blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Night Shift – Gemma Rogers


How can one 12-hour night shift be so deadly?

I loved the anonymity, flexibility and solitude that working the night shift at Storage Queen gave me.
The unsociable hours paid well, helping me fund my university degree and giving me a quiet place to study while the world slept peacefully in their warm, cozy beds. It was the perfect job for me.
But that Friday night proved to be more than I bargained for when a man walked through the door, dragging a large suitcase.
My immediate instincts told me something was wrong.
That’s when my ordeal began.
I just had to make it through the night shift.
A pacy, heart stopping, page turning thriller for the fans of Shari Lapena and Lisa Jewell.

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Gemma Rogers lives in West Sussex with her husband, two daughters and a bouncy French Bulldog called Boycie.
Her love of writing began in her early teenage years, inspired by hours spent buried in Point Horror, Richard Laymon and Christopher Pike with the occasional Judy Blume thrown in for good measure.
Other passions include movies – horrors especially (who doesn’t love a good scare), country walks, swimming and anything involving cake.
Her debut novel Stalker was released on the 10th September 2019, quickly followed by The Secret in January 2020, and The Teacher in May.
Gemma’s fourth novel The Mistake was published January 2021, followed by The Babysitter in September.
The Feud came next in May 2022, then The Neighbour in January 2023 and The Flatmate in June 2023.

Gemma’s ninth title The Good Wife came out in March 2024 and the latest title The Honeymoon is out now!

Facebook: @GemmaRogersAuthor
Twitter: @gemmarogers79
Instagram: @gemmarogersauthor
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My thoughts: I’ve always thought self storage warehouses were perfect for horror and this book proves that’s true. Often isolated on industrial estates or the edge of nowhere, they’re huge, open all hours and I can just see how a killer could keep all the evidence hidden in one of the units.

I don’t think I could work a night shift in one, but medical student Nina does, studying while she sits in the reception office. There aren’t many customers this late so it’s usually pretty quiet and she gets her work done. As a type 1 diabetic it also means she can manage her condition quite comfortably, bringing dinner in with her to reheat in the office microwave and no one to complain if it smells!

This night shift however is the stuff of nightmares. A young man brings in a huge suitcase, and there’s something a bit off about him. The unit is registered to a woman, and he just makes Nina nervous. What follows is shocking as Nina gets caught up in a tangle of lies and violence. Chased through the empty building by a dangerous killer, her best friend comes to her aid and gets drawn in too.

When the power gets cut off, there’s no way to call for help and when the killer takes her phone, she can’t even monitor her blood glucose levels and ensure she doesn’t suffer a hypoglycemic attack that could leave her very sick.

As the night wears on, Nina must evade the killer, stay alive and on top of her diabetes, hoping that with the morning help will arrive and end this nightmare.

Gripping, thrilling and with an empathetic and smart protagonist. Adding in a medical condition that must be monitored and adjusted adds an extra layer of suspense, Nina genuinely needs to be able to access her medication and supplies but also hide and stay focused. Really interesting idea and great disability rep too.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Death at the Village Chess Club – Debbie Young


With her Curiosity Shop open for business, Alice Carroll is finally settling into life in the picturesque Cotswold village of Little Pride. But then her old life comes knocking…

Alice’s ex boyfriend, Steven, who dumped her to travel the world, has run out of money and asks Alice to sell off his collection of chess sets.
Alice decides to host a tournament to showcase the boards, and her plan seems to be working. That is, until chess pieces begin to mysteriously disappear. And when a body is discovered outside the
tournament, Alice realises that the victim was a pawn in another, far more dangerous game.

As the host of the event, Alice is eager to help the police investigate. She doesn’t know why anyone would be interested in stealing random chess pieces, let alone willing to kill for them, but she’s determined to find out. Can she solve the case before someone else gets hurt?
Or will this be one gambit too far for Alice?

