The Women in the Shadows

Harriet Fox

THEY were murders that horrified London’s Victorian society and spread terror among the women who lived in the streets of the city’s Whitechapel district. The five victims of the infamous serial  killer, nicknamed Jack the Ripper, were all prostitutes, stabbed and mutilated in attacks that were so brutal that even hardened police officers were shocked by their savagery.

The man labelled a monster was never identified or arrested and today the murder sites are the focus of a macabre tourist industry and countless wild theories about the Ripper’s identity. But who were these women, what do we know of their lives… and could their murders have been solved if a much cannier detective team had been on the case?

The hunt for answers to such a notorious unsolved crime takes on a whole new complexion in The Women in the Shadows, a gripping novel that cleverly blends fact, fiction and feminist revenge, from Harriet Fox (pictured below), an author and journalist who also writes under the name Kerry Barrett and has a passion for stories that free women of the past from the shadows of history.

In Fox’s gripping reimagining of the Ripper hunt, we meet three feisty and fearless heroines, all different ages and from different walks of life, and all determined to use their insider knowledge, finely honed women’s intuition and personal detection skills to take on the shortcomings of the police and succeed where the men are failing.

It’s London in 1888 and a monster is prowling the gas-lit streets of Whitechapel, women are being horribly murdered and butchered by a frenzied killer, and the police, led by conscientious Inspector Fred Abberline, would appear to be looking in all the wrong places and at all the wrong suspects. But there are three women who refuse to stay silent and reckon they could make a far better and faster job of hunting down the man who is soon dubbed Jack the Ripper. Bet Palmer, a cleaner at Whitechapel police station, knows all too

Tales of the Impossible

Bill Pronzini

By guest reviewer Nicholas Litchfield,
editor of the Lowestoft Chronicle

COMPLEX puzzles, strange disappearances, unconventional murder techniques and spectral encounters abound in Tales of the Impossible, a standout collection of hard-hitting crime stories by Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Bill Pronzini.

Across a literary career spanning more than fifty years, Pronzini (pictured below) has published ninety novels, four non-fiction books, twenty story collections, numerous anthologies, and scores of articles, essays, and reviews. And his work has been translated into nineteen languages and published in nearly thirty countries.

Drawing inspiration from the master of the locked room mystery, John Dickson Carr, this rewarding new collection blends procedural, noir, detective fiction, historical narrative and gritty Westerns, paying homage to the subgenre while spotlighting some of Pronzini’s most beloved characters. The collection opens with The Arrowmont Prison Riddle, set in rural north eastern United States in 1916 where Warden Parker contends with the inscrutable Buckmaster Gilloon after the failed execution of the remorseless Arthur Teasdale. 

Amid a raging storm, Teasdale vanishes from the gallows, leaving behind only his hood, which triggers a frantic investigation. When one of the guards is subsequently found murdered, Gilloon’s sharp deduction skills come to the fore, peeling back layers of deception. Parker finds himself haunted by Gilloon’s uncanny insight and the enduring mystery surrounding this enigmatic man.

The oft-anthologised Proof of Guilt, a personal favourite of Pronzini’s, was adapted for a segment of Roald Dahl’s TV series Tales of the Unexpected. 

Here, veteran cop Walt and his partner Jack Sherrard probe the puzzling murder of lawyer Adam Chillingham. Set within the imposing Dawes Building, the detectives quickly identify a suspect and motive, yet the murder weapon is missing. The case grows ever more gripping until it culminates in a stunning final reveal.

In The Half-Invisible Man, written with Jeffrey Wallman and first published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Patrolman Fred Gallagher, an unassuming middle-aged cop, finds himself

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Hauntings, horrors and hilarious romps as Halloween looms

Monsters, ghosts, vampires, werewolves and witches... the spooky season is looming like a dark and delicious shadow so prepare to indulge your children’s Halloween dreams – and nightmares! – with this chilling, thrilling selection of super-scary and frighteningly funny books

Age 8 plus
Dracula & Daughters
Emma Carroll

SHARPEN your fangs and let them sink into the first book of a blood-curdling, inventive and thrilling world-building new series from master storyteller Emma Carroll whose historical fiction has proved a big hit with young readers. In this gloriously gothic adventure, Carroll ramps up the spooks for her highly original – and high stakes – tale which delivers a unique and fiendishly feminist spin on all those familiar vampire stories. Packed full of atmosphere and gothic detail, this deliciously dark adventure introduces us to three cousins who discover they are descendants of Dracula and combine their covert female powers to form an infamous vampire healing company called… Dracula & Daughters!

In the city of Temstown, for the first time in twenty years, vampires are prowling the streets. The only way to make the city safe again is by culling the undead with a stake through the heart. But vampire slayers are in dangerously short supply. Then three girls, Mina, Buffy and Bella, discover a mind-blowing secret which they must keep hidden at all costs. Could they alone have the powers to cure – not cull – vampires? Temstown is about to welcome its very own vampire healing company, and their first case is perilously close to home. With magic abounding, villainous vampires, three coruscating star players, and an inventive world that includes a talking raven, this spooktacular and entertaining new series looks set to be a ghouls’ paradise!
(Faber Children’s Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
The Last Day of October
Phil Hickes and Oriol Vidal

