Scotland – Grab This Book

The Trials of Marjorie Crowe – C.S. Robertson

How do you solve a murder when everyone thinks you’re guilty?

Marjorie Crowe lives in Kilgoyne, Scotland. The locals put her age at somewhere between 55 and 70. They think she’s divorced or a lifelong spinster; that she used to be a librarian, a pharmacist, or a witch. They think she’s lonely, or ill, or maybe just plain rude. For the most part, they leave her be.

But one day, everything changes.

Local teenager Charlie McKee is found hanging in the woods, and Marjorie is the first one to see his body. When what she saw turns out to be impossible, the police have their doubts. And when another young person goes missing, the tide of suspicion turns on her.

Is Marjorie the monster, or the victim? And how far will she go to fight for her name?

I received a review copy from the publishers, Hodder & Soughton, through Netgalley

Here it is. The high-bar to which all other books will need to aspire to match through 2024. When I tell you I started my reading this year with a stone cold banger of a book it’s no exaggeration. The Trials of Marjorie Crowe will introduce you to one of the most memorable lead characters you’re likely to encounter for many months to come and her story will live with you just as long. I adored this book.

Marjorie Crowe is a witch. Not the halloween-esk, pointy hat, bubbling cauldron type of witch but a woman who’s learnt from her predecessors which plants and flowers can have medicinal benefits, the roots which will help make a lotion or the oils which could make a salve. She lives in an old cottage in a quiet village in central Scotland. Naturally the other villagers, particularly the teenagers, consider Marjorie a figure they can ridicule and easily dismiss but Marjorie doesn’t care too much about wagging tongues, those that came before her faced bigger dangers than being mocked by their neighbours (wirriet and burnt) and she goes on with her day and follows her routine – like clockwork.

Each day Marjorie takes the same walk around the village of Kilgoyne, she treads the same paths, turns the same corners and passes directly through the local pub (not stopping). Every. Single. Day. It drives the publican crazy and it further adds to the rididule Marjorie exposes herself to but Marjorie is a creature of habit. One day, however, something is going to happen during Marjorie’s walk which will shake her to her core. Deep in the woods Marjorie finds a local teenager, Charlie McKee, hanging in a clearing. Marjorie heads home – stunned and incommunicative – she doesn’t raise the alarm and it is only when Charlie’s body is discovered several hours later that people start to question why Marjorie didn’t tell anyone of what she saw until it was far, far too late.

The villagers of Kilgoyne will shun and turn on their peculiar neighbour. But for the reader there’s a small amount of clarification dripped into the story by C.S. Robertson. When Marjorie speaks with the police about what she saw when she found Charlie it seems there were two impossibilities – one is that someone else had seen Charlie, alive and well, an hour later than Majrorie saw his body. The second impossibility was who was beside Charlie in the woods when she saw his hanged body.

As I read I was sure Marjorie was always truthful about what she had seen. This is a woman of utter conviction and she knew she was right. Until the point came when Marjorie herself began to doubt what she’d seen. How could she be mistaken? What of the unexplained coincidence of markings appearing on a tree which mirrored an identical mark that appeared when another teenager vanished from the village around two decades earlier? More mysteries and more dangers, small villages are always a haven for secrets and C.S. Robertson makes sure Kilgoyne is packed with unanswered questions.

Events in Kilgoyne escalate as another teenager disappears and Marjorie finds herself under increasing pressure and scrutiny. She’s done nothing wrong (that she sees) but the court of public opinion is very much against her – the real trial of Marjorie Crowe appears to be a trial over social media, in the streets by her home and in the heads and hearts of her neighbours. Will Marjorie be strong enough to withstand the pressure of all the negative attention and what happens when emboldened mobs decide they can take matters into their own hands.

There is so much to this story that I simply cannot do it justice in such a short space. This is a book crying out to be your next pick at your local bookgroup, it needs discussed (only with people who know what happens) and the impact it had on me will last for quite some time. Stellar reading – grab this book!

The Trials of Marjorie Crowe releases on 18 January 2024 in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can get your copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-trials-of-marjorie-crowe/c-s-robertson/9781529367690

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August 8

The Wild Coast – Lin Anderson

A remote shoreline. A lethal killer. As lone visitors disappear from the rural northwest of Scotland, campsites are becoming crime scenes. The Wild Coast is a chilling thriller from Lin Anderson.

When forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod is brought in to analyse a shallow grave on Scotland’s west coast, she is disturbed by a bundle of twigs crafted into a stickman and left in the victim’s mouth.

Then, when a young woman is reported missing from a nearby campsite with another sinister figurine left in her van, it seems that someone is targeting wild campers. An idyllic coastline known for providing peace and serenity, now the area is a hunting ground.

As her investigation proceeds, Rhona is forced to reconsider her closest bonds. Rumours of sexual assault offences by serving police officers are circling in Glasgow, which may include her trusted colleague DS Michael McNab. Could it be true, or is someone looking to put him out of action?

All the while a young woman’s life is on the line and the clock is ticking…

My thanks to Pan MacMillan for the review copy I recieved and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the tour for The Wild Coast

Well this got dark!

Confession time…The Wild Coast is the 17th Rhona MacLeod book from Lin Anderson and it is also my introduction to the series. I’ve seen Lin at several festivals and events and heard her speak (often) about her books. I do actually own around half of the books in the series already as I have been picking up the previous titles with the intent to catch up. But this is the first I have actually read and I am kicking myself this evening as I thought it was terrific. And far darker than I had expected.

