+ family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, love, music, review, secrets
Mongrel by Hanako Footman
Mei loses her Japanese mother at age six. Growing up in suburban Surrey, she yearns to fit in, suppressing not only her heritage, but her growing desire for her best friend Fran.
Yuki leaves the Japanese countryside to pursue her dream of becoming a concert violinist in London. Far from home and in an unfamiliar city, she finds herself caught up in the charms of her older teacher.
#Mongrel @FootmanHanako @wearefootnote @bonnierbooks_uk #HanakoFootman
#RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour
Haruka attempts to navigate Tokyo’s nightlife and all of its many vices, working as a hostess in the city’s sex district. She grieves a mother who hid so many secrets from her, until finally one of those secrets comes to light . . .
Shifting between three intertwining narratives, Mongrel reveals a tangled web of desire, isolation, belonging and ultimately, hope.
My Review
Mongrel is poetic in its literary style, lyrical and flowing. It’s so beautifully and sensitively written – it’s hard to believe it’s a debut novel.
I ‘enjoyed’ (totally the wrong word) Haruko’s story the most. I found her easier to empathise with. Yuki’s is so painful, at times I had to stop reading. And Mei is too far out of my comfort zone, though later on in the book it was easier.
The book starts with Yuki and Mei, and for a while we move back and forth between the two. They are not yet connected. Yuki has left Japan at age eighteen, to travel to England where she will ‘pursue her dream of becoming a concert violinist’. Her talent is amazing and soon attracts the attention of her much older tutor. No-one seems to care though, which I found quite strange. He probably should have been sacked.
Mei lost her mum who died when she was six and she lives with her father in Surrey. She has a beautiful voice and wants to be a singer. However, we hear more about her relationship with her best friend Fran than her potential career, though we never really discover whether it’s reciprocated in the way she would like. There’s a lot of drinking, drug taking, partying and holidays with Fran’s family. As I said, I was totally out of my comfort zone.
It’s quite some time before we ‘meet’ Hukara. She too lost her mum when she was sixteen, and lives with her Baba and Jiji (grandparents) in a somewhat ramshackle farm where Jiji tends the rice fields. Until she died, Hakura’s mum worked all hours and was rarely at home. Then one day, Hakura has a terrible fight with Jiji and runs away to Tokyo where she works in the sex industry. She tries to justify her choices, but we can see it makes her sad.
During the second half of the book the strands begin to come together and we start to see how everyone is connected. There are tiny hints throughout the book, but it is complicated. Better to just go with the flow. There is so much emotion, sadness, secrets and regret, and the whole story becomes more and more gripping. But it’s Yuki that pains me the most. She is a character that will live with me for a long time.
I must also say at this point that we learn a lot about Japan, the culture, the food, the language and the people. It’s a fascinating insight as well as a riveting storyline.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Hanako Footman is a British-Japanese actor and author living in London. Mongrel is her debut novel.
Rescue Quest is out today! Grab your pickaxe and get ready to dive into the world of Minecraft like you’ve never seen it before.
Join Tom, a timid boy who is bullied and the smallest boy in school, as he embarks on a daring quest to rescue his little sister Alice from the clutches of the game itself.
To succeed, he’ll need to find the courage he never knew he had and form friendships and alliances with a steely warrior and a mystical potions master. Together, they’ll face unknown dangers and battle against a terrifying urban legend who has kidnapped Alice for his own sinister plans.
Through loyalty, sacrifice, and overcoming the bullies, can Tom find his inner hero in this epic battle between good and evil?
Rescue Quest is the first book in a new action-packed adventure series, perfect for readers aged 8-12 who love playing Minecraft and losing themselves in thrilling fantasy worlds.
Available as paperback and ebook from Amazon and as ebook from Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and most other online book stores.
Buy link
www.amazon.co.uk
Instagram
@michellereeveswrites
@lovebookstours
#Ad #LBTCrew #bookstagram
Is her child really missing? Or did he never exist at all?
With cracks beginning to show in her marriage, Karina thinks a short break to a luxury villa in Turkey with her husband, Ronan, and their four-year-old son, Jacob, is just what the family needs. It’ll be a chance to relax, enjoy some good food, and more importantly to reconnect with the people she loves the most.
