Tag: crime fiction

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: No Honour – Awais Khan*

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In sixteen-year-old Abida’s small Pakistani village, there are age-old rules to live by, and her family’s honour to protect. And, yet, her spirit is defiant and she yearns to make a home with the man she loves. When the unthinkable happens, Abida faces the same fate as other young girls who have chosen unacceptable alliances – certain, public death. Fired by a fierce determination to resist everything she knows to be wrong about the society into which she was born, and aided by her devoted father, Jamil, who puts his own life on the line to help her, she escapes to Lahore – only to disappear. Jamil goes to Lahore in search of Abida – a city where the prejudices that dominate their village take on a new and horrifying form – and father and daughter are caught in a world from which they may never escape.

Awais Khan is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and Durham University, and studied creative writing with Faber Academy. His debut novel, In the Company of Strangers, was published to much critical acclaim, and he now regularly appears on TV and radio. Awais also teaches a popular online creative writing course to aspiring writers around the world. He lives in Lahore and is currently working on his third novel. Follow Awais on Twitter @AwaisKhanAuthor.

My thoughts: this book was powerful, moving and devastating. Opening with a terrible “honour killing” that shocked, this is no cosy crime novel. Instead it explores the tragic reality of young women’s lives in parts of Pakistani society. Abida grows up in a rural village where the older men form a sort of council and dispense what they see as justice – including horrific and violent murders of young women and newborn babies. But her father, Jamil, thinks differently, and instead encourages her to flee to Lahore, thinking it will be safer.

Instead she encounters more brutality and violence. But this is a love story – that of a father’s love for his child, as Jamil heads to the city to find his lost daughter. Abida is incredibly resilient and a true survivor – she gets it from her father. Against all the odds stacked against her she perseveres.

This is an incredibly powerful book, it really packs a punch. Khan clearly feels, as many do, that there is no honour in killing and that more men need to be like Jamil and stand against these outdated and deeply monstrous beliefs and crimes. He is not ashamed of Abida, indeed he is proud of his incredible daughter.

This is not an easy book to read, but it is an important one. Tragically Abida’s story is all too real and young women are still at risk of being murdered, not just in rural Pakistan either. What Awais Khan has done with this story is shine a spotlight on the corruption in a society that allows these crimes to go on. Truly vital reading.

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

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Blog Tour: Mimic – Daniel Cole

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1989
DS Benjamin Chambers and DC Adam Winter are on the trail of a twisted serial killer with a passion for recreating the world’s greatest works of art through the bodies of his victims. But after Chambers almost loses his life, the case goes cold – their killer lying dormant, his collection unfinished.

1996
Jordan Marshall has excelled within the Metropolitan Police Service, fuelled by a loss that defined her teenage years. Obsessed, she manages to obtain new evidence, convincing both Chambers and Winter to revisit the case. However, their resurrected investigation brings about a fresh reign of terror, the team treading a fine line between police officers and vigilantes in their pursuit of a monster far more dangerous and intelligent than any of them had anticipated…

My thoughts: ooh this was good, nicely sinister, proper crime thriller stuff. I wasn’t hugely surprised as I read the Ragdoll trilogy and loved it, so I knew the author could write a cracking thriller but this is very well done.

The initial killings in 1989 set it all up nicely, and that final scene in the rain is very cinematic and striking. But then suddenly it’s 1996, we’re with a new detective, there’s more to go on and the case gets warm all over again.

The balance of personalities in Marshall, Chambers and Winter is nicely done, and they work well together. The investigation is solid and the resurgent crimes repellent but also fascinating. The use of classical sculpture, the obsession of the killer, it all comes together beautifully. Awfully, but beautifully 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.