Jumping into a well established series can seem daunting and the obvious question is “Do I need to read the books in order?” Undoubtably readers will get more enjoyment from following a series from the first book and following the character development over all the subsequent books in order. But if you don’t have time to commit to reading sixteen books before picking up The Wild Coast I can confirm there was no point in The Wild Coast where I felt I wasn’t enjoying the book because I hadn’t read what had gone before. Naturally there were character interactions and comments relating to prior events where I didn’t fully understand the context but it didn’t impact upon my understanding of the story I was reading. Nor would I expect every book in an ongoing series to be written in its own bubble – the balance was spot on.

So now you know returning readers are well covered and new readers (like me) can slip straight into events what’s the book about?

The story opens in one of the remote corners of Scotland. In a campsite on the route round the North Coast 500 (a journey around which follows the road up one coast of the Scottish Highlands, crosses the very North of the country and then slides back down the other coast) a woman vanishes from her campervan. She’d arrived the day before, befriended two small children in a neighbouring caravan and then during the night she disappeared. The two children are potential witnesses to what may have happened but other than the sign of a small struggle and a mysterious wooden figure of a man which police found hanging in her campervan there is not much evidence of what may have ocurred.

Rhona MacLeod is called to the scene when a woman’s body is discovered, buried not far from where the missing woman was last seen. But to Rhona’s surprise she discovers the body has been buried for several weeks and cannot be that of the missing woman from the nearby campsite. This poses a new problem for Rhona and the police – does that mean two women have been targeted? Is the premier tourist attraction in the Highlands too dangerous for lone travellers?

Meanwhile back in Glasgow there’s a separate investigation underway. There are strong, persistant rumours of police officers committing violent sexual attacks on women in the city. Rhona’s colleague, Michael McNab, has been behaving in an extremely odd manner and it is causing his friends and colleagues to take note of his behaviour. McNab is spending time in the clubs where attacks have happened and victims frequented – he can’t easily explain his actions but now he’s going to have to think carefully about what he tells people as one of his colleagues has spotted him in a place he really had no right to be in.

With Rhona spending time out of the city, assisting with the investigation into the body recovered in the Highlands, McNab seems to be sliding further into trouble. Something was going to happen. Something bad. I could feel the author building up to a crash for one or more of her cast – when the moment came it wasn’t what I had expected but it was very nicely done. I’d been looking in the wrong place and I was wholly committed to seeing this book out before I got out my chair!

What had initially felt like a slow burn was suddenly a dark and sinister story and it was fully ignited around me. The missing girl, the murdered girl, the children on their holiday who met the nice lady that went missing, their anxious mother and their overbearing father, the forensic scientist the children are comfortable speaking to, the nervous policeman attending clubs he should avoid. All these threads started to pull together. The clever, clever plotting taking the reader to an extremely uncomfortable place and shining a light on a particularly unpleasant crime.

I really wasn’t expecting The Wild Place to take me where it did. Is there any better feeling for a reader than to be entertained and thoroughly caught off guard? Whether you’ve been a Rhona MacLeod fan for many years or, like me, you’re just meeting her for the first time – this is a cracking read which will make you crave more.

The Wild Coast is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format and you can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-wild-coast/lin-anderson/9781529084566

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May 11

Bastard Verdict – James McCrone

You don’t have to win, just don’t lose.

High stakes and low politics combine with deadly effect in the new thriller, Bastard Verdict, by James McCrone.

A second referendum on independence looms, and a Scottish official enlists elections specialist Imogen Trager, a by-the-numbers, if rarely by-the-book investigator, to look into irregularities in the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum. Imogen uncovers a trail of criminal self-dealing, cover-ups, and murder leading to the highest levels of power. None but a very few know the truth. And those few need it to stay hidden at any cost.

Imogen will risk what’s left of her standing, her career–and maybe her life–to get at the truth.

I received a review copy of Bastard Verdict via Netgalley and was invited to host this leg of the blog tour by Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours.

In the United Kingdom if you mention a contentious referendum result most people will immediately think of the 2016 “Brexit” vote. If, however, you live in Scotland then your first thoughts may well shift to the 2014 Independence Referendum. This YES/NO vote split the country, families disagreed, friends fell out and the media first showed their true colours by brazenly ditching any suggestion of impartiality…you see! It still causes high emotion.

The “Indy Ref” is almost 9 years in the past (a generation if you’re Irish but apparently not if you’re Scottish) the outcome still raises passions and many, many people believe there were significant trust issues surrounding the vote and the result. In Bastard Verdict James McCrone turns attention to the turmoil, incorporates the suspicions and unusal practices into a cracking thriller He brilliantly taps into the paranoia which his protagonists will experience as they look to see if there was Governmental interference in the vote and it makes the story a tight and tense affair.

Imogen Trager is an FBI agent but she is working at Glasgow University as a guest lecturer following her involvement in an extremely high profile case in the US where she exposed vote tampering in the Amercian elections. Imogen became toxic at home as the fallout from her investigations cast huge ripples through the American political system. She is in Scotland where she will be safely out of the way! But soon after her arrival Imogen is approached by a high ranking official of the Scottish Government. He indicates he would like Imogen to spend some time looking at the 2014 Independence referendum, she is a specialist in identifying election irregularities and he says the 2014 election “was stolen”. But his request comes with a warning, if Imogen is going to look at the vote she must be very careful – if she does find any evidence of wrongdoing then this can only have been orchestrated by some very powerful people. Those people would not want anyone to shine a spotlight on their interference.

