The Dark Side of the Mind by Kerry Daynes

The Dark Side of the Mind: True Stories from My Life as a Forensic Psychologist by Kerry Daynes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 3 days

Pages - 250

Publisher -

Source - RAK

Blurb from Goodreads

Welcome to the world of the forensic psychologist, where the people you meet are wildly unpredictable and often frightening.

The job: to delve into the psyche of convicted men and women to try to understand what lies behind their often brutal actions.

Follow in the footsteps of Kerry Daynes, one of the most sought-after forensic psychologists in the business and consultant on major police investigations.

Kerry's job has taken her to the cells of maximum-security prisons, police interview rooms, the wards of secure hospitals and the witness box of the court room.

Her work has helped solve a cold case, convict the guilty and prevent a vicious attack.

Spending every moment of your life staring into the darker side of life comes with a price. Kerry's frank memoir gives an unforgettable insight into the personal and professional dangers in store for a female psychologist working with some of the most disturbing men and women.



My Review

I do like reading these types of books, getting to see how the other side(s) live. This one is a wee bit different from the others I have read. Often the book is filled to bursting with stories of the work place, whilst this one does have stories from her work a lot of the focus is on her experiences, feelings, exposures and dangers she has been through.

We see the different directions her career has taken, men, women, different conditions, helping out profiling, big cases and a pretty shocking case of stalking that left me uneasy. Not just how it came about and what she went through but the very little help she had especially considering what they did and the potentials that could have happened. Really really uneasy and also how the law and policies have changed and been shaped over the years.

If you enjoy reading these types of books but want something a little different that isn't just chalka with patients stories then this is the one for you. Just be prepared and aware of your own triggers, some really triggering incidents and people in this one, 3.5/5 for me this time.

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One Last Scare by Bill Wood

One Last Scare by Bill Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in & out over 3 days

Pages -

Publisher -

Source - review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

The past comes back to kill —when a haunted theme park reopens and true crime turns deadly in the final, blood-soaked mystery of the Let’s Split Up trilogy.
The gang thought they were done with murder.

After surviving one too many mysteries, they’re finally ready for a normal summer —until Chillshore reopens. Once a beloved island theme park, it shut down after a tragedy no one ever fully explained. Now it’s back and rebranded as a spooky attraction that leans hard into its dark past, complete with a creepy mascot known as the Groundskeeper and a guest list that includes horror influencers, true crime celebrities, and supernatural thrill-seekers.
Then a storm hits. No boats. No phones. No escape.
When guests start dying one by one, it becomes terrifyingly clear that the murders aren’t random. Each death exposes a piece of Chillshore’s buried history.
As paranoia spreads and the Groundskeeper stalks the island, the gang must untangle a web of lies, cover-ups, and long-suppressed guilt before the killer strikes again. Because this time, the mystery isn’t just about who is doing the killing — it’s about why the truth was buried in the first place.

Dark, twisty, and relentless, Bill Wood’s final installment in the Let’s Split Up trilogy delivers a blood-soaked locked-room mystery that confronts the cost of turning real tragedy into entertainment and proves some stories will always come back to haunt you.


My Review

So this is book three, I hadn't realised and haven't read the previous two, I don't think I missed out as it reads fine as a standalone. I will be checking the previous books out as I did enjoy this one but I will wait a while as the book does give spoilers/discussion on what has passed before this one, who the baddies were etc.

Chillshore is going to be popular, it is an isolated island and theme park that was shut down after something bad happened years ago. Now bought over by someone with big bucks, no expense has been spared to create this all immersive experience, it isn't going to just be visiting attractions, you will be creeped out from the moment you arrive until you leave. What better way to get the word out and hype going than inviting a select few, the teens who are not only famous but solved the murders in their own wee town, influencers, ghost hunters, true crime folks et al. They will all be paid handsomely and get to give feedback before the island is officially opened to Joe Public. The island has the Groundskeeper, their own masked mascot peppered around the island, themes, has a back story and ever threatening presence. However as the groups are deposited and ready to immerse things start to go wrong, the Groundskeeper isn't just an ominous presence and soon the visitors are fighting for their lives and trying to figure out who and why are they being hunted. With no way off the island and no way to call for help, mistrusting each other and death at every turn, who will actually survive to tell the tale?

