July 27

Girls Who Lie (Forbidden Iceland 2) – Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

When single mother Maríanna disappears from her home, leaving an apologetic note on the kitchen table, everyone assumes that she’s taken her own life … until her body is found on the Grábrók lava fields seven months later, clearly the victim of murder. Her neglected fifteen-year-old daughter Hekla has been placed in foster care, but is her perfect new life hiding something sinister?

Fifteen years earlier, a desperate new mother lies in a maternity ward, unable to look at her own child, the start of an odd and broken relationship that leads to a shocking tragedy.

Police officer Elma and her colleagues take on the case, which becomes increasingly complex, as the number of suspects grows and new light is shed on Maríanna’s past – and the childhood of a girl who never was like the others…

 

My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for my review copy and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the Girls Who Lie Blog Tour.

 

After last year’s introduction to the Forbidden Iceland series (The Creak on the Stairs) it is a welcome return for Elma the Icelandic police officer who is the lead character and the investigator tasked with these challenging investigations.

Seven months before our story begins a single mother (Maríanna) left her house and walked out on her teenage daughter. At least this is how things appeared, Maríanna had left a note for her daughter which seemed to apologise for her decicion to leave. She never returned and given that it was common knowledge Maríanna had struggled with parenting and had trouble bonding with her daughter nobody really questionned the initial decicion that she had taken her own life.

Back to the present and Elma is in an Icelandic cave and looking at Maríanna’s body. The seven months have not left Maríanna in an easily recognisable state but the cave protected her body from many of the elements and the police pathologist is certain that Maríanna did not take her own life.  The police are now looking at a murder investigation but seven months on many memories are clouded and the questions which should have been asked when Maríanna first disappeared are less easily answered.

Interspersed between the chapters which track Elma’s investigation are some flashback/memory sections where a young mother recounts the problems she is experiencing. She did not wish to be a mother and she does not think she can do it.  As her child grows older the subsequent sequences show the pair have no relationship and the mother cannot control (or even communicate with) her daugher. These are awkward and uncomfortable reads and while it sounds like you are reading Maríanna’s story you just cannot be sure this is the case.

As for Maríanna’s daughter. When she was young she would do short foster stays with a family. This would be at times when Maríanna was unable to cope, when she went off the rails for a period and just week on week. The foster family hoped Maríanna would put her daughter to them permanently but Maríanna never made that step and kept bringing her daughter home week on week.  Once Maríanna walked out on her apparent suicide the foster arrangement became permanent. Now there is a new family structure in place, a happy family, and the police coming round to ask questions will not be condusive to a quiet and relaxing situation. Expect people to lie to protect their positions and the life they have established for themselves – afterall, the book is call Girls Who Lie.

When you’re reading translated fiction and you totally forget you are reading translated fiction then you know you have been well cared for by a top notch translator. All the plaudits to Victoria Cribb for taking Girls Who Lie and bringing it to the English speakers (readers) who would otherwise have missed out on Elma’s second outing.

It feels a slow burn at times and Elma even notes  but the journey through Girls Who Lie is absolutely worth it and I hope you find you enjoyed it as much as I did.

 

 

Girls Who Lie is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08T5VZ6MK/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

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July 23

The Beresford – Will Carver

Just outside the city – any city, every city – is a grand, spacious but affordable apartment building called The Beresford.

There’s a routine at The Beresford.

For Mrs May, every day’s the same: a cup of cold, black coffee in the morning, pruning roses, checking on her tenants, wine, prayer and an afternoon nap. She never leaves the building.

Abe Schwartz also lives at The Beresford. His housemate, Sythe, no longer does. Because Abe just killed him.

In exactly sixty seconds, Blair Conroy will ring the doorbell to her new home and Abe will answer the door. They will become friends. Perhaps lovers.

And, when the time comes for one of them to die, as is always the case at The Beresford, there will be sixty seconds to move the body before the next unknowing soul arrives at the door.

Because nothing changes at The Beresford, until the doorbell rings…

 

My thanks to Karen at Orenda for my review copy and to Anne Cater at Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the blog tour for The Beresford.

 

I never do this; pleae indulge me for a second.  That Cover. Love it.  I can happily ignore 99% of book covers without needing to comment but that one’s a cracker.  I wonder if Orenda realise they are saving the very best covers for their supernatural stories?  Quite right too – a good horror tale needs a suitably grabbable skin wrapped around it.

