SURPRISE! An additional mini-play from Theatrephonic completely ad free!
DI Arthur Meadowes (of Orchid Fields fame) and his wife Deidre have a relaxing cruise.
Deirdre is loving it, especially the bagpipe player who provides the music for the Scottish dancing (Deirdre hasn’t done The Dashing White Sergeant since she was at school). But why does he stop at Casablanca to see his friends and never play on the journey home? DI Meadowes might be on holiday, but he’s never off-duty. Great stuff!
Listen to the end for the bloopers.
Written by Barbara Jennings, based on an idea by Carl Willetts
Directed by Emmeline Braefield
With
Helen Fullerton as Deidre Meadows
and
Jonathan Legg as DI Arthur Meadowes
Music: Saint Patrick’s Parade by Doug Maxwell_Media Right Productions
Produced by Cat on a Piano Productions
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.
And if you really enjoyed The Phantom Bagpiper listen to Theatrephonic’s other plays and short stories and consider becoming a patron by clicking here…
+ crime fiction, fiction, journalist, love, murder, murder mystery, Psychological fiction, relationships, review, thriller, writer
The Nurse by J A Corrigan
When you hear her story, will you believe her?
Rose Marlowe is a hard-working nurse, a loving wife, and a merciless killer. Or so she says. Despite her confession, it is hard to believe that this beautiful, kind woman could have killed her vulnerable patient in cold blood.
#TheNurse https://www.instagram.com/corriganjulieann/ @corriganjulieann @canelo_co @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours
Down-on-his luck author and ex-journalist, Theo Hazel, is convinced that there’s more to what happened than Rose is telling, and so decides to visit her behind bars to write her story. His first surprise comes when Rose reveals that the victim was not a stranger to her.
As time goes on, it seems that Rose is letting Theo see behind her perfect mask. With each new visit, he learns terrible new things about her heart-breaking past. With each new visit, he becomes more and more convinced that she can’t be a killer. But is he trying to free an innocent woman, or falling prey to a calculating murderer?
A gripping and unputdownable thriller that will keep you guessing into the early hours of the morning.
My Review
I really enjoyed this book. Some very well-developed characters including Rose Marlowe and Theo Hazel. Some others were less well-defined, particularly Ed Madden, Miles and Abigail, with Daniel Deane and Rose’s mum Marion somewhere in the middle.
I liked Theo much better than Rose, I have to admit. In fact there is nothing about him to dislike. He has experienced sadness and unbelievable heartache, but he is kind, empathic and measured in his responses. Except where Rose is concerned. Then he is overcome by his growing feelings of love, in spite of her being a ruthless killer. He says he feels like those women who write to death row prisoners and then claim to be madly in love with them when they haven’t even met.
Rose, on the other hand, is a complicated protagonist. She is serving twenty years in prison for murdering one of the patients in her care. You want to like her if you don’t think she did it – or maybe you want to hate her if you think she is guilty – but there is always something niggling away, something not quite right.
At first Rose doesn’t want to meet with Theo. Then she changes her mind and starts to tell him her life story – the story she doesn’t even tell her prison therapist Don. In fact Don seems pretty useless. Maybe the prison is saving money by employing someone cheap. Theo used to be a journalist, then a writer of fiction and non-fiction and initially he wants to write a true-crime story about Rose and the victim, a young man called Abe. The publisher will want the salacious details, but Theo soon realises that he doesn’t want to exploit Rose. So he listens. He is a good listener.
As for Rose, what is she hiding? What is she not saying? What didn’t come out in court was about her relationship with an older man in 1991 when she was a year four med student. Daniel Deane was a doctor, but working as the CEO of Bluefields private hospital. Rose was very naive and couldn’t see the hold he had over her and how he was manipulating her.
