From The Bookshelf – Page 13

Watch Over You – M.J. Ford

The hunt is on. And this time, it’s personal…

When DS Josie Masters is called out to a house in North Oxford to investigate a serious incident, things take a personal turn. The body is Harry’s – her friend and former colleague.

Josie thought Harry lived alone, but evidence suggests he’d had a lodger – a young woman who has fled the scene.

And as more killings stun Oxford, the police discover the picture is more complicated than it appeared.

The young woman is on the run, and someone is following her – leaving a stack of bodies in their wake…

My thanks to Avon who provided a review copy through Netgalley

I have been back into police procedural reading this week with the entertaining Watch Over You. It sees lead character Josie Masters returning to work after her maternity leave and finding herself thrust directly into a murder investigation.

Thrust may not be the best word to use in this instance. Josie is determined she will not be stuck behind a desk on her return to duty so she takes the opportunity to get involved in active cases as soon as she gets into the squadroom. Unfortunately for Josie the first incident she attends turns out to be the death of a friend and former colleague. His body is found in his home, a nasty head injury appears the cause of death. Josie had bonded with Harry (the deceased) during her maternity leave and the pair often met for a chat in Harry’s local pub. Josie cannot let someone else handle this case.

While inspecting Harry’s house for signs of an intruder Josie and the Scene of Crime team find evidence to suggest Harry had a house guest. He never mentioned this to Josie and there is no sign of anyone else in the house now, yet the evidence is clear – Harry hadn’t been living alone. So where was this mystery (female) guest?

When questioned neighbours indicated they had seen a young girl in Harry’s house. There is also the suggestion that the girl had been angry and was spotted running away from Harry’s house on the day of the murder. Josie had a suspect but very little to go on other than knowing she was looking foe a young girl with long blonde hair.

Fate was to throw Josie a helping hand – but at a steep price. A double murder elsewhere in Oxford shows a link to Harry’s death. The link being the blonde girl. The police now know her name and it seems she may be connected to another case Josie’s colleagues have been working on, the death of a young drug dealer.

The body count is mounting up and Josie is no closer to finding the blonde girl. However there is a new added complication – the blonde may also be in danger. Can Josie find her to get the truth about Harry’s death before it is too late?

Watch Over You is a perfect pick for readers that want to be in the thick of an investigation. The story does have a few cut-away moments which set up some key background events, however it is very much Josie’s story. The death of her friend. Juggling baby and a busy return to work. Dealing with a difficult ex and reintegration with her colleagues. Plenty going on and the author balances the story well.

Watch Over You is published by Avon and is available in paperback, audiobook and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07XZ6GRVL/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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July 1

The Corruption of Alston House – John Quick

Katherine’s life has been on a downhill turn, filled with tragedy and heartbreak. When she bought Alston House in the small Tennessee town of Poplar Bend, she hoped it would be the chance to turn things around, center herself again, and get serious about her art. True, it was a risk buying a house virtually sight unseen through the internet, but she knew it needed some extensive renovations, so what could go wrong?

What the real estate agent never told her was that Alston House had a history that was among the darkest secrets in the small town. As Katherine begins to put her life back together following her dream as a painter, she discovers there is more here than meets the eye. One of the home’s former residents never left, even after death, and now he seems to have set his sights on her. Can she uncover the darkness at the heart of the town and overcome her personal ghosts, or will she become one more victim to the town’s hidden hearts?

I received a review copy from the publishers, Silver Shamrock, but I also bought my own copy which I read through Kindle.

Forgive me readers but it has been one month since my last confe…erm…my last blog post. This is entirely down to gravity. Had it not been for gravity my laptop would not have fatally rushed towards the floor after it lost balance from a high place and the screen would certainly not have cracked up. Not that it cracked up anywhere near as much as I did trying to get a replacement laptop through my insurance company – but all sorted now and no need to involve the Ombudsman as I eventually had to suggest may happen.

