I’m thrilled to hand the reins over to my lovely guest reviewer, Kirsty, who is participating in her first blog tour today!

London Hat Hunting Mission is available to buy now in ebook and hardback.  You can buy a copy of both here.

Before I share Kirsty’s review, here is a bit about the book.

Book Synopsis:

Four little Londoners, Hope, Jun, Lea and Parth, come from a different cultural background, are good friends living in London. They are travelling to the iconic places around the city in search of magic hats to cure Mr Globe’s headache. The book is illustrated with a mix of real life photographs of iconic places in London and digital illustration so children can have a vivid visual experience of London and at the same time open up their world of imagination.

Kirsty’s Review:

This is a story book about 4 friends who go on a journey around some of London’s famous places and landmarks to find hats to help their friend Mr Globe.

I have two children, a 2 year old daughter and a 6 year old son, we had a lovely time sharing this book together. I loved the way the 4 characters are introduced and given little personalities, my daughter enjoyed the fact the characters were dolls and my son liked the fact that the illustrations were photos – it made it more real for him.

My son has been to London and liked being able to spot places and monuments he had seen. We liked the different fonts that were used throughout the book, this made the writing stand out for little eyes and kept them engaged. The book says it’s suitable from age 2, however my 2 year old struggled to stay engaged with the story so we talked about the pictures instead which was just as good a valuable learning experience.

My son had fun trying to say thank you in all the different languages and enjoyed looking at all the different hats. I also used to teach primary children and I can see this book would be a valuable addition to a classroom especially with the dolls alongside.
I did find it slightly irksome that the book starts with some gentle rhyming but this doesn’t continue throughout the book. I think children who live in London or have been to London would relate more to this book but my children did like looking at it. If someone is looking for a book to introduce multiculturism to children this is a good choice.

Thank you Kirsty for this fantastic review! 

About The Author:

Winnie Mak Tselikas is a believer in diversity. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she studied engineering, worked in commercial sales and in 2011 switched to education upon moving to London. There, she met her half-French, half-Greek husband and they had a son, who now has family in China, France, Greece, HK, the UK and the US. Winnie considers her son to be a world citizen rather than of a particular nationality or culture. Inspired by her family and London’s diversity, she founded One Dear World and created the lovely adventures of Mr. Globe and the little Londoner dolls.

Follow The Blog Tour:

If you liked the sound of this book from Kirsty’s review please follow the blog tour and find out what these other fabulous bloggers are saying.

Book Description:

When a gang of six children playing in their den in the woods spot a man burying drugs nearby, it marks the beginning of the end of their childhoods.

Unsure what to do, the children dig up the drugs and take them away. But when the dealer, who they watched bury the stash, shows up dead, the youngsters are thrown into turmoil.

Scared of what might happen, the children tell the police about the body they have discovered.

Meanwhile, a group of gangsters start searching for their missing drugs.

Soon the children and their families become the target of the vicious criminals who will stop at nothing to retrieve their narcotics…

Game Players is available in ebook and paperback now.  The ebook is currently only 99p.  You can purchase a copy of both here.

My Review:

This is the first book by Anita Waller I have read and I’m pleased to say I really enjoyed it.

It’s what I would  describe as a gentle thriller as I felt it was more character than action driven.  It reminded me a little of the film stand by me, as it had a touch of a coming of age story to it.

I loved the setting of the woods.  I grew up playing in the woods and making dens with my friends so I enjoyed the descriptions of the children’s innocent games as it took me back to my childhood. The Gang of Six are a beautiful creation that I hope the author writes more stories about.  I found that I really cared about them and therefore felt more involved in the story as I cared about what happened to them.  I really wanted to be part of their gang, involved in their games and investigations.  They are really close, good friends and I wish I had such friends in childhood.

This is one of the first books I’ve read when I actually felt sorry for the drug dealer.  Vinny seems, underneath everything, an ok guy whose just got into something way over his head.  He’s a criminal with a conscience which is quite sweet to read about.

This isn’t an overly fast moving book but it is a hugely enjoyable one, mainly because of the characters the author has created.  The action alternates between the children and Vinny, the drug dealer, which gives the reader more of a holistic view of what is happening and helps to add to the tension as you are aware of what is happening before the other side.

This is the first book by Anita Waller I have read and I’d be very interested to read more from her in the future, particularly if she was to write another story with the gang of six in it.

Huge thanks to Sarah Hardy and Bloodhound books for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author:

Anita Waller was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1946. She married Dave in 1967 and they have three adult children.

She began writing when she was around 8 years of age, writing ‘compositions’ at junior school that became books with chapters. She wrote several novels in the romance genre and then realised she wanted to add murders to the romances, so she morphed into a psychological thriller author. Beautiful was her first completed novel in this genre.
The manuscript was submitted to Bloodhound Books who, within three days of reading it, offered her a contract. 31 August 2015 it was released as an ebook, to be followed a couple of days later by the paperback version.
Following the outstanding success of Beautiful, she began a sequel on 27 December 2015, finishing it on 19 March 2016. The new novel, Angel, was launched on 7 May 2016.
Her third novel, 34 Days, followed Angel and was launched on 3 October 2016 to outstanding success; at its highest level, it was #26 in Amazon charts. It is selling equally as well in the US and Australia and has sold over 15,000 copies in the first eight weeks following publication.
She then took time out to temporarily change genre; Winterscroft, a supernatural novel, was launched on 7 February 2017. While she was writing Winterscroft it became clear that fans of 34 Days wanted a sequel, and on 10 August 2017, Strategy was launched.
She is now working on her sixth novel, A Legal Issue, once again set in Sheffield, and once again a psychological thriller.
In addition to writing, she also teaches patchwork and quilting – a little reference to this is likely to surface in every book!
She is a lifelong Sheffield Wednesday supporter with blue blood in her veins! More than a little reference to this is likely to surface – see 34 Days!

