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God of Fire – Helen Steadman

Cast out of heaven at the hands of Hera and raised beneath the sea, this is the epic story of Hephaestus, god of fire.

In the palace of Zeus, a son is born to the greatest goddess, Hera. Withered and ugly, the newborn Hephaestus is hurled from the heavens by his repulsed mother. The unforgiving sea offers no soft landing, and the broken godlet sinks to the depths, where his little flame falters. But as darkness looms, he is saved by the sea witch, Thetis, who raises the outcast as her own.

The only Olympian whose injuries never heal, the god of fire endures eternal pain from his wounded leg, making him perhaps the most human member of the pantheon. As if his physical pain were not enough, Zeus punishes Hephaestus further by sentencing him to life with Aphrodite. Unhappily married to the adulterous goddess of love, he is fated to repeat his childhood pattern of rejection, stoically shouldering emotional agony as part of his everlasting burden.

With his foster-mother’s help, Hephaestus lays claim to his legacy and finds his saving grace: the ability to harness fire and create magical metal artefacts. Of course, the other gods waste no time taking advantage of his inventions. A silver mouse for Apollo. A girdle for Aphrodite. Armour for Athena. A bow and arrow for Eros. Winged sandals for Hermes. A throne for Hera. A golden mastiff for Zeus.

But the god of fire is nobody’s fool. The magic of Hephaestus has a shadow side, as gods and mortals learn to their cost when Zeus orders him to create Pandora and her infamous receptacle…

My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Blog Tours for the oppotunity to join the God of Fire blog tour. I received a review copy from the publisher to allow me to participate in the tour.

Sometimes I hit a point in my reading when I think I have gone too heavy on the back to back crime stories. When that happens I remind myself that I wanted to try to find books I may not normally have sought out, particularly if it takes in themes or concepts I know I haven’t had much previous exposure to. This was where my head was at when I received an invitation to join the blog tour for God of Fire – a retelling of Greek myths with a focus on Hephaestus. Perfect!

And the good news is that it was the right book at the right time for me. It took more concentration than a crime thriller, more on that in a second, and I realised that I knew less about the Greek Gods than I had initially realised (though that really should not have been a surprise). But this was a fun read which challenged me too, mainly because of how I read.

The book first. Hephaetus is the God of Fire, son of Hera but it seems he has no father. Hera discarded her son after his birth and he fell to earth where he was rescued by Sea Witches who kept him alive and raised him as if he was their own. Hephaetus was, to a degree, shunned by other Gods as he had a badly damaged leg. Any weakness in a God is fodder for ridicule and dismissive attitudes from their peers and it was fascinating to have the focus of our introduction to Hephaetus all about his perceived weakness, his abandonment by his mother and the sheer force of will he set himself to build his standing among the other Gods.

As he grew his adoptive mothers took Hephaetus to the three cyclops who helped him by giving him the ability to forge anything he set his mind to. Hephaetus’s ability to make any item for the other Gods soon gave him the ideal vehicle to win favour amongst the Gods and to prove himself a valuable ally. Though he was not adverse to using these gifts to get his own way as Hera would find out when presented with her first gift.

I had a passing awareness of the Gods that feature in the story. Many names were familiar to me and I possibly could have told you one single thing I knew about these Gods. However, there were many more characters who were new to me and that I knew nothing about before reading God of Fire and it was here my concentration had to be at its max. I skim read and normally I can quickly zoom through stories and keep track of events without too much effort. But the detail covered in God of Fire was such that I had to slow my pace right down, unfamiliar names, my lack of prior knowledge of relationships and status of the characters also meant I had to be giving my full focus to events as they unfolded.

While that may sound like a critisism it really isn’t (unless it is me self-critisising my reading). I wanted a book to take me out my comfort zone, one which would give me exposure to a very different read and, in the case of God of Fire, one to help me understand more about Greek Mythology – something I love the idea of knowing but have never actually made time to learn about. God of Fire opened my eyes to the alliances, the players and the plotting which many, many readers before me have enjoyed.