So this very much gave me echoes of a few of my fave old movies/books, a wee hint of Urban Legend and I know what you did last summer in that we don't see the identify of the baddy but they are masked right in front of you as you leg it and try to survive. Noone is safe, mistrust quickly builds, people are dying left right and centre and everyone is forced to pitch together to try and survive the violent weapon wielded masked maniac.

Some of the characters are annoying, some invoke your sympathy but each has you questioning could they be the baddie? Who is next? And the all important why? I felt a bit Murder She Wrote and suspecting almost everyone lol. Short chapters and you are engrossed quite quickly, 4/5 for me this time.

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Cat Society Claws and Disorder by Ray Sadri

Cat Society: Claws and Disorder by Ray Sadri
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - In and out as able over 3 days

Pages - 279

Publisher - The Book Guild

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads


The cats are back running Britain – madder than ever and very much in charge.

Douglas Schnitty is Prime Minister, loved up and determined to end homelessness for the nation’s slum cats. But he must contend with a Chancellor in meltdown over the public finances, a predecessor-turned-eco-activist blocking his housing plans, and a nemesis returning from exile to launch a populist party.

As chaos mounts and his love life unravels, can Schnitty save the slum cats, his premiership, and himself?

“Mad, funny, surreal, and completely unique. Sadri does it again with a book that curls up in your lap before you notice the claws.”


My Review

So this is book two, book one is Cat Society, you can absolutely read this as a standalone. That being said, book one gives you more insight into the characters in this book, their relationships and bad blood with each other. The place is Britain, the characters are cats, all cats, hoomans are no longer around, Douglas Schnitty is running the show, the now prime minister and tackling the big issue of homelessness amongst his people, his fellow cats.

So you know I am not a fan of politics in general and I absolutely love cats this is a no brainer for me, I also read book one enjoyed it, all the dramas of the political nonsense that goes on but craftily shaped into issues if the people were kitties. Douglas had his own battles getting to where he is now, his big focus is ending homelessness for slum cats. Of course other cats are up in arms and want to save the trees. Tackling issues that affect the economy and taxes, again for me boring subjects but centre it around a world inhabited by cats only with human traits/issues absolute yes!

We have romance but of course the job gets in the way, the general public loving or hating you because hello you are the prime minister. Your enemies who want to dethrone you, take over, throw mud on your good name but all done with catty attitude and spiciness, absolutely yes.

In a world where there are cats ruling the world (no humans) and we still have politicians, number 10 downing street, shady reporters, folk clapping you on the back whilst equally sticking the claws in (see what I did there?) lol, funny, silly but still having modern day relative issues but just presented in a world of cats, absolutely yes. Will everyone love this, no, it is a political world inhabited purely by cats, humour, silly, shady, backstabbing, dairy loving paws with some real life issues we face in reality but just sculpted into a feline world. 4/5 for me this time, as I said it is book two and I hope they keep going with the series, if you enjoy politics, satire, cats and a world that blends fantastical fiction with some genuine issues - this is absolutely the series for you! Plus, hello it has cats, loads and loads of cats (all characters are cats, in a world run by and purely/solely occupied, by cats!), nuff said!

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The Haunting of Rookward House by Darcy Coates

The Haunting of Rookward House by Darcy Coates
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 298

Publisher - Poisoned Pen Press

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

She's always watching...
When Guy finds the deeds to a house in his mother’s attic, it seems like an incredible stroke of luck. Sure, the building hasn’t been inhabited in forty years and vines strangle the age-stained walls, but Guy is convinced he can clean it up and sell it. He’d be crazy to turn down free money. Right?

The house is hours from any other habitation, and Guy can't get phone reception in the old building. He decides to camp there while he does repairs. Surely nothing too bad can happen in the space of a week.

But there’s a reason no one lives in Rookward House, and the dilapidated rooms aren’t as empty as they seem…

A deranged woman tormented a family in Rookward forty years before. Now her ghost clings to the building like rot. She’s bitter, obsessive, and jealous… and once Guy has moved into her house, she has no intention of ever letting him leave.


