Book After Book

It is my absolute pleasure to take part in the cover reveal for the new novel by Kendra Smith. THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME is the story of a woman who moves to Australia to save her marriage and it is out on 15th January 2019. Isn’t the cover simply gorgeous?

A new life down under? It’s not as perfect as you’d think.

Katie and Tom’s marriage is in trouble. As is their bank account. So, when Tom tells Katie that they need to talk, she knows it must be about one of two things, and neither are good. But when he blind-sides her saying that his boss is sending him to Australia – permanently – Katie realises it might just be what they need to save their marriage.

Trouble is, she doesn’t like the heat, can’t swim and hates spiders. Not to mention the bouts of homesickness – and Tom’s endless business trips. Katie is finding the hope of saving their marriage slowly slipping through her fingers.

When all is said and done which side of the globe will she decide to call home?

 

KENDRA SMITH has been a journalist, wife, mother, aerobics teacher, qualified diver and very bad cake baker. She started her career in Sydney selling advertising space but quickly made the leap to editorial – and went on to work on several women’s magazines in both Sydney and London. With dual Australian-British nationality, she currently lives in Surrey with her husband and three children.

Facebook: @KendraAuthor

Twitter: @KendraAuthor

Website: www.kendrasmith.co.uk

 

Buy links:

Amazon: viewbook.at/ChanceOfALifetime

 

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Publication: 26th July 2018 – Fahrenheit Press

Money in the bank and his dream girl on his arm – life was looking pretty sweet for Kirby Baxter. 

Of course it couldn’t last. Where would the fun be in that? This is a sequel after all.

After solving the murder of a movie starlet the previous year, Kirby is doing his best to live down his burgeoning reputation as part-time Interpol agent and amateur sleuth.

Then reality TV comes knocking next door.

Million Dollar Madhouse is a reality TV show where a bunch of washed up celebrities are thrown together in a dilapidated mansion while their attempts to renovate the building are broadcast 24/7 for the viewers delight.

Kirby’s quiet town is thrown into chaos by the arrival of camera crews, remote control video drones and a cast of characters including disgraced actress Victoria Gorham, political shock-jock Bert Wayne and reality TV royalty Kassandra Kassabian.

When one of the cast members turns up dead the local police turn to the only celebrity detective in town for help and draft an unwilling Kirby into their investigation.

The first body is only the beginning of another rip-roaring adventure for Kirby Baxter and with Gustav his loyal driver/valet/bodyguard/gardener/chef/ass-kicker at his side, our hero plunges into the fray with his usual stunning displays of deductive reasoning and sheer bloody luck.

 

A quiet town, a mansion in need of renovations, and celebrities past their times. Add a murder and a cast of colorful characters and you have an engaging and captivating read.

The protagonist of the novel is Kirby Baxter, a cartoonist who, after winning the lottery, travelled around Europe and became an amateur sleuth after solving murders that the police couldn’t figure out. Now a consultant for Interpol, he is trying to lead a normal and tranquil life with his girlfriend Molly. But when a reality show is being filmed in his town and one of the cast members is killed, Kirby has no choice but help the police in the investigation.

Kirby Baxter is clever and he has a sharp eye. He is a mixture between Sherlock Holmes, for his attention to details, and Miss Marple, because everywhere he goes he finds himself mixed-up in murders. This time he is involved in a world of reality shows, celebrities from the past who no one remembers, and blackmail. He is helped in the investigation by his girlfriend Molly, by Gustav, the ever-present bodyguard, driver, chef, and valet, and by Shelley, Molly’s cousin and a journalist desperate for a story for her website. Those three characters make the story more livelier and more eventful (even Gustav who never talks) and they kept me engrossed with their shenanigans and dialogues.

