Eek I’m so excited to have an extract from Angela Marsons new book to share with you today.  If you haven’t read any of her fabulous books yet, do go check them out as they are brilliant.

Dying Truth is published on the 18th May 2018 but you can order it, for the bargain price of £1.99, here.

Before I share the extract with you here is a bit about the book.

Book Blurb:

How far would you go to protect your darkest secrets?

When teenager Sadie Winter jumps from the roof of her school, her death is ruled as suicide – a final devastating act from a troubled girl. But then the broken body of a young boy is discovered at the same school and it’s clear to Detective Kim Stone that these deaths are not tragic accidents.

As Kim and her team begin to unravel a dark web of secrets, one of the teachers could hold the key to the truth. Yet just as she is about to break her silence, she is found dead.

With more children’s lives at risk, Kim has to consider the unthinkable – whether a fellow pupil could be responsible for the murders. Investigating the psychology of children that kill brings the detective into contact with her former adversary, Dr Alex Thorne– the sociopath who has made it her life’s work to destroy Kim.

Desperate to catch the killer, Kim finds a link between the recent murders and an initiation prank that happened at the school decades earlier. But saving these innocent lives comes at a cost – and one of Kim’s own might pay the ultimate price.

The utterly addictive new crime thriller from the Number One bestselling author – you will be gripped until the final shocking twist.

Prologue Extract:

Saturday 7.52 p.m.

Kim knew that her left leg was broken.

She pulled herself along the path on her hands as the stone bit into her palms, shards of gravel embedding beneath her fingernails.

A cry escaped her lips as her ankle turned and pain shot around her body.

Sweat beads were forming on her forehead as the agony intensified.

Finally, she saw the light from the building as three familiar shapes hurtled out of the doorway.

All three of them headed towards the bell tower.

‘Nooo…’ she cried, as loudly as she could.

No one turned.

Don’t go up there, she willed silently, trying to pull herself towards them.

‘Stop,’ she shouted out as they entered the metal doorway at the base of the tower.

Kim tried to still the panic as they disappeared from view.

‘Damn it,’ she screamed with frustration, unable to reach them in time.

She gathered all her strength and pushed herself up to a standing position, trying to drag her broken leg behind her as though it didn’t exist.

Two steps forward and the pain radiated through her body like a tidal wave and brought her back down to the ground. She gagged as the nausea rose from her stomach and her head began to swim.

She shouted again but the figures had disappeared from view and were now in the belly of the tower, behind solid brick, mounting the stone steps to the top.

‘Please, someone help,’ she screamed, but there was no one to hear. She was a good eighty metres away from the school, and she had never felt so helpless in her life.

She glanced at her wrist and saw that it was three minutes to eight.

The bell was due to be rung bang on the hour.

The fear started in the pit of her stomach and grew like a cloud to fill her entire body.

She struggled forward another agonising step, dragging her useless leg behind her.

Torchlight illuminated the top of the tower.

Damn it, they were already there.

‘Stop,’ she cried again, praying that one of them would hear her even though she knew her voice wouldn’t carry that distance.

The shafts of light moved furtively around the tower balcony ninety feet up in the air.

She saw a fourth figure amongst the three that were familiar to her.

The watch on her wrist vibrated the top of the hour. The bell didn’t ring.

Please God, let them get down.

Her prayer was cut off as she heard a loud scream.

Two people were hanging from the bell rope, swinging back and forth, in and out of the torchlight that darted around the small space.

Kim squinted, trying to identify the two silhouettes, but they were too far away.

She tried to regulate her breathing in order to shout again, even though she knew no kind of warning would help them now.

Her worst fears had been realised.

‘Please, please…’ Kim whispered as she saw the bell rope swing back and forth once more.

One figure was snatched from the bell rope as the second continued to swing.

‘No,’ Kim screamed, trying to carry herself forward towards them.

The fear inside had turned ice cold, freezing her solid.

For a few seconds time stood still. The saliva in her mouth had gone leaving her unable to speak or shout.

