Category: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Lynmouth Stories – L.V. Hay*

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Beautiful places hide dark secrets …
Devon’s very own crime writer L.V Hay (The Other Twin, Do No Harm) brings forth three new short stories from her dark mind and poison pen:
– For kidnapped Meg and her young son Danny, In Plain Sight, the remote headland above Lynmouth is not a haven, but hell.
– A summer of fun for Catherine in Killing Me Softly becomes a winter of discontent … and death.
– In Hell And High Water, a last minute holiday for Naomi and baby Tommy becomes a survival situation … But that’s before the village floods.
All taking place out of season when the majority of tourists have gone home, L.V Hay uses her local knowledge to bring forth dark and claustrophic noir she has come to be known for.

A pseudonym used by Lucy V Hay

Lucy V. Hay is a novelist, script editor and blogger who helps writers via her Bang2write consultancy. She is the associate producer of Brit thrillers Deviation (2012) and Assassin (2015), both starring Danny Dyer.

Lucy is also head reader for the London Screenwriters’ Festival and has written two non-fiction books, Writing & Selling Thriller Screenplays, plus its follow-up Drama Screenplays.

She lives in Devon with her husband, three children, six cats and five African Land Snails.

My thoughts:

I’ve been to Lynmouth as my aunt and uncle live nearby, but I don’t recognise its dark side and the unpleasant people lurking in it.

These three very short stories leave a lot to the imagination – there’s no resolution to the situations the three women find themselves in, so you have to imagine what happens next, which is an interesting concept. And one I very much enjoyed.


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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Jukebox Hero – Jason Stuart*

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It’s Back to the ’80’s like never before!

Things aren’t all rainbows and cupcakes at the corner of Elm and E streets. Molly Slater just wants to forget everything she can’t remember and play heavy metal with her best friend in the garage. And maybe get a date for prom if he’s not a skeeze.

But someone in this ‘burb has been killing redheads, and Molly has the reddest hair of them all.

When a night of babysitting gone wrong gets her in the crosshairs of the local gang scene, Molly discovers fabulous secrets about herself.

The hunted becomes the hunter as she prowls the darkness that has crept into her sleepy town. But a far more sinister force, some thing from another world, has other plans in store for her…

Excerpt

“Sister Christian” 

—Night Ranger, 1983

Three standing grandfather clocks gazed down at her that morning, ten years to the day since they found her wandering alone with no memory—not even a name.

There, at the corner of Elm and E Street, Molly Slater (the name they’d given her) gripped her Fender Stratocaster like it were a weapon forged for her hands. Her fingerless gloves whispered at the strings, ready to saw down some serious noise. Jordache jacket with the sleeves ripped off at the shoulder. Purple lipstick and double-earrings. Corvette red hair. Bette Davis Eyes. 

The garage smelled like the early morning—no other sound but her Cons slapping the dewy concrete. She kicked away shorted out gizmos and various half-finished contraptions littering the cold slab floor. Hoyt, her foster dad, fancied himself the inventor. Any day now he’d invent their way into riches untold. Any day now.

Those grandfather clocks ticked at her as she plugged into the Peavey. More of Hoyt’s tinkering, thinking he could set his machines by them. Each triggered a different chain reaction every morning. One fed the dog. Another opened the garage to the day. A third…well it never worked anyway. She stared at them, as did they her in return. They held no judgment, only the looming doom of the impending hour. 

As the garage doors groaned, opening to the dim autumn light outside, she cranked up and twist-tuned her axe. She gave it a gooseneck and sliced right in. Mötley. Halen. Bowie. Duran. Whitesnake. Saxon. Maiden! Fluidly, she moved from one riff to another. She was totally, epically zoned. 

She lived in that fifteen minutes. 

Those granddads thundered their terrible news. 

The parentals shouted. 

“Shut that racket off! You’re gonna be late, I swear to every god,” the mother said. As if there were gods. Molly just shook her head, put up the guitar and grabbed her bag. “And put on a hat on that red hair. I don’t want you getting murdered by that maniac!” 

So dramatic. Like anything that interesting could ever happen. 

She always knew it would be like this.

