blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Listen To Me – Tess Gerritsen

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The murder of Sofia Suarez is both gruesome and seemingly senseless. Why would anyone target a respected nurse who was well-liked by her friends and her neighbours? As Detective Jane Rizzoli and Forensic Pathologist Maura Isles investigate the baffling case, they discover that Sofia was guarding a dangerous secret — a secret that may have led the killer straight to her door.

Meanwhile, Jane’s mother Angela Rizzoli is conducting an investigation of her own. She may be a housewife, not a police detective, but she’s savvy enough to know there’s something very strange, perhaps even dangerous, about the new neighbours across the street. The problem is, no one believes her, not even her own daughter.

Immersed in the hunt for Sofia’s killer, Jane and Maura are too busy to pay attention to Angela’s fears. With no one listening to her, and danger mounting in her neighbourhood, Angela just may be forced to take action on her own…

Bestselling author TESS GERRITSEN is also a physician, and she brings to her novels her first-hand knowledge of emergency and autopsy rooms. Her thrillers starring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TV series Rizzoli & Isles. But Tess’s interests span far more than medicine and crime. As an anthropology student at Stanford University, she catalogued centuries-old human remains, and she continues to travel the world, driven by her fascination with ancient cultures and bizarre natural phenomena.

My thoughts: I’ve been a Tess Gerritsen fan for a long time, so the new Rizzoli and Isles book was bound to be exciting. And it doesn’t disappoint. I love that Angela, Rizzoli’s mum, is running her own neighbourhood investigation too. She’s pretty sure her daughter got her detective’s nose from her.

The murder of Sofia Suarez is baffling, a widowed nurse, she doesn’t seem to be a typical victim – was it a burglary gone wrong as it appears? Or does her recent Internet search history hold the answers?

Meanwhile the quiet neighbourhood Angela lives in gets some new residents and there’s something odd about them. She’s going to find out what, and find a runaway teenage girl too. Even though the local police would prefer it if she didn’t get involved.

Cracking crime writing as always from the author, much more going on underneath than the apparently straightforward crimes appear. Sofia Suarez opened a whole can of worms and it can only end badly if the detectives can’t work it out fast. And Angela Rizzoli might be in serious trouble too.

I really enjoyed having a secondary story that was so fun and slightly less serious than the murder being investigated. The supporting characters have grown since the first book to become more interesting and more of a presence, adding to Rizzoli and Isles’ lives and helping them evolve into more rounded figures. Sometimes the other stuff, Isles’ piano playing in an orchestra of doctors, Rizzoli’s crazy family, is more interesting than the crimes they solve. I liked the way this one was linked into their lives in some ways – a colleague of the victim is in the same orchestra. It made it feel more realistic and also gave them another way into the victim’s life.

I keep thinking about authors whose work I want to go back and re-read and Tess Gerritsen is definitely one of those, I remember borrowing The Surgeon from the library when it was first published in 2001, and being completely thrilled by it. Her books have only gotten better.

*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 Getaway – Ross Armstrong

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One private island. Seven guests. One killer…

The perfect holiday. The perfect murder. The perfect beach read…

Get away from your problems.
Multimillionaire Robert Rathwell and his entourage arrive at their private Greek island. White sand, turquoise water, the perfect place to relax. But this is no ordinary family, and this holiday will be their last.

Get away from your life.
The next morning, a scream shatters their peaceful world. Someone has been murdered, his body arranged to make it look like suicide. Everyone has a motive and, under the burning sun, secrets quickly simmer to the surface.

Get away with murder.
Soon the guests see a darker, more violent side to paradise. Because the Rathwells don’t just own the island; they own the people on it. And they can do whatever they like – maybe even commit murder…

My thoughts: a reclusive millionaire, his family and a few staff on a disconnected private island. What could go wrong? With a few uninvited guests (or are they?), the patriarch in poor health, secrets and assumed identities abound.

