Dan Armstrong hasn’t done much retiring since moving to Tuscany, and with his new career as a successful private investigator taking off, it seems murder seems to follow him. He’s hoping a much-needed trip to beautiful Portofino will give him the break he needs and quality time with girlfriend Anna.
A gathering of celebrities…
Portofino is a celebrity paradise, and holidaying on a nearby superyacht is a group of British media stars, all famous for being infamous. Dan isn’t impressed by their status or wealth, but when he overhears an argument between two of the group, he suspects something fishy could be going on…
A cold-blooded killer?
And then a body is washed up on shore and Dan’s hopes for a holiday go overboard. Could this simply be a tragic accident or is there a killer amidst the assembled celebrity cast? Dan and Oscar have their work cut out before the tide turns…
It’s another gripping case for Dan and Oscar – it’s murder in paradise!
T. A. Williams is the author of over twenty bestselling romances. Trevor studied languages at University and lived and worked in Italy for eight years, returning to England with his wife in 1972. Trevor and his wife now live in Devon.
My thoughts: if you’ve read my reviews for a while then you know that I love this series (and most of Trevor’s excellent books). I love Italy and the sheer number of delicious things Dan gets to eat is enough to make me so hungry.
This time Dan, Anna and our hero Oscar the Labrador (I love Labs too) are off to Portofino, known as a destination for the rich and famous. There’s a yacht full of British celebs in the harbour, and their boss is found floating in water.
Despite promising Anna that he was not going to get involved and be on holiday…well of course he gets involved. He can’t help himself. So he and Oscar go out to the yacht to help the police investigate the murder.
It’s another fiendish and fun case for Dan and Oscar. Even Anna manages to be OK with it. Thankfully, as I like her and their relationship.
If you’re looking for some crime in beautiful places, then look no further than this series – it’s well written, intelligent and super enjoyable.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
A taut and ambitious police procedural debut introducing Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler, a cold case reviewer who lands a high-profile murder investigation, only to find the main suspect is his recent one-night stand . . .
When financier Gerald Cartwright disappeared from his home six years ago, it was assumed he’d gone on the run from his creditors. But then a skeleton is found bricked up in the cellar of Cartwright’s burned-out mansion, and it becomes clear Gerald never left alive.
As the sole representative of South Yorkshire’s Cold Case Review Unit, Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is not expected to get results, but he knows this is the case that might finally kick start his floundering career. Luckily, he already has a suspect. Unluckily, that suspect is Cartwright’s son, the man Tyler slept with the night before.
Keeping his possible conflict-of-interest under wraps, Tyler digs into the case alongside Amina Rabbani, an ambitious young Muslim constable and a fellow outsider seeking to prove herself on the force. Soon their investigation will come up against close-lipped townsfolk, an elderly woman with dementia who’s receiving mysterious threats referencing a past she can’t remember, and an escalating series of conflagrations set by a troubled soul intent on watching the world burn . . .
About the Author
Russ Thomas grew up in the 80s reading anything he could get his hands on, writing stories, watching television and playing videogames: in short, anything that avoided the Great Outdoors. He spent five years trying to master the Electronic Organ and another five learning Spanish. It didn’t take him too long to realize he’d be better off sticking to the writing.
After a few ‘proper’ jobs (among them: pot-washer. optician’s receptionist, supermarket warehouse operative, call-center telephonist and storage salesman) he discovered the joys of bookselling, where he could talk to people about books all day. Now a full-time writer, he also teaches creative writing classes and mentors new authors. Firewatching is his first novel.
My thoughts: Adam Tyler is not an easy person to get to know, he keeps a lot to himself and he isn’t easy to work with either – as the only member of the Cold Case Review Unit (CCRU) he works alone, except that he has to work with other officers, like this case.
After a man’s remains are found in the wall of a house a firebug has set alight, the cold case of the man’s death and the current case of an arsonist at work collide, forcing Tyler to have to work with his colleagues instead of going off alone. Or does it? His boss can’t get him to work well with others.
The case is more complicated, more twisted and requires a lot more digging than it might first appear. The case kept me hooked from the very start and didn’t let up. Tyler is a complex man with a difficult past that keeps getting in the way of his present.