My Review

Ooooh who doesn't love a haunted house and a mad obsessive ghost! So Guy is our main character, he is a bit of a whiney whoa is me type of dude. Whilst sorting stuff at his mums he finds out they have a property that has been abandoned for years, he figures he will go, do the diy it likely needs and then punt it, solving all his money worries and issues. What Guy doesn't know and isn't prepared for is Amy, the ghost that haunts the house, the spirit that did some untold evil and madness, who is obsessive and won't be letting Guy go anywhere.

It really is creepy, things slowly start to get creepy and then pulls you right in as Guy finds out that actually maybe he isn't alone and things are about to get really dodgy and scary, dun dun dun. The book is mostly set in present day with Guy but we did flip back to 1965 and with Thomas, the object of Amy's obsession and who lived in the house, the last people to live in the house before it was left empty for decades til Guy came into it.

I would have loved more of the past and heard about Amy, how the before/obsession really got going (we do get some details of it to be fair) and the aftermath of what happened to Amy. It would be good if the author decided to give them their own story because I reckon it would be popular even though we get the jist of it in this one, I think it has enough weight to carry it's own book, less spirt though cos it would have been when Amy was a human and creepy stalker.

Guy has a lot of issues, not the same level as Amy to be fair but yeah he is carrying a lot around him which makes me wonder if he is more susceptible to the haunting because of that or if Amy would have claimed anyone who lived in Rookward House. Some of the book gave me 1408 vibes (Stephen King book, John Cussack movie) and another couple of movies/books, creepy house, scary ghost well actually maybe she is a poltergeist. Creepy, scary, building up tension, perfect for an October spooky themed read, I think this was my first time reading this author, it won't be my last, 4/5.

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Burnt Cove by G Wayne Miller

Burnt Cove by G. Wayne Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 211

Publisher - Austin Macauley

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

When Rose O’Reilly White, a respected member of the small-town Deer Isle, Maine, community, died at age 97, she left many secrets, some monstrous and others magical, including her first love, a young woman who died in a tragic fire in 1942. This woman was her teacher; Rose was a teenager. Another secret was her later long involvement with an African-American woman. A third was her poisoning and killing a Catholic priest of many years ago after Rose learned he was a serial pedophile and wanted to prevent him from abusing other victims.

Rose’s husband, Bill, another respected member of the Deer Isle community, knew and accepted all this. But unlike others who die leaving secrets, Rose left a key to open them, and her filmmaker son Jack brings them to light as he sets out to produce a documentary of her life—an endeavor that reunites him with his first love, with whom he had a daughter unbeknownst to him until they are together again.

A novel unlike any other, Burnt Cove artfully blends horror, supernatural, dark fantasy, time travel, love, death, and mystical resurrection.



My Review

So for a thin book this one really packs a whole load of stuff, Rose O'Reilly White has died, she was close to 100 years old and a huge part of her community. The book is really Jack (Rose's son) writing about their family history and Rose of course is/was a huge part of that. Rose's stories (the book jumps about a bit) were tapes when she was alive and Jack has been working on the project of their life stories. Rose is a character and had many secrets. Jack is basically our main character and putting together the story so we are hearing things that Rose recorded/lived but also following Jack from finding out his mother died, going to the funeral and speaking to the people who knew her and going from there.

Like we start in June 2023 and end up March 2026 so there is a fair bit of jumping and considering it is only just over 200 odd pages we delve into a lot. Jack is a film producer, he is delving into his mum/family life as a project and as with many of us find out things about our family that leaves your jaw dropped.

I really liked the focus on his mums life and the secrets and things she did and why she did them but I feel it was cut a bit short. Like for me it was two splits, one being his mums life and the whole telling the story of the family/her and then after the funeral he finds something out about his own life which then takes us down a spiritual road. I do enjoy spiritual takes/ghosts but I felt the two read as really different stories and may have worked better as two different books. Like give Rose a whole book for herself, either following her life story from beginning to end and then give Jack his own story too with all the surprises and spiritualness that came about. Like, I liked it but I was just distracted and felt both stories could have had more time and pages because they are both good/interesting. I felt like we were just getting into it when Rose's story was left behind and we focused more on Jack. Overall 3.5/5 for me, this was my first time reading this author, I would read them again.

