Cast a Long Shadow - Welsh Women Writing Crime

I love a short story collection, and I love crime writing, and here we have a combination of the two. Cast a Long Shadow is a carefully curated selection of stories written by Welsh women who love the crime genre like me. 

It's a wonderful read with a wide variety of tales. I really wasn't sure where I'd be going next. Naturally, you'll have your favourites in a book of stories, but that does not detract from the imagination and creativity given by all the writers who feature in this book.

Some favourites for me were:

• Strike Weather by Louise Walsh,
• With Both Eyes Closed by Tracey Rhys
• Growing Pains by Delphine Richards and
• The Quiet by Diana Powell (which, in my view, veered into the Horror territory and, as a result, was a brilliant read).

My absolute standouts were:

• The Ship by Eluned Gramich - although a story we're sadly pretty familiar with, is heartbreaking and written with such tenderness shown to the young victim.
• Cast a Long Shadow by Hazell Ward took my breath away. This is a stunning story I'd be proud to have written. I shall return and reread this one.

As well as enjoying reading this book, I also now have a whole new group of Welsh authors to check out. I can see my reading list getting longer and longer and longer...