When eight-year-old Abbie Brown discovers a quiet pool of water while wandering through the woods behind her Oregon home, she wades out into it and discovers she’s not alone. A wild-haired boy in green stares at her from the other side of the water. Mesmerized, Abbie reaches down to him and is yanked underwater.
#FaeChild @hanejolly #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours
She emerges on the other side as an unwelcome visitor to the Otherworld, the land of the Fae, with only the boy Foster to guide her. Back in Oregon, a changeling lookalike has taken her place, bonding with her mother while her father, hiding a secret of his own, views the “girl” with suspicion.
In the courts of the Fae a truce has long been in place between Winter and Summer. What havoc might a human child wreak in the careful machinations of beings older than time? And to what lengths will Abbie’s father go to get her back?
My Review
Such a lovely book. If you are a fan of C S Lewis or Tolkein, then you will adore this tale of Elves and Fairies, changelings, wolves and other mythical folk. It’s whimsical and mystical and full of just enough excitement for eight year olds upwards without being too scary.
Abbie is a sweet child. At eight years old, she loves the outdoors, taking her shoes off and wandering into the forest with her Jack Russell Sammy. I have a 16 year old Jack Russell so Sammy is now officially my favourite dog in a novel – ever.
On one such occasion she is looking into the water when she is surprised by an Elven Boy and pulled into an another world – the Otherworld. It is here that she discovers that the boy is called Foster with whom she must travel to find her way back. Along the way she encounters another human called Charles, his companion Nadiene who is really a wolf and a Winter Elf called Gwyn. It’s a dangerous journey and not to be undertaken lightly but Abbie has no option if she wants to get home to dad Dan and mum Fiona.
Sometimes the story is told from Dan’s point of view. There is a lot we don’t know about him. In fact Abbie knows nothing at all about who or what he really is. And while Abbie is trying to get home, Dan is organising her return by invading the Otherworld. This is dangerous for him as we the reader, and eventually Abbie will discover. In fact Abbie is not what she seems either.
I love Fae Child and can’t wait to read it to my granddaughters. They are a bit young yet at six and four but it won’t be long. In fact the eldest will be able to read it to her sister in a while.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.
About the Author
Jane-Holly, an Oregon based writer, has been scribbling stories into notebooks and online for most of her life. She squeezes in time for her four kids, date nights at the movies with her husband, and explaining her first name to everyone she meets. She believes that, if creativity is directly correlated to how messy your house is, she might just be one of the most creative people on the planet.
Publication information
Pub date: December 15, 2020
Format: Fae Child will be in print and ebook:
https://www.amazon.com/Fae-Child-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B08KD5HF83
You can preorder both through the publisher’s website:
Fountain of youth? More like murderous medication!
Carrie Kromer pushes the boundaries of science, not her social life. The brilliant behavioural gerontologist’s idea of a good time is hanging out with her beloved lab rats and taking care of her elderly mother and the other eccentric old folks at the nursing home. So no one is more surprised than Carrie when she steals the lab’s top-secret, experimental medicine for ageing in reverse.
#CookingForCannibals @richleder @LaughRiotPress @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
Two-time ex-con Johnny Fairfax dreams of culinary greatness. But when his corrupt parole officer tries to drag him from the nursing home kitchen, the suddenly young-again residents spring to his defence and murder the guy—and then request Johnny cook them an evidence devouring dinner to satisfy their insatiable side-effect appetite.
As their unexpected mutual attraction gets hot, Carrie and Johnny find themselves caught up with the authorities who arrive to investigate the killing. But even more dangerous than the man-eating not-so-senior citizens could be the arrival of death-dealing pharmaceutical hitmen.
Can Carrie and Johnny find true love in all this bloody madness?
Cooking for Cannibals is a dark comic thriller with a heaping helping of romance. If you like fast-paced plots, unconventional characters, and humour that crosses the line, then you’ll have a feast with Rich Leder’s wild ride.
My Review
Oh my goodness! This is like nothing I have ever read before. Hilarious, shocking, funny, dark and gross – what a ride. Not for the faint-hearted it includes murder, torture, rats, nudity, orgies, drugs, more rats, cannibalism, sex, torture (did I already mention torture?), even more rats – have I left anything out? Don’t think so. And all served – tattoo-boy Johnny Fairfax style – with panache-in-a-burger and a huge helping of dark humour.
I love the rats. I know I probably shouldn’t and most people hate them, but I love their little rat faces and their little rat feet. And the way Carrie adores them and kisses them on their little rat noses. She calls them her Greek Gods. Just the ones with the super powers that is. Bit like the geriatrics at the Copacabana Rest Home (except she doesn’t kiss them on their little wrinkled noses), who have not only turned back time but become lithe and gorgeous, sex mad and with a lust for devouring human flesh. Carrie gave them a pill that did this. She stole it and everyone wants it back including Sikorski the scientist who developed it.
Now everyone is after her – from the drop-dead gorgeous ‘fixer’ Eduardo Wolf to the pyromaniac ‘cleaner’ Constantine ‘Tino’ Antonov, from the Matrix twin cops to Johnny’s larger-than-life parole officer. Looks like there is only one way out. Kill ’em, cook ’em and feed ’em to the residents. I don’t know why I’m laughing. It’s really not funny – well actually it’s hilarious.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
PS I don’t think Amazon will approve this review – I may have to leave a few things out.