Her genre is murder – necessary murder.

I’m on the blog tour today for Blue Troat Morning by Jacqui Lofthouse and have a Q&A with the author to share with you.

Blue Throat Morning will be published on the 22nd May in ebook.  The ebook price is 99p at the same, you can pre-order your copy here here.

Before I share the Q&A with you, here is a little about the book.

Book Description:

Alison Bliss, celebrity model and critically acclaimed writer, walks into the sea one ‘bluethroat morning’. In death she becomes a greater icon than in life, and the Norfolk village where she lived is soon a place of pilgrimage. Six years later her husband Harry, a schoolteacher, is still haunted by her suicide and faithful to her memory. Until he meets Helen and they fall in love.

Harry and Helen’s relationship initiates a return to the scene of Alison’s death where they meet ninety-eight year old Ern Higham, and a tale is revealed that has been generations in the making. As Harry pieces together a tragic history and finally confronts his own pain, he discovers that to truly move forward, first he must understand the past …

Q&A with Jacqui Lofthouse:

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m the author of four novels including ‘Bluethroat Morning’ which was first published by Bloomsbury in the year 2000. On 22nd May this year, I’m delighted that Blackbird will be publishing the first digital edition. It’s a literary mystery, set on the North Norfolk Coast. I’ve written three other novels including ‘The Modigliani Girl’. Writing is a huge part of my life, but I also love to act. I’m married to the cartoonist David Lewis and we have two grown children (aged 17 and 21).

What do you do when you are not writing?

My first love was drama and I’ve recently taken the plunge and started drama school at Identity School of Acting in my early fifties! I’m often to be found in the drama classroom doing voice lessons or movement classes. I’ve begun taking parts in student films too. I find that there’s a great crossover between drama and writing – and acting is making me a better writer. I find my training as a writer also feeds into my performance work.

Do you have a day job as well?

I’m a trained life coach and in 2005 I set up a coaching and mentoring organisation for writers The Writing Coach. I love to work with other writers on their manuscripts and to support them in the process of writing their books and I have a team of freelancers who work for me too, so we cover all genres. Being an entrepreneur definitely keeps me busy! I was interviewed with my friend the writer Louise Doughty here about my tendency to do many things rather than focus on one:

Louise Doughty and Jacqui Lofthouse: Tortoises Rather Than Hares

When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?

I began writing in my late teens when I entered a journalism competition in Cosmopolitan magazine and began writing fiction whilst studying drama at the University of Bristol in the late eighties. I used to write really bad and melodramatic short stories. I began writing my first novel, a dystopian story, in my early twenties and shortly afterwards I learned about the MA in Creative Writing at UEA which I applied for. I ended up studying under Malcolm Bradbury and Rose Tremain. At the end of that year I wrote to agents and one liked my first novel. In the end it was the second idea that she sold however and I was incredibly lucky to be commissioned by Hamish Hamilton/Penguin to complete that novel ‘The Temple of Hymen’. I had a six month deadline and wrote like a demon…

How did you choose the genre you write in?

You might say I don’t really stick to one genre, although my fiction might loosely be called ‘literary’ (though the meaning of that term is open to debate!). ‘The Temple of Hymen’ is historical, ‘Bluethroat Morning’ is a mystery, ‘Een Stille Verdwijning’ (only published in Dutch) is also mystery, but ‘The Modigliani Girl’ is a satire/comedy. I’m now writing a YA novel! The fact that I’m more of a ‘literary’ writer in style is, I think, just my personal voice, influenced by my reading over the years. I’m drawn to ideas and stories rather than particular genres. I guess I’m not particularly market-led in the way I write.

Where do you get your ideas?

I often start with strong images, paintings I’ve seen in art galleries – or a sense of place – somewhere that sticks in my mind. I allow myself to dream and write fragments and to research based on those first insights. I’m what you’d call an organic writer, though over the years I’ve developed a much keener sense of how a good plot functions. Rose Tremain calls those initial insights ‘the first mystery’ and I agree with her here – that one should allow those insights to unravel in your imagination. A story never comes to me whole but evolves.

Do you ever experience writer’s block?

To be honest, not really. But as I also act and run a business, I don’t spend so much time at my writing desk as I would in an ideal world. Being part of a writers’ group really helps too as they help me to unpick problems when they emerge and to find solutions.

Do you work with an outline, or just write?

I’d say that at first I ‘just write’ but the further I get into a book, the more I start to plan. I ensure that any plans I have are open to change. I advise the writers I work with to ‘write with a sense of direction’ – never to write a scene without knowing where it is going, to keep the scene dynamic. One has to allow for the magic of the moment however – the sudden insight that changes everything.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath. So it’s probably not surprising that I ended up writing about a man investigating the suicide of his wife in ‘Bluethroat Morning’ – there are definitely echoes of the Plath/Hughes story in that book. I remember finding a little original edition of Virginia Woolf’s ‘The Waves’ in my school library when I was in my late teens. I had never heard of Woolf, but I loved the feel of the book and just began reading. I was transported to another world and I think that book was hugely influential on me becoming a writer. I also loved reading Sylvia Plath’s ‘Letters Home’ to her mother, as it taught me the importance of persistence as a writer – and of submissions.

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

To be honest, I was very fortunate. I did submit the dystopian novel to ‘Faber & Faber’ when it was unfinished, before I went to UEA. I hadn’t even heard of literary agents. It’s funny thinking about that now.

