The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Barr

With a fellow bookworm, we seem to have managed to go on some buddy reads that are helping to clear our tbr piles. ‘The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers’ has been sitting on my shelf after I saw all the love it was getting on Bookstagram, and I spotted it in one of my favourite independent bookshops, Warwick Books, – so, it was definitely time that I read it. This is also a book that I chose because the cover just made me happy on the beautiful hardback edition.

I adored this book – it was just a wonderful hug in a book. This has so many of the things that I seem to be loving in a book at the moment, especially one that I consider to be a cosy read.

‘The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers’ was set up by Pippa Allsbrook as somewhere that those who love creating puzzles of all kinds can live and work together; a haven for those who may need a little companionship as they get older. However, one day Pippa finds an unusual package on the doorstep which leads her to compile her final puzzle, and unravel a mystery that has been hanging over the fellowship for quite some time.

I loved that in this book we are privy to that final puzzle; we see the same clues as the characters and we have the chance to try and solve them before the solution is revealed in the chapter. The puzzle almost becomes a character in the book.

There is also a dual timeline in the story that alternates between chapters; we see what took Pippa to decide to establish the fellowship, and the friendships and experiences of her earlier life. Alongside this, we follow Clayton as he tries to solve the puzzle left to him by Pippa – as well as him going on a journey of self-discovery of where he has come from and where he may be going.

But, for me, something that was very special about this novel is that we did not just have wonderful characters – we had wonderful older characters. I am not sure if we are just being treated to so many more books with brilliant older characters, or if I am just drawn to books that feature older characters when I am looking for my cosy comfort reads, but, either way, this is a book full of brilliant, bold characters that you would love to hang out with.

So, if you are looking for a charming, cosy read as we enter the long winter months, then this is a book that will bring you some sunshine and joy. And I hope we hear more from Samuel Barr, as I think he may be someone that becomes an auto-buy author for me in the future.

Let’s Split Up by Bill Wood

If you love everything nineties and early noughties, especially if you are the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ generation, then you will be a great fan of ‘Let’s Split Up’.

This book is a joy of the YA horror/thriller genre and is a whole lot of fun to read. Set in a small American town, with a high school, a group of friends who may not quite fit into a clique, and a house with a dark secret – I mean that is the ideal recipe for a bit of a spooky read with a thrilling edge. And then when you throw into the mix the killing of the ‘it’ couple from the high school (not a spoiler, as it says that in the blurb), you have all that you need for a great autumn read.

I really enjoyed this novel, as it was like a love letter to so many of the things that I love from my teenage years – yet things that may have always slightly spooked me. But it also contained great characters, especially the four friends that we follow through the story. I loved their desire to solve the mystery and the dark secret of the manor, because I think, really, we all wanted to do that if these are the stories we enjoyed. The tension was also brilliantly created with some fantastic descriptive writing that brought it all to life.

If you still read YA (which I hope you do), or even if you don’t and maybe you start, this would be a great book to pick up, as there are so many different ways that it can be enjoyed – but I do think nostalgia was the one that really hooked me in.

Thank you Bill Wood for bringing this much joy to a horror book (is that a contradiction in terms?).

In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan

This is a book that (no surprise) I have been meaning to read for ages. And when it was recommended by a number of people I admire, I knew I had to pick it up and give it a read.

Now, there are so many reasons that I loved this book. Firstly, I found it fascinating that it was about bringing AI into police work. How would removing human emotion impact police work? Would it bring more efficiency to the process? There is so much to unpack here, as there were moments of admin that the AI was certainly pretty efficient at – being able to watch hours of CCTV for example. But it is true that sometimes the human touch and a little emotion is not a hindrance but a help. As well as this, there was the intrigue of how DCS Frank works with the AIDE (Locke); how he becomes almost human when she needs someone to speak to or share ideas with. Although that does come with its own dangers – as she soon finds out…

Alongside this, there was the brilliant crime thriller element of the book. Someone goes missing every 90 seconds, one could say ‘in the blink of an eye’, and it becomes DCI Franks job to decide which cases about missing people the team should return to and hopefully solve for their families. When she spots the connection, it brings it all a little close to home – but there are no spoilers here, so you will have to read the book if you want to know how.

And, finally, I know the area that this book is set in very well. There is something rather fun about reading about an area you know in a good book. Especially when there are even some quite niche references like that hardware store on the high street… I would quite like DCS Kat Franks’ cottage, too, but I think that is an actual work of fiction (or has been moved from one end of the town the other).

Overall, Jo Callaghan has crafted fantastic characters in a fantastic crime thriller. And I am now rather excited to read ‘Leave No Trace’, because this is a world I would like to enter again. This book deserves all the accolades it has received, and I am already recommending it to all the crime/thriller fans I know.

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

‘Strange Sally Diamond’ has been sitting on my shelf for far too long, so when a lovely bookworm offered to buddy read with me, I knew it was time to take the book off my shelf and read it. And, I am so glad that I did – and it is definitely a great book to buddy read.

Sally Diamond does not think that life is strange; in fact, she has been happy with her existence until the death of her father. From this moment, her life changes forever, and everything she thought she knew starts to crumble. This is a story where I absolutely can not share any spoilers, too, because this is an incredible read. Although not a light read, this is quite a dark tale, but there are still some moments of humour in it.

The book is a fascinating study of human nature. As well as that age-old question: nature versus nurture? All of which makes it such an amazing buddy read, as there is so much to debate in its pages. It will really make you question what Liz Nugent makes you and her characters believe about those you encounter as you read the book. And it probably does teach us all to be a little more kind, as we never really know everything about anyone, and maybe our prejudgements are not always accurate.

I do not feel I can do a long post about this book because it has to be read to be fully appreciated and I do not want to spoil anyone’s reading experience. I will, however, say that this is a book that has introduced me to a new author who I would like to read more from, because if they are even half as good as this one, then they will be fantastic reads, with well-crafted characters and thought-provoking stories.