BORED with trick-or-treating, three friends venture into the woods on Halloween night to hunt for the haunted McBride House in this spine-tingling horror story from Phil Hickes, a writer with a self-declared passion for horror, ghosts, and all things that go bump in the night! If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a nasty surprise! Seeking creepy thrills instead of candy, Cody and his friends set out on Halloween to search for the ruins of the haunted McBride House in the woods near his home in Oregon. The house has taken on a sinister legendary status after it burned down a hundred years ago with tragic consequences, and it’s said that the ghosts of the family who lived there return each year on the last day of October. But when they find the house, the truth of what is happening on this eerie autumn night is more terrifying than the three teenagers could ever have imagined… Hickes is at his ghostly, gothic best in this Halloween horror story in which the past bleeds into the present with terrifying results and is brought to vibrant, visceral life by the atmospheric and haunting illustrations of Oriol Vidal. Packed with eerie, electrifying small town America vibes, this is a spectacular spine-chiller from a master of the macabre.
(Barrington Stoke, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
Do You Believe in Ghosts?
Danny Robins and Ellen Walker

HAVE you ever wondered if ghosts really exist and what it’s like to live in a ‘haunted’ house? Well wonder no more because Danny Robins, the award-winning writer, creator and host of the hit BBC podcast and TV series Uncanny, has a ‘spooktacular’ new collection of real-life ghost stories. Robins is on a mission to inspire a new generation of ghost-hunters in his thrilling first book for children, so join him on an adventure into the world of the paranormal. Explore bizarre and intriguing mysteries from poltergeists and apparitions to messages from the spirit world, ghostly photos, and even a haunted toilet! This is a journey of discovery for anyone curious about the paranormal, exploring the science and history behind these incredible stories. With an assurance from the author that the book is ‘spooky not scary,’ Do You Believe in Ghosts? – illustrated by Ellen Walker – is an exhilarating page-turner that dares young readers to discover if they are #TeamBeliever or #TeamSceptic as they try to solve that biggest of all mysteries… do ghosts exist? So climb under the covers, grab a torch, and prepare to get ghost hunting!
(Puffin, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
Spooksmiths Investigate: Circus of Shadows
Alex Atkinson

WHEN you’ve grown up loving scary books filled with oddball characters, enjoyed playing murder-in-the-dark and listening to your dad’s blood-curdling bedtime stories, it seems a natural progression to write your own spooky (but funny) spine-chillers! Circus of Shadows is the second book of Spooksmiths Investigate, a brilliantly spooky horror-mystery series from Alex Atkinson who says she still dreams of ghost and zombies.

‘Roll up, roll up to be terrified out of your wits at the Circus of Shadows! Run in horror from the phantom clown... Meet a man made of flies on a real ghost train... But scariest of all, hide from Hell Mary and her rings made of teeth. Because she has a deadly deal for you...’ 

Spooksmiths Indigo and Rusty, a pair of squabbling siblings who live in a funeral parlour in the seaside town of Greyscar, can speak to the dead and know how to fight dangerous ghosts. But now powerful spirit Hell Mary has kidnapped their parents and if they don’t agree to track down her cursed crystal ball by sunrise, she’ll trap them all in her haunted circus for ever. Will the Spooksmiths’ skills be enough to beat her? Join the Spooksmith twins on their fast-paced and spine-tingling adventures. Including fascinating facts about Victorian London, and inspired by the real-life London Necropolis Railways which was used to transport corpses out of the capital, Atkinson’s super-spooky, fast-paced and fun-filled adventure reminds us about the importance of family and friends and is a treat for your Halloween tricksters!
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
Mallory Vayle and Maggoty Skull
in the Beast from Beneath
Martin Howard and Pete Williamson

BRACE yourself for gruesome giggles, spooky sniggers and creepy cackles when youngsters get their hands on the second hilarious ‘horror’ story featuring a talkative skull and a necromancer-in-training from the top team of comedy king and author Martin Howard, and creative illustrator Pete Williamson. With deliciously dark humour, hellish hags, a gloriously ghoulish girl, a wig-loving skull and a spine-chilling, fast-paced adventure to devour, this spectacular spooky romp (rightly!) comes with a warning that readers might just die of laughter and is perfect for both Halloween and as a side-splitting and spine-tingling year-round read.

Mallory is getting to grips with her new powers and her new talkative friend, Maggoty. But when Maggoty sees a wig in Les Wigs shop, he just won’t shut up about it! It's expensive, and no one seems able to pay Mallory properly for her cosmic services. So her Aunt Lilith takes matters into her own hands but, in her quest to increase her own supernatural skills, she accidentally summons a Nightmare. It, inevitably, goes HORRIBLY wrong and Mallory must take a perilous journey into the bowels of Carrion Castle in search of the solution to Aunt Lilith’s problem. But it’s only when a bony fella with a scythe turns up (that’s Death himself, by the way!) that she knows she and Maggoty are in for some terrifying fun and games! Budding horror fans will love Howard’s gleefully spooky and very, very funny adventure which stars the chattiest, wig-wearing skull in the whole of Halloween history, and is brought to hilarious pictorial life through Williamson’s prodigious imagination. Dangerously good!
(Nosy Crow, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
Where the Dead Live
Sam Fern and Rômolo D’Hipólito

DISCOVER the most wondrous – and downright spooky – homes of the dead in this globe-trotting journey from our world to the underworld as author and editor Sam Fern explores the celebrations, customs and ancient mythologies of the afterlife. Lavishly illustrated by artist Rômolo D’Hipólito, Where the Dead Live, takes readers on a tour of festivals and catacombs… and how some believe we go on beyond the end. Learn about the mythological afterlives of ancient civilizations and find out about spiritual celebrations throughout the ages, all revealed with a healthy splash of joie de vivre and not a hint of gloom. Along the way, wander through labyrinths of bone and stone, swim through sunken cemeteries, unearth ancient festivals and sacred sites of long-lost legends, and join in heartfelt traditions from around the globe which joyfully reunite the living with the lost. From Mexico’s vibrant Day of the Dead to the Pirate Cemetery of Saint-Pierre and the shadowy depths of Hades, this is a thrilling adventure through folklore, mythology and cultural practices, revealing the beauty and mystery of the afterlife.
(Templar Books, hardback, £14.99)