With ‘The Temple of Hymen’ I was lucky to have a very established agent representing me. I still remember the call to her in a telephone booth from the British Library, just before Christmas, when she gave me the news about Penguin. I walked down Oxford Street beneath the Christmas lights in a daze.
I’ve had more challenges getting later novels published to be honest. The journey to first publication was pretty smooth for me. But as a mid-career novelist, the challenges are deeper in many ways.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

I remember visiting the North Norfolk town of Cley in very oppressive weather. I’d already decided to set the novel there (though it’s called Glaven in the book) – and it was my response to that landscape at that particular time that influenced the dark mood of the book. But the events are all entirely fictional. My third and fourth novels use aspects of my experience more. In ‘The Modigliani Girl’ I satirise some of my own experiences of literary life – but it’s only very loosely used!

What was your hardest scene to write?

It was difficult to write Alison Bliss’s notebooks in ‘Bluethroat Morning’ as they were the diary of someone who would go on to kill herself by drowning off the Norfolk coast. Her notebooks also needed to convey a lot of historical story, so it was a challenge. I worked hard to focus on my role as a storyteller, to remain objective, whilst also knowing that I had to understand her mood if I was to make it real to the reader.
How did you come up with the title?
The novel was originally called ‘The Smile of Accomplishment’ – a phrase from a Plath poem (‘Edge’) but Bloomsbury didn’t like that so we looked for a phrase that was already in the book. ‘Bluethroat Morning’ describes a particular kind of weather when that bird is most likely to be spotted – and it was on such a morning that Alison Bliss killed herself.
What project are you working on now?
I’m now working on a YA novel about a girl coming to terms with the death of her father, a war photographer. I’m also working on my first play.
What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
I try to keep a sense of humour about bad reviews. It makes me laugh sometimes to think of the discrepancy between my reviews. The Daily Mail wrote “A thriller full of twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing. Every word is magical, almost luminous.” Whereas one reviewer on the German Amazon site called it “a book that the world could do without”. Really, one has to laugh!
I was particularly thrilled with a review by Tracy Chevalier (before she was famous). She wrote: “There are many elements to savour in this novel: the intertwining of past and present; the struggle to write and the responsibility of writing about others’ lives … Best of all, Lofthouse has a fine eye for the bleak Norfolk landscape and how it both reflects and affects characters’ moods.”

Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

If you plan to read ‘Bluethroat Morning’ I’d suggest not going in with expectations. This is not a ‘genre’ novel or a typical psychological thriller. It’s not written to any kind of blueprint. But I hope that reading it will transport you to another world and reward you in unexpected ways. And thank you for taking the time to read my books. I always appreciate contact with readers.

About The Author:

Jacqui Lofthouse began her career in radio production and media training. In 1992 she studied for her MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia under Malcolm Bradbury and Rose Tremain. She is founder of The Writing Coach and the author of four novels, The Temple of Hymen (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin 1995/1996), Bluethroat Morning (Bloomsbury 2000/Blackbird 2018), Een Stille Verdwijning, (De Bezige Bij 2005) and The Modigliani Girl (Blackbird 2015). Her novels have sold over 100,000 copies in the UK, the USA and Europe and have been widely reviewed.

You can find out more about Jacqui’s novels here:
(https://www.blackbird-books.com/jacqui-lofthouse/).

Follow Jacqui on Twitter @jacquilofthouse or on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/jacquilofthouseauthor or on Instagram @jacquilofthouse

I’m on the blog tour for Juliet And Romeo by David Hewson today and have a great Q&A with the author to share with you.

Juliet And Romeo is available to buy in ebook and hardback now.  You can purchase a copy here.

Before I share my Q&A, here is a little about the book.

Book Description:

Two young people meet: Romeo, desperate for love before being sent away to study, and Juliet facing a forced marriage to a nobleman she doesn’t know. Fate and circumstance bring them together in a desperate attempt to thwart their parents with a secret marriage. But in a single fateful week, their intricate scheming falls terribly apart. Shakespeare’s most well-known and well-loved play has been turned in to a gripping romantic thriller with a modern twist. Rich with the sights and sounds of medieval Italy, peopled with a vibrant cast of characters who spring from the page, this is Shakespeare as you’ve never read it before.

Q&A:

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I left school at 17 and became a journalist on a local paper. After that I worked for The Times, Independent and Sunday Times before turning to fiction later.

What do you do when you are not writing?

Travel, mess about in the garden and mooch.

Do you have a day job as well?

No – writing is my full-time career.

When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?

I tried writing for years and years but it wasn’t until 1994 that I finally finished something that was good enough for a publisher. That book was set in Spain and called Semana Santa (and later turned into a not very good movie).

How did you choose the genre you write in?

I’m not a fan of labels. Sometimes I get tagged as crime, sometimes as thriller. Juliet & Romeo is a historical novel I guess. I just write the books and let other people try to categorise them.

Where do you get your ideas?

Out in the world – it’s full of them.

Do you ever experience writer’s block?

Not really. Sometimes I puzzle over the direction a story is going to take but I always have a destination in mind.

Do you work with an outline, or just write?

Well with Juliet & Romeo I kind of had an outline already from Shakespeare. For my original novels I tend to sketch out an outline and let the characters shape the story was we embark on the journey.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

Big fan of Robert Graves for I, Claudius, brilliant technically and in its ambition too – the fake diary of a Roman emperor. Much copied since.

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

Took me ages to get anyone to read it because there was an assumption no one wanted to read books set in Spain. The first agent who did snapped it up and within three months I had a three-book publishing contract and a movie deal not long after.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

It’s based on the myth of Romeo and Juliet, as told in Shakespeare and some Italian authors he stole from.

What was your hardest scene to write?

I didn’t find any of them particularly hard to be honest. Once you have your characters right they should drive the story.

How did you come up with the title?

It’s told from Juliet’s point of view so it seemed obvious to me.

What project are you working on now?

