A gripping read will chill you to the bones

Just five pages in, writer Helen Grant’s prose sets the heart racing. She depicts a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare, fromwhich point the reader is constantly on edge. Protagonist Fen Munro has moved to erthshire with her fiancé to escape London’s rat-race, only to find they are being watched by a figure dressed in lavender. Barr Dubh,…

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Mysteries as people vanish on a Scots island

The fictional island of Bancree, a place inspired by the author’s trips to the Scottish isles, plays host to a story of mystery and intrigue about a teenage girl and a string of disappearances. People aren’t only arriving on Bancree – they are disappearing too. When a mysterious man and his daughter move into isolated…

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Highland zoo aiming to breed Sumatran tigers

Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park is back on the small screen tonight. BBC Scotland series Inside the Zoo features senior keeper Gareth has a busy day weighing and feeding all the snakes. There’s an enclosure to prepare for four new leaf tailed geckos and Hannibal the Argentinean tegu gets a trip out for some target training.…

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A delicious sweet chilli prawn stir-fry

Fancy a stir fry that’s packed with seafood, chunky greens and just the right amount of spice? Try Love Seafood’s sweet chilli prawn stir fry, a delicious meal which will guarantee clean plates for under a £10. Blanching the broccoli in advance is a great tip, allowing the rest of the ingredients to be quickly…

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Byron presents the devil’s own beef burger for Halloween

Morag Bootland braves the darkness to check out the special spooky offering at Byron this October. The nights are fair drawing in and with Halloween on the horizon it feels like darkness is looming over the capital in more ways than one. Certainly, Byron is embracing the season with a spooky special that’s just perfect…

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Sunrise by the Sea will bring some smiles and joy

A fantastically quirky yet moving story, Sunrise by the Sea features introvert Marisa Rosso, a young girl bound by grief for her recently deceased Italian grandfather. Through the suggestion of her rather obnoxious flatmate, she moves to a tidal island off the Cornish coast to get some peace and clarity. But upon arrival she realises…

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Review: The End of the Line

On reading the themes of The End of the Line before I went I felt I was about to enter the very throat of the dragon that is modern woke: divorce, loneliness of the young, eating disorder, therapy, reality over expectation etc. it was all there. How very, very wrong I was about my preconceived…

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A fascinating tale packed with gripping twists and turns

The ever witty Catriona McPherson has outdone herself in the latest instalment of the Dandy Gilver adventures. Set in Dundee, The Mirror Dance follows the private investigator as she helps solve a copyright dispute involving a travelling puppeteer and a local publishing house. However, like most detective series, all is not as simple as it…

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A fascinating read that will keep you smiling

Despite what you might think, Your Inner Hedgehog is not a story about hedgehogs. Instead, it follows the story of the hilarious German professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld as he navigates life at his workplace, the University of Regensburg. Written by the best-selling author of The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith, this is…

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A strange tale which will have you gripped

From an author whose favourite TV shows include Twin Peaks, it is no surprise that Happiness is Wasted on Me is a strange book. But, it is an undoubted page turner at same time. Spanning a decade of 11-year-old Walter Wedgeworth’s life around Cumbernauld in the 1990s, the setting harks back to a time long…

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