R Cawkwell

Review: The Burning Stones, by Antti Tuomainen

Saunas, love and a ladleful of murder…

A cold-blooded killer strikes at the hottest moment: the new head of a sauna-stove company is murdered … in the sauna. Who has turned up the temperature and burned him to death?

The evidence points in the direction of Anni Korpinen – top salesperson and the victim’s successor at Steam Devil. And as if hitting middle-age, being in a marriage that has lost its purpose, and struggling with work weren’t enough, Anni realizes that she must be quicker than both the police and the murderer to uncover who is behind it all – before it’s too late…

Blog tour calendar: The Burning Stones, by Antti Tuomainen

Review: The Cat Bride, by Charlotte Tierney

PUBLICATION DATE: 7 APRIL 2025 | SALT PUBLISHING | £10.99 | PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The heatwave of 1995.

Sixteen years since an infamous tiger-lynx hybrid escaped a small moorland zoo and killed a man.

Sixteen years since the animal was euthanised.

Sixteen years for the zoo to fall into disrepair.

Lowdy’s Mumma grew up in the zoo and when Lowdy falls ill, they’re forced to move to the old zoo for her to recover, still inhabited by her dying grandmother. As soon as they arrive, rumours surface of a big cat stalking the moors again.

Vengeful locals blame the three women for an apex predator on the loose and invade the estate, searching for proof.

Mumma insists all the cats are dead. Grandma whispers that the ‘tynx’ needs to be fed. Lowdy, still recovering from her own mysterious illness, has no idea what to believe. Can she even trust herself when she wakes up covered in ticks with no recollection of the night before?

As Lowdy searches for the truth – the truth of her childhood, what it means
to be a woman, and the truth about the cats – she realizes something catlike runs in the blood, something she cannot ignore.

Maria and the Space-dragons investigate – Chapter 16

Right, I’m making up for missing several months by giving you a bit more of the story early. I’ve got to the end of the handwritten draft now, so I’ll be back to the notebook, scribbling away to finish off the story. I do want to get the first draft completed by late October, when I go away to Brighton for World FantasyCon.

Maria and the space-dragons investigate: Chapter 15, part 2

Alright, I’m back with more. It took less time than I thought.

Chapter 15, part 2

“Mrrh-wAa, what are you doing?” The new comer sounded desperate, “The Elders told you not to contact the aliens, Supai said it was dangerous!”

“Prrt-hai! Are you following me? They’re from igassss, like Supai. They’re looking for Supai!” Mrrh-wAa hurried their words out, “I told you it would be fine, you fussing will just worry the brood.”

“Yes, yes, the brood worries and the Elders were very specific; you are not to talk to the aliens.”

Review: HOME BEFORE DARK, by EVA BJÖRG ÆGISDÓTTIR, Translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb

PUBLICATION DATE: 17th JULY 2025
HARDBACK ORIGINAL | £ 16. 99 | ORENDA BOOKS

November, 1967, Iceland.

Fourteen-year-old Marsí has a secret penpal – a boy who lives on the other side of the country – but she has been writing to him in her older sister’s name. Now she is excited to meet him for the first time.

But when the date arrives, Marsí is prevented from going, and during
the night her sister Stína goes missing – her bloodstained anorak later
found at the place where Marsí and her penpal had agreed to meet.

November, 1977.

Stína’s disappearance remains unsolved. Then an
unexpected letter arrives for Marsí It’s from her penpal, and he’s still
out there…

Desperate for news of her missing sister, but terrified that he might
coming after her next, Marsí returns to her hometown and embarks on
an investigation of her own.

But Marsí has always had trouble distinguishing her vivid dreams from
reality, and as insomnia threatens her sanity, it seems she can’t even
trust her own memories.

And her sister’s killer is still on the loose…

Blog tour calendar: The Cat Bride, by Charlotte Tierney

Maria and the space-dragons – chapter 15, part 1

Sorry it’s taken so long for me to update the story, but I’ve been struggling with my brain weasels for months and I have been struggling to write. I’m back now! I’ve almost finished writing the first draft of this novella and I’ve started writing a novel and a short story. I’ve had some work accepted by a local LGBTQIA+ zine, and I’ve submitted a short story to a competition. I will try to update with part two in the next few days.

Chapter 15 – Maria and Sahrai meet the local sentient aliens

“Now then, McClintock, been a while. Not going up top this time ‘round?”

The man, Joshua Dalton, accosted Maria and Sahrai as the track towards the crossroads, several days after their adventures in the flyer. He stood in the road, blocking their path.

“Dalton.” Sahrai nodded sharply at the man and ushered Maria around the man.

Dalton joined them, uninvited, walking beside Sahrai, grinning at thev discomfort of his companions.

“Who’s your friend, McClintock? She’s new.”

Review: A Rebel’s History of Mars, by Nadia Afifi

Format
304 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication
July 15, 2025 by Flame Tree Press

ISBN
9781787589452

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer member’s striking new book of time travel and biological science fiction is a thrilling ride.

Kezza, an aerialist in the Martian circus, can never return to Earth – but she can assassinate the man she blames for her grim life on the red planet. Her murderous plans take an unexpected turn, however, when she uncovers a sinister secret.

A thousand years into the future, Azad lives a safe but controlled life on the beautiful desert planet of Nabatea. His world is upended when he joins a crew of space-traveling historians seeking to learn the true reason that their ancestors left Mars

Separated by time and space, Kezza and Azad’s stories collide in the Martian desert.

Author Archives: R Cawkwell