So a horror story about a house called The Beresford. But not a haunted house story, this book is all about the people who come to live in The Beresford. And those who come to die.

It seems the cycle is inevitable.  A new resident will arrive to stay in The Beresford exactly sixty seconds after the last breath of life leaves one of the current occupants. In that sixty seconds a body has to be hidden and Mrs May (the owner of The Beresford) will come out from her room and introduce herself to the new resident and try to help them settle in.

Mrs May is the old lady at the heart of the story. The enigma. She jokes she is 100, 150, 1200 years old but her residents just see a kindly old woman who is rather set in her ways and appears to be a bit of a matchmaker if her residents are suitability single and lonely.

Nobody arrives at The Beresford with murder in their heart but once they get inside those cheap but surprisingly spacious rooms something changes. A trigger moment will arise and a moment of madness will lead to the next corpse on the floor.  The clever ones will cover up their crimes and kindly old Mrs May will just make a few subtle suggestions about “cleaning up”.  In some instances Mrs May will need to take direct intervention and tell the murderer how to dispose of a body.

Mrs May knows everything that happens at The Beresford and down the years she has become very adept at body disposal.

What a clever, twisted and entertaining story this was.  The constant knowledge someone in the story was going to be killed. Rooting for a favourite or waiting for the irritating ones to be erased but always compelling.  There are 1,000 stories which could be told about the people that visit The Beresford and 1,000 more about the people that come looking for them when they are gone.  I could have read all 2,000 of them.

This isn’t a scary horror tale in the jump-scare, something’s behind me mould. This is a disturbing story of demonic forces, murder and dismemberment and one for the reader to try to understand what is happening then try to understand how the story could possibly find closure.  It’s the best I have read from Will Carver and major kudos to him for delivering such an accessible, readable and utterly enjoyable horror tale.

 

 

The Beresford 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/B08WRMCLVQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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July 18

The Carpet People (audiobook) – Terry Pratchett

‘In the beginning, there was nothing but endless flatness. Then came the Carpet . . .’

That’s the old story everyone knows and loves (even if they don’t really believe it). But now the Carpet is home to many different tribes and peoples and there’s a new story in the making.

The story of Fray, sweeping a trail of destruction across the Carpet, and two brothers, who set out on an adventure to end all adventures.

 

 

I received a review copy of the audiobook from the publishers through Netgalley.

 

If you ask who my favourite author is then I will tell you (without pause) that Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books are my most loved reading experiences.  If I had a shortlist of audiobook narrators then you can bet the house on David Tennant being in the mix.  So here we are at The Carpet People.  It’s not a Discworld but it IS Pratchett and with David Tennant taking the words and giving them voice we are in dream team territory.

Confession time – I hadn’t read The Carpet People until I started this audiobook. Despite having read “most” of Terry’s books multiple times, I haven’t been so dilligent with the non-Discworld titles so there was extra anticipation for me as I fired up a new book. I was also aware of the background to The Carpet Poeple, written by Pratchett when he was very young and this edition released to mark the 50th anniversary of publication.

There were many elements to the story which made it identifiably Pratchett, the clever word plays on names and incidents. The humour was very much in evidence throughout the story and when you are telling an advanture tale humour so often loses out. It was a real treat to be listening to a “new” Terry Pratchett book after all this time.

But it took me a little while to get into the story and that took the shine off it a little.  Initially I struggled to get my head around the key characters and their respective backgrounds.  I found some of the gags had slipped by as I was trying to work out who was speaking and I think that, more than once, some of the Pratchett clever word play was lost as I was listening and not seeing the words on a page.  I think it took about an hour of listening before it all started to click for me – as the book is aimed at children I am not sure all the kids I know would afford it an hour of their time to decide if they were seeing it through.

Which would be a shame as by the end of The Carpet People I was hooked on the story and enjoying seeing the payoff on the various plot threads the author wove into the tale (poor pun there but I couldn’t resist).

A huge part of my enjoyment did come from the fact David Tennant’s narration was pitched perfectly. Plus you can’t go wrong with a group of argumentative characters who all have Scottish accents, it sounds “right”. As you may expect from a multi-award winning actor the delivery and the emotion was spot on and each new listening session would begin with a big smile on my face as his familiar accent started to feed into my ears.

In brief, a slightly rocky start but those niggles soon left me and I enjoyed the wit, humour and devine story-telling of one of my favourite writers.

