Thursday Book Review: Books Monthly

Happy Thursday! The March issue of Books Monthly is now online, and several of our distributed titles received wonderful reviews, including a review of Storm Chaser by Emmy Award-winning photographer Mike Olbinski.

Summer Strevens: The Yorkshire Witch

“Summer Strevens delves deep into the archives for this one – a fascinating tale of witchcraft and skulduggery in darkest Yorkshire in the early 19th century. Mary Bateman may have been one of the earliest serial killers, even though she was only convicted and found guilty of the one murder, enough to secure her sentence – hanging. An extraordinary story, brilliantly told.”

David J Vaughan: Mad or Bad – Crime and Insanity in Victorian Britain

“Programmes like Who Do You Think You Are? have famliiarised us with conditions in the late Victorian era, when the workhouses were introduced to subject the very poorest in society to the shame of living off the state – David Vaughan goes one step further with amazing research into the people who were judged to be insane in the eyes of the law, and housed in institutions that were still around in the 1950s. This unbelievable catalogue of characters and their crimes and misdemeanours, together with their “illnesses”, makes for a fascinating read!”

Lissa Chapman: Anne Boleyn In London

“Most definitely the most famous of Henry VIII’s wives, Anne Boleyn is as fascinating a character now as she must have been when she first became queen. Lissa’s lively biography concentrates on her time in London and how it influenced and changed her, and adds magnificently to our knowledge of this poor, misguided and unfortunate woman. Brilliant.”