The prequel to A Christmas Carol — A sweet Regency Christmas romance
Here at last is the untold story of Scrooge’s doomed engagement
Belle Endicott and Ebenezer Scrooge are young, bookish, hardworking Londoners drawn together by button-making. His brand-new factory threatens her family’s tiny shop, yet they fall in love and start planning their future. When personal and business calamities strike, they confront them vigorously side by side, but ultimately something has to give. We know what it is. They do not.
My Review
Almost everyone has seen, read or heard about the story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I read it at school and have seen it countless times over the years. My son has played Bob Cratchit twice, once with Tiny Tim as a puppet on his shoulder. I’ve seen it performed in a church with a ball scene where the audience joined in with the dancing. Played straight, played for laughs – I’ve seen them all.
But what actually happened that turned Ebenezer Scrooge from a love-struck young man, madly in love with his fiance Belle Endicott, into the mean, greedy, miserly old man we see in A Christmas Carol. Scrooge is shown what his life was like when he was happy to what it became and how it would end up if he didn’t change it. But let’s go back now, dear reader, as the narrator tells us Jane Eyre-style from time to time. The narrator in this case is the red button of the book title.
In The Red Button, Ebenezer meets Belle through their button-making businesses. Belle hand-sews fabric on buttons as did her mother Lily – recently departed – and her father Archie, who owns the button shop. Ebenezer has just left the employ of Fezziwig to embark on his own, with a brand new button manufacturing factory which threatens to put Archie – and Belle – out of business.
But Ebenezer falls in love with Belle and for a while all seems well. They become engaged to be married and Belle even helps with suggestions to make the factory more comfortable for the workers.
So what goes wrong and we know from A Christmas Carol that it does. Scrooge is introduced to Jacob Marley (remember him – Marley’s ghost all clanking chains '”made of cash boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds”, all items connected with his job. Indeed, Dickens clarifies that these are the ”chains forged in life”‘). Just as Scrooge forged his own destiny, he will pay the price unless he can look back with regret and undo the harm he did.
Poor Belle. Ebenezer has become a monster. A stingy miser.
‘Don’t you know my reputation,’ he says to Belle, ‘I have no soul.’
The story follows the change in Scrooge’s character and what starts out as a cosy romance turns into something much darker. This is a tale of greed and power, of money above all else and how these things will only buy unhappiness and misery in the end. A great read just before Christmas or any time at all.
Many thanks to the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
Keith Eldred created the THIS IS RED project with his wife Janet, a public library director diagnosed with early-stage dementia. With Janet’s condition making every day precious, they decided to make the most of 2020, the year of their 30th anniversary, by publishing 20 books. All profits from these titles go the Hollidaysburg Area Public Library, where Janet works. See more at www.thisis.red.
+ childhood, family, female friendship, fiction, forgiveness, friendship, literature, loss, love, review, secrets, sisters
The Unravelling by Polly Crosby
Tartelin has been employed by Marianne Stourbridge to hunt for butterflies, but she quickly uncovers something far more intriguing. The island and Marianne share a remarkable past, and what happened all those years ago has left its scars.
The island has a strange effect on Tartelin, too, finally allowing her to confront her own, painful, memories. As she does, Marianne’s story begins to unravel around her, revealing an extraordinary tale of two girls, an obsession with pearls, and a truth beyond imagination.
Atmospheric and deeply emotional, The Unravelling is a captivating novel about the secrets we can only discover when we dare to look beneath the surface.
My Review
‘The sea is made up of unspeakable sadness.’ This is a sentence you will read many times in this extraordinary book.
Tartelin, a young woman who has recently lost her mother, travels to the tiny, remote island of Dohhalund in the middle of the North Sea, to work for Miss Stourbridge. Her job will be to catch butterflies and kill them, so they can be pinned and studied. It’s a strange request and one that Tartelin doesn’t realise will have such a profound effect on her.
‘It’s been 63 years since I left Dohhalund for the mainland,’ Miss Stourbridge tells her, ‘and still this island is changing.’
Initially the relationship between the two women is difficult and strained. There is no common ground between the young girl and this seemingly cantankerous and difficult woman who we know to be very old, frail and wheelchair-bound – I worked it out that she is around 103 years old. Tartelin wants to know the island’s secrets, but Miss Stourbridge doesn’t want to tell her.
But ultimately, this is a story of friendship, love, emotion and ‘unravelling’ – a story that will see new relationships beginning and others rekindled, and the secrets of the past finally revealed, until by the end I was in tears for the ‘unspeakable sadness’.
