|summary= Once again the vivid and decidedly quirky imagination of Frances Hardinge has produced a story which grips the reader while he or she is reading it, and remains in the memory long after the book has been replaced on the shelf. This time the English Civil War is erupting and we meet Makepeace, whose gift (or curse, depending on your perspective) means she has a space inside her where ghosts can hide. Her first ''guest'' is a large, angry bear which has spent its unhappy life being seriously ill-treated, and much of her energy in the earlier part of the story is given over to stopping it using her body to rampage around smashing everything and everyone in sight.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1509869301</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Anne Meredith
|title=Portrait of a Murderer: A Christmas Crime Story
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
|summary=Adrian Gray was not a particularly pleasant man, but that was no reason why he should meet his death at the hands of one of his own children as they celebrated Christmas at Kings Poplars in 1931. None of the six children were fond of their father and several had cause to wish him dead. Richard was the eldest and was married to Laura. He was a politician and keen to advance himself - and to get a title other than the knighthood which he already had - but such endeavours cost money which he ''didn't'' have. He'd also been indiscreet with another woman who was attempting to blackmail him and was hoping that his father would advance some funds to get him out of the mess.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0712352457</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Alexander McCall Smith
|title=The House of Unexpected Sisters
|rating=5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Dear Mma Ramotswe is back, for the eighteenth (!) book in the series, and what a beautiful book it is. I ran through the whole tumult of emotions whilst reading this story, with all the usual moments of humour, annoying (and yet endearing) idiosyncrasies of character, low level mystery solving and endless cups of redbush tea. There is a case for the agency with a lady who has been wrongfully fired from her job. There's the worrying, background presence of Mma Makutsi's nemesis, Violet Sepotho, who must surely have been involved in this poor lady's job woes. And there is the difficult discovery of an unknown family member for Mma Ramotswe, and an unwelcome return from another.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408708140</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sue Grafton
|title=Y is for Yesterday
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
|summary= My very first crime fiction book was a Kinsey Millhone story, and I found it so utterly captivating that it converted me from a crime avoider to a crime lover! Since that first story, I have been committed to the alphabet mysteries, so it I felt both excited and a little sad to be holding the penultimate story in the series in my hands!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447260201</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=DK
|title=My Encyclopedia of Very Important Animals
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=The animal kingdom is a diverse one, full of creatures that do all sorts of things. The number of animals out there is so vast that even vets need to do a quick google when something strange appears in their practice. For budding vet-to-be animals are a constant source of fascination and they will absorb as much knowledge as you can give them. It is not practical to visit the zoo every day, but getting an educational and entertaining animal encylopedia is.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241276357</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=DK
|title=DK Children's Encyclopedia
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=More than sixty years ago my grandparents bought me an encylopedia: it was a major purchase for them as they didn't really ''do'' books, but it was a treasure trove for me and I still have it today. It didn't just teach me facts - it taught me how to find out information for myself and how to use an index. It opened my eyes to subjects I'd never considered and widened my knowledge on those I already loved. In format, in size and content it was very similar to ''DK Children's Encyclopedia'' and I can imagine a younger me hunched over it and begging just to be allowed to finish this bit before I went to bed.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241283868</amazonuk>
}}