Everyone is hiding something – but are they the killer? Between them they intend to find out and get off the island once the weather clears. But who can they trust?

With multiple narrators, all with their own agendas, it’s hard to decide who to believe, although some of the things they’re hiding aren’t as bad as murder. There’s plenty of motivation to do away with a few people. And even when it’s supposedly resolved, there’s a few lingering questions. The ending gives a sudden whole new slant on everything too. Very cleverly done.

*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: Truly, Darkly, Deeply – Victoria Selman

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Twelve-year-old Sophie and her mother, Amelia-Rose, move to London from Massachusetts where they meet the charismatic Matty Melgren, who quickly becomes an intrinsic part of their lives. But as the relationship between the two adults fractures, a serial killer begins targeting young women with a striking resemblance to Amelia-Rose.

When Matty is eventually sent down for multiple murder, questions remain as to his guilt — questions which ultimately destroy both women. Nearly twenty years later, Sophie receives a letter from Battlemouth Prison informing her Matty is dying and wants to meet. It looks like Sophie might finally get the answers she craves. But will the truth set her free — or bury her deeper?

My thoughts: this is a clever, complex and interesting book with a fascinating concept – Sophie’s father figure turned out to be a serial killer, she’s spent her whole life trying to understand why he did it. She talks to her mother but gets no answers there, would finally confronting the dying Matty resolve things?

I really enjoyed the author’s Ziba Mackenzie books, and I was excited to read this, her writing is accessible and the book’s premise unfolds nicely. Sophie is an intriguing protagonist – guilty by association, even though she was a child and had no idea what was going on. She’s piecing the clues together though, fragmented memories and newspaper inches. An intelligent and engaging read.

*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 Binding Room – Nadine Matheson

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Detective Anjelica Henley confronts a series of ritualistic murders in this heart-pounding thriller about race, power and the corrupt institutions that threaten us

When Detective Anjelica Henley is called to investigate the murder of a popular preacher in his own church, she discovers a second victim, tortured and tied to a bed in an upstairs room. He is alive, but barely, and his body shows signs of a dark religious ritual.

With a revolving list of suspects and the media spotlight firmly on her, Henley is left with more questions than answers as she attempts to untangle both crimes. But when another body appears, the case takes on a new urgency. Unless she can apprehend the killer, the next victim may just be Henley herself.

Both fans of The Jigsaw Man and readers coming to Matheson’s work for the first time will get swept away in this heart-pounding thriller. Drawing on her experiences as a criminal attorney, Nadine Matheson deftly explores issues of race, class and justice through an action-packed story that will hold you captive until the last terrifying page.

Listen to an extract here

My thoughts: this book goes to some dark places – it seems to be Henley’s lot in life. Extreme religious beliefs, secrets, embezzlement, lies and murders. Vulnerable people, often with mental health issues are disappearing and later turning up dead, looking like they’ve been tortured. What is the connection to the dead preacher? And can Henley and team stop it before anyone else loses their life?

I really liked the previous book in this series – The Jigsaw Man, and I think Henley is a really interesting protagonist. She’s clever and good at what she does but keeps a lot of things close to her chest, and isn’t always as open, even with her closest colleagues, as she could be. These crimes are in her community, and she wants to keep people safe but when all she gets is lies and obfuscation from those involved, it’s not easy.

*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 Halfways – Nilopar Uddin

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Nasrin and Sabrina are two sisters, who on the face of things live successful and enviable lives in London and New York. When their father, Shamsur suddenly dies, they rush to be with their mother at the family home and restaurant in Wales, and reluctantly step back into the stifling world of their childhood.

When Shamsur’s will is read, a devastating secret is revealed that challenges all that people thought and loved about him. It also profoundly changes the lives and identities of the sisters, and creates an irreparable family rift…

Moving between London, Wales, New York and Bangladesh, this is an epic family drama that spans over four decades. A story of mothers and daughters, of fathers and daughters, of sisterhood, it is a tale that explores belonging, family and what makes forgiveness and redemption possible.

