#Review by Lou of The Impossible Fortune By Richard Osman @richardosman @penguinrandom #TheThursdayMurderClub is back with #TheImpossibleFortune #CrimeFiction @VikingBooksUK

The Impossible Fortune
5th in The Thursday Murder Club series

Review by Louise Cannon (Lou)
Bookmarks and Stages

What joy, what excitement that Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, Bogdan, Ibraham are back doing what they do best in The Impossible Fortune, the latest warm, humorous, wise book in The Thursday Murder Club series. Richard Osman’s writing is top-notch!
Find out more in the blurb and my full review below. Thanks to Penguin for sending me a copy and a fox pin-badge. My opinions are entirely my own.

Blurb

Who’s got time to think about murder when there’s a wedding to plan?

It’s been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce is busy with table plans and first dances. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is dealing with family troubles, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his favourite criminal.

But when Elizabeth meets a wedding guest who fears for their life, the thrill of the chase is ignited once again. A villain wants access to an uncrackable code and will stop at nothing to get it. Plunged back into their most explosive investigation yet, can the gang solve the puzzle and a murder in time?

Review

From the minute the first page is opened, the dark humour begins. No one can write about bombs the way Richard Osman can and he’s on top form with his writing of this latest Thursday Murder Club Mystery. From the first to the last page, you’re drawn back into Cooper’s Chase and don’t want to leave. Oh, what I’d give to be part of that gang, in quite a lot of years, when I am old enough.
They always seem the best retirees ever! They may just need to live forever.

The way Richard Osman has his retirees relate and speak to each other is so highly observed, it sounds natural and is so realistic, even when solving a case. He truly breaths life into them and makes them relatable, whether you’re their age or not. I happen to be quite a lot younger. The way he’s captured so much into this book, from the tech world, gangs, even therapy in a way, without overcrowding the book and keeping a great pace and flow is highly skilful.
The depth of character and storylines, with also humour with great comedy timing is fantastic. The realms of hot topics covered, where Richard Osman goes in the genre of crime fiction, which isn’t quite as cosy as you may think with its edge, makes this series highly readable. The series so far is highly compulsive reading at any time of day.

Joyce is planning a wedding for her daughter, Joanna and there’s plenty to do so it’s a day of celebration and champagne. There’s one small problem, which, rather originally done, isn’t a vanishing groom, but a vanishing best man! This sets the stage for another juicy high stakes mystery to be solved by the Cooper’s Chase retirees.
There’s quite a fortune lurking around, the world of bitcoins, codes and a whole lot of red herrings and misdirection along the way.

The characters are as wonderful to read as ever. Elizabeth is grieving for her husband, which joins on from book 4, The Last Devil to Die. She now, however wants to heal and really wants to help Joyce more as she plans for the wedding of the year. The way she’s written really draws you, emotionally, towards her.
The friendship between the characters is deeply touching.

Joyce’s spark in her diary writing is just sublime, bringing more terrific humour.
You really feel for Ron and his family troubles and as for Ibrahim, he’s fascinating in how he is giving therapy to our favourite criminal.

From beginning to end, it’s quite hard to leave this lot and Richard Osman’s page-turning, utterly engrossing, suspenseful, humorous writing.

Not read The Thursday Murder Club yet or wondering in what order to read them in, here they are:

Please note that the cover isn’t actually blue. This is the reflection of the sky hitting the white cover, no filters. Its true cover colour is white. I thought it fun to show anyway, since the Thursday Murder Club are a bit rebellious and full of surprises.

#Review of An Academic Affair by Jodie McAlister @JodiMcA @BookMinxSJV #AnAcademicAffair

An Academic Affair
By Jodie McAlister

written by Louise Cannon

An Academic Affair was more than I had hoped for. I hadn’t expected to be swept away by it, but I was engrossed in it. Thank to Sara Jade Virtue for surprising me with this book a little earlier in the year.
Check out the blurb and my full review below.

Blurb

From rivals in the classroom. . . to partners in real life?

Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher have known each other for fifteen years – and they’ve disliked each other for every one of them. It started with a minor altercation in an undergrad literature class, but as their academic careers developed, so did the intensity of their arguments. By the time they graduate with their doctorates, they’re embroiled in a full-on rivalry.

So when a position comes up that Sadie and Jonah are both perfect for, their ongoing enmity explodes into a red-hot competition. But as Sadie fights to secure her future, she realises there might be a way for both of them to get their dream job. There’s just one catch – they’ll have to get married first.
When things get personal, though, Sadie will have to keep her eye on the prize. A fake marriage isn’t worth jeopardising her real career over, is it?

Tropes:
Enemies to lovers Marriage of convenience
One Bed He falls first

Review

An Academic Affair turns into more of a compulsive read than I’d ever imagined. The characters are well-developed and ones I reckon many readers will actually want to read about. The attitudes and intensity of arguments are written in such a way that you do care and wonder what happens next.

As for the plot, it is taken from both Sadie and Jonah’s points of view. There are also footnotes, which would perhaps make academics smile a bit. This feature was interesting and went well with the story and setting. Set in an English Literature class, there are some aptly placed bookish references throughout. You’ll learn a bit about the precariat social class as you go along, if you aren’t sure about it yet. It also provides some of the feel and positioning of some characters.

An Academic Affair is one of the strongest, deepest of its kind and one of the stronger, more readable and likeable books to be set in Australia, in my opinion.

How will a fake marriage go? Is it worth it for a job? Will real romance prevail? How will Sadie and Jonah’s lives play out?

I recommend you finding out from your local libraries and bookshops.

#Review of The Bad Women by Jennie Ensor @Jennie_Ensor @HobeckBooks #TheBadWomen #CrimeFiction

The Bad Women
By Jennie Ensor

Review by Louise Cannon

The Bad Women see a return to The Brampton Village Mysteries in book 2 of this twisty series. Check out the blurb and my review below as I join the Hobeck Books Blog Tour.
Please note, all opinions are my own and nor am I affiliated to anything or anyone.

Blurb

It is a new year and the Covid pandemic is a distant memory for the residents of Wilton Close. If only the sudden death of neighbour Tara Sanderson wasn’t still haunting some of them. But Tara is very much alive in memories, and consciences – in particular, those of friends Ashley Khan, Elspeth Chambers and Clare ‘Bird Woman’ Titchfield.

Then a young woman from a nearby caravan park is found dead in a local quarry. Police conclude it was suicide; she was gravely ill when she died. But is there more to the tragic death than meets the eye?

Attempting to lay ghosts to rest, Ashley becomes obsessed with solving the mystery, finding an unlikely ally in the local police. Her friends insist on helping, too. Clare must make amends after she carelessly let the local vicar snatch her drawing of the scene of Tara’s death. Elspeth seeks atonement for her role in Tara’s unfortunate demise – while doing her best to quell suspicions that the three friends are guilty of a heinous crime.

The trio find themselves trailing the young woman’s suspected killers, pitching them against powerful men determined to keep their own secrets hidden. To stand a chance of defeating their adversaries, the women must find a courage beyond their imagination.

Review

Villages are a great place for a murder mystery. Even in reality, the sleepiest village probably harbours its secrets. None quite as dark as Little Brampton though. There are strong feelings, some which is grief for someone our main characters knew and some because a suicide just might not be that at all…

Ashley Khan, Elspeth Chambers and Clare ‘Bird Woman’ Titchfield are friends whose points of view, along with DC. Kate Peters readers will follow in each chapter. They take it upon themselves to look for murder suspects for a young woman found in a quarry. The search takes you to some interesting places, such as Dolphin Clinic for alternative therapies, it isn’t something you read everyday. There are a few original ideas, such as this one within the plot that stand out an pique interest.

The book has that sinister, cosy crime feel, with many twists, intriguing characters and a whole lot of clues and red-herrings to keep you guessing and turning those pages.

