Six Degrees of Separation – from Wild Dark Shore to Bloody Instructions

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. May’s starting point is Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (2025), an unusual and compelling book in which the main character eventually reveals how a catastrophic wildfire changed her life.

My first degree is fire. As a child, Reena, heroine of Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts (2005), saw her family’s business burned to the ground, inspiring her to become an arson investigator when she grew up.

Another fire that changes lives in when Manderley burns to the ground in Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938).  Sorry for the spoiler but you should have read it already!

Daphne du Maurier turns up as a character in Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner (2022), a historical novel set in a 1950 London bookstore, following three women navigating post-war societal expectations, career ambitions, and personal challenges. My review.

My fourth link is Bloomsbury, where a murder takes place in Russell Square on page 4 in A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie (2023). I love this series so was pleased to hear the author is hard at work on the 20th book about Kincaid/James. My review.

A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith (2025) is another mystery set in London, this one taking place around the turn of the 20th century at London’s Inner Temple. My review.

Bloody Instructions by Sara Woods (1961) also has a legal setting in London. In this series launch, an attractive young barrister, Antony Maitland, is accused of murder. Dean Street Press has reissued this appealing series. My review.

So my book journey took me from Antarctica to Baltimore, then to Cornwall, then stayed in London for the duration. There’s certainly enough blood in connect Wild Dark Shore and Bloody Instructions. Next month (June 6, 2026), we’ll start with a book by Stefan Zweig, The Post-Office Girl.