The year is 1999. Returning to practice after a suspension for stealing opioids, a young Scottish doctor takes the only job he can find: a post as a senior house officer in the struggling east London hospital of St Luke’s.
Amid the maelstrom of sick patients, over-worked staff and underfunded wards a darker secret soon declares itself: too many patients are dying.
Which of the medical professionals our protagonist has encountered is behind the murders? And can our unnamed narrator’s version of the events be trusted?
My Review:
Sometimes People Die is an intriguing book that is part medical memoir and part murder mystery.
Firstly it’s obvious from the beginning that the author has some medical experience as he manages to set the scene perfectly for being an over worked new doctor at a busy hospital. It was quite chilling to realise how much new doctors have to do and the huge responsibility they have. There is lots of details about medical procedure, diagnostic procedures and drug regimes too which was very interesting to learn more about.
There were some very interesting characters in this book who I enjoyed getting to know over the course of the book. The unnamed narrator was very interesting and I felt a lot of sympathy for him as I learned more about his life in the hospital. He had some fantastic supporting characters who I absolutely adored especially the lovely Felix and George.
This was a bit of a slow burner as the author sets the scene but soon gathers pace and becomes very intriguing. There were lots of twists and red herrings that kept making me change my mind as to who was responsible. The ending was very unexpected and I hadn’t managed to figure it out which I always enjoy.
Huge thanks to Midas for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Borough Press for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Simon Stephenson originally trained as a doctor and worked in London and Scotland. He previously wrote Let Not the Waves of the Sea, a memoir about the loss of his brother in the Indian ocean tsunami. It won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards, was a Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4, and a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year.
His first novel, Set My Heart to Five, has been optioned by Working Title Films. He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a screenwriter. He originated and wrote the film The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, and wrote on Pixar’s Luca.
I was alone and afraid. She was there when I needed to talk.
I needed to make him understand that he had to get away.
I knew what I needed to do. I just couldn’t do it on my own. I trusted her.
Now it has gone too far. And I can’t tell anyone what I have done.
Now I have nowhere to turn and I just pray they find me before she does.
And then there’s the truth.
The Blame Game is a dark, entertaining and suspenseful thriller from Sandie Jones, the author of The Other Woman and The Guilt Trip.
My Review:
The Blame Game was a fast paced, surprising and gripping read that I couldn’t put down. I raced through this book in a couple of days as I was desperate to find out how it ended. It’s going to be a difficult book to review as I don’t want to give anything away.
Noemi was a very interesting main character who I wasn’t entirely sure I could trust. She’s had a tough childhood and I thought it interesting that she should choose a job that must bring up a lot of bad memories for her. I started off feeling quite frustrated with her and the risks she takes for her client. However as the story continues I started to feel a bit sorry for her as I understood more of why she behaves like she does. I was never sure if I believed her version of events especially as she starts to lie and with hold things from the police.
The story starts off slow as the author sets the scene but soon gathers pace and becomes incredibly gripping. The tension slowly increases as we try and discover what’s going on and Noemi manages to put more and more suspicion on herself. There were lots of twists and a few clever red herrings that kept me guessing. The ending was brilliant and very unexpected which I always love. My only small complaint is I wish the story had continued a tad longer so we could have found out what happened for Noemi next.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Sandie Jones is the author of the bestselling The Other Woman. A freelance journalist, she has contributed to the Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Woman’s Weekly and Hello magazine, amongst others. If she wasn’t a writer, she’d be an interior designer as she has an unhealthy obsession with wallpaper and cushions. She lives in London with her husband and three children.
Rachel Savernake investigates bizarre crimes and a baffling locked-room puzzle in this Gothic mystery from the winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger.
Yorkshire, 1606. A man vanishes from a locked gatehouse in a remote village. 300 years later, it happens again.
Autumn 1930. Journalist Nell Fagan knows there’s only one person who can get to the bottom of this mystery: Rachael Savernake. But someone wants Nell dead, and soon, while investigating a series of recent deaths at Blackstone Sanatorium, she’s missing entirely.