*And Breathe*

So let me turn to John Quick’s excellent The Corruption of Alston House. I started this one back at the beginning of lockdown but rest assued it has not taken me over 100 days to get through it. Sadly for much of the lockdown time I have been unable to focus on books, everything I had started back in March got put to the side and it has taken me several weeks to slowly get back into my reading. But I had been enjoying The Corrupton of Alston House so I went back to the start and began again – a good decision!

I have always enjoyed a creepy story with a haunted house and in that regard this book was exactly what I needed. Katherine moves to Alston House to start a new life for herself, she leaves upset and tragedy behind her and hopes to restablish her painting as she is a talented artist. Her new home, Alston House, is a grand property but in need of some maintenance to make it comfortable. I was already imagining the sprawling old homestead with dark nooks and hidden corners. There is a graveyard in the grounds (never a good sign) and the basement gives Katherine the chills when she needs to venture down in the dark.

The author builds up the anticipation around the secrets of Alston House really well and even before the really weird stuff kicks in there is a definite sense of foreboding. The first unusual incidents manifest themselves around the paintings which Katherine produces – she becomes so lost in the creative process she cannot even remember some of the details she includes. It is not long before the paintings are just a small part of the shocks which lie in store.

Katherine is befriended by the local marshall who is also trying to match-make her with his younger colleague Bradley. As events in her new home become increasingly dangerous for Katherine she relies more and more upon the support of Bradley and there is more than a spark of romance in the air. However, one former resident of Alston House wants Katherine for himself and he will not let anything, not even the grave, stand in his way. As Katherine gains greater understanding of the horrors which ocurred in her home many years earlier she realises a confrontation is looming – one she may not survive.

I always enjoy swapping out my crime reading to take in a good horror tale and The Corruption of Alston House helped me out my lockdown reading slump. Horror readers should have this one in their collection.

The Corruption of Alston House is available in paperback and digital format and is free to Kindle Unlimited readers. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0826TT1HH/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

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April 22

The Murder Game – Rachel Abbott

Eight Guests. One Killer. No Escape

A year ago today, we gathered for Lucas and Nina’s wedding at their glorious Cornish home overlooking the sea.

But no one was married that day.

Last year there were nine of us. Now there are eight. And Lucas has invited us back for a macabre anniversary.

Tonight, he’s planned a game for us: we each have a costume and a role to play. The game, he tells us, is about to begin.

What does Lucas want? What are we not being told? And how will this terrifying game end?

I received a review copy from the publishers. My thanks also to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the chance to join this tour.

Do you ever pick up a new book and not read the blurb on the cover? Perhaps for an author you always read so you don’t need to know what the story is about? I do it quite often, sometimes just so I go into a story with no idea what lies ahead. That’s what I did with The Murder Game. I knew Rachel Abbott’s reputation for writing clever thrillers and after I saw the splash “Eight Guests. One Killer. No Escape” I thought this sounded like a book for me. Naturally I assumed I would be reading about a secluded location where someone was picking off the guests one-by-one. Naturally I was totally wrong – well you know what they say about never assuming.

I got the remote location bit correct. A large luxury home down in Cornwall where, 12 months ago, a group of old friends gather with their plus-one to celebrate Lucas’s wedding. Lucas is the wealthy one and his friends are pegged as hangers-on. They seem to crave his attention and bask in his company. Though each are successful in their own right their successes pale against the wealth of Lucas and their childhood dependency upon his favour never fades.

Lucas welcomed his friends to his Cornish home but the gathering is strange for Jemma (our main narrator) she is one of the plus-one’s. Her husband Matt is a successful and respected surgeon but when he is back in Lucas’s home he seems nervous, secretive and is not taking time to explain to Jemma some of the important background she should know about his old friends. In particular there is a mystery surrounding Lucas’s sister Alex. She is a nervous, flighty and troubled girl. There is talk of an “incident” many years ago which left Alex broken and reclusive. At dinner on the first night Jemma tries to bring Alex into the conversation but she is quickly talked down by her husband and it is clear Alex is not a conversation topic.