This is easily my favourite book of the final quarter of 2021 and its beauty and sincerity will stay with me for a long time to come.
Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
After a whirlwind of a year which saw Polly receive writing scholarships from both Curtis Brown Creative and The University of East Anglia’s MA in Creative Writing, she went on to be runner up in the Bridport Prize’s Peggy Chapman Andrews Award for a First Novel. Read Polly’s piece for the Bridport Prize’s blog here.
Polly’s novel was snapped up by HarperCollins HQ in the UK and Commonwealth in a 48 hour pre-empt, and a few days later by HarperCollins Park Row Books in North America.
Polly grew up on the Suffolk coast, and now lives in the heart of Norfolk with her husband and son, and her very loud and much loved rescue Oriental cat, Dali.
The Illustrated Child is her first novel. Her second novel, The Unravelling, is out on 6th January ‘22.
+ brothers, fiction, friendship, germany, Historical fiction, holocaust, jewish history, jews, Magical realism, nazi germany, racism, revenge, review, World War Two, WW2
Man of Clay by Alan Derosby
Retribution comes with a price
1930s Germany
Karl Auerbach escapes Buchenwald concentration camp. Ashamed of the truth of how he fled, Karl vows never to speak of the memories of his imprisonment.
Present Day: Rhode Island
When Karl’s grandson Zachariah is faced with prejudice of his own and a close friend is subjected to a horrific assault, Karl knows he must finally confront the demons of his past before Zachariah sets in motion a deadly chain of events.
#ManOfClay @AlanDerosby @SpellBoundBks @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
Man of Clay explores the consequences of being held captive by the ghosts of our past, the decisions we make and what happens when someone crosses the line in search of revenge and retribution.
My Review
Wow – what an incredible story! So much sadness and heartbreak. So much cruelty. The story of the Jews in Buchenwald concentration camp and the terrible crimes that were perpetrated against them. It’s also the tale of a family torn apart by prejudice and hatred.
This book is written in two timelines which interweave, the first being the story of 15-year-old Zachariah’s torment as the victim of three despicable school bullies. The second takes us back to his grandfather Karl’s terrible experiences in Buchenwald during Word War Two and the memories that haunt him and he never speaks about, not even to his wife.
This is also a book of magical realism. Now whether you believe in mythology and magic is up to you. You can take this story literally or view it as something symbolic for a time when many Jewish people, who had endured six years of suffering, had reached the end of the road and finally sought revenge and retribution.
It doesn’t really matter which interpretation you choose. What matters is that you understand how despair, grief and starvation can lead to committing heinous acts of your own, which eventually you are unable to control. Or to quote a famous saying, once released you can never put the genie back in the bottle.
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Alan Derosby, a Maine native, has spent the past several years focusing on his passion: writing. Alan has created original and spooky short stories, having several published in a variety of anthologies. Man of Clay is his debut novel.
When not writing, Alan is teaching history at Messalonskee High School in Oakland, Maine, spending time with his wife and daughter, or watching the New York Mets suffer through another disappointing season.
Follow him at:
Facebook: – https://www.facebook.com/ADerosbyauthor/
Instagram: – https://www.instagram.com/aderosby75/
Twitter: – https://twitter.com/AlanDerosby
Amazon Author Page: – https://www.amazon.com/Alan-Derosby/e/B084LVSRG7?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000
Buy Links:
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Clay-chilling-historical-thriller-ebook/dp/B09HPY4J77
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/Man-Clay-chilling-historical-thriller-ebook/dp/B09HPY4J77
Mari only wanted an easy life.
‘That’s all I wanted. An easy life and a push-up bra.’
Not much to ask is it. Mari works at the library. Does the cleaning, same as she does at home. That’s how she knows her husband Ron of 45 years will never find the things she hides and how she knows where he keeps his girlie magazines.
She didn’t read much when she was at school. Never did much at all really. Unless you were pretty or clever it was best to remain invisible. But now she buys books and hides them. Ron thinks she’s at the bingo. She has 16 books and sometimes she even borrows an audio book from the library.
But what she really wants is a room of her own, just like Virginia Woolf said. And a life, not just one lived through books.
Very clever and sad.
‘Bon voyage Mari.’
