“This weekly newsletter is written by me, Erica Spinks, so I can share stories about books, gardens, quilts and other interests with you.“ These are words from the footer of my weekly newsletters and, hopefully, gives you an idea of what to expect. I write a newsletter each Sunday and, if you subscribe, it will […]
Book review: An A-List for Death
Poppy McGowan returns in this sequel to Digging Up Dirt (which I reviewed last year). I’ve been eagerly waiting for this! Poppy is a TV researcher who is happiest behind the scenes. When a photograph of her with rock god Nathan Castle pops up on celebrity gossip sites, she’s not happy about the media feeding […]
In her garden
I’ve always loved magazines and I’ve always loved gardens. Combine the two and I’m yours! This is the cover of a beautiful new magazine from the stable of Stampington & Company, publishers of other creative titles. It’s actually a spin-off from In Her Studio magazine and contains stories, photographs and projects about women and their […]
Book review: The Beautiful Words
Sylvie is a lover of words and a collector of stories, only she has lost her own. She has no words for a night at a lighthouse that changed the relationship between her and her best friend and soulmate, Kase. What happened to rip them apart 23 years ago? When Kase invites Sylvie to the […]
Book review: The Murder Rule
This is a legal thriller set in the USA and is totally different to the author’s Cormac Reilly series set in Ireland. Hannah is a law student who schemes and lies to get herself into The Innocence Project at the University of Virginia. This project tries to prove innocence of wrongly-convicted prisoners but we’re not […]
Book review: A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons
Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh attends a dinner party at University College London. She expects the conversations will focus on the university’s investigative expedition to the Amazon but she doesn’t expect one of the professors’ wives to be poisoned by an unknown toxin. Saffron’s mentor, Dr Maxwell, is the chief suspect. As evidence mounts […]
Book review: The Thursday Murder Club
Oh, this is a fun read! I’m late to this book (it was published in 2020) and there’s now a sequel and a third on the way, but a little anticipation added to my keenness. In an English retirement village, four residents meet weekly to discuss unsolved crimes. They call themselves the Thursday Murder Club. […]
Book review: Frictional Characters
Frictional Characters is the sixth book in Elizabeth Spann Craig’s The Village Library Mysteries series. Set in the small town of Whitby, North Carolina, this is a classic cosy mystery. No one was excited when muckraker Jonas Merchant returned to town. He was an expert at uncovering secrets and rumours. He was also desperate for […]
Book review: The last painting of Sara de Vos
In 1631, Sara de Vos was admitted as a master painter to the Guild of St. Luke’s in Holland, the first woman to be so recognised. Three hundred years later, only one work attributed to her is known to remain – a haunting winter scene, At the Edge of a Wood, which hangs over the […]
Book review: Already Dead
Journalist Miranda Jack (Jax) is finally attempting to move on from the death of her husband by relocating up the coast with her young daughter, Zoe. Then a single carjacking by a gun-wielding man changes everything. Forced to drive at high speed up the motorway, Jax listens to the frantic rants of Brendan Walsh, a […]