This page: authors' surnames beginning from A to D
Andy is struggling for a big break as a stand-up comedian, his girlfriend has left him and his friends are all 'grown-ups'. Why is he lagging behind?!
read my review of October 2023
Publication date: 9th November 2023
This is a funny and poignant tale of the challenges facing a young independent woman.
read my review of July 2020
Publication date: 15th October 2020
Meredith hasn't stepped beyond her front door for 1,214 days, that's three years! What is it that is keeping Meredith at home?
read my review of April 2022
Publication date: 9th June 2022
Described as a lyrical coming-of-age narrative which 'features something very rare in literary fiction: a working-class heroine, written by a young working-class author'. Set in Sunderland, London and Ireland, what will we make of it it?
Publication date: 2nd April 2020
Wonderfully compelling thriller set in a conference in Geneva where a scientific breakthrough brings death, deception and intrigue. Loved it!
read my review of December 2023
Publication date: 12th October 2023
I always enjoy shadowing the detective Jackson Brodie...!
read my review of September 2024
Publication date: 22nd August 2024
'Prejudice and the refugee experience are examined in this taut novel set in Malaysia'. Described as 'gripping', 'moving' and skilfully written, what will we think of it?
A wonderful book! Funny, touching and uplifting. Everyone must read it!
read my review of December 2015
A heart-wrenching account of three generations in South Africa. Terrible and brilliant.
read my review of April 2019
Publication date: 2nd April 2020
A quirky, comical murder mystery. Not what I was expecting! Loved it.
read my review of May 2020
Publication date: 21st January 2021
A terrifying opening with three children left alone in a car as their mother goes to phone for help and never returns. Full of mystery, humour and intrigue. We enjoyed it - did you?
Publication date: 23rd August 2018
Great characters and a mystery that keeps you thinking long after you put the book down.
read my review of September 2015
Family life in Brussels challenged by infidelity and adolescence, with a backdrop of a refugee crisis and terrorism. Brilliant!
read my review of April 2021
Publication date: 4th March 2021
A gripping family drama about choices and consequences.
read my review of May 2020
Publication date: 6th August 2020
A wonderful, all-engrossing story of the life of a female photographer.
read my review of September 2015
The first in a quartet of books this is a beautifully written, poignant and challenging read about a woman coming to terms with her past.
read my review of August 2023
Publication date: 2nd November 2023
A dark, amusing, wry and quirky tale of a woman who opens a utopian nursery school.
read my review of November 2012
Listen to Catherine's choice for BBC Radio Suffolk
Wry and poignant, this is a wonderful story of a family contending with the possibility of climate catastrophe along with the daily grind. I loved it!
read my review of November 2020
Publication date: 12th November 2020
A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history, 'Horse' is described as a gripping, multi-layered novel highlighting enslavement and racism. What will we think of it?
read my review of October 2024
An aspiring novelist takes a trip to the US hoping for inspiration and finds much more.
read my review of April 2023
Publication date: 22nd June 2023
Initially a distressing setting with an unusual occupation, but a beautiful story. Loved this book!
read my review of January 2022
Publication date: 20th January 2022
A gripping thriller following former police officer Kate Marshall's investigation for a missing person. Great characterisation and fast moving plot.
read my review of July 2020
Publication date: 3rd November 2020
Former police officer, and now a lecturer in criminology, Kate Marshall is drawn into investigating some horrific copycat murders. This is a graphic and disturbing book, but the characters, pace, and twists and turns of the investigation make it a compelling read.
read my review of January 2020
Novelist Jane Austen finds herself the investigator of a murder when her younger brother is implicated in the crime.
read my review of February 2024
Publication date: 25th January 2024
A modern anthology of words and images celebrating the spirit of the county of Suffolk, to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
read my review of May 2022
Publication date: 3rd May 2022
An Australian crime mystery. It's nearly 20 years since the sisters of Mina and Alanna disappeared. Now a guy's in town promising to find out what happened.
read my review of April 2022
Publication date: 9th June 2022
A wonderful book. First, it's funny, with great characters and entertaining and perceptive observations on life. Then, ultimately terribly sad, thought-provoking and clever. It's brilliant! Published in January 2018.
read my review of October 2017
A warm and funny account of a young, professional, black woman seeking love, friendship and fulfilment.
read my review of September 2020
A cosy crime feel with a very serious and powerful message. Brilliant!
read my review of February 2024
Publication date: 14th March 2024
The privileged lives of four dissatisfied women who meet and become friends at the school gates.
read my review of July 2013
With the summer break, there's plenty of time to get stuck into this psychological thriller by the award-winning author of 'The Luminaries'. Described as 'Shakespearean in its wit, drama and immersion in character...it is an unflinching examination of the human impulse to ensure our own survival'. What will we think of it?
Publication date: 1st February 2024
A brilliantly plotted thriller about two women avenging tragic events.
read my review of June 2023
Publication date: 3rd August 2023
Compared to the writing of Barbara Pym or Anita Brookner, this is the story of a local reporter in 1950s east London who has been sent to discover the truth behind a rather unusual revelation. Miracle or fraud, the investigation threatens to turn Jean's life inside out. What will we make of it?
