Tag: mystery

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Blog Tour: The House of Mystery – Joy Ellis

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A missing boy. Three extraordinary children. And a darkness that will stop at nothing.

Fourteen-year-old Ollie Cruise is missing. He was last seen two nights ago, down by the river, with an older boy. DCI Bob Foreman suspects something very nasty has happened to him – and there’s only one person who can uncover the truth: Ellie McEwan, a healer with a rare
psychic gift.

At her Surrey healing centre, Ellie is already alarmed by two new cases. Five-year-old Harry sketches WWII bomber planes with uncanny technical precision. Eight-year-old Christopher
writes chilling stories of events before they actually happen.

When the body of a teenager is found on a lonely forest road, Ellie realises the boys are connected to something very dangerous.
All leads point to an isolated mansion deep in the woods, home to the mysterious Eleventh House – and an extraordinary secret.

To save the children – and those she loves – Ellie must lead a perilous rescue. But it will take every ounce of her courage, and stretch her ability to its limits.

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I was born in Kent but spent most of my working life in London and Surrey. I was an apprentice florist to Constance Spry Ltd, a prestigious Mayfair shop that throughout the Sixties and Seventies teemed with both royalty and ‘real’ celebrities. What an eye-opener for a working- class kid from the Garden of England!

I swore then, probably whilst I was scrubbing the floor or making the tea, that I would have a shop of my own one day. It took until the early Eighties, but I did it. Sadly the recession wiped us out, and I embarked on a series of weird and wonderful jobs; the last one being a bookshop manager. Surrounded by books all day, getting to order whatever you liked, and being paid for it! Oh bliss!

And now I live in a village in the Lincolnshire Fens with my partner, Jacqueline, and three Springer spaniels and four little rescue, Breton spaniels. I had been writing mysteries for years
but never had the time to take it seriously. Now I write full-time, and as my partner is a highly decorated retired police officer; my choice of genre is a no-brainer! I have an on-tap police and judicial consultant, who makes exceedingly good tea!

I have set my crime thrillers here in the misty fens because I sincerely love the remoteness and airy beauty of the marshlands. This area is steeped in superstitions and lends itself so well to
murder!

I am lucky enough to be one of the amazing Joffe Books team of authors and am really enjoying being able to spend time doing what I love… writing!

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My thoughts: I really like Joy’s crime books and while this features a few police officers and a missing boy, mostly it’s about young people with extraordinary gifts, that might be able to change the world.

At her health centre, Ellie helps people with different conditions, she can see their aura, which helps her fine tune their treatment plans, helping heal them in ways they might not entirely understand.

When her friend’s grandson starts writing a book using language far beyond his years, a bit like automatic writing or stream of consciousness but this actually makes sense, she’s concerned. He says his “friend” is telling him what to write. She realises that this isn’t fiction – it’s really happening.

Then there’s five-year-old Harry, drawing exceptional images of WW2 planes and occasionally speaking in the voice of an adult, one who has clearly seen true horrors.

She also meets a little girl carrying something malevolent and cruel, a girl she desperately wants to help.

When she and her friends learn about the Eleventh House – a place of sanctuary for children like these – she knows they must accompany their charges there – if they can. Evil is gathering and the children must be protected at all costs.

I wasn’t entirely sure about this at first, but Joy’s writing is always compelling and the plot draws you in, whether you believe in spirits and psychic gifts or not, you want the children to be safe, and for good to prevail over evil. I think that’s something most of us 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.

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Blog Tour: The Bridge of Fire – Maria Karamanou

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Looking for something gothic, suspenseful, and atmospheric? The we highly recommend The Bridge of Fire by Maria Karamanou!

The Bridge of Fire

Release Date: October 2024

Genre: Gothic Mystery/ Thriller

Cover Artist: @selkkiedesigns

  • Haunted village
  • Trauma-bonded sisters
  • Hidden diary mystery
  • Prophetic dreams
  • Femme fatale revenge arc
  • Morally grey love interest
  • Dark family secrets
  • Deadly games & deception

In the quiet village of Snowshill, where shadows linger longer than the daylight, two sisters uncover a truth that was never meant to surface.

Victoria is haunted by vivid, prophetic dreams, visions that pull her toward a darkness buried deep within the village’s past. When she and her sister, Alice, discover a hidden diary detailing a string of unsolved murders, they awaken something ancient… and vengeful.