Age 8 plus
Fright Club: Let’s Boo This!
Sibéal Pounder and George Ermos

SUPER-SPOOKY adventures get an exciting choose-your-character twist in this frighteningly clever new series from Sibéal Pounder, bestselling author of Witch Wars and Bad Mermaids. With friendships, frights and lots of fun to enjoy, this intriguing book is guaranteed to thrill readers as they choose which club members to follow on diverging adventures. The night Joe Bones spots a cloaked figure leaving his gran’s house, he's sure that something is afoot. So, when he hears that his gran has passed away, he’s convinced the mysterious man has something to do with her death. Then Joe discovers that his gran was keeping a secret… she was part of an ancient society called Fright Club, investigators of crimes in supernatural hidden worlds ranging from Clinks, the world of skeletons, to the ghostly Veilooo and demon-filled Devilbend. Joe convinces his three best friends, Hal, Debbie and Rose, to revive the club and track down the mysterious figure to find out what really happened to his gran. What Joe doesn’t know is that each of his friends has a supernatural secret of their own and starting their own Fright Club could unleash a whole heap of trouble… With each friend having a secret to hide, twists and turns guaranteed to keep readers on the edge of their seats, and a deliciously devious cast of characters to enjoy, Pounder’s journey into the unknown is a spectacular romp from start to finish.
(Puffin, paperback, £8.99)

Age 7 plus
Aliens Made Me Do It!
David Macphail and Rory Walker

MEET the aliens… it’s not every day a spaceship crash-lands in your garden! All the family – and that includes crusty old grandads! – will enjoy this wickedly funny aliens adventure which stars two scheming Galactic rulers, a boy called Hillman (after the car) and girl whose greatest wish is to pull off a bank heist. Expect to wipe the tears from your eyes rather than the sweat of fear from your forehead with this madcap sci-fi fantasy – written by David Macphail, author of the Lollies-nominated Thorfinn the Nicest Viking series, and illustrated by Rory Walker – which has 21^st century issues, like war and peace, jealousy and friendship, embedded deep within all the hilarious twists, mash-ups, disguises, plans and schemes. Eleven-year-old Hillman thinks it’s a prank when a spaceship turns up in his garden… until a real alien steps out, followed by a homicidal maniac robot manservant armed with explosive custard. Princess Cassiopeia is in a fix. She shrank her entire space armada while making a smoothie (don’t ask!). She came to rally Earth’s leaders but instead landed in a nowhere town called Bilgeley and got Hillman Patel, aged eleven, and his crusty old grandad. Meanwhile, Perseus crash-lands on Bilgeley rubbish tip, intent on chasing down Cassiopeia, and gets Roz, age eleven, who is here to help but has got her eyes set on a bank heist. The galaxy’s most ridiculous war has landed on Earth, and things are about to get very, very messy. Can Cassiopeia defeat Prince Perseus? Luckily, Hillman has got one excuse: ‘Aliens made me do it.’ Brought to vibrant life by Walker’s fun-filled illustrations, Mcpahail’s brilliant satire will delight readers with its sheer exuberance, short, snappy chapters, sparkling dialogue and entertaining cliffhangers. Anarchy on steroids!
(Everything with Words, paperback, £8.99)

Age 5 plus
Croaky: Escape from Crow Castle
Matty Long

A SCOUT mission to uncover the cause of mysterious hauntings at spooky Crow Castle delivers paranormal fun and frights in the fourth book of an action-packed and colourful chapter book series from Super Happy Magic Forest creator Matty Long. Croaky Hopper isn't like other little frogs. His head is filled with thoughts of wild adventures. He dreams of hopping across crocodile-infested waters, or being chased by a giant boulder, just like the famous TV explorer Tennessee Toad. But where can an energetic amphibian like Croaky find real-life adventure? When his Aunt Lilly signs him up for the Woggle Scouts, he expects to spend his time crafting with pinecones and selling cookies, but he soon discovers there's much more in store! In Croaky’s new adventure, the Woggle Scouts leap into action when they find hidden passageways, puzzle rooms and a murder of meddling crows! Packed with Long’s classic humour, lovable characters and eye-catching illustrations, this action-packed series is ideal for emerging readers and youngsters who like their laughs to come with lots of pictures!
(Oxford University Press, paperback, £6.99)

Age 5 plus
Where's Stitch? Halloween Edition
Marvel Entertainment International Ltd

CAN you spot Stitch? Don’t miss out on all the spooky fun packed inside Disney’s simply marvellous limited edition of the Lilo & Stitch search-and-find activity book featuring a brand-new Halloween scene and a glow-in-the-dark cover! Brought to life by stunning, full-colour original illustrations, the Where's Stitch? Halloween edition is available for a limited time only. Look for Lilo’s mischievous alien pet in jam-packed scenes from the beaches of Kaua’I to the Galactic Federation and back. Can you spot Stitch, Lilo and their 'Ohana friends hiding amongst the pumpkins? Perfect for Marvel and Disney fans young and old, this beautifully created search-and-find book guarantees hours of entertainment!
(Studio Press, paperback, £7.99)

Age 3 plus
Ghost Hunt
Isabel Otter and Kathryn Selbert

THE youngest members of the family can enjoy some ghostly goings-on with this magical search-and-find adventure which sheds an extra special light on all the phantom fun of the Halloween season! Children’s books editor Isabel Otter’s delightful rhyming verse invites little ones to blow off the cobwebs and join a host of cute characters on their ghost-hunting mission. Shine the magical UV torch on to every page to search for more than 50 fiendishly friendly creatures hiding in the invisible ink and discover lots of spine-tingling scenes, such as a haunted house, a bat’s cave and a pumpkin patch. This super interactive board book, colourfully illustrated by Kathryn Selbert, packs in lots of spooks without the scares!
(Little Tiger Press, board book, £12.99)

Bea’s Book Wagon

Julie Haworth

WHO doesn’t love a book about books? Step back into the enchanting village of Blossom Heath in East Sussex where author Julie Haworth has (literally!) harnessed her passion for all things bookish to a delicious and delightful story about a mobile bookshop which finds a home… in an old horsebox!

