Recommended

The Southern Boys Trilogy by KC Wells**** Another series with a huge cast of interesting characters and a community that seems familiar after a few chapters of the first volume. I enjoyed all the books in the trilogy though I think the first will remain my favourite. Yet again, an author to trust!

Readable

The Cat Returns to Adderley by Sam Burns*** Nicely written retelling of Puss in Boots. The main appeal for me was in the fairy tale element. and there was some interesting magic.

Death at Rainbow Cottage by Jo Allen*** Well written crime story set around Penrith and some of the local gay community with a cast of diverse detectives. Fairly gripping, with a serial killer element, but I wasn’t altogether convinced by the ending.

Secrets in Blood by Jack Cartwright*** Competent police procedural but I never got very interested in the detectives, the suspects or the victims. I was totally unconvinced by the ending, and I found it odd that the lead detective hadn’t been at least temporarily removed from her post – her bosses were clearly unobservant about her mental health to the point of negligence.

Readable fanfic

What we don’t say by museaway ***  http://archiveofourown.org/works/978486  Star Trek. Jim and Spock get married.

Poor

A Husband for Hartwell by JA Rock and Lisa Henry** Once you can accept that same sex marriage was legalised in the eighteenth century the story can unfold. But it was rushed and confusing, possibly due to poor collaborative writing and I didn’t really believe in any of the emotions. I won’t look for these authors again.

Murder on the Old Bog Road by David Pearson** Boring police procedural that reads like a policeman’s notebook. Set in Eire so it’s guardai, not police, but the basics are the same.

The Bone Witch by Ivy Asher** I was going to give this three stars – it seemed to be a perfectly readable m/f romantic paranormal thriller though some of the magic was rather confusing. Then it ended on a cliff-hanger, presumably to make me buy the next book in the series. That isn’t going to happen. I resent cliff-hangers at the end of books – even in a series I want things to draw to a satisfactory conclusion ‘for now’ unless it’s billed as a trilogy.

Abandoned

Spoken Bones by NC Lewis.  Crime story set on Cumbrian coast. So many thoroughly unpleasant people in the first few chapters that I gave up.