Alice, driven by pain and a dangerous need for retribution, slips into the underbelly of Snowshill, gambling, deceiving, and risking everything to chase a justice that could consume her. But the deeper she goes, the more she realizes her greatest enemy may not be the monsters lurking in the shadows… but the truth she’s been running from.

As history threatens to repeat itself, the sisters must confront the secrets that shaped them, the evil infecting their bloodline, and a destiny that has been waiting for them in the dark.

Some secrets were never meant to be found.
Some murders were never meant to be solved.
And in Snowshill… the truth always demands a sacrifice.

In the end, one haunting question remains: Who will survive to tell the tale of Snowshill?

A gothic psychological thriller about sisterhood, trauma, revenge, and the thin line between love and destruction

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Triggers – Scenes of violence
• Death and loss
• Trauma-related themes
• Mentions of abuse

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Blog Tour: The Mumbai School for Murder – Meeti Shroff-Shah

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Mystery novelist Radhi Zaveri has a new job, teaching spoiled kids at Mumbai’s prestigious North Star High School.
But, little does she suspect, things are about to veer wildly off-syllabus . . .

When fiery teacher Ms Venus is found slumped across her desk, the school insist she died of natural causes.
But Radhi’s not convinced. The Ms Venus she knew was in rude health, quite literally, stirring up drama and discord at every turn.

What if someone — a disgruntled parent, a disgraced ‘D’ student — decided to silence her acid tongue for good?
And the last person to clash with Ms Venus is mysteriously missing . . .

Can Radhi piece it all together — before the killer’s ruthless red pen strikes again?

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Meeti is an award-winning copywriter, content writer and mother (though no awards for this yet). When she isn’t busy writing ads that make toothpaste sound like an aphrodisiac, Meeti can be found with a cup of ginger tea, gazing contentedly at the yellow gulmohars outside her window and plotting the murder of perfectly innocent people.

In 2016, Pan Macmillan India published her memoir, Do You Know Any Good Boys? – a funny guide to the Indian arranged marriage – based on the awkward arranged dates she had with 40 different men, before she met her husband.
Meeti lives with her daughter and husband (yes, the same one she took such pains to find) in Mumbai.

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My thoughts: This was a clever whodunnit set at an elite school in Mumbai, where the students are under intense pressure to perform and where the teachers all have secrets.

When English teacher Ms Venus is found dead, visiting author/teacher Radhi suspects foul play – there are a few things about the scene that suggest it might be murder. She and the local police detective dig into Ms Venus, the other teachers and the students (and their parents) who might have had reason to kill.

Radhi is also avoiding her own issues, the complicated relationship with her sister, her growing attraction to a married man she went to college with, and her grief at her parents’ deaths. She’s drinking too much and worrying the people closest to her.

As she investigates the school’s goings-on and worries about the party her sister is throwing for her birthday, it all starts to come to a head. Can she fix the problems in her life and catch a killer?

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

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Book Review: The Curious Case of the Midnight Spectre – Moriah Chavis

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She can see ghosts, but can she catch a killer?

Stornshire, England – 1890

Leighanna Pauley barely escaped consumption. Now, she’s claimed by both Life and Death. Fascinated by justice and why she survived when so many others haven’t, she has a new obsession: the murder of a fellow socialite. But the police have no leads.

The investigation emboldens Leighanna to attend the first ball held at the Carmine Estate. When midnight strikes, the unimaginable takes place. Time stops for everyone but Leighanna. Before her stands the ghost of the dead girl, pleading with Leighanna to catch her killer before someone else is murdered.

In a race against time, Leighanna hunts for clues across Stornshire. Will she be able to solve the case before the murderer strikes again, or will she become just another forgotten victim?

My thoughts: Although Leighanna was fairly exasperating at times  – listen to your friends! I quite enjoyed her investigation into the death of a young woman at a party. Leigh wasn’t there as she was sort of dying of TB at the time. Life and Death were both with her, and she hovered between them. Anthropomorphic personifications of Life, Death and Time pop up to move things around as they wait to see which way Leigh will go.

But Leigh is very busy living and trying to solve a murder. She finds clues that the police missed – like a very special pocket watch, and comes to suspect her brother’s best friend, and her nemesis, Casper. But has she got the right man?

