Today I am pleased to be on the blog tour for Red Is The Colour by Mark Fowler.  Thank you to Sarah Hardy for the copy and for swapping days with me.

Book Description:

A GRIPPING NEW POLICE THRILLER

Bullying. Corruption. Murder.

It is the summer of 2002. The corpse of a 15 year old boy, who has been missing for thirty years, is discovered in Stoke-on-Trent. The city is on the cusp of change and Chief Superintendent Berkins wants the case solved quickly.

DCI Jim Tyler has arrived from London under a cloud, moving to Staffordshire to escape his past. He is teamed up with DS Danny Mills to investigate the case, but there is tension between the detectives.

When the dead boy’s sister comes forward, describing a bright, solitary child, she points a finger at the school bullies, which puts important careers at stake.

Then one of the bullies is found brutally murdered and when Tyler and Mills dig deeper they start to suspect a cover-up.

What is the connection between the death of a schoolboy in 1972 and this latest killing?

With the pressure building, and the past catching up with DCI Tyler, will he and DS Mills be able to put aside their differences in order to catch a cold-blooded killer.

My Review:

This is quite an old fashioned type of crime book.  It isn’t fast paced and there aren’t a lot of twists or sudden reveals in it.  Instead the policemen set about unraveling the story slowly through face to face interviews and research rather then relying on crime databases and forensics.

At it’s heart, is a very poignant and real issue that can effect everyone in their lifetime – bullying.  As the story unravels and you discover more about the victim, you can’t help but feel sorry for the lonely boy and the suffering he experienced.  It also helps raise some important issues like who should have stepped in to stop bullying and why didn’t they.  This is a continuing theme throughout the book with hints as to a cover up often mentioned.

The book also highlights the difference in the methods used for discipline and punishment in the 1970’s compared to now.  I think it’s fair to say some of them would definitely not be allowed now!

The central partnership of DCI Taylor and DC Mills was an fraught and interesting one.  The two men are very different from each other with different methods of doing things.  They dislike each other almost instantly which makes having to work together quite hard.  Their banter or arguments did help provide some much needed comic relief throughout the novel.

This is Mark L. Fowler’s fourth book, but it is the first that I have read.  I do wonder if there will be a sequel to this book using the same characters as I would like to follow their story more.

Thank you to Sarah Hardy and Bloodhound Books for the ARC and the chance to be on the blog tour.

About The Author:

Mark L. Fowler is the author of the novels Coffin Maker, The Man Upstairs, Silver, and Red Is The Colour, and more than a hundred short stories. His particular interests are in crime and mystery, psychological thrillers and gothic/horror fiction.

His first published novel, Coffin Maker, is a gothic tale set between our world and the Kingdom of Death. In the Kingdom the Coffin Maker lives a solitary existence, and every coffin he completes signals the end of a life in our world. One day he discovers that he is to be sent two apprentices, amid rumours that the devil is arriving on Earth.

Mark’s second novel, The Man Upstairs, features the hard-boiled detective, Frank Miller, who works the weird streets of Chapeltown. Having discovered that he is in fact the hero of twenty successful mystery novels, authored by The Man Upstairs, Frank has reasons to fear that this latest case might be his last.

In 2016, Silver, a dark and disturbing psychological thriller was published by Bloodhound Books. When a famous romance novelist dies in mysterious circumstances, she leaves behind an unfinished manuscript, Silver. This dark and uncharacteristic work has become the Holy Grail of the publishing world, but the dead writer’s family have their reasons for refusing to allow publication.

Red Is The Colour is Mark’s latest book, a crime mystery featuring two police detectives based in Staffordshire. The case involves the grim discovery of the corpse of a schoolboy who went missing thirty years earlier. Red Is The Colour is the first in a series featuring DCI Tyler and DS Mills, and will be published in July 2017 by Bloodhound Books.

The author contributed a short story, Out of Retirement, to the best-selling crime and horror collection, Dark Minds. Featuring many well known writers, all proceeds from the sales of Dark Minds will go to charity.

A graduate in philosophy from Leicester University, Mark lives in Staffordshire, and is currently writing a follow up to Red Is The Colour. When he isn’t writing he enjoys time with family and friends, watching TV and films, playing guitar/piano and going for long walks.

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I’m delighted to be on the blog tour for the fantastic After I’ve Gone by Linda Green.  Thank you to Hannah Robinson Cowie and Quercus Fiction for the chance to be on the tour.

After I’ve Gone is out now and currently only 99p on kindle.

Book Description:

YOU HAVE 18 MONTHS LEFT TO LIVE . . . On a wet Monday in January, Jess Mount checks Facebook and discovers her timeline appears to have skipped forward 18 months, to a day when shocked family and friends are posting heartbreaking tributes to her following her death in an accident. Jess is left scared and confused: is she the target of a cruel online prank or is this a terrifying glimpse of her true fate?
Amongst the posts are photos of a gorgeous son she has not yet conceived. But when new posts suggest her death was deliberate, Jess realises that if she changes the future to save her own life, the baby boy she has fallen in love with may never exist.

My review:

I really enjoyed this book, it will definitely be on my list as one of the best books I have read this year.  I was drawn into the story straight away and found it very hard to put down.  The author has a great style that just flows beautifully which makes it very easy to read.

I absolutely loved the main character Jess.  She is feisty, independent and just seems to really enjoy life.  I liked that she seemed really human and that she had flaws which did cause her some problems in her day to day life.  It was quite poignant to read about her past problems and to see her struggle with her choices for the future.  At times these struggles were almost tangible and you really felt for her with the decisions she had to make.

The story was quite realistic, especially as it involved the use of social media which we all know the dangers of and are aware of what some people might be capable of on it.  The inclusion of Facebook status’s, complete with profile pictures, helped to bring the story to life and seem more realistic.

This isn’t a fast paced, twisty thriller it’s a lot more subtle than that.  The author reveals the clues slowly giving the reader plenty of time to get to know the characters.  You get a feeling early on that something is not quite right and this general feeling of unease builds up to a brilliant, climatic ending!

I did guess fairly early on who had killed Jess but I think this was actually the authors intention and if anything actually added to my enjoyment of the book as I willed Jess to figure it out and have the happy ending I felt she deserved.

I think this book would be perfect for fans of The Girl Before and One Little Mistake as I felt the styles were similar, though it would suit anyone who loves just a great book with a fabulous story line!

This is the first book by Linda Green but it definitely won’t be the last and I will look forward to reading more from her in the future!

