Review: The House That Eats the Dead by Max Doty
20 August 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Review, Books, fiction, Horror, Max Doty, Review, The House That Eats the Dead, writing
My Five Word TL:DR Review: A Good Time Was Had
I’m just going to be honest. More often than not when I request a book I don’t read the description, or I just skim the parts that really interest me. I know what sort of book I like and I also have a number of authors that I will hit ‘request’ for in a New York minute if I see a new release on the horizon. So, going into THTEtD, well firstly this was a ‘new to me’ author and I had no real idea what it was about – other than the title – which, I also hold my hands up – I rather lead myself down the garden path with and thought it was going to be more of a ‘killing’ house – I don’t know why I though that but I did. As it happens, and again, confession, when I picked this up it was almost begrudgingly and with the expectation that it wasn’t going to win me over. I was wrong. There you go. This was very entertaining. I had no problem eating this up at all in fact the only problem I had was putting it down. Considering how busy I’ve been recently I ended up staying up into the early hours to finish it. Original, strangely horrible and very addictive.
Now, first off. I’m going to forewarn some of you out there, and you know who you are, there is a family dog, and it unfortunately has a fatal accident. I don’t want to give away spoilers but let me just say that the house does not kill the dog! And, yes, I was upset because I’m a dog lover and have two dogs. I’m not a lover of the demise of the family pet, any more than I am a lover of the girlfriend/wife who dies in the first few chapters of a book as a means of provoking revenge or payback or whatever in the husband/boyfriend. To an extent, yes, I guess the author did use this death to ease readers into what’s really happening with the house, and before you all break out the pitchforks and torches let me just say he’s much more ruthless with the people he ‘lets go’ and some of them were equally innocent. I’m just stating this to help you make an informed decision really, the whole family dog demise might be enough to put some readers off this – so you have been warned.
Moving on. Claire and Tom have decided to move from the City and have finally found a house that they think is perfect for their family. They’re not the only ones bidding, this is a popular house in a very sought after area and a tough economic market too – they can’t really afford to go too high. Claire finally writes a very personal letter of submission and the family find themselves the lucky owners of a new house. Straight away there are odd things, strange noises at night, things just seem to go missing, are they displaced? It’s all very odd. Okay, everyone puts things down, or more to the point thinks they’ve put things in a specific place only to find them somewhere else, with this house, that’s totally different – but I won’t say more – other than things escalate.
I really don’t want to ruin this for anyone else and part of the fun for me was the uniqueness of this and discovering it for myself.
Instead, here’s what worked.
Well, firstly the author doesn’t try to explain things. There is no explanation. I don’t know whether this is a haunted house story in the traditional sense because that usually involves an entity of some sort that has passed away but lingers and haunts people. So, this isn’t really a haunting. It’s more like the house is sentient. How, I have no idea and frankly I also don’t care that much to know because any explanation would probably be trite at best. Just go with the flow. This house feels, it knows, it understands and it can learn. If you could have a pet house, well, here it is.
I wonder how much I can tell you? Well, the clue is really in the title. So, this house eats what is dead. Your oak table and chairs used to be alive. Cut flowers. Pieces of chicken or fish in your fridge. Pages of a book – what is paper made of? I never really thought of this but it makes you think, in a very surface level way because you’re too busy moving on with the story – which is quick paced and relentless and, frankly, compulsive.
The characters. I liked Claire. She is pretty crazy at points and you may be reading and thinking ‘really’, but her nickname as a younger women did involve the word chaos, and whilst she’s turned into some sort of yummy middle class very well heeled woman, secretly, she feels like she’s become a different version of herself. This definitely feeds into the story.
Also, the house changes people. It’s a hungry house and there’s nothing like the power of suggestion to a mind that either wants power, or popularity or even just a bedtime story. It’s a clever house. More than that it attracts, lets just say ‘the wrong sort’. This could be a very useful house to certain people. It eats things, evidence, even history. sometimes it makes things too easy. It really is a fantastic concept.
