Grave Danger – Alice James

More murder. More mayhem. More champagne.

Toni Windsor is failing at ‘happily ever after,’ but it really isn’t her fault.

All she wants is true love and the perfect wardrobe, but it doesn’t look like they are coming her way any time soon. Instead, there are murders to solve and zombies to raise, and she’s broken her phone again.

Worst of all, her shiny new boyfriend turns out to be a jerk; maybe dating a vampire wasn’t her best decision ever?

I was delighted to be asked if I’d take part in the blog tour for this book. Regular readers will have noticed that I’ve been doing far fewer tours in the last year or so. Therefore it takes a special book to tempt me out from behind the piles of books and onto a blog tour.

Grave Danger is that book.

It’s the second in the Lavington Windsor Mysteries, coming hot on the heels of Grave Secrets. The first book arrived at just the right moment and I absolutely loved it. It had everything; murder, mystery, zombies, politics, work, relationships, how to get blood out of clothing, necromancy, stylish zombies, the works.

So it was with some great excitement that I found myself with a copy of book 2: Grave Danger. More Lavington Windsor? Sign me up.

Following on hot on the heels of the first book, we find our plucky heroine, Lavington ‘Toni’ Windsor, estate agent by day, necromancer by night, back in action. There’s been a murder at the local school and Toni’s brother needs her help. Except Toni has enough problems on her plate with her crappy vampire boyfriend (sorry, he’s a terrible person/vampire) who seems ever more insistent on turning her into his vampire girlfriend (see?), and the Assemblage demanding more and more of her.

Oh yeah, you probably want to read the first book, erm, first. But you did that when I first reviewed Grave Secrets, didn’t you.

*stern look*

OK, fine. Go read it now. I’ll wait.

Right, while they’re gone (honestly, some people are such slackers) we can talk about book two. But if you’ve read the first book (well done you!), then you know just how good it was, and therefore should need very little encouragement from me to read it.

Where was I? Oh yes. Murder mystery, dead girl at school, our Toni gets called in to have a chat with her on account of being a necromancer and being able to do such things (just don’t forget the snacks, the undead get peckish). Oscar is being frankly awful and Toni is starting to get fed up with him.

Hijinks ensue.

The murder investigation forms the meat and bones of the story, with Toni discovering her place in vampire society as a thread running through the book. It was great to see more of how the world of the vampires worked here. Coupled with some fantastic secondary characters all doing interesting things for interesting reasons, and our lovely Toni’s delightful line in witty dialogue, Grave Danger is a splendid second instalment in what I hope will be the long-running Lavinton Windsor Mysteries.

Funny, dark, gory, love story with a side order of whodunnit. What more could you want? Hugely recommended, if you hadn’t guessed.

Book three is out later this year, and I for one can’t wait to read it.

Grave Danger by Alice James is published by Solaris, and is out in the UK on 25th May 2023. Many thanks to the publisher for the advance copy of the book for review.

More lovely bloggers will be sharing their thoughts about the book as part of the tour. If I haven’t convinced you (lord alone knows how you can resist after this), maybe they can. Go say hi. Take snacks.

blog tour poster for Alice James' Grave Danger

Beautiful Shining People by Michael Grothaus

A damaged young man meets an enigmatic waitress in a Tokyo café, and they embark on a journey that will change everything … an emotive speculative literary novel set in a near-future Japan

It’s our world, but decades into the future … an ordinary world, where cars drive themselves, drones glide across the sky, and robots work in burger shops. There are two superpowers and a digital Cold War, but all conflicts are safely oceans away. People get up, work, and have dinner. Everything is as it should be…

Except for seventeen-year-old John, a tech prodigy from a damaged family, who hides a deeply personal secret. But everything starts to change for him when he enters a tiny café on a cold Tokyo night. A café run by a disgraced sumo wrestler, where a peculiar dog with a spherical head lives, alongside its owner, enigmatic waitress Neotnia…

But Neotnia hides a secret of her own – a secret that will turn John’s unhappy life upside down. A secret that will take them from the neon streets of Tokyo to Hiroshima’s tragic past to the snowy mountains of Nagano. 

A secret that reveals that this world is anything ordinary – and it’s about to change forever…

There I was one evening recently, picking up book after book and bouncing off each in turn. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on what I wanted to read next. What was I in the mood for?