Written right through with a born bibliophile’s love for spreading the joys of reading, and featuring lovable characters that Haworth’s (pictured below) fans will know from Always By Your Side and New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Café – the first two books in a soul-soothing, bucolic series – this new romantic odyssey is the perfect uplifting autumn escape.

Set once again in the most idyllic, quintessentially English village imaginable, Bea’s Book Wagon stars a young woman searching for the next chapter in her life and explores heartwarming themes like the strength that comes from community, the joys of family and friendship, the importance of living your dreams, and how love really does make the ‘wheels’ go round.  

After yet another put-down by her boss, Bea Miller impulsively packs in her dead-end temp job where she has always felt like the ‘dogsbody.’ It’s four years since Bea left university and she has moved back to Blossom Heath where her parents run the village store.

Ever since she was tiny, it had ‘always been about books’ for Bea… they are her sanctuary when the ‘real world’ gets too much and her dream is to have her own bookshop. But when a drunken night out with best friend Jess to drown her sorrows ends with her investing her life savings in a ramshackle old horsebox she has seen on eBay, Bea wonders whether she has made a big mistake. But converting and revamping the old horsebox could mean her dream becomes a reality and with the help of friends and her childhood sweetheart

Walking the Dales Way

Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere through the Yorkshire Dales
Terry Marsh

IF you’re looking for autumn walks that offer stunning rural landscapes and take in two of the country’s national parks, and all without demanding an enormous amount of effort, a handy guide to the scenic Dales Way could be just what you need.

Walking the Dales Way, which covers the area from Ilkley to Bowness through the Yorkshire Dales, is a brilliant guide from Cicerone Press, an enthusiastic publisher based in Kendal which specialises in outdoor activities guidebooks and has a range of nearly 400 books for walking, trekking, climbing, mountaineering and cycling, covering the UK, Europe and other regions of the world.

And like the other books in their super pocket-sized guide series, Walking the Dales Way – written by Lancashire-born outdoors and travel author and photographer Dr Terry Marsh (pictured below) – comes with a separate map booklet of 1:25,000 scale Ordnance Survey maps which is contained neatly inside the back of the book and shows the full route.

Presented in six stages of 7-19 miles, with alternative itineraries suggested, the picturesque 79-mile route is recognised as one of the gentlest long-distance walks in Britain. Passing through Wharfedale, Dentdale and the eastern fringe of the Lake District, the walk is scenically at its best in spring and autumn (April-June and September-October) but is an all-year round route for suitably equipped walkers.

Centres are Ilkley, Grassington, Hawes, Sedbergh and Bowness, and clear step-by-step route descriptions link together with the map booklet at each stage along the way. The unspoilt route passes through Burnsall, Buckden, Cowgill, Bolton Abbey, Dent and Staveley, and walkers are rarely away from features of architectural, social, ecological or historic interest like churches, bridges, manor houses, ancient stone circles and Roman roads.

The route is also ideal for anyone wanting to attempt multi-day walking for the first time with no significant physical difficulties beyond the basic need to walk a certain distance each day. The scenery is outstanding throughout, and a string of communities line the route without detracting from the sense of freedom.

The separate booklet of 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey maps provides all the mapping you need to walk the trail, in a convenient pocket-sized format. And to make the walks even easier, the route description in the guidebook links together with the map booklet at each stage along the way with the compact format eliminating the need to carry several maps.

With rich animal and plant life to enjoy along the way, fascinating insights to the area’s history and culture, and a trek planner which highlights information about accommodation, facilities and public transport, it’s time round up the family, grab your handy guide, and step this way!
(Cicerone Press, paperback, £16.95)

An Enemy in the Village

Martin Walker

WHEN a woman’s body is found in her car at a remote beauty spot in France’s idyllic Dordogne region, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of suicide but the resulting disputes over her will soon start to raise the suspicions of the local chief of police.

And to make matters even more complicated for Lieutenant Bruno Courrèges, his interference in the local deputy mayor’s marriage dispute opens up a host of personal and professional dilemmas which will test his considerable sleuthing talents to the limit.

Welcome back to the ‘magical corner of the world’ inhabited by the incomparable Bruno in the remarkable eighteenth book of Martin Walker’s enchanting, French-flavoured series which stars an astute, epicurean detective with a taste for food, vin rouge… and crime.

Lovers of clever mysteries, social, international and political history, stunning scenery, excellent cuisine, and the very best of French wines, have enjoyed sharing the past seventeen years with the smart, likeable and fair-minded Bruno in Walker’s exceptionally entertaining and eternally popular novels. A prize-winning historian and journalist who spends much of his time in the Périgord region – the lush, gastronomic heartland of France – Walker (pictured below) has mastered the fine art of harnessing intriguing murder mysteries with paeans to his adopted country’s rich history, landscape, food and culture to dish up stories with an addictive brand of Gallic charm.

And at the heart of these witty, wonderful novels is the laidback Bruno, a bon viveur with a brain as discerning as his palate… a man who can crack crime in the fictional settlement of St Denis whilst cracking open a bottle of his favourite wine.