McCrone has also tapped into live political issues. In Bastard Verdict there is a strong suspicion the UK Goverment is seeking to announce a new policy initiaive to make Great Britain stronger. This patriotic excercise in London would also seriously undermine the authority of the devolved governments and would see several key areas which are legislated in Edinburgh cede back to London’s control. If Imogen can identify interference in the Independence Referendum it will seriously undermine any London attempts to wrestle control away from Scotland – suddenly a vote nine years ago has a very real and imminent deadline if doubt is to be cast upon the outcome.

As someone that closely followed the 2014 election I was very aware of some of the “unusual” elements surrounding the vote. James McCrone uses real questions (never fully answered) as fictional plot points which drive Imogen’s investigations forward. When there is suspicion of sensitve infomration being revealed people start to die. But the forces working against Imogen and her small cohort of colleagues are worried and mistakes are being made – the reader gets to follow both sides of the process we see when robberies are arranged, when surveillance is deployed and who is calling the shots. Knowing Imogen is getting deeper into danger keeps the reader turning the pages.

Election vote counting doesn’t sound like the most likely backdrop for a crime thriller but James McCrone steps up and makes it an utterly absorbing read. I loved this story and have already been recommending it to many of my friends.

Bastard Verdict publishes on 18 May 2023 and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0999137743/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

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September 30

Cover Reveal: River Clyde – Simone Buchholz

Today I am beyond excited to share something new with you. A first opportunity to see the cover for River Clyde, the next Chastity Riley book from Simone Buchholz which will be published in the new year by Orenda Books.

Before you scroll down to catch that first glimpse of the FIFTH book in this stupendous series I have the FAQ’s too:

River Clyde releases in digital format first. Ebook will be available from 17 January 2022 with print copies arriving on 17 March 2022.

Once again we can thank Rachel Ward for translating the original German text into English, Rachel translated all four previous books in the series.

Blurb first, cover second and then the handy pre-order links, there is a lot of love for this series and I know you will want to secure this one early to be sure you can get reading as soon as possible.

Chastity Riley travels to Scotland to face the demons of her past, as Hamburg is hit by a major arson attack. Queen of Krimi, Simone Buchholz returns with the nail-biting fifth instalment in the electric Chastity Riley series … and this time things are personal…

‘Simone Buchholz writes with real authority and a pungent, noir-ish sense of time and space … a palpable hit’ Independent

‘Reading Buchholz is like walking on firecrackers … a truly unique voice in crime fiction’ Graeme Macrae Burnet

Mired in grief after tragic recent events, state prosecutor Chastity Riley escapes to Scotland, lured to the birthplace of her great-great-grandfather by a mysterious letter suggesting she has inherited a house.

In Glasgow, she meets Tom, the ex-lover of Chastity’s great aunt, who holds the keys to her own family secrets – painful stories of unexpected cruelty and loss that she’s never dared to confront.

In Hamburg, Stepanovic and Calabretta investigate a major arson attack, while a group of property investors kicks off an explosion of violence that threatens everyone.

As events in these two countries collide, Chastity prepares to face the inevitable, battling the ghosts of her past and the lost souls that could be her future and, perhaps, finally finding redemption for them all.

Nail-bitingly tense and breathtakingly emotive, River Clyde is both an electrifying, pulse-pounding thriller and a poignant, powerful story of damage and hope, and one woman’s fight for survival.

You’ve been very patient so just zip down the page a little futher and enjoy the River Clyde cover in all its glory…

Isn’t it terrific? I love the stylistic approach that has featured for all the titles in this series and River Clyde really catches the eye.

I promised purchase links so you could get an early order in…

Waterstones: https://bit.ly/3EZj8XJ

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3F4nuwu

And I am afraid that’s all I have for you today, cover, blurb and order links with a huge dose of anticipation. Roll on January 17th

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October 10

The Point Of No Return (Audiobook) – Neil Broadfoot

How far would you go to find the truth?

After more than a decade of being in prison for the brutal murder of two Stirling University students, Colin Sanderson has been released after his conviction was found to be unsafe.

Returning home to a small village not far from Stirling, Sanderson refuses police protection, even in the face of a death threat. But the PR firm that has scooped him up to sell his story does know of a protection expert in Stirling. They want Connor Fraser.

Connor reluctantly takes the assignment, partly as a favour to DCI Malcolm Ford, who is none too keen to have Sanderson on the loose, particularly as he was involved in the original investigation that saw him imprisoned.

When a body is found, mutilated in the same way as Sanderson’s victims were, all eyes fall on the released man. But how can he be the killer when Connor’s own security detail gives him an alibi?

As Connor races to uncover the truth, he is forced to confront not only Sanderson’s past, but his own, and a secret that could change his life forever.

I am an Audible member and I bought the Point Of No Return audiobook on release.

Some housekeeping first and an apology to Neil Broadfoot. This is the third Connor Fraser book but the first I have reviewed. Earlier this year I read the second book, No Place to Die, which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, this was one of the books I was reading when we first went into the March 2020 Covid Lockdown. A quick glance at my blog archive will show very little reviews were prepared over the first few months of the year as I found it incredibly difficult to keep focus on anything at that time. I stuggled and reviews which should have been written were not. My apologies to Neil for missing the paperback publication window of No Place to Die with a review I did so want to write.