Then I remembered that I had a copy of the new Michael Grothaus book from Orenda Books on my kindle. I liked the sound of it – near(ish) future SF set in Japan, with a disgraced Sumo wrestler with an odd dog, and an enigmatic waitress. I’d also enjoyed Michael’s previous book Epiphany Jones a few years back.

Sure, let’s give it a go, I think to myself.

Beautiful Shining People is a book that just wraps itself around you and refuses to let go. I think I finally emerged blinking from it several hours later, and well past my usual bedtime (let’s just say I needed a LOT of coffee the following morning!).

It’s in part a love story, albeit an unusual one, meshed in literary science fiction. Like the title, this story is beautiful, the characters shine and you watch entranced as they come together, each with their own secrets and past, each trying to figure out where and how they fit in this strange new world. It’s a world of superpowers battling with deepfakes and AIs rather than conventional weapons. Of quantum computing and how it’ll change our society. Of Big Corporations and whether they’re good or bad. And how humanity is dealing with all of this.

The characters are extraordinary, yet very ordinary. John, a 17 year-old wunderkind brought to Tokyo by Sony, who wants to buy his revolutionary quantum code. Neotnia, the waitress from the tiny cafe that John stumbles across one evening and who will change his life forever. Goedio, the ex-Sumo wrestler whose life was upended by deepfakes and who now runs the cafe with his oddly spherical-headed dog, Inu.

Much like the Tokyo of the story, Beautiful Shining People is deeply layered, beautifully contructed and one of a kind.

Glorious. Hugely recommended.

Beautiful Shining People by Michael Grothaus is published by Orenda Books and is out now. Huge thanks to Karen Sullivan at Orenda for sending me an advance ebook to review.

The Vicar Man by Amelia Crowley

Dora is a barmaid.
Usually her life is fairly simple: she gets up, cleans the inn, feeds the chickens, argues with the increasingly obstreperous cockerel, listens to the woes of her fellow barmaid, avoids doing the laundry, and serves drinks to the motley crew of islanders who lurk about the taproom every night.
The same old routine, day in, day out.

Tonight, though, is different.

Tonight, just one week before the vernal equinox, after a catastrophically bad harvest the year before, a stranger has walked into the bar…

The Vicar Man is an utterly splendid historical fantasy, with a lovely line in folk horror and humour. A young, single, male priest turns up on the island a week before the equinox, and the villagers are looking for someone… special to help with the harvest.

Oh dear. Reverend Norman Portwhistle doesn’t quite know what’s about to hit him. And can the lovely Dora save the day?

I enjoyed this enormously, though it took me far too long to twig about the title! Loved the characters, especially Dora the barmaid. And the writing is witty, the plot engaging and it fair bounces along.

A delight to read, and well worth your time to check out!

The Hollows by Daniel Church

In a lonely village in the Peak District, during the onset of a once-in-a-lifetime snow storm, Constable Ellie Cheetham finds a body. The man, a local ne’er-do-well, appears to have died in a tragic accident: he drank too much and froze to death. 

But the facts don’t add up: the dead man is clutching a knife in one hand, and there’s evidence he was hiding from someone. Someone who watched him die. Stranger still, an odd mark has been drawn onto a stone beside his body. 

The next victims are two families on the outskirts of town. As the storm rises and the body count grows, Ellie realises she has a terrifying problem on her hands: someone – or some thing – is killing indiscriminately, attacking in the darkness and using the storm for cover. 

The killer is circling ever closer to the village. The storm’s getting worse… and the power’s just gone out.

A small village nestled deep in the Peak District. A body found frozen in the snow, and a storm on the way. The village is cut off, the lights start going out, and something out there is hungry…

Blimey, this book grabs you from the opening and doesn’t let go. It’s often brutal, very scary and utterly relentless. Ellie is a part of the very tiny police presence in the village, and whilst life is usually pretty quiet, things start going very wrong very quickly after the body is found. Throw in the local troublemaker family who the dead man was part of, and Ellie is suddenly having a very very bad day. And the sun is starting to set, and as Newt says in Aliens, they mostly come out at night. Mostly…

The horror lurks around the edges of the village as glimpses, slowly revealing itself. But there’s some pretty horrific stuff happening in the house of the dead man. The Harper family are a mightily unpleasant bunch, and at times I found myself rooting for them to meet their just rewards!