We spend time getting to know Lucas and his guests and as the wedding draws closer Jemma becomes concerned about how Lucas and his old friends seem to be holding back secrets. She also becomes suspicious of her own husband’s affection for another guest. But on the day of the wedding tragedy strikes and one of the household is found dead after a terrible accident. The wedding doesn’t take place and Lucas appears broken.

Twelve months later Jemma and Matt’s marriage is on the rocks, events in Cornwall seem to have been a main factor in the decline in their relationship. The couple receive a letter from Lucas. He is inviting them back to his home on the anniversary of the tragic event of the previous year. Matt convinces Jemma they have to attend.

On arriving back at Lucas’s home Jemma finds all the guests from 12 months ago have been invited back. Lucas has decided everyone is to participate in his Murder Game. He believes one of his friends is a murderer and by making everyone play the game he will solve a year-long murder mystery.

So not a book about a killing spree but a clever psychological thriller where Jemma helps the reader navigate through a series of lies and secrets to determine if there really is a killer in their midst. Distrust and anger lead the way, suspicion leads to fear and Jemma becomes aware that revealing a killer may well put the other guests at risk – as she gets closer to the truth someone takes exception to the information she is uncovering. In a remote house with few potential witnesses Jemma is in real danger.

Clever and devious plotting, the clues are there for armchair sleuths to find and reading The Murder Game is time well spent.

The Murder Game is published by Wildfire and is available in Hardback, Digital and audiobook format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07T5X5X68/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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April 17

The F*ck-It List – John Niven

You’re terminally ill.
Who do you kill?

Set in a near-future America, an America that has borne two terms of a Trump Presidency and is now in the first term of Donald’s daughter as president, Frank Brill, a retired small-town newspaper editor, lives in a world where the populist policies Trump is currently so keen to pursue have been a reality for some years and are getting even more extreme – an erosion of abortion rights, less and less gun control, xenophobic immigration policies.

Frank, a good man, has just been given a terminal diagnosis. Rather than compile a bucket list of all the things he’s ever wanted to do in his life, he instead has at the ready his ‘fuck-it list’. Because Frank has had to endure more than his fair share of personal misfortune. And he has the names of those who are to blame for all of the tragedies that have befallen him.

But eventually, as he becomes more accustomed to dishing out cold revenge and the stakes get higher and higher, and with a rogue county sheriff on his tail, there only remains one name left at the bottom of his fuck-it list.

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things blog tours for the chance to join this blog tour. I received a review copy of The F*ck-it List through Netgalley.

Did you read the blurb for The F*ck-it List? Two terms of a Trump presidency and then he also managed to manoeuvre his daughter into the Whitehouse after his 8th year ended.

I found John Niven’s depiction of America under 10 years of “Family Trump” to be a deeply troubling place. But Niven made it all seem so plausible and “documents” the Trump Presidency. He explains how the Gun Lobby grew stronger, legislative changes gave voice and power to racist bigots and frankly the future American society is in a pretty unpleasant place.

That’s the background to The F*ck-it List which begins with Frank Brill meeting with his doctor to be told he only has a matter of months to live – cancer.

Frank accepts his time is limited but rather than brood on his situation he decides to take proactive approach to some of his unfinished business; there are scores to settle and balances to be corrected. Frank has had a good job as a newspaper editor and seems to hold a decent (liberal) attitude which means he is not comfortable in Trump’s America. Unfortunately for Frank his personal life has been a bumpy road with mistakes (his) and tragedy (which I found really upsetting to read). Frank wants to hold certain people to account as he believes they are responsible for some of those tragedies. A road-trip to murder awaits.

Despite my unease over the projected reality which John Niven has created I found myself really enjoying The F*ck-it List. Frank has clearly been dealt a few bad blows over his 60 years, does that merit the path of retribution he embarks upon? Possibly not but Niven has written Frank’s story so well that you feel his proposed victims may actually deserve their fate. The morality or appropriateness of his actions is something a book group could really get their teeth into and it would keep a philosophy class engaged for a few sessions too.

