Review: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz is a modern whodunnit with a confident nod to vintage crime novels and a tipping of the hat to the golden age of detective fiction. Susan Ryeland is an editor at a publishing house tasked with editing the next whodunnit by bestselling author Alan Conway. An unpleasant man, the book begins with a short prologue from Susan's perspective before we dive straight into Conway's new manuscript.

I felt a little wrong footed in the beginning with the introduction of so many characters in the small fictional village of Saxby-on-Avon, however I needn't have worried. Conway - the author of the manuscript - kept the reader on track with helpful hints along the way. Set in the 1950s, there are a number of murders in the manuscript and when we leave Conway's work and return to Susan Ryeland, a contemporary murder takes her by complete surprise.

"You'd have thought that after twenty years editing murder mysteries I'd have noticed when I found myself in the middle of one." Page 60

Susan is a likeable character and successful editor and I enjoyed watching her step out from behind the safety of her desk and begin investigating in the role of amateur detective.

Horowitz generously gives us multiple layered murders to contemplate and solve and I really enjoyed the meta nature of the murder mystery within a murder mystery. As if this weren't enough, Susan makes mention of real world authors and books in the text which added to my enjoyment and will appeal to other self-proclaimed book lovers.

Susan reflects:

"I've always loved whodunnits. I've not just edited them. I've read them for pleasure throughout my life, gorging on them actually. You must know that feeling when it's raining outside and the heating's on and you lose yourself, utterly, in a book. You read and you read and you feel the pages slipping through your fingers until suddenly there are fewer in your right hand than there are in your left and you want to slow down but you still hurtle on towards a conclusion you can hardly bear to discover. That is the particular power of the whodunnit which has, I think, a special place within the general panoply of literary fiction because, of all characters, the detective enjoys a particular, indeed a unique relationship with the reader." Page 156

You can't help but smile at the likelihood Horowitz is sharing his own love of whodunnits here in the guise of Susan. On a meta level, he's also showing us that the detective enjoys a unique relationship with the reader - and by extension the creator of the detective - and that he cherishes it greatly.

The only part of Magpie Murders I didn't enjoy was the confusing page numbering system. The book begins with a short 3 page prologue, then 219 pages of Alan Conway's manuscript entitled Magpie Murders - An Atticus Pund Mystery. Conway's manuscript is helpfully printed in a different font (possibly Courier) and the author demarcates the transition back to the original text by changing the font again. However the page numbering picks up from the prologue beginning on page 4. Confused yet?

And THEN, on page 196 of the text, when we return to the manuscript, the numbering picks up from page 219 where the manuscript previously left off. This confusing page numbering system swaps at least once more in the book and I'm not sure it helps divide the book between manuscript and narrative. The difference in font style more than adequately distinguishes between the two writing styles and without this poor stylistic choice, this would have been a five star read for me.

Published in 2016, Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz is the first book in the Susan Ryeland series with Moonflower Murders published in 2020 and Marble Hall Murders published in 2025 to follow. Magpie Murders has since been adapted for TV and now that I've finished reading it, I'm looking forward to watching the 2022 drama series later in the year. I also have Moonflower Murders on my bookshelf thanks to a generous friend who let me borrow her copy and as soon as I've read it, I look forward to watching the 2024 TV series adaptation.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz is highly recommended for those who enjoy a clever meta novel with a mystery within a mystery stuffed full of clues, colourful suspects and even the odd anagram.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Carpe Librum!

Review: The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola

In 1857, Audrey is on her way from London to the Isle of Skye to interview for the position of Assistant to a collector of folk tales. Miss Buchanan is a spinster and folklorist and rarely leaves her family home of Lanerly Hall; a dilapidated estate owned by her brother.

Some of Mr Buchanan's tenants (referred to as crofters) have been evicted, and Mazzola doesn't shy away from the effects of the Clearances in Skye around this time. The landscape is bleak and the crofters are struggling to make a living and keep food on the table, regularly relying on superstition and folklore rather than religion. Miss Buchanan recognises that local folk tales aren't being shared as freely within the community any more and the displacement of crofters from the land to make way for sheep farming means these stories are being lost.

The crofters distrust their landlord and believe there's something evil about Lanerly Hall so Audrey's job is to earn their trust and record as many stories as she can.

I enjoyed the descriptions of Lanerly Hall but when a local girl washes up dead on the beach nearby and another goes missing, the crofters believe it to be the work of faeries. Meanwhile, Audrey believes someone is responsible and we're given a number of potential suspects.

"Better to be terrified than miserable. If the reality is that people die of starvation and illness, drown themselves out of shame, or leave their impoverished homes in search of a better life, then maybe it's preferable to think that the fairies are taking people away to serve some greater purpose." Page 131

The author creates a dark and foreboding gothic atmosphere full of superstitions, myths, folklore and fairytales. In her historical note at the end of the novel, Mazzola explains the idea for this book came from the West Ham vanishings in the 1880s where a number of children and young adults disappeared from the East End of London. She also shares that the many folk tales relayed to Audrey in the book are adaptations of real folk stories which helped to ground the book firmly in 1800s Scotland.

The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola was an enjoyable historical fiction mystery and will appeal to fans of books like The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry and The Good People by Hannah Kent.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Carpe Librum!

Review: The Darkroom by A.J. Hewitt

A.J. Hewitt is a former Police Forensic Photographer and Senior Photographic Officer with New Scotland Yard and in her book The Darkroom - Case Files of a Scotland Yard Forensic Photographer, she takes us through her career.

For almost a decade, Hewitt was required to photograph the scenes of workplace accidents, accidental deaths, suspicious deaths, suicides and homicides. She frequently photographed and documented the injuries of survivors of assault, attempted murder and domestic violence.

The author explains how she was able to establish a quick rapport with victims in shock, and the gruelling repetitive nature of the work she conducted. I didn't appreciate just how physical the role is, and Hewitt explains how she had to navigate the sometimes remote and challenging terrain, or operate in tiny spaces with her camera gear without compromising the crime scene.