Kim felt the ache that started in her heart when the remaining figure and the swinging bell rope disappeared from view.

Her ears suddenly filled with a blood-curdling, tortured scream.

But no one else was around.

The scream came from her.

About The Author:

Book Blurb:

A university student is found strangled to death in her bedroom, but when the embattled DI Simon Fenchurch is called in to investigate, the case strikes dangerously close to home.

On the surface, the victim was a popular, high-performing student. But as secret grudges against her emerge, so too does evidence that she was living a double life, working on explicit webcam sites for a seedy London ganglord. Everyone Fenchurch talks to knows a lot more than they’re willing to tell, and before long he’s making new enemies of his own—threatening to push him and his family past breaking point.

With too many suspects and not enough facts, Fenchurch knows his new superiors are just waiting for him to fail—they want him off the case, and off the force for good. His family is in more danger than ever before. So how deep is he willing to dig in order to unearth the truth?

In For The Kill is published on the 19th April 2018 in ebook and hardback.  You can pre-order your copy here.

My Review:

I’m on a roll for reading some fantastic books, and In For The Kill was no exception.  It literally gripped me from the start with the unusual and shocking subject.  As a parent it is the stuff of my worse nightmares and it made me turn the pages a little quicker as I was desperate to find out what was going to happen.  Even when the story moves on to another story line it was always in the back of my mind as I hoped to find out more and wondering how it was going to link into the main story.

My favourite character was DI  Fenchurch.  Although he comes across as being a rather grizzled and grumpy guy, he definitely has a softer side which was touching to see.  The respect and concern that his colleagues show him adds to the good guy persona.  As mentioned above I really felt for him in regards to the story line regarding his daughter.  For me this bit was really well written as I felt I went on a real journey with him and could feel all of his fears and frustrations as if it was happening to me.  I think it shows amazing writing to make a reader feel this way.

The pace in the book is very fast and the story moves quite quickly making the book incredibly hard to put down.  This was a book that had me reading long into the night or sitting up after a feed longer than I needed trying to fit a few more pages in.  The thing that helps add to the addictiveness of this book is that the author interweaves the murder story with the characters personal stories which makes the reader more interested in the story and means you care more what happens to the people.

This is the fourth book in the series but the first I have read and I will definitely be going back and reading the books I have missed.  I didn’t feel like I missed much coming into the series so late, though it might have been good to learn more about their backstory.

Huge thank you to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Emma Finnigan and Thomas & Mercer for my copy of this fabulous book!

About The Author:

Ed James writes crime-fiction novels. In for the Kill is the fourth novel in his latest series, set on the gritty streets of East London and featuring DI Simon Fenchurch. His Scott Cullen series features a young Edinburgh detective constable investigating crimes from the bottom rung of the career ladder he’s desperate to climb. Set four hundred miles south on the streets of East London, his DI Simon Fenchurch series features a detective with little to lose. Formerly an IT manager, Ed began writing on planes, trains and automobiles to fill his weekly commute to London. He now writes full-time and lives in the Scottish Borders, with his girlfriend and a menagerie of rescued animals.

Follow The Blog Tour:

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

I’m hugely excited to introduce my lovely friend Kirsty as a guest reviewer on my blog.  Kirsty and I met at toddler group and became friends through a mutual love of books.  Our kids are friends so we regularly meet up and natter about books over a cuppa and between breaking up squabbles. She is a brilliant addition to Over The Rainbow Book Blog as she reads different books to myself so between us we can help spread more book love.

Her favourite genres are fantasy and  mystery and thrillers.  She’s very happy to do blog tours so do feel free to approach her! Follow Kirsty on Twitter @purplekizz

Before I share Kirsty’s first review for Over The Rainbow Book Blog, here is a little bit about the book.

Book Blurb:

From the daring and critically acclaimed master of historical fiction Conn Iggulden, DARIEN is the first book of Empire of Salt, an epic new fantasy series of spellbinding imagination . . .

TWELVE FAMILIES. ONE THRONE.

