Septimius Severus was Rome’s Black emperor. Born in the blistering heat of what is now Libya, in 145 A.D., he died in the freezing cold of a British winter 66 years later. Now, in a groundbreaking new biography, The African Emperor, British historian Simon Elliott, examines the life and legacy of one of the greatest warrior emperors in history. The ruler of the Roman Empire when it was at the peak of its power, Severus visited, and fought in, every region of its vast territory, leaving behind a monumental legacy in the form of buildings such as Rome’s Forum Romanum, and the land walls that still define The City of London’s Square Mile. The portrait that emerges is of a ruthless man of action whose attitude is reflected in his deathbed advice to his two sons: ‘Be of one mind with your family, enrich the soldiers, and despise the rest.’ Join Simon and Red as they explore the extraordinary life and legacy of this most overlooked of Roman Emperors.

Amy Rosen is one of Canada’s top food and travel writers. Not only has she built a reputation as a gifted journalist and TV presenter, but she is also the author of several successful cookbooks, and the entrepreneur behind Rosen’s Cinnamon Buns. Now, with the publication of her debut novel, Amy has rustled up the perfect rom-com for food lovers. Described as Briget Jones Diary meets Nora Ephron’s Heartburn, Off Menu is a mouthwatering blend of friendship, romance and French food, laced with homespun Jewish wit and wisdom, and topped off by a decidedly 21st century twist. Join Amy and Red as they explore our insatiable appetite for food and romance, and discover Amy’s top tip for livening up your Yuletide brussels sprouts!

Ji Hong Sayo is a Canadian Lao-Chinese author working out of Toronto. Angelhunting is the first book in his new series featuring Seamus Caron, a hard-boiled private eye with a criminal past. In cahoots with his childhood friend, now Homicide Chief, Sandra Blair, Seamus scrapes a living from Toronto’s mean streets. But when a client asks him to find a stolen briefcase, and Sandra seeks his help locating a missing body, Seamus is propelled into a deadly web of murder, drugs, and gang wars. Join Ji and Red as they discuss Westerns, film noir, hard boiled detective fiction, and poisonings!

Eimear McBride has won multiple awards for her four novels to date. Through lyrical, experimental prose she explores her characters’ emotional landscapes, immersing the reader in their innermost thoughts. Her latest novel, The City Changes its Face, takes up where her second, The Lesser Bohemians, left off, and is an intense, fragmented examination of a passionate love affair arriving at its first test. Set over a long, rainy night in London, in December 1996, it follows 20-year-old Eily and 40-year-old Stephen as they retrace the course of their two-year relationship in search of what's gone wrong. Join Eimear and Red as they discuss exploring emotions through prose, reframing the past through art, and the poetry of audiobooks

Gina Goldhammer has led an extraordinary life. The daughter of a high-ranking Cold War defector, she spent two decades as literary editor to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, working with him on all his books, including his seminal work, Diplomacy. Now in her 70s, she has published her debut novel, Where Snowbirds Play, a keenly observed glimpse into the opulent world of 1990s Palm Beach, where the appointment of a young British graduate to run the new marine life institute exposes secrets, rivalries and financial scandal. By turns witty and poignant, the novel paints an unforgettable portrait of an enclave awash with money and ruled by a triumvirate of fearsome matriarchs determined to maintain the status quo at any cost. Join Gina and Red as they explore marine ecology, faith, ghost writing, and Henry Kissinger.

M. J. Arlidge is a master builder of suspense. In his TV career he has written and produced screenplays for many prime-time crime and drama serials. And as an author he has found international success both as the creator of the Audible Original drama Six Degrees of Assassination, and as the writer of the hugely successful DI Helen Grace series of crime novels. The 13th book in the series, Into the Fire, has just been published, and sees Helen, now an ex-cop, investigating a case of people trafficking and modern-day slavery in the tough British port city of Southampton. Join Matt and Red as they discuss the psychology of crime, strong female protagonists, and the vitality of dialogue.

Dervla McTiernan has won international acclaim for her crime fiction, with both her stand-alone thrillers and gritty police procedurals consistently topping the best-seller lists. Her much-loved Detective Cormac Reilly series, set in Ireland and narrated by Aoife McMahon, has become something of an audiobook sensation, even outselling the print editions! The fourth book in the series, The Unquiet Grave, sees Cormac investigating a body in a bog that bears all the hallmarks of an ancient ritual human sacrifice. But this is anything but a cold case, and he is drawn into a web of cybercrime and deceit. Join Dervla and Red as they discuss ancient burials, modern working practices and the latest wave of Irish emigration.

Will Carver has been dubbed ‘the most original writer in Britain’. His ability to blend dark humour with explosive plots encompassing elements of mystery, thriller, sci-fi and speculative fiction has won him a cult following around the world. His latest novel, Kill Them With Kindness, is a sharply satirical alt. history of the Pandemic. When a Japanese scientist thwarts an international plot to release a deadly virus, by adding a mutation to make people more compassionate, it has profound and unintended consequences! Join Will and Red as they discuss how to tackle recent history in fiction, and the way in which tragedy can bring out both the best and the worst in people.

Sarah Pinborough’s ability to build psychological suspense, and her versatility in bending and blending genres, have made her one of the leading lights in contemporary speculative fiction. The English author has over two-dozen titles to her name, including Behind Her Eyes, which was adapted as a major Netflix TV series. Her latest novel, We Live Here now, is a spinetingling slice of modern gothic, set in a beautiful country house on the edge of Dartmoor. It’s a tale of secrets and compulsion, and things that go bump in the night, with echoes of Daphne du Maurier and Edgar Allen Poe. The audiobook is an absolute treat, being narrated by Helen Baxendale, Jamie Glover and featuring Sarah herself. Join Sarah and Red as they discuss the different ways in which humans feel haunted and the rich vein of books and films that this has summoned forth!

