Monty's Book Reviews

  Razor Country Nicholas Wagner 3 Stars Pages: 147 Genre: Noir Crime, Thriller Published: 09 April 2024 Publisher: Independently Published Promotor:  Henry Roi PR Amazon Publisher's Blurb On the eve of World War I, a private detective investigates a series of violent crimes across the British Empire. Review Razor Country follows Colm Steiner, a private detective, around the British Empire on the eve of World War I and shows a much darker side to the investigation business than is portrayed for most independent sleuths. Steiner does whatever he needs to get the job done and is more of an anti-hero than the normal period detectives. He is a difficult man to like, but it is also hard to disagree with most of the decisions he takes regarding the criminals he is confronted with. I'd like to see some of the stories in this collection to be expanded into longer tales and others to be dropped entirely. The best chapters are excellent but a few are not so good and don't add to the e...

  Widdershins Newcastle Witch Trials Book 1 Helen Steadman 5 Stars Pages: 300 Genre: Historical Fiction Published: 08 April 2022 Publisher: Bell Jar Books Publisher's Blurb ‘Did all women have something of the witch about them?’ Jane Chandler is an apprentice healer. From childhood, she and her mother have used herbs to cure the sick. But Jane will soon learn that her sheltered life in a small village is not safe from the troubles of the wider world. From his father’s beatings to his uncle’s raging sermons, John Sharpe is beset by bad fortune. Fighting through personal tragedy, he finds his purpose: to become a witch-finder and save innocents from the scourge of witchcraft. Inspired by true events, Widdershins tells the story of the women who were persecuted and the men who condemned them. My Review Based on a real life witch trial in northern England, Widdershins is a fascinating look at the motivation and methods of the so-called Witchfinders who persecuted innocent women, and th...