Her friends try to help her, but she doesn’t always listen and puts herself in danger, being so quick to make decisions, she doesn’t consider any of the risks.

It’s a fun little mystery, and Leigh is a headstrong young woman in the wrong era – the 1800s are not prepared for a woman detective and neither is society.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: The Devil’s Ward – Dharshaini G

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A little taste for the spooky season to come! Check out The Devil’s Ward by Dharshaini G!

The Devil’s (The Devil’s Archive)

Expected Release: Aug 2, 2025

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/ Horror

  • Big brother-little sister bond
  • Mystery-thriller
  • Creepy hospital
  • The killer is back
  • Asian MC
  • Folklore

She was ten when her brother vanished. Now he’s calling—and so is his killer.
Signal meets The Haunting of Hill House in this chilling mystery thriller.

Shadows haunt the corridors of Deacon Hospital. Seventeen years ago, patients were murdered. Dr. Tharn, the prime suspect, vanished.

But Tara knows the truth. Her big brother was framed—and murdered. Now a doctor herself, she starts work at Deacon Hospital with one mission:

To find the killer that stole him.

During a busy night shift, her work phone glitches…and rings its own number.

Tharn answers—seventeen years in the past, just weeks before his death. He’s holding the same battered work phone.

For Tara, this is a chance. To rewrite the past and save her brother.

But in her present, the bodies are piling up again.

The killer is back.

And they can’t wait to meet her.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

Triggers: Murder. Violence. References to child abuse, racism and suicide.

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Blog Tour: The Manuscript – Steven L. Wright

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A newly married couple from Harrogate purchased a manuscript from an antiquarian bookseller titled, The Universal Language Isn’t Love or Music but Loneliness. Completed in 1940 by unknown author, William Travers, it was one of several items offered at the estate
auction of a local family. Reading and discussing the work changed their lives … and their marriage.

Waking in hospital Lieutenant William Travers learns the war’s over. The Armistice has been signed.
Physically wounded and emotionally crippled, Travers shuns convention and, armed with an alto saxophone, turns his back on America to remain in Paris. He’s a jazzman at heart, so a jazzman he’ll remain. Throughout the Roaring ‘20s and Lean ‘30s, he encounters a bevy of
characters: the artists of Montparnasse; the ladies at the Paris brothel; the curator at the Musee du Luxembourg; fellow band members in Paris; the stiff-collared Edwardians and the Bright Young Things who dance at London’s Savoy Hotel; the fiery Yorkshire sheep farmer who is half-American; the hard-bitten landlady in London; and, the owner of a Soho night club – the epicentre of everything considered illegal. On the eve of the Blitz in September 1940, he decided to perform one more gig.

A parallel narrative where the three protagonists, although separated by eighty years, confront the existential meaning of life.

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Steve earned a BA and MA in history from the University of Cincinnati. After serving five years as a captain/attack helicopter pilot in the US Army’s 9th Infantry Division (1980-1985), he worked as a professional archivist and historian for twenty-five years. He has published several articles in peer-reviewed history journals in addition to three works of scholarly non-fiction including, Britain’s Battle to Go Modern: Confronting Architectural Modernisms, 1900-1925 published in 2018.

After relocating from London to the Yorkshire Dales National Park in 2014, he set himself a challenge: to write a work of fiction. His first attempt, Grey, Red, Blue … Gone was published in 2021. Steve enjoyed the process so he set his sights on a work of historical fiction hoping to incorporate his passion for history. The Manuscript is the culmination of years of research and
writing concerning the period in Paris and London known as the Jazz Age. An era when syncopated music nursed by cocktails comforted the bored and disillusioned and propelled the Bright Young Things toward an uninhibited lifestyle unknown to earlier generations.

Since his early days in secondary school, Steve has been interested in the lives and published works of several notable writers of the 1920s to the early 1940s, from F. Scott Fitzgerald and Richard Aldington to Ernest Hemingway and W. Somerset Maugham. He believes their work helped define those unique and troubling decades.

He still lives in the Yorkshire Dales National Park with his wife, Suzanne, a studio potter, whom he met twenty years ago at a Chicago jazz club, and a three-year-old rescue cat named Vesper.

My thoughts: The framing device of couple Fiona and Peter who have bought this mysterious manuscript allows the reader to feel as though they too are embarking on uncovering the mysteries about the document that forms the main body of this book.