One final note – the very last words spoken by David Tennant after the book had ended and the credits had been read out were “Thank You For Listening”.  Perfect.  Why do all Audiobooks not thank you for listening?   Audible just hope you “enjoyed this production”.  Can we please have David Tennant thanking us for listening to all audiobooks?

 

The Carpet People (50th anniversary) is published by Penguin Random House UK Audio

 

 

 

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July 6

Dead Man’s Grave – Neil Lancaster

This grave can never be opened.
The head of Scotland’s most powerful crime family is brutally murdered, his body dumped inside an ancient grave in a remote cemetery.

This murder can never be forgotten.
Detectives Max Craigie and Janie Calder arrive at the scene, a small town where everyone has secrets to hide. They soon realise this murder is part of a blood feud between two Scottish families that stretches back to the 1800s. One thing’s for certain: it might be the latest killing, but it won’t be the last…

This killer can never be caught.
As the body count rises, the investigation uncovers large-scale corruption at the heart of the Scottish Police Service. Now Max and Janie must turn against their closest colleagues – to solve a case that could cost them far more than just their lives…

 

My thanks to Finn Cotton at HQ for the opportunity to read Dead Man’s Grave ahead of publication

 

Dead Man’s Grave.

This.

Book.

Is.

Brilliant.

I could stop writing at this point, I loved it. But I am going to rave a bit more…

Dead Man’s Grave grabbed me in the opening pages and is still in my thoughts a few weeks after I finished it. Top quality crime fiction with lashings of tension and drama, mysteries and secrets for the reader to discover as they read.  There is humour to break up the darker scenes and, despite the very clear presence of the villains of the piece, there are several untrustworthy characters who are hidden from DS Max Craigie. Watching him flush them out into the open is why you will keep those pages turning long into the night.

I mentioned Max Craigie – who he?  He is a name you want to watch out for! An officer with Police Scotland and working out of Glasgow he used to work for the Met in London and brings a wealth of experience to his team. And Craigie will need to bring every ounce of that experience to his next investigation as a leading member of one of Scotland’s most powerful crime families has gone missing. His family (the criminals) are prepared to co-operate with the police as they want their father back. But Craigie knows they have their own contacts within the police so everything he knows will soon make its way back. Who can he trust amongst his own colleagues to help him and who is passing information to the crooks?

Working with the capable and quirky Janie Calder the pair make their way North from Glasgow to the wilds of the Scottish Highlands to visit the last place the missing gangster was seen.  Their journey is far more successful than he anticipated and their missing person investigation turns into a murder hunt. This isn’t going to be the first murder either as a violent gang are hellbent on avenging a centuries old feud and a family who have no knowledge of recent events are now in grave danger.

The action moves up and down the country and Cragie and Calder discover the corruption in the police runs much deeper than a few informants in each station. Can they shine a light on the perpretators or will their interference prove too costly?  Craigie is at risk and as he unknowingly courts death I could not turn the pages fast enough.

Dead Man’s Grave was recently announced on the Longlist for the 2021 McIlvanney Prize, it’s already establishing its credentials as one of the best Scottish crime thrillers of the year. Trust me on this one, you will struggle to find a more gripping read.

 

Dead Man’s Grave releases digitally on 16 July 2021 and the paperback will be available in September. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0925KS87N/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

 

 

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July 3

Down by the Water – Elle Connel

Seven friends gather at a castle in the Scottish Borders. One last weekend before Georgie’s wedding. Near the castle, through a path in the woods, is a loch. After a few drinks, they head down to the water to take photos. The loch is wild, lonely, and stunningly beautiful. They set their camera to self-timer and take some group shots. Later, looking back at the pictures, they see something impossible.

Behind them, eyes wide, a small, drenched boy emerges from the water.

But none of them saw him, and nobody knows where he went. They’re miles from the nearest town. How did he get there? Where did he go?

As the weekend unravels and terrible secrets come to light, it soon becomes clear that their perfect weekend is turning into a perfect nightmare. They’re desperate to leave – but someone won’t let them.

 

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the Down by the Water tour.  I received a review copy from the publishers, Wildfire Books.

 

A group of university friends are reuniting for a weekend away before one of their number gets married.  All the friends are to be be bridesmaids for Georgie, who is essentially the guest of honour, but the trip will bring back the girls bring the girls back to Scotland for a castle getaway and a drunken party. As you can tell from the blurb (above) things are not going to go smoothly.