There were some things I worked out before the end (I’m not saying any more) and some that I definitely didn’t (Ed and Abigail). But this is Rose and Theo’s story. Rose killed her patient and Theo wants to know why or if she really did it. Everyone else is just a spectator or is there more to it? Well it wouldn’t be the great story it is if there wasn’t.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
About the Author
Julie-Ann Corrigan was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. She studied in London, completing a BA (Hons) Humanities degree, majoring in Modern History and English Literature. Travelling in Europe for several years, she taught in both Greece and Spain – countries and cultures she found fascinating. On return to the UK she gained a BSc (Physiotherapy), becoming a Chartered Physiotherapist. She lives in Berkshire with her family.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/juliannwriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacorrigan
Website: http://jacorrigan.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juleshayes6/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3xbd5eR
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3eqQ6DK
NOOK: https://bit.ly/3ncdSYf
Hive.co.uk: https://bit.ly/3v9WV3l
A trail of secrets. A dangerous discovery. A deadly turn.
Police officer Sebastian Clifford never planned on becoming a private investigator. But when a scandal leads to the disbandment of his London based special squad, he finds himself out of a job. That is, until his cousin calls on him to investigate her husband’s high-profile death, and prove that it wasn’t a suicide.
#WebOfLies @SallyRigby4 #DetectiveSebastianClifford @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours
Clifford’s reluctant to get involved, but the more he digs, the more evidence he finds. With his ability to remember everything he’s ever seen, he’s the perfect person to untangle the layers of deceit.
He meets Detective Constable Bird, an underutilised detective at Market Harborough’s police force, who refuses to give him access to the records he’s requested unless he allows her to help with the investigation. Clifford isn’t thrilled. The last time he worked as part of a team it ended his career.
But with time running out, Clifford is out of options. Together they must wade through the web of lies in the hope that they’ll find the truth before it kills them.
Web of Lies is the first in the new Detective Sebastian Clifford series.
My Review
Even though I enjoyed the Whitney and George detective novels, this new one about former police officer Sebastian Clifford is undoubtedly my favourite. Seb is the son of a Viscount, handsome (obviously) and 6ft 6inches tall. The banter between him and PC Lucinda Bird known as Birdie is hilarious. And of course we mustn’t forget Seb’s beloved dog Elsa.
Having quit the police after his squad was disbanded, he goes to stay in Market Harborough for a rest, but his cousin Sarah asks him to help investigate the ‘suicide’ of her husband. He was involved in some very shady financial deals, ending up in a highly illegal Ponzi scheme. Sarah believes he was murdered, but the evidence doesn’t support that idea.
For anyone who doesn’t know what a Ponzi scheme is, it’s basically a fraudulent investing scam which generates returns for earlier investors with money taken from later investors. Famously Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, which likely ran for decades, defrauded thousands of investors out of tens of billions of dollars. Investors put their trust in Madoff because he created a front of respectability, his returns were high but not outlandish, and he claimed to use a legitimate strategy.
In 1992, my husband and I were the victims of a Ponzi scheme, so the subject of Web of Lies immediately peaked my interest. I still blame myself for being so easily taken in – if something is too good to be true it probably is. The perpetrator went to prison, but as in this story, the money is gone. The victims get nothing apart from a feeling that they had been somewhat naive.
But enough about me. I love Seb – he reminds me of Inspector Lynley (love Nathaniel Parker – where is he now?), but I much prefer Birdie to Barbara Havers. Birdie doesn’t have that chip-on-the-shoulder attitude that Havers did. She treats Seb with humour and takes no prisoners. She tells him to wait outside her mum’s house when he picks her up so the neighbours don’t think she’s going out with an ‘old man’ – she’s 26 and he’s 39! I’d want to show him off. Who wouldn’t?
As always with Sally Rigby’s books, it’s a fast-paced, easy read, with plenty of intrigue, twists and excitement. Please make this a TV series. It would be so good if they can find someone tall enough…
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
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.
Check out her website for a FREE prequel story….. www.sallyrigby.com
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SallyRigby4
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Sally-Rigby-131414630527848/posts/?ref=page_internal
Website: https://sallyrigby.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally.rigby.author/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3dF6txq
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3sBJeIJ
+ adventure, brothers, cult, family, feminism, fiction, Greek mythology, literature, love, motherhood, mythology, review, sisterhood, sisters
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
‘My story would not be one of death and suffering and sacrifice, I would take my place in the songs that would be sung about Theseus; the princess who saved him and ended the monstrosity that blighted Crete,’
As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur – Minos’s greatest shame and Ariadne’s brother – demands blood every year.