But on their first morning, Karina is startled to discover she’s slept in late and not been woken by Jacob. He’s an early riser who always comes into their bed pestering them to make him breakfast.
#ThePhantomChild #AJWills
X(Twitter) @adrianwills @ZooloosBT #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
Instagram @ajwills_author @zooloosbooktours #bookstagram
So where is he? A needle of fear spikes through Karina’s veins.
She rushes to his room, but his bed is empty and he’s nowhere to be found in the villa.
But when she wakes Ronan, frantic with worry, and tells him their son is missing, he
stares at her blankly.
He says he has no idea what she’s talking about and that they don’t have any children.
He’s certainly never heard of a boy called Jacob…
My Review
This was a quick read and a real page-turner with two major twists that – as they say – you won’t see coming. Well I didn’t anyway, especially the second one.
The story is told from Karina’s point of view, and it’s quite distressing at times. On holiday in Turkey with second husband Ronan and four-year-old Jacob, she wakes up on the first morning to discover that the boy is missing. Vanished, his clothes and toys gone, and his bed not slept in. But that’s only the beginning, because Ronan insists that they don’t have a son, and that Karina is delusional, with a history of mental illness.
Karina is a bit dim really isn’t she? So much investigation she could have done at the time or at least later. Even just finding out more about Ronan when he started gaslighting her. Looking him up on the internet would have told her a lot, especially when she starts to find his behaviour menacing. And she’s not always very nice is she? So judgemental about other parents. Criticising everything they do, saying she’d never do that. Sorry, but sometimes you just do to save your sanity.
That’s not to say I didn’t feel sympathy for her, of course I did, but she accepted it all rather too easily. She doesn’t seem to have any friends who would have seen her with Jacob who can confirm that he exists. Her mother has dementia and barely knows her, let alone Jacob, and her ex-husband is not exactly supportive, say no more.
Now I love an unreliable narrator, but this would really take it to the extreme if she doesn’t have a child at all. But does she? Well we won’t find out for a quite a long time. It’s an intricate plot, with some truly horrible characters and Karina is stuck in the middle.
The book is set in two timelines – we jump ahead ten years in part two – when Karina’s life starts to change. And it’s here that it moves at a cracking pace as secrets and lies are revealed.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
AJ Wills writes standalone psychological thrillers with twisty plots. He’s a former journalist who wrote in his spare time, before and after work for ten years, until he was finally able to fulfil his lifelong dream of becoming a fulltime author in May 2021.
He’s never looked back and now runs a small independent publishing company, Cherry Tree Publishing with his wife, AJ McDine, also a thriller writer. He said: “I’ve always loved thrillers, but psychological thrillers hold a special interest for me because they’re about the scary, insane, disturbing things that happen to ordinary people – and we can all relate to them on some level.”
He lives in Kent in the south east of England.
AJ’s Links
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAJWills
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ajwills_author/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/adrianwills
Book Links
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202336685-the-phantom-child
Buy Links – https://mybook.to/phantomchild-zbt
Phoebe Dean was the most popular girl alive and dead.
For the last ten years, the small, claustrophobic town of West Wilmer has been struggling to understand one thing: Why did it take young Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help on the fateful night of the car accident that took the life of his beloved sister, Phoebe?
Someone knows what really happened the night Phoebe died. Someone who is ready to tell the truth.
With Phoebe’s memorial in just three days, grief, delusion, ambition, and regret tornado together with biting gossip in a town full of people obsessed with a long-gone tragedy with four people at its heart—the caretaker, the secret girlfriend, the missing bad boy, and a former football star. Just kids back then, are forever tied together the fateful rainy night Phoebe died.
Perfect for fans of Jane Harper and Celeste Ng, Tate’s literary suspense Twenty-Seven Minutes is a gripping debut about what happens when grief becomes unbearable and dark secrets are unearthed in a hometown that is all too giddy to eat it up.
My Review
If you asked me when this was set I’d say the 1980s, but they have mobile phones. They don’t even seem to use DNA. It’s set in a small town in America and I often struggled with the setting. I think it’s because I have no experience of such a claustrophobic place. The characters are all vile. I’m sorry, but they are. They all lie to each other all the time.