Once blood has been spilled there will inevitably be police interest and though he may not know it there is a cop on Frank’s trail. He makes the connections that others miss – but for *spoilers* reasons I am not dwelling too much on the reasons why this is. This sets us up for a fun cat and mouse adventure…Frank is unaware there is a “cat” on his tail but the cop is drawing closer to his prey and soon the two will come face to face. Frank has his own deadline to beat – his health is declining and he cannot rest until he has faced down all five names on his F*ck-it List.

Emotive, unsettling and very nicely pitched storytelling from John Niven – I really enjoyed this.

The F*ck It List is published by William Heinemann and is available in hardback, audiobook and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Niven/e/B001JSC30W/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

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April 13

Rules For Perfect Murders – Peter Swanson

If you want to get away with murder, play by the rules

A series of unsolved murders with one thing in common: each of the deaths bears an eerie resemblance to the crimes depicted in classic mystery novels.

The deaths lead FBI Agent Gwen Mulvey to mystery bookshop Old Devils. Owner Malcolm Kershaw had once posted online an article titled ‘My Eight Favourite Murders,’ and there seems to be a deadly link between the deaths and his list – which includes Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.

Can the killer be stopped before all eight of these perfect murders have been re-enacted?

I received a review copy from the publishers via Netgalley.

On a quiet day in his second hand bookstore Malcolm “Mal” Kershaw is visited by an FBI Agent. Agent Gwen Mulvey is investigating a series of murders and wants to discuss her theory with Mal. Seeking outside help is not normal FBI practice but Gwen’s theory is not one which has been accepted by her colleagues so she has come to Mal to discuss her idea with the man responsible for creating a list of perfect murders.

Several years prior to events in the story, Mal was preparing a blog post which detailed eight “perfect” murders. These were eight deaths from crime fiction which Mal felt should have been unsolvable. He hardly remembers writing the list and seems to quite enjoy being reminded of the selection. However, FBI agents don’t travel miles to sleepy second hand bookshops to discuss crime novels and Mal realises that the FBI must have linked his blog post to an active investigation. Is he a suspect? Has he given a “playbook” to a murderer? Is Mal possibly in danger too?

The great thing about a Peter Swanson book is that nothing can be taken at face value. He writes wonderfully twisty stories which will have readers second-guessing and even third-guessing everything they believe they understand about the characters and their motives or objectives.

In a market where publishers proclaim a book has a “twist you won’t see coming” Faber and Faber do not need to go there with Swanson. Perhaps “nothing is as it seems” should promote his writing. As such this makes each of his books a joy to spend time with – Rules For Perfect Murders being a great addition to the library.

Some great nods to classic murder tales and lots of unexpected surprises makes this a highly recommended read.

Rules For Perfect Murders is published by Faber & Faber and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0821VC3P1/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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April 4

30 Days in June – Chris Westlake

On the 1st day of June 1988, the residents of south Wales were thrown into a state of panic when a married couple were brutally murdered in their own home. The killer, nicknamed Spartacus by the media, did not flee the scene immediately; instead, he stayed to carve Roman Numerals onto his victims’ chests.

This was the beginning of a month-long killing spree, each murder taking a step closer to home.

Seventeen-year-old Jeffrey Allen was to be the final victim, on the final day of the month. Instead, he became the only survivor, and the only real witness. The killings ended as suddenly as they began. Jeffrey relocated to London, changing his name, and his identity, to Marcus Clancy. His past life became merely a dark secret.

On 1st June 2018, 30 years to the day since the first killing, a mysterious figure refers to Marcus by his old name, through closing lift doors.

Is Spartacus back? If so, has he returned to finish what he failed to do thirty years ago?

And so begins 30 days of terror for Marcus Clancy, culminating in dramatic fashion on the final day of June.

My thanks to Emma Welton at Damppebbles Blog Tours for the chance to join the tour today.

