Tag: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Deadman’s Pool – Kate Rhodes

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The islands’ secrets run deeper than the sea…

Winter storms lash the Isles of Scilly, when DI Ben Kitto ferries the islands’ priest to St Helen’s. Father Michael intends to live as a pilgrim in the ruins of an ancient church on the uninhabited island, but an ugly secret is buried among the rocks. Digging frantically in the sand, Ben’s dog, Shadow, unearths the emaciated remains of a young woman.

The discovery chills Ben to the core. The victim is Vietnamese, with no clear link to the community – and her killer has made sure that no one will find her easily. The storm intensifies as the investigation gathers pace.

Soon Scilly is cut off by bad weather, with no help available from the mainland. Ben is certain the killer is hiding in plain sight. He knows they are waiting to kill again – and at unimaginable cost.

Kate Rhodes is an acclaimed crime novelist and an award-winning poet, selected for Val McDermid’s New Blood panel at Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival for her debut, Crossbones Yard. She has been nominated twice for the prestigious CWA Dagger in the Library award, and is one of the founders of the Killer Women writing group. She lives in Cambridge with her husband, the writer and film-maker Dave Pescod, and visited the Scilly Isles every year as a child, which gave her the idea for the critically acclaimed Isles of Scilly Mysteries series.

My thoughts: I really like this series, and I have a deep love for Cornwall, but have never visited the Scillies, and considering how many murders there are, I don’t know if I would!

Ben Kitto and Shadow find the remains of a young woman buried in a shallow grave on the uninhabited (unless you’re a sea bird) island of St Helens. She’s a victim of people trafficking, and there might be another young woman out there.

The story is full of shocking twists, and big changes are coming for the islands’ police force, and Ben has to keep the team focused even as they worry about their colleague. The outcome of this case might also have implications for Ben’s private life. It’s a real game-changer of a book, reshaping what we know about this version of the Scillies.

I was totally hooked, especially as the weather worsened and events went from bad to worse, it all seemed hopeless and there were still shocks to come. Absolutely cracking.

*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 Gameshow – Alexander Raphael

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In a waiting room hidden high away from everyone, six disgraced celebrities are desperate to recover their heavily tainted reputations. An incredibly controversial new gameshow is offering them a route back to the big time, along with a $7.2 million cash prize. But with no consolation
prizes and serious consequences every time someone loses out, will signing up prove their salvation or their downfall?

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Half-Mexican, half-Welsh and growing up in London, Alex Raphael was surrounded by different influences and interests. But it was always books that spoke to him most and had the greatest impact.

He started writing when at college, where his love of reading evolved into a desire to write, in particular focusing on poetry and short stories. Studying English and American Literature at university meant he took a break from writing, as well as giving him the chance to see more of
Mexico on his travels. He concentrated on his journalistic career while working on different writing projects, but his favourite genre of literature has always been short stories as they are what first inspired him to write.

That’s why his first book was The Summer of Madness, a romantic short story that tells of a guy who goes out to try to win his ex-girlfriend back. Will you be rooting for Kurt and his big public gesture or is it more complicated than that and you don’t want her to date him again? Either way you’ll get to know a memorable set of characters along for the ride.

His second book Illusions, Delusions reflects Raphael’s love of alternative short stories from the writers of his childhood and challenges the idea of the narrative. Will your favourite be the story in
the form of a questionnaire, a poem or a set of jokes, among the seven very different styles?

Alexander Raphael’s third book is Always Never, Rarely Sometimes, featuring original premises and distinctive characters with his trademark imagination, humour and memorable dialogue. Among others, meet a sinister magician with an array of pranks, a long-suffering husband finally becoming
more decisive and a group of young guys intrigued by a pretty woman at another table.

Alexander Raphael’s latest offering is The Gameshow, about six disgraced celebrities who are unaware of just how much trouble they are in, having signed up for the most provocative of television shows. His satirical debut novel is a look at the constant decision-making needed by stars
to remain popular and relevant, and just how desperate they can become when the wrong decisions are made.

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My thoughts: Six disgraced celebrities, including an American football player, a comedian and a singer, are offered the opportunity to reclaim their spotlight by going on a mysterious new gameshow.

With a spin of the wheel one of them will face their biggest fear – there can only be one winner, it’s all a game of chance and under constant camera surveillance, will one of them crack before they face their fears?

It gets controversial and the enigmatic producer, Selina, refuses to step down the game, pushing the contestants to their limits and amping up the tension.

Even the end of the game comes with a twist, one you won’t expect.

