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An Ordinary House by Rae Starling

The road to publication for this dark thriller by Rachel Sargent

An Ordinary House began life as my PhD project at the University of Birmingham where I studied for three years from 2020. My thesis was a creative and critical study of how the media, and the general public via social media, sometimes take the experience of a survivor of a traumatic ordeal and perpetuate their own versions of and opinions on that survivor’s story.

The creative part was a novel called Time on the Lightbox. I chose the title because my main character, seventeen-year-old Scholar, is held captive in a house and his only escape is to watch a black and white portable TV, which he calls the Lightbox. After he is rescued, journalist Kim Steel hounds him and his foster mother, spinning facts to make clickbait headlines. Scholar also has to contend with mean-spirited keyboard warriors on social media. As well as reading outrageous opinion pieces and false rumours, he faces shocking memories that threaten to send him spiralling out of control.

After my thesis was passed with no corrections, I gleefully sent the novel to my agent. Unfortunately, she didn’t like it… really didn’t like it, and we parted company, albeit amicably.

I’d sent it to her too soon; a draft that found favour as a doctoral thesis was unlikely to fit the bill as a commercial novel. I rewrote it, changed the name to Beech Avenue Five and sent the first three chapters and a synopsis to an agent recommended by my professor.

The agent didn’t take me on, but she gave me two paragraphs of advice on how I could develop the novel. A rejection like that is gold dust and I duly worked through her recommendations.

I sent the revised chapters to another agent, who replied in a few days and asked for the full manuscript. She read that quickly, too. It was another no, but again it was a rejection with useful feedback.

After more updating, I send my submission package to Greenstone, a new literary agency I’d heard about in the Bookseller magazine. One of the partners, Laura Heathfield, got in touch. This time when I sent the full revised manuscript, it was a yes!

I signed with Laura and so began the detailed process of working with her to polish the book. There was also a final read-through from Tanera Simons, another Greenstones partner, to cast her all-important first-read eye over the novel.  

Finally, it went on submission to publishers, and we got a super response from Jennie Ayres at Hera Books, an imprint of Canelo. Laura worked hard to negotiate the contract to the satisfaction of all parties, then my work started on Jennie’s detailed structural and line edits, with additional edits from four more Hera/Canelo editors after that.

The team at Hera came up with a new pen name for me – Rae Starling – plus a striking cover and the perfect title, An Ordinary House.

When the deal was announced, Jennie said, “This was the darkest, most unforgettable book to cross my desk this year and I was absolutely stunned by the compelling plotline and finely drawn characterisation. It is a one-sitting, up-all-night read and a visceral portrait of trauma, survival and recovery – but more importantly, a twisty, gripping thriller. If Room and Girl A had a baby, it would be this book. Not for the faint of heart, it will stay with you long after reading.”

About An Ordinary House

Police raid an ordinary house in a quiet suburban street and find a traumatised teenager held captive with his family. They call him a survivor, but he doesn’t know what to believe. His memories don’t match what his siblings and the press tell him about his home.

As he struggles to make sense of his new world, he must find and face the truth.

With one of his siblings set on revenge, should he forget his family, or turn from victim to killer?

The book comes out in the US on 1 September and 3 September in the UK available from Amazon UK ebook Amazon UK paperback Amazon US ebook Amazon US paperback and bookshops.

Rae Starling is the new penname for Rachel Sargeant, who writes the Gloucestershire Crime Series, published by Hobeck Books, plus thrillers with HarperCollins, including the top-ten-Kindle-bestseller The Perfect Neighbours.

The Edge of Darkness by Vaseem Khan

I have been following the exploits of Persis Wadia, India’s first female detective, since she was introduced in the first book in the series, Midnight at Malabar House. Persis is a detective with attitude and an amazing capacity for enduring and recovering from physical attacks while investigating murders. I am beginning to have serious concerns for her health especially since reading the sixth thriller in the series, The Edge of Darkness.

