Tag: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Death by the Dozen – D.B. Borton

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A curious case of a disappearing pig. A murdered historian. A sassy senior sleuth.

If Cat Caliban’s not your favorite crime-solving grandma, you just haven’t met her yet!

Meet Cat Caliban — sixty-something widow, proud cat lady, and budding private eye.
She’s traded in her old life as a housewife for something far more exciting: solving
crimes.
But nothing in her sleuthing career has prepared her for this.

When a local historian begs Cat to find the villain who stole her beloved pig — Gertie,
a cupcake-loving micro-mini with a mischievous streak — Cat figures it’s a simple petnapping. Sorry, pignapping. Until the trail leads to a dead human body.

With the city gearing up for its bicentennial celebrations, Cat finds herself tangled up in a complex mystery involving missing historical papers, a children’s book about a detective with trotters . . . and a cunning killer who’s determined to keep the past buried.

Cat must crack the case, bring home the bacon, and catch a murderer, before she
becomes the next victim of Cincinnati’s deadliest – and oinkiest – celebration.

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D. B. Borton is the author of two mystery series—the Cat Caliban series and the Gilda Liberty series —as well as the standalone mystery novels Smoke and Bayou City Burning and the humorous science fiction novel Second Coming.

In graduate school, Borton converted a lifetime of passionate reading and late-night movie-watching into a doctorate in English. She is Professor Emeritus of English at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Borton currently lives with Zoe the cat in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she gardens,
practices aikido, a martial art, and, of course, reads.

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My thoughts: I really like this series, I love Cat and her rag tag band of associates, from Kevin the bartender to Winnie the dog, Moses the former cop and Leon the purveyor of terrible greetings cards.

This is probably the most shocking case Cat has taken on so far. From a pignapping, she follows the clues to a terrible piece of local history via a writer whose husband (and possibly her brother) had her committed to an asylum, possibly in order to keep her quiet.

The revelations Cat and Moses uncover have repercussions for modern day residents of Cincinnati, which may have lead to a murder as well as the pignapping.

The blend of humour, crime and history is intriguing and interesting, I was hooked from the off, it was such a compelling case.  This series just gets better and better. 

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Catherine – Essie Fox

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With a nature as wild as the moors she loves to roam, Catherine Earnshaw grows up alongside Heathcliff, a foundling her father rescued from the streets of Liverpool. Their fierce, untamed bond deepens as they grow – until Mr Earnshaw’s death leaves Hindley, Catherine’s brutal brother, in control and Heathcliff reduced to servitude.

Desperate to protect him, Catherine turns to Edgar Linton, the handsome heir to Thrushcross Grange. She believes his wealth might free Heathcliff from cruelty – but her choice is fatally misunderstood, and their lives spiral into a storm of passion, jealousy and revenge. Now, eighteen years later, Catherine rises from her grave to tell her story – and to seek redemption.

Essie Fox’s Catherine reimagines Wuthering Heights with beauty and intensity – a haunting, atmospheric retelling that brings new life to a timeless classic and lays bare the dark heart of an immortal love

Essie Fox is the Sunday Times bestselling author of seven historical novels, including The Somnambulist, shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and The Fascination, an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Her work has twice been selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month, most recently for her gothic mystery Dangerous. She appears regularly at literary festivals and cultural institutions and is the host of the podcast Talking the Gothic. She lives in Windsor.

My thoughts: Essie Fox’s reinagining of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights narrated by the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw-Linton after her death in childbirth, offers a different perspective than that of the narrators of the original novel – housekeeper Nelly Dean and Lockwood, who doesn’t feature in this version, set as it is before his arrival.

Catherine feels deep affection for Heathcliffe but doesn’t excuse his horrible behaviour, the cruel and vicious revenge he spends his adult life inflicting on the next generation. 

Fox’s version makes it clear that Heathcliffe and Cathy have the same father, who tries to prevent their relationship getting too complicated, shall we say. Although the next generation, who are all cousins, no one seems so worried about.

While I have complicated feelings about Emily Bronte’s novel (I had to study it, write essays and sit an exam about it, tends to make it far from beloved), and get really fed up with people who think an incestuous relationship between two truly awful, spoilt and narcissistic people is romantic, I actually really liked this reimagining.

