Category: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Double Identity – Alison Morton*

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Deeply in love, a chic Parisian lifestyle before her. Now she’s facing prison for murder.

It’s three days since Mel des Pittones threw in her job as an intelligence analyst with the French special forces to marry financial trader Gérard Rohlbert. But her dream turns to nightmare when she wakes to find him dead in bed beside her.
Her horror deepens when she’s accused of his murder. Met Police detective Jeff McCracken wants to pin Gérard’s death on her. Mel must track down the real killer, even if that means being forced to work with the obnoxious McCracken.
But as she unpicks her fiancé’s past, she discovers his shocking secret life. To get to the truth, she has to go undercover—and finds almost everybody around her is hiding a second self.
Mel can trust nobody. Can she uncover the real killer before they stop her?
A stunning new thriller from the author of the award-winning Roma Nova series, fans of Daniel Silva, Stella Rimington or Chris Pavone will love Double Identity.

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Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers series featuring tough, but compassionate heroines. She blends her deep love of France with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, historical, adventure and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history.

“Grips like a vice – a writer to watch out for” says crime thriller writer Adrian Magson about Roma Nova series starter INCEPTIO. All six full-length Roma Nova thrillers have won the BRAG Medallion, the prestigious award for indie fiction. SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO were selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie Editor’s Choices. AURELIA was a finalist in the 2016 HNS Indie Award. The Bookseller selected SUCCESSIO as Editor’s Choice in its inaugural indie review.

All six full-length Roma Nova thrillers have won the BRAG Medallion, the prestigious award for indie fiction. SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO were selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie Editor’s Choices. AURELIA was a finalist in the 2016 HNS Indie Award. The Bookseller selected SUCCESSIO as Editor’s Choice in its inaugural indie review.

Now Alison continues to write thrillers and drink wine in France with her husband.

Other works

The Carina strand
INCEPTIO where New Yorker Karen Brown is thrown into a new life in mysterious Roma Nova and fights to stay alive with a killer hunting her
CARINA, a novella, Carina’s first mission abroad. What could go wrong?
PERFIDITAS, six years on, where betrayal and rebellion are in the air, threatening to topple Roma Nova and ruin Carina’s life.
SUCCESSIO, where a mistake from the past threatens to destroy the next generation.

The Aurelia strand
AURELIA, in late 1960s Roma Nova, Aurelia Mitela battles her life-long nemesis, silver smuggling and is forced to choose between her love, her child and her country
NEXUS Mid 1970s, London, where a simple favour for a friend becomes a chilling pursuit across Europe
INSURRECTIO, where Aurelia Mitela struggles against a manipulative tyrant grabbing power. But it may already be too late to save Roma Nova…
RETALIO, a classic tale of resistance and retribution – the endgame between Aurelia and Caius

Extras
ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories from AD 370 to the present

Contributions
‘A Roman Intervenes‘ in 1066 Turned Upside Down
How Galla Mitela, Roma Novan imperial councillor, attempts to stop the Norman invasion of England. One of a series of possible alternative outcomes of 1066.

‘The Mystery of Victory’ in Rubicon (HWA/Sharpe Books)
What did happen to the Altar of Victory in the dusk of the Roman Empire?

‘The Idealist’ in Betrayal (Historical Fictioneers, 2020)

Non Fiction
Military or civilians? The curious anomaly of the German Women’s Auxiliary Services during the Second World War.

The 500 Word Writing Buddy: 35 Inner Secrets for the New Writer

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My thoughts:

This was a really enjoyable, intelligent thriller with an interesting protagonist and full of intrigue and double crosses.

Initially accused of the murder of her fiancè, Mel is then recruited by a new trans-Europe investigative body, her boss believes Gèrard’s death is part of something much bigger.

There’s lots of action but also lots of sifting through tedious CCTV and paperwork, making this feel a lot more realistic than some thrillers where they just know who all the players are with no work!

Mel is an intriguing and clearly very well equipped protagonist, her background in French special forces makes her ideal for the dangerous world of espionage and she equits herself with skill and flair. I liked her no nonsense approach and her relationship with McCracken.

