I received a truly delightful box of themed bookish goodies from Josie Jaffrey to celebrate the release of her Quicksilver trilogy – which you can buy here and find out about all of her books.
Art printThe goodsFancy bath bombCandle Playing cardsSucker for a wax seal (I blame Taskmaster!)What have I done? Pin badgeAnother seal!Little heartBookmark and signed book plateThe full trilogyContentsI like big books…
I’m sure you’ll agree (despite my terrible photography skills) that this is an amazing box to get. Thank you so much Josie and Silver Sun Books.
I cannot wait to read the book, and I’ll share all my thoughts once I have. I’ll be keeping the candle till the seasons change and adding the pin badge to my collection.
Have you read any of Josie’s books? Do you like vampires (and pirates)? Well, then check out her website to get all the details about the Silverse.
A brutal murder. A deadly secret. A killer who’s done this before . . .
DCI Rob Miller is called to a murder scene in the early hours of the morning. A young woman’s body has been discovered under Putney Bridge. There are clear signs this was a brutal attack. The crime scene is especially unnerving for DCI Miller. It mirrors the victims of the Surrey Stalker — a sadistic predator Miller took down five years ago. But the Surrey Stalker is dead.
This killer isn’t just copying the past — They know things only the original murderer could have known. They know police secrets and crime scene details that were withheld from the press. With the media circling and a mole inside the force leaking information, Miller must untangle a deadly web of deception before the killer strikes again.
But as the body count rises and the noose tightens, one question haunts him: Did he catch the wrong man all those years ago?
Biba Pearce is a crime writer and author of the DCI Rob Miller, Kenzie Gilmore and Shrap Nelson series. Her books have been shortlisted for the Feathered Quill and the CWA Debut Dagger awards, and The Marlow Murders was voted best crime fiction book in the Indie Excellence Book Awards. Biba lives in leafy Surrey with her family and when she isn’t writing, can be found walking along the Thames River path – near to where many of her books are set – or rambling through the countryside.
My thoughts: Putney’s a nice little place, but even nice places can attract terrible people. When a body is found by the river, the first officer on the scene wonders if it washed up from somewhere else, but instead it appears as if the killer has risen from the dead. The woman was killed in exactly the same way as five years before.
DCI Miller and his team have a copy cat on their hands, but more troublingly this killer seems to know details the police withheld from the public. There’s also someone inside the investigation leaking information to the press. Something they really don’t need. The pressure is coming from all directions. Can they catch this killer before he kills as many as the Surrey Stalker did before and prove they were right back then too?
Smart police investigation fiction with a likeable team of officers, a gruesome killer and some pretty clever twists.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own
In November 1944, in the worst winter ever known in Bologna, less than a year since the founding of the Republic of Salò, the bomb-scarred streets are filled with starving refugees who have fled the advancing Allies. The Fascist Black Brigades, the officers of the S.S. and the partisans of the Italian Resistance compete for control in bloody warfare.
Comandante De Luca, once “the most brilliant investigative officer in Bologna” and now working for the Political Police in a building that doubles as a torture facility, finds himself in over his head when three murders land on his desk: a professor shot through the eye, an engineer beaten to death, and a German corporal left to be gnawed on by rats in a flooded cellar.
Losing sleep and his peace of mind, De Luca must close all three cases with ten lives on the line: the Italian hostages who will face a Nazi firing squad if the corporal’s killing is not solved to their satisfaction. As he threads his way through a web of personal and political motivations, risking his life with every step, De Luca will uncover to his own cost the secrets awaiting him in the frozen heart of Bologna.
Carlo Lucarelli was born in Parma in 1960. While researching for his thesis on the history of Italian law enforcement, he became intrigued by the Italian police force’s role in the political upheavals of the 1940s during and after the Second World War. From this seed sprouted his De Luca trilogy, later to grow into an oeuvre of more than twenty crime novels focusing on various characters. Lucarelli hosted the popular late-night Italian television programme Blu notte misteri d’Italia, on unsolved crimes and mysteries, and he is the founder of the Italian crime-writing collective Gruppo 13. He is also a journalist and has worked for multiple Italian newspapers.
My thoughts: I found this very interesting, I don’t know much about Italy in WW2 apart from the fact that they eventually gave the fascists the boot and joined the Allies, so learning a bit about the history and specifically about Bologna, which had its own complicated situation in the 40s, was good.
I also liked De Luca, he doesn’t exactly relish certain aspects of his job at the political police, he doesn’t participate in torture and would probably prefer to just stay a detective, solving murders, much as he does here. He’s trying to solve several different crimes at once, one written off as a crime of passion, another of a rat chewed German soldier found in the water, a third of a man supposedly with connections to the partisans waging their own war on the occupying force.