#Review by Lou of In Conversation: Belinda Bauer and Elly Griffiths #BelindaBauer @ellygriffiths @BloodyScotland #TheImpossibleThing #TheFrozenPeople #CrimeFiction

In Conversation: Belinda Bauer and Elly Griffiths
A Bloody Scotland Event

Review and pics by Louise Cannon

This concludes my reviews of Bloody Scotland event reviews for 2025, since returning from Stirling, I’ve had many family things to handle, so, the reviews have taken a little longer than normal to all be written out. So, last but not least, here is my review of Belinda Bauer and Elly Griffiths talking about their latest books and more… The Crime In The Spotlight author was Allison Meldrum with Keep Me Safe.

Listening to Elly Griffiths and Belinda Bauer talk about books, films and more, was very insightful, especially when it came to book adaptations and their latest books. If you ever have the opportunity to see them together, they entertain in their expertly, flowing chat.

Belinda Bauer has previously won the CWA Gold Dagger with her debut, Blacklands and the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year for Rubbernecker. She now has a new novel called, The Impossible Thing.
For this latest thriller, Belinda Bauer was inspired by a guillemot’s egg and bird egg crimes being committed. She weaves, what was a real mystery about what happened to this valuable egg, into her thriller.
Her thrillers are stand-alone in a sense, but she does sometimes, overlap some characters as she builds her worlds.

Belinda Bauer has worked on major films and has some interesting anecdotes about Jaws. It was insightful about how she turns books into films, since so many are adapted.

Elly Griffiths (you will also find books under Domenica de Rosa, Elly isn’t her real name), is best known for The Ruth Galloway books. Fear not, readers of this series, she will return someday to them, for now, she has a brand new exciting sounding series to get your teeth into. It all starts with The Frozen People. Central to this series is Ali Dawson, a detective working on cold cases. She has travelled back in time, but the book also has a grounding in the present day. It sounds intriguing. I bought the book and will some time get chance to read an review it. Currently other family members have snatched it away to read…

They talked about writers and publishers can never quite guess the market. From an author’s point of view, they write what they’d like to read themselves.
They spoke about constantly having to play off the book and the reader in the process, making the relationship between reader and writer an active one.
Their drive to write never disappears, they divulged, even after all these years.

There was much laughter in the room, and I’d heard this at another panel too, that someone, in their case a different book festival, mistaken the words plotter and pantser for Otter and Panther. I’ll leave it up to you readers to guess which author is which.

Belinda Bauer talked about watching films and reading The Famous Five before turning to writing novels.

Elly Griffiths also read Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Nancy Spain, Wilkie Collins, Kate Atkinson, William Shaw and more…

Calling all Jack Jordan Fans, Here is the #CoverReveal of Deception @JackJordan_author @simonschusterUK #Thriller #Deception #JackJordan #CompulsiveReaders #BlogTour

Cover Reveal of
Deception
By Jack Jordan

Jack Jordan’s books are well-written page-turners that pose a moral dilemma. Deception will materialise as his latest thriller. It is described as being The Chain meets Squid Game meets Emily the Criminal. Check out the cover and blurb below…

A deadly game. The ultimate price. The Chain meets Squid Game meets Emily the Criminal in this pulse-pounding new thriller from the master of the moral dilemma, Jack Jordan.

‘No one crafts a dilemma quite like Jack Jordan’ Janice Hallett
‘Jack Jordan goes from strength to strength’ L. V. Matthews

Emma and Miles are targeted by a mysterious syndicate called The Levels, who offer them the chance to complete a series of tasks in order to earn money to afford their son’s life-saving treatment.

The catch? Each task is a crime, and as they escalate in intensity so will the payout.

As the levels get darker, they must ask themselves how far they’ll go and how much they’ll risk to save their child.

Follow the author

IG: Jackjordan_author Publication Date: 4 June 2026

IG: likely_suspects Print length: 416 pages.