In this new mystery, we find France’s favourite country policeman on his way to work one autumn morning when he comes across an abandoned car parked at a beauty spot on the ridge overlooking the beautiful Vézère valley. Inside is a dead woman alongside an empty pill container, a water bottle and a folder with three farewell notes inside, including one to her husband Dominic d’Estringen.

It doesn’t take long to ascertain that she is 42-year-old Monique Duhamel, joint partner in a highly lucrative ‘super-concierge’ letting business, and that her apparent suicide may have resulted from depression caused by a miscarriage just a week ago. There are circumstances surrounding the death that raise Bruno’s suspicions, particularly around her will, but the case becomes less of a priority when our seasoned police chief makes the mistake of interfering in a local marital dispute. The deputy mayor of St Denis has been playing away and finds himself evicted from the family home by his angry wife.

Adding to that, there has been a flood of harassment complaints against a young and arrogant police cadet with high ranking connections, and old controversies about deer culls take on new life with a second campaign beginning and stating that Bruno is less of a village copper and more of a ‘secret policeman’ whose main job is working for French intelligence.

Some of the ammunition for this attack, Bruno learns, comes from deputy mayor Xavier who sees this as a way to topple both Bruno and the mayor, and succeed to the mayor’s job himself. Suddenly Bruno’s shiny reputation is looking a little tarnished as he battles to save his name and answer the questions still surrounding Monique’s suicide.

Walker’s richly descriptive and captivating series shows no sign of flagging as we meet up again with Bruno and his warm and sociable milieu, which includes some interesting new characters, and follow an intriguing case which takes the wily detective into some dark corners of the famously idyllic Périgord.

But this being Bruno, he also has time to indulge in some more pleasurable things, like introducing his beloved basset hound Balzac to a charming young female hound called George Sand, meeting friends, organising youth rugby games, listening to music, and enjoying a sumptuous Périgordian meal washed down by a 2019 curvée Ortus from Château Bélingard.

And it is this eclectic mix which has turned Walker’s amiable detective into the culinary crime king of rural France as these must-read, atmospheric and wonderfully multi-layered whodunits magically morph into wish-you-were-here feasts accompanied by plentiful side-helpings of crime, history and intrigue. Murder mystery with a quintessentially French dressing…
(Quercus, hardback, £22)

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Dragon magic, learning witchcraft and sweet delights

Return to a magical land of dragons where love and bravery are weapons against evil, join a trainee witch tasked with finding a brand new spell, dive into a deliciously dangerous and mouth-watering mystery, and tuck into tasty pizzas and lots of laughter in a new super selection

Age 8 plus
Impossible Creatures: The Poisoned King
Katherine Rundell

TRAVEL back to a land of dragons where magic is only ever a heartbeat away, adventures are out of this world, and friendship, love and bravery are the armour with which to fight evil! Readers who left their hearts in the Archipelago after the delights of outstanding author Katherine Rundell’s epic and bestselling Impossible Creatures will be itching to get their hands on her magnificent second book, The Poisoned King. With artwork by Tomislav Tomić, and packed full of fantastical thrills and spills, this new chapter for our hero, Christopher Forrester, sweeps us back to the dangerous and dazzling land known as the Glimouria Archipelago, a cluster of magical islands where all the creatures of myth still live and breed and thrive in their thousands.

In his new adventure, Christopher – who has discovered a Way-Between his world and the Archipelago – is unexpectedly woken by a miniature dragon chewing on his face. Far from being frightened, his heart leaps for joy because for months he has dreamed of returning to the Archipelago’s secret islands. Called there to help save the dragons, which are mysteriously dying out, Christopher does not yet know that his return will involve a rescue mission on the back of a sphinx and a daring plan to enter a dragon’s lair. Nor could he have imagined that it would involve Princess Anya Phoebe Cornelia Argen of the Island of Dousha who arrives with a flock of birds at her side, a newly-hatched chick in her pocket… and a ravenous thirst for revenge and hunger for justice. With an audacious and daredevil princess – who has her own personal reasons for solving the dark mystery – joining Christopher for another all-action adventure, and a glossary of magical, mythical creatures at the back of the book, youngsters will be lapping up every word of this beautifully imagined, inspirational and emotion-packed classic.
(Bloomsbury Children’s Books, hardback, £14.99)

Age 9 plus
Stonewitch
Skye McKenna and Tomislav Tomić

IF you’re looking for adventures with a truly magical atmosphere, step back into the wonderful world of Hedgewitch, where the land of Faerie lies just beyond our own! Stonewitch is the fourth book in the enchanting Hedgewitch series, the debut creation of Skye McKenna who grew up surrounded by red dust in a mining town in the Australian outback but then travelled to England and fell in love with the British countryside. Illustrated by Tomislav Tomić, the series is already being hailed as a modern classic. Now living in Scotland, McKenna was inspired by her love of magic and adventure to write these captivating adventures which star a family of witches who protect Britain from the denizens of Faerie, creatures who are all too real and far more frightening than the story books suggest.