There’s wheels within wheels, a spy in the department, a woman who may or may not be a killer, the lives of ten prisoners on the line, lies, half truths and the ever present threat of being arrested himself, just because.
He forms an odd sort of partnership with another officer from the passport office, who might be a member of the resistance, as well as a German lieutenant who wants to find out what the dead soldier did with a load of stolen goods, themselves taken from the people of the city.
There are refugees everywhere, living in strange places amongst the bombed out buildings, a whole community sheltering in a theatre, based on what really happened at the time.
The research that has gone into this book is fascinating, it really brings the past vividly to life, I could picture the streets and the soldiers, the air of menace and fear, the scurrying people trying to avoid notice.
De Luca is a brilliant detective, he slowly builds his cases, contending all the while with the complex and delicate political situation, with the genuine risks to his own life if someone isn’t happy with his answers.
If you like historic crime fiction, or any combination of those genres, this is definitely worth reading.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Welcome to the tour for Her Cruel Redemption by Hailey Jade! You can read the whole trilogy on Kindle Unlimited!
Her Cruel Redemption (The Dark Reflection Series Book 3)
Publication Date: February 24, 2025
Genre: Dark Romantasy
Series Tropes:
– Marriage of convenience
– Political intrigue
– Betrayal, secrets and lies
– Feminine rage
– Enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies
– HEA
“When you’ve known love to slip through gentle hands, you’ll grip it with teeth and claws.”
Now a queen in hiding, Rhiandra has taken refuge in the Yawn with Gwinellyn, tolerated but never truly welcomed by the princess’s new friends. Driven by a thirst for vengeance against the man who betrayed her, Rhiandra struggles to master a dangerous power that no one wants her to wield. But she must learn control, for Draven is hunting her.
When word of war between Brimordia and Oceatold reaches them, Gwinellyn can no longer stand idly by as her people suffer. Determined to reclaim her birthright, she needs Rhiandra’s help to retake the throne. But as they journey through a battle-scarred land, both women are haunted by secrets—Gwinellyn wonders if she can trust her stepmother, while Rhiandra hides truths that could shatter their fragile alliance. Many of those secrets centre on her tumultuous relationship with the man now calling himself king.
If they want to win this fight, blood and lives will not be the only price.
The epic finale of The Dark Reflection series tests the boundaries of love, power, and destiny. When lovers turn enemies and vengeance becomes obsession, the lines begin to blur between justice and tyranny. Loyalties will be tested and kingdoms will tremble as Rhiandra treads the path of redemption—but whose? And what will it cost them all?
Edinburgh, 1936. People are disappearing. The police are clueless. Can Finlay MacBeth track down the perpetrator before someone else goes missing?
Haunted by his recent past, Professor Finlay MacBeth returns to his home town to take up a new post at the university. Within hours, his reputation for solving the occasional murder prompts the police to ask for his help. Four men—seemingly unconnected—have vanished into thin air. MacBeth must find whatever it is that links the men before the kidnapper strikes again.
But the police aren’t the only ones interested in MacBeth’s activities, and the amateur sleuth soon discovers that finding the missing men is the least of his problems…
In this thriller series set in Edinburgh, Metropolis is book #1 in the Finlay MacBeth Thriller series.
Colin Garrow grew up in a former mining town in Northumberland. He has worked in a plethora of professions including taxi driver, antiques dealer, drama facilitator, theatre director and fish processor, and has occasionally masqueraded as a pirate.
He has published more than thirty books, and his short stories have appeared in several literary mags, most recently in Witcraft, and Flash Fiction North. Colin lives in a humble cottage in Northeast Scotland where he writes novels, stories, poems and the occasional song. He also plays several musical instruments and makes rather nice vegan cakes.
My thoughts: Finlay MacBeth returns to his home city of Edinburgh to teach literature at the university, but news of his success in helping the London police has reached there before him, and after a series of disappearances, the police ask him for his help. Aided by his young apprentice and his flirty landlady, he soon gets to work puzzling out the connections and the perpetrator.
However he is being followed by a mysterious man in a trench coat. MacBeth has secrets, secrets he must protect, but someone out there knows them. And now he will need to find out who.
Clever, atmospheric, full of literary references, particularly Sherlock Holmes, and with an interesting cast of characters as well as an intriguing and somewhat disturbing plot. I look forward to the next book.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re celebrating the release of The Sundered Stars with a tour, and we’re thrilled to announce that it’s now available!