30 Days in June is a tense serial killer thriller with a few nasty spikes along the way. Not too dark but we are a long way from cozy! Nicely balanced for this reader

30 years ago (1988) a killer dubbed Spartacus committed a month long sequence of murders. His last intended victim, Jeffrey, survived but did not come out the incident unscathed. Jeffrey moved to London and changed his name – hoping to blend into the city and gain anonymity.

In 2018 Jeffrey (now Marcus) gets spoken to by someone who knows his real name. The fears come rushing back. Has Spartacus returned to finish the murder he planned three decades ago? If not Spartacus then who recognized Marcus as Jeffrey and what do they hope to gain?

Narrative is split between two time periods and the full story is slowly revealed to the reader with everything building nicely as we approach the end of the tale.

30 Days in June builds up towarss the finale so don’t come into this book looking for a murder second chapter. It’s a slow burn tale that rewards the reader in the telling rather than trying to blow them off the page with high octane adventures.

Serial killer stories are my favourite so I enjoyed 30 Days In June. Fun was had.

30 Days in June is available in digital and paperback format and you can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08283SZBZ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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April 1

Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell

TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.

On a summer’s day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that one of the children will not survive the week.

Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. It is a story of the bond between twins, and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief. It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker’s son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves. Above all, it is a tender and unforgettable reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.

My thanks to Georgina Moore at Midas PR and to Anne Cater for the chance to join the Hamnet blog tour.

Now and then I like to change the reading focus. Move away from the gritty crime, graphic horrors and fantastical space adventures and read something out of my comfort zone. Hamnet, I believe, falls into the Literary Fiction category which is not somewhere I tend to dwell and it takes something pretty special to hold my flighty attention. Fortunately, for the sake of this review, Hamnet was one of those gems which kept me reading.

Hamnet is the son of a famous playwright, yes THAT playwrite, but the playwright’s name is never actually mentioned by name in the book – even though he plays a key role in the story.

The playwright is father of twins and at the start of the novel his boy, Hamnet, is frantic with worry for his twin sister who is sick in bed. Hamnet can’t find any of his family and doesn’t know what to do to help his sister.

The opening passages are a delightfully told journey around Hamnet’s house and the streets where he lives. We hear his anxieties, learn about his family – his mother, his father who is travelling to London, his irritable grandfather who makes gloves in the workshop which Hamnet will only enter with caution. Out the house and through the streets to seek the doctor (out seeing a patient) and home again to his ailing twin. The imagery and language used by the author bring events to life in a way I found transfixing.

Though the story is very much about Hamnet we also have some jumping back into the past to see how Hamnet’s mother (Agnes) met his father. Agnes has a witch-like ability to read people which I found fascinating. Maggie O’Farrell gives us a sad accounting of Agnes’s life – the girl who had a desperately tough childhood. The girl who lost her mother at a young age and seemed almost feral to the families who tried to raise her.

The author evokes empathy, frustration or sorrow as the story unfolded. It almost seemed effortless at times as the beautiful language she uses unfurled a story of family and the struggles they endure.

It is easy to see why Hamnet is gathering so much praise, this is fantastic storytelling and it’s a book which held me captivated.

Hamnet is published by Tinder Press and is available in Hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1472223799/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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March 28

Deep Dark Night – Steph Broadribb

Fearless Florida bounty-hunter Lori Anderson travels to Chicago to trap the head of a notorious crime family, in a high-stakes, nail-biting mission that sees her trapped in one of the city’s tallest buildings during a blackout…

A city in darkness. A building in lockdown. A score that can only be settled in blood…

Working off the books for FBI Special Agent Alex Monroe, Florida bounty-hunter Lori Anderson and her partner, JT, head to Chicago. Their mission: to entrap the head of the Cabressa crime family. The bait: a priceless chess set that Cabressa is determined to add to his collection.

An exclusive high-stakes poker game is arranged in the penthouse suite of one of the city’s tallest buildings, with Lori holding the cards in an agreed arrangement to hand over the pieces. But, as night falls and the game plays out, stakes rise and tempers flare.

