Janet Gordon is married, retired, obsessed with her Westlake Terrier, Rollo – and books are her passion. She reads multiple books a week across all genres and reviews them for Rest Less.
This month’s round-up features The Protest, The Final Vow, Dancing Fools and All That Jazz, Identity Crisis, The Peak, and The Woman in Suite II.
Note: Prices can often change, so you may notice some variations on the providers’ websites. Prices and availability are accurate as of the 18th of August, 2025.
The Protest by Rob Rinder (Kindle £7.99, Amazon £9.19)
The Protest is the third instalment of Rob Rinder’s courtroom drama series, and this time all the familiar faces have returned. I love the interaction between protagonist Adam Green – a young and upcoming barrister – and his mother, who seems a typical Jewish mum.
Hero Adam is working long hours but winning more and more cases, and is handed a new one alongside his principal, the legendary Morris Brown.
The case centres around world-renowned artist Max Bruce and his masterpiece painting, Primal Scream. Curator Natasha Fitzjohn has worked her socks off to persuade the owner of Primal Scream, a reclusive Russian billionaire, to display the piece at the Royal Academy to herald the start of an exhibition featuring all of Bruce’s works. And security is overwhelmingly secure.
As Max begins his speech, Natasha’s unpaid intern, Lexi Williams, suddenly erupts into action, spraying Max from head to toe in blue paint. And before anyone can do anything at all, Max dies as it turns out the paint was laced with cyanide. Adam and Morris have been instructed by Adam’s greatest fan, Solicitor Nisha Desai, to defend Lexi.
And so we’re taken into the courtroom, with Adam, Morris and Nisha desperately trying to find something likeable about Lexi, who only seems to say, “I didn’t poison him. Why would I?” But with all the evidence stacked against her, it’s going to be tricky to prove otherwise.
Rinder’s courtroom voice is very authentic – and, as a practising barrister, why wouldn’t it be? Having begun to train as a solicitor many years ago, I could imagine myself with the cut and thrust of courtroom techniques. I loved this, and I can’t wait for the next in the series.
The Final Vow by M. W. Craven (Kindle £11.99, Amazon £8.27)
I was so excited when the seventh book in the bestselling Washington Poe/Tilly Bradshaw series was published. There has been such a buzz about this series and The Final Vow in particular. I simply couldn’t wait to read it.
The Final Vow has Craven’s trademark complex plots. There are once again fantastic interactions between Estelle Doyle, Poe’s soon-to-be wife; Poe and his human computer, Tilly; and as many police chiefs as our protagonist can annoy.
This time, Poe is being punished for his misdeeds and is now living aboard various fishing trawlers to check for irregularities. Bradshaw, too, is being punished by being stuck in an office full of “idiots”, or so she complains.
A serial killer at large – a sharpshooting rifleman who’s killing random people across the UK. Poe and Bradshaw are called in to discover just who, and so begins the most compelling, compulsive, and fantastic plot you can imagine.
If you haven’t read any of this series previously, I urge you to buy it and binge-read from the start. I swear you won’t regret it.
Dancing Fools and All That Jazz by B Fleetwood (Kindle £4.99, Amazon £9.19, The Book Guild £9.99)
Are you missing Strictly Come Dancing? If so, Dancing Fools and All That Jazz is definitely one to enjoy.
Based in Manchester, a disparate group of ladies belong to Dance Excellence – Clarissa’s amateur dancing group for mature ladies. Choreographer Clarissa is brilliant at choosing music and making routines, so much so that she’s entered her ladies in a dance contest.
Having won through all the heats, the whole troupe are off to Paris for the Dance Expression Competition finals. The gang have been saving and has entrusted their money to Janine, who’s in charge of booking the flights and hotel. Yet, when they reach the airport, they discover no Janine and no flights.
This is such a wholesome story; not only is there great dancing, but a true family feeling to this group. They argue, pick up men (well, one of them does), have horrible rivals in a lewd northern dance troupe, and meet setback after setback, but you’ll no doubt keep reading and loving it. It’s magically heartwarming.
Win!
Courtesy of The Book Guild, one lucky reader can win a copy of Dancing Fools and All That Jazz by answering this question…
Which famous town has a wonderful Tower Ballroom?
a) Blackpool
b) Brighton
c) Bournemouth
Terms and conditions
The giveaway will close at 11.59pm on 31st August 2025, and the winner will be chosen at random in a prize draw on 1st September 2025. The winner will be connected by Janet via email for the fulfilment of their prize.
Identity Crisis by Nicola Gill (Kindle £5.99, Amazon £9.99, HarperCollins £16.99)
Heroine Claire Palmer wrote a bestselling novel, but that was seven years ago, and she’s now stuck in second novel wasteland. Having more or less spent all the book’s advance, she works part-time freelancing as a copywriter while answering to two awful advertising agents.
When someone points out her resemblance to a well-known and loved daytime TV presenter, Claire jumps at the chance to earn some money by becoming a lookalike. But, soon enough, Claire is trapped and her life goes into freefall.
I really enjoy Nicola Gill’s novels. Identity Crisis is her fifth, and they’re all packed with moving, humorous family-type tales.
The Peak by Sam Guthrie (Kindle £8.99, Amazon £9.99, HarperCollins £16.99)
The Peak is a political/spy/friends for life read, and is packed with acronyms – most of which I completely forgot at the moment I read them.
The book is set in Australia, with flashbacks to Hong Kong, and is packed with Chinese gang leaders. Sebastian is a government minister, and Charlie is his political hatchet man and a heavy metal lover (I’ve actually listened to the brilliant tracks the author references).
The two protagonists have been friends since their school days, when Charlie was a new boy and Sebastian was the cool friend who looked out for him.
The Peak is a political novel with a true love story. To be honest, I didn’t entirely understand the political shenanigans that were happening – but somehow I found myself compelled to read on. In fact, I stayed up most of the night to finish it! I thoroughly loved it.
The Woman in Suite II by Ruth Ware (Kindle £8.99, Amazon £9.19, Simon & Schuster £9.99)
The Woman in Cabin 10 was Ruth Ware’s first novel featuring protagonist Lo Blacklock, which will soon have a Netflix adaptation starring Keira Knightley.
The Woman in Suite II sees Lo Blacklock invited to the opening of a luxury hotel in Switzerland. Lo is struggling to restart her career, stalled after the birth of her child three years ago. And, since leaving journalism 10 years ago, everything has changed.
The setting on the shores of Lake Geneva is gorgeous. It’s everything you’d want from a luxury hotel, but Marcus Leidmann is the most elusive owner. Receiving the invitation to the opening, Lo calls what’s left of her contacts to obtain interview commissions with little success.
But on the first night, she receives a whispered phone call from a woman, and on entering the room, this woman claims to be Leidmann’s mistress. And it’s somebody Lo knows.
With breakneck chases around Europe, Lo is on edge at every turn and unsure whether to trust this lady, but she’s just unable to say no to her friend’s demands. Golly, what an exciting read!
For more reading inspiration, head over to our books, literature, and writing section. Or, for further book and literature discussions, you might be interested in joining the thriving book club over on Rest Less Events.
Have you read any of these books? Or have you added any of them to your reading list? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.