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Debbie Young writes warm, witty, feel-good contemporary fiction inspired by life in the English village where she lives with her Scottish husband and their teenage daughter.
Her Sophie Sayers Village Mystery series begins with “Best Murder in Show” and the first seven books run the course of a calendar year in the life of a classic English Cotswold village. Originally
intended to be a seven-book series, further books will follow, due to reader demand.
She also writes the romantic comedy mystery series, Staffroom at St Bride’s, set in the staffroom of an English girls’ boarding school. The series will eventually be six books long, running the course of
an academic year, and the first book is “Secrets at St Bride’s”.
Her books were shortlisted in 2020 and 2021 for The Selfies Award, given to the best self-published adult fiction in the UK.
She also writes short stories and has published three themed collections, “Marry in Haste”, “Quick Change”, and “Stocking Fillers”, and had stories included in many anthologies.
When she’s not writing, she does other bookish things, such as speaking or reading her work at literary events, such as Crimefest, the leading international crime writing event, the Cheltenham
Literature Festival and the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival, the event that she founded for her local community.
She’s a member of the Society of Authors and the UK Ambassador for the Alliance of Independent Authors.
She loves reading, bellringing, singing in the local choir, gardening, knitting, sketching and travelling with her family in their camper van. Her many hobbies mean she is never short of ideas for her gentle tales of rural life.

Facebook: @DebbieYoungAuthor
Twitter: @DebbieYoungBN
Instagram: @debbieyoungauthor
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My thoughts: I was in the chess club at school, mostly because we could eat our lunches in the classroom and not have to brave the playground and the soaking wet foam footballs being violently kicked at you. Thankfully there were no murders.

When Alice decides to organise a showcase and auction to sell some of her ex-boyfriend’s chess sets, she certainly doesn’t expect it to end in death for one of the attendees. He was also stealing chess pieces, and not even from the more expensive, antique sets, but plastic replicas of the Isle of Lewis figures. Very strange.

And the case gets stranger, a man wanders into Alice’s shop in the middle of the night, and when she tries to locate the original seller of the set, she gets hung up on.

Clearly there’s more going on here than first appears, luckily there are clever local coppers on the case, as well as Alice and her friends. A bit of bellringing and a set up to catch the culprit. It’s all very action film in a country village! Great fun as always from Debbie Young.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Murder at Merry Beggars Hall – Kay Blythe

Jemima Flowerday combines her skills as a dressmaker and sleuth to solve crime in the crumbling stately homes of 1920s Britain.

December 1922, and society dressmaker Jemima Flowerday receives a letter from Lady Hamlash of Merry Beggars Hall, requesting three new gowns for the Christmas season. Lady Hamlash does not travel, so Jemima will need to visit the Hall in deepest Suffolk to work in situ.

The commission appeals to Jemima for more than one reason. It will bring her some much-needed income. More interestingly, the remote manor house was the scene of a grisly murder earlier that year, when Lady Hamlash, inspecting her plants in the walled garden, found a man’s severed head beneath a terracotta asparagus cloche. The murder was never solved.

Jemima, addicted to mystery novels and with a proud history of solving crimes in her own world, is sure she can crack the case. That ambition becomes a little more complicated when, within hours of her arrival at Merry Beggars Hall, the household cook dies in front of her…

Kay Blythe, who also writes as Natalie Meg Evans, is an award-winning historical author on both sides of the Atlantic, having reached the New York Times top 100 list with her debut novel, The Dress Thief. Writing crime as Kay Blythe fulfils a long-held ambition.

My thoughts: Jemima has a sharp mind and is keen to dig into the strange discovery of the butler’s brother’s head under the asparagus cloche. For starters, where’s the rest of him and how did his head come to be in Suffolk when he lived and worked in London?

There’s definitely something a bit strange going on at Lady Hamlash’s house, and even more so when the temperamental French chef drops dead in front of Jemima. Was she murdered or is there more to it than just someone hating the woman? And who could hate her enough to kill?

Digging into the events, and utilising her ability to move between the classes as a guest but also a dressmaker, someone who isn’t entirely a servant but also due to her connections (her in-laws are titled) welcome among the family, she is perfectly situated to ask questions and look into things.

She is however at risk herself after drawing the attention of the killer, but working in tandem with the police, who she hands the evidence she’s found over to, and another interested party, can Jemima solve the case and stay one step ahead of a desperate murderer and solve both the body-less head and the chef’s death?