About The Author:

I was born in North London in 1970 and brought up in Hertfordshire. I wrote my first novella, the Time Machine, aged eight, but unfortunately the pony-based time travel thriller genre never caught on. Shortly after which I declared in my school memory book that my ambition was to have a novel published (I could have been easy on myself and just said ‘to write a novel’ but no, I had to consign myself to years of torture and rejections). I was frequently asked to copy out my stories for the classroom wall (probably because my handwriting was so awful no one could read my first draft), and received lots of encouragement from my teachers Mr Roberts, Mrs Chandler (who added yet more pressure by writing in my autograph book when I left primary school that she looked forward to reading my first published novel!) and Mr Bird (who taught most of Spandau Ballet English).

My first publication came when I was thirteen and my Ode to Gary Mabbutt won second prize in the Tottenham Weekly Herald ‘My Favourite Player’ competition. At fifteen I won the Junior Spurs Football Reporter of the Year Competition and got to report on a first division football match from the press box at White Hart Lane (I got lots of funny looks and none of the male journalists spoke to me.)

At sixteen I embarked on ‘A’ levels and a journalism course at De Havilland College, Hertfordshire, and my college magazine interview about football hooliganism with local MP and football club chairman David Evans made a double page spread in Shoot! magazine (he denied everything he said and they never paid me) and back page headlines in several national newspapers (only a nice man at the Daily Star bothered to check the story with me).

I joined my local newspaper, the Enfield Gazette, as a trainee reporter at eighteen. During a ten year career in regional journalism I worked as a reporter on the Birmingham Daily News, news editor on the Birmingham Metro News and Chief Feature Writer on the Coventry Evening Telegraph, winning Highly Commended in the Feature Writer of the Year category of the 1997 Press Gazette Regional Press Awards.

I loved working on regional newspapers but by 1998 my features were getting too long and the urge to write a novel had become too great so I left my staff job to write my first novel and work as a freelance journalist. I have written for The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Times Educational Supplement, The Big Issue, Wanderlust and Community Care Magazine. I’ve also had a short story published in Best magazine

I found the writing and working from home a very solitary process so also worked as co-ordinator of the Birmingham Bureau of Children’s Express, a national charity which ran a learning through journalism programme (they’re now called Headliners) for young people and taught journalism to schoolchildren for the National Academy of Writing. After I moved north in 2001, I qualified as an adult education tutor and taught creative writing classes to students aged between 18 and 82 for the Workers Educational Association across Calderdale, West Yorkshire.

After more than a hundred rejections from agents for my first novel (and more rewrites than I care to remember) I finally got an agent but still couldn’t get a publisher. I started work on my second novel I DID A BAD THING in 2003, finished the first draft and gave birth to my son (almost on the same day) in 2004, rewrote the novel and got a new agent in 2005, obtained a two-book deal with Headline Review in 2006.

I Did a Bad Thing was published in paperback in 2007, made no 22 in the official fiction bestsellers list and has sold more than 80,000 copies. 10 Reasons Not to Fall in Love was published in paperback in 2009, reached no 16 in the official fiction bestseller charts and has sold more than 77,000 copies. Both novels were also long-listed for the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

Following the success of my first two novels I got another two-book deal from Headline Review, with Things I Wish I’d Known was published in 20110, made the official UK top thirty fiction chart and has sold more than 40,000 copies. And Then It Happened was published in 2011 and made the official top forty fiction chart.

I then moved to my current publisher Quercus, who published The Mummyfesto in 2013. The idea of three mums setting up their own political party caught the media’s attention and I was interviewed on Radio Four’s Woman’s Hour. In 2014 my sixth novel The Marriage Mender was published. My new novel While My Eyes Were Closed is due out later this year.

I live in West Yorkshire (which is great, especially when it stops raining), have a really weird accent which means I can do Yorkshire, London and the Midlands in the same sentence without realizing it, am married to Ian, a sports photographer for a national newspaper, and have an 11-year-old son, Rohan, whose favourite authors are Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman and Michael Morpurgo.

I enjoy travelling (though I haven’t been anywhere more exotic than Lyme Regis since I became a mum) and have trekked after wild orang-utans in Borneo, been to the edge of the Arctic Circle to see polar bears and as far south as Tierra del Fuego to photograph penguins (yes, I know it would have been easier and cheaper to go to Chester zoo!).

And here are a few of my favourite things:
Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Author: Margaret Atwood.
Music: Florence and the Machine, Adele, Blondie, Beth Orton, Gabrielle Aplin.
Films: The Shawshank Redemption, Dead Poets’ Society, Truly, Madly, Deeply.
TV: Newsnight, Question Time, W1A, Have I Got News for You.
Food: Red peppers, mangos, toasted pine nuts, pesto sauce, Green & Blacks Maya Gold chocolate, strawberries, houmous and oven-roasted tomatoes (not all eaten at the same time!).
Places in the world: Pokhara, Nepal; Tanjung Puting National Park, Borneo; Churchill, Canada; Homer, Alaska, Hebden Bridge, England.

And a few of my least favourite things.
If I was on Room 101 my selections would be:
Women in unsuitable footwear (eg: white stilettos for muddy canal towpaths)
Tights (the 15-denier American tan variety)
Thomas the Tank Engine stories (those engines are so mean and miserable)
Candyfloss (I don’t do pink and sweet)
The notice on pay and display machines which says ‘overpayments accepted’ (big of them!).

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Today I am delighted to be on the blog tour for Cast Iron by the fabulous Peter May, who is one of my favourite authors.  Thank you to Alainna Georgiou and River Run books for giving me the opportunity to be on this tour.

I have a special extract to share with you, but first here is a little bit about the book.

Book Description:

THE GIRL IN THE LAKE

In 1989, a killer dumped the body of twenty-year-old Lucie Martin into a picturesque lake in the West of France. Fourteen years later, during a summer heatwave, a drought exposed her remains.

THE MAN ON THE CASE

No one was ever convicted of her murder. But now, forensic expert Enzo Macleod is reviewing this stone-cold case – the toughest of those he has been challenged to solve.

THE SKELETON IN THE CLOSET

Yet when Enzo finds a flaw in the original evidence surrounding Lucie’s murder, he opens a Pandora’s box that not only raises old ghosts but endangers his entire family.

Extract:

CHAPTER ONE
LOT-ET-GARONNE, FRANCE, 2003
The cool air that came with the night was dissipating along with the early morning mist. Already he could feel the heat rising up through the earth, and soon the sky would be a burned-out dusty white. Like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. He had read in La Dépêche that the death toll was climbing, the elderly worst affected by temperatures now soaring into the mid-forties. Eleven thousand and mounting. This summer heatwave had scorched the earth, killing trees and bushes, burning leaves brittle and brown to tumble like autumn in August.