The city of Darien stands at the weary end of a golden age. Twelve families keep order with soldiers and artefacts, spies and memories, clinging to a peace that shifts and crumbles. The people of the city endure what they cannot change.

Here, amongst old feuds, a plot is hatched to kill a king. It will summon strangers to the city – Elias Post, a hunter, Tellius, an old swordsman banished from his home, Arthur, a boy who cannot speak, Daw Threefold, a chancer and gambler, Vic Deeds, who feels no guilt – and Nancy, a girl whose talent might be the undoing of them all.

As the sun sets, their arrival inside the walls will spark a series of explosive events. Before the sun returns, six destinies will have been made – and lost – in Darien.

Welcome to the Empire of Salt, where sword and sorcery are at their finest . . . 

Darien is available to buy in ebook and hardback now.  It will be published in paperback on the 12th July 2018.  You can buy or pre-order your copy here.

Kirsty’s Review:

Darien is the center of the crumbling Empire of Salt. Ruled by a King who is the puppet of the twelve families, the people of Darien are restless and forces are converging against the twelve. The first in what promises to be an epic fantasy series. I have never read any of Conn Iggulden’s previous books, I don’t tend to pick up historical novels so I was intrigued to see how this book would unfold.

I initially found it quite hard to get into – the first part of the book introduces us to several main players, the narrative switches between them, occasional during a chapter so I did struggle to remember where I was and what was going on. However, Iggulden’s writing style is so engaging that I kept with it and I am so glad that I did.

I found all the characters of the book incredibly engaging, each having their own reasons for wanting a change within the walls of the city. Each has a gift or a knack which makes them a little bit more than ‘ordinary’. Most characters had something likeable about them, which made you want them to succeed. I was particularly drawn to Nancy, a young woman trying to find her way in a city of thousands.

The main section of the book all takes place within the walls of Darien itself, I found these scenes very engaging and by the end of the book I found myself fully immersed in the sights, sounds and even smells of the city. I would have liked a little more world building as I ended the book feeling I knew very little about the empire itself, but perhaps this will come in later books. I am certainly looking forward to getting my hands on the next one.

About The Author:

Born in London, Conn Iggulden read English at London University and worked as a teacher for seven years before becoming a full-time writer. Married with three children, he lives in Hertfordshire. Since publication of ‘The Gates of Rome’, Conn has written a further thirteen books including the wildly successful ‘The Dangerous Book for Boys’.

In 2017, Conn Iggulden released the first book in his first fiction fantasy series, Darien: Empire of Salt.^[10] This series is being published under the pen name C.F. Iggulden^[11] to avoid confusion with Iggulden’s historical fiction novels.

Book Blurb:

Meet Rosemary, 86, and Kate, 26: dreamers, campaigners, outdoor swimmers…

Rosemary has lived in Brixton all her life, but everything she knows is changing. Only the local lido, where she swims every day, remains a constant reminder of the past and her beloved husband George.

Kate has just moved and feels adrift in a city that is too big for her. She’s on the bottom rung of her career as a local journalist, and is determined to make something of it.

So when the lido is threatened with closure, Kate knows this story could be her chance to shine. But for Rosemary, it could be the end of everything. Together they are determined to make a stand, and to prove that the pool is more than just a place to swim – it is the heart of the community.

The Lido is an uplifting novel about the importance of friendship, the value of community, and how
ordinary people can protect the things they love.

The Lido will be available to buy in ebook and hardback on the 19th April 2018.  You can pre-order your copy here.

My Review:

I loved this book.  It’s been a while since I’ve read such an all round fantastic story that left such an impression on me.  I love reading a book that keeps you thinking about it for days to come.

The sense of community the author has created in the book is brilliantly done.  I loved learning about all the different people who use the lido and what effect it has on them.  The characters are so varied and each one has a different reason for using the Lido which was fascinating to read about.

The two main characters Rosemary and Kate are at opposite ends of their life and would probably not even be friends if it wasn’t for their shared interest in the Lido.  I loved how the lido made them both feel and how fighting to save it made them both do things that they hadn’t tried in a long time.  It was great to read about how the lido brought them and all the other characters together and helped Kate especially to fit in and make new friends.

