Tag: crime fiction

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Waitress – Emily Shiner

ramblingmads

Secrets can be kept. If you’re willing to pay the price.

Anne Marie’s life isn’t easy. She’s a single mom in a dead-end waitressing job with a beater car and bills to pay. Adding to the pressure, her teenage son, Dave, is out of control, and no matter what she does, Anne Marie can’t seem to get through to him.

Then, out of the blue, Dave completely changes. He’s kind, he’s thoughtful, he helps out around the house and looks after his mom. Anne Marie can’t believe her luck.

Until she discovers the reason for her son’s sudden transformation – he’s done something really awful and he’s terrified he’ll be caught. Even worse, someone out there knows about it and they’re blackmailing him.

Anne Marie is desperate to protect her son and knows she has to somehow stop the blackmailer. But how?

As she considers her choices, Anne Marie realizes she may be taking the first steps on a path that will lead her straight to the gates of hell.

How far is she willing to go to save her only child?

Goodreads – Buy Link

Emily Shiner always dreamed of becoming an author but first served her time as a banker and a teacher. After a lifetime of devouring stacks of thrillers, she decided to try her hand at writing them herself. Now she gets to live out her dream of writing novels and sharing her stories with people around the world. She lives in the Appalachian Mountains and loves hiking with her husband, daughter, and their two dogs.

Facebook Instagram Twitter

My thoughts: Anne Marie is trying to keep all the plates spinning – her dead end waitressing job, her struggle to pay the bills, her son Dave, who’s getting into trouble at school. But after a hit and run on their street, Dave changes for the better. Can it last and does he have anything to do with the death of their elderly neighbour?

When he finally opens up to her, it’s with the horrifying news that he did indeed hit their neighbour and somebody saw – now they’re blackmailing him. He needs his mother’s help to get the blackmailer off his back. And from there it all spirals out of control.

Anne Marie no longer has any control of what’s going on, and increasingly her son, who’s not a particularly nice person, is and he doesn’t care who he has to hurt to get his own way.

There are twists and turns along the way, as Anne Marie’s life falls apart, all the things she’s scrabbling to hold onto are escaping her and she’s on her own with no one to turn to. I felt sorry for her, she’s lost in her own life and nothing seems to be improving. Even when she tries to take back control it goes wrong. The final twist was gasp worthy, but no spoilers here.

Click the image for more on the tour

*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: Season For Murder – Anna A Armstrong

ramblingmads

Enjoy a visit to the idyllic Cotswolds where the blackberry jam is delicious, the pumpkins are ripe and a killer is plotting death.

Vivian Plover is an unlikely murderer but needs must. If her bumbling husband is ever going to reach the exalted office of Lord-Lieutenant, Vivian, in sensible shoes, twin set and pearls has some murderous work to do. She is beset by challenges, from her godson’s fake fiancée to Dee’s meddling.

With the worthies of Little Warthing falling foul of accidents, can Dee FitzMorris thwart her scheme or will she find herself yet another victim?

Rarely has murder been so amusing.

Indulge in this quirky and humorous cozy crime novel that will keep you entertained from start to finish. Set in modern-day England, amidst the charming British Cotswold countryside, “Season for Murder” delivers a captivating blend of mystery and comedy. With its light-hearted atmosphere and engaging whodunit plot, this British detective series is a must-read for fans of cozy crime murder mysteries.

Amazon Goodreads

My thoughts: this was an entertaining murder mystery, that was only a mystery to the characters. The killer was known to me (and all readers) from the offset. But her reasoning is of course completely bizarre.

Vivian wants her husband to be Lord-Lieutenant, whether he wants to or not, without even knowing if he’s in the running or what the people who decide these things think. She’s decided it has to happen and anyone who gets in her way will simply have to go. Including Dee FitzMorris, purely because Vivian thinks she’s a nuisance. And then there’s godson Tom’s “fiancèe” Emily, she’ll have to go too,as Vivian thinks Tom should marry her choice of bride.

Vivian should see someone about her god complex issues – instead she embarks on blackmail and attempted murder, but isn’t exactly a great killer. She almost offs her husband by accident at one point.

As the strange murder attempts continue, Dee and her family are confused by it all. Who is trying to kill these unconnected village residents, even the police are at a loss.