I never really considered the value of aerial shots and Hewitt was required to produce aerial shots from a police helicopter prior to major events or police operations which provided vital information in the planning stages. It sounds like a great job until the author explains how cold it is hanging out of the window at an angle to get the perfect shot. A particular case in the book that stuck with me was the search for human remains at a rubbish tip that took multiple resources and days of hard labour before partial success. The difficulty in photographing the scene from above was made clear, as was the fact that forensic staff strived to provide as much information as they could to aid in the upcoming court case.

Hewitt spends much of the book citing different cases and scenarios, with the names changed of course. One of the well known incidents she attended was the Marchioness disaster in 1989, which I mentioned in my review of Unnatural Causes - The Life and Many Deaths of Britain's Top Forensic Pathologist by Dr Richard Shepherd. Given Hewitt also took photographs during post mortem examinations I couldn't help but wonder if she and Dr Shepherd often worked alongside each other.

Always respectful of the dead, Hewitt rages against femicide and violence against women and girls.

"Male violence against women and girls is now at epidemic proportions worldwide. Women are exhausted." Chapter 6, No Monsters, Only Men

In her career, Hewitt says she only photographed one scene where a woman had killed a man, and noted that none of her colleagues mentioned doing the same, when they would have given the rarity. Later in the book, Hewitt also laments the epidemic of male suicides.

My only quibble was the number of times the author referred to being one of the only females on site, how rare it was to be the only woman on a search team and the fact that some of the uniforms didn't fit because she was a woman. I know I'm being a little harsh here, but perhaps the fact that I was a woman in the ADF means that this isn't such a big deal to me. I wish her message had been more about why women would be great in this role and encouraging more women to consider this career path instead of continuing to point out how unique she was in her field.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Emma Spurgin Hussey and the content is quite graphic at times but it won't come as a surprise to those who pick up a book like this wanting to learn more about the role of a forensic photographer.

The Darkroom - Case Files of a Scotland Yard Forensic Photographer by A.J. Hewitt is recommended for readers of true crime and anyone considering a career in police forensic services.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

I enjoyed The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab so much that it made My Top 5 Books of 2021 so I decided to give her 2025 release Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil a try. First and foremost, this is a well written historical fiction novel with multiple female character points of view. All three characters eventually intersect in this plot spanning multiple centuries and multiple countries.

Alice is our contemporary character in 2019 and a student at a university in Boston. Feeling adrift, a one night stand changes the course of her life and sets her on a path of regret and revenge. In 1521, Maria is aged 10 years old and living with her family in a small town on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. We meet the third character Charlotte/Lottie later in the book and we pick up her backstory from 1827 in London.

This is a character driven book about these three women:

"In fairy tales, big things happen in threes. Three children. Three beds. Three roads. The third bite is poison, the third gift is great, the third door always leads home." Page 338

Now that I've set the scene and have your attention, it's time to drop a bomb... this is a sapphic vampire romance. Yep, you read that right. The paranormal romance genre rarely features in my reading schedule but I took a chance on this based on the strength of the author's writing. And I was right!

The writing in Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is beautiful. The personal challenges and internal struggles faced by all three women kept my attention and the gothic setting was sublime. As they age over decades and centuries, vampires in Schwab's world start to lose touch with the values and characteristics that made them human.

"Now and then, she wakes to find another little corner of her emptied, some aspect crumbled away in sleep. Perhaps it was a shard of insecurity. A sliver of regret. Sabine probes her mind, trying to find the nature of the absence, like a tongue searching for a missing tooth, but never does." Page 265

Schwab addresses the topic I was most interested in when reading the Anne Rice Interview with the Vampire series: what is it like to be immortal? (Don't worry, there are no sparkly vampires here). The author examines the toll it takes on all three of the characters, including the challenges they face maintaining their existence in the world without revealing their secret nature and evading the dangers that pursue them.

This statement from a male vampire to one of our characters reminded me of the relationship between Lestat and Louis:

"If you wish to stay, then you may do so as my guest, and I will be your gracious host. But you will live as I do, by a certain set of rules. There will be no skulking about in shadows, no victims stolen from the street and cast in the canal. I will show you how to savor every soul you take. How to claim space, and bend minds, how to enthrall, enchant, and masquerade. How to be the last one they think of when the bodies go missing." Pages 206-207

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a unique genre-blending novel that defies easy categorisation and will appeal to a range of readers as a result. Straddling historical fiction, fantasy and queer romance and championing strong feminist characters, this book may appeal to you even if you don't like vampire novels. And if you believe books about vampires aren't for you, consider this:

"And here is the awful thing about belief. It is a current, like compulsion. Hard to forge when it goes against your will, but easy enough when it carries you the way you want to go." Page 401

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab is about female agency, love, power, hunger, control, rage and revenge and is highly recommended for Anne Rice fans.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Unusual Hotels of the World by Steve Dobson

I borrowed a copy of Unusual Hotels of the World by Steve Dobson from the library and it features 100 hotels across 40 different countries. Unfortunately Australia wasn't one of the countries included which was a real shame as I'd expected to find a number of curious and unusual offerings in my home country.

Instead Dobson gives us an abundance of art hotels, treehouse accommodation, caravans and way too many igloo hotels when I was hoping for a little more eccentricity.

As for highlights, I loved the look of the spa hotel Rogner Bad Blumau designed by Austrian artist Hundertwasser and the floating aquarium in Sweden had me looking up the Hotel Utter Inn for more photographs. A hotel in the Netherlands even lets you sleep overnight in an industrial crane and rotate it over the dock.

You'll also find accommodation in retired train carriages, airstream caravans and decommissioned planes which is nothing new. I wish the author had limited the inclusion to just one windmill, one airstream caravan, one art hotel, one treehouse, one igloo, one hanging pod/tent and one lighthouse instead of giving us multiple offerings of the same types of accommodation in different countries.

This would have made room for more of the 'out there' hotels and perhaps provided scope to include additional countries. I know Australia has some unique offerings that would have worked perfectly within the author's theme but sadly these were overlooked.