*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: Kid – Sebastian De Souza*

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  • Available to pre-order at many retailers including: Bookshop.org | Waterstones | Hive | Amazon
  • Indie bookseller West End Lane Books is running a special pre-order promotion, where readers can get a SIGNED & DEDICATED copy of Kid if purchased through their website

London, 2060: Following a series of deadly pandemics, devastating environmental disasters and a violent surge in cyber terrorism, the UN has made it compulsory for every tax paying citizen to login to the Perspecta Universe: a totally safe, pollution free, environmentally friendly virtual reality world.

Eighteen years later, ‘The Upload’ is complete, and billions of people all around the world exist in massive dormitory complexes surrounding the major cities, all totally unconscious of the crumbling world around them.

Apart from the renegades, the ‘Offliners’ who live in London’s silent wasteland, making the disused Piccadilly Circus Tube station their home: a fully self-sufficient, subterranean community.

When Josh ‘Kid’ Jones, a young Offliner, discovers that an antiquated piece of technology called an ‘iPhone left to him by his father seems able to communicate with the past through social media. He strikes up a friendship with Isabel Parry, a 16-year-old living in 2021, and the two begin communicating through time and space via Instagram. But what Kid and Izzy don’t realise is that by doing so they are not only changing their own fate, but also the fate of the rest of the world…

Sebastian de Souza is an actor, producer, screenwriter and musician. Sebastian can currently be seen on Channel 4, playing the leading role of Leo in the Hulu Original series The Great, opposite Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, written by Oscar-nominated and BAFTA award-winning writer Tony MacNamara (The Favourite).

Previous roles include Gareth in the BBC/Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel Normal People directed by Oscar-nominated Lenny Abrahamson (Room); in Netflix’s Medici, playing the iconic painter Sandro Botticelli; Alfonso d’Aragona in Showtime’s Emmy award-winning The Borgias, opposite Jeremy Irons and Holliday Grainger; and in the multiple BAFTA award-winning Skins, as lead Matty Levan.

Sebastian has also played the lead role of Rafa in Paramount Pictures’ Brit-Crime thriller Plastic, opposite Will Poulter and Alfie Allen, and can currently be seen on Netflix playing Edmund in Ophelia opposite Naomi Watts, Daisy Ridley and Clive Owen.

As a writer, at the age of 20 Sebastian wrote the feature film Kids In Love, which he also starred in opposite Will Poulter and Cara Delevingne. The film was produced by Ealing Studios, the oldest and most prestigious studio in the UK. He wrote and directed the short ‘Evelyne’s World’, starring Evelyne Brochu at Korda Studios in Budapest.

His debut YA novel KID: A History of the Future is published by Offliner Press in Spring 2021.

My thoughts:

This was a really clever book, the plot was so intriguing and revolves around blooming Instagram messages of all things, but in a very different way than just sending someone a random DM.

The future is bleak, utterly miserable, but maybe it can be changed in the past, which in this context is our present – 2021.

But from Kid’s perspective, this is the tipping point, from here on out things get really bad and he desperately wants to stop evil megacorp Gnosys from taking over even the tiny crumbling corner of London, Soho, that he calls home.

I was absolutely hooked. Even though we currently appear to be living through our own dystopia, I am still very keen on dystopian fiction with a touch of hope. And Kid and Izzy’s friendship via some weird technological loophole gave me that hope. This is a chunky book but it fizzes along, blending future tech with contemporary lockdown life.

This is written with confidence and talent – it’s hard to believe it’s a debut novel. The characters are realistic and engaging, the plot is smart and gripping. It’s very enjoyable and compelling.

*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: Miniskirts are Murder – Des Burkinshaw*

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Porter Norton, his friends and his sarcastic spirit guide, The Gliss, are on the trail of a young actress who went missing in Soho, London, in the Swinging Sixties. Still recovering from their last adventure in the battlefields of WW1, the gang are confronted by a transatlantic conspiracy.

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Des, 52, is a former Times journalist/BBC TV producer. Miniskirts are Murder is the second in the Porter and The Gliss Investigations series, following Dead & Talking in 2019.
Des likes to live out as much of the stories as possible and spent 3 months in the US researching this novel.

He runs a film school in London and has just been commissioned to write a limited season TV series intended for Netflix. He is also a keen musician and through work has jammed with people like Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and Jeff Lynne. He is married with 1 daughter.