Essie Fox has a keen understanding of the Gothic and gives Cathy her voice back, she’s a passive character in WH, what with being dead, but here, she’s the all-seeing godlike narrator, who wishes she could intervene and change the situation for her family, messy and complicated as it all becomes.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: A Murder of Crows – Bev Harris

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Reader beware; this story tackles serious themes and does not flinch from them.

Fed up with female characters playing the victim? Like a bit of a laugh with your pitch black drama? Then ‘A Murder of Crows’ could be right up your alley.

At nineteen-years-old Jade Crow is fed up being the victim, so gives her abusive boyfriend a hand down some steep stairs. She gets away with it.

With the help of a rather flamboyant mentor… and Felice is a woman with her own incredible backstory, Jade embarks upon a very successful career in stage-managing ‘accidental deaths’.
Until she kills the wrong man.

Then Jade finds herself in a kitchen, somewhere in France, fighting for her life and the chance to escape to paradise with the man she loves.

As dark as it is funny, this thriller is not for the faint hearted.

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B C Harris lives in Dumfries & Galloway with her husband and their two dogs. Surrounded by hills and forests, she has plenty of space for walking, and plotting new and interesting ways to murder her characters. Conspiracy of Cats, published in 2021 was her first book. In 2023 she
followed that up with Making Sacrifices. A Murder of Crows is her latest release.

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My thoughts: I really enjoyed this, I liked Jade and I loved the outrageous Felice. This is very funny and very entertaining, although if you don’t find jokes about murder and mayhem funny, it might not be for you.

Jade Crow has survived a horrible childhood in care, and is stuck in a wretched relationship with an abusive thug. She works as a home carer, her only highlight is visiting her client Felice, an elderly woman who has lived quite a life.

Felice is worried about Jade and after she dies unexpectedly, comes back as a ghost, to begin with only Jade can see her. And together they embark on a new life for Jade, with some help from Felice’s old life.

Years later, Jade has been very successful in her new career with Felice as her very own secret weapon. But unfortunately her last job has got her onto the radar of the security services and that brings with it consequences that Jade might not be able to escape this time.

I won’t spoil things for you, but I wasn’t happy with the ending, I think I even boo’d. Out loud. Like a lunatic. I had enjoyed it that much and liked the characters enough that I wanted more adventures for them.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Grace – A.M. Shine

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A haunting, atmospheric modern Gothic horror tale based on traditional Irish mythology, from the author of smash hit The Watchers.

Ancient evil is awakened on a lonely isle off the coast of Ireland.

TO LEARN THE TRUTH WOULD YOU DESCEND INTO HELL?

Off the west coast of Ireland lies a lonely island, isolated and wilfully forgotten. Some say there hasn’t been a child born on the island for thirty years. Others speak of strange deaths there, decades ago.
But no one really knows what happened. Locals believe that the dark times are behind them.
They are mistaken.

Grace, adopted at four years old, has never known where she came from. A mysterious phone call leads her back to the island where she was born – and where a terrible evil has been disturbed.

As the evil starts to spread, Grace finds herself dragged back into a living nightmare that threatens to engulf anyone who steps into its path.

Grace is perfect for fans of horror classics, Paul Tremblay, and Kealan Patrick Burke.

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A.M. Shine writes in the Gothic horror tradition. Born in Galway, Ireland, he received his Master’s Degree in History there before sharpening his quill and pursuing all things literary and macabre. He is a member of the Irish Writers Centre. His debut novel, The Watchers, has been made into a major motion picture produced by M. Night Shyamalan. Follow him on @AMShineWriter and
http://www.amshinewriter.com
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My thoughts: This is a weird twisted and creepy book set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. When Grace receives a call telling her that her biological mother has died and left Grace her estate, she closes up her bookshop and goes to the island, despite it being against her late mother’s wishes. She will wish she had taken the advice and let the solicitor sell the house.

The island is home to an ancient evil being that torments the remaining inhabitants. There are no children on the island, just a handful of older people who really should have left. They’re terrified and traumatised by events in the past and now the creature has reawakened and wants to finish what it started all those years before.

The youngish parish priest wants to help his remaining parishioners but he’s not really equipped to deal with monstrous demonic beings or ghosts, and by the time he learns the truth, it may well be too late.

