“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine.  Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for.  If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to.  This week my book is: The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North. Here’s the cover and description:

Neil Garvie can’t move on from a thing he didn’t do, back when he was twelve. He saw the boy. He knew he needed help. But all he could do was hide.

Now with a successful career as a criminal psychiatrist, Neil pours himself into his work, understanding the very darkest of human behaviour. Because, despite what he saw that day, Neil knows there’s no such thing as a monster.

But now he’s got a call. His father, John, a retired police officer, has disappeared, last seen approaching a high cliff, known locally as a suicide spot. Neil can’t believe he didn’t see the signs.
It’s just, the more he looks, the more it seems like there weren’t any signs. In fact, John seemed to be conducting some kind of off-the-books investigation, into the mysterious murder of an unidentified woman.
Why didn’t John go to his former colleagues? What did he uncover? Did it drive him to take his own life, or did it drive him into the hands of a killer?

But the most important questions of all are the ones that Neil doesn’t know to ask. How does this modern-day murder connect back to what happened that day when he was twelve? And, this time, when he comes face to face with the darkest killer he’s ever faced, will he have the courage to step out of the shadows and save the people he loves?

Expected publication: January 2025