Clever and with a sinister undertone, this is one show you won’t want to miss.

*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: What Goes Around – Michael Wendroff

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Chilling murders terrorize a town in the USA, and bring together two detectives to face the hardest tasks of their lives. Jack, a brawny enforcer, and Jill, a brainy beauty, can’t stand each other, but must find the killer before they kill each other. Their journey takes them into the secret world of Incels, Boogaloo Boys, and supremacists. The novel is full of twists, and the shocking finale challenges the
boundaries of life and death.

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Michael Wendroff is the author of What Goes Around, a debut thriller published by Bloomsbury, which bestselling author Eric Rickstad calls a “brilliant debut,” and bestselling author Lisa Black says, “starts at a

breakneck pace and doesn’t let up until it reaches its unexpected conclusion.” Plus, #1 bestselling author J.D. Black says, “Relentless and gritty, Wendroff expertly weaves a narrative that begs, ‘just one more page…’”
The book was inspired by what his mother said to him the second he was born: “Oh! How nice to see you–Again!”

Michael has an MBA in marketing from NYU, and was inducted into their Hall of Fame. He is a global marketing consultant. He shares his time between New York City, Sarasota, Florida, and Lake Garda, Italy. He is married and has three wonderful children.

His mother was an editor (watching his mother scribbling in red ink on manuscript pages at home on weekends prepared him for his own editor’s comments!). She remarried a literary agent, so Michael was friendly with many authors, and even spent a vacation with Robert Ludlum. Watching Ludlum
hand-write his 450 page novels on yellow legal pads didn’t dissuade Michael from trying to write a novel (though he’s thankful for his PC).

What Goes Around was launched in the USA, UK, and Australia, and foreign language rights have been sold in Italian, Japanese, and Hungarian. The hardcover went through 3 printings, and now the
trade paperback is available (along with audio book and e-book).

Fun fact: Michael’s great-grandfather was brought over by Thomas Edison from the University of Copenhagen to work with him. He holds a number of patents, including for plastic buttons. Michael
proudly wears button- down shirts whenever he can.

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My thoughts: After several apparently random killings and the appearance of a group of white supremacists, detectives Jack and Jill are recruited to a multi agency task force to find the killer and stop the racists from causing any more trouble.

More bodies will be added to their ugly tally as they hunt a sniper and the leaders of several rival supremacist gangs. They have a young man on the inside, but in helping them he risks everything he holds dear.

The case is complicated and the idiotic local sheriff doesn’t help, and even the FBI agent in charge seems a bit stumped. But the two detectives will have to overcome their long rivalry and work together to solve their case and end the violence.

Twisting and far from straightforward, this case is intriguing and has something of a metaphysical bent, as old sins come to light amidst the case that change things for many of the characters.

*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: Sam Hain – Hamid Amirani

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A misanthropic horror comedy for people who think humanity had it coming.

Sam Hain is a San Francisco P.I. with a permanently raised eyebrow and moronic homicidal parents he hasn’t seen in 18 years — not since they tried to cast him in a DIY snuff film.

Mike is a demon — or, as he prefers, a diabolical entity — with his own ideas about how best to punish the human race.

When an anonymous letter arrives, along with $500 in cash, asking Sam to investigate a murder in a small town, he’s curious enough to get in the car. That, plus he has nothing better to do.

The victim? A man found dead inside a tumble dryer.
The clue? The name MIKE, written in blood above the body.
The twist? The letter was postmarked before the murder happened.

Soon, Sam’s navigating a town full of eccentrics: an elderly laundromat owner who speaks fluent profanity, a death metal teen with conservative parents, a bigoted religious fundamentalist, and a hedonistic teacher on Sam’s wavelength who doesn’t believe in small talk. Meanwhile, the local sheriff — experiencing his first murder case in decades — follows Sam around like a kid at Disneyland.

And Mike? Mike is powerful. Mike has plans. And he really, really hates stupid people. In that regard, he and Sam have something in common.

Twisted, sardonic and wildly inappropriate, SAM HAIN is a critically acclaimed murder mystery wrapped in a demonic satire — and it absolutely does not want to be your friend.

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Hamid Amirani was born in Iran and came to London not long after. He studied Media and  Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Before turning to fiction, Amirani worked across a wide range of media and creative roles – from proofreading and freelance blogging for an American camera bag company, to  interviewing director Michael Bay for a print feature. His horror-comedy spec script earned a Recommend from Script Pipeline, the screenwriting platform set up by Donnie Darko producer
Sean McKittrick.