I have a new crime novel, The Savage Shore, out in July. This brings back an Italian detective Nic Costa – I wrote nine Costa books before sending him on holiday a few years back. This one is set in Calabria in the toe of Italy and sees him having to pretend to be a gangsters inside the local mob.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

Well like any author you get told you just can’t write from time to time. But if you have a thin skin you shouldn’t be in this business. Later this month I’m going to New York where I’ve been nominated for the audio equivalent of an Oscar, an Audie, for the audio version of this book. That’s quite a compliment whether I win or not.

Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

Just thanks – and there’s lots more round the corner – much of it different.

About The Author:

David Hewson is the author of fourteen novels and several dramatisations for Audible.com. A dramatic reading of Juliet and Romeo read by Richard Armitage was released in November 2017 to great acclaim. David is a regular columnist and reviewer for newspapers and appears regularly at book festivals around the UK.

I’m thrilled to be kicking off the blog tour for this fantastic sounding book on its publication day.  I have an extract to share and also a paperback copy of this book to give away which is very exciting!

A Child Called Happiness is out today in ebook and paperback.  You can purchase a copy of both here.

Before I share my extract with you and details in how to enter my giveaway here is a little about the book.

Book Description:

Extract:

Kare kare. Long, long ago. I can still remember the day my father died; I was four years old. But this story does not
start then. No. We shall get to his story by and by. This story begins in the days of my grandfather, in the days of the first Chimurenga – the first uprising.

These fields were ours then; these hills, this earth. Our village nestled in between the boulders on the side of the
valley. There were many huts. The large central hut belonged to my grandfather. His cattle roamed the whole region from the ridge to the other side of the valley. He had three wives, of which my grandmother was the youngest. He was already an old man when he took her as wife. It was a fertile land,
rich and fruitful. The village was close to that of the spirit guide, Nehanda, and like many, he revered her.

His name was Tafara. We are happy, it means, in the Shona language.

It was the year 1896, though Tafara would not have known it as that.

Tafara had settled himself at the top of a high ridge as darkness fell across the valley. In his hands he held the stick
that had belonged to his father. It had been a year since his death and the next day they would be visiting his grave to
perform the ceremony. Back in the village the women were brewing beer and preparing the sadza; it was just possible to hear the sound of voices and music drifting up over the dry grassland.

Tafara lay back against the stone, which was warm still from the sun. The night was heavy, the darkness, like a hot
stifling blanket, blocked out any gleam of light. The moon had not yet risen, but as he lay there the stars began to appear, a glittering sweep of lights, pinpricks of brilliance. Billowing
clouds were massed along the horizon, apparent only from the thick black absence of starlight. The rains had held
off. Normally they would have come by now. Dark clouds gathered and drifted restlessly across the sky, but no rain had
fallen. It had been a poor season; ever since his father had died, the earth seemed to have shrivelled up. The ground was bone hard.

Tafara hugged the stick to his chest and tried to picture his father’s face, but found he could not. He closed his eyes
and delineated the details, the beard, the prominent forehead, the noble bearing; but the parts would not stitch together. His voice, though, remained and Tafara could hear it now,
laying there, as if it had been only minutes before that it had
breathed in his ear.

‘Sango rinopa waneta.’
The forest rewards you when you are weary.

They had been his father’s last words, his voice soft and flutelike as he lay upon his deathbed. Tafara felt now the soft weight of his father’s hand on his head. Heard the exhaustion in his voice. Saw still, piercingly clearly, the slow rise and fall of his emaciated chest beneath the thin blanket.

‘Yes, father,’ he had whispered.

But he did not know what his father had meant. Was it a criticism? Was it encouragement? This was Tafara’s sixteenth season of rains and he felt ill-prepared for the responsibilities
about to fall upon him as the eldest son.

A sudden noise disturbed his thoughts. Alert, he sat up, his ears straining. The darkness was impenetrable; it was barely possible for him to see his hand in front of his face. Slowly and silently he slipped the long knife from his belt. His hand was trembling, but he breathed deeply, slowed the race of his heart and raised himself onto the balls of his bare feet. Somewhere a little below him he could hear movement in the undergrowth. A low rustle. He listened intently trying to gauge the size of the creature making the noise, listening for its breathing, for the sounds that might identify it, but little carried.

He eased himself down from the rock, placing its smooth surface against his back, taking care to detect the direction
of the soft breeze. He flared his nostrils, inhaled deeply, analysing the scents in the air. Wood smoke. He dropped to
a squat. The village was behind him on the other side of the ridge and the breeze was blowing away from it. It was thin, a small fire. He eased forwards silently. As he crept over the ridge he saw the soft glow of the flames, half way down the incline.

He moved to within thirty feet of the fire, keeping low. His view was partly obscured by high brush and he had to
work around them, dipping below some large boulders and through a small copse of Msasa. He had crept closer than he anticipated. Two men were seated by the small fire. The first
was of middling height dressed in a khaki green jacket. His hat had been discarded next to him. The second sat on the opposite side of the fire and little was visible of him beyond his gaunt face and beard.

It was not the first time Tafara had seen white men; they had been making incursions through the region more and
more regularly. A small group of men had visited his father more than a year before, wanting to purchase land at the
head of the valley where they had found deposits of gold. His father had turned them away. One of the white men had taken a large box from the back of their cart and erected it in front of the village. He had assembled the villagers in front of one of the huts and then disappeared beneath a black sheet in front of them. Tafara recalled the incident now and smiled, remembering their incomprehension at the behaviour of this white man hidden beneath his sheet before them.

Sometime later he came out from under it, grinned at them and laughed, and they laughed too at his madness. But,
before he left, the white man presented them with a little miracle. On a card, no larger than the width and length of
his hand, he presented them with the image of themselves as they had been at that moment, stood before the hut. Tafara did not understand what he had done, but he cherished that small miracle the white man gave him and kept it safely among his possessions.

For a while he watched the two men passing a small canteen between themselves, talking in low voices. When he was assured that they posed no danger he crept away, circling the kopje, moving silently, his ears alert for more of the white men; but the night was quiet.
The village glowed in the deep night and voices and music were audible as soon as he crossed the ridge. A cow
had been slaughtered earlier in the day and the rich smell of the meat hung heavily in the air, making his mouth water as he made his way back. There was singing and the sound of the mbira. Many of the men were drunk when he passed through the village towards the central hut. Kamba, his uncle, was sprawled out in the shadows snoring loudly.

Tafara slept fitfully and was woken by a deep grumble shortly before dawn. For some moments he lay listening, but
the village was silent and he drifted back to sleep.
They woke very early the following day, and taking the sadza that had been prepared and the beer, they made their
way to the burial site of Chimukoko. The weather was heavy and uncomfortable, the air tense as though it might snap.
Spreading out the food upon the grave, the women gathered around, a low chant rising rhythmically in the gathering dawn light. They poured the libations of beer across the ground.

At the appointed time, Tafara was motioned forward. He stood nervously and glanced across at his uncle. Kamba
was the younger brother of his father and many of the tribe looked to him for authority. Kamba’s head was lowered and his hand rested on his large belly. He had dragged his feet all the way to the burial ground, hung over from the previous evening’s excesses. Raising his head slightly, he glanced at Tafara and nodded slowly, barely perceptibly, before letting his chin settle back against the rolls of fat on his chest.

‘Mudzimu!’ Tafara called out, kneeling before the grave. ‘Spirits hear! We welcome you back home. Come guide your family. If there is anything you need, please let us know. Have patience with us. Treat us with mercy.’

The earth shook. The heavens clapped with rage and the burial ground was illuminated by a brilliant, jagged flash
of light. A sudden silence descended upon the mourners, and Tafara felt his heart rise into his mouth. He jumped to
his feet.

‘Mudzimu!’ he called.

Following the brilliant light, the day seemed plunged into darkness. The clouds had been gathering since dawn and hung heavily now over the tops of the baobabs and Msasa. As he lifted his face to the sky he felt the first drop of water. He grinned. And suddenly it was raining; hard, large pellets of water that slapped against the skin and sizzled against the hot earth and rock. A torrential outpouring, which, as they
made their way back to the village obscured their view, ran down their bodies, formed a liquid curtain across their path. The red earth stained their feet and ankles, and rode up their legs; it squelched between their toes as they walked.

The huts were warm and dry. Tafara sat in the centre of the largest, the sound of the mbira and drums drowning out
the rain. His head swam with the beer and his senses were stimulated by the scent of the roasted calf and the duiker. He felt taller, more assured; he noted the respect in the voices of the women who brought him food.

Across the fire sat Kamba, his lips glossy with the juices of the meat they had eaten. Kamba smiled. His face jumped
in the heat that rose from the fire.

‘You have your father’s blessing,’ Kamba said.

Tafara nodded. ‘Sometimes I am frightened,’ he said.

Kamba waved his hand dismissively. ‘There is no reason to be afraid. Your father’s spirit will guide you. You are a
young, strong man. For generations our family has lived on these lands and your children’s children will remember you in these same caves. What greater blessing could you want?’

‘My father was a wise man.’

‘And in time so shall you be. Listen to the spirits. Listen to the elders. Love the land. That is all that is asked of you.’

That night, Tafara returned to his young bride. It was dark when he went in to her and she was sleeping already.
When he lay down beside her, she stirred and awoke, her eyes opening, blinking in the darkness, the faint light of the moon falling through the open door reflecting weakly in her large eyes. She murmured something, but he covered her mouth with his hand. He ran his hand across the smooth
expanse of her naked back, down to the rise of her buttocks. He brushed his fingertips against her hardened nipples. He pressed his face into her neck and inhaled the sharp, animal scent of her. She moaned softly and turned onto her back. His fingers traced down across her flat stomach, into the warm, wet crease between her legs.
‘Tafara,’ she said.  Carefully he got on top of her and her hands took him and guided him. He buried his face in against her flesh and she
held onto him.
After, when she was sleeping again, he stood at the door of the hut and gazed out across the village. The sky had begun to clear and the moonlight reflected off the wet thatch. Nothing stirred. Behind the village rose the bulk of the hill, while to the south and east the valley dropped away. His land. The land of his fathers. The land of his children.

Tafara leaned back against the doorpost and smiled.

He had almost forgotten the previous evening.

UK only Giveaway:

I’m so excited to have a paperback copy of this book to giveaway!

As usual, all you have to do is RT the pinned tweet on my Twitter page and tag some friends you think would also to enter.

Or in Facebook like this Giveaway post on my  Facebook page and tag some friends!

I’ll keep the Giveaway open until Monday and then get my lovely son to pick a winner!

Good Luck everyone!

About The Author:

Stephan Collishaw was brought up on a Nottingham council estate and failed all of his O’levels. His first novel The Last Girl (2003) was chosen by the Independent on Sunday as one of its Novels of the Year. In 2004 Stephan was selected as one of the British Council’s 20 best young British novelists. His brother is the renowned artist, Mat Collishaw. After a 10-year writing hiatus, The Song of the Stork is Stephan’s highly anticipated third novel. Stephan now works as a teacher in Nottingham, having also lived and worked abroad in Lithuania and Mallorca, where his son Lukas was born.

Follow Stephan on Twitter at @scollishaw

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Book Description:

Tommaso has escaped discovery for thirty years but a young private investigator, Will, has tracked him down. Tommaso asks him to pretend never to have found him. To persuade Will, Tommaso recounts the story of his life and his great love. In the process, he comes to recognise his true role in the events which unfolded, and the legacy of unresolved grief. Now he’s being presented with a second chance – but is he ready to pay the price it exacts? That Summer In Puglia is a tale of love, loss, the perils of self-deception and the power of compassion. Puglia offers an ideal setting: its layers of history are integral to the story, itself an excavation of a man’s past; Tommaso’s increasingly vivid memories of its sensuous colours, aromas and tastes, and of how it felt to love and be loved, eventually transform the discomforting tone with which he at first tries to keep Will and painful truths at a distance. This remarkable debut combines a gripping plot and perceptive insights into human nature with delicate lyricism.

That Summer In Puglia is available in paperback now.  You can purchase your copy here.

Extract:

And here is the display case with the coin casts. Only five remain. One crumbled on my journey to the UK. Two more shattered a year later, when a nosy flatmate dropped the case from the chest of drawers on which it lay. With time they’ve all become so brittle. Recently one more broke between my fingers. I’ve wept, on my knees, for every one I’ve lost.

But you’re anxious to discover what happened to my father. As you’ll have perceived by now, life would have taken a completely different turn, with him by my side. The coin casts I’ve just shown you were there – witnesses as well as players – in the final act you’re so impatient to reach. I’ll never forget the last conversation my father and I had about them. It took place during the drive to Brindisi to collect the ninth piece. I remember almost every word of it – soon you’ll see why.

***

‘I’m so happy that you really appreciate those casts, Tommaso,’ my father said. ‘Monetary and personal value can be such different things.’ He glanced at me in the passenger’s seat before re-focusing on the litoranea, the coastal road, straight ahead.
‘I know. I know,’ I said with all the certainty of a ten year old. My hands, on my lap, gripped the display case containing the casts. Showing them to Damiano was the least I could do – he would be pleased to see them treasured.
Olive groves, vineyards, fig trees, oleander hedges, tall blackberry bushes and the monumental paddles of prickly pears flashed past us. New leaves were sprouting on vine stumps and fig trees, while cream and pink buds peppered the oleanders. The four o’clock sunshine swathed the fields with a crispness like silk that in Puglia is peculiar to early April. I wondered what had been the same and what had differed when anonymous travellers had journeyed on the Via Traiana, with in their purses denarii like the one whose cast I was about to collect, as I plastered my nose to the window of our blue Alfetta.
‘Quite a range of periods you’ve got there.’ My father flicked his head towards the plaster casts.
‘I chose coins that looked as different as possible from each other.’
‘Funny. D’you know what? If children everywhere did the same – from Cairo to Canberra – the world might be a more peaceful place. Everyone’s a mixture, so a notion of all the bloods mingling in our veins, and of the roller coaster of history, might do some good.’
‘Silly Daddy.’ I mimicked the sing-song tone with which Mummy teased him whenever he surprised her with this kind of observation. ‘Going off on a tangent,’ she called it.
‘I’ll tell you what those coins of yours are whispering in my ear.’ His tone too was jokey, now. ‘Your high cheekbones are a gift from a shepherd from southern Illyria who settled here – today they’d call him Albanian and try to repatriate him. Your left eyebrow was definitely drawn by a young Greek bride – she used her finest black make-up powder, I can tell.’
‘Oh, Daddy…’ I rolled my eyes and laughed.
‘Wait, I have it all on good authority.’ He put on an air of mock solemnity. ‘Your forehead was the gift of a Roman miles who got his nastiest scars in the war against the great-great-grandchildren of your Greek great-great-etc-grandmother. The wife of a Byzantine soldier-turned-merchant drew your right eyebrow, and a brilliant job she made of it, too – she wasn’t going to be outdone by her Greek rival.’
‘And my coins are whispering all this?’
‘Of course. There’s one for an ancestor of almost every origin.’
‘Ok. But tell the remaining ones that there have been too many soldiers so far.’
‘Well, what do you expect? I’ll see what I can do, but this region was a battleground. To be a porta d’Oriente, a gateway to the East, might sound poetic, but to those who happened to live here it was often a curse.’ He recovered his breath before continuing – his chest heaved and relaxed again. ‘You owe your blue eyes to a Norman – a soldier at first, I’m afraid, but a peaceable landowner later. A handsome Arab, maker of damascened shields in Lucera, passed on to you his raven-black hair. That fine nose is from an Anjou young man destined for the priesthood malgré soi just by dint of being the youngest son – not all too keen on the vow of chastity, but can you blame him in the circumstances? And finally, to your smooth, light-amber skin: your bequest from a penniless Andalusian bard brought over by a Spanish governor to lighten the load of his foul posting to a malaria-infested Apulian town. How am I doing? That should make eight coins.’
‘Bravo. That was funny.’

His lips formed a wide smile which showed up the dimple in his right cheek.

About The Author:

Valeria Vescina is from Puglia, was educated in Switzerland and the UK, and has lived for years in London with her family. After a successful career in management, she gained an MA in Creative & Life Writing at Goldsmiths (University of London). That Summer In Puglia is her debut novel. Her activity as a critic includes reviews for Seen And Heard International, Talking Humanities and the European Literature Network. She has taught creative writing workshops on the narrative potential of various art forms. Valeria also holds a degree in International Studies (University of Birmingham) and a Sloan Msc. in Management (London Business School).

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Book Description:

A cold case leads DI Grace Fisher on the hunt for the most dangerous killer of her career – but after twenty-five years, can she really be sure she will get to the truth?

The same night a local hero saved two people from the burning Marineland resort in Southend, a young woman was raped and murdered minutes from the scene of the fire, the culmination of a series of brutal rapes in the town. The killer was never found.

Twenty-five years on, new DNA techniques have blown the cold case open. DI Grace Fisher relishes the prospect of finally catching the culprit, but when the evidence doesn’t point to one clear suspect, she must reconstruct the original investigation. Any suggestion that the Essex force was less than thorough at the time could alienate her colleagues and destroy her chances of reaching the truth.

Grace finds her investigation shadowed by a young true-crime podcaster backed by veteran crime reporter Ivo Sweatman. As pressure mounts she cannot afford to be distracted. She knows that a cold-blooded killer is slowly being backed into a corner, and a cornered predator is often the most dangerous of all…

Wrong Way Home is published today in ebook and hardback.  You can purchase a copy of both here.

My Review:

Isabelle Grey is an author I’ve heard lots about but have never read, though why I have no idea! I absolutely loved Wrong Way Home.  It’s a fantastic, fast paced and twisty read that I absolutely raced through, finding it very hard to put down.

The book involves investigating a cold case and describes new police investigation techniques which I found really fascinating!  I especially enjoyed learning more about how new DNA technology can help to solve cases as I haven’t read much about that.

Grace was my favourite character in the book.  I loved her determination and drive to try and solve the murder, despite some opposition from other officers.  She is a cop with a conscience as she really cares about the outcome of the case and how it affects the others that are involved.

The case seems to move forward at quite a fast pace.  There are always new developments happening, just when I though I understood who had done it there was another twist and the story went off in a different direction which definetly kept me on my toes! This was one of those books that I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough and wanted to try and snatch a few seconds to read more at any possibility.  I couldn’t stop thinking about the book when I wasn’t reading it, trying to figure out how it was going to end.

This is the first book by Isabelle Grey that I have read and it definitely won’t e the last.  I am excited to read more from her in the future and have already bought the other books in this series to read.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater and Quercus books for my copy of the book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

If you are looking for a new, gripping crime series you should definitely try this series.

About The Book:

My crime series features Detective Inspector Grace Fisher, a murder detective with the Essex Major Investigation Team in Colchester. Determined, unflinching and vulnerable, in ‘Good Girls Don’t Die’ her race to bring a killer to justice is compromised not only by the wily tabloid crime reporter Ivo Sweatman but also by collusion and bullying within the police service she loves.

In Book 2, ‘Shot Through the Heart’, Grace and Ivo becomes unlikely collaborators as they fight internal corruption and uncover the source of deadly illegal weapons. A teenage girl’s life on the Essex marshes is changed forever.

Book 3, ‘The Special Girls’, Grace is handed the impossible task of investigating historical child abuse. When a renowned doctor becomes a suspect, there are many who would rather she quietly bury the case.

Book 4, ‘Wrong Way Home’, out May 2018, sees Grace use new DNA evidence to re-open a twenty-five year-old cold case in Southend-on-Sea which a true-crime podcaster is also investigating. After so long, can the truth still be found?

My two earlier novels of psychological suspense, ‘Out of Sight’ and the #1 Amazon bestseller ‘The Bad Mother’, are available in Kindle, paperback and audio.

I also write screenplays for television crime drama, including ‘The Bill’, ‘Wycliffe’, ‘Rosemary & Thyme’ and ‘Midsomer Murders’. With Jimmy McGovern, I co-wrote ‘Tina’s Story’, the final episode in the Bafta and International Emmy award-winning BBC series ‘Accused’.

You can follow me on Twitter @IsabelleGrey or read my blog at isabellegrey.wordpress.com

I enjoy writing crime and suspense because such gripping and tightly-woven stories offer a chance to explore how dark secrets return to haunt us, the chilling emotions of why people kill, how love can go terrifyingly wrong, and the disturbing psychology of what we most fear.

Born within the sound of Bow Bells in London’s East End, I grew up in Manchester, spent ten years on what was once a tidal island at the edge of the Romney Marsh, and now live and work in north London.

A former non-fiction author (writing as Isabelle Anscombe) and journalist for national newspapers and magazines such as ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘Country Living’ and ‘Psychologies’, I have also taught screenwriting at Central Saint Martin’s, the Arvon Foundation and the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival.

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Book Description:

“A well-written and deeply satisfying book, packed with information and adventure. Above all, a damn good read!” – Damien Lewis, author of Hunting The Nazi Bomb

John Monro MC never mentioned his Second World War experiences, leaving his daughter Mary with unresolved mysteries when he died in 1981. He fought at the Battle of Hong Kong, made a daring escape across Japanese-occupied China and became Assistant Military Attaché in Chongqing. Caught up in Far East war strategy, he proposed a bold plan to liberate the PoWs he’d left behind before fighting in Burma in 1944. But by the time Mary was born he’d become a Shropshire farmer, revealing nothing of his heroic past.

Thirty years after his death and prompted by hearing him described as a ‘20th Century great’, Mary began her quest to explore this stranger she’d called ‘Dad’. Stranger In My Heart skilfully weaves poignant memoir with action-packed biography and travels in modern China in a reflective journey that answers the question we all eventually ask ourselves: ‘Who am I?’

My Review:

Stranger In My Heart is a fascinating book that follows Mary as she tries to find out about her father’s WW2 experience and his heroic actions that he was awarded a Military Cross for.  As with many people from his generation he didn’t talk much about his war experience so, after losing him at a young age, Mary was determined to find out more about her father.

For me I loved the historical element of this story.  The second world war is one of my favourite periods in time and I’m always excited to discover new elements of it that I didn’t know much about before.  I knew little about the war in Hong Kong & China so I found the chapters detailing her father’s experience there very fascinating.  Mary cleverly breaks up the history with passages from her father’s diary which gives the narrative a much more personal feel and means that you feel like you know her dad personally.

Although this is an autobiography it doesn’t seem like one as Mary adopts an easy style of writing that isn’t too fact heavy making it an easy, gripping read.  Maps, pictures and excerpts from her father’s diary helps break up the text and increased my understanding but also my enjoyment of the story.

