Blog Tour ~ Those Who Know by Alis Hawkins

 

Thrilled to be part of this Blog Tour

 

Dome Press

Teifi Valley Coroner #3

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

Harry Probert-Lloyd has inherited the estate of Glanteifi and appointed his assistant John as under-steward. But his true vocation, to be coroner, is under threat. Against his natural instincts, Harry must campaign if he is to be voted as coroner permanently by the local people and politicking is not his strength.

On the hustings, Harry and John are called to examine the body of Nicholas Rowland, a radical and pioneering schoolteacher whose death may not be the accident it first appeared. What was Rowland’s real relationship with his eccentric patron, Miss Gwatkyn? And why does Harry’s rival for the post of coroner deny knowing him? Harry’s determination to uncover the truth threatens to undermine both his campaign and his future.

What did I think about it..

In this third book in the Teifi Valley Coroner series, Harry Probert-Lloyd remains acting coroner for the Teifi valley, however, plans are afoot to make this position permanent. Harry along, with his assistant, John Davies, have little time for campaigning, or the machinations of local politics, especially when there is the suspicious death of a local school teacher to investigate.

From the very start of this complex investigation it would seem that all is not well in this corner of rural Wales and both Harry and John must face local prejudice, and opposition, before they can get the answers they seek into the mystery surrounding John Rowland's untimely death. As always, the author creates a strong sense of atmosphere and in Those Who Know there is a dark shadow of foreboding as right from the start there is an inkling that there is something suspicious about the teacher's death which doesn't add up, and as the investigation gets under way there are more questions unearthed than there are answers. 

I enjoy this feisty investigative partnership very much as both Harry Probert-Lloyd and John Davies bring their own unique strengths to the narrative. It's always interesting to see just how well they work together, as Davies is not only Harry Probert's eyes but is also, at times, his conscience, I really enjoy their individual chapters which help to bring their distinct personalities to life. It was especially interesting to have a set of strong female characters take centre stage, especially the two friends, Nan Walters and Ruth Enyon, and the enigmatic, Phoebe Gwatkyn of Alltybela, as they each have their own specific roles to play in the story.

I've now followed this series from the beginning and whilst each book can be read as a standalone I do think that it makes more sense to read the books in order, as not only do you get to to know and appreciate just how much work the author puts into fine detailing her characters, but there's also a strong, and fascinating, sense of Welsh history, which the author puts into perspective in a clear and well ordered way. 

I think that Those Who Know is a fine addition to this continuing series, and I am sure that this talented author will make sure that are more adventures to come for this intrepid investigative duo. 

About the Author

Alis Hawkins grew up on a dairy farm in Cardiganshire. After attending the local village primary school and Cardigan County Secondary school, she left West Wales to read English at Oxford. Subsequently, she has has done various things with her life, including becoming a speech and language therapist, bringing up two sons, selling burgers, working with homeless people, and helping families to understand their autistic children. And writing. Always. Nonfiction (autism related), plays (commissioned by heritage projects) and, of course, novels. Alis’s first novel, Testament, was published in 2008 by Macmillan and was translated into several languages. (It has recently been acquired for reissue, along with her medieval trilogy of psychological thrillers by Sapere Books).

Her current historical crime series featuring blind investigator Harry Probert-Lloyd and his chippy assistant, John Davies, is set in Cardiganshire in the period immediately after the Rebecca Riots. As a side effect of setting her series there, instead of making research trips to sunny climes like more foresighted writers, she just drives up the M4 to see her family. Now living with her partner on the wrong side of the Welsh/English border (though she sneaks back over to work for the National Autistic Society in Monmouthshire) Alis speaks Welsh, collects rucksacks and can’t resist an interesting fact.

Twitter @Alis_Hawkins #ThoseWhoKnow

@DomePress

Website

Blog Tour ~ The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway

🌠 Delighted to be hosting the first stop on this blog tour on Publication Day 🌠

The Dome Press
2 April 2020

My thanks to the publishers and the author for my invitation to be part of this tour
and their kind permission to share an extract from The Last Crossing

Tony, Hugh and Karen thought they’d seen the last of each other thirty years ago. Half a lifetime has passed and memories have been buried. But when they are asked to reunite - to lay ghosts to rest for the good of the future - they all have their own reasons to agree. As they take the ferry from Northern Ireland to Scotland the past is brought in to terrible focus - some things are impossible to leave behind.

In The Last Crossing memory is unreliable, truth shifts and slips and the lingering legacy of the Troubles threatens the present once again.

✯ Here's a tantalising extract from The Last Crossing ✯

Martin Kelly cried for his mother before he died. 

His face was glazed with tears, his mouth a grotesque O as first he pleaded for his life and, when it became clear that they would not listen to him, called for his mother. Stripped naked, he knelt in the grave they had already dug for him. The light of the torch Tony held caught the shiny skin of the scar on his lower abdomen where he’d had his appendix out, standing out against the lividity of the bruising he carried there, his phallus shrivelled amongst the dark of his pubis, at the outer edges of the glare.