There’s plenty of other village goings on to enjoy too, fetes, new residents, Dee’s many attempts to drop off jars of jam, Tom and Emily’s blossoming love affair, it’s all very charming. And funny, this book did make me giggle.

*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: After the Sleepover – Kerry Wilkinson

ramblingmads

“Gone. They’re gone.” Dylan’s wide-eyed mother bites her nails in desperation. “All three kids. They wanted to sleep outside. But I went to check this morning and… the tents are empty. They’re gone.”

Twenty-five years ago: teenage Leah had a sleepover with her three best friends. By morning, the other girls were missing. This small town has been searching for answers ever since. Now it’s happened again…

Three boys decide to camp in a field next to one of their homes. When dawn comes, dew glistens on their empty tents.

Overgrown farmland is searched. Three distraught families are desperate for news. A mother herself now, Leah’s heart breaks as terrible memories flood back…

Leah thought she knew what happened at the sleepover years ago but now another three children are missing. What if she was wrong? And how far will Leah have to go, to finally discover the truth, before it’s too late?

A completely addictive psychological thriller packed with twists, that will have you up all night racing through the pages. After the Sleepover can be enjoyed as a standalone read, and anyone who loves Shari Lapena, Lisa Jewell, or The Perfect Marriage won’t be able to put it down.

Amazon

Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.

He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.

Website Facebook Twitter

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Kerry Wilkinson here

You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love.

My thoughts: Leah is only finally coming to terms with the secrets she learnt about her own friends’ disappearance when the mother of a teenage boy the same age as her son asks for her help. She was at school with Leah and now she’s living every mother’s nightmare – her son and his friends have disappeared…or have they?

Leah is uncomfortable supporting Jennifer, a woman she barely knows, but does it anyway, she’s a good person and feels sorry for her.

However when Jennifer’s son reappears, minus his friends, with a weird story about being kidnapped by a man who threatened to kill them “like those girls”, with what Leah knows, something isn’t quite right.

Turning to her dad, despite him being the last person alive she would normally contact, Leah does some digging. And actual bones are found on Jennifer’s land too. Something very strange is going on.

Shocking, twisting and full of gasp out loud moments, this is a great follow up to The Night of the Sleepover although you don’t have to have read it to enjoy this. Leah is a wonderful protagonist, willing to help people but not gullible or naive enough to fall for everything people say. Putting her amateur detective skills to work preventing a sort of copycat from getting away with it pushes her to reconsider how she’s seen by the people in her home town.

*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: Between the Lies – Louise Tickle

ramblingmads

When it comes to families, is anyone a reliable witness?

Cherry Magraw can never forget the date her mother and brother were killed – the night of her ninth birthday. When her father was jailed for their murders, she lost everyone she loved.

Twenty years later, Cherry is a freelance journalist investigating domestic abuse and the secret world of the family courts, when she gets a letter from her father – still in prison for the killings – which contains a startling request.

From that point on, her past becomes entangled with her work, dismantling everything Cherry thought she knew about her family tragedy and plunging her into a dangerous of game of cat and mouse. Will her history cloud her judgement about another desperate family? And how far will she go to save someone else’s children?

If you buy a copy direct from the publisher, there’s a free shipping offer with code XMASFREE. The first chapter is also available on the Bath Publishing website to give you a taste of the book.

My thoughts: based on her experience as a journalist covering family court, Louise Tickle has written a complex and thought provoking book.

Cherry is now a journalist with an interest in domestic violence cases and family court, but as a child she was present when her father killed her mother and younger brother after a night of terror. He also scarred her for life. He is in prison but Cherry has gaps in her memory of that night and he might be the only person who can help her fill them.

She has also been drawn into the fraught custody case of Kathie and Ed. She claims he’s a master manipulator, using threats, physical violence and coercive control to stop her from escaping him with their two young children. He says she’s a liar.

With an unsympathetic judge who doesn’t seem to really care, Kathie grows more and more frantic, and despite promising to stay neutral Cherry’s own experiences colour her reactions and after a frightening moment with Ed, she’s more concerned than ever. But there’s no evidence that he’s dangerous.

Domestic cases are always very complicated, a lot of what happens is in the home with no witnesses, except maybe the children, and it can be difficult to demonstrate what has been going on.

There are lots of shocking moments and heartstopping twists as the novel builds towards its ending – played out against the North Wales coastline where Cherry grew up in the care of her loving aunt and uncle.

