April 30

The Way of All Flesh – Ambrose Parry

Edinburgh, 1847. City of Medicine, Money, Murder.

Young women are being discovered dead across the Old Town, all having suffered similarly gruesome ends. In the New Town, medical student Will Raven is about to start his apprenticeship with the brilliant and renowned Dr Simpson.

Simpson’s patients range from the richest to the poorest of this divided city. His house is like no other, full of visiting luminaries and daring experiments in the new medical frontier of anaesthesia. It is here that Raven meets housemaid Sarah Fisher, who recognises trouble when she sees it and takes an immediate dislike to him. She has all of his intelligence but none of his privileges, in particular his medical education.

With each having their own motive to look deeper into these deaths, Raven and Sarah find themselves propelled headlong into the darkest shadows of Edinburgh’s underworld, where they will have to overcome their differences if they are to make it out alive.

 

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the paperback blog tour for The Way of All Flesh.  I received a copy of the book from the publisher to allow me to join the blog tour.

 

This is how to do Historical Fiction! The Way of All Flesh transports readers back to Edinburgh in the 1840’s and breathes life into the city and its residents. Add in a few unexplained deaths and prepare to lose yourself in the past.

It’s not just the Edinburgh of old which which will captivate readers, Will Raven and Sarah Fisher are the lead characters and you want to learn more about them, to see them overcome the challenges they face. You also want them to be a bit nicer to each other.

Raven is a trainee medical student. He is given the chance to work alongside Dr Simpson, a gentleman of fine standing and great repute. Raven hopes to learn from Simpson and advance his training. He is badly in need of money as he owes the wrong man too much coin.

Sarah Fisher also works in Doctor Simpson’s house. She is a housemaid but is well read, has basic medical knowledge and seems keen to advance her skills. It is not the done thing though and her household duties often get in the way of what Sarah would rather be doing.

When a young prostitute, known to Raven, is found dead the young man is determined to uncover why. He overhears the police describe her as another “deid hoor” and Raven cannot accept her life being dismissed so easily.

Sarah also knows of a young woman who has vanished unexpectedly and she too suspects foul play. The pair realise there may be a connection between the two incidents and an unlikely alliance is formed.

I often find historical stories to be hard going or overly fussy about detailing the events of the time. Not so with The Way of All Flesh, I flew through it and never felt the historical setting was being forced upon me. Locations are described efficiently and effectively without detracting from the events which are unfolding. The story zips along at a good pace and the “one more chapter” factor is very much a thing.

Dark times in the old city = great for readers. The Way of All Flesh should be in your suitcase this summer. Highly recommended.

 

 

The Way of All Flesh is published by Canongate Books and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-All-Flesh-Ambrose-Parry/dp/1786893800/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1556567944&sr=1-1

 

Category: Blog Tours | Comments Off on The Way of All Flesh – Ambrose Parry
April 29

The Innocent Ones – Neil White

Three lives cut short. Two decades of silence. One evil secret.

By day, the park rings with the sound of children’s excited laughter. But in the early hours of the morning, the isolated playground is cloaked in shadows – the perfect hiding place to conceal a brutal murder.

When London journalist, Mark Roberts, is found battered to death, the police quickly arrest petty thief, Nick Connor. Criminal defence lawyer, Dan Grant, along with investigator Jayne Brett, are called to represent him – but with bloody footprints and a stolen wallet linking him to the scene, this is one case they’re unlikely to win.

Until help comes from an unlikely source…when the murder victim’s mother says that Connor is innocent, begging Dan and Jayne to find the real perpetrator.

Unravelling the complex case means finding the connection between Mark’s death and a series of child murders in Yorkshire over twenty years ago. Father of two, Rodney Walker, has spent years in prison after being convicted of killing of 6-year-old William and 7-year-old Ruby back in 1997.

But when Mark Roberts gets on the trail of the story, convinced that Walker is innocent, he exposed secrets that have long been buried. Secrets so dark, someone will kill to keep them hidden.

Dan and Jayne are in a race against time to uncover the truth – before a killer silences them forever.

 

Started and finished in a single day – The Innocent Ones completely drew me in and kept me reading.  Stories like this (the ones you just get absorbed in) are the reason I keep reading and are the books I want to shout loudest about.