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Blog Tour: Wolf at the Door – Sarah Hawkswood

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All Hallow’s Eve, 1144. The savaged body of Durand Wuduweard, the solitary and unpopular keeper of the King’s Forest of Feckenham, is discovered beside his hearth, his corpse rendered barely identifiable by sharp teeth. Whispers of a wolf on the prowl grow louder and Sheriff William de Beauchamp’s men, Hugh Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll, are tasked with cutting through the clamour. They must uncover who killed Durand and why while beset by superstitious villagers, raids upon manors and further grim deaths. Out of the shadows of the forest, where will the wolf’s fangs strike next?

Sarah Hawkswood describes herself as a ‘wordsmith’ who is only really happy when writing. She read Modern History at Oxford and first published a nonfiction book on the Royal Marines in the First World War before moving on to medieval mysteries set in Worcestershire. Website Twitter

Win books here!! A hamper containing the whole series of Bradecote and Catchpoll books and delicious treats! (Or let me win it!)

My thoughts: this is book nine of the Bradecote & Catchpoll stories, but can be read as a standalone book.

Wolves haven’t been seen in England since the Middle Ages, when this is set, so it was rather fun imagining hearing a howl and feeling fear trickle down your spine – a lot better than the closest thing we get nowadays – foxes fighting by the bins.

Serjeant Catchpoll is sent to investigate the apparent murder by a wolf of the local gamekeeper – a rather unpleasant and unpopular man, with a son known to be a cheat.

But something isn’t right, and Bradecote, Catchpoll and apprentice Walkelin (who really comes into his own in this book) start to dig a little deeper as a crime wave seems to be kicking off in the village of Feckenham.

I really like these characters, despite their 12th century setting, they could be modern investigators, using the science available to them and Catchpoll’s gut to catch criminals.

They do spend a lot of time going back and forth to report into the sheriff, who gets personally involved in this case, but there wasn’t really another way to communicate your findings without risking a letter, so lots of walking and riding around the area, trying to keep everything moving along.

Catchpoll is probably my favourite character, he has a real knack for his job and a keen sense for villainy. He’s also very funny, in a dry, sarcastic way that I appreciate. If it was up to him, he’d lock up anyone he thought looked suspicious – just in case. He’s tempered by Bradecote who prefers to have the evidence first, then find the criminal.

I think they’re probably slightly more enlightened than the real 12th century men, women were literally property then, as Bradecote is very fond of his wife and thinks well of her. He also doesn’t cast shame on women who have to make a difficult way through the world – treating them with respect and kindness instead.

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

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Blog Tour: The Great Silence – Doug Johnstone

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Read my reviews of the other books in this series; A Dark Matter and The Big Chill

Keeping on top of the family funeral directors’ and privateinvestigation businesses is no easy task for the Skelf women, and when matriarch Dorothy discovers a human foot while walking the dog, a perplexing case presents itself. Daughter Jenny and grand-daughter Hannah have their hands full too: the mysterious circumstances of a dying woman have led them into an unexpected family drama, Hannah’s new astrophysicist colleague claims he’s receiving messages from outer space, and the Skelfs’ teenaged lodger has a devastating experience. Nothing is clear as the women are immersed ever deeper in their most challenging cases yet. But when the daughter of Jenny’s violent and fugitive ex-husband goes missing without trace and a wild animal is spotted roaming Edinburgh’s parks, real danger presents itself, and all three Skelfs are in peril. Taut, dark, warmly funny and unafraid to ask big questions – of us all – The Great Silence is the much-anticipated third instalment in the addictive, unforgettable Skelfs series.

Doug Johnstone is the author of twelve previous novels, most recently The Big Chill (2020). Several of his books have been bestsellers and three, A Dark Matter (2020), Breakers (2019) and The Jump (2015), were shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. He’s taught creative writing and been writer in residence at various institutions over the last decade – including at a funeral parlour ahead of writing A Dark Matter – and has been an arts journalist for over twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three solo EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also player-manager of the Scotland Writers Football Club. He lives in Edinburgh. Follow Doug on Twitter and visit his website.