As I struggled keeping track of the character names and their roles in the story I did find it slightly frustrating when characters used nicknames when in conversation. Prometheus becomes Prom, Heph for Hephaetus. Again it keeps within the story narrative and the conversational tone that Helen Steadman has used when the Gods are chatting. From my personal (skim reader) experience I use character recognition to help form the words so when I am looking for Prometheus but see Prom it forces me to slow down as I miss the crux of a paragraph as I don’t see the name I had expected to see. These seemingly small issues impact upon how I read a book but it meant I spent more time in this book than I do with many others and when I finished reading I always felt I had enjoyed the time I spent with Hephaetus. There was a lot more to discover than I had anticipated and I really had my eyes opened to an entirely new (to me) history of amazing stories/myths…I wish there was time to roll back the clock and get my younger self reading about these fantastical stories far sooner.

Rewarding, challenging and most definately informative. I wasn’t sure how God of Fire and I would get on but it is safe to say Hephaetus won in the end, I made all the adjustments and concessions so I could enjoy his story. So glad I read this.

God of Fire is published by Bell Jar Books and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09QZ8LSDK/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

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February 27

Blood on the Tracks – Guy Hale

Jimmy Wayne is headed for LA to make the new album that will hopefully make him a star. In a quiet, deserted canyon a few miles outside Blackjack lie the bodies of his victims who inspired each song – all his secrets are buried in that dry and arid ground. Can he leave his past behind or will the ghosts of his past come back to haunt him?

I received a review copy from the publishers and was invited to join the blog tour by Anne at Random Things Blog Tours

Blood on the Tracks may sound like Guy Hale is taking us on a train journey but the Tracks in this book are musical, he is taking us into the recording studio. We join Jimmy Wayne and his band as Jimmy prepares his big comeback after around two decades of being in the music wilderness. But there’s a dark secret behind Jimmy’s songwriting success, the tracks which seem to be destined to propel him back up the music charts only get written when Jimmy is responsible for someone’s death.

In the first book in this series (Killing Me Softly) it appears Jimmy managed to wipe out a few bad guys. Their lives ending meant Jimmy had enough songs written which allows him to get an album together. Though Jimmy isn’t overly upset at killing a few people who deserves to die he also accidentally is responsible for his girlfriend’s death. But, despite being dead, Wendy still manages to appear in ghostly form beside Jimmy to chat with him and provide useful information on what his enemies are up to.

You don’t get much of a clue from the book’s blurb as to what to expect from Blood on the Tracks so I was quite surprised to see Jimmy chatting to a ghost, two former Scandanavian “special forces” playing an integral part in the story, a heavily guarded (but secret) goldmine hidden in the mountains outside Las Vegas, a psychopathic 74 year-old and her mob boss son plus a mystery man who brings calm and compassion everywhere he goes – he’s determined to see Jimmy succeed and nobody is going to stop this all-seeing stranger from getting Jimmy where he wants him to be.

The bad guys want Jimmy dead. Maybe. If he does well then they may actually make some money off his success. So maybe they will let him live a bit longer. But if he flops then there’s an expectation that the mob boss will pass Jimmy to his mother so she can violently end his life – she feels he deserves to die as Jimmy has slighted her family honour. People just don’t get away with that – even if their record could net them a healthy investment return.

The best way to enjoy Blood on the Tracks is very much to let Guy Hale have fun with his cast. Some people will die, some comedy characters will pop up to make you laugh then the bad guys will plot for more bad things to happen. Jimmy’s dead girlfriend will keep him in the loop as to how his enemies are out to get him and the mysterious stranger will just keep being mysterious but highly entertaining at the same time. It all sounds a bit surreal at times but it’s surprisingly readable and I found myself enjoying the story more and more.

One cool bonus which I only spotted as I was preparing my review; there’s a QR code at the start of the book which you can scan and the wonders of technology will let you hear Jimmy’s song – a nice touch to give the reader a feel for the music we read so much about.

Blood on the Tracks – decidedly quirky, often unexptected, lots of fun.

Blood on the Tracks is published by Whitefox and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/blood-on-the-tracks-2/guy-hale/9781915036810

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January 24

Rivers of London: Deadly Ever After – Aaronovich, Cartmel and Bronfman

Illustrations from a mysterious book of fairy tales drawn in the late 1800s are coming to life in the 21st Century and causing havoc. The illustrations were originally painted by a Victorian artist called Jeter Day who disappeared one night in an enchanted forest when he was spirited away by tree nymphs never to be seen again…

Now, with the enchantment accidentally broken by Olympia and Chelsea, daughters of the river goddess Mama Thames, Jeter, twisted by his time spent with the nymphs, has returned to our world bitter and resentful. It is a world he neither recognises nor likes. All he wants is his life returned to him and woe betide any man who stands in his way. With Peter and Nightingale busy on another case, it falls to sisters Olympia and Chelsea with the help of the Foxes to stop Jeter and save the day.