The inspector has been exiled from her home in Bombay to the wild and mountainous Naga Hills district for deliberately ignoring orders. Isolated from her father and her team at Malabar House, apart from her boss who arrived just before her, Persis is also grieving for her forensic scientist colleague/lover, Archie Blackfinch, who is in a coma in a Bombay hospital.

As India prepares for its first post-Independence election, tensions run high especially with the Naga people who seek self-government. For safety Persis is sent to stay in the heavily guarded Victoria Hotel – a colonial-era building which has seen much better days and has few, mostly foreign guests. Her career has nose-dived and Persis is despondent. Then a prominent politician staying in the hotel is brutally murdered in his locked room and Persis must solve the mystery before the political situation explodes…

Well if ever there was a protagonist who exposed herself to the most extreme danger, then Persis is she. How she survives is almost beyond belief. However her powers of detection and deduction, intelligence and sense of justice are never impaired. Vaseem Khan has created a character to be reckoned with. I just fear for her future!

The writing is taut and the narrative races from scene to scene, barely a breath between them. Attention to detail and the interweaving of Indian history into the narrative is second to none. If you love historical crime and a locked room scenario you’ll adore this book, which could be read as a standalone but why would you deprive yourself of the previous books.

The Edge of Darkness by Vaseem Khan is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is available in hardback, £22 from bookshops and £17.19 from Amazon . Paperback due September 2026.

Improper by Ray Clark

This is the twelfth book In Ray Clark’s IMP… series featuring DI Stewart Gardener and DS Sean Reilly, set in and around Leeds. I have enjoyed each one.

In Improper, Clark’s detective is faced with his most challenging case yet. A young actress, Sonia Markham, is found dead in her luxury apartment by her flat-mate and best friend, Jodie Thomson. To all intents and purposes, it looks like and open and shut case: death by natural causes. However something doesn’t feel right and Gardener is determined to go with his gut feeling and keep the case open. Jodie points the DI’s interest in the direction of a well-known drug dealer. But does she have her own agenda? And if so, what? And who is the mystery man Sonia was seen kissing in a nightclub?

If you like police procedurals, Ray Clark’s series is for you. Perfectly plotted with great attention to detail, characterisation and backstory, DI Gardener’s meticulous investigation reveals far more than he and his colleagues could ever have expected – building to an explosive and chilling climax worthy of the best of thrillers! 

Although a series, the books can be read as standalones. Published by The Book Folk and available from bookshops and Amazon .

The Key to the Island House by Amanda Lees

An amazing feat of weaving history, mystery and romance into an utterly compelling narrative. Heartbroken by the death of her fiancé in a hit-and-run accident, soon after the demise of Nadia the beloved great aunt who had brought her up after the death of her parents, Sophie travels to Cairo, to see the house left to her by Nadia. The only clue to its importance – it saved Nadia’s life and was where she had met the love of her life, Tom.

As Sophie discovers the secrets and endeavours to work out the clues and codes left by her aunt, her own life is under threat by unknown enemies. Her fate is inextricably linked to what happened to her aunt during the war and Ben’s death. As various people offer help and support, including Josh whose own family has ties to Nadia, whom can she trust? Whom did Nadia trust?

Lees’ characters are brilliantly drawn, and the dual time-line is pitch perfect. Edge of your seat scenes and dramatic incidents in 1942 and the present day combine to keep the reader totally gripped.

Amanda Lees evokes the sights, sounds and smells of Cairo during WW11 with masterful brushstrokes. Her research must have been meticulous and I have nothing but admiration for her diligence and creativity in this brilliant book.

Published by Bookouture, September 2015 and available from bookshops and Amazon.

Murder in the Lady Chapel

Murder in the Lady Chapel is the sixth book in the Hannah Weybridge series.