Starting in the years after the First World War, the Manuscript is a memoir and philosophical meditation on life, love and loss. It’s author, William Travers, is the only survivor of his cohort of American airmen. Injured and alone, he has nothing to return to his hometown of Cincinnati for. Finding himself in Paris with his alto sax in hand, he sets himself up as a jazzman for hire.

Finding a small flat, a few paying gigs and eventually a lover, Veronique, he makes himself at home amongst the Roaring Twenties, the artists, musicians and other characters of the Left Bank. These are happy years, he joins a jazz band of fellow American ex-pats, serenades the ladies of a high class brothel, and befriends a British bartender who supplies him with free whisky.

When tragedy hits, he abandons this life for the Savoy in London and the turbulent years of the 1930s. The Bright Young Things, disaffected and outrageous, the Edwardians (my own great-grandparents are products of that time, my Grandad was born in 1930).

William meets the delightful Helena, only remaining child of her family’s sprawling farm in the Yorkshire Dales. She farms the sheep and contends with her broken hearted mother. Their romance brings a sparkle back to his life, but sadly it doesn’t last and here he starts to develop the philosophy that will rule the rest of his life and provide his memoir it’s title – The Universal Language isn’t Love or Music – it’s Loneliness. But then in 1940 as the Blitz begins, William disappears.

Peter becomes obsessed with finding out what became of William and how his memoir ended up in an estate sale in Harrogate. It begins to affect his marriage, as obsession can, and while he will find some answers, he might just lose his wife.

I found William’s story both moving and compelling, the interwar years are complicated and unlike any other time before or since. Huge loss of life brackets those years, and many of the people who lived then were profoundly affected by the social, political and financial shifts that took place. I studied the period in both Britain and German history, contrasting the two countries as they recovered from one devastating war and into the next.

William’s wartime experiences are never far from his mind, he struggles with survivors’ guilt and probably has PTSD, as well as his physical injury from being shot down in his plane. It colours everything he does and experiences, his relationships with women and friendships with other men. There were actually a couple of moments so gut-wrenchingly sad I actually teared up.

The writing is compelling and gripping, you are right there with William as he sees the newly built Cenotaph and rages at the loss of life, the pointless futility of war. It reminded me so much of the poetry of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, furious at the way so many were betrayed into giving their lives, and for what?

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

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Blog Tour: Loving Spirits at the Vintage Teashop – Sharon Booth

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The beautiful Cotswold village of Rowan Vale is run as a living museum, allowing tourists to see history in action. But there’s more to the place than any visitor would guess…

Fifty-something Shona grew up in the village and now runs its vintage, 1940s-themed teashop. Not everyone knows that the previous manager, her great-aunt Polly, still lives there too… as a ghost!

When newcomer Max arrives, hoping to find out more about the place where his German grandfather was a prisoner of war, both Shona and Polly are unsettled. Shona, because handsome, interesting Max is the first man to catch her eye since her divorce, and Polly, because she must finally confront the terrible truth about her past.
A 1940s-themed weekend planned for the village brings the families’ connections to a head and tragic secrets to light.

Can Shona help her ghostly great-aunt to find love and forgiveness once more, while also creating her own happy ever after?

The second in the comforting, feel-good, romantic series with a dash of fantasy that started with Kindred Spirits at Harling Hall.

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Sharon Booth is the author of feel-good stories set in charming, quirky locations, and now writes cosy romances with a magical twist for Boldwood. She lives with her husband in East Yorkshire, England.

Facebook: @sharonboothwriter
Instagram: @sharonboothwriter
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My thoughts: There’s mystery, tragedy, romance and a happy ending in this book, I really enjoyed it and went back and read the first book in the series (which is on KU).

Shona runs her family’s 1940s teashop in the magical living history village Rowan Vale. Her great-aunt Polly is an ever-present ghostly figure that only a few people (including Shona and her dad) and see. The village has lots of ghosts for some reason but only certain people even know they’re there.

When Max, whose daughter works at the farm as a land girl, comes to the village on the trail of his grandfather’s time as a PoW,  it stirs up a lot of feelings, especially for Polly, she knew Gerhard, and it might be time to reveal how she died.

With a 1940s themed weekend planned for the village, complete with music and a tea dance, Polly can’t avoid her past, she died in the 1940s. Can Shona help her unravel the secrets she’s held for so long?