The problems begin on the train North.  Although the friends all met at St Andrews University they now all live back in England and are returning to Scotland as a nod to their time together. This entails a long train journey and the drinking begins on the train.  In the night Tessa is woken from her sleep and called to help one of their number (Bea) who has taken drugs and is in a bad state.  As the only medic in their midst Tessa is called to assist.

This incident sets the scope of the characters well.  All the girls will be drinking through the story, drugs are accepted and enjoyed too and this makes some of their choices and reactions interesting as events unfold.  We also learn from an early stage that Tessa is seen as the more practical member of their number, that Bea is more vulnerable and that the friends will close ranks and try to resolve problems internally without seeking outside support.  A close group who, despite not seeing each other for a number of years, still revert back to old patterns of friendship.

Interestingly as the story plays out and the friends settle into their remote castle for their weekend retreat we see the power dynamics change.  Georgie is the bride to be and the largest personality of the group, Tessa appears the more practical and the peacemaker.  But these friends have not seen each other for a number of years and any easy companionship they may have previously had is now altered as their lives changed.  Within the group of seven there will be sniping, bitching and outright hostility.  They will try to overcome these differences for the sake of harmony over the weekend but the drink and drugs will fuel hosilities and loosen any tongues which may otherwise have been curbed.

Within their party there are secrets and old resentments.  Why has Georgie suddenly brought together the university crowd and not any of her friends from work?  Why does Bea keep disappearing and what is the book she is reading?  Why has Tessa booked such a remote place to gather?  Why does the castle’s owner act so strangely around the friends?  Then, most shockingly of all, how did none of the girls spot the young boy rising out of the loch behind them as they posed for a group selfie?  The chilling vision in their photograph gives all the events a decidely creepy feel.

Elle Connel has done a fantasic job making these “friends” a compelling read.  The Amazon listing suggests this book is for readers that enjoyed In A Dark, Dark Wood and The Hunting Party.  Having read both those books I can see why they are suggested.  The tension from In A Dark, Dark Wood is very much present. The Hunting Party brought together a group of friends who were all extremely unpleasant individuals. While Down by the Water does have a few unpleasant characters their toxicity is nowhere near as bad as The Hunting Party.  For me, this makes Down by the Water much more enjoyable to read as I could become more invested in the welfare of the characters and actually care if they were to survive to the end of the book.

Thrillers built around secrets are always a good read. When the reader is learning the secrets at the same time as the characters you can’t help but look for clues as to where the story may be heading.  Down by the Water did the slow reveals very well and (no spoilers) by the end of the book you may find your sympathies and frustrations at some of the characters have changed over the course of the story. Very nicely pitched and the pacing and reveals were spot on – I enjoyed this one.

 

Down by the Water is published by Wildfire and is available in digital format now and in hardback and audio from 8 July 2021.  You can get a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08P4DSRX8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

 

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June 7

Knock Knock – Anders Roslund

He thought she was safe. Then the past came knocking.

Seventeen years ago, Inspector Ewert Grens was called to the scene of a brutal crime. A family had been murdered, with only their five-year-old daughter left behind. The girl was moved out and placed under witness protection, but while the case went cold, Grens is still haunted by the memory. When he learns that the apartment where the crime took place is now the scene of a mysterious break-in, Grens fears that someone is intent on silencing the only witness. He must race to find her…before they do.

 

My thanks to Rhiannon Morris at FMCM Associates for the opportunity to join the Knock Knock blog tour and for the review copy of the book I recieved to allow me to participate in the tour ahead of publication day.

 

 

I picked up Knock Knock assuming his would be a gritty, Scandi Noir tale which saw the lead character dwelling on an old investigation and trying to work out how events from seventeen years ago were connected to a current case.  How wrong I was!   This is a fast-paced action thriller with a high body-count, characters under constant threat of death and a story where you never know what’s coming next or who you can put your trust in.

It’s a dark one too.  The book opens with the murder of a family, executed in their homes with a trademark/signature two shots to their heads by the killer or killers.  But the killers missed one of the family and a five year old girl was locked in her house with her dead parents and her siblings.  Inspector Ewert Grens was first on scene and he was shocked by what he found, he made sure the young girl was placed safely into protective custody and rehomed with a new family and a new identity. That was seventeen years ago and now there are murders taking place where the victims are found with the same signature shots to their heads.  It appears someone may know of the existence of the young survivor and Grens is worried they may come back to find her.  The problem is, he doesn’t know her name or where to find her now.