“All that is now hidden will some day come to light. If you have ears, listen! And be sure to put into practice what you hear.” Mark 4, verse 22

A chorister is found dying in the Lady Chapel when the Reverend Peter Savage is about to begin morning prayers. It’s a suspicious death and no one seems to know much about the victim. The vicar implores Hannah Weybridge to find out what she can.

Little did the journalist know that this investigation would have her joining the choir in preparation for the Christmas services or that her daughter, Elizabeth, would be so enchanted by the church.

Hannah soon discovers that the deceased, Daniel Lyons, seems to be a man without a history and that’s suspicious in itself. Apparently, an insurance fraud investigator, he leaves no records: even his landlady knows little about him.

But, as Hannah discovers, someone does know him – and he was definitely not who he seemed to be…

And while she investigates, someone is trying to intimidate Hannah in a series of seemingly unconnected ways. The past as well as the present haunts her. Will she be able to solve the mystery before Christmas is ruined?

Murder in the Lady Chapel is available in bookshops and libraries (sometimes you need to order) and online from Blackwell’s with a £1 discount and free delivery.

Ebooks and paperbacks are also available from Amazon, the former is free on Kindle Unlimited.

Urban Fox Books

Urban Fox Books is the new imprint I have created to reprint my Hannah Weybridge crime thriller series and in preparation for the launch of book six – Murder in the Lady Chapel – on 21 November, 2023

The series so far Includes:

Dancers in the Wind

Death’s Silent Judgement

Songs of Innocents

Perdition’s Child

Stage Call

All are available on Amazon as paperbacks and ebooks, the latter are free with Kindle Unlimited.

The series is available to order from bookshops and online from Blackwell’s with free delivery and £1 discount,

Killer Bodies by Heleen Kist

I love a locked room murder mystery and Heleen Kist has aced it with her latest novel, Killer Bodies, choosing as the setting a private gym for residents of an exclusive Edinburgh apartment block. One of the receptionists, Evie, has an amazing talent for drawing manga type graphics depicting ways she’d kill off those who use the gym and irritate her… She shares her thoughts with Mrs M the only resident she has any time for and who isn’t a gym user…

On her birthday Evie is called in to work as the other receptionist is apparently sick. Most of the residents have received a notification that the gym will be closed for repairs – apart from six who all turn up. Evie has a reason to dislike all of them except S the newest resident… When one of them keels over on an exercise bike, Evie puts her first aid training to the test but to no avail and to make matters immeasurably worse the phones aren’t working, there’s no internet access and the gym doors are all locked. When another resident collapses, Evie realises the deaths resemble her drawings. Is she being framed or will she be a victim?

If you like dark humour mixed with your murder you’ve got the right book! A bonus is the drawings throughout the book. Kist has a cast of rather unlikeable – if not downright despicable – characters and you will be on the edge of your seat wondering who will be next as the body count rises and tempers fray.

So who is behind all these deaths? Heleen Kist creates intriguing twists and turns to keep you guessing right until the end as you try to work out how characters die and why. Read carefully and pick up the clues as you proceed but beware of red herrings and unreliable narratives.

Killer bodies is available as an ebook and paperback on Amazon.

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

As soon a I read that Jenny Lund Madsen is an acclaimed scriptwriter – her work includes the international hit, Follow the Money, which is one of my favourites – I knew I was in for a treat with her début literary thriller, Thirty Days of Darkness translated by Megan E. Turney. Indeed Thirty Days of Darkness won the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of the year and was shortlisted for the coveted Glass Key Award.

This novel is a dark but sometimes humorous narrative following the trials of Danish literary novelist Hannah Krause-Bendix who, having taken up the challenge to write a popular crime novel in a month, finds herself in a small town in Iceland where two days after her arrival a murder takes place – or at least a suspicious death. The victim is the nephew of her host, Ella, who speaks neither Danish or English but manages to communicate a little via writing the latter – after a fashion. The limited hours of of daylight and the haunting landscape play a major role in creating mood and motivation.