The novel is very well-written, captivating, and enjoyable. It’s a story full of mystery, but also hilarious moments that will make you laugh out loud. Since it’s the second book in a series I am definetely going to get the first one and I am already looking forward to the next story and I’d like to thank Emma Welton, Damppebbles Blog Tours, and Farhenheit Press for providing me with a copy of the book and for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

Duncan MacMaster is a writer, pop-culture blogger, and film school survivor from the untamed wilds of Eastern Canada.
When he’s not concocting plots for Kirby Baxter to unravel he’s posting rants and rages about the business behind pop-culture on his blog.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FuriousDShow

Purchase Links:

Fahrenheit Press: https://bit.ly/2Onw4PH

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2zFZW1i

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2QnbWKX

 

 

Publication: 18th October 2018 – Simon & Schuster UK

Welcome to Castle Kidbury – a pretty town in a green West Country valley. It’s home to all sorts of people, with all the stresses and joys of modern life, but with a town square and a proper butcher’s. It also has, for our purposes, a rash of gory murders 
 
Jess Castle is running away. Again. This time she’s running back home, like she swore she never would.
 
Castle Kidbury, like all small towns, hums with gossip but now it’s plagued with murder of the most gruesome kind. Jess instinctively believes that the hippyish cult camped out on the edge of town are not responsible for the spate of crucifixions that blights the pretty landscape. Her father, a respected judge, despairs of Jess as she infiltrates the cult and manages, not for the first time, to get herself arrested.
 
Rupert Lawson, a schooldays crush who’s now a barrister, bails her out. Jess ropes in a reluctant Rupert as she gatecrashes the murder investigation of DS Eden. A by-the-book copper, Eden has to admit that intuitive, eccentric Jess has the nose of a detective.
 
As the gory murders pile up, there’s nothing to connect the victims. And yet, the clues are there if you look hard enough.

 

In this novel there are murders, suspects, sacrificial rituals, and yet I found myself laughing page after page. It all starts the morning the protagonist, Jessica “Jess” Castle, goes back home to Castle Kidbury after suddenly leaving her academic job at Cambridge. She receives a cold welcoming by her father, the Judge, but their unhappy reunion is overshadowed by the discovery of the body of a local man. As the investigation begins, pagan symbols and rituals comes to light. To escape her strained and complicated relationship with her father and because of her knowledge and degrees in ancient history and mythology, Jess offers her help to the lead investigator, DS Eden, who, unwillingly, accepts it.

While the body count increases and everyone becomes a suspect, Jess has to face her relationship with her father, a possible love interest, and she has to decide what to do with her life.

JESS CASTLE AND THE EYEBALLS OF DEATH is such a fun and enjoyable read. I loved the small town atmosphere. Thanks to the author’s attention to details I could almost imagine it. Castle Kidbury is one of those idyllic towns where everyone knows everyone and their secrets and where nothing exciting ever happens, at least until someone goes on a murder spree. The town is inhabited by a cast of very colorful characters, from Richard and Dough, the quirky owners of the charity shop where Jess volunteers, to Bogna, her father’s housekeeper, from Patricia, the self-important mayor, to Mary, Jess’s outspoken and lively best friend. And I truly enjoyed the witty exchanges between Jess and DS Eden, often interrupted by the absurd interjections of DC Knott. There was so much humour that I almost forgot that they were investigating gruesome murders.

The story is so well-written and the characters so well-crafted that everyone seems a suspect and until the end I couldn’t figure out who the killer was. Everything is revealed with a surprising and twisty ending worth of an Agatha Christie novel. Engaging, sharp, and refreshing, JESS CASTLE AND THE EYEBALLS OF DEATH is a mystery novel that will keep you glued to the pages and I’d like to thank Jess Barratt and Simon & Schuster UK for providing me with an early copy of this charming and brilliant book.

 

 

Publication: 4th October 2018 – Michael Joseph

The retreat at health-and-wellness resort Tranquillum House promises total transformation.

Nine stressed city dwellers are keen to drop their literal and mental baggage, and absorb the meditative ambience while enjoying their hot stone massages.