Dan is due to go to court to defend a man accused of murder. Before the trial starts the victim’s mother approaches Dan and suggests his client is innocent. For a grieving mother to make such a significant intervention is a real eye opener and Dan starts to do some digging.

He enlists his former colleague, Jayne Brett, to do his investigative work. Dan and Jayne have appeared together in two previous novels and The Innocent Ones is the last part in a trilogy. Confession time – I have not read the first two books so I can honestly say this book stands well on its own. At no time did I feel I was playing catch-up on the backstory.

Back to The Innocent Ones…Dan and Jayne are asking questions and soon draw attention to themselves. However someone doesn’t like their questions and our heroes will find themselves in real danger. The last person who asked the questions they are seeking to answer was the victim at Dan’s court case. If the pair continue to seek the truth there may be a high price to pay.

Events in The Innocent Ones link back to the deaths of two young children in the late 1990’s. A little flashback action and we have some characters who will live to tell the tale and bring the reader a compelling murder tale.  Lives were broken and long shadows cast onto current events. Neil White does a brilliant job of showing the effects of horror and how people cope (or not) with unspeakable trauma.

This story flowed so smoothly, I just kept reading and became caught up in events. I had to find out why Dan and Jayne were being targeted. Who was keeping secrets? Who had most to lose? Who needed long forgotten deaths to be left forgotten?

I read a lot of crime fiction and I know what I like. I like The Inncocent Ones. A murder story, a thriller and some courtroom scenes – ideal.

 

 

The Innocent Ones is published by Hera Books and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Innocent-Ones-absolutely-gripping-thriller-ebook/dp/B07NCBH5HP/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=neil+white&qid=1556483769&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Category: Blog Tours, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off on The Innocent Ones – Neil White
April 26

Rocco and the Price of Lies – Adrian Magson

Murder by suicide? Three senior government officials – a judge, a politician, and an ex-police chief – are all dead by their own hands.

Inspector Lucas Rocco finds himself once more working for the Interior Ministry: undertaking an investigation meant to avoid a government scandal and ignoring unpalatable truths. He’s soon convinced that a common denominator must be at play…

Rocco uncovers top-level fraud, theft and deception. And when he narrowly survives an attempt on his life, he realises that he has nothing to lose by bringing the truth out in to the open – whatever the risks.

 

My thanks to The Dome Press for my review copy and to Emily Glenister for the opportunity to join the blog tour.

 

Rocco and the Price of Lies has presented me with a bit of a problem.  A good problem.  But my TBR pile is going to hate me.

I shall explain…

I love a series with recurring characters.  Once I find a series I enjoy I become compelled to read all the books in that series.  Rocco and the Price of Lies is the latest in a series of books which feature Inspector Lucas Rocco and I really, really enjoyed it. I now want to read more of Roccos adventures and a quick glance at the inside of the book suggests there are six titles awaiting me. Pray for my TBR.

In this latest outing Rocco is investigating the deaths of three prominent men (a judge, a senior government official and a politician).  Each of the men has taken his own life but the circumstances which led to their decisions have given the police cause to look more closely.

Each man received a letter which made them aware someone knew they had obtained expensive artwork under less than legitimate circumstances.  The reader knows the three men were purposely targeted but it is not immediately clear why.

Roccos investigations will see him working with the Interior Ministry.  He will become somewhat acquainted with the art world through the need to discuss forgeries and the problems art lovers experience when they own copies of valuable paintings.  This is an area I know nothing about so it made for fascinating reading – Adrian Magson spinning a great story around art fraud.

I found the story incredibly accessible. There are six Rocco stories before Price of Lies but I never felt I was failing to keep up with narrative or established characters. The author keeps events zipping along and I never felt there was a lull in events or scenes were padded out. I loved the direct and often humorous approach Rocco adopts in his interactions and I warmed to him immediately.

I was adding more Rocco novels to my reading wishlist before I reached the last chapters of this book.  Delighted to have discovered a new series I can enjoy and I am very much looking forward to catching up on the earlier stories. Highly recommended.