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My thoughts:

This was a much better book than the blurb suggests, taking in murderous film producers, Soho gangsters, the Swinging 60s, lots of transatlantic flights, Bristol’s past as a hub for the slave trade, Nazis, the dead, legal wranglings and putting some horrible men in their place.

It’s also rather funny, in a black sort of way.

I really enjoyed it, and have downloaded its predecessor onto my kindle. The gang are all really interesting characters, and their back stories alone could run to several volumes, making it all quite intriguing.

It was a very clever book, with a genuinely dastardly, awful scheme at its heart. I felt a bit like cheering when they finally got the villain behind it all. Horrible man.

Hopefully there’s lots more adventures for this team of intrepid investigators to come.

*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: Slow Motion – Jennifer Pierce*

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Westview belongs on a postcard. Quaint, picture-perfect, a tiny New England town steeped in history and traditions.

Angela has always been everything people in Westview want her to be. She’s supposed to be happy here, but she’s starting to see all the flaws in her seemingly-perfect life and she’s afraid that everyone else will notice, too.

Now, she wants something more than small towns, something bigger than the life planned out for her by a family that has designed and destroyed reputations in Westview for generations.

Owen knows that history can be a lot of lies depending on who tells the story and he’s just discovered the truth about how Westview became a drowned town a century ago. But all he wants is to run away from his own past, from the bad decisions he’s made and the tragedies still haunting him. He’s focused on the future and proving people wrong, even though that means keeping secrets from his friends.

Long before they understood the rumours and grudges that rule their hometown, Angela and Owen were friends for one perfect summer.

Now, as they navigate their senior year of high school and Westview celebrates its Tricentennial, they are reunited, discovering truths about themselves, each other, and the ways their community has been shaped by secrets, lies, and a devastating obsession with perfection.

Jennifer Pierce is a graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, where she earned a degree in Creative Writing & Literature.

Upon graduation, she moved to England to obtain her Master’s in Publishing at Oxford Brookes University. Jennifer has worked with lifestyle websites and academic publishers in Ireland, England, and the United States.

She is currently an Editorial Project Manager at Elsevier and resides in Boston.

Slow Motion is her first novel.

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My thoughts:

This was a moving and bittersweet novel about growing up and moving on. Realising her home town and life look perfect from the outside, her growing dissatisfaction causes Angela to reevaluate things. She doesn’t want to do what everyone expects her to, doesn’t want to attend the same college her parents did, doesn’t want to spend her life in the small town she grew up in.

A chance encounter with Owen, a childhood friend, adds to her desire to make changes and as she and Owen grow closer, both start to become different people.

Love, friendship and the past collide in this beautiful, lyrical story. The language is soothing and flows well, like the water in the town’s famous reservoir. The images of blue water resonate through the novel, creating a sense of calm waiting to be shattered, like a pool as someone dives in.

A wonderful first novel from an exciting new voice, inspired by her own home town.

*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: Murder at the Mela – Leela Soma*

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Newly appointed as Glasgow’s first Asian DI, Alok Patel’s first assignment is the investigation of the brutal murder of Nadia, an Asian woman. Her body was discovered in the aftermath of the Mela festival in Kelvingrove Park. During the Mela, a small fight erupted between a BNP group and an Asian gang, but was quickly quelled by police.

When Nadia is accused of having an affair with a local man, even more questions about her death arise. Was her murder a crime of passion, or was it racially motivated? Could it be an honour killing? The deep-rooted tensions within Glasgow’s Asian communities bubble to the surface as DI Patel struggles with his parents, who disapprove of his relationship with his Muslim partner, Usma.
As DI Patel struggles to gain any help from the Asian community, another body is discovered in the West End- the body of a white man. Is this new murder fuelled by revenge? Killed by an Asian gang? As the list of murder suspects grows, DI Patel finds himself grappling with the pressures of his new rank, including the racism of at least one fellow officer.
This novel peels away the layers of Glasgow’s Asian communities, while exploring the complicated relationships between Asian people and the city.

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Leela Soma was born in Madras, India and now lives in Glasgow, Scotland. She was a Principal Teacher of Modern Studies before deciding to write full time. Her poetry and short stories have been published in a number of anthologies and publications most recently, Issue 5 of Gutter magazine. She won the Margaret Thomson Davis Trophy for Best New Writer 2007 for her then unpublished novel Twice Born which was later published on YouWriteOn. She is on the Committee of the Milngavie Book & Art Festival and the Scottish Writer’s Centre. Her writings reflect her experiences as a first generation Indo-Scot.