The premise of the book is a car accident in which popular teenager Phoebe Dean died. Her brother Grant was driving – was he drunk? – and we also discover that ‘Crazy Becca’ was in the car with them. Grant and Becca were both badly injured. Becca doesn’t remember any of it, which appears to be a good thing as far as Grant is concerned. They hit a deer in the pouring rain, end of. Ten years on and Becca only seems to have one emotion – jealousy and the endless ‘what about me, look how I suffered.’ I know you did, but Phoebe died. Maybe, from time to time. be thankful that you survived. And stop obsessing about Grant, because he doesn’t care about you, except where it impacts him.
Grant was a promising football star, hoping for a college scholarship, but his injuries stopped that from happening. He’s been left behind in the backend town of West Wilmer. Phoebe was forever nagging him to do better at school, but her attitude to his girlfriends (and there were plenty) was all a bit Flowers in the Attic for me. They were supposed to be running away together, but Becca believes that it was her and Grant, not Phoebe.
I didn’t like the way that, even though the book is set in two timelines – now and ten years ago – we flip into the past in the middle of the ‘now’ chapters (in italics), which I found very irritating.
June is a throwback to the 1950s, including her name, which initially made me think she was much older. No-one in the UK is called June unless they are at least 60. Her older brother Wyatt disappeared on the night of the accident and has never been seen or heard from again. Their father left and June is alone with her mother, who dies at the very beginning of the book.
I felt sorry for June, who just wants the truth. Grant is a horrible human being and Becca is deluded. So I did care what happened? It was so drawn out that if I hadn’t been reading with my book club I think I’d have just jumped to the end or given up. Sorry, because it’s so well written, but it’s just too overlong for me.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Ashley Tate is a Canadian author. Twenty Seven Minutes is her first novel.
The Rohingya Refugee Camp at Cox’s Bazar by Anthony Dawton and Jim McFarlane
Published: 1st February 2024
Hardback ISBN: 9781843682509
Price: £35
Following the Rohingya genocide in 2017, Rohingya Muslims have sought refuge in Kutupalong in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Kutupalong is now the largest refugee camp in the world and is inhabited by around 900,000 refugees, 65% of which are children.
It’s difficult to gain access to this camp, but Jim McFarlane and Anthony Dawton managed to do so and in Edge of Hope, they share their photographs. All in black and white and printed to the highest quality, the images bear silent witness to the plight of the Rohingya people. Harrowing and thought provoking, Dawton and McFarlane’s images shine a light on the huge body of individuals living as refugees, who no longer occupy the front pages of newspapers, but are still without a home.
Dawton and McFarlane are not subject to the time restraints that photojournalists are so they have time to get to know the individuals they photograph and build relationships with their subjects. As a result, the photographs show the humanity and dignity of the individuals, despite the tragic circumstances. Although the photographs document desolation, despair and destruction, they also document unity, love and hope.
The Amal Foundation in Bangladesh continues to work in the Cox’s Bazar and Edge of Hope is published to raise funds and awareness for this important foundation.
The Working Relationship
Behind Edge of Hope is a photography partnership. Unusually, Jim McFarlane and Anthony Dawton photograph together and have done so for years. Jim lives in Australia and Anthony lives in London, but despite the distance between them, they have maintained a close friendship and working relationship. They are both indispensable to the process and have extraordinary stories about how they work together to get the photograph they desire.
They have taken photographs in Gaza, Camp Zaatari in Jordan and in the Palestinian camps in Beirut.
They are both available for interview and can discuss the virtues of a photography partnership.
The photos in this post are all taken from the book. Aren’t they fantastic?
My Thoughts
They say that ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’. Each of these pictures is therefore looking into the souls of the Rohingya people. And they are looking right back. In spite of all the trauma and devastation they have experienced, so many of them are smiling for the camera, their faces full of hope.
I reviewed Anthony Dawton’s photography book NOTLondon in September 2021 featuring homeless people on the streets of the capital here: https://cookiebiscuit.co.uk/2021/09/13/notlondon-anthony-dawton/
This was in the introduction (not my words) “Anthony Dawton photographs his subjects with a beauty and dignity that many of them are often denied. His portraits capture the strength and power of humanity as well as its vulnerability,” and I think this sums up Edge of Hope as well. These people are allowed their dignity and their beauty, and their strength shines through in the photographs.