 

Rocco and the Price of Lies is published by The Dome Press and is available in paperback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07NGTMZQR/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Follow the blog tour:

Category: Blog Tours | Comments Off on Rocco and the Price of Lies – Adrian Magson
April 23

Have You Seen Her – Lisa Hall (Audiobook)

Bonfire Night. A missing girl.

Anna only takes her eyes off Laurel for a second. She thought Laurel was following her mum through the crowds. But in a heartbeat, Laurel is gone.

Laurel’s parents are frantic. As is Anna, their nanny. But as the hours pass, and Laurel isn’t found, suspicion grows.

Someone knows what happened to Laurel. And they’re not telling.

 

My thanks to Joe Thomas at Harper Collins for the chance to join an audiobook blog tour.

 

I love to juggle my reading material, paperbacks, hardback books, Kindle reads, books on my phone through the Kindle or Kobo apps – even the odd Word document for very early review copies.  However, over the last year or two I have become hooked on audiobooks and is a thrill to share today’s review as this is my first chance to participate in an Audiobook Blog Tour.

The most important question which any audiobook review needs to address is “Does the audio experience work for this story?”

Yes! It really, really does.

But what do I mean by “the audio experience”?  Simply put – some books are not enjoyable when they transfer to audio. The narrator(s) may not be to the listener’s liking, particularly if there is a need to cover a number of regional accents. Footnotes and annotations are lost. Overly wordy and complex explanations need to be endured and cannot be skipped (although maybe that is only something I do).

Have You Seen Her plays out wonderfully in audio. This is entirely down to the slick storytelling of Lisa Hall and the excellent work of narrator Kristen Atherton.  This was the first time I have heard Kristen read and I would very much like to listen to more of her work as she brought this book to life.

The book opens with a sickening premise.  At a community bonfire evening young Laurel disappears into the crowd to catch up with her mother.  Laurel’s nanny (Anna) watches her go but this is the last time anyone sees Laurel.  She never caught up with her mother and when Anna becomes aware Laurel is unsupervised in the park it is too late – the little girl is nowhere to be found.

Thus begins a tense and unpredictable domestic drama.  Events are told from Anna’s viewpoint.  It is clear she and Laurel’s  parents are not close…Anna is made very aware she is not Laurel’s mother and she is kept firmly in her place as an employee – not a friend.

Laurel’s parents are not likeable characters. Despite the distress they are enduring, the strain of their daughter disappearing, they come across as two unpleasant people. It was hard to empathise with their situation, particularly as Anna seems to care more about what has happened to Laurel than her parents do.

In this cracking domestic thriller you can be assured that secrets are being kept. The fun in Have You Seen Her is trying to figure out who to trust and identify which characters are lying.  On this front I failed miserably and thoroughly enjoyed my failure.  I don’t think I could describe an audiobook as a page-turner but what I did get was a story I didn’t want to stop listening to.

 

Have You Seen Her is published by Harper Collins and you can order a copy here: https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008215019/have-you-seen-her/

Category: Audiobook, Blog Tours, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off on Have You Seen Her – Lisa Hall (Audiobook)
April 14

Death at the Plague Museum – Lesley Kelly

The pandemic is spreading.

On Friday, three civil servants leading Virus policy hold a secret meeting at the Museum of Plagues and Pandemics. By Monday, two are dead and one is missing.

It’s up to Mona and Bernard of the Health Enforcement Team to find the missing official before panic hits the streets.

 

 

 

I received a review copy of Death at the Plague Museum from the publishers who also invited me to join the blog tour.

 

I got permission from the publishers to use enthusiastic sweary words to describe how much I enjoyed Death at the Plague Museum. I could use them, mainly as adjectives, but I will keep it clean. Just know that I am a huge fan of these books (The Health of Strangers series) and I would like lots more people to spread the booklove and chat with me about them.

Plague Museum is the third novel in the series. Reading the earlier  books is  not essential but will give a better understanding of the characters.  In brief, our focus is on the staff of the HET. The books are set in Edinburgh but after a virus has swept through the city and very careful steps are now being taken to monitor the populous to restrict further infection. We follow the HET employees who enforce the health checks and ensure the city residents try to restrict infections spreading.

A prominent advocate of the health screenings has vanished just as her routine check up is due. The negative publicity of her missing the health check she so stringently advocates has to be kept in check and the missing woman found as a matter of urgency. It falls to Mona, Bernard and their colleagues to track her down.

