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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Blog Tour : Little Black Lies ~ Sharon Bolton

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be part of  Sharon Bolton's

Little Black Lies Blog Tour

29th June - 10th July

 

Sharon ~ A huge welcome to Jaffareadstoo and thanks for inviting us to be part of this exciting blog tour....

Where did you get the first flash of inspiration for Little Black Lies?

Books can be years in the making, and Little Black Lies was no exception. I can probably trace back its conception several years to a number of events: a dreadful car accident on the outskirts of Oxford in which several children were killed. Meeting a woman in my village who’d never recovered from the loss of her husband and children, also in a RTA, a couple of decades earlier. And then a random thought as I was out walking the dog one day: could three people, credibly, confess to the same crime?

Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about the story?

When a small child goes missing, the people of the Falkland Islands want to believe it a terrible accident. But this is the third child to vanish in as many years. And then a fourth…Three islanders, Catrin, her ex lover, Callum and former best friend Rachel are drawn into the hunt for the missing boys. But each of the three is hiding secrets. None of them can be trusted.

The stark beauty of the Falkland Islands has a central role in Little Black Lies. What made you choose this location and how did you research the island?

A tight-knit, preferably closed, community was essential to make this story work and islands, especially remote ones, are perfect. I was looking for an island setting that hadn’t been used before and, to the best of my knowledge, the Falkland Islands hasn’t. Researching the islands was a lot easier than it would have been a decade ago, because the Falklanders have embraced social media and there are lots of blogs, websites and Twitter accounts that I could follow. As well as the more usual reading, of course.

Whilst you are writing you must live with your characters. How do you feel about them when the book is finished? Are they who you expected them to be?

I tend not to have a very strong picture of my characters when I set out. I let them be defined by the story – in how they react to events, how they interact with each other. I enjoy the freedom of this approach, especially as characters rarely turn out exactly as I intended. Often, they are quite different, and as a result, so is the story.

What do you enjoy most about writing stories and do you write for yourself, or other people?

Both, in that I write the sort of stories I would most love to read, if anyone else were writing them; to that extent, I’m writing primarily for myself. But a huge amount of effort, mine and that of others, goes into a finished book. I wouldn’t put myself through that if I didn’t think a few other people would read and enjoy it.

Can you tell us what you are writing next?

A very dark love story, about a true-crime author, and a convicted murderer.

More about Sharon can be found on her website

Follow her on Twitter @authorsjbolton

My thanks to  Alison Barrow and  Becky Hunter at Transworld for their generous invitation to be part of this exciting blog tour. And of course, to Sharon  for giving so generously of her time.

Please take a look at the other blogs taking part in this tour for more exciting blog tour content

**Little Black Lies is published today**

2nd July

Taught.  Tight.  Tremendous. 

These are the three little words that summarise, for me, Little Black Lies.

Taught, a lesson in the capriciousness of human nature. It's about how we can be taught lessons about life and that no matter how well we think we know ourselves, fate can easily overwhelm us, leaving us floundering in a dark place of despair. We can be consumed by grief and isolated in our loneliness, or we can rise above it and look to the future.

Tight, because the narrative is well controlled and purposeful. There are no superfluous words, no wasted moments, no unnecessary dialogue and no reason to put down the book once you start reading. The story is both bright and shiny as a new penny and dark as the pits of hell. It shows the both the best and the worst of people in the saddest of circumstances and gives us characters who are so realistic they really could be people you know. They are all superbly flawed, quite delicately drawn and ultimately, as you will discover, they are all going to be entirely responsible for their own actions.

Tremendous, storytelling from beginning to end. The Falkland Island comes alive in such glorious detail that I feel like I have steered a boat through the sheltered waters of Port William, travelled the island’s rough terrain with Callum and ridden my horse to the cliff edge with Rachel. I’ve stopped for coffee at Bob-Cats and listened to Rob Duncan on Falkland Island radio.  But more than any other thing I have walked every step of the story in Catrin’s shoes. Her story draws you in and she reaches out to you. She is both enticing as a kitten and as fierce as a snared animal. You hurt with her. You feel with her, and ultimately, you believe in her so much, that you really don’t want the story to end.

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Review ~ A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton

Random House UK, Transworld Publishers
2014

It would seem that Lacey Flint has a morbid fascination for water and for the River Thames in particular. Her current penchant for wild water swimming in the gloomy waters of the Thames leads her to a gruesome discovery which will take her into the very dark and twisted world of missing women. Attached as she is to the marine police division Lacey should really know to leave the investigative policing to her detective colleagues, but from necessity Lacey and her nemesis, Dana Tulloch, have to join forces in order to plunge, quite literally, into the murky depths that hide beneath the waters of the hidden creeks and wharfs of London’s ancient river.

As we have come to expect from a Sharon Bolton novel, the action is fast and furious. No stone is left unturned and no detail is left unexamined and as always, the deeper into the story you venture, the more questions are left unanswered. Lacey commands your attention, she is the quintessential enigma. She has so many layers it’s like peeling an onion to reach into her heart and soul, and truthfully, I’m not convinced that we will ever truly find out what make this complex young woman tick. Her heart, as always, remains hidden, but at least in this story, she is granted a very short respite, with a couple of tender moments, which make you hope that one day she’ll be able to find some sort of comfort.

Maintaining a long running crime series requires investment both from the author and the reader and a real emotional bond needs to develop between the characters. There is no doubt that Sharon Bolton has created in Lacey Flint one of crimes most unfathomable protagonists, whose multi layered character really does drive forward these novels to such a degree that as I turn the last page and read the last word, I am already longing for the story to be continued in the not too distant future.

My thanks to NetGalley for my review copy of A Dark and Twisted Tide.

Published by Random House UK, Transworld publishers in May 2014.

About the Author

http://www.sjbolton.com/