Interspersed with the fight to save the lido is a beautiful love story of how Rosemary met, fell in love and lived with her husband George.  It is a wonderful story and brought joy to my heart and a tear to my eye in equal measure.  The lido, and the people who use it, seem to have played a part in each part of their journey which was so lovely to read about.

This is Libby Pages debut and I can’t wait to read her next one! If you like uplifting and inspiring reads with a bit of history and a love story you will love this book!

Huge thanks to Orion for my copy of this book via netgalley. A definite must read that I urge everyone to read!

About The Author:

Libby Page wrote The Lido while working in marketing and moonlighting as a writer. The Lido has sold in over twenty territories around the world and film rights have been sold to Catalyst Global Media. After writing, Libby’s second passion is outdoor swimming. Libby lives in London where she enjoys finding new swimming spots and pockets of community within the city.

I’m very excited to be kicking off the blog tour for The Silent Women by Terry Lynn Thomas.  I thought this book was fabulous and I gave it five stars!

The Silent Women is available to buy on ebook now for the bargain price of £1.99! You can purchase your copy here.

Book Blurb:

Would you sell your secrets?

Catherine Carlisle is trapped in a loveless marriage and the threat of World War Two is looming. She sees no way out… that is until a trusted friend asks her to switch her husband’s papers in a desperate bid to confuse the Germans.

Soon Catherine finds herself caught up in a deadly mixture of espionage and murder. Someone is selling secrets to the other side, and the evidence seems to point right at her.

Can she clear her name before it’s too late?

My Review:

I really enjoyed this fascinating historical thriller. I Iove historical fiction especially when it is set around WW2 and features spies or the resistance.  It always helps add to the tension and atmosphere as you realise that some people might have actually done the things described in the book.  I always wonder if I would have had the courage to stand up to Hitler and try and make a difference.

This story drew me in from the very intriguing prologue regarding a tense situation.  I immediately wanted to read more to discover what happens to the characters involved and if they survived.

My favourite character was Catherine.  I really admired her strength, courage and determination.  It would have been very easy for her to toe the line and do as society and her family expected but the fact she doesn’t really shows her character.  It was quite startling reading about what rights a woman had at this time, which wasn’t actually that long ago, and how much control men had.  Cat really pushes against this and refuses to conform.  Her arguments with her sister in law were brilliant and helped add to some comic moments in the book.

The gradual unraveling of the mystery of what happened and who the spy was is brilliantly done and had me guessing until the end.  The pace of the book is perfect being neither too fast or slow and ensured that the book was quite hard to put down.

This is the first book by Terry Lynn Thomas that I have read and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Thank you to HQ Digital for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

If you like thrilling historical fiction with some fabulous female characters you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

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

I’m on the blog tour today for Seas Of Snow by Kerensa Jennings.  This is a book I have heard a lot about and I can’t wait to read it.

Seas Of Snow was published in paperback on the 5th April 2018.  You can purchase a copy here.

I have a character spotlight on Uncle Joe to share with you, but first here is a little bit about the book.

Book Blurb:

In 1950s England, six-year-old Gracie Scott lives with her Mam and next door to her best friend Billy; she has never known her Da. When her Uncle Joe moves in, his physical abuse of Gracie’s mother starts almost immediately. But when his attentions wander to Gracie, an even more sinister pattern of behavior begins.

As Gracie grows older she finds solace and liberation in books, poetry, and her enduring friendship with Billy, with whom she escapes into the poetic fantasy worlds they create. But will fantasy be enough to save Gracie? Just how far will Uncle Joe’s psychopathic behavior go?

The story weaves between these events and the visits Billy pays many years later to an old friend, confused and dying in a hospice. It is here that he is forced to revisit the events of the past.

Character Spotlight:

Who is your character?

The character I am choosing to put in the spotlight today is Uncle Joe.

The inspiration for his/her character?