*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: Murder All Inclusive – Alastair Puddick

ramblingmads

From the author of 46% Better Than Dave, which was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction 2020, comes Murder All Inclusive.

When somebody starts murdering authors during a writers’ retreat, can miserable, second-rate novelist Freddie Winters catch the killer before it’s too late?

Curmudgeonly, mediocre crime novelist Freddie Winters unexpectedly finds himself invited to a mysterious writer’s retreat in a fancy hotel in Spain. While he makes the most of the free food and drink – and begrudgingly gives talks and teaches classes – the hotel is thrown into chaos as someone starts murdering the other authors and industry figures. Finding himself the prime suspect, Freddie decides to use his crime-writing skills to investigate for real, so he can clear his name and find out what’s really going on.

Before long the other writers are trying to get in on the action, keen to be the one who solves the case. Everybody wonders why the killer is leaving scrawled-in copies of an old murder mystery at the scene of each killing. Most concerned are the author of that book – legendary crime writer Edward Cross – and his duplicitous agent, who also happen to be at the event, and clearly have a dark secret they’re desperate to protect.

Alastair Puddick has written three novels: The Unexpected Vacation of George Thring, Killing Dylan and 46% Better Than Dave, which was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize 2020.

Alastair has spent the past 20 years writing for a variety of magazines, websites and corporate clients. His work has spanned many different paths, from jetting off to exciting cities around the world to writing about dating advice, data centres, technology and the exciting world of flooring. He also once wrote an agony advice column posing as Elvis Presley’s ghost.

My thoughts: I’ve been to a few crime writer festivals (Hi Capital Crime!) but thankfully no one was murdered at them. Or at any book events I’ve been to. But this one, set at a sunny Spanish resort, hides a killer with a real grudge against some of the guests.

It’s also very, very funny. Despite the presence of so many crime writers, they’re all a bit clueless as to who it might be and why. You’d think after creating so many terrible murders and brilliant detectives, they might be a bit more savvy, but maybe it’s all the sun and free booze boiling their brains!

Luckily grumpy, greedy, somewhat struggling author Freddie Winters has a bit more of an idea and is hot on the case. Although the local police would rather he wasn’t. Besides, he’s a suspect – don’t leave the hotel is the warning.

As the body count rises and the event teeters on the edge of collapsing into chaos, Freddie has been putting the pieces together while stuffing his face – it is all you can eat after all.

Highly enjoyable, fun, entertaining stuff and hopefully it won’t encourage anyone to carry out a real life copycat situation at the next crime writers event!

*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: Murder by Christmas – Lesley Cookman

ramblingmads


The twisting twenty-fifth instalment of Lesley Cookman’s much-loved Libby Sarjeant series.


Libby Sarjeant is deep into rehearsals for the annual pantomime when a body is found in a doorway two weeks before Christmas – and Libby and her friend Fran are called into action once again, when
their investigation leads them to a local brewery and the sale of many of its pubs.
With the help of a team of local publicans, can Libby and Fran unravel the case before it’s too late?
Purchase Link

Lesley started writing almost as soon as she could read, and filled many Woolworth’s exercise books with pony stories until she was old enough to go out with boys. Since she’s been grown up, following a varied career as a model, air stewardess and disc jockey, she’s written short fiction and features for a variety of magazines, achieved an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Wales, taught writing for both Kent Adult Education and the WEA and edited the first Sexy Shorts collection of short stories, in aid of the Breast Cancer Campaign. Lesley is a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.
Lesley has also written pantomimes performed all over Britain, and published a book on how to do it!
Learn more about Lesley by visiting her blog.
Facebook Twitter Instagram

My thoughts: this was a lot of fun, as this series always is, full of laughs, despite being a murder investigation (the bit where Libby and Fran comment on the absurdity of calling crime novels “cosy” made me laugh).

Despite it being panto season, and Libby playing the Fairy Godmother, she still finds time to help Ian and the local police out asking questions about the deceased and his family. The family owned a brewery and a number of pubs and other property, but have been divesting themselves of a lot of it recently. Something iffy seems to have been going on, did Dickie try to stop it and lose his life or was there something else?

Libby has a good knack in getting people to open up and talk, even when they’re a bit suspicious, they trust her reputation and her various links to the local community over the police.

I had a great time reading this book, and I can’t wait till next time.