Written by Jackie Carreira
Directed by Zoe Cunningham and Emmeline Braefield
Starring
Geraldine Brennan as Mari
Anthony Young as Derek
and
Molly Wilkes and Toby Wilkes as the Youths
Produced by Cat on a Piano Productions
Music:
Greaser by TrackTribe
The Quiet Aftermath by Sir Cubworth
Quiet by The Mini Vandals
Parisian Cafe by Aaron Kenny
The Theatrephonic Theme tune was composed by Jackson Pentland
Performed by
Jackson Pentland
Mollie Fyfe Taylor
Emmeline Braefield
Cat on a Piano Productions produce and edit feature films, sketches and radio plays.
Their latest project is called @Theatrephonic, a podcast of standalone radio plays and short stories performed by professional actors. You can catch Theatrephonic on Spotify and other platforms.
For more information about the Theatrephonic Podcast, go to catonapiano.uk/theatrephonic, Tweet or Instagram us @theatrephonic, or visit our Facebook page.
And if you really enjoyed Mari listen to Theatrephonic’s other plays and short stories and consider becoming a patron by clicking here…
Alabama, 1947. War’s over, cherry-print dresses, parking above the city lights, swing dancing. Beautiful, seventeen-year-old Violet lives in a perfect world. Everybody loves her.
In 2012, she’s still beautiful, charming, and surrounded by admirers.
#ItAllComesBackToYou @bethidee Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
Veronica “Ronni” Johnson, licensed practical nurse and aspiring writer, meets the captivating Violet in the assisted living facility where Violet requires no assistance, just lots of male attention. When she dies, she leaves Ronni a very generous bequest―only if Ronni completes a book about her life within one year. As she’s drawn into the world of young Violet, Ronni is mesmerized by life in a simpler time. It’s an irresistible journey filled with revelations, some of them about men Ronni knew as octogenarians at Fairfield Springs.
Struggling, insecure, flailing at the keyboard, Ronni juggles her patients, a new boyfriend, and a Samsonite factory of emotional baggage as she tries to craft a manuscript before her deadline.
But then the secrets start to emerge, some of them in person. And they don’t stop.
Everything changes.
My Review
Veronica “Ronni” Johnson is our hero. That did make me laugh. You see I was Veronika known to many as Ronnie at school, though I was Veronika with a ‘k’ and Ronnie with an ‘e’ on the end. When I grew up I became Vee as Ronnie sounded too 1960s.
The writing in It All Comes Back To You is brilliant and I loved both Ronni and Violet. The men not so much. Johnny has an accident and rejects Violet afterwards. Sam is too weak to stand up to his parents and defy their religious bigotry – is that being unfair? I have personal experience of this so maybe I’m biased. Violet’s husband Tolly is a nasty, horrible man and well we’ll see what happens next. As for Chet – I’d love to discuss, but there would be too many spoilers.
Then there is Rick. I tried to like him but he would not be my idea of a partner. I found him rather overpowering to be honest. I’d have ditched him pretty quick after his ex phones Ronni and dishes the dirt, but there’s no accounting for taste. He makes her feel safe but then so would a bolt on the door and a can of mace and I’d definitely resort to the former if not the latter.
I did love Halle though but then even the cat is female.
There is so much humour in this book as well as sadness and regret. Ronni’s conversations with Kait at the rest home are hilarious and the descriptions of some of the residents are brilliantly funny. And Ronni can be really funny as well.
‘I’d spent a lot of my childhood in Violet’s hometown of Anniston. I despised it, but it was the cradle of all that was dear to her. As soon as she found out I had a car…she asked me to drive her around and reminisce. I’d rather have reminisced about my first root canal.’
It’s such a great story, I really couldn’t stop reading. I can understand that this book is like Marmite but a few of the reviews really shocked me. Sometimes I wish people would remember that this is fiction and it’s not meant to be totally realistic so get over it and enjoy the ride. And I wish someone would offer to leave me loads of money to write a novel based on their life. I wouldn’t hesitate. Any offers?
And don’t you just love the cover of the book. It’s gorgeous. I think it may be my favourite ‘cover of the year’.
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Beth Dial Duke is an Amazon #1 Best Selling author and the recipient of short story awards on two continents. She is eyeing the other five.
Beth lives in the mountains of her native Alabama with her husband, one real dog, and one ornamental dog. She loves reading, writing, and not arithmetic. Baking is a hobby, with semi-pro cupcakes and amateur macarons a speciality. And puns–the worse, the better.
Travel is her other favourite thing, along with joining book groups for discussion. If a personal visit isn’t possible, she is fluent in Zoom. Please visit bethduke.com for more information, to request a book club visit, and to see photos of the most beautiful readers in the world!