#Ariadne @jennysaint #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours
When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything.
In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?
Ariadne gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.
My Review
If you are a fan of classical Greek mythology, you will love this retelling of the story of Ariadne and her sister Phaedra. One version of the original story goes something like this:
“One year, when the fourteen young people of Athens were about to be sent to Crete in sacrifice, Theseus, son of King Aegeus of Athens, volunteered to be sent in order to kill the Minotaur and end the sacrifices for good. When they arrived in Crete, Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and decided to help him in his quest. She gave him a sword to fight the Minotaur, as well as a ball of thread; she advised him to tie one end near the entrance of the labyrinth and let the thread unroll as he delves deeper into the twisting and branching paths. When Theseus found the Minotaur, he managed to slay him, and then followed the thread back to the entrance, where Ariadne was waiting.”
(Source: https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Ariadne/ariadne.html)
In this version, after killing the Minotaur with a club, Theseus takes Ariadne to the deserted island of Naxos, and having first taken her virtue, he abandons her with a week’s supply of food and continues to Athens. Eventually, he marries her sister Phaedra, telling her that Ariadne is dead. But this book goes into far more detail about the other events that took place and the relationships that ensued. Ariadne does not stick to the traditional tale and you will need to suspend disbelief (though these are myths so that probably does not apply) as the author has exercised her wonderful artistic licence a lot here.
However, what this book is really about is the concept of sisterhood. The Gods are portrayed as mean and nasty and they frequently punish the wives for the sins of their husbands, or the children for the sins of their fathers. The Goddess Hera, for instance, rather than be part of the sisterhood, never punishes her husband Zeus for his many misdemeanours, she punishes his mistresses and his bastard offspring.
As I’ve already said, the Gods were cruel and this story, written for a modern audience, does not shy away from the violence against women, rape, ritual sacrifice, women being made to birth monsters and other atrocities. Much of it is extremely unpleasant and certainly anyone who has watched films like Clash of the Titans or Jason and the Argonauts will find this non-sanitised version of the myths rather more distasteful. It is, however, beautifully written, with fabulous descriptions of the places like Crete, Athens and Naxos, and also the suffering of the women involved. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
(PS I’d love to see how this would pan out if it kept to the myth, but took place nowadays. I guess the Gods would be celebrities, everyone would have a mobile phone to call for help, Theseus would go into the maze with an AR15 and Ariadne would never starve as she could always get a delivery from Ocado. But the concept of sisterhood would still remain.)
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.
About the Author
Due to a lifelong fascination with Ancient Greek mythology, Jennifer Saint read Classical Studies at King’s College, London. She spent the next thirteen years as an English teacher, sharing a love of literature and creative writing with her students. ARIADNE is her first novel and she is working on another retelling of ancient myth for her second.
Jennifer Saint on her inspiration for the novel:
The inspiration for Ariadne first sparked when I was at university and studied the Roman poet Ovid for the first time. When I read the Heroides, a collection of letters written by the women of myth to the men who had wronged them in various ways, I was captivated by seeing these familiar stories from a different perspective.
Ariadne writes a powerful letter to Theseus after she has given him the clue to lead him safely from the Labyrinth, lair of the Minotaur, betraying her father and kingdom to do so. Her younger sister Phaedra writes a letter of her own, full of clever rhetoric and persuasion and we see that they are intelligent and passionate women trying to carve out their own destiny in a world where the odds are stacked against them. Years later, I would read my children the Greek myths I had always loved and I was reminded of Ovid when I came to the story of the Minotaur in which Ariadne’s crucial role was reduced to a couple of sentences in the background of Theseus’ legend. I felt that Ariadne deserved her own voice and I wanted to put her in the spotlight where she belongs.
Although Phaedra had her own individual story, I also wanted to explore the relationship between the sisters and how growing up in the shadow of the Minotaur shaped their experiences. I felt that the myths I had encountered about Ariadne and Phaedra were focused on the men in their lives and I wanted to make their sisterhood central in my book. The richness and complexity of female relationships, especially that of sisters, is so interesting and the two sisters of the Minotaur, whose fates were so devastatingly interlinked, offered such a compelling story that I was really excited by the idea of telling it.
