Category: Reviews

My Week in Books – 19th July 2026

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On the blog last week

Monday – I shared an update on my progress with the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge.

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday was Books on My To-Read List by New-To-Me Authors.

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 published my review of The Millionaire Waltz by Anthony Quinn.

Saturday – I joined other gardeners for #SixonSaturday sharing six things from my garden this week..

New on my shelves

Mithim by Catrina McNally (Mercier Press)

Wexford, 1657. Ireland is on its knees.

Eight years after Cromwell’s army burned Killenea Castle to the ground, Mithim McMurrough – daughter of a Gaelic lord, healer and last keeper of her family’s secrets – is living alone and in hiding in the depths of a Wexford forest. The soldiers are moving closer. And the past is closing in faster still.

Fierce, lyrical and steeped in Irish mythology, the Celtic tree calendar and the forgotten wisdom of the Gaelic healing women, Mithim gives voice to a noblewoman who refused to disappear quietly into the wreckage of conquest – who carried her people’s knowledge into the dark, and who will risk everything to find out who survived.

Julia Wakes by Zoe Caryl

It’s 1946, and Evie is back on stage where she belongs, her voice ready to soar in the theatres of Scotland. One question shadows every note she sings: Is the brilliant young trumpet player who stole her heart under the Indian sun still part of her future?

Myles has dreams of his own, bold and uncompromising, and Evie dares to believe she can build a life where love, family, and a glittering career all shine together. Yet the climb toward “having it all” is steeper than she imagined; as Evie’s star rises, she seizes bright, shining moments of opportunity that strain the fragile balance between career and home, and when life delivers an unexpected miracle, she learns how deep the unbreakable bonds of love really are.

Her journey in the spotlight carries her across the world, taking her far from her beloved Glasgow, bringing moments of breathtaking joy and quiet heartbreak; Evie strives for love, whilst never turning her back on the extraordinary gift that has been given to her – her voice.

Inspired by a true story, Julia Wakes celebrates the resilience of a woman who refuses to give up on her dreams, and the fierce, enduring love that ultimately defines her legacy. This is a story for anyone who has ever reached for that bigger, brighter star, and refused to let go.

What I’m currently reading

I’m reading Little Spark by Jess Kidd from my NetGalley shelf and I’m listening to the audiobook of The Draw of the Sea by Wyl Menmuir.

Look out for…

  • Book Review: Country People by Daniel Mason
  • Book Review: Land by Maggie O’Farrell
  • Book Review: The Eagle & the Wolf by Gordon Doherty

Book Review – The Millionaire Waltz by Anthony Quinn @AbacusBooks #20BOS26

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About the Book

London in the 1920 a young woman treads the path between danger and desire.

Against a backdrop of thuggish blackmail, constricting high society and the gillter of a London still fragile from the war, Edie Greenlaw is trying to decide what she wants from the world. The closer the prospect of marriage with her handsome war hero fiance becomes, the less fulfilling it seems.

Defying caution she goes to the aid of a friend and entangles herself in a dangerous demi-monde of sexual extortion and violence.

Format: Hardcover (416 pages) Publisher: Abacus
Publication date: 6th August 2026 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

Find The Millionaire Waltz on Goodreads

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My Review

The Millionaire Waltz was not quite what I expected based on the book description. Edie’s entanglement with the ‘dangerous demi-monde’ doesn’t take place until quite far into the novel although, to be fair, the seeds are sown when Edie becomes friends with a man, who like many others at that time, must hide his sexuality.

Much of the book focuses on Edie’s relationship with her fiance David, a successful solicitor from a wealthy family. She loves him but has growing misgivings about the prospect of marriage and what it will mean for her theatrical ambitions. Her solution is to repeatedly defer the date of the wedding, unaware of what will ensue as a result.

I admired Edie’s feisty spirit, sense of adventure and determination to retain her independence but I’m afraid I found her a largely unsympathetic character mainly because of her treatment of David. Okay, so he has rather conventional views about marriage but I didn’t think he deserved how things turned out. Rather mean-spirited of me, I know, but I wasn’t altogether unhappy about how things ended for Edie.

For me, the most enjoyable part of the book was the vivid depiction of theatre life. The struggle to get an audition, the disappointment of being turned down for parts, the succession of dismal digs when part of a touring production, the demanding directors, the petty rivalries. On the other hand there are the lifelong friendships formed, the sense of satisfaction of delivering a line perfectly, and the excitement of opening nights.

Those who’ve read the author’s previous novel, Curtain Call, will welcome the appearance of theatre critic for the Chronicle newspaper Jimmy Erskine, renowned for his often waspish reviews of West End theatre productions. The 2023 film The Critic starring Sir Ian McKellen was the author’s own adaptation of Curtain Call and I found it impossible not to picture Sir Ian whenever Jimmy appeared in the book. Another character from Curtain Call, which is set a decade or so after this book, also features in The Millionaire Waltz, and there are walk-on parts for notable figures of the period such as Ivor Novello and Noel Coward.

Edie mostly moves in privileged circles, a seemingly endless round of cocktail parties, soirees and weekend house parties. But just occasionally she gets a glimpse of the realities of life for those less fortunate than her, or those for whom the impact of the First World War is a burden they will carry for the rest of their lives.

If I’m honest I was hoping for more of the suspense and ingenuity of the author’s previous book The Mouthless Dead. Having said that The Millionaire Waltz is an engaging story, full of colourful characters which effortlessly captures the milieu of 1920s London.

I received an uncorrected proof copy courtesy of Abacus. The Millionaire Waltz is book 13 of my 20 Books of Summer.

In three words: Entertaining, evocative, spirited
Try something similar: A Little London Scandal by Miranda Emmerson

About the Author

Anthony Quinn was born in Liverpool in 1964. From 1998 to 2013 he was the film critic for the Independent. His novels include The Rescue Man, which won the 2009 Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award; Half of the Human Race; The Streets, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Walter Scott Prize; Curtain Call, soon to be a feature film starring Ian McKellen and Gemma Arterton; Freya, Eureka, Our Friends in Berlin and London, Burning. He also wrote the recent Liverpool memoir Klopp.