To complete the next step in her training in the practical skills of witchcraft, Cassie Morgan must invent a brand-new spell. However, she is struggling for inspiration… so she jumps at the chance to attend the Covenmoot. Every five years, covens from all over Britain and Ireland meet to take part in a series of challenging games in the hopes of winning the Covenmoot Cauldron. Cassie and her friends travel to Glen Carlin, a remote valley in the Scottish Highlands, to take part. But menacing forces haunt the moors and rumours of the ancient Stonewitch swirl through the camp. Cassie and her coven must work together to prove themselves in the Covenmoot, while long-hidden secrets come to light and the wicked Erl King’s power grows. Witches aren’t born, they’re made... McKenna is a born storyteller, building an enchanting, magical world that is as alluring as it is viscerally and thrillingly real… a place where the characters spring to glorious life, where the natural world takes centre stage, and where readers long to return to time and time again!
(Welbeck Children’s Books, hardback, £14.99)

Age 9 plus
The Wanderdays: The Midnight Sweet Factory
Clare Povey

DIVE into a deliciously dangerous and mouth-watering mystery in the second thrilling eco-adventure from master storyteller Clare Povey… and meet two superstar siblings. Author of the fabulous French-flavoured Bastien Bonlivre series, Povey’s ambitions to be a marine biologist never materialised but her love of the natural world shines through as we meet up again with the daring Wanderdays as they embark on an edge-of-your-seat , sugar-fuelled quest. When Flo and Joseph Wanderday unwrap a Midnight Treats gobstopper, they’re expecting to find a sugary sweet... not a mysterious message that kickstarts the adventure of a lifetime. ‘HELP! Trapped in Midnight Forest. Come before it is too late.’ With adventure in their hearts and sugar in their stomachs, the Wanderdays must find the Midnight Forest, journey through its sweet-themed tricks and trials, and face their greatest threat yet… sweet factory workers who aren’t in control of their own minds! Packed to the treetops with non-stop action, brilliant baddies, two breathtakingly audacious children and important reminders about the dangers of deforestation, the wonderful wanderings of the Wanderdays are guaranteed to have young readers turning the pages and already booking in for the next thrilling outing!
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
Witchlight
Dominique Valente and Eleonora Asparuhova

RETURN to a magical world of witches, royalty and curses in this spellbinding sequel to Witchspark, Dominique Valente’s thrilling fantasy series starring a girl born with only one hand, and an amazing house with a character all of its own. Valente – author of the bewitching Starfell series – uses her own experiences of living with one hand, including the challenges and frustrations, and her own special brand of magic to treat readers to quirky adventures brimming with witchery and wonder. Here we meet up again with Eglantine Bury who was born with just one hand and is a pupil at Miss Hegotty’s Secret Society of Witches which has a lot of work to do. The Department of Isle-Spark Regulation is up to no good. For Princess Victoria, a secret witch at the palace, this means possibly losing her magic powers forever. And for Eglantine, her magical home, Huswyvern, can’t stop sneezing, causing total chaos with each ‘achoo!’ And as if that wasn’t enough to worry about, Eglantine’s house isn’t the only magical being falling mysteriously ill. With dragons and gargoyles getting sicker and sicker, the witches will have to use time-travel, disguise spells and genie wishes to uncover the truth... before it’s too late. In this new spellbinding adventure, illustrated by Eleonora Asparuhova, youngsters are swept back to Eglantine’s captivating world which features a very unusual teacher and a talking dragon-butler, and a story that is filled with warmth, humour, wondrous adventures, offbeat fantasy, and characters to love. High-flying magic!
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £8.99)

Age 9 plus
Pizza Pete and the Peculiar Professor
Carrie Sellon and Sarah Horne

TUCK into more laughter, tasty pizzas and words of wisdom as author Carrie Sellon and illustrator Sarah Horne return with the final laugh-out-loud adventure of their trilogy starring the irrepressible Pizza Pete! After finding a mysterious briefcase full of magic potions under the floorboards in the attic, Pete and his dad experimented with them to create some crazy, crowd-pleasing pizza toppings to help save the family business. Now the magical pizzas are selling like hot cakes… until something goes wrong with the Shrink potion and Anna stays shrunk. Eek! Pete and his friends must track down the elusive creator of the magical potions, Professor Tregoning, to get help. But there’s a lot to juggle, including a road trip, a talking dog, a large dollop of out-of-control magic and a ruthless villain with her own terrible plans for the potions. Team Useless must pull off their biggest mission yet, or Anna will have to stay tiny… forever! Pete is a true hero for young readers, a boy who helps the battle to save his family’s pizza business whilst struggling with his own anxiety issues. And it’s the author’s distinctive brand of slapstick humour – perfectly complemented by Horne’s extravagant, fun-filled illustrations – which provide the ideal wrapping for a story that gently, and sensitively, tackles serious issues around mental health and anxiety. Don’t miss the last epic slice of the pizza action fun!
(Guppy Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 8 plus
Ultimate Football Heroes 2026
Matt Oldfield, Emily Stead, Seth Burkett
and John Murray

LOOK back at an amazing year in football with Ultimate Football Heroes 2026, a bumper special edition of the ever-popular Ultimate Football Heroes series. These brilliant books feature biographies and life stories of the biggest and best footballers in the world and their incredible journeys to stardom, as well as lots of fascinating football facts. And now you can relive the goals, games and glories of the 2024-25 season, including intense Premier League face-offs for the top-five finish, shocking moments as the Lionesses rise to glory in the Euros, and all the action from the biggest and best players from around the globe. Peek inside for Liverpool’s dash for the Premier League title, Salah’s unstoppable run of goals, the earth-shattering ‘El Clasico’ match between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Saka’s push to bring his team to the next Champion’s League and Hannah Hampton’s world-shattering penalty saves. And meet the top players from the latest season, including Bukayo Saka, Ousmane Dembélé, Alessia Russo, Lamine Yamal, Désiré Doué and Mohammed Salah. This brilliant yearbook – with its sparkling, gold-foiled cover – is stacked with the biggest football hero stories from across the world, plus stats and quizzes to test your knowledge… it's the ultimate yearbook for fans of the beautiful game and bang on goal for all aspiring young players!
(Dino Books, paperback, £8.99)

