PUBLICATION DAY! I am delighted to announce that Gothic Precarity: Fear and Anxiety in Twenty-First-Century Fiction is published today! Writing this book has been a journey into the shadows—into the ways fear and uncertainty shape our culture, our literature, and our sense of ourselves in the twenty-first century. The Gothic has always been a literature of unease, but today it feels especially urgent. From climate crisis to political instability, we live in precarious times, and fiction often gives voice to those anxieties when we struggle to name them ourselves. My hope is that this book shows how contemporary writers continue to deploy the Gothic mode to capture the fragility, dread, and resilience of our moment. This project wouldn’t exist without the support of friends, colleagues, and mentors who encouraged me when the task felt overwhelming, and of course without the writers whose work I’ve had the privilege of exploring. So today isn’t just about a book—it’s about conversation, community, and the stories we tell to make sense of our fears. I hope this work is well received and that it adds to a much needed debate. #Gothic #precarity #neoliberalism #fear @UniWalesPress uwp.co.uk/book/gothic-precar… amzn.eu/d/diwAjG1 waterstones.com/book/gothic-…

AMATEURS AT WORK Not a judgement (!) but rather a celebration of the ‘amateur’ sleuth in crime fiction, as represented by the excellent work of Ajay Chowdhury, Alis Hawkins & Ben Bruce. We unpacked a rich subject, all with the help of an excellent Shetland Noir audience. This is a wonderful festival and I honestly cannot believe my good fortune in being here, chatting to such fantastic authors. Days of joy and friendship (and quite a lot of whisky). Thanks to the kind and thoughtful Louise Mangos for the photos. @shetlandnoir @ajaychow #BenBruce #AlisHawkins

A magical evening with @shetlandnoir

We will be making contact with everyone who has requested tickets for Arcadia 2026 and Spearhead 2027 this weekend with payment details.

Shetland sea and sky. My heart belongs to such places - in appreciation of now and in memory of a previous, glorious trip to Scotland.

The truth can be extremely uncomfortable at times, but sometimes there is no sweetening the bitter pill of abject failure. Trump is suffering from domestic and geopolitical locked in syndrome and he has no escape. My thanks to John Sopel from the News Agents for spelling it out. 🎥 TikTok - vm.tiktok.com/ZNRvVt8tK/

Book festivals are so important for connecting readers with authors, and vice versa. Writing can sometimes be a lonely pursuit, and I value every opportunity to engage with book lovers and celebrate the history of women in British Intelligence. Yesterday, I spoke to a full house at Retford Book Festival and treated them to a short reading from the end of the Prologue of Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence, published by @wnbooks The last few lines gave me chills when I first heard them and still do when I read or speak them. It was the moment I knew there was a story to be told: Towards the end of the conversation, Richard half-joked about Kathleen being 'Miss Moneypenny'. Without hesitation, she responded: 'I was Miss Moneypenny, but with more power.' You can read all about the trailblazing MI6 woman, Kathleen Pettigrew, in my debut book, out now in paperback.

I read it completely differently. Bond lets his revenge vendetta go and stops holding onto Vesper. No Time To Die gives Bond a few moments to acknowledge their love, similar to Bond visiting Tracy’s grave in For Your Eyes Only. It’s believable that he’d never be fully over her.

THE BONE MOTHER by Suzy Aspley ‘Out here we honour our Bone Mother, or pay the price.’ Investigative journalist Martha Strangeways made her debut in the excellent novel CROW MOON. Shaped by extreme family trauma and driven by an overriding passion for the truth and for justice, Martha was utterly irresistible. I was, therefore, delighted to learn that Suzy Aspley had plans to continue Martha’s story and even more delighted to read the second in what I hope will become a long series of novels. THE BONE MOTHER marks a triumphant return for both novelist and protagonist. This is folk horror inflected crime fiction of the highest order. Unease and dread pervade the novel as a young woman, seeking the Cailleach’s shrine (a place of worship in the name of the Celtic God), is found ritualistically mutilated and murdered. With potent effect, Aspley evokes all of the links in Adam Scovell’s folk horror ‘chain’: a deep connection with the landscape, isolated settings, skewed belief systems that clash with modernity, and a dreadful summoning/happening. The novel is lyrically beautiful, at times dreamlike and ethereal, at times a pulsating thriller, but always unputdownable. The novel’s whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. Now we need Martha Strangeways Book 3, please and thank you. I’ll be chatting to Suzy about her work, alongside Carol Pouliot and Marsali Taylor, at this year’s Shetland Noir. We’ll be discussing ‘fantastical crime’. I could not be happier! We may have more to talk about than can be accommodated within the allotted hour… #TheBoneMother @OrendaBooks @writer_suzy @CarolPouliot #MarsaliTaylor

