Review - In This City, Where it Rains by Lyndsey Croal

In This City, Where it Rains

Lyndsey Croal
Luna, 4 February 2026
Available as: PB, 129pp, e   
Source: Bought
ISBN(9781915556691PB): 

In a modern city that is, and is not, Edinburgh, a young woman, Maggie, lives alone and sees ghosts.

Specifically, Maggie sees ghosts in the rain. They have little or no substance in the dry, so she mainly encounters them on the way to and from her job serving whisky cocktails in a basement bar. They have become familiar to her.

Nobody else can see the ghosts - until one day, somebody can.

And then, the ghosts begin to ask Maggie for help.

I loved the way that In This City, Where it Rains opens as a seemingly mundane story - what is more normal in Britain than a walk in the rain? - and then gives us a dash of the uncanny. We see Maggie's relationship with her boss Angus, who's missing his dead brother. Banter over tips, chat on a quiet evening in the bar. Then we see that Maggie perceives... something... in Angus's brother's favourite chair.

A dash of the uncanny. Then a bit more. And then In This City, Where it Rains goes full-blooded horror. Maggie finds herself, somehow, at the centre of a web of mysteries - and in danger. Is the prolonged rain actually natural? What lies beyond the city? And how does it link to the strange, decaying Tair House?

Maggie's existence in the city seems to take place mysteriously on two levels - she does the normal things that are needed to maintain existence in a service economy, and suffers the alienation attendant on that - expressed powerfully in the rain. Where are the rest of her family? What became of them, and what was the "accident" her granny told her about? 

Yet, at the same time, Maggie is sought, eagerly sought, by mysterious players in the haunted city. It's not just her life that seems to be on hold, there are others, only half-awake, who need her.

I really enjoyed In This City, Where it Rains. Both naturalistic and creepy, it's a story that (I write, as the rain pours down outside) powerfully inhabits its own metaphor, pointing both to a state of stasis and, perhaps, to awakening and renewal.

Strongly recommended.

For more information about In This City, Where it Rains, see the publisher's website here.

#Review - Thornhedge by T Kingfisher

Thornhedge
T Kingfisher
Titan Books, 15 August 2023 
Available as: PB, 128pp, audio, e  
Source: Advance copy
ISBN(PB): 9781803364230

I'm grateful to Titan Books for providing me with a digital copy of Thornhedge to consider for review.

In a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, or perhaps, an anti-Sleeping Beauty, T Kingfisher gives us, yes, a beautiful princess sleeping in a tower around which thorns and briars have grown up - but the princess is not the centre of the story. Rather, the author asks, exactly why might a princess be cursed to sleep, and what are the thorns really all about?

Are they, as often assumed, to keep others out?

Or are they to keep her in...?

In a short novel, Kingfisher provides answers but more interestingly she gives us Toadling, the fairy who wrought the magic and who now guards the castle through endless centuries. Generally successful, she is thought about to encounter a particularly resourceful and determined knight. Salim, is driven neither by desire for a bride nor lust for treasure, but by simple curiosity. 

In other words the very worst, most difficult challenge an overworked fairy could face.

The blooming relationship between knight and fairy, people from unimaginably different backgrounds, casts light on the sort-of history to which Kingfisher assigns the story. It's sometime after the breakup of the Roman Empire, in a region populated by Muslins, Christians and Jews, where a knight might be of any faith or none. Fairies are respected and feared, but not hated, and people get along in general. 

The sleeping princess is, though, a problem, for reasons I won't go into as they would spoil the story. Finding a solution to that problem will require Toadling to explore her own past, confront loss and consider her place in the world. Above all, after being alone for hundreds of years, she will have to learn how to actually be with others - whether these are the fairies that raised her (the Greenteeth of I think Northen English legend) or the humans from whom she was snatched as a baby.

A sweet, engaging story with a core of steel (or perhaps, thorns) at its heart. 

Recommended.

For more information about Thornhedge, see the publisher's website here. 

#Review - Silverweed Road by Simon Crook

Silverweed Road

Simon Crook

HarperCollins, 29 September 2022

Available as: HB, 336pp, e, audio

Source: Advance e-copy

ISBN(HB): 9780008479930

I'm grateful to the publisher for an advance e-copy of Silverweed Road via NetGalley, to consider for review.

"All that is loved will be lost."

The addresses along Silverweed Road on the fictional Corvid Estate in Kent hide many secrets, many horrors. It's a place you probably wouldn't want to visit, still less move to. I'd imagine living there would be like experiencing, in real life, the entire run of Inside No 9, 

Loosely framed as blog entries written by ex DCI Jim Heath, an embittered man who lost his job because he was unable to explain or prevent the horrors described here, each story gives us much more detail and explanation than Heath was ever able to find. His conclusions and complaints, contrasted with the reality of the horrors described here, therefore have a slightly (if darkly) humorous effect.

It's a nice contrast, slightly relieving the awful things that happen to so many of the resident of Silverweed Road. Most of the stories (each named after a house number) are self-contained, though we see protagonists cross paths (and sometimes swords) before and after their own story so that through the book a clearer and clearer picture emerges of what is going on. However the exact reasons for it all, while hinted at in recurring motifs - such as the jackdaw - are teasingly vague until the last story, where there is an explanation of sorts.

The stories are varied in atmosphere and style, raging from the folk-horrific to outright gore-fests to creepy encounters with the supernatural force that inspires all that goes on here. The extent to which that supernatural visibly intrudes varies a lot, with a clear sense in some stories that the victim brings their fate on themselves (for example, Victor Hagman at no 31) while in others the innocent are ensnared (Shanta at no 10). Not all of the activity takes place on Silverweed Road - one protagonist here is the victim of a supernatural horror from far off, another meets a grisly fate far from Kent but it seems that the street then takes part in their revenge. Horror mixes with domestic strife and business or personal rivalries, the grim events in Silverweed Road sometimes reflecting wider themes of abuse and at others, taking a very particular local form.

There is humour, aside from Heath's increasingly exasperated (and mistaken) commentary, for example in one story where a darts enthusiast makes an unwise bargain to win a big tournament leading ultimately to tragedy (and one of Heath's most perplexing cases) but creating some hilarious moments on the way. Crook reaches into many different worlds for his stories, including a dodgy antiques dealer, a furious film craftsman upset that CGI has replaced his replica monsters and - perhaps most creepy of all - a scientist who chooses the Road as the ideal site for his sinister research into cuttlefish. 

If you do visit Silver weed Road, be aware that there are traps here, ancient and malign forces preying on the unwary. There are ancient secrets in the woods about, and the night is not friendly. You won't come here and leave without being altered, compromised, changed. 

Still interested in that affordably priced semi...?

Overall, an excellent collection of interlinked stories, which is really much more than the sum of its parts.

For more information on the book, see the publisher's website here.

#Review - The Return of the Sorceress by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Illustration by Fang Xinyu,
design by Pablo Defending

The Return of the Sorceress
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Subterranean Press, 30 June 2021
Available as: HB, 95pp
Source: Purchased copy
ISBN: 9781645240303

In fantasy, one frequently encounters young warriors and magicians, adventurers with a destiny. They discover their talents and make names for themselves, transforming their societies and often assuming power.

The Return of the Sorceress is a refreshing contrast with that. In this book, Moreno-Garcia shows us Yalxi, who is rather tired. She has been there, done that - was until recently the Supreme Mistress of the Guild of Sorcerers - and lost it all. It's not that Yalxi's old in years - she's in her 30s - but the powerful magics she and her kind manipulate, based on gems inhabited by temperamental spirits, consume the user, forcing them to become more and more dependent on that unholy power.

And having lost the Diamond Heart to her treacherous lover Xellah - who then had her imprisoned in a dungeon and literally bled alive - Yalxi now lacks the thing that staved off decay, that kept her young, that made her strong. She must have the Diamond Heart back!

So begins a story of desperation, subterfuge and cunning, as Yalxi levers every bit of power she can find, every scrap of knowledge, hiding out in the worst parts of town, unsure who to trust and remembering the life that's brought her to this point. In a relatively few pages, Moreno-Garcia gives a vivid and engaging portrait of a fantasy city, from its marshy underpinnings and decaying mansions to brassy parades and festivals and the legacy of invasion and conquest. It is so vivid, I could have lingered and lingered on the streets and in the seedy palaces and halls.

But The Return of the Sorceress isn't about world building, it's about the relationships that Yalxi built, and those she broke. One feels a weight of unspoken, but implied, business between her and Xellah, from their daring overthrow of their master Teotah, former owner of the Heart, to their failure to destroy it, to their rule of the city - bringing with it the supplies of blood they needed for their magic. This trajectory isn't detailed but one can sense the compromises, the betrayals and the frustrations that led up to the present, a present which places Yalxi in great danger, should Xellah recapture her.

It seems the best thing to do would be to run away, and several times Yalxi's advised to do that. But Yalxi isn't done, there are powers she believes that she can call on to restore her fortune. And at this point I was really pleased and surprised to see how Moreno-Gracia spins the story into a moral dilemma, power and revenge beckoning, danger all around and very few good options. 

Overall, it was great fun to read with vivid characters and done in splendid shades of moral grey - nobody here has clean hands. 

Very enjoyable.

For more information about The Return of the Sorceress, and to order a copy, see the publisher's website here. 

 

#Review - What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

What Abigail Did That Summer

Ben Aaronovitch

Gollancz, 18 March 2021

Available as: HB, 208pp, e, audio

Source: e-copy and HB

ISBN(HB): 9781473224346

Fitting into the Rivers of London chronology in parallel with Foxglove Summer, which took Peter Grant out of London to support Herefordshire Police with a supernatural case (or "weird b******s" as it's described by his mundane colleagues), What Abigail Did That Summer tells us what was happening on Hampstead Heath and particularly, what part his young cousin, Abigail Kamara, played in it.

Abigail, you may recall, wants to learn magic (this book explains why she she is so keen - I can see trouble down the line there) and is therefore studying Latin. She has featured before in both the Rivers books and comics, which have stressed her affinity for the talking foxes who live on the Heath. Here we learn more about them (mainly, what a puzzle they - I can see trouble down the line there, too). 

It's summer, Abigail is out of school and a bit bored, with time on her hands. She's also observant (partly through Peter's influence, perhaps, although I suspect mainly not), extremely bright and, of course, aware of the magical world. If anyone is going to spot the magical background to the disappearances (and reappearances) of kids on the Heath, it's going to be her. And of course she's going to want to investigate...

What follows is, I'd say, one of the lighter of the Rivers books. Like them, we learn a lot about a particular part of the city - this time, the Heath - and its relation to the Rivers. Like them, the protagonist   is thoroughly at home on her own turf (or as Abigail calls it, her "ends" - the book is peppered with London youth slang - 'Simon's mum is Fed-adjacent in some way' which is helpfully footnoted where needed). Both Peter and Abigail are Londoners born and bred, in turn with the sounds and smells of the city and aware at once when something is a bit... off. ('You don't grow up small, mouthy and mixed race in North London without picking up a few tricks'). Whether you call that magic or not, it always gives them a head start in getting to the bottom of things. In tune with that, Aaronovitch is always at his best when describing the physical or the social geography of London: how the house prices one side of a street are higher than this on the other, the particular whiteness of a given social setting, where a river was paved over to make streets, the history of the bathing ponds on Hampstead Heath. Not only describing, but building his story on it.

So when Abigail stumbles into a perfect 1970s dinner party out of time (yes, an Abigail's party, what else?) the setting is perfect not only down to contemporary events - the 3 day week, the miners, Vietnam - but to the minutiae of social strata that the past layers on the present. (Or is it the other way round?) Just as he is with the interaction between lower class, mixed race Abigail and strikingly wealthy (for a supposedly mid ranking civil servant, she's a Grade 7 for goodness sake) Simon's mum, mentioned earlier. (I don't think she would be able to afford that house, there's something that is, as Abigail might say, definitely dodge there).

All of this is really me trying to say that the world Aaronovitch creates here is so rich, so well done, that you're almost at risk of getting distracted form the plot, so please do pay attention, because - while I'm obviously not going to say a great deal about what happens: spoilers! - it is a clever and twisted thing that has Abigail running in circles and having to bargain, bribe and promise here way through London's demi-monde (as it's called here: a magical substrate to the city, not a society of artists and courtesans). I think some of those deals and exchanges she makes may, also, be storing up trouble ahead...

In all, another EXCELLENT contribution to this series and a book I basically consumed at one sitting - because why stop when the writing's as good as 'I use a fountain pen because it's like writing on money' or 'an ornamental knocker that looks like it should have the face of a dead banker but doesn't'? Or when Aaronovitch is riffing off Douglas Adams ('it's radiating happiness in exactly the way a clown doesn't') or doing bitter humour ('Nobody ever accused me of being good at happy')?

No, there's no sense in stopping for a moment, or delaying reading this. I should aapologise to the book I was meant to be reading when What Abigail Did That Summer came along, mugged me for my attention, and loudly monopolised my reading time. But, do you know - I'm not sorry AT ALL.

For more information about What Abigail Did That Summer see the publisher's website here.

Review - Elevation by Stephen King

Elevation
Stephen King
Hodder & Stoughton, 30 October 2018
HB, 135pp

Another book I bought during the year and hadn't got round to.

Stephen King's fictional universe contains many wonders, and more horrors. This book - one of a number set in his idealised US rural community of Castle Rock - belongs firmly with the former. Scott Carey, a jobbing web designer who's getting on a bit but not ready to unplug his keyboard just yet, begins to be concerned about his falling weight.

His old friend Dr Ellis shares these concerns - falling weight may mean any number of bad things - but also shares Carey's bafflement... while his weight may be falling his body size isn't. Instead he simply seems to be getting lighter. And so it goes - what will happen when has no weight at all?

The fun of this book is that King doesn't try and explain what's going on, Carey doesn't become the centre of a Stranger Things style investigation and there doesn't turn out to be some bigger picture here. He just loses his weight, and the book focusses squarely on the consequences of that. I can see that - especially as this is a very short book - some readers will hate that, think there should be so much more, but there you are. For me I delighted in the simplicity of the story.

There actually is more, of course - Carey's life becomes entangled with his efforts to befriend a lesbian couple who have moved into Castle Rock and are having trouble persuading the somewhat reactionary locals (I don't like the usage 'conservative' here) to accept them. Challenged to justify his own attitude, he realises he hasn't been as supportive as he might have been and tries to help. That doesn't go too well, and Carey's perception that he has limited time - that reducing weight must have an endpoint - pushes him to try and mend things. It's a nice juxtaposition of the everyday and the fantastical, showing, if nothing less, how issues of social justice can be tackled in fantastical literature - something that ought not to be controversial but in some quarters apparently is.

A fun and thought provoking addition to King's fictional domain (and mentioning Pennywise in relation to Hallowe'en celebrations raised a smile too...)

Review - The Drop by Mick Herron

The Drop (Slough House)
Mich Herron
John Murray, 1 November 2018
HB, e 104pp

TRANSMISSION BEGINS+++

I received this short report through the usual means (brown envelope through letterdrop, handoff, no contact with operative making drop - although I suspect that originating officer was codename YASSINE - recommend congratulations for excellent work).

Have reviewed contents. File contains extensive background information compiled by operative codename HERRON concerning SLOUGH HOUSE, alleged outstation of REGENT'S PARK to which deprecated operatives are consigned.

Suspect new recruit to SLOUGH HOUSE following events recorded in file LONDON RULES.

Recommend opening new file and close consideration of report at earliest opportunity upon wider distribution, currently scheduled 1 November.

TRANSMISSION ENDS+++

Well. I didn't expect this book, didn't know it was coming out, but I'm SO glad that John Murray sent me a copy.

The Drop is a novella set in the world of Herron's Slough House stories - home to the Security Service's misfits, dropouts and no-hopers (Herron's argument that people like this couldn't just be sacked, and need housed and occupied seems frighteningly plausible).

The book isn't about Slough House itself, or its collection of off-the-boil assets, though its subjects could well belong there - Solomon Dortmund, a retired spook pottering around Marylebone in his decline and ex agent John Bachelor, kept on the payroll to look after those like Dortmund, ensuring they have what they need and don't speak to the wrong people.

The joke is that Bachelor's life is in a spin and he's virtually homeless, resorting to bunking down in the ready room at Regent's Park, HQ of the Service. So when Dortmund thinks he's witnessed a drop and reports it to Bachelor, it's not exactly item number one on Batchelor's to-do list.

In many ways this is a gentle comedy of spy manners, as much about our times as it is about putting one over on the opposition. There is a real agent in play here, actually a double agent, and the way they're being handled shows old alliances shifting, the spooks looking to an uncertain future and trying to get pieces in the game with a very different Europe taking shape.

As intelligence analyst Lech (or Alec) notes "...whereas the general attitude among the boys and girls was that right would ultimately triumph, something in [his] bones sang of doom, or whispered along with the chorus... [he] couldn't entirely suppress the fear that sooner or later... they'd all fail, that their home skies would look down on cataclysm."

Against that doomy background, Herron weaves his normal spell, albeit on a smaller scale and with lower stakes. No other writer I've come across has honed a voice so well to portray a world, developing a vocabulary redolent of the closed world - "...the older knew that Spook Street, like Watling Street, runs backwards and forwards in time"as well as a wicked streak of dry humour -

" 'It was felt that Batchelor wasn't up to the job"

'Why?'

'Because he wasn't up to the job.' "

- and a disturbing insight into character. Batchelor briefly considers suicide, rejects the idea, but knows the thought will come back "...he knew that a seal had been broken, and that he'd be forced to dip into this dark jar again in the future, probably at night."

It's a book about how one is never, never out of the spying game. Even as new contests, new opportunities are born - and new fears - the old players are still in the game, if barely. and when one of them departs, " [he] had finished his journey. This had started many years before, very far away, and ended where the floor began."

One journey ends, another begins. Elsewhere in London is a fresh spy, one who, Herron suggests, will rise to the top of the game: "She was good at this, he registered... Whether she'd had this story up her sleeve, whether it had actually happened, whether she was improvising: didn't matter, she delivered it like a natural."

Endings and beginnings. Mostly there's no room here for the grey and grime of Slough House. But as Batchelor observes, leaving his refuge at Regent's Park early one gleaming, snowy morning, it doesn't stay like that for long. The grey and grime soon shows through and then your feet are soaked in slush.

If I read this book right there's one person who's soon going to get a nasty introduction to that slush, and I'm looking forward to reading more about them in Herron's next book.

Recommended if you want a little gift for Christmas to get a friend or loved on hooked on this series. Or perhaps if you want a little pre Christmas gift for yourself.