up by my arms and legs and swung me a few times before they launched me into the water.

That’s OK Then!

Then, I spent a few years working for a private investigator in London. Now, that was a job and a half. You never knew what you were going to be asked to do when you went into the office each day. There was one job that came in where my partner and I had to observe a building in London and the only place we could stand with a clear view was outside a bank. Obviously, this came with its own problems because we looked pretty dodgy hanging around there. So, I bought a newspaper, laid it on the ground and started singing American Pie by Don Mclean, pretending to be a busker. I picked that song because it’s really long and I knew all the words. It worked too, because we got the information we needed about the building we were watching… and I made about five quid in change from passers-by who actually thought I was a busker.

That’s hilarious. If I’d sung they’d have paid me to shut up. I bet you’ve got considerable things in your background that you can draw on for your books then.

I’ve got hundreds of stories to tell about the jobs I’ve done and people I’ve met along the way and believe me, the saying ‘the truth is stranger than fiction’ is spot on. Some of the things that have happened to me wouldn’t be believed if I put them in my books.

But my life experience does help me to create the characters I write about. Some are based on people I’ve encountered…good and bad. 

Is Sheridan you then?

Although Sheridan is not based exactly on anyone I know, there are elements of her which resemble an ex-colleague of mine and there’s probably a bit of me in her as well. Although she’s tall and slim… and I’m not.

Not many of us are! Tell me more about Sheridan.

I love writing about Sheridan, she’s a really strong lead character who isn’t afraid to bend the rules, sometimes to the point of breaking them, and she does this because she desperately wants to solve every case that comes her way. She wants justice for the victims and will push boundaries to get it. She has wonderful support from her team, because they respect her and they know that if she has a gut feeling about something, she trusts that instinct and in turn, the team trust her. She sees things that others don’t, like that tiny speck of a clue that might have been overlooked, or that comment made by a suspect or witness that many wouldn’t pick up on. She misses nothing. I also like her because she’s not angst-ridden. I didn’t want to create a character who goes home and drinks herself into a stupor every night because she needs to block out the horrors of her job, or has ongoing issues and constant battles with her boss or colleagues. I wanted her to be mentally very ‘together’ even though she carries her own tragic past.

Interesting. So many of our fictional detectives have huge emotional baggage. How did Sheridan become a police officer?

Sheridan’s backstory is, when she was 14, her brother, Matthew, who was 12, was found murdered and his killer was never caught. Sheridan made a pact with herself to join the police force, become a detective one day and solve his murder. So, this is a sub plot in the books as we follow the ongoing cold case into Matthew’s death.

I really think it’s about time I caught up with the series Tina! It sounds fabulous. Is it a challenge to keep a series going?

I love writing this series and get excited when I start the next book. I also love an epigraph (that little poem or famous quote that authors use at the beginning of a book) but after spending days searching for something to fit the first book in the series, Long Time Dead and realising that nothing worked, I decided to write my own epigraphs. So, this is the epigraph for Play With Fire.

The storms are coming, so hold your breath. For one brings rage and one brings death.

While Satan watches from the wings, awaiting what will be.

He will pretend that he’s your friend. Four souls. Two blind. Two see.

He’s found you now, too late to run. And now the stakes are higher.

It’s the sacrifice of men and mice. And those who play with fire.      

I love that!

I really enjoy writing my own epigraphs; I can play about with them until I get them right…although I do have to be careful that I don’t give anything away about the plot. I’m in awe of authors who tell an audience about their books and don’t let out any spoilers. I’m rubbish at it, probably because I don’t stop talking.

I hadn’t noticed your garrulousness at all Tina… (cough).

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

I’ve brought a few things with me. The first is a bottle of Jack Daniels, not that it has anything to do with the books, I just fancied having a cheeky drink while we were ‘staying in’ … have you got any ice?

I have, but I’ll have a Baileys with mine. 

The next thing I’ve brought along is a packet of Jaffa cakes…because Maud the cat loves them, as do I. I know cats are allergic to chocolate, but she only eats the biscuit bit and the orangey filling. Maud is based on my old cat, Cookie Dude, although he was a boy, he used to steal biscuits, especially Jaffa Cakes.

If you’re going to bring Jaffa cakes Tina, you can come again. 