It was some months since he had come down to the lake, a primal need to sit in solitary silence with a line in the water, caring not in the least whether the fish would bite – though they usually did. His baby boy was just two days old, and both he and his mother were still in the hospital after a difficult birth.

He glanced west across a shimmering landscape, seeing the undulations of burned fields and the skeletons of trees beyond, to where the caves in these chalk hills once provided refuge for resistance fighters when the German occupiers came looking for them.

The slope here was steep, fallen leaves crackling beneath his feet as he made his way through the trees. And then he saw it, shocked for a moment, and stopped. The lake simmered a chemical green in light already thick with heat, and was half or less its usual size. He stepped through dry, breaking undergrowth to his habitual spot, and saw that the water was four metres down, perhaps more. From here, he walked out on to cracked sloping mud, where his line had once snagged
fish, and gazed down at the water below.

All the streams that ran into the lake had long since dried to a trickle, but the farmers, with more need of water than ever, had continued to draw on it, sucking it dry. Unless this canicule broke soon, there would be nothing of it left. And he wondered if the fish it supported would last the summer.

He started tracking west around the perimeter, a great swathe of exposed lake bed, parched and brown, cut deep into the land like a scar. All manner of detritus was exposed, both natural and man-made. The carcasses of long-dead trees. The skeleton of a pram.

In all the scorched mud and desiccated slime, a flash of blue caught his eye. Pale and bleached by water and sun, just above the new waterline. He stumbled over uneven ground, drawn by the incongruous flash of colour in all this withered landscape. There were streaks of white in the baked mud around it, and he saw that it was a blue plastic bag. Only half of it was visible, the rest of it set solid in the mud.

He laid his rod and his bag on the ground and crouched down beside it, curious. There was something inside. The plastic was brittle with age and tore easily beneath his fingers, and he found himself looking down into the black sockets of a skull that had once held eyes. Long, yellowed teeth were exposed in a ghastly grimace, grinning out at him as if amused by his shock. He recoiled at once, and sat down heavily. And
it was only then he realised that those white streaks set into
the dry lake bed around him were the remaining bones of a
human skeleton.

About The Author:

Peter May’s books have sold several million copies worldwide and have won awards in the UK, the USA, and France.

He is the author of:
– the internationally best-selling Lewis Trilogy set in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland
– the China Thrillers, featuring Beijing detective Li Yan and American forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell
– the critically-acclaimed Enzo Files, featuring Scottish forensic scientist Enzo MacLeod, which is set in France
– several standalone novels including the multi award-winning Entry Island, Runaway, and his latest, entitled Coffin Road, which see a return to the Outer Hebrides (January 2016, Quercus UK).

He has also had a successful career as a television writer, creator, and producer.
One of Scotland’s most prolific and successful television dramatists, he garnered more than 1000 credits in 15 years as scriptwriter and script editor on prime-time British television drama.
He is the creator of three major television drama series and presided over two of the highest-rated drama serials in his homeland before quitting television to return to his first love, writing novels.

Born and raised in Scotland he lives in France.

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Book Description:times 

SPELLBINDING TALE SET IN CARDINAL RICHELIEU’S FRANCE

With enemies advancing on all sides and Cardinal Richelieu’s health failing, France is at breaking point. Yet salvation may arrive in the most unlikely form…

Born into poverty and with terrible deformities, Sebastian Morrais a dwarf with the wit of Tyrion Lannister and three foot, four inches of brazen pluck. Through a mixture of brains and luck, he has travelled far from his village to become a jester at the royal court. And with a talent for making enemies, he is soon drawn into the twilight world of Cardinal Richelieu, where he discovers he might just be the only man with the talents to save France from her deadliest foes.

My Review:

The Cardinal’s man is fantastic historical fiction.  It’s both compelling and very interesting, a book I definitely recommend reading!

Sebastian is a brilliant main character, a truly unlikely hero that constantly has to fight against all the prejudices other people have against him due to his diminutive size.  It was heart breaking at times to read about how he dealt with these prejudices, not letting his tormentors get away with this abuse, although this does sometimes lead him into trouble.  He is a very easy character to get behind and cheer on which I found myself doing through out the book.  I thought he was a very entertaining character too and I found that I wanted to keep reading to discover what he would do next. One of the most poignant bits of the book is that Sebastian is actually very intelligent but is never given the chance to show people this as people are quick to assume that because he is small in body then is small in intellect too which he proves isn’t true throughout the book.

The Cardinal was another interesting character and one that I couldn’t decide whether I liked or not.  On one hand he was one of the only people to give Sebastian a chance and recognised his intelligent which was a great confidence boost for Sebastian but the fact that he wouldn’t standup for Sebastian against his bullies meant that I didn’t like him much and thought him a bit of a cold fish!

The author does a great job setting the scene for this book.  I really felt like I was in 17th Century France experiencing life alongside Sebastian.  The huge divide between rich and poor at the time is well described as is the unrest that the poor felt at being taxed to breaking point to help fund more wars.  At times you could almost feel their hatred for the rich coming off the page.  Of course, as we know now, this unrest helped cause The French Revolution almost a hundred years later.

I love learning about new periods of history and I must confess that I knew nothing of Cardinal Richelieu and his influence in France.  The author cleverly integrates actual historical events into the story which was fascinating to read about.  I always enjoy being able to look up such events on the internet to learn more, so this was a huge bonus for me.

This is M. J Sinclair’s début novel and I very much look forward to reading more from him.  A huge thank you to Black and white publishers for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

The only child of two writers, M.G. Sinclair grew up in a world that revolved around literature. Breaking the family tradition, he rebelled and joined the corporate world, where he worked as a copywriter and marketing executive. However, unable to escape the inevitable, he has now completed his debut, a historical novel inspired by a trip to the Prado in Madrid.

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Book Description:

When a paragraph in an evening newspaper reveals a decades-old tragedy, most readers barely give it a glance. But for three strangers it’s impossible to ignore.

For one woman, it’s a reminder of the worst thing that ever happened to her.

For another, it reveals the dangerous possibility that her darkest secret is about to be discovered.

And for the third, a journalist, it’s the first clue in a hunt to uncover the truth.

The Child’s story will be told.

My Review:

This book is so good! It’s definitely one of the most clever and compelling books I have read this year.

What struck me most about this book was that the author gives the reader plenty of time to get to know the main characters i.  Through out the book you discover a lot about their past and what makes them tick.  This helped me be a lot more engaged with the characters and therefore more interested in their story.