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My thoughts:

This was a really good crime thriller, looking at the Asian community in Glasgow, both Indian and Pakistani, and some of the issues that unite and divide them, both first and second generation Scots.

DI Patel is the first Indian-Scots inspector in Glasgow CID and he’s determined to do a good job and also encourage an uptake of minority officers. His first big case is the murder of a Muslim bank teller, wife and mother in the park late one night.

The day before had been the Mela, an open air celebration of Asian culture and food, where Nadia had lost her grandmother’s necklace. Hoping to find it, she’d returned to the park and tragically lost her life.

Patel and his team are determined to find the culprit. Sensitive to the religious and cultural issues raised by her death, they investigate the people closest to her.

Well written and engaging, this was a really enjoyable and informative book while also delivering a solid crime novel, with modern diverse Glasgow at its heart.

*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 Two Fathers – Keith Dixon*

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Read my review of The Cobalt Sky

Why does Jessica Hastings come home late several times a week?

Her husband asks Private Investigator Sam Dyke this simple question. Dyke doesn’t want the case: he doesn’t do divorce work … but Brian Hastings doesn’t want a divorce, he wants an explanation.

When Sam finds out what Jessica is doing, it opens up more questions. And when Brian Hastings goes missing, they’re questions he feels compelled to answer.

At the centre of the mystery is a man who most people in Manchester don’t know—Larry Stone. But those who do know him, know that far from being the simple florist he seems to be, he’s actually the biggest crook in town. He’s powerful, he’s dangerous, and he’s currently working a deal with a Dutchman who’s even worse.

And Sam is now caught in Stone’s sights as he works to find Brian Hastings, to solve a couple of murders, and to prevent Stone corrupting even more members of his own family than he already has.

Before the biggest deal of Stone’s crooked career goes down.

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Keith Dixon was born in Yorkshire and grew up in the Midlands. He’s been writing since he was thirteen years old in a number of different genres: thriller, espionage, science fiction, literary. Two-time winner of the Chanticleer Reviews CLUE First in Category award for Private Eye/Noir novel, he’s the author of ten books in the Sam Dyke Investigations series and two other non-crime works, as well as two collections of blog posts on the craft of writing. His new series of Paul Storey Thrillers began in 2016.

Two-time winner of the Chanticleer Reviews CLUE First in Category award for Private Eye/Noir novel, he’s the author of ten books in the Sam Dyke Investigations series and two other non-crime works, as well as two collections of blog posts on the craft of writing. His new series of Paul Storey Thrillers began in 2016.
When he’s not writing he enjoys reading, learning the guitar, watching movies and binge-inhaling great TV series. He’s currently resident in France.

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My thoughts:

Private Investigator Sam Dyke can’t catch a break, manipulated into finding out where Brian Hastings’ wife is sneaking off to, he finds himself involved in a much bigger case, and one that comes with a body count.

Darkly funny, this is an intelligent crime thriller, where no one actually seems to have a plan, least of all Dyke, and chaos thrives. A really enjoyable and clever plot involving florists, a man named Leg, and two rather strange police detectives.

*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 Devil’s Mark – WD Jackson-Smart*

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Bloody remains. Multiple victims. Ritual sacrifice?

When a blood-stained effigy of body parts is found in a central London park, D.I Daniel Graves must set about trying to discover what it could mean and find the person responsible. Symbols at the crime scene suggest the occult. Who would leave a murder victim in such a way, and why?
As Graves and partner DI Charlie Palmer begin to investigate the ritual and the act of human sacrifice, they enlist the help of Charlotte Gooding, a talented professor specialising in the subject. They hope to narrow down on a motive. Could the killer believe in the supernatural? Witchcraft even?
Then the next crime scene is found. More blood, more symbols, and out in the open. It seems the killer wants the world to pay attention, but why? How are they choosing their victims?
The pressure is on for Graves to put an end to the murders before more remains show up in brutal tableaus. One thing is for sure, this killer is out for blood and is not afraid to make it a very public display.
There’s just one problem. Grave’s past is still not behind him. Someone is eager to make sure he doesn’t forget, cannot move on. And they’re not playing games anymore. There may be an occult killer out there, but now there’s another out for blood, Daniel Grave’s blood.