Funny, clever and highly enjoyable, this was a truly lovely read, I liked getting to know more of the village’s residents, living and otherwise, as well as the mystery of Polly’s death being resolved and Shona and Max finding a second chance at happiness.

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

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Cover Reveal: The Howling – Michael J Malone

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Annie and Lewis search for the son of an old enemy, who may hold the key to ending Annie’s curse. Their investigations lead back to the past, uncovering something that could destroy the most powerful people in the country. The compelling, chilling next instalment in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series…

Two men, centuries apart, dream of being a wolf.

One is burned at the stake.

Another is locked in a psychiatric hospital for most of his life.

And Annie Jackson is about to find out why…

Vowing once again to remove herself from society, Annie is back living alone in her little cottage by the shores of a loch. But when an old enemy – now locked up in a high security hospital – comes calling, begging her to find the son that she was forced to give up at the age of seventeen, Annie is tempted out of seclusion. The missing boy holds the key to ending Annie’s curse, and he may be the only chance that both she and Lewis have of real happiness.

Annie and Lewis begin an investigation that takes them back to the past, a time etched in Scottish folklore, a period of history that may just be repeating itself. And what they uncover could destroy not just some of the most powerful people in the country, who will stop at nothing to protect their wealth and their secrets, but also Annie’s life, and everything she holds dear…

Dark, immersive, and utterly compelling, The Howling is a story of deception, betrayal, and misplaced power, and a reminder that the most public of faces can hide the darkest of hearts…

Pre-order Publishing 11th September

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Blog Tour: An Insidious Inheritance – Amelia West

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We love a good gothic mystery and An Insidious Inheritance by Amelia West checks all the boxes!

An Insidious Inheritance (Clara Dawson Book 1)

Release Date: January 28 2025

Genre: Paranormal Suspense/ Gothic/ Mystery

  • Haunted house
  • Isolated setting
  • Small town secrets
  • Inheritance
  • Slow burn romance
  • Complicated family dynamics

Some secrets refuse to stay buried…

Upstate NY, 1933. When Clara Dawson learns of her estranged father’s death, she’s relieved to close that chapter of her life for good. But as his only child, Clara unexpectedly inherits Hollowfield House, a remote inn at the edge of a small town that she didn’t even know existed. Selling it could help her escape her mounting financial troubles, but first, she must confront the chilling mysteries that haunt its halls.

Arriving at Hollowfield, Clara is unnerved by eerie encounters that leave her questioning her sanity—a mysterious locket, an unsigned letter, and the apparition of a young woman who seems tied to the inn’s dark history. As these unsettling incidents escalate, Clara begins to suspect that her father’s death may not have been as straightforward as she was led to believe.

Her search for answers draws her into the tangled web of the inn’s haunted past, revealing a truth more sinister than she could have imagined. Someone—or something—is determined to keep the past buried, and they will stop at nothing to silence Clara before she uncovers the truth of Hollowfield House.

For readers who crave a historical ghost story woven with romantic tension and gothic suspense, An Insidious Inheritance is a supernatural mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

Content Warnings

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Book Blitz: Winter Murder – L.A. Brown

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It’s release day for L.A. Brown, and it couldn’t come soon enough as we’re all dying to read the next Bird Girl Witches book!

Winter Murder (Bird Girl Witches Book 2)

Publication Date: May 17, 2025

Genre: Genre: YA Fantasy/Mystery

♡ Gothic Vibes
♡ Animal Familiars
♡Ancient Curses
♡ Magic Systems
♡ Haunted Mansions
♡ Ghosts
♡ Body Switching
♡ Alternate Dimensions
♡ Coming-of-Age
♡ First Kiss
♡ High Stakes

In Winter Murder book two of the Bird Girl Witches series, ghosts have invaded Talus Hall and renowned 15-year-old medium Francesca LeGentil is just the person to exorcise them.

But she’s also been secretly hired to investigate a murder which happened next door at Talus Manor, a place where evil has taken root ever-more deeply.

Delving into the cursed history of the duelling Durr-Iggsby’s, Francesca uncovers a pattern to the persecution, tying it to the roots of the Dorojenja.

But when her sleuthing awakens a more ancient evil, no one in The Korvids is safe.

AVAILABLE HERE

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