Tag: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: A Murderer’s Guide to Mardi Gras – Ellen Byron

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It’s cozy. It’s culinary. It’s Mardi Gras madness!

Step 1 – join a killer krewe.

Itʼs carnival season in New Orleans, and Ricki James-Diaz and her friends from Bon Vee are dressing up for Mardi Gras. Theyʼve joined the notorious krewe of Chew to support Rickiʼs chef boyfriend, Virgil, who is to be crowned this yearʼs king. Itʼs all fun, throws, and over-the-top outfits until the kreweʼs captain is found strangled with his own medallion.

Step 2 – survive the festivities.

The prime suspect is Rickiʼs friend, the deceasedʼs wife who discovered he was cheating on her. It seems a straightforward case, but Ricki isnʼt so sure. The kreweʼs leader had many enemies including his mistress, his krewe co-founder who he ousted, and his college friend whose girlfriend he stole. One thingʼs clear, Rickiʼs at the center of yet another murder investigation. And if sheʼs not careful, her first Mardi Gras could also be her last . . .

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Ellen Byron is an Anthony Award-nominated bestselling author and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, and Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico).

She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents. Ellen was the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart.

A native New Yorker, Ellen is a graduate of Tulane University and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, daughter, and a rotating crew of rescue pups.

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My thoughts: This was a really fun read, New Orleans is high on my list of places I’d like to visit one day, and the period of time leading up to Lent when all the carnival activities take place sounds quite something.

Ricki runs a shop attached to a museum, where she sells pre-loved cookbooks, and all sorts of other things. She enjoys what she does and has made some great friends, as well as having a lovely boyfriend with whom she shares two dogs and a kitten.

A relative newcomer to New Orleans, this is the first time she’s been involved with the Mardi Gras excitement and she’s a bit apprehensive. Then the carnival krewe she’s joined is hit by a shocking tragedy – their captain is murdered in the street outside their kick-off gathering.

The cops immediately decide it was his wife – after all the couple were seen arguing earlier that night. But Ricki’s friendly with the wife, Jessica, in question, and doesn’t agree. So she starts her own investigation. But when other things start happening – including someone literally throwing a bag of rocks at her head, it seems the killer might be more dangerous than she thought.

With the help of her friends, Ricki is determined to solve the case and catch a killer, but is something else going on in the carnival krewe and how far is someone willing to go to get what they want?

A really enjoyable, entertaining book with a fun cast of characters and a clever plot with plenty of twists.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Of Devotion and Death – Anastasia Hastings

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Violet Manville knows everything about manners—and murder.

Violet is looking forward to taking some time away from the advice column she writes under the nom de plume Miss Hermione. She canʼt wait to head off to Venice to spend some time with Eli Marsh, a mysterious, annoying, and extremely attractive American.

Little does she suspect that the specter of death will come calling at her front door in the person of Ash Kumar, a man she once knew—and loved—when she lived in India. She certainly doesnʼt expect Ash to be arrested for his wifeʼs murder on her front door step. As Violet tries to unravel the murder, she is pulled between between the two men.

As the past and present become blurred, she soon discovers that the truth can be deadly.

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For Anastasia Hastings, there is nothing as intriguing as a fog-filled, gas-light street, the clip-clop of a horse pulling a hansom cab, and the possibility of murder and mystery around every corner!

She has been lucky enough to bring it all alive in the Dear Miss Hermione mystery series which follows the adventures of Violet Manville, Victorian Englandʼs most famous (and enigmatic) agony aunt. Book #1, Of Manners and Murder, was a finalist for the 2024 Mary Higgins Clark Award presented by Mystery Writers of America, and The Wall Street Journal said it “evokes the shocking revelations of Wilkie Collins, the social acuity of Jane Austen and the comic melodrama of Oscar Wilde.ˮ Book #2 of the series, Of Hoaxes and Homicide, was called “captivatingˮ by Publishers Weekly.

Under a variety of names and throughout a career than spans more than 30 years, Anastasia has published 70 novels. The Secrets of Bones, written as Kylie Logan, was recently made into a Hallmark Mystery movie.

Anastasia lives in Ohio with her husband and two dogs, an Airedale named Eliot Ness and his best friend (even if he doesnʼt know it yet), Tequila Elizabeth, a Russell Terrier. She enjoys various fiber arts including knitting and spinning, as well as exploring old cemeteries and in the summer, watching the hummingbirds while she contemplates her next murder.