I thought I’d also bring along a bit of music, a song by Adele, called ‘A million years ago.’

Why that piece?

In book 2 in the series, This Ends Now, there’s a scene on Crosby beach in Liverpool which, when I listen to this song, it puts me right there. It just fits the scene perfectly. I get goosebumps when I hear it and imagine those beautifully haunting statues called the Iron Men. There are a hundred of them along the estuary. They’re life-sized casts of their creator, Antony Gormley. Seriously, if you ever get the chance to visit Crosby beach, they really are quite mesmerising, so I had to have a scene in the book which included them.   

I’m hoping to take a trip in the motorhome this year actually as the statues are on my list of things I want to see. 

And lastly, I’d like to bring along Judi Dench. Not for any other reason other than I love Judi Dench. I think she’d be fascinating to talk to… certainly more fascinating than me. Although she’s probably never been thrown in a river. At least I hope not.

Judi Dench is VERY welcome, although you’ve been pretty fascinating yourself.

Oh…actually, can I be greedy and bring the wonderful Heather Bleasdale too? Heather narrates the audiobooks, and she has absolutely nailed every character. I think having her here would be like having Sheridan in the room.

You can indeed. The more the merrier. Thanks so much for staying in with me Tina to chat about Play With Fire. You’ve been one of the best guests I’ve ever had. I’m now desperate to read the whole series. 

Well, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed staying in with you, Linda. It’s been an absolute pleasure, but I’m going to go now because I’ve noticed there’s only one Jaffa Cake left, and I can see you eyeing it up. 

Damn! I hoped you hadn’t noticed!

Play With Fire

A missing woman. A gruesome delivery. A terrifying discovery. Where is Caroline Crow?

“Just when you think Payne is at the top of her game, she pulls this out of the bag.”―Graham Bartlett

All has been quiet in Liverpool, suspiciously quiet…

So, when a frantic 999 call comes into Hale Street Police Station reporting a missing woman, it seems like there’s work to do. Except for DI Sheridan Holler there are questions. Why did Caroline Crow take her purse, suitcase and even tell friends she was going away? There’s no reason to suspect foul play…until a severed, burned hand is delivered to another address.

With no hard evidence linking the two cases, Holler’s gut is telling her that all is not as it seems and if she’s right, time is running out to find Caroline alive.

As DI Holler attempts to weed out the truth from the lies, will this be one puzzle that runs out the clock? Or can Holler and her team fit the pieces together before it’s too late?

Published by Thomas & Mercer today, 14th March 2025, Play With Fire is available for purchase here.

About T.M. Payne

T.M. Payne (Tina) was born in Lee on Solent, Hampshire and now lives on the Wirral with her wife, Susie, who she works closely with on her novels. Tina is the best-selling author of the D.I. Sheridan Holler series, set in Liverpool and the Wirral. Her debut novel, Long Time Dead was published in April 2024 and went to number one in Crime Fiction in both the UK and Germany.

The second book in the series, This Ends Now, was published in October 2024 and went to number one in the UK and Australia.

The third book, Play With Fire is published today, 14th March 2025. Tina has written book 4 in the series and is currently working on book 5.

Tina has spent most of her working life in the criminal justice system, starting out as a Store Detective, before joining a private investigator agency (where she once nearly got arrested) She then became a Prisoner Custody Officer (where she carried a prisoner out of the courtroom single-handedly, when he started hallucinating butterflies).

She has worked in practically every London court, including the Old Bailey and Court of Appeal and has been handcuffed to murderers, rapists, and one of the worst sexual predators this country has ever seen. In 2001, she joined Norfolk Police as a Detention Officer, working in the custody suite, before joining the Domestic Violence Unit as a Police Case Investigator. In her 14 years in that role, she dealt with thousands of victims of domestic abuse, with one of her cases earning her a Chief Constable’s commendation.

Having left the police in 2019, Tina now writes full time.

For further information, follow Tina on Twitter/X @tinap66payne. 

I’m a huge fan of Fran Hill’s writing and was thrilled when Lucy at Legend Press sent me a copy of Fran’s new book Home Bird. I’m incredibly grateful to her.

You’ll find my reviews of Fran’s Cuckoo in the Nest here and of Miss What Does Incomprehensible Mean? here. I also interviewed Fran here.