The story is told from the point of view of three character; Kate a journalist investigating the case, Angela a bereaved mother whose child was snatched from a maternity ward and Emma a shy, slightly odd woman who is deeply affected by the story of the child’s body being discovered.  My favourite character was Kate.  Regular readers of my blog will know that I really like strong female characters and Kate is definitely that.  I thought it was great that she was an older lady as strong female characters are normally younger women, just starting out.  I loved how she was trying to reinvent herself to stay on top and that she wasn’t prepared to go quietly and let the youngsters win.  I also had a lot of sympathy for Angela.  As someone who has also lost a child, albeit in different circumstances, I understood her behavior and her actions.  At times her grief was almost tangible which was very poignant to read about.

The writing flows well and really draws the reader in.  I was soon emersed in the story, almost without me being fully aware of it or realising why I found the story so addictive.  The events in the book all seemed very natural and not forced at all.  There are no weird coincidences or connections between the events it was very life like which is perhaps why it’s so intriguing as you feel like this could happen.

The twist towards the end really took me by surprise.  I thought I had figured it all out but it turns out I was very wrong.  I love it when this happens, as I read quite a lot I normally do guess so its always nice when I can’t!

This is the second book by Fiona Barton I have read as I have previously read her début The Widow and it definitely won’t be my last.  I actually thought The Child was better than The Widow which I hadn’t thought possible, so I really look forward to her next book!

Thank you Becky Short and Transworld publishers for my copy of this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Rating: 5/5 stars

About the author: 

 

 

Today I am sharing with you a review from Joyce’s Reviews on Goodreads. I have Joyce’s permission and blessing to share this with you. This review can also be accessed via https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2051623805?comment=168459907#comment_168459907.

Book Description:

A SKELETON IS UNEARTHED FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE IN THE CHURCHYARD. BUT THIS WAS NOT AN OFFICIAL BURIAL. THE VICTIM WAS MURDERED DECADES AGO.

At the same time, Detective Nikki Galena and her team are investigating the brutal slaying of local businesswoman Madeline Prospero. She was a member of an exclusive and secretive drinking club called The Briar Patch. But they’ve got no suspects and no one is telling them the truth.

Meanwhile, the buried skeleton leads them on a trail to the village of Quintin Eaudyke. This is a troubled place. In the late seventies and eighties a reign of terror and abuse was unleashed on the close-knit population.

When more women from the The Briar Patch come under threat, Nikki faces a race against time to stop the killing.
Full of twists and turns, this is a crime thriller that will keep you turning the pages until the heart-stopping ending.

THE DETECTIVE
DI Nikki Galena: A police detective with nothing left to lose, she’s seen a girl die in her arms and her own family destroyed. She’s tough on criminals but fiercely loyal to her team.

HER PARTNER
DS Joseph Easter is the squeaky-clean new member of the team. But his nickname “Holy Joe” belies his former life as a soldier. He has a daughter and an ex-wife who wants his attention.

THE SETTING
The Lincolnshire Fens: great open skies brood over marshes, farmland, and nature reserves. It is not easy terrain for the Fenland Constabulary to police, due to the distances between some of the remote Fen villages, the dangerous and often misty lanes, and the poor telephone coverage. There are still villages where the oldest residents have never set foot outside their own farmland and a visit to the nearest town is a major event. But it has a strange airy beauty to it, and above it all are the biggest skies you’ve ever seen.

DISCOVER YOUR NEXT FAVOURITE MYSTERY SERIES NOW

Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Robert Bryndza, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell.

NIKKI GALENA SERIES
Book 1: CRIME ON THE FENS
Book 2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS
Book 3: HUNTED ON THE FENS
Book 4: KILLER ON THE FENS
Book 5: STALKER ON THE FENS
Book 6: CAPTIVE ON THE FENS
Book 7: BURIED ON THE FENS

Joyce’s Review:

DI Nikki Galena and her team is busy working the case of Madeline Prospero when they get a call about a body in a graveyard at a local church. Assuming it was a fluke Nikki responds and discovers from the condition of the body that it is not a scheduled burial. Indeed, it is murder. The autopsy shows that he has been buried there for about thirty years. An ornate and engraved wedding band is the only clue to his identity. Meanwhile, they are getting nowhere on the Madeline Prospero case. It seems she was a member of a local club called The Briar Patch and was viciously beaten to death.  After taking the ring to a jeweler, Nikki learns more about its origins. This leads the team to the tiny village of Quintin Eaudyke. This is a village where hatred breeds secrets and no one is talking about the dead man, save for the old town doctor. It seems that over thirty years ago, the place was the scene of some horrific crimes against children. Everyone in town thought that the murdered man was guilty and later drowned in the river. His body was never found. But Nikki and her team know better.  Another woman who is related to the Briar Patch is brutally murdered and the problem is growing. What does someone have against the members of this club? With the assistance of Spooky, a brilliant computer technician and a friend of Nikki’s, they make some progress. As the investigation goes on Nikki and her team discover a link between the two cases. A suspect comes into view. The team feels more and more strongly that their suspect is the murderer. But the suspect is living under an assumed name and they can’t locate any pictures of them to do age progression to see what they look like now. They re-interview witnesses trying to find out what the murderer looks like now. They go hither and thither.  And then a breakthrough occurs. They zero in on the suspect. The tension mounts and the pace of the story speeds up. And it all ends with an exciting car chase on the fens.

This is an extremely well written and plotted novel. The tension starts immediately and builds throughout the story. I like the major characters and the team gets along well. I’ve read all of the Nikki Galena novels and I like this one the best. Ms. Ellis has out done herself! I can’t wait for the next book in this series.  I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read.

About The Author:

Joy Ellis grew up in Kent but moved to London when she won an apprenticeship with the prestigious Mayfair flower shop, Constance Spry Ltd. 

Many years later, having run her own florist shop in Weybridge, Ellis took part in a writer’s workshop in Greece and was encouraged by her tutor, Sue Townsend to begin writing seriously. She now lives in the Lincolnshire Fens with her partner Jacqueline and their Springer spaniels, Woody and Alfie.

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I’m very excited to be on the blog tour for this fantastic book.  I’m sharing this stop with the brilliant Dee from Novel Deelights, you can check out her review here : https://noveldeelights.com

Book Description:

The sixth mystery in the beloved and critically acclaimed Detective Kubu series. Kubu and his colleague Samantha Khama track a killer through the wilds of Botswana on their most dangerous case yet.

When the body of a Bushman is discovered near the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the death is written off as an accident. But all is not as it seems. An autopsy reveals that, although he’s clearly very old, his internal organs are puzzlingly young. What’s more, an old bullet is lodged in one of his muscles… but where is the entry wound? When the body is stolen from the morgue and a local witch doctor is reported missing, Detective ‘Kubu’ Bengu gets involved. But did the witch doctor take the body to use as part of a ritual? Or was it the American anthropologist who’d befriended the old Bushman? As Kubu and his brilliant young colleague, Detective Samantha Khama, follow the twisting trail through a confusion of rhino-horn smugglers, foreign gangsters and drugs manufacturers, the wider and more dangerous the case seems to grow. A fresh, new slice of ‘Sunshine Noir’, Dying to Live is a classic tale of greed, corruption and ruthless thuggery, set in one of the world’s most beautiful landscapes, and featuring one of crime fiction’s most endearing and humane heroes.

My Review:

This book grabbed me straight away with what is possibly the most unusual and fascinating crime story I have read.  I have been intrigued for a while with witch doctors so it was very interesting to learn more about them and their practices.  I certainly didn’t realise there were still so many of them around and that so many people believed in their treatments.  It was also very interesting to learn more about bushmen, their culture and their history.  It’s hard to believe that people used to treat them so badly.

The story starts out with what appears to be an innocuous murder of a bushman in the desert.  However as Samantha and Kubu investigate further the story seems to become a lot more complicated, with lots of different angles and people involved.  This makes it impossible for the reader to guess what was happening next.  I’m normally quite good at guessing the endings of books but this one really kept me guessing right to the end.  The secrets/ information are slowly revealed at a natural pace which never seemed forced and at regular intervals which kept me intrigued and wanting to read more.

The characters are all very well drawn and seemed very real.  I spent some time in Africa as a student and some of the descriptions of the characters made me smile as they reminded me of people I had met.  I particularly liked Kabu, the larger than life Assistant Superintendent.  He seemed to really care about his job and his colleagues often helping them above the call of duty.  The fact that he is also struggling with an ill daughter at home makes him even more endearing and I found myself really hoping that he would succeed and have a happy ending.

This is the first book by Michael Stanley that I have read but it definitely won’t be my last as I have already bought Deadly Harvest which I hope to read soon.  Dying to live is the 6th book in the Detective Kubu series but it reads very well as a stand alone book.

A huge thank you to Karen Sullivan, Anne Carter and Orenda publishers for my copy of this book and for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour. This is definitely a book I will be recommending to everyone!

Dying to live is published TODAY by Orenda publishers. 

About the author:

Michael Stanley is the writing partnership of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Michael lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Stanley in Minneapolis.
We have travelled extensively in southern africa and have a special love of Botswana, where our detective novels are set.

Detective Kubu investigates complex murders in his native land, justifying his nickname by his size and tenacity (Kubu is Setswana for hippopotamus).

Kubu’s faces powerful people and an escalating chain of murders in his first adventure – A Carrion Death.

Next a confluence of events leads to murders whose roots lie hidden in the past, and a sinister group is as interested in finding the perpetrator as Kubu is in The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu (A Deadly Trade outside north America).

The third Detective Kubu mystery, Death of the Mantis, has the plight of the Khoi-San (Bushmen) of the Kalahari as its backstory. Kubu’s boyhood Bushman friend, Khumanego, asks him to help ensure some Bushmen get a fair trial for the alleged murder of a game ranger. The Bushmen escape and more murders follow. Kubu is unable to connect the dots. Eventually Kubu finds the unpleasant solution to the cases and nearly loses his own life doing so. Death of the Mantis was a finalist for an Edgar.

Deadly Harvest, the fourth Detective Kubu mystery, has as its backstory the use of human body parts for magic potions (called muti). Base on a true story, Detective Kubu and the first female detective in Botswana’s CID, the young Samantha Khama, try to resurrect a number of cold cases in which young girls have gone missing. When an aspiring politician is murdered and muti found in his house, the need for a solution becomes urgent. Deadly Harvest also deals with a single father whose daughter disappears and his quest for revenge and justice. Deadly Harvest was a finalist for an International Thriller Writers award.

A Death in the Family, Kubu #5) has as its backstory the ramifications of corruption as the Chinese try to take over some of Botswana’s rich mineral deposits. However the story starts with Kubu’s elderly father being murdered. Despite his pleas, Kubu is kept off the case because of his personal involvement. However he keeps trying to solve it on his own. To keep him busy, he’s given a suicide to investigate. When he realises it probably wasn’t a suicide, the trail leads to the person in government responsible for allocating mining leases. A deadly riot at a village situated on land the Chinese want for a mine expansion raises suspicion that the ‘suicide’ and the riot are related.

In Dying to Live, Kubu #6, a Bushman is found dead, with internal organs far younger than his chronological age and a bullet embedded in his abdominal muscles with no entry wound. Then a witchdoctor disappears who is famous for his muti for extending life. Then an American academic also disappears, who knew the Bushman. Dying to Live is a story of greed and the lengths people will go to attain immortality and make their fortunes.

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Nicola from the fantastic Short Book and Scribes blog has nominated me for the mid-year freak out tag. I’ve really enjoyed doing this as it has made me revisit some of the books I have read so far this year, so thank you for the nomination Nicola! If you haven’t already do go and check out her fabulous blog http://shortbookandscribes.uk

So here are the questions and my answers:

1.) Best book you’ve read so far in 2017

Ooh tricky one I have read so many fabulous books! I’ll have to go with One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis and Zodiac by Sam Wilson.   They have both really stuck in my mind and I have been recommending them to everyone.

One Little Mistake is a thriller about the little mistakes we can make it life and the huge impact they can have.  It’s also about who we can trust and what is most important in life.

A fast paced dystopian novel following a murder investigation in a world where a person’s star sign determines who you are and what you can do.  I found it absolutely fascinating!

2.)  Best sequel of 2017 so far

I’m a huge fan of novels set in the second world war and I absolutely loved this book.  It was fascinating to hear about events from the German point of view and I enjoyed reading about the love story that develops.

3.) New releases you haven’t read yet, but want to

Oh goodness where to start? I’m going to go with The Child by Fiona Barton as it is the one I’m most excited to read as I have heard great reviews for it.

4.) Most anticipated release of the second half of 2017

I’m a huge fan of Rachel Joyce and love her books, so I’m really looking forward to reading her new one.

5.) Biggest disappointment of 2017

I’m in the minority for not liking this one. I just found it a little slow and a little unrealistic towards the end.  That said it is one of the beast books I have read for describing what life was like for ordinary Londoners during the Blitz.

6.) Biggest Surprise

I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did.  I loved the main character, Vinny, and enjoyed reading about his exploits.  It was also really interesting to read about the IRA problems from the Catholic point of view.

7.) Favourite new author (debut or new to you)

A fantastic book about life in a small English village during world war two and how their ladies choir help them overcome their darkest times.  Told mainly from the diary entries of four different people in the village, this is a fascinating fly on the wall account of village life and all the drama that can be involved.

8.) Newest fictional crush

I loved bumbling, slightly geeky Benedict from Invincible Summer.  I think it helped that the description of him reminded me of another Benedict I’m rather fond of….

9.) Newest favorite character

I loved Martha from The Finding Of Martha Lost who i thought was such a sweet, unassuming though slightly naive character.  The journey she goes on throughout the book is very touching, and I really wanted her to have the happy ending I felt she deserved.

10.) A book that made you cry

I found this book very poignant and quite heartbreaking at times.  The story is told from two different points of view, Ruby when she was first born and her life with her mother, and Ruby in the present day trying to find out what happened to her mother. The combination told in tangent is a very emotional read and did make me cry at times.

11.) Books that make you happy

I found My Sweet Revenge utterly hilarious.  The main character is very real which helped add to my enjoyment as some of the stuff she does, particularly when trying to lose weight, is stuff I have done so I could really relate to her.  It made me laugh out loud loads of tines whilst reading it and I really recommend it.

12.) Favourite movie adaptation of 2017 you’ve seen.

I haven’t seen any movie adaptions yet but I’m looking forward to seeing Their Finest Hour which I’ll hopefully see very soon.

 

13.) Favourite review you’ve written this year

I enjoyed writing this review as firstly I really enjoyed it and thought it was a fascinating memoir.  It is always easier to write a review for a book you really liked!  Secondly the subject of nursing meant I could mention it in my review which gave me something different to talk about.

14.) Most beautiful book you’ve bought or received this year.

I thought this cover was very beautiful! All metallic sparkles which looked fabulous against the dark blue, really stunning.  It was definitely one of those books I kept taking off the shelf to look at.

15.). Books you need to read before the end of the year

I’ve heard great things about all these books from fellow bloggers and I am really hoping to get to read them soon!

 

Nominations!

Despite the lovely Lorraine’s best efforts I can’t figure out how to tag people in this post so I will have to hope they see this! I have no idea if they have already been nominated but I have gone for bloggers who I’m really interested to hear their answers to the above questions.

1.) Lorraine at The Book Review Cafe

2.) Kate from The Quiet Knitter

3.) Dee from Novel Deelights

4.) Amanda from My Bookish Book Blog

5.) Claire from Brizzle Lass books

 

Today I’m thrilled to be on the blog tour alongside Com’s Criminal library,  for Enter The Dark by Chris Thomas.  Do go and check out their review too! I have a special extract to share with you but first let me tell you a little about the book…

Book Description:

A chilling Dark Web thriller

An anonymous website, a few clicks, and Joe Henderson’s life is changed forever.

‘The Red Room’ is the only place where the failings of a weak justice system are righted and where the line between good and evil becomes blurred. When the lights go up, viewers bid, criminals are punished, and the Brotherhood of the Righteous broadcasts a show like no other.

The room has remained hidden until now, when a video arrives in the inbox of the Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit. But outclassed, outplayed, and torn apart by corruption, is there anything Detective Pete Harris and his team can do except watch?

Their only lead may be the room’s latest bidder, Joe Henderson. Because when Joe found the Red Room, it found him too, and now the Brotherhood are watching through the wires, willing to do wrong for a righteous cause.

As they pull Joe deeper into the dark web, will he find any mercy or a way out? And could he be the Red Room’s next volunteer?

Special extract:

1
‘Ladies and gentlemen of the deep web, I bid you welcome!’ said the figure striding towards the camera. In one outstretched hand he held a microphone, in the other, a gold clipboard. He wore a dark grey boiler suit, patterned like a tuxedo, and if it wasn’t for the white and green clown mask obscuring his face, this could easily have been mistaken for any primetime Saturday evening family variety show.
His footsteps echoed as he walked across the cold grey floor of the warehouse. Behind him, a white glow from the double doors illuminated the cloudy fog of dry ice through which he had just walked. The doors closed. Above them hung a large sign, red letters and yellow light bulbs blinking hypnotically, spelling out The Red Room.
In front of him were the camera operator and two others; one tapped away on a laptop, the other fiddled with a small box of controls. The latter turned a small knob on the control panel and the thumping techno soundtrack that had accompanied the man faded out to silence. All three gave a thumbs up. The lights came up and the man stopped.
‘Good evening,’ he said, holding the microphone to his mouth. ‘Welcome to the latest instalment of The Red Room. We’re The Brotherhood of the Righteous, I’m the Host, and have we got a show for you tonight! Please say a big hello to our latest “volunteer”.’
With that the doors opened again, and silhouetted against the light were two burly masked figures, goons, wearing 1980s-style red tracksuits with white stripes on the legs and arms. In between them, struggling for all his worth, was a portly figure dressed in a tight white t-shirt and white y-front underpants. On his head was a hessian sack marked with a big red ‘V’.
They frogmarched him down towards the Host, who spoke into the microphone.
‘Here he is, people. Mister Gary Sweetman. You may remember him from twenty-twelve, when he was arrested for grooming and holding hostage two thirteen-year-old boys from the football club where he worked as a youth coach. Because of serious flaws in the police investigation, the judge could only jail him for a maximum of … wait for it … four months. Well, tonight you’re going to put that right. Start placing your bids!’
A large monitor descended from the warehouse ceiling on two heavy chains. On it were a list of ten indiscernible nicknames, and next to each was a number.
Slowly, the numbers began to change, and with them the order of names, ranking from highest to lowest. After a few seconds, the screen resembled a stock market trading screen; a flashing, blinking mix of names and numbers as more people joined in, bidding higher and higher amounts.
The two goons sat the man down on a wooden chair and buckled his wrists and ankles tightly to it. As he struggled in vain to free himself, the Host reached out and grabbed the top of the sack.
‘Ladies and gentleman, I give you …’ and then he quickly pulled the sack off, revealing the face of a chubby man with bruises and dried blood around his eyes and mouth.
Sweetman blinked and shook his head, desperately trying to acclimatise his eyes to the bright light that beamed down on his face. Clearly, he had no idea where he was; this was the first light he had seen since being snatched from outside his house two days ago.
‘Where am I? Who the fuck are you?’ he spluttered, his eyes wide with terror.
‘Gary, Gary. So many questions,’ said the Host, sympathetically, as he walked around the chair, placing a comforting hand on the man’s shoulders. ‘You’re here because you’re special. A chosen one, if you will. You were convicted of committing the most heinous of crimes and yet you received a punishment that has been deemed unacceptable.’
‘What? Unacceptable by who? I served my sentence, I’m a free man, and you have no fucking right to do this,’ he retorted, mustering a little more defiance.
‘The people, Gary. The people whose taxes had to pay for your charade of a trial. The same people whose taxes will have to pay to support the young boys as they try to recover from the ordeal that you put them through.’
‘You can’t do this. Let me go!’
‘Sorry, Gary. The rules are very clear on this. You have been chosen and you will answer. These good people have paid their bitcoins and there are a few things that they want to know.’
‘This can’t be—’ he started, but was cut off by a hand over his mouth whilst the Host turned to face the screen.
The Host glanced over his shoulder at the laptop operator, who prodded the enter key and gave another thumbs up. Turning back towards the screen, the Host looked up.
‘And it is … ‘SliderMonkey’. And with a massive seven bitcoins as well, fantastic. Welcome to the show, Slider, what’s your question?’
‘I’m not answering anything, you bastard,’ shouted Sweetman, shaking his head away from the hand. The Host slowly turned around to face the chair, then, quick as a flash, smashed the clipboard around the side of Sweetman’s head. Sweetman hissed in pain, then dropped his head to his chest and started crying.
‘My apologies, Slider, go ahead,’ said the Host, turning back to the camera.
There was silence as the screen behind filled with words, the first question of the night.
Do you have any comprehension of the amount of pain that you have probably caused those boys? Pain that will stay with them for the rest of their lives?

‘Good question, Slider,’ said the Host, as he scratched the top of his head with the corner of the clipboard. ‘Well, do you?’
Sweetman stammered. ‘I, I, I was convicted and I served—’
‘NO!’ shouted the Host, barely two inches from his face. He slammed the clipboard down into the man’s lap, causing him to wince in pain. ‘That isn’t the question!’
Sweetman struggled to talk in between his deep breaths. ‘They were … They … I loved those boys. They weren’t entirely innocent in all of this. They led me on.’
‘Oh I see,’ said the Host, softly, as he walked around the chair like a buzzard circling a piece of carrion. ‘You hear that, folks? I guess it was the young children’s fault. It was their fault for just being too sexy in the first place. I’ve heard enough. Slider, choose your punishment.’
‘What?’ shouted Sweetman, as he strained to look behind him at the monitor, which once again displayed an incoming message. The camera panned up so all the viewers could see the statement, Start with stomping the groin, but leave some for the
others.  Before Sweetman could protest or effect even the vaguest
attempt at closing his legs, the Host swung around and planted a boot square in his groin. Sweetman screamed in agony, desperate to grab his crotch to ease some of the pain searing through his body.
The Host swung back round to face the camera and held the microphone to his mouth.
‘Time for another question, I think. Let’s see who’s at the top now.’
The leaderboard on the screen stopped, before flashing up another name.
‘Clearly this chap has got a lot of you wound up. The winner, with nine-point-five bitcoins, is CruelJudge.’
‘You can’t do this. I have rights,’ gasped Sweetman, as he struggled to hold his head up.
The Host walked over and gripped him by the throat, smacking his head back against the seat.

‘That’s what they all say. But just what exactly are you going to do about it? Sue us?’ He forced Sweetman’s head to face the camera, which started to draw closer. ‘There, see that? You’re in their hands now. Let everyone take a nice long look deep into your eyes. The window to the soul, apparently. If you even have one, that is.’
Sweetman began crying again, whimpering, ‘You can’t do this … You can’t.’
The question began to materialise on the screen.
Hopefully now you are starting to feel just a fraction of the fear that those boys felt. What I want to know is, did you apologise to them after doing whatever it is you did?
‘A very interesting question, thank you, Judge. Not the sort of question that the legal types would bother asking at your trial. As we all know from past experience, some abusers will ‘apologise’ to their victims after causing them unimaginable suffering. They think it redeems them, causes them to feel less guilt perhaps in the misguided delusion that the victim will forgive them. Is that how it happened, Gary?’
‘I can’t remember …’
‘You can’t remember? You can’t remember if, after you assaulted two young boys, you said sorry to them?’
‘I might have done, I don’t know.’
‘Of course you do!’ the Host roared.
‘OK, OK. Yes, I said sorry.’
‘What did you say sorry for? At your trial you completely
denied any sort of assault took place.’  ‘And the case was thrown out,’ said Sweetman, desperately,
spitting out a mixture of tears, saliva, and snot. ‘I was jailed for false imprisonment of those boys; I wasn’t convicted of assaulting them.’
‘Not convicted doesn’t mean you didn’t do it though, right, Gaz?’ replied the Host, calmly. ‘You just told everyone that you apologised to the boys and I very much doubt that was for imprisoning them. Judge, pick a punishment.’

‘No, no please,’ begged Sweetman, who had by now lost control of most of his bodily functions, as clearly visible through his underpants.
The screen went blank before one word appeared: kneecaps.
A track-suited goon stepped forward and handed the Host a baseball bat; he placed the clipboard and microphone down on Sweetman’s lap.
‘Hold these, please. One or both, Judge?’ shouted the Host, to the camera. The words just one appeared on the screen behind. ‘Well, Gary, looks like someone is being lenient! Aren’t you lucky?’ He brought the bat crashing down on Sweetman’s right knee, causing him to scream out in agony. ‘Actually, better do both just to be certain.’ The resulting pain was too much, and he passed out.
‘Right, we have just about time for one more question. Get your bids in while we revive our volunteer.’ As the two goons wafted a vial of smelling salts under the unconscious Sweetman, the Host went behind the camera, lifted his mask, and took a sip of water.
‘How’re we doing?’ he asked the laptop operator.
‘This is one of the biggest yet. We’ve got just over four hundred people viewing, most of them have only paid to watch. But around twenty or thirty are bidding heavily and I reckon they’ll follow on to the end,’ they replied.
‘Good. Let’s get this done and get out of here.’ He replaced the mask and headed back towards the chair.
A groggy Sweetman raised his head as best he could, but it kept flopping to the side and to his chest.
‘Don’t worry, Gary. This will all be over soon,’ whispered the Host, softly, in his ear, as he stood behind the chair, massaging both shoulders with his hands. He picked up the microphone and spoke to the camera. ‘Alright, everybody, this is it, the big one. The final question. Let’s see who it is …’
The lights around the screen flashed and up came a name, Dredhed.