My thanks to Titan Books for the review copy of Rivers of London: Deadly Ever After.

Deadly Ever After is the tenth Rivers of London graphic novel and delivers the quirky humour, supernatural dilemmas and the high levels of enjoyment which readers have come to expect from this series. The book collates the four comics which made up the Deadly Ever After story arc and I didn’t feel I needed any prior knowledge of events prior to this (as the introduction covers it well) and there wasn’t any unfinished plot to frustrate me as I wait for the next comics. As I tend not to pick up every graphic novel as soon it releases the completeness of Deadly Ever After is a real bonus. It also makes for a great pick-up book if, perhaps, you haven’t read all the stories which previously released – this contained volume can be instantly enjoyed and will likely encourage readers to seek out more of the books (assuming they enjoy it as much as I did).

As you may have guessed from the “Deadly Ever After” title, events in this story are taking in a fairy tale theme. Over 100 years ago an artist vanished in a London woodland – taken to another realm by the tree nymphs he had been seeking. Spin forward to the 2020’s and the artist, Jeter Day, has found a way to return and he wants to make good on the promise he made to his daugher all those decades ago and deliver a happy ending to the stories.

Unforunately for Chelsea and Olympia this means they have unleashed fairy story chaos into London. A group of friends who had attended a picnic in the woods near where Jeter Day vanished suddenly find their lives are mirroring fairy tales. One guest finds himself attacking Red’s grandmother, another falls into a deep coma after eating an apple brought to her by her stepmother…you can see how this creates problems.

Olympia and Chelsea can’t enlist the help of Peter Grant and Nightingale as they have a bigger problem to contend with in the London Underground so the girls need to find a solution alone. Or maybe with just a little help from a pair of foxes. I will admit to being a little disappointed initially that Peter Grant does not appear more in this story than in a brief cameo role. However, the story does stand well on its own and Grant’s absence gives Chelsea and Olympia a chance to shine and the story benefits from their strong dynamic. It’s the world of Rivers of London not individual characters which I find so appealing so give me a nice mix of horror/fantasy with humour and dark deeds and I am there and turning those pages.

As it is a graphic novel I do need to give a shout to the artwork through the book. It’s bright, detailed and gorgeous to read. Characters are easy to distingush, the panels are crisp, engaging and never feel fussy or overcrowded – it lets the story flow and gives weight to the words without feeling the dialogue is being lost or the action is getting too busy.

Once the story has been spun there is a bonus or two at the end of the book. Writer notes and panel guidance which would have been sent to the artist. It was fascinating to see what the author envisages when they outline each page of the comic and then have it displayed beside the finished page.

I was a Rivers of London fan before I picked up Deadly Ever After – this book just grows my fanboy credentials. Lots of fun was had and it makes me want to catch up on the graphic novels I’ve missed.

Rivers of London: Deadly Ever After is published by Titan Books Ltd and is available as a paperback graphic novel and on Kindle and Comixology. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/rivers-of-london-deadly-ever-after/ben-aaronovitch/andrew-cartmel/9781787738591

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December 2

When The Lights Go Out – Chris Curran

Who can you trust…

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT

A group of new friends. But can she trust them?

For struggling actress Ava, landing a role with the Chimera Theatre Group could lead to her big break. And relocating to a remote country village means stepping out from the shadow of her boyfriend-despite his determination not to let her go.

Everyone in the group seems so welcoming, they’re one big happy family. But, like all families, they each have secrets. And someone in the group doesn’t want certain secrets to get out…

My thanks to the publishers for the review copy I received and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host the opening leg of the tour for When The Lights Go Out

I don’t host a blog tour for weeks then suddenly I find I have the honour of being asked to open two different tours over two consecutive days. Welcome to the When The Lights Go Out tour, the schedule of hosts is at the foot of my review. It’s rather apt this book is embarking on a tour as the characters in the story are members of the Chimera Theatre Group and as a small collective of talent they too tour to present their work and entertain as they go.

Our focus is on Ava. When we meet her she is in a stagnating relationship with another actor. His career is going better than her own and their relationship isn’t going anywhere. But a chance encounter with a member of the Chimera Theatre Group sees Ava being offered the opportunity to join Chimera and get out the city to stay and work with the others in the Group out in rural Gloucestershire. Jumping at a chance for a fresh start Ava takes up the offer.