A more pressing and intense issue lies with the second thread to this story – a police officer (Hoffman) who worked undercover for many, many years discovers that his secret identity has been discovered by all the wrong people.  A full file of his background has been taken from police headquarters and now seems to sit with gangsters who intend to use their knowledge to gain leverage over Hoffman for their own gain.  His family are targetted to ensure he cooperates and Hoffman receives instruction he is to recover a rare weapon and use it to attack a gang in Sweden whilst ensuring a different gang take the blame for the attack.  If he stirs up this in fighting then his family may be spared.

Hoffman is under constant surveillance and feels backed into a corner – he has very little time to deliver on the demands or his family will be killed.  But when backed into a corner Hoffman becomes very dangerous and his fightback is going to have to be conducted very carefully as the consequences of a single mistake will be catastrophic.

This is a pacy thriller which felt edgy, tense and exciting to pick up.  I hadn’t encountered Inspector Ewert Grens prior to this book but it seems to be the 9th book in which he has featured.  It made not a jot of difference to my enjoyment that I didn’t know about the first eight books – this is a story anyone could enjoy and you should absolutely give it a blast if you like the books of Simon Kernick, Neil Lancaster or Jo Nesbo.

 

I am thrilled to be kicking off the Knock Knock blog tour ahead of publication date on 10 June.  You can order a copy of the book here:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08HTV95L2/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

 

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June 3

Moonlighting: An Oral History – Scott Ryan

Once upon a time ABC-TV’s Moonlighting was among the most buzzed-about shows in the country, thanks largely to the bravado of creator Glenn Gordon Caron, who never met a television convention he didn’t want to break, and the sizzling on-screen chemistry between glamorous erstwhile film star Cybill Shepherd and a New Jersey bartender nobody had ever heard of before named Bruce Willis, who bickered and flirted ceaselessly on screen and engaged in epic off-screen battles that all these years later remain the stuff of Hollywood legend.

This combustible blend of creative brilliance produced some of the most acclaimed, audacious, and innovative programming of the eighties, including a black and white tribute to film noir, with an introduction by Orson Welles; a parody of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, written in iambic pentameter; an homage to The Honeymooners; and countless metafictive episodes breaking through the fourth wall — almost unheard of at the time for hourlong comedy-dramas.

Without a doubt, Moonlighting helped pave the way for the era of prestige television we are now all enjoying. The real story of this pioneering television series and the extraordinary behind-the-scenes challenges, battles, and rewards has never been told — until now, Author Scott Ryan (The Last Days of Letterman, thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history, The Blue Rose, Scott Luck Stories) conducted over twenty interviews with the actors, writers, directors, and producers who made Moonlighting such a dynamic, unforgettable show, delving deep into their thoughts and feelings as they relive this magical moment in pop culture history in this full color oral history.

New Interviews with: Cybill Shepherd (Maddie Hayes), Allyce Beasley (Ms. Dipesto), Curtis Armstrong (Herbert Viola), Glenn Gordon Caron Creator, Executive Producer, Writer Jay Daniel Executive Producer, Director Roger Director Writer, Producer, Season 4 Showrunner Allan Arkush Director Bob Butler and more.

 

My thanks to the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read a review copy of Moonlighting through Netgalley.

 

Growing up in the 1980s there were not the wealth of tv channels which are available today.  High quality drama was something the BBC were famous for around the world but growing up in the UK we were used to seeing lots of the great shows imported from America and my childhood was filled with fond memories of Knight Rider, The A-Team, The Dukes of Hazzard and Colombo.  But there was one show which everybody watched. It was like nothing we had ever seen before and you never missed an episode: Moonlighting.

Pairing up Hollywood star Cybill Shepherd with (then) unknown Bruce Willis initially appeared to be an act of madness by the show runners, however, Moonlighting and the antics of the staff at the Blue Moon Detective Agency remains one of the most loved television programmes even to this day.  I was just a teenager when Moonlighting aired for the first time so while I was enjoying the drama on my screen I was oblivious to the drama behind the cameras.  Today we have multiple social media platforms and gossip sites which would have had a field day with some of the stories from the set of Moonlighting, then we just had weeks where a new episode didn’t arrive as planned and we got a repeat of an older episode.  So what happened behind the scenes?