Anthony and Jim are a rare talent that are able to do this, to capture these amazing images.
Many thanks to Grace Pilkington Publicity @GracePublicity for inviting me to give an unbiased review of Edge of Hope.
Anthony Dawton is an award winning commercial photographer based in London. He also works extensively with NGOs across the world including: Niger, Kashmir (following the earthquake), Gaza, Camp Zaatari (the Syrian refugee camp), the Beqaa Valley, the Palestinian camps in Beirut. He recently photographed the homeless on the streets of London and his book NOTLondon was published by Pallas Athene in 2021.
Jim McFarlane is an Australian based photographer who has worked commercially for over 35 years. His expertise covers advertising and a wide range of subjects including food, dance and people. McFarlane taught photography at Victorian College of the Arts and Deakin University.
His work with Anthony Dawton led him to Gaza, Camp Zaatari and the Palestinian Camps in Beirut.
No one is above the Laws…
Seven years after its conception, LEAP is finally about to spell the end of global warming. For Uma and Ethan, this means personal and professional triumph – but quantum teleportation is an unwieldy beast, held back by those fighting to dominate the new world order.
Genre: Sci-fi | Thriller | Crime | Mystery
As LEAP’s roll out slows to a trickle, a greater threat emerges when a stealth attack on US troops leaves thousands dead. With the finger of suspicion pointing to a LEAP copycat, Ethan and Uma are forced to condone a breach of the Laws to reverse the massacre.
As LEAP’s new rival continues to show their hand, Ethan is dragged back into a nightmare he thought he had escaped. One that may finally claim his sanity, and that pushes Uma to the limits of hers, to defeat an evil that no longer plays by the rules.
Pre-order Link
www.amazon.co.uk
Instagram
@OCHeaton
@lovebookstours
#Ad #LBTCrew #bookstagram
+ child abduction, climate fiction, diary, dystopia, family, fiction, grief, journal, kidnapping, loss, pandemic, review, secrets, slavery, thriller
The Descent by Paul E Hardisty
Kweku Ashworth is a child of the cataclysm, born on a sailboat to parents fleeing the devastation in search for a refuge in the Southern Ocean.
Growing up in a world forever changed, his only connection to the events that set the world on its course to disaster were the stories his step-father, now long-dead, recorded in his manuscript, The Forcing.
#TheDescent @Hardisty_Paul @OrendaBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour
But there are huge gaps in the story that his mother, still alive but old and frail, steadfastly refuses to speak of, even thirty years later. When he discovers evidence that his mother has tried to cover up the truth, he knows that it is time to find out for himself.
Determined to learn what really happened during his mother’s escape from the concentration camp to which she and Kweku’s father were banished, and their subsequent journey halfway around the world, Kweku and his young family set out on a perilous voyage across a devastated planet. What they find will challenge not only their faith in humanity, but their ability to stay alive.
My Review
If I thought The Forcing was hard to review in January 3023, then this one is nigh impossible, but I’ll give it my best shot.
The Descent alternates between two timelines – the first one being now ie 2024 which we see from the point of view of a young assistant (we don’t know her name) to the ‘Boss’ (we don’t know his name either initially). If you’ve read The Forcing you might have an inkling. She is around 20 years old and is one of his favourites. She earns a fortune for someone of her age, but what she has to do for the money is not exactly part of the official job description. This part is the ‘prequel’ to The Forcing.
We then jump to the ‘sequel’ ie the 2060s, after The Forcing, and it’s here that we meet Kweku Ashworth, his wife Julie, their young son Leo and the rest of their family. A tragedy means that they have to travel all over the world, first seeking Kweku’s relatives in Africa, to try to find answers to the gaps in his mother’s story. Then they must search for a missing child, but they have no idea where she might be.
