blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Banana Devil Cake – Susan A. King*

ramblingmads

With the murder of last year’s fête judge now but a hazy memory, the village of Elmesbury has
retired to its former tranquil existence.

That is, until a mysterious newcomer sets in motion a series of events that will see members of the W.I. crossing wooden spoons at dawn.
In the midst of preparing for her long-awaited engagement party, redoubtable village busybodyBeattie Bramshaw not only finds herself embroiled in a one-woman campaign to save the elm tree from which the village gets its name, but having to contend with an outbreak of unrest within her beloved W.I. group. Rivalry to win favour with the judge of this year’s fête has fuelled dissent within
the ranks and, when two members are found dead in mysterious circumstances, suspicions run rife.

Confident the devil is not only in the cake but in the detail, Beattie determines to uncover the clues
that will ultimately lead to the killer’s conviction. But can she solve the mystery before another member of the W.I. is picked off?
Banana Devil Cake is a comedy crime caper in the spirit of Agatha Raisin and one that is guaranteed to lift your spirits.

Prepare yourself for a tale of tea, cake and riotous goings-on from the author
of Marrow Jam.

Amazon UK
Amazon US


Susan A. King lives with her husband in a quiet suburb in Hampshire. Between them they have four
grown-up sons.
The inspiration for her Beattie Bramshaw novels comes from her long experience and observation of
competitors at the local Romsey Show, where she regularly aspires to win Best in Show with her floral arrangements.
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My thoughts:

This was a fun, and slightly silly, cake based cosy crime romp. Who knew the perfect sponge could cause so much trouble?

As members of the WI had murdered in the run up to the annual village fete, Beattie puts her thinking cap on and tries to solve it. But her first suspect, the slightly oily Leo, an incomer, seems a bit obvious. Or is he?

This was an enjoyable and entertaining read, complete with absent minded vicar, a historic tree in peril, a court case and some award winning vegetables.

*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: Geiger – Gustaf Skordeman*

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The incredible story of a codeword, an extraordinary murder, and the woman who must solve both to stop a deadly plot fifty years in the making. Perfect for fans of I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.
__________________

The landline rings as Agneta is waving off her grandchildren. Just one word comes out of the receiver: ‘Geiger’.

For decades, Agneta has always known that this moment would come, but she is shaken. She knows what it means.

Retrieving her weapon from its hiding place, she attaches the silencer and creeps up behind her husband before pressing the barrel to his temple.

Then she squeezes the trigger and disappears – leaving behind her wallet and keys.

The extraordinary murder is not Sara Nowak’s case. But she was once close to those affected and, defying regulations, she joins the investigation. What Sara doesn’t know is that the mysterious codeword is just the first piece in the puzzle of an intricate and devastating plot fifty years in the making . . .

My thoughts:

This started really well, but then I felt it slowed down a bit, much like Sara’s investigation, before speeding up again as the past and its dark secrets started to come to light.

Stasi agents from East Germany, spies from Russia, Sweden’s own past politicians and important figures, all combine in a heady mix of Cold War secrets, conspiracies and contingencies. There’s some very clever and shocking twists in the tale as Sara digs deeper into the past and gets herself further into trouble with her bosses.

She’s an interesting character, at odds with herself in many ways, not entirely enamoured with her job, reacting with violence and anger to things, struggling in her home life – her children are growing up and she doesn’t feel close to them or her husband.

She uses this case as a distraction but also to answer some questions about her own past, her parentage and her mother’s silence.

An interesting thriller, exploring some of Europe’s darker parts and hidden history.


*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 Wild Girls – Phoebe Morgan*

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FOUR FRIENDS.
A LUXURY RETREAT.
IT’S GOING TO BE MURDER.

In a luxury lodge on Botswana’s sun-soaked plains, four friends reunite for a birthday celebration…

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL
Has it all, but chose love over her friends…

THE TEACHER
Feels the walls of her flat and classroom closing in…

THE MOTHER
Loves her baby, but desperately needs a break…

THE INTROVERT
Yearns for adventure after suffering for too long…

Arriving at the safari lodge, a feeling of unease settles over them. There’s no sign of the party that was promised. There’s no phone signal. They’re alone, in the wild.

THE HUNT IS ON.

My thoughts:

This was an interesting thriller from one of my favourite writers of the genre, Hannah, Grace and Alice all feel guilty about that night two years ago that blew up their long time friendship with Felicity and ended with her moving to New York.

Now she’s invited them to a swanky 30th in Botswana, but her messages are vague on plans and none of them have actually spoken to her about anything. Cue terror on the plains, an empty lodge, invisible staff, it’s all very creepy. I would have got out of there as fast as possible.

The way the back story unfolds and a suspect looms into view is nicely unsettling, the terrifying happenings at the glamorous lodge are suitably unnerving and that twist. No spoilers but it’s a good ‘un.