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My thoughts: Violet is much more independent than many Victorian women would have been, which means she can investigate crimes as well as write her advice column without the need for worrying about chaperones and she clearly isn’t too worried about what anyone else thinks of her.

At the beginning of the book she’s about to head off to Venice in pursuit of possible love interest Eli. But a blast from the past, in the form of the man she might have married had things been different, Ash Kumar. His wife has recently died and he drops by to see her.

Then he’s arrested for murder, his wife’s. Violet knows he isn’t capable of it, or of the theft of a priceless ruby due to be presented to Queen Victoria. And it turns out Eli isn’t in Venice either, he’s in London, on the case of the stolen ruby.

As Violet works to clear Ash’s name and find the real killer, she keeps coming face to face with Eli. Can she choose between her past love and a possible future with this American detective? Can she catch a killer in time to save Ash from the hangman and celebrate Christmas with her sister Sephora?

It’s a clever and twisting tale, with Violet rushing all over the place, down to Southampton and across to Windsor as the Christmas season spins around her and she struggles to juggle her feelings with her work. It even comes out in the replies she pens as Miss Hermione. With time running out, the answers might be closer to home (Ash’s home, that is) than she first thought. But what does the future hold for them, if anything?

Enjoyable, funny (Sephora is very entertaining) and with a smart and intuitive protagonist in Violet, I think I’ll have to look for the previous volumes of this series soon.

*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: Where There’s Smoke – E.J. Copperman

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Paint store owner Laura Meehan must prove her amateur sleuthing skills (again!) when her small townʼs public library starts burning in this installment of the Haunted Paint Store cozy mystery series.

Donʼt mess with a paint store ownerʼs safe haven!

Laura Meehan has her hands full with her paint store, but also with another case (that she will definitely leave to the police to solve)! The Sea Breeze Public Library is burning and itʼs clear from the beginning that it must be arson. Who would want to burn a library down and why? Was it a group of moms protesting what they see as inappropriate book content? Maybe it was someone who didnʼt like a title they lent? Or is there something more alarming going on?

As a library volunteer, Laura simply has to find out, and together with her IT-savvy husband Roy and her ex-detective fatherʼs ghost (real or imagined still yet to be determined), she stumbles upon a lot of obstacles on her quest to find the truth—and maybe even an arsonist who might strike again!

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E.J. Copperman is the nom de plume for Jeff Cohen, writer of intentionally funny murder mysteries. As E.J., he has written the Haunted Guesthouse and Agent to the Paws series, as well as the Jersey Girl Legal Mysteries, the Fran & Ken Stein Mysteries, and the new Haunted Paint Store Mysteries; as Jeff, he has written the Double Feature and Aaron Tucker series; and he collaborated with himself on the Samuel Hoenig Aspergerʼs Mysteries.

A New Jersey native, E.J. worked as a newspaper reporter, teacher, magazine editor, and screenwriter before his first book was published to critical acclaim in 2002. In his spare time, Jeff is an extremely amateur guitar player, a fan of Major League Baseball, a couch potato, and a crossword addict.

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My thoughts: This was a fun mystery caper with the added twist of Laura’s dad haunting the family business and offering her his advice as a former cop.

The local library may not be big and fancy, but to Laura and the other patrons, it’s important, whether they’re locals or holiday makers needing something to read, the library acts as a safe haven and a community hub (I am very pro-library FYI as a former librarian and lifelong reader). Laura volunteers there once a week as a break from running her paint shop.

When someone starts a fire in the teen section, for some reason the main suspect isn’t the crazy woman trying to stop the library stocking “pornography” in the children’s and teens section (bet I can guess what she really means….), but the head librarian. Which for Laura, just doesn’t make sense. Except that Evelyn the librarian has disappeared.

So, armed with absolutely no alternate suspects, or investigative powers, Laura and ever loyal husband Roy are on the case. Her dad provides his two cents from the afterlife, only Laura can see him, and her therapist thinks he’s imaginary, but he does have actual experience and knowledge.

Driving the town’s one detective crazy, and upsetting the arson detective, several residents and the librarian, Laura is determined to get to the bottom of it. But will she do a better job than the actual cops?