Clever, enjoyable, and with a fiendish explanation to the events that’s far more complex than it might first seem, this is a cracking piece of historical crime fiction.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blogathon: The Crucifix Killer – Chris Carter

THE FIRST CHILLING NOVEL IN THE ACCLAIMED ROBERT HUNTER SERIES

When the body of a young woman is discovered in a derelict cottage in Los Angeles, Robert Hunter is thrown into a nightmare case. The victim suffered a terrible death, and on the nape of her neck has been carved a strange double-cross: the signature of a psychopath known as the Crucifix Killer.

But that’s impossible. Because two years ago, the Crucifix Killer was caught and executed. Could this therefore be a copycat killer? Or could the unthinkable be true? Is the real killer still out there, ready to embark once again on a vicious and violent killing spree, selecting his victims seemingly at random, taunting Robert Hunter with his inability to catch him?

Hunter and his rookie partner, Garcia, need to solve this case and fast.

My thoughts: This first book in the Detective Hunter series doesn’t start off softly, the murders Hunter and Garcia investigate are brutal, the violence is nasty and the descriptions not for the faint hearted. Even Garcia gets sick at the sight of their first victim.

Hunter doesn’t believe this could be The Crucifix Killer, he helped put that person away, but certain clues, things never released to the public, suggest otherwise.

So now Hunter must revisit his old files and with Garcia as a new pair of eyes, start searching for a killer he thought he’d never have to deal with again.

Gripping and expertly written, this will haunt you a bit and make you look forward to the next one, or at least it did for me. I’ve been reading crime fiction for a very long time (starting with Agatha Christie at about 10 years old) and it’s not often that I get completely hooked in like this. But this series, buckle in. It’s shocking, thrilling and takes you into the darkest parts of some pretty terrible people.

Hunter is a genius, a paper he wrote is taught at Quantico (FBI school) and he’s the go to detective for these horrific sorts of cases, assisted by Garcia, who is slightly in awe of his partner and represents a more normal, average cop, married to his sweetheart, Anna, and he reacts like most of us probably would to the crime scenes they visit. As the series and their relationship continues, this duo really grow on you, trust me.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Bookseller – Valerie Keogh


A woman with a dark past…

Helen Appleby just wants a quiet life. Recently released from prison for the manslaughter of her partner, she’s trying to forget her past mistakes – all of them – to rebuild her life and move on.

When she decides to open a bookshop, she’s certain this is the perfect new start. Here, amongst the quiet shelves of her shop and between the covers of her books, she can hide away from the real world and begin again. The world of books the perfect place to find happiness – even if it is all lies.

But the past can never stay hidden…

As she settles into life as an apparently timid bookseller, it seems that someone is determined to sabotage Helen’s new life and ruin everything she’s built.
But Helen has killed once before. And to protect her future, she could be willing to kill again…

Don’t miss another page-turning, nail-biting read from the queen of psychological thrillers, Valerie
Keogh!

Perfect for fans of J.A. Baker, Keri Beevis and Nina Manning.

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Valerie Keogh is the best-selling author of The Nurse. She lives in Wiltshire with her husband and a huge black cat, Fatty Arbuckle. She grew up reading Agatha Christie and initially wrote crime novels –
she now writes psychological thrillers.
The Little Lies was shortlisted for the Crime Fiction Lovers Award 2021
Valerie has a BA in English and an MA in American Literature.
She is currently published with Boldwood Books.

Facebook: @valeriekeoghnovels
Twitter: @ValerieKeogh1
Instagram: @ValerieKeogh2
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My thoughts: I know you’re probably not supposed to empathise with a murderer, but I really liked Helen. She killed her partner in self-defence and sentenced to four years, only served two, released on good behaviour on license.

She’s decided to use her inheritance to open a secondhand bookshop near her home and put her past behind her, as much as she can. Her meddling probation officer is driving her a bit mad, and she’s paranoid about her business’ friendly neighbours. Struggling to trust people after her time in prison, she’s relying on her sister and despite all her big plans, keeps wondering if it’s worth it.

Someone seems out to sabotage her, both her shop and home get broken into and ransacked, she’s fast running out of money and her PO keeps threatening to send her back to prison.

