Caimh McDonnell

My Husband’s Son (check out my review HERE) and I was immediately attracted to The Dangerous Kind’s title and cover. Jessamine Gooch presents a radio show that examines the lives of convicted killers and this prompts a woman to approach her outside the studio one day to seek her help in finding her missing friend, Cassie. The Dangerous Kind is a very topical and current read and O’Connor’s experience in the world of television comes through in this novel as she deals with situations that recently came to light and rocked the world of British TV, celebrity and journalism. What I found the most disturbing and unnerving, however, was O’Connor’s portrayal of the sense of security money and position give to some people – literally resulting in them thinking that they can get away with whatever they want, no matter how deprived.

On Christmas Eve in 1988, seven-year-old Alfie Marsden vanished in the dark Wentshire Forest Pass, when his father, Sorrel, stopped the car to investigate a mysterious knocking sound. Elusive online journalist, Scott King, whose ‘Six Stories’ podcasts have become an internet sensation, investigates the disappearance, interviewing six witnesses, including Sorrel and his ex-partner, to try to find out what really happened that fateful night. Journeying through the trees of the Wentshire Forest – a place synonymous with strange sightings, and tales of hidden folk who dwell there, he talks to a company that tried and failed to build a development in the forest, and a psychic who claims to know what happened to the little boy… Intensely dark, deeply chilling and searingly thought provoking, Changeling is an up-to-the-minute, startling thriller, taking you to places you will never, ever forget. Again we follow Scott King and his Six Stories podcast as he investigates the disappearance of seven-year-old Alfie Marsden on Christmas Eve 1988.

Known for her hard-hitting crime novels, Betsy Reavley has taken a different direction with Murder at the Book Club which fits more into the cosy crime genre. As DCI Barrett and DI Palmer investigate, Murder at the Book Club becomes part murder mystery and part, often tongue in cheek, look at human behaviour. And my second review is of The Quiet Ones which is about as far as you can get in tone and style from Murder at the Book Club! I have heard a lot about Betsy Reavley and her books being disturbing and given I read a fair amount of crime fiction and psychological thrillers I thought how dark and disturbing can they actually be?

An unrelentingly gripping mystery packed with twists and turns, A House of Ghosts is the perfect chilling read this winter. I absolutely adored The Constant Soldier by William Ryan and therefore couldn’t wait to read A House of Ghosts. Set in the winter of 1917, Kate Cartwright and her colleague Robert Donovan are sent by the War Office to investigate the guests at weekend of spiritualism Lord Highmount has arranged at his home, Blackwater Abbey. I didn’t rush through A House of Ghosts like I do other books as it begged to be savoured.