Panther Publishing

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WD Jackson-Smart, 35, is a London-based horror and crime fiction author who has been writing crime and horror fiction since 2011. His novel Red Light was self published on Amazon and charted in the top twenty best selling Suspense / Thriller Kindle books on release.

His horror short story, What’s Yours Is Mine, was shortlisted for the Horror For Good anthology.

His first crime thriller Slasher, about a serial killer targeting slasher movie actresses in Hollywood, is out now, and he has launched a brand new crime series set in London and starring D.I. Graves. The Demons Beneath is the first in the series, and the sequel From Inside The House was published on July 1st 2019.

As well as his passion for horror and crime thrillers in all forms, WD Jackson-Smart also loves art and design, having studied Fine Art and Art History in Leeds and Toronto and working as a graphic designer for the majority of his career.

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My thoughts:

This was a really good, sinister thriller with the suspects hiding in plain sight at a women’s centre and using modern interest in witchcraft as a cover for some terrible crimes.

DI Graves is running against time, trying to get ahead of the bodies and prevent any more deaths. He’s also started something new with a professor he consulted for advice. Unfortunately his past and possible future are about to collide.

Clever, fast paced and engaging, the multiple viewpoints coalesce as the terror amps up and innocent lives are put at risk. The ending is explosive and takes place in driving rain, hampering the police pursuit of justice.


*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: When Angels Fear – Polly J. Mordant*

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She runs from a terrifying past, to a village with problems of its own.

Exhausted, desperately seeking sanctuary, Emma arrives at the pretty English village of Flammark.
But she cannot rest. A strange sleeping sickness stalks the village and a young woman has disappeared.
Why won’t the police investigate?

As events unfold, Emma becomes embattled yet again, compelled to fight for her life against a deadly curse linked to a past about which she had no knowledge.
She is the only one able to vanquish the evil but doing so will entail confronting an horrific and all-too-familiar enemy.

The question is, will she be strong enough?

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I’ve been writing blogs and stories off and on for years, but quite new to writing novels.
My background is in teaching – I ran my own English and Drama departments in three inner city
schools – then became the owner of a radical bookshop. Now I write full time.

I love supernatural storytelling, since it allows the inclusion of real human issues within my writing.
Let’s face it, who hasn’t been touched by evil in their lives at one time or another? “When Angels Fear”, my first novel, deals with domestic violence and how Emma – the main character – overcomes her shattered confidence to prevail over the evil which oppresses her.

It’s important to me that my characters are both real and relatable. I’m a total fan of Joss Whedon and
Stephen King and love the way they create ensembles of characters that live on in the mind long after they’ve been watched or read. Humour is important to me to – I hope readers of my fiction will get that.
The last thing I want to offer is a dry read!

I adore my garden, my animals and my husband – probably in that order, lol. Other obsessions include Scrabble. Total addict. It’s why I sleep so badly. I’m glued to the Scrabble app until the early hours!

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My thoughts:

This was an interesting supernatural thriller, an old family curse is at large and determined to claim its next victims. Emma discovers her family’s link to the village of Flammark, and to the curse, after fleeing there from a bad relationship.

Finding new friends, a fresh start and beginning to build her life again is halted by the appearance of her ex and the monstrous curse.

This was a really enjoyable read, with some less than helpful angelic individuals, a determined vicar and two very brave women caught up in something stretching back generations.

There’s also a very confused Detective Inspector with a lot of questions he can’t seem to get straight answers to. I did feel a bit sorry for him.

I can see this growing into an enjoyable and intelligent series, which I look forward to reading as the people in Flammark seem to be a good bunch and there’s plenty of scope for more strange things going on.

*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: Yearn to Fear – Chas Murrell*

ramblingmads

The greatest scientific invention of modern times…
Capable of curing humanity…
But more adept at controlling it…

Sydney scientist, Marcus Hall, is developing a radical 5G Wi-Fi receiver for CSIRO. With access to secretive Lamarr computer chips – this technology promises billions to repair Australia’s ravaged economy. On a caffeine boosted whim, he inadvertently discovers a therapeutic breakthrough in neuroscience. Or so he thinks…

His seemingly trustworthy lab partner, Henry, is an unlikely Australian spy. His official duty is keeping tabs on the project and their Lamarr chips. But the whole project is now classified top-secret.

Marcus remains blissfully unaware of the many secrets surrounding him, until he witnesses the graphic murder of a colleague. Could this event reveal Henry as a master deceiver and ruthless double agent? Will the scientific discovery be fatal for Marcus, those he loves, and the one he yearns for? Marcus faces a soul tearing dilemma: is the only means of stopping the carnage to weaponise his prototype?

Foreign intelligence agencies realise the top-secret breakthrough is priceless. One particular spy leads the race to seize the invention. A psychological master of the long game, espionage, and extortion, his only rule according to Kung Fu: Win.

Friend and foe alike confront this psychotic mastermind. All will FEAR him, but is their FEAR real? Only the next six minutes will tell…

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Chas Murrell has been a Police Officer, Senior Fire Commander, Customs Coastwatch surveillance mission co-ordinator, heavy machinery mechanic, emergency medical technician/ instructor, film extra, and General Manager of an event company. He has published academic papers on liquid hydrogen and held a worldwide provisional patent for a nonlinear mathematical calculation.

He survived Australia’s largest gas BLEVE in 1987, and has provided operational support to some of Australia’s largest natural disasters in North Queensland.
He has published academic papers on liquid hydrogen and held a worldwide provisional patent for a nonlinear mathematical calculation.

He survived Australia’s largest gas BLEVE in 1987, and has provided operational support to some of Australia’s largest natural disasters in North Queensland.
On a personal level he has suffered from relentless and debilitating migraines all his life, is father to four and pop to two. He and his artistically entrepreneurial wife live in Tasmania, which looks very much like Scotland and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

A direct descendant of Robert the Bruce (King of Scots), history runs deep in Chas’s veins, along with a profound knowledge of both World Wars. You may even come across him online playing World of Tanks.
In his Australian spy thriller books you will get to know Chas’s knowledge of technology, intrigue, crime, espionage, weaponry, banter, romance and even whisky… yet above all, there is believability and no loose ends.

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My thoughts:

This was an enjoyable sci-fi spy thriller, although I got a tiny bit confused at one point – but I blame the villain of the piece for that!

The technology Marcus invents could be revolutionary and help sufferers of many conditions or it could be deadly in the wrong hands. Now he, and his friends are in danger.

It was a fast paced, action packed adventure with scientists and spies galore, several double crosses and double agents and someone losing their mind completely while armed.

I liked Marcus and Henry – they were smart and personable, their friends and family too. I could see how their accidental discovery of something they were just messing about with could put them in trouble quite easily. I felt sorry for poor Sarah getting entangled with the ghastly Peter.

I also really liked that the series and the important element in Marcus’ invention is called Lamarr, after the brilliant scientist and actor Hedy Lamarr, a woman often overlooked and forgotten in the past.


*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: Sleep Tight – C.S. Green*

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Even in your dreams you’re not safe…

The nightmare is only just beginning…

When DC Rose Gifford is called to investigate the death of a young woman suffocated in her bed, she can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to the crime than meets the eye.

It looks like a straightforward crime scene – but the police can’t find the killer. Enter DS Moony – an eccentric older detective who runs UCIT, a secret department of the Met set up to solve supernatural crimes. Moony wants Rose to help her out – but Rose doesn’t believe in any of that.

Does she?

As the killer prepares to strike again, Rose must pick a side – before a second woman dies.

My thoughts:

This started out as a tight, tense locked room murder but then dipped into Rivers of London style territory and became even more weird and twisted and I really enjoyed it.

DC Rose Gifford is contacted by a detective working for UCIT – apparently a compliance team but actually they deal with the weirder cases – ones like this, that might involve a killer who can astral project himself into his victims’ dreams and then into their reality.

What Rose is hiding is that she can see things that she shouldn’t – like her dead mother, and she’s worried if she says anything they’ll think she’s crazy but DS Moody and her team are on the lookout for people just like her – for them seeing the dead is a good thing.

As the case continues Rose has to be brave and dig deeper – it’s just all too neat and tidy, their suspect is too convenient. I liked Rose, her tenacity and nose for the truth, however strange, serve her well in this case.

Well written, gripping and very enjoyable, this is the first in what will hopefully be a series of strange cases solved by the UCIT team with some unorthodox methods, can’t wait!

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