My thoughts: the Skelfs are back in their third outing and I am thrilled. This series just gets better and better. This time there’s a big cat on the loose, stray dead people feet, more funerals to direct, more crimes to investigate. Awful Craig has returned to cause more havoc in his family’s lives, but Jenny’s on his case. Hannah is helping a future colleague who thinks aliens are messaging him – or that someone’s playing a mean prank. Dorothy is looking into the feet Einstein finds in the park and the jaguar who seems to be living there. Indy’s grandparents have come over to see her, surprise, which means digging up the past, and Abi’s past is coming after her too.

The Skelfs (I include Indy, Abi and Archie in this too) are a tough bunch, but they treat all of their clients, living and dead, with kindness and respect. From young women who die suddenly to old women who can’t understand why their children are so awful. They’ve had to be resilient themselves but they know that not everyone has the support and love they share.

Honestly, this is just such a brilliant series, full of black humour (the best kind), interesting characters, crazy plots and as it might be made into a TV series, I was also playing fan cast as I read it, trying to work out who I’d like to see play the Skelf women. Any ideas? I think Lily Tomlin would make a great Dorothy, that Californian hippy in Edinburgh vibe would suit her. Or Dame Judi Dench – she could definitely pull it off. Nicola Walker as Jenny maybe or Laura Fraser, but I’m stumped on Hannah and Indy. Some gorgeous up and comers perhaps. Let me know your ideas.

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

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Blog Tour: The Heights – Louise Candlish

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The Heights is a tall, slender apartment building among warehouses in London. Its roof terrace is so discreet, you wouldn’t know it existed if you weren’t standing at the window of the flat directly opposite. But you are. And that’s when you see a man up there—a man you’d recognize anywhere. He may be older now, but it’s definitely him.

But that can’t be because he’s been dead for over two years. You know this for a fact.

Because you’re the one who killed him.

My thoughts: this was really interesting in the way it was done. Moving between first person accounts, a memoir and newspaper articles, we learn the history between Ellen Saint and Kieran Watts – the tragedy and hatred that leads to a dramatic climax on the roof of a London apartment building.

Ellen’s memoir wants you to believe she had no choice in her actions – that her behaviour was justified. But both the newspaper articles and her ex-partner, Vic’s account suggest there’s a lot more grey to Ellen’s black and white, that not everything she believes is true.

Louise Candlish is easily one of my favourite writers around at the moment. Her books are clever and engaging, exploring different facets of people’s behaviour and thinking. They often hinge on suburban middle class women like Ellen, someone you might pass in the street and never for a second imagine them capable of the kinds of things they get up to in Candlish’s books. Which is what makes this so good – driven by grief, what would you do?

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

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Blog Tour: Pretty Broken Dolls – Jennifer Chase*

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Read my reviews of other Detective Katie Scott books – Last Girls Alive and The Fragile Ones

In the thin light of the moon, the woman’s limp body hangs from the iron fence amongst the redwoods. Looped over the railings is the little gold locket her mother gave her when she turned sixteen. The picture of the girl inside smiles out at a future she’ll never see…

As day breaks over the fairground, Detective Katie Scott forces herself to take in another disturbing scene in front of her. A woman, the same age as her, found slumped in the carriage of the Ferris wheel, red lipstick dragged across her lips, her throat cut.

Katie doesn’t want to believe that the serial killer picking off women across the state has found their way to the small town of Pine Valley, California, but when her team finds a gold engagement ring hanging nearby, it’s a terrifying, but undeniable fact.

With a twisted killer on her doorstep, Katie knows if she doesn’t act fast, she’ll find more women left out in the cold like broken dolls. Her team hit dead end after dead end, but only she can see the vital link between the victims: a connection with Katie herself.