Tony had wanted to cover him up, give him his coat to offer him some dignity, but Hugh had refused. He was aware of Karen next to him, her breathing quick and shallow as she watched the black plastic bag of Martin’s clothes, which they had stripped from him, twisted in her grip.

Martin held out his bound hands in supplication, looking from one face to the next. ‘It wasn’t me,’ he said. ‘I didn’t do it.’

‘You’re a liar,’ Hugh spat.

‘I’m not,’ Martin sobbed. ‘I swear on me mother, I’m not.’

‘And you knew what would happen.’

It was then that Martin broke down, his body wracked with sobs that turned to retching. He vomited onto himself, half choking on it, the bile and saliva hanging in a lace from his chin to his chest. He made no effort to wipe it away. 

‘Fuck this,’ Hugh said, moving forward, raising his pistol.

‘Tell me mother - ‘

The shot reverberated through the trees, which came instantly alive, cacophonous as a murder of crows took wing against the evening sky. 

Martin twisted with the shot, his body thudding against the edge of the grave they had dug. Hugh moved across and, with his toe, pushed him down into the gaping space, before firing three more shots in quick succession, each one momentarily illuminating the still white body where it lay, the red wounds flowering as the blood unfurled with each shot. 

‘Get those clothes burned,’ Hugh ordered, glancing at Karen. ‘You,’ he added, looking at Tony, ‘grab a spade and get shovelling.’

© Brian McGilloway

About the Author

Brian McGilloway is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Inspector Benedict Devlin and DS Lucy Black series.

He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. After studying English at Queen’s University, Belfast, he took up a teaching position in St Columb’s College in Derry, where he was Head of English until 2013. He currently teaches in Holy Cross College, Strabane.

Brian’s work has been nominated for, and won, many awards, including Borderlands (shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger), Gallows Lane (shortlisted for both the 2009 Irish Book Awards / Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year and Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2010), and Little Girl Lost (winner of the University of Ulster’s McCrea Literary Award 2011).

In 2014, Brian won BBC NI’s Tony Doyle Award for his screenplay, Little Emperors, an award which saw him become Writer In Residence with BBC NI

Brian lives near the Irish borderlands with his wife, daughter and three sons.

Website

Twitter @BrianMcgilloway

@DomePress

📖 Blog Tour ~ Payback by R C Bridgestock

📖 Thrilled to be part of the Blog Tour for this exciting new crime series 📖 

The Dome Press
January 2020
DI Charley Mann #1

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

Charley Mann left Yorkshire for the Met and a fast-track career - but now she’s back, she’s in charge and the area’s first young, female DI. 

Her hometown, the Yorkshire countryside, and her old friends all seem unchanged but appearances can be deceptive. 

When a brutal murder is discovered, Charley is forced to question everything, and the interest of her ex - reporter Danny Ray - doesn’t make it easier.

📖 What did I think about it..

I tend to pick up a new crime series with something akin to trepidation as I have such high hopes and hate being let down. However, I knew, with absolute certainty, that anything new from this talented husband and wife duo was never going to let me down and, true enough, Payback is every bit as exciting as I expected.

Having spent four years away in the Met, Charley Mann has recently been promoted to Detective Inspector and is invited to head up an investigative team back in her home town of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. However, Charley's appointment as the first young female DI is not without its difficulties and she has much to prove to those who would see her fail at her first murder investigation. So when she is thrown in at the deep end with a complex case, on her very first day,  Charley soon realises that being back home, with all of its associated memories, is never going to be straightforward.

Charley is a great protagonist, she'e feisty, tough as her proverbial wellington boots, and yet she also has both a dark edge and a vulnerable side which I found intriguing. That she doesn't suffer fools is eloquently shown in the way that she immediately sets to knocking her team into shape and I especially enjoyed the banter between the detectives as they go about piecing together the clues of this complex police procedural. The pace is fast and furious and there's plenty of action to keep the tension cranked up to high so that it soon becomes a real page turner of a crime investigation.

It must be said that this writing duo have all the necessary credentials to bring a modern day police department to life. They speak from their respective experiences as both a serving police officer and a police civilian supervisor so there is never a moment when the authenticity dips or becomes less than absolutely believable. I love how they introduce their characters with such realism as people with faults and failings, especially Charley, who has, it appears, so many secrets in her past that discovering them as the series progresses is going to be absolutely fascinating.

Payback is a dark and gritty start to what, I am sure, will be a tense and dramatic series. I'm already looking forward to seeing where the authors are going to go next with DI Charley Mann.