The whole world has been devastated by climate change, an African war, nuclear bombings and mass inoculation resulting in sterility and death. This all occurred in the late 2020s, when a group of very rich men including the Boss decided to ignore the climate crisis and make money out of others’ misfortunes. These facts are revealed gradually as Kweku, Julie and Leo travel to Africa, Madagascar, Panama, Grenada and finally to Bora Bora, amongst other places.
When I read The Forcing, I said I thought that ‘villain’ Derek Argent reminded me of Trump but in The Descent we have a president called Bragg and he really is a Trump-alike – bragger by name and by nature. In fact though, he is more a puppet of the rich, who know that keeping him in power will work to their benefit. And his of course.
While I understand that we are not doing enough to prevent a climate catastrophe, I hope that there aren’t people around like the Boss and his mates, ready to let the earth burn while they get richer. However, “The Forcing was certainly a very bleak read, seemingly devoid of hope”, but by the end of The Descent, I could see a glimmer of a future amongst the death and devastation. I hope we never let it get to that point.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Canadian Paul Hardisty has spent twenty-five years working all over the world as an environmental scientist and freelance journalist. He has roughnecked on oil rigs in Texas, explored for gold in the Arctic, mapped geology in Eastern Turkey (where he was befriended by PKK rebels), and rehabilitated water wells in the wilds of Africa. He was in Ethiopia in 1991 as the Mengistu regime fell, survived a bomb blast in a café in Sana’a in 1993, and was one of the last Westerners out of Yemen at the outbreak of the 1994 civil war. In 2022 he criss-crossed Ukraine reporting on the Russian invasion. Paul is a university professor and CEO of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). The four novels in his Claymore Straker series, The Abrupt Physics of Dying, The Evolution of Fear, Reconciliation for the Dead and Absolution, all received great critical acclaim and The Abrupt Physics of Dying was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and a Telegraph Book of the Year. Paul drew on his own experiences to write Turbulent Wake, an extraordinary departure from his high-octane, thought-provoking thrillers. Paul is a keen outdoorsman, a conservation volunteer, and lives in Western Australia.
Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.
In today’s world, young men grapple with concepts like “toxic masculinity” that often lead to self-doubt and aimlessness. Such ideologies can push them toward negative influences online or unproductive behaviors.
How Boys Learn by Jeff Kirchick presents a different perspective, delving into the nuanced journeys boys navigate. These stories offer insight into friendships, relationships, sexuality, and the quest to become better individuals.
Kirchick’s collection captures diverse experiences: from a conflicted teenage wrestler in rural Pennsylvania to a postwar society designed to curb “bad ideas,” and a doctor’s encounters with family and an unusual patient. Love is the overarching theme, whether it’s the characters’ connections with others or their pursuit of self-love.
Originally penned in 2010 under the guidance of esteemed author Edmund White at Princeton University, these tales have been refined for a wider audience. Kirchick’s aim is to impart lessons on struggle, humanity, and discovering love in unexpected corners. How Boys Learn invites readers to explore the complexities of growing up and finding love amid life’s challenges.
Buy Links
www.amazon.co.uk
Instagram
@lovebookstours
A fierce story of trauma, addiction, awakening and healing.
From the tenements of Aberdeen to the bright lights of 1970’s London Vicki Rebecca shares her uncensored truth of redemption and liberation.
Genre: Non-fiction
Breaking down stigma and taboos in a world where we are so often shamed into silence, Vicki’s journey allows the reader to witness the alchemy of embracing the whole self and how it is possible to find hope when it feels like all is lost.
Instagram
@vickirebecca_
@lovebookstours
#coverreveal #bookstagram
Click on the image below to join the waitlist:
+ fiction, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, Greek mythology, illegitimacy, jealousy, marriage, mythology, obsession, review, superstition, Victorian Britain
The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell
From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a gripping tale of obsession, superstition and ambition, set against the atmospheric backdrop of Victorian London. Be careful what you wish for it may just come true.
At The Mercury Theatre in London’s West End, rumours are circulating of a curse. It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology, to become the greatest actress to ever grace the stage. Suspicious of Lilith, the jealous wife of the theatre owner sends dresser Jenny to spy on her, and, desperate for the money to help her family, Jenny agrees.