Overall, a good solid decently scary in places read with a great monster. If I have any criticism, it did drag a little in the middle for me, and could have been a bit tighter, but I enjoyed it. Well worth checking out if horror is your thing.

Just remember to lock the doors and windows…

The Hollows by Daniel Church is published by Angry Robot and is out now.

End of Story by Louise Swanson

It’s the year 2035 and fiction has been banned by the government for five years. Writing novels is a crime. Reading fairytales to children is punishable by law.

Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading bedtime stories to sleep-starved children; Hunter, the young boy who calls her and has captured her heart; and the dreaded visits from government officials.

But as Fern begins to learn more about Hunter, doubts begin to surface. What are they both hiding? And who can be trusted?

Oh this book is amazing.

I loved Louise’s earlier books (writing as Louise Beech), this is her first foray into a dystopian sci-fi and boy is it a doozy.

It’s 2035 and fiction has been banned. Writing novels is a criminal offence. Even reading stories to children is punishable by law. As dystopian futures go, this is pretty bleak. The story of Fern, a once-famous author, and her move into secret work as a reader will draw you in, wrap you in this strange world leaving you wondering just how we got there, and how on earth it’s possible to come back.

Hard to say more without spoiling anything, so get yourself a copy of this brilliant book, a large cup of tea and settle down for the ride. It’s worth every illegally-written word.

The writing is beautiful, the setting horrific, and it finishes with an ending that’ll leave you thinking for days. Hugely recommended, and I for one cannot wait to see what Louise Swanson comes up with next.

End of Story by Louise Swanson is published by Hodder & Stoughton in March 2023. Huge thanks to the publisher for the advance copy of the book to review.

Needless Alley by Natalie Marlow

Birmingham, 1933. 

Private enquiry agent William Garrett, a man damaged by a dark childhood spent on Birmingham’s canals, specialises in facilitating divorces for the city’s male elite. With the help of his best friend -charming, out-of-work actor Ronnie Edgerton – William sets up honey traps. But photographing unsuspecting women in flagrante plagues his conscience and William heaves up his guts with remorse after every job. 

However, William’s life changes when he accidentally meets the beautiful Clara Morton and falls in love. Little does he know she is the wife of a client – a leading fascist with a dangerous obsession. And what should have been another straightforward job turns into something far more deadly. 

Set in 1930s Birmingham, and dripping with period atmosphere, Needless Alley is fabulous. William ‘Billy’ Garrett is a private enquiry agent, who specialises in helping men with divorces. For a suitable fee he’ll arrange a honey trap (ably assisted by his best friend Ronnie, an out of work actor) to get some incriminating photos and help the husbands get out of their marriages. But it all goes awry when he meets the beautiful Clara, the wife of one of his clients.

Gloriously gritty Brummie Noir with a real sense of place, the book takes in the highs and lows of Birmingham from the canals to the country houses, the tenements to the factories, and featuring a glorious cast of memorable characters, it’s a hugely impressive debut, and one which I highly recommend.

Needless Alley by Natalie Marlow is published by Baskerville and is out now. Many thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book to review

January/February roundup

Hello dear reader! How are you? It’s been forever. You look fabulous, as always.

I did mean to do a January roundup following my ‘How do you read so much?’ post, but then life got in the way (yes, I was reading more books), and before you know it, February has arrived (along with more books), and then you blink and it’s the end of the month and not only have I not done a January roundup, I don’t appear to have written very much at all this year.

Ooops. I blame Elden Ring (and Jackson Ford, who kept saying it was awesome) and appear to have lost *cough* hours into it already. Double oops.

It’s so pretty though. That’s me, about to go an investigate a castle to give a letter to some dude called Edgar (I think). I’m really not very good at keeping track of what’s going on and there’s no obvious ‘go here and do this’ list.

So yeah, been playing a LOT of Elden Ring and taking a bit of a break from the old blog/newsletter/everything. But I’m back! Cue fireworks/cake!

What have I been reading, I hear you ask? Well settle in kids, cos it’s a LIST. (the kind you don’t get in Elden Ring, grumble grumble). Super short reviews, might dive back in and write up some longer ones later!

January

It Ends At Midnight – Harriet Tyce [Wildfire, 2022]

Delightfully twisty thriller, starting (and ending, as the title suggests) at midnight on New Year. Seemed to be a good choice as I started it on 31st Dec and finished it on New Year’s Day. Full of unreliable narrators, kept me guessing until the very end. Enjoyed it a lot.