Recommended : Absolutely, if you enjoy gritty police procedurals with a feisty female lead detective  ✔

About the Author

Bob was a highly commended career detective of 30 years, retiring at the rank of Detective Superintendent. During his last three years, he took charge of 26 murders, 23 major incidents, over 50 suspicious deaths and numerous sexual assaults. He was also a trained hostage negotiator with suicide interventions, kidnap, terrorism and extortion. Bob was seconded to a protracted enquiry investigating alleged police corruption in another force. He worked on the Yorkshire Ripper and Sarah Harper murder, and received praise from Crown Court Judges and Chief Constables alike for outstanding work at all ranks, including winning the much-coveted Dennis Hoban Trophy. 

As a police civilian supervisor, Carol also received a Chief Constable’s commendation for outstanding work. 

The couple are the storyline consultants / police procedural on BAFTA-winning BBC1 police drama Happy Valley and series 3 of ITV’s Scott and Bailey, and are presently working with Scott Free Production scriptwriters on two commissioned TV drama series. 

The couple pride themselves on being up-to-date on past and present day UK police procedures, and as a result, Bob is regularly sought by UK television, radio and national and local newspapers for comment on developing major crime incidents etc. They have also taken part in BBC Radio 4 (Steve) PUNT P.I. 

Carol and Bob are also patrons and ambassadors for several charities.

Website

Twitter @RCBridgestock #Payback

@TheDomePress

Review ~ In Two Minds by Alis Hawkins

The Dome Press
2 May 2019

Teifi Valley Coroner #2

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

Harry Probert-Lloyd, a young barrister forced home from London by encroaching blindness, has begun work as the acting coroner of Teifi Valley with solicitor's clerk John Davies as his assistant.

When a faceless body is found on an isolated beach, Harry must lead the inquest. But his dogged pursuit of the truth begins to ruffle feathers. Especially when he decided to work alongside a local doctor with a dubious reputation and experimental theories considered radical and dangerous. Refusing to accept easy answers might not only jeopardise Harry's chance to be elected coroner permanently but could, it seems implicate his own family in a crime.

My thoughts..

Those who have read the first book in the Teifi Valley Coroner series will be familiar with lead characters, Harry Probert-Lloyd and his assistant Harry Davies, and in this second book we meet up with them again just as Harry has taken over the role of acting Coroner for this corner of rural Wales. When a body of a man is found washed up on the beach, it's not only his horrific injuries which causes problems but also Harry's involvement in the investigation upsets a few people as not everyone approves of the way he is conducting the enquiry. 

In Two Minds has a really authentic feel and cleverly combines both history and mystery in a story which is filled with lots of twists and turns. I like the way that the author gives us both Harry's and John's views in individual chapters which, sort of, reiterates the two minds of the title, and shows us that Harry and John's relationship is still evolving. The story also highlights the dilemma of those people who are eking out a living in struggling rural communities, and who are undecided about their future in Wales, and for some the prospect of emigration to America is a real possibility.

The author writes well and continues to pay close attention to historical detail. I can definitely see a lovely progression with both Harry and John's characters and I enjoy the way they work together, not always seeing eye to eye, especially with John's burning resentment towards his lowly station in life, and Harry's growing discomfort at being from the local gentry. 

Whilst this is the second book in the series it is perfectly possible to read it as an enjoyable standalone historical mystery. The author includes references to Harry and John's background which makes it easier to pick up on their relationship and we get to know the reasons why Harry relies on John in certain situations.

I can only see this series going from strength to strength and I look forward to meeting up with Harry Probert-Lloyd and John Davies in future Teifi Valley Coroner stories.

About the Author

Alis Hawkins grew up on a dairy farm in Cardiganshire. Her inner introvert thought it would be a good idea to become a shepherd and, frankly, if she had, she might have been published sooner. As it was, three years reading English at Corpus Christi College, Oxford revealed an extrovert streak and a social conscience which saw her train as a Speech and Language Therapist. She has spent the subsequent three decades variously bringing up two sons, working with children and young people on the autism spectrum and writing fiction, non-fiction and plays. She writes the kind of books she likes to read: character-driven historical crime and mystery fiction with what might be called literary production values.

Website

Twitter  @Alis_Hawkins #InTwoMinds

@DomePress

Blog Tour ~ Rocco and the Price of Lies by Adrian Magson

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

 Rocco and the Price of Lies Blog Tour with an exclusive interview with the author

Hi, Adrian and welcome back to Jaffareadstoo. Rocco and the Price of Lies is now the seventh book in your crime series set in 1960’s France. When you wrote the first book, Death on the Marais, did you expect to go on to write a long running series?

I certainly wanted to, but I wasn’t certain I could write a sequel until close to the end of the book. The characters seemed to mesh well, which was my green light to continue.

What can you tell us about this latest book that won’t give too much of the plot away?

Rocco is appointed by the Interior Ministry to investigate the suicide of a senior politician. (A blackmail letter indicates that the politician has been helping himself to government funds to buy a work of art). Rocco’s not convinced at first that it’s anything but what it seems. But another suicide and a third, each one with the same incriminating letter about purchased works of art and corruption. Ordered to get the investigation done quickly, Rocco suspects the government wants to cover up bad news. But he’s not one to brush anything under the carpet, and with the help of Detective René Desmoulins, rural policeman Claude Lamotte and, unusually, his usually frosty boss, Commissioner Francois Massin, he sets about narrowing down the source of the letters and the paintings. But in doing so he gets too close to some people who decide to stop the investigation in its tracks.