My thoughts: firstly I want to talk about the striking and beautiful cover on this book, it really is lovely. And I know you should never judge a book by its cover but you can certainly admire it.

The story it contains is not an easy read, it starts with the death of the family patriarch, a man who loves his family and keeps all of its secrets, who protects and cares for his employees, who was well known and loved in the community and whose death, a sudden one, leaves a deep hole in the centre of everyone and everything.

The differing reactions to his death, and to the fallout of his will, make up the rest of the book. His daughters, niece and wife all have very different ways of dealing with things, Sabrina’s rage, Nasrin’s epilepsy returning, and revelations he leaves behind all have profound impacts. The business struggles – more than the food they serve, the Peacock was Shamsur, and without him customers don’t quite seem to be coming.

Afroz, his niece, has travelled from Bangladesh, leaving her husband and impossible mother-in-law behind. She tries to help, finding she enjoys working in the restaurant, enjoys being with the staff, who Shamsur treated like family. She struggles with her cousins, and looks after her aunt, whose grief is complicated by secrets left behind in both the past and Bangladesh.

In a way this reminded me of one of my favourite books – Nadeem Aslan’s Maps for Lost Lovers, with its intergenerational secrets and pain, the foreign born younger generation having to unpack the things their immigrant parents prefer to keep hidden, not always understanding the mess of culture, religion and society that wrap around certain people and events. Seeing their parents’ homeland as backward and even ridiculous compared to the Western world they live in.

There are further tragedies, and more heartbreak to be reckoned with, the ripples of Shamsur’s will lingering long after his death. Nasrin’s illness and struggles in particular seem acute and complicated. Sabrina’s determination to push her ethnicity, her mother tongue, as far as possible away from her, to be ultra modern and keep up with the culture of her world of investments and trades threaten to unmoor her completely from her family. Afroz too needs time to decide what she really wants – the husband she didn’t choose and a life of unwilling servitude or this new one in the shadow of the Brecon Beacons, in her aunt and uncle’s footsteps.

Incredibly moving, powerful and engaging, this is a striking book both in looks and in contents.

*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 Eye of the Beholder – Margie Orford

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Cora carries secrets her daughter can’t know.
Freya is frightened by what her mother leaves unsaid.
Angel will only bury the past if it means putting her abusers into the ground.

One act of violence sets three women on a collision course, each desperate to find the truth, when the people they love are not what they seem.

When danger lies in the eye of the beholder, what happens when you reject its pull?

Margie Orford is an award-winning journalist who has been dubbed the Queen of South African Crime Fiction. Her Clare Hart crime novels have been translated into ten languages and are being developed into a television series. She was born in London and spent her formative years in Namibia and South Africa. A Fulbright Scholar, she was educated in South Africa and the United States, has a doctorate in creative writing from the University of East Anglia and is an honorary fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford. She is President Emerita of PEN South Africa and was the patron of Rape Crisis Cape Town. She now lives in London. 

My thoughts: a few years ago there was a grief furore in the press about a photographer who had included images of her naked children in an exhibition and a book. The debate centered around consent and the line between art and porn. That’s the line Cora’s most recent exhibition has been accused of crossing in this book. The paintings are of herself as a child, topless on her parents’ South African farm – replicas of photos. She claims she’s trying to capture that last moment of innocence, before a girl realises why men are looking at her. But the resemblance of her daughter, now an adult, and the childhood Cora has angered some.

She’s also in a new relationship with a man with a horrible, dark secret. Angel, who also has horrible, terrible, heartbreaking secrets, is looking for this man – Yves, in the Canadian wilderness where he lives and she works in a wolf rehabilitation centre.

These women’s lives collide because of these secrets and because of Yves and men like him. There is a real core of darkness in this book, something a lot of us don’t like to acknowledge. Angel and Cora are trying to take something back, to restore lost innocence in their own, very different ways.