Follow her at:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5399106.Beth_Duke
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onlythebethforyou/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethidee
Website : bethduke.com
Twitter : https://twitter.com/bethidee
Buy Links:
Amazon UK : https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Comes-Back-You-Recommendation-ebook/dp/B07GVN38FX
Amazon US : https://www.amazon.com/All-Comes-Back-You-Recommendation-ebook/dp/B07GVN38FX
+ audio drama, Cat on a Piano, fiction, Ghost story, Halloween, haunting, podcast, radio play, review, supernatural, Theatrephonic
Ghost Hunt – Spirits With Spirits by Cat on a Piano Productions / Theatrephonic
Just when you thought you were safe from ghosts and things that go bump in the night, £5+ #Patreon members get a spooky bonus episode!
Imelda has gone ghost hunting on her own. She has all the equipment including her phone, a ball to play with any ghost children and an EMF monitor. And a bottle of gin. Unfortunately drinking gin while wandering around a creaky old haunted house is probably not a good idea.
If there are any spirits, knock twice if you want to talk. Hilarious with a shock ending, ‘time for more gin’ maybe…
Written & Performed by @ebraefield
Produced by @coapiano
The Theatrephonic Theme tune was composed by Jackson Pentland
Performed by
Jackson Pentland
Mollie Fyfe Taylor
Emmeline Braefield
Cat on a Piano Productions produce and edit feature films, sketches and radio plays.
Their latest project is called @Theatrephonic, a podcast of standalone radio plays and short stories performed by professional actors. You can catch Theatrephonic on Spotify and other platforms.
For more information about the Theatrephonic Podcast, go to catonapiano.uk/theatrephonic, Tweet or Instagram us @theatrephonic, or visit our Facebook page.
To get this, ad-free episodes, blooper reels, Q&As and more, head on over to www.patreon.com/theatrephonic
+ childhood, family, family drama, fiction, friendship, Historical fiction, literature, loss, love, review, secrets
The Midwife’s Secret by Emily Gunnis
A little girl goes missing from Yew Tree Manor – the same house from which a girl vanished decades before. Does the key to the present lie buried even deeper in the past, in the forgotten history of an innocent midwife accused by a family of shocking betrayal? A gripping, heartwrenching story of love, loyalty and family secrets.
When six-year-old Alice Hilton goes missing in the snow on New Year’s Eve 1969 from Yew Tree Manor, suspicion immediately falls on local man Bobby James. James had a grievance against Alice’s father, wealthy Richard Hilton, and he is arrested, tried and found guilty for Alice’s death. Tragically the child is never found.
Decades later, Willow James, an architect working on a development at Yew Tree Manor, discovers that the land surrounding the house is holding a secret. And when another little girl goes missing from Yew Tree, Willow realises the key to her disappearance lies in the history of the house, and the two families attached to it. A terrible wrong needs to be made right…and to uncover it, Willow must unravel events from long ago, when in 1919 a court sentenced a midwife to death, for a shocking crime that happened at Yew Tree Manor…
My Review
I’m glad I had a picture of the family tree as otherwise I would have been totally confused by the two families over five generations. I was still referring to it at the end. However, I loved this book. It’s absorbing and full of the kind of emotions that will make you angry and sad at the same time.
We have two families – the haves and the have-nots. The Hiltons are wealthy, arrogant and downright nasty at times and no-one stands in their way. They live at Yew Tree Manor, but also own The Vicarage nearby which is let to the poorer James family. Tessa James is a midwife, loved and admired by the women who come to her to deliver their babies, but also by those who cannot have another child for many different reasons, all of them sad and none their fault. Tessa is reviled by the medical profession, despised by the church and eventually used as a scapegoat for the tragic death of Evelyn Hilton. Her daughter Bella tries to help her and protect her own son Alfie, but eventually also falls foul of the Hiltons.
It is Richard and Vanessa Hilton’s daughter Alice who goes missing and is never found. On the night of their New Year’s Eve party, everyone is too distracted to realise Alice has gone out in the snow to look for her puppy, Snowy. But who was involved in her disappearance? Where was her brother Leo? Was Bobby James (Alfie’s son) involved as he was the last person to see her alive. Everyone seems to think so. And what about poor Nell, Bobby’s little sister, suffering from TB and sent away to a sanatorium.
In the present, Willow James (Bobby’s daughter) is the architect involved in the redevelopment of Yew Tree Manor, The Vicarage and the surrounding land. Ten houses will be built in their place along with a Community Centre, but what terrible secrets will she discover that involve both families across the generations.