Katie has spent years pushing traumatic memories of her years in the military far out of reach, but she must confront them now or more innocent women will die. But as the killer circles closer and closer to Katie, what if the only answer is to give him what he wants? There must be another way…

Warning – This absolutely unputdownable thriller will keep you up all night! Fans of Lisa Regan, Rachel Caine and Melinda Leigh better hold on tight for a nail-biting rollercoaster ride!

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Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and best-selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells.

In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling. She is an affiliate member of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists, and member of the International Thriller Writers.

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My thoughts: this was excellent, another really enjoyable and twisted thriller starring former Army K9 handler turned detective, Katie Scott. This time her past career puts her in the killer’s crosshairs, as the FBI ask for her help. Partner Deputy McGaven and her tracker dog Cisco are on hand to help solve a string of brutal killings.

Katie has really grown on me over the course of reading the last few books and I really like her as a character, each time we learn a bit more about her, and what makes her so good at her job and so determined to solve these crimes.

While not strictly cold case, this is pretty grim and the FBI agent seems to be intentionally messing with her, not giving her all the info, following her and generally being a bit shady – are they a suspect?

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

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Blog Tour: Sophomania – Danielle Zinn*

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When Detective Inspector Nathaniel Thomas is presented with an anonymous letter and three
unexplained deaths in less than twenty-four hours, he realizes that his idyllic home village, Crottendorf, masks a turbulent reality. Summoning his trusted colleague, DS Ann Collins, Thomas begins to unravel what quickly becomes an overwhelming mountain of conflicting evidence.
So many secrets. So many lies. So many attempts to cover things up.
All is not as it first appears and it proves a lot harder to pin down the killer who prides himself on
being more than one step ahead of the DI.
A deeply rooted family tragedy, greed and vengeance are at the core of this crime novel. The twists and turns of Sophomania leave you wondering to the very end who the real murderer is—or if there may actually be more than one killer on the loose in the anything-but-sleepy village of Crottendorf.
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Danielle Zinn is a German author, born and raised in a small village in the Ore Mountains/Germany
where not only her debut crime novel Snow Light is set but also her second book, Sophomania.
She holds a BA (Hons) degree in Business and Management from New College Durham/UK and has settled down in Leipzig/Germany where she works as a Financial Controller at an IT Consultancy.
She was introduced to the world of English literature and writing from an early age on through her mother – an English teacher. Over the last years, she circumnavigated the globe and loves visiting her friends scattered all over the world.

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My thoughts: this was a really interesting and enjoyable crime thriller, set in a small German town. Murdered twins, missing nuns, family secrets and babysitting his best friend’s daughter (and her dog), DI Nathaniel Thomas has his hands full, and that’s before he has to deal with his colleague’s instant dislike of their new team member.

After receiving a mummified finger in the post, a roofer falls to her death and then someone kills his dentist. Nat is at a lost as to how and why someone is killing off members of the same family, even the matriarch could be a suspect! The case has him chasing clues all over town and much to his boss’ dismay, the bodies keep coming.

In the end, there’s several shocking twists before he finally catches the villain of the piece. His theory about it being at least one of the seven deadly sins – something we’re all guilty of sometimes, is clever and not entirely wrong.

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

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Blog Tour: The Dying Squad – Adam Simcox*

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DYING IS HELL . . . SOLVING YOUR OWN MURDER IS PURGATORY

When Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus storms a Lincolnshire farmhouse, he expects to bring down a notorious drug gang; instead, he discovers his own dead body and a spirit guide called Daisy-May.

She’s there to enlist him to the Dying Squad, a spectral police force made up of the recently deceased. Joe soon realises there are fates far worse than death. To escape being stuck in purgatory, he must solve his own murder. A task made all the more impossible when his memories start to fade.

Reluctantly partnering with Daisy-May, Joe faces dangers from both the living and the dead in the quest to find his killer – before they kill again.

My thoughts: I don’t know if you’ve seen a film called RIPD with Ryan Reynolds & Jeff Bridges, which was not great but I love Jeff Bridges, well this is a bit like that but miles better and British, so the humour is drier and pitch black.