From the opening pages Chris Curran makes sure readers know Ava is taking steps into a dangerous unknown. An incident in the opening chapter puts Ava immediately into a dangerous situation and as the chapter draws to a close the readers know there are secrets and suspicions as to how accidental the cause of the dangerous sitation may have been. I love when a story hits the ground running and makes it clear that every seemingly random action may actually be a deliberate or malicious act by persons unknown. Or a sneaky red herring laid down by the author to keep me guessing!

As I got deeper into the story I had the feeling of foreboding, something unpleasant was going to happen. Not the malicious or nasty type of “something” which peppered the early chapters but something BAD. What made that foreboding worse was that the characters knew this too – there was a collective bracing taking place between the cast and this reader.

Chris Curran has worked wonders assembling a small cast of characters that I found compelling to read about and I became invested in their complex relationships. The events around these characters are twisty and often surprising – I treated all with suspicion but couldn’t stop reading.

I had huge fun reading When The Lights Go Out. It’s wickedly plotted and nips along at a nice pace to keep the tension running through the chapters. Seek this one out, it’s highly recommended.

When The Lights Go Out is published by One More Chapter and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B1LW2V8Y/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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December 1

Dashboard Elvis is Dead – David F Ross

A failed writer connects the murder of an American journalist, a drowned 80s musician and a Scottish politician’s resignation, in a heart-wrenching novel about ordinary people living in extraordinary times.

Renowned photo-journalist Jude Montgomery arrives in Glasgow in 2014, in the wake of the failed Scottish independence referendum, and it’s clear that she’s searching for someone.

Is it Anna Mason, who will go on to lead the country as First Minister? Jamie Hewitt, guitarist from eighties one-hit wonders The Hyptones? Or is it Rabbit – Jude’s estranged foster sister, now a world-famous artist?

Three apparently unconnected people, who share a devastating secret, whose lives were forever changed by one traumatic night in Phoenix, forty years earlier…

Taking us back to a school shooting in her Texas hometown, and a 1980s road trip across the American West – to San Francisco and on to New York – Jude’s search ends in Glasgow, and a final, shocking event that only one person can fully explain…

I received a review copy from the publisher, Orenda Books, ahead of this blog tour post. My thanks to Orenda Books and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to help open the tour for Dashboard Elvis is Dead.

When David F Ross writes a new novel I never know what to expect. But with Dashboard Elvis is Dead I don’t think I could ever anticipated the journey he takes his readers on. The story begins in Glasgow (a location I’ll admit I was expecting to feature) but not the Glasgow cafe and not with an American character taking the lead. Jude is looking for a quiet place so it’s not surprising that one of Glasgow’s own decides to sit with her and begin a (very one sided) conversation. David F Ross is very good at nailing the Glasgowisms of his characters and from these opening scenes his pinpoint observational humour comes to the fore.

We don’t linger long in Glasgow as events soon take us back in time and across the Atlantic Ocean to an 80s America where Jude is still a schoolgirl and finding life with her mother rather challenging. Jude’s life is about to take her places she never could have envisaged but before the rollercoaster of shock and upset is an unexpected and very welcome friendship with the school football star. He is the epitomy of the all American high school quarterback and Jude is a mixed race quiet girl – they keep their friendship a secret so when it is suddenly and tragically ended nobody can know the extent of Jude’s upset. It’s a harrowing and beautifully written delve back in time and sets the tone of the novel. Expect drama, emotional turmoil and don’t expect fairy tale endings.

As Jude leaves home and starts a journey to the bright city lights we meet The Hypetones. A Scottish breakthrough band who are embarking on a massive journey to the US to make their fortune and become the next big thing. Except they probably wont and their journey is being paid for on a shoestring budget which will test the patience of the musicians and their travelling companions. Wickedly funny, you cannot help but feel sorry for these young men as nothing seems to be going their way. But how I loved reading about their introduction to America and its cheap hotels and glitzy clubs.

Dashboard Elvis is Dead is a story which will unfold over a number of decades. An emotional journey which also spans different continents and will show how the lives of the central characters change as they grow and adapt to the world around them. David F Ross is one of the best at capturing characters and breathing life, humour and humanity into them so his readers cannot help but become engaged in their stories. It’s a wonderful read.