*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 Scotsman – Rob McClure

ramblingmads

The Scotsman is the story of a Glasgow detective investigating his own daughter’s death in Washington, D.C. Six months after the murder of Catriona Cowan, a Scottish exchange student, her father arrives in D.C. skeptical of the findings of an earlier police investigation. Chic Cowan’s own inquiries lead him from the deprived neighborhoods of Southeast D.C. to the townhouses of Capitol Hill and to the suspicion that his daughter’s death is connected to an upcoming Senate election. But the obsessed and grieving father, wrestling with sobriety, comes to question his own sanity as he closes in on the truth.

Rob McClure was born in Scotland. 

He currently lives in Galesburg, Illinois, and teaches film at Knox College where he is John and Elaine Fellowes Professor of English. 

His fiction has appeared in Gettysburg Review, Manchester Review, Chicago Quarterly Review, Barcelona Review and many other magazines. 

My thoughts: the DC police have written off Catriona Cowan’s murder as a mugging gone wrong, but her father, Scottish detective Chic Cowan is far from convinced. Flying into the US capital, he starts his own investigation, taking him deep into the heart of Washington politics and covert organisations. Catriona was a student, but her girlfriend was a journalist. Did the two women dig up something they shouldn’t?

Chic teams up with Catriona’s friend Dayon, and interviews her professors, room mate, and a US senator and his staff. Somewhere in amongst the lies is the truth of what happened to his precious daughter and he will go to any length to find out.

He gets slightly side tracked when he meets Rita, an alluring woman with a tenuous connection to his investigation, but even as she becomes a victim of the people he’s hunting, he never fully loses focus and now has two reasons to keep searching – Rita might even still be alive.

Clever, gripping and full of the darkness hidden underneath a politician’s smile, this is a tense 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.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: How Not to Murder Your Ex – Katie Marsh

ramblingmads


It is 5:30 am on Clio’s forty-fifth birthday and her hated ex is lying dead on her doorstep. Even worse, this is no accident. Someone’s killed him…
When single mum Clio’s ex Gary turns up dead on the doorstep of her caravan – the one she’s been forced to live in ever since he stole every penny she had – there’s only one suspect. Her.
What’s more, she doesn’t remember much about the night he was killed – not just because of the forgetfulness that’s been plaguing her along with the hot flushes – but because she definitely had one too many cocktails with her two best friends Amber and Jeanie.
Clio does remember them talking about how much they all hated him though. And, in the frame for murder, she has to ask herself – if she didn’t kill Gary, who did? One of his many enemies? Or someone a little closer to home? And can she and her friends find the real killer before it’s too late?
Unputdownable mystery set on the English coast – perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, Bad Sisters, and How to Kill Your Family.
Purchase


Katie Marsh wrote five bestselling, uplifting women’s fiction novels before turning to cosy crime for Boldwood. Previously published by Hodder, the first in her new crime series How Not To Murder Your Ex, following the fortunes of the Bad Girls Detective Agency, will be published in December 2023.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Newsletter

My thoughts: Clio didn’t kill her awful ex-husband but she certainly has a lot of reasons why she might. But so do quite a few other people, it turns out. Gary is a pretty terrible person and quite frankly it’s impossible to feel sorry for him.

Although Clio does end up in custody at one point, thankfully her besties – Amber, a former police detective with something to prove, and Joanie – a sleep deprived mother on twins currently on mat leave, are on hand to solve the case and stop Clio taking the blame for something she didn’t do.

Funny, entertaining, with a cast of very relatable and rather brilliant protagonists, this was a lot of fun and a good start to a new crime series.

*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: Arsenic at Ascot – Kelly Oliver

ramblingmads


Saddle up for this first class historical mystery, perfect for fans of Helena Dixon and Verity Bright.