The Midwife’s Secret is an epic tale, revealing some truths that many prefer to stay buried. You will need to read the whole book to find out what they are.
PS the only reason I have not given it 5 stars is because at times I would have liked just a tiny bit of light in the darkness.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Here is Emily’s own introduction:
“Hello everyone,
“Thank you for checking out my author page. Even writing this is a dream come true for me.
“I’ve wanted to be a published author since my mother, Penny Vincenzi, got her first book deal, when she and I would walk and talk about everything plots and stories together.
“Fast forward thirty years and I have discovered it is slightly more difficult than she made it look. But still, I got there eventually, because it is in my blood, and also, because I have always existed, slightly, in a world of my own, and reading and writing books allows me to make a living from that. I still remember my eleven-year-old self, a little at odds with the world, sitting on the cold parquet floor of St Lawrence Junior School utterly gripped as Mr Thomas read us all Boy by Roald Dahl.
“After graduating in Journalism in 1997 I began writing scripts and had two episodes of BBC Doctors commissioned, but I wasn’t keen on all the endless drafts and input from Script Editors and Producers. So, while I worked as a PA at the BBC and the Daily Mirror newspaper I learned as much as I could about storytelling until it all became fodder for my debut novel, The Girl in the Letter.
“I really hope you enjoy it, and my follow-up novel which I am busy researching as we speak. I live in Brighton, Sussex, with my husband Steve, an architect, and my two crazy, beautiful girls, Grace and Eleanor. We read a lot of Julia Donaldson and Roald Dahl, in between walking Merlin our whippet on the beach but when I’ve got a deadline I rely on their tablets rather a lot and feel incredibly guilty most of the time.
“If you’d like to get in touch, please do visit me on Twitter @EmilyGunnis and Instagram @emilygunnis.
“And if you’re really stuck for something to do, feel free to review my book. I would love to know what you think.
“Keep reading!
“Love Emily x”
+ brothers, child abuse, crime fiction, family, fiction, murder, psycopath, rape, revenge, review, serial killer, thriller
Fortius (Finley Series#4) by Mariëtte Whitcomb
I’ve hunted sexual predators, serial offenders, and brought down a cult. This time I might be in over my head.
A serial killer who knows no boundaries, not in his depravity, or geographically. Four victims. Three cities. Different countries. And that’s just the beginning, or is it?
What starts as a serial murder investigation soon takes a far more sinister turn. An unspeakable crime is being covered up, and it’s up to us to find the truth. The only way to do it – my way. Equal parts profiler and vigilante, but I no longer hunt alone. Aidan’s in this fight with me, as my husband and boss.
With countless lives at stake, nothing will stop us from protecting the innocent. Even if the killer lives in the public eye. No one is untouchable…
#FortiusTheNovel #FinleySeries #MarietteWhitcomb
My Review
Just when you thought Finley’s mind couldn’t get any darker, we have Fortius, book 4 in the #Finley series. Together with her husband Aidan Walker, plus his brothers Rowan and Liam, Finley is on the hunt for the most depraved serial killer she has ever come across. This one has no boundaries – his (or her) victims are killed in horrific ways and in different parts of the world. But how many victims are there and is he/she working alone?
Finley and Aidan’s daughter Ainsley is a year old, but they must leave her with Aidan’s mum and dad – Heather and Ryan – while they fly round the world looking for clues to the identity of the killer. He’s obviously someone wealthy as overseas travel is no problem, but is he hiding in plain sight or is he being protected by others?
As the body count rises and the killings become more gruesome – and I include Finley’s thirst for revenge and punishment for the victims in this – we know we are getting close. But on the way Finley must dispatch those that provided the victims, as they are just as much to blame, plus the paedophiles and rapists she uncovers during the investigation. I really had to concentrate to work out the connections. And I’m still reeling from one of her forms of punishment (the Vikings had a lot to answer for).
So who is the serial killer? Well you’ll have to read Fortius to find out. All I’m saying is ‘Jack The Ripper’ and no-one is above the law, but with Finlay and co in charge we know that they won’t get away with it.
About the Author
Mariëtte Whitcomb studied Criminology and Psychology at the University of Pretoria. An avid reader of psychological thrillers and romantic suspense novels, writing allows her to pursue her childhood dream to hunt criminals, albeit fictional and born in the darkest corners of her imagination. When Mariëtte isn’t writing, she reads or spends time with her family and friends.
Social Media:
Website – https://mariettewhitcomb.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/mariettewhitcombauthor
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mariettewhitcomb/
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20847620.Mari_tte_Whitcomb
Every now and again I publish a short story instead of a book review. So as it’s almost Halloween here is a little tale of dark humour and cannibalism.