Dark and full of the horrors of things hidden by the mist and darkness, this will put you off going to explore creepy islands with a tiny population. Which is probably a good thing!

*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: Esther is Now Following You – Tanya Sweeney

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Esther first sees Ted walking in a park in London. They lock eyes and for a fraction of a second, she feels something she’s never felt before.

She starts by reading up about his life in Canada and his work as an actor. Then she watches every interview with him online. It isn’t long before she’s joined Ted’s fan site online where she and the ‘Tedettes’ stalk his every move. When Ted gets a new celebrity girlfriend, Esther decides that things have gone far enough. She leaves her husband, takes all their savings, and buys a one-way ticket to Canada. After all, Ted might not know it yet, but they are meant to be together – he just needs a little bit of persuading.

At its heart, Esther is Now Following You is a fresh, funny and deeply affecting novel about what happens when life gets too much and what we do to cope. It combines the humour of Fleabag and Green Dot’s unattainable obsession, told with the propulsion of Baby Reindeer.

Tanya Sweeney is an Irish journalist, columnist and regular contributor to radio and TV. Her personal columns focus on a variety of subjects including parenting, pregnancy, friendship, culture, and body issues. She currently works on the Weekend magazine at the Irish Independent, and her experience working in the music, film & TV industries helped inspire her debut novel.

My thoughts: Esther becomes obsessed with an actor called Ted during a difficult and distressing time in her life, she channels all her grief and pain into the parasocial relationship in her head. Unfortunately she takes it way too far. Moving to Toronto on a whim and inserting herself into the life of Ted’s sister in a bid to get closer to him. 

She’s actually a rather sweet person, is Esther, but dealing with something very difficult and running away from her problems, which I know from bitter experience never works. She doesn’t have much of a support network and that means she creates this whole other life in her head, thinking that somehow it will all be better if she and Ted were a couple.

I did want to give a shake and a talking too at times, but I also really felt for her. Things happen to us that feel way too big and scary, so we run. I completely understand and for the most part a harmless imaginary life of celebrity adjacent happiness is an idle fantasy. Just don’t do an Esther and decide to make it a reality.

Darkly comic and heartfelt, this was a really interesting and oddly enjoyable book that I would suggest avoiding if you’re dealing with anything like Esther is (content warning: child loss, stillbirth) and it’s too raw but otherwise do read this to remind yourself, if nothing else, that boundaries are important and your favourite actor doesn’t even know your name, but depending on how obsessive you are, they do know your Twitter handle.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Secretary – Deborah Lawrenson

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Moscow, 1958. At the height of the Cold War, secretary Lois Vale is on a deep-cover MI6 mission to identify a diplomatic traitor. She can trust only one man: Johann, a German journalist also working covertly for the British secret service. As the trail leads to Vienna and the Black Sea, Lois and Johann begin an affair but as love grows, so does the danger to Lois.

A tense Cold War spy story told from the perspective of a bright, young, working-class woman recruited to MI6 at a time when men were in charge of making history and women were expendable. Authentic details are provided by the 1958 diary kept in Moscow by the author’s own mother, who worked for British intelligence.

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Deborah Lawrenson spent her childhood moving around the world with diplomatic service parents, from Kuwait to China, Belgium, Luxembourg and Singapore. She read English at Cambridge University and worked as a journalist in London. She has written ten novels, including two Death in Provence mysteries as Serena Kent, and her writing is praised for its vivid sense of place.

My thoughts:This was utterly gripping and really, really good. I’ve had a bit of a love of Russian history since my A Levels and a very memorable trip to the country (the hotel we stayed in is mentioned in the book!) and it was interesting to read something set during an infamous period of time  – when the Cambridge spy ring was being unmasked.

It was also really interesting to have the story from a female perspective, inspired by the author’s mother’s own role as a secretary at the British Embassy and as an MI6 operative. Most spy thrillers are full of gungho action and men who are either very dashing or the extreme opposite (like Jackson Lamb from Mick Herron’s Slough House series), they are very rarely female.

Lois is indeed a secretary, but she’s also under orders from MI6, and her job is a cover. She’s been sent to see if she can work out if anyone on the embassy staff might be passing information to the Russians. She’s been told not to trust anyone but German journalist (and fellow spy) Johann.