‘With a massive thirteen bitcoins, it’s Dredhed. Dred, what’s your question, my good man?’
By now, Sweetman was incapable of mustering the energy to even attempt to look at the screen. His knees had swollen up like melons and his underpants were sodden. His once pristine white t-shirt was stained with a mixture of spit, snot, and blood, into which he now added vomit. As the message began to appear, letter by letter, on the screen, the Host read it out loud, propping Sweetman’s chin up with the corner of his clipboard.
‘Right, the final request is … ‘Firstly, can you tell Gary that I think he is the most wretched, despicable excuse of a man and he deserves every ounce of pain that he is in right now?’ Okay, will do, Dred. Gary, did you get that? DID YOU?’
Sweetman gurgled a vague attempt at a reply.
‘I can’t hear you, Gary! This is what people, decent, ordinary people, think of you and your sordid crimes. You should defend yourself!’ shouted the Host.
But Sweetman either couldn’t speak or wouldn’t speak, as the message carried on coming through.
‘OK, let’s see,’ continued the Host. ‘‘Secondly, if you could speak to those two boys right here and now, what would you say to them?’ Great question, Dred. Let’s see. Gary? Those two poor young boys, remember them? The ones that you kidnapped from their warm, loving families and subjected to who knows what kind of depravity. The same ones that you tried your damnedest to make out in court were liars and fantasists just in order to save your own sorry self. What would you say to them?’
Sweetman raised his head as far as he could, spat out some frothy pink liquid and looked at the Host.
Very softly he said, ‘I would forgive them. Forgive them for ruining my life.’
A pause, before the Host turned to the camera and spoke. ‘Well, ladies and gentlemen, in case you didn’t hear, Gary here said that he would forgive the boys. Forgive them for ruining his life. Time to end this I think. Dred, you have the honour of removing this man. Did you know they’re becoming something of an endangered species now, ‘Garys’, there’s not many of them left. Anyway, would you be so kind as to select an ending?’
The message on the screen disappeared and then showed up a single word: knife.
‘Excellent choice. Well, I hope you have enjoyed another episode of The Red Room with us, the Brotherhood of the Righteous. I think we can all be satisfied that this sad little sicko understands that if the pathetic justice system in this country won’t give the people what they want, then we will. We’re going to switch the exit nodes on this transmission now. If you want to see the ending of this trial, you’ll need to transfer another two bitcoins and reconnect to the settings that will be sent upon receipt of your funds. If you have seen enough, thank you for watching and keep an eye on the message boards for upcoming editions of The Red Room.’
The Host stopped as one of the goons handed him a pristine silver hunting knife. He ran his finger along the blade, pretending to test its sharpness before putting his face up close to the camera.
‘See you after the break!’

About The Author:

Chris Thomas was born near London in 1978 before moving to Buckinghamshire a few months later.  He attended the University of Bristol, graduating with a degree in psychology in 1999.  It was here that he developed his interest in criminal psychology and serial killers.

After a brief stint working at an investment bank in London, he left the City to work for his wife’s family business, a position he still holds.

Chris is an avid film fan, especially horror, thrillers and dark comedy – something that he tries to blend into his writing.  After attending a creative writing course, he gained the confidence to perdue his dream of writing a novel.  He self-published his debut novel The Red Room in February 2017 before joining the Bloodhound books stable and re-releasing the book as Enter The Dark

Further works are already in the planning, including a sequel to Enter The Dark, which is intended to be even more dark and disturbing!

In his spare time, Chris enjoys karate (holding a black belt) and spending time with his wife and two young daughters.

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Book description:

**The Lost Girl is a heartrending story of loss and enduring love**

Her daughter disappeared four years ago. . .

Since her daughter went missing four years earlier, celebrated photographer Kurtiz Ross has been a woman alone. Her only companion her camera. Since Lizzie disappeared, she has blamed and isolated herself, given up hope. Until, out of the blue, an unexpected sighting of Lizzie is made in Paris.

Could this lead to the reconciliation she has dreamed of?

Within hours of Kurtiz arriving in Paris, the City of Light is plunged into a night of hell when a series of terrorist attacks bring the city to a standstill. Amid the fear and chaos, a hand reaches out. A sympathetic stranger in a café offers to help Kurtiz find her daughter.

A stranger’s guiding light

Neither knows what this harrowing night will deliver, but the other woman’s kindness – and her stories of her own love and loss in post-war Provence – shine light into the shadows, restoring hope, bringing the unexpected. Out of darkness and despair, new life rises. New beginnings unfold.

Dare she believe in a miracle?

Set during a time of bloodshed and chaos in one of the most beautiful cities on earth and along the warm fragrant shores of the Mediterranean, Kurtiz discovers that miracles really can happen . . .

Book review:

This a superbly written and highly entertaining book which I really enjoyed.  I have read a few of Carol drinkwater’s memoirs before but this book is obviously very different to those.

The story is told from three different times, and unusually for me,  I found each story as interesting as each other.  You know from the blurb that each story fits together so it was intriguing to read on and discover how they are connected.

I thought all the characters were well drawn, well developed and quite realistic.  As a mum I felt huge sympathy for Kurtis, it’s very difficult to get the balance between family life and what you want to do.  Losing a child or having them involved in a hostage situation is obviously a parents worse nightmare and I read the parts involving that with my heart in my mouth.  I so wanted Kurtiz to find her daughter and her to be safe.  In this situation you can almost feel her fear and panic as she tries to find out if they are OK.  I loved the contrast between the hostage situation and the developing love story between Charles and Marguerite, which was very sweet to read about.  Even though I did want to shake Marguerite at times for not realising what she had.

It was quite brave of the author to use such a recent event in her book as it’s an event that everyone remembers so there wasn’t any room to change the story at all.  The author describes these parts with great sensitivity and keeps very true to the story.  This helped increase the tension in the book for me as I remember a lot about the events of this night and the realisation that there probably were people like Kurtiz waiting to hear news outside the venue made the story more poignant and heartbreaking.

Huge thank you to Sarah Hardwood and Michael St Joseph publishers for my copy of this book.

About the author:

Anglo-Irish actress Carol Drinkwater is perhaps still most familiar to audiences for her award-winning portrayal of Helen Herriot in the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small. A popular and acclaimed author and film-maker as well, Carol has published nineteen books for both the adult and young adult markets. She is currently at work on her twentieth title.
When she purchased a rundown property overlooking the Bay of Cannes in France, she discovered on the grounds sixty-eight, 400-year-old olive trees. Once the land was reclaimed and the olives pressed, Carol along with her French husband, Michel, became the producers of top-quality olive oil. Her series of memoirs, love stories, recounting her experiences on her farm (The Olive Farm, The Olive Season, The Olive Harvest and Return to the Olive Farm) have become international bestsellers. Carol’s fascination with the olive tree extended to a seventeenth-month, solo Mediterranean journey in search of the tree’s mythical secrets. The resulting travel books, The Olive Route and The Olive Tree, have inspired a five-part documentary films series entitled The Olive Route.

Carol has also been invited to work with UNESCO to help fund an Olive Heritage Trail around the Mediterranean with the dual goals of creating peace in the region and honouring the ancient heritage of the olive Farm.

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