End of Story – Louise Swanson [Hodder, March 2023]

Oh this book is amazing. Loved Louise’s earlier books (writing as Louise Beech), this is her first foray into a dystopian sci-fi. 2035 and fiction has been banned. Writing novels is a crime. Reading stories to children is punishable by law. The writing is beautiful, the setting is horrific, and it finishes with an ending that’ll leave you stunned. Hugely recommended.

Needless Alley – Natalie Marlow [Baskerville, January 2023]

From a dystopian future to Birmingham, 1933. William Garret, private enquiry agent, specialises in helping men with divorces, but it all goes awry when he meets the beautiful Clara, the wife of one of his clients. Gloriously gritty Brummie Noir. A hugely impressive debut, and one which I highly recommend.

The Vicar Man – Amelia Crowley [2021]

Utterly splendid historical fantasy, with a lovely line in folk horror and humour. A young priest turns up on the island a week before the equinox, and the villagers are looking for someone… special to help with the harvest. Enjoyed this enormously, though it took me far too long to twig about the title!

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie

What’s there to say about this one? A classic Christie, one which gets talked about a lot. I’ve read shockingly few of Christie’s books. I enjoyed it, and had fun trying to figure out whodunnit, albeit unsuccessfully. Will I read more Christie? Sure.

The Devil Takes You Home – Gabino Iglesias [Mulholland, 2022]

Stunning. A father takes a job as a hitman to save his daughter and goes on a journey into darkness. Dark and bleak, but breathtakingly good. Not for the faint-hearted, but when I finished it, I knew that it will be top of my books of the year list, and I was only eight days into the year. It’s THAT good. If you read one from this list, read this one.

The Spare Man – Mary Robinette Kowal [Solaris, 2022]

Off into space for a locked room (well, locked spaceship) mystery. Tesla Crane is on her honeymoon on a space liner heading for Mars when there’s a murder and her new husband is promptly arrested. Cue lots of investigating, banter, cocktails, and the best dog, Gimlet. Delightfully entertaining.

The Daughters of Izdihar – Hadeer Elsbai [Orbit, January 2023]

First in a duology by debut author Hadeer Elsbai, set in an alternate Egyptian-inspired world featuring elemental magic and some seriously badass women fighting for their rights in a male-dominated world. Very much looking forward to book 2.

Grave Expectations – Alice Bell [Vintage, May 2023]

Enormous fun. Claire is a medium, Sophie her best friend, who also happens to be a ghost. And very sarcastic. A lovely murder mystery at an old country house with some brilliant characters, excellent banter and a cracking story. Fabulous debut, I shall be looking forward to what Alice Bell comes up with next.

Failure Is An Option – Matt Whyman [Vertebrate Publishing, 2022, Audible]

First non-fiction and audiobook of the year. Matt Whyman goes from being an average runner taking on the saturday morning parkrun to someone who runs ultras, and ultimately taking on the famed Dragon’s Back Race, a six-day event some consider to be amongst the toughest. Funny, honest and told with a wry sense of wit, I loved this book. Though I think I’ll stick to parkrun and the weekend trail run through the woods, I must admit I did look at a couple of longer running events…

Freeze – Kate Simants [Viper, March 2023]

A new reality TV show in the Arctic with a bunch of mostly unlikeable characters all vying for the win. What could possibly go wrong? Lots of things, that’s what. Who will win? And more importantly, will there be anyone left to claim the prize? Cracking thriller, pack your thermals!

Legends and Lattes – Travis Baldree [Tor, 2022]

Utterly delightful cosy fantasy. Viv the orc hangs up her sword (literally) and opens the first ever coffee shop in a little town. Not huge on plot, but a lovely cosy tale with characters you’ll come to love. I enjoyed it enormously.

The Other People – CJ Tudor [Penguin, 2020]

A missing child and a father’s quest to find her, even though the police think she’s dead. Fab suspense thriller dealing with love and loss, splendidly creepy. Loved it.


Phew! That was a lot of reading for one month. I don’t normally read that much, as is evidenced by…

February

Thirty Days of Darkness – Jenny Lund Madsen [Orenda Books, May 2023]

I was hugely fortunate to get a super-early sneak peak at this from the lovely Karen at Orenda Books, and appear to have been the first reader! Danish literary author Hannah is challenged to write a crime book in thirty days, so heads off to a remote village in Iceland. How hard can it be to write a mere genre story? Then there’s a murder, and suddenly everyone’s a suspect. Lovely vein of dark humour in here, enjoyed it a lot, and looking forward to book 2 already (and book 1 isn’t out for a couple of months!)