I wasn’t able to predict where the story was heading and I wasn’t prepared for how much I would become invested in the book either. I generally skim read stories and fly through them when I get started. I didn’t do that in this case. My reading slowed, I was taking in much more detail and I got much, much more back from the book as a result. Time with this book was time very well spent. It’s a reading treat – treat yourself when it releases next week.

Dashboard Elvis is Dead is published by Orenda Books and releases in paperback, digital and audiobook format on 8 December 2022. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B4Z6PBX3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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November 23

The Pain Tourist – Paul Cleave

A young man wakes from a coma to find himself targeted by the men who killed his parents, while someone is impersonating a notorious New Zealand serial killer … the latest chilling, nerve-shredding, twisty thriller from the author of The Quiet People

How do you catch a killer…When the only evidence is a dream?

James Garrett was critically injured when he was shot following his parents’ execution, and no one expected him to waken from a deep, traumatic coma. When he does, nine years later, Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is tasked with closing the case that her now retired colleague, Theodore Tate, failed to solve all those years ago.

But between that, and hunting for Copy Joe – a murderer on a spree, who’s imitating Christchurch’s most notorious serial killer – she’s going to need Tate’s help. Especially when they learn that James has lived out another life in his nine-year coma, and there are things he couldn’t possibly know, including the fact that Copy Joe isn’t the only serial killer in town…

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the blog tour for The Pain Tourist. I was provided with a review copy by the publishers, Orenda Books, but I am reviewing a copy I purchased through Kobo.

I picked up The Pain Tourist and read the blurb. A coma patient who has a dream-world from the time he was seemingly oblivious to events which were unfolding around him. Pain, Coma, Medical Bracelet on the cover and I am strapping myself in for a medical thriller. Reader I was totally wrong with my first assumption (which became a theme when I started trying to second=guess where Paul Cleave was taking the story) this is a dark crime story with killers, liars, cheats and ne’er-do-wells. Everything you want from a good crime thriller really – oh and there is actually a doctor too so a little bit of the medical thriller I had expected.

Central to all the events is James Garrett. He wakes one night as masked men have entered his family home and are holding his parents at gunpoint. James scrambles to alert his older sister and she manages to get out a window to try and summon help. Sadly for the other family members the gunmen aren’t happy at the prospect of leaving the Garrett home with nothing to show for their energies. James and his parents are all shot before the men leave the house – only James will survive but it takes extensive medical intervention to keep him alive and his small body goes into a coma for nine years.

Paul Cleave opens The Pain Tourist with the gripping account of the Garrett family plight. We then spin forward nine years to the point James starts coming out the coma. Many things have changed, the police officer investigating the original attach on the Garrett home has retired from active service. Younger colleagues need to pick up the threads of the investigation but the killers are still out there and it doesn’t take long for them to learn James is awake and he could be considered a threat if he can help police to identify his attackers.

Another seemingly dormant investigation is about to cause police a headache though. Initallly it looks like a notorious serial killer who escaped the police may have started killing again. However, a copycat murderer seems more likely and this creates a whole new problem. If someone wants to imitate a killer how far will they go to get the thrill or satisfaction they seek? Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is caught up in both cases and her attention will be stretched as she is run ragged by both cases.

With two big cases to juggle Paul Cleave keeps the reader hooked with a canny use of short, punchy chapters. There’s always a new drama or trigger point arising in one of the cases and as we get deeper into the stories new layers of intrigue are unpeeled which draws the reader deeper into events. It is a difficult book to put down – each chapter seems to end with a need to keep you reading and with over one hundred and forty chapters there is a lot of story to be told.

As with all good stories it is the characters which will determine if you lose yourself to events. James Garrett is a fascinating one. He spent nine years in a coma and during this time he seems to have constructed a new world (coma world) where his family follow a very different path than the tragedy they faced in our world. But when James comes out of his coma his doctor realises the two worlds may overlap and where they do a murderer hides.

This may seem a fantastical construct but the author grounds the premise with some scientific explanation. Now these explanations may, or may not, be true science facts – but in a crime story I am more than happy to roll with what I am reading. It sounded legit! It also let me buy into the contribution that James makes to the investigations which are central to the story.

The Pain Tourist is a novel I will find easy to recommend, engaging multi-layered story and strong characters you want to read about. Plus finding out what The Pain Tourist from the title actually refers to was a real mind-blown moment. Dark.