In Moonlighting: An Oral History, Scott Ryan speaks with multiple cast members, producers, writers and even the creator Glenn Gordon Carron. The book is filled with anectodal stories, recollections and discussions around how the programme was created, the trials and tribulations of being commissioned, in jokes, missed deadlines, breaking the fourth wall and doing things on screen which just were not done.  Nothing seemed to be off limits when it came to making David Addison and Maddie Hayes umissable viewing.

Initially I felt reading through multiple short passages of different people remembering the same events may be a bit too much to take on in one or two sittings, however, I got that wrong.  Chapters take on various elements of the show. Contributions from various on screen cast and behind the scenes staff give a broad view of the chaos and creativity which was required to bring the show together.  It’s fascinating reading and the small, focussed conttibutions make it very easy to read your way through this book.

Now I know Moonlighting was on our screens over 30 years ago and you’re probably thinking you don’t remember any of it?  Well I did think that too but some of the episodes which I was sure I had forgotten were soon brought rushing back from the depths of my memories.  Never saw the show the first time around?  Also not a problem (honest) as Moonlighting: An Oral History is a fascinating insight into the making of a piece of television history.  It was the original will they/won’t they programme.  It had custard pie-fights, crazy chase scenes, a black and white episode, Orson Wells popped up to introduce one episode and one series even kept the two lead characters apart so they were not sharing scenes together.

Scott Ryan collates the carnage and lets us dwell on those fond memories of compulsive viewing while people who worked on the show share their experiences.  The book presents many brilliant photographs and images from the programme and I am sure these will look even better in a book than they did on my digital copy.

If you loved to watch Moonlighting then there will be lots of information in this book which you will enjoy.  I wish it were running on tv now so I could watch this all over again.  For the moment I will satisfy myself with this cracking collection of memories.

 

 

Moonlighting: An Oral History is published by Fayetteville Mafia Press and is available in the UK in paperback or in paperback and digital format in the US.  You could order copies here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moonlighting-scott-ryan/1137518391?ean=9781949024272

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May 26

Where Crows Land – Paul McCracken

This gripping thriller is set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and chronicles the dramatic events when a former detective, Joseph Carter, sets out to gain redemption from the consequences of an old case that cost him everything.

Carter is still haunted by the murders of his niece and brother-in-law at the hands of a serial killer he was trying to track down. One year on, the killer has returned and Carter, now a disgraced detective gone private, launches a personal vendetta to catch him this time around.

 

 

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the blog tour for Where Crows Land.  I recieved a review copy ahead of joining the tour.

 

Joseph Carter has been in the police and was working on a particularly horrific case when his life turned upside-down.  A killer had been snatching victims and setting their bodies alight, their burning remains found around Belfast almost like a taunt to the authorities.

Carter discovered that his niece had been snatched and was almost certain to be the next victim.  A meet was agreed to pay a ransom but rather than follow procedure and notify his colleagues Carter and his brother in law rushed off to try to secure his niece’s release.  It ended badly and Carter was left a bloodied and bruised sole survivor. The killer was never found.

Spinning forward to current days and Carter has had to leave the force after he shouldered full blame for the (potentially) avoidable deaths of his brother in law and niece.  He now works as a private investigator but still makes use of a couple of police contacts where he can.

Carter becomes embroiled in a new case but there appears a connection to the events which led to the death of his niece.  Not prepared to be bested for a second time Carter throws himself fully into this new case and is adamant he will get justice or retribution for past events.

This felt a relentless read, it’s not a long book but the action comes thick and fast.  Paul McCracken keeps Carter spinning from one incident to the next. It felt intense at times, no respite for a driven Investigator who will lose perspective, patience and his self control to get the information he needs from suspects.

The police are aware of Carter’s obsession and determination but there is only so much sympathetic former colleagues can do to keep Carter out of jail as he over-steps the mark I his pursuit of a truth which will give him closure.

Punchy, intense and with a pleasing endgame.

 

Where Crows Land is available in digital format and can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08PFWTLV3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

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May 7

Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with Douglas Skelton

For the first time in the Decades series I have a returning guest.  Not someone who has already taken part in Decades but an author who has previously joined me as a guest to chat about books.  Before this year I had not hosted any guests at Grab This Book for around three years.  In the first four years of blogging I actually hosted many brilliant authors and ran some recurring features which have since been put out to pasture.