Available on Amazon

Jason Stuart is from the ’80’s. He came through that cocaine-fueled fever dream and lived to tell this story. Find him on Twitter: @raiseaholler on IG @80sinsane and Facebook.com/raiseaholler. This is his 4th book. And, no, that’s not his real hair. 
Burnt Bridge

My thoughts:

This was a fun read, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect but between the 80s setting (and fashions), the music references, and Molly being absolutely kickass, whether fighting bad guys or rocking out hard, I really enjoyed it. Probably helps that I love 80s teen movies – especially John Hughes’ classics.

Molly’s friends, and her brother (and his friends) are a pretty cool bunch, I loved Lydia in her Goth get up driving her brother’s monster truck, that image really amused me.

Win a signed copy of the book plus two 80s movie nox sets (International) Enter by following the image link.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: I Am Here To Kill You – Chris Westlake*

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Charming. Charismatic. Beautiful.
And deadly?

The members of a local support group in a sleepy welsh town are captivated by the new arrival, Sheena Strachan. Each member of the group has a reason for attending. Some hide dark, sinister secrets, and for others it is the highlight of their week.
But what are Sheena’s motives for attending?
The group’s leader, Rose, unexpectedly stops attending meetings. She goes into hiding, and quickly becomes an outcast. And then she is arrested for her estranged husband’s murder.
Did Sheena really have no involvement in his killing?
With Sheena at the helm, the group goes from strength to strength, both in numbers and commitment. But their behaviour is changing. No story is to leave the room. They trust nobody. Men are the enemy. The residents of the previously peaceful town start turning against each other.
Was this Sheena’s plan all along?
One mystery, however, stands out more than all the others.
Who is here to kill who…?
I AM HERE TO KILL YOU is a compelling psychological thriller that explores the potential power and devastation of manipulation.

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After completing a Creative Writing course in 2010, Chris Westlake’s short story, Welsh Lessons, was awarded 1st place in the Global Short Story Award (not bad for the first writing competition he had entered). He followed this up with 1st place in the Stringybark Erotic Fiction Award and 2nd place in the HASSRA Literary Award.

Chris has written three novels. 30 DAYS IN JUNE is his first crime thriller. He is currently writing his second thriller, on schedule to be completed in 2020. He is determined to write many, many more – his main regret is that he didn’t start writing earlier.
Chris considers himself to be a developing author. He is always looking to improve, to make his next novel even better than the last. He is continuously experimenting with different styles, different genres.
You can contact Chris. He would love to hear from you.

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My thoughts:

This was a twisted trip of a book, set in a small Welsh village where the women meet up weekly to talk through their issues and find friendship. A newcomer seeks to tip the balance and change how things are done.

Sheena has a nasty plan and starts to enact, driving wedges between people – forcing women to carry out violent crimes, mostly against the men in their lives. None of the characters are particularly likeable, they all have nasty sides it seems and violence lurks under the skin. There’s a real twist at the end I just didn’t see coming.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: A Black Widow’s Web – Phil Martin*

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Estate agent Lawrence Hennessey has his eyes firmly on the prize, a future away from the mother of his daughter and a multi-million-pound property deal to fund his new life.

His dreams are shot to pieces though when he is arrested for the most heinous sexual crimes against his seemingly embittered ex, Summer, and their seven-year-old daughter, April.
He claims his absolute innocence, but the evidence is so strong that his world quickly turns against him. Having breached his bail conditions, he is sent to prison awaiting a trial that, with his life now in constant danger, may never come. Only one person stands with him; his sister Grace.
Desperate to break the allegiance between mother and daughter, Grace vows to leave no stone unturned in her quest to clear her brother’s name before it is too late.
She unearths a web of vicious deceit in Summer’s turbulent past but nothing to prove her brother’s innocence. She is convinced though that if she keeps digging she’ll unearth something much bigger about her brother’s accuser to weaken the validity of her claims.
But as the evidence against Lawrence gets more sinister, his alcoholism, blackouts and activity on the Dark Web paint a much different story to the one her brother is telling.

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Phil Martin has published seven ebooks in the crime genre. He is a journalist in the global casino and sports betting sectors.

“I grew up in the creative cauldron of nineties Manchester when Madchester rocked the charts and the Hacienda ruled clubland. The city has shaped me as a writer. I write thrillers and crime stories based on the fine folk of Manchester and Salford and sell them online as ebooks.