Looking for answers, Rachel travels to lonely Blackstone Fell, with its eerie moor, deadly waters and sinister tower. With help from Jacob Flint – who’s determined to expose a fraudulent medium at a séance – Rachel will risk her life to bring an end to the disappearances…
A dazzling mystery peopled by clerics and medics and embellished with science and superstition, Blackstone Fell explores the shadowy borderlands between spiritual and scientific; between sanity and madness; and between virtue and deadly sin.
Blackstone Fell is out now in ebook and hardback. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
Blackstone Fell is a gripping, atmospheric historical mystery book that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s actually the third book in the series which I didn’t realise when I started reading, but it can be easily read as a standalone.
Firstly I loved the setting of this book! Blackstone Fell is a perfect place for a murder mystery story to take place as it’s suitably remote and has an eerie feel to it. The descriptions of the life there from the food served and all the fabulous little objects around the house were fascinating to explore. It’s a house I’d love to be able to explore on my own, though preferable on a bright sunny day. The remoteness of the house helped create a great locked door scenario which I always enjoy as it makes things very interesting.
There are lots of fabulous characters in the book who I enjoyed getting to know and some that I loved to hate. My favourite character was definitely Rachel as she seemed a very strong, determined lady who didn’t suffer fools gladly. She was quite fun and entertaining at times Tok which was a nice contrast.
Overall I loved this book and I am looking forward to going back and reading the previous books on the series. There were lots of different threads to the story which ran alongside each other well, coming together nicely towards the end. The many twists kept me guessing and I loved how some of the storylines didn’t play out like I thought they would. The clue finder at the end was a great addition though I was a little embodiment to discover how many clues I’d missed.
Huge thanks to Sophie for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Head Of Zeus for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Martin Edwards has won the Edgar, Agatha, H.R.F. Keating, Macavity, Poirot and Dagger awards as well as being shortlisted for the Theakston’s Prize. He is President of the Detection Club, a former Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and consultant to the British Library’s bestselling crime classics series. In 2020 he was awarded the Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to crime fiction. Follow Martin on Twitter and Instagram (@medwardsbooks) and Facebook (@MartinEdwardsBooks).
Good morning everyone I’m on holiday in Wales at the moment and thought I’d share my holiday reads with you. I’ve managed to bring three books for a five day holiday which, with kids and in-laws, might be a bit optimistic.
The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly
I’m a huge fan of this author and have loved all her previous books so I was very excited to receive a copy of her new book. A story about myths, folklore and a mystery hidden inside a book instantly appealed to me.
Book Synopsis:
THIS REUNION WILL TEAR A FAMILY APART … Summer, 2021. Nell has come home at her family’s insistence to celebrate an anniversary. Fifty years ago, her father wrote The Golden Bones. Part picture book, part treasure hunt, Sir Frank Churcher created a fairy story about Elinore, a murdered woman whose skeleton was scattered all over England. Clues and puzzles in the pages of TheGolden Bones led readers to seven sites where jewels were buried – gold and precious stones, each a different part of a skeleton. One by one, the tiny golden bones were dug up until only Elinore’s pelvis remained hidden.
The book was a sensation. A community of treasure hunters called the Bonehunters formed, in frenzied competition, obsessed to a dangerous degree. People sold their homes to travel to England and search for Elinore. Marriages broke down as the quest consumed people. A man died. The book made Frank a rich man. Stalked by fans who could not tell fantasy from reality, his daughter, Nell, became a recluse.
But now the Churchers must be reunited. The book is being reissued along with a new treasure hunt and a documentary crew are charting everything that follows. Nell is appalled, and terrified. During the filming, Frank finally reveals the whereabouts of the missing golden bone. And then all hell breaks loose.
From the bestselling author of He Said/She Said and Watch Her Fall, this is a taut, mesmerising novel about a daughter haunted by her father’s legacy . . .