*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: Buried For Good – Alex Coombes*

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Find links to all my previous reviews of this series here

On a remote island, everyone is a suspect…

When Private Investigator Hanlon is hired to protect famous yoga instructor Camille Anderson on her Scottish island retreat, she thinks this may be her simplest job yet.

But when an attack on Camille’s life goes wrong, it soon becomes clear that there is a murderer on the island – and Hanlon will stop at nothing to track them down.

With only a small group of guests the suspects are clear, but as the body count rises Hanlon must step up to find out who the killer is before it’s too late…

A tense, atmospheric page-turner from Alex Coombs. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons and Lisa Regan.

Purchase

Alex Coombs studied Arabic at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities and went on to work in adult education and then retrained to be a chef. He is the author of the highly acclaimed DCI Hanlon series.

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My thoughts:

I really like the Hanlon books, both as a police officer and the newer PI ones, they’re smart, engaging and enjoyable so I knew I was going to like this.

Playing with conventions of crime fiction, from the And Then There Were None style remote island setting, to the hidden killer and the old switcheroo, this is a clever piece of writing that throws up red herrings and sends Hanlon all over Scotland looking for clues.

I enjoyed the development of Hanlon too, her burgeoning relationship with Murdo adds some depth to her character, although obviously Wemyss the dog remains her first love.

*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 Heretic’s Mark – S.W. Perry*

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Read my reviews of The Serpent’s Mark and The Saracen’s Mark

The Elizabethan world is in flux. Radical new ideas are challenging the old. But the quest for knowledge can lead down dangerous paths…

London, 1594. The Queen’s physician has been executed for treason, and conspiracy theories flood the streets. When Nicholas Shelby, unorthodox physician and unwilling associate of spymaster Robert Cecil, is accused of being part of the plot, he and his new wife Bianca must flee for their lives.
With agents of the Crown on their tail, they make for Padua, following the ancient pilgrimage route, the Via Francigena. But the pursuing English aren’t the only threat Nicholas and Bianca face. Hella, a strange and fervently religious young woman, has joined them on their journey. When the trio finally reach relative safety, they become embroiled in a radical and dangerous scheme to shatter the old world’s limits of knowledge. But Hella’s dire predictions of an impending apocalypse, and the brutal murder of a friend of Bianca’s forces them to wonder: who is this troublingly pious woman? And what does she want?

My thoughts:

I think this might be my favourite in this series so far. Forced to hide out on the continent, Nicholas and Bianca head for Padua, and Bianca’s cheerful cousin Bruno.

They’re joined by a woman who claims to see Judgement Day and who becomes a wee bit too obsessed with Nicholas to be completely healthy.

He sees agents of doom everywhere and even Bianca is under a cloud.

Meanwhile back in Southwark Ned is getting into trouble and the delightful Rose is trying to get him out of it.

I loved having more Rose and Ned in the book, it was great them having their own storyline independent of the misadventures of everyone’s favourite Elizabethan doctor.

I also really liked seeing Nicholas out of his element, forced to learn Italian, having to rely on Bianca a bit more. I loved cousin Bruno, he’s just like a sort of puppy. And the inclusion of Galileo Galili as a drunken University professor, yelling at his students and planning to annoy the Florentines was an excellent touch.

All of the historical details, and the famous names and places add to the sense of time and place, grounding it in the Enlightenment’s early years – Galileo isn’t yet a heretic, Shakespeare’s still a jobbing playwright, the Earth is the centre of the universe.

These are such fun books and the conspiracy this time is not remotely what you expect – doom monger Hella isn’t an agent of one of England’s enemies, she’s a prophet of the apocalypse – or is she?

The curious state of Christianity in the 16th Century, with its mystics and pilgrims, hundreds of saints and apostates is given centre stage and it really is a strange place. I didn’t really think of the Netherlands as a hot bed of this sort of thing, but with a certain Heironymous of Bosch painting his nightmares, there’s a bit of an atmosphere.

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

books

Upcoming Bookish Event: Essex Book Festival 6th June – 29th August 2021

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 This sounds amazing and I’m hoping to get tickets to some of the events this summer being held across Essex.

Essex Book Festival is thrilled to announce its spectacular extended summer programme, combining digital and in-person events with a WORDS MATTER theme at its core.

Spanning across three months from 6th June to 29th August, the Festival will be welcoming over 200 speakers to take part in 100 events in 40 venues across the Essex, including a new international digital twinning with Emerging Writers Festival, a kindred festival in Melbourne, and the inaugural Essex Book Camp hosted at Cressing Temple Barns, home to the World’s oldest solid oak beam barn and erstwhile stronghold of the mysterious Knights Templar.  

The festival opens with its WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT ESSEX GIRLSLAUNCH, a digital event featuring three fabulously talented, feisty and fearless women of Essex: Sarah Perry, Syd Moore, Sadie Hasler. Join them in a candid and comic discussion as they dismantle the Essex stereotypes and reshape expectations.