The Amy Walker series is an international thriller taking in Manchester, London, Morocco, Barcelona, Monza, Zurich, Lake Como, Moscow, Chechnya, Buenos Aires, Georgia… and Milton Keynes.

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My thoughts:

Lawrence is accused of some of the most heinous crimes around and the evidence seems pretty solid, if incredibly grim but his resourceful, brilliant and determined sister Grace knows he could not have done any of the things criminal genius and probable psychopath Summer has accused him of.

Grace has an investigative mind but Summer is a monster, and the two of them have to try to outwit each other. What Grace goes through to try to clear Lawrence’s name, and what he suffers after the arrest are reprehensible and awful. It’s hard to imagine how someone could be so cold and calculating.

Truly clever and utterly gripping, this is a suspenseful and intelligent thriller that left me cold – after all anyone could be like Summer, couldn’t they?

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Skelton’s Guide to Suitcase Murders – David Stafford*

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Read my review of Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons

November 1929. A woman’s dismembered corpse is discovered in a suitcase and police quickly identify her husband, Doctor Ibrahim Aziz, as their chief suspect. Incriminating evidence is discovered at his home and his wife was rumoured to be having an affair, giving him clear motive.

With his reputation for winning hopeless cases, barrister Arthur Skelton is asked to represent the accused. Though Aziz’s guilt does not seem to be in doubt, a question of diplomacy and misplaced larvae soon lead Skelton to suspect there may be more to the victim’s death.

Aided by his loyal clerk Edgar, Skelton soon finds himself seeking justice for both victim and defendant. But can he uncover the truth before an innocent man is put on trial and condemned to the gallows?

My thoughts:

I love these books, they are smart, intelligent reads and this one might be even better than the first.

There’s more delightful letters from Skelton’s eccentric cousins, John and Norah, who I adored in the first book, there’s more Mina, Skelton’s excellent wife and lots more Edgar, his brilliant clerk. His team are a bit odd but they always solve the case, and Rose, who has now joined Duncan’s solicitors firm, is a fabulous detective, and is about to fall in love.

Skelton criss crosses the country representing the innocent and the not-so, while also attempting to unravel the truth about the body in the suitcase, if it is Mrs Aziz, who killed her? And if it isn’t, who is it?

There are funny bits and serious bits, some very modern concerns about prejudice, showing things like racism have always been with us, and Skelton knows it could cause Dr Aziz, a man he is sure is innocent, to lose his life anyway if put in front of a jury. How sad that a book set in 1929 shows such relevance to 2021.

But Skelton, ably assisted by his crack team of oddballs, will prevail, and help his dad find a retirement activity or two to fill his time, cheer Mina on with her new hobby, support Edgar through his own turmoil, solve a series of thefts and be back in time for the dinner Mrs Bartram has put on.

Simply put, I thought this was another marvellous adventure for Skelton and Co and cannot wait for the next one.


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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Heir to the Darkmage – Lisa Cassidy*

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Ambition drives her. Danger thrills her. But magic always has a price.
Twenty years have passed since the Darkmage was destroyed and the war between mages ended.

For Lira Astor, the single living heir to the Darkmage, escaping her name is impossible.

People still fear what is long dead, and they see in her the rise of another dangerous mage with deadly ambition. Desperate to claw her way free of her grandfather’s shadow, to make her own name amongst the world of mages, Lira is willing to do whatever it takes. Even if that means
joining the secretive rebel group looking to restore his vision.

Survival is a lesson Lira learned early and often, yet when she is abducted and held prisoner in a deadly game of cat and mouse, she finds herself facing a nemesis she may be no match for.

Forced to band together with unlikely allies who challenge everything she believes about what it means to be a mage, she will have to rely on every bit of ruthlessness she possesses.
Because the war may only just be beginning…

…and Lira Astor intends to come out on top.

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Lisa is a self-published fantasy author by day and book nerd in every other spare moment she has.

She’s a self-confessed coffee snob (don’t try coming near her with any of that instant coffee rubbish)
but is willing to accept all other hot drink aficionados, even tea drinkers.

She lives in the Australia’s capital city, Canberra, and like all Australians, is pretty much in constant danger from highly poisonous spiders, crocodiles, sharks, and drop bears, to name a few. As you can see, she is also pro-Oxford comma.