The Pain Tourist is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-pain-tourist/paul-cleave/9781914585487

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November 3

The Silent Dead – Marnie Riches

She was lying as if asleep on the wooden kitchen floor, beneath the fridge covered with a child’s colourful crayon drawings. But her frozen expression showed she would never wake again…

When Detective Jackie Cooke is called out to the scene, she’s expecting a routine check. The bottle of pills on the kitchen table, next to the note with the single word SORRY written in a shaky hand, make it seem obvious what’s happened. But Jackie is shocked when she recognises her old schoolfriend Claire – and she is convinced Claire would never take her own life.

Determined to dig deeper, Jackie soon discovers evidence that proves her right: a roll of notes has been thrust down the victim’s throat. And when she finds another woman killed in the same way, she realises someone may be targeting lonely single mothers. As Jackie talks to Claire’s distraught children, one of them too young to understand his mummy is never coming home, she vows to find answers.

Both victims were in touch with someone calling himself Nice Guy – could he be the killer? Pursuing every clue, Jackie is sure she’s found a match in dead-eyed Tyler, part of a dark world of men intent on silencing women for daring to reject them. But just as she makes the arrest, another single mother is found dead – a woman who never dated at all.

Forced to re-evaluate every lead she has, with her boss pressuring her to make a case against the obvious suspect, Jackie knows she is running out of time before another innocent woman is murdered. And, as a single mother herself, she cannot help but wonder if she is in the killer’s sights. Can she uncover his true motivation and put an end to his deadly game… or will he find her first?

I received a review copy ahead of the blog tour but I read my own purchased copy. Thanks to Sarah Hardy and Bookouture for the opportunity to take part in the tour for The Silent Dead.

I’m going to cut to the chase – The Silent Dead is terrific. I raced through the story and got totally lost in Jackie Cooke’s life as she finds herself investigating the death of an old school friend.

Readers join the story as a mother drops her young son at nursery for the day. The teary parting from the boy and the heartwrench for his mum will be all too familiar for many parents and it’s an early indication of how Marnie Riches is going to play on our emotions over daily challenges and experiences. Grounding the backdrop to a murder story with elements of daily life, which we can all relate to, made everything seem more personal in The Silent Dead. After leaving her son in the care of his nursery teacher we follow Claire back to her house – it’s the last journey she will make as death awaits her.

When Detective Jackie Cooke responds to the call of a suicide she is shocked to see an old friend from her school days. She finds it hard to believe her friend would take her own life and Jackie has suspicions there may be more to Claire’s death than initially meets the eye. Jackie raises these concerns and finds her combatative boss is less than keen to read too much into matters. The evidence is a single parent with money worries who she left a note to say “sorry”. But Jackie isn’t convinced and wants to dig a little deeper. It turns out she had reason to be suspicious.

The Silent Dead takes Jackie and her colleagues deep into an investigation which will see them bashing heads with objectional ex-husbands, working girls, internet dating sites and facing the problem of the angry incels who live online and seek others who listen to their hateful rantings. Marnie Riches is very good at bringing disturbing and problematic people into her stories and showing the damage they can do when left unchecked. She shines a light on the worst of human nature and weaves compelling crime thrillers around the darker elements many of us choose to ignore (if we even know they are out there).

When not taking on the dark forces Jackie has her work more than cut out for her at home. She is a new mum who also has two older twins causing chaose at home. Returning to work early from her maternity leave, following the sudden breakdown in her marriage, Jackie is juggling work and family commitments. She is stressed, hormonal, frustrated and permanently exhausted – she felt one of the most realistic lead characters I have encountered for some time. Everyday problems ARE problems, not enough hours in the day, missing her kids, unable to get full parental support at parents night – all so relatable to many of us. This recognisable human dynamic of the day to day grind does add to the realism of the story and everyone wants to get behind Jackie and see her pull through and get some respite. If only it were that simple!

As I said at the start of this review – I really enjoyed The Silent Dead. I keep coming back to read more and more of the books Marnie Riches writes as I find them so readable. Pacing is fantastic, characters can be fun, serious and deadly dangerous and the story just flows. More of these will be very welcome.

The Silent Dead is published by Bookouture and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B3DQDSJ4/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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November 1

Urgent Matters – Paula Rodriguez

The Yankees are more astute when it comes to matters like these. They say “not guilty”. They don’t say “innocent”. Because as far as innocence goes, no one can make that claim.