Freya, Cora’s daughter, is wrestling with being her mother’s daughter, with what her mother’s autobiographical art means to her – and hoping to understand her mother better. She uncovers some things Cora has tried to bury.

Compelling, brutally honest and incredibly powerful, this is a striking and gripping novel that lingers in the mind long after you close the book.

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

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Blog Tour: Singapore 52 – Murray Bailey

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Chinese New Year 1952

Ash Carter had to leave the Near East in a hurry. But when he arrives in Singapore he finds himself in the middle of a much bigger problem. No one knows where, or when, or who but someone is planning an attack. Carter is told to make sure it doesn’t happen. With pressure from politicians and the army and with Chinese Secret Societies watching his every move, he has other plans. He is more interested in finding out who killed his friend.

My thoughts: inspired by the author’s father’s time as an MP (military police) in Singapore while it was a British colony, this next installment of Ash Carter’s adventures finds the former Army captain looking for a missing friend who sent him a telegram. Needing to get away from Cyprus, Ash leaps at the chance to help his friend Tom out. Unfortunately he’s too late. But Tom had found something, and now Ash needs to find out what, get revenge, and help out the Governor’s office too.

Temporarily assigned back to the Army, he’s assisted by two MPs, the local police inspector and the glamorous Su Ling, niece of local businessman Andrew Yip. Who might also be a criminal.

Lots of twists and turns, red herrings (you’ll find out the meaning of lots of phrases as you go along too, thanks to Hedge), and distractions follow as Ash attempts to untangle his investigation. He’s also asked to find the mysterious lady dubbed Madam Butterfly who’s been robbing naive soldiers and causing embarrassment for the barracks.

Tired of playing politics, Ash of course immediately goes off book, conducting his job in a rather unorthodox manner – not keen on sharing the details with his superiors, his official investigation is a little light on the how he gets answers. And despite vowing not to spend too long in town, he starts to quite like Singapore and might just stick around….

Always fun and enjoyable, this had Ash hit the ground running. He’s out of SIB (Special Investigations Bureau) and doesn’t enjoy being dragged back into the military way of doing things, which bodes well for his future. Although he’s a rogue, he’s a lovable one and even the women he disappoints don’t seem able to stay mad at him.

The book is now available free on Amazon, and the sequel Singapore Girl is currently 99p or free on Kindle Unlimited.

*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 Ghost of Ivy Barn – Mark Stay

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August, 1940.

As the Battle of Britain rages overhead, a warlock leader from the Council of High Witches comes to Woodville with a ritual to repel the imminent Nazi invasion. The only catch is it involves full-frontal nudity on the White Cliffs of Dover. The Witches of Woodville are having none of it, but when more witches arrive they realise they might have a spy in their midst, and it’s up to Faye Bright to uncover the traitor. But she’s got enough on her plate already with the ghost of a Polish Hurricane pilot who may hold the key to the truth.

Mark Stay co-wrote the screenplay for Robot Overlords which became a movie with Sir Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson, and premiered at the 58th London Film Festival. He is co­presenter of the Bestseller Experiment podcast and has worked in bookselling and publishing for over twenty-five years. He lives in Kent, England, with his family and a trio of retired chickens. He blogs and humblebrags over at markstaywrites.com.

My thoughts: I do enjoy this series and Faye gets more and more interesting with each book. I still have many questions about Miss Charlotte and Mrs Teach but perhaps the mystery makes it better?

This time they’re fending off an aerial invasion with magic – or are they? Bellamy is very enthusiastic but the Woodville witches don’t seem too keen and Faye’s distracted by her life and the ghostly Polish pilot in the barn. Otto Kopp – who continues to be deeply annoying, is still hanging about, and causing trouble. There’s a spy in their midst and no one’s quite sure who it is.

Bits are very funny and the ending is very moving and sweet, there’s a lot of toing and froing to Dover for the ritual, including a very funny scene with a tweed clad dogwalker, and at some point Bertie and Faye might get around to some proper canoodling (without a witchy emergency or half the village as audience).