But slowly she starts to learn to trust again, first her neighbours at the pizza place, then a student she hires to help out. And the business is doing well, the set backs can be overcome and she’s an intelligent woman, capable of standing up for herself when threatened.

I really enjoyed this book, the optimism that, despite the ups and downs, there is life after prison, that Helen is not just what she did, but who she can become now.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Death at Horsey Mere – Ross Greenwood


When a teenage couple go missing, the police aren’t too concerned. Young lovers often make bad choices.

Then a body is found near a Suffolk lighthouse, and shortly after, two girls seem to vanish into thin air.

Freshly promoted DI Ashley Knight knows she has a battle on her hands to keep the public safe, and she’s going to need expert help.
Ashley turns to her old protégé, Hector Fade, seconded from The Met to analyse an avalanche of data. But neither Hector nor Ashley are prepared for the chilling connection his work uncovers to the
body by the lighthouse.

Ashley, Hector and the team must break down a fiendishly complicated network of people smugglers, but another victim is found at Horsey Mere and their worst suspicions are realised. A member of the gang has gone rogue and is taking lives for fun. When Hector uncovers a pattern in
the choice of victim, time is against the detectives to stop the murderer killing again.

Ross Greenwood is back with a brand new, heart-pounding case for DI Ashley Knight, perfect for fans of Mark Billingham, Ian Rankin and Peter James.

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I was born in 1973 in Peterborough and lived there until I was 20, attending The King’s School in the city. I then began a rather nomadic existence, living and working all over the country and various
parts of the world.

I found myself returning to Peterborough many times over the years, usually when things had gone wrong. It was on one of these occasions that I met my partner about 100 metres from my back door
whilst walking a dog. Two children swiftly followed. I’m still a little stunned by the pace of it now.

My first book Chancer was written after I decided to do something challenging while my knees permitted. No skydiving for me. I became a prison officer for four years. Ironically it was the four a.m. feed which gave me the opportunity to finish the book as unable to get back to sleep I completed it in the early morning hours.

It’s surprising for me to realise I’ve written sixteen books now. There are three strands, one where the books concern lives affected by prison, and then my detective series starring DI John Barton.

The first Barton book, The Snow Killer hit the coveted number one spot on KOBO and AUDIBLE, with the  rest of the series not far behind.
I’ve also written four detective books in a Norfolk series now, starting with Death on Cromer Beach.
There are two more planned.

My publishers kindly told me I had reached over half a million sales with them in five years in July 2024.
I hope you enjoy reading what I’ve written.
Please feel free to get in touch on Facebook, Insta or Twitter


Facebook: @rossgreenwoodauthor
Twitter: @greenwoodross
Instagram: @rossg555
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My thoughts: I really like Ashley, and this series puts her front and centre, leading the team as they investigate serious crimes in Norfolk, full of sleepy little villages but also dark deeds.

When a fisherman finds a body floating in Horsey Mere, it shows the police they’re dealing with something much bigger and more serious than they thought. The missing couple and the kidnapped teenagers are part of a larger, horrific criminal network, people traffickers who have been kidnapping women and forcing them into the sex trade. But now one of the gang’s members has started killing.

Determined to put a stop to it and bring the victims home, Ashley and her team work closely with the team from the NCA that includes former colleague Hector. Liaising with Dutch team working that end of the case gives them the knowledge that East Anglia is where the gang has fled, having lost several of their number in mainland Europe.

As they tighten the net around the remaining people smugglers and work to identify their killer, big risks are being taken and the team risks losing someone they used to work closely with.

There’s lots of action, even car chases, which in the quiet Norfolk lanes is pretty uncommon, it just isn’t a place that you imagine being a crime hot-spot, at least not the bits I’ve visited. But that’s probably the point.

There’s a brief cameo from DCI Barton too, as some of the case requires operating on his patch in Peterborough, and in the prison there too.

I really enjoyed this book, I’m a fan of the author’s work so this was basically just a delight for me. Ashley is shaping up to be a really impressive detective and her team (even Barry) are great too.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: Babs & Aggie; The Good, the Bad and the Vegan – Hazel Hitchins


Aggie has reached that “certain age” – in her case, a thousand years or so, give or take a decade.
After centuries of bringing kings to their knees, running a small-town cafe isn’t how she imagined her life would pan out. Now, thanks to the machinations of the false vegan from across the road, she
risks losing even that.