Home Bird is published by Legend Press on 20th March 2025 and is available for purchase here.

Home Bird

1979. Jackie Chadwick is 17 and living in a supported bedsit. She’s still close to her foster parents and friends with (aka unofficial minder for) Amanda, their irresponsible daughter, but she’s enjoying her independence – until a fire leaves her temporarily homeless. Jackie’s dad, widower and recovering alcoholic Dave, has just been released from prison and sees this as his chance to make amends. He offers her his spare room – but can their relationship survive him going back on the booze and the arrival of his gin-loving lady friend and her errant son? As things go from bad to worse, Jackie has to decide how many chances you give someone who keeps letting you down.

Bittersweet and funny, Home Bird draws on Fran Hill’s own experiences as a teenager in foster care.

My Review of Home Bird

17 year old Jackie Chadwick’s dad is fresh out of prison. 

Sometimes with a book review, I just want to say, ‘Buy this book.’ Home Bird is one such story. It’s wonderful. Having previously met the fabulous Jackie, Amanda et al in Cuckoo in the Nest, I’d urge readers to read that book before Home Bird. Not because you need any prior knowledge of Jackie, as this story works flawlessly as a stand alone, but because, once you’ve read Home Bird, you’ll feel devastated not to have met Jackie sooner! 

I’m not quite sure how she does it, but Fran Hill is as able to convey meaning equally as well through what she doesn’t write, as through the words she allows into the page. Her prose is simply glorious. It’s imbued with every emotion conceivable and impacts the reader right in the heart, even when they are laughing aloud at Jackie’s wry, self-preserving, dark humour. It’s the direct speech that conveys meaning and emotion so perfectly. But it’s not just brevity and pared back prose that is so effective. Some of the description of inanimate objects is so astute it takes the reader’s breath away. I found myself reading Home Bird with admiration and envy of the author’s craft because it felt totally perfect.

On the surface, the narrative plot seems prosaic. A teenage girl navigates her way through relationships with her less than perfect father, her previous foster family and her friends. So too do many other teenage girls. But this apparent simplicity belies the stunning insight into human nature, the heart rending and uplifting moments that everyday life throws at Jackie and the true understanding of social care, its efforts and its inadequacies. Heather does her best by Jackie, as do her school’s Nursey B and teacher Mrs Collingworth, but Fran Hill lays bare the challenges faced by young people experiencing social care and she does so with such humanity that it’s impossible not to feel touched to the soul by her writing. I could not have loved Jackie more. She’s the same age as I was in 1979 and reading about her life made me want to climb into the book and become her closest friend. She’s an outstanding character.

I found all the characters quite wonderful. Dave’s spiral back into drink is so realistic as he gravitates towards Doreen, that Jackie finds herself once more a ‘cuckoo in the nest’ in her own home. This gives a sense of the inevitability of life and a feeling of doom even when there’s considerable humour in the telling.

The depiction of 1979 in Home Bird is phenomenal. References to school, food, television, magazines and music all create an authentic and nostalgic tapestry of setting and era so that the reader is totally transported. This is a story written by someone who knows. Someone who understands. Someone who cares.

As a result, Home Bird is the most brilliant read. It made me laugh aloud and it made me cry. It cemented in my mind that Fran Hill is a writer of exceptional talent who understands human frailty completely and who can convey her characters in an intense, yet humorous, distilled fashion so that we comprehend their very essence and they break our hearts along the way. In case you didn’t realise, I absolutely loved this Home Bird. Don’t miss it.

About Fran Hill

Fran Hill is an author and retired English teacher living in Warwickshire, England. Her debut full-length novel Cuckoo in the Nest, was published by Legend Press in April 2023. Its follow-up Home Bird is due out in March 2025. Fran’s funny teacher-memoir Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean? was published in May 2020 by SPCK Publishing.

Fran is a member of the Society of Authors and the Association of Christian Writers and was selected for the prestigious Room 204 emerging writers’ programme run by Writing West Midlands in 2016-17.

For more information, visit Fran’s website, find her on Facebook or follow Fran on Twitter @franhill123 and Instagram.

My enormous thanks to Jo Hardacre for sending me a surprise copy of the children’s book Meet the Mubbles by Liz Pichon. I’m delighted better to share my review today.