A chance encounter…
Loved this. Just up my street. What happens when you meet an old school friend, who you idolised when you were teenagers, and she asks you to help her out? You agree of course. But should you?
She’s beautiful, confident and charismatic and you are the kind of person that no-one remembers. Not even her. But she tells you she is a freelance fraud investigator, helping the police to catch dodgy investors. And you of course believe her.
Then the police come knocking…
A great story, well constructed and I really felt for poor, mousy Rachel. Brilliant!
Written by Barbara Jennings
Directed by Emmeline Braefield
With
Emma Wilkes as Rachel Trent
Dru Stephenson as Beryl O’Brien
Matt Salmon as Greg Ratcliffe
Jonathan Legg as Detective Inspector Meadowes
Lydia Kenny as Detective Sergeant Casey
and
Danica Corns as Sam Daines
Produced by Cat on a Piano Productions
Music:
Sprightly Pursuit by Cooper Cannell
First Time Experience by Nate Blaze
Fond Memories by SYBS
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.
And if you really enjoyed Orchid Fields listen to Theatrephonic’s other plays and short stories and consider becoming a patron by clicking here…
+ fiction, India, Jaipur, journal, Literary Festival, literature, review, satire, writers
Jaipur Journals by Namita Gokhale
From the co-founder of the Jaipur Literary Festival, a brilliant, funny, and moving novel set against the background of the festival, and the characters that make it tick.
Told from multiple perspectives, from the authors enjoying moments of adulation after years of creative isolation, to the star-struck public mingling with their cultural icons, to those in-between, who are both author and fan, these diverse stories of lost love and regret, self-doubt, and new beginnings come together in a narrative that is as varied as India itself.
#JaipurJournals @NamitaGokhale_ @hoperoadpublish #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours
From a septuagenarian who has completed her semi-biographical novel but does not want to part with it, to an author who receives a threat in the form of a poison pen letter; from a historian who reunites with a past lover, to a burglar who is passionate about poetry; from a young woman who has no idea what this world has in store for her, to an American woman looking for the India of her hippie youth, this metafictional, wryly funny novel is an ode to literature.
Partly a love letter to the greatest literary show on earth, partly a satire about the glittery set that throngs the festival year after year, and partly an ode to the millions of aspiring writers who wander the earth with unsubmitted manuscripts in their bags, Jaipur Journals is a light-footed romp that showcases in full form Gokhale’s unsparing eye for the pretensions and the pathos of that loneliest tribe of them all: the writers.
My Review
What does it mean to be a writer? Why do writers write? Namita Gokhale tries to answer these questions together with a series of tales centred around a group of visitors and participants at the Jaipur Literary Festival. This book is a ‘love letter to the greatest literary show on earth’.
We have a plethora of characters who come together in Jaipur, the pink city, for this cosmopolitan festival. We have Anura, a gifted 12-year-old, who is going to take part in a talk given by seven teenagers. Then we have Rudrani Rana, a 72-year-old lady who wears her messy hair in a loose bun. She carries her UNSUBMITTED novel around with her in a bag and never shows it to anyone. She also uses a purple gel pen to write poison pen letters for amusement. Rudrani befriends Anirban M. a graphic artist, who for some reason appears to be fascinated by her.
Poet and thief Betaab turned to burglary due to poverty and his father’s cancer. But one day his hoard of stolen money becomes useless and he must find another way to earn a living. ‘I was not born a burglar,’ he says, ‘but I was born a poet and I will remain a poet.’
We also have Gayatri who meets her old love Sumedh Kumar, and author Zoya Mankotia who is deeply upset after receiving a poison pen letter in purple handwriting (no prizes for guessing who wrote it), an American woman Anna Wilde who went to India 30 years earlier on the hippie trail and never returned until now, and many others.
This is not a traditional story with a beginning and an end. It is a series of mini stories, all beautifully written and all of which converge at the Festival. I loved it, mainly because of the poetic writing and the richly-drawn, charismatic characters.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.
About the Author
Born in Lucknow, India, NAMITA GOKHALE, is an award-winning writer, publisher, and the co-founder/director (with William Dalrymple) of the Jaipur Literary Festival. She is the author of over twenty fiction and non-fiction books including the best-selling Paro: Dreams of Passion, Priya, and Things to Leave Behind. In 2017 Namita was awarded the first ever Centenary National Award for Literature by the Literary Society of Assam for her service to the Indian nation in supporting and showcasing Indian writing talents. Described as one of the finest Indian writers, she lives in New Delhi.
+ fiction, Malta, murder, mystery, obsession, Psychological fiction, review, secrets, sisters, thriller
Her Last Holiday by C L Taylor
You come to the retreat to be healed. You don’t expect to die.
Two years ago, Fran’s sister Jenna disappeared on a wellness retreat in Gozo that went terribly wrong.
Tom Wade, the now infamous man behind Soul Shrink Retreats, has just been released from prison after serving his sentence for the deaths of two people. But he has never let on what happened to the third victim: Jenna.
Determined to find out the truth, Fran books herself onto his upcoming retreat – the first since his release – and finds herself face to face with the man who might hold the key to her sister’s disappearance. The only question is, will she escape the retreat alive? Or does someone out there want Jenna’s secrets to stay hidden?
My Review
Another exciting book from best selling author of psychological fiction – C L Taylor. The story is told from the point of view of three of the characters – Jenna, two years earlier, who disappeared after two people died at a SoulShrink wellness retreat in Gozo, Malta; Fran her much older sister, now, who is determined to uncover the truth and salve her guilty conscience; and Kate, who runs SoulShrink with her charismatic husband Tom.
Following the deaths, Tom went to prison, but he is out now and Kate is already planning their return to their former glory. She’s been tweeting and promoting and getting the punters back on board. Tom is not so keen.
Fran’s mother Geraldine has persuaded Fran to go on the SoulShrink retreat in the UK and find out what really happened to Jenna. Was she murdered, despite the verdict of suicide? Her body was never found. Fran will go incognito as she doesn’t want Tom or Kate to know she is Jenna’s sister and what she is up to. Strangely three of the original people on the Gozo retreat are back on this one – Renata, Damian and Phoenix.
There are so many twists and turns in this book it made my head spin at times. Occasionally it was a bit far-fetched and crazy but I really enjoyed it. Did I like the characters? I did like Fran though she is very brusque and cold. The one I just couldn’t decide about was Tom. This is a book that really benefited from being read with a book club as it really invited discussion along the way.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
C.L. Taylor is an award winning Sunday Times bestselling author of eight gripping psychological thrillers including SLEEP, a Richard and Judy Book Club pick for autumn 2019. Her books are not a series and can be read in any order:
2014 – THE ACCIDENT / Before I Wake (U.S.)
2015 – THE LIE
2016 – THE MISSING
2017 – THE ESCAPE
2018 – THE FEAR
2019 – SLEEP
2020 – STRANGERS
2021 – HER LAST HOLIDAY
She has also written two Young Adult thrillers, THE TREATMENT and THE ISLAND, which will be published in January 2021.
C.L. Taylor’s books have sold in excess of a million copies, been number one on Amazon Kindle, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play and have been translated into over 25 languages and optioned for TV.
Cally Taylor was born in Worcester and spent her early years living in various army camps in the UK and Germany. She studied Psychology at the University of Northumbria and went on forge a career in instructional design and e-Learning before leaving to write full time in 2014. She lives in Bristol with her partner and son.
Sign up to join the CL Taylor Book Club for access to news, updates and information that isn’t available on the web, as well as exclusive newsletter-only competitions and giveaways and the books that CL Taylor thinks will be the next big thing. You will also receive THE LODGER for free when you join: cltaylorauthor.com/newsletter
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+ child abuse, childhood, crime fiction, fiction, friends, murder, political thriller, review, Russia, Scandi noir, secrets, spy story, Sweden, thriller
Geiger by Gustaf Skördeman
The landline rings as Agneta is waving off her grandchildren. Just one word comes out of the receiver: ‘Geiger’. For decades, Agneta has always known that this moment would come, but she is shaken. She knows what it means.
Retrieving her weapon from its hiding place, she attaches the silencer and creeps up behind her husband before pressing the barrel to his temple.
