My Week in Books – 31st March 2024

My Week in Books

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I published my review of crime novel, Death on the Thames by Alan Johnson.

Tuesday – I shared my publication day Q&A with Maria McDonald, author of historical romance, The Keeper of Secrets.  I went slightly off-topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic with a list some of my favourite book to film adaptations.   

Wednesday – As always WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading. 

Thursday – I shared an extract from Kill All the Dogs by Rick Berry, the author’s debut novel described as ‘part psychological drama, part political satire‘.

Friday – I published my review of Diva by Daisy Goodwin.

Saturday – I shared my review of The Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola.


New arrivals

The Montford ManiacThe Montford Maniac by M.R.C. Kasasian (ARC, Canelo) 

A crazed killer. A town in terror. A mystery ten years in the making…

Lady Violet Thorn’s awful Aunt Igitha arrives uninvited to stay, wreaking havoc in the household. When Violet plucks up courage to ask her to leave, Igitha’s chilling threats are soon realised with deadly effect.

In a devastating series of events, a woman is impaled, another is hanged outside Violet’s window, and a wild beast is delivered to her house.

Violet is soon struck by the similarities between these events, and the unsolved murders committed ten years earlier by the sadistic serial killer known as the Montford Maniac.

Could he have returned? Is Igitha behind the crimes? Or could there be someone even more terrifying on the prowl? The horrors have only just begun.

The Paris PeacemakersThe Paris Peacemakers by Flora Johnston (ARC, Allison & Busby)

Paris, 1919. As the fragile negotiations of the International Peace Conference get underway, typist Stella Rutherford throws herself into her work and the mixture of glamour and devastation the City of Light reveals. She will do anything to escape the grief coming in waves for her beloved brother Jack, buried near Arras.

Her sister Corran is about to put her academic career to use teaching the troops in France, a chance to see what the experience was like for countless men, including her fiancé Rob Campbell.

Rob was part of the celebrated Scottish rugby team who were swept up in war fever and mown down in battle. He has been profoundly marked by his time as a surgeon on the front line, devastated by the incessant grind of the injured, dying and dead.

The Paris Peacemakers follows three Scots as they attempt to pick up the pieces of their lives while the fabric of Europe is stitched together for good or ill.

Possible HappinessPossible Happiness by David Ebenbach (eARC, Fitzroy Books)

Eleventh-grader Jacob Wasserman is just trying to get by.

Under the radar, he spends his weekends at home by himself, leaning on TV and video games to distract himself from the weight — these days we would call it depression — inside him.

But he’s secretly got a quirky sense of humor, and, when he starts letting it show, he finally gets noticed. In fact, before he knows it, Jacob’s ability to keep people entertained has drawn him into a full-time social life, complete with a circle of friends, parties, and even a girlfriend.

But is this newfound acceptance enough to unlock meaningful well-being? Is this entertainer even the real Jacob?

Possible Happiness is a funny and tender coming-of-age story about developing the courage to face and understand yourself.


On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading


Planned posts

  • My Five Favourite March Reads
  • Book Review: A Better Place by Stephen Daisley
  • Author Q&A: Sardines by Angel Dionne
  • #6Degrees of Separation
  • Author Q&A: A Place Without Pain by Simon Bourke

Book Review – The Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola

About the Book

Book cover of The Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola

Rome, 1659. Months after the plague has ravaged Rome, men are still dying in unnatural numbers, and rumour has it that their corpses do not decay as they should. The Papal authorities commission prosecutor Stefano Bracchi to investigate, telling him he will need considerable mettle to reach the truth.

To the west of the Tiber, Girolama and her female friends are at work, helping other women with childbirths and foretelling their futures. Elsewhere in the city, a young wife, Anna, must find a way to escape her abusive husband. But in a city made by men for men, there are no easy paths out.

Stefano’s investigation at the Tor di Nona prison will introduce him to horror, magic and an astonishing cast of characters. He will be left wondering if certain deeds should remain forever unpunished…

Format: eARC (384 pages) Publisher: Orion
Publication date: 21st March 2024 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Book of Secrets on Goodreads

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My Review

The Book of Secrets alternates between three points of view: Stefano Bracchi, judge turned inquisitor, keen to prove he is not the weak character his father believes him to be; Anna, wife of a failed artist whose disappointments are expressed in violence; and Girolama, a Sicilian woman skilled in midwifery and the creation of herbal remedies. One particular ‘remedy’ of hers has become sought after, a recipe handed down and recorded in the ‘book of secrets’ of the title and distributed via a network of female associates to women in need of escape.

Although Stefano knows only that he has been asked to investigate a series of suspicious deaths amongst men of Rome, all of which exhibit unusual features, the reader knows from pretty early on what Girolama and her assistants are doing and why. It becomes less a mystery more an interesting moral question about whether the women’s actions are justified, but no less absorbing for that. It’s a question that even Girolama begins to ask herself, especially once many of her assistants are rounded up as part of the investigation. And can she be sure that in every case, the action was justified, that every man who died was an abuser or merely an obstacle standing in the way of financial gain? She’s strong but can her associates exhibit similar strength?

Stefano also faces a dilemma as he is forced by his superiors to use more and more severe methods – many of which are harrowing to read about – to try to extract confessions from Girolama and her associates. Is the suffering he is inflicting on the women justified merely in order to further his career? He finds himself wondering what kind of man has he become and wishing he had listened to his sister, Lucia, who warned him about the dark place his investigation might take him, and that it was a poisoned chalice.

Although inspired by real events, the author freely admits in the Historical Note that she has allowed herself a degree of artistic licence in places. That didn’t bother me at all as the book immerses the reader in the sights, sounds and smells of 17th century Rome. It’s a male-dominated society, though, one ‘preoccupied with honour, status and vendetta’. Women have few, if any, rights meaning they must find their own way to fight back. And it’s a society in which if you have power and influence you need not fear being brought to justice. I found it a compelling story and, even though it involves an investigation and a trial, more nuanced than a straightforward historical mystery.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of Orion via NetGalley.

In three words: Intriguing, immersive, absorbing
Try something similar: The Poison Keeper by Deborah Swift


About the Author

Anna is the award-winning and bestselling author of four Gothic historical novels. Her debut novel, The Unseeing, won an Edgar Allan Poe award. Her third novel, The Clockwork Girl, set in 18th century Paris, has been nominated for two CWA Dagger awards as well as the Dublin Literary award. Her fourth novel, The House of Whispers, a ghost story set in Fascist Italy, reached number 7 in the Saturday Times Chart and is a Sunday Times historical fiction pick for 2023.

Her novels explore the impact of crime and injustice and her influences include Sarah Waters, Daphne du Maurier and Shirley Jackson. Anna also writes legal thrillers under the name Anna Sharpe, the first of which will be published in 2024.

When not writing or tutoring, Anna is a human rights and criminal justice solicitor, working with victims of crime. She lives in South London with her husband, their two children, a snake and a cat. (Photo/bio: Amazon author page)

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