Narrated by Alex Wyndham

Sadly, I couldn’t get on with this, though I got about halfway through it before I gave it up.  It mixes the traditional Scottish ballads of Thomas the Rhymer and Tam Lin with aliens instead of the fae being the bad guys. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for these two ballads in particular, but this didn’t hit the mark for me. I also didn’t get on well with the narrator who seemed to be reading it all with a kind of sneer in his voice. I’ve listened to other samples of his work and when reading non-fiction, I don’t hear that at all.

Narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden

Edith Worms, secret writer of detective fiction, is the oldest daughter of a Victorian clergyman who learns he has inherited Wormwood Abbey, in Ormsdale, Yorkshire, currently inhabited by his two nieces after the sudden and tragic deaths of their father and brother. The family travels to the Abbey to view it and make provision for the two orphaned girls, not intending to stay there, but there are obvious secrets that Edith begins to unravel. Who is the clingy neighbour, Drake, and why is he always hanging around? What is the lawyer who comes up from Londoin looking for? And what is the salamander-like creature that Edith makes into a pet? Ye clue is in the family name, Worm, or should that be Wyrm? The reader is very plummy, which probably suits the character of Edith perfectly, but after a while it was a bit wearing on the ear, but at a few seconds under five and a half hours, it works. I probably won’t read on in the series.

Audiobook narrated by Katie Villa

This is the third Unholy Island book, following on from The Ward Witch and the Book Keeper. It's set in the same universe as her Crow Investigations books and there is a little bit of crossover, but not enough to confuse a new reader. THe island, Unholy Island, is off the coast of Northumberland, joined to the mailland at low tide by a causeway. It's a sanctuary for magical misfits and people hiding from their past. In the first book. Luke came to Unholy Island looking for his missing brother, and met a whole cast of characters including Esme Gray. In the second book he became a permanent resident, taking over the island's magical bookshop. In this book, the island's mayor goes missing, Luke's twin, Lewis, finally turns up, but he's not quite what he seems to be. Esme and Luke's new relationship comes under strain when she seems to be the only one on the island immune to Lewis's particular form of attraction. I've enjoyed this whole trilogy. It has a certain cosiness without sacrificing tension. Katie Villa's reading is easy on the ear.