Then she squeezes the trigger and disappears – leaving behind her wallet and keys.
The extraordinary murder is not Sara Nowak’s case. But she was once close to those affected and, defying regulations, she joins the investigation. What Sara doesn’t know is that the mysterious codeword is just the first piece in the puzzle of an intricate and devastating plot fifty years in the making.
My Review
What an exciting story! The amount of research that must have gone into the politics of Sweden, Russia and the DDR is staggering. And the construction of this complicated tale is immaculate in its undertaking.
We begin at the home of retired TV personality ‘Uncle’ Stellan Broman and his wife Agneta. The phone rings, Agneta answers, and only one word is spoken – ‘Geiger’. She promptly recovers her hidden gun and shoots her husband in the back of the head, killing him outright. She then flees.
Only a few minutes earlier they were surrounded by their family – two daughters and their husbands, and the grandchildren that Stellan and Agneta had been looking after all week.
Sara Nowak is a police officer, working on the streets, following punters who are abusing young prostitutes and hopefully arresting them. Stellan’s murder is not her case, but she becomes involved because she has history with the Broman family. Her mother Jane was their cleaner, living in a cottage in the grounds and Sara used to play with the two daughters Lotta and Malin. Until they left in a hurry one day.
But this is just the beginning. The story develops into a chase involving the communist days of the DDR before the Berlin Wall came down, Russian spies and Swedish politics. I’m not even going to attempt to say much more as I would probably get it wrong, but suffice to say, it’s an engaging read.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and to my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Gustaf Skördeman was born in 1965 in Sweden and is a screenwriter, director and producer. Geiger, his thriller debut, is published in 24 countries, and film rights have been optioned by Monumental Pictures.
Preston, 1981. Maud, who is twelve and lives with her dysfunctional parents and her elder brother, spends a lot of her time in her bedroom writing letters to her favourite popstar, Tom Harding, the lead singer of a punk band called Horsefly.
#YourFriendForever @ZenaBarrie @unbounders @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
No one really understands her or tries to – and she thinks Tom just might have some answers to her many, many questions…
My Review
Your Friend Forever is written mostly in the form of letters from the young teenage Maud to Tom Harding, lead singer with 80s Indie punk band Horsefly. There are also some interactions between Tom and his manager Gary, Maud and her best friend Sarah and articles from pop magazines of the time such as Melody Maker.
In Part One Maud’s home life spirals downwards when her father walks out and she has to watch her mother deteriorate day by day. With no-one to confide in, apart from her crazy, sex-mad friend Sarah, she pours her heart out to Tom Harding. She doesn’t even know if he reads her letters, but it gives her someone to ‘talk’ to. Maud is always hungry and their house is damp. She never has clean clothes. But no-one at school seems to notice and I mean the teachers. I know this is 1981 but still. Maybe no-one called social services in those days but surely the school should have noticed.
In Part Two it’s now 2011 and Maud is 43 and married with two kids, while Tom is trying to keep his career going (no thanks to idiot Gary), but he is nearly 50 and who remembers Horsefly anyway? Well, Maud does. She starts writing to Tom again – we have switched to email and texts – telling him about her life but always asking him how he is. She is still his friend. Think Adrian Mole with sex and some very bad language (much of it from Sarah).
This was such a funny, touching and often heart-breaking read. Maud is an amazing kid, whose train of thought is often so tangential you can barely keep up with her. Her friend Sarah is totally nuts on the outside, but has experienced severe trauma that will stay with her for years. And Tom is just Tom. Rude and bad-tempered (as any good punk should be) and doesn’t suffer fools gladly, but underneath good-hearted, kind and empathic. Just don’t try and rip him off or tell lies about him.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
About The Author
Zena Barrie lives in Manchester and runs the Greater Manchester Fringe and the Camden Fringe. She ran the Kings Arms pub and Theatre in Salford for a while and also the Etcetera Theatre in Camden, as well as working in a wide variety of roles at the Edinburgh Fringe (from street performer to venue manager). In the 90s she did a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts specialising in playwriting. Up until recently she has been co-hosting the award winning spoken word night Verbose. She is also one half of performance art duo The Sweet Clowns. Your Friend Forever is her first novel.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZenaBarrie
Website: https://zenabarrie.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zena_barrie/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2Rv70t6
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/32fSBD9
Waterstones: https://bit.ly/2OSgKgd
Foyles: https://bit.ly/3v6QYEz
Bookshop.org: https://bit.ly/3abMbcU
Blackwells: https://bit.ly/2REJ9HF
WHSmith: https://bit.ly/3uRX5fv
Hive.co.uk: https://bit.ly/3e4S64D
+ fiction, podcast, radio play, review
Epic Win V – Cooper’s Return by Cat on a Piano Productions / Theatrephonic
Epic Win V – Cooper’s Return
He’s back, and he’s trying to find the ‘X’ button. Join Theatrephonic for an exciting adventure entering into the world of a computer game.