About the Author
Rich Leder has been a working writer for more than three decades. His credits include 19 produced movies—television films for CBS, Lifetime, and Hallmark and feature films for Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, Longridge Productions, and Left Bank Films—and six novels for Laugh Riot Press.
He’s been the lead singer in a Detroit rock band, a restaurateur, a Little League coach, an indie film director, a literacy tutor, a magazine editor, a screenwriting coach, a wedding guru, a PTA board member, a commercial real estate agent, and a visiting artist for the UNCW Film Studies Department, among other things, all of which, it turns out, was grist for the mill.
He resides on the North Carolina coast with his awesome wife, Lulu, and is sustained by the visits home of their three fabulous children.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/richleder
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRichardLeder/
Website: https://richleder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rich_leder/
Purchase Links:
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3dK15Hy
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3nObXrZ
Publishing Information:Published by Laugh Riot Press on 14th January 2021
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, journalist, MI5, murder, murder mystery, police corruption, police drama, police procedural, political thriller, rape, revenge, review, secrets, serial killer, spy story, thriller, writing
Deadline by Geoff Major
Adam Ferranti was drinking away his waking hours, getting by in a regional newspaper in the North of England. An award-winning journalist, he moved to England to escape the media glare that followed his spectacular fall from grace at The Washington Post; only to be thrust back in it when a mysterious serial killer decides to make him his confidante.
#Deadline @GradusPrimus @ghpbooks @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
DS Stephanie Walker is a successful member of the West Yorkshire Police force. Whilst she is tough and results-driven at work, with a fearsome reputation on the streets, she hides the domestic abuse she suffers at home.
She finds Ferranti exceptionally difficult to deal with, but he’s her only chance to stay close to what the elusive killer is planning next. Ferranti reluctantly complies with the Police, even though he is fighting his own personal demons, but when his best friend is murdered by the killer, it suddenly gets personal. And suddenly, no-one is quite who they seemed to be.
My Review
This was a very interesting book with some surprising twists. DS Stephanie Walker is a great main character and journalist Adam Ferranti is fascinating. Some or in fact most of the murders are very gory so be warned, but there are only about five of them! Or is it six? Seven even? I lost count.
At first I thought – this is going to be just another police procedural but it feels very different. It’s not just a serial killer thriller, it’s also a spy novel – there’s politics, MI5 are involved, plus police corruption and revenge.
Ferranti is the most interesting character, but I felt that certain aspects of his nature could have been explored a bit deeper. We know a lot about his background, his family and his time in Afghanistan but there is more to him than we at first realise.
Stephanie is married to Alex – a handsome model whose well-paid work has enabled them to live a lavish lifestyle. Unfortunately he has been losing work because of his temper and unpredictability and this has resulted in the rapid deterioration of their relationship. I did question how they ever got together in the first place – they seem so mismatched. Alex has turned to drink and has become physically abusive towards his wife but she is too ashamed to tell anyone.
I loved Ferranti’s driver Aarav Khatri whose biggest fear is that his parents will find out that he is a chauffeur with an old Nissan Leaf instead of studying to be a doctor. We really feel sorry for him.
But the best thing about this book is that it turns everything you expect on its head. The identity of the killer, who lives and who dies. Usually these outcomes are fairly predictable but not in this book. As a creative writing student I was told I had to ‘murder my darlings’ – metaphorically speaking that is. In other words get rid of unnecessary scenes/paragraphs/characters which do nothing to move the story forward even though you love them. This author takes that adage literally in Deadline. He’s not afraid to murder our darlings for real and often it will be totally shocking and unexpected. Very different and a brilliant read.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
About the Author
A long time ago, Geoff Major had an idea for a story, whilst walking his girls to primary school. Two years ago, he decided he had the time and patience to try to write the story down. His wife was wholly supportive, so he turned from full-time to part-time for four months and now – 23 years after that idea first popped into his head – it has been published.
As a self-employed business consultant for 18 years and a fundraising adventurer for 10 years (including ski-trekking 50 miles, over 6 days and 6 nights, to the geographic North Pole), he now works for a debt charity whilst plotting his next three books.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GradusPrimus
Blog: https://lets-start-at-the-very-beginning.blogspot.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primusgradus/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2UAjMok
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3kALBrp
Waterstones: https://bit.ly/3kAt0Me
Welcome to Edwardian England. The Lord of the Manor is dead! The servants are our lead suspects and it’s up to you to unearth the evidence, seek out the suspects and catch the culprit in order to scupper the other sleuths, and win this game of murder
The Murder Mystery Card Game
The Manor House Murder
A game for 2 – 5 players | Age 14 +
£8.95 + p&p
www.foulplaygame.co.uk
info@afterdarkmurder.co.uk
Facebook:@afterdarkmystery | Twitter:@afterdarkmurder | Instagram:@afterdarkmurder
@damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
There’s more than one way to catch a killer though. So what’s it gonna be? Good Cop or Bad Cop? These two game versions come with their own set of rules and tactics to crack the case and finger your suspect, but will you use fair play or FOUL PLAY?
The Game is Afoot! Playing as detective, you’ll need to find the three evidence cards that point to a specific suspect in order to catch a killer in this crazy criminal caper. Will you uncover them in the crime scene? Could the other detectives be willing to collaborate and share their findings? Or will you resort to more tricky tactics, and plunder the proof you need to solve this crime?