London, 1918
Fiona Figg finds herself back in Old Blighty saddled with shuffling papers for the war office. Then a mysterious card arrives, inviting her to a fancy house party at Mentmore Castle. This year’s Ascot-
themed do will play host to a stable of animal defense advocates, and Fiona is tasked with infiltrating the activists and uncovering possible anti-war activity.
Disguised as the Lady Tabitha Kenworthy, Fiona is more than ready for the “mane” event, but the odds are against her when both her arch nemesis, dark-horse Fredrick Fredricks, and would-be fiancé
Lieutenant Archie Somersby arrive unexpectedly and “stirrup” her plans. And when a horse doctor thuds to the floor in the next guest room, Fiona finds herself investigating a mysterious poisoning
with some very hairy clues.
Can Fiona overcome the hurdles and solve both cases, or will she be pipped to the post and put out to pasture by the killer?
Purchase


Kelly Oliver is the award-winning, bestselling author of three mysteries series: The Jessica James Mysteries, The Pet Detective Mysteries, and the historical cozies The Fiona Figg Mysteries, set in
WW1. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She is bringing new titles in the Fiona Figg series to Boldwood, the first of
which, Chaos in Carnegie Hall, will be published in November 2022.

Facebook Twitter Newsletter Bookbub

My thoughts: released from the dreaded filing, Fiona Figg is finally given a case of her own and actually encouraged to don her collection of costumes with the War Office footing the bill!

She’s undercover at Porton Down – the MOD’s chemical warfare research facility, and also at a fancy Ascot themed country house party – what could possibly go wrong?

Obviously there’s a murder – it’s the perfect setting for one, and Fiona is on the case. Escorted as ever by Clifford, and with the arrival of Archie, Fredericks and Kitty (with Poppy on a lead) the gang’s all there to help solve, or possibly hinder, the investigation. As well as the murdered scientist, there’s some missing race horses, an anti-vivesectionist group to infiltrate and someone is leaking secrets from the research lab. It’s all go.

Tremendous fun as always, with Fiona never entirely sure where she stands but happy to have an official case to investigate. Her relationships with Archie and Fredericks continue to be more complicated than she’d like and Kitty is still a bit of a nuisance, but at least she brought her forensics kit along.

*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 Silent House of Sleep – Allan Gaw

ramblingmads


‘No one likes death. It just happens to be our business.’


Nobody who meets Dr Jack Cuthbert forgets him. Tall, urbane, brilliant but damaged, this Scottish pathologist who works with Scotland Yard is the best the new DCI has seen. But Cuthbert is a man
who lives with secrets, and he still battles demons brought back from the trenches.
When not one but two corpses are discovered in a London park in 1929, Cuthbert must use every tool at his disposal to solve the mystery of their deaths. In the end, the horrifying truth is more shocking than even he could have imagined.
As he works the case, Cuthbert realises that history rarely stays in the past. And even in the final moments, there is still one last revelation that leaves him reeling.

Amazon UK Amazon US


Allan Gaw is a Scot who lives and works near Glasgow. He studied medicine and is a pathologist by training but a writer by inclination. Having worked in the NHS and universities in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and the US, he now devotes his time to writing.
Most of his published work to date is non-fiction. These include textbooks and regular magazine articles on topics as diverse as the thalidomide story, the medical challenges of space travel and the
medico-legal consequences of the Hillsborough disaster.
More recently, he has been writing short stories, novels and poetry. He has won the UK Classical Association Creative Writing Competition, the International Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize, the International Globe Soup 7-day Writing Challenge and was runner-up in the Glencairn Glass/Bloody Scotland Short Crime Fiction Competition. He has also had prose published in the literary journal, From Glasgow to Saturn and anthologies from the Edinburgh Literary Salon and Clan Destine Press in Australia. His poetry has been published by Dreich, Soor Ploom Press and Black Bough Poetry. His debut poetry collection, Love & Other Diseases, was published in 2023 by Seahorse Publications.
The Silent House of Sleep is his debut novel and is the first in the Dr Jack Cuthbert Mystery series.
You can read more about him and his work at his website

My thoughts: this was really good, slightly creepy – the method of murder was very and the killer was too.

Haunted by his experiences in WW1, Dr Cuthbert was an interesting protagonist. He’s a brilliant doctor, up on all the latest forensic technology (bearing in mind what they knew was very new – and years before DNA sequencing etc), with an inquisitive mind and helpfully for this case, a working knowledge of Latin.

I won’t reveal the ghoulish method of murder, but it is pretty nasty. So much so that it leaves DI Mowbray and his team completely at sea. Thankfully Cuthbert can provide a little information and that sets the police on the right path. But the doctor wants to see this one through – and it turns out that there is a connection to him, one that adds to his trauma.

I hope that this becomes a series, with Cuthbert and Mowbray becoming better friends and colleagues, and Cuthbert finding some happiness in his life, even if it is by solving gruesome killings.

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