When a power failure plunges the city into darkness, the building goes into lockdown. But this isn’t an ordinary blackout, and the men around the poker table aren’t all who they say they are. Hostages are taken, old scores resurface and the players start to die.

And that’s just the beginning…

My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for my review copy and also to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the chance to host today’s leg of the blog tour.

Bounty-Hunter Lori Anderson returns for a fourth outing in Deep Dark Night. She has her partner, JT, alongside her and the kick-ass duo are going to need to be at their very best as they are working off the radar to assist an FBI agent to bring down the head of one of Chicago’s crime families.

If you haven’t had the chance to read any of Broadribb’s previous books in the Lori Anderson series you need not fret as Deep Dark Night works extremely well as both stand alone thriller and a great introduction to the series. I am sure there will be many first time readers who will love Deep Dark Night as much as I did and will take the opportunity to catch up on the first three books. A good decision!

But what to expect from Deep Dark Night? Does Agatha Christie meets Die Hard sound intriguing?

Lori and JT find themselves involved in a high stakes poker game. The game is hosted by Cabressa, gangster and general bad guy, the other players are equally dislikable types who can afford the big purse needed to have a seat at this game. The event is being held in the penthouse suite in a Chicago skyscraper. Lori has a seat at the table so she can stake a valuable set of chess pieces which Cabressa badly wants. The chess pieces and Lori’s buy-in purse is provided by the FBI. They will be watching through high tech surveillance equipment and Lori feels safer knowing they have her back.

Unfortunately things do not go to plan. Citywide blackout sees the penthouse going into lockdown. The Panic Room features in the penthouse are activated. Air conditioning, lighting and temperature controls are impacted. Nobody can get in and, more importantly, nobody can get out. So when a recorded voice addresses all the occupants of the penthouse and accuses each of harbouring a dark secret. Tensions are high. The voice announces one of their number is a police informant, another is a murderer and most alarmingly one is HERRON. A rival gangster who has been undermining many of Cabressa’s business opportunities. The voice commands the poker players work out which of their number is the mysterious Herron. If they fail the room they are locked in will lose light then air and they will all suffocate within 90 minutes.

A whodunnit (whoissit?) In the style of Christie. But the shades of Die Hard creep in too as we have 10 desperate individuals fighting for their lives in a skyscraper. The body count will be high.

At this point I should switch the alliteration button on. Deep Dark Night is a pulsating page turner, a rip roaring race against time, a breathtaking blockbuster of a book. You get the gist?

I am very much a fan of this kind of action adventure tale. The mysterious Herron figure remains undetected for a long time but several likely candidates emerge, not least Lori who is a stranger to all the other players and very much a possible candidate. One thing is certain – Herron isn’t surviving the encounter so nobody can risk being accused of being Herron.

Great fun to read. Brilliantly paced and decidedly nasty in places – Deep Dark Night is another great read from Steph Broadribb. Give it a go and join #TeamLori

Deep Dark Night is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07XBWTW6X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

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March 25

Black River – Will Dean

Black River is an electrifying return for relentless reporter Tuva Moodyson, from the author of Dark Pines and Red Snow.

FEAR

Tuva’s been living clean in southern Sweden for four months when she receives horrifying news. Her best friend Tammy Yamnim is missing.

SECRETS

Racing back to Gavrik at the height of Midsommar, Tuva fears for Tammy’s life. Who has taken her, and why? And who is sabotaging the small-town search efforts?

LIES

Surrounded by dark pine forest, the sinister residents of Snake River are suspicious of outsiders. Unfortunately, they also hold all the answers. On the shortest night of the year, Tuva must fight to save her friend. The only question is who will be there to save Tuva?

Huge thanks to publishers Point Blank for my review copy and to Anne Cater at Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the Black River blog tour

Black River brings another very welcome return for journalist Tuva Moodyson. Tuva has appeared twice before but if you haven’t had a chance to read any of Will Dean’s previous books (both highly recommended) the good news is that Black River works great as a stand alone title.

Returning readers will be delighted to learn that Tuva has achieved career progression and moved South, away from Gavrik and it’s deep, dark forests to take up a new role. However, Tuva receives a call to advise all is not well in Gavrik as her best friend Tammy has disappeared and the police do not seem to be treating the matter as a crime. Tuva immediately gets into her car and drives North – she will find her friend.

The Gavrik police point out that Tammy is an adult and has not been gone for long, they make it clear adults drop off the grid for no reason all the time. Tuva is not convinced – Tammy’s mobile food hut hasn’t been properly closed down, her bag and purse remain and there is a small drop of blood found at the place she was last seen. Tammy wouldn’t just vanish and leave behind all her possessions. Tuva is soon back doing what she does best, asking questions, probing and leaving no stone unturned.

I found it very poignant when Tuva was interviewing people she didn’t previously know and they painted her a picture of her best friend’s life – a girl Tuva no-longer recognized. Tammy is described as lonely, she was “missing a friend who moved away” and was using dating apps and going out with guys that Tuva didn’t feel were good matches for her friend. Guilt only increases Tuva’s worry for her friend.

Circumstances will soon change and the police will take a much more active role in searching for Tammy. But Tuva has her own suspicions and her investigations will bring her back into contact with some of Will Dean’s wonderfully unusual and quirky characters.

The Tuva Moodyson books are already one of the new releases I look forward to each year. Will Dean is building a cracking series and Black River only enhances the collection thus far. Highly recommended.

Black River is published by Point Blank and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-River-Will-Dean-ebook/dp/B07XYD9HKN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1584720019&sr=1-1

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March 7

The Holdout – Graham Moore

One juror changed the verdict. What if she was wrong?

‘Ten years ago we made a decision together…’

Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar fortune, vanishes on her way home from school. Her teacher, Bobby Nock, is the prime suspect. It’s an open and shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed.

Until Maya Seale, a young woman on the jury, persuades the rest of the jurors to vote not guilty: a controversial decision that will change all of their lives forever.

Ten years later, one of the jurors is found dead, and Maya is the prime suspect.

The real killer could be any of the other ten jurors. Is Maya being forced to pay the price for her decision all those years ago?

I received a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley. My thanks also to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to host this leg of The Holdout blogtour.

A fascinating mashup of courtroom drama and murder investigation where the reader is never sure who they can trust.

Ten years before events in the main timeline a young black teacher is on trial for the murder of a rich white girl who had been one of his students. The trial was high profile and seemed (at first glance) to be a formality with a murderer just needing the formality of a trial to confirm everyone believed him to be guilty. But a lone juror, Maya Seale, believed him to be innocent and she set about convincing fellow jurors she was correct.

During the trial the names of the jurors were leaked to the media and all the jurors had to be sequestered. It took several weeks for a the jurors to reach the unanimous Not Guilty verdict and over that time they got to know each other better than anticipated. Rules were broken, alliances formed and secrets were kept.

When the jurors returned to the “real world” they were not prepared for the response of the public. They seemed to be the only 12 people in the country who felt Not Guilty was the correct verdict. There was backlash.

Back to present day and Maya is a respected defense lawyer. Her experience on the jury gave her an insight into the judicial process and the way jurors behave which other lawyers couldn’t emulate.

Maya is approached by one of her fellow jurors as a production team want to do a documentary on the trial “ten years on”. Maya is reluctant but her boss encourages her participation – Maya feels she has no choice and agrees to join the show.

The jurors are assembled in the same hotel they were sequestered to and on the first night before filming begins one of them is murdered. Maya is the prime suspect. Can she clear her name? And if Maya is not a killer then one of her fellow jurors must be.

The Holdout is a twisty drama which switches between courtroom and investigative drama. Events are both historical (the original trial) and current (the jurors murder and Maya’s possible arrest). Clues are dropped through the narrative and it is wise not to make any assumptions.

There seem too few courtroom dramas these days, The Holdout will fill that gap in your legal reading.

The Holdout is pubished by Orion. It is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YHCR6YC/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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