Inspector Lucas Rocco is the main protagonist of your novels, what can you tell us about him, and have you noticed any changes in his character since the start of the series?

Rocco is single, tall and tends to stand out as he favours smart clothes, a long, dark coat and a calm but firm manner. He’s an honest cop, used to fighting gang crime in Paris, but now posted – against his wishes - to Picardie in rural northern France to help spread investigative resources to the provinces. He doesn’t care for the suits in the Interior Ministry, and has a long-running prickly relationship with his boss, Massin, with whom he has history during France’s Vietnam campaign in the 1950s. But he’s determined to do his duty come what may, in the hopes that he can get posted back to Paris. 

Rocco has mellowed (slightly) since book 1, on his views of rural life, as he finds that crime here is just as dangerous as it is in the city, albeit less obvious. Welcomed to the village of Poissons-les-Marais by his neighbour Mme Denis, and the local rural cop, Lamotte, the villagers have come to mostly trust him after an in-built suspicion of any city cop in their midst. He trusts the people he works with, avoids Massin as much as possible because of their history, which wasn’t good - especially for Massin - and is in no hurry to settle down. But that doesn’t mean he won’t; he just has to find the right person.

The series has, so far, focused on quite a wide variety of crimes, what do you think makes a good fictional villain and detective?

Believability, I think. The cops are not supermen or women, the villains are bad, even dangerous, but have to be interesting in their badness. France is a large country and the resources for tracking criminals’ activities in the 1960s are slow, requiring a methodical approach and lots of patience. And Rocco has both. 

Where do you get your inspiration for the stories, and, as one book ends, do you already have the idea in place for a new story?

The crime has to be believable for the times and place. I try to use a backdrop of France in the 1960s (eg: the echoes of WW2 and France’s Vietnam conflict; the results of the country’s Algerian situation; the many assassination attempts on President de Gaulle; the battle between the police and the criminal gangs from overseas and the growing drugs trade. ‘Price of Lies’ is a slight departure in that art fraud and theft has been going on forever, but it seemed to me to offer Rocco a different - and interesting - kind of investigation to pursue.

I usually have a vague idea for the next book, and there are a couple of small fishes swimming about in the back of my brain at the moment. But if I tell you about them I’ll probably never write another word!

And finally what do you hope readers will take away from your Lucas Rocco crime novels?

First and foremost, entertainment. I want readers to enjoy Rocco and the setting, the other characters, good or bad, the same way I enjoy writing about them. I especially want them to believe in the world of rural France in the 1960s (where I went to school), when there were no mobile phones or computers, and limited forensic facilities. But that doesn’t mean the pace is slow; there’s plenty happening in Rocco’s world. 

More than anything I don’t want new potential readers to think this is going to be a French lesson (there’s very little French terminology), or a history lesson. This is a series of crime stories set in a part of France where Paris is another country to the locals, and where very little has changed since I was there a long time ago.

The Dome Press
25 April 2019

My thanks to the author and the publishers for my copy of the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

Murder by suicide? Three senior government officials - a judge, politician, and an ex-police chief - are all dead by their own hands. 

Inspector Lucas Rocco finds himself once more working for the Interior Ministry: undertaking an investigation meant to avoid a government scandal and ignoring unpalatable truths. He’s soon convinced that common denominator must be at play… 

Rocco uncovers top-level fraud, theft and deception. Resisting the demands to reach a rapid conclusion, and realising the deceptions go righto the top, soon Rocco finds himself targeted as someone who must be stopped - and by any means possible.

My thoughts..

In Rocco and the Price of Lies we meet up again with Inspector Lucas Rocco in 1960s France, and as this is now the sixth book in the series those who have followed from the beginning will understand just how this clever detective goes about solving the complex crimes which seem to come his way.

This story sees Rocco once again drafted in to help the Interior Ministry in a detailed investigation which delves deeper into the complicated world of fraud, theft and deception. Someone seems to be targeting senior officials who may, or may not, have some deadly secrets to hide. As always, Rocco gets right into the centre of the investigation and I enjoy observing his systematic approach to crime solving which is so cleverly reminiscent of a less technological age when detectives relied more on their instincts and good old fashioned sleuthing. 

There’s a complexity to this story which needs careful reading as there is much to take in but the author has a fine way of drawing in the reader so that even if you haven't read the other books in the series, it is entirely possible to enjoy this one as a standalone. The story is action packed and pacy and has more than enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. There's a real sense of menace especially when Rocco gets drawn into some dangerous situations.

The ending of the book is entirely fitting and I hope that it means we will see more Inspector Rocco adventures in further stories.

About the Author

Hailed by the Daily Mail as “a classic crime star in the making”, Adrian had written 21 crime and spy thriller books based around: Gavin & Palmer (investigative reporter Riley Gavin and ex-military policeman Frank Palmer; Harry Tate, ex-soldier and MI5 officer; Inspector Lucas Rocco; Marc Portman (The Watchman); investigators Ruth Gonzales and Andy Vaslik. Adrian also has hundreds of short stories and articles in national and international magazines to his name, plus a non-fiction work: Write On! - The Writer’s Help Book (Accent Press). Adrian lives in the Forest of Dean and rumours that he is building a nuclear bunker are unfounded. It’s a bird’s table.

Twitter@AdrianMagson1 #RoccoAndThePriceOfLies

@DomePress

Blog Tour ~ Poetic Justice by R C Bridgestock

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's stop on the Poetic Justice Blog Tour

The Dome Press
28 February

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

When Detective Jack Dylan heads home to his wife after a residential course, he has no idea that an extraordinary succession of events is about to turn his life upside down.

A vicious, unprovoked personal attack is just the start. The discovery of his wife’s death in a road accident also reveals her affair, and his step-daughter is being expelled from university for drug use. Professionally, two teenagers have gone missing and one is soon found dead.

An ordinary man might break under the strain, but Dylan is no ordinary man. He knows that his survival depends on him carrying-on regardless, burying himself in his work, relieved by the distraction of newcomer to the admin department, Jennifer Jones.

His determination to pursue the criminal elements behind the events – both personal and professional – is to be his salvation, and his relationship with Jen, his ‘Guardian Angel’, will turn out to be the mainstay of his future, both within the Force and at home.

Life may have changed, but nothing will stand in the way of Dylan’s determination to seek justice

On today's Blog Tour stop I'm delighted to be able to share

 this tantalising excerpt from Poetic justice

Frank Bland’s hand trembled as he fumbled for the phone. The receiver felt too heavy as he lifted it. His heart was pounding in his chest; his shoulders heaved with the effort of running; his legs felt like jelly. When he breathed in, the cold air froze his throat and lungs. Leaning heavily against the door, Frank dialled 999 and, while he waited for someone to answer, he closed his eyes and left a prayer on God’s answering machine. An angel in the mortal guise of a BT operator answered.

‘Emergency, which service please?’

Shock, it appeared, had rendered him dumb. The controller sought to get him to speak, listening all the while for background noises, ruling out a kid’s prank. Frank licked his lips; his tongue felt like sandpaper. 

‘Can you tell me your name? Where are you ringing from?’

When the line remained soundless the operator persisted. ‘Can you cough or make another audible sign to let me know that you are in need of assistance?’

He could see his breath spiral upwards out of his mouth. He tried, and tried again, but he couldn’t make a noise. A rush of adrenalin caused a burning sensation to run through his veins and, as his panic loomed larger, he could feel the perspiration run the length of his spine. 

The operator persisted. ‘Dial 55 if you are in danger.’

Fleetingly, Frank looked at his right hand, the skin pale grey in the moonlight that shone through the window of the call box. He was shaking, and not from the cold; sweat stuck his shirt to his back. He extended his quivering fingers and, as quickly as they’d allow, dialled 55.

The call was immediately transferred to the police operator. His voice was deep, calm and soothing, but at the same time authoritative, just what Frank needed at that moment. He felt the blood rush back to his brain and control come sliding in. 

‘If you’re in danger please dial a number,’ said the police operator.

Frank forced his voice out through his lips. His throat felt so constricted, he marvelled that he could breathe. His words came out in a rush, as if they’d been suppressed in a bubble. 

‘There’s been an accident. The car in front of me, it went off the road and vanished down the ravine.’

His frantic, breathless words, as the only witness on the road at the time heading in the same direction towards Harrowfield Town, were recorded.

When the police operator ended the call, Frank slammed the receiver down and, backing away, pushed the heavy red door open and went out into the darkness. As advised, he returned to the scene. 

He followed the reflective road studs that lined the sweeping highway, which weaved and stretched for miles ahead across the Pennines. The sky was clear and the moonlight softened the darkness. The mild, dry conditions were a complete contrast to the previous weekend, when winter had arrived overnight, as it often did in the north of England. It seemed too calm for what he had seen to be real.

Hands in his pockets, and still trembling from shock, he watched the hazard lights on his car flashing rhythmically. With only a little light from the sky, he stood on the grass verge, still struggling to believe what he had seen, and peered down into the blackness of the ravine. All was quiet and still. His heart was beating painfully fast in his chest, after the exertion of the uphill hike. He struggled to catch the tight, hard breaths inside him and forced them out slowly instead, to make himself calm down. 

He looked about him. The lights of the M62 were behind him, but neither they nor the reflective road studs were any use in his attempt to follow the numerous sheep tracks that led down into the abyss. If only he were younger and fitter, he’d have been down like a flash. He looked up to see a swirling shape appear, shimmering like the folds of a curtain in the sky, stirred by the wind in an eerie silence. But this was no divine intervention come to help those in the crash; it was smoke rising from the vehicle - a sign, he feared, of worse to come. 