Fun, funny and entertaining to read, I really liked Laura, her golden retriever husband and her ghost dad. They make a surprisingly good team. She’s got her heart in the right place, but tends to just charge ahead not really thinking about how her actions affect others or how she might actually be muddying the waters for the police. She does get results, but not in the way you might suspect and if she’s not careful, the four customers she does have might eventually be none, causing too much upset can make you unpopular! But hopefully not as her adventures are enjoyable to 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: Ales & Alibis – Tobi Doyle

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When the mayor turns up dead and a violent ghost haunts her basement, pub owner Wanda Atkins must solve a murder on one leg—literally. Spirits, secrets, and small-town scandal are all on tap in Ales and Alibis.

Wanda Atkins owns and works at her family pub, Pour Decisions, even after inheriting millions from the Prohibition Booze they discovered. Things should be easier now that sheʼs started her counseling practice, but money canʼt stop whatever malevolent entity is in her basement.

After the mayor is found dead in his own office, his wife, Wandaʼs first client, is the main suspect according to Wandaʼs boyfriend and deputy. Then, Wanda breaks her ankle after encountering the evil basement ghost.

Wanda must rely on her found family, her ghostly ancestors, and a little creative sleuthingto find a way to prove her clientʼs innocence and get rid of the whatever nonliving entity is in the basement.

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Tobi Doyle writes meet-cutes and mysteries. With a questionable internet search history, she writes to make mom-time more enjoyable. Margaritas are optional!

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My thoughts: This was a fun read, with a murder to solve, ghosts to wrangle and a puppy to walk, Guy is very cute and I loved the scene where he encounters snow and ice for the first time.

Wanda runs Pour Decisions with her mum and grandma, a bar that serves delicious food popular with the residents of Atkinsville, the town her ancestors founded. However, she and the other Atkins women aren’t exactly embraced by all because of their unusual talents  – Gran reads tarot, mum reads palms and Wanda sees and talks to ghosts. And the town is full of them.

When the mayor is found dead in his office, it’s foul play, and there are plenty of suspects – firstly his wife and daughter. He was well known as an adulterer, and the women in his life all had reason to kill him. But Wanda is pretty sure it wasn’t Alicia, his wife and her new therapy client.

Her boyfriend Jack, a sheriff’s deputy, won’t tell her how the investigation is going, but Wanda is running her own, with a little help from the not-so-recently deceased.

I liked the characters, the town seems very quirky, and the Atkins and their closest are very intriguing, the case was resolved very nicely and I am going to keep an eye out for the next book in the series.

*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 Hiding Season – Ava Glass

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After a painful divorce, Maya Landry is in desperate need of a fresh start, which she finds deep in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. Maya’s relieved when she’s hired as a summer keeper of billionaire-owned ski lodges left empty after snow season ends, and her new life of peace and isolation is going exactly as hoped . . . until she stumbles across a dead body on the living room floor of one of the lodges. There’s no cell service on the resort, and by the time she’s able to find a signal and call the police, the body is gone. In fact, there’s no evidence a body was ever there at all.

The police think Maya is unstable, and she’s not convinced they are wrong. But later that night, a stranger walks up to her and tells her that someone knows she was up on the mountain that day, someone willing to kill to keep their secrets. She’s not sure whether to believe him . . . until the killers come for her in the dead of night. Maya narrowly escapes, only to find that same mysterious man waiting to rush her away. But can she trust him? Can she trust anyone?

Only one thing is certain: The people who committed the murder are coming for her. Maya is the only person alive who might reveal what happened up on the mountain. And they want her gone.

Dubbed ‘The new queen of spy fiction’ by The Guardian, ‘The real thing’ by the Washington Post and ‘A worthy heir to the James Bond mantle’ by James Patterson and shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger, Ava Glass is the UK’s leading female spy fiction writer and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

 The Hiding Season follows Ava Glass’ successful Emma Makepeace series, which included The Chase, The Trap, and her critically acclaimed 2023 thriller The Traitor, which wasa Grazia Book of the Month, a Washington Post Book of the Year, a Cosmopolitan Book of the Year and a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. Film rights to The Chase and The Traitor serieshave been acquired.

 Ava Glass’ spy novels are based on first-hand experience working with spies for the British government alongside several years working as an investigative journalist and crime reporter in America. One of vanishingly few female authors writing spy fiction, Ava Glass is breaking down the door to the most male-dominated genre in fiction.