The earlier Connor Fraser titles are readily available in paperback and digital format. Connor’s story builds with each book (though each title can be read as a stand alone). If you haven’t already read the previous books No Mans Land and No Place To Die then I would encourage you to pick them up and immerse yourself in these terrific stories.

The Point Of No Return opens with a miscarriage of justice being corrected. Some 14 years ago Colin Sanderson was convicted of the brutal murders of two students. The reader is left in no doubt that Sanderson is a nasty piece of work and there are interested parties, other than the police, unhappy to see his conviction overturned after his lawyer found an irregularity in the evidence used to secure the original Guilty verdict. Sanderson is free and is not looking to slip quietly into the background. A PR firm have ensured he will be given a platform to air his grievances (he has many) and there is talk of a book deal to allow him to tell his story. Enter Donna Blake, reporter for Sky News who is handed exclusive interview rights and the lure of the chance to ghost-write Sanderson’s book. Donna is a friend of Connor’s and their paths have previously crossed in devastating ways.

Just a few days after his release Sanderson manages to shake off the observation team working for Connor’s security firm. During the period where he is not being watched another murder takes place on the Stirling University campus. There are stiking similarities between the new murder and the deaths of the two students Sanderson was accused of committing. Have the courts freed a murderer on a technicality?

There is a constant sense of peril surrounding both Connor and Donna in The Point Of No Return. Neil Broadfoot managed make me believe both characters were just one step away from falling foul of a dangerous killer. I love when a story grips me in the way Point Of No Return did.

It should be noted there are also some emotive scenes away from the murders where Connor is starting to understand his own family history a bit better. His relationship with his father is strained but he dotes on his grandmother,who is in ailing health. Connor’s relationship with his gran and his father come into close scrutiny and he will not always like what he discovers when he starts asking questions about their past. Families have their secrets and Connor is going to have to face some unpleasant realisations before this book reaches its climax.

The Point Of No Return delivers a cracking murder story and anyone that enjoys a great thriller cannot go wrong with this one.

Huge shout to the team behind the audiobook too. Narration duties were handled by Angus King and he was excellent. There is a fair sized cast in this story and King gave each their own voice and brought the characters to life. Audiobooks can really let down a great book if the vocal performances are jarring or the voices chosen are unsuited to the material presented. In the case of The Point Of No Return there were no concerns – this is a polished and quality production and the source material shines.

Great book and a cracking addition to the Connor Fraser series. Don’t miss out on these stories – they are too good to let them slip by.

The Point Of No Return is published in Hardcover, digital and audiobook format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B085PV4NHV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

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May 20

The Lost Children – Theresa Talbot

TV journalist and media darling Oonagh O’Neil can sense a sinister coverup from the moment an elderly priest dies on the altar of his Glasgow church. Especially as his death comes as she is about to expose the shocking truth behind the closure of a Magdalene Institution. The Church has already tried to suppress what happened to decades of forgotten women. Is someone also covering their tracks?

DI Alec Davies is appointed to investigate the priest’s death. He and Oonagh go way back. But what secrets lie behind the derelict Institution’s doors? What sparked the infamous three-day riot that closed it? And what happened to the girls that survived the institution and vowed to stay friends forever?

From Ireland to Scotland.

From life to death.

This book was previously published as Penance.

The last line of the description of The Lost Children is important – this book was previously published as Penance and this review (after this paragraph) is also my previous review of Penance. I wrote that review in December 2015, as many new people have started following my reviews since then I am re-sharing my review to reflect the new title for this cracking story.

I am going to struggle to do The Lost Children justice in this review. It is a fabulous book, it tells a story partly based around historical events which add a layer of heart-breaking tragedy, it is emotive, often funny and frequently shocking. You have to read it!

Central character Oonagh O’Neil is an investigative journalist and she has been looking into the closure of Glasgow’s Magdalene Institution many years prior to events in the main story. Oonagh believes that a local priest can help her uncover what went on behind the Institutions closed doors but before she can get the full story the priest dies during mass.

Oonagh refuses to give up on her investigation but pursuing the story is putting lives in danger (including Oonagh’s own). A rival journalist is digging the dirt on Oonagh and will stop at nothing to suppress her story if the payoff from other ‘interested parties’ makes it worth his while!

Events in The Lost Children are mainly played out in Glasgow in the year 2000 but at times the story drops back to the late 1950’s and we see how girls may have ended up in the Magdalene Institutions and (more alarmingly) what they endured while they were resident. The small time-shifts are handled really well, do not break the flow of the story, and add depth and context to the main plot which makes the endgame so damn effective.

A tricky read at times, the brutal reality is handled with sensitivity by Theresa Talbot. But she does not shirk away from confronting the unsettling subject matter and The Lost Children is a compelling story as a result. Most definitely a story I am glad I have read – 5/5 review score was guaranteed when I realized that I was frequently thinking back to The Lost Children when I was meant to be working!

The Lost Children is published in digital format by Aria and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Children-gripping-thriller-hooked-ebook/dp/B0798S5LN1/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1526824832&sr=1-1&keywords=theresa+talbot

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February 6

Sealskin – Su Bristow

What happens when magic collides with reality?

