Blog Tour ~ All The Good Things by Clare Fisher

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting today's stop on the 

All the Good Things Blog Tour

 

Published by Penguin Viking

1st June 2017

What's it all about...

Twenty-one year old Beth is in prison. The thing she did is so bad she doesn't deserve to ever feel good again.

But her counsellor, Erika, won't give up on her. She asks Beth to make a list of all the good things in her life. So Beth starts to write down her story, from sharing silences with Foster Dad No. 1, to flirting in the Odeon on Orange Wednesdays, to the very first time she sniffed her baby's head.

But at the end of her story, Beth must confront the bad thing.

What is the truth hiding behind her crime? And does anyone-even a 100% bad person-deserve a chance to be good?

What did I think about it ...

Twenty one year old Beth is in prison, she did something really terrible but at the start of the novel we don't know what crime she committed. Gradually piece by jagged piece, Beth's sad and sorry story is revealed after her counsellor, Erika, encourages her to write about all the good things she has in her life.

I found this sensitive and well written story so very, very sad. Beth broke my heart into a million pieces as she lurched from one badly made decision to another, none of which was Beth's fault but rather the fault of a system which let her down on so many levels. Naive and vulnerable, Beth could be any one of a number of susceptible young women who gets tangled in the nets of the social care system.  A system which seems to fail more times than it succeeds.

The author writes with perceptive ease and there’s starkness to the story that gets right into your bones and as the story progresses you just know it’s not going to end well. Like me you’ll probably guess what happened but that’s not really the whole point of the story. The focus is the route which Beth took to get to her point of no return and for that I commend the author’s delicate and subtle handling of a story that is so sad, it hurts.

It’s a story about a life fractured and splintered, of ruined relationships, uneasy role models and the desperate cries for help which went, largely unheard.

Best Read With...a handful of chocolate covered beans...

About the author

Clare Sita Fisher was born in Tooting, south London in 1987. After accidentally getting obsessed with writing fiction when she should have been studying for a BA in History at the University of Oxford, Clare completed an MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London. An avid observer of the diverse area of south London in which she grew up, Clare's writing is inspired by her long-standing interest in social exclusion and the particular ways in which it affects vulnerable women and girls. All The Good Things is her first novel.







Follow on Twitter @claresitafisher #AlltheGoodThings

@PenguinUKBooks @PenguinViking

My thanks to the author and also to Josie at Penguin Random House for their invitation to be part of this blog tour.

Blog tour runs until the 28th June so do visit the other tour stops for more exciting content.

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Review ~ The Stolen Child by Sanjida Kay

Corvus
April 2017

What's it all about...

Zoe and Ollie Morley tried for years to have a baby and couldn't. They turned to adoption and their dreams came true when they were approved to adopt a little girl from birth. They named her Evie.Seven years later, the family has moved to Yorkshire and grown in number: a wonderful surprise in the form of baby Ben. As a working mum it's not easy for Zoe, but life is good.

But then Evie begins to receive letters and gifts.The sender claims to be her birth father.He has been looking for his daughter.And now he is coming to take her back...

What did I think about it...

The Stolen Child is a fascinating psychological suspense story which looks at the emotional wreckage of a family torn apart by suspicion and danger.

Zoe and Ollie Morley live with their adopted daughter, Evie and small son Ben, in Ilkley, a pretty town set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors. Zoe tries to balance the responsibilities of motherhood with her passion for painting and uses the drama of the wild and windswept landscape of the moors as the inspiration for her work. Life should be idyllic for the Morley family; however, there are profound undercurrents of discontent bubbling away beneath the surface. Ollie seems to be working far too many long hours leaving Zoe to cope with the children and her burgeoning artistic career.

When Zoe discovers that someone, claiming to be Evie’s birth father, is leaving hidden messages for her little girl everything suddenly changes. What then follows is a tight and tense psychological suspense story which, very quickly, gets right into the fragile heart of a family going through a really difficult time. Zoe’s fear and uncertainty is beautifully expressed, as is the mercurial nature of seven year old Evie, for whom life is challenging. The convoluted plot holds the imagination really well and there is a palpable feeling of panic and alarm when the true nature of the story starts to be revealed in dramatic detail.

This fascinating psychological suspense story kept me guessing right until the end.

Best Read With...Scones and tea

About the Author

Sanjida Kay is a writer and broadcaster. Her second thriller, 'The Stolen Child', is now published in April. She lives in Bristol with her husband and her daughter.

Follow on Twitter @sanjidakay

My thanks to the team at Lovereading.co.uk for the opportunity to read this as part of the 

Lovereading Review Panel.

More reviews of The Stolen Child can be found on the Lovereading website by clicking here.

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Review ~ Siren by Annemarie Neary

Hutchinson
2016

 A bit of blurb..

Róisín Burns has spent the past twenty years becoming someone else; her life in New York is built on lies. 

A figure from her Belfast childhood flashes up on the news: Brian Lonergan has also reinvented himself. He is now a rising politician in a sharp suit. But scandal is brewing in Ireland and Róisín knows the truth. 

Armed with the evidence that could ruin Lonergan, she travels back across the Atlantic to the remote Lamb Island to hunt him down. 

But Lonergan is one step ahead; when Róisín arrives on the island, someone else is waiting for her.

My Thoughts...

The beginning of the novel is both disturbing and intriguing and undeniably sets the scene for a tense and often violent look into the shadowy world of Ireland's past.

Róisín Burns seems to have left the past behind her, but as with all things in her life there is only so far and so fast that she can run to outwit her demons. When she discovers that someone from her past has resurfaced she realises that the only way to exorcise her demons is to confront them. Returning home to Ireland is never going to be easy but in this one thing Róisín doesn't really have any option.

I thought that the book was really quite gripping, with a fast and furious narrative which doesn't pull any punches. The author writes with fascinating conviction and opens up to scrutiny the whole idea of conflict and of the effect that the Irish troubles had on those growing up during the worst of the violence.

Siren is one of those books that, once you start, you can't put down. Its high octane realism keeps you on the edge of your seat and doesn't let up until the story is concluded.

Best read with ...two fingers of Irish whiskey and a guest house breakfast..

About the Author

Annemarie is an Irish-born, London-based novelist and short story writer.

Visit her website by clicking here 

Follow on Twitter @AnnemarieNeary1

My thanks to the author for sharing her book with me 

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Blog Tour ~ Random Acts of Unkindness by Jacqueline Ward

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's stop on the 

Random Acts of Unkindness Blog Tour

 

Random Acts of Unkindness by Jacqueline Ward 

Novelesque
June 2016

A bit of blurb...

How far would you go to find your child? 

DS Jan Pearce has a big problem. Her fifteen year old son, Aiden, is missing. Jan draws together the threads of missing person cases spanning fifty years and finds tragic connections and unsolved questions. 

Bessy Swain, an elderly woman that Jan finds dead on her search for Aiden, and whose own son, Thomas, was also missing, may have the answers. 

Jan uses Bessy's information and her own skills and instinct to track down the missing boys. But is it too late for Aiden? 

Set in the North West of England, with the notorious Saddleworth Moor as a backdrop, Random Acts of Unkindness is a story about motherhood, love and loss and how families of missing people suffer the consequences of major crimes involving their loved ones. 

Random Acts of Unkindness is the first in the DS Jan Pearce series of novels.

My review ...

Saddleworth Moor in North West England is a bleak and lonely place. It's a place that guards its secrets well, and in the quest to find her missing son, DS Jan Pearce discovers, to her cost, just how many evil secrets lurk in dark corners. Looking into missing persons cases, which stretch back over a period of many years, DS Pearce starts to uncover some unusual cases and, as her frantic search for her own missing son gets cast ever wider she starts to discover some painful secrets of her own.

I found the story to be fast paced and intricately plotted. There is much to take in, not just in terms of the present day mystery in which DS Pearce finds herself to be a major part of, but also in the struggle she has to bring to justice those evil manipulators who threaten the very foundation of society.

The story is gritty in the places where it needs to be and remarkably insightful in others, particularly in the way it deals with the sorry history of missing persons. I especially like the way that the author bought time and place to life, and only someone familiar with the subtle nuances of the north of England can do justice to the way in which the dramatic landscape so often shaped people’s destiny.

There is no-one of my generation, growing up in the north of England, who cannot be aware of the ghastly shroud which was cast over those small northern towns, which nestle in the shadow of the moor itself, by the Moors Murderers, and the author has done a really good job of using some of this dark history, whilst at the same time, developing a story which is completely unique.

This is a fascinating and intricately plotted crime novel by an author who, I am sure, will continue to go from strength to strength.


Best Read With...Sausage and Beans on toast, all washed down with copious cups of tea from one of those big brown Betty teapots.

About the Author

Jacqueline Ward writes short stories, novels and screenplays. She has been writing seriously since 2007 and has had short stories published in anthologies and magazines. Jacqueline won Kindle Scout in 2016 and her crime novel, Random Acts of Unkindness, will be published by Amazon Publishing imprint Kindle Press. Her novel SmartYellowTM was published by Elsewhen Press in 2015 and was nominated for the Arthur C Clarke Award in 2016. Jacqueline is a Chartered psychologist who specializes in narrative psychology, gaining a PhD in narrative and storytelling in 2007. She lives in Oldham, near Manchester, with her partner and their dog.

Find the author on her website

Visit her on Facebook

Follow on Twitter @JacquiAnnC

Read an excerpt from Random Acts of Unkindness here

Amazon UK

My thanks to Faye Rogers PR for the invitation to be part of this blog tour 

which runs  18th - 24th July.

For more interesting content do please visit the other stops on the tour.

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Review ~ The Murder Road by Stephen Booth

Sphere
5 May 2016

Cooper and Fry #15

I'm always reluctant to jump into an established series of detective novels so far down the line, because all too often the finer nuances of the characters who inhabit the story can be missed, however, putting that observation on one side, what did work, for me,  was a cleverly put together crime story which begins some eight years earlier with a catastrophic road accident. 

Jumping forward in time, another road traffic accident occurs in the tiny Peak District of Shawhead, and DI Cooper and his investigative team are faced with a complicated inquiry which seems to reveal far more questions than it does answers. A delivery lorry is found stuck under a small railway bridge and the driver seems to have disappeared, but with only an amount of blood stains to go off, the investigative enquiry seems to be ill-fated from the start. As the investigation deepens, Cooper and his team become increasingly frustrated by the lack of  co-operation from the people who live close by the accident scene.

Thanks to the author's detailed knowledge of the area, the landscape forms part of the backdrop to the story and is explained in great detail, so much so, I felt like I crossed the countryside around  the Peak District searching for clues alongside E-Division. The tiny villages and the small town mentality of its people comes across very well, and even as DI Cooper seems to meet with stony silences and insular opposition, you can’t help but be aware that a sinister mystery sits at the very heart of the story.

I found the story quite gripping and I especially liked exploring the connection between the characters and enjoyed piecing together the overall jigsaw puzzle. My only niggle was the level of geographical references, which I am sure are fascinating if you know the Peak District well, I just felt, at times,  like I was being given a written description of an ordnance survey map.

I am intrigued by the relationship between Ben Cooper and Diane Fry, so I suppose the best way to learn more about them is to start at the beginning of this excellent series.

Best Read with …a bacon and egg butty, heavy on the red sauce and a mug of tea, rich in tannin…

About the Author

Stephen Booth is the international bestselling CWA Dagger winning author of fifteen acclaimed thrillers set in the Peak District featuring Ben Cooper and Diane Fry. His sixteenth is Secrets of Death which will be published  by Sphere in June 2016. The series is currently being developed as a TV programme.

Twitter @stephenbooth

  My thanks to Sophie at edpr and Sphere for my review copy of this book.

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Review ~ Love's Long Road by G D Harper

Matador
April 2016

Bobbie Sinclair’s feeling of responsibility for her boyfriend's suicide is something she struggles to cope with, and her only way of dealing with it is to fight against everything she knows. She innocently assumes that her life can be blocked out by an unending progression of one night stands, but leading a promiscuous life, in her home town of Glasgow, brings her into contact with Michael Mitchell, an unscrupulous manipulator, who takes Bobbie by the hand and leads her, imperceptibly, into the dark and shady world of Glasgow’s criminal underclass.

The dark and gritty world which Bobbie finds herself part of, both in Glasgow and later in London, evokes a realistic edge to a story which moves along at a rollicking good pace. The late 1970s, a time I know very well, comes alive, and the author's descriptions of time and place are excellent, from the wearing of bright yellow jumpsuits, mine was blue, to drinking abundant amounts of Blue Nun and cruising around the edge of a Tiffany's nightclub dance floor, the detail was absolutely perfect.

Bobbie is a feisty protagonist, the sheer strength of her personality carries the story very well, but she also has a uniquely vulnerable edge which even though there are times when she is exasperating, you can’t help but form a deep emotional attachment to her. The other characters who flit into and out, add real depth to this dark and gritty story. Michael is such a dangerous charmer, and yet he exudes a sensuous attraction which hides just how dangerous a manipulator he is, and then there’s, Duncan, Bobbie’s friend who sticks with her throughout the whole sorry story.

The drama throughout Love's Long Road is utterly believable, the attention to detail is excellent and the ending, when it comes, is entirely appropriate. I really enjoyed it - it would make a great TV drama!!

Best Read with….chicken in a basket and of course, copious glasses of luke warm, Blue Nun…

My thanks to the author for sharing this book with me

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Review ~ City of Good Death by Chris Lloyd

Canelo
2015

The blurb..

A killer is targeting hate figures in the Catalan city of Girona – a loan shark, a corrupt priest, four thugs who have blighted the streets of the old quarter – leaving clues about his next victim through mysterious effigies left hung on a statue. Each corpse is posed in a way whose meaning no one can fathom. Which is precisely the point the murderer is trying to make.

Elisenda Domènech, the solitary and haunted head of the city’s newly-formed Serious Crime Unit, is determined to do all she can to stop the attacks. She believes the attacker is drawing on the city’s legends to choose his targets, but her colleagues aren’t convinced and her investigation is blocked at every turn.

Battling against the increasing sympathy towards the killer displayed by the press, the public and even some of the police, she finds herself forced to question her own values. But when the attacks start to include less deserving victims, the pressure is suddenly on Elisenda to stop him. The question is: how?

This is the first in a proposed trilogy of crime novels set in Spain and will appeal to those readers who enjoy Inspector Montalbano stories or similar crime fiction set in Europe.

It took me a little while to get into the story and to get used to the Catalonia names but once I had settled into the characters I found this to be a compelling and interesting crime novel. Intricately plotted with a fine eye for detail, the author clearly writes about what he knows and because of that knowledge, he is able to bring the sights and sounds of Girona alive. I've never visited this area in Spain but found myself able to clearly picture the place and its people.

The story is complex and there is much to take in, and as with any new series there is a certain amount of scene setting which will allow the books to flow during the follow up stories. I rather liked it and look forward to seeing what's coming next.

Best Read With ...some Spanish tapas and a glass or two of smooth and smoky Merlot

About the Author

Chris Lloyd lived in Catalonia for over twenty years, besides brief spells in Bilbao, Madrid, Grenoble and a mill in Devon. He has written and contributed to several travel books about Spain for Rough Guides, travelling extensively around the country. Now back in South Wales, he works as a Catalan and Spanish translator. This is his first novel.

My thanks to Ana at Canelo for my e-copy of this book.

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Review ~ Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton

Transworld
2 June 2016

Well, where do I begin to talk about Daisy in Chains without giving everything away? I've really no idea, which is why I'm not even going to try to explain away the plot, the counter plot, or the creepy edginess which has you on the edge of your seat...no really, all that you have to discover for yourself.

I'm not often bamboozled by a plot, but it took me a while to figure this one, and even then I hadn't sussed it all, not really, and that's what's so blooming good about Sharon Bolton's writing. She draws you in with a clever plot, with characters who behave like no-one you've ever known and yet, who squirm and worm their way into your subconscious until you almost find yourself applying for a visitor's pass to HMP Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, just so you can meet Hamish Wolfe in the flesh. And believe me, Hamish Wolfe is a whole other story , fiercely intelligent, with matinee idol good looks and enough charm to whisk even the most jaded of readers out of their comfort zone. But it is Maggie Rose, a lawyer and writer of real life crime stories, who makes you look at the dark and twisted soul of a serial killer in a whole new light. Maggie, spends her waking moments trying to release killers who have no business being released back into society, but her pernickety delving into the murky depths of hidden truths doesn't usually sit well with a society who, quite rightly,  believe that their monsters should remain locked behind bars. 

I started Daisy in Chains on a fairly bright afternoon, on one of those days when you think that it would be more beneficial to be outside in the garden, but even after just the first chapter I knew that I wasn't going to tackle the weeds, indeed, I had little time for anything other than to brew another cup of comforting chamomile tea. I was simply unable to put the book down, so I read on and on, until I knew why Daisy was in chains, and even more importantly who had put her there.

If you've never read a Sharon Bolton novel before then this is a good place to start and I guarantee that if clever psychological crime is your forte, then you won't be able to put the book down and more importantly you will head off to your nearest high street book store, library, or on line book provider and you will start to gather her back catalogue, trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Best Read with .....A bowl of Maggie's lamb stew and a flask of coffee, heavily laced with rum...

About the Author

Find the author on Facebook

Follow on Twitter @AuthorSJBolton

My thanks to NetGalley and Transworld for my copy of this one to read in advance of it's publication on the 2nd June 2016

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Review ~ Little Sister by David Hewson

Pieter Vos #3
Pan Macmillan
5 May 2016

The Timmers’ sisters, Kim and Mia have been locked away in a secure institution for twenty years. Their conviction as child killers gives them a certain amount of notoriety, and as they are now due for release, everyone is understandably nervous about their reintroduction to society. Inevitably, once they gain their freedom, the girls disappear along with their nurse, who was given the task of escorting them to a safe house, and as the search begins to find the girls, tensions begin to run high. And for DI Pieter Vos, from the Amsterdam police, re-opening the Timmers’ case brings more questions than it does answers.

I read the story quickly, and was impressed by how easily I became involved with the characters, particularly Kim and Mia who are not a bit likeable. They are both superbly flawed and completely unreliable as narrators, and whilst that, at times, makes for uncomfortable reading, it also gives the story a certain creepy edginess. By the end of the novel I, sort of, liked them a little better and hoped that things would work out for them, but I won’t spoil the book by giving anything away, that’s for you to find out for yourself.

There is no doubt that the author has a real skill for storytelling and he allows his characters to become really integral to the plot. There is no superfluous dialogue, just really good story telling with a frighteningly realistic edge and Vos in particular has more than enough faults and foibles of his own to carry the story along. This is my first read of  a book in the Pieter Vos series, indeed it’s also my first book by this author, and I was impressed by how quickly the story grabbed my attention and even though this is now the third book in the Vos series, I thought that Little Sister worked, very comfortably, as a standalone story.

Best Read with …A marinara pizza and a couple of glasses of robust red wine…

About the author

Website

Twitter @david_hewson

Amazon UK

Interview with the author can be found here

My thanks to the author and publishers for my review copy of this book.

Review ~ Tainted Love by Kimberley Chambers

***Happy Publication Day ***

Harper Collins
February 11th 2016

Nobody can hurt you like the ones you love…

Tainted Love starts, with a prologue, in the Autumn 2001, but very quickly moves back in time to the Spring of 1986, when Vinny and Michael Butler were very much in control of the mean, and it must be said, moody streets of the East End of London. Family history runs deep, and there is much antagonism between the various factions who make up the hangers on, and associates, of this violent, and often vicious, brotherly duo. So dangerous is the world in which the Butler’s live, that there is never any sign of a companionable softening between them, there is certainly no love lost, and there is never any condemnation that ever goes unnoticed. Tempers fare and spill over, old resentments are allowed to fester and bitterness flourishes in the dark corners of their shady world.

As always, the skill of the writing draws you in with realistic fervour. There is much to take in, both in terms of deadly domestic undercurrents, and also of the dark and poisonous secrets which start to unfold, and you soon start to realise that, deep down, it’s not going to end well. Truthfully, I really can’t say much more about Tainted Love without spoiling the whole story, but suffice it to say that for those readers who have followed this series from the beginning, there is no doubt that this fourth book will have you on the edge of your seat.

For anyone new to this series, this really is NOT the book to start with, as you need to truly understand the complicated Butler family dynamics in order to comprehend the depth of animosity that continually gnaws away at the central characters. However, if you like your gangster crime to have a frighteningly realistic edge, then I highly recommend this series, but please start at the beginning in order to enjoy the journey.

Best read with …Eggs Benedict and copious amounts of decent champagne…

About the Author

Visit her website
Follow on Twitter @kimbochambers
Find her on Facebook

Tainted Love is published on the 11 February in hardback and ebook



My thanks to Felicity Denham at Harper Collins for my review copy of this book.

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Blog Tour ~ Night Blind by Ragnar Jónasson

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be part of Ragnar Jónasson's

Night Blind Blog Tour

   

Ragnar Jónasson is the author of the international bestselling Dark Iceland series. His debut Snowblind went to number one in the kindle charts in four countries, shortly after publication, and continues to attract a great deal of attention. Ragnar was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he works as a lawyer.

What's Night Blind all about...

Siglufjörður: an idyllically quiet fishing village on the northernmost tip of Iceland, accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Ari Thór Arason: a local policeman, whose tumultuous past and uneasy relationships with the villagers continue to haunt him.The peace of this close-knit community is shattered by the murder of a policeman –shot at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark arctic winter closing in, it falls to Ari Thór to piece together a puzzle that involves tangled local politics, a compromised new mayor, and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik, where someone is being held against their will.Thena mysterious young woman moves to the area, on the run from something she dare not reveal, and it becomes all too clear that tragic events from the past are weaving a sinister spell that may threaten them all. Dark, chilling and complex, Nightblindis an extraordinary thriller from an undeniable new talent.

What did I think...

I'm not a great reader of Scandi noir as I sometimes find the stories difficult to get into, however, it must be acknowledged that that's more my fault than the fault of the fine Scandi Noir authors who write with such passion and enthusiasm. So, it was with some trepidation that I started to read Night Blind and I was surprised to find that, despite having no knowledge of what had gone before in Snow Blind, I was able to pick up the finer points of the story reasonably quickly.

Siglufjördur is a quiet fishing village on the northern most tip of Iceland, accessible only by a newly established mountain tunnel. Its idyllic location conjures the freshness of crystal clear skies and the heavenly glory of the northern lights, and yet, in this peaceful area not usually notorious for unsolved crime, comes the darkness of long buried secrets and the unpredictable sensation of not knowing who your enemy is. When a senior police officer is loured to his doom by person or persons unknown, it falls to the remaining officer, Ari Thór, to lead the investigation and to start to piece together the clues, such as they are.

What Ari Thór discovers as the story progresses is beautifully put together and the uncovering of a shadowy world of secrets is done with fine attention to detail. There is an overriding darkness to the narrative which could be due to its setting so close to the Arctic circle, where it must be said even the summers have an air of bleakness around them, or, as is more likely, it’s the ever present threat of danger, which unfolds throughout the story which has an inherent coldness to it and which transfers so well to the page.

Sometimes when you come late to a series with established characters, there’s always the possibility that you miss something vital about them. It could be a touch, a glance, an inner dialogue that you don’t understand and which then doesn’t seem to work so well, however, I quickly became quite intuitive about Ari Thór, who seems to have a charming vulnerability which is as endearing as it is mesmerising and I feel that, even at the end of Night Blind that I don’t know him well enough and now fully intend to read Snow Blind to see where his character really begins.

So overall, Night Blind is a really good thriller. It’s a quick read, coming in at just over 200 pages, but such is the succinctness of its narrative that by the ending all has been said and done and there is no need for any superfluous waffle.  It must be also recognised that the story has been considerately translated by Quentin Bates.

Best Read.... with snacks of hardfiskur and shots of Brennivin, Iceland’s vodka-like firewater..

Night Blind is the sequel to Snow Blind (Dark Iceland Series)

Published on the 15th January 2016 by Orenda Books

 

My thanks to the author, Ragnar Jónasson and also to Karen at Orenda Books for their kind invitation to take part in this blog tour.




*Do visit the other stops on the tour*





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Review ~ Scarred for Life by Kerry Wilkinson

Jessica Daniel #9
Pan Macmillan
2015

This is now the second book that I have read by this talented author. The first book, for me, was book 8, so some of the characters in this, book 9, were familiar, and the addition of a couple of new people, add light and shade, to this dark and gritty crime story.

I read the book over the space of a few hours, quickly becoming familiar with the way Jessica operates, and the way in which the story is allowed to dominate without getting overly complicated by too much police procedure. As always, the story is fast and furious with more than enough grit and grime to keep my interest from start to finish. There are lots of red herrings and Jess and her team have problems aplenty in trying to solve the murder mystery at the heart of the novel which is dark and complex. I really enjoy the Mancunian background which is explored in fine detail. The city streets and places therein are familiar to me which, of course, adds special interest.

This is a worthy continuation of the series and I look forward to picking up the story again in book 10..

For Richer, For Poorer ~ Jessica Daniel #10 is due for publication in February 2016.

Best read with a paper cup of mediocre coffee and a, probably stale, take out tuna sandwich, wrapped in cling film..

About the Author

Find him on his website

or follow him on Twitter @kerrywk

My thanks to Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book.

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Review ~ I Let You Go by Clare Mackinstosh

Sphere
2014

Twisty, turny, full of surprises, I Let You Go grabs you by the hand and takes you on such an adventure that you are left gasping in more than one place.

When the book was first published, I remember reading the hype about it and people's reactions to it were, in the main, very favourable, and of course, everyone mentioned that 'gasp out loud' moment....which I did my best to avoid reading about as I didn't want to see any spoilers.  Now, call me an old cynic but I thought no ..I've seen it all before , nothing truly surprises me ....well...I have to say ..hands up, I was wrong,  this one did surprise me, and wow, did it work...

For no good reason , I had initially put this book on one side, I've  had my copy for ages. You know how it is, there always seemed to be something before it which looked more interesting! And then, on a cold and rather rain swept afternoon I started I Let You Go and believe me , I didn't let it go, until I had read the entire book in the space of a few hours.

So, rather beguilingly, I'm not going to say anything more about the plot, subplot, malice ,mayhem and all the deceit that takes place in this novel, as you really need to read it, without any plot spoilers from me...

I'll just say one thing, it's really very, very good...

Best read with creamy smooth, soya lattes and spicy teacakes....

About the Author

Find the author on her website

Follow her on Twitter @claremackinst0sh

Find her on Facebook

Amazon UK

~***~

Review ~ A Line of Blood by Ben McPherson

Harper Collins
August 2015

This disturbing story starts with an event that will have repercussions throughout the whole of the novel. When Alex Mercer finds his next door neighbour dead in the bath, at first his only thought is that his young son Max is with him, and that he has seen something that no seven year old should ever see.

What then follows is a intricately plotted and very suspenseful novel which has a dark and very disturbing edge to it. On the surface, Alex and his American wife, Millicent seem to be unconventional but caring parents , they have a chaotic and unsettling life and Max, very much centre of their attention, is chillingly mature beyond his years.

The murder mystery at the heart of the story, that of the neighbour in the bath, is handled well and there are moments when the story twists and turns in on itself, so that you are never really sure of what is happening. All the characters in the novel appear fatally flawed, and the idea of having so many unstable narrators is quite beguiling, as throughout the novel you never really know who is actually telling the truth.

I read the book quickly over the space of a couple of afternoons and overall, I found it to be an engrossing and entirely convincing murder mystery, the twist in the tale was handled really well and had me guessing right to the very end.

Amazon

About the author

Twitter@TheBenMcpherson

Ben McPherson was born in Glasgow and grew up in Edinburgh, but left Scotland when he was eighteen. He studied languages at Cambridge, then worked for many years in film and television in London. In 1998, after working a forty-eight-hour shift, he went for a drink at the Coach and Horses in Soho and met the woman he would go on to marry. Similarities to the characters in A Line of Blood end there.
Ben now lives in Oslo with his wife and their two sons. He is a columnist for Aftenposten, Norway's leading quality daily newspaper.

My thanks to to Harper Collins for my review copy of this story



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Review ~ Normal by Graeme Cameron

Mira
2015

I'm not sure I knew what to expect when I started to read this book about a serial killer. I'd read a few reviews that said they had found themselves laughing during reading it which I thought seemed entirely incongruous about a book about serial killing but in reality I found that some parts of the book were funny but I'm still not sure it was funny in a 'good way'.

The story is darkly observed, almost a definition of what can be classified as normal, It's well written, quirky , totally original and quite, quite different from the usual crime thriller genre.

I read it quickly which I think is the best way to deal with it. And don't think too deeply and don't try to rationalise something which is as entirely removed from normality, as it's possible to be.

My thanks to Mira and NetGalley for the chance to read something different. 



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Review ~ The Wronged by Kimberley Chambers

Harper Collins
March 2015

The Wronged follows on from where the last book, Payback ended. Vinny is struggling to come to terms with another family tragedy, whilst young Vinny, a definite chip of the old block is trying to hide deadly secrets of his own. When Vinny is imprisoned for the part he played in the murder of an old adversary, the family , now under the protection of the other brother Michael, needs to keep up the status quo. But old jealousies fester and even with Vinny banged up inside, Michael doesn't find that  his life is any easier without his older brother's constant criticism.

As always, the writing is absolutely first class. The story comes vividly to life in such a way that the book soon becomes unputdownable and whilst there is no doubt that the Butler Family rule the corner of their world with total violence and a disregard for convention, there is also a fascination to find out just what they will do next. Unmistakeably, violence and treachery go hand in hand and even though you know this is fiction, you can't help but be drawn into the gritty and unmistakeable world of the Butler family. Family secrets are exposed, new wrongs must be made right and  old enemies need to be made aware of who exactly is in charge.

If you like gritty, realism with a story that is filled to bursting with exciting sills and thrills and with a strong family at its heart, then this is one of those addictive stories which you can't really afford to miss out on.

About the Author

My thanks to Harper Collins for my copy of this book.



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Review ~ Significance by Jo Mazelis

2014
Seren

Lucy Swan is hoping for new beginnings; she has new clothes, an interesting hairstyle, and in an anonymous hotel room in a small northern French town, she hopes to reinvent herself. But this fresh start is tinged by tragedy, and unfortunately, Lucy never gets her fresh start. Her untimely death uncovers a web of interconnected stories, the significance of which only emerges as the story progresses.

In parts, this is a murder mystery, but underneath the sum of its parts it’s so much more than an investigation into a motiveless murder. It’s the story of how interrelated lives connect, maybe, sometimes on a superficial level, sometimes in a more complex way, but always with cause and effect which is at times quite profound.

Beautifully written and with fine attention to the more complex attitudes of life, the author manages very successfully to weave together a several stranded story without making the whole seem messy and over complicated. I enjoyed the character analysis of all those who come into connect with Lucy on her last, fateful, afternoon, and discovering the incongruent ties which bind them all together, makes for an interesting and very different sort of read.

If you like murder mysteries with an unusual twist, then Significance is certainly a story to consider.

About the author

Jo Mazelis is the author of short stories, non-fiction and poetry. Her collection of stories, Diving Girls (Parthian, 2002), was short-listed for the Commonwealth 'Best First Book' and Wales Book of the Year. Her second book, Circle Games(Parthian, 2005), was long-listed for Wales Book of the Year. Her stories and poetry have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in various anthologies and magazines, and translated into Danish.

Born and educated in Swansea Jo returned to her home town in 1991 after working in London for many years. During the 1980s she worked as a graphic designer, photographer and illustrator for the magazines City Limits, Women's Review, Spare Rib, Undercurrents, Everywoman and New Dance.

My thanks to the publishers Seren Books Books for my copy of this book.

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Review ~ The Indelible Stain by Wendy Percival

Silverwood Books
2014

Secrets from a tainted past....

Esme Quentin’s arrival on the North Devon coast is spoiled by the ghastly discovery of a fatally injured woman lying on the beach near Warren Cliff. What should be a pleasant interlude for Esme, helping out an old friend, soon becomes a convoluted and complex quest to find out more about the identity of the ill-fated woman. Even though the local police dismiss the woman’s death as an unfortunate accident, Esme is convinced that there is more to this mysterious accident and her intuitive form of investigation soon uncovers a tangled web of secrets and lies spanning multi generations.

This well written murder mystery, not only concentrates on the here and now, but also takes the reader on a journey of discovery into the tainted past of Britain’s brutal transportation system, when people were transported to the penal colony of Australia for little more than stealing a loaf of bread. The mystery at the heart of the novel takes some uncovering, but Esme does so with her usual confidence and tenacity. As always the fine writing of the author and the attention she pays to the smallest of details really helps to bring the story alive in the imagination. I was totally involved in Esme’s quest to uncover the truth and the many twists and turns in the plot really focus the novel so that it becomes an investigative challenge to piece together all the strands of the mystery.

Having been introduced to Esme Quentin for the first time in Blood Tied, it was a real pleasure to meet up with her again in another well written murder/mystery story. It’s rather like meeting up with an old friend whose life is rather more exciting than your own and in whose company you can sit back, relax, grab a cup of your favourite tea and just let the mystery unfold.

I can’t wait to see what Esme will do next.

My thanks to the author for sharing her book with me.

Wendy Percival

Twitter @Wendy_Percival

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Review ~ Black's Creek by Sam Millar

Brandon Books
An imprint of O'Brien
2014

A powerful and atmospheric coming of age story....

A trio of young boys, skinny dipping in Jackson’s Lake in upstate New York, witness a tragic  event which has a devastating effect, not just on the boys, but also on the rest of the small community of Black’s Creek. As the novel gets underway, the tone is dark and brooding, and you soon begin to realise that there are dangerous secrets to be uncovered, and as the insidious feeling of menace creeps ever deeper, the threat of danger soon gets right under your skin and enters into your bones.

Beautifully atmospheric, the unfolding story is hauntingly realistic and the sparseness of the narrative only emphasises the stark reality of the story. The writing is imaginative and well conceived; the author captures perfectly the brooding nature of small town America, a place where resentment lingers and long held grudges are allowed to fester and grow.

I read the book quickly. It very soon becomes a compelling page turner and the need to know just how the story would eventually be played out kept me turning the pages long into the night. This is the first book of Sam Millar’s that I have read and whilst I'm not sure that this dark and brooding gothic noir is to my taste, I can’t deny that his legions of fans will love it.

And just to be absolutely sure ~ this is a stand-alone novel and not part of Millar’s best selling Kane Series.

Amazon UK

My thanks to Real Readers and O’Brien for my review copy of this book.

About the Author

An author interview with ...R M Cartmel

R.M. Cartmel has been a writer one way or another since being a medical student at Oxford. He wrote his first (still unpublished) novel back in 1975 but it wasn't until he retired after a long career as a GP that he decided to dedicate himself full-time to the creation of crime fiction.

The Richebourg Affair, published on 30th July 2014, is the first of a trilogy set in and around Nuits-Saint Georges following the acute if rumpled Inspector Truchaud of the French police as he pursues fraudsters, murderers and gangsters over the course of a winemaking year in the vineyards of Burgundy.

Hello and welcome to Jaffareadstoo....

Where did you get the first flash of inspiration for The Richebourg Affair?

In the Café du Centre in Nuits-Saint-Georges. Well to absolutely accurate sitting on my own under a parasol outside dipping a late breakfast coffee, about ten years ago. ‘Inspector Truchaud’ walked, fairly fully formed into my imagination. Certainly he was wearing the trench coat at the time. The Richebourg plot came somewhat later, when I realised that if I was going to use my creation, he needed to actually do something. At the end of June 2012, when I retired from practicing medicine, I headed straight to Nuits-Saint-Georges to find out why he had been sitting in the Café du Centre. This involved talking to a lot of people to start with. Initially I was asking exactly where I might put an extra ‘imaginary’ village, not exactly asking for permission, but had they got an idea where that terroir might work. This question got a universally goggle eyed response, ‘Why do you want to build another village? Haven’t we got enough villages here for you already?’ But in among those conversations the idea of how one could tell a truly great wine valued at thousands of pounds a bottle, from a thunderously good one valued in the hundreds, and how often one might get the opportunity to compare the two. And from there the story started to emerge.

What can you tell us about the story, which will pique the reader’s interest?

What triggered me to write it was the fact that I was looking to read a novel set in Present Day Burgundy, a part of France that drags me back there so very often, and it’s not just the wine, the cuisine and the people, although they contribute, it is the ambience of the place, that screams ‘home’ at me when I arrive, even though I am rarely there for more than a few days at a time. I could not find the book I wanted to read be it in English or French, so it became obvious to me that was the book I was going to write. The second thing I knew that it had to be was technically correct, especially as it was now going to be geographically correct. I settled down with various wine makers and talked about the culture of grapes and wine, quite often over a cup of tea. (Really!) We-e-ell after a while, glasses appeared and that was followed by the evocative sound of a cork being pulled, and the soft tone of wine hitting the bottom of a glass, and then the sniff of a well aimed proboscis doing its business above the level of fluid in the glass.

In the book, as well as the detection, there is also a celebration of the pastoral life in this part of France, how and why is it liked that, and a certain amount of discussion of how it got that way.

   

Do you outline the plot first, or do you let the story go wherever it takes you?

I think it would be impossible to start without a basic concept of what the book is about, but, to misquote Sue Grafton from a mystery writers’ conference in Monterey CA this spring, ‘If you say your book is about murder and detection, I will hit you upside your head’. So I wrote down, maybe half a page to a page of concept to set Truchaud on his way, and settled down to see what happened. This did lead me to a variety of dead ends, which then required me to take control and steer the book back on track, until the boko and I agreed one what might be the finished article. Then we launched the editing team at it! There are some interesting characters who got lost on the journey, but they may yet reappear in the future, and they are still ‘on file’ so to speak.

Do you ever base your characters on people you know?

There are a couple of ‘real people’ in ‘Richebourg’, and they actually appear as themselves. David Clark, who helped an enormous amount with the viticulture side of the book, appears as himself. Also Madame Tournier who runs the Café du Centre in Nuits-Saint-Georges is the same Madame Tournier who actually runs the Café du Centre in the middle of Nuits-Saint-Georges. Otherwise no, the characters are real to the book, although they of course obey the laws of physics the same as the rest of us.

 What do you think makes a good fictional villain?

Surely a good fictional villain is someone you don’t’ see coming. If it was blindingly obvious who did it, then surely if you were writing a ‘whodunnit it would be a dull affair. If you’re writing some other fiction about crime, then the villain must fit the story. Ask me the same question in a couple of years’ time when I have written another two or three, and I may have a better answer!

When can we expect to see book two of the trilogy?

Sometime in February 2015. The first draft is completed and being pursued by the editing team as I write this. It will be tossed back and forwards between us being polished up into a glossy sheen, while I get on with the third book in the sequence, which I have already started writing, and will be spending most of September researching the ‘Vintage’ (It’s a hard life, doing this sort of research).

 Thank you so much for spending time with us and for sharing your thoughts on 

The Richebourg Affair.

Jaffa and I wish you continuing success.



My thanks to the author for sharing his work with us and Fiona at Love PR London for arranging this interview.


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