IG: thebookdealer Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

#Review by Lou of In Conversation: Richard Armitage & Denise Mina an @BloodyScotland Panel @RCArmitage @author_denise #RichardArmitage #DeniseMina #TheCut #TheGoodLiar #CrimeFiction #BloodyScotland

In Conversation: Richard Armitage & Denise Mina

Review by Louise Cannon

Firstly, author, Andrew Raymond was the author for Crime In the Spotlight reading a section from one of his new books from the DCI Lomond series. He sounds an author worth checking out. I have a book to review and he informed me there’s another on the way… Now, onto the main event…

Sitting and watching a conversation between Richard Armitage and Denise Mina is fascinating. It just flows and instantly captivates. They know how to hook you, not only into their books, but a little into their worlds. They make you think, some of the talk was highly relatable, some of that, for me, on sad notes, but still…
That’s the beauty and skill of their conversation, whether they were talking about easy topics or more difficult, heart-rendering ones, they made you feel it, they made you understand a time, a place, a person.
They’re highly talented and together are a powerhouse, ultimately, giving a powerful, moving talk about their books and also incredible insights through their experiences…

Richard Armitage, known for screen and on the page. He’s known for Spooks, The Hobbit Trilogy and Obsession, topped the bestseller chart with his sensational debut thriller Geneva and his new cold case novel is The Cut.

Denise Mina has collected a shelf load of awards in a glittering career, including the McIlvanney Prize, CWA Daggers, and two Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year awards. Her new novel is The Good Liar. She studied forensic science for cross examining in the lawyers world. It was insightful how she talked about some forms of evidence now not being considered reliable, such as bite marks and blood splatters and such things used pre-DNA. She also pondered why so many people in prisons are of the working class. More about her book later…

After being very impressed by the story-telling of Geneva, liking it more than I expected, I remembered Richard Armitage mentioning The Cut last year. It’s now published and is an excellent book. His talk about The Cut is heart-rendering and sincere. If you were bullied in the 90’s you’ll really feel the emotion of what was an incredibly powerful and moving talk. The Cut takes place between 1993 and present day and sounds pacey and atmospherically intense as he delves into the corrosive nature of bullying and sounds like there are many twists and turns along the way…

Richard Armitage talked about how he is interested in the person you’d say was the villain of the piece, what caused the effect. Perhaps, refreshingly and original, he said he would like people to be divided by that particular character in the book.

Denise Mina’s novel, The Good Liar, is about a Glaswegian in London, as well as examining this, also looks at the effects of a chaotic family structure and climbing the social ladder to find safety, but is that all a pretence? Is it really a safer place in life to be?

There was interesting chat about how Scots in London downplay their Scottishness, in a way that then no one can quite place you. I found this recognisable when in London, but then again, I don’t have the accent of my home town either, even when coming from there, so it can be fun playing “guess where I come from,” or, I’ve just thought, could be used more mysteriously and not just for a bit of entertainment.

Both books involve young people and flawed characters, but the authors also, interestingly discussed families in present day with chaotic lives and how children are desperate to get those “Likes” on social media platforms. Then, how some parents also like to live vicariously through their children instead of leading their own lives… It was a thought-provoking discussion they had.

Whilst talking about audiobooks, Audible in-particular and then going to book format, Richard Armitage talked about the musicality of writing for audio format and stripping back to present scenes and more, which, like accent descriptions etc are added in the printed book. He disclosed how he had to present a manuscript to Audible before they signed everything off. It shows, even with a celebrity status, it wasn’t an instant yes, nor was it just for the sake of it.

Denise Mina has done an audio piece as well that had to be read in a P.G. Wodehouse like rhythm. Having just seen the fabulous Wodehouse In Wonderland play starring Robert Daws, I knew exactly what she was talking about. I had to smile at this unexpected linkage.

This fascinating talk concluded with the excitement that Geneva and The Cut are optioned for TV. It’s one of many stages which may or may not go ahead, but it’s a start and something for you to perhaps remember he felt confident enough to mention it at Bloody Scotland.

There will be more books to come from both authors…