A 2019 SPFBO finalist, Lisa has published the YA fantasy series The Mage Chronicles, and is currently
working on her latest epic fantasy series A Tale of Stars and Shadow. She has also partnered up with One Girl, an Australian charity working to build a world where all girls have access to quality education. A world where all girls — no matter where they are born or how much money they have — enjoy the same rights and opportunities as boys. A percentage of all Lisa’s royalties go to One Girl.

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My thoughts:

A lot happens in this quite short novel, we meet Lira, the granddaughter of the notorious Darkmage, a man she’s never even met, but whose reputation causes her fellow students to cower away from her.

Her story, the death of her mother, a childhood spent first in an orphanage, then on the streets, joining a criminal gang just to stay alive, before becoming a student and learning how to control her magic.

When she and several other students are kidnapped, supposedly her supporters of her grandfather, she must escape and save her newfound friends, without looking too suspicious – she is a spy after all.

Fast paced, intelligent and darkly comic, this is a smart and engaging YA fantasy novel, with more to follow as Lira works to bring down the enemies of the state, without revealing her beliefs or becoming too much like her grandfather.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Witness – Terry Lynn Thomas*

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HE SAW WHAT YOU DID…

Teenager Ebby Engstrom witnesses a murder – and then passes out. The next morning, he wakes in his bed with no memory of how he got there, and is told his mother was stabbed to death the previous night.

Thirty years later, the case has gone cold, with numerous suspects but no new clues – until Ebby starts having uncontrollable flashbacks to that night. As repressed memories surface, he questions his own role in the murder, leading to a dramatic confession and Ebby’s arrest.

Family friend and attorney Olivia Sinclair is convinced of Ebby’s innocence, but the only way to clear his name is to find the real killer herself. And it seems almost everyone connected to the Engstrom family had a reason to want Cynthia dead…

My thoughts:

I hadn’t read the first Olivia Sinclair book but this stands up perfectly well without needing to.

Ebby Engstrom is starting to remember flashes of the night his mother was brutally murdered, and he’s worried he might have been the killer. Can Olivia prove him wrong?

The unravelling of the events that happened 30 years ago is cleverly done, pretty much everyone’s a suspect and as the secrets come out it gets more tangled and the finger could be pointed at a growing number of family members.

While dealing with this case, Olivia also gets involved with her friend and colleague Brian’s suspicious new girlfriend – is she who she says she is?

Both cases are convoluted but hold the reader’s interest nicely, and don’t distract from each other. The supporting cast of characters is interesting too – Ebby’s brother is awful, but his aunts and friends seem lovely.

I really enjoyed the way suspense is built with both cases and how Olivia cuts quickly through all the legal shenanigans and gets to the truth. The shocking revelations about the Engstroms is handled very nicely. An excellent and enjoyable legal thriller. I aim to go back to book one in the series to fill out the back story a bit more before book three is released.

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

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Blog Tour: The Dig Street Festival – Chris Walsh*

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It’s 2006 in the fictional East London borough of Leytonstow. The UK’s pub smoking ban is about to happen, and thirty-eight-and-a-half year old John Torrington, a mopper and trolley collector at his local DIY store, is secretly in love with the stylish, beautiful, and middle-class barmaid Lois. John and his hapless, strange, and down-on-their-luck friends, Gabby Longfeather and Glyn Hopkins, live in Clements Markham House – a semi-derelict Edwardian villa divided into unsanitary bedsits, and (mis)managed by the shrewd, Dickensian business man, Mr Kapoor.

When Mr Kapoor, in a bizarre and criminal fluke, makes him fabulously credit-worthy, John surprises his friends and colleagues alike by announcing he will organise an amazing ‘urban love revolution’, aka the Dig Street Festival. But when he discovers dark secrets at the DIY store, and Mr Kapoor’s ruthless gentrification scheme for Clements Markham House, John’s plans take several unexpected and worrisome turns…Funny, original, philosophical, and unexpectedly moving, The Dig Street Festival takes a long, hard, satirical look at modern British life, and asks of us all, how can we be better people?

Louise Walters Books Amazon UK

Foyles Waterstones Book Depository

Kobo

Chris Walsh grew up in Middlesbrough and now lives in Kent. He writes both fiction and non-fiction, an example of which you can read here in May 2020’s Moxy Magazine.