One of the features I ran was called Serial Heroes.  I love an ongoing series with recurring characters and I invited authors to join me to chat about the ongoing series of books they enjoyed and looked forward to reading. That idea came from hearing today’s guest, Douglas Skelton, chatting to readers as part of the North Lanarkshire Libraries Encounters festival.  Douglas told the audience that he had been a big fan of the Ed McBain 87th Precinct stories and my immediate reaction was: YES!  I wanted to know which books were read by the authors I was reading. If you want some more fabulous book recommendations then pop “Serial Heroes” into the search box at the top, right of the page.

So I jumped the gun slightly when introducing Douglas Skelton.  As a former journalist he will appreciate that I have checked these facts from two different sources:

Douglas Skelton has published twelve non fiction books and eight thrillers (many of which have received glowing reviews on this blog). He has been a bank clerk, tax officer, shelf stacker, meat porter, taxi driver (for two days), wine waiter (for two hours), reporter, investigator and editor. 

You can find the Skelton book collection here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Douglas-Skelton/e/B001K7TR10?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1620335880&sr=8-1

If you follow Douglas on Twitter @DouglasSkelton1  you will know he takes some wonderful photographs and some of his favourites are on sale through his online store here.

He is one quarter of the hilarious “Four Blokes in search of a Plot” and visitors to Bloody Scotland cannot fail to have been impressed the year Douglas played a key role in the Scotland vs England football match (he was the pre-match announcer). He also wrote the 2019 sold-out show You The Jury which wowed audiences at the festival when a criminal trial was recreated with audience members invited to become members of the jury to hear the case and decide if the accused was guilty or innocent of the charges.

As is ever the case with Decades I asked Douglas to select five books he wanted to add to my Ultimate Library.  He could only select one book per decade and he must make his selections from five consecutive decades.

I hand you now to Douglas Skelton…

DECADES

I have a problem whenever I try to pick favourite books because as soon as I decide on one title, I think of a few more. I once vowed to be more decisive but then I changed my mind.

Anyway, here goes:

 

The Big Sleep – Raymond Chandler (1939)

I am a fan of US detective fiction and thrillers and, as you will see, I have been hugely influenced by both them and their movie counterparts. As anyone who has read the Dominic Queste books knows! I could have selected any one of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe books but went with this rich, complex tale of family deception and murder, told with his customary wit and style, not to mention some plot confusion. Who did kill the chauffeur? Who cares? This is literature masquerading as pulp – or maybe even the other way round – and I love it.

 

 

 

 

Shane, Jack Schaefer (1946)

 

This selection will come as no surprise as I constantly name it as one of my favourites. Again, incredibly influential to my work, particularly Davie McCall. It’s a western and the story has become timeless, I can think of at least three movies that rip it off. First published in instalments in 1946 then in expanded book form in 1949, Jack Schaefer’s reluctant gunslinger resonated with me when I read it for the first time as a teenager and has stayed with me ever since.

 

 

 

The Temple of Gold, William Goldman (1957)

I stumbled upon this book as a teenager in a batch given to me by my gran, who we called Nana. I knew the author, William Goldman, from his screenwork, particularly Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (when pressed, that’s my favourite movie. Then, as with books, I think of a dozen more). This was his first novel, a funny, moving rite of passage story which I have read and reread many times – and actually have two copies. One is the original which was in no great state to begin with but is extremely fragile thanks to the many re-reads. The other is a much late reprint.

 

 

 

 

 

Fuzz, Ed McBain (1968)

 

If memory serves, this acted as my introduction to the work of Ed McBain, although I read it in the 70s after seeing the movie version with Burt Reynolds. It spawned in me a deep affection for the 87th Precinct novels which remains to this day, even though McBain (or Evan Hunter, or Richard Marston or any of the other names he used – his real name was Salvatore Lombino) has left us. I still pick one up at random and have a read whenever the mood takes me.

 

 

 

Marathon Man, William Goldman (1974)

 

William Goldman again. He was, for me, the master of the reversal. Just when you think the story or a character is one thing, he suddenly twists it and you realise it’s something else entirely. He pulls a few such tricks in the book, most of which could not be replicated in the celebrated movie, although the celebrated – notorious – dentistry scene remains intact. Apart from that, this is a fine paranoid thriller that benefits greatly from Goldman’s use of humour as well as his ability to wrong-foot us! I wish I could write like that. Altogether now – is it safe?

 

 

 

 

I will add these classics to the Library.  My deepest thanks to Douglas for his continued support and for choosing such great books.

You can see all the books which have been added to the Decades Library here: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=5113

 

DECADES WILL RETURN

 

Category: Decades, From The Bookshelf, Guests | Comments Off on Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with Douglas Skelton
May 2

The Family Tree – Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry

The DNA results are back. And there’s a serial killer in her family tree…

Liz Catalano is shocked when an ancestry kit reveals she’s adopted. But she could never have imagined connecting with her unknown family would plunge her into an FBI investigation of a notorious serial killer…

The Tri-State Killer has been abducting pairs of women for forty years, leaving no clues behind – only bodies.

Can Liz figure out who the killer in her new family is? And can she save his newest victims before it’s too late?

 

I received a review copy of the book from the publisher through Netgalley.

 

Last year I read a book which had DNA testing as a central theme. A few months later I had been recounting the plot to my wife and we had a conversation about the increase of DNA testing and how the process was now accessible to so many people these days. Many commercial operations have the ability let people know more about their roots than has ever been possible in the past. This can lead to unexpected discoveries, people have been learning the people they believed to be their parents or their siblings are actually an adoptive family and not their natural birth family.

I had never considered the implications of this, however, through her work my wife had become aware of charities who provide support or counselling for people who find out accidentally that their families adopted them.  It was literally the next day I began reading The Family Tree and met Liz Catalano – she and her cousin had completed an ancestry test only for Liz to discover she did not share any relatives in common with her cousin. Liz was understandably traumatized by this discovery and my conversations with my wife gave me deeper appreciation around how Liz’s world had been turned upside down.

Liz wants answers, she needs to understand where her roots lie and it puts a real strain upon the relationship she has with the people she believed to be her parents.  This part of the story is beautifully represented by Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry as the reader cannot help but feel empathy for the situation Liz finds herself experiencing and the horror and anguish of her parents who lost the ability to share this information with their daughter in the manner of their choosing. The fact they waited and never told Liz of her background is addressed and it’s easy to understand why families put off such a big conversation.  Liz and her parents are a family and although Liz does understand this, there is a feeling of betrayal and curiosity of the unknown which will drive her actions through the story in The Family Tree.

Liz uploads her DNA to a national database in a bid to find more familial links and hoping to trace her natural parents.  This act of sharing her DNA triggers a whole new problem for Liz.  Her DNA is a close match for DNA which the police have been monitoring as it looks like Liz may be related to a killer – the notorious Tri-State Killer who has evaded authorities for over 20 years.  The authorities will be knocking on Liz’s door, they want to know more about her but the information they need (Liz’s family history) is something she herself does not know.

The Tri-State Killer has been active for many years and is a notorious and dangerous predator.  He abducts two women in one event every couple of years.  The women remain missing for many months before, ulitmately, their bodies are discovered dumped and scrubbed clean.

I loved how the authors addressed the Tri-State Killer in the story.  We take a jump back into the past to read about the first two women abducted, readers see how their killer managed to gain entrance to their apartment and how he was able to subdue them both. The story then returned to Liz and her endeavours to trace her family – it is progressing and she believes she may have found her grandparents.  Then back to the Tri-State Killer and we pick up the narrative on what happens to the abducted girls after the killer has them at this mercy.  But this time it isn’t the first two girls who were abducted but the third and fourth! A delightful twist which brought home the impact of the killer’s actions and a pattern which repeats through the book.  Each time we return to the story of the killer it is viewed through the eyes of the women he has abducted, a different pair of women each time.  The fifth and sixth women, then the seventh and eighth and so on.  Each time we return to Liz and her discussions with the family she never knew only to return to two new abductees.  We know their fate and we know more women will be abducted – it’s compelling and it’s grim but it makes for great reading.

I flew through The Family Tree in super quick time.  The switching narrative between past and present made me want to keep reading.  Liz may be related to a killer but she and the investigators cannot know who that killer may be.  She continues to meet with members of her new family (despite warnings to be careful) and she puts herself at risk each time.  But Liz wants to know the truth about her natural parents and she also wants to help identify a killer – but what if she destroys her new family in the process?

I never tire of finding wonderful gems like The Family Tree to read. I really enjoyed this one and it’s due for release in just a few weeks – highly recommend getting this ordered. It spins an emotive drama around a dark serial killer story and the writing just flows to keep those pages turning.

 

 

The Family Tree is published by Avon on 10 June 2021 and will be available in paperback, digital and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08R6QPT3F/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Category: 5* Reviews, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off on The Family Tree – Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry