Timeless or Topical? by Margaret Kirk
It happened a few weeks ago. After a long period submerged in various sorts of book-related tasks (my debut novel, Shadow Man, will be published on 2nd November) I’d met … Continue reading
Spider-Woman kicks it all over the street
Some time ago I wrote about Spider-Woman. After a healthy reminder of how good female superheroes can be from Wonder Woman, I went and bought two more Spider-Woman collections, Civil … Continue reading
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet is one of the biggest surprises of this year’s literary prize season. Published by small Scottish imprint Contraband, it’s turned out to be … Continue reading
Nicola Griffith’s writing space
Nicola Griffith is the author of Hild, and five other novels, plus short stories, essays and polemics. She’s working on the sequel to Hild, and talks about her Seattle working … Continue reading
What We Read on Our Summer Vacation
As you know, the Foxes were on summer break for the month of August, but even though we were doing other activities, being Book Foxes, of course we didn’t leave … Continue reading
Surreal old people: Leonora Carrington’s The Hearing Trumpet
This very slim novel is a fantasia on being old, and explores how one would survive when there is very little left to lose in conditions of extreme oddness. The … Continue reading
Spider-Woman: Baby Talk
I knew nothing about Spider-Woman. I had a vague idea that there was one, but such is the multiplicity of the Marvel universe, there could also be a Spider-Dog and … Continue reading
Death in Profile by Guy Fraser-Sampson
Full disclosure from the off: I am longstanding blogging friends with the author of this book, and also an admirer of his earlier fiction (sequels to E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia … Continue reading
Women proposing marriage to men in fiction – a Vulpes Libris Random
It had never occurred to me before to make these connections, but this year, just before and just after 29th February, I came across two instances in fiction of women … Continue reading
Ernest Bramah’s Max Carrados stories
The Max Carrados stories are a perfect storm of geekiness for my inner research ferret, since they embrace Edwardian magazine stories, disability in fiction, detectives and social history. They were … Continue reading
Hawksmoor, by Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor (1985) doesn’t really need another review, having been around and acclaimed for 30 years. This is more of a personal reflection on reading the book for the … Continue reading
No Other Darkness by Sarah Hilary
Back in July, I wrote about Sarah Hilary’s prize-winning debut novel, Someone Else’s Skin. If you’re into crime fiction, I still strongly recommend it. It’s smart, it has a feisty-but-complicated … Continue reading
Death Sentences: stories of Deathly Books, Murderous Booksellers & Lethal Literature, edited by Otto Penzler with an introduction by Ian Rankin
Death Sentences is, I discover, a continuing project. The collection that I am reviewing contains 15 short stories and was published in 2014; but the idea has taken hold, and … Continue reading
The Wine Of Angels (Merrily Watkins Mysteries 1), by Phil Rickman
I really enjoy clerical sleuths, and I don’t know why it has taken me so long to find this one. The Rev. Merrily Watkins is the protagonist of 12 mysteries … Continue reading
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