A train crashes in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, leaving forty-three people dead. A prayer card of Saint Expeditus, the patron saint of urgent matters, flutters above the wreckage.

Hugo, a criminal on the run for murder, is on the train. He seizes his chance to sneak out of the wreckage unsuspected, abandoning his possessions – and, he hopes, his identity – among bodies mangled beyond all recognition.

As the police descend on the scene, only grizzled Detective Domínguez sees a link between the crash and his murder case. Soon, he’s on Hugo’s tail. But he hasn’t banked on everything from the media to Hugo’s mother-in-law getting in the way.

I received a review copy from the publishers, Pushkin Press, via Netgalley

Urgent Matters opens with a train crash – within the wreckage is Hugo and we get into the story spending time in his company as the considers the carnage around him. Initially trapped within the body of the train there is a period of contemplation and reflection while Hugo waits to be rescued and hauled (through an improbably tight space) back into the Argentinian evening. It’s a fascinating way to begin a story and I was a fan of the way author, Paula Rodriguez, dwelt more on the aftermath of the crash than on the events leading up to the incident.

But Hugo isn’t the only focus for this story and the narrative will flick between him, his mother-in-law (and what a character she is), also Hugo’s partner and their daughter will feature. I used the term “flick” as there is a fast pace to the story and events do rapidly move focus from one player to the next. On one page Hugo may be seen being hauled from a train, then we are with young Evelyn who is trying to hide a mobile phone but next to her mother Marta who is fleeing her home (daughter at her heels) to reunite with the rest of her family while the police want to speak to her about Hugo.

Lots to take in but with a good dose of humour lifting the tension of the respective plights that Marta and Hugo face. While Urgent Matters isn’t the longest book I have read this year it does pack in lots of story and the fast pacing keeps you focused.

The stand out elements of the story was the fabulous character development. All the key players feel like they are pushing their way out of the book into my world. The most fascinating being young Evelyn who is a kid caught up in a frenetic situation which she cannot contribute to. Upsettingly for Evelyn she has her own problems which are causing her a fair amount of distress but she has nobody to confide in and I just wanted someone to take time to help her!

It is always a pleasure to read out of my comfort zone and Urgent Matters took me to new locations and explored different cultures than I am used to reading about. Fascinating and fun in equal measure.

Urgent Matters is published by Pushkin Press and is available in digital and paperback format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BFGCSJGW/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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October 6

Silverweed Road – Simon Crook

There’s a new horror behind every door…

Welcome to Silverweed Road – a once quiet suburban street where nothing is quite as it seems. In this macabre collection of twisted tales, were-foxes prowl, a swimming pool turns predatory, a haunted urn plots revenge, and a darts player makes a deal with the devil himself.

As the residents vanish one by one, a sinister mystery slowly unpeels, lurking in the Woods at the road’s dead-end.

Creepy, chilling, and witty by turn, Silverweed Road deals in love, loss, isolation, loneliness, obsession, greed,and revenge.

Come take a walk through suburban hell. The neighbours will be dying to meet you …

I bought the audiobook through Audible. My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the Silverweed Road blog tour.

As we are approaching the season of spooky it was time to start shifting my reading back to the darker crime tales and picking up those horror books I have been meaning to read. When Silverweed Road came onto my radar I immediately wanted to read it as I was fascinated by the idea of a haunted street – not containing the terrors to a single “haunted house” but having the issues extend to a neighbourhood.

Further investigation of the book revealed Silverweed Road was a short story collection it is described as “a collection of twisted tales” which gave me a little pause for thought (by now the book was in my Audible library). I don’t tend to enjoy short stories in a single collection. I can read individual stories without problem but when I try to pour through a whole book the bitty and fragmented nature of the individual stories tends to have me drifting away to other books. How would my personal wariness of collected stories impact upon my enjoyment of Silverweed Road? NOT AT ALL.

Yes it is a collection of twisted tales. Yes there are different characters cropping up in each of the stories (I liked how Simon Crook has identfied each new story as a house number on the street). Yes the stories are hugely varied and totally unexpected. Yes this SHOULD trigger my inability to focus and keep reading. But as soon as each character’s story was over I rolled straight into the next. This is entirely down to the damn fine linking work the author has layered through the book.