The writing is good, the pace is good, the story is good. It feels really unique and I was gripped and entertained.
This was good, entertaining, easy to read and enjoyable. Don’t expect deep and meaningful as such although there is a theme here about abuse of power and more so right and wrong and how easy it is to make the wrong choices if they make your life simpler.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4 of 5 stars
Review: A Trade of Blood (Ana and Din Mysteries #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett
17 August 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #Shadow of the Leviathan, A Trade of Blood, Ana and Din Mysteries *3, Book Reviews, Books, Fantasy, Mystery, Review, Robert Jackson Bennett
My Five Word TL:DR Review: My Favourite of the Series
I don’t know how it’s possible for A Trade of Blood to have topped The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption but there we are. Bennett is clearly some sort of mind bending magician because this is without doubt my favourite so far, and given that the previous two were both 5* reads for me how do I even begin to rate this! 6 out of 5 maybe.
Anyway, first things first. If you’re not reading this series yet I implore you to do so. Particularly if you love to read a combination of fantasy and mystery. Also, if you are intending to read this series – and how could you resist after I begged you to do so – then spoilers may be lurking below. I always endeavour to avoid spoilers but lets just be honest, the very fact that this is book number three is already something of a spoiler – in that our two main characters are still alive and kicking that is.
So, from the first book in the series I couldn’t help comparing Ana and Din to Holmes and Watson (although only in the sketchiest of ways), the story and characters totally stand on their own but there is without doubt comparisons with Ana and her eccentricity and sharp wit (Holmes) and Din and his ability to bring lighter elements to the story (Watson), now couple that with a mystery involving two warring clans and star crossed lovers and, well, you had me at ‘hello’ to be honest.
In this story our investigators move to the Third Ring to investigate the murder of a girl from one of the powerful clans whilst she was meeting with the eldest son of her family’s arch rivals. There is a long history of hatred between the two families and so in one respect the death feels like an obvious outcome – except the two were actually lovers. Yet, the evidence against the young man is strong and both families are on the brink of war – a prospect that could cause chaos across the empire.
I won’t go further into the plot. Like the rest of the series there is no shortage of leads to follow and I don’t want to muddy the water or give away spoilers.
What did I love about A Trade of Blood.
The relationship between Ana and Din grows more interesting with each instalment. Din in particular has experienced great character growth which gives the two a much better working partnership, whereas at first it felt very much that Din had to be led he now actively takes part in the investigations and comes across as quietly confident. Ana is as eccentric as ever, I felt like she took more of a backseat in this novel but I didn’t mind too much as she still managed to boss everyone about and parade her crazy eccentricity with gleeful abandon.
I found the mystery itself really gripping and there’s certainly no shortage of action, victims or bloodshed in this particular mystery. I was a bit staggered in fact at just how far things are taken in this instalment, I began to wonder if anyone would make it out alive. Seriously, I actually did start to have that horrible sense of impending doom where you begin to dread that a character you like might meet a grisly end.
I will say that Bennett has a fantastic imagination that he really uses to help bring the world to life and build on the aforementioned instalments. If it’s not cats that dancing to a particular tune and helping to harvest beans then it’s dark and foreboding forests with inner pathways that cannot be accessed without strange alchemy. There are many secrets here and little tidbits that hopefully will continue to bear fruit in future instalments. For example, Din is beginning to experience strange episodes that appear to be expected given his augmentations, it doesn’t bode well that he is experiencing these so early in his career. On top of this we learn something of a race, almost god-like, that are now extinct, huge statues litter the forest and everything seems to point to a huge secret, hidden area. Not to mention, the method of murder – what the actual heck, it’s enough to give me nightmares.
To be honest, each of these mysteries, although all self contained and all taking place within different areas of the empire, help to build on the characters and the world they live in. It’s why I love series like this. Each story brings us a few little nuggets about the characters that makes them feel grounded and relatable (well, I’m not sure Ana is supposed to be relatable, or grounded, to be fair).