Visiting the author's website in an attempt to track down his Instagram account for my Bookmark Monday post, I unintentionally learned more about him. Steve Dobson is a marketer in the hospitality and tourism market and built ‘The Unusual Company Ltd’ and 'GoUnusual', a publishing and online media group which promotes properties around the world. Without digging any further - because my care factor is quite low to be honest and I have other books to read - I think I understand why this collection isn't anywhere near as well rounded as it could have been.

Definitely a missed opportunity but Unusual Hotels of the World by Steve Dobson was an enjoyable armchair travelling experience during a holiday period when I wasn't travelling anywhere.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Celebrating 4 Million Page Views!

In June 2025 I celebrated reaching 3 Million Page Views and I can't believe I'm sharing this, but my web traffic has continued to grow and today I'm celebrating because...

Carpe Librum has just reached 4 Million Page Views!

My monthly stats continue to increase and I'm now receiving an average of 122,000 visitors to my site every month, up from 77,000 just six short months ago.

After sharing My Top 5 Books of 2025 last week and the reading challenges I'm participating in this year, this is an awesome milestone to celebrate and a terrific start to my blogging year.

If you're reading this not so humble brag, thanks for being a valued subscriber or occasional / first time visitor. I love this legacy of reading and reviewing I've been building over the last 20 years and I don't have any plans of slowing down.

My 2026 reading year has well and truly kicked off and I hope you have a huge stack of books you plan to get through this year.

Carpe Librum!

Review: Cape Fever by Nadia Davids

* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *

Cape Fever by Nadia Davids is a gothic tale of desire and revenge set in 1920s South Africa. Soraya is hired as the live-in house maid and companion to Mrs Hattingh in a grand house in an unnamed British colony which could easily be Cape Town.

The novel begins in a seemingly familiar upstairs downstairs historical fiction style plot I've read and loved before. The list of daily, weekly, fortnightly and monthly chores Soraya is expected to carry out feed this fascination and the class distinction is clear.

Separated from her betrothed and letting Mrs Hattingh believe she can't read or write, Soraya accepts a generous offer from her employer to write a letter to him once a week on her behalf. This becomes a weekly ritual for both women that seems genuine and generous in the beginning as they sit together, read his reply and compose a response.

"It's as though she's shown me a door, told me about the riches that lie beyond it, opened it very slightly, enough for the warm gold glow behind it to spill out, just a little, with both of us knowing she can shut it whenever she likes." Page 73

Soraya comes from a Muslim community and the juxtaposition of the two cultures is ever present, with Mrs Hattingh continuing to assert her dominance and superiority at every opportunity. The writing is evocative and I particularly enjoyed her description of smells. I'm going to include the full quote here so that you can enjoy it and I can read it again and again in the future.

Soraya notices that in big houses with high ceilings and long corridors, the smells of people disappear into nothing.

"In the Quarter, smells stay. There's the smell in our houses of incense burning both now and fifty years ago, of a thousand meals past and the ones bubbling on stoves this minute. Sticking to every wall, woven into every curtain, the reek of chopped onions and pressed garlic, the trace of scattered methi, diced chilies, dried bay leaves; of spices - whole, roasted, ground, cast in hot oil - and of meat braising, bones boiling, fat spitting, broth cooking, sugar burning, rose water steaming, tea brewing, mint leaves just torn, ginger beer just poured. It's the smell of more in good times and of keeping an eye in lean ones. In our house, also, the whiff of my mother's soaps, the sweet jasmine my father planted at the front gate, the sticky heat of my and my sisters' sweat, the rush of the tides my brother brings back with him from a day at the beach and the fish he carries, still on the hook, sea fresh, glassy-eyed, salt crusted, scales shining." Pages 30-31

After reading this I desperately wanted to visit Soraya's house and inhale some of those scents, and absorb the swirl of life and history that had taken place there.

Constantly in each other's company, Soraya is unable to leave her position as her family desperately need her wages to get by, yet the relationship between the two women slowly begins to sour until it reaches an exciting and unexpected climax.

"She walks away, her slight frame straight, arms soft and graceful, once a girl who would have practiced with a book on her head, and I marvel that she can so easily show me her back when the kitchen is full of knives." Page 151

Cape Fever by Nadia Davids is a slow burn gothic psychological suspense thriller about class, colonialism, power, loneliness, love, loss, grief, secrets and betrayal and I loved it. Highly recommended.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

2026 Reading Challenge Sign Ups

I've had an annual reading goal of 75 books for the last six years but at the beginning of 2025 I decided to set my goal at 65 books. The plan was to free up valuable reading time to focus on larger books and it worked! I achieved my goal, read some chunky books and enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, the longest book I've ever read coming in at 1,276 pages.

This year I'm participating in my first ever slow read and I'm going to be tackling the Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel. It contains approximately 2,000+ pages so I'm reducing my annual reading goal (again) to 60 books this year in order to accommodate the series. Here are the three reading challenges I'm participating in during 2026.

Wolf Crawl 2026

Wolf Crawl is a year long slow read challenge hosted by Simon Haisell from Footnotes and Tangents to read the Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel. The series is about the life of Thomas Cromwell and the reign of Henry VIII and comprises Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light.

A slow read is a deliberate, community-focused method of reading a book at a gentle pace. Guided by Simon, there is a reading schedule to follow each week and readers can also explore the weekly supplemental materials (artworks, further history etc.) or discuss the book with readers around the world.

This is my first time subscribing on Substack but given the additional resources and discussion on offer, I think it's going to be worth it. If you'd like to join me I can gift one month of paid subscriber benefits to Footnotes and Tangents for 5 Carpe Librum readers so feel free to email me or leave a comment below if you're interested.

If you want to read the trilogy with me, here's the schedule:
5 January 2026: Wolf Hall (17 weeks)
4 May 2026: Bring Up the Bodies (12 weeks)
27 July 2026: The Mirror and the Light (23 weeks)

Non Fiction Reader Challenge 2026

Hosted by fellow Aussie book blogger Shelleyrae at Book'd Out, I'm signing up to complete the Nonfiction Nibbler level of the challenge. For this, I'll need to read and review 6 books from any 6 of the categories listed below.