#WhateverHappenedtoAuntAda @cookiebiscuit #shortstory
Photo credit Danielle Lade
July 2019
‘So you had just started telling me Stan, whatever happened to Aunt Ada? She seemed so fit for 93.’
‘She was. Good strong bones with plenty of meat still on them. You know how old people often get really skinny. Lose all muscle tone. But not Ada. She went to Pilates twice a week, right up until she was almost ninety. And she played tennis at Wimbledon when she was in her twenties. Hockey too. Taught PE at the local convent school. Received an MBE for services to sport after she retired.’
‘Wow, she sounds like a remarkable lady,’ Jean was ramming another slice of roast meat and horseradish into her mouth and chewing appreciatively.
‘Didn’t she leave her body to medical science or something?’ she continued.
‘Something like that.’ replied Stan, ‘Something like that. Pass the potatoes won’t you my dearest.’
January 2015
‘I don’t want to be cremated after I die,’ said Aunt Ada.
‘Well we won’t do it beforehand,’ laughed Stan. ‘How’s your crackling by the way? Is it crispy enough?’
‘Mmmm. Delicious. And the apple sauce is to die for. Are the Bramleys from old Mr Johnson’s garden.’
‘All home grown my dear, all home grown.’
‘What happened to him, that Mr Johnson? Didn’t he die quite recently?’
‘Funnily enough, it was only a couple of weeks ago,’ replied Stan. ‘Went quick. Heart just stopped. Shame, because he was in really good condition for 78. Played five-a-side football up until his sixties and coached the youngsters from the deprived areas.’
‘In really good condition…you make him sound like a prize heifer Stan.’
‘It’s the same thing really. And he didn’t want to be cremated either.’
June 2019
‘It’s good to know I’m helping the environment. No grave to dig and tend and take up room in the cemetery. No smoke to pollute the atmosphere.’ Ada was in bed at home, no hospital for a hardy old duck like her. Nothing like dying at home in your own space. It had always been her wish.
It didn’t take long. She went to sleep to the sounds of Classic FM and didn’t wake up the next morning. Stan was with her of course. She’d never married or had any children. He was her only remaining relative. And all her friends had passed long ago, Madge who she’d known since they were children at 77, Edith from the corner shop at 81. She had even outlived Maud who was a right old dragon in her time. Used to be the caller at the Bingo. Clickety click, sixty six. Eighty eight, two fat ladies. They said it was her bad temper that kept her going till she was almost 90. She said it was because she was one of the two fat ladies. But even she couldn’t match Ada’s rude health and sharp wit.
January 2015
‘I was just thinking, Ada. If you don’t want to be cremated, have you thought about what you’d like done with your body? Afterwards, I mean.’
‘You can stick me in a bin liner and chuck me in the dumpster for all I care. I won’t be here to see it will I?’
‘That wouldn’t be very good for the environment would it and the bin men would never get over the shock. All those limbs sticking out of the bag. It would be like a horror film or one of those crime thrillers. You know when they come to collect the rubbish and there’s a hand poking out with a digit missing.’
‘Stan, you are awful. I think that’s why we get on so well.’
‘There are other options of course.’
‘I’m not being buried at sea, if that’s what you’re thinking,’ she continued. ‘Always hated the water. That’s why I never learnt how to swim.’
‘You won’t be swimming, Ada my dear. Not even floating. But I wasn’t thinking of anything like that. You’re far too valuable to be fish food. Let me explain my after-death plan. I think it might take off and become popular if people could just stop being so squeamish.’
July 2019
‘Stan.’
‘Yes Jean my sweet.’
‘I was just wondering whether this is beef or lamb. It has an unusual taste, lighter somehow.’
‘It’s neither actually. It’s Aunt Ada.’
‘Ha ha Stan. You do make me laugh. You have such a warped sense of humour.’
‘I’m not joking Jean. It really is Aunt Ada. She and I made an agreement a few years ago. She didn’t want to be cremated…’
‘Yes but….’
‘You see, you were enjoying it before I told you. We were having such a lovely dinner. Now you’ve gone and spoiled it. It’s good meat, human. Bit like veal or chicken, especially if the person lived a healthy life. No smoking or too much alcohol. Stay out of the sun at noon times. Moisturise every day. Plenty of flesh but not too much fat. There’s loads more in the freezer.’