I really liked PC Mina Rabbani, who becomes his sidekick, her instincts are great and she works out how to handle Tyler pretty quickly. Tyler’s past impacts a lot on how he is and his contentious relationship with his bosses, his dad’s career and death cast a long shadow.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Harry Burnard joins a police force confronted with threats on every side. His team, ‘The Squad’, a bunch of abandoned oddballs, are only allowed to work criminal cases.
But there is no crime. Only terrorism. So, do they really have nothing to do?
When Harry uncovers clues about an apparently random series of sectarian stabbings, he gets caught up in an increasingly complex political landscape. And sets out to find a killer unlike any other.
In this explosive witty novel, where not everyone is who they seem to be, it can be dangerous to know who you are.
Are you a Billy, a Dan, or an old Tin Can?
In a land where identity is everything, it gets bloody complicated.
An Old Tin Can is the first in a new black comedy crime series featuring Harry Burnard and The Squad.
Bryan J Mason has managed to hold down a variety of jobs including brush salesman, rent collector and tax inspector and he has also made sound effects for BBC radio and done the occasional acting job.
He writes regular theatre reviews for Bristol 24/7 and StageTalk. His first novel, Shaking Hands With The Devil, took over 30 years to be published and finally came out in 2021.
He lives in Bristol, with his wife and has two children in their twenties.
My thoughts: Set in Belfast during the Troubles, Jewish police officer Harry Burnard has transferred from Brighton to the Northern Irish city, not really understanding the situation he’s landed himself in.
However there’s a serial killer on the loose, killing both Catholics and Protestants by turn. The chief is happy to dismiss it as terrorism, but Harry spots the clues that suggest it’s much more than that. Who is the killer and what is his motive?
An interesting and clever police crime thriller set during a complicated and bloody period of our recent history.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Preorder the intense action thriller from million copy bestseller Rob Sinclair
I need your help. Call me.
Ex-intelligence agent James Ryker receives a coded message through a secret drop point, a means of communication known only to him and one other person. The problem is, that other person is his ex-boss, Mackie… and he’s already dead. But the cry for help is real, and it’s a request Ryker can’t refuse.
Travelling to New York alone and without official sanction, Ryker has a single goal in mind, yet even he couldn’t have bargained for the violent world he’s soon embroiled in. Caught in the middle of a spiralling chaos with the FBI on one side, and two warring underworld bosses on the other, Ryker must put all of his skills to the test in order to come out on top, and keep his word. In a world full of lies and deceit, loyalty is everything, and it’s time for James Ryker to pay his dues.A fast-paced thriller filled with twists, turns, and intrigue that will grip fans of Mark Dawson and the Jason Bourne novels.
Rob Sinclair is the million copy bestseller of over twenty thrillers, including the James Ryker series.
Rob previously studied Biochemistry at Nottingham University. He also worked for a global accounting firm for 13 years, specialising in global fraud investigations.
My thoughts: Asked by the dying wife of his former mentor to help their son, former agent James Ryker (not his real name) heads across the pond to track down the absent man. His girlfriend’s father is a gangster, drug dealer, and all round bad guy and now Ryker has to rescue Campbell from his future father-in-law, before the feud between Green and Irish criminal Doughty takes him down with them.
Unfortunately the FBI don’t see things the same way, and Ryker is happy to share intelligence but wants to do things his own way. Agent Chen doesn’t agree.
It’s an action packed, as Ryker races back and forth across New York trying to take down the criminals and keep his old friend’s son safe.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
On a peaceful hilltop campsite in the heat of summer, a private plane crash-lands. Several are killed, and many more lives are shattered – including those of the Gale family who own the site. For single parent Cathy Gale, her everyday struggles are eclipsed by the tragedy, as her boy Albie is one of the victims. He hangs onto life, while 18-year-old sister Nell, who was meant to be looking after him, is overcome with guilt.
As DS Ali Samson leads the investigation, locals are scandalised to learn that the amnesiac pilot has plans to stay on in the community. As dark secrets come to light, teenager Nell goes into freefall. What is it she’s so desperate to conceal? And exactly who is the Unknown Pilot?
If you loved HOMECOMING by Isabel Ashdown, return to the beautiful coastal town of Highcap, Dorset, a community hiding many secrets.