1. History
2. Memoir/Biography
3. True Crime
4. Science
5. Health
6. Food
7. Humour
8. South East Asia
9. Lost or found
10. Television
11. Subculture
12. Published in 2026

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2026

Hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader, I'm signing up to complete the Medieval Reader level again this year and will need to read and review 15 historical fiction books in order to successfully complete the challenge.

Historical fiction remains my favourite genre and last year I read 17 historical fiction novels and two of them made my Top 5 Books of 2025 list so here's to another great year of reading.

Are you challenging yourself in 2026? I'd love to know if you have any reading goals or if you're participating in any reading challenges this year. You can track my progress throughout the year over on the Challenges 2026 page.

Carpe Librum!

My Top 5 Books of 2025

2025 was an excellent year of reading for me. I read 65 books, gave 5 star ratings to 13 of them and when it was all said and done, I enjoyed putting this list together of My Top 5 Books of 2025.

I'm pleased with the variety in this list, with two books from publishers, one backlist book from 2017, two historical fiction novels, two debut novels, one Australian author and one audiobook. I started compiling these Top 5 Book lists in 2014 and this is the only time two memoirs have made my Top 5 list in the same year so that's a first!

Here are my Top 5 Books of 2025 in the order I read them:

1. Dunstan by Conn Iggulden

Set in the year 934, this is the story of a young boy raised to become a Benedictine monk, but who went on to become an Abbot, Bishop and Archbishop and reform the English Church.

Dunstan was canonised after his death and became England's favourite saint for almost 200 years, but according to this reimagining of his life, in addition to defeating the devil, he was also a liar, murderer and maker of Kings. Published in 2017, Dunstan by Conn Iggulden was a fascinating tale of talent, intellect, vengeance, duty, miracles, exile and ambition.

2. The Names by Florence Knapp

It's 1987 and Cora sets out to register the name of her newborn son. She has three options, go with family tradition and name him Gordon after her controlling husband, name him Julian which means sky father or give him the name his nine year old sister suggests which is Bear, because it sounds soft, cuddly and kind but can also be brave and strong.

The novel then splits into three narratives for each of the names and we catch up with the three boys every seven years to see how their lives turn out.

The Names by Florence Knapp is a carefully considered exploration of each of the three lives and a remarkable debut. I found myself recommending it a lot and it was definitely a standout favourite for the year.

3. All The Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert

A memoir about relationships, love and addiction, the author lays her soul bare to the reader, declaring early on that she is a sex and love addict, romantic obsessive, a fantasy and adrenaline addict, a world-class enabler and a blackout codependent.

All The Way to the River is a celebration of love, an exploration of death and grief with some light moments and even a little humour. Far from a misery memoir, the author undertakes the most unflinching look deep within herself to understand her actions and behaviour on the deepest level and I found it incredibly illuminating.

Gilbert then embarks on the painfully slow process of rebuilding her life after it had been shattered; thus giving hope to all who read her words. This is possibly the best memoir I've ever read.

4. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

This memoir documents the author's life changing experience finding a baby hare (leveret) on a country lane near her home in the English countryside. From the outset the author strived not to stroke or cuddle the leveret, believing it should remain wild and one day be released into its natural habitat.

Dalton's detailed observations and interactions with the leveret were endearing and greatly entertaining and I enjoyed following her experiences narrated by Louise Brealey. Ultimately I'll remember Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton for the nature writing and sheer wonder of raising a wild animal in a domestic setting and I found myself wishing I had a leveret to keep me company while I'm reading.

5. By Her Hand by Marion Taffe

Set in Mercia in 910AD, young Freda is inspired by stories, loves to forage in the woods and dreams of being able to write. Lucky to survive a brutal attack on her village by Danish raiders, Freda is placed in a women's abbey where she slowly learns to read and write.

Freda is a feisty character and Marion Taffe expertly brings this period in English history alive, skillfully helping the reader make sense of the complicated politics of 10th century Wessex. The writing was sublime and I can't believe By Her Hand was a debut novel for Australian author Marion Taffe.
______________________________________________________________________

Have you read any of the books on the list or plan to? What was your favourite book/s in 2025?

Carpe Librum!

Review: Innocence by Dean Koontz

The last book I read for 2025 was Innocence by Dean Koontz. Traditionally a fan of Koontz from way back, I've read 29 of his books and since 2006, I've reviewed 20 of them. Stephen King and Dean Koontz were a popular choice in my twenties and having a chunky new release from either author on my bedside table was a real thrill. Just for fun, I had a look at the star ratings for the Dean Koontz books I reviewed and they vary from 1 to 5 stars, with an overall average rating of 3 stars. With stats like that, I guess I should ask myself why I keep reading his books, but perhaps it's a nostalgia thing. Nevertheless, Innocence was the last Koontz book on my TBR - for now - and it was a terrific read!

Addison Goodheart is 26 years old and lives the life of a recluse, deep underneath the city. He has a kinship with nature and a passion for books and reading, but Addison avoids other people at all costs. On the rare occasions he does venture above ground he hides his features and we're not told what he looks like - until the end - which equally bothered and intrigued me:

"By the standards of humanity, we were exceedingly ugly in a way that excited in them abhorrence and the most terrible rage." Page 13

Addison learned from a young age that his appearance inspired repulsion, hatred and horror in anyone who looked at him. This quickly turned to violence and he retreated from society as a result. Utilising a series of drains and tunnels to navigate the city, Addison accesses the city library at night to enjoy the books and one night he comes across Gwyneth. A goth who doesn't like to be touched, Gwyneth has her own loner back story and we learn them both as they get to know each other.

"The fallow soil of loneliness is fertile ground for self-deception." Page 60

Published in 2013, the writing in Innocence is peak Koontz. I had to look up the definition of several words along the way and found myself bookmarking many quotes I wanted to revisit and remember.

Gwyneth can't bear to be touched and Addison doesn't want her to look at him so they make a pact. She won't look at him and he won't touch her. Addison cleverly summarises their predicament:

"If I touch you, you'll pull the hood off my head. Or if instead you make the first move and pull the hood off my head, then I'll touch you. We hold each other hostage to our eccentricities." Page 67

Don't worry, this isn't an urban fantasy version of Five Feet Apart. It's a supernatural thriller and Gwyneth swiftly pulls Addison in on her mission. As the tension increases, I really enjoyed this anecdote from Addison's father about the past, the present and the future.