Donald is a young fisherman, eking out a lonely living on the west coast of Scotland. One night he witnesses something miraculous …and makes a terrible mistake. His action changes lives – not only his own, but those of his family and the entire tightly knit community in which they live. Can he ever atone for the wrong he has done, and can love grow when its foundation is violence?

Based on the legend of the selkies – seals who can transform into people – Sealskin is a magical story, evoking the harsh beauty of the landscape, the resilience of its people, both human and animal, and the triumph of hope over fear and prejudice.

With exquisite grace, Exeter Novel Prize-winner Su Bristow transports us to a different world, subtly and beautifully exploring what it means to be an outsider, and our innate capacity for forgiveness and acceptance. Rich with myth and magic, Sealskin is, nonetheless, a very human story, as relevant to our world as to the timeless place in which it is set. And it is, quite simply, unforgettable.

My thanks to Karen at Orenda for my review copy and the chance to be involved in the tour.

Before I read Sealskin I had seen huge amounts of praise being lavished upon it. Much of the focus is on the beautiful writing, the haunting story and the beautiful gentle tale.

I was a bit surprised with how the story began as immediately we encounter a shocking act of violence. It caught me unawares and I wondered where the “gentle” story I had been expecting was going to come from. Well stick with it as things do settle down and the relationship story I had been expecting starts to unfold.

Sealskin is a story based around the myth of the Selkie, a seal can shed its skin to take on human form. In Sealskin we meet Donald, a fisherman living in a remote community – he is somewhat alienated by the others in his village but when he brings home a mysterious woman she will transform a community in a way they could never have foreseen.

It is a powerful and emotive story which will impact upon all its readers. Very much out of my comfort zone of reading and quite unlike what I normally pick up so I have a limited benchmark to compare and contrast Sealskin with.

I very much enjoyed the depiction of the remote community and the environment which the fishermen all worked. Capturing the location is essential to engage a reader and Su Bristow does a marvellous job in setting the ideal scene to let her selkie play.

A fantastical tale which is fantastically told.

Sealskin is published by Orenda and is available in digital format and paperback. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealskin-Su-Bristow/dp/1910633607/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486344510&sr=1-1&keywords=seal+skin+su+bristow

Follow the blog tour:

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December 2

2016: My Top 5 Scottish Books

As a Scottish blogger I am always keen to read crime/thriller books set in my native land or tales written by fellow Scots. I love to read stories which are set in the towns and cities I know so well. I like when the characters talk like me and I enjoy knowing that I am being entertained by someone who knows what is meant by “getting the messages.”

Before I share my choices for my Top Ten Reads of 2016 I am taking this chance to highlight my Top 5 Scottish Books for 2016.

5. The Dead Don’t Boogie – Douglas Skelton

A missing teenage girl should be an easy job for Dominic Queste – after all, finding lost souls is what he does best. But sometimes it’s better if those souls stay lost. Jenny Deavers is trouble, especially for an ex-cokehead like Queste. Some truly nasty characters are very keen indeed to get to Jenny, and will stop at nothing…including murder. As the bodies pile up, Queste has to use all his street smarts both to protect Jenny and to find out just who wants her dead. The trail leads him to a vicious world of brutal gangsters, merciless hitmen, dark family secrets and an insatiable lust for power in the highest echelons of politics.

There are not many authors that can inject massive doses of humour into a thriller and get the balance of laughs and thrills right. Douglas Skelton manages to hit that combination perfectly as he introduces us to Dominic Queste in The Dead Don’t Boogie.

Order a copy here.

4. Willow Walk – SJI Holliday

When the past catches up, do you run and hide or stand and fight?

When a woman is brutally attacked on a lonely country road by an escaped inmate from a nearby psychiatric hospital, Sergeant Davie Gray must track him down before he strikes again. But Gray is already facing a series of deaths connected to legal highs and a local fairground, as well as dealing with his girlfriend Marie’s bizarre behaviour. As Gray investigates the crimes, he suspects a horrifying link between Marie and the man on the run but how can he confront her when she’s pushing him away?

SJI Holliday returns to Banktoun in the follow-up novel to 2015’s Black Wood. I loved this story as it was deliciously dark and creepy with some nasty twists thrown in for good measure. As an added bonus we get Susi Holliday’s fantastic characterisation – she creates the most believable people in her books, I swear that I have actually met half the people she writes about.

Order a copy here.

3. In Place of Death – Craig Robertson

A young man enters the culverted remains of an ancient Glasgow stream, looking for thrills. Deep below the city, it is decaying and claustrophobic and gets more so with every step. As the ceiling lowers to no more than a couple of feet above the ground, the man finds his path blocked by another person. Someone with his throat cut.

As DS Rachel Narey leads the official investigation, photographer Tony Winter follows a lead of his own, through the shadowy world of urbexers, people who pursue a dangerous and illegal hobby, a world that Winter knows more about than he lets on. And it soon becomes clear that the murderer has killed before, and has no qualms about doing so again.

A brilliant murder mystery which makes the most incredible use of Glasgow and its landscape. Craig Robertson brings back Narey and Winter and introduces us to urbexing. In Place of Death was a fabulous read but it also got me looking at Glasgow in a whole new light too. When a book educates as well as entertains then I am never going to be unhappy.

Order a copy here.