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

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On Bookstagram Today: The Reluctant Vampire Queen – Jo Simmons

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Head over to Instagram today to see my thoughts on new book The Reluctant Vampire Queen – info on the book and author below.

Meet Mo Merrydrew – independent young woman, Mini Battenberg fan, president of the debating society – and reluctant vampire queen …

Fifteen-year-old Mo Merrydrew isn’t exactly expecting to be asked to be Vampire Queen of Great Britain when she’s cycling home from school one wet Tuesday evening. Apparently, she is ‘the Chosen One’. Aside from being uncomfortable with the idea of unelected power (not very democratic), there’s the blood drinking to consider (Mo is a vegetarian), and frankly it’s just not really the sort of role Mo’s looking for (she wants to aim for a real job in politics). But – if you’re Vampire Queen, you probably don’t have to do PE any more, and when the dreamy Luca, a vampire familiar, turns up, it all suddenly starts to look a bit more appealing …

Jo Simmons is an author of funny fiction. I Swapped My Brother on the Internet was shortlisted for the Lollies Book Awards 2020 and was translated into several languages. Jo began her working life as a sub editor on magazines in London and later became a freelance journalist. She started writing for children when her two boys were young and hungry for daft and silly stories to make bedtime more fun. She lives in Brighton with her family and a small, scruffy dog who leaves hair absolutely everywhere. THE RELUCTANT VAMPIRE QUEEN is her first novel for teenagers. Twitter

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Blog Tour: Bee Movie – Wendy W. Webb

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BeeMovie copy

Welcome to the book tour for cozy mystery, Bee Movie by Wendy W. Webb. Read on for more!

BeeMovieCover

Bee Movie (The Beluga Stein Mysteries Book 1)

Publication Date: March 30th, 2022

Genre: Cozy Mystery/ Suspense/ Paranormal

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Beluga Stein is here, with her signature loud muumuus, pastel cigarettes, and hit-or-miss psychic ability. She and her feline familiar, Planchette, are ready for their closeups. Or are they?

Beluga is called to investigate paranormal activity and other strange events on the set of a low budget horror movie. But after a mysterious fire, an actor dressed in a bee costume is found hoisted high in the air by a crane. Is the set haunted? Or are the supernatural stirrings and death the result of special effects?

From the dark screening room to the madcap SFX warehouse and scary set itself, Beluga and Planchette are there as reluctant cast members. But even a bit part in this film could be murder.

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Production Manager’s Notes

Shooting on set of Bee Mine delayed yet another day due to unforeseen circumstances of boom falling on antenna of actor playing part of giant bee. Actor sustained minor injury (covered by insurance), antenna sent to SFX department for surgical repair (not covered by insurance), boom operator yet to be found after his exit from soundstage, screaming, “It’s a ghost. It’s a ghost.”

Budget overrun in Craft Services department. Snack Head places blame on Beluga Stein.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

image

Wendy Webb (aka Wendy W Webb) has published dark fantasy short stories and supernatural-humor murder mystery novels over many years. After a hiatus for far too long as a professor of emergency management and as a disaster responder, she welcomes the return to fiction writing. She adores her husband; two dogs, one of which turns on iTunes whenever Wendy leaves her office; dry red wine; theatre; and travel as long as she doesn’t see anymore ghosts.

My thoughts: this was a strange story, a bit confusing and completely mad. There’s odd events on a low budget film set, including the death of the Bee Man (not the actor hired to wear the suit but someone wearing it nonetheless). Hired by the producer to find out what’s going on and who is trying to destroy the movie, biology professor, PI and psychic Beluga Stein, her feline sidekick Planchette, friend Tanya and eventually her daughter Olivia, is on the case.

As more strange things occur, the brightly dressed sleuth starts to narrow down her suspects, but has she overlooked the real killer?

Funny, weird and entertaining.

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