"He said that because we live in time, we think that the past is baked and served and eaten, that the present is coming out of the oven in continuous courses, and that the future is not yet even in the mixing bowl." Page 328

The familiar Koontz battle between good and evil is here, and if this is the last book by Dean Koontz I ever read then I'm pleased to finish on a high. I almost considered giving this 5 stars and you can read the first 7 chapters here in a free extract from the publisher.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Long Shoe by Bob Mortimer

* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *

Matt is a bathroom salesman who has recently lost his job and spends his time mooching about instead of finding a new apartment to live in. His girlfriend Harriet leaves him when the deadline on their lease expiry approaches and Matt still hasn't taken any action. Deciding to turn things around, Matt accepts an offer of a flat at Satsuma Heights, but there's just one small catch.

"I don't like to call it spying. Think of it as residential intelligence gathering." Page 64

Yep, Matt is asked to spy on his neighbours for the eccentric owner of the building and he's quickly pulled into their lives as a result. Soon there's a missing person case to solve and it's unclear if Matt will succeed in getting his life together.

In The Long Shoe, Bob Mortimer creates terrific characters and Hot Dog was a clear standout for me and I just loved his nickname for Matt; Jigsaw! Carol the flirty cougar was an unlikeable character so perfectly depicted that I could hear her grating voice and almost smell her perfume darling!

Mortimer's signature humour is back in full effect and I enjoyed his observations of the mundane, like when Matt asks if a character's vape is vanilla and potato when it's actually raspberry and coconut.

The Long Shoe by Bob Mortimer is part of a series that began with The Satsuma Complex and continued with The Hotel Avocado. I loved The Satsuma Complex - giving it 5 stars in my review - in 2023 but somehow missed reading The Hotel Avocado. While each of the three books are set in the same world or Mortimer universe, The Long Shoe can easily be read as a standalone.

The Long Shoe by Bob Mortimer is a chuckle-worthy and entertaining mystery with compelling characters and yes, even a very long shoe. I hope the author continues this cozy crime series in the future.

For more on Bob Mortimer, check out my review of his autobiography And Away...

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Stuff of History by Steven Moore

Last month I was looking for an audiobook I could listen to while wrapping Christmas presents and writing Christmas cards and selected The Stuff of History: A Curated Compendium of Curious Objects and Forgotten People by Steven Moore.

Steven Moore is probably best known for being a TV presenter on Antiques Roadshow and Antiques Roadtrip and has been an antiques dealer, auctioneer, museum curator, author and journalist. What he offers in The Stuff of History is a compilation of topics and subjects from across different periods in history and from all around the world; sometimes focussing on a person and other times on an object.

One of my favourite chapters was the story of the 14 year old boy who broke into Buckingham Palace between 1838-1841 and allegedly lived there in secret by hiding in rooms and chimneys. He was eventually caught but not before he stole a pair of Queen Victoria's underwear and it was quite the scandal at the time.

The blurb prepares the reader for a carefully curated miscellany and the publishers couldn't have described the contents more accurately. The author clearly chose subjects he was was fond of, but the selection didn't seem to contain any unifying theme or overarching common thread. The history of the Resolute Desk in the White House sits comfortably alongside the rise of Chinese porcelain and the evolution of the fork. The frequent format of introduction: ('It is the 26th July and we're in London, it's 1935' and 'It is the 20th of June 1952 and we're in Long Beach California') became repetitive very quickly and in response I began to mentally prepare a list of alternatives to 'it is this and we are here'.

The audiobook is narrated by the author himself and readers will enjoy his voice and accent which is perfect for the subject matter being presented. However, the book doesn't seem to reach a logical conclusion, the last object is presented and that's it. This format could have gone on for another 20 chapters but I was hoping for a concluding chapter summarising the book and perhaps providing the reader with a glimpse into the world of antiques, how the author began his career or resources for those looking to learn more about antiques and history in general.

Instead, we're given a quiz at the end which I'll admit was an inspired inclusion. I was initially all for it but the author chose obscure facts from each chapter instead of asking questions that would help cement an important historical fact in the memory of the reader which was a lost opportunity in my opinion.

The Stuff of History by Steven Moore will appeal to readers with an obscure interest in history who want to feel as though they're dipping into a range of books covering art, collectibles, antiques and social history.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Best Australian Ghost Stories by Graham Seal

* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *

As I understand it, to have a yarn in Australia is to have a conversation or a chat, to tell a yarn is to tell a story and to spin a yarn is to tell a tall tale or something that is unlikely to be true. In Best Australian Ghost Stories - Spine-chilling Tales of Hauntings, Apparitions and the Unexplained, Graham Seal continually refers to the accounts he's presenting as yarns, stories and hoaxes and in doing so diminishes the value of the stories and the likelihood of them being true and honest accounts in the view of the author.

Graham Seal is a prolific author of 14 books (including: Great Australian Places, Great Australian Mysteries, Australia's Funniest Yarns, Great Bush Stories, Great Convict Stories) and it seems to me this collection of ghost stories were likely unearthed during the comprehensive research undertaken for his other works and brought together here, despite the author not seeming to believe in ghosts.

In the Introduction, Graham Seal makes it pretty clear that he's a sceptic and doesn't believe in many of the hauntings and unexplained events he's about to inform the reader about:

"Outside works of fiction, Australian hauntings, vanishings and unexplained events happen - if they did - in a landscape marked by its rivers, waterholes and surrounding seas, its islands and its abandoned places." Page xvi

Broken down into unique categories - Bush Haunts, House Ghosts, Unsettling Places, Ghost Roads and more - there were often too many stories presented in quick succession; this pub has a ghost in it, this inn has a woman in white. The sheer number of cases cited along with the scant information available about each of them made it difficult to be spooked or reach the spine-chilling reading experience hinted at on the cover.