And just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, along comes her old friend, Babs, in her House-on-chicken-legs, ready to ruffle some feathers with her unique blend of borscht, tough love and alcohol.
But everybody has a secret – the grocer who hides his loneliness behind a cheery smile, the neighbour crippled by debt and grief, and the young woman who jumps at her shadow – and before Aggie can help anyone else, she has demons of her own to lay to rest.

Can she confront her past to save her future? What is the ‘Vegan’ really hiding? Will Babs ever let her have the last word?

Raucous, rowdy, and heart-wrenching and heart-warming in equal measures, Babs and Aggie is a magical tale of love, loss and the comfort of a friendship forged through food, laughter and a LOT of slivovica.

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Hazel Hitchins is a writer who spends her days having conversations with her imaginary friends, some of which she writes down. She lives in Wales with her normal family, normal(ish) cat, and entirely abnormal laundry pile.

Find her on socials: @hazelhitchinsauthor
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My thoughts: Growing up the one thing I was genuinely terrified of was the Baba Yaga and her house with chicken legs. My mum had read me a story about her and I was terrified that this Eastern European/Russian witch was going to turn up outside my window in the North London suburbs. I don’t know why, but there you go.

However, the Baba Yaga in this story, known as Babs, is a lot less terrifying, although she still has House with its chicken legs, and she is still a powerful witch. She’s come to help her sister in witchery Aggie, aka Black Agnes or Black Annis (from Leicestershire according to English folklore).

Aggie runs a café, dispensing tasty treats in a little shopping arcade, but she’s been struggling with a nasty bully known as The Vegan. His girlfriend owns a health food shop across the way and he likes to menace the other shopkeepers and seems to be focused on Aggie, maybe thinking an older woman would be the weakest.

Unfortunately for him, ancient sorceresses do not like being bullied. And Babs is here to help Aggie remind him of that. And when they discover the extent of his bullying ways, well, he’s done for. These ladies do not take kindly to his sort at all, calling on some old friends to give them some help to get him gone.

It’s a funny, empowering read, a reminder of the power of women, especially older women, of community, and of how we can stand up to bullies (including the one in the White House, my American chums) and get rid of them. I think I would be ok if this Baba Yaga dropped round with some pierogis and slivovica.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: If You Could See Me Now – Samantha Tonge


A brilliant, beautiful story from the bestselling author of A Single Act of Kindness

How far would you go for a perfect life?

Back in her troubled school days, kind-hearted Violet always dreamed of a life where she was happy.
Now it feels like she’s just about getting there. She has her dream job working with books, and she’s living with her handsome boyfriend, Lenny.

But when her relationship with Lenny falls to pieces and he moves out, Violet, hurt and alone, decides it’s time to really take her happiness in hand. With help from her new flatmate, Bella, she changes her image and takes control at work, ready to show the world that she doesn’t need Lenny
in her life. And when she meets magnetic author Casey, she begins to wonder if all she needed all along was a makeover.

But – with Bella – all is not as it seems. And Violet too has a secret, one that dates right back to her childhood, which could change everything…

IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW is a powerful story about friendship, trust, and taking control of your life while not being afraid to stand out. Perfect for fans of Shari Low, Milly Johnson and Colleen Hoover.

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Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK with her husband and children. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has travelled
widely.
Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines. She is represented by Darley Anderson Agency & Associates. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle
chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category. In 2020 one of her novels won the RNA’s Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller Award. Currently, Samantha writes uplifting, emotional
women’s fiction for Boldwood Books.

Facebook: SamanthaTongeAuthor
Twitter: @SamTongeWriter

Instagram: @samanthatongeauthor
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My thoughts: This is not the easiest book to read, it is really good but it does deal with some things that might be hard for certain readers like mental illness, eating disorders and anxiety/panic attacks. So just be prepared if any of those are issues you can’t read about comfortably.

