Book Review: The Half Burnt House by Alex North

Published on 16th March, The Half Burnt House by Alex North follows Katie who has always looked after her beloved younger brother Chris – until she left him alone for one selfish afternoon, and their picture-perfect family fell apart. Although Chris survived the attack, the scars ran deeper than the ones left across his face. Now they’re adults, and they haven’t spoken in years. Then she gets a call, from Detective Laurence Page.

Page is facing an unusually disturbing crime scene. Alan Hobbes, a distinguished and wealthy philosophy professor, has been brutally murdered. Hobbes was living in a sprawling mansion – but one that remains half-ruined by a decades-old fire, wind and rain howling through the gaping, creaking roof.

Page only has one suspect: Chris, caught on CCTV at the house. But he has plenty of questions. What could cause a man as wealthy as Hobbes not to repair his home? Why did he seem to know his death was coming, yet do nothing to stop it? And why was he obsessed with a legendary local serial killer?

But Katie only has one thing on her mind. She knows this is her last, best chance to finally save her brother, and make up for her negligence all those years ago.

But she can’t possibly imagine just how much danger he’s in…

Book Review: The Whisper Man by Alex North

“If you leave a door half-open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken…”

Published in 2019, The Whisper Man by Alex North follows Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake who, still devastated after the loss of Tom’s wife and Jake’s mother, move to the sleepy village of Featherbank, looking for a fresh start. But Featherbank has a dark past. Fifteen years ago, a twisted serial killer abducted and murdered five young boys. Until he was finally caught, the killer was known as ‘The Whisper Man’. Of course, an old crime need not trouble Tom and Jake as they try to settle into their new home. Except that now another young boy has gone missing. And then Jake begins acting strangely. He says he hears a whispering at his window…

READALONG: The Shadow Friend by Alex North

“There were good memories here too. Moments that, looking back on them objectively, had been filled with light. The problem was that what happened later cast such a shadow they were hard to see.”

Originally published in 2020, The Shadow Friend by Alex North follows lecturer Paul who has never forgiven himself for his part in what happened twenty-five years ago. During their school years, Paul’s friend Charlie Crabtree brutally killed their classmate – and then vanished without a trace. Paul hasn’t been back home since. But when his elderly mother has a fall, it’s finally time for him to stop running. It’s not long before things start to go wrong, though. His mother claims there’s someone in the house, and Paul soon realises someone is following him, too. And, in a town many miles away, a copycat killer has struck. Which makes him wonder – what really happened to Charlie the day of the murder? And can anyone stop it from happening again?