Listen above or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or if you want to SEE us in all our glory… watch at the bottom of this post.

This episode's book: The Only One Left by Riley Sager, a gothic thriller packed with family secrets, dodgy characters, and a creepy old-mansion. The story follows a home health aide caring for a woman accused decades earlier of murdering her family.

This week’s guest is Mercedes Mercier (otherwise known as Rach’s co-writers). Mercedes is a crime and thriller author known for her fast-paced, twist filled novels. When she’s not writing or looking after her twin daughters, she works in the criminal justice system - no wonder her crime novels are so realistic! Her latest book is The Couple’s Retreat.

In this episode, we cover:

Bios - men vs women.

Creepy, gothic settings.

Is Riley the male Frieda McFadden?

Materialism and old houses.

Co-writing and more!

💋 And, of course, we rate THE ONLY ONE LEFT: Kiss, Kill, or Marry.

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📚 Books Mentioned in this Ep

Anything by Robin Hobbs

The Baby-Sitters’ Club series

Goosebumps series

IT by Stephen King

Sophie Kinsella’s novels

DOVE by Georgia Harper

Harry Potter series

The Lord of the Rings

⏰ Timestamps

1.0 – Welcome, and feel free to be intimidated

2.19 – Mercedes Mercier – pretty much James Bond but a lady

3.57 – The Only Once Left – Tik Tok hype at work

4.43 – Mansions, murder and cliff tops – the blurb is a total vibe

8.28 – The male bio – fewer dogs and kids than you’d think

9.51 – Mercedes shamelessly (and quite correctly) brags that she has kept Rach to a95 000 word count! Anthea passes out…!

11.09 Mercedes and Rach celebrate their (reading) promiscuity

12.31 – Kiss, Kill, Marry – it’s unanimous!

13.45 – Anthea says it’s crazy at the end. FIFTY YEARS CRAZY!

16.15 – Rach loves the crazy – but she doesn’t want to marry it

18.43 – Riley Sager – how to fit a whole lot of crazy into one book at a time

20.39 – Themes - Rach wonders what her books are about??

21.43 – Anthea goes postal about 50 years of arse-wiping

23.40 – Why 1983? Does this novel really need to be set in Dark Ages??

25.57 – We question Mercedes about her personal choices – and find out she’s a crier! (and a nerd) (both of which we wholeheartedly support!)

28.54 – DNF – is it our right? Or our DUTY?

31.22 – Fantasy novels and Sophie Kinsella – because dragons like Jimmy Choo’s, too?

33.18 – Reviews – the work of the Devil, and dummies with no taste…!

33.48 – Co-writing – a brief masterclass from Rach and Mercedes

37.46 – Book recommendations.

41.22 – Harry Potter – divisive? Or still magical?

43.11 – Rach tells Anthea what she’s reading next – Anthea writes it down.

44.57 – See you next time!

👉 Watch now and tell us - did you love The Only One Left?

👉Next Ep, we’re diving into Half His Age by Jeanette McCurdy and our May guest is Sara Foster who has chosen to make us read The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell.

June Books: 14th June - By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult28th June - Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster with guest author Tamara Moss

Exciting NEWS - we’ve pretty much locked in all our books for the rest of the year! You can see them here!

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