Games for Dead Girls – Jen Williams [HarperVoyager, March 2023]

Huuuge fan of Jen Williams’ books, so very excited to get my hands on an ebook proof of Games for Dead Girls. Played out over dual timelines, a macabre game in the past turned into tragedy, whilst present day Charlotte returns to the caravan park to research local folklore and uncover the secrets of what went on all those years ago. Stitch-faced Sue is a fantasticly spooky creation which will linger long after you’ve finished. Just hope she doesn’t come for you…

The Ugly Truth – LC North [Bantam Press, March 2023]

Melanie Lange has disappeared. A video shared on YouTube claims her father is holding her at a secret facility. He claims that she’s been admitted to a private medical clinic. Her friends say she’s been kidnapped. Who is telling the truth? Told through snippets of emails, transcripts of interviews and a Netflix documentary, you’ll change your mind a dozen times before you get to the end. Fascinating!


There we go. Sixteen books read across two months. Some to add to your watch lists, some to dive into now. Huge thanks to the publicists and publishers for the advance copies.

Have you read any of them? Any take your fancy?

Keep your eyes peeled for fuller reviews – and do let me know if there’s any you’d like to know more about!

The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen


Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen has finally restored order both to his life and to YouMeFun, the adventure park he now owns, when a man from the past appears – and turns everything upside down again. More problems arise when the park’s equipment supplier is taken over by a shady trio, with confusing demands. Why won’t Toy of Finland Ltd sell the new Moose Chute to Henri when he needs it as the park’s main attraction?

Meanwhile, Henri’s relationship with artist Laura has reached breaking point, and, in order to survive this new chaotic world, he must push every calculation to its limits, before it’s too late…

The Moose Paradox follows Antti Tuomainen’s Henri Koskinen on his further adventures with his inherited adventure park, YouMeFun. Formerly an actuary, Henri is still a mathematician through and through, and whilst things are starting to settle from the events of The Rabbit Factor, nothing is ever easy for dear old Henri.

I adore Tuomainen’s writing, and the lovely vein of black humour that runs through his recent books. And the adventures (or misadventures) of everyone’s favourite insurance mathematician-turned-adventure park owner are just as much fun this time around. A delightfully heady mix of misunderstandings, shady businessmen, and the quest for the elusive Moose Chute (the answer to all Henri’s financial problems) lead us down a rollercoaster ride of shenanigans that only Tuomainen could pull off.

Enormously enjoyed this book, but you really do need to read The Rabbit Factor first! Do yourself a favour and pick up both books.

Hugely recommended.

The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen is published by Orenda Books and is out now. Huge thanks to Orenda for the advance copy to review.

SOLO: What running across mountains taught me about life, by Jenny Tough

Jenny Tough is an endurance athlete who’s best known for running and cycling in some of world’s most challenging events – achieving accolades that are an inspiration to outdoor adventurers everywhere. But SOLO tells the story of a much more personal project: Jenny’s quest to come to terms with feelings and emotions that were holding her back. Like runners at any level, she knew already that running made her feel better, and like so many of us, she knew that completing goals independently was empowering, too. So she set herself an audacious objective: to run – solo, unsupported, on her own – across mountain ranges on six continents, starting with one of the most remote locations on Earth in Kyrgystan. 

SOLO chronicles Jenny’s journey every step of the way across the Tien Shaw (Asia), the High Atlas (Africa), the Cordillera Oriental (South America), the Southern Alps (Oceania), the Canadian Rockies (North America) and the Transylvanian Alps (Europe), as she learns lessons in self-esteem, resilience, bravery and so much more. 

What Jenny’s story tells us most of all is that setting out to do things solo – whether the ambitious or the everyday – can be invigorating, encouraging and joyful. And her call to action to find strength, confidence and self-belief in everything we do will inspire and motivate.

I saw Jenny Tough talk at last year’s excellent Sidetracked Live: The Creators Tour in Leeds (alongside some other great speakers), so when I found out that she was publishing a book of her challenge to run solo and unsupported across six mountain ranges on six continents, I immediately put in a pre-order.