What Jenny finds is a woman as astonishing in her performance as she is provocative in her nature. On stage, it’s as though Lilith is possessed by the characters she plays, yet off stage she is as tragic as the muse who inspires her, and Jenny, sorry for her, befriends the troubled actress. But when strange events begin to take place around the theatre, Jenny wonders whether the rumours are true and fears that when the muse comes calling for payment, the cost will be too high.
My Review
My second Laura Purcell this month and unfortunately I think I have now read all of her Gothic novels. The Whispering Muse is by far the most shocking – in parts it was really quite gory and grisly.
Lively and intelligent, Jenny Wilcox’s life has been reduced to working as a maid after her brother Greg ran off with the Mercury Theatre’s leading lady and all Jenny’s savings. Then one day she is summoned by theatre owner, Mrs Dyer, and she is sure it’s something to do with the money Greg owed. But no, Mrs Dyer has a proposition to put before her. She is to be the dresser to the new leading lady, Lilith Erikson, but she warns her that Lilith is not easy to work with. You can say that again!
Jenny will be paid a good wage – way above her current salary – but she will basically be a spy for Mrs Dyer and will need to report back to her on Lilith’s actions and behaviour.
“It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology to become the greatest actress to ever grace the stage.”
Lilith soon proves herself in her performance as Lady Macbeth, but Mrs Dyer is obsessively jealous of her, and of her husband’s patronage of the new ‘star’. But as Lilith becomes more and more successful and adored, the theatre appears to be crumbling before Jenny’s eyes. Then a tragedy occurs and then another, and Mrs Dyer becomes more obsessive and manic in her jealousy.
And then there’s the dog. Lilith has a black poodle named Eurydice, after the wife of Orpheus, who was bitten by a snake and died instantly. I’m not even sure if that’s relevant.
Once again I listened to this on Audible and I am now grieving. There’s an emptiness I feel having finished it. It’s brilliant, but at times I would say it’s not for the faint-hearted – there are some distressing scenes, described in graphic detail. Dark and spooky, it’s a triumph for the author.
About the Author
Laura Purcell is a former bookseller and lives in Colchester with her husband and pet guinea pigs.
Her first novel for Raven Books The Silent Companions won the WHSmith Thumping Good Read Award 2018 and featured in both the Zoe Ball and Radio 2 Book Clubs. Other Gothic novels include The Corset (The Poison Thread in USA), Bone China and The Shape of Darkness (2020).
Laura’s historical fiction about the Hanoverian monarchs, Queen of Bedlam and Mistress of the Court, was published by Myrmidon.
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, friendship, love, murder, murder mystery, music, private investigator, review, romance, supernatural, superstition
KillJoy by Gail Meath (Jax Diamond Mysteries #6)
Can Ace, and his new gal pal, Lilith, solve this spooky puzzle and stop the killing spree?
New York City, 1923
The suspicious death of a chorus girl sends PI Jax Diamond and his courageous canine partner, Ace, to the oldest theater on Broadway. At the murder scene, they stumble upon a clue too bizarre to share with the cops or with Jax’s sweetheart, who would definitely make a haunted mountain out of this eerie little molehill. But one bizarre clue leads to the next.
#Killjoy X(Twitter) @GailMeathAuthor @ZooloosBT #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
Instagram @gailmeathauthor @zooloosbooktours #bookstagram
Laura Graystone, Broadway star and Jax’s fiancée, drags her friends into the investigation after she’s scared out of her wits and finds another dead body.
Convinced the ghost of a beautiful actress is behind the murders, Laura and her friends follow the eerie clues and end up in the slammer.
As Jax digs deeper, even he begins to wonder if the elusive killer is as dead as her victims. It’s a spooky whirlwind of ghosts and a magical black cat in this fun yet deadly fast-paced cozy thriller (easily read as a standalone).
My Review
I’ve read all the Jax Diamond Mysteries apart from one and I don’t know how I missed it. I love them all. This one could well be my favourite as I love the supernatural element. Is the theatre haunted and could a ghost be responsible for the ‘accidents’? Or is it murder? If so, then that spooky someone is very angry indeed. And you can’t beat a story where not one, but two animals are amongst the main characters.