Age 7 plus
Betty Steady and the Fidgety Wizard
Nicky Smith-Dale and Sarah Horne

BETTY Steady, the Guardian of Wobbly Rock, is back and the fun factor is off the scale! As the daughter of two knights, Betty is blessed with unmatched strength and speed but due to a horrid shrinking spell by a wicked Toad Witch she’s now really, really tiny. Fortunately she is still the shining star (well, most of the time!) of a funny illustrated fiction series from the top team of author Nicky Smith-Dale and talented illustrator Sarah Horne. And in her third adventure, Betty and her Wobbly Rock pals must leap into action when the twin princesses, Pam and Pamm, fall under a dreadful spell. They have swooned into a coma, thanks to a bunch of poisonous daffodils inadvertently given to them by Betty’s swashbuckling, moustachioed 11-year-old cousin, Freddy Steady. Now the gang must go in search of wicked weasels on the island of Little Dollop to find the cure. But naughty sorcerer Hearty Stu has plans of his own for the princesses. And our noble stallion Simon Anderson has plans for Freddy Steady’s SUPER annoying green unicorn Salad whom he doesn’t like even a tiny little bit… no sir nuh-uh. With madcap humour at every turn of the page, a cast of the weirdest characters this side of Wobbly Rock, and a lead player who is just a teensy bit too big for her boots, this rollicking romp is joyful, big-hearted and serves up extra dollops of youthful exuberance for readers new to chapter books.
(Farshore, paperback, £6.99)

Age 5 plus
Isadora Moon and the Pop Stars
Harriet Muncaster

THE shining star that is half-vampire, half-fairy Isadora Moon shows no sign of losing her sparkle in this gorgeous silver-coated new adventure from the ever-inventive author and illustrator Harriet Muncaster. Full to its sparkly covers with crazy capers and enchanting pink and black illustrations, this magical series of first chapter books is perfect for early readers who like their glitter with a bit of bite and this special hardback, gift edition comes with silver-sprayed edges, extra activities, and things to make and do. Isadora is special because she is different. Her mum is a fairy and her dad is a vampire and she is a bit of both. Here we find Isadora excited because she has been invited to go to a pop concert with her friend, Araminta. She has never seen a band like Glitterbat before. The music is gothic and vampire-y and electric and she can’t wait to show the dance moves to her friends at school. But will they understand, or will they think her vampire music is a bit strange? Isadora and her out-of-this-world family are perfectly created for little girls who are getting bored with run-of-the-mill fairies and princesses, and are eager to get their teeth into something new and exciting. Clever, imaginative, funny, positively fizzing with fairies and vampires, and with themes of heritage, difference and fitting in, Isadora’s adventures always leave youngsters hungry for more!
(Oxford University Press, hardback, £9.99)

Age 5 plus
My Magic Hamster: Hide and Squeak
Leah Mohammed and Jess Rose

WHAT little mischief-maker could resist a very naughty magic hamster? Children’s author Leah Mohammed has always loved stories with magic at their heart, and there’s lots of heart and magic to enjoy in the second book of a sparkling series which includes two stories in each book and stars a mischievous hamster called Frank. Sana has always wanted a hamster but when she buys Frank, she gets a bit more than she'd bargained for. Because Frank is a special hamster… a magic hamster. In fact, he’s a very naughty magic hamster who keeps getting Sana into all kinds of trouble! As you can guess, life is never boring when Frank is around, especially when he discovers he has new time-freezing and shrinking powers. But can Sana keep the super-tiny Frank safe from the neighbour’s cats? Frank’s fun-filled adventures full of magic, mayhem and mischief are given extra vibrancy by Jess Rose’s illustrations and look set to run and run!
(Welbeck Children’s Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 5 plus
Gordon: In the City
Alex Latimer

GORDON the goose is back and he’s still honkingly funny! Gordon: In the City is the fourth highly illustrated yarn in a hilarious debut chapter book series from bestselling author and illustrator Alex Latimer. Gordon is the meanest goose on earth. Well… he used to be, but now he’s trying to change his ways and be a good goose. The trouble is, it’s really tricky to be kind and patient and good, especially when you’ve always been mean. Now Gordon has been invited to a fancy award ceremony in the big city. He’s been asked to present this year’s award for The Meanest Goose on Earth, a prize he has won the previous eight years in a row! But now that he’s a good(ish) goose he’s nervous to be in the presence of such mean geese and one in particular… Mother Goose! That’s right, this year Gordon’s mum is up for the award, and she’s got something really mean planned… Perfect for emerging readers, these funny tales of redemption and about finding the courage to change your ways are packed with laugh-out-loud, edgy humour and brought to life by Latimer’s characterful black and red illustrations on every page. It would be simply mean not to fall in love with Gordon!
(Oxford University Press, paperback, £6.99)

Age 5 plus
Marv and the Funfair Fright
Alex Falase-Koya and Paula Bowles

SUIT up, step up! Superhero Marv is back and this time he’s up against a sinister supervillain and pack of pesky pandas! It’s ‘fair’ game for fast-paced fun and frolics in the ninth book of an exciting and action-packed series from award-winning writer Alex Falase-Koya and star illustrator Paula Bowles. When perfectly ordinary boy Marvin wears his super-suit – powered by kindness and imagination – he becomes MARV, a superhero with infinite abilities. In his new adventure, Marvin is excited but nervous about riding the Head Spinner rollercoaster at the funfair. But he suddenly has much more to worry about when the Conjuror, a supervillain from Marv's past, causes chaos by bringing a zombie and some giant toy pandas to life. Marv and his sidekick Pixel will have to use every trick in the book to put a stop to the panda-monium and defeat the cunning Conjuror. Kindness, resilience and courage are all celebrated in these thrill-filled Marv adventures which are brought to vibrant life by Bowles’ eye-caching two-tone illustrations. Don’t be coconut shy and miss out on all the mayhem!
(Oxford University Press, paperback, £6.99)