And then there were bizarre moments like this one. When discussing the plan by scientists to resurrect the Tasmanian Tiger using DNA technology, the author wonders how long it'll be before the same technology is applied to dead humans. Ummmm what? Humans aren't extinct so clearly he missed the point altogether. Either that, or this was an attempt at humour that sailed right over my head.

I was pleased to see the case of Minnie Brown and the unexplained poltergeist activity that took place in 1921 taken seriously but then disappointed the very next chapter when the author describes the events in a remote town in the Northern Territory in 1998 as Humpty Doo high jinks as he wonders whether it was all a hoax.

The author frequently uses negative language like shades and ghouls and phrases such as supernatural spice throughout the book which begins to build a mocking and condescending tone. The reader who picks up a book about ghost stories is more likely to have an open mind or a firm belief in the unexplained so the failure of the author to take the topic seriously struck a sour note.

I also found myself wondering why Seal chose to include stories where the ghostly activity was proven to be caused by hardcore hoaxers or prankers. What value do stories like these add to a book entitled Best Australian Ghost Stories? I didn't choose to read a book about Best Australian Hoaxes and in my opinion these accounts detracted from the theme and had no place being included.

Why the mocking tone? In the Ghost Roads chapter I could almost hear him rolling his eyes:

"While these events are disturbing enough, drivers also report their headlights illuminating ghostly figures along the road and - always dependable - the Yowie has been seen." Page 194

Ironically, this same chapter also contained one of the best stories which was entitled The Ghost of the Old Bridge and took place in Western Australia in the 1870s. What made it the most enjoyable of the collection was the long and detailed first person account from settler Thomas Scott included in the book. For the first time this allowed the reader to stick with one account and travel back 150 years to hear directly from a witness relaying a sighting seen by at least five others.

Several first hand accounts from direct sources were included and if more of these had been incorporated in favour of the hoax narrative, this book would have been a terrific read.

As it is, when I think of this book in the future, I think I'll remember it for the inspired inclusion of the poem 'The Ghost at the Second Bridge' by Henry Lawson. It's been a long time since I've read any Henry Lawson and reading the story of two men encountering the Black Lady in the middle of the night was immensely enjoyable.

As the End Notes attest, it's evident that a tonne of research has gone into the writing of this book, and that's to be acknowledged and admired. In addition, I was pleased to see Australian Ghost Stories by James Phelps mentioned in the author's Afterword as I read and enjoyed this last year.

Readers wanting to know if their local legend is included are likely to find it briefly mentioned in Best Australian Ghost Stories by Graham Seal, but if you're looking for a serious, deep and penetrating look into hauntings and apparitions in Australia that'll make the hairs on your arms stand on end, this isn't it.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein

The Mushroom Tapes - Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein is about the trial of Erin Patterson, accused of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Charged with serving her family members a lethal lunch of beef Wellington in Leongatha in July 2023, the trial took place in Morwell in April - July 2025 where she was eventually found guilty.

I followed the news coverage of Erin Patterson’s trial quite closely and listened to every episode of the Mushroom Case Daily podcast on the ABC. For these reasons and more, I was deeply interested in the collaboration between these three Australian writers having read books by all of them.* Familiar with Helen Garner's penetrating coverage of murder trials I was also fascinated to know the types of conversations these women had on a topic I never seem to tire of.

The Mushroom Tapes is a slim offering at only 240 pages so immediately you know you're not going to get a comprehensive coverage of the trial. What surprised me on the very first page though was that the authors weren't in attendance at the beginning of the trial. They'd been asked if they were going to cover the trial and they each said no. All three authors equally hadn't wanted to write about the case and hadn't not wanted to write about it. 

However after they heard the evidence from Simon Patterson's Aunt Heather Wilkinson that the guests ate from grey plates and the host ate from an orange one, they changed their minds and were galvanised into action. Helen Garner said that she didn't want to follow another big trial by herself and was glad to be asked to work with Chloe; accomplished herself with two trials and two books to her name. On day five they decided to cover the trial together and piled into the car to Morwell.

In the early stages, the women weren't sure whether they were collaborating to write a book or produce a podcast so they recorded their conversations with a view to deciding later and it shows.

Sharing the duties of sitting in the courtroom and listening to the live testimony in Melbourne via media audio-link, the reader is given snippets of conversations taking place in the car to and from court or over the phone. Often reading like a script, the effect made me feel as though I was in the car with them but without hearing their full experience.

These conversations ranged from how they felt standing outside Erin Patterson's house to the Defence Lawyer's potential advice to the defendant regarding a guilty plea; noting that if her lawyers know Patterson is guilty they can't make arguments inconsistent with that as they have a duty to the court.

"Most charges end up resolving in a guilty plea. But the personality that commits a crime like this is the same personality that believes they can get away with it." Sarah, Page 77

Every intellectual discussion the authors had about the case was of interest, including the conversation about whether the defendant might have a personality disorder and whether she was envious of the love shown to her children by their father and grandparents.

Shockingly, Helen has learned from attending family murder trials that just because you love someone doesn't mean you don't ever want to kill them; a statement which caused me to stop and ponder. It seemed to me the authors believed Patterson was guilty as they considered the difference between remorse and regret:

"Helen: Raimond Gaita says that remorse is a pained, bewildered realisation of what it means to have wronged someone. Sarah: Regret is self-interested. Remorse is a deeper thing." Page 134

Analysing Patterson's conduct in the witness box, they note that she's been unable to maintain a job, study or relationship for any sustained period of time despite having every resource, intellectual and financial at her disposal. They comment on her ability to unsettle them and notice that there's 'some force sheeting off her.' While they do discuss her persona and her false self, I was surprised they never talked about the family estrangements with her sister and her parents, and if they did, I'd love for it to have been included in the book.

I wasn't surprised to read that Patterson disagreed with every single witness but fascinated to hear that she talked back to the Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC when being questioned on the witness stand with semantic critiques like these:

"Sorry, I was confused by the double negatives," and "You're going to have to rephrase that, so I know what you're talking about." Pages 200-201

I can't even imagine delivering that amount of snark or attitude in a Police interview room, let alone if I was in the witness box on trial for murder.