With several critically acclaimed novels already to her name, Isabel Ashdown first burst onto the thriller scene in 2017 with her Amazon bestseller LITTLE SISTER. She has since seen two of her thrillers shortlisted in the prestigious Dead Good Reader Awards, and her dark family dramas continue to hook readers across the globe.
My thoughts: set in the same Dorset town as Homecoming, we’re concerned with the opposite end of the community. Rather than the up market enclave of the Starlings, we’re with a family that’s been in the town for many years, the Gales run the Golden Rabbit campsite and caravan park, but they’re far from a happy family.
When a small aeroplane falls out of the sky onto the campsite, it changes everything. The youngest member of the family Albie is injured and the after effects cause family secrets and feuds to surface.
Another shocking crime is also under investigation by the local police – one that puts the spotlight on Nell Gale. DS Ali Samson (who I really like) is on both cases, and handles things very sensitively, Nell is fragile, the situation with her family and what has happened to her have caused damage and she’s not coping well.
I felt a lot of empathy with the Gale family (and not just because my Nan’s family name was Gale), it can be difficult mixing work and family together, and the uneven way Cathy and Elliot were given their share of responsibilities has caused a lot of tension.
But happiness is in sight, if only they can resolve their differences and come together, perhaps their house guest – the Unknown Pilot – can perhaps help?
Another clever and compelling read from a terrific writer, this blogathon is really fun, as this series of intelligent crime thrillers is extremely enjoyable and well written.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
To celebrate the paperback publication of the very funny The Beaver Theory, I am re-sharing my review from the hardback tour. If you’d like a copy, head over to Orenda Books.
Henri Koskinen, intrepid insurance mathematician and adventure-park entrepreneur, firmly believes in the power of common sense and order. That is until he moves in with painter Laura Helanto and her daughter…
As Henri realises he has inadvertently become part of a group of local dads, a competing adventure park is seeking to expand their operations, not always sticking to the law in the process…
Is it possible to combine the increasingly dangerous world of the adventure-park business with the unpredictability of life in a blended family? At first glance, the two appear to have only one thing in common: neither deals particularly well with a mounting body count.
In order to solve this seemingly impossible conundrum, Henri is forced to step far beyond the mathematical precision of his comfort zone … and the stakes have never been higher…
Warmly funny, quirky, touching, and a nail-biting triumph of a thriller, The Beaver Theory is the final instalment in the award-winning Rabbit Factor Trilogy, as Henri encounters the biggest challenge of his career, with hair-raising results…
Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when we made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for Best Finnish Crime Novel and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. In 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime-genre formula,and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach, Finland (2018) was an immense success, with The Times calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’, and Little Siberia (2019) was shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. The Rabbit Factor, the prequel to The Moose Paradox, will soon be a major motion picture starring Steve Carell for Amazon Studios.
My thoughts: we return, for the final time, to the crazy world of adventure theme parks and Henri, the actuary who often seems to wind up solving crimes, instead of his actual job at YouMeFun.
Now living with girlfriend Laura and her daughter, you might think joining the dads club at the school and settling into domesticity, would mean less crime solving and fewer murders. But no, Henri’s ne rivals are a bunch of gangsters, who are attracting all the customers with free entry and free food, but Henri can’t see them lasting long in business. And then the owner is murdered. Which brings the cops to his door, again.
So, in between reassuring his staff and baking cakes to fundraise for the school trip to Paris, Henri sets out to solve a murder, or several, find out what the two dodgy cops are up to, and what this all has to do with horses, before he gets arrested or killed.
Written (and translated) with great wit, this delightfully funny black comedy of theme park shenanigans and espionage, is a wonderful high note for the highly entertaining trilogy to end up. Henri’s life is settled and happy, his crack team at the park are more committed than ever and things just might, finally, be ok.
An ostentatious party descends into violence—and a disgraced cop sets out to redeem herself by solving the case . . .
Susan Grey’s fiftieth birthday party promised to be a talked-about event—an over-the-top extravagant gathering of a hundred guests at her sprawling Georgian home. But it would be talked about for all the wrong reasons . . .
From an escalated argument to the disappearance of an expensive piece of jewelry, the party was quickly spiraling out of control. But the worst was yet to come, when Susan suffered a horrific fall down the grand staircase. Was it an accident or was she pushed?