 Ava Glass is an experienced broadcaster and a go-to talking head when something’s going on in the world of spies, and frequently appears on Sky News, BBC News and BBC Radio 4. She has also co-presented a true crime documentary TV series for Channel 4 and is a regular guest expert on current affairs podcasts.

My thoughts: This was a bit different from the other Ava Glass books which are about professional spies, instead the protagonist here is Maya Landry, whose job cleaning the holiday homes of very wealthy people in a private ski resort brings her into the orbit of a terrifying criminal mastermind who even the FBI can’t seem to bring down.

Maya sees something she very much shouldn’t have, and it means she has to run. FBI agent Riley appears at the local bar and tells her she needs to run, and he’ll help her.

A year later, having successfully laid low in Texas, some dangerous people turn up and she calls Riley for help. Now they’re on the run with both the FBI and the crime boss on their trail. Can things get any worse? Can Maya really trust Riley?

Gripping and full of moments of surprise, there are still questions Maya needs answers to, but first of all, she needs to stay alive and one step ahead of law enforcement and criminals.

I really liked Maya, she was genuinely in the wrong place at the wrong time – she doesn’t know who the victim was, or the killer. But that’s not enough it seems, and she has to go on the run, despite her innocence and ignorance. It’s only a mistake that puts her back into the sights of the people who want her dead. She has no choice but to trust Riley, and by extension his friend Amber, to help her, and they have their own agendas.

I enjoy Ava’s books, they’re fast paced and intelligent with interesting characters and compelling plots, and while this was very different from her Emma Makepeace books, it was very readable and I couldn’t put it down.

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

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Blog Tour: The Secret Dressmaker – Jenny O’Brien

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Shelves of sequins in a kaleidoscope of colours. Bolts of silk and tulle against the back wall. The sewing room was the last place anyone had seen her daughter alive.

Northern Ireland, 1942. Flora Toussaint packs parachutes for the RAF, haunted by the twin daughters she was forced to give up eighteen years ago. When British intelligence shows her photographs of her girls – now young women in occupied Paris – her world shifts. One is safe. One
has vanished. And their father, the celebrated couturier Lucien Lumineau, is suspected of collaborating with the Nazis.

Flora agrees to a dangerous mission: parachute into France, pose as a seamstress at the Moulin Rouge, and uncover the truth. Lodging above a brothel where Edith Piaf sings after hours and where Pablo Picasso still holds court, she mends costumes between shows, searches for any trace of her missing daughter between curfews, and circles closer to Lucien.

But Lucien isn’t the man she remembers. Neither is their history. And what Flora discovers will unravel everything she thought she knew – about Lucien, about her daughters, and about the night
she gave them away.

A sweeping tale of wartime Paris, family secrets and impossible choices. Fans of Kate Quinn, Pam Jenoff and Kristin Hannah will be mesmerised by The Secret Dressmaker.

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Jenny O’Brien writes complex thrillers and heartbreaking historical fiction, as well as
intriguing romances. Silent Cry, initially self published, topped the Amazon kindle chart in both the UK and the USA. Most of her books have followed suit.

Jenny has over 40 years experience as a qualified nurse. She turned to creative writing as a hobby when her children were born. Now, 20 years later, she’s retired from the day job to focus on writing.
She’s currently working on the third book in the Threads Series.

Born in Ireland, she now lives in Guernsey with her husband and children.

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My thoughts: I really enjoyed this story of Flora, returning to her native France during the war, while Paris is under occupation in order to find out if her former lover, couturier Lucien Lumineau is a collaborator and what has happened to their daughters, the babies she handed over to him and his wife eighteen years ago.

Taking a job at the Moulin Rouge as a seamstress brings into the world one of her daughter’s Marguette inhabited as a performer, taking lodgings above a notorious brothel introduces her to Edith Piaf, living next door. Pablo Picasso is a close friend of Lucien’s and it is this glamorous, artistic world she once escaped.

But danger is always close, working undercover puts her in the path of the Nazi secret police, and one officer in particular seems keen to find her. Flora must be as careful as she possibly can to stay ahead of those who wish to stop her.

Intense and gripping, this feels more like a thriller than anything else, Flora’s life is in danger, as are her daughters the longer she remains in Paris, where dark secrets must come to light and she risks everything for the answers.

*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: Lost Souls – Paul A. Mendelson

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How could the scuzziest man in the world and the kindest woman alive ever fall in love?

Arnie Garth has it all. An LA porn empire, a gorgeous pornstar mistress and a legendary wife. Unfortunately, he has the morals of a sewer rat. And when he finds himself on his premature deathbed, he receives some unexpected news: he has no soul.

According to the Keeper of Souls, he was born without one. A heavenly clerical error. His was mistakenly given to the baby girl behind him in the queue – a sweet, selfless Englishwoman named Noreen Milburn, who now has two.

To avoid a fate worse than death, Arnie has just one week to find Noreen, fall genuinely in love with her, and make her fall for him too. No explanations. No shortcuts. Just real love.

The problem? Noreen is a sheep-loving Lake District shepherdess who prefers charity work to men, while Arnie’s world is full of porn stars, a furious wife and a hired hitman.

The route to true love runs from LA to Cumbria to Las Vegas. But will it find its way home?

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Paul A. Mendelson is a BAFTA-nominated screenwriter and novelist. He created
some of BBC’s most successful sit-coms, shown in the US and over 70 countries, and acclaimed British drama. He now writes screenplays and novels, for adults and middle-grade. Paul scripts his novels, three have been optioned for movies, including his latest ‘Seville’. His novel Must Have GSOH was the only UK Finalist in the 2023 Screencraft LA Cinematic Book Contest.

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My thoughts: LA porn producer Arnie has a stroke and a double heart attack, then an angel appears and tells him that he has no soul, but if he tracks down the woman who has it, and her own, Noreen Milburn, who lives in Cumbria, and gets her to fall in love with him, and he with her, he won’t go to Hell and might even live a long and happy life.

So he hops on the first flight to Heathrow to track down Noreen in the wet and windswept Lake District (which is stunning if you haven’t been there, when it’s not raining) without much of a clue as to how to win over the very unique woman.

In hot pursuit is his wife, Melisande, who wants either a divorce or him to drop dead, the dwarf hitman she’s hired and some Heavenly individuals who may or may not be helpful.

Very funny, silly and highly entertaining, this enjoyable read from a writer with a great track record is perfect for a good laugh as Arnie attempts to be a better person to win over Noreen (and her handbag ferret, and the sheep!)

*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: Lie in the Bay – Holly Danvers

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A neighborly smile hides a multitude of sins . . .

The residents of Bayshore Lane excel at three things: throwing unforgettable waterfront parties, spreading the juiciest gossip, and taking their darkest secrets straight to the grave.

Take Jenna, Gabrielle, and Dublin. Each harbor something they’d rather die than confess—a forbidden desire, a dangerous scheme, a hidden agenda. In their postcard-perfect neighborhood, these are truths that can never see the light.

But when whispering over cocktails turns sinister, long-buried secrets begin clawing their way to the surface. Jenna’s perfect life starts to fracture, Dublin’s world is reduced to ashes, and Gabrielle risks losing everything she loves.

Someone on Bayshore Lane knows more than they’re saying. And one of them is determined to make this carefully curated circle pay for the sins they thought were long forgotten.

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Holly Danvers pens multiple mysteries series under several pseudonyms. A New England native, she now resides in the Midwest with her husband, where she’s already plotting her next novel.

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My thoughts: The residents  of Bayshore Lane are a close knit group, or are they? It certainly seems like they are, but everyone has secrets, some they’d kill to protect.

Dublin has moved into her late mother’s cottage, one Alec, a local estate agent, feels needs to be pulled down as it’s bringing down the neighbourhood, but is he behind the fire in her shed? The evidence suggests something else is going on, but you never know.

Gabrielle finds out a shocking secret about Jenna and Colton while snooping in their house, she should have just grabbed the painkillers in their bathroom and not been nosey. Now she’s wondering if they had anything to do with the tragic drownings a few years ago.

As tensions grow and multiply, while people’s lives start to crack under the pressure, all the secrets start to rise to the top and then there’s gunshots in the night. Can this small community take much more? 

Cleverly put together, with an intriguing meta-narrative linked to the author’s previous book, this was an enjoyable thriller about secrets, lies and neighbours.

*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 Blitz: Murder at Christmas – T.A. Williams

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BRAND NEW instalment in the page-turning Armstrong & Oscar cosy mystery series, this time in the snowy Italian Alps.