Chris’s debut novel The Dig Street Festival will be published by Louise Walters Books in April 2021.

Chris’s favourite novel is Stoner by John Williams and his favourite novella is The Death of Ivan Illyich by Leo Tolstoy. His top poet is Philip Larkin. He is also a fan of Spike Milligan.

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My thoughts:

This is a surreal, and at times, very funny book. John is one of life’s hapless few, nothing he does seems to matter and he struggles with feelings of anger and hopelessness.

Deciding to throw caution to the wind and create his own world, all paid for by the mysteriously accumulating pile of credit cards that keep coming through his door, John and his equally strange friends, Glyn and Gabby, cause anarchy in the East London fictional borough of Leytonstow.

I kept laughing out loud, there are some brilliantly funny moments and a huge sense of bathos as chaos runs riot and John’s life unravels all around him.

It’s not an easy book to categorise – part fantasy, almost dystopian in the way the lies and casual darkness appear as John looks closer at his small part of the world.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Summer Secrets at Streamside Cottage – Samantha Tonge*

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A new start can come from the most unexpected places…

It’s been years since Lizzie Lockhart spoke to her parents. But she was safe in the knowledge she knew everything about them. Once upon a time, they were as close as could be. Until they weren’t.

After receiving the earth-shattering news of their passing, Lizzie decides it’s time to unearth some family secrets and find out just who her parents really were… starting
with Streamside Cottage.

A cottage Lizzie never knew existed, in a place she’s never
heard of: the beautiful English village of Leafton.

Leaving behind London, and the tattoo parlour she called home, Lizzie finds herself moving to the countryside. Faced with a tight-lipped community, who have secrets of
their own, Lizzie is at a loss for what to do, until her rather handsome neighbour, Ben, steps in to help.
As Lizzie finally begins to piece together the puzzle of her family history she realises she has to confront the truth of the past in order to face her future.

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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. When not writing she passes her days cycling, baking and drinking coffee. Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories
to women’s magazines. She is represented by the Darley Anderson literary agency.

In 2013, she landed a publishing deal for romantic comedy fiction with HQDigital at HarperCollins and in 2014, her bestselling debut, Doubting Abbey, was shortlisted for
the Festival of Romantic Fiction best Ebook award. 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 2018 Forgive Me Not heralded a new direction into
darker women’s fiction with publisher Canelo. In 2019 she was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association romantic comedy award

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My thoughts:

Reeling from the deaths of her estranged parents, Lizzie rents the cottage left to her aunt and goes looking for the mystery of why her parents never wanted to return to Leafton.

As she looks into the past, her future is still undecided, will she return to London, the tattoo studio where she works and the flat she shares with her boss, or will she find out things that make her want to stay in Leafton?

This was a clever and enjoyable story about family, the past and building a new life for yourself. Lizzie is an interesting and engaging protagonist, her memories of her early childhood are hazy but the things she needs to know are buried in there somewhere.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Kate in Waiting – Becky Albertelli*

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From bestselling YA rom-com queen Becky Albertalli (author of Love, Simon) comes a new novel about daring to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight in love, life and theatre.
[PRINCIPAL CAST LIST]
Kate Garfield
Anderson Walker
Best friends, and contrary to popular belief, not co-dependent.

Examples:Carpooling to and from theatre rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient.
Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment.
Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway.
But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script.
Enter Stage Left: Matt OlssonHe is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson.
Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship…

Becky Albertalli is the author of the acclaimed novels Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (film: Love, Simon), The Upside of Unrequited, and Leah on the Offbeat. She is also the co-author of What If It’s Us with Adam Silvera. A former clinical psychologist who specialized in working with children and teens, Becky lives with her family in Atlanta. You can visit her online at

She is also the co-author of What If It’s Us with Adam Silvera. A former clinical psychologist who specialized in working with children and teens, Becky lives with her family in Atlanta. You can visit her online at www.beckyalbertalli.com.

My thoughts:

I knew I would enjoy this for two reasons – one, it’s about theatre kids and two, it’s by Becky Albertalli.

A really fun and totally enjoyable read about crushes, friendship, first love and putting on a show. Kate and Andy’s bond is strong and genuine and those are the ones you hold onto. It’s also very funny.


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