Matters are complicated by the unexpected death of another prominent figure in the anti-virus reforms – a known associate of the missing woman.

With a death to be explained and a missing woman to be found there is a great mystery story at the heart of Death at the Plague Museum. Where these stories really shine is the focus on the lives of the cast – they are so much more than their  respective jobs and Lesley Kelly gives them a chance to shine.  I want to read about them because they are so much fun to watch.

Written with wonderfully dark humour and the wry observational opinions I always expect from Scottish characters I get so much enjoyment from this series.

It is time you became acquainted with the Health of Strangers. Bloody marvellous.

 

 

Death at the Plague Museum is published by Sandstone Books and is available to order here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plague-Museum-Health-Strangers-Thriller/dp/1912240521/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_3?crid=2USWGM0E3BKZ&keywords=death+at+the+plague+museum&qid=1555238088&s=gateway&sprefix=death+at+the+pla%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-3-fkmrnull

Category: Blog Tours, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off on Death at the Plague Museum – Lesley Kelly
April 12

Second Lives – P.D. Cacek

When four patients unexpectedly wake after being declared dead, their families are ecstatic and the word “miracle” begins to be whispered throughout the hospital. But the jubilation is short lived when the patients don’t respond to their names and insist they are different people. It is suggested all four are suffering from fugue states until one of the doctors recognizes a name and verifies that he not only knew the girl but was there when she died in 1992. It soon becomes obvious that the bodies of the four patients are now inhabited by the souls of people long dead.

 

I received a copy of the book from the publisher so I could join the blog tour.  My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for the opportunity to host a leg of the Second Lives blog tour.

 

For the first fifty (or so) pages of Second Lives we are introduced to the key characters. Half of them died shortly after we were introduced. Their deaths are not glorified or gruesomely depicted, as I may have expected from a horror novel, but are shown with compassion and the characters are given a dignity as the curtain draws on their lives.

I had originally believed Second Lives to be a horror tale but despite edging towards a supernatural slant it is not a gore-fest, monster mash, chilling tale of death and resurrection. It is a cleverly crafted, character driven story which raised some thought provoking moments.

Much of the enjoyment in Second Lives comes from reading about how the characters cope with the situation which they find themselves in. To have died and be ‘reborn’ into the body of a stranger. Not as a baby to grow and live anew but to drop into someone else’s life.  Sometimes the new life lives in a time period long after the deceased character originally lived so the body-shock issue is compounded by a radical lifestyle shift too. It can be overwhelming.

 

Second Lives was an opportunity to read a story vastly different from the “normal” thrillers I read. The premise is very clever and the execution equally so.

 

Second Lives is published by Flame Tree Press and is available to order here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Second-Lives-Fiction-Without-Frontiers-ebook/dp/B07QCVBDRS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1555013420&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

 

 

 

Category: Blog Tours, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off on Second Lives – P.D. Cacek
April 11

I Want You Gone – Miranda Rijks

The only obituary you never want to read – is your own.

Laura Swallow is dead.
A life cut tragically short, says the newspaper obituary.
But that’s a lie.
Estate agent Laura did not die in a car accident. She is alive and well.
At first, Laura thinks it’s a sick joke.
But multiple announcements of her death are followed by increasingly sinister real-life events. Already fragile, struggling to recover from a recent divorce, Laura is plunged into a living nightmare.
Who can she trust? Her new lover? Her clients and work colleagues? What about her ex-husband and his smug fiancée? Can Laura even rely on her best friends? And why is it that Laura’s present troubles are so tied up with her sister’s sudden death all those years ago?
But one thing Laura is sure of – someone out there wants her to suffer. Wants her gone.
Forever.

 

My thanks to Emma at Damppebbles Blog Tours for the chance to join this tour.  I received a review copy in order to participate in this blog tour.

 

This was a twisty and unsettling story which saw lead character, Laura Swallow, put through an emotional wringer.  If you enjoy your protagonists to experience all the trauma (rather than swan through a story observing misfortune for others while they remain untouched) then add I Want You Gone to your reading list immediately.