Although SEAS OF SNOW is set through the Second World War and in post-War fifties England, the story was inspired by a contemporary crime case.
I led the BBC News coverage of the investigation into a school caretaker who had murdered two little girls in Soham. I worked closely with Cambridgeshire Constabulary during the investigation as they gathered evidence – and I saw first-hand the brutality of the perpetrator’s crimes. I also got an extraordinary insight into the mind and motives of a psychopath.

The creation of your character?

Although my story is very different in many ways to the case I covered, the emotions it inspired in me is something I channelled closely in the creation of Uncle Joe. Dealing with the evidence associated with the case triggered in me everything from deep sadness to revulsion; from horror to disgust; from abject heartbreak to despair. I wrote the book partly as a means of catharsis. I wanted to explore whether evil is born or made.

Because SEAS OF SNOW uses perspective shift throughout the book, there are many passages written from Uncle Joe’s perspective. I found it an eviscerating and upsetting experience to write those passages. I had to use my imagination to synthesise what I had learned through my psychology studies, researching the behaviours and mindsets of psychopaths, and what I knew myself from the particular case that originally inspired SEAS OF SNOW. I would often break away afterwards, and find myself crying. But it was important I pushed myself to create something authentic and believable. I was making a monster, and I needed my readers to believe he was real.

Can you tell us a little about your character?

The story of SEAS OF SNOW is a sort of fairy tale with archetypes of good versus evil. The good tends to manifest as sweet, generous, kind. As for the evil…. let’s just say Uncle Joe is a very bad man. Through the book we learn about some of the aspects of his childhood and background that have shaped him. And we gradually discover more about the depravity of which he is capable, and the way he deludes himself. Some of his actions are unconscionable.

Does he/she have any similarities with anyone ‘real’?

What is fascinating when you study the psychology of psychopaths is you realise there are so many traits they have that you might recognise in people around you. The ability to lie, and manipulate. Hide in plain sight, like the school caretaker Ian Huntley did when he was interviewed by the media at the time of the disappearance of the two little girls in Soham.

Psychopaths are unable to experience empathy, but they can be very good at creating the illusion of empathy.

If so .. tell us more!

The truth is there are lots of people who are psychopaths – some of them are extremely high functioning, talented individuals. Some are even in high powered positions across society. What interests me is that not everyone who is a psychopath goes on to commit monstrous acts. I wrote SEAS OF SNOW partly to explore that dichotomy.

What do you like most about your character?

I deliberately made Uncle Joe a devastatingly attractive man with a beautiful body, handsome face and gorgeous voice. I wanted to create that sense of us not quite being able to believe our own eyes. It is very easy to apply fairy tale logic to real life… beauty equals goodness.

The brutal reality is that evil comes in all sorts of forms… it can shape-shift to suit its own intent. Uncle Joe has exquisite green eyes you could lose yourself in, and a physical attractiveness people find hard not to notice.
It was important to me to bring that dimension to life to help expose how our perceptions can be deceived; and to give the story a fairy tale quality where happy-ever-afters feel possible… but darkness often prevails.

What do you dislike about your protagonist’s character?

Gosh… where to start… the way his mind works… the pleasure he gains from causing pain… the way he strikes fear into people… the way he is able to convince himself and delude himself about certain things…

Would you and your character be friends ‘in real life’?

Never.

What’s Next?

In my next novel, there is another antagonist. The book is called EDGE IF RAIN and it is inspired by another case I worked on when I was a journalist and TV producer….. watch this space…

About The Author:

Kerensa Jennings is a storyteller, strategist, writer, producer and professor.

Kerensa’s TV work took her all over the world, covering everything from geo-politics to palaeontology, and her time as Programme Editor of Breakfast with Frost coincided with the life-changing events of 9/11.

The knowledge and experience she gained in psychology by qualifying and practising as an Executive Coach has only deepened her fascination with exploring the interplay between nature and nurture and with investigating whether evil is born or made – the question at the heart of Seas of Snow. As a scholar at Oxford, her lifelong passion for poetry took flight.

Kerensa lives in West London and over the last few years has developed a career in digital enterprise.

Follow The Blog Tour:

If you liked the sound of Seas Of Snow from this Character spotlight, do follow the blog tour and find out what these other fabulous bloggers are saying.

Book Blurb:

1923
Maria Vittoria is embroidering a sheet for her dowry trunk.

Her father has gone to find her a husband. He’s taken his mule, a photograph and a pack of food: home-made sopressa sausage, cold polenta, a little flask of wine – no need to take water – the world is full of water.

There are no eligible men in this valley or the next one, and her father will not let her marry just anyone, and now, despite Maria’s years, she is still healthy. Her betrothed will see all that. He’ll be looking for a woman who can do the work.

Maria can do the work. Everyone in the contrà says that.

And the Lord knows Maria will need to be able to work. Fascism blooms as crops ripen, the state craves babies just as the babies cry for food. Maria faces a stony path, but one she will surely climb to the summit.

In this sumptuous and elegant novel you will taste the bigoli co l’arna, touch the mulberry leaves cut finer than organdie, and feel the strain of one woman attempting to keep her family safe in the most dangerous of times.

The Madonna Of The Mountain was published by Faber & Faber on the 27th March in ebook and hardback.  You can purchase your copy here.

My Review:

The Madonna Of The Mountains is a saga like story following Maria and her family from 1923 through to after the second world war.  It is a beautifully told story about love in later life, for that time anyway.  I really felt for Maria who fears she will be ‘left on the shelf’ at 25! It was very poignant to read about her weighing up her good points, trying to convince herself that she has a lot to give her future husband.  Her helplessness in this situation is heartbreaking, particularly as she has no say in what happens.

Maria was my favourite character and I loved reading about the journey she goes through throughout the novel.  She has to grow up quickly in a short amount of time and her ability to adapt and make do was very admirable.  Her strength and determination to make her marriage work and keep her family safe was beautiful to read about and I admired her courage.

The book is set in an interesting period of Italian history which was fascinating to read about.  I love learning about new periods of history and as I didn’t know much about this period I found it very interesting.  The affect of the rise of fascism in everyday life and the war years were the most fascinating part of the book for me.  I’ve always been amazed by how quickly it took off in Italy and how easily people followed it.  The Mulberry farming and the keeping of silkworms was great to read about too as again I hadn’t read much about it before.

As you might expect in a book set in Italy, food is mentioned and I enjoyed reading the sometimes mouth watering descriptions.  The author has included a few recipes in the back of the book for some of the food mentioned and I will definitely be trying some of them in the near future.

The book has a bit of a slow start as there isn’t a lot of action and a lot about Maria’s thoughts or musings.  The author’s writing style is a little different to what I’m used to and took me a little bit to get used to but it soon gets interesting so I would urge everyone to continue as it does pick up.

If you like family sagas or Italian history you will enjoy this book.  Thank you to Joanna Lee and Faber and Faber publishers for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author:

I’m so excited to be on the blog tour for Hall Of Mirrors, the 15th book in the Bryant & May series by Christopher Fowler and have a copy to giveaway!

Hall Of Mirrors is available to buy now in ebook and hardback.  You can buy a copy of this book here.

Details of how to enter the giveaway are available below but first here is a bit about the book.

Book Blurb:

The year is 1969 and ten guests are about to enjoy a country house weekend at Tavistock Hall. But one amongst them is harbouring thoughts of murder. . .
The guests also include the young detectives Arthur Bryant and John May – undercover, in disguise and tasked with protecting Monty Hatton-Jones, a whistle-blower turning Queen’s evidence in a massive bribery trial. Luckily, they’ve got a decent chap on the inside who can help them – the one-armed Brigadier, Nigel ‘Fruity’ Metcalf.
The scene is set for what could be the perfect country house murder mystery, except that this particular get-together is nothing like a Golden Age classic. For the good times are, it seems, coming to an end. The house’s owner – a penniless, dope-smoking aristocrat – is intent on selling the estate (complete with its own hippy encampment) to a secretive millionaire but the weekend has only just started when the millionaire goes missing and murder is on the cards. But army manoeuvres have closed the only access road and without a forensic examiner, Bryant and May can’t solve the case. It’s when a falling gargoyle fells another guest that the two incognito detectives decide to place their future reputations on the line. And in the process discover that in Swinging Britain nothing is quite what it seems…
So gentle reader, you are cordially invited to a weekend in the country. Expect murder, madness and mayhem in the mansion!