The authors often reflect on the huge scale of the media following this trial, their feelings on their own involvement and the incredible global interest in this case:

"Two hundred and fifty-two journalists and outlets are on the court media's daily email list, including representatives from fifteen international media outlets. There are seven podcasters, seven documentary crews, one television drama series and nine authors, including us." Page 140

Growing up in Gippsland, it's hard to fathom the sheer level of interest this case has generated and the authors often try to determine what it is about the murders and murderer that has captured this level of attention.

When acknowledging the closing arguments for the Defence by Colin Mandy SC, I was reminded of his address to the jury:

"If you think that it's possible that Erin deliberately poisoned the meal, you must find her not guilty... If you think that maybe Erin deliberately poisoned the meal you must find her not guilty. If you think that she probably deliberately poisoned the meal, you must find her not guilty." Page 209

Recalling this coverage brings a chill down my spine as I feared the jury would find Patterson not guilty after hearing it. When discussing her guilt or innocence, Helen acknowledges this as one of the most brilliant performances she's ever seen in her life while Sarah agrees Patterson is a liar but that liars can still be not guilty of murder.

Discussing what they would do in the event of a hung jury, Helen was clear that she wouldn't want to do anything with the tapes and would walk away from the project. Sarah mentioned she would be incapable of not attending a potential retrial while Helen would feel glad to escape one and doesn't want to write something that's going to attract the defendant's animus or attention.

Late in the book during the jury deliberations, they acknowledge that the podcast they'd started making has fallen over and that sometimes it feels as though the book they're still loosely imagining might do the same. This indicates to me that there was no clear plan at the outset and that one failed to emerge during the trial. And what's with the book cover? I was fortunate to purchase a copy signed by each of the authors but I thought it was the advanced reader's copy when I first saw it in the publisher's catalogue.

But most disappointing of all was the fact that there was no discussion or reflection on the verdict or the sentencing at all! The reader is privy to the verdict and the sentencing by Justice Beale, but then that's it. Without their thoughts on the verdict and the all important sentencing, The Mushroom Tapes feels unfinished. And perhaps it is.

True crime enthusiasts looking for a thorough or comprehensive summary of the trial will need to look elsewhere, perhaps to one of the seven podcasters, seven documentary crews or nine authors also covering the case. I had enough interest in this collaboration and Helen Garner's perspectives to keep reading but I was ultimately disappointed and wanted so much more from The Mushroom Tapes. I'd even be keen to listen to the raw footage!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

*Books I've read by the authors:

Helen Garner
Everywhere I Look
Joe Cinque's Consolation

Chloe Hooper
The Arsonist - A Mind On Fire

Sarah Krasnostein
The Trauma Cleaner

Kill Your Boss Winner Announced

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway to win a copy of Kill Your Boss by Jack Heath. I received 115 entries in total and everyone correctly identified that Kill Your Boss is set in a Public Library.

One entrant gave me their postal address instead of their email address so I'm unable to advise them of the outcome of the giveaway, sorry about that Suz!

The giveaway closed on Christmas Eve and the lucky winner was drawn today, congratulations:

Malvina!!

Congratulations Malvina! You've won a copy of Kill Your Boss by Jack Heath valued at $34.99 thanks to Allen & Unwin. I'll be sending your prize out to you directly along with a few bookmarks and you'll receive an email from me shortly so that you can provide your postal address. Congratulations and I hope you don't get any ideas to kill your boss after reading this clever Australian whodunnit.

Carpe Librum!

Non Fiction Reader Challenge 2025 Completed

The older I get, the more non fiction I enjoy reading and this year I successfully completed the Nonfiction Nibbler level of the Non Fiction Reader Challenge 2025. The challenge is hosted by fellow Aussie book blogger Shelleyrae at Book'd Out and I needed to read and review 6 books from any 6 of the 12 categories listed below.

Some of the non fiction I read during the year didn't qualify for the challenge and I couldn't find any books from the Garden and Islands categories I wanted to read. I still have 3 more reviews I'm hoping to complete before the end of the year but at this moment in time, I read 28 books from 10 categories and reviewed 24 of them so I'm very pleased with that.

Here's what I read:

1. History
- All Buttons Great and Small: A Compelling History of the Button, from the Stone Age to today by Lucy Godoroja
- The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff
- The Stuff of History: A Curated Compendium of Curious Objects and Forgotten People by Steven Moore

2. Memoir/Biography
- Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent
- All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

3. True Crime
- The Peepshow - The Murders at 10 Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale
- The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Sarah Krasnostein and Chloe Hooper

4. Science
- Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd
- Hidden Potential - The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant
- Wonderdog by Jules Howard
- Sensational by Ashley Ward

5. Health
- The Unclaimed by Pamela Prickett & Stefan Timmermans
- History Stinks! Wee, Snot and Slime Through Time by Suzie Edge
- Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
- Sleep Hacks - Discover the Life-Changing Tranquility of Deep Sleep by Keith Barry

6. Food
- RecipeTin Eats Tonight by Nagi Maehashi
- Bored of Lunch Healthy Slow Cooker Even Easier by Nathan Anthony
- Poppy Cooks: The Potato Book - 101 Recipes from the Potato Queen by Poppy O'Toole
- The All-In-One Cookbook by Taste

7. Travel
- Beyond Suburbia by Warren Kirk

8. Garden

9. Myth, Legend and Folklore
- Gothic by Fred Botting
- Best Australian Ghost Stories by Graham Seal

10. Islands

11. How-To
- Difficult People by Rebecca Ray
- Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You by Ali Abdaal
- 488 Rules for Life by Kitty Flanagan

12. Published in 2025
- What to Expect When You're Dead: An Ancient Tour of Death and the Afterlife by Robert Garland
- Talk Your Way Out of Trouble: Life Lessons from the Law by Jahan Kalantar

My favourite non fiction books this year were from the memoir category and they were All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert and Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. I'm currently reading The Darkroom by A.J. Hewitt for the true crime prompt but it's unlikely I'll finish it before the end of the year. What non fiction books did you enjoy this year?

I'm looking forward to signing up for this challenge again in 2026, and if you'd like to join me you can check out the details - including the new categories - at Book'd Out.