For DI Grace Roth, relegated to desk duty due to an internal investigation, this could be a high-profile case and a chance to redeem herself. But every lead seems to send her in circles. As the badly injured Susan lies in her hospital bed, DI Roth must try to gather the scattered pieces of the puzzle and make them fit—before anyone else gets hurt . . .
When I’m not working within the NHS as a Health Visitor, or stood on the side of a football pitch watching my son play football, I can be found hauled up in my favourite spot with a good book in my hand. I could literally spend all day every day reading books, talking about books and writing books. I especially enjoy women’s fiction, crime and fantasy.
My thoughts: Susan has organised a big 50th birthday bash, despite the many problems in her life, she’s hoping to enjoy herself while her husband Martin sulks in his study. But then she takes a tumble down the stairs – did she fall or was she pushed?
DI Grace Roth is assigned the case, while it might have been an accident, there’s some questions that still need answering. Susan’s in critical condition and her family all seem to be hiding things, making them all a bit suspicious. As she investigates, those secrets come to the surface and Grace unravels the whole story.
An intelligent police procedural with sympathetic characters and an interesting case to solve – what more can you want?
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg, comes an explosive, page-turning investigative thriller – with a mind-blowing twist.
There’s a saying in Barstow, California, a decaying city in the scorching Mojave desert . . .
The Interstate here only goes in one direction: Away.
But it’s the only place where ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade, after a staggering fall from grace, could get another badge . . . and a shot at redemption.
Over a century ago, and just a few miles further into the bleak landscape, a desperate stranger ended up in Calico, a struggling mining town, also hoping for a second chance.
His fate, all those years ago, and hers today are linked when Beth investigates an old skeleton dug up in a shallow, sandy grave . . . and also tries to identify a vagrant run-over by a distracted motorhome driver during a lightning storm.
Every disturbing clue she finds, every shocking discovery she makes, force Beth to confront her own troubled past . . . and a past that’s not her own . . . until it all smashes together in a revelation that could change the world.
Lee Goldberg is an ex-Navy SEAL, nuclear physicist and a professional Daniel Craig impersonator.
Okay, that’s not true. But he wants this biography to be really exciting, so pay attention. If things bog down, I’ve been instructed to add a car chase or some explicit sex.
Here’s the real story. Lee Goldberg writes books and television shows.
His mother wanted him to be a doctor, and his grandfather wanted him to go into the family furniture business. Instead, he put himself through UCLA as a freelance journalist, writing for such publications as American Film, Starlog, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times Syndicate, The Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle (He also wrote erotic letters to the editor for Playgirl at twenty-five-dollars-a-letter, but he doesn’t tell people about that, he just likes to boast about those “tiffany” credits).
He published his first book “.357 Vigilante” (as “Ian Ludlow,” so he’d be on the shelf next to Robert Ludlum) while he was still a UCLA student. The West Coast Review of Books called his debut “as stunning as the report of a .357 Magnum, a dynamic premiere effort,” singling the book out as “The Best New Paperback Series” of the year. Naturally, the publisher promptly went bankrupt and he never saw a dime in royalties. (But the books are available on the Kindle as “The Jury Series”)
Welcome to publishing, Lee.
His subsequent books include the non-fiction books “Successful Television Writing” and “Unsold Television Pilots” (“The Best Bathroom Reading Ever!” San Francisco Chronicle) as well as the novels “My Gun Has Bullets” (“It will make you cackle like a sitcom laugh track,” Entertainment Weekly), “Dead Space” (“Outrageously entertaining,” Kirkus Reviews), “Watch Me Die” (“as dark and twisted as anything Hammet or Chandler ever dreamed up,” Kirkus Reviews).
“Take me now,” she moaned, “you hot writer stud.”
She tore off her clothes and tackled him onto the floor, unable to control her raging lust. Nothing excited her more than being around a writer with a big list of books.
Got your attention again? Good. I don’t know about you, but I was starting to nod off. Where was I? Oh yes…
Goldberg broke into television with a freelance script sale to “Spenser: For Hire.” Since then, his TV writing & producing credits have covered a wide variety of genres, including sci-fi (SeaQuest), cop shows (Hunter, The Glades), martial arts (Martial Law), whodunits (Diagnosis Murder, Nero Wolfe), the occult (She-Wolf of London), kid’s shows (R.L. Stine’s The Nightmare Room), T&A (Baywatch), comedy (Monk) and utter crap (The Highwayman). His TV work has earned him two Edgar Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America.
