Every time I walk into Waterstones, I’m bombarded by all the new books that have been released by new and established authors. Last month, I decided to splash out on some new books released in 2026 but with only one purchased in Waterstone’s. One of the others was purchased in a lovely independent bookstore in Dromore, Co Down called Bridge Books and the others were sourced in Libraries NI.
The Killing Time by Elly Griffiths – five stars
Last Autumn, I had the pleasure of meeting Elly Griffiths at a Libraries NI event at Holywood library. What an amazing lady she is! I had already read all 15 of the Dr Ruth Galloway mysteries she had written and was looking forward to the new Ali Dawson series.
“The Killing Time” is the second book in the series. The first book “The Frozen People” was very very different to Elly’s previous books and it took me a while to get into it. Ali Dawson is a detective in the cold cases department in London but her team uses time travel to go from 2024 to the 1850s. Time travel plays a big part in the “Killing Time” but this time Ali is on the hunt for her precious Siamese cat Terry. Ali ends up in the 1850s again and manages to meet up with her old work colleague Jones who now is very rich and is known as Lady Serafina. Intrigue follows Ali and she is followed by psychic Barry Power from the 21st century who turns out to be a prodigy of the 1850s Klaus Kramer who claims he can fly. Characters from the first book appear too including a love interest of Ali. Meanwhile in 2024, Ali’s son Finn is missing her desperately and voting is about to take place in the 2024 General Election. A number of mysterious deaths take place too.
This is an excellent book to read but I would highly recommend that you read “The Frozen People” first so that you can put the characters (especially the 19th century ones) into context and that time travel becomes more normalised. Elly has carried out indepth research into the 1850s and it will be interesting to see which era Ali explores next in her time travel adventures.
The Barbecue at No 9 by Jennie Godfrey – four stars
This is Jennie Godfrey’s second book released in February 2026. I’m not sure I enjoyed it as much as the first book “The List of Suspicious Things” but it was a great read nevertheless.
The book centres around the Live Aid concert in 1985. Everyone was mesmorised by the concert and were making plans as to how they would watch it including the residents of Delmont Close. Social climbers, Lydia and Peter Gordon, decided that they would host a perfect bbq for their friends and neighbours at their home in No 9. And what an afternoon it turned out to be including a mysterious prowler at the Gordons’ back gate.
There were three main characters featured:
- Steve, the Falklands veteran, who hid in his house and spied on the neighbours
- Rita, a new Australian neighbour, who lived a very quiet life and was full of secrets about her mysterious past
- Hanna Gordon (Lydia and Peter’s 16 year old daughter) who is secretly pregnant and planning to run away
During the afternoon concert, many dramatic and shocking secrets were revealed – it was a reminder of a fast-moving episode of a good soap opera. Overall, it was a great read and thoroughly enjoyable once you got your head around the cast of many characters. Ultimately, it showed very clearly the power of community, friends and family.
The Truth about Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent – five stars
What an incredible book! It had me gripped from beginning to end. A great follow up to “Strange Sally Diamond” which was Liz Nugent’s previous book who is a famous Irish author.
Ruby Cooper is the daughter of a church pastor and financier, living an idyllic life with her parents and elder sister Erin in Boston. But everything changed when Ruby was 16 as she as raped by her sister’s boyfriend Milo. After a lengthy court case where Milo was found guilty and sentenced to prison for 13 years, the Cooper family was destroyed with Ruby and her mother escaping to Dublin to live with her Irish granny. Her Irish life then began but so did her battle with alcohol and drugs. After a failed suicide attempt where Ruby jumped from a bridge into the River Liffey, she then spent some time in an expensive rehab clinic funded by her wealthy American dad. She then discovered she was pregnant but had no idea who the father was, as baby Lucy was conceived in one of her drunken and drug fuelled nights out. While in rehab, she met actor Jack and she eventually married him. On the surface, her life seemed fine but Ruby’s life was overshadowed by the “rape incident” and secrets from her past which came back to haunt her when Lucy was 19. But do we ever really discover the truth about Ruby Cooper?
This is a book which zig-zagged across the Atlantic Ocean over a 25 year time period. While Ruby was the central character in Dublin, her father and sister Erin’s lives in America featured strongly too as well as Milo upon his release from prison. It was full of twists and turns and you never knew what was going to happen next. It has definitely been one of my favourite reads so far in 2026 and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a great psychological thriller.
Little Darlings by Hannah King – five stars
Last month, I made a visit to the independent bookshop in Dromore (Co Down) called Bridge Books in search of a 2026 release. When I entered the shop, I quickly realised that an author was delivering a box of books to the owner Lesley. Nosey as I am, I decided to interrupt and see what the book was about – perhaps it would be something that would be up my street! The author was a lovely local girl called Hannah King (pictured above) and this was her third fiction book. “Supporting local” is one of my tenets so I decided it would be a good idea to buy a book from a local author in a local independent bookshop. To be fair, I didn’t need much persuasion and Hannah even signed it for me!
So what was the verdict? I loved it!
Set in Northern Ireland in 2000 and 2023, “Little Darlings” tells the story of two sisters (aged 9 and 10) who were sent to live in the grand Chaplin House with their great-aunt Audrey Wolfe and their great-uncle Tony in 2000. Their mum had recently been in a serious accident, suffered a serious head injury and ended up hospitalised. The two sisters Charlotte and Cara (ie the “Little Darlings”) were forced to live with their only relatives who were members of a famous acting family and this included Audrey and Tony’s adopted son Lawrence who starred in many TV shows. On the outside, everything appeared to be happy families and a fresh start for the girls but there were many hidden secrets with the Wolfes. Cara in particular had many difficulties while Charlotte had an easier time as Audrey took her under her wing.
Fast forward to 2023, Cara is married to Steve, working as a graphic designer and has a nine year old daughter Daisy. Her comfortable world is uprooted when she finds out that Audrey has died and she must confront some of her demons from the past at the funeral. But she has a dilemma – does she leave her 23 year old secrets buried or does she bring them to the open?
This is an addictive read and it took me a while to discover the challenges that Cara had faced. But it captivated me and I really wanted to find out about the events in 2000 which seemed to have hit Cara so hard. I also liked the quirky place names such as Dromary, Anniskillen and Oldry – almost real Northern Ireland place names but not quite. I definitely would recommend “Little Darlings” and I’m going to read Hannah King’s other books, “The Blindspot” and “She and I” – perhaps another visit to Bridge Books is on the horizon ….
Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own, which in turn makes us more empathetic beings. Following complex story lines stretches our brains beyond the 140 characters of sound-bite thinking, and staying within the world of a novel gives us the ability to be quiet and alone, two skills that are disappearing faster than the polar icecaps.
Ann Patchett
Hopefully I have given you some inspiration about what to read next and if you have any ideas as to what I could read next, please feel free to comment below with your thoughts. I’m not sure what my next topic is going to be but expect to be surprised.
Hope you have a lovely week and happy reading!
Lynda
The Author
Lynda Willis lives in Co Armagh and writes blogs about her rambles in nature as well as rambling about topics close to her heart. This year, she is fundraising for Breast Cancer Now so please click here if you’d like to donate.
