blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Her White Lie – Jackie Walsh*

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Her dream wedding might become a nightmare

Tara Moore feels like the luckiest girl in the world. She’s finally found the man of her dreams, and after the fairytale wedding, she’s leaving Dublin to start a new life in Australia.

Until Avril Ryan’s body is discovered in a house that Tara lived in three years ago.

Tara doesn’t know Avril, so why was she the last person Avril called? How has she become the number one suspect?

But what the police don’t know is that Tara’s past conceals her own dangerous secrets. And as the detectives start digging and old friendships come to light, Tara begins to wonder who she can trust.

Will her wedding day become her last?

A twisty, unputdownable psychological thriller packed with suspense. Fans of T.M. Logan and Samantha Hayes will be completely gripped.

Jackie Walsh lives in Dublin with her husband Paul and dog Layla. She is a member of the Irish Writers Centre and The Irish Crime writer’s group. After years spent building her own business she decided to take time out and pursue her interest in writing. With a lot to learn, Jackie attended classes, writing groups and travelled to lots of festivals and launches. She secured a publishing deal with Hera Books who published Familiar Strangers and The Secrets He Kept in 2019, Five Little Words in 2020 and Her White Lie which will be published in July 2021.

Twitter: @JackieWalsh_ie

My thoughts: this was a clever and tense thriller, who can you trust if you can’t trust your oldest friend?

Tara’s sitting on a secret, but not the one the police think. Having to rely on her former friend and housemate, herself riddled with secrets and lies, isn’t ideal and Tara’s perfect new life is at stake.

Very much on the edge of your seat stuff as the two women try to keep their stories straight. It had me hooked all the way through.

*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: Games We Played – Shawne Steiger*

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When actress Rachel Goldberg shares her personal views on a local radio show, she becomes a target for online harassment. Things go too far when someone paints a swastika on her front door, not only terrifying her but also dredging up some painful childhood memories. Rachel escapes to her hometown of Carlsbad. To avoid upsetting her parents, she tells them she’s there to visit her Orthodox Jewish grandmother, even though that’s the last thing she wants to do. But trouble may have followed her.Stephen Drescher is home from Iraq, but his dishonorable discharge contaminates his transition back to civilian life. His old skinhead friends, the ones who urged him to enlist so he could learn to make better bombs, have disappeared, and he can’t even afford to adopt a dog. Thinking to reconnect with his childhood friend, he googles Rachel’s name and is stunned to see the comments on her Facebook page. He summons the courage to contact her, Rachel and Stephen, who have vastly different feelings about the games they played and what might come of their reunion, must come to terms with their pasts before they can work toward their futures.

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Shawne Steiger wrote her first story when she was seven. Over the years, she has been a pizza maker, dressage teacher, house cleaner, and therapist. The one constant in her life has been her writing, which is why, after years working as a trauma therapist, she applied to Vermont College of Fine Arts and completed an MFA in Fiction writing. After learning that she’s happiest when writing, Shawne published short stories and essays in several literary journals. Supporting her writing habit with her social work degree, Shawne frequently incorporates her understanding of how trauma affects people into her fiction. When not writing or working, she enjoys going to the theater, reading and travel. Luckily her love of travel stops her from fully realizing her aspirations to enter the realm of mad cat woman, since she’s yet to find the perfect suitcase that will fit both her cats and still be light enough to carry.

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My thoughts: this was an interesting exploration of hate, passed through the generations, and how it affects people’s thinking. Stephen is raised by his racist, neo-Nazi grandfather, but at the same time seeks affection from Rachel’s Jewish grandmother. But even the influence of Goldbergs doesn’t change the way he behaves and the people he associates with. Meanwhile Rachel’s religion is bringing unwanted attention to her door, as someone who doesn’t practise her childhood faith she struggles with this – does she want to identify as such when it draws negative reactions from some?

I didn’t feel that Stephen really learnt anything from reconnecting with Rachel and her family, while she decided to stand up and speak out. Considering that the world is how it is at the moment, this feels like a timely story.

*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 Therapist – Helene Flood*

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From the mind of a psychologist comes a chilling domestic thriller that gets under your skin.