Eric Siblin is a Canadian author and former music critic for The Montreal Gazette. He is best known for his non-fiction title, The Cello Suites, which unfolds a multi-layered story of mystery, passion, history and politics surrounding an epic piece of music by Johann Sebastian Bach. His second book, Studio Grace, chronicled his year-long quest to record an album of twelve self-penned pop songs with a group of session musicians. The Fatal Scroll, A Herculaneum Mystery is his first novel and weaves a compelling thriller around looted antiquities, cutting edge technology, and one of the great what-ifs of alternative history! Join Eric and Red as they discuss lost libraries, buried treasures, and digital archaeology.

Jacob McArthur Mooney has built a reputation as one of Canada’s most compelling poets. So his debut novel has been eagerly anticipated. The Northern is both a coming-of-age story and a road trip through a bygone era of sports history. Set in 1952 it follows a man and two boys working as agents for an upstart Mormon baseball card company as they journey across Western Ontario trying to persuade players from the Northern League, at the lowest level of professional baseball, to sign contracts so the company can use their images should they ever hit the big time. Join Jacob and Red as they draw parallels between big business, sport, and perceptions of youth and masculinity in the 1950s and today.

In an increasingly hectic world, Emma Cowell’s novels transport the reader to timeless Greek islands where hope and healing are given space to emerge from the shadow of grief and anger. Her latest book, Under the Lemon Tree is set on the tiny island of Agistri, on which her protagonist Kat has inherited a house from an uncle she never knew she had. His existence is only the first of many secrets she will uncover, but renovating the property, and the presence of a broodingly handsome neighbour, offer Kat the chance to rebuild her own life after the devastating loss of her twin. Join Emma and Red as they explore writing about grief, Greece, regeneration, and Greek food!

In the highly competitive world of the psychological thriller, C.L. Taylor has an outstanding record. Eight-out-of-ten of her titles to date have topped the best-seller lists and her work has been translated into over 30 languages. Her latest, It’s Always the Husband, focuses on the school gate gossip mill. When recently divorced Jude arrives in the small town of Lowbridge, she is quickly drawn to Will, the widowed father of her daughter's new best friend. But rumours abound about what really happened to the women in Will’s life because, whilst one dead partner is tragic, two starts to look like murder… Join Cally and Red as they discuss the destructive power of gossip, where Cally finds her inspiration, and that all-important twist in the tail of her thrillers.

Aaron Kreuter is a writer, poet and academic who lives in Toronto. His novel Lake Burntshore is a coming-of-age story, social satire, romance, and political commentary all in one. Set over a summer of momentous social and political change at a Jewish sleepover camp in Canada’s Cottage Country, it explores questions of Jewish identity and settler colonialism against a backdrop of nature trails, watersports, and burgeoning hormones. Join Aaron and Red as they discuss the joys and dramas of summer camp, and a writer’s duty to tackle thorny subject matter.

Nicholas Herring lives in Murray Harbour, on Prince Edward Island, where he works as a carpenter. His debut novel, Some Hellish, follows the fortunes of a hapless lobster fisherman lost in an unexceptional life and bored of thinking the same old thoughts. Then, one December day, following a hunch, he cuts a hole in the living room floor of his home, and installs a hoist, altering the course of everything in his life. The novel won the 2022 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and the audiobook version is narrated by award-winning stage and screen actor Richard Clarken Join Nicholas and Red as they discuss the highs and lows of a community navigating the uncertainties of the annual lobster fishing season on P.E.I.

Sean Farrell’s debut novel, Frogs for Watchdogs, has one of the most memorable titles of this year’s new publications. The story it tells, likewise, lingers long in the mind. Set in rural Ireland at the tail end of the 1980s, much of it is seen through the eyes of a young boy running wild in both his surroundings and his imagination. As he struggles to adapt to changing family circumstances, and exert some control over his unsettled life, the boy’s creative powers turn ferociously destructive. It’s a tale packed full of menace, yearning, and the intensity of childhood, brought vividly to life as an audiobook by two of Ireland’s finest narrators. Join Sean and Red as they discuss the importance of storytelling in forming our own narratives, and why Sean chose to write from the perspective of a 7-year-old child.

In 2017, Sarah Bax Horton was researching her family history when she made the chance discovery that her great great grandfather was a Metropolitan Police sergeant who worked on the Ripper case. Little did she suspect that this would lead her to the Ripper’s true identity. In One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the Real Jack the Ripper, Sarah combines painstaking research, recently declassified files, and modern profiling techniques, to identify a new prime suspect, and solve the mystery of why the killings stopped as suddenly as they started.

David Bergen is widely regarded as one of Canada’s best writers. Most of his 11 novels and two short story collections have been in contention for major literary prizes, including The Time In-Between, which won the 2005 Scotiabank Giller Prize. His latest novel, Away from the Dead, was also longlisted for the Giller Prize.

Arjun Basu is a Canadian author and podcaster, whose novel Waiting for the Man was longlisted for the 2014 Giller prize. His latest book, The Reeds, is set in 2017, around Western Montreal, and follows the changing fortunes of a close-knit, middle-class family, across a single summer.

An Astonishment of Stars is Kirti Bhadresa’s debut volume of short stories. Many of the fourteen tales in the collection chart the lives of women of colour living in Canada, as they navigate relationships, aspirations, and cultural expectations. Like all good authors of short fiction, Kirti takes everyday situations and looks at them from unfamiliar angles, while also examining the emotional lives of a population whose contribution to society all too often goes unseen in mainstream culture. Join Kirti and Red as they explore the ups and downs of trying to fit in while remaining true to oneself, and the joy of cooking.