‘Please tell me you’re joking. I’m going to be sick, Stan. I think there’s something stuck in my throat…’
‘Don’t be like that Jean. At least finish the roast potatoes and the cauliflower cheese. It’s your favourite.’
August 2019
‘So you had just started telling me Stan, whatever happened to Jean? I gather she passed away quite recently.’
‘Very sad it was, Margaret. We were going to be married next year.’ Stan was chewing the meat off a lengthy femur. ‘Quite sudden actually. She choked on a metatarsal. It was such a lovely dinner we were having. Roast with the full works. Yorkshire pudding, bread sauce, spiced parsnips and my special gravy. And cauliflower cheese of course. It was her favourite.’
‘Oh Stan. I love cauliflower cheese, but it’s the meat part I like best. This is like veal. Very tender,’ said Margaret.
‘Funny you should say that my dear. I like the meat best too. And this is very special. Cooked with love as they say. And there’s plenty more in the freezer.’
+ audio drama, Cat on a Piano, fiction, Halloween, haunting, mystery, podcast, radio play, review, supernatural, Theatrephonic
No Harm Done by Cat on a Piano Productions / Theatrephonic
It’s almost Halloween so it must be time for a spooky story. And this was certainly spooky.
When Elliott starts to tell James about his horrific experiences in his aunt’s apartment in Edinburgh, James is unsurprisingly suspicious. After all, he knows Elliott is not the most trustworthy of friends. But after a while he starts to wonder if it might just be true.
Really scary and the last five minutes in particular are really chilling. I don’t want to give anything away. All I can say is ‘run….’
Written by Tom Jordan
Directed by Danielle Lade
With
Tom Jordan as Elliott
and
Jack Gavin as James and all other characters
Produced by Cat on a Piano Productions
Music:
The Entertainer by E’s Jammy Jams
Male Trio at Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed, Moscow
The Theatrephonic Theme tune was composed by Jackson Pentland
Performed by
Jackson Pentland
Mollie Fyfe Taylor
Emmeline Braefield
Cat on a Piano Productions produce and edit feature films, sketches and radio plays.
Their latest project is called @Theatrephonic, a podcast of standalone radio plays and short stories performed by professional actors. You can catch Theatrephonic on Spotify and other platforms.
For more information about the Theatrephonic Podcast, go to catonapiano.uk/theatrephonic, Tweet or Instagram us @theatrephonic, or visit our Facebook page.
And if you really enjoyed No Harm Done listen to Theatrephonic’s other plays and short stories and consider becoming a patron by clicking here…
+ crime fiction, family, fiction, jealousy, murder, murder mystery, obsession, police drama, police procedural, revenge, review, secrets
Dark Secrets by Sally Rigby
Dark Secrets: A Cavendish & Walker Novel – Book 11
An uninvited guest…a deadly secret….and a terrible crime.
When a well-loved family of five are found dead sitting around their dining table with an untouched meal in front of them, it sends shockwaves throughout the community.
Was it a murder suicide, or was someone else involved?
#DarkSecrets @SallyRigby4 #CavendishandWalker Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
It’s one of DCI Whitney Walker’s most baffling cases, and even with the help of forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish, they struggle to find any clues or motives to help them catch the killer.But with a community in mourning and growing pressure to get answers, Cavendish and Walker are forced to go deeper into a murderer’s mind than they’ve ever gone before.
My Review
My fifth Sally Rigby blog tour! How exciting. One of my favourite authors featuring one of my favourite duos – Cavendish and Walker. When you get to read a Sally Rigby crime novel you know it’s going to be short, sharp, pacy detective fiction at its best.
And Dark Secrets is no exception. Five victims, all tied up round the dinner table, a fully cooked meal in front of them. But there’s a sixth place set with no body. Who should have been there and were they the killer?
So many suspects. So many motives. But are any of them evil enough to do something as terrible as this? And who was the intended victim and were the others simply collateral damage? This is one of DCI Whitney Walker and forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish’s most baffling cases.
To the outside world, David Barker was the perfect husband and father but was he really so perfect? And what about his wife – any skeletons hiding in her cupboard? And what’s the relevance of the order in which they were killed or was it just random? George really has her work cut out trying to read the body language of the suspects, but none of them really stand out or appear evil enough to kill three innocent teenagers. But they could just be very clever at hiding something.
The clock is ticking – can Whitney and George solve the murders before the press have a field day and Chief Super ‘Dickhead’ Douglas takes them off the case. Another great read and what’s more, to let you into a little secret, they might just need the help of my favourite character Sebastian Clifford in the next book.