Frank looked from left to right, unsure from which way the emergency services would come, straining to hear the sirens approaching, hoping and willing another vehicle to come along to bring him support on the isolated stretch of moorland road. He felt useless, he felt vulnerable, he felt extremely scared.

In the stillness, and with little else he could do, he berated himself for not listening to his daughter, who had begged him, on the death of his wife, to get a mobile phone. ‘What if the telephone box had been vandalised?’ he could hear her say. He shuddered to think what he would have done then.

My thoughts about POETIC JUSTICE..

It’s been a long time since I read a police procedural novel in one sitting but Poetic Justice has been such a great introduction into DI Jack Dylan’s world that I had difficulty leaving it for any longer than it took to make myself a restorative cup of tea, in my #Team Dylan Mug.

 

For those who have already read the series, this prequel into how Jack Dylan’s literary life began will be a lovely bonus as I am sure regular readers will already be acquainted with what makes this enigmatic Detective Inspector tick. However, for those readers, like me, who are completely new, this is a grand introduction to a series, which is, with the publication of Poetic Justice, already nine books in. I really can’t wait to get my hands on them all!

The story opens with a dreadful accident, the bleakness of the scene, and the only witness account as he telephones for help is quite chilling, bringing the cold air of a winter night sharply into focus. The results of this accident will have far reaching consequences, not just for the police team leading a complicated investigation, but also for Jack Dylan who is intimately involved with one of the accident victims.

Poetic Justice is not all about Jack Dylan, and even though he does play a major role in events there is a limit to just how much sadness one man can cope with, and Jack Dylan certainly has his share of heartache. So it was refreshing for the investigative team to have other cases to work on, and one involving a local children's home and two missing children adds an interesting complexity to an already complicated story line. As I would expect from two writers who have spent most of their time working within a major police force, the police procedural aspect is particularly well done. What comes across is the banter between colleagues, which is often jokey and irreverent but always clever and precise, showing just how the police service, when under pressure, allow the professional to take over from the personal.

I absolutely loved this story from start to finish and, I think, what struck me most as I read along was just how visual the story was, because even as the words were being processed in my brain, I already had a clear visual image of events, rather like I was watching a TV drama unfold.

Having read Poetic Justice, I have to say that Jack Dylan is now my new hero, and as the writers so cleverly maintain, “If you had to choose to be on anyone’s team, you’d want to be on Team Dylan any day of the week”....I couldn’t agree more!

About the Author

RC Bridgestock is the pen name of writing duo Carol and Bob Bridgestock. Between them they have nearly 50 years of high level experience in West Yorkshire Police. The couple are story-line consultants on Happy Valley and Scott and Bailey and appear regularly on TV, radio and in the press.

Website 

Twitter @RCBridgestock #TeamDylan

@DomePress

Amazon UK

Blog Tour ~ None So Blind by Alis Hawkins

On Hist Fic Saturday I am delighted 

 to host today's stop on the None So Blind Blog Tour and to welcome the author, Alis Hawkins

Hi Alis and a very warm welcome to Jaffreadstoo. 

Many thanks for hosting me at Jaffareadstoo, Jo – it’s such a pleasure to be here as part of None So Blind’s blog tour.

I write historical crime fiction because I’m fascinated by the nitty gritty of how people lived in the past. (And I’m talking about the real past, here, not the past as defined by Crime Writers Association rules. The CWA believes that any novel set more than thirty years before its publication date counts as historical which I find more than slightly alarming. How is 1988 suddenly history? But I digress.)

When you write historical fiction set well before the bounds of living memory, you have to be very aware of the constraints on your characters’ attitudes as well as their actions. You can’t just dress modern humans up in period clothes and move them about in the past; the people in your fiction have to reflect the actual experiences, world-view and understanding of their time.

I find that I’m constantly trying to distinguish between aspects of humanity that might be considered hard-wired (pesonality and emotional responses) and aspects that are simply circumstantial (attitudes and beliefs). It’s harder than it might sound, especially as current research in psychology suggests that very little is hard wired, that we’re all the product of the effects of our environment and our world view on our particular genetic makeup.

But one thing that does seem clear is that certain types of person have always existed. Warriors, dreamers, carers, tyrants, healers, poets, priests, peacemakers, disturbers of the peace... These archetypes are fundamentally human, they simply present themselves in different forms as the centuries go by.

And I’d add another to that list, a type that’s of particular interest to the crime writer. The psychopath.

Though a certain type of crime fiction has tended to promote the misleading belief that psychopath = serial killer, I’m interested in fiction that presents a more nuanced view. Patricia Highsmith’s Tom [The Talented Mr] Ripley, for instance, is a much more fascinating (and realistic) example of psychopathy; a superficially charming and engaging young man who slides through life, his path lubricated by amorality, spontaneity and clever manipulation.