The Last Girl To Die by Helen Field
I’ve been spoilt with my favourite authors releasing new books this month as Helen Fields is another favourite author of mine. I can’t wait to read this book not least because it’s based on an island which I always enjoy.
Book Synopsis:
In search of a new life, seventeen-year-old Adriana Clark’s family moves to the ancient, ocean-battered Isle of Mull, far off the coast of Scotland. Then she goes missing. Faced with hostile locals and indifferent police, her desperate parents turn to private investigator Sadie Levesque.
Sadie is the best at what she does. But when she finds Adriana’s body in a cliffside cave, a seaweed crown carefully arranged on her head, she knows she’s dealing with something she’s never encountered before.
The deeper she digs into the island’s secrets, the closer danger creeps – and the more urgent her quest to find the killer grows. Because what if Adriana is not the last girl to die?
Beautifully haunting with twists and turns you’ll never see coming, The Last Girl to Die is your next obsession waiting to happen. Perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride and L.J. Ross.
Blackstone Fell by Martin Edwards
I’d heard a lot of great things about this book so I was very excited to be invited onto the blog tour for this book. I love books set in the 1930’s and the synopsis of this book instantly appealed. I look forward to reading this really soon!
Book Synopsis:
Rachel Savernake investigates a bizarre locked-room puzzle in this delicious Gothic mystery from the winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger.
1930. Nell Fagan is a journalist on the trail of a intriguing and bizarre mystery: in 1606, a man vanished from a locked gatehouse in a remote Yorkshire village, and 300 years later, it happened again. Nell confides in the best sleuth she knows, judge’s daughter Rachel Savernake. Thank goodness she did, because barely a week later Nell disappears, and Rachel is left to put together the pieces of the puzzle.
Looking for answers, Rachel travels to lonely Blackstone Fell in Yorkshire, with its eerie moor and sinister tower. With help from her friend Jacob Flint – who’s determined to expose a fraudulent clairvoyant – Rachel will risk her life to bring an end to the disappearances and bring the truth to light.
A dazzling mystery peopled by clerics and medics; journalists and judges, Blackstone Fell explores the shadowy borderlands between spiritual and scientific; between sanity and madness; and between virtue and deadly sin.
Have you read any of these? What’s been your favourite holiday read this summer?
James Bond is missing. 007 has been captured, perhaps even killed, by a sinister private military company. His whereabouts are unknown.
Meet the new generation of spies…
Johanna Harwood, 003. Joseph Dryden, 004. Sid Bashir, 009. Together, they represent the very best and brightest of MI6. Skilled, determined and with a licence to kill, they will do anything to protect their country.
The fate of the world rests in their hands…
Tech billionaire Sir Bertram Paradise claims he can reverse the climate crisis and save the planet. But can he really? The new spies must uncover the truth, because the future of humanity hangs in the balance.
Time is running out.
The start of a brand new trilogy following MI6’s agents with a licence to kill, that blows the world of James Bond wide open!James Bond is missing. 007 has been captured, perhaps even killed, by a sinister private military company. His whereabouts are unknown.Meet the new generation of spies…Johanna Harwood, 003. Joseph Dryden, 004. Sid Bashir, 009. Together, they represent the very best and brightest of MI6. Skilled, determined and with a licence to kill, they will do anything to protect their country.The fate of the world rests in their hands…Tech billionaire Sir Bertram Paradise claims he can reverse the climate crisis and save the planet. But can he really? The new spies must uncover the truth, because the future of humanity hangs in the balance.Time is running out.The start of a brand new trilogy following MI6’s agents with a licence to kill, that blows the world of James Bond wide open!
My Review:
Double Or Nothing is a fun, action packed book that is a good addition to the James Bond Series.
Firstly although this is a James Bond book it is very different in places to the original series. In this book we don’t actually meet James Bond but instead get to know the other 00’s in the service who are a much more diverse mix then those normally featured. The action also doesn’t start straight away as in does in previous books. Instead we get to know the characters more first and experience some of their interactions with each other which I found very interesting. It made me understand the characters more and made them feel a bit more real.
