The wind still carries the memory of a recent storm across the Yorkshire hills. But it’s not the weather that’s set the dogs howling all day…

When police officer Josh Mason is sent to investigate a complaint at Cooper’s Stables, he expects nothing more than an awkward conversation with the yard’s notoriously difficult owner. What waits behind the locked gates will haunt him forever.

A family has been brutally murdered.

X/Twitter #RandomThingsTours @annecater  @RandomTTours #booktwitter 
Instagram  @randomthingstours #bookstagram #blogtour

Amidst the carnage, two things give Josh pause – a cryptic note clutched in a corpse’s hand: For Freddy. Tell Giles. But Giles Cooper is among the dead. So who was meant to receive this message? And two tarot cards. One viciously defaced with red slashes scored across a child’s face.

What do the cards and the note mean? And why are Josh’s superiors on the force so determined to ensure he never finds out?

My Review

This was brilliant. I loved it. Told from a number of points of view, it started as PC Josh Mason’s story, but then became more about his aunt Kezia Heron. Josh works in local policing but is seconded to Crime under controversial DCI Carter when the bodies of the Cooper family are found on the farm.

At first I got the impression that photographer Kezia was about 60 but she was only 47! Seems young to me. She’s a very complex character, somewhat withdrawn, self-effacing and anti-social since her divorce from David Kingsley. Her ex-husband is a solicitor but has links to the biggest crime family in the area. He insists he has nothing to do with them – and Kezia believes him – the police are more suspicious.

Kezia and her sister Zina (Josh’s mum) dabbled in tarot when they were younger but didn’t really believe any of it. So why are tarot cards being left at the scenes of the crimes?

The other night I attended an online lecture on the supernatural and the occult in fiction. The Rider-Waite Tarot deck came up in the talk which was very interesting. I had no idea it was a thing. I only mention this because all the cards that are found come from a Rider-Waite deck. I love discovering the background of things that come up in books. The author has done her research.

Mrs Monroe is a spiritual medium. She invites Kazia to a free session at her upcoming meeting called An Afternoon Beyond the Veil in exchange for photos to help Mrs Monroe promote her website. Whether any of it is real, there is no doubt that Mrs Monroe is a kind woman and her words comfort those seeking help.

I will say two things. I did guess the killer about two thirds of the way through, but I loved the twist which I never saw coming.

I became very fond of Kezia and Mrs Monroe as the story progressed but my favourite character was probably Wanda Stainthorpe who owns the pheasant shoot (not that I approve of shooting anything) next door to the Cooper’s farm where the murders happened. She’s such a badass. You’d want her on your side!

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Jane Jesmond writes psychological suspense, thrillers and mysteries.  Her debut novel, On The Edge, the first in a series featuring dynamic, daredevil protagonist Jen Shaw was a Sunday Times Crime Fiction best book. The second in the series, Cut Adrift, was a Times Thriller Book of the Year and the Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month. She has also written two standalone thrillers – Her, a psychological thriller with a speculative twist (May 2023) and A Quiet Contagion, a historical mystery thriller inspired by the 1957 Coventry Polio Epidemic (November 2023).

Although she loves writing (and reading) thrillers and mysteries, her real life is very quiet and unexciting. Dead bodies and danger are not a feature! She lives by the sea in the northwest tip of France with a husband and a cat and enjoys coastal walks and village life. 

Stay connected to Jane and receive news about her books and giveaways by signing up for her newsletter – https://jane-jesmond.com/contact/

You can find Jane:
On Twitter – @AuthorJJesmond
On Facebook – www.facebook.com/JaneJesmondAuthor
On Instagram  – www.Instagram.com/authorjanejesmond