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Sally Rigby was born in Northampton, in the UK. She has always had the travel bug, and after living in both Manchester and London, eventually moved overseas. From 2001 she has lived with her family in New Zealand (apart from five years in Australia), which she considers to be the most beautiful place in the world.
After writing young adult fiction for many years, under a pen name, Sally decided to move into crime fiction. Her Cavendish & Walker series brings together two headstrong, and very different, women – DCI Whitney Walker, and forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish. Sally has a background in education, and has always loved crime fiction books, films and TV programmes. She has a particular fascination with the psychology of serial killers.
Follow her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sally-Rigby-131414630527848
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally.rigby.author/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SallyRigby4
Purchase Links
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08ZLJKB46
Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZLJKB46/
Award-winning author Antti Tuomainen launches his first series with The Rabbit Factor, an energetic black comedy, currently being adapted for the screen by Amazon/Mandeville Films with Steve Carell to star, and Antti executive producing.
What makes life perfect? Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen knows the answer because he calculates everything down to the very last decimal. Until he is faced with the incalculable, after a series of unforeseeable events.
#TheRabbitFactor #OneSpreadsheetAwayFromChaos #BlogTour @antti_tuomainen @OrendaBooks
#RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours
After suddenly losing his job, Henri inherits an adventure park from his brother – its peculiar employees and troubling financial problems included. The worst of the financial issues appear to originate from big loans taken from some dangerous men who are very keen to get their money back.
All improbable and complicated problems. But what Henri really can’t compute is love. In the adventure park, Henri crosses paths with Laura, a happy-go-lucky artist with a chequered past, whose erratic lifestyle bewilders him. As the criminals go to increasingly extreme lengths to collect their debts and as Henri’s relationship with Laura deepens, he finds himself faced with situations and emotions that simply cannot be pinned down on his spreadsheets…
My Review
I often say there is very little out there that is totally original. Until I read The Rabbit Factor. Henri reminds me of a cross between the main character in The Rosie Project and Mr Spock. Except he’s not looking for love or any kind of illogical or logical connection, that is until he meets Laura Helanto. Henri is an actuary. His life revolves around mathematics and relationships just don’t compute.
Henri has one friend in his life and that’s his cat Schopenhauer. He tells the cat almost everything, though he leaves out some of the more sinister parts that involve the criminals his brother owed money to. According to Wikipedia, “Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work The World as Will and Representation, which characterises the phenomenal world as the product of a blind noumenal will.” I have no idea what that means and I expect the cat doesn’t either. But Henri does, because that’s how his mind works.
But let’s start at the beginning. Henri has lost his job as an actuary. He’s just not moving with the times. He can’t get his head round all the modern, team-building crap his boss spouts so he’s out on his ear. But before he can say ‘constructive dismissal’, his brother Juhani dies and leaves him an adventure park called YouMeFun. Henri’s idea of fun is drinking a beer while setting up a new spreadsheet. I doubt he’s ever even visited an adventure park let alone knows how one works, but he has no option than to give it a go.
Unfortunately he has also inherited the staff and a rum lot they are. Kristian wants to be the general manager but does he have the right credentials. Esa is the park’s head of security and his office needs fumigating. Minttu K is the marketing and sales manager. Her clothes are too tight, she’s so tanned she looks like David Dickinson’s love-child and she reeks of gin and cigarettes. Samppa is in charge of play, while Johanna runs the Curly Cake Cafe with precision and turns out cakes and snacks for the parents and children.
And then of course there’s Laura Helanto. She seems to find him amusing, which no-one else has ever done, and he is drawn to her in a way that is way out of his comfort zone.
The park has massive debts but according to the accounts it should be turning a profit. So where is the rest of the money going? We know from the very start that criminals are involved and that Henri has had an unfortunate and violent encounter with a thug and a giant rabbit’s ear. And that’s only the start. His attempts to solve the park’s financial problems are crazy and hilarious, while all the time he knows he is doing it, not for his brother, but for Laura.
I loved this book. It’s so refreshing to read something new and different and dark humour is probably my favourite genre.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author in 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir ’ when Dark as My Heart was published. With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. A TV adaptation is in the works, and Jussi Vatanen (Man In Room 301) has just been announced as a leading role. Palm Beach Finland was an immense success, with Marcel Berlins (The Times) calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’. His latest thriller, Little Siberia, was shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, the Amazon Publishing /Capital Crime Awards and the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. In total, Antti Tuomainen has been short- and longlisted for 12 UK awards.
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.
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