2. Killer Instincts – Linden Chase

There’s darkness in the heart of Tranquility. Society has developed reliable tests to detect psychopathy in individuals. Those with the disorder are re-classified as victims rather than monsters. The question remains though, how does a liberal society deal with the inherently violent impulses of human predators who live among us. In response a government think tank is launching an experiment, Tranquility; an island where psychopaths will be isolated and left to form their own community.

Zane King, an investigative journalist, has been given a tip-off by a high-level government source that something big is happening on a remote island. After a heart-stopping journey Zane manages to infiltrate Tranquility by persuading the citizens that he’s a psychopath just like them. It doesn’t take Zane long to realise that something has gone very wrong with the experiment but by the time he fully understands what the island is really all about the community is already imploding in a wave of monstrous violence. “Not for the faint hearted…

If Lord of the Flies were a slasher movie then you have Killer Instincts. Loved the idea of a sinister, shadowy agency that controlled Tranquility. Loved the idea of the Hunt. Loved the unpredictable characters. It is dark read. Very, very dark. But it’s really, really good.

Order a copy here.

1 A Suitable Lie – Michael J Malone

Andy Boyd thinks he is the luckiest man alive. Widowed with a young child, after his wife dies in childbirth, he is certain that he will never again experience true love. Then he meets Anna. Feisty, fun and beautiful, she’s his perfect match… And she loves his son, too. When Andy ends up in the hospital on his wedding night, he receives his first clue that Anna is not all that she seems. He ignores it; a dangerous mistake that could cost him everything.

A “wow” book. Michael J Malone tells a harrowing story of domestic violence in a book which is chilling, memorable and incredibly important. I don’t think I could claim to have “enjoyed” reading A Suitable Lie but I couldn’t put it down, I HAD to find out what was going to happen next.

This is a book which will stick with me for a long time to come. It was frequently too realistic for this reader and it tackled a significantly under-reported subject in a sensitive yet compelling voice.

One of the stand-out books of 2016.

Order a copy here.

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September 25

In Conversation – Alan Jones and Brian Stewart: Self-Publishing

I am delighted to be able to be able to welcome two new guests to Grab This Book. Alan Jones and Brian Stewart are both self-published authors who have written books that I have loved. Brian’s debut Digital Circumstances was included in my top reads of 2014. Alan Jones has guested here in the past, I reviewed his novels Blue Wicked and Bloq and each received a 5/5 score.

Brian, can I start by asking you for a quick introduction and give you the chance for a shameless plug for your books?

Brian – I’m Brian Stewart. I was brought up in Grangemouth, worked in Edinburgh as a teacher for a couple of years, and moved to Nairn and I’ve been here for over forty years now.

Digital Circumstances is a classic rags-to-riches story, though I didn’t know that when I wrote it. The book follows the life of Martin McGregor and also tracks technology development from the late 80s till the present day. I was really pleased with some great reviews! Digital Investigations is more of a straight crime thriller with a technological dimension and a cybercrime theme running alongside it. It involves credit-card skimming and sex trafficking, both very relevant issues.

Throughout my books I try to be very accurate about the technology: there’s no facile guessing of passwords, no simple ‘hacking into’ computers. As my main character keeps telling the detective, ‘it’s not like the movies’. Enough from me. Alan, I know you are a vet – what else?

Alan – Thanks for the intro. Our self-publishing routes have been sort of similar – I tried to get my first book traditionally published, and I think I got rejections from most of the agents and publishers in the Writers and Artists yearbook. An agent with quite a large agency said he gave my book serious consideration but declined it in the end. He advised me to put It on the kindle store, and I’ve stayed with the self publishing route since, not really wanting to put myself through that process again.

My first book, The Cabinetmaker, took me 10 years to write on and off, and was a gritty crime story. A Cabinetmaker’s only son is brutally murdered, and the gang of thugs who killed him walk free after a bungled prosecution.

I wrote and published my second book, Blue Wicked in just over a year, and it was even more gritty, and much shorter and punchier. The tortured corpses of young alcoholics and drug addicts are turning up in Glasgow and only unlikely investigator Eddie Henderson seems to know why.

A combination of my first blog tour, and a Street Cabinetmaking stunt at Bloody Scotland to launch The Cabinetmaker paperback raised my profile as a writer and made it much easier to do a proper launch of my third book shortly after. I had a bigger blog tour and distribution of ARC’s to various Facebook book club members, so that Bloq got off to a flying start, collecting 70 reviews in the first three months.

How have you found the self-publishing experience?

Brian: My first – Digital Circumstances – was a long and complex book, so much so that I found it very hard to summarise it to anyone! ‘Investigations’ is, like yours, shorter and more focused. The self-publication process is, of course, easy. I’ve stuck to Amazon, and set up print on demand through Lulu.com (who also manage to get those onto my Amazon page). As every self-published writer finds, the process is much, much faster than the traditional route. Like many others, I had a six month wait for an agent to go from summary to asking for the full text, then another six months for them to finally say no. If they’d said yes, it would have been at least another year to publication. After my first experience, I decided to stick with self-publication for the ‘Digital’ series.

The hard bit is letting people know about the book. Circumstances didn’t sell much, but it got good reviews: for a long time it was well up there in Scottish (and even British) Crime if you searched by average review, but I suspect people search by best-selling.

I think Digital Investigations is a better, more accessible book, but I’m having to work hard to try to get it out there. Recently Amazon has been emailing me, suggesting I might like them. I hope they’re emailing other people too! I’ve sent copies to newspapers who might be interested, and I’m trying to reach online reviewers and bloggers Now, what are your writing habits, Alan? Regular slots or snatched opportunities?

