Quick Book Reviews with Philippa Hall

In Conversation with Linwood Barclay: Not a Word
This episode is a special one — Linwood Barclay returns to talk about Not a Word, a family secrets thriller that opens with a horrific discovery and spirals into a story spanning three generations, inspired in part by the real-life opioid scandal in North America. We talk about why the book was originally titled The Pond, his rule that a twist has to land at the end of a chapter or it loses its punch, and his refreshingly no-nonsense take on writer's block ("there's no plumber's block"). Linwood also explains why his dream writing location is just... upstairs from his kitchen, and delivers a very firm verdict on cookie dunking.
Before that, a spoiler-free look at three very different things I've been reading and watching:
The Distance, Ben Norris — a play performed almost entirely on a treadmill at the Edinburgh Fringe, and just as gripping to read as it clearly was to watch
A Schooling in Murder, Andrew Taylor — a wartime boarding school murder mystery that needed a slow, immersive start (audiobook helped) before I couldn't put it down
Fruit Fly, Josh Silver — raw, dark, and not for the cosy crime crowd; one that's stayed with me since
Featured book:
Not a Word, Linwood Barclay
This episode is available as video on Apple Podcasts — watch it here.
Get in touch - Links:
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.

Alison Barrow, PR Director at Transworld, joins me again to lift the lid on what's really happening in publishing right now — from late-night manuscript reads and "beauty contest" pitches for new books, to why the Christmas run-up is the busiest time of the year for gifting, self-purchase, and special editions. We talk about how author expectations around social media have changed, why debut authors are usually held back for spring rather than launched into the autumn scrum, and Alison gives us a look inside her own experience of seeing a book cover for the first time — as the author.
Plus, it's the first Friday of October, which means the launch of our October Book Club! We're reading The One You Least Suspect by Brian McGilloway over the course of the month, 93 pages a week. I run through my seven pre-reading questions about the book — my expectations for pace, twists, and what I think I'll come away feeling — and I'd love to hear your answers too. Join in and come back each Friday in October as we discuss a quarter of the book at a time.
Book club pick:
The One You Least Suspect, Brian McGilloway
This episode is available as video on Apple Podcasts — watch it here.
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.

Episode 500! In Conversation with Val McDermid and Jo Sharp: This Door of the Seas
A huge milestone — this is episode 500 of Quick Book Reviews! Thank you to everyone who's been listening since the very start (sadly the first few episodes were lost in a platform move years ago, but the memories remain).
To celebrate, I'm joined by Val McDermid and Jo Sharp to talk about This Door of the Seas, their first book written together, and the latest in Polygon's Darkland Tales series. It tells the true and largely forgotten story of the Darien Scheme — Scotland's disastrous 17th-century attempt to found a trading colony in Panama, an event so significant it helped push the country into union with England, yet one neither of them were taught in school. We talk about how the idea was born on a very long drive down the A9, why they chose to tell the story entirely through letters (including real historical figure Dr James Wallace), and the moment Val discovered — almost as an aside — that there was a murder in the story she hadn't been told about. Jo also describes the genuinely moving experience of holding one of the original 1698 letters in the National Library of Scotland, and we talk about what it's actually like to co-write a book with your spouse.
Plus: the Darien colonists' extraordinary questions from the era's leading scientists (yes, including one about an animal that breathes through its navel), what Val and Jo are both reading right now, and their verdict on the classic Quick Book Reviews question — the biscuit that powered the words.
Featured book:
This Door of the Seas, Val McDermid and Jo Sharp
This episode is available as video on Apple Podcasts — watch it here.
Get in touch - links:
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.

This episode is a special one — Kate Atkinson joins me to talk about Our Noble Selves, her wonderful new novel set at the 1951 Festival of Britain. We talk about her traumatised journalist hero Harry Flynn (nearly named Quinn, and nearly given a much darker backstory), the real dog behind fictional character Mrs Betty, and the working title she changed at the very last minute. Kate also reveals her dream writing location is not a beach or a cabin, but Specsavers, and delivers the most devastating answer in this podcast's history to the crucial biscuit question.
Before that, a spoiler-free look at three books I've been reading:
Endless Night, Agatha Christie — no Poirot, no Miss Marple, a slow start that turned into one I couldn't put down
Call Me By Your Name (graphic novel edition), André Aciman — a beautiful, reflective illustrated edition of the love story, not one for the kids
Whistler, Ann Patchett — a book everyone else is raving about; I liked it, didn't love it, and that's entirely on me
Featured book:
Our Noble Selves, Kate Atkinson
That's this episode — spoiler-free reviews of Endless Night, Call Me By Your Name, and Whistler, plus Kate Atkinson on Our Noble Selves.
This episode is available as video on Apple Podcasts on your browser — watch it here.
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.

A shorter episode this week, but a packed one. Philippa has an announcement, a question to answer honestly, and a book-related confession she has been sitting on for a while. Brace yourselves.
October Book Club: The One You Least Suspect by Brian McGilloway
Philippa is launching a relaxed, no-pressure book club in October. Each week she'll read 96 pages and share her thoughts at the end of that week's episode. You can join in, get in touch with your thoughts, or simply skip that section if it's not for you — it'll always be at the end of the episode so nothing is missed.
The book: The One You Least Suspect by Brian McGilloway. Katie is a barmaid in Derry who is approached by two detectives wanting her to become their informant. Trapped between the police and the dangerous brothers she works for, her only hope is to remain the one nobody suspects.
Available in paperback, audiobook, and at most libraries. No quiz. No dress code. No deadline. Just books.
Am I Being Paid to Review Books?
Someone recently asked whether Philippa charges for book reviews — prompted by another reviewer apparently charging $200 to listen to an audiobook and $800 for a video review. The answer is no. Philippa receives books for free and earns a small amount from podcast advertising, but has never been paid to review a book and would never recommend something she didn't genuinely love. She also declines paid video offers — partly on principle, partly because she suspects publishers would be politely horrified by the result.
The Confession:
She said it. She means it. She is ready for the hate mail.
Prologues grind her gears — the running-through-a-forest opener followed by a gentle chapter one that has nothing to do with it, the bones discovered in a field that are never referenced again until page 300, the dramatic peril that is forgotten by the time the story gets going. Philippa's view: just start the story. She acknowledges you may disagree. She welcomes the debate.
Get in touch — whatever your views are on prologues
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.