Publication date: 29th April 2021
A magical tale of a traditional craft, family and ambition in Venice through the centuries.
read my review of May 2024
Publication date: 12th September 2024
Jack Reacher seems to be on the backfoot as scientists involved in a secret project years earlier are dying. Who will be next, why are they being killed and who is the perpetrator?
read my review of November 2023
Publication date: 24th October 2023
A journalist seeks to investigate the truth behind the murder of a 16-year-old girl a decade earlier.
read my review of September 2024
Publication date: 2nd May 2024
Four stories interlinked to tell different facets of the life of the endangered Siberian tiger.
read my review of January 2021
'An exquisite puzzle-box' Piranesi won the Women's Prize for Fiction and Susanna Clarke has been described as 'one of our greatest living authors'. What will we think of it?
Set in London and Malta during the Second World War, the novel explores the ways external events influence the private lives of four characters.
An intriguing novel celebrating film, genius and a fading career.
read my review of January 2022
Publication date: 1st July 2021
A charming, wry and, at times, wise crime novel set within village and church life in the 1980s.
read my review of June 2023
Publication date: 8th June 2023
Described as a mix of crime and supernatural horror, this is not my usual sort of book, but I was hooked!
read my review of April 2019
An astonishing book about grief, coming of age, and the healing, redemptive power of stories.
read my review of April 2019
A powerful, poignant, extraordinary tale of a forgotten talent - a young musician working with one of the world's greatest composers.
read my review of May 2024
Publication date: 15th August 2024
Edie is an old woman, struggling with her memory and when she sees her old schoolfriend Lucy in the street she doesn't know why they have unfinished business, or why Lucy still looks like a teenager.
read my review of February 2023
Publication date: 25th May 2023
Lenni and Margot meet in hospital. They are both looking at the end of their lives. Margot is 83 and has lots of memories, and some regrets. Lenni is just seventeen.
read my review of January 2021
Publication date: 18th February 2021
A grand country house in the Norfolk countryside in the 1930s has become a luxurious sanatorium for rich and famous sufferers of TB, but it's a place of sinister secrets.
read my review of August 2024
Publication date: 15th August 2024
A bewitching gothic tale set on the Suffolk ghost.
read my review of May 2023
Publication date: 25th May 2023
Delores meets an animatronic being and comes to explore love, friendship, family and trauma. Extraordinary.
read my review of December 2023
Publication date: 23rd May 2024
Another stunning read from this talented writer, this time presenting the ruins of an affair while exploring grief, loss and obsession.
read my review of July 2020
Publication date: 20th August 2020
Just out in paperback. The compelling and shocking story of a mother and son seeking to escape from Mexico across the border to the USA.
read my review of April 2020
Publication date: 21st January 2020
An odd and bleak thriller set around the National Library of Wales, exploring how we assess and value books and literature.
read my review of February 2023
Publication date: 19th January 2023
A wonderfully warm, funny and refreshingly different take on the familiar situation of being single in a world of couples.
read my review of February 2022
Publication date: 31st March 2022
Continuing the story of 'The Girl with the Louding Voice' with Adunni and Tia. Brilliant!
read my review of June 2024
Publication date: 8th August 2024
This is the story of a young woman seeking to make her way in the world through education but first having to overcome the cultural demands of her Nigerian upbringing.
Publication date: 1st October 2020
Marisa has known Jake for only a few months but has no hesitation about moving in with him and trying for a baby. But in this novel of twists and surprises, no one is quite as they seem.
read my review of June 2021
Publication date: 2nd September 2021
Described by one reviewer as 'a jolly dystopia', this is a quirky, entertaining and thought-provoking read. Loved it!
read my review of October 2023
Publication date: 26th October 2023
Diego Rivera was a revolutionary and influential painter with a colourful and turbulent life. This graphic novel tells his story in explicit detail.
read my review of December 2021
Publication date: 11th November 2021
Very eery, atmospheric thriller set in Sweden.
read my review of November 2024
Publication date: 14th June 2018
Troubling, haunting and compelling. Girl A was held captive by her parents, with her siblings. Now an adult, she's revisiting those memories.
read my review of January 2021
Publication date: 21st January 2021
A fascinating premise for a gripping thriller, which continued with twists and turns to the conclusion.
read my review of November 2019
Publication date: 25th January 2018
Enduring a soul-destroying job pulping books, a man saves random pages from destruction and reads them out loud to fellow commuters on his morning train journey. One day he stumbles across the pages of a diary...
A young woman discovers she can help others through the flowers she chooses for them.
read my review of September 2011
Listen to Catherine's choice for the month
Out now in paperback! An extraordinary account of a young woman nursing in a maternity unit in Ireland at the time of the 1918 pandemic. Wonderful!
read my review of July 2020
Publication date: 23rd July 2020
A man steps off the platform into the path of the passing train. The woman who witnessed his death has her own shocking and tragic reasons for being at Peterborough station in the middle of the night.
read my review of September 2019
A man lies in an isolated hut in Bali, listening to the rain on the roof, waiting for his killer, looking back on his life and the events leading to this outcome.
A successful woman with a good career and a loving family embarks upon a risky relationship which spirals into disaster.
read my review of January 2014
A thoughtful and thought-provoking novel about love, sacrifice, contentment and acceptance.
read my review of November 2013