Overarching through the whole book is an overseer. A watcher. Someone who has identified Silverweed Road as an oddity. A former police investigator has been conducting his own research and investigation into events on this ill fated street. He has noticed the unusual pattern of death, mishaps and mysteries and at the end of each story in the collection he shares his thoughts and puts the story into a bigger/broader context. This worked particularly well in the audiobook as there are two narrators for the stories and a third narrator for the policeman. It disassocated the horrors from the analytical investigation and it is really effective.

In addition to the investigation into strange events there are elements from one story which feature elsewhere. A recurring appearance of a Jackdaw which means nothing in some stories but then means much more when you have read the story where a Jackdaw plays a significant role. There is reference to a noise in the street which several characters hear while dealing with their own problems – it is a very big problem for one resident of Silverweed Road though and when the loud noise is explained you get the payoff which has been building for many chapters. There are other teases, neighbours with a cameo in one tale that eventually feature as the main player in their own story some time later.

As for the twisted tales themselves – they are wonderfully dark. Some chilled me with a ghostly edge, some were disturbing on an “eew” level and some I enjoyed more than others (as is always the way with short stories). But as a collection – a linked collection – of horror tales I had an absoulte ball with Silverweed Road.

I know not everyone enjoys being scared or reading creepy and disturbing stories but if Halloween is your season and you love a festival of fright then this is for you

Silverweed Road released in hardback, digital and audiobook format on 29 September and is available here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/silverweed-road/simon-crook/9780008479930

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September 5

Harm – Solveig Pálsdóttir

When wealthy doctor Ríkarður Magnússon goes to sleep in his luxurious caravan and doesn’t wake up, detectives Guðgeir Fransson and Elsa Guðrún are called to the Westman Islands to investigate what looks like murder.

Suspicion immediately falls on Ríkharður’s young, beautiful and deeply troubled girlfriend – but there are no easy answers in this case as they are drawn into family feuds, disgruntled friends and colleagues, and the presence of a group of fitness-obsessed over-achievers with secrets of their own.

As their investigation makes progress, Guðgeir and Elsa Guðrún are forced to confront their own preconceptions and prejudices as they uncover the sinister side of Ríkharður’s past.

Harm is the third novel featuring the soft-spoken Reykjavík detective Guðgeir Fransson to appear in English. Sólveig Pálsdóttir again weaves a complex web of intrigue that plays out in the Westman Islands, remote southern Iceland and Reykjavík while asking some searching questions about things society accepts at face value – and others it is not prepared to tolerate.

I received a review copy from the publisher

Harm takes us to Iceland – the third English translated novel featuring detectives Guðgeir Fransson and Elsa Guðrún and a book which can be read as a stand alone. I have not read any of Sólveig Pálsdóttir’s earlier books but did not find this to be limiting when I was reading Harm. There were a couple of incidents which srongly suggested past events were being discussed but nothing appeared to be a spoiler for those earlier titles and not understanding the references did not cause a jarring impact on my enjoyment of the latest tale.

In Harm the reader gets to view a reunion of friends in the remote Westman Islands. One of the party is older than the others, a doctor who is accompanying his younger girlfriend. But there is disharmony in their relationship, she appears frustrated with him and their friends notice some friction. Then during their meal the older man (Ríkharður) becomes very drunk and has to be taken back to their shared caravan by his partner. She tries to help him into bed to sleep off the booze but, come the morning, he does not wake up.

The young woman is shocked at the death of her partner and we see her vulnerabilites come to the fore as she realises she does not know what to do. She gave him some tablets to help him sleep so she would not be bothered by him – now she will be accused of his murder. In panic she packs some essentials and flees – stopping to discard her mobile phone.

In due course the couple’s absence is noticed by their friends and Ríkharður’s body is discovered. Fransson and Guðrún need to find the missing woman and bring in a killer. However, something isn’t sitting right with them. The friends of the couple don’t seem to be reacting in a way the police would have expected. Furthermore, when questioned their answers are not particularly clear or helpful.

This is a relatively short read but it’s tightly constructed and charts a very methodical investigation. The story doesn’t rely on shocks and twists, chases and thrills – Harm has shades of a PD James novel insofar as it relies upon excellent story telling to keep you reading. The reader uncovers truth when the police do. The reasons behind some behaviours are eventually revealed and you understand why certain events happened in the way they did.

This is clever entertainment – a story driven crime tale without gimick or fantastic coincidences, just a rewarding book with strong characters that I am sure crime fiction fans will love

Harm is published by Corylus Books and can be purchased in paperback or digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B6CB738Q/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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