What happens when a psychologist begins to question her own sanity?

Sara runs a private psychology practice for troubled youth in the newly inherited house she is refurbishing with her husband, Sigurd. One morning, a voicemail from Sigurd tells Sara he’s arrived at a holiday cabin for a weekend away with the guys. A couple of hours later, Sigurd’s friends call from the cabin asking where he is — according to them, Sigurd never arrived.

Sara is irritated by what she thinks is a practical joke. But as the hours stretch out, her anger turns to fear, and the large empty house begins to feel increasingly threatening.

To get to the root of Sigurd’s disappearance, Sara must question everything she knows about their relationship. But can she trust her own thoughts? And where is she safe?

My thoughts: this took me a while to get into but when I did I found it really interesting. Sara starts her own investigation into her husband’s death, she also starts thinking about her own life – about her parents, her mother’s death and how she ended up where she is. As readers we spend a lot of time in Sara’s head, following her thoughts and sharing her moods.

It was an interesting and complex story – the police keep all their theories and suspects from her, so she builds her own, while being slowly terrorised in her own home. The final scenes are shocking and the answers it offers are a complete surprise.

*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: Secrets on the Italian Island – T.A. Williams*

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Read my review of Second Chances in Chianti

Her work has got in the way of relationships before – but never like this
Anna’s job as a geologist takes her all over the world, including to the beautiful island of Elba, where she’s sent to look for precious metals. And the island isn’t the only thing that’s gorgeous – she can’t believe her luck when she meets windsurfer Marco and sparks fly.
But Anna must keep her role on Elba a secret to avoid upsetting the locals, which means lying to Marco even as they grow closer. When her old friend Toby visits, Anna suddenly finds herself torn between the attentions of the two men. However, Anna’s not the only one keeping secrets.
Is Marco being entirely honest with her? And why did Toby really come to visit?
A fun and escapist romance, perfect for fans of Lucy Coleman and Alex Brown.
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I’m a man. And a pretty old man as well. I did languages at university a long time ago and then lived and worked in France and Switzerland before going to Italy for seven years as a teacher of English. My Italian wife and I then came back to the UK with our little daughter (now long-
since grown up) where I ran a big English language school for many years. We now live in a sleepy
little village in Devonshire. I’ve been writing almost all my life but it was only seven years ago that I finally managed to find a publisher who liked my work enough to offer me my first contract.
The fact that I am now writing romantic comedy is something I still find hard to explain. My early books were thrillers and historical novels. Maybe it’s because there are so many horrible things happening in the world today that I feel I need to do my best to provide something to cheer my
readers up. My books provide escapism to some gorgeous locations, even if travel to them is currently difficult.

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My thoughts: I really enjoyed this sunshine soaked rom com, especially as getting away to Italy is currently a pipe dream. The plot was engaging and entertaining, the writing flows smoothly and kept me involved in the narrative. I liked Anna, and her friendship with George the dog (and his human!). A thoroughly delightful read for the summer.

*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: In The Time of Foxes – Jo Lennan*

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‘A fox could be a shape-shifter, a spirit being. It could appear in human form if this suited its purposes; it could come and go as it pleased, play tricks, lead men astray.’

A young filmmaker in Hackney with a fox problem in her garden; an actress dealing with a rival and the fallout of a scandal; an English tutor who gets too close to an oligarch; a freelance journalist on Mars, grappling with his fate.

When everyone is trying to make it, what does it take to survive? These men and women have learned to change shape, to adapt – but can they learn to be wise?

Showing the short story collection at its most entertaining and rewarding, In the Time of Foxes is deeply insightful about the times in which we live. With an exhilarating span of people and places, it introduces Jo Lennan as an irresistible new storyteller.

My thoughts: Foxes in folklore around the world are tricksters and magical, they slip through the world with a wink and a grin. They’re survivors, making homes in places that have changed since humans started building cities and motorways.

In this collection of short stories, foxes slip through gardens and under fences, they’re just out of the corner of the eye, as the humans strive and struggle to fit in, and try to find their place. From London to Sydney, Japan to Mars, each story is a tiny novel in itself, some I wanted to know more, others were fine to leave just as they were.

I really enjoyed these stories, snap shots of lives at one moment in time, people dealing with issues that loomed large in their lives but might seem insignificant to outsiders. Intelligent and well written, this book was a pleasure to 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.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus – Ayşe Osmanoğlu*

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Brothers bound by blood but fated to be enemies. Can their Empire survive or will it crumble into myth?

Istanbul, 1903. Since his younger brother usurped the Imperial throne, Sultan Murad V has been imprisoned with his family for nearly thirty years.
The new century heralds immense change. Anarchy and revolution threaten the established order.
Powerful enemies plot the fall of the once mighty Ottoman Empire. Only death will bring freedom to the enlightened former sultan. But the waters of the Bosphorus run deep: assassins lurk in shadows,
intrigue abounds, and scandal in the family threatens to bring destruction of all that he holds dear…

For over six hundred years the history of the Turks and their vast and powerful Empire has been
inextricably linked to the Ottoman dynasty. Can this extraordinary family, and the Empire they built,
survive into the new century?

Set against the magnificent backdrop of Imperial Istanbul,The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus is a spellbinding tale of love, duty and sacrifice.
Evocative and utterly beguiling,The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus is perfect for fans of Colin Falconer, Kate Morton and Philippa Gregory.

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Ayşe Osmanoğlu is a member of the Imperial Ottoman family, being descended from Sultan Murad V through her grandfather and from Sultan Mehmed V (Mehmed Reşad) through her grandmother. After reading History and Politics at the University of Exeter, she then obtained an M.A. in Turkish Studies at SOAS, University of London, specialising in Ottoman History. She lives in the UK with her husband and five children.

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My thoughts: this was really fascinating, a partly fictionalised account of the lives of the deposed Sultan Murad V and his family, who lived under house arrest after his brother seized the throne.

Written by a descendant of the family, it obviously has a slight bias towards the real life figures in it, but that’s understandable and I think if I were to write about my ancestors, I’d probably do the same. Saladuddin in particular was a really interesting, intelligent man, the son of the former sultan, he had lots of ideas about reforming the Ottoman Empire and bringing it into the 20th Century, but his paranoid and mistrustful uncle would never have listened.

It is at times very sad, the whole family, four generations at one point, were trapped in an admittedly luxurious Palace, but unable to see any of their other relatives, of which there were many, or even know what was going on outside the walls, unless from the newspapers and loyal servants’ gossip. After Murad’s death, they are finally allowed on restricted outings and Prince Nurid doesn’t even realise that the four legged creatures on the streets are dogs, that’s how isolated and forgotten they were.

It’s an incredibly moving and deeply interesting read – seeing world history through their eyes, as opposed to the Western European one I learnt at school was especially intriguing.

*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 Cut for a Cut – Carol Wyer*

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Read my review of An Eye For An Eye

DI Kate Young can’t trust anybody. Not even herself.

In the bleak countryside around Blithfield Reservoir, a serial murderer and rapist is leaving a trail of bloodshed. His savage calling card: the word ‘MINE’ carved into each of his victims.

DI Kate Young struggles to get the case moving—even when one of the team’s own investigators is found dead in a dumpster. But Kate is battling her own demons. Obsessed with exposing Superintendent John Dickson and convinced there’s a conspiracy running deep in the force, she no longer knows who to trust. Kate’s crusade has already cost her dearly. What will she lose next?

When her stepsister spills a long-buried secret, Kate realises she’s found the missing link—now she must prove it before the killer strikes again. With enemies closing in on all sides, she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to bring them down. But time is running out, and Kate’s past has pushed her to the very edge. Can she stop herself from falling?

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USA Today bestselling author and winner of The People’s Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer writes feel-good comedies and gripping crime fiction. 

A move from humour to the ‘dark side’ in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in LITTLE GIRL LOST and demonstrated that stand-up comedian Carol had found her true niche.

To date, her crime novels have sold over 750,000 copies and been translated for various overseas markets.

Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’, featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and the Huffington Post.

She currently lives on a windy hill in rural Staffordshire with her husband Mr Grumpy… who is very, very grumpy.

When she is not plotting devious murders, she can be found performing her comedy routine, Smile While You Still Have Teeth.

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My thoughts: I really like this series, Kate feels understandable and realistic, I liked seeing her relationship with her stepsister Tilly, in this book, it made her less isolated and threw her troubles into a different light. She’s still searching for answers about her husband’s death but this new case leads her in different directions, looking for a serial rapist and killer – especially as one of his victims was a police officer.

The crimes are awful, obviously, and the evidence limited but Kate and her team are determined to find the killer. During the investigation she discovers a few new leads for her own case, and starts to gather the evidence she needs.

The writing is gripping and the plot zips along, there are a few false starts and its only when Tilly says something to Kate that it all starts to come together. The team work hard but the fact that the victims offer up little evidence doesn’t help. It was good to learn a bit more about the other officers too – I like Emma, the martial arts expert, who offers a calmer perspective than Kate’s. This series is shaping up to be really good and I’m looking forward to book three.

*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 Rule – David Jackson*

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Read my review of The Resident

MY DAD SAYS BAD THINGS
HAPPEN WHEN I BREAK IT…

Daniel is looking forward to his birthday. He wants fish and chips, a big chocolate cake, and a comic book starring his favourite superhero. And as long as he follows The Rule, nothing bad will happen. But Daniel has no idea that he’s about to kill a stranger.

Daniel’s parents know that their beloved and vulnerable son will be taken away. They know that Daniel didn’t mean to hurt anyone, he just doesn’t know his own strength. They dispose of the body. Isn’t that what any loving parent would do? But as forces on both sides of the law begin to close in on them, they realise they have no option but to finish what they started. Even if it means that others will have to die…

Because they’ll do anything to protect Daniel. Even murder.

David Jackson is the author of nine crime novels, including the bestseller Cry Baby and the standalone The Resident. When not murdering fictional people, David spends his days as a university academic in his home city of Liverpool. He lives on the Wirral with his wife and two daughters. Twitter

My thoughts: I wasn’t sure what to expect from the author of the creepiest book I read last year but it wasn’t this. A tale of ordinary people who get caught up in crime and chaos entirely by accident.

I completely understood Daniel, having grown up with and worked with people like him, with learning disabilities and who are childlike even as adults. I felt for his parents, who love him and just want to keep him safe. The nightmare the family become embroiled in is something you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, no one deserves to be this frightened in their own home.

It was honestly an excellent book but a little heartbreaking too.

*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

Book Blitz: Where Are We Tomorrow? – Tavi Taylor Black

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<p style=”text-align: center;”><strong><img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-12381″ src=”https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/wherearewetomorrow.jpg&#8221; alt=”wherearewetomorrow” width=”851″ height=”315″ /></strong></p>

<strong>I am so happy to share this novel with you all today. It’s called <span style=”color: #003366;”>Where Are We Tomorrow</span> by Tavi Taylor Black. Read on for more details!</strong>

<strong>Copies of Where Are We Tomorrow are available in exchange for honest reviews until October. Book reviewers can request a copy <span style=”color: #003366;”><a style=”color: #003366;” href=”https://rrbooktours.com/contact-shannon-r-r-book-tours/&#8221; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>here</a> </span>or in comments!</strong>

<strong><img class=”size-full wp-image-12299 alignleft” src=”https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/56929822._sy475_.jpg&#8221; alt=”56929822._SY475_” width=”317″ height=”475″ />Where We Are Tomorrow</strong>

<strong>Publication Date:</strong> May 31st, 2021

<strong>Genre:</strong> Contemporary Fiction/ Women’s Fiction

<strong>Publisher:</strong> TouchPoint Press

Alex Evans, a thirty-six year old touring electrician, discovers through an accidental pregnancy and then the pain of miscarriage that she truly wants a family. But to attempt another pregnancy, she’ll have to change both her career and her relationship; her partner Connor, ten years her senior, isn’t prepared to become a father again.

When Alex is implicated in an accident involving the female pop star she works for, she and three other women on tour rent a house together in Tuscany. While the tour regroups, confessions are made, secrets are spilled: the guitar tech conceals a forbidden love, the production assistant’s ambition knows no limits, and the personal assistant battles mental issues.

Through arguments and accidents, combating drug use and religion, the women help each other look back on the choices they’ve made, eventually buoying each other, offering up strength to face tough decisions ahead.

<strong>TRIGGER WARNING: MISCARRIAGE/ ADDICTION/ GRIEF </strong>

<strong>Add to<span style=”color: #003366;”> <a style=”color: #003366;” href=”https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56929822-where-are-we-tomorrow&#8221; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Goodreads</a></span></strong>

<p style=”text-align: center;”><strong>Excerpt</strong></p>

<blockquote>

<p style=”text-align: left;”><em>Inside the concrete arena, programmed lights whirred and spun in rhythm; eleven thousand fans watched, mesmerized, as vibrant magenta and violet beams sliced through midnight black. On stage, the band regurgitated the same set as the night before, and the night before that. They’d performed the set in Mexico City and Guadalajara. As far south as Santiago and Lima. The road crew for Sadie Estrada’s Home Remedy tour knew each dip in volume, each drop in the beat. They knew exactly, down to the second, how much time it required to step outside and suck down a Marlboro. These time-zone travelers planned bathroom breaks by the songs’ measures; no one missed a cue to mute the stage mics, to hand out room-temp bottled water for set breaks, to pull up house lights.</em></p>

<p style=”text-align: left;”><em>Behind heavy velvet curtains, separated from the frenzied pace of the show, Alex unscrewed the cover of a moving light to expose the core: circuit boards and capacitors, motors connected to color wheels. Deep bass, feedback, and the fevered pitch of collective voices penetrated the curtain, the familiar, almost comforting reverberations of life on the road. Alex continued her diagnosis, removing the light harness as a mother removes a soiled diaper— routinely, with a touch of tenderness. While she located and replaced the broken part, she kept an ear to the music, alert to the final measure of the set, ready to repack her multi-wheeled toolbox, move on to the next city, set up again.</em></p>

<p style=”text-align: left;”><em>Alex ran the light through all its functions, testing and retesting once she’d replaced the gobo wheel. The body of the light panned and tilted, working fine. A small victory.</em></p>

<p style=”text-align: left;”><em>“Sure you know what you’re doing, little lady?” Alex turned at the familiar voice of the tour’s production manager.</em></p>

<p style=”text-align: left;”><em>“Funny,” she said. “Very original. For that, you get to help me put it away.” Alex waited for another barb, one about her not being able to lift the seventy pounds by herself, but Joe simply helped her flip and crate the unit, a harder task for him at 5’2” than it was for Alex, a good five inches taller.</em></p>

<p style=”text-align: left;”><em>The arena crackled in anticipation of the show’s climax. Thousands of voices swelled and surged, a unified congregation. The body of the moving light settled into the carved Styrofoam, and Alex tucked its tail inside the handle. As she slammed the case shut, Joe’s laminate got caught inside the box, and he was jerked down by the lanyard around his neck. He freed the latches and yanked it clear, smoothing the wrinkles from the photo of his two young children, a wallet-sized clipping he’d taped behind his backstage pass. Joe caught Alex eyeing the photo.</em></p>

<p style=”text-align: left;”><em>“When are you gonna give in and pop out a few yourself?” Joe asked.</em></p>

<p style=”text-align: left;”><em>Alex breathed slowly, letting a brief sadness settle into her body, though her face wore a practiced, blank expression. She gestured into the smothering dark, into the roar of the crowd and sweat-filled air. “And give up all this?”</em></p>

</blockquote>

<strong>Available on <span style=”color: #003366;”><a style=”color: #003366;” href=”https://www.amazon.com/dp/195281636X/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&amp;keywords=Where+are+we+tomorrow%3F+Tavi+Black&amp;qid=1612297720&amp;sr=8-3&#8243; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Amazon</a></span>, <span style=”color: #003366;”><a style=”color: #003366;” href=”https://bookshop.org/books/where-are-we-tomorrow/9781952816369&#8243; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Bookshop</a></span> and <span style=”color: #003366;”><a style=”color: #003366;” href=”https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781952816369&#8243; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>IndieBound</a></span>!</strong>

<strong>About the Author</strong>

<img class=”alignnone  wp-image-12296″ src=”https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/igp6937.png&#8221; alt=”_IGP6937″ width=”218″ height=”273″ />

<b>Tavi Black</b> lives on an island near Seattle where she designs sets for the ballet, works as the tour manager for a musical mantra group, and has founded an anti-domestic violence non-profit organization. Before earning an MFA from Lesley University, Tavi spent 14 years touring with rock bands. Several of Tavi’s short stories have been shortlisted for prizes, including Aesthetica Magazine’s Competition, and the Donald Barthelme Prize for Short Prose.

<p style=”text-align: center;”><span style=”color: #003366;”><strong><a style=”color: #003366;” href=”http://www.taviblack.com/&#8221; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Tavi Taylor Black</a> | <a style=”color: #003366;” href=”https://www.instagram.com/tavitaylorblack/&#8221; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Instagram</a> | <a style=”color: #003366;” href=”https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tavi-taylor-black/where-are-we-tomorrow/&#8221; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Kirkus Reviews</a> | </strong><strong><a style=”color: #003366;” href=”https://indiereader.com/book_review/where-are-we-tomorrow/#review&#8221; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Indie Reader</a></strong></span></p>

<strong>Book Blitz Organized By: </strong>

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<span style=”color: #333333;”><strong><a style=”color: #333333;” href=”http://rrbooktours.com&#8221; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>R&amp;R Book Tours</a></strong></span>

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Blog Tour: The Lost Girls – Heather Young*

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In 1935, six-year-old Emily Evans vanishes from her family’s vacation home on a remote Minnesota lake. Her disappearance destroys the family – her father commits suicide, and her mother and two older sisters spend the rest of their lives at the lake house, keeping a decades-long vigil for the lost child. Sixty years later, Lucy, the quiet and watchful middle sister, lives in the lake house alone. Before her death, she writes the story of that devastating summer in a notebook that she leaves, along with the house, to the only person who might care: her grandniece, Justine. For Justine, the lake house offers freedom and stability – a way to escape her manipulative boyfriend and give her daughters the home she never had. But the long Minnesota winter is just beginning. The house is cold and dilapidated. The dark, silent lake is isolated and eerie. Her only neighbor is a strange old man who seems to know more about the summer of 1935 than he’s telling. Soon Justine’s troubled oldest daughter becomes obsessed with Emily’s disappearance, her mother arrives to steal her inheritance, and the man she left launches a dangerous plan to get her back. In a house haunted by the sorrows of the women who came before her, Justine must overcome their tragic legacy if she hopes to save herself and her children.

HEATHER YOUNG is the author of two novels. Her debut, The Lost Girls, won the Strand Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for an Edgar Award. The Distant Dead has also been nominated for the 2021 Edgar Award for Best Novel. A former antitrust and intellectual property litigator, she traded the legal world for the literary one and earned her MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars in 2011. She lives in Mill Valley, California, where she writes, bikes, hikes, and reads books by other people that she wishes she’d written. Website Twitter

My thoughts: this was really enjoyable, combining a family murder mystery with later generations attempting to move on. Justine returns to her great-aunt’s house, left to her in the will, with her two daughters. She’s running from a life she no longer wants and hopes to begin again in this small town. But the town is full of people who know her family, and know about her missing great-aunt, who never got to grow up.

As she sorts through the remnants of her aunt’s life, and her mother comes to stay, she finds herself drawn into the mystery and secrets of the past.

Alternating between Justine’s present and Lucy’s past, slowly the truth is revealed. It’s very artfully done and very enjoyable too. I felt for Justine – sleepwalking through your own life is no fun, and I understood her worries. She was trying to do the best for her children but stuck due to things like money. Her mother was a bit of a nightmare and Justine’s determination to be different meant she couldn’t be happy.

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