Short review: it’s a fabulous book. You should read it.

Slightly longer review: Crikey, what an adventure! I’m trying very hard to resist the Tough by name, tough by nature line as I’m sure she’s heard it a million times, but it really is apt here. From the Tien Shaw in Krygystan to the heat of the High Atlas in Africa, the forests and peaks of the Bolivian Andes, down south to the Southern Alps in New Zealand, her childhood home by the Canadian Rockies and finishing in a sprint across the Transylvanian Alps in Romania, Jenny Tough experiences the highs and lows (sorry, I’ll stop with the mountain-related metaphors soon, I promise) of adventure running.

I seem to have read a load of travel books this summer (Sabrina Verjee’s excellent Where There’s A Hill is also worth checking out), and SOLO is right up there at the top of the list. Tough’s writing is deeply personal and supremely evocative as she brings you along on her adventure, showing you the sights and sounds of some of the world’s most spectacular mountains. It’s a fascinating read, following through some very remote landscapes with a tiny backpack. Smaller than the one I took for a weekend camping in the Lakes (but entirely better packed, I’m sure!).

The constant wondering where the next water or food will come from, the warnings from villagers about the dangers up ahead juxtaposed with the generosity of spirit of people along the way all come together in this fantastic account of six incredible journeys. Six very different mountain ranges, six different cultures, six great stories.

After each section of the book I went and watched the short films that she made about her trips. Mountains of Heaven covers the 900km, 25 day run across Krygystan. It was great to see the places that I’d just read about and get to look at the spectacular scenery. Kind of an added bonus feature to the book!

SOLO: What running across mountains taught me about life, by Jenny Tough is published by Aster and is out now in hardback.

Where There’s a Hill – Sabrina Verjee

Sabrina Verjee is an ultrarunning phenomenon. In June 2021, on her fourth attempt, she became the first person to climb the Lake District’s 214 Wainwright hills in under six days, running 325 miles with a colossal 36,000 metres of ascent, more than four times the height of Everest.

Where There’s a Hill tells the story of an outsider who was never picked for a school sports team yet went on to become an accomplished modern pentathlete and adventure racer. After switching her focus to ultrarunning in her thirties, Sabrina moved to the Lake District, where she could hone her mountain-running skills in the local fells. High-profile success in endurance events followed, as she completed the Dragon’s Back Race three times and was the outright winner of the 2019 Summer Spine Race, beating her nearest competitor by more than eight hours.

However, it was the Wainwrights Round which really captured Sabrina’s imagination. Having learnt about the challenge from fell-running legend Steve Birkinshaw, Sabrina began to plan an attempt of her own. Despite multiple obstacles – including lockdown regulations, bad weather, injury and controversy – Sabrina’s grit and determination shone through. Where There’s a Hill is a frank and inspirational account of how one woman ran her way into the record books.

Where There’s A Hill is one of two books I’ve read recently about women who have gone on to do some incredible feats of running, the other being Jenny Tough’s excellent SOLO. Both very different books, and both well worth your time!

In Where There’s A Hill, we follow Sabrina from her childhood, treated as an outsider and picked last for games, through to her move into top level adventure racing across the globe, initially as the token women on a male team but very much determined (and better prepared than many male athletes) to compete on her own terms.

Sabrina moved to the Lake District and her focus changed to ultrarunning. Success at the Dragon’s Back Race in Wales and the Montane Summer Spine Race followed, and her attention turned to a challenge closer to home.

The Wainwrights Round consists of summiting the 214 peaks mentioned by Alfred Wainwright in his Guide to the Lakeland Fells. And Sabrina planned to run this 325 mile challenge in under six days.

It’s a fascinating story of her multiple attempts to complete the challenge, with the added complications of lockdown, weather (surely it’s always sunny in the Lake District?) and the inevitable injuries that she picked up along the way. It’s a story of determination, of a sole focus to complete a task that very few people could ever do, alongside support from a great bunch of friends and fellow fell runners, some of whom had done it before, or others who went on to try the Wainwrights Round themselves.

I can’t even begin to imagine running such distances, having struggled recently to do a 13 mile walk in the Lakes. Huge respect to all the people who chose to run up and down those mountains!

Really enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it.

Where There’s A Hill by Sabrina Verge is published by Vertebrate Books and is out now. Many thanks to the publisher for the ebook copy to review.

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