Maddy's Book Blog

The French Market Murder by Greg Mosse   I really enjoyed The French Bookshop Murder , and I equally enjoyed The French Market Murder , set in the beautiful French town of Sainte‑Catherine — also known as the book village. It was lovely to return to Zoe Pascal, her little dog Russell, and the familiar faces who make the village feel so alive. Greg Mosse captures that charming, slightly eccentric atmosphere again, and it was a pleasure to slip back into their world. Zoe Pascal joins forces with Denis, who runs the local guest house, to create a book tour where she curates a bespoke reading list for each visitor. The group is full of interesting characters, each carrying secrets of their own. When a body is discovered in the house next door to the bookshop, suspicion quickly spreads — could the culprit be one of the book‑tour guests, or someone from the village itself? With tensions rising and rumours swirling, it once again falls to Zoe to untangle the truth and uncover the ki...

  The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh   I’ve really enjoyed Rosie Walsh’s previous books, so I was excited to read this one. Her writing is vivid and emotionally sharp, bringing the story fully to life. Told across two timelines, 2010 and 2022, it weaves together enough mystery and intrigue to keep you turning the pages, always wanting to understand how the past has shaped the present. When Carrie and Johan marry on a beach in Thailand in 2010, they’re madly in love and certain they’ve found their forever. But everything shatters when the police storm their wedding and arrest Johan on drug charges. He pleads guilty, refuses to see Carrie again, and their future ends in an instant. By 2022, Carrie is married to Robin, with two gorgeous children, and is ready to return to life as a surgeon. A placement in Sweden brings her back into the orbit of her old mentor — and to the shocking discovery that Johan is out of prison. Still needing answers, still carrying the we...

  The Secret Thread by Eve Chase   Having read and enjoyed The Midnight Hour by Eve Chase, I was excited to pick up The Secret Thread — and I enjoyed it just as much. Her writing has that wonderfully immersive, almost classic feel to it, the kind that pulls you straight into the story. This one unfolds across two timelines, 1969 and 2024, with the past gradually revealing how the present came to be, and I loved the way the threads between them slowly tightened. Mimi Mott is a very famous, yet fiercely private, style icon and exclusive decorator — wealthy, influential, and still grieving the recent loss of her husband. She finally decides her life story deserves to be told, choosing to reveal it through a charity auction where every item comes with its own tale. To help shape those stories she hires Jo O’Mara to write the copy, though Jo has her own reasons for needing the job. Mimi is also supported by Woody, a very handsome young man, and more than a few sparks seem to ...

  Common Decency by Tom Allen   I did enjoy this offering from Tom Allen, though not quite as much as I’d hoped. I couldn’t shake the feeling that it would have landed even better as an audiobook, read by Tom himself, because his voice and rhythm are so clearly woven through the story. On the surface it’s about a group of residents banding together to save an old oak tree, but there’s so much more happening beneath that premise — layers of personal struggle, community tension and the quiet ways people try to do the right thing. Oak Drive is a small road opposite a little park with a very old oak tree at its heart. The residents keep an eye on one another, so when the council announces plans to turn the park into an electric‑charging station — removing the ancient oak in the process — they rally together. But nothing on Oak Drive is quite what it seems. Donald, the self‑appointed ruler of the road and dictator of his long‑suffering wife Fanny, is hiding more than anyone rea...

  The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton I absolutely love Kate Morton’s books, so I was incredibly excited to read this one — and it didn’t disappoint. Her writing has that timeless, classic quality I always fall into so easily, and once again she delivers a beautifully crafted story full of atmosphere, mystery and emotional depth. She’s one of those authors whose books feel like modern classics the moment you open them. When Lauren was sixteen, she was hiding in the family tree house while the rest of the family were at a picnic. From her perch, she watched her mum and baby brother return home for the birthday‑cake knife — and then saw a stranger appear at the door. What happened next changed everything: Lauren witnessed her mother kill the man, before fainting from shock. The police accepted her mother’s claim of self‑defence… but was it the truth? Fifty years later, the sisters gather for their mother’s birthday and realise her memory is fading fast. If Lauren doesn’t uncover wha...

  The Seaside Book Club by Helen Rolfe I’m an absolute sucker for a story centred around book clubs or bookshops — and this one had both, so I was hooked from the start. The fact I read it in just three days says everything about how much I enjoyed it. I simply couldn’t put it down. This isn’t my first Helen Rolfe book, and I’m certain it won’t be my last. Howard and his wife Bonnie have recently moved to Dorset. Howard, a devoted reader, joins a midnight book club with members scattered across the UK and Australia. Bonnie isn’t a reader herself, but she supports his passion wholeheartedly — including his decision to buy the local bookshop to save it from developers. Margot, trapped in a miserable marriage she stayed in for the sake of her boys, relies on the Midnight Book Club as her lifeline, sneaking down to the basement at night so her husband won’t forbid it. Faye runs the group, having taken over from her aunt, but she’s dealing with her own troubles as her twin sister’s ...

  A Wish For Beth by Audrey Davis Having read and enjoyed the first three books in the Cranley Wishes series, I was very excited to dive into number four — and it didn’t disappoint. Audrey Davis writes with such humour, her tongue always firmly in her cheek, yet her characters are so well drawn that you can’t help becoming completely invested in them. I actually preferred this instalment to book three, and I raced through it in no time. Beth moved to Cranley after her husband died, taking a job at the local pub to revamp the food offering — and the chance to live in was a welcome escape from the home that held too many memories. Kieran arrived in Cranley for very different reasons: after his ex‑fiancée Lisa ran off with her yoga instructor, he bought a ‘doer‑upper’ on the advice of an old friend of his mum’s. What neither of them expected was the interference of a very special genie called Gigi, who lives in an old pinball machine in the pub’s cellar. Think the genie from Aladd...