Category: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

BBNYA Blog Tour: Secrets of Peace – T.A. Hernandez

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 About BBNYA

 BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.

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 Open your eyes. See the truth. Make a choice.

Nearly 30 years ago, the PEACE Project rose from the ruins of a global war to take power over a new America. Providing stability in exchange for absolute authority, the Project controls every aspect of citizens’ lives through each of its five units:

Protect

Enforce

Advance

Control

Eliminate

Raised in the Project since infancy, eighteen-year-old Zira has been trained as an assassin under the stern guidance of unit E-2’s Chairman Ryku. After she makes a careless mistake on an assignment, the chairman partners her with Jared, the best operative in her unit. Their partnership transforms into friendship as they work together and learn to rely on each other. But when misinformation causes a solo mission to backfire, Zira’s deepest loyalties and strongest relationships are tested in a place where even a hint of doubt can be perceived as treason.

The life she knows is falling apart, and nothing will ever look the same again.

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Author Bio

T. A. Hernandez is a science fiction and fantasy author and long-time fan of speculative fiction. She grew up with her nose habitually stuck in a book and her mind constantly wandering to make-believe worlds full of magic and adventure. She began writing after reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings many years ago and is now happily engaged in an exciting and lifelong quest to tell captivating stories.

She is a clinical social worker and the proud mother of two girls. She also enjoys drawing, reading, graphic design, playing video games, and making happy memories with her family and friends.

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 My thoughts: Zira has been raised inside the PEACE Project, she knows no different, trained to assassinate the Project’s enemies for her Chairman – she’s one of the youngest so far. But after an accident on a job, she begins to see things from a different perspective. One that makes her ask questions.

It puts her relationship with Jared under strain and with the Chairman, who doesn’t trust her all of a sudden. Maybe the Project isn’t the force for good they’ve all been raised to believe.

The first in a protected series, this is a smart Dystopian read with a controlling power that might be taking it too far and a young woman who needs to find her own way in a world where all she believes might be false.

 *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: Prisoner of Acre – Murray Bailey

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Ash Carter returns to Israel on what should be a straightforward mission except for one small detail. Why did Alfred Duffy go AWOL from the British Army, go to Israel and then hand himself in at Acre Prison.

The mystery deepens when Carter finds that Duffy escaped just as he arrived.

The hunt begins but as the mystery unravels towards an exciting climax, it becomes unclear who is the hunter and who the hunted.

My thoughts: Ash Carter is dispatched to Israel, the newly formed country in former British Mandated Palestine, a country still riven with internal struggles.

He’s looking for a British soldier who’s gone AWOL, and been imprisoned in the old fortress prison in Acre, after handing himself in. But why did he go to Israel, only to hand himself in and where has he gone now? When Carter and Co turn up to take him into custody, he’s gone. And he’s escaped with another prisoner.

As Carter pursues him across the fledgling state, he uncovers a shocking and terrible series of deaths and an evil that goes right to the heart of the country, crossing all religious and ethnic lines.

I’m a big fan of Murray Bailey’s historical crime books, and of Ash Carter, so I was really excited to read this, and I wasn’t disappointed. Ash races back and forth across the desert, sometimes with others, often alone, despite having no real authority now the British have left, which brings him under suspicion at times. There’s a relentless pace as he’s up against it and the pressure of solving the case and finding Duffy is not exactly easy.

Ash of course wants to do the right thing, even if it means ignoring his orders, and luckily he’s the only one who knows exactly what’s happened. Which keeps the victims safe and Ash from getting locked up himself. Bring on his next high octane adventure!

*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: Point Zero – Seicho Matsumoto, translated by Louise Heal Kawai

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Tokyo, 1958. Teiko marries Kenichi Uhara, ten years her senior, an advertising man recommended by a go-between. After a four-day honeymoon, Kenichi vanishes. Teiko travels to the coastal and
snow-bound city of Kanazawa, where Kenichi was last seen, to investigate his disappearance. When Kenichi’s brother comes to help her, he is murdered, poisoned in his hotel room.

Soon, Teiko discovers that her husband’s disappearance is tied up with the so-called “pan-pan girls”, women who worked as prostitutes catering to American GIs after the war. Now, ten years later, as the country is recovering, there are those who are willing to take extreme measures to hide that past.