Never having had a bad review for her literary works, and contemptuous of genre fiction, Hannah searches desperately for a plot. Could she use the unfolding drama in the small town? Maybe if she follows the clues it will inspire her? She gives little thought to the sensitivities of those involved and if she were staying in an Airbnb should wouldn’t receive any accolades as a guest. Ella is amazingly forgiving until Hannah breaks into her host’s locked study! What was she thinking? Actually she was looking for alcohol – something she relies on more than she’d care to admit.

In fact her quest for drinks leads her to the “local” where she meets to local police officer (the town only has one), Viktor and then his wife. The bar owner is a source of the town’s recent history and the personalities involved. But another regular, an enigmatic woman with a slobbering dog is less forthcoming. Hannah is determined to discover the truth about what happened and her sense of superiority makes her impervious to reason thus putting herself and others at risk.

Jenny Lund Madsen has created a spider’s web of a plot that leaves her rather unlikeable protagonist at risk. Hannah does have some redeeming features as you will discover as the author plays with our expectations and pulls the strings of our emotions. As the plot gathers momentum and the dangers accumulate, the breathtaking dénouement of what is the first in a series, is explosive. I’m intrigued to know what Hannah does next.

Thirty Days of Darkness is published by Orenda Books and is available online and from bookshops.

The Midnight News by Jo Baker

What a jewel of a book, this is. Set during the London Blitz it encompasses love, friendship and dysfunctional family relationships as well as treachery and death.

Charlotte Richmond, daughter of an MP, has a dull job as a typist, and lives in digs, refusing an allowance from her father. At twenty she has already suffered the loss of her mother when she was a young girl and her beloved brother never returned from France. Sharing gin and confidences with her best friend Elena keeps her sane, but when she dies in an air raid her fragility intensifies. Only the sight of a young man who feeds the birds amidst the rubble of the Blitz brings an unexpected joy into her life. But then she is haunted by the deaths of two more friends and the sense that she herself is being stalked intensifies… In her grief and suspicion, Charlotte becomes increasingly vulnerable not knowing whom to trust or if she can rely on her own instincts.

This is a superbly written story, which grips the reader from the beginning. The evocative descriptions of a city under attack witnessed from a very personal viewpoint add a poignancy to the historical perspective that is at times heart-breaking and terrifying. Jo Baker has created characters who will linger in your mind and the present tense narrative keeps you totally immersed in their dangerous journey.

Jo Baker is an acclaimed author of seven previous novels including the Sunday Times bestselling Longbourn. The Midnight News is published by Phoenix Books, an imprint of The Orion Group.

The Forgetting by Hannah Beckerman

Imagine waking up, not knowing where you are and having no memory. This is Anna’s plight. Even Stephen who claims to be her husband is a stranger to her. Where she lives in London does not feel like home. Apparently she has no job but was a librarian. No friends contact her. Her parents are dead. There is something strange about her marriage but she has no reference points. Stephen controls everything – for her own protection. She is lost in a sea of unknowns.

In Bristol Livvy, newly married to Dominic and looking forward to returning to work after six months maternity leave, is thrown by the unexpected arrival of Dominic’s estranged mother. Why is she stalking her daughter-in-law and what really happened in Dominic’s childhood? Livvy’s own close family is concerned when the couple decides to move to London for Dominic’s new job while Livvy has to give up the promotion she had longed for.

This is domestic suspense at its best. The Forgetting will grip you from start to explosive finish. It is an exquisitely written narrative of coersive behaviour. Two women’s stories brilliantly balanced: Anna’s in the first person; Livvy’s in the third. Two professional women, one determined to further her career, the other has no idea what the future holds until she can remember her past. The narratives are juxtapositioned until their two worlds collide with dramatic results.

This is Hannah Beckerman’s fourth novel and she handles her subject matter with an assured confidence. Highly recommended.

Published by Lake Union Publishing, available from Amazon.