As you can probably expect from a Bond book there was lots of action, adventure and some chases which made for a very exciting read. I liked how the author includes some stuff from the original series, including some of the characters which I really enjoyed. The pace of the book slowly increased as the story develops and this along with the many twists helped keep me thoroughly gripped. I liked the way the book ended and hope it means that there are more Bond books coming soon.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Harper Collins for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Kim Sherwood is a novelist and a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh. Her award-winning debut novel Testament was released in 2018, and in 2019, Kim was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. A Wild & True Relation, following a woman who joins a smugglers’ crew in eighteenth-century Devon, will be published by Virago in 2023. Double or Nothing is the first in a trilogy of Double O novels expanding the James Bond universe.
NEW YORK CITY, 1921An impossible dream.The war is over, the twenties are roaring, but in the depths of the city that never sleeps, Dorothy Parker is struggling to make her mark in a man’s world.A broken woman.She’s penniless, she’s unemployed and her marriage is on the rocks when she starts a bridge group with three extraordinary women – but will they be able to save her from herself?A fight for survival.When tragedy strikes, and everything Dorothy holds dear is threatened, it’s up to Peggy, Winifred and Jane to help her confront the truth before it’s too late. Because the stakes may be life or death…A new novel from the internationally bestselling author, Sex and the City meets the 1920s in this sweeping tale of love, loss and the everlasting bonds of friendship. Perfect for fans of Fiona Davis, Dinah Jefferies and Chanel Cleeton.
My Review:
I’m a huge fan of this author so I was very excited to hear she had a new book out – even more so when I realised it was set in one of my favourite time periods.
Firstly the author does a great job in setting the scene in this book so I felt fully transported back to the 1920’s and experiencing everything alongside the characters. The twenties were a very interesting time not just because of the many fascinating historical events mentioned in the book but also because it was a time of great social change with attitudes to women slowly changing in some circumstances. It was really interesting seeing the women embracing these new opportunity though some of the sexist remarks did make my blood boil at times.
The story is told from the point of view of the four main character and I found it fascinating to follow them throughout the book. I loved how different each of them were and how they helped shed a light on a different section of society at the time. Unusually I think I liked all of them pretty much equally, though I did have a soft spot for Dottie who seemed to be going through a particular hard time.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and was quickly absorbed into the story. It was great to follow the girls and watch them grow closer. They seemed like such a lovely group who complemented each other nicely and helped each other through all that life throws at them. I often found myself wishing I could be part of their group too as it seemed such fun at times.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour.
About The Author:
Gill Paul is an author of historical fiction, specialising in the twentieth century and often writing about the lives of real women. Her novels have topped bestseller lists in the US and Canada as well as the UK and have been translated into twenty languages. The Secret Wife has sold over half a million copies and is a book-club favourite worldwide.She is also the author of several non-fiction books on historical subjects. She lives in London and swims year-round in a wild pond.
Kira’s spells always end the same—rain and violent storms. She’s what’s called a Defect, and that means one of two things in the witch world—losing your magic or death. After faking her demise, Kira is in hiding. She risks exposure and travels the world, making the Defective magic that would get her killed into a gift by bringing rains to places that most need water.
The witch world has changed in the ten years Kira’s been gone. Kira doesn’t know that she has a much bigger part to play against an ancient danger that threatens the entire world. But the witches want her for their own greedy plans. Her only chance to escape the witch council is to hide in areas where her storms go unnoticed. After one last stop in Africa, she plans to disappear again.
But Kira’s past catches up with her and a decade old blood debt comes due. As if being prey to the witch world isn’t enough, her family’s history with the Russian Mafia causes an enemy who was once her childhood friend to hunt her down. She and her only ally Alex—a naïve American—team up to escape the underworld warlord. As Kira’s feelings for Alex grow, she fears he will be caught in the crossfire. To settle this debt, someone will have to die.
My Review:
Droplets Of Magic is a fast paced, action packed read from a new author for me.
Firstly I absolutely loved the world building in this book with the vivid descriptions of the world making me feel like I was actually there watching everything unfold. It’s set in a modern world which is recognisable in places to the one we know but one where magic exists but where it’s not necessarily a good thing to be able to do magic which I found very interesting. Each magician only has control over one element and I enjoyed exploring this concept alongside the characters.
There are some fantastic characters in this book who I enjoyed following throughout the book. Kira was a brilliant main character whose strength I admired as she tried to make things right. I also loved Rowan, who could make some clever potions, and Alex who helped make Kira’s journey a happier one with his good natured personality.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author in future. It’s actually the fourth book in the series but can easily be read as a standalone as I did. There was always something happening which made it very difficult to put down and lots of twists that kept me guessing. I’m now very intrigued to read what happens next and hope there’s not long to wait until the next book.
Huge thanks to Katie and Brey PA for inviting me to review and for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Emily Bybee grew up in Colorado devouring stories of all kinds and began writing at the age of twelve. She went on to get her degree in Environmental Biology before she picked up the pen again and still has a deep love of science.Emily is a two time winner of RMFW Colorado Gold Contest. Her debut book, Fractured Magic, is a paranormal romance about a defective witch. It is the first in the six book Unstable Magic series. She is currently working on projects in multiple genres as well as the next book in her series and a few novellas. Feel free to check out her free prequel to the series, Rebel Magic, on Book Funnel.
War consumed the world at the end of the twenty-first century. A new dominant empire reigns, the Denestra Empire.The Empire put tight restrictions on its people, denying them the freedoms that Denestra viewed as fuel to conflict in the past.A resistance movement rises but is only given real hope when a map is handed down to its leader, a map leading to a powerful device created by one of Denestra’s former enemies, a device that could turn the tide of war.Cleo Kennedy is the former commander of Denestra’s elite military unit, The Purgery. After a betrayal, Cleo now fights the Denestra Empire alongside a former smuggler, Seif. Cleo is enlisted by the resistance to use the map and find the rumoured device before the Denestra Empire. It is a mission that could bring the end to the conflict and bring Cleo closer to those that have betrayed her.
Equinox is out now and available via the link below.
I watched from the top floor balcony of the decaying tower block as the soldiers dressed in white combat gear emptied their convoy of armoured vehicles in the square below. It was a square enclosed on every side by the decaying tower blocks of the slum. They had been in this state of disrepair since the end of The Great War. This is what the poorest of society called home. And already, chaos reigned in the square, with everyone fleeing from the sight of the soldiers. I heard heavy footsteps approach me with a heavy breath to match. “They’re here,” a voice told me. It was Seif. His hair was scruffier than usual, but the look went with the dusty, beaten robes he was in. It wasn’t an unusual sight to see him in. I had seen him in a lot worse. He was in the same style of robes that I wore. A dark blue robe that stretched all the way to our feet, dated, with loose threading here and there. Even being second hand, they were amongst the best-conditioned ones we had seen. “Time to go,” I told him. I left my perch upon the balcony and led the way to the stairwell with Seif on my heels. Our footsteps thundered down the concrete stairwell as screaming and commotion erupted below. I didn’t slacken my pace, heading straight towards the danger. This was another routine sweep of the district. We had been following the soldiers for weeks, waiting for an opportunity like this. “Cleo, slow down. Hey, are you sure about this?” Seif asked, trying to match my pace behind me. The only legacy of my parents was my name. It was the only detail that remained in my memory from them. I think they named me after an ancient Egyptian Queen. But I got Cleo for short. Now Seif was the only person in the world that would call my name. He was all I had left. My only family, even though it wasn’t through blood. “I’m sure, now c’mon!” I shouted, taking the steps even quicker. We finally reached one of the lower floors, but the Denestra soldiers hadn’t reached that certain one yet. The tenants were rushing around frantically in a panic. Cries of women and children echoed through the halls, as well as the shouting of the men. Suddenly, a burst of gunfire erupted from the floor below, sending everyone into deeper hysterics. “This way,” I told Seif, making my way from the stairwell and down a long grey corridor. The paint was flaking off the walls, and there was a powerful stench of dampness. People were rushing in every direction. These were poverty-stricken people. The lower working class of Divenire, the capital of the Denestra Empire. I pushed my way through the flood of people and followed a chanting I heard over the panic. We reached a room at the far end of the corridor where a congregation of people had gathered inside. They all seemed to be reciting a religious prayer. Seif stopped by my side in the doorway, almost colliding with me. ‘What, this?’ he asked. “It’s perfect,” I said, entering the room and joining the back of the crowd. I had to usher Seif to my side with gri ed teeth before he reluctantly obliged. “We’ll burn for this,” Seif told me in a lowered voice. “I’m counting on it,” I told him as I joined in the prayer with a loud voice.
About The Author:
Northern Irish novelist, Paul McCracken was born 16th January 1991 in the Ulster hospital, Dundonald, just outside of Belfast. He grew up in the Castlereagh area of east Belfast where he also went to school.
Ever since he could hold a pencil, he wanted to be an artist and no-one, not even the school career advisor could tell him otherwise. He left education with only three GCSE’s and an Art diploma. He tried to make it as a fine artist whilst also trying to find any work to support himself financially. However, the more he learned about the commercial art world, the more he wanted no part in it.
In spring 2011, he enrolled in a five day film making course through the Prince’s Trust charity. He always had a passion for storytelling. During the course, he impressed the owner of the studio at which the course was being held, through the raw creativity he displayed. The studio owner was the first to encourage Paul to write his own material, that material being screenplays. After leaving the course with new found confidence and ambition, Paul started to learn the craft of screenwriting and got to work writing his very first feature film.
After securing full time work later that year, he found a renewed inspiration to write again and wrote a full length film script in the space of a week. Paul kept on writing other projects as well as continually editing the first script, but he kept the fact he was writing close to himself as he didn’t want to face any negativity if he were to tell anyone. The script would go on to score highly in an international screenplay competition, based out of Los Angeles. It would then place in the quarter-finals of the same competition for the next two years in a row, accompanied by another screenplay that Paul wrote next.
Years later, after entering competitions, pitching, submitting and doing some occasional freelance scriptwriting, Paul wanted to find a way to get his work into the public eye. Writing a novel was a challenge that seemed daunting but also exciting. Having first thought of converting his best script into a novel, he decided to come up with a completely original story.
In 2018, he self published his debut novel, Layla’s Song.
In 2020 he secured two book deals with two different English publishers. The Conrad Press and PM Books (Imprint of Holland House Books). The first of these books was Where Crows Land, a detective thriller set in Belfast and published by The Conrad Press.
His other novel, The Last Rains Of Winter is due out early 2021 with PM Books.
Reminiscent of the works of Margaret Atwood, Deborah Harkness, and Octavia E. Butler, The Women Could Fly is a feminist speculative novel that speaks to our times. A piercing dystopian tale about the unbreakable bond between a young woman and her absent mother, set in a world in which magic is real and single women are closely monitored in case they are shown to be witches . . .
Josephine Thomas has heard every conceivable theory about her mother’s disappearance. That she was kidnapped. Murdered. That she took on a new identity to start a new family. That she was a witch. This is the most worrying charge, because in a world where witches are real, peculiar behaviour raises suspicions and a woman – especially a Black woman – can find herself on trial for witchcraft.
But fourteen years have passed since her mother’s disappearance, and now Jo is finally ready to let go of the past. Yet her future is in doubt. The State mandates that all women marry by the age of thirty – or enrol in a registry that allows them to be monitored, effectively forfeiting their autonomy. At twenty-eight, Jo is ambivalent about marriage. With her ability to control her life on the line, she feels as if she has her never understood her mother more. When she’s offered the opportunity to honour one last request from her mother’s will, Jo leaves her regular life to feel connected to her one last time.
In this powerful and timely novel, Megan Giddings explores the limits women face – and the powers they have to transgress and transcend them.