Meet the Mubbles is published by Macmillan children’s books on 13th March 2025 and is available for purchare through the links here.

Meet the Mubbles

A FABULOUS, all singing, all dancing book of JOY!

Meet the Mubbles is the first in a hilarious brand-new, full colour graphic novel series perfect for young readers from Liz Pichon, creator of the global phenomenon Tom Gates series. Filled with colourful characters, boundless fun and lots of adventures this series is a guaranteed hit for kids!

Welcome to the Isle of Smile where everyone, including the Wibbles of Wobble Mountain, the singing Earworms and the one-eyed Drib Drabs, lives in perfect harmony – most of the time! But when the Clouds of Joy BUMP together to make a wonky rainbow it means one thing: someone or something is coming to VISIT. Who could it be?

Time spent with The Mubbles on the Isle of Smile makes everything better – you’ll see.

Featuring a QR code that will take you to a website full of extra content including arts and crafts and many fun songs from The Mubbles world and The Isle of Smile. Join our ever growing community – with over 88,000 subscribers already!

My Review of Meet the Mubbles

A strange ball arrives.

As usual with children’s books, I think it’s worth commenting on the physical attributes and Meet the Muggles is excellent. The hard back copy I have is a perfect size for young hands and has a solid and robust cover that feels high quality and which will withstand rough treatment in schools and libraries as well as in the home. 

I do have one small niggle to get out of the way as I prefer not to have upper case letters used for emphasis in the middle of sentences in books for young children. I would rather see emboldened text, because I feel it’s a good idea to model the kind of writing we’d like emergent writers to produce. That said, other elements are perfect for teaching writing, with a clear distinction between direct speech and thought through the shapes they are contained in, for example. 

That aside, I thought Meet the Mubbles was terrific as it is utterly bonkers and huge fun. The illustrations are fabulous, being a perfect style for the target age group and so engaging in their vibrancy. There’s so much to see that Meet the Mubbles can be returned to time and again without young readers ever discovering everything in the pictures. Adults too will love the book, partly through the hilarious thought bubbles and partly through the illustrations. Anyone reading this who hates sprouts will appreciate the section containing stuorps! 

There’s a magical quality in the story that children will adore, from wonky rainbows through a slug of knowledge, to singing and being fabulous. In fact, being fabulous is at the heart of the book, encouraging children to be as bright and vibrant as they can as they work together like the Mubbles – or in some cases, not like the Mubbles, as events don’t always work out as expected, injecting real fun and humour.

With the QR code and a website to go alongside the book, this is a truly interactive reading experience. However, it doesn’t matter if children only have access to the book, because there are lots of moments when they can participate, from shouting aloud and singing, to answering Auntie Mubble’s questions. I loved this aspect as it enables young readers to make predictions and develop their cognitive skills.

I think Meet the Mubbles is a fantastic book to ignite a joy of reading in young children. It’s quirky, colourful and funny. It uses super imagination. Above all else it shows that it doesn’t matter what size, shape or colour you are, you can still be fabulous. 

About Liz Pichon

Liz Pichon is one of the UK’s best-loved and bestselling creators of children’s books, including Tom Gates and The Mubbles. The Tom Gates series won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Story and the younger fiction category of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.

For further information, visit Liz’s website, find her on Facebook and follow Liz on Twitter/X @lizpichon and Instagram.

Lovely Apple Gidley always seems to have a new book out just when I’m in the middle of some personal crisis and can’t manage to fit in reading and reviewing for her. So it is with Finding Serenissma! However, I’m delighted to welcome Apple to Linda’s Book Bag with a guest post to celebrate today’s publication of Finding Serenissima.

Apple has previously featured here on the blog and I’m delighted to welcome her back with a super post considering those of us not in the first flush of youth. Before that, though, let’s find out about Finding Serenissima.

Published today 11th March 2025 by Vine Leaves Press, Finding Serenissima is available for purchase in all the usual places including directly from the publisher here.

Finding Serenissima

With the help of a feisty hotel owner, an attractive water-taxi driver, and a gondola full of Italians who call Venice home, Amelia, a widowed Australian, begins her search for serenity. As the island city works its magic, she comes to realize her life has been overshadowed by her famous American husband, Leo, well before his decline into Alzheimer’s.

