The latest edition of The Thursday Book Club was broadcast on 20th November 2025 at 2pm on Phonic FM. Joining hosts Jonathan Posner and Cathy Dodd were Keith Rossiter and Julian Holland. Click the names to find out more about them, and use the audio bar below to listen to the full show.
We reviewed For All Your Endevours by David Sharp.
Available on Amazon.
Our discussion was Book Reviews. Are they good or bad for authors? Do we want more?
The second hour featured an interview with author Julian Holland.
Julian told us about his lifelong passion for railways, and his many books on the subject.
Cathy also played some great music!
Listen to the show in full here:
The next show is at 2pm on the 18th December 2025.
NEWS
Tony Aston’s new novel was published on Saturday 15th November. Hanukkah to Hell is a hard-hitting WWII novel which brings together an Austrian Jewish family caught up in the annexation of the country by Germany, a rising SS officer who becomes Commandant of Mauthausen concentration camp in Linz, Austria, and the US 11th Armoured Division who come over on D-Day then fight their way across occupied Europe – before being the first Allied group to arrive at, and liberate, the camp.
Available on Amazon.
Kate Rigby’s The House at the End
is an eerie short story, now available on Audible, narrated by Pete McGiffen. It’s also available in electronic format. Two party members, Peter and Nick, are canvassing for the upcoming by-election. Peter, the older and less physically fit, takes on the quieter end of Priory Road, with its old Victorian houses. But as Peter advances up the road, the atmosphere becomes more unworldly and unsettling.
What awaits Peter at the end house?
Available as an eBook or Audiobook on Amazon.
Kate’s other news is that she’s had three poems accepted for the winter edition of Jawbone Journal – a Dorset collective.
Rosa’s Cookery Club for Men, the third in The Happy Wanderers series by Sarah Scally, came out on 5th November.
Rosa Roberts, an expert cook with years of experience, has returned to quiet Simonton to care for her poorly mother. She’s secretive about her life in France and in no hurry to return. When she takes on a new project – teaching men to cook at the community hall – she soon looks forward to the weekly lessons. And to seeing one student in particular.
Maurice Longley, newly retired and recently widowed, feels adrift without his old routines and businesses to run. When Mike, his meddling neighbour, signs him up for a new cookery club in town, a long-forgotten dream flickers back to life.
As they connect and form friendships, the future looks brighter for everyone. Until an unexpected visitor arrives and all plans are thrown up in the air.
Rosa’s Cookery Club for Men is a heartwarming novel of unexpected friendships, second chances and finding your way… one recipe at a time.
It is the third novel in The Happy Wanderers series. Both of Sarah’s previous books have been longlisted for the Comedy Women in Print prize 2025, in the self-published category.
Available on Amazon.
Sandbox in Teignmouth, South Devon, is holding an author reader’s evening in front of an audience of book buyers. This is on the 29th November at 6:30pm. No need to get tickets – just turn up.
It’s a rare month here on The Thursday Book Club when we don’t have a new release from Helena Dixon to talk about!
This month, it’s the 22nd Kitty Underhay mystery – Murder at Midwinter Farm…
A frosty country lane, snow-dusted Devon hills as far as the eye can see… and a local farmer vanished without trace. Can Kitty Underhay solve this chilling mystery?
Devon, 1937. Kitty Underhay is enjoying a crisp winter morning walk with her best friend, Alice, and Alice’s fiancé, Robert, who have recently bought the mysterious Midwinter Farm. The previous owner vanished one night, his dinner still on the table and the front door left wide open. But as work is carried out on the farm, a body is found in the grounds. How was the man murdered—and who is responsible?
Fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey or Verity Bright will adore this totally charming murder mystery. The perfect treat for cozy crime fans!
Available on Amazon
Last month we mentioned that Lin Treadgold is holding a launch event for her new novel The Trail to Freedom, on 27th November at the Exeter Library, from 4pm to 6pm.
Lin says she is hoping to have a singer and some WWII songs to invoke the atmosphere of the book.
There’s more information on Lin’s website – https://lintreadgold.co.uk/.
Lin’s book is on Amazon.
AA Abbott tells us that her latest psychological thriller set in Bristol, Lies Between Friends, was published in October. Here’s the blurb:
She can’t trust her husband. She can’t trust her friends. Can she trust herself?
Gail puts up with her toxic marriage. She accepts it’s the price of giving her kids a perfect childhood. Then her controlling husband is exposed as a fraudster, and her life falls apart.
A desperate Gail flounders to keep her family together. But she puts her faith in the wrong friends, and finds herself alone on a remote island with a killer. Can she escape, or will she never see her children again?
If you like simmering secrets, puzzling murder mysteries and resourceful women turning their lives around, you’ll love AA Abbott’s tense psychological thriller.
Available on Amazon.
