Fiction

As you may have guessed from blurb, The Call of the Citadel centers upon the clashes between two different races in the Indus Valley civilisation. The story opens with gruesome murders on the bank of river Indu.

The Guardians of Erum is a Middle East inspired fantasy novel about djinns, occultists, metaphor, faith, and political uprising. And for a fantasy novel, it is more firmly rooted in reality than most. However, one of the many reasons that I love to read is to experience new places and new cultures. On that score, this book is utterly fascinating. And much to his credit, author Ali Hasan Ali really succeeds in rendering this world – a great city of Erum in the Middle East – with the perfect description of places.

Skeins by Richa Gupta is an eloquent story of how one group of rather mixed up women used the journey. They're able to dig deep into their past and their fears. The struggles along the trail gave them the strength and clarity to face who they really are and what they're capable of.

The Last Mrs Parrish is admittedly light on psychological suspense but is one very sassy thriller which takes some surprising turns as the story progresses and quickly becomes an insidiously addictive read! The simple premise undersells this novel which has a lot more substance than it might appear and is underpinned by a solid plot, ensuring that it is more than simply chic lit with its claws out! In a well constructed story that zips along and touches upon some surprisingly weighty issues the end result is a riotously funny and very honest novel.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager contains all the horror and gothic tropes that I love in this type of story – ominous dreams, strange noises at night, cryptic notes, secret nooks and crannies, a combination of unfriendly and over friendly neighbours, mysterious and sudden disappearances, and that's just for starters. The creepy, picturesque setting of The Bartholomew was as glamorous and seductive as it was eerie and claustrophobic, and as you would expect has a cursed history, of suspicious deaths.