The Good Girl by Michelle Dunne

🔥🔥🔥 Published 09 February 2026 🔥🔥🔥

Description from Goodreads:

"Grace Murphy doesn’t seem like the type of woman who’d have a man cable-tied to a chair, slowly dying in her house. She keeps to herself and goes through life relatively unnoticed, working as a barista and caring for her sister, providing her with wholesome meals and a clean home - things they never had as children . . .

Detective Inspector Jerry Hughes knows about Grace’s brutal and troubled childhood; his own life was profoundly affected by it after all... so when men start going missing in the city - men who seem to have nothing in common aside from a physical resemblance to someone from Grace Murphy’s past - Inspector Hughes must dive back into the past to face a terrible truth playing out before him..."

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I’ve just finished The Good Girl by Michelle Dunne and oh my goodness, it completely pulled me in. It isn't a typical "whodunnit" since we know who the culprit is right from the start. Instead, it’s a "how" and "why" story that is honestly one of the most unsettling things I’ve read in a long time.

The story follows Grace Murphy, who seems like your average barista in Cork, looking after her sister and keeping her head down. But the opening scene is absolutely brutal - she has a man tied to a chair in her spare room and she's basically watching him die. It is definitely not for the faint-hearted and it comes with some very heavy triggers, especially around child abuse and violence. If you're in a sensitive headspace, you might want to skip this one, but if you can handle the darkness, it’s a brilliant look at how trauma can ripple through generations.

I absolutely loved Grace as a lead character. Even with her predilection for murder, I couldn't help but feel for her. She's a deeply troubled individual, though that isn't exactly surprising once you learn what she's been through. It's a testament to the writing that I felt so much empathy for someone doing such horrific things.

I haven't read anything by this author before but I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for more from her in the future. Her writing style is so engaging and the pacing was absolutely spot on. I found myself flying through it - I actually managed to read it in just two sittings because I couldn't put it down. It’s rare to find a crime thriller that manages to be this graphic while still having so much heart and honesty about mental illness and guilt.

I also really liked Detective Inspector Jerry Hughes; he’s a good man who’s haunted by his own connection to Grace’s past, and you can really feel his internal struggle as the bodies start turning up. 

The ending was clever, disturbing and left me thinking about it long after I finished the last chapter. It’s a 5-star read for me, though it definitely left me feeling a bit shaken.

Many thanks to the author, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this excellent book.

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The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse

Synopsis from Goodreads:

"What would you do if you learned that the life you lived was a lie?

Nina McCarrick lives the perfect life, until her husband, Finn, is killed in a car accident and everything Nina thought she could rely on unravels.

Alone, bereft and faced with a mountain of debt, Nina quickly loses her life of luxury and she begins to question whether she ever really knew the man she married. Forced to move out of her family home, Nina returns to the rundown Southampton council estate—and the sister—she thought she had left far behind.

But Nina can’t let herself be overwhelmed—her boys need her. To save them, and herself, she will have to do what her husband discouraged for so pursue a career of her own. Torn between the life she thought she knew and the reality she now faces, Nina finally must learn what it means to take control of her life."

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After reading The Idea of You, I liked Amanda Prowse's writing enough to give her another try. I finally fished this out from my dusty, virtual shelf on my Kindle® which had been patiently waiting since 2017 🤯 on my ever-expanding 'to-be-read' pile

This story starts with a bang! Nina McCarrick thinks she's got the perfect life until her husband, Finn, dies unexpectedly. Turns out, he left her with massive hidden debt. She's forced to drag her two sons back to the old working-class estate she spent years trying to escape. The book is Nina trying to figure out who she is now and rebuilding things with her estranged sister, Tiggy.

Prowse's writing is definitely compelling and she moves this plot along at a good pace, covering themes like grief, financial shock and finding inner strength. But, just like with the last book, I had trouble getting fully invested in Nina's characters.

It's  clear that Amanda Prowse can write powerful, emotional stories. But with two books down, unfortunately, her style is just not for me, however, there are thousands of people who disagree so definitely don't let my personal preference stop you from diving in.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for enabling me to read and, eventually, share my thoughts of this book.

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Dead in the Water by John Marrs

🔥🔥🔥 Due to be published 20 January 2026 🔥🔥🔥

Description from Goodreads:

"A chilling tale about life flashing before your eyes—including terrifying scenes you don’t remember.

When Damon survives a near-drowning, his life flashes before his eyes. Every memory is crystal clear—except one. A dead boy. A face he can’t place. A moment he doesn’t remember living. At first he tells himself it’s a trick of the mind. But everything else he saw was real. So why not this?

With his waking life stalked by the disturbing scene, confusion quickly turns to obsession. Desperate for answers, Damon digs into his fractured past, and becomes convinced that the only way to remember…is to die again. And again. And again. When he meets a perfect stranger who’s all too willing to help, the stage is set for his dice with death.

But if this is what it takes to uncover the truth, maybe some memories are better left buried…"

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I’ve just finished reading Dead in the Water and honestly, John Marrs has done it again. This is actually the third book of his that I’ve read and enjoyed now, so I was really keen to dive into this one. If you’ve read his stuff before, you know what you're in for and this definitely didn't disappoint on that front.

The story is really chilling and follows Damon, who survives a near-drowning only to be haunted by a memory of a dead boy he doesn't recognise.  The pacing is good and the chapters are short, which always makes me tell myself "just one more" before I end up staying up way too late finishing it. I loved how the tension kept building as Damon became more obsessed with his fractured past.