History of Foul Play
What’s a Murder Mystery Events Company to do?
With a pandemic sweeping the nation and no sign of being able to perform their confounding criminal cabarets or incredible interactive investigations any time soon, they needed to come up with a plan, another way to provide mystery to the masses (and provide income to keep themselves afloat)!
Well, lockdown does strange things to people, especially actors who can’t go out and perform. So one fateful evening, Ben & Lee Cooper-Muir decided to come up with a whole new way to murder people. Keeping their cards close to their chests they plotted and schemed until Foul Play : The Murder Mystery Card Game was born. So, what to do next? This is where After Dark enters the picture. After all, Ben and Lee were two of the operators of the infamous murder mystery company. Maybe they could collaborate to bring the game to the masses. When Lockdown restrictions were eased a top-secret meeting was held with the other criminal masterminds behind After Dark, Helen Burrows, Sophie Webster & Tom Fisher and a pact was made. The game would be launched and licensed under the After Dark banner. In true After Dark style, the team burst into action and then began the beta testing, design updates, promotional planning, character changes, proofing, proofing and more proofing until finally all the kinks were ironed out, mysteries solved, and FOUL PLAY came to life!
How to play
The full details of how to play are included with the pack of cards but here is a brief outline. They are also available on the website www.foulplaygame.co.uk.
Once your crime scene is set and cards dealt, the detective who has the highest number of red-backed cards in their hand goes first, if there is a tie then the more experienced (oldest) detective goes first.
On your turn, you can either play a card or discard a card.
PLAY A CARD
Place a card from your hand face up in front of you and state your play. If no one blocks your play with the block card then you can carry out the action on the card. Once the action is complete you must discard the card you played in the discard pile and then pick up a new card from the Evidence Locker. You pick up a card from the Evidence Locker after every card played.
DISCARD A CARD
If you don’t wish to play a card on your turn you can immediately discard a card (without showing anyone else what that card is) and pick up a new card from the Evidence Locker. Once the evidence locker is empty the discard pile is put in its place and a new discard pile is begun.
——————————
If a detective has only one card in their hand, certain cards can’t be played and must be simply discarded. Fair Play and Crime Scene are two such cards.
If a detective has all of their cards stolen then sadly their case has gone cold and they’re out of the game!
A minimum of two detectives in play are required in order for one to solve the crime and win the game.
Remember there are also two versions of the game – Good Cop and Bad Cop. There are some differences (which I won’t go into in detail) but the rules are basically the same.
The Suspects
Each suspect has varying attributes eg smoker, has keys, has a gun etc. Attributes are either A, B or C. The killer must have three of these attributes – one for each of A, B and C. So eg the killer is a smoker, has keys and wears glasses. I played bad cop and you need the killer card plus all three attributes in your hand to win. It makes more sense when you actually play – honestly.
My Review
I played with two people (including me), which is a shame because three or four would be far more fun. Unfortunately during second lock down and now being in Tier 2 it has been impossible to get together with my son and daughter-in-law who live 160 miles away and would LOVE this game. In fact they would probably dress up. If we were together we would all dress up. I thought about playing on Zoom but I have all the cards!
We went with the Bad Cop version, which uses the whole deck. It took about 20 mins or so to crack the case and find the killer. I think that is mainly due to there being only two of us. With four it would be harder as the cards would be more spread out.
I’m looking forward to getting together with my family soon so we can all play together. It’s something you can take on holiday and play anywhere (not on the plane though as the trays are too small) as all you need is a table which can accommodate the nine cards plus the Evidence Locker pile and the discard pile. All in all it’s great fun.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
+ crime fiction, fiction, friendship, holiday, murder, relationships, review, secrets, thriller, writing
The Other Couple by Cathryn Grant
They planned a dream vacation. They got a trip to hell.
Maggie and Brad are on vacation at Lake Tahoe when they meet another couple, Skye and Joe. The four hit it off so well that Maggie invites their new friends to share her beautiful lakeside rental. What she doesn’t realize is Skye and Joe aren’t just some random couple. They have been watching Maggie and Brad, have chosen them carefully….
#TheOtherCouple @CathrynGrant @inkubatorbooks @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
And now, when they discover that Maggie has a secret which could destroy her marriage, they start turning the screws, pushing their own sinister agenda. But have they chosen their victim wisely? Or does Maggie also have a dark side?
As the pressure builds, what should have been a dream vacation begins to look more like the inner circle of hell. Before it’s over all four will be changed forever – and at least one of them will be dead…
My Review
This was really good and so exciting. I woke early Sunday morning – it was my birthday – and just had to finish it. Just when you thought there couldn’t be any more twists there was another and another. I did guess one of them – I think we were supposed to – but I never guessed the final one. Never underestimate the quiet ones, the ones who everyone thinks are a bit dim and just go with the flow.
Brad and Maggie are on holiday at Lake Tahoe. Their rented home is beautiful, luxurious, secluded and peaceful. And too big for the two of them. Then they go out for a drink and it all changes. Joe and Skye engineer the initial meeting and Brad and Maggie have no idea they are being targeted. They seem so nice and friendly. Especially Skye. Poor things. They drove all the way from Florida in a van and their rental fell through. They were conned. Maggie invites them to stay in their huge house. Brad is cross. He feels that he and Maggie need this holiday to talk about their marriage and reconnect.
But all is not as it seems. Who are these people really and what do they want? We can guess but they don’t – yet. Because Maggie has a secret and Joe knows what it is. He wants money to keep quiet – lot’s of it. But Maggie is not playing ball. In the meantime Skye is connecting on Facebook with Maggie’s friends, including her lover Darren, who also happens to be a client of Brad. Now Brad’s marriage counselling business is also at risk, as well as their marriage. Maggie has a lot to lose. So she decides to fight back and that is when the trouble really starts.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
About the Author
Cathryn Grant writes psychological thrillers, psychological suspense, and ghost stories. She’s the author of twenty-three novels. She’s loved crime fiction all her life and is endlessly fascinated by the twists and turns, and the dark corners of the human mind. When she’s not writing, Cathryn reads fiction, eavesdrops, and tries to play golf without hitting her ball into the sand or the water. She lives on the Central California coast with her husband and two cats. Cathryn is the author of The Good Mother, The Assistant and other psychological thrillers. The Other Couple will be Cathryn’s fifth novel with Inkubator books.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CathrynGrant
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CathrynGrant.Writer/
Website: https://www.cathryngrant.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathryngrant_fiction/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cathryn-Grant/e/B004G1I484?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1566901527&sr=8-3
+ anthology, Christmas, crime fiction, dark humour, fiction, murder, review, short stories, short story, writing
Afraid of the Christmas Lights: An Anthology of Crime Stories
by Mark Billingham, Val McDermid, Rachael Blok, Heather Critchlow, Sara Collins , Elle Croft, James Delargy, Clare Empson, Jo Furniss, Sophie Hannah, T.E. Kinsey, N.J. Mackay, S.R. Masters, Phoebe Morgan, Dominic Nolan, Robert Scragg, Victoria Selman, Kate Simants, Adam Southward, Harriet Tyce
Festive Shorts from the Biggest Stars in Crime Fiction
My Review
Some of my favourite authors amongst these including Victoria Selman, Phoebe Morgan and James Delargy. I’ve selected a few of the ones I enjoyed the most to review.
An Unexpected Present by Phoebe Morgan
I love the very dark humour in this story. Calmly wrapping up her dead husband in Christmas paper – ‘Marks and Spencer’s paper isn’t cheap’ she thinks, ‘I was glad I’d be able to put it to good use’, and worrying that ‘the turkey isn’t going to cook itself’.
This was hilarious in that I just murdered my husband but I mustn’t let dinner spoil kind of way. Absolutely brilliant.
Hunted by Victoria Selman
Victoria gives us another dark story but this one has a real twist at the end. Did you guess? Short and sweet.
Especially at Christmas by Adam Southward
The darkest story of all. Even I struggled to find any humour in this one. Very clever and absolutely chilling.
Fresh Meat by Elle Croft
We kind of all guessed what was going to happen but it didn’t matter. The moral of the tale is never mess with a crazy cat lady. And anyone on Pigeonhole knows that you NEVER mess with the cat. Loved this story.
The Switch by James Delargy
This is so cleverly written. The narrator is telling us about a woman who killed her husband and two small children and is about to be executed. No humour here. He is talking to her in her last few moments before they pull the switch. The bit where they shave her head before she is electrocuted really got to me (I had to Google why they do this). This story stands out from all the others because it is so poignant and sad. I am a huge fan of this author and rightly so. So glad we got rid of the death penalty in this country years ago. It makes me shudder how they can still do this in some states of the US.
A Dog is for Life, not just for Christmas by Robert Scragg
Us Pigeons love a doggy tale just as much as we love a kitty tale (as long as the animals don’t get hurt) so this one was perfect. Never let your morals get in the way when someone hurts an animal. They must get their just desserts. Brilliant.
The Vigilante by Clare Empson
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, along comes my favourite. David loves Charles Dickens. A Victorian superhero. He also loves his wife. I read this story with tears in my eyes ( I admit I’ve been very emotional since hearing that the Bristol Zoo of my childhood memories is closing – well re-locating but that’s not the point). I digress. How beautiful and sad and totally original.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
+ anthology, Christmas, crime fiction, fiction, murder, murder mystery, review, short stories, short story, writing
Christmas Cookie Cozies: A Holiday Cozy Mystery Anthology
2020 is going to be the coziest holiday season yet with cozy mysteries from Ava Mallory, Summer Prescott, Jenna St. James, Laina Turner, Gretchen Allen, Joanna Campbell Slan, S. C. Merritt, Minnie Crockwell, Mona Marple, Rachael Stapleton and Loraine Hudson – along with their favourite holiday cookie recipe!
#ChristmasCookiesCozies2020 @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
A fabulous collection of ‘long’ short stories – each one is almost a novella – with recipes at the end of each one. Cookies and Crime could be a fitting title for the whole collection but Caramelized Casualty has to be my favourite. I have listed each story with its resume followed by my own short review. And who better than to review stories about cookies than the cookie monster herself – Cookiebiscuit!
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
Summer Prescott – Hang Out the Stalkings
Someone is stealing Nancy’s cookies…will they steal her holiday spirit too?