Ace has a friend in this book and it’s not a human or even another dog. It’s a black cat called Lilith, who seems to have a sixth sense and a ‘nose’ for solving a mystery. Or maybe she’s just a bit witchy – she is after all a black cat.
The bodies are piling up at the theatre and nothing makes sense. Even our intrepid hero Jax is struggling to find a link, but he is far too sceptical to believe a ghost could be responsible. The clues are all a bit odd and appear to point towards the spirit of Olive Thomas, a famous music hall star, who died in Paris under suspicious circumstances a few years ago.
Laura and her friend Jeanie are terrified – theatres are often said to be haunted and superstitions abound. And then there are the scary dolls.
Can Laura, Jax, police officer Tim, his wife Carla and some new characters solve the mystery before anyone else dies? The twist in the tale (not tail ha ha) meant that I had no idea who was responsible until the very end and then it all became very exciting. Another great read from Gail Meath. I hope there will be more Jax Diamond Mysteries in the future. And will it be goodbye to Old Nellie forever and will Lilith become a permanent member of the team? I need answers!
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Award-winning author Gail Meath writes historical romance novels that will whisk you away to another time and place in history where you will meet fascinating characters, both fictional and real, who will capture your heart and soul. Meath loves writing about little or unknown people, places and events in history, rather than relying on the typical stories and settings.
Follow Gail at:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/Gail-Meath-Author-121289219261348
Instagram: https://instagram.com/gailmeathauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GailMeathAuthor
Website: https://www.gailmeath.com
It started with a lie…
Married couple Karin and Kai are looking for a pleasant escape from their busy lives, and reluctantly accept an offer to stay in a luxurious holiday home in the Norwegian fjords.
Instead of finding a relaxing retreat, however, their trip becomes a reminder of everything lacking in their own lives, and in a less- than-friendly meeting with their new neighbours, Karin tells a little white lie…
#TheGuests #AgnesRavatn @OrendaBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour
Against the backdrop of the glistening water and within the claustrophobic walls of the ultra-modern house, Karin’s insecurities blossom, and her lie grows ever bigger, entangling her and her husband in a nightmare spiral of deceits with absolutely no means of escape…
My Review
I was on the blog tour for The Seven Doors in 2020, so I was excited to read this. It’s very different. There are no missing persons, family secrets or shocking revelations. It’s not dark or horrifying, but the whole story is based on a lie, one which Karin tells and her husband Kai goes along with.
Karin is offered the opportunity to stay in a beautiful, modern cabin belonging to an old school friend (I use the term ‘friend’ loosely as Karin basically despises her), but Kai thinks it’s too good to refuse. It’s offered as thanks for a favour, but Karin believes it makes her beholden to the owner.
Then basically one day, Karin meets one of the neighbours, Per Sinding, who happens to be married to one of Karin’s favourite authors Hilma Ekhult. For some bizarre reason she tells Per that they own the cabin, and also lies about what she does for a living. Kai then has to back up everything she says and tell more lies about his own background.
But your lies will eventually catch you out. However, they are leaving soon, so none of it will matter. It’s a harmless little game isn’t it? Except they are invited over for dinner and it all starts to spiral out of control. What is does do, as well as reveal their insecurities, is to show up the gaps and mistrust in their own marriage. An interesting study of human behaviour and shows why honesty is the best policy.
A great translation by the way – I often forgot I wasn’t reading in the original language.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Agnes Ravatn is a Norwegian author and columnist. She made her literary début with the novel Week 53 in 2007. Since then she has written a number of critically acclaimed and award-winning essay collections, including Standing, Popular Reading and Operation Self-discipline, in which she recounts her experience with social-media addiction. Her debut thriller, The Bird Tribunal, won the cultural radio P2’s listener’s prize in addition to The Youth’s Critic’s Prize, and was made into a successful play in Oslo in 2015. The English translation, published by Orenda Books in 2016, was a
WHSmith Fresh Talent Pick, winner of a PEN Translation Award, a BBC Radio Four ‘Book at Bedtime’ and shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award and the 2017 Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. Critically acclaimed The Seven Doors was published in 2020. Agnes lives with her family in the Norwegian countryside.
About Orenda Books
Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.
Bookchatter@Cookiebiscuit 