The Sundered Stars (The Starborne Saga Book 1)
Publication Date: May 19, 2025
Genre: Sci-Fi Fantasy
Comps: Guardians of the Galaxy x Star Wars
Tropes & Story Elements:
🌌 Bounty hunter FMC with chronic pain
🗡️ Tattooed warrior MMC with healing magic & a kind heart
✨ Space empires at war
☄️ Magic AND energy weapons
🌌 A hunt for lost divine artifacts
🗡️ Ragtag found family you’ll adore
✨ Dislike to allies to slow burn lovers (it’s about the yearning 🤌)
☄️ Epic—if not chaotic—battles
🌌 She’s overly protective of her ship
🗡️ He falls first
Betrayal is just the beginning…
After a decade of hunting the Federation’s deadliest criminals, Mora “Mo” Cevi is done risking her life—but she needs a way out. So, when a lucrative military contract lands in her lap, she takes it despite her mistrust of the government.
Steadfast leader Ezra Lyre has dedicated sixteen years to the Federation Space Command, climbing the ranks to become one of the military’s most revered Vanguards. But when he’s assigned to protect a group of archaeologists on a remote dig, he’s confused. The Federation is at war, and he should be on the front lines, not babysitting scholars.
Mo has been fighting Ezra’s orders for days, until a group of traitors steal a treasured artifact, and he needs her to help him bring them to justice. With the Federation rejecting their concerns, they pursue the thieves on their own.
But as their manhunt tangles them in a web of dangerous conspiracies, Mo and Ezra find themselves racing to stop a threat that could destroy the Federation—if their enemies don’t destroy them first.
Hampstead County Police Department is embroiled in scandal after corruption at the top of the force was exposed.
Cleared of involvement and returned to active duty, Detective Sergeant Casey Wray nonetheless finds herself at a crossroads when it becomes clear that not everyone believes she’s innocent. Partnered with rookie Billy Drocker, Casey works a shocking daytime double homicide in downtown Rockport with the two victims seemingly unknown to one another.
And when a third victim is gunned down on her doorstep shortly after, it appears an abusive ex-boyfriend holds the key to the killings. With powerful figures demanding answers, Casey and Billy search for the suspect, fearing he’s on a murderous rampage. But when a key witness goes missing, and new evidence just won’t fit, the case begins to unravel.
With her career in jeopardy, Casey makes a shattering discovery that threatens to expose the true darkness at the heart of the murders … with a killer still on the loose
Rod Reynolds is the author of five novels, including the Charlie Yates series. His 2015 debut, The Dark Inside, was longlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger, and was followed by Black Night Falling (2016) and Cold Desert Sky (2018); the Guardian has called the books ‘Pitch-perfect American noir.’
A lifelong Londoner, in 2020 Orenda Books published his first novel set in his hometown, Blood Red City. The first in the Casey Wray series, Black Reed Bay, published in 2021, was shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger, with its long-awaited sequel, Shatter Creek, out in 2025.
Rod previously worked n advertising as a media buyer, and holds an MA in novel writing from City University London. Rod lives with his wife and family and spends most of his time trying to keep up with his two daughters.
My thoughts: Even though she’s the one that exposed the corruption in the police department, Casey is still being treated as though she’s tainted, and the new lieutenant is the worst for this. She’s all over Casey, threatening to demand a transfer for her, taking her off the tricky case they’ve landed, blaming her for an over keen identification of a suspect, even when the evidence didn’t fit.
Two people have been killed, there’s a missing witness, then another murder, that may or may not be connected. Something seems off about the case from the beginning. Casey and her team are putting a lot into the investigation, trying to identify the missing witness, a young woman with a small child, trying to deal with the crazy wife of one of the victims, who is throwing her weight around.
The higher ups aren’t happy, the stench of corruption lingers, there’s still an open case on the department with the feds, more heads may need to roll. Now this mess, could there be a connection?
Casey is a diligent detective, she sees things others miss and wants all the answers, she’s not happy with the decision to pin all three deaths on a dead man, it doesn’t make sense. So she keeps looking. And with her new boss threatening her badge, what has she got to lose?
Smart, tense, full of sudden twists, with a brilliant protagonist, the writing is compelling and the plot keeps you intrigued. Excellent.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Hurt/Comfort (note: it’s not primarily a romance, but has a romance as a subplot later in the book)
The ice moves for no one, the trees do not answer, and the Svall obeys no master.
Selkie warrior Aalgur Thalon was born to fight in honor of the Dread One. She’s going to win the Dusk Trials, join the elite Duskingr Air Fleet, and kiss her old life as a deckhand goodbye. But when her body betrays her, Thalon is forced to give up the biggest part of her identity.
And that might just be the least of her worries.
Thalon must learn the strength of vulnerability as she faces battles she’s never trained for: Spindel Co. getting into everything and everywhere, villains in unexpected places, and worst of all, herself.
Gethan Dick’s stunning debut is a thought-provoking post-apocalyptic novel, fizzing with energy, anger, fear and ultimately hope. Water in the Desert Fire in the Night will appeal to fans of Claire Kilroy, Megan Hunter and Cormac McCarthy.