I loved this story! But then it’s about a dog – Dolly the Poodle (she’s fine so don’t worry) – who gets stolen from the doggy grooming parlour while having a shampoo and clip. It’s sweet and heart-warming and I confess I shed a tear or three at the end. Poor Nancy. Who knew what rivalry went on in suburban dog parlours. There’s a mystery a-paw…
Laina Turner – Cookies and Crime
What is supposed to be a joy-filled awards ceremony for the Romero Boy Scouts turns out to be anything but when Jean Sartor, Scout co-leader, drops dead on stage. Trixie lands herself on the suspect list since she baked Christmas cookies for the ceremony. She knows she didn’t poison Jean, but who did?
A simple tale of murder, greed, lust and secrets. But who is guilty? More than one I suspect and Trixie is determined to find out – even though she is a suspect and is putting her own life in danger.
Rachael Stapleton – Christmas, Corpses & The Gingerbread Flip Flop
When house flippers Jack Young and Juniper Palmer purchase a colourful Queen Anne home, Juniper assumes the exterior gingerbread trim will be the most outlandish thing to see. That is until a prominent wine merchant dressed as Santa is murdered and Jack’s mother is caught on the naughty list.
I loved the supernatural element in this. Juniper can see ghosts. The type that come back to tell you about unfinished business. You usually then find out it’s a trick or even worse, aliens, but Juniper can really see them. I love a good haunting. It made the story for me.
Jenna St. James – Christmas Cookie Caper
When Ivy O’Brien learns her mother has been injured at the annual Couples Christmas Cookie Contest, she runs to the rescue. Looks like she needs to fill in for her mother and hunky policeman Anthony Romano has to help bake the cookie and question the suspects. Between dough-making disasters, nips of peppermint Schnapps, and rolling pin thefts, the pair slowly whittle down their suspect list.
Hilarious! The characters like Christmas Carol are so ridiculous but they made me smile. And Mr Ashcroft lining up the snowmen and worrying that one of his precious collection of rolling pins is missing. There’s even a ‘love’ interest in this one or at least the beginnings of one between Ivy and Romano. I have to admit this one was amongst my favourites.
S. C. Merritt – Caramelized Casualty
With the annual holiday unveiling of a giant gingerbread village quickly approaching, Kate Kennedy’s stress level is sky high. When one of the event’s diva celebrity chefs turns up dead, Kate decides she has no choice but to team up with the town’s newest detective if she’s going to pull off the big event. Can she expose the killer in time to save the event?
Love this. Those celebrity chefs are so up themselves. I hope they are not all like this in real life. A touch of dark humour (well more than a touch) and budding romance in this one. The murder puts Kate in a very sticky situation and her career depends on solving this viscous crime. Whoever thought you could be caramelized to death? Another favourite.
Gretchen Allen – Lost Claus
Charlotte Moss is one tough cookie, but her new job as Mrs. Claus isn’t what she expected. When Santa goes missing and a body is found, the most wonderful time of the year looks bleak.
Set in a shopping mall with three Santas, each with his own Mrs Claus and accompanying Elf. Who knew competition for the annual bonus could be so fierce? Olive wants to partner flirty Daniel but new girl Charlotte has taken her position, ex-Mrs Claus Erin has been murdered, Santa’s little helper Owen is acting very suspiciously and Kris (is that Kris Kringle?) has gone missing. Who dunnit? Charlotte is determined to find out.
Mona Marple – The Santa Run is Murderous Fun
Emily Monk’s run out of excuses not to take part in the annual Santa run, but the festivities are threatened when the long-running Santa Run champ is found dead the day before the race.
With a killer to be caught, and a Christmas dinner to be bought, Emily needs to think fast if she’s going to solve this case before Santa comes.
When the author is called Ms Marple, there has to be a mystery to solve. This one is based in England and it shows instantly in the writing style. I don’t know if they have Santa Runs in the US (I expect they do) but there’s always one in our local park here in Cheltenham. It’s big here – like Santa himself. Time for Emily, with the help of Uncle Cornelius, to solve the murder.
Loraine J. Hudson – Holly Jolly Misdeed
First, it’s a thieving Santa. Next, it’s a prowler that threatens Jenny’s peace. It all seems to revolve around a box of cookies. Why? And what’s next?
No bodies this time just a mystery over a box of cookies. Actually I loved this one. Poor Jenny stumbles upon an intruder searching through the gifts under the Christmas tree. She hits them over the head with a hockey stick and six year old daughter Ashley thinks mum has killed Santa. Once the perp is locked up Jenny spots a prowler in the garden. What could they be after and are the crimes connected? We’ll have to find out.
Minnie Crockwell – Death by Cookie
Sallie Chilcoat decides to get into the holiday spirit by baking up a batch of cookies for her lakeside condominium neighbours only to have one of them turn up dead – with the remains of her cookies! Did Sallie kill her neighbour with her vegan cookies?
Sallie doesn’t really do ‘neighbourliness’. She keeps herself to herself. But being Christmas, she decides to make some vegan cookies and leave them at her neighbours’ doors. Until she discovers an ant infestation and runs round looking to see if the cookies are still in the hallway. But one door is open and when she goes in she finds more than ants.