In the late 1990s, Amirani was a guest on The James Whale Radio Show after a series of calls as his alter ego GanjaMan led to a studio invitation.

He began writing his debut novel, SAM HAIN, during lockdown, which helped stave off cabin  fever. A genre-blending satire, it marks his first full-length work of fiction.

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My thoughts: I am aware that I have a rather dark sense of humour, and this book was hilarious, but it won’t be to everyone’s tastes.

PI Sam Hain (yes, his awful parents did that to him on purpose, even though the pagan festival is pronounced slightly differently) is directed to a small town to investigate a murder. There’s a dead man in a tumble dryer (you could definitely get a body in an industrial dryer – they’re huge) but no evidence or explanation as to how he got there.

Working with the small town sheriff, Sam is attempting to figure out what’s going on, when a detective from Oregon arrives, keen to talk to Sam about his awful (really awful( estranged parents. He last saw them when he was 17, and they were trying to kill him. They’ve disappeared after a killing spree that defies explanation. 

As it becomes apparent that both cases are connected, the three men team up to try to make sense of all the murders.

Then Mike the demon shows up and things take a much weirder turn.

I really enjoyed this twisted, weird, horror comedy, it made me laugh and is populated with some very unique and memorable characters. The narrator is hilarious and has plenty to say about the world we live in. Hopefully Sam will return in another weird and wacky case at some point.

*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

Book Blitz: Be Our Ghost – Carla Luna

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The only thing scarier than ghosts is falling in love.

Knox McIntyre has mastered the art of avoiding drama, especially the romantic kind. Ever since his screenwriting career went up in flames, the grumpy bartender has kept his past buried and his heart
off-limits. But when a paranormal reality show sets its sights on the boutique hotel where he works, he gets roped into the production—and partnered with the one woman who just might unravel him.

Charlotte “Charlie” Fraser is the Duchess Hotel’s sunny front office manager, a hopeless romantic with a weakness for happy endings and broody bartenders. After months of pining for Knox, she’s
finally ready to act—even if it means battling her inner scaredy-cat by helping him bring a ghost-hunting show to the hotel this Halloween.

As Knox and Charlie dig into the hotel’s chilling past, they find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. Every lingering look, near kiss, and shared secret brings them closer to something real. But
unless they can summon the courage to face their feelings head-on, their love doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.

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Carla Luna writes contemporary romance with a dollop of humour and a pinch of spice. A former archaeologist, she still dreams of travelling to far-off places and channels that wanderlust into the
settings of her stories. Her books have been called “escape reads,” ideal for perusing during a beachside vacation, a long flight, or a relaxing weekend at the lake. When she’s not writing, she
spends her time reading, baking, and taking long walks while listening to pop culture podcasts.
Though she has roots in Los Angeles and Vancouver Island, she currently resides in Wisconsin with her family and her feisty Siberian cat.

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My thoughts: This was a very cute Halloween-infused romance about a screenwriter turned bartender and a hotel manager falling in love as they organise and attend events at the hotel and bar they work at. Oh, and they get locked in a haunted room by a really angry ghost.

Charlie talks Knox into helping out with the events, even though he basically hates parties, but because he’s a bit in love (and lust) he’ll pretty much do anything for her – including wearing fancy dress and indulging her pirate and wench fantasies 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

But they’re also getting the hotel ready to feature on Canada’s Most Haunted – there’s a ghost trapped in the storage room, the victim of a murder, and she’s not happy. Charlie can sense her rage and wants to help, while Knox can only see the physical side effects, like when things start getting thrown around. I don’t personally really believe in ghosts, but buildings do seem to sometimes hold onto energy or something.

Anyway, if you’re looking for a little romance for this time of year – this one should keep you going till it’s time to roll out the Christmas reads.

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Blogathon: The Caller – Chris Carter

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After a tough week, Tanya Kaitlin is looking forward to a relaxing night in, but as she steps out of her shower, she hears her phone ring. The video call request comes from her best friend, Karen Ward. Tanya takes the call and the nightmare begins.

Karen is gagged and bound to a chair in her own living room. If Tanya disconnects from the call, if she looks away from the camera, he will come after her next, the deep, raspy, demonic voice at the other end of the line promises her.

As Detectives Robert Hunter and Carlos Garcia investigate the threats, they are thrown into a rollercoaster of evil, chasing a predator who scouts the streets and social media networks for victims, taunting them with secret messages and feeding on their fear.