Sincerely, I hope that many more episodes are planned for Ana and Din and I highly recommend this series.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 6 of 5 stars (I went there)
Review: The Unknown by Riley Sager
10 August 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, fiction, reading, Review, Riley Sager, The Unknown
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Liked Not Loved This One
Okay, I’ve read a few Riley Sager books now and two things I know for sure. One, always expect the unexpected as he loves twists. Two, I tend to have hit and miss experiences. So, with that being said, perhaps the best advice if you’re planning on picking this up is don’t take anything for granted. This twists and turns in quite unexpected ways.
Now, basically, I’m not going to over elaborate on the plot. In a nutshell this is a story of a struggling actress (by which I mean she hasn’t yet landed a role) who is given a last minute opportunity to star in a forthcoming movie shot by a well respected director and starring a much loved actress. In taking the role, our MC, Marin, agrees to take part in a short break that will take place on a remote island. So, years ago, a number of women disappeared from an island known as Avalon. Years later the story is about to be adapted to the big screen and, apart from discovering she is unexpectedly playing the lead role, Marin also comes to understand that this island retreat, where they will now be expected to fully immerse themselves in the lives of those missing women (as described in one of the missing women’s diaries) is actually Avalon.
What I liked about this. The writing is good, the story is entertaining, and, although I had slightly mixed feelings, I had no difficulty in reading this and never at any point was there even the remotest possibility that I would put this down.
I really like the dual timeline and the whole book within a book. Although, why is it that people read these things so slowly, if somebody give me an acting job, put me on an island where some creepy things may or may not have happened and then provided me with a transcript of the original diary of the character I’m playing you better believe that I would read that entire diary in one sitting. The end.
The main character was easy enough to get along with. The supporting cast were a bit thinly developed but that wasn’t really an issue for me.
I love books where we jump back and forth and I was fascinated by what actually did take place to the original women on the island – and, I can safely say that I never saw any of the reveals coming.
What I struggled with a little.
Firstly, I didn’t feel any heebies at all. And, I am a big wuss and quite easy to scare. Now, put me in the middle of a psychological mystery with talk of demons, potential possessions, missing women, more missing women and seances in a creepy mansion and you better believe my expectation of the creep factor are at the next level. But, no, I seriously didn’t feel fear. I did have the odd moment of exasperated eye rolling when a character acts like she wants to be the first missing victim in a story but – in fairness, and trying hard not to give away spoilers, there are reasons. And yet, again, I must repeat, no problem in pushing forward in spite of not feeling the shivers.
Secondly, I expected the twists. It’s RS so the twists are definitely to be expected. And yet, I kind of feel like they didn’t quite have the impact they were supposed to have. I was surprised, without a doubt, I literally had no idea. Completely clueless in fact. But, they didn’t deliver the wow factor I felt they should.
My third reservation is something that is difficult to pin down, in fact I’m still thinking about it and also there’s a real case of straying into spoiler territory if I discuss it. All I can really say is I have mixed feelings about the endings. In one respect I really appreciate the extra effort to finalise one particular thread. In another I feel a bit disappointed but also at the same time I can think of reasons for the choices here.
So, in conclusion. I enjoyed this. Without a doubt I did. The intrigue got to me. Basically, I love a good mystery, and coupled with a few twists I’m usually a happy bod. But, I did have reservations. That being said, I think I will always want to read the next Riley Sager novel because he definitely entertains.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 3.5 of 5 stars
Review: The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood by HG Parry
6 August 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, Fantasy, fiction, HG Parry, Review, The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Historical fantasy, Mythology and Legend
The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood is my fourth book by Parry, it’s beautifully written and combines an unexpected love story and a story of hope during a time of bleak despair
The year is 1941, the world is at war and desperately dark times seem to loom on the horizon. As the hour grows darker people all over the world begin to dream about the return of King Arthur. Desperate times call for desperate measures, could Arthur be the light in the dark that everyone desperately prays for?