The concept of him having to "die" again and again to recover his memories was so dark and gripping. It’s exactly the kind of "what would I do?" scenario that keeps you hooked from the first page to the last. There were a couple of moments where I had to suspend my disbelief a little bit - but that's part of the fun with a thriller like this - it’s a great read. 

If you’re looking for something that’s easy to get into but hard to put down, I’d definitely recommend giving this a go. 

Many thanks to the author, Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this book.

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The Lodge by Paul Finch

🔥🔥🔥 Published on 15 January 2026 🔥🔥🔥

Description from Goodreads:

"It’s the perfect getaway. Until there’s no way out.

You have been dreaming of an unforgettable weekend escape, and Black Tarn Lodge seems to offer everything—a magnificent Gothic mansion with towering turrets nestled in the misty Lancashire hills.

Expecting elegant dinners, vintage wines and a special late-night screening of a legendary lost film in the private cinema, all seems perfect—until night falls and a thick fog isolates you all from the world. But your phones go missing. Guests start vanishing. Then you find the body.

Someone, it seems, fell from the roof. But you can’t help wondering if he was pushed. Totally cut off, you cannot leave or call for help. You don’t know these people. But you need to decide who you can trust soon. Because this is not over. Who is going to be next—you?"

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The Lodge by Paul Finch is a bit of a departure from what I have previously seen from this author and I don't think the blurb or the description of the book accurately reflects the story found inside the pages. It sets a certain expectation that doesn't quite match the actual experience of the plot as it unfolds. While I know him best for his crime thrillers and police procedurals, in my opinion, this leans much more towards the horror genre than a standard murder mystery.

The story follows a group of dark tourism enthusiasts on a murder tour visiting the sites of gruesome killings and serial killer haunts. Their final stop is an overnight stay at a remote mansion in the Lancashire hills which was once the home of a famous horror actor. It's a great setup that feels very different to books I've read by him in the past as the focus shifts toward a more sinister and gothic atmosphere once the group becomes trapped by a dense fog.

The pace felt a little slow in places particularly during the journey between sites but there was an overriding sense of creepiness and tension that stayed consistent throughout the stay at the lodge. Even though I guessed the murderer earlier than expected, it was still fun to get there. It was actually quite refreshing to see the author delving into the horror genre as it takes me back to when I was younger when it was all I read.

Overall it's an atmospheric read that prioritises a sense of dread over a typical investigation. For anyone used to his more traditional crime novels, this is a darker shift but it's an enjoyable one if you appreciate a story that isn't afraid to get a bit more macabre.

Many thanks to the author, Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this, the new one from Paul Finch.

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From Malice to Ashes: Forest of No Mercy by Gary W. Toyn [Audiobook]

🎙🎙🎙 Narrated by Matt Armstrong🎙🎙🎙

Description from Goodreads:

"Before Auschwitz, before the gas chambers, there was Ponary—a forest outside Vilnius where 75,000 Jews were executed during World War II. In the beginning, the killers weren’t the Nazis. They were neighbors. From Malice to is a haunting historical novel that reveals one of the Holocaust’s earliest and most overlooked atrocities—the Ponary Massacre in Lithuania—where local militias carried out mass murder while SS officers stood by and took notes.

Olek Kosmen, a young Jewish man, becomes an unwilling eyewitness and chronicler. Hiding in the woods, he secretly records the horrors in a journal—until he’s captured and forced into the “Burning Brigade,” a prisoner unit ordered to exhume and destroy the bodies to hide the crime. Meanwhile, his fiancée escapes to neutral Sweden, and her family is exiled to the frozen gulags of Siberia. Their survival depends on impossible choices—and an escape tunnel dug with bare hands beneath a mass grave. Meticulously researched and deeply moving, this story is not just a look back at history—it’s a warning. In an age when antisemitism is once again on the rise, From Malice to Ashes reminds us what happens when hatred goes unchallenged and silence becomes complicity."

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I've just finished listening to From Malice to Ashes by Gary W. Toyn and I have to say it is a properly heavy but necessary bit of historical fiction. 

I'm always on the lookout for stories that shed light on the bits of the Second World War we don't talk about enough and this one focuses on the Ponary massacre in Lithuania.   I've read a fair few books set during this war but I have to admit I've never come across or read anything about what happened in this particular area or what the people there had to endure. It's a brutal look at what happened before the concentration camps even became the norm where neighbours turned on neighbours and the level of betrayal is just gutting.

The story follows several families torn apart by both the Nazis and the Soviets and Toyn does a brilliant job of weaving together their struggle for survival. It's clearly been meticulously researched and I was really impressed that the author includes references and extracts at the end to show exactly where the historical evidence was found. This added a whole other layer of authenticity to the narrative. While it doesn't shy away from the horrors there's a real thread of moral courage and hope running through it that stops it from being completely bleak.

It is a truly haunting account and it's one of those books that stays with you long after the final chapter. There were definitely times when it was difficult to listen to because of the subject matter but the writing is so engaging that I felt compelled to stay in my car for longer than was necessary just to keep in the story.

Now for the audiobook itself. Matt Armstrong is clearly a talented narrator and for the most part I thought he was really good. He has a great pace and managed the tension of the more claustrophobic scenes perfectly. However I did find myself wishing they'd gone with a dual narration setup. Having a male narrator do the female parts felt a bit forced and distracting as it came across as a bit parody style at times. It was a shame because it took me out of the moment during some of the most emotional scenes. It definitely would've worked much better with both male and female narrators to give those characters the depth they deserved.

It's a powerful look at a forgotten chapter of history and despite my niggles with the narration style the story itself is far too important to miss. I'm glad I gave it a listen even if I had to take a few breaks to process the weight of it all.

My thanks must go to the author, American Legacy Media and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of this important book.

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