UK only Giveaway:

I’m thrilled to be hosting a giveaway for a paperback copy of Hall Of Mirrors by Christopher Fowler.

To be in with a chance of winning this fabulous sounding book all you have to do is retweet the pinned tweet on my Twitter page and tag some friends who you think would be interested in this giveaway!

If you are on Facebook then like and then share the post on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Over-The-Rainbow-Book-Blog-1699785863378672/

This Giveaway will be open for a day, so make sure you get your entry in! Good luck everyone.

About The Author:

Follow The Blog Tour:

I’m kicking off the blog tour for What Lies Within by Annabelle Thorpe today.

What Lies Within was published in ebook on the 5th of April 2018 and is currently the bargain price of 99p.  You can purchase your copy here.

Book Blurb:

An intense, claustrophobic psychological novel about the dark side of expat life, and what being out of your comfort zone can do to you, set in the vibrant souks and ancient riads of Marrakech

A unique friendship, built on a lie

Freya, Paul and Hamad. Three friends from two different worlds; a seemingly unshakeable bond, suddenly under threat.

A move that would change all their lives.

The trio have stayed close since university despite Freya and Paul’s marriage and Hamad’s wealthy lifestyle – so different from their own. Then an incredible job offer from Hamad sees Paul and Freya move to Morocco.

A city where nothing is as it seems

Marrakech soon proves a perplexing place to live. Instead of reinvigorating their marriage, Freya finds the move is driving them apart. Revelations about their shared past force her to acknowledge that neither Paul nor Hamad is quite the man she thought. When a shocking crime is committed, Freya finds herself cast adrift in the dark corners of a bewildering city, unsure who to trust or to believe.

My Review:

This was a very atmospheric, emotional and addictive book which I thoroughly enjoyed.  It’s a bit of a slow burner and it isn’t fast paced so don’t go into the book expecting a thriller as you will be disappointed.  Rather the author takes time to allow the reader to get to know her characters, setting and the relationship between the three which made me feel a lot closer to the characters and therefore more invested in what was going to happen.  It’s the gradual unveiling of the relationship and the secrets each of them have that helps to create the tension in the book, as we discover the holes in what is outwardly a very unique and happy friendship.

My favourite Character was Dame Edith.  I loved her formidable character and how she had the confidence to make what she wanted happen, not a women to be messed with.  She knows what she wants and goes for it which was very admirable, though frustrating for those who disagreed or though differently to her.  I enjoyed reading about her past and what she had got up to in her life.  I also had a soft spot for Freya who I felt a bit sorry for.  It was quite emotional watching her trying to save her marriage and recreate the happiness Paul and her had enjoyed at the beginning.

The author’s descriptions of Marrakesh were very vivid and made it very easy to picture the setting.  I felt that I could picture where the story was set as clear as if I was there experiencing it all alongside the characters.  I could imagine the noise of the market, picture all the beautiful colours and feel the heat and dust of the place.  I really want to go visit the country now so I can experience it all first hand, though maybe I’ll avoid becoming an expat considering what happens in this book!

This is the author’s second book but the first I have read and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Huge thanks to Olivia Mead and Quercus for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

If you enjoy atmospheric, character driven novels then you will love this book!

About The Author:

Annabelle Thorpe has been a travel and features journalist for fifteen years, writing for national print and online media. She currently works as a freelance, writing mostly for the Times, Telegraph and Guardian, alongside copywriting, non-fiction travel books and PR consultancy work for the National Trust. Alongside her journalism, Annabelle completed an MA in Contemporary History in September 2012 and is an alumna of Curtis Brown Creative. She lives in Ditchling, East Sussex. Follow Annabelle on Twitter @annabellet or visit her website  www.annabellethorpe.co.uk

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I’m very excited to be able to share my Q&A with Alexandra Clare, author of He’s Gone and She’s Fallen.

Both books are now available to buy in ebook and paperback here.

Before I share my Q&A with you, here is a little bit more about the books.

Book Descriptions:

He’s Gone:

How do you find a missing child when his mother doesn’t believe you have the right to even exist? When Detective Inspector Roger Bailley returns to work as Robyn, all she wants is to get on with the job she loves while finally being herself. When toddler Ben Chivers is snatched from a shopping centre on her first day back at work, Robyn has to find Ben and herself as she deals with the reactions of her police colleagues, the media and her own daughter.

She’s Fallen:

A SUSPICIOUS FALL

Nineteen-year-old Shazia Johar has everything to live for. But when she is found critically injured after plunging from a hotel balcony, DI Robyn Bailley must determine why she fell. Was Shazia pushed or did she jump?

A BROKEN WOMAN

When Robyn’s team investigate the events that led to Shazia’s fall, they discover evidence of violence in the hotel room. What happened and who is responsible?

A DEATH

As Shazia’s life hangs in the balance, Robyn’s team discover the body of another hotel guest. With uncertainty and falsehood disturbing both investigations, Robyn must navigate the web of lies under continued criticism of her new identity from her ex-wife and her daughter.

Q&A:

What do you do when you are not writing?

Photography is my other passion – just like writing, I love finding little details and capturing them, whether it’s a detail on a building or something natural. It was a bit of a cheat to make my character’s hobby photography but at least it meant she would know what she was talking about.

Do you have a day job as well?

I do and I enjoy it because it puts you into the middle of human interactions. Someone wants something, the other person may or may not want to give it to them, you can observe, watch the interactions and have a wonderful source of material.

How did you choose the genre you write in?

In a way, my genre, crime, chose me. I came up with the idea of a character who would suffer discrimination but not be stopped by it. For her to work, she needed to have authority and be in a position where someone who wouldn’t normally talk to a transgender person would have no choice but to deal with her. A detective inspector was a perfect choice.

Where do you get your ideas?

I am very nosy and everywhere I go, I ask myself, what is going on? There may be someone sitting opposite me on the train who is constantly checking the time – what are they late for? A man struggles with a bag that looks too heavy for its size – what’s inside? The real explanations may be very prosaic but there you have the seeds of stories.

Do you ever experience writer’s block?

Sometimes, I will get stuck on a scene and can’t work out how to proceed. My approach is to mark it and move on until I can see what happens next. The answer to the plot hole normally pops into my mind at some strange time, often when I’m walking in the fresh air.

Do you work with an outline or just write?

I need an outline. The route to the end may change as I go along but I have to know where I’m going.

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

I love books which create a place for you to get lost in. One of my early favourites was the Chronicles of Narnia because here was this whole world, with its own rules, geography and characters. On a slightly less ambitious scale, I’ve created my own town to set my novels, with its own history and tourist attractions, which was a lot of fun.

What was the hardest scene to write?

My character’s scenes with her daughter because this relationship is so important to Robyn and, when things go wrong, I really feel like I’m hurting her.

How did you come up with the title?

The first in the series, He’s Gone, has a double meaning, referring to both the case to be solved of a missing toddler and the start of Robyn’s journey. She’s Fallen does the same.

About The Author:

After nearly twenty years of being a committed corporate person, Alex Clare was made redundant. She had always enjoyed writing, studying fiction part-time through the Open University and managing to complete a novel in her commuting time, though no one had ever read it. Now, with lots more time on her hands, there was the opportunity to take writing more seriously. She began to enter competitions and joined a writing group, which encouraged her to try out new genres and styles. After a period focusing on short stories, she wanted to try another novel. Inspiration came from watching Parliament debate the Equal Marriage Act in 2013. Astounded by the intensity of feeling generated, she created a fictional world to explore some of the issues and attitudes. Now working again she is working on her second novel, in her usual place, on a London commuter train.