Joe Lazarus (really, that surname, I wonder if anyone gets the Biblical reference) is dead, but not completely. His soul is recruited by the afterlife’s very own police department – as Daisy-May puts it – the Dying Squad, and first job – solve his own murder. Except well, that’s not exactly what he’s doing, but no one told him or his new partner that.

Daisy-May is a brilliant character, smart, funny, and dealing with a heck of a lot. Including Joe, who’s a bit hopeless. The dying thing really throws him and what they’re learning about his life (the dead lose their memories) isn’t exactly great. The Duchess, their boss, has her own somewhat disturbing plans, and things are going a bit sideways in purgatory.

I really hope there’s more of Simcox’s afterlife stories with these characters as I think there’s scope for so many more.

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

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Blog Tour: The Face at the Window – Ruby Speechley*

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They’re in your house.

They want your life.

And now, they have your baby.

To the world, I’m @HappyWife. Online, people only see my picture-perfect home, my handsome husband, Nick, and my beautiful baby, Thomas.

They don’t see the real Gemma Adams. They don’t see my past, the dark secrets I’m hiding in my marriage. They don’t see the fear I live in every single day.

But I know someone is watching me. And now, they’ve taken Thomas.

I just don’t know why.

But I’m going to stop at nothing to get my baby back.

Even if it destroys everything I’ve got to find him.

A compelling thriller, packed with suspense – fans of K.L. Slater and Lisa Jewell won’t be able to put it down.

Ruby Speechley is the author of four psychological thrillers published by Hera Books. She loves writing about domestic situations with plenty of twists and secrets.

She was born in Portugal but has lived in the UK since she was three months old. She now lives in Cheshire with her husband and two of her three children and two dogs. She has an older son and grandson.

You can contact her on Twitter: @rubyspeechley

My thoughts: from the blurb this looked like it was going to be a creepy thriller but instead it’s about coercive control, abuse of power and a kidnapping that helps bring the above abuse to light.

Gemma is unhappily married to Nick, more than twice her age (although he lies about that) with a newborn son – Thomas. But Nick is leading a double life and treats Gemma appallingly. Slowly all his secrets are revealed after Thomas is kidnapped by two young women.

Domestic abuse isn’t just about the physical violence but can also be control, manipulation and gaslighting. Nick uses all of these on women – not just his wife. The way the past is slowly unpacked, through the voices of Gemma and Scarlett, and you learn just what kind of awful man Nick is, is skillfully done. It would be easy to make him an out and out villain but by making you wait to see the depth of his evil ways means you empathise with him as a father of a missing child but by the end you’re no longer remotely sorry for him.

Gemma is the clear victim here – manipulated and controlled from the moment they met – terrified of angering him. She can’t save herself and in a strange twist of fate, it’s the last person you might expect who raises the alarm.

A clever, enjoyable and thought provoking read.

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

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Blog Tour: The Crooked Shore – Martin Edwards*

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DCI Hannah Scarlett is an acknowledged expert in solving cold cases, but she is struggling under the weight of bureaucracy when Ramona Smith’s disappearance from Bowness more than twenty years ago crosses her desk. The prime suspect was charged but found not guilty. Now the case comes back into the public eye as the result of a shocking tragedy on the Crooked Shore, the fount of dark legends in the south of the Lake District. Tensions mount in the summer heat as a ruthless killer who has already got away with one murder plans further appalling crimes. Hannah finds herself racing against the clock as she strives to solve the mysteries and save innocent lives.

My thoughts: this was interesting, cold cases are obviously a bit harder to solve when suspects, witnesses and evidence aren’t available.

Added to that are complications in Hannah’s personal life and a strange man who insists a murder is about to happen.

I liked Hannah, she’s pretty sensible and doesn’t just go for the most obvious answers, she carefully works through the evidence and solves the case – though it’s not as straightforward as it seems.

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