My thoughts: The murders in this latest instalment of the Hunter & Garcia books are really grisly. The killer calls the best friend, the husband, the sister, of his chosen victim and forces them to play a horrific game, before killing their loved one in front of them, via video call. There’s nothing they can do to stop him, and each murder is extremely brutal.

Hunter and Garcia can’t find the link between the victims, they seem to have been chosen completely at random, and they have no idea who the killer is. They’re in a race against time to stop him from taking more lives, but when it seems the victims could be anyone, how can they predict where he might strike next?

Hunter also gets a bit of a personal life, meeting the lovely psychology professor in the UCLA library and connecting over their love for Scottish whisky. It’s nice to see Hunter off duty for a change, obviously, his brilliant mind is searching for the killer, but all the previous books have him just working and not sleeping, this gives us another side to his character.

Another edge-of-your-seat, twist-you-won’t- see-coming read, with writing that keeps you hooked (or at least it does me).

*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 Hollow Man – Rachel Amphlett

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After being summoned to a crime scene late one Friday afternoon, Detective Mark Turpin arrives to find the body of a man, his face obscured by a plastic sheet wrapped around his head.

When the victim’s final moments are traced to a rented property in the Oxfordshire countryside, Mark discovers another body, one that has been brutally cut to pieces and left to rot.

As the manhunt for the murderer intensifies, Mark uncovers several unresolved cold cases with similarities to his own and exposes a killer who has managed to escape both national and
international scrutiny.

Then one of his colleagues disappears without a trace, and Mark is faced with an
impossible situation that could plunge his entire future into jeopardy…

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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: Another clever case from one of the best crime writers out there. A man is found in a rented office, suffocated by bubble wrap, he was also renting a house locally, which contains another dead body. Who is this man and why does he appear to have committed murder and then been killed himself?

As the detectives unravel the secrets of their gruesome finds, following a trail that stretches across the country and even as far away as Dubai, they’re looking not just for one killer, but possibly two.

When Jan disappears while following a lead, the team must put their investigation on hold to search for one of their own, and time is running out. Has she fallen foul of their killer or someone else?

Clever, twisting and engaging, you’ll be on the edge of your seat as the detectives race to rescue their colleague and find the killer before he escapes.

*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: Choice of Darkness – Jad Adams

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Choice of Darkness is a tale of blighted love and mass murder based on the hunt for the biggest serial killer in nineteenth-century America.

Jad Adams tells the story of Henry Holmes from the point of view of the detective who tracked him down, burdened by a love betrayed.

Frank Geyer is a detective in Philadelphia who in 1894 is called to investigate the death of Ben Pitezel.  He encounters Dr Henry Holmes who says he is acting for Pitezel’s family to collect the insurance money.  Holmes had been best friends with Geyer in their home town of Gilmanton, New Hampshire, they have unfinished business over a woman. 

Alerted by the insurance company, Geyer seeks Holmes in what becomes a journey to redeem Geyer’s life as he discovers how his former friend left horror after horror in a killing programme across the United States.

Set in the gilded age of American history, Choice of Darkness is a meticulously researched study of this late nineteenth century criminal, and the police methods used to bring him down.

Jad Adams has worked as a television producer and a newspaper journalist.  He is best known for his works of history including Decadent Women: Yellow Book Lives, Tony Benn: A Biography and Women and the Vote: A World History.  He is the author of another novel, Café Europa.

My thoughts: I knew about HH Holmes from reading Devil in the White City, but this takes an interesting angle on that story, by positioning the detective Frank Geyer, who tracked Holmes across the US, as the protagonist. He’s in a unique position as he and Holmes were childhood friends and Holmes left town with the woman Geyer was planning to propose to.

It starts with him being contacted by an insurance company, Holmes is one of the people coming to Philadelphia to identify a body in order to claim an insurance payout. Holmes says he’s doing it for the dead man’s family, the deceased being his friend and business partner. But as with all of Holmes’ many, many crimes, there’s something off about his sincerity and Geyer is suspicious. He begins looking into the man he knew as Henry Mugett.

From medical schools to police departments from as far away as Texas, the truth about Holmes starts to emerge. He’s a conman, a thief and if Geyer can prove it a murderer. In fact, he’s America’s first serial killer – a term that didn’t even exist back then.

At first Chicago’s detectives don’t want to know, they even throw Geyer in a cell, but later they come to him asking for help. Holmes has gone too far and attracted their attention. Geyer has been inside the “castle” his old friend turned nemesis built in Chicago, the place where dozens of people met their terrible end.

It’s these deaths Chicago want Holmes for, Texas is still after him for horse theft, there’s multiple dodgy insurance claims, the kidnapping that haunts Geyer. Will they find the answers in Holmes’ house of death?

Compellingly written, Geyer is a sympathetic figure, while he does have a personal score to settle, it’s overwhelmed by the many terrible things Holmes has done since they were both young men in Massachusetts.

This was a very interesting and enjoyable angle to take as you feel like you’re in Geyer’s shoes as he traverses the country trying to track Holmes down and bring him to justice.

*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 Haunting at Morsley Manor – George Morris De’ath

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A gory, supernatural campy horror set in a haunted English manor, The Haunting at Morsley Manor follows a troubled paranormal investigator uncovering terrifying secrets that blur the line between the living and the dead. Perfect for The Haunting of Hill House fans and The Woman in Black.

World-famous paranormal investigator Eric Thompson’s career took a nose-dive after a particularly gruesome case which left most of his camera crew dead. His partner and best friend also abandoned Eric, leaving him floundering.

He is soon approached by a mysterious woman who has purchased the supposedly haunted, but previously off-limits to paranormal sleuths, Morsley Manor. To drum up publicity about the house, she hires Eric to perform and host a paranormal investigation on the premises.

As he ventures over to England to uncover the darkness bleeding through the veins of Morsley, horrors begin to spring from every corner and Eric soon begins to realise that not all is as it seems…

My thoughts: Eric Thompson used to present a ghost hunting show with his best friend Mikey, but things went horribly wrong in Japan and Mikey vanished. Eric hasn’t been doing well since then.

Invited to visit the supposedly haunted by multiple ghosts Morsley Manor in Essex for a TV special, he reluctantly agrees.

But things aren’t as they seem, and something truly terrible begins, leaving Eric traumatised and unsure what to do next.

Creepy and full of nasty things, this is a great Halloween read.

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

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Blog Tour: Battle of the Bookshops – Poppy Alexander

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A charming literary-themed novel about a young woman determined to save her great-aunt’s beloved bookshop from extinction by the shiny new competition—which also happens to be run by the handsome son of her family’s rivals.

The cute, seaside town of Portneath has been the home of Capelthorne’s Books for nearly a hundred years… The shop, in the heart of a high street that stretches crookedly down the hill from the castle to the sea, may be a tad run-down these days, but to Jules Capelthorne, the wonky, dusty world of literary treasures is full of precious childhood memories.

When her great-aunt Florence gets too frail to run it alone, Jules ditches her junior publishing job in London and comes home to make the bookshop’s hundredth birthday a celebration to remember. Jules quickly discovers things are worse than she ever imagined: The bookshop is close to bankruptcy, unlikely to make it to its own centenary celebration, and the lease on the building is up for renewal. With a six-figure sum needed, the future looks bleak. To make matters worse, the owner of the property is the insufferable Roman Montbeau, from the posh, local family who owns half of Portneath.

The Montbeaus and Capelthornes have feuded for years, and Roman has clearly not improved since he tormented Jules as a child. Fresh from a highflying career in New York, he is on a mission to shake things up, and—unforgivably—proves his point about Capelthorne’s being a relic of the past by opening a new bookshop directly opposite—a shiny, plate-glass-windowed emporium of books.

Jules may not be able to splash the cash on promotions and marketing like the Montbeaus, but she’s got some ideas of her own, plus she has a tenacity that may just win the hardest of hearts and the most hopeless of conflicts. Let the battle of the bookshops commence…

Poppy Alexander is the author of The Littlest Library, Storybook Ending, and 25 Days ’Til Christmas. She wrote her first book when she was five. There was a long gap in her writing career while she was at school, and after studying classical music at university, she decided the world of music was better off without her and took up public relations, campaigning, political lobbying, and a bit of journalism instead. She takes an anthropological interest in family, friends, and life in her West Sussex village (think The Archers crossed with Twin Peaks), where she lives with her husband, children, and various other pets.

My thoughts: If you (like me) like You’ve Got Mail, you’ll love this. There are also plenty of Romeo & Juliet references too, because Jules and Roman are very aware of the whole star-crossed lovers from two warring families. Thing is, they’re not entirely sure why their families have this ancient feud.

Although Roman’s new bookshop right across the street from Jules’ hundred years old family run, slightly down at heel shop, is definitely going to reignite the family war. But then they realise how much they like each other. Even as they battle for bookshop dominance.

It’s cute and funny and a bit silly, and altogether rather charming. Perfect for a grey day’s reading.

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