Philippa opens with an update on the Great Book Parcel Saga — a box of holiday reading, a Greek customs office, a handwritten letter explaining why a normal person would post books to themselves, and the very real possibility of being detained at passport control. Then it's three book reviews and a long-overdue conversation with Tim Sullivan, creator of the beloved DS George Cross series, about his eighth book The Tailor.

📚 Three Book Reviews

The Pinnacle – Abir Mukherjee ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A washed-up Hollywood actor wakes from a drunken stupor to find his Bollywood superstar wife murdered in their Mumbai penthouse. Told from multiple perspectives across one luxury skyscraper — brilliantly written and Philippa's favourite Mukherjee yet.

Table for One – Emma Gannon

A woman's carefully constructed life falls apart, and she has to rediscover herself from scratch. Philippa read this on a train surrounded by serious businessmen while experiencing silent heaving sobs. Deeply moving and not what you might expect.

The Divorce – Freida McFadden

A woman whose husband has left her for a younger woman refuses to accept defeat and spirals into dangerous obsession. Gripping, compulsive, and — toward the end — absolutely unhinged in ways Philippa did not see coming.

🎙️ Tim Sullivan on The Tailor

A bespoke tailor is found murdered in the lavatory of the Bristol to London train. George Cross can tell immediately it wasn't opportunistic — and follows the evidence wherever it leads, even into territory that makes him deeply uncomfortable.

Tim and Philippa discuss:

• Why George Cross belongs in the tradition of Dupin, Holmes, and Poirot — and why his autism is his gift, not an accessory
• The rule Tim never breaks: we never laugh at George, only with him or at others' reactions to him
• Why this is absolutely not cosy crime — and why the original covers did the books a disservice
• Writing longhand with fountain pens (a collection of Pelikans, Montblancs, and Lamys), and why the family complain less if there's no laptop open
• Writing book nine without knowing who the second killer is — and why not plotting keeps the writing organic
• Being turned down by agents for neurodivergent appropriation, self-publishing the first two books, and being embraced by the autistic community instead
• Why he's reluctant to sell TV rights — and why protecting George's authenticity matters more than a screen deal
• The exclusive interview with George Cross hidden inside the hardback first edition (George found the whole thing fairly pointless)
• What he's reading: Northanger Abbey, Bleak House, and an advance copy of Ian Rankin's new book
• His one remaining ambition: to look up on the Tube and see a stranger reading one of his books

Biscuit answer: Flapjacks or white chocolate cookies — and absolutely no dunking. George would never allow it.

💬 Get in touch

Quick Book Reviews Facebook Group | Instagram | quickbookreviews@outlook.com

Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philippa sits down with the brilliant Adele Parks — bestselling author of 25 novels, over six million copies sold, OBE for services to literature — to talk about her latest book Eyes on You, the pressure of reader expectations, and a biscuit revelation that may change your tea break forever.

🎙️ Adele Parks on Eyes on You

When Amy was 15, she watched her father brutally murder his secret lover. Her testimony sent him to prison. Now in her early 30s, she's living a small, quiet life — until a privileged, wealthy man walks into the noodle bar where she works, and everything changes. What feels like connection may hide something far darker.

Adele & Philippa discuss:

• Why Adele thinks this might be her best book yet — and why that's not just author hype
• The working title that was ditched: The Murderer's Daughter — too on the nose, too reductive
• Daddy issues, trauma, and why Amy's story is really about what happens when the person who was supposed to protect you destroys everything instead
• The pressure of being an "auto-buy author" — and why that status has to be earned every single time
• Whether podcasters and book reviewers have made readers more demanding of twists and reveals (Adele thinks probably yes, and is fine with it)
• Why she writes at home, needs air conditioning installed, and requires a scary social media bouncer to confiscate her phone
• Her nightmare writing location: a writer's retreat, surrounded by other writers all typing away confidently while she types "the" again and again
• The importance of pre-orders — how they affect stock decisions, first print runs, and author sanity on launch day

Her signed pre-order service through Bert's Books in Swindon

• 📚 Order a signed copy of Eyes on You from Bert's Books
• 🔗 Pre-order Eyes on You and find Adele's tour dates at adeleparks.com
• What she hopes readers feel at the end: shock, awe, possibly tears, and the satisfying sense that everyone got what they deserved

What Adele's reading:

• Mad Mabel – Sally Hepworth (an 80-year-old with a very murky past and a suspicious neighbour)
• The Last Tudor – Philippa Gregory (big, fat, brilliant, and finished in two days)

Biscuit answer: Cherry GoAhead biscuits, dunked in tea, timed to perfection. Three per pack — the ideal number. Not to be eaten dry under any circumstances.

Eyes on You is out 27th August. Pre-orders open now.

YOU CAN:

🔗 Pre-order Eyes on You and find Adele's tour dates at adeleparks.com

📚 Order a signed copy of Eyes on You from Bert's Books

💬 Get in touch with the podcast

Quick Book Reviews Facebook Group | Instagram | quickbookreviews@outlook.com

Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philippa is joined by three brilliant crime writers — Abir Mukherjee, Jane Casey, and Sarah Hilary — to talk all about St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend, the unique Oxford crime fiction event running 4th–6th September. Each guest is allotted a school role (head girl, school council rep, and chair stacker) which determines the questions they're asked — and the chaos that follows is exactly as fun as it sounds.

🎓 St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend 🔗 Book tickets for St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend

• What makes St Hilda's different from every other crime festival — long-form talks on themes rather than authors plugging their own books
• This year's theme: Bad Apples: Crime Fiction's Enemies and Antiheroes
• The legendary annual Whodunit, costumes, accents, and Abir's reputation for staying in character (and wig) all weekend
• The Friday Night Special ticket — drinks on the lawn, a talk on Bond villains, a three-course chef-prepared dinner, and an after-dinner speaker
• Guest of honour Andrew Taylor, and returning speaker Natasha Cooper
• The online option for people joining from Australia, Japan, and beyond
• Punting mishaps, Jimi Hendrix-via-laptop disasters, and other backstage panic stories
• The on-site Blackwell's bookshop and the chance to win a rare first edition at the Whodunit

📚 The Books

The Pinnacle – Abir Mukherjee

A failing Hollywood actor moves to Mumbai with his Bollywood star wife, wakes up after a bender to find her murdered, and becomes suspect number one to 1.4 billion people. Described by Abir as "exotic satire crime fiction."

Everything She Didn't Say – Jane Casey

Set on the windswept west coast of Ireland — a woman wakes covered in blood with no memory of what happened to her missing best friend. A twisty, modern gothic thriller.

The Drowning Place – Sarah Hilary

Seventeen years after a school bus tragedy drowned everyone aboard except one survivor, DS Joseph Ash investigates a murdered family in a small Peak District town — accompanied by a best friend who may or may not be a ghost.

🍎 The Final Question (Bad Apples Edition)

No biscuits this time — favourite apples instead (Golden Delicious, Braeburn, and Pink Lady all get a mention) — though the conversation inevitably swings back to biscuits anyway, sparking a full-blown debate about thin arrowroots, fig rolls, dunking etiquette, and the legal status of the Jaffa Cake.

🔗 Book tickets for St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend

💬 Get in touch

Quick Book Reviews Facebook Group | Instagram | quickbookreviews@outlook.com

Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.