Laura is a divorcee, her ex-husband is living with a younger woman and Laura is making a tentative to begin dating again.  She has a good job at a local estate agency and seems to be building some self-confidence but her world is about to be rocked in a way she could never have anticipated.

It begins with an obituary in the local paper.  Laura’s obituary. But there must have been a terrible mistake – Laura is alive and well and most certainly did not die in a car accident as the paper suggests.  Things get worse for Laura when a client, an old school friend, raises a complaint about her behaviour while she is showing him around a property. This is just the start of a sequence of unexplained attacks (or pranks?) where Laura is the target.  Each incident becomes more venomous and her personal safety no longer seems assured.

With only a few friends or colleagues she feels able to trust, who can help keep Laura safe as she struggles to understand why someone seems intent on destroying her.

Some fun twists and a few dark touches kept me reading. I was keen to find out why Laura had been singled out and enjoyed my journey to enlightenment.

 

I Want You Gone is published on 13 April 2019 by Inkubator Books and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PZ8Q3LT/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

Category: Blog Tours, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off on I Want You Gone – Miranda Rijks
April 7

The Fifth to Die – J.D. Barker

Murder. It’s a family affair.

In the midst of one of the worst winters Chicago has seen in years, the body of missing teenager Ella Reynolds is discovered under the surface of a frozen lake.

She’s been missing for three weeks… the lake froze over three months ago.

Detective Sam Porter and his team are brought in to investigate but it’s not long before another girl goes missing. The press believes the serial killer, Anson Bishop, has struck again but Porter knows differently. The deaths are too different, there’s a new killer on the loose.

Porter however is distracted. He’s still haunted by Bishop and his victims, even after the FBI have removed him from the case. His only leads: a picture of a female prisoner and a note from Bishop: ‘Help me find my mother. I think it’s time she and I talked.’

As more girls go missing and Porter’s team race to stop the body count rising, Porter disappears to track down Bishop’s mother and discover that the only place scarier than the mind of a serial killer is the mind of the mother from which he came.

I received a review copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

 

The Fifth to Die picks up on the story (the fabulous story) started in The Fourth Monkey.  We see the return of Detective Sam Porter who is still obsessing about the killer from The Fourth Monkey and has been removed from that investigation.

No let-up on the body count though as a new spate of murders are taking place and they have been carefully planned to confuse the police. A missing girl is found frozen in a lake. The lake has been frozen solid for months, however, the girl only went missing three weeks earlier.  There is no natural explanation as to how she got under the ice – yet there she is.

More deaths shall follow and it is clear a very sophisticated and intelligent killer is at work. Porter has his own distraction going on, however, as he pursues a lead in the case he is not even meant to be considering. It will take him far from the action but could end up placing him in more danger than he could know.

The Fifth to Die is a tense police procedural and the reader gets to follow the unfolding investigation.  JD Barker keeps the story flowing really well, there were shocks and surprises which kept me engrossed and the killer is decidedly nasty so there are some dark moments which I very much enjoyed.

The Fourth Monkey made my Top Ten reads of 2017 and I was dying to get my hands on The Fifth to Die.  I was not disappointed.

 

The Fifth to Die is published by HQ and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fifth-Die-Detective-Porter-novel/dp/0008250383/ref=sr_1_1?crid=259Z6V2QUTEMH&keywords=jd+barker+books&qid=1554661647&s=gateway&sprefix=j+d+bar%2Caps%2C173&sr=8-1

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off on The Fifth to Die – J.D. Barker
April 5

Twisted – Steve Cavanagh

 

BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK
I WANT YOU TO KNOW THREE THINGS:

1. The police are looking to charge me with murder.
2. No one knows who I am. Or how I did it.
3. If you think you’ve found me. I’m coming for you next.

After you’ve read this book, you’ll know: the truth is far more twisted…

 

I received a review copy from the publisher and was invited to join the blog tour – my thanks to Tracy Fenton.

 

It is hard to know where to start with Twisted. This blog is very much a spoiler free zone so discussing the plot of Twisted without giving away too much information is going to be a challenge. So I shall start with the easy bit…Twisted is lots of fun to read. It’s a contender to be the poster child for the 2019 “page turner” campaign.

Once the story begins you get drawn in. Right from the off. Those first few pages will have you wondering what the Hell is going on? So you read a bit more. And more. And more. Then the story picks you up, shakes your understanding around a little and pops you back down. You venture into the next chapter and the next but now you aren’t sure what may happen next so you keep reading. Until the story picks you up, shakes you around a little and you are set back down to face another set of possibilities,  with a whole new direction to travel.  Repeat, repeat. It is perfect reading escapism.

But what is Twisted about? I would venture this brief outline. It is about a secret, an enigma, a hugely successful writer who has managed to keep his real identity a secret from the world. But someone is going to discover that secret and the carefully constructed life the writer has crafted for himself is going to start to unravel. But then maybe it isn’t that at all. It’s complicated.  Actually it is Twisted.

What I can confirm is that the identity of the mysterious writer is a closely guarded secret. So much so that people have died in order for the writer (J.T. Le Beau) to keep his secret safe. Their deaths will be written into one of his books – and if THAT isn’t Twisted then I don’t know what is!

When  you are packing for your summer holidays make sure Twisted is in your suitcase. But as it has already released I’d recommend buying your copy now. Links are below 😉

 

Twisted is published by Orion and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twisted-bestselling-THIRTEEN-Steve-Cavanagh-ebook/dp/B07G19CB1N/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6X24F3AFO1I&keywords=twisted+steve+cavanagh&qid=1554399503&s=gateway&sprefix=twisted+%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-1

Category: 5* Reviews, Blog Tours | Comments Off on Twisted – Steve Cavanagh
April 3

The Ringmaster – Vanda Symon

Marginalised by previous antics, Sam Shephard, is on the bottom rung of detective training in Dunedin, and her boss makes sure she knows it. She gets involved in her first homicide investigation, when a university student is murdered in the Botanic Gardens, and Sam soon discovers this is not an isolated incident. There is a chilling prospect of a predator loose in Dunedin, and a very strong possibility that the deaths are linked to a visiting circus…

Determined to find out who’s running the show, and to prove herself, Sam throws herself into an investigation that can have only one ending…

Rich with atmosphere, humour and a dark, shocking plot, The Ringmaster marks the return of passionate, headstrong police officer, Sam Shephard, in the next instalment of Vanda Symon’s bestselling series.

 

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in order to provide this review.

I have been looking forward to The Ringmaster from the moment I discovered Orenda Books were publishing a second Vanda Symon, Sam Shephard thriller. Anticipation was entirely justified as The Ringmaster was a joy to read…except for one scene which traumatised me!

Joking aside, this is very much shaping up to be a cracking series. Sam Shephard is an extremely likeable lead character, however, in The Ringmaster she finds herself in a frustrating situation.  We are several months on from events in Overkill and Sam has been promoted to a bigger squad and finds herself bottom of the pecking order. The feeling among some of her colleagues is that she has been given too much of a jump up too quickly, but someone in authority likes Sam’s attitude and clever brain so she needs to find her feet quickly. Sam seems wracked with insecurities and frustration and I loved how the author makes me empathize with her character.

The Ringmaster starts with a chilling murder. We see the victim meet her attacker, the two are clearly acquainted, and the casual brutality of the murderer in ending his victim’s life is a compelling opening to the story. This contrasts with the first few scenes to feature Sam Shepard – although she will be at the murder scene, she spends much of the early part of the story around the circus and the issues she has to deal with are much lighter in tone.  This dark/light mood setting worked really well for me, particularly as the circus makes a gradual shift from a place of light-hearted fun to being a more sinister setting.

The Ringmaster is a really engaging police procedural. The murder investigation initially seemed to be making little progress but the story zipped along and I suddenly became aware that I had missed loads of clues about where the plot was heading. No better feeling for a reader than getting caught up in a story and just letting events unfold.

I have been struggling to find reading time lately but I got completely caught up in The Ringmaster. It was inhaled in two sittings and I immediately began to look forward to the next!

 

The Ringmaster is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ringmaster-Sam-Shephard-Vanda-Symon-ebook/dp/B07KGNQJGJ/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=GYT9HJ500HYA&keywords=the+ringmaster+vanda+symon&qid=1554246431&s=gateway&sprefix=the+ringmaster+vanda%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Category: Blog Tours, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off on The Ringmaster – Vanda Symon