A festive gathering…

Private investigator Dan Armstrong, accompanied by his wife and his canine sidekick, Oscar, are spending the days before Christmas in a luxurious Alpine chalet tucked away in a hidden valley. It
should be the perfect escape, except the owner is in fear for his life.

A house full of secrets…

Amid perfect winter wonderland scenery, the more Dan discovers about his host and the other guests, he realises that all is not as it seems. What should be a happy family party is riddled with rancour, mistrust and hatred.

A killer in the snow?

Then the snow falls – fast and heavy – and within moments, someone is dead. Accident, suicide, or murder? As the snow closes in, Dan has to work out if he’s looking for a killer, or whether he and
Oscar are barking up the wrong tree.

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I’m a man. And a pretty old man as well. I studied languages at Nottingham University a long time ago and then lived and worked in France and Switzerland before going to work in Italy for seven years. My Italian wife and I then came back to the UK with our little daughter (now long-since grown up) where I ran a big English language school for many years. We now live in a sleepy little village in Devonshire. I’ve been writing almost all my life but it was only 13 years ago that I finally managed to find a publisher who liked my work enough to offer me my first contract.
I started off writing romances but after 28 of them, I knew I wanted to try something different, and so the first of the Armstrong and Oscar cozy mysteries, Murder in Tuscany, was born three years ago.
I’ve been having a lot of fun ever since getting to know the dynamic duo (and introducing them to people all over the world). These books are cosy crime [a genre I didn’t even know existed when I
started writing them). They are murder mysteries, but not gory, over-violent stuff, but stories designed to exercise the brain of the reader and to put a smile on their face. Maybe it’s because there are so many horrible things happening in the world today that I feel I need to do my best to
provide something to cheer my readers up. My books provide escapism to some gorgeous locations all over my beloved Italy.

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My thoughts: It does feel a bit silly to be reading a Christmas set book in the middle of a heatwave, but my longing for cooler weather was more than satisfied by the snow Dan and Oscar (encountering it for the first time, delightful) find themselves in in Piedmont, in the Italian Alps.

Invited, along with Anna, to visit a somewhat paranoid man by their famous actress friend Selena, they find themselves in a beautiful mansion in a secluded valley high above the world. The owner, a man whose family business makes skiwear and other sporting goods, believes his business partner was murdered, and that he must be next.

But who could want him dead? His children? His brother? An employee? It’s a strange one, even for Dan, and he’s unsure how seriously to take it. But then as snow falls, someone dies and suddenly there’s a need to investigate. Someone has been embezzling from the company – could this be a motive?

Dan needs to solve this one quickly, he and Anna are due to spend Christmas with her daughter, can Oscar (and his new pal Winston) help Dan figure it all out before anything else happens?

Well, you’ll have to read it to answer the questions, but I will say the ending was very satisfying, Oscar is a hero on four paws and I enjoyed every page.

*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 Woman Who Wasn’t There – Wlliam Hussey

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Bestselling crime author Marian Lane is surrounded by adoring readers when she learns that her husband Dane is dead.

Marian returns home in shock to discover a stranger on her doorstep. A woman who not only claims she’s Marian’s biggest fan but says that she comforted Dane in his final moments.

At first, this woman, Mary, is a source of comfort. Until she admits Dane confessed a secret. One she can’t quite remember; one Marian is desperate to learn.

But Mary is a storyteller too. And though Marian knows every twist in the genre, she won’t see this one coming . . .

My thoughts: This was very good, full of twists, funny, dark and a bit twisted. While she’s at a book festival, author Marian Lane’s husband Dane is found dead, apparently from an accidental overdose. There’s a few things that don’t quite add up, but the sane could be said of Marian.

When the slightly strange Mary comes into her life, claiming to have been present at the moment her husband died, Marian takes this odd duck as her new BFF. Much to the annoyance of her old one, about to be the wife of the new PM, acclaimed human rights lawyer Iris. But is Mary telling the truth? Is Marian? And what really happened all those years ago when Dane’s former girlfriend was murdered?

There are some honestly jaw dropping moments in this, and we see Marian’s hard scrabble childhood, her desire to fit in at uni and her fame and success as the author of a popular crime series. But one wrong move, trusting the wrong person, could bring it all tumbling down.

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