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The Witch's Kind by Louisa Morgan

The Witch's Kind by Louisa Morgan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 440

Publisher - Orbit

Source - Present

Blurb from Goodreads

From the author of A Secret History of Witches comes an absorbing tale of love, sacrifice, family ties, and magic, set in the Pacific Northwest in the aftermath of World War II.

Barrie Anne Blythe and her aunt Charlotte have always known that the other residents of their small coastal community find them peculiar -- two women living alone on the outskirts of town. It is the price of concealing their strange and dangerous family secret.

But two events threaten to upend their lives forever. The first is the arrival of a mysterious abandoned baby with a hint of power like their own. The second is the sudden reappearance of Barrie Anne's long-lost husband -- who is not quite the man she thought she married.

Together, Barrie Anne and Charlotte must decide how far they are willing to go to protect themselves -- and the child they think of as their own -- from suspicious neighbors, the government, and even their own family...



My Review

So, I think the first thing I need to say is whilst I enjoyed this and it was different, there was barely a sniff of witches and considering the title and bulk of the book, I expected witches. So the time is World War 2, Barrie Anne is living alone in the home her estranged husband bought them, he is MIA. She lives with her dog and her aunt Charlotte is really the only person she has. We learn her back story and her husband who essentially abandoned her during the war, he is a vile rat, there is gaslighting and DV when we hear about them. The witchery part I guess is when they talk about the gift their family has but it is more like premonitions but not really and kind centres around water but Barry Anne didn't have it but kinda maybe does but just a wee bit. You know lie the feeling your phone is going to ring or drawn to something or somewhere because you had a feeling or pull? A bit like that which is absolutely fine and all but just with the title etc I thought it would have but far more and indepth.

Anyway Barrie Anne finds a baby, well actually her dog does and she soon realises the baby is special and entrusts that secret to her aunt Charlotte and together the two will protect the wean with everything they have. I would say the book kinda hints at like aliens, government people, awol husband who is a gaslighting piece of absolute garbage of humanity. It is war time and back them marriage was marriage and women didn't have as much freedom or protections/autonomy as we do today so she put up with a lot. I was furious when he appeared again and just wanted to scream but remembering that back then women's hands were tied more than nowadays.

I LOVE the dog, I would have read so much more about the dog but alas it was just a wee side character. The book tackles a fair few topics, very loose witchness abilities, ?aliens defo some kind of unusual beings, I did get a wee bit of a changeling vibe but without any kid being stolen but that type of vibe, looks like us but not quite. Domestic violence/abuse, war, survival, marriage, friendship, unaccepted love/sexuality (again not huge central theme but touched upon) so it is a busy book and I did enjoy how it was written it was just so very different from what I was expecting it to be, 3/5.

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Evil Under The Sun by Agatha Christie

Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 220

Publisher - Harper

Source - 2nd hand

Blurb from Goodreads

The beautiful bronzed body of Arlena Stuart lay facedown on the beach. But strangely, there was no sun and she was not sunbathing... she had been strangled.

Ever since Arlena's arrival the air had been thick with sexual tension. Each of the guests had a motive to kill her. But Hercule Poirot suspects that this apparent 'crime of passion' conceals something much more evil.


My Review

This is only my 2nd book by Agatha Christie I absolutely need to bump more up my tbrm AND did you know this is actually a movie too? Martin (from work) told me so I absolutely need to check it out!

Poor Poirot, all he does is solves murders and when the guy goes on a wee break someone dies, murdered and there are a lot of suspects. Arlena is a women who outshines most others in any room, men are drawn to her like moths to a flame so when she is found strangled there is many a suspect.

Poirot does what he does best, investigates, clocks everything and takes us along with him. The thing I really liked about this was it absolutely gives me Murder She Wrote vibes but with Poirot instead of Jessica Fletcher.

We examine the relationships between the holiday goers, dynamics, the many women who hate or strongly disliked Arlena, the men involved with her and who had opportunity.

I rarely pick up on clues so listening to Poirot putting things together to get to his who done it, I LOVE that! This is quite far down the series so I really do need to go get the others, 4/5.

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