There have been many retellings of Arthur and his deeds and whilst this story is another reimagining here it focuses on Merlin and Nimue. Told in dual timelines it brings to us a character called Elaine Ambrose who works as a librarian at the British Museum. Elaine is desperate to help the war effort, she sees her contribution as the protection of the precious books in the museum that could so easily be lost to the ravages of war. Instead she is sent to a remote mansion in North Wales, known as Camlan House. Here she is to catalogue the library where it is believed that many rare specimens may be found. The owner is absent, location unknown and the house is run by an aloof and little present housekeeper. Here she meets Tom, retired from the war due to injury and now serving as a groundsman at Camlan. The two become friends, bonded over the most fantastical occurence that sets them on a voyage of discovery.
This book is written with dual timelines. We spend time with Nimue as she slowly but surely inveigles herself into life at Camelot and then we flip over to Elaine as she tries to come to terms with the fact that whilst many people are dreaming of Arthur, she dreams nightly of Nimue and her dreams are definitely trying to tell her something.
I don’t really want to go any further into the plot but focus instead on what I enjoyed.
Well, I’m loving Parry’s work and I really have promised myself to go back and read all her books. Her writing is quite simply gorgeous. And, she clearly has a love of all things fae related, not to mention a fantastic imagination and clearly plenty of ideas.
I’m also an absolute sucker for dual timelines and I liked both point of views here. They both had plenty of moments of tension and rather than finding myself eager to just return to one I actually enjoyed both. This is difficult to pull off and more often than not just doesn’t work but I liked both characters, I liked the historic feel to both and more than that Parry has a way of simply placing you in these specific periods and with the minimum of fuss making them feel solid Strictly speaking, Nimue’s pov chapters are Elaine’s dreams but they’re not told with that weird dream sequence style that rarely works for me, instead they feel like Nimue is simply telling her story to the sleeping Elaine.
Nimue was sent to Camelot to be Merlin’s downfall, Lancelot to be Guinevere’s and Camelots and Mordred to be Arthur’s. But, Nimue begins to enjoy life at Camelot. Merlin is a good teacher and generous with his knowledge and Nimue, in spite of her upbringing feels herself liking him and becoming deeply conflicted. I really enjoyed spending time in Camelot. Ultimately, and this isn’t a spoiler, events will play out as expected, whether or not Nimue tries to interfere to prevent the downfall of Camelot it is foretold.
I similarly liked to spend time with Elaine. The dusty and more or less abandoned mansion is full of interesting little tidbits and Elaine herself is this wonderfully bookish character. She strikes up a friendship with Tom and the two of them are determined to make a difference. In this respect you could say that they’re the hopeful heartbeat of the book. Looking for answers where few are to be found in a time of desperate need. They come up with plenty of fantastical obstacles along the way not least of which is a crazy chase by fantasy beasts whilst airborne in an old fighter plane.
The magic, myth and legend all work well together. We spend time with the Lady of the Lake, with a few characters that I never expected to meet and as the veil grows thin some strange beasts find themselves transported to the welsh countryside in the war torn timeline.
I absolutely loved reading this and I was totally transported, however, I do have one slight issue which, didn’t spoil the read for me but I still find myself thinking about – which I suppose isn’t really a bad thing. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed. This is a feeling I’ve experienced a couple of times recently and so I’m almost starting to think it’s maybe ‘me’ more than anything else. But, this is not a book that rushes. It takes its time to beautifully set everything out, to provide you with the backstories and let events unfold, so, personally, I would have liked the ending to feel similarly well explored. That being said, it is a satisfying ending, and emotional. I guess I just wanted it to develop at the same pace as the rest of the story, but again, most stories usually pick up the pace in the last third don’t they? So, I should probably just give my head a wobble.
Overall, this is a rather delicious book. It’s beautiful, complex, intriguing, emotional and if you like to read retellings around Arthur/Merlin and the other characters then you really should pick this up.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4.5 of 5 stars
Review: The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
3 August 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, Noir, Review, reviews, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Intrigue
My Five Word TL:DR: Noir isn’t Even My Thing
…and yet this author seems to make everything she touches entertaining, easy to read and quite compelling.