Ava Mallory – Christmas Cookie Catastrophe
When Consuelo “Cookie” Alvarez inherits a bakery from her aunt Birdie, she doesn’t expect to take her late aunt’s place in the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off. Now she has two weeks to perfect the super-secret recipe, but there are major obstacles in her way: she can’t bake, the recipe is missing, and her competitors are a who’s who of shady characters.
This story is about the theft of a recipe and no-one gets murdered. It’s a nice little yarn with a cast of unusual characters. A cozy Christmas tale with just a hint of possible romance.
Joanna Campbell Slan – How the Cookie Crumbles
Cara Mia Delgatto never met her maternal grandmother. But Nonie Josephina reaches out from the grave with a message for Cara: I left behind a treasure! Can Cara Mia find it before Santa comes to town?
A tale of four generations from Great-Granddad Poppy down to 20 year old Tommy, who everyone seems to want to hug, and their friends and family. Another cozy ‘mystery’ with a lovely, happy ending. No murders, no poisoned cookies, just a lot of love.
Purchase Links:
US Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08K97KLJ9
UK Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08K97KLJ9
+ adventure, crime fiction, dark humour, Detective novel, hostage, kidnapping, murder, police drama, review, secrets, writing
Kill a Stranger by Simon Kernick
They took your fiancée.
They framed you for murder.
You’re given one chance to save her. To clear your name.
You must kill someone for them.
They give you the time and place.
The weapon. The target.
You have less than 24 hours.
You only know that no-one can be trusted…and nothing is what it seems.
My Review
Very clever plotting with lots of twists and turns. Who can you trust? Well probably no-one. I found parts of this hilarious (I hope I was supposed to). These are the parts where Matt is concerned. Matt is a handsome actor, whose only TV role of any merit was as a police officer in Night Beat. He met Kate in Sri Lanka and stayed there to be with her. When confronted with her kidnapping and attempts to save her, he really hasn’t a clue and turns into Frank Spencer from Some Mothers do ‘ave ’em.
Kate is the most suspicious. Has she really been kidnapped or did she stage it herself. And if she did then why. Sir Hugh Roper is her father, but for years he had nothing to do with her. Her mother was the cleaner with whom he had a little dalliance. Ex-wife Diana is a gold-carat bitch who hates Hugh’s illegitimate offspring. Her own daughter Alana died and son Tom is the black sheep who has been disinherited. Any of them could be guilty.
DCI Cameron Doyle doesn’t trust any of them. He thinks they are all lying. He could be right.
When Matt discovers Kate has been kidnapped he will kill to get her back. Literally. He will have to murder someone in exchange for her safe release. Then it’s a race against time to save her. Don’t bother I say! She’s not what or who you think. It’s a great, fast-paced read that will keep you up at night trying to guess the truth.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Simon Kernick (born 1966 in Slough, Berkshire) is a British thriller/crime writer now living in Oxfordshire with his wife and two daughters. He attended Gillotts School, a comprehensive in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Whilst he was a student his jobs included fruitpicker and Christmas-tree uprooter. He graduated from Brighton Polytechnic in 1991 with a degree in humanities.
Kernick had a passion for crime fiction writing from a young age and produced many short stories during his time at polytechnic. After graduating Kernick joined MMT Computing in London in early 1992, where a relative was the Chairman and Managing Director. Kernick was a key member of the sales team and was very highly regarded. However, he left the company after four years in the hope of trying to secure a publishing deal. Despite interest from a number of publishers Kernick was unable to secure a deal, so he joined the sales force of the specialist IT and Business Consultancy Metaskil plc in Aldermaston, Berkshire in 1998 where he remained until he secured his first book deal The Business of Dying in September 2001. His novel Relentless was recommended on Richard & Judy’s Summer book club 2007. It was the 8th best-selling paperback, and the best-selling thriller in the UK in the same year.
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, family, fiction, haunting, kidnapping, murder, police drama, revenge, review, rivalry, supernatural, thriller, writing
Dead Already by Tim Adler
What if someone you accidentally killed came back to haunt you?
When the perfect crime results in the kidnap and murder of Megan, his only child, East End villain Mickey Speight is grief stricken. But now, nearly thirty years later, Megan sends a message to her father, gone-to-ground in present-day Margate.
#DeadAlready @timadlerauthor @NightsBooks @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
As the messages from his dead daughter keep coming, Mickey teams up with a young American female therapist to discover whether this really is a voice from beyond the grave, or if somebody has loomed out of Mickey’s past wanting revenge. Someone is fingering Mickey’s collar and Mickey doesn’t like it.
Mickey realises that he must haunt the old East End boozers, betting shops and strip clubs of his youth if he’s to find out what really happened to his daughter.
My Review
I love books that are set in places I’ve been to – I was in Margate in the summer as well as a couple of years ago. I think it’s a great place, with a great atmosphere and the Turner Contemporary is amazing. Not the kind of place you would find Mickey Speight though. He’s more the strip joint type. An old East End lag.
I love the way Mickey’s parts of the book (we also hear from Taybor and others) is written in his ‘voice’ even when he is not speaking as such. It’s a great story-telling technique, one I often try to imitate. Now I am no judge of East End villains never having met one, but the way Mickey ‘tells’ the story seems very authentic.
I did struggle a bit with the bad language (and I’m not just talking about the ‘f’ word) I have to admit – it’s the second book in two weeks where I’ve had to put my feelings aside – but I guess it was normal to them. Or maybe I’m just a prude when it comes to swearing.