The Ripleys of the world are both more intriguing and more troubling than the fictional Broadmoor candidate because they actually exist all around us. If we believe current estimates, at least one in a hundred people is a psychopath which means that even the least well-connected amongst us probably knows at least one. And I’m far more interested in writing about characters we can all recognise than in creating the kind of serial killing anomaly with whom we are colossally unlikely ever to come into contact.

Evidently, many authors feel the same because crime fiction is full of ‘one percent’ psychpaths. Think about it - anybody who takes the time to plan a murder and carries it out in cold blood must be well on the way to full-blown psychopathy. Most of us would turn into a gibbering wreck if we’d so much as killed somebody by accident, or in the heat of the moment; we would, very swiftly, either give ourselves up or give ourselves away. Not so the cool-headed, pathologically dishonest psychopath who feels no remorse at removing inconvenient people from their path.

But why are such manipulative and unfeeling people so popular in fiction? Is it really just because our fictional detectives need a credible and elusive bad guy to investigate? Because we’re happy to see them brought to justice at the end of the book as we finally see what repellent characters they are under their easy charm?

Perhaps the real reason is more subtle and more disturbing. Because, if we’re honest, psychopaths flaunt personality traits that we may find just a little bit attractive. They demonstrate a hunger for spontaneity and excitement, have an ability to create and project an utterly convincing persona, show a capacity to act swiftly and decisively without being weighed down by thoughts of the emotional and moral consequences, and can lie fluently and persuasively in order to get what they want. But, of course, we only find these things engaging if we don’t have to live with them every day; in fiction, we can observe the psychopath at one remove, safe on the other side of the page.

I’m fairly sure that one of the characters in None So Blind would meet the psychiatric threshold for psychopathy. It wasn’t intentional on my part, that’s just the way they turned out. But, interestingly, I’m not sure that this character would have become so psychopathic if they hadn’t had the upbringing they did. Research seems to indicate that individuals are born with the potential for psychopathy but that environmental factors in childhood flick an epigenetic switch to bring the full syndrome online.

So, are psychopaths born or made?

I prefer to think they’re made; it makes for a much more interesting book (and a slightly less alarming world). But I’ll let you read None So Blind and decide for yourself.

The Dome Press
15 November 2018

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

West Wales, 1850.

When an old tree root is dug up, the remains of a young woman are found. Harry Probert-Lloyd, a young barrister forced home from London by encroaching blindness, has been dreading this discovery. 

He knows exactly whose those bones they are. 

Working with his clerk, John Davies, Harry is determined to expose the guilty, but the investigation turns up more questions than answers. 

The search for the truth will prove costly. Will Harry and John be the ones to pay the highest price?

Here's what I thought about None So Blind

This well thought out historical crime story takes us back to Wales in the mid-nineteenth century and introduces us to Harry-Probert Jones who has returned to his Welsh childhood home after working as a London barrister. Harry's homecoming is complicated, for all sorts of reasons, but it is made worse when the remains of a young woman are found and Harry gets drawn into the investigation.

What then follows is a murder/mystery which threatens to shatter the small Welsh community, exposing secrets which have been buried for a long time and as Harry gets drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery he comes to rely heavily another local man, John Davies, for help as his clerk. The two men make a good partnership and it was fascinating to watch them peel back the layers of secrets, some of which go back to the time of the Rebecca Riots which were a series of protests led by local farmers against the use of toll roads in rural West Wales.

There’s a dark edginess to the story with lots of twists and turns and I thoroughly enjoyed trying to piece together the clues alongside Harry and John. Both men have their own secrets which are gradually revealed as the story progresses and it was fascinating to see how their personal stories would eventually play out within the wider scheme of the plot.

The author writes well and it's obvious that a great deal of research has been done which places everything nicely into historical context. I didn't know anything about the Rebecca Riots, so it was particularly interesting to discover more about why the farmers were so angry. I also found the brief Welsh glossary, at the start of the book, really useful.

None So Blind is the first book in the Teifi Valley Coroner series, so there was a certain amount of setting the scene and getting to know the central characters who, I’m sure, will feature strongly in future novels. The conclusion to the story lends itself nicely to a continuation of the series and I look forward to meeting up again with Harry Probert-Jones and John Davies in future stories.

Website

Twitter  @Alis_Hawkins #NoneSoBlind

@DomePress

Blog Tour and Giveaway ~ Sleeper: The Red Storm by J D Fennell

On Hist Fic Saturday

✨Jaffareadstoo is excited to be hosting today's Sleeper: The Red Storm Blog Tour 

and fabulous Giveaway ✨

The Dome Press
25 October 2018

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

Will Starling has been drafted into the SOE, joining forces with the French Resistance, but his memory is fractured and only occasional flashbacks reveal fragments of his past.