As Amelia navigates Venice’s winding canals and its language, she gracefully confronts the joys and challenges of aging, discovering that love and laughter can come at any stage of life. Balancing long-distance parenting and familial obligations, she redefines what it means to live fully as an older woman, all while the magical city slowly helps her reclaim her identity.

Finding Serenissima is a heartwarming tale of second chances, exploring the complexities of long marriage, independence, and rediscovering love in the most unexpected places.

Fiction for Over Fifty

A Guest Post by Apple Gidley

Who cares about fiction representing more mature women as the leading lady? Perhaps a good proportion of the eleven or so million women aged over 55 might, and that’s just in the UK. Too often older women feel invisible, sidetracked, bypassed and, based on a survey by BookBrowse, that would appear to be a mistake. Of more than 3,600 people questioned, the average age of women in book clubs is over 45, that’s a lot of readers who shouldn’t be dismissed or forgotten.

No wonder, then, the huge success of novelists like Elizabeth Strout and her 2008 book, Olive Kitteridge; or Rachel Joyce’s Miss Benson’s Beetle. Both depict strong mature women. Women want books that speak to the real universal issues they might face, like in Kate Morton’s The Secret Keeper; or Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir, Eat, Pray, Love.

Conflict resolution is something many have learned from childhood. Watch a little girl telling teddy not to lord it over rabbit. Or a teenager giving comfort to a friend’s heartbreak. The trials become greater at university—perhaps a lecherous tutor, or amorous jock—then workplace inequities as men are promoted over female colleagues, and sometimes above their abilities.

As we ladies-of-a-certain-age continue to age, we want to read of others who have overcome whatever has tried to stop us in our tracks. Not just those who have made it to the top of their chosen tree, but about strong women leading ordinary lives who don’t always get the recognition they deserve. How satisfying lives can be led without children; or how each stage of children’s lives are juggled and navigated. Perhaps how any, or all, of the three ‘d’s—divorce, dementia, death—are managed, and how clambering out of the hole that sense of abandonment has opened can lead not only to survival but adjustment and, as the pain eases, gives access to maybe a different, yet still fulfilling life. 

Amelia Paignton, in Finding Serenissima, is such a woman.…

 Exhaustion prickled Amelia like scalding water as she stood under the shower and washed off the travel grime. Wrapping a towel around her chest, she stepped over to the window and looked out at the people sauntering along the canal. Snatches of Italian drifted up, adding to her disorientation, her sense of displacement. Untethered.

         “Well, that’s what you wanted.” Her words jarred loud in the calm of the room. “But Italy? You don’t speak the language. You don’t know anyone.” She could almost hear the words coming from Leo’s mouth, see the petulant tilt of his lips.

         She shook her head, and clutching the towel, replied. “No, Leo, I don’t, but I can learn. And Leo, who was it that had to make a life for us while you painted? I can do this.” The threat of tears dispersed as anger replaced rootlessness. Swapping the towel for a sarong, she lay down on the bed. Sleep. That would help. But not too long.

         The ping of the phone alarm woke Amelia and, prizing her eyes open, it took her a moment to remember her surroundings.

         “Oh, my God, I’m in Italy!” Laughter followed her pronouncement. Shadows playing a different dance to earlier in the day told her hours had passed. And the grumble in her tummy. She had to go out. Take the plunge. And her dictionary.

         Pulling on a pair of jeans,she tucked a green shirt into the waistband, then stuck her feet into ankle boots. A slash of eyeliner and mascara, a jacket and scarf, and she felt ready.

         “I can do this.” She repeated her new mantra.

 This desire for strong female protagonists, of any age, can extend to non fiction. We want to learn of women who have led remarkable lives. Women like, Elżbieta Zawacka, the Polish WWII resistance fighter whose life is documented in Clare Mulley’s latest book, Agent Zo. Or Bloody Brilliant Women by Cathy Newman, described as “a fresh, opinionated history of all the brilliant women you should have learned about in school but didn’t.”

As a teenager, the travels of Mary Kingsley and Dervla Murphy enthralled me. I was lucky, I was already seeing the world, but their words made me want to see more and, sometimes, I’d wish I had been born into an earlier time, so I could join them in their adventures. Although I doubt I’d have had the courage to pack my bags and go, certainly not solo, as did Gertrude Bell who mapped, physically and metaphysically, the Middle East. She was far better described as the Queen of the Desert rather than, as some suggested, the female equivalent of Lawrence of Arabia.

When I read, I want characters, real and imagined, to inspire me. Characters like Janet Pimm, the seventy-year old, in Helen Paris’s The Invisible Women’s Club to remind me that 50, 60, 70, 80 are all just a numbers—particularly on the days when I glance in a mirror and wonder who is that older woman looking out at me.               

When I write, strong women slip onto the pages. Not consciously created. They just appear. Perhaps, somewhere in my subconscious, I want my granddaughters, when they are old enough to read my books, to recognise their own potential, their strength, even when things don’t go according to plan. Or my grandson to respect the line of strong women on both sides of his family.

And sometimes it is a reminder that women need women. Rather as Amelia, in Finding Serenissima, comes to rely, both for friendship and guidance, on the older determined hotelier, whose words will not be brooked and who says with regal bearing, “I am Bria Valentina Scutari”.

We want to read about them. Those friendships that transcend age, distance, and occasionally, the men in their lives! Who would argue that eleven million women are wrong?

****

Certainly not me Apple! Thanks so much for this fabulous guest post – and for representing those of us who still feel we have a place in the world!

About Apple Gidley

Apple Gidley has lived all over the world. Her roles have been varied – editor, intercultural trainer for multinational corporations, British Honorary Consul to Equatorial Guinea, amongst others. She started writing in 2010. 

You can find out more about Apple on her website and by finding her on Facebook or following her on Instagram and  Twitter/X @ExpatApple.

It’s my absolute pleasure to welcome Kim Smejkal to the blog today to stay in with me and to tell me all about her latest young adult novel. My huge thanks to Vicki Berwick at Pushkin Press for putting us in touch with one another.

Let’s see what Kim had to say:

Staying in with Kim Smejkal

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag, Kim and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

The Dandelion Riots is my latest young adult fantasy and I brought it because it holds a special place in my heart. I’ve always loved classic fairy tales—full of curses, evil sorceresses, and the magic of true love’s kiss—but I wanted The Dandelion Riots to be fresh, exciting, and unexpected. I had a lot of funflipping familiar tropes upside-down!

That sounds great. What can we expect from an evening in with The Dandelion Riots?

The Dandelion Riots is about forming community and fighting back against injustice and hate. 

That sounds like something we could do with in the real world Kim, never mind fantasy fiction!

In this world, some girls are cursed at birth by powerful witches as preemptive punishment for future misdeeds. These cursed girls are the dregs of society: shunned, feared, and often hunted.

That doesn’t sound fair at all. Do they deserve the curse?

They are frightening and dangerous, it’s true! But they’re born innocent, and then they’re vilified. They become the scapegoat so everyone spends time fighting against them instead of the true villains…

Interesting. Tell me more about the curses.

As an aside, crafting the various “flavours” of curses was one of my favourite parts about writing this book! The curses can take many forms, and some examples include transforming food into dust, ruling armies of cockroaches, bringing plague and pestilence, and, in some cases, unintentional murder.

And what about your protagonist?

The main character, Drinn, is a naïve and kind-hearted girl who’s been hidden away her entire life for a very good reason: her curse is the most powerful of them all. When Drinn discovers the nature of her curse, she is stunned: “The destruction I was destined to cause was unfathomable.”

So her life seems inevitable – is that how it pans out for her?

Despite what everyone tells her, Drinn refuses to accept this fate. Instead, she rallies other cursed girls to her side and vows to fight back against both the witches who cursed them, and the world that hates them.

These girls sound like great role models.

The Dandelion Riots celebrates the strength of girls, friendship, compassion, and community. These girls show us that there is power in the riot, there is hope in the fight.

I think The Dandelion Riots sounds very pertinent to today’s society. How is the book being received?

We’ve gotten some encouraging feedback from early readers that the messages in The Dandelion Riots are resonating. One bookseller had this to say: “This story rockets along and is full of amazing characters that all make an impression, bringing surprises at every turn. An empowering story of people sticking together no matter the odds, even when everything appears broken. I loved every word.”

That’s brilliant. You must be thrilled.  And what else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I brought along a bouquet of fresh, spring dandelions for you! (I bet you’ve never received weeds before…)

Er… I’m not so sure about that! But why dandelions?

Dandelions are important in the book for a number of reasons. First of all, our main character, Drinn, lives with an unfortunate side-effect from her curse: dandelions sprout out of her neck when she’s anxious. They tangle in her hair, scar the nape of her neck, and make it quite difficult to hide the fact that she’s cursed.

That explains the cover image – it fits perfectly.

The cursed girls adopt the dandelion as their symbol. It’s a persistent weed, able to grow and thrive in neglected soil and abandoned spaces. Many people hate them and spend a lot of time and effort trying to get rid of them.

I confess I have tried to eliminate them from my lawn. Maybe I need a rethink…

But the dandelion is also one of the first flowers to bloom in spring: a beautiful sunshine-yellow. You can eat the greens, make wine or tea or jelly (dandelion jelly doesn’t just look like sunshine, it tastes like sunshine too!) And when the blooms are spent, we blow on the seed heads and make wishes, sending them off on new adventures.

I’m definitely seeing them differently now.

I really hope you like your dandelion bouquet, and hopefully you’ll look at the yellow flowers and serrated green leaves and see beauty instead of nuisance!

I will indeed Kin. Thank you so much for staying in with me to chat about The Dandelion Riots. I’m delighted to have a copy waiting for me on my TBR. I think you should make us a dandelion tea and I‘ll give readers a few more details about the book.

The Dandelion Riots

A breathtaking queer fantasy in which girls are cursed at birth with terrible powers.

She believed I was meek and unassuming, because for sixteen years, that was all I’d ever been…

Cursed at birth, 16-year-old Drinn has been kept away from everyone – moved from house to house to ensure that she never finds love. But this year, she has decided to break free.  

Fleeing, Drinn finds herself in Oblison, surrounded by others just like her – cursed girls whose lives are dangerous and wild. They vow to free themselves once and for all. But rebellion is dangerous, and if Drinn finds love before the curse can be broken, a terrible fate could befall them all…

The Dandelion Riots is out in the UK on March 13, 2025 from Pushkin Press, and in Canada and the US on September 30, 2025. You can pre-order The Dandelion Riots through the Pushkin website, from Bookshop.org, Waterstones and Amazon.

About Kim Smejkal

Kim Smejkal writes fantasy for young adults and not-so-young adults, always with a touch of magic. Her books include The Dandelion Riots, Ink in the Blood, and Curse of the Divine. When she’s not writing, she’s often lost in the woods, wandering a beach, or puttering around in her garden, and she currently lives on Vancouver Island in Canada with her family and anxious dog, Pigeon.

 For further information about Kim, visit her website or find her on Instagram and Threads. 

I always find it exciting to be in at the start of a book’s life and so it gives me enormous pleasure to help reveal the details for The Woman in Ward 9 by Naomi Williams, especially as this is a book in one of my favourite genres – psychological thrillers. 

Let’s find out more:

The Woman In Ward 9 will be published by Headline on 17th July 2025 and is available for pre-order through the publisher links here.

The Woman in Ward 9

Victim. Witness. Killer?

Laura is found covered in blood that is not her own. With no memory of what happened, she is admitted to a high security psychiatric facility.

With no body and no other witnesses, it is down to psychologist Emma to gain Laura’s trust and understand her disturbed mind.

Beneath Laura’s stories of an idyllic life and a boyfriend almost too good to be true, Emma begins to unravel a darker truth. But as she listens to Laura’s story, she begins to draw chilling parallels between her patient’s life and her own. The man Laura describes sounds uncannily similar to Emma’s own husband…

Is she entering the mind of a victim, a witness – or a killer?

With tension you could cut with a knife and twists that will have your head spinning, The Woman In Ward 9 is sure to keep you reading late into the night.

****

Doesn’t that sound fabulous? I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

About Naomi Williams

Naomi Williams started her career teaching English and Drama, and when she had a family, combined all three to write novels about family drama. Originally from Yorkshire, she now lives in a London suburb with her husband and two teenage daughters, so expects there’s plenty more drama to come.

Also writing as Lisa Timoney and Kate Storey, you can find out more by visiting Naomi’s website, finding her on Facebook and Instagram or following her on Bluesky and Twitter/X @LTimoneyWrites.