Mickey and his wife Linda run the St George’s pub in Margate. It’s basically a lap dancing club. It’s Mickey’s pride and joy. There is no funny business or drugs or hard porn – he doesn’t approve – and he takes care of his ‘dancers’. Again I’m out of my depth. We don’t see that kind of thing in Cheltenham – except during Cheltenham Races when we get mobile lap dancing venues. I jest not.
But Mickey has an enemy, Mr Khan, a property developer, who will go to any lengths to get Mickey to sell up so he can build houses on the land. Again, you need to understand that some of the ‘racist’ language used here (I’m not going to say what as I know Amazon won’t approve my review) is how the old villains spoke to each other. Again, the author is being authentic. It’s a bit like showing everyone smoking in a 1970s cop show on TV. People are offended and complain, but they did it.
Detective Chief Inspector June Taybor, a week off retirement, is the police officer who led the original investigation into the disappearance of Mickey’s daughter Megan, and here she is again, facing her nemesis.
Mickey is not a very likeable character, but there is just enough sympathy there to make you want to keep him alive. Only just. It goes without saying that the story is very good, but for me it was the final third that really gripped me. This is where it all started to change. The twist was such a shock – even if you guessed one bit of it, the truth was much cleverer. Poor Mickey – he never knew what hit him (metaphorically speaking). The whole outcome was just brilliant and a bit sad to be honest.
And the lesson to be learnt. It may be the East End way but never take the law into your own hands. It just doesn’t pay.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
About the Author
Tim Adler is a journalist and former commissioning editor on the Daily Telegraph, who has also written for the Financial Times and The Times.
His debut self-published thriller Slow Bleed went to number one in the US Amazon Kindle psychological thriller chart. Its follow-up Surrogate stayed in the top 40 psychological thrillers for more than a year. Bestselling crime author Peter James said of Tim’s third novel Hold Still, “Adler’s engaging style and sharp pace kept me glued”.
The Sunday Times called Tim’s most recent nonfiction book The House of Redgrave “compulsively readable” while The Mail On Sunday called it “dazzling”. Tim’s previous book Hollywood and the Mob was Book of the Week in The Mail On Sunday and Critic’s Choice in the Daily Mail.
Tim is a former London Editor of Deadline Hollywood, the US entertainment news website.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/timadlerauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timadlerauthor/
Website: http://www.timadlerauthor.com/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3muXuk3
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3mzdYaG
Waterstones: https://bit.ly/2Jev2EB
Foyles: https://bit.ly/37QgS71
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, DNA, fiction, police drama, police procedural, politics, rape, review, thriller, writing
Crime and Justice by Martin Bodenham
What if we could no longer trust DNA profiling, the silver bullet of our criminal justice system? For years, we’ve relied on it to solve decades-old crimes, convict the guilty, and liberate the innocent from death row. But what happens to that trust when a crime lab scientist is leaned on to manipulate the evidence or, worse still, lose it altogether?
Ruthless Seattle mayor, Patti Rainsford, announces her candidacy for state governor. She’ll do anything to succeed. When her son is arrested for the rape and assault of a seventeen-year-old girl, Rainsford’s political career is in jeopardy.
#CrimeandJustice @MartinBodenham @DownAndOutBooks @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
Detective Linda Farrell is assigned to investigate. After twelve years working in SPD’s sexual assault unit, her career is drifting, not helped by the single-minded detective’s contempt for police protocol and the pressure of her failing marriage. The high-profile rape case is a rare chance to shine and maybe even get her life back on track. Nothing will stop her seeking justice for the young victim.
With a mountain of personal debt and his wife’s business on a knife-edge, Clark Stanton is facing financial meltdown. Then a stranger offers him a lifeline in return for a favour. As the manager of Seattle’s crime lab, all Clark has to do is make the rape kit evidence against the mayor’s son go away.
My Review
A police drama with a difference. Not my usual feast of murder and bodies piling up. This one is about politics and the lengths some people will go to in order to move up the political ladder. In this case it involves corruption, a rape case that won’t go away and an attempt to manipulate evidence by switching the DNA.
Detective Linda Farrell just won’t let go. She knows something is wrong but she can’t prove it. Because DNA never lies, but people do.
Linda’s marriage is falling apart, her son is misbehaving at school, her career is going nowhere and her boss is fed up with her changing her mind about this very high profile case.
Clark is just an ordinary guy married to Anna. They have two lovely kids who he adores. He’s the manager at the crime lab where they will be examining the samples taken from Chace Rainsford and from the victim in order to get a match. Patti Rainsford wants to be the next senator but her son Chace can’t keep his pants on. All she needs is for his DNA to disappear and no-one will know what he did. But how to make Clark play ball – easy when you have a minder like Jeff Peltz. And blackmail is a simple thing isn’t it. Because Peltz knows they always roll over when you push hard enough and threaten their family.
There were so many times when I wanted to scream at Clark. Don’t do it! Go to the police! It’s not worth it. And Linda is still chomping at the bit, determined to get a conviction
Then just when you think it’s all sorted the actual ending – not the ending but the ending ending will have you gasping. It did me. Brilliant twist. I can’t stop thinking about it.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
About the Author
Martin Bodenham is the author of the crime thrillers The Geneva Connection, Once a Killer, and Shakedown. Crime And Justice is his latest novel.
