Blog Tour ~ From the Shadows by G R Halliday

 ✨✨ Happy Publication Day ✨✨

 From The Shadows 

Harvill Secker
18 April 2019

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book and the invitation to be part of the Blog Tour

A stunning, atmospheric police procedural set against the grit of Inverness and the raw beauty of the Scottish Highlands, this is the first book in the DI Monica Kennedy series. 

Sixteen-year-old Robert arrives home late. Without a word to his dad, he goes up to his bedroom. Robert is never seen alive again.

A body is soon found on the coast of the Scottish Highlands. Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy stands by the victim in this starkly beautiful and remote landscape. Instinct tells her the case won’t begin and end with this one death. 

Meanwhile, Inverness-based social worker Michael Bach is worried about one of his clients whose last correspondence was a single ambiguous text message; Nichol Morgan has been missing for seven days.

As Monica is faced with catching a murderer who has been meticulously watching and waiting, Michael keeps searching for Nichol, desperate to find him before the killer claims another victim.

My thoughts..

DI Monica Kennedy is the lead detective in the hunt for a killer who seems to be targeting young boys but with very few clues to go on she and her team have to work really quickly in order to piece together the few clues they have. However, the deeper they get into the enquiry and the more questions the investigation throws up, especially when social worker, Michael Bach, gets involved and secrets from the past start to be revealed.

This new police procedural series gets off to a tense and dramatic start and right from the beginning of the investigation the shadow of an ever present danger pulls you into the centre of the action. Of course with any new series there’s a certain amount of getting to know the characters and this team all have of the individual quirks which makes a team interesting, but even as they work well together there are certain tensions which threaten to engulf them. Our initial introduction to DI Monica Kennedy shows that whilst she’s no push-over she’s also quite vulnerable and this flaw in her personality is interesting to observe as it allows her to sometimes make some questionable decisions.

The story moves along at a rapid pace but it’s not all plain sailing for the investigative team as things get more and more complicated. The author writes well using the remoteness of the Scottish landscape to give the story its dark edginess, and there are more than enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing right until the end. 

From The Shadows is an commendable debut by a talented new crime voice and it is an interesting start to what, I am sure, will become a compelling police procedural series.

About the Author

G.R.HALLIDAY was born in Edinburgh and grew up near Stirling in Scotland. He spent his childhood obsessing over the unexplained mysteries his father investigated, which has proved excellent inspiration for From the Shadows. He now lives in the rural Highlands outside of Inverness, where he is able to pursue his favourite pastimes of mountain climbing and swimming in the sea, before returning home to his band of semi-feral cats.

Twitter @gr_halliday #FromTheShadows

@HarvillSecker

Blog Tour ~ Sticks and Stones by Jo Jakeman

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Happy Publication  Day
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Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting today's stop on the Sticks and Stones Blog Tour

Harvill Secker
12 July 2018

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book and the invitation to be part of the blog tour

What's it all about..

Imogen’s husband is a bad man.

His ex-wife and his new mistress might have different perspectives but Imogen thinks she knows the truth. And now he’s given her an ultimatum: get out of the family home in the next fortnight or I’ll fight you for custody of our son.

In a moment of madness, Imogen does something unthinkable: she locks her husband in the cellar. Now she’s in control. But how far will she go to protect her son and punish her husband? And what will happen when his ex and his girlfriend get tangled up in her plans?

And here's what I thought about it..

In what seems like a moment of complete madness, Imogen locks her ex-husband, Philip, in the cellar. That this act is done in haste doesn't lessen the impact of why she felt compelled to take this action in the first place. However, as Sticks and Stones unfolds, the reasons for this deadly drama starts to take shape, and as the story deepens, so more and more secrets about Philip Rochester start to emerge.

This is one of those tense and nail bitingly complex psychological suspense stories which grabs your attention right from the start, and whilst I couldn't always rationalise Imogen's behaviour, I could appreciate why Imogen, and later, Ruby and Naomi, two of Philip's other wives, acted in the way that they did. Looking at abuse, even in a fictional format, is never easy, and I think this story highlights just how desperate people can become when they have reached the limit of their endurance.

The author writes well and makes her characters feel totally authentic, and even though there were times when some of the action caused me to suspend belief, I couldn't help but become completely immersed in the way that the three women reacted to the situation. I was, very quickly, absolutely engrossed in this complicated story about the ultimate revenge.

The domestic noir genre is very popular and to stand out from the rest each new title has to offer something different, I think in Sticks and Stones, this debut author has succeeded in giving us a really innovative story, something which has a real edginess to it and which is both disturbing and utterly compelling, a real page-turner!

About the Author

JO JAKEMAN was the winner of the Friday Night Live 2016 competition at the York Festival of Writing. Born in Cyprus, she worked for many years in the City of London before moving to Derbyshire with her husband and twin boys. Sticks and Stones is her debut thriller.

Twitter @jojakemanwrites #SticksandStones

@Harvill Secker

@DeadGoodBooks

Blog Tour ~ The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware

 Jaffareadstoo is thrilled to be hosting today's final stop 


on The Death of Mrs Westaway Blog Tour

Harvill Secker
28 June 2018

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book and the invitation to be part of the blog tour 

What's the book all about...

When Harriet Westaway receives an unexpected letter telling her she’s inherited a substantial bequest from her Cornish grandmother, it seems like the answer to her prayers. She owes money to a loan shark and the threats are getting increasingly aggressive: she needs to get her hands on some cash fast. 

There's just one problem - Hal's real grandparents died more than twenty years ago. The letter has been sent to the wrong person. But Hal knows that the cold-reading techniques she’s honed as a seaside fortune teller could help her con her way to getting the money. If anyone has the skills to turn up at a stranger's funeral and claim a bequest they’re not entitled to, it’s her. 

Hal makes a choice that will change her life for ever. But once she embarks on her deception, there is no going back. She must keep going or risk losing everything, even her life…

What did I think about it..

When Harriet ‘Hal’ Westaway receives a letter telling her that she is a beneficiary in her grandmother’s will, it takes her completely by surprise as the Mrs Westaway named in the letter cannot possibly be Hal’s grandmother. But without money, and being chased by loan sharks, Hal decides to take a chance and see what the proposed inheritance entails. Travelling to Trepassen House in Cornwall is the start of a momentous journey for Hal which will change her life forever.

The shadowy nature of the house comes alive, not just from the tip tap of the elderly housekeeper’s walking stick, and her malevolent attitude to the Westaways, but also from the cawing and muttering of the mischief of magpies who sit ominously watching from the rooftop of Trepassen House. The whole scene is set for a stunning and deliciously creepy family drama, which has all the hallmarks of this author’s special skill of bringing the disturbing to life.

There are many secrets at Trepassen House and all are beautifully revealed in story which will have you gripped from the very beginning. There is so much to learn, not just about Hal, whose character grows stronger and stronger as the story progresses, but also about the Westaways themselves, this mysterious family, for whom, at first, Hal feels no sense of familial connection.

Such is the pull of this dark mystery that even from beyond the grave the secrets that this dysfunctional family have kept so securely hidden have such a devastating effect that even the tarot cards, which Hal so cleverly controls, could never have predicted just what's hidden away at Trepassen House. 

There is such a visual quality to this dark story, that I can, very easily, see The Death of Mrs Westaway being translated to film or television. I read the story, quite transfixed, over the space of an afternoon, as I quite simply couldn’t put the book down. 

About the Author

Ruth Ware is an international number one bestseller. Her first two thrillers, In a Dark, Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10 were smash hits and appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the Sunday Times and the New York Times. The film rights to both books have been optioned and she is published in more than 40 countries. Ruth lives near Brighton with her family

Website

Twitter @ruthwarewriter #MrsWestaway

@HarvillSecker

@DeadGoodBooks

Amazon UK