A triumph by Seicho Matsumoto, the master of Japanese mystery writing. A beautifully written crime novel that takes on the taboo of Japanese prostitution catering to GIs during the American post-war occupation.

First published in Japanese in 1959, the novel abandoned the template of closed-room mysteries so popular in pre-war Japan to embrace social criticism.

In a radical departure from tradition, the novel has a female protagonist, a housewife seeking to find her missing husband. Respectful of the proprieties expected of a Japanese woman of the time, but stubborn, intrepid and a naturally intuitive sleuth.

Seicho Matsumoto (1909-1982) was Japan’s most successful mystery writer. His first detective novel, Points and Lines, sold over a million copies in Japan. Vessel of Sand, published in English as Inspector Imanishi Investigates in 1989, sold over four million copies and became a movie box-office hit.

Louise Heal Kawai is a translator of Japanese literature based in Yokohama. She previously translated Seicho Matsumoto’s A Quiet Place for Bitter
Lemon Press. She is the translator of other works in the mystery genre, including
Seishi Yokomizo’s The Honjin Murders and Death on Gokumon Island, and
Seventeen and The North Light by Hideo Yokoyama.

My thoughts: this was an excellent read, translated from the original Japanese, it brings to life the 1950s post-war country, recovering its identity and economy after being occupied by the US.

Teiko agrees to a marriage arranged through a match maker, but after her husband goes missing she realises she knows next to nothing about the man she married. As she investigates his disappearance, and his brother also goes missing, she uncovers a terrible truth that dates back to the war and someone who will go to any lengths to keep it hidden.

Teiko is doing the work the police seem to be unbothered by, they don’t put much effort into the search for Kenichi, so she and Kenichi’s colleague Honda are the ones doing all the digging. When Honda becomes another victim of the killer, Teiko starts to put the pieces together – and solves the case.

Clever and with enough twists to keep people hooked, this is exceptional crime writing that lingers. Japanese crime fiction had its own golden age, and we’re finally seeing some excellent translations, like this one, reach the English readership.

*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: Deadly Animals – Marie Tierney

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Thirteen-year-old Ava Bonney is unlike other children. Exceptionally bright, she has an obsessive interest in the rate at which dead animals decompose. The motorway she lives by regularly offers up roadkill, and in the dead of night Ava likes nothing better than to pull her latest discovery into her roadside den so she can study it. But one day when she arrives she stumbles across the body of fellow pupil, Mickey Grant. DI Seth Delahaye is given the case, one of the most challenging of his career. But Ava is not the sort of person who will step back and let someone else take charge when children like her are dying. She uses all her unusual skills and deep local knowledge to try to track down the serial killer in her community.

My thoughts: this was so good, dark and twisted and with an incredible protagonist in teenager Ava, a young woman with a passion for science and pathology in particular. She’s checking on one of her research projects late at night when she finds the body of a schoolmate, a bully, but someone she knows. He’s been brutally murdered, and Ava decides to investigate.

I loved Ava’s relationship with DI Delahaye, despite her being so young the detective trusts her instincts and her understanding of the area and other teenagers. Ava is incredibly smart and has read books on so many subjects and seems to have memorised all the things she’s learnt. Her mum doesn’t see how brilliant she is, in fact most of the adults around her don’t, just Delahaye, her dad and her best friend John’s Grandpa, who keeps an eye on their investigation.

I hope there’s a sequel with a grown up Ava putting all her scientific knowledge to use solving crimes for the police, either as a detective or as a CSI.

*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 in the Library – Anita Davison

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A body in a hospital isn’t so unusual. Unless they’ve been murdered!

1916, London: Keen to support the war effort, bookshop manager and sometime amateur sleuth Hannah Merrill has taken a volunteer role in the library of the nearby military hospital. But arriving at
the hospital one cold winter’s morning, she is horrified to find the body of a dead soldier in the library.
What’s more, a beautiful young nurse confides in Hannah that she thinks she’s being followed, and then she abruptly disappears. Hannah can’t shake the suspicion that the two cases are connected,
but she can’t solve the case alone. She’ll once again need to call upon her delightful, demanding, only-occasionally devious aunt, Violet. The two women know they must find the missing nurse before it’s too late… but they don’t realise they’re now both in the killer’s sights.