Miles from anywhere, without cars or phones, they have no way to reach the outside world. Just time to think about themselves, and get to know each other.

Watching over them is the resort’s director, a woman on a mission. But quite a different one from any the guests might have imagined.

For behind the retreat’s glamorous facade lies a dark agenda.

These nine perfect strangers have no idea what’s about to hit them . . .

 

I have been waiting for a long time for a new novel by Liane Moriarty so I was really excited when I received a book proof of her new novel, NINE PERFECT STRANGERS, for which I’d like to thank Gaby Young at Michael Joseph. This is different from the author’s previous novels, it was nothing at all what I expected, but in a good way, because I loved it and I read the entire novel (more than 400 pages) in less than two days. The plot is full of suspense and there is always a creepy feeling that kept me on the edge the entire time I was reading.

At the center of the story there are nine people, a cast of completely different and complex characters that have one thing in common: they have booked a ten-day stay at the health resort Tranquillum House to improve their health and their minds. There is the married couple hoping to save their marriage, the middle-age woman who wants to forget her problems both in her love and professional life, the mother-of-four divorcée who wants to lose weight, the health junkie lawyer, the grieving family, and the man trying to get his life back on track. These nine people entrust their lives to Masha, the owner of Tranquillum House who, together with her assistants Yao and Delilah, has created a program to improve their physical and mental health. But, between days of complete silence, healthy smoothies, and fasting, these nine strangers start to feel that something is not completely right at Tranquillum House.

The author created well-developed and relatable characters, each with their secrets, fears, and hopes. They are introduced slowly, one by one, so that the pages don’t feel overcrowded and confusing. Each character tells their side of the story so that the readers get the full picture. Even though the readers know exactly what is going on, there are still surprises and a few twists that will keep them on the edge of their seats.

NINE PERFECT STRANGER is a novel about loss, grief, love, addiction, and guilt, but I wouldn’t know how to categorize it. There is suspense, but there is also humor and witticism that will make you laugh and heartbreaking moments that will make you cry. What I can say is that it’s engaging, gripping, well-plotted, and immersive, and it proves, once again, that Liane Moriarty is a brilliant author who knows exactly what she is doing.

 

Publication: 4th October 2018 – Orion

IN A HOUSE OF LIES…

Everyone has something to hide
A missing private investigator is found, locked in a car hidden deep in the woods. Worse still – both for his family and the police – is that his body was in an area that had already been searched.

Everyone has secrets
Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is part of a new inquiry, combing through the mistakes of the original case. There were always suspicions over how the investigation was handled and now – after a decade without answers – it’s time for the truth.

Nobody is innocent
Every officer involved must be questioned, and it seems everyone on the case has something to hide, and everything to lose. But there is one man who knows where the trail may lead – and that it could be the end of him: John Rebus.

 

I’d like to start by thanking Orion and Leanne Oliver for providing me with an early copy of the book and I really like Ian Rankin’s books, especially the character of John Rebus. After twenty-two books he is still going strong. His sharp mind, his witticism, and the twisty plot kept me glued to the pages.

When private detective Stuart Bloom disappeared in 2006, the detectives in charge of the investigation were too lazy and too busy trying to protect the son of another detective, gangsters, and drug dealers to find out the truth. Now that the body has finally turned up, DI Shiobhan Clarke not only has to resolve a murder but she has to figure out if someone can be blamed for the mistakes of the first investigation, including her mentor John Rebus. Also, a couple of corrupted detectives are trying to smear her reputation and, in the last few days, she has been receiving strange silent calls.

John Rebus is a complex and flawed character that I couldn’t help but like. Now he is a retired detective but that doesn’t mean he is going to stay out of the investigation. Somehow, he always manages to sneak his way in. Even though he has trouble climbing up stairs, mentally he is still sharp and smart and his instinct is still that good. I enjoyed reading about his close relationship with his protegé Shiobhan Clarke, who is another character I really liked. Even though an internal investigation has cleared her of any wrongdoing, she still has to deal with the suspicious of colleagues who thinks she is corrupted.

Once again, Ian Rankin wrote a thriller that not only keeps you on edge, but also gives you a real feel of the police. Leaving aside corrupted detectives and power games, it was fascinating reading about how they work, the close relationship between partners, and the bond between the members of a team. Despite knowing that her mentor made mistakes, Shiobhan Clarkes is torn between her loyalty to John Rebus and finding out the truth about the murder of Stuart Bloom.

Gangsters, film producers, and drug dealers fill the pages while the beautiful and atmospheric setting of Edinburgh frames an unpredictable, gripping, and addictive story that kept me guessing until the end.

 

Publication: 18th September 2018 – St. Martin’s Press

Spenser Collins
An unlikely Harvard prospect, smart and athletic, strapped for cash, determined to succeed. Calls his mother—who raised him on her own in Chicago—every week.

Dalton Winthrop
A white-shoe legacy at Harvard, he’s just the most recent in a string of moneyed, privileged Winthrop men in Cambridge. He’s got the ease—and the deep knowledge—that come from belonging.

These two find enough common ground to become friends, cementing their bond when Spenser is “punched” to join the Delphic Club, one of the most exclusive of Harvard’s famous all-male final clubs. Founded in the nineteenth century, the Delphic has had titans of industry, Hollywood legends, heads of state, and power brokers among its members.

Dalton Winthrop knows firsthand that the Delphic doesn’t offer memberships to just anyone. His great-uncle is one of their oldest living members, and Dalton grew up on stories of the club’s rituals. But why is his uncle so cryptic about the Ancient Nine, a shadowy group of alums whose identities are unknown and whose power is absolute? They protect the Delphic’s darkest and oldest secrets—including what happened to a student who sneaked into the club’s stately brick mansion in 1927 and was never seen again.

Dalton steers Spenser into deeper and deeper recesses of the club, and beyond it, to try to make sense of what they think they may be seeing. But with each scrap of information they get from an octogenarian Crimson graduate, a crumbling newspaper in the library’s archives, or one of Harvard’s most famous and heavily guarded historical books, a fresh complication trips them up. The more the friends investigate, the more questions they unearth, tangling the story of the club, the disappearance, and the Ancient Nine, until they realize their own lives are in danger.

 

When I read the blurb and I saw that it was about secret societies at Harvard I was completely sold. I have always been fascinated by student life in American colleges and I have been curious about student secret societies since I was a teenager and I saw the movie about Skull and Bones (with Joshua Jackson and Paul Walker).

THE ANCIENT NINE is set in 1988 at Harvard University. The protagonist is Stephen Collins a young student attending university. When he receives the invitation to join one of the Final Club (the most exclusive clubs at Harvard), Stephen, a black student from one of the poor neighbours of Chicago, is surprised. The Delphic is an ancient and the most exclusive club at the university, its members are some of the most powerful and richest men in the world, but there are legends and mysterious disappearances linked to the club. Together with his friend Dalton, Stephen wants to find out the truth around the folklore surrounding the club, but someone is watching him and wants to stop him.

I found the plot intriguing and exciting. The author enriches the story with an history of both Harvard University and secret societies that I found fascinating and detailed. The more I read the more I wanted to find out about these clubs. The mysterious side of the story is often nicely interrupted by Spenser’s basketball practice, his entertaining love life, and his friendship with Dalton.

I found Stephen and Dalton’s unlikely close friendship interesting. Stephen is a black kid from the South Side of Chicago, raised by a single mother. He got into Harvard with a scholarship and he has to count every penny he spends. On the other hand, Dalton is a white guy coming from a rich family, who flies everywhere and stays in the best hotels. Despite their different backgrounds, Stephen and Dalton’s friendship is true and honest and I was glued to the page as they joined forces to find out more about the Delphic club.