Here is a novel about hope, wolves, companionship and resilience, hunger and gold. It’s about an underachieving millennial, a retired midwife and a charismatic Dubliner who set out from London after the end of the world to cycle to a sanctuary in the southern Alps.
It’s about packing light and choosing the right companions and trousers: what’s worth knowing, what’s worth living, and holding on to your sense of humour in moments big and small. It’s about the fact that the world ends all the time. It’s about what to do next.
GETHAN DICK was born in 1980 in Belfast and grew up in the west of Ireland. She moved to London for an MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College. She then studied at Camberwell College of Art and shifted her creative practice towards text-based and co-created visual art. She moved to Marseille, France, where she has lived since 2011, working as one half of visual-arts duo gethan&myles with her partner, Myles Quin. They have two children, and in her spare time she swims, cycles, jumps off rocks into the sea or heads for the hills.
My thoughts: this was an interesting, thought provoking, funny, and thrilling book about what to do after the end of the world. Four people who live in the same street in Streatham, South London, meet properly for the first time after a mysterious illness has wiped out much of humanity and many animals. Society has collapsed and most of what we rely on has vanished.
Our narrator, Anduz, was raised by her communist parents in Cuba, before they moved to the UK, she’s a fascinating character, fluent in Spanish and German as well as English, she’s the funny, wry observer and protagonist. Joining her are retired midwife Sarah, stoner philosopher Pressure Drop, originally from Dublin, and Adi, who doesn’t quite believe the world he knew has gone.
Sarah has friends in France, living in a place that’s self-sufficient and safe, they just have to get there first. So on bikes with panniers packed full of essentials, the foursome set off, first for the coast to find someone who will sail them to France, and then across the country to their new home.
They meet with many different people along the way, some more welcoming than others, all just trying to survive. There are high points and terrible low ones, fear, love, friendship, community, violence, wild animals and heartbreak.
Through it all we see the relationship between the characters as they travel, evolve and strengthen. They must depend on each other at times for their survival. Their disparate skills and knowledge all that keeps them alive and moving forward.
I really enjoyed this book, I think it’s one that will stay with me for a while after reading, little thoughts popping up every now and then, moments from the book, things my brain is quietly weighing up in the background drifting through. For a first time writer, it’s an accomplished and intelligent debut and deserves to go far.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
DETECTIVE JACK MACINTOSH IS BACK — BUT SO IS A KILLER WHO KNOWS NO LIMITS.
After a three-month recovery from his last brutal case, Detective Jack returns to his desk expecting a fresh start. DS Cassidy hands him a cheese toastie and a reassuring grin. ‘Everything’s under control here, sir. You’ve got nothing to worry about.’ Then his phone rings.
The body of a young woman has been found hanging from a curtain pole in a vacant office building — but it’s the sinister detail that stops Jack cold. Stuffed in her mouth is a copy of the London Underground map. White City station circled in red. He’s back.
Seventeen years ago, six young women were found strangled to death. Their bodies strung up in abandoned buildings throughout the city. In their mouths, a copy of the London tube map. They called him the Central Line Killer. He was never caught.
The clock is ticking. Jack is in a race against time to unravel the twisted clues left by a killer who’s always one step ahead — and willing to go further than ever before.
Michelle Kidd is a crime fiction author best known for the DI Jack MacIntosh and DI Nicki Hardcastle series. Michelle qualified as a legal executive in the early 1990s, spending ten years practising civil and criminal litigation. But the dream to write was never far from her mind and in 2008 she began writing the first book in what would later become the DI Jack MacIntosh series. Michelle now works full time for the NHS and lives in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. She enjoys reading, wine and cats — not necessarily in that order.
My thoughts: This is a clever read with lots of twists and turns, a serial killer has returned, where has he been since the late 90s? He’s killing young women and leaving their bodies hanging in windows of abandoned buildings along the Central line.
The case is still open from his previous spree of murders, and there’s a link to a series of assaults in Yorkshire too. Is this the same man?
Jack and his team want to stop him before any more women die, but they can’t figure out the links between the victim or why the killer is sending a retired journalist copies of the Tube map. Why involve her?
Asking the detective who investigated the last spate of deaths for his input, Jack attempts to unravel the complex web of connections between the killer, a man in Wandsworth prison, the journalist and the victims.
His friend, Rob, is also looking for someone – his sister Genete. Separated by the care system, as his biological mother dies, will he find his sister, and will she help the police find their killer?
The writing kept me hooked, with every little clue and connection the team made, as well as wondering just how much Carter can eat!
Smart, enjoyable crime fiction with interesting characters and a great plot.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 