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Anita Davison is the author of the successful Flora Maguire historical mystery series. Previously published by Aria, she is writing a new cosy mystery series for Boldwood, the first title of which,
Murder in the Bookshop will be published in August 2023.

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My thoughts: when Hannah opens up the hospital library where she volunteers, she doesn’t expect to find a body there, but she does. One of the patients, not a popular man, so there’s plenty of suspects to be had. And then a potential witness, one of the nurses, vanishes. What is going on?

Hannah doesn’t need much of an excuse to do some investigating, Aidan doesn’t think it’s connected and to begin with he doesn’t believe the nurse, Alice, is really missing. So much for Scotland Yard! So Hannah, and Aunt Violet, look into the young woman themselves. She thought someone was following her, and everyone they talk to, her landlady, her aunt, her friend, seem to be hiding things. Anyone of them could have been involved.

Unravelling the murdered soldier’s somewhat sordid tale does give a few clues to the missing heiress too, she might have seen something that could be dangerous. But threats come from another angle as Hannah, Aunt Violet, Aidan and Darius visit Lowestoft, the most easterly town in England, to get some answers.

Set amid the worries of WW1, and threats in the North Sea, this is a smart, entertaining and enjoyable crime read. 

*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 Lover’s Leap – Catherine Coles

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Westleham Village 1948

As Valentine’s Day rolls around, Martha Miller finds herself unusually melancholy at the state of her own love life. With husband Stan still missing and with her growing feelings for Vicar Luke still
shrouded in secrecy, there’s only one place Martha can go – famous local beauty spot, Lovers’ Leap.
Legend has it that those with a broken heart throw themselves off the bridge that spans the river, but Martha is certainly not about to do such a thing! But it looks like someone else has had other ideas…. Because there in the river, Martha finds a body. But is this misadventure, a moment of lovesick madness, or is foul play afoot? Martha knows one thing…the villagers of Westleham have another crime to solve! Let the investigation commence! Find out if Martha and Luke can catch the killer in a brand new Martha Miller mystery from bestselling author Catherine Coles.

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Catherine Coles writes bestselling cosy mysteries set in the English countryside. Her extremely popular Tommy & Evelyn Christie series is based in North Yorkshire in the 1920’s and Catherine herself lives in Hull with her family and two spoiled dogs.

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My thoughts: in the middle of WW2, in a small English village, a young man is found dead in the water beneath the Lovers’ Leap, where legend has it, two young people, forbidden to be together, leapt to their deaths. Is this history repeating or is it something else entirely?

Out walking her dog, Martha finds the body, and after getting covered in mud too. It looks like a tragic accident but the autopsy reveals it’s murder. Could it be related to a strange incident in the village shop a few days before?

With the vicar, Luke, helping out, along with her gossipy friends, Martha thinks she can solve this one for Ben, the local Detective Inspector, and her future brother-in-law, if Ruby says yes.

Martha’s own feelings for Luke are threatening to boil over, if only missing husband Stan would either be found dead or alive and willing to agree to a divorce, then they could all move on, but no such luck. So for now the two of them will tiptoe around each other and focus on murder and not romance.

Uncovering a scam taking place right there in the village, one that might be connected to two deaths now, and involve Luke’s estranged father, a newcomer to the village, will hopefully provide distraction.

There’s lots going on and I couldn’t see how it was all connected until Martha laid it all out. She’d spotted the killer and quickly linked all the clues together, no wonder Luke finds her so fascinating, she’s rather brilliant. Setting up a trap for the murderer to walk into and getting it all very neatly resolved for the police to be able to charge the right people. Unfortunately not everyone ends up happy, but that’s life I suppose. A charming, clever and enjoyable read.

*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: Indefensible – James Woolf

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A lawyer gets uncomfortably close to a former client, crossing a dangerous line, in this edgy debut thriller.

Daniel, a criminal barrister, is working all hours on a sensational trial at the Old Bailey, defending a client he believes is wrongfully accused of a grisly murder. Determined to keep Rod out of prison, he begins to neglect his wife—and soon afterwards suspects she’s having an affair.

After Daniel triumphs in court, the bond he’s formed with his newly acquitted client grows even stronger. Then Rod offers Daniel a favour that he really shouldn’t accept . . .

When things take a catastrophic turn, Daniel realises his conduct has veered from unprofessional to indefensible—and that he’s trapped in a nightmare of his own making . . .

My thoughts: this was a really interesting, clever and gripping legal thriller. Daniel is a bit too uptight and tense, you don’t ever imagine him being someone who might bend or break the rules, even the unwritten ones.

He finally lands a big case, defending a suspected killer, at the Old Bailey, he’s also recently got engaged to Micaela, a journalist. Riding high on his successes, he makes a few mistakes, that will in time, prove to be very costly.

Becoming friends with a client, even an ex-client is a big no no, but Daniel does it anyway, Rod is very good at winning people over. While on a weekend in Barcelona, Rod makes Daniel an offer he swears he refused – Micaela is having an affair, has in fact left him, and Rod offers to sort things out.

When Daniel sobers up, and repeatedly after, insists he didn’t agree to Rod’s offer, he never would. But this now threatens to destroy everything, his career, his relationships. So he comes clean and starts trying to put a stop to Rod’s threats and the fear Daniel now feels. How did he end up here?

There’s twists and turns and a few genuinely nasty moments, a lot of the characters seem to operate in a morally grey area – even Daniel for all his seemingly black and white morality. It’s quite hard to trust any of them as protagonists, between all the betrayal and lies. You’d think someone who understood the law so well would be able to predict circumstances but no, Daniel really doesn’t seem to be able to read people or events very well.

The ending is a shock, and I wonder whether any of them can ever come back from this, credibility completely gone, and be able to rebuild their lives.

*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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#TeamLyons Blog Tour: Critical Incidents – Lucie Whitehouse

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A missing girl. A murdered friend. No one left to trust.

‘Seriously good suspense … trust me, you’ll need to know what happens’ Lee Child

‘Superb characterisation, humour and galloping plot’ Susie Steiner

‘This is that deeply satisfying thing, a strong, deft thriller with real depth’ Tana French

Detective Inspector Robin Lyons is going home.

Dismissed for misconduct from the Met’s Homicide Command after refusing to follow orders, unable to pay her bills (or hold down a relationship), she has no choice but to take her teenage daughter Lennie and move back in with her parents in the city she thought she’d escaped forever at 18.

In Birmingham, sharing a bunkbed with Lennie and navigating the stormy relationship with her mother, Robin works as a benefit-fraud investigator – to the delight of those wanting to see her cut down to size.

Only Corinna, her best friend of 20 years seems happy to have Robin back. But when Corinna’s family is engulfed by violence and her missing husband becomes a murder suspect, Robin can’t bear to stand idly by as the police investigate. Can she trust them to find the truth of what happened? And why does it bother her so much that the officer in charge is her ex-boyfriend – the love of her teenage life?

As Robin launches her own unofficial investigation and realises there may be a link to the disappearance of a young woman, she starts to wonder how well we can really know the people we love – and how far any of us will go to protect our own.

About the author

Lucie Whitehouse was born in Gloucestershire in 1975, read Classics at Oxford University and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of The House at Midnight, the TV Book Club pick The Bed I Made and Before We Met, which was a Richard & Judy Summer Book Club pick and an ITV3 Crime Thriller selection.

@LWhitehouse5

My thoughts: Robin is a senior detective at the Met police and makes a career crashing mistake, then she returns home to Birmingham, with teen daughter Lennie in tow. Sleeping in her childhood bunk bed, with Lennie up top, trying to get to grips with her situation.

Rob goes to work for a family friend, PI Maggie, who as well as cheating husbands, helps out women in trouble. They’re on the case of a young woman who’s gone missing.

Then Rob’s best friend Corinna is killed, her house set on fire and her young son seriously injured. Corinna’s husband Josh is missing, did he do this or were they involved in something more dangerous and is there a link between the missing girl and Corinna?

Rob can’t help but dig into Corinna’s death, despite being told by the police, in the form of ex-boyfriend Samir, to stay away. It turns out she didn’t know her friend as well as she thought.

Gripping from the start, Rob’s a great protagonist, she’s smart with great instincts if a bit too impulsive. She’s good at joining the dots and digging out the smallest clues and following them, even if they don’t lead anywhere good.

This case is incredibly personal to her, involving her closest friends but ones who really have too many secrets. And despite her less than official status she’s faster and more determined than the police.

This book really does set the series up, you get to meet Rob, her family, find out her story as well as learn about what she’s done to end up in her parents’ house in her mid thirties.

*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: The Boot Camp Murders – Matthew Ross

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An an ambitious high-achieving young woman, unfairly bullied from her job, her career in ruins; her brother, a charming slacker getting by on good looks and charisma; an out-of-control unstoppable terrier called Winkle, and a popular social media star bludgeoned to death – who said pet-sitting would be a walk in the park?

Monica was on the corporate ladder striving to be a high-flying executive, but when the misogynistic bullying from the privileged pale stale males becomes too much she snaps and quits on the spot. At her lowest ebb, a chance remark from her charming slacker brother Paddy identifies a business opportunity – she becomes a pet-sitter!

She’s enthusiastic, she loves animals, and she’s got the management it’s bound to be a success, isn’t it? Monica quickly finds dealing with her team of misfits as easy as herding kittens.

Monica and Paddy soon very publicly clash with a much beloved personal trainer that has made their local park his own personal kingdom. However, after he is brutally murdered with his own dumbbell, legions of his online devotees are quick to pronounce Monica guilty in the court of social media opinion.

When the demands for retribution threaten to overspill into Monica’s real life, she knows she must find the killer before the lynch mob comes for her.

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Matthew Ross is the author of 3 published novels to date. His first novel, “Death Of A Painter” was selected by The Sun newspaper as one of its picks of the week. Matthew wrote his first novel after undertaking the prestigious Faber Academy 6-month novel writing course under the tutelage of Richard Skinner.

Prior to that Matthew wrote material for a leading British stand-up comedian for their live performances, corporate bookings, national theatre tours and their appearances on tv and radio shows such as “Have I Got News For You”, “Mock The Week” and “The News Quiz”.

In addition, he was commissioned to provide material and sketches for several comedy series that were broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Matthew lives in Kent with his family and pets.

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My thoughts: I’ve read a couple of this author’s other books, so was keen to read his new crime fiction, and it was really enjoyable.

From the moment Monica loses it as she leaves her terrible job, to the gathering of the dog walkers and the utter chaos of the murder in the park investigation with a total idiot in charge of the case (I feel so sorry for Nicci, his DC, who should really be in charge), it’s just a tremendously fun and entertaining read, with enough gripping whodunnit? energy to keep me hooked. Can’t wait for the next one!

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*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: A Deadly Promise- Rachel Amphlett

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When a woman’s mutilated body is discovered in a remote countryside property, Detective Kay Hunter is faced with one of the most challenging investigations of her career.

There is nothing in the victim’s past to explain her brutal slaying and no clues as to how her killer got away.

Then a second body is found in a run-down storage facility, the man’s remains covered in horrific injuries that bear the hallmarks of prolonged torture.

With two families demanding justice, Kay is under pressure from her superiors to deliver a swift result – but there is no evidence to connect the two victims.

When a third victim is found just a short distance from her own incident room, Kay realises that the killer has no intention of stopping – and they already have their next victim in their sights…

A Deadly Promise is the 13th book in the Detective Kay Hunter series by USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett, and perfect for readers who love fast-paced crime thrillers.

Before turning to writing, USA Today bestselling crime author Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio as a presenter and freelance producer for the BBC, and worked in publishing as an editorial assistant.

She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction with over 30 novels and short stories featuring spies, detectives, vigilantes, and assassins.

Rachel’s stories are available in eBook, print and audiobook formats from libraries and retailers as well as her own shop on this website.

A keen traveller and accidental private investigator, Rachel has both Australian and British citizenship.

She loves hearing from readers and personally replies to every email.

Email: info@rachelamphlett.com
Website: http://www.rachelamphlett.com

My thoughts: a dark and compelling crime thriller from Rachel Amphlett, who writes some very gripping stuff.

The shocking murder of a young woman in the bathroom of the house she cleans leads the police to more horrific deaths, all of people who turn out to be in debt to some seriously nasty people  – loan sharks, but sharks don’t torture their food, these people do.

As the cost of living crisis, rising unemployment and stagnant benefits force desperate people to take money from dubious sources, the police are racing against time to stop the killers and save lives. A chance comment in lock up could hold the key to who these genuinely awful people are.

Gripping, intelligent 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