Exclusive clubs, mysterious disappearances, secret rooms, and fascinating legends kept me on edge as I kept reading. Well-written, informative, and completely immersive, THE ANCIENT NINE will take you on a journey through the ancient halls of one of the most important universities in the world and through a story that will keep you absorbed, page after page.

 

Ian K. Smith is the author of nine New York Times bestselling nonfiction books, several of them, including Shred and Super Shred, #1 bestsellers, as well as one previous work of fiction, The Blackbird Papers. He is a graduate of Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine.

Facebook: @Dr.IanKSmith

Twitter: @DrIanSmith

Author Website: https://doctoriansmith.com/

Instagram: @doctoriansmith

Publication: 24th September 2018

“Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping” is the first novel in the Anna Romano Mystery Series. It is a funny, whimsical, murder mystery series that appeals to ‘mystery readers’ of all ages.

Anna Romano is a middle-aged, Italian woman who is also a successful published author, a lover of cats, and an excellent cook with a hankering for Italian cuisine. She lives by herself in her quaint house, in a quiet community, with a white picket fence in Central New Jersey.

When she is not writing her next book or hosting book-signing events with her publicist, she is cleaning litter boxes and baking Cannolis…but never at the same time, of course!

In this first installment, on a typical day in Anna’s somewhat-perfect life, a book-signing event turns her world upside down. Is it a case of mistaken identity or was she just being paranoid?

 

This was certainly a most unusual read. It’s both a mystery novel and a humorous story. I laughed, especially at the dialogues and the situations the protagonist get herself in, but I was also on edge during some of the suspenseful moments.

The protagonist is Anna Romano. She is 37 years old and she lives in Jersey Shore. She is single, but she has the company of seven cats that she adores. She is a successful author of crime fiction and during an event at a bookstore, she is approached by a man who leaves her unsettled and leaves her in a curious and dangerous situation.

I really liked the character of Anna and I am already looking forward to more of her adventures (next book coming in January). She is annoyed by people who find strange that, since she is Italian and 37 years old, she is still not married. She likes to cook cannolis. She is funny, smart, and likable.

The mystery side of the story is twisty and suspenseful and sometimes it verges on the absurd that gives the story a funny and witty feeling. There is also some romance, represented by the character of Detective John Solace who helps Anna with her problems.

The story is not very long, less than two hundred pages, and the reading flows easily under the author’s fluent and witty writing. CATS, CANNOLIS, AND A CURIOUS KIDNAPPING is an easy and entertaining read with engaging characters and a captivating plot and I’d like to thank Emma Welton and Damppebbles Blog Tours for providing me with a copy of the book and for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

Writing under pen name, Cheryl Denise Bannerman, Ms. Powell is an author of two self-published books, and an owner of a 22-year-old Training and Development company, specializing in eLearning, called Learn2Engage.

In her personal life and relationships, Ms. Powell has learned how to turn tragedies into triumphs through her strong will, faith, tenacity and most importantly, her quirky sense of humor. She now turns that keen knowledge of relationships and people, along with her various degrees and experience in Training and Development, into fun, engaging online courses for ‘Corporate America’, and, of course, in her works of fiction.

Within each of her works of fiction, a topic of social concern is addressed. From addictions to domestic violence, and suicide to molestation.

Her writings inspire people to live, laugh, love, learn and grow. She believes that when the world laughs at you, laugh harder. In Ms. Powell’s real and fictional world, she has learned how to create her own ‘happy ending’…one day at a time.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbannerman01

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BannermanBooksdotCom/

Website: http://www.bannermanbooks.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bannermanbooks18/

Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/2I9iYQC

Amazon.co.uk: https://amzn.to/2xJqEUF

International Giveaway!

US residents:  There are two prizes up for grabs; entrants can win either a $10 B&N voucher or a signed paperback copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping.  To enter the giveaway to win one of these prizes click here:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/995da7e514/?

Terms and conditions: One US winner will receive a signed paperback copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping and one US winner will receive a $10 B&N voucher.  The draw will be random and you cannot choose your prize.  There is no cash alternative.  The giveaway will close at midnight BST on Saturday 29^th September 2018.  The winner of the paperback will need to provide their postal address.  The winner of the B&N voucher will need to provide their email address.  These addresses will be passed onto Cheryl Denise Bannerman for her to distribute the prizes.  The addresses will not be kept.  Good luck.

 

Non US residents: For your chance to win a Kindle copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping please click the following link:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/995da7e515/?

Terms and conditions: One non-US winner will receive a Kindle copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping.  The winner will need to provide their Kindle email address and add damppebbles@gmail.com as a Safe Sender to their Kindle account (information on how to do this can be provided upon request).  There is no cash alternative and the winner’s name will be selected at random.  The giveaway will end at midnight (BST) on Saturday 29^th September 2018.  Good luck.

Publication: 6th September 2018 by Corvus Books

Caroline Atkinson is powerless and angry. She has lost more than most – her marriage, her reputation, even her children. Then one day, she receives an unusual delivery: lost luggage belonging to the very man who is responsible, her estranged husband Jack.

In a leather holdall, Caroline unearths a dark secret, one that finally confirms her worst suspicions. Jack has kept a detailed diary of all his affairs; every name, every meeting, every lie is recorded. He even marks the women out of ten.

Caroline decides it’s time to even the score. She will make this man pay, even if it means risking everything…

 

You know the saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”? Well, it perfectly applies to this novel. I was initially attracted to this novel by the intriguing blurb and I quickly found myself immersed in this story about revenge and psychological abuse.

The protagonist of the novel is Caroline Atkinson, an acclaimed researcher, good at her job and respected by her colleagues. However, on the personal side, things are not so good. Her husband, the man she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with, has left her and he’s taken their children with him. Now, all Caroline has left is late-night shopping and wine. Until, one day, a mistake delivers to her door something that could change her life. She gets her hands on something that can destroy her husband and she sets in motion a plan that not only will destroy his reputation and his life, but she makes it so that he knows she is behind all of it but there is nothing he can do about it.

As the truth about her marriage slowly comes out, as the author describes in details the pain not only of a woman betrayed by her husband but also of a mother desperately missing her children, I couldn’t help but sympathize with Caroline and her plan of revenge. She could appear cold and emotionless, but she is humanized by her guilt and doubts as she continues with her plans, by her heartbreak over her children, and by her constant emotional dependence to her husband.

I loved that most of the novel is an internal dialogue that Caroline has with her ex-husband in which she explains to him all the ways she is going to make him pay. The multi-layered and complex characters and the gripping and twisty plot kept me completely hooked, from the first to the last page. PERFECT TEN is a dark and thrilling novel about domestic abuse, revenge, and privacy, it kept me glued to the page.

 

Publication: 30th September 2018 by Orenda Books

You need to know who your husband really was…

When Paula Gadd’s husband of almost thirty years dies, just days away from the seventh anniversary of their son Christopher’s death, her world falls apart. Grieving and bereft, she is stunned when a young woman approaches her at the funeral service, and slips something into her pocket. A note suggesting that Paula’s husband was not all that he seemed…

When the two women eventually meet, a series of revelations challenges everything Paula thought she knew, and it becomes immediately clear that both women’s lives are in very real danger. Both a dark, twisty slice of domestic noir and taut, explosive psychological thriller, After He Died is also a chilling reminder that the people we trust the most can harbour the deadliest secrets…

 

This is my first Michael J. Malone’s novel and I am happy that I got the chance to read it because now I can’t wait to read everything else this author wrote. AFTER HE DIED is a twisty and suspenseful domestic noir, but it’s not just that because the author focuses not only on the mystery of the story, but also on the grief of a woman who just lost the man she spent the last thirty years with. Her pain, her emotions, and her sense of loss are very-well described and it’s almost heartbreaking reading about it.

The protagonists of this novel are two women and they are completely different from each other. The first one is Paula Gadd. She met her husband, Thomas, when she was 16 years old and they have been together ever since. Thomas was a successful businessman so Paula had led an easy and sheltered life that, at times, makes her look a bit naïve. The novel opens during Thomas’s funeral. Paula is wondering how a fit and healthy man like her husband could die of a heart attack when a woman she’s never seen before approaches her and slips a note into her pocket. That woman is Cara Collins. Unlike Paula, Cara grew up in one of the poorest part of Glasgow, raised by an addicted single mother. Despite her difficult childhood, Cara grew up to become a tough and smart woman who wants to help and improve her community. Both women are strong and determined and, as they look for the truth, things spiral out of control. I admired Paula’s loyalty to her husband. Despite what people told her, despite the evidence, she refused to think that the man she had spent most of her life with was anything other than a good man.

I liked the setting of Glasgow. With its slums, gangs, corruption, and with its dark and claustrophobic atmosphere it is the perfect frame to this compelling and beautifully written novel. Add the multi-layered characters with secrets and dark sides that lead to a final surprising twist that I really didn’t see coming and you have a gripping and immersive novel.

I’d like to thank Anne Cater and Orenda Books for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. Other published work includes: Carnegie’s Call; A Taste for Malice; The Guillotine Choice; Beyond the Rage; The Bad Samaritan and Dog Fight. His psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and the critically acclaimed House of Spines soon followed suit. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as an IFA and a bookseller.

 

Publication: 5th September 2018 by HQ

Summer 1960, Oxford

In the glorious sunshine of Oxford, on a day when everyone should be celebrating, tragedy strikes when a university student is found floating in the river, dead.

Probationary WPC Trudy Loveday finds herself paired with coroner Clement Ryder to investigate and it soon becomes clear that this case is not going to be easy.

The witnesses all refuse to give a straight answer, each new lead sends them in a new direction and tales of other missing youngsters add further mystery to the investigation.

One thing is certain though, something doesn’t seem quite right about the university’s most popular student….

 

On a beautiful sunny day in Oxford, the body of Derek Chadworth, a student of St. Bede’s College, was found floating on the river. Was it an accident? Or was he killed? Coroner Dr. Clement Ryder is convinced that the young student was murdered and when he asks for the help of WPC Trudy Loveday, DI Jennings is happy to give away the only woman in his team. As witnesses and other students don’t cooperate in the investigation, Dr. Ryder sends Trudy under cover among the students to find out more about the victim.

I still haven’t had the pleasure to read the first book in the series featuring WPC Loveday, but I am going to as I really liked the character of Trudy. While her mother wants her to find a man, get married, and have children, she wants to prove herself even if there are dukes, chiefs of police, and men in general who try to put her in her place. The only one who seems to support her ambitions is Dr. Ryder. I loved her enthusiasm and she is smart, determined, and resourceful, even though sometimes her initiatives get in her in trouble.

A FATAL MISTAKE is a nice change from the crime novels I am used to. First of all, the novel is set in the 1960s so there is no forensic, DNA tests, or technology to help in the investigation. Also, I enjoyed the multiple-character point of view. Although the story is told mainly from Trudy’s points of views, we get glimpses into other characters’ lives, from Dr. Ryder to witnesses, from students to characters somehow connected to the victim, so that by the end of the book the reader has the whole story. This doesn’t mean that there are no surprises. There are many twists and revelations and the ending and solution of the case was unexpected.

Between secret clubs, arrogant dukes, and shocking truths, A FATAL MISTAKE is an entertaining, well-written, and captivating read and I’d like to thank HQ and Izzy Smith for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

Follow the rest of the blog tour: