Book After Book

Publication: 4th April 2019 – HQ

One charming bookshop, two unlikely friends, and a summer in Paris that will change their lives forever…

Grace can’t believe it when her husband of twenty-five years announces he doesn’t want to join her on their anniversary trip to Paris – instead, he wants a divorce. Reeling from the shock, Grace makes the bold decision to go on this holiday of a lifetime alone.

Audrey leaves behind heartache of her own when she arrives in Paris. A job in a bookshop is her ticket to freedom, but with no knowledge of the French language, her summer adventure seems doomed to fail. Until she meets Grace, and everything changes…

Living in neighbouring apartments above the bookshop, Grace and Audrey form an unlikely friendship. They came to Paris to find themselves, but finding each other might be the best thing that’s ever happened to them.

 

I am delighted to welcome you on my stop for the blog tour of ONE SUMMER IN PARIS, the fantastic new novel by Sarah Morgan and I’d like to thank Lucy and HQ for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for providing me with a copy of the novel.

I am so so happy every time the queen Sarah Morgan publishes a new book. She creates charming stories with engaging and always likable characters set in beautiful places (I still think about spending a Christmas in Scotland thanks to her latest novel, The Christmas Sisters). This time, she takes the readers to spend the summer in the romantic and evocative Paris. Here we meet Grace and Audrey who arrive to the French capital to escape their problems at home. Grace is in her late forties, she has a teenage daughter about to leave home to go to college, and she’s been happily married to David for twenty-five years. Or so she thought, because on Valentine’s Day, which is also their anniversary, he announces her that he wants a divorce. Heartbroken, Grace decides to escape to the place where she had been happy before her world crumbled down when she was young. Here she meets Audrey. She is an eighteen years old girl who left behind London, her alcoholic mother, and her troubles at school. For Audrey Paris is freedom, but freedom doesn’t look as good as she thought when her job in a bookshop proves more difficult than she thought.

I loved the characters of Audrey and Grace who could be both different and similar at the same time. Audrey’s life is chaos while Grace is the queen of lists and organization, but both have family secrets that make them lie to other people. During an unforgettable summer, they help each other face their problems and overcome their limits and their unlikely friendship kept me completely captivated. Of course, Paris is not only the city of new beginning, but also the city of love as both Grace and Audrey find charming and handsome French men to keep them busy.

Paris itself is a protagonist of the novel. The author evocative descriptions of the city, the food, and the people made me fall in love with the city all over again and made me wish to hop on a plane for this fascinating city. Heart-warming, entertaining, and fresh, ONE SUMMER IN PARIS is another must-read for new and old Sarah Morgan’s fans.

 

Publication: 8th April 2019 (paperback); 15th April 2019 (eBook) – Bloodhound Books

Matthew Trevelyar leaves his job in London to return to his Cornish roots in the village of St Agnes. After losing his wife to leukaemia, he wants to make a fresh start.

His new life is going well until Matt returns to his cottage to discover a grim warning on his doorstop. The message is clear – Leave now and go back to London.

Not wanting to give up his new life, Matt eventually discovers that there has been a 200-year-old feud between his family, the Trevelyars, and another local family, the Penhallows.

When Matt learns that one of his ancestors burned down a barn belonging to the Penhallows, and that a child died in the fire, he understands why his family name is mud. But why is Matt paying for the sins of his ancestors now? And is there more to the feud than meets the eye?

 

Welcome on my stop of the blog tour of THE FEUD, the new brilliant novel by Amanda James, and I’d like to thank Heather and Bloodhound for inviting me to join and for providing me with a copy of this engrossing novel.

The protagonist is Matt Trevelyar, a teacher who leaves behind his life in London to start a new job in a school in St. Agnes in Cornwall. After losing his wife to leukemia, Matt is looking for a new start and he thinks that St. Agnes is the perfect place for it. But, right from the beginning, it’s clear that someone doesn’t want him there and that they are ready to do anything to send him away. As a few innocent pranks turn into something more serious that could ruin Matt’s life, he has to figure out who he can trust, how to stop his enemy, and how to win the love of local artist Lavander.

The author craftily mixes various elements to create a story that it is twisty, sinister, and captivating. There is the small town atmosphere full of gossip that spreads quickly. There is a centuries-old feud between two local families that has dramatic consequences. There is a bit of magic, witchcraft, and folklore with the presence of love potion and magic herbs. There is murder and obsession. And there is a love story and love triangle as Matt has the chance to find love again with Lavander, but he has also to deal with the unrequited love of a colleague.

THE FEUD has realistic characters, a brilliant storyline, and it is set in a small town in beautiful Cornwall that takes on a dark and suspenseful atmosphere for a story about love, revenge, jealousy, and forgiveness.

 

Amanda has written since she was a child, but never imagined that her words would be published, given that she left school with no real qualifications of note apart from an A* in how to be a nuisance in class. Nevertheless, she returned to education when her daughter was five and eventually became a history teacher. Then in 2010, after many twists and turns, the dream of becoming a writer came true when her first short story was published. Amanda has written many short stories and has six novels currently published.

Amanda grew up in Sheffield but now has realised her lifelong dream of living in Cornwall and her writing is inspired every day by the dramatic coastline near her home. She has sketched out many stories in her head while walking the cliff paths. Three of her mystery/suspense novels are set there, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, Summer in Tintagel and the Behind the Lie. Rip Current is also set in Cornwall and will be published by Bloodhound Books in April 2018.

Amanda, known to many as Mandy, spends far more time than is good for her on social media and has turned procrastination to a fine art. She can also usually be found playing on the beach with her family, or walking the cliff paths planning her next book.

Amanda’s blog – http://mandykjameswrites.blogspot.com/

Twitter – @akjames61

Facebook – mandy.james.33

 

 

 

 

Publication: 4th April 2019 – Trapeze

When a group of urban explorers stumble across a murderer’s kill room in a derelict film studio, terror strikes. And when one of the group is found dead, the team realise – they’re being hunted.

DI Dominic Bell is investigating the murder, but as the body count rises, time is running out. The only person who can help him is a figure from his past, Clementine Starke – but Clementine is haunted by her own demons. Can the two of them pair up to catch the killer? Or is it already too late?

 

 

 

I started reading Stephanie Marland’s novels because I am a huge fan of her Lori Anderson series, which she writes under the name Steph Broadribb. YOU DIE NEXT is the second book in the Starke & Bell series and, even though it’s a bit darker than her other novels, I am completely addicted and I am already looking forward to the next novel.

Who are the protagonists? Clementine Starke is a researcher who studies the effects of obsession on people for her PhD. Clementine herself is her own first case study. Why? Because she has two obsessions: the murder of her father and DI Dominick Bell. Her father was a police detective that was murdered during a fire that almost killed her and left her numb to emotions. The killer was never found, but she’s enlisted the help of a true-crime online group to find out the truth. She met DI Dominick Bell while solving a case in the first book, My Little Eye, where he saved her life from a killer. This event connected them in a “special” (her word), unhealthy and dangerous (my words) way. Despite Dominick’s efforts to keep Clementine at a distance, she gets mixed up not only in his new murder investigation, but also in the case of corrupt officers that involves one of his own family.

In YOU DIE NEXT, the author explores a world that I am unfamiliar with and that, to be honest, I didn’t even know existed. Urban explorers are groups of people that film themselves while they go through abandoned and neglected buildings and, thanks to technology and social media, they have thousands of followers during their nightly adventures. During the filming, their faces are covered and they use nicknames and no one knows who they really are. One night, one of the most popular group of urban explores breaks into an old film studio and stumbles upon a scene that makes them run away scared. The fear of prosecution for the break in stops them from going to the police, but someone is leaving threatening messages for them. And when the first body turns up, they ask themselves, who dies next? As the bodies pile up, DI Dominick Bell tries to solve the case while Clementine is ready to do absolutely anything to help and protect him.

Clementine and Dominick are both intriguing characters. They both have a very dark side, they both have demons to deal with and their relationship is obsessive and a bit dangerous. I like these two flawed and engaging characters that created a story that is intense, twisty, and chilling and that kept me completely hooked until the very last word.

 

 

Publication: 4th April 2019 – HQ

She was racing towards the gorge. The place the locals knew as ‘Dead Girl’s Drop’…

DI Meg Dalton is thrown headlong into her latest case when she finds a ten-year-old girl running barefoot through the woods in a blood-soaked nightdress. In the house nearby, the girl’s father has been brutally stabbed to death.

At first Meg suspects a robbery gone tragically wrong, but something doesn’t add up. Why does the girl have no memory of what happened to her? And why has her behaviour changed so dramatically since her recent heart transplant?

The case takes a chilling turn when evidence points to the girl’s involvement in her own father’s murder. As unsettling family secrets emerge, Meg is forced to question her deepest beliefs to discover the shocking truth, before the killer strikes again…

 

I am very delighted to welcome you on my stop on the blog tour for DEAD MAN’S DAUGHTER, the new suspenseful novel by Roz Watkins, the second book in this fantastic series featuring DI Meg Dalton and I’d like to thank Lily and HQ for inviting me to join in the blog tour and for providing me with a copy of a story that kept me completely engrossed for two days.

DEAD MAN’S DAUGHTER is the second book in the series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone (although I highly recommend you read The Devil’s Dice, too!). In this second book, DI Meg Dalton is called to investigate the appearance of a girl running through the woods and covered in blood which leads her to the discovery of a man murdered in his own home. What it seems to be a robbery gone wrong, it turns quickly into a creepy and inexplicable murder that leads Meg to question her beliefs and her instincts.

I first met the protagonist, DI Meg Dalton, when, last year, I read The Devil’s Dice, the first novel in the series. After years away, she is back in the Peak District to stay closer to her mother and she finds a job in the Derbyshire Police. Now, six months after her return, she still has her ups and downs professionally and personally. Inside the police station, she has a good relationship with both her colleagues Fiona and Jai (although for the latter she has mixed feelings of friendship and romance), but she also has to suffer the jealousy of a resentful colleague and an obnoxious boss. Outside of the police station, she doesn’t have much of a social life, but she knows that she can always rely on her best friend Hannah, and family issues keep her mind busy even when she is at work. Thanks to the author’s detailed descriptions and beautiful writing, the character of Meg feels realistic: she is smart, determined, and well-developed, and her flaws, her emotions, her guilt over her job, her family, and her sister’s death make her more human and likable.

I found the setting very atmospheric and evocative. For some reason, I kept picturing Derbyshire as a cloudy and rainy place and this fits perfectly with the twisty, sinister, and very gripping plot of the novel. DEAD MAN’S DAUGHTER is a terrific read that captivated me from the beginning to the very end and it confirms Roz Watkin as a brilliant author who knows how to create thrilling and unpredictable stories.

 

Roz Watkins is the author of the DI Meg Dalton crime series, which is set in The Peak District where Roz lives with her partner and a menagerie of demanding animals.

Her first book, The Devil’s Dice, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger Award, and has been optioned for TV.

Roz studied engineering at Cambridge University, before training in patent law. She was a partner in a firm of patent attorneys in Derby, but this has absolutely nothing to do with there being a dead one in her first novel.

In her spare time, Roz likes to walk in the Peak District, scouting out murder locations.

Find out more at www.rozwatkins.co.uk

Today, it’s my pleasure to reveal the cover of a gripping novel I am really looking forward to reading it. I KNOW YOU’RE THERE is the new novel by Sarah Simpson and it’s published by Aria on 6th June 2019.

I KNOW YOU’RE THERE is undoubtedly the most eagerly anticipated psychological thriller of 2019.

Another unnerving and sublimely twisty tale from the queen of domestic suspense Sarah Simpson – coming in June 2019.

 

Sarah Simpson has a first-class honours degree in Psychology and has experienced working at a Brain Rehabilitation Hospital. She has spent time as a family consultant for Warwickshire and Oxfordshire solicitors and gained knowledge of the Family Court System. She now lives in Cornwall with her husband, three children and animals.

Follow Sarah

Twitter handle: @sarahrsimpson

Facebook: @sarahsimpsoncornwall

Pre-order links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2TnF7yy

iBooks: https://apple.co/2FkFnJH

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2CuEwpa

GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2OhCvBf

Follow Aria

Website: www.ariafiction.com

Twitter: @aria_fiction

Facebook: @ariafiction

Instagram: @ariafiction

Happy publication day to Christi Daugherty!!!

A BEAUTIFUL CORPSE is the second book in the Harper McClain’s series. It’s captivating, engaging, and brilliant and it is out today in paperback so it’s my absolute pleasure to share again my review of this novel.

The Echo Killing, the first book in the series, came out last year and I fell in love with both the story and the protagonist, Harper McClain, a young determined crime reporter. I waited the whole year to read this second book and I wasn’t disappointed and now I am waiting for book number 3!

Publication: 4th March 2019 (eBook); 4th April 2019 (paperback) – HarperFiction

A murder that shocks a city… 
Shots ring out on one of Savannah’s most famous streets. A beautiful law student lies dead.
  
A case full of secrets and lies…
Three men close to the victim are questioned. All of them claim to love her. All of them say they are innocent of her murder.
 
An investigation that could prove deadly…
As crime reporter Harper McClain unravels a tangled story of obsession and jealousy, the killer focuses on her. He’s already killed one woman. Will he kill another?

 

At the end of 2017, I randomly happened on The Echo Killing on Netgalley and, after reading the blurb which I found really intriguing, I requested it. Then I read it and became obsessed with the novel and since then I have been waiting for its sequel, A BEAUTIFUL CORPSE, which I read in one day and which left me excited and impatient to read the next one.

It’s set in Savannah, Georgia, where the summers are hot and dry and where there are enough crimes to keep our protagonist busy. Who is the protagonist? Meet Harper McClain, a young reporter who covers the crime beat which means that she usually works at night and sleeps during the day (although, I have to say she doesn’t do much sleep during the day). When she was twelve years old, Harper’s mother was killed and she was the one who found the body, but the killer was never found. Now, someone is clearly after her, breaking into her house and leaving notes into her car, but she also has other things that keep her quite busy. First, there is her job. Naomi, a young woman who worked in the same bar with her friend Bonnie, has been killed.  The police suspect her boyfriend, but Harper has her own theories and she becomes quite involved in the case. Also, the Savannah Police, who she once considered her family, is now shutting her out following the events in The Echo Killing, making it very difficult for her to do her job.

Now, let’s talk about her love life. In The Echo Killing, Harper had a brief but intense fling with Luke, a detective, but things didn’t end well. However, a year later it seems that it’s not over between the two of them and I have to say I am becoming quite invested in their love story so I am really looking forward to see what happens in the next book.

I really like the character of Harper, a strong-willed, independent, and clever young woman. Her life gets more and more complicated, both personally and professionally, and she is an excellent journalist who doesn’t stop until she finds out the truth, even if that means that often she finds herself in danger and the target of a killer.

A BEAUTIFUL CORPSE is fast-paced, suspenseful, and intriguing. The author knows how to captivate the attention of the reader with a clear and simple prose, beautiful descriptions of Savannah, engaging characters, and a riveting and gripping plot. If you are looking for something addictive and thrilling, then I highly recommend A BEAUTIFUL CORPSE (and The Echo Killing), while I will be waiting for book number 3!

Publication: 4th April 2019 – Head of Zeus

Forget about Cool Britannia and Gallic Chic. Scotland is having a fashion moment…

London’s most glamorous glossy magazine is in trouble. Advertising revenues are non existent, and if editor Laura Lake can’t pick them up, she’s out of a job.

According to those in the know, Scotland is having a fashion moment. Haggis tempura is on Michelin-starred menus, smart spas are offering porridge facials, and a chain of eco-hotels is offering celebrity bagpipe lessons. So Laura’s off to a baronial estate in the Scottish Highlands to get a slice of this ultra-high-end market.

It’s supposed to be gorgeous, glitzy and glamorous. But intrigue follows Laura like night follows day. And at Glenravish Castle – a shooting lodge fit for a billionaire – Laura finds herself hunting for a scoop that won’t just save her job, it could save her life…

It’s my pleasure to welcome you on my stop of the blog tour for A VIEW TO A KILT, the engaging brand new novel by Wendy Holden which it is published today. I’d like to thank Vicky and Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

In the third instalment featuring Laura Lake, we see the dynamic award-winning journalist fighting not only to save her job as editor of the glamorous magazine Society, but also to save the magazine itself that she has come to love and cherish. This means that she has to deal with her crazy new boss who reminded me a little of Miranda Prestley from The Devil Wears Prada, she has to travel to Scotland and spend the night in a castle in Scotland that it appears to be haunted by a ghost, and she finds herself mixed in dangerous situations.

A VIEW TO A KILT is such a fun and entertaining read. It features a cast of colourful and eccentric characters, bizarre situations, and the beautiful and evocative setting of Scotland that made me want to hop on a plane for this beautiful country. I really liked the unusual and weird names of the characters that fit perfectly with their quirky behaviour and that made me laugh page after page. There are twists, mysteries, and revelations and there is romance, friendship and rivalries that keep you glued to the page and make you laugh out loud.

A VIEW TO A KILT is a humorous, refreshing, and captivating novel that you can read as a stand-alone, but I highly recommend the first two book of the series because they are completely worth it.

Number-one bestselling author Wendy Holden was a journalist on Tatler, The Sunday Times, and the Mail on Sunday before becoming an author. She has since written ten consecutive Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers. She lives in Derbyshire. Vist her website at http://www.wendyholden.net

Buy links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2tgBmAj

iBooks: https://apple.co/2WiRyxu

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2YgOF1L

GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2um883v 

Follow Wendy:

Facebook: @WendyHoldenAuthor

Twitter: @Wendy_Holden

Website: www.wendyholden.net

Follow Head of Zeus:

Website: www.headofzeus.com

Twitter: @Hoz_Books

Facebook: @headofzeus

 

 

Publication: 4th April 2019 – Simon & Schuster UK

Two suspects. Two identical stories. Which one is the truth?

Wilbrook in Western Australia is a sleepy, remote town that sits on the edge of miles and miles of unexplored wilderness. It is home to Police Sergeant Chandler Jenkins, who is proud to run the town’s small police station, a place used to dealing with domestic disputes and noise complaints.

All that changes on a scorching day when an injured man stumbles into Chandler’s station. He’s covered in dried blood. His name is Gabriel. He tells Chandler what he remembers – he was drugged and driven to a cabin in the mountains and tied up in iron chains. The man who took him was called Heath. Heath told Gabriel he was going to be number 55. His 55th victim. Heath is a serial killer.

As a manhunt is launched, a man who says he is Heath walks into the same station. He tells Chandler he was taken by a man named Gabriel. Gabriel told Heath he was going to be victim 55. Gabriel is the serial killer.

Police Sergant Chandler Jenkins needs to find out who is telling the truth – and quick. is He is forced to call in Mitch, his former partner and now insufferable superior, a partnership which dissolved in acrimony years earlier. Can Mitch and Chandler uncover the truth, before the 55th victim is taken?

James Delargy has written one of the most exciting debuts of 2019. He masterfully paints the picture of a remote Western Australian town and its people, swallowed whole by the hunt for a serial killer.

 

Today, it’s my absolute pleasure to welcome you on my stop for the blog tour of 55, the gripping and suspenseful debut novel by James Delargy, which is published tomorrow. A big thank you to Anne Cater for inviting me to join the blog tour and for providing me with a proof of this brilliant novel.

In the last few months I have been reading quite a few books set in the Australian outback (mostly thanks to Jane Harper) and I have to admit that I find it fascinating, unforgiving, and mysterious. Because of its isolation, its vastness, its hot and dry weather, the outback is very dangerous and so the perfect setting for a twisty thriller like 55.

James Delargy takes us to Wilbrook, a remote town in Western Australia where the protagonist of the novel, Chandler Jenkins was born, raised, and he still lives with his family. He is the chief of police of this town where nothing much ever happens until, one day, Gabriel stumbles in his station. He is covered in blood and he describes how he was kidnapped and tied up by a man called Heath, who told him he was going to be his victim number 55, before he managed to escape. This shocking revelation becomes even more twisty and astonishing when Heath is captured and claims to be himself Gabriel’s victim. Heath and Gabriel relate the same identical story, word for word, so who is telling the truth? Who is the real killer? Who is the real victim? For Chandler is not easy to figure out the truth, especially when he has to asks for the help of his former partner, Mitch.

I found myself completely engrossed in this novel. The characters are very well-crafted and intriguing and I liked the protagonist, Chandler. His dedication to his job make him a really good sergeant, but we also see him struggle with the guilt he feels for neglecting his two young children, his resentment towards his ex-wife, and his conflicted feelings towards his ex-partner and now boss, Mitch. Thanks to flashbacks from the past we see more about Chandler and Mitch’s partnership. Something happened between them that caused a drift between them, but now they are reunited and determined to solve the case, Mitch looking for the glory while Chandler for the truth.

The plot is very well-written, intense, atmospheric, and sinister, with such a jaw-dropping and unpredictable ending that took me completely by surprise and that will stay with me for a while. With a brilliant, compelling, and masterfully-plotted debut, James Delargy is definitely an author to keep on your reading list.

James Delargy was born and raised in Ireland and lived in South Africa, Australia and Scotland, before ending up in semi-rural England where he now lives. He incorporates his diverse knowledge of towns, cities, landscape and culture picked up on his travels into his writing. 55 is his first novel, which has been sold in 19 countries so far and optioned for film by Zucker Productions in partnership with Prodigy Pictures.

Publication: 4th April 2019 – Pan Macmillan

FOR SALE: A lovely family home with good-sized garden and treehouse occupying a plot close to woodland. Perfect for kids, fitness enthusiasts, dog walkers . . .

And, it seems, the perfect hunting ground for a serial killer.

On a hot July day, Garrick and Olivia Lockwood and their two children move into 25 The Avenue looking for a fresh start. They arrive in the midst of a media frenzy: they’d heard about the local murders in the press, but Garrick was certain the killer would be caught and it would all be over in no time. Besides, they’d got the house at a steal and he was convinced he could flip it for a fortune.

The neighbours seemed to be the very picture of community spirit. But everyone has secrets, and the residents in The Avenue are no exception.

After six months on the case with no real leads, the most recent murder has turned DC Wildeve Stanton’s life upside down, and now she has her own motive for hunting down the killer – quickly.

Fiona Cummins is back with her third novel, a dark, gripping, and twisty story that kept me on the edge of my seat from the first to the last page.

In THE NEIGHBOUR, Fiona Cummins takes us to The Avenue, a residential street on “the outskirts of a nondescript Essex town”. The Avenue is the home of an elderly couple, a doll maker, a young couple in love, and a family of four who is looking for a fresh start. People jogging in the nearby woods, children on the street with their bikes, friendly neighbours. This seems like a fantastic idyllic place where to live, except that there is a killer on the loose. The media has renamed him The Doll Maker and he has already killed five people. The murders are gruesome and since there is no connection between the victims, everyone is wondering: who is next?

The police are far from identifying the killer and pressure from the media and office politics make things even more complicated. However, for DC Wildeve Stanton the case has suddenly become very personal and she is ready to do anything to find and stop the killer.

The author uses short chapters and multiple perspectives to keep the tension high and to make it very difficult for me to put the book down. Thanks to the different points of view we know that the residents of The Avenue are all hiding something, but what? Each of them seems a suspect, but, thanks to the author well-crafted plot, I didn’t figure out who the killer is until it is revealed at the end.

The characters are multi-layered, some likable, some sinister, some irritating, all realistic and intriguing. They all seem guilty and they are all watching each other. Add a creepy and dark atmosphere and a slow-building tension and you have the addictive and thrilling new novel by Fiona Cummins!

 

Publication: 26th March 2019 – Allison & Busby

When an American war correspondent’s murder is concealed by British
authorities, Maisie Dobbs agrees to work with an agent of the US
Department of Justice to help an old friend discover the truth.
With German bombs raining down on London, Maisie is torn between
the demands of solving this dangerous case and the need to protect a
young evacuee. And what will happen when she faces losing her dearest
friend and the possibility that she might be falling in love again?

 

 

I am really happy to start the week (and the month) with my stop on the blog tour of THE AMERICAN AGENT, the fifteenth novel in the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. I’d really like to thank Anne Cater for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for providing me with a proof of this intriguing novel.

London is under the attack and there is no rest for Maisie Dobbs. Daily, the Germans are dropping bombs on the English capital and Maisie and her friend Priscilla spend their nights driving around the city in an ambulance rescuing people and carrying them to the hospital. Also, she is asked to investigate the murder of Catherine Saxon, an American reporter. Maisie is eager to find out who killed Catherine, since she knew her personally, but she is not so happy to collaborate with Mark Scott, an American agent who works in the Department of Justice, someone who she doesn’t completely trust, but who she is attracted to.

The author takes the reader right in the middle of the blitz. Thanks to the detailed and evocative descriptions, you can imagine the destruction caused by the bombs and the fear of the people in the streets. Maisie, like the other characters in the novel, has suffered the loss of beloved ones, but this doesn’t detain her, it makes her stronger. Even when someone close to her gets hurt, Maisie keeps going on her investigation in Catherine’s death. On the family side, she is worried about her family, safe in Kent and away from the bombing, and her adoption process of Anna, a young orphan she has quite become attached to.

Even though this the fifteenth book in the series, it can be easily read as a stand-alone. Jaqueline Winspear is an excellent writer and she creates thrilling historical mysteries that not only are suspenseful and engrossing, but that are also informative and well-researched. After fifteen books, Maisie is still an interesting and engaging character and the stories are original and fascinating. THE AMERICAN AGENT is a compelling story of war, loss, and grief, a story of love, friendship, and family that will take the reader back to one of the darkest time in England history showing the bravery of its people.

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in Kent and emigrated to the
USA in 1990. She has written extensively for journals, newspapers and
magazines, and has worked in book publishing on both sides of the
Atlantic. The Maisie Dobbs series of crime novels is beloved by readers
worldwide – always going into the New York Times top 10 on publication.
Jacqueline will be available for interviews, events and written features.
More info at: jacquelinewinspear.com