We love you: that’s why we’re here. My celebration of 40 years of A Very Peculiar Practice - with contributions from Peter Davison, Andrew Davies, Barbara Flynn and Davids Tucker and Troughton. telegraph.co.uk/tv/2026/06/0…

Cannot wait to host this conversation. Two sublime authors writing at the top of their game, well equipped to lay bare the dark secrets of the Gothic Revival 🖤 Going to be irresistible… @NewarkBookFest @essiefox @BramwellLawes

I am thrilled to be appearing at Newark Book Festival on Friday 10th July with the wonderful @essiefox, where we will discuss the enduring power of #Gothic storytelling 🕸️ and more than a hint of #DarkRomance 🖤 See you there - ticket link in bio! #books #bookfriday #bookworm

THE HUNTERS CLUB by Alis Hawkins Yesterday I concluded my preparation for chairing the ‘amateur sleuth’ panel at this year’s Shetland Noir by finishing THE HUNTERS CLUB by Alis Hawkins. An excellent way to finish! ‘If you’re not with them… you’re against them. Oxford, 1883. Young men are being found bound, gagged and hooded at the gates of their colleges in the small hours.’ A riveting and intelligent mystery, with two irresistible protagonists, Non and Basil. Late nineteenth-century Oxford is beautifully drawn, as the reader is immersed in the sexual politics of the era, a time when women are systemically denied justice (and all too often even courtesy and respect). A time and place of social tension, hypocrisy and prejudice that proves fertile ground for Hawkins’ deft storytelling skills. Highly recommended. Really looking forward to chatting to Alis about her work. We’ll be joined by Ajay Chowdhury and Ben Bruce. What a treat! @Alis_Hawkins #TheHuntersClub @canelo_co

Welcome to my stop on the @RandomTTours #BlogTour for #StopDead by @katrinjul Tns Larissa Kyzer - book two in the gripping Nordic Noir, Icelandic Mysteries series. Out now from @OrendaBooks brownflopsy.blogspot.com/202…

WE HAVE NEWS!🥳 We are SO INCREDIBLY THRILLED to share that we will be publishing the BRILLIANT @lars_elling_artist's DEBUT NOVEL #ThePrincesOfPaupersPond in English (t. by #DonBartlett) with OrendaBooks!❤️ PREORDER IS AVAILABLE NOW! OUT 24.9.26🙌 🔗geni.us/U7FM

If Keir Starmer, Ed Davey or Zack Polanski or even Badenoch took a £5million bung or used the language Farage has twice.. They would be GONE. The media alone would have hounded them out of their job within a week. There's your two tiers alright. And it is the media.

CASINO ROYALE (2006) saves Daniel Craig’s full transformation into James Bond for the very end. The suit, the confidence, and that iconic introduction make it one of the most satisfying character arrivals in the franchise.

👋👋👋me 👋👋👋

Super proud to be part of exciting launch day @BloodyScotland 2026. Met some of my all time heroes and hung out with my Debut Shortlist buddies. And Denise Mina 🤩 #BloodyScotland 📸 Paul Reich

I want my England back. I want to wrest my country from those that are the worst of us while purporting to be the best. I want an England that aspires to be the best we can be. A country of decency, fair play, tolerance, compassion, generosity, good humour, hard work, intelligence, determination, diversity, curiosity, friendship and courage. I want an England of chip shops, curry houses, Italian restaurants, Polish supermarkets, the Co-op, Strictly, Doctor Who, Harold Pinter, AE Housman, Jilly Cooper, AS Byatt, Agatha Christie, Salman Rushdie, Michael Rosen, The Archers, Vaughan Williams, the Beatles, the Spice Girls and the BBC at its best. I want the England I see in my friends every single day. It cannot be too late.

‘DARK, CHILLING AND SO ATMOSPHERIC’ #HomeBeforeDark by @evaaegisdottir (t. by Victoria Cribb) is OUT NOW in paperback🙌 Don’t miss it! 🔗geni.us/iiSFD #BookX @SimonSaysBooks @IceLitCenter @IcelandinUK @DavidHHeadley @DHHlitagency