My Review:
The Woman Could Fly is an intelligent and powerful read that was very thought provoking.
Firstly I thought the world the author has created was very vivid and I enjoyed exploring it alongside the main character Jo. It is sadly a quite familiar world where women are inferior to men, feared and punished as witches. The thing I found most interesting about this world was that I recognised it both in an historical sense and in the present day with the overturning of legislation in the US that has been much discussed in the news. It seemed kind of timeless to me which was sad to realise that not much has changed.
I loved the main character Jo and enjoyed following her throughout the book. In a world where differences aren’t tolerated, Jo doesn’t stand much of a chance against the cruel leaders. It was tough to see her struggle against this and poignant to see what her future might hold.
The book does start off slowly as we are introduced to this new world but soon becomes very interesting as we follow Jo on the mission her mother set out in her will. The ending was unexpected and very good! I look forward to reading more from this author in future.
Huge thanks to Tracy for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Megan Giddings is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. Her first novel, Lakewood, was one of New York Magazine’s top ten books of 2020, an NPR Best Book of 2020, a Michigan Notable book for 2021, a finalist for two NAACP Image Awards, and was a finalist for an LA Times Book Prize in the Ray Bradbury Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative category. Megan’s writing has received funding and support from the Barbara Deming Foundation and Hedgebrook. She lives in the Midwest. The Women Could Fly is Megan’s latest spellbinding novel.
Hana Westerman is a tenacious Māori detective juggling single motherhood and the pressures of her career in Auckland’s Central Investigation Branch. When she’s led to a crime scene by a mysterious video, she discovers a man hanging in a secret room. As Hana and her team work to track down the killer, other deaths lead her to think that they are searching for New Zealand’s first serial killer.
A KILLER IN SEARCH OF RETRIBUTION
With little to go on, Hana must use all her experience as a police officer to try and find a motive to these apparently unrelated murders. What she eventually discovers is a link to an historic crime that leads back to the brutal bloody colonisation of New Zealand.
A CLASH BETWEEN CULTURE AND DUTY
When the pursuit becomes frighteningly personal, Hana realises that her heritage and knowledge are their only keys to finding the killer.
THE PAST NEVER TRULY STAYS BURIED
But as the murders continue, it seems that the killer’s agenda of revenge may include Hana – and her family . . .
WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE OF PARADISE.
My Review:
I really enjoyed this exciting, thought provoking book which is hard to believe is the author’s debut.
Hana was a very interesting main character who I really enjoyed following throughout the book. She’s a very strong lady and I liked how she’d managed to overcome problems to rise through the police ranks. I really felt for her as she investigated the case and her confusion when it became apparent that the killer knows her. Being Māori herself she often struggles between her culture and her job which was interesting to read about.
The author does a great job of setting the scene and I loved the fabulous descriptions of New Zealand. I’ve actually been to New Zealand so it was great to ‘revisit’ some of the places in the book. I especially enjoyed learning more about Māori culture and their beliefs and traditions as I didn’t know much about it before. It was very emotional to see how they were treated by the British settlers though and I felt very sad to see how their culture has been sidelined.
I thought this book was well written and fast paced with the action not letting up much for the entire book. I found it very hard to stop reading and raced through the book in a couple of sittings. I really hope there will be a sequel as I’d love to see more of Hana.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Simon & Schuster for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Michael Te Arawa Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) is an award-winning screenwriter, director and author.His first book, a non-fiction novel telling the true story of New Zealand’s worst miscarriage of justice, In Dark Places, won Best Non-Fiction Book at the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards. Michael’s second book, Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas is a time-travel graphic novel co-authored with Ant Sang.Michael’s short films and feature films have won awards internationally, and have screened at numerous international festivals including Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, Locarno, New York, London and Melbourne. Michael is the 2020 recipient of the Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award, in recognition of members of the Māori film-making community who have made high-level contributions to screen storytelling.He lives in Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand) with his partner Jane, and children Tīhema, Māhina and Matariki.
Over The Rainbow Blog 