When his mission is compromised, Will suspects that he’s been betrayed. Back in London he hears that VIPER are developing a deadly weapon. As he and MI5 agent Anna Wilder set out to destroy it, their every move is anticipated by their enemies.

While Will fights to prevent genocide, his sister, Rose, has become the key to VIPER’s future plans and is drugged to dull her kinetic powers. But Rose faces danger from an unexpected enemy and her time is running out.

My thoughts about it..

The Red Storm starts off with an impressive opener which is a perfect introduction to Will Starling who is one of the most courageous, fictional, eighteen years olds I have ever met. Filled with a boys own sense of bravado, Will encounters more danger than is physically possible, from being unceremoniously dumped out of a moving aeroplane, to being covered in a poisonous red mist, there is never a moment when he doesn't rise to the challenge of being a vital part of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the eventful latter years of WW2.

Set in 1943, The Red Storm continues, some two years after where Sleeper, the first book in the series, left off. Will is now a little older, possibly a little wiser, but no less determined to get to the truth of what happened to his family and especially to his younger sister, Rose. That Rose's story intertwines with that of Will makes for really interesting reading and is no less exciting.

The story moves along at a cracking pace and is filled with more twists and turns than I am at liberty to speak about without giving too much away. However, the historical nature of the story, set as it is in 1943, comes across, as does the constant danger which Will encounters as he tumbles from one adventure to another. The author has created some fabulous characters, some are downright creepy, Father William springs to mind, whilst others, like Will's companion and co-agent, Anna Wilder add some necessary depth to what is , after all , quite a dark story.

I raced through the book, carried along by the speed and momentum of the writing, and of Will's ability to always be in the centre of the action. Even though this is the second book with events from the first story alluded to in the story, it is still possible to read read The Red Storm as a standalone story.

Please do enter the giveaway to be in with a chance of reading Sleeper:The Red Storm for yourself, you'll be thoroughly entertained from start to finish.

✨✨GIVEAWAY✨✨

To celebrate the publication of The Red Storm

The publishers are very kindly giving away one paperback copy to one UK winner

Ends 3 November 2018

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

J.D. was born in Belfast at the start if the Troubles, and began writing stories at a young age to help

understand the madness unfolding around him.A lover of reading, he devoured a diverse range of books - his early influences include Fleming, Tolkien,Shakespeare and the Brontës.

He left Belfast at the age of nineteen and worked as a chef, bartender, waiter and later began a career in writing for the software industry. These days he divides his time between Brighton and London, where he lives with his partner and their two dogs.

Website

Twitter @jd_fennell #TheRedStorm

@DomePress

Blog Tour ~ What Was Lost by Jean Levy

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

What Was Lost Blog Tour

The Dome Press
13 September 2018

What's it all about...

Sarah has no memories. She just knows she was found, near death, on a beach miles from her London home. Now she is part of a medical experiment to see whether her past can be retrieved. 

But bad things seemed to have happened before she disappeared. The police are interested in her hidden memories too. A nice man she meets in the supermarket appears to have her best interests at heart. He seems to understand her - almost as if he knows her…

As she fights to regain her memories and her sense of self, it is clear that people are hiding things from her. Who are they protecting? Does Sarah really want the truth?

What did I think about it...

Our memories define us, they make us into the people we are and give us meaning and purpose. When those memories are taken away from us we flounder and cease to function as we did before. 

Sarah is recovering from a devastating accident which has left her without any conscious memory and as her amnesia takes over her life, so the struggle for some sort of stability becomes paramount. Guarded by a team of medical experts, Sarah tries to make sense of a world in which she is increasingly isolated, a world in which she can remember how to drive her car, but then struggles to make a cup of coffee. That is, until she meets a man who makes her question everything about her new life. 

This compelling psychological drama looks at what happens after a catastrophic trauma, at how the brain closes down to protect itself from memories it doesn't want to remember and which, as the story progresses, reveals more questions than it does answers. 

The author controls this complicated plot really well, offering tantalising glimpses into Sarah's previous life whilst at the same time keeping the unreliability of Sarah as the primary narrator. I found everything about Sarah's emerging life compelling, particularly in the way the medical profession seem to be manipulating her recovery, and whilst I was drawn to some of the people in the story from the start, there were others, and one health professional in particular, who made my blood boil. Even though some of the peripheral characters aren't always likeable, they add much needed light and shade to what is, after all, quite a dark story. I particularly enjoyed the medical aspects of Sarah's condition; her medical problems are well explained for those of us who know very little about the inner workings of the brain, or of its complexities when it goes wrong. 

Engrossing, compelling and fascinating until the very last sentence, What Was Lost is a clever debut by a talented writer whose love of language and creativity shines through with every well written word.

About the Author

Jean Levy has worked in genetics research, the pharmaceutical industry and in academic publishing. She is currently completing a doctorate in Linguistics. She studied Creative Writing at the University of Sussex and lives with her husband in the South Downs. This is her first novel.

Twitter @JeanELevy

@DomePress

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