Written and directed by @ebraefield
Starring
Tom Jordan @theactionemporium as Kazimierz
Danielle Lade @ladeington as NIKI and the Captain
Jon Cooper Evans @joncooper_evans as the Doctor, PIPN and Septimus
Tom Black @blackly.jpg as Cooper
Produced by Cat on a Piano Productions
Music:
Donnie Disco by Jeremy Korpas
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.
And if you really enjoyed Epic Win V – Cooper’s Return listen to Theatrephonic’s other plays and short stories and consider becoming a patron by clicking here…
+ crime fiction, fiction, friends, murder, murder mystery, relationships, review, Scandi noir, Sweden, thriller
Because You’re Mine (Gunvor Ström #2) by Luna Miller
Gunvor Ström, a Swedish surgeon who had to retire because her hands weren’t steady enough to perform operations, accepts a position as a private detective and enters a new and surprisingly dangerous career.
In Because You’re Mine, she accepts her second assignment. Is it always for the best to look for a missing person? Gunvor is not entirely sure as she believes there are those who don’t want to be found. Despite this, she takes on a case. A wife needs help to find her husband, Per Cedergren. A simple case at first glance. Gunvor is convinced that he has sneaked off on an adventure with a mistress and soon will return voluntarily.
#BecauseYoureMine @LunamillerNoir #GunvorStrom @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
Gunvor’s good friend Aidan also makes his debut as a private detective when he helps a new acquaintance look for her missing friend.
When Gunvor and Aidan take the help of their young friends, Elin and David, the two parallel cases meander closer to each other. But how do they relate? And what do the disappearances have in common with the murders that at first glance appear to be hate crimes.
Soon they find themselves in the eye of the storm, not knowing where the danger lurks.
Because You’re Mine is the second book in the series of private detective Gunvor Ström.
My Review
This was a short, sharp, exciting roller-coaster of a read in one of my favourite genres – Scandi Noir. The story follows two investigations – Gunvor Ström has been asked by Eva Cedergren to find her husband Per, who has been missing for over a week. While Per is often gone for a day or so on business, he has never been gone for this long, and he hasn’t told Eva that he was going. But he booked two weeks off work – he works for his father in a highly successful business.
In the meantime, rookie investigator Aidan has gone with his friend Drew to a gay bar where he meets Marie who is looking for her friend Seb. They’ve been friends for years but why would she be seeking him in a gay bar? It appears that he has a second life that involves hooking up with much younger men in bars. Aidan is strangely attracted to Marie, but there is something very cold and secretive about her. He doesn’t even know her second name or where she lives.
Are the two cases linked and if so how? And are they connected to the men who keeping turning up dead? It all sounds far more complicated than it is. There are quite a few red herrings along the way, though I guessed a couple of things that formed an important part of the story.
As it involves missing persons and murders, it sounds disrespectful to say it’s jolly good fun, but as it’s fiction I’m sure I’m allowed to say that. Apart from the main characters, we also get to meet some interesting others but I don’t want to give anything away. I’m glad this is part of a series (though I haven’t read the first one) as I have a feeling the adventures will get better and better in the future.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
About the Author
Swedish author Luna Miller (pseudonym) specialises in Nordic Noir. She is the writer of the international best-seller Three Days in September and is one of the authors of the international anthology Love Unboxed 2.