I really empathised with Violet, having a relationship end quite suddenly is very hard and when things go wrong at work on top of that it is easy to fall into less than healthy habits and behaviours to cope. Violet is on anti-anxiety meds and has panic attacks (both things I have dealt with) and that doesn’t help either.

She has a really great group of friends and colleagues but pushes them away because she thinks they’re trying to sabotage her, which is a symptom of how unwell she’s becoming but she can’t see it. Besides, new flatmate Bella says she’s doing great, dropping dress sizes and changing up her look is a good thing. Until it isn’t.

Like I said at the beginning, this is a challenging book to read at points but it also is full of hope. Violet’s real friends rally around her, support her, love her even when she’s being quite unpleasant and want to help her get better and move forward. It’s all very hopeful and once they open her eyes to the damage she’s done to herself, she needs them more than ever, to be there for her when she struggles. It’s a wonderful gift, friendship and the book is decidedly hopeful.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: A Witch’s Penance – J.K. Divia

Welcome to the tour for A Witch’s Penance by J.K. Divia. Read on for more details!

A Witch’s Penance

Publication Date: January 31, 2024

Genre: Paranormal Historical Fiction/ Witches

Tropes:

Family/generational curses, forgiveness, self discovery, paranormal vs psychological

Nina has grown up haunted by her family’s tragic past. Generations of misfortune and untimely deaths have woven a tapestry of grief and guilt around the women in her family, leading Nina to believe that her family is cursed.

Everything changes when Nina discovers her ancestor, Elspet Bruce, was an accused witch during the Forfar witch trials in the 1700s. As Nina’s imagination takes her deep into Elspet’s life, she experiences things that feel too real to be imagined, and the line between story and truth begins to blur.

Driven by a newfound determination, Nina embarks on a journey into her own spiritual and magical awakening to lift the curse that has plagued her family for centuries. Her quest leads her deep into the history of the Forfar witch trials, while a growing psychic connection with Elspet helps uncover the truth of what really happened.
As Nina unravels the mysteries of the past, she comes to understand that the curse afflicting her family is rooted in unresolved pain, injustice and guilt. And only she can break the curse.

“A Witch’s Penance” is a gripping tale of heritage and healing, blending historical intrigue with paranormal thrills. It explores themes of resilience, forgiveness, and the enduring power of family bonds across time.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

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Blogathon: Leave No Trace – Jo Callaghan

One detective driven by instinct, the other by logic.
It will take both to find a killer who knows the true meaning of fear . . .

When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of Mount Judd, DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI detective – are thrust into the spotlight with their first live case.

But when they discover another man dead – also crucified – it appears that the killer is only just getting started. When the Future Policing Unit issues an extraordinary warning to local men to avoid drinking in pubs, being out alone late at night and going home with strangers, they face a hostile media frenzy. Whilst they desperately search for connections between the victims, time is running out for them to join the dots and prevent another death. 

And if Kat and Lock know anything, it’s that killers rarely stop – until they are made to.

My thoughts: Another absolutely brilliant case for Kat, Lock and the team. Now more established after the successful conclusion of their last big case, and their unit is able to command more resources supposedly, but it still comes down to the key group of Kat, Lock, the professor and Kat’s two detectives, Debbie and Hassan.

The team are searching for a killer who’s leaving men in open, but remote spaces, crucified. They’re sending a message, but to who?

It’s the first live case the team has been given, and the press are very intrigued, cue an awkward press conference. One reporter in particular seems to be ahead of the team, knowing facts about the case almost too quickly.

Lock is definitely developing a personality, even using sarcasm and humour, so the learning part of his programming is working, but curiously he seems to be wrestling with something.

Kat is also learning, learning how to be alone, now that her son Cam is at uni. She keeps buying food no one eats, and is struggling with the empty house and the quiet.

But the case gives her something to focus on for now, as the body count increases. And her new friendship with the pathologist, means she has at least one person to talk to apart from Lock.

It’s winter, and the killer is utilising the cold to help them finish off their victims, as snow sets in and one of the team falls into the killer’s clutches, can the others save them before they too succumb?

More gripping, clever and deeply interesting stuff. Lock grapples with the concept of humanity, the team are locked in a desperate race against time, the ideas that this series has, the thoughts I keep having while reading it, so, so good. Hooked.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.