At times she feels completely out of her depth, and her very strange flatmate and colleague doesn’t help matters. There are important things to do, possible defectors to locate, Russian tails to shake off, and the very real possibility of romance.

Things do go somewhat awry, and far from anyone she can ask for advice, Lois has to essentially wing it. But can she do the job?

I really liked Lois, I liked her determination, the way she wanted to stay the course, even when things were going wrong all over the place. She’s level headed and practical, willing to improvise to get the job done. A really enjoyable, intelligent thriller.

*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: Dead Men Don’t Ski – Patricia Moyes

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Inspector Henry Tibbett is taking a much-needed holiday from his job at Scotland Yard with his wife Emmy. Headed for a spot of skiing in the Italian Dolomites and some first-class people-watching, Tibbett’s worries blissfully melt away. That is, until a fellow guest who boards the ski lift alive at the top of the mountain is found dead when the lift touches bottom. Another dead body turns up, and then another, and it becomes clear that Murder has come to the mountain.

Patricia Moyes (1923-2000) was an acclaimed British mystery novelist, best known for her long running series featuring Inspector Henry Tibbett. The tenth book in the series, Who Saw Her Die?, was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe award, and Moyes was inducted into The Detection Club, presided over by Agatha Christie, in the same year. Her early career also included work as a radar operator in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force; as a screenwriter – with credits including the Robert Hamer film School for Scoundrels and Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected –; as an assistant editor for Vogue magazine; and as a translator.

My thoughts: This was a lovely classic crime story, set on a mountain in Italy. Asked to assist when one of his fellow travellers is murdered, DI Tibbett and his wife Emmy start investigating the other hotel guests. Among the people on the mountain is a murderer.

Uncovering all sorts of other dodgy goings on in this supposedly quiet and peaceful place, Tibbett sets a trap for the killer, he’s pretty sure he’s worked it all out.

Highly enjoyable and at times quite funny, I particularly liked Emmy, I can’t wait to see how crime ruins the Tibbetts next holiday.

*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 Zig Zag Girl – Ruth Knafo Setton

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 Atlantic City’s shady history comes to life when a magician with a mysterious past races to discover her friend’s killer before he strikes again, but finds herself falling for the prime suspect, who holds the secret to her true identity. 

ZIGZAG GIRL by Ruth Knafo Setton is a noir-tinged feminist thriller where The Prestige meets Knives Out in Atlantic City’s haunted magic underworld. When brilliant young magician Lucy Moon discovers her best friend murdered inside the infamous sawing box that killed a performer decades ago—a black rose stuffed in her mouth, the same signature from Lucy’s own buried past—she’s thrust into a deadly game where every suspect is a master of deception and the killer seems to know secrets about her she’s spent a lifetime hiding. Racing to unmask a murderer before they strike again, Lucy must navigate Atlantic City’s shadowy criminal networks, resist falling for a charismatic magician who might be the killer, and confront the ghost of a glamorous 1940s assistant whose unsolved murder in that same box echoes through time—all while performing the most dangerous trick of her life: discovering who she really is before her past catches up with her. With its intoxicating blend of illusion, murder mystery, and gothic atmosphere, this cinematic thriller delivers a visually stunning world of stage magic, a complex heroine forced to unmask herself to catch a killer, and a powerful exploration of women who create their own magic to survive in a world designed to make them disappear.

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Born in Morocco and raised on tales of djnoun and desert wonder, I’ve sailed around the world three times teaching university students aboard ships, studying magic and collecting stories of the impossible. I’ve been sawed in half and in thirds, broken free from straitjackets, and learned the art of illusion from masters across the globe. I transformed these adventures into Zigzag Girl, a thriller set in Atlantic City’s glittering casinos and the haunted Pine Barrens of New Jersey—where I stood at the grave of the Jersey Devil and felt the dark heart of my killer. In this shadowy landscape where magic meets menace, my protagonist must use every trick she knows to survive.

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My thoughts: This was a clever and at times chilling murder mystery set amongst the late night magic crowd in Atlantic City. Lucy is the daughter of a famous magician and set to introduce her new act with two of her best friends when one of them is brutally murdered.

Despite being warned off by the cops, Lucy investigates, and as she does, she learns the truth about her own origins and the ghost of a murdered magician’s assistant from the 1940s that haunts her.