I will also point out that this story has no fantasy elements, it isn’t gothic or horror in nature and there isn’t so much as a drop of magical realism. Set in the 1940s this is a tale of a con man, hoping to score one last job that will set him up for life, taking a big chance by moving to a sleepy village where he hopes to marry a wealthy woman
Ulises Linares has been operating small time scams on lonely women since his father passed away. The two always worked together but Ulises, although he came up trumps in the looks department, doesn’t quite have the same instincts and since his father’s demise his situation has gone from bad to worse. He’s been running ads in the lonely hearts rags, forming acquaintances with gullible women and then emptying their bank accounts, but he was almost caught and is keen to disappear from the city for a little while, he has little money left, a few odds and sods that give him the appearance of being ‘well heeled’ and a lead in the form of a spinster called Perla who has invited him to come to stay at her family home turned guest house.
Of course, when Ulises arrives the guest house is rather dilapidated, clearly the family have fallen on hard times and so Perla may not in fact me the wealthy mark he expected, on top of which she has a niece living with her who isn’t shy and enjoys prying into Ulises affairs.
Okay, I’m not going to go into the plot for this one as you simply need to read it for yourself. Instead lets look at what I liked.
To be honest the real joy of this book comes down to the writing and the three main characters, and, well, some of the absolutely batpoop crazy decisions they make.
I will confess that when I first picked this up I found everything a little slow and, as I mentioned in my ‘short’ review noir is not something that I read a lot of. However, this book is one of those slow creepers that gets under your skin and makes you itch to return to it whenever you put it down. As the story started I thought I had a grip of what to expect but the tables really turn in a most unexpected way and the characters back stories all start to squirm out of the woodwork adding these extra layers of depth. I really didn’t expect to have any sympathy with either Ulises or Perla’s niece, Inés. In fact, although Perla comes across as very controlling and quite harsh at times, I expected to have sympathy for the lonely spinster who both her niece and would-be husband are plotting against, but ultimately I didn’t have any sympathy for her at all.
The characters are really easy to picture. Ulises is good looking, confident, charismatic. His smile wins people over quite easily, usually. Perla is not, however, going to be a pushover. She has some very clear ideas about proper behaviour and respecting her family name and legacy. For Ulises time and money are running out fast and he’s out of ideas in terms of Perla.
Inés is a very intriguing character. I mean, I don’t want to tell you too much about her because the real beauty of this story is the reveals about the three main characters. She is living with her aunt under duress – on both parts. Her aunt sees Inés as her carer in her old age, for which she will eventually inherit the dusty family home. There is nothing if not a lot of resentment.
Meanwhile Perla runs the household with an iron rod. She knows every penny, and in fact there’s a good deal of penny pinching. she enjoys having the attentions of a young attractive man, particularly in terms of the gossip round the village and the jealousy it incites in a would-be suitor who has been hoping to marry Perla and combine their assets.
The sleepy village of Puerco Ahogado in Veracruz is so easy to fall into. There aren’t plenty of descriptions but the place comes alive. There are just these little shout outs to all the local traditions, the restraints on behaviour and the gossiping that ensures people are scared to step a foot out of line. There’s plenty going on here. People being lovestruck, petty jealousies, so much bickering and talking behind closed doors. It’s positively deliciously claustrophobic.
And, finally, did I mention some crazy decision making? Wow, just wow. These people. What the actual fudge cake is going on. There was no working things through, giving things time to develop. Actual planning? Nah. What ifs? Not a chance. I love it. This was so wrong it was right. I was like ‘WHAT’, my mouth gaping open like a fish, for a good deal of the time.
In conclusion, this might not be my favourite book by the author. But, given that it had it’s work cut out by falling into a genre that I don’t usually plump for and that my usual comfort zone of fantasy was missing it did a fine job of pulling me in and keeping me eager to return. Seriously, this has this pulpy, noir, historic, crazy scheming no-idea-where-it’s-going-to-go feel that kept me turning the pages.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4 of 5 scheming stars
Books and travelling with Lynn 