His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he began writing the “Diagnosis Murder” series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced, and later wrote the 15 bestselling novels based on “Monk,” another show that he worked on. He is co-creator of the hit Hallmark movie series “Mystery 101.” He also he teamed up with Janet Evanovich to write the #1 New York Times bestselling Fox & O’Hare novels (“The Heist,” “The Chase,” “The Job,” “The Scam,” “The Pursuit”). His most recent books include “Movieland” (the 4th novel in the Eve Roninseries), “Malibu Burning” (the first novel in the Sharpe & Walker series) and the genre-bending thriller “Calico.”
But perhaps he’s best known for his pioneering work mapping the human genome and negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Goldberg lives in Los Angeles with his wife and his daughter and still sleeps in “Man From UNCLE” pajamas.
My thoughts: this was a great genre bending crime novel, blending science fiction and time travel with the small town cop trying to solve the appearance of a man from the 1800s with the disappearance at almost exactly the same time of a man driving through the same town. There’s a mysterious explosion on a military base, that’s definitely not a bin fire and all sorts of other weirdness for Detective Beth McDade to sort through as she attempts to solve the case.
Clever, blackly comic and entertaining, this is a great and compelling read. I can’t decide which of the storylines and characters I liked more, the accidental time traveller or the world weary, cynical detective discovering that things are both stranger and yet more believable than she first thought. I’d love more peculiar crimes in the desert for Beth to solve, especially now she knows the X-Files aren’t entirely fiction. A really fun 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.
William Dunbar, the younger son of a Scottish nobleman, craves wealth, and marriage seems to be his simplest way to achieve it. His pursuit eventually leads him to Mercy Grundy, an old maid in the eyes of mid-1740s society who fears lifelong spinsterhood. Her father has offered a substantial dowry to the man who will take her hand in marriage. For William, marriage to Mercy would be a match made in heaven. But for Mercy, who has succumbed to William’s charms, would marrying him necessitate her taking one false step?
“One False Step is a historical novel prompted by an article I read about Mary Blandy – ‘the fair parricide’ who was hanged outside Oxford Castle for poisoning her father on the 6th of April 1752. I felt that Mary’s story would form the basis for a novel comprising a reimagining of the events leading to her execution – especially given the much-overlooked role played by William Henry Cranstoun, who duped Mary into poisoning her father.”
Now more than halfway through his eighth decade, Clive Woolliscroft is retired and lives in Cheshire with his wife, Sue, and Cocker Spaniel, Bonnie.
Before retiring, he served as an Army Officer in Germany, worked as an International Money Market Trader in London, was a Management Consultant in Prague and Riga and practised as a Solicitor in London, Hertfordshire and Staffordshire.
Ever since Clive was commissioned to write a book to demystify the derivative financial products that emerged in the 1980s, his ambition was to write a novel. That ambition was achieved more than thirty-five years later when Less Dreadful With Every Step was published in May 2023.
One False Step is Clive’s second novel.
My thoughts: inspired by true events, this is a very clever tale of twisted love and a ruthless obsession with money.
William Dunbar is a soldier and a younger son, he’s not set to inherit and his stipend doesn’t stretch far, so he plans to marry wealth. He’s a monster, he marries one woman in Scotland, then heads off to England to find another, richer, mark. In the form of Mercy Grundy, who at almost thirty is headed for a life as an old maid, according to society.
Mercy falls head over heels for the soldier, and vows to do anything she can to marry him. Even after her father learns about his previous (and contested) marriage, and forbids it. Mercy isn’t particularly educated (as women weren’t) and is incredibly naive. William talks her into putting a “love philtre” into her father’s food and drink. Things then take a far darker turn.
William’s single-minded pursuit of money, his obsession with living the high life, brings about his downfall and destroys lives.
The writing is gripping and brings the period vividly to life, the story ramps up the horror of what William has caused to happen and what Mercy has become entangled in, to its shocking conclusion. An excellent example of historical 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.