Set to entertain, challenge and inspire, this year’s programme combines a series of author events tackling issues such as race, gender, and the politics of borders, running in tandem with eight intriguing artist led walks fresh off the press for 2021: In My Steps: Radical Walks in Essex;  author talks galore featuring the likes of beloved Costa Book of the Year Winner Monique Roffey, barrister, activist and debut author Alexandra Wilson, rock star-turned-author Mat Osman of Suede fame, and much loved historian Alison Weir. All shining a light on the extraordinary creativity of Essex. 

Meanwhile, this year’s first ever Essex Book Camp and festival finale, will be packed with a huge array of events, including bookish conversations and debates with Dr Hilary Jones, novelist Georgina Harding and others; family writing workshops, storytelling, dance, circus, live music, inventive eco-crafts, plus complimentary drop-in family yoga sessions to help festival goers relax into the scenic landscape of Cressing Temple Barns’ rural idyll.  In other words, an August Bank Holiday paradise for book lovers and others alike!

With events taking place in venues and locations as diverse as Jaywick Martello Tower; Clacton Library; the UK’s most extraordinary house, Talliston House & Gardens; Harlow Museum; The Witches Trail, which extends from Manningtree to Mistley; Layer Marney Tower, one of Henry VIII’s favourite Tudor palaces; Hadleigh Country Park; Canvey Heights, one of the UK’s lowest flying mountains; and HMP/YOI Chelmsford, expect the unexpected: this is an odyssey not to be missed.

Ros Green, Festival Director of Essex Book Festival, said: “We are so excited about this year’s extended hybrid Essex Book Festival, which will be taking place online and in person in 40+ venues across Essex, June 6th – 29th August. Not just because it’s actually happening – a huge hurrah to that – but because of all the great new things in the mix. Whether that’s the inspired digital twinning between our Southend-based Pop Up Essex Writers House and kindred spirit Melbourne-based Emerging Writers Festival; something we would never have considered pre-pandemic. Our fascinatingly feisty launch event: We Need To Talk About Essex Girls, featuring 3 leading Essex Girls: Sarah Perry, Syd Moore and Sadie Hasler. Get those Essex Girls jokes at the ready. Or a walk or two on the wild side with our new series of In My Steps: Radical Walks in Essex led by the likes of Ken Worpole, James Canton and Gillian Darley. Watch out for those low-flying mountains on Canvey Island! It really is all to play for in 2021, so come and join in the fun.” 

Tickets will be going on sale online from 29 April 2021

 Website Twitter #essexbookfestival

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: And Then She Ran – Karen Clarke*

ramblingmads

How far would you go to keep your baby safe?

The fist flew past Grace’s face and smashed into the wall behind her. A switch flicked in her head. Grace bundled her eight-week-old daughter into her carry cot, opened the door and ran.

Her life in New York faded into the background. She needed to keep her baby safe. She needed to get as far away from Patrick as possible.

Now, staying in a remote cottage in Wales, Grace is trying to start again. But she can’t shake the uneasy feeling that she’s been followed.

And then she finds a note. Left on her bed. A tiny scrap of paper with scrawl in bright red pen.

Keep her close. Anything could happen.

She’s been found. Patrick wants his baby back.

But Grace will do everything to stop him.

My thoughts:

Talk about a stunning twist, this book was a cracker and a half. Everything, from the blurb, to the unfolding story suggests one thing, but then that gets flipped on its head and there’s so much more to it, a rather sinister set of events is revealed.

I enjoyed this a lot, the mix of thriller and family relationship style saga was interesting and the plots running concurrently – Grace’s flight to Wales, and her aunt’s past, blended together nicely.

*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: Dial A For Aunties – Jesse Sutanto*

ramblingmads

What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family?

You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!

When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body.

Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for the family wedding business—”Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!”—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream flowers.

But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?

My thoughts:

This was hilarious. I know all about aunties from my friends’ families, the meddling, the gossip, the one up man ship that goes on, and the fact that even though they seem to criticise everything you do, they love you completely.

Meddy’s aunts would literally kill for her, or at least hide the body. The family’s wedding business provides cover as they work at a very fancy celebration on a small island. Chaos ensues, as Meddy tries to stop anyone else finding out about the dead body her mum and aunts are lugging about in a cooler.

I loved this, I want more crazy auntie shenanigans!!


*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 Lynmouth Stories – L.V. Hay*

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

A pseudonym used by Lucy V Hay

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

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

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

My thoughts:

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

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


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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Jukebox Hero – Jason Stuart*

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

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

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

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

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

Excerpt

“Sister Christian” 

—Night Ranger, 1983

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

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

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

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

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

She lived in that fifteen minutes. 

Those granddads thundered their terrible news. 

The parentals shouted. 

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

So dramatic. Like anything that interesting could ever happen. 

She always knew it would be like this.

Available on Amazon

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

My thoughts:

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

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

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

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