Age 5 plus
The Moonlight Mystery Agency: The Puzzling Paw Prints
Vashti Hardy and Agnes Saccani

JOIN a little girl and her detective cat on their mission to uncover the identity of a mysterious creature in the second book of a marvellously magical series from Blue Peter award-winning author Vashti Hardy and illustrator Agnes Saccani. The Moonlight Mystery Agency series is part of publisher Barrington Stoke’s super-readable Little Gems series which comes with a host of clever design and finishing techniques, like dyslexia-friendly fonts, to create easy-to-read, first chapter books in a format ideal for little hands. Hana and her cat Ace are helping the animals of Moonlight to track down the strange creature with great big paws and a terrible growl which is roaming their land. No one knows what it can be so they’ve called in the detective duo from the Moonlight Mystery Agency. Can Hana and Ace puzzle out what’s going on, and will solving the mystery help Hana find the answer to some worries of her own and discover something magic along the way? Wordsmith Hardy conjures up her world-building magic while Saccani’s illustrations bring the adorable characters and their fun-filled adventures to colourful life. Add on an intriguing puzzle inside the front cover and you have the perfect early reading package.
(Barrington Stoke, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus
Family
Patricia Hegarty and Britta Teckentrup

‘On the savannah, whatever the weather, The animals must stick together. A herd of elephants cross the trail, Steadily walking, trunk to tail.’ 

EXPLORE what family means to all kinds of creatures – from diving dolphins to marvellous manatees – in a stunning peep-through picture book from children’s author Patricia Hegarty and award-winning illustrator Britta Teckentrup. Little ones will love turning the pages of this gorgeously produced book as they discover the incredible habits of animals and their families. Die-cuts let young readers peep through the pages, revealing different horizons all across the world, and offering a celebration of families, love, and the wonders of nature. Teckentrup's colourful and expressive artwork brings to life the amazing ways in which animals protect and support each other while Hegarty’s lyrical rhyming text creates a calming tone, making this an ideal book to help lull your child into sleep at bedtime or nap time. A visual and verbal trip into the delights of animal families!
(Little Tiger Press, paperback, £7.99) 

Venetian Vespers

John Banville

VENICE… a city that has inspired both artists and writers, a place of intense light and the deepest darkness, a meandering network of winding alleyways and opaque canals where imaginations are set alight and reality and fantasy have a habit of merging.

It’s also the larger-than-life setting for an enthralling and utterly transporting new novel from John Banville, one of Ireland’s most gifted authors who won the Man Booker Prize in 2005 and – far from resting on his laurels now that he is closing in on his eightieth birthday – is still treating readers to his extraordinary writing skills.

With a gift for words that raises novel-writing to dizzy heights of literary excellence, Wexford-born Banville (pictured below) is producing some of his best work yet, not least the award-winning Strafford and Quirke crime series which is based in Dublin in the Fifties and mired in dirty politics, religious tensions and the debates and concerns of the post-war period in Ireland. And now he has turned his talents to Venetian Vespers, a haunting and atmospheric fin de siècle noir which harnesses all the chilling tropes of a decaying and decadent city and brings them to glorious life with the tale of a hapless and hopelessly inept English hack caught up in a web of mystery, malice and supernatural skulduggery while honeymooning in wintertime Venice.

And what a mesmerising mixed bag of genres Banville dishes up for us as our self-styled ‘man of letters’ – whose lofty ambitions  to be a ‘lord of language’ have so far taken him no further than Grub Street – grapples with an unwilling bride, unsettling dreams, and a pair of roguish siblings whose arrival turns his life upside down.

In the winter of 1899 as the new century approaches, struggling English writer Evelyn Dolman – who harbours a grandiose dream of one day being ‘placed among the immortals’ – marries Laura Rensselaer, the younger daughter of a renowned and immensely wealthy American oil tycoon. Evelyn anticipates that he and Laura will inherit a substantial fortune, leading to a comfortable and settled life for himself.

But his hopes are dashed when a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, just before his death in a riding accident and only weeks after their wedding, leads to her being disinherited. The now unhappy newlyweds continue with their plans to travel to Venice to celebrate the New Year at the Palazzo Dioscuri, ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo.

Laura – his ‘vivid’ and ‘inscrutable’ wife who is ‘indifferent’ to both him and his advances – sees the overarching stillness of the palazzo as ‘the very essence of hushed romance’ but to Evelyn,

Crucified

Lynda La Plante

STILL haunted by a harrowing case involving a sadistic serial killer who butchered and decapitated young girls, London Met Detective Sergeant Jack Warr is fast reaching breaking point.

With his home life at high pressure point after the birth of a new baby, his doctor wife Maggie on maternity leave, and the family finances struggling to cope with house renovations, the last thing Jack needs is another grisly murder.

Liverpool-born screenwriter and author Lynda La Plante (pictured below), one of the nation’s favourite police procedural writers, is back to dazzle and delight readers with the fifth book in her latest coruscating crime-cracking series which has its seeds planted in Widows, the runaway hit story starring a group of robbers’ widows who attempt a daring heist after the demise of their crooked husbands.

Harnessing the same gripping cocktail of crooks, cops and cunning plot twists, the DS Jack Warr novels have fast forwarded over 25 years to discover not just what happened to those nefarious gangsters’ molls but to meet intriguing new star Jack, a thirty-something detective finding his feet in the Met after a move from rural Devon, and discovering links to the past that, even in his wildest dreams, he could never have imagined. In Crucified, we find Jack struggling to cope with life at a time when he should be resting on his laurels. He’s just