Review: The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor

The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor is based on the real events that took place between 1917 - 1921 when young girls Frances and Elsie from Cottingley in England took photos of themselves with faeries. The cousins aged 9 and 16 respectively, stirred up quite a storm at the time and even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle believed the photographs were genuine. The photographs were the subject of news and magazine articles and Arthur Conan Doyle was so convinced of their authenticity that he published a book in 1922 called The Coming of the Fairies.

In The Cottingley Secret, Hazel Gaynor imagines what might have happened from Frances' point of view and I found her take on the event to be a convincing one. The story is told in dual timelines and in the present day, 35 year old Olivia has travelled back to Ireland to farewell her late grandfather. With fond memories of their time together, he has bequeathed his beloved second hand bookshop Something Old to Olivia. Going through his belongings, she finds a document with hundreds of typed pages entitled Notes on a Fairy Tale by Frances Griffiths.

Written by Frances later in life, it begins when she is just nine and a half years old in Cottingley in Yorkshire in 1917. Frances loves to be outdoors and spends hours at the local creek where she sees real faeries. In Frances' manuscript, she mentions her father going to war and the heartache of not knowing when he is coming home or when WWI will end. When it eventually does end, the grief that follows leads to the rise of spiritualism right across the country. This was a unique period in time where people were looking for more and wanted to believe in faeries, making this an opportune time to pull off the perfect hoax... or was it?

Apart from dropping her collection of sympathy cards received after the passing of her grandfather into the kitchen bin - who DOES that? - Olivia is a likeable character. Her nana has dementia and is in a nursing home and the connection between Frances' manuscript and Olivia's nana and grandfather is a slow reveal.

Olivia's love of books is highly relatable and I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of the bookshop and it's eventual glow up; I just love a property makeover and this one had a touch of fantasy about it. Admittedly there is a light romance element but for someone who doesn't like romance novels, I was relieved the romance didn't dominate or interfere too much with the narrative.

The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor will appeal to readers of historical fiction interested in the case of the Cottingley Fairies and who enjoy mysteries, family secrets and intergenerational connections.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

WIN a copy of Kill Your Boss by Jack Heath

Intro

Kill Your Boss by Australian author Jack Heath is the third book in the Kill Your series and features Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui who investigates a death at the local public library. Kill Your Boss can be read as a standalone and I gave it 5 stars in my recent review. Luckily for you, I received an additional copy from Allen & Unwin and am running a giveaway with permission from the publisher. I'll be sending the prize out to the lucky winner after Christmas so enter below and good luck!

Blurb

What would it take to turn you into a killer?

Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui has just broken up a loud brawl between two blokes in front of the Warrigal Public Library. But just as she's about to leave the scene, a man inexplicably plummets from the sky and slams into the bike rack right in front of her, dead.

Neville Adams was the head of library services, hated by staff, borrowers, and in fact anybody who had ever met him. Kiara quickly seals the building, trapping everyone who might have pushed him off the roof. She expects to have someone in custody within minutes.

Instead, the investigation becomes the most challenging and dangerous of her career as it spirals outward, ensnaring half the town. It seems that Neville was connected to the disappearance of Emmylou Chisholm - a case that Kiara could never solve, and that has haunted her ever since.

If the killer isn't found fast, the first two victims won't be the last ...

Giveaway

This Carpe Librum giveaway has now closed!

Historical Fiction Challenge 2025 Completed

At the beginning of 2025 I signed up for the Medieval Reader level of the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2025 hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader. I was required to read 15 historical fiction novels and I managed to read a total of 17 to successfully complete the challenge.

Some of my favourite reads of the year were historical fiction and here's what I read:

1. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2. Dunstan by Conn Iggulden ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3. The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4. Emily's House by Amy Belding Brown ⭐️⭐️⭐️
5. The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
6. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
7. Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
8. The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
9. The Pretender by Jo Harkin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
10. The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods ⭐️⭐️⭐️
11. The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson by Belinda Lyons-Lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
12. A Magic Deep and Drowning by Hester Fox ⭐️⭐️
13. Buckeye by Patrick Ryan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
14. The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
15. By Her Hand by Marion Taffe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Additional books read for the challenge:
16. Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
17. The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor

Have you read any of the books from this list? I'm planning on reading Cape Fever by Nadia Davids soon and if I finish it before NYE it'll bring my total to 18 books for the challenge.

I'm signing up for the challenge again next year so if you want to join me, visit Marg at The Intrepid Reader for details. In the meantime, feel free to share any standout historical fiction you've been reading this year.

Carpe Librum!

Review: Sensational by Ashley Ward

It's widely accepted that we have 5 senses: vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch but according to Ashley Ward, we might have as many as 53 senses. Ashley Ward is a Biologist in Sydney specialising in the field of animal behaviour and in Sensational - A New Story of Our Senses he delves into disciplines as diverse as psychology, ecology, medicine, economics and engineering to expound on the senses.

Listening to the audiobook narrated by David Morley Hale, the author addresses each of the primary 5 senses in their own sections. He also points out many other senses we already know about but may not have considered, like the sense of time, the sense of direction and the sense of balance or proprioception.

One of the most interesting facts I learned was that plants register vibrations and also make sounds. You might remember the scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Professor Sprout delivers a lesson on how to safely repot a mandrake, noting that the screams of the plant's roots can be fatal to those who hear them. Well, according to the author:

"It'd be a long stretch to say that plants scream, but when they're stressed or damaged, plants emit high ultra sonic sounds and they do this at a volume that's roughly the equivalent of our conversation, about 65 decibels." Chapter 6

Fascinating! But also isn't that just a tad creepy? Next time I'm trimming the dead ends from the leaves of my peace lily I'll be worried it's emitting sounds of distress. I wonder if they can also produce sounds of relief when watered, or perhaps when their dead ends are trimmed. Let's go with that.

I didn't know humans can distinguish over a trillion different smells and that women have a better sense of smell than men. Sensational by Ashley Ward is full of information like this and is recommended for readers with a serious interest in science, biology and anatomy.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★