In mid-life, after experiencing life and adventure throughout Europe, India, China, Pakistan, Iran, Thailand and a host of other countries, with her studies, children and work, Luna found quality time to write her debut novel Three Days in September followed by Den som ger sig in i leken – the original Swedish precursor of Looking for Alice and the first book in the series of private detective Gunvor Ström.
Gå vilse, hitta hem – the sequel in Swedish to Three days in September was published in May 2020.
Because you´re mine – the second book in the series of Gunvor Ström will be published April 12, 2021.
Luna Miller was born in Sundsvall, Sweden 1962.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LunamillerNoir
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100013821681049
Website: https://lunamiller.com/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.se/lunamillerwriter/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3lD4RXc
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3cUbQHr
Kobo: http://bit.ly/3c8lHu4
Waterstones: http://bit.ly/3lF0tHp
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/3tB1gfg
Two families. 100 years apart. A sinister haunting…
It was supposed to be the dream house for Adam, Catherine, and their daughter, Bella. But dream houses can hold secrets. Settling in to their new home, the family realise they are not the only inhabitants of Abberton House.
#AbbertonHouse @Debbie_Cleo @PantherPubs @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
A dark past continues to haunt the idyllic Yorkshire home, and those who remain want Adam and Catherine to know the truth. Frightened, Adam and Catherine begin to piece together what really happened at this once perfect abode.
A missing family, an elderly man searching for the truth, and secrets waiting to be revealed, moving in to Abberton House could be the worst decision the family made.
My Review
Ghostly footsteps, children laughing and playing on the stairs, an old man who disappears – sounds like my kind of story. But maybe not my kind of house – I prefer peace and quiet when I am trying to sleep.
When it comes to ghost stories, I don’t scare easily – I am far more afraid of murderers and serial killers than I am of ghosts. Do I believe in them? Well I believe that when something traumatic or tragic happens, it leaves a time stamp on the place or property where it happened, but spirits walking around because they can’t rest in peace. Of that I am not sure. However, the supernatural is probably my favourite genre.
Abberton House is told in two parallel time frames. In 1916, handsome doctor Henry is sent away to the WWI front, though luckily he is not in the direct line of fire. At home his wife Elizabeth, daughters Mary and Charlotte and toddler Toby, wait patiently for his return. They write every day and receive Henry’s letters in return. In one of his letters, Henry tells Elizabeth about a young man named Michael, who has lost a leg in battle, needs rehabilitation and maybe she could help. Bad idea. Very very bad.
In 2016, Adam, Catherine and five year old Bella move into their ‘dream’ house – Abberton House. Catherine plans to expand her cake making business, Adam can still get to work easily – he’s a fireman – and Bella loves her new school and new best friend Janey.
There’s a lot of work to do on their new home, especially on the garden, but so far so good. Then an old man is found wandering in the garden and suddenly disappears into thin air. Bella has an ‘imaginary’ friend called Charlotte and who is the woman who stands in the bedroom window, her hand on the glass while she stares across the garden? The happenings get spookier and spookier and to call them things that go bump in the night would be a understatement.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
About the Author
Debbie is a multi-genre indie author and blogger who was born in Bradford and lives there with her husband, two-year-old daughter and anti-social cat Cleo. When she isn’t busy being a Mum, working for her local council or studying towards her Open University degree, she is busy focusing on her writing career.
Debbie doesn’t write to just one genre as she likes to write about anything. She is currently working on a romantic-comedy series but who knows what she will be working on in the future. As well as writing novels, short stories and blogs for her website, she is also reviewing other works by indie authors. She is passionate about helping other indie authors as she knows it is a hard world to master and getting reviews is a challenge on its own.
Debbie has been a regular attending author at the UK Indie Lit Fest in Bradford for the last few years.
Debbie began studying with the Open University in 2015, aiming towards a BA Honours in Humanities, focusing on History and Creative Writing which are her two greatest passions. It is a part-time course, due to end in 2021 which Debbie is hoping means she will have more time to write.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Debbie_Cleo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debbieioannaauthor/
Website: https://debbie-ioanna-author.blog/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbieioannaauthor/
Purchase Links:
Panther Publishing: http://bit.ly/38Ho0C3
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3tqULeY
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3rU3vKe
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