Alan – I write when I can. At the moment, that’s not at all, as work and life have taken over. When I’m writing hard, I can write anywhere, and often write in the middle of the night if I can’t sleep. I’ve never done any research on writing – I’ve learned as I’ve gone along, taking constructive criticism on board when and where it’s been offered. I don’t think good reviews are enough for a self-published book. I think you need a bit of luck and a whole lot of perseverance, both in writing and in promoting.

Brian – It was only when I did a short OU course on creative writing that I started to learn the craft properly. That included sharing my work, and giving and receiving criticism. But nothing beats writing – and writing and editing and writing more. I look back at short stories I wrote in the past, which I thought were really good at the time, and they’re not great at all! When you’re working on a novel, Alan, do you work out the plot beforehand or do you construct the characters and let them run?

Alan – I usually have a good outline of a plot in my head before I ever start writing, but often I’m not quite sure of the detail of how to get there. That usually comes while I’m writing and so far it has always come together. I come up with the characters when I do the plot outline, but many of them don’t fully develop until the book is well underway.

What about you – do you wing it or are you a planner?

Brian – In everyday life I’m a planner but not when I’m writing, strangely enough. Maybe it’s therapy. When I started ‘Circumstances’, I began with my hero in Orkney, on the run, and I had a good idea that the book would be about his whole back story and the events that had led him to where he was now. But I had no idea how he was going to get out of the situation he was in. I edited and re-wrote, and then did more research into cybercrime and found that the FBI fight cybercrime worldwide. That gave me the idea for the resolution. Writing ‘Investigations’ was different. I had my two main characters from the first book, and I wanted a straight crime and a cybercrime, and I wanted them linked, somehow. Other than that, I had nothing, so I started writing. The book I’m working on now grew out of an idea I had a year or so ago, and again I’m letting the plot grow as I write, then back through it. I’m more experienced now, so I recognise pitfalls more easily – and hopefully avoid some of them. Who do you rely on, apart from yourself?

Alan – One of the reviews of my first book was by an author/ blogger who gave it 3 stars but it could have been much better if it had been professionally edited. I contacted him for advice and he was incredibly helpful, putting me in touch with a freelance editor. By that time I had more or less finished my second book, and with the income generated from sales of my first book, I had the second one professionally edited. It was an eye opener!

I also have a number of beta readers who are very helpful, especially with Bloq. I had moved from the familiar locations in Glasgow of the first two books, and set this one in London. I managed to find two Londoners to proof read it to make certain I’d got it right, and they both made great suggestions to add ‘London’ flavour to the book.

Do you rely on help from friends when writing?

Brian – My wife is my first and best critic. I complete a draft, edit, and then leave it for a while before re-editing. When I have a good draft, I let her read it and make comments. I then re-edit. At that stage I send to two beta readers, one of whom was on a writing course with me. I take their comments and re-work, and then my wife has another read through. Finally, in Word, I pick up grammar errors, spelling mistakes, inconsistencies in people’s names. Gordon – I would like to thank Brian and Alan for giving up their time to share their experiences of getting their books to readers. It is clear that for self-published authors reviews are a vital element in their challenge to spread the word about their books. I cannot recommend Alan and Brian’s books highly enough and I would encourage other readers (and especially the bloggers) to seek out their books and leave them a review.

Alan Jones can be found on Twitter as @alanjonesbooks

Brian Stewart is @BRMStewart

Give them a follow, they post some fascinating stuff!

Brian’s Amazon page can be found here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&text=BRM+Stewart&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=BRM+Stewart&sort=relevancerank

Alan’s Amazon page is on this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alan-Jones/e/B00ONBKHLE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1474804171&sr=8-1

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June 7

Interview With Aly Sidgwick – Lullaby Girl

Today I am delighted to welcome Aly Sidgwick to the blog. Aly has kindly agreed to answer a few of my questions about her debut novel Lullaby Girl:

To open, I believe that I have to ask the most obvious question: what prompted the idea of a story about a girl with amnesia?

There were two main inspirations for the book. One was my long standing fascination with people on the edge of sanity- specifically people who’ve lost their sense of self- and the second was my own history of anxiety. The fragility of the human soul fascinates me, as does that ‘no man’s land’ people enter after they’re pushed beyond their limits. The rule book goes out of the window, then, and people can make wild decisions. Kent’s ‘Piano Man’ had gone through that process, and so had the Japanese girl whose desperate pilgrimage to Fargo ended in her death by hypothermia. Their stories moved me, because I’ve always been afraid of tipping over that ‘edge’ myself. When I started writing LG I was in recovery from a nervous breakdown, and was still heavily medicated. In a way the book was my attempt to make sense of what had happened to me. I wanted to create a fragile character, who’d reverted to a simple state in order to survive.

In Katherine’s sanctuary while she recovers there are two central carers. Rhona (who struck me as a Guardian Angel) while Joyce was the Nurse Ratched figure. Was Joyce a bully or was she worn down and frustrated by Katherine’s behaviour during her ‘recovery’.

I’m so glad you picked up on the Nurse Ratched similarity! With Joyce, it wasn’t so much about her being a bully… Rather, I wanted her to be vain, brusque and impatient, in a way that jarred with Kathy’s frame of mind. She’s the sort of carer who follows a script without any real empathy with the patient. However, I did want to leave it quite open… Joyce isn’t just being unkind for the sake of unkindness. She’s short tempered, so Katherine’s difficult behaviour pushes her buttons.