Full of twists and turns, untrustworthy people and masks, Lucy must navigate her way between truth and fiction to draw it the killer without falling victim herself.

*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: What Evil Hides – Rachel Amphlett

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A man’s body is found in a Kentish hop field, his brutal death marked by horrific
injuries.

As Detective Kay Hunter begins to investigate, the case quickly reveals itself to be anything but routine. The local farming community is tight-lipped, the victim’s background is unclear, and the evidence uncovers a trail of conflicting stories and long-held secrets.

With the media and her superior officers demanding answers, Kay must navigate the lies and unravel the truth to solve one of the most complex murder investigations of her career.

In a landscape shaped by tradition and silence, some secrets are buried for a
reason.

What Evil Hides is the fifteenth book in the bestselling Detective Kay Hunter series,
and perfect for readers who love twisty murder mysteries.

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Before turning to writing, USA Today bestselling crime author Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio, and worked in publishing as an editorial assistant.
She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction with over 30 crime novels and short stories featuring spies, detectives, vigilantes, and assassins.
A keen traveller and accidental private investigator, Rachel has both Australian and British citizenship.
You can find out more about Rachel and her books at http://www.rachelamphlett.com.

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My thoughts: Some farm workers harvesting hops discover a murdered man, his body cruelly disfigured amongst the bines. The police can’t work it out, it looks like it might be ritualistic, but there hasn’t been anything else locally.

As they investigate both the farm where the body was found and the deceased’s life, they’re left with more questions than answers. There are traces of three suspects, and the farm has a few disgruntled former employees. Was the victim chosen intentionally or at random? Is the farm being attacked or something else? An area of poisoned crops raises more questions.

Can the team solve it before headquarters passes it over to another DI to try to unravel the answers?

Another clever and interesting case from Rachel Amphlett, one of the best crime writers around.

*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: Under Vixens’ Mere – Kit Fielding

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If poor Harry Jones hadn’t lowered himself into the water one freezing winter’s night, a long-buried secret would never have come to the surface.

If …


Big Ed and Milly had been able to have children, Karen hadn’t longed for love and romance, Lorrie hadn’t finally ditched Petra, Dinah hadn’t found out the truth about Barry, Jed hadn’t dealt drugs and got Anna pregnant, Carl Thomson hadn’t come looking for him, and Moses hadn’t heard the commotion …

then there would be no story of Vixens Mere to tell.

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Kit Fielding plans and writes his novels in a motorhome at various locations around the country.
The feeling of impermanence is natural to him due to his mother’s traveller roots and a childhood succession of tied-cottages accommodation in different parts of England.
Kit Fielding says that there was always a curiosity about what was waiting, or was lurking, just around the corner. This legacy has stayed with him to the present day and it feeds into his work.

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My thoughts: This is the story of the residents of Vixens Mere, a mooring of canal boats next to a farm, Foxes Farm. Over the course of a winter the residents’ lives will be altered by death, by secrets coming to the surface (quite literally in one case) and dark deeds done for the right reasons.

Big Ed and Milly are a permanent fixture on the canal, they’ve lived there since a life of travelling came to an end, their son Moses lives with them, sometimes he helps his dad, sometimes he goes to school. A project about his family tree stirs up old worries for his parents.

There are several other boats moored alongside them, some permanent, some only there for a season. Their lives interweave and connect over the years and come together once more, some after a long time.

It’s an interesting mix of people, from Lorrie, who’s fleeing a long term relationship gone bad, to Jed who has always lived on his barge, first with his parents and now with girlfriend Anna, then there’s Pete, who works at the pig farm and lives on a boat called Saddleback (a breed of pig – although it was called that before he moved in), then there’s Karen and her deeply troubled former soldier husband Harry, they come by once a year.

Finally there’s Brodie and his dog Mick, Scottish but raised on the road by his grandmother, he hasn’t come by Vixens Mere in some time, but his presence is a catalyst for some of the secrets of this quiet backwater to be revealed.

It was an interesting read, with an intriguing mix of characters, all from different walks of life, living in this quiet place.

Giveaway to Win 3 x Stacks of 5 Inkspot Publishing books (UK Only)

Win 3 x Stacks of 5 Inkspot Publishing books (UK Only)

*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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