It would have been easy for this to turn into a gushing story about her father but Mary doesn’t do that.  Instead she just presents the facts to the reader to decide for themselves, although there is no question as to whether her father was a hero- he definitely was.  The hardships and tragedy soldiers had to go through is unbelievable to read about and I have the utmost respect for everyone who fought!

This is the first book that Mary has written and I hope she was write more as she has a great style of writing that makes history very interesting.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author:

I’m so excited to be kicking off the blog tour for another one of Linda MacDonald’s fantastic books!

Meeting Lydia is available in ebook and paperback now, the ebook is only £2.99 at the moment.  You can buy a copy of both here.

Book Description:

“A must-read for anyone interested in psychology and relationships” – Norma Patrick

Marianne comes home from work one day to find her husband talking to a glamorous woman in their kitchen. Old childhood insecurities resurface, stemming from a time back at school when she was bullied. Jealousy rears its head and her happy marriage begins to crumble. Desperate for a solution – and introduced by her daughter to social networking – she tries to track down her first schoolgirl crush, the enigmatic Edward Harvey. But Marianne is unprepared for the power of email relationships …

Meeting Lydia explores the very relevant topics of childhood bullying, midlife crises, the pros and cons of internet relationships, and how the psychological effects of these affect the main character and those around her. Readers will be gripped by the turbulent life of Marianne who navigates the onset of menopause, an empty nest, a suspected errant husband and a demanding new obsession that pulls her in deeper as the story unfolds. Those interested in the psychology of relationships will enjoy this novel, as well as those who delight in an enthralling story with relatable characters and the powerful question of what happens when the past catches up with the present. This second edition has reworked the early chapters of the first edition, making for a pacy and shorter version more in line with the audiobook.

My Review:

I’m such a fan of Linda’s books so I was very excited to be invited onto the blog tour for the paperback release of Meeting Lydia.

This was another fascinating book from Linda, examining the psychology of relationships and how our past can continue to affect us.  Bullying is a very emotional subject and one that, unfortunately, everyone experiences at some point in their lives.  As someone who was bullied at school, this was subject I knew a little about and it was heartbreaking to see how much it still affect Marianne’s life.  The bullying scenes were quite uncomfortable to read about as they seemed very real, the author doesn’t sugar coat the situation so the reader is exposed to all the hurt and confusion that Marianne feels.

I loved Marianne! She was one of those characters that you can really get behind as she is so relatable.  I wanted her to have the happy ending she deserved, though sometimes felt like shaking her as she made some interesting decisions. The reader gets to know Marianne on a personal level which made me a lot more affected by what happens.

The author adopts a intimate, fly in the wall style of writing that makes the reader feel like they are standing next to the characters watching everything unfold.  This made me feel more involved in the story and I felt I cared more about what happens as if it would affect my life too.  The chapters alternate between the present day and Marianne’s time at school which helps give the reader a more holistic view of her life and greater understanding of what happened.

The drama/ tension in the book is created by normal, everyday things that helps make the book very original and incredibly gripping.  This could actually happen, to you or someone you know which makes it even more thrilling as you wonder what you would have done.

Linda is the author of four books and this is the second book I have read by her.  I really look forward to reading more from this talented author.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the tour and to Linda MacDonald for sending me a copy if her book.

About The Author:

Book Synopsis:

THE SECOND NOVEL IN MILLY ADAMS’ BRAND NEW SAGA SERIES. Perfect for fans of Daisy Styles and Nancy Revell. 

March 1944, West London: it’s been five months since Verity Clement fled home for a life on Britain’s canals and she could never have imagined how tough it would get. Yet hauling cargo between London and Birmingham is far easier to face than the turbulence she’s left behind.

When Verity’s sweetheart returns unexpectedly from the front line, she dares to dream of a brighter future. But life aboard the Marigold is never smooth sailing. New recruit Sylvia is struggling with demons from her past while crewmate Polly must carry on in the wake of devastating news. Verity does her best to help, but a shocking discovery is about to turn her own life upside-down.

As the realities of war begin to take their toll, the waterway girls will have to pull together if they are to survive the uncertain times ahead…

My Review:

I was such a big fan of The Waterway Girls so I was thrilled to be invited onto the blog tour for Love On The Waterways the second book in the series.

I thought this book was even better than the first one as it focuses more on the characters and their personal lives which allows the reader to get to know them more.  Verity takes centre stage in this book which was very interesting and gives a new slant to the story.  I didn’t overly like her in the first book but I warmed to her in this one as you realise what she has been through.

I enjoyed the author’s fabulous descriptions of life on the canals and learning more about the harsh but vital work the waterways girls (and boys) did.  It is an area of history that I didn’t know much about prior to reading this series so it’s been fascinating to learn more about it and how it changed as the war progressed.  It was very physical work, working outside in all weathers and I seriously take my hat off to all who did it as I’m not sure I could.

It was nice to see the gradual shift of opinion towards the women, and for them to get more recognition from others for the work they do.  As the war progressed and more men got called up, woman stepped in and became a vital part of the war machine.  It was nice to see that reflected in the writing.

The author has clearly done her research and it was fascinating to see how she interweaved events in the war with the watergirl’s story.  The author shows great skill in doing this as it never seems forced or sugar coated, rather the author shows how the work on the waterways and events in the war were connected and effected each other.

This is the second book in the series and while it could be read as a standalone, as the author does recap stuff that happened in the first, I would urge everyone to read the first book as I though it was equally fantastic.

Huge thanks to Becky McCarthy and arrowsmith publishing for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author

Milly Adams lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband, dog and cat. Her children live nearby. Her grandchildren are fun, and lead her astray. She insists that it is that way round. Milly Adams is also the author of Above Us The Sky and Sisters At War.

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