As a supplemental to this – does a story benefit from the presence of a bully to get readers on the side of the central character?

Every story’s got to have an antagonist, hasn’t it? I liked creating a character who’d cause tension, but it wasn’t a direct attempt to gain the reader’s sympathy for Kathy. The tension between them was my only goal.

Lullaby Girl covers a fair bit of mileage as the story unfolds. Are many of the locations in the story places you have visited (and are perhaps special to you)? Or does the remoteness of Scotland’s Highlands just provide a convenient hideaway for Katherine?

The places in the story are based on places I’ve lived, but taken to the extreme. For instance, I actually did live in a little wooden house on a hill in the country near Oslo, and I did have a boyfriend who lived in Trondheim. I spent a lot of time in Trondheim and Oslo, so my own observations of those places made it into the book. But the northern town in LG is fictional, as are the people and story. I’ve also spent a lot of time in the north-western Scottish highlands, so that landscape is very dear to me. I’m drawn to the wilderness and to isolated, northern communities, both here and in Scandinavia, so I wanted to describe the places I love. But those landscapes also produce a certain mentality- gentle yet fierce, deep thinking, resourceful and just a wee bit dark. Those landscapes and those people create a good backdrop for a story, and it felt right to place a fragile character in such a barren, wild landscape.

Within the story there are numerous therapies and treatments described for Katherine – are these recounted with a degree of artistic licence or have you had to research how an amnesiac would be taken through a ‘recovery’ program?

Artistic Licence! Some of the treatment is based on my own experience, some is based on a close friend’s, who has stayed in an institution. The rest is how I imagined it would be. I also made space for the fact that Gille Dubh is not set in a metropolis! In the highlands, certain services are altered to accommodate the isolated setting. For example, some remote schools have less than twenty pupils, of all ages, and their lesson structure is rescheduled to accommodate this. I wanted to create the feeling that Gille Dubh is separated from the rest of the world, and kind of makes up its own rules.

As I read Lullaby Girl I was telling friends (and Tweeting) how much I was enjoying the story but also that it was traumatic! I engaged with the plight of the Lullaby Girl and was often upset with how she was dealt blow after blow – was it hard to create a heroine then wake up each day with the aim of destroying her world around her?

I didn’t really think of it that way! Yeah, Katherine has a hard time! Her history was originally slightly lighter, but with the rewrites it became worse and worse. I lost myself in the planning really, so I became slightly detached. I wanted to create an event that was bad enough to send her into meltdown. It became like a mathematical equation!

You have set some of the more shocking scenes in Norway and Katherine encountered several very nasty people there – do you think you may now need to write a second book that portrays Norway in a more positive light? I am worried that you may be taken off the Norwegian Tourist Board’s Christmas Card List!

Haha! I think you’ll find nasty people no matter where you go in the world. I adore Norway and the Norwegian people… Kathy does have her little love affair with the place initially. I ended up using its ‘foreign-ness’ as a weapon against her. Her promised land ended up isolating her instead of nurturing her. I think a lot of people feel like an outsider when they emigrate, especially when there’s a change of language. Kathy’s situation was made worse by her isolation.

Sorry…back to the more serious questions: can you share your road to publication with us? Your profile on Amazon suggests you started writing in secret, at what point did you feel you had to share your work?

I’d been writing for about a year before I told anyone what I was doing. In the beginning it felt really special, and I didn’t want to detract from the ‘magic’ by blathering too soon. Then I truly had the bug, and knew I couldn’t stop writing. Telling people made it more real. It was a relief to finally explain what I was doing with all my spare time!

I believe that you have worked for some time as a tattoo artist? Over the years are there any stand-out designs or ideas that people have requested?

Yes, I’ve been doing it for quite a while. There are certain ‘trends’ in tattooing that come and go. When I started out, tribal was all the rage. Now it’s gone full circle, and is considered ‘retro.’ I’m a custom artist, which means most of the designs are my own, and people come to me for my particular style. I do a lot of patternwork, plants and animals.

I would also love to know what the oddest tattoo you have provided was?

My pal Danne asked me for a skeletal Abraham Lincoln in a flaming wheelchair with a tommygun. That was pretty much the oddest one I’ve done.

If you were to describe what books are on your bookshelves what would you single out? Which authors or what types of book feature most prominently?

There’s a big old chunk of Haruki Murakami and Neil Gaiman, some vintage sci fi, some Crimethinc, Jon Ronson, Alasdair Gray, China Mieville, Mary Doria Russell, David Mitchell… The rest is a real mix. My absolute favourite writer is Shirley Jackson, and two books I’ve loved recently are ‘Dark Matter’ by Michelle Paver and ‘The Humans’ by Matt Haig. I also have some Norwegian books and comics.

Are you able to share if you are working on a new title?

Yes, I’m currently working on a new project. It’s too early to talk about really, but the story is set in the highlands, and part of it is set in the 1960s.

Aly, many thanks for your time. I absolutely adored Lullaby Girl and I hope many more people get to discover Katherine’s story.

Thank you! It’s been fun!

Lullaby Girl is published by Black & White Publishing and is available now in both paperback and digital format.

Aly Sidgwick is on Twitter: @Menacegrrl

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