After a thirty-year career in private equity and corporate finance in London, Martin moved to the west coast of Canada, where he writes full-time. He held corporate finance partner positions at both KPMG and Ernst & Young as well as senior roles at several private equity firms before founding his own private equity company in 2001. Much of the tension in his thrillers is based on the greed and fear he witnessed first-hand while working in international finance.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MartinBodenham
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/martin-bodenham-8228307
Website: https://www.martinbodenham.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martinbodenham/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/38jJq90
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3n1kLKz
Google Books: https://bit.ly/2IcS4LS
Waterstones: https://bit.ly/32oUnlX
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3p99Yjx
+ childhood, coming-of-age, family, fiction, friendship, literature, love, motherhood, relationships, review, romance, writing
Gravity Is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty
The adult debut from bestselling, award-winning young adult author Jaclyn Moriarty—a frequently hilarious, brilliantly observed novel—that follows a single mother’s heartfelt search for greater truths about the universe, her family and herself.
Twenty years ago, Abigail Sorenson’s brother Robert went missing one day before her sixteenth birthday, never to be seen again. That same year, she began receiving scattered chapters in the mail of a self-help manual, the Guidebook, whose anonymous author promised to make her life soar to heights beyond her wildest dreams.
The Guidebook’s missives have remained a constant in Abi’s life—a befuddling yet oddly comforting voice through her family’s grief over her brother’s disappearance, a move across continents, the devastating dissolution of her marriage, and the new beginning as a single mother and café owner in Sydney.
Now, two decades after receiving those first pages, Abi is invited to an all-expenses paid weekend retreat to learn “the truth” about the Guidebook. It’s an opportunity too intriguing to refuse. If Everything is Connected, then surely the twin mysteries of the Guidebook and a missing brother must be linked?
What follows is completely the opposite of what Abi expected––but it will lead her on a journey of discovery that will change her life––and enchant readers. Gravity Is the Thing is a smart, unusual, wickedly funny novel about the search for happiness that will break your heart into a million pieces and put it back together, bigger and better than before.
My Review
It took me a while to get into this book. There’s a lot of self-discovery and looking inwards and truth-seeking that I hate to admit that I found a bit tedious. It’s all rather flowery and overlong at times. I sometimes wished it would just get on with the story. Maybe if I had more time to savour the beauty of the words I would have enjoyed the first half more.
Abigail is a lovely character, though at times you wish she would stop blaming herself for everything that has gone wrong in her life. Such as the disappearance of her brother Robert after his MS diagnosis and the devastating breakup of her marriage (he was a selfish idiot). Then she gets an invitation to a retreat to learn the truth about the Guidebook she received as a teenager.
Intrigued but sceptical, she goes along and meets a variety of wonderful (and not so wonderful) people. Together they will embark on a journey that will change all their lives.
About two-thirds of the way through I really began to love and enjoy the story. There’s still a little too much musing and not enough action for me, but it was starting to grip me now and I couldn’t wait for the next stave (reading with online book club the Pigeonhole you get one ‘stave’ a day for ten days). I had to find out what happened to Robert. We all did.
I nearly forget about Oscar. He’s Abi’s four year old son. The star of the show. He’s adorable and hilarious. Some of the things he says reminded my of my four-year old granddaughter Holly and did make me laugh. Everywhere he and Abi go he has to take ‘everyone’ with them – everyone being not teddies or Action Man (that dates me) type toys, but bits of plastic with no human attributes and then play goodies and baddies with them. Now at this point I have to admit that when I was a child I had to take some of my teddies to the cinema or café and I would line them up on the spare seats in pairs. There’s something you don’t admit to every day!
And then there’s Wilbur. We all love Wilbur but you’ll have to read the book to understand why.
PS I nearly forgot to say I cried towards the end. Well probably for most of the last part. But in a good way.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Jaclyn Moriarty is an Australian writer of young adult literature.
She studied English at the University of Sydney, and law at Yale University and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where she was awarded a PhD.
She is the younger sister of Liane Moriarty. She was previously married to Canadian writer Colin McAdam, and has a son, Charlie. She currently lives in Sydney.
+ adventure, crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, friends, hostage, kidnapping, murder, mystery, police drama, politics, ransom, review, terrorism, thriller, writing
Fallout (The Nick Sullivan Thrillers Book 1) by Karla Forbes
Blackmail. Complacency. A nuclear threat turned real.
A group of unknown terrorists are blackmailing the British government with a quantity of plutonium left over from the Cold War.
Only one man knows their identity and can prevent a disaster, but he is on the run for a murder he didn’t commit and has no intention of being found.
#Fallout @KarlaForbes @Darkstrokedark @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
Whilst the authorities attempt to track him down, they pin their hopes on the thought that a bunch of amateurs wouldn’t have knowledge of how to deal with nuclear technology, and the worst they could manage might be a dirty bomb. After all, everyone knows it’s not really that dangerous: people run away from the explosion, and the radiation drifts harmlessly into the atmosphere.
But what if the terrorists had found a way to keep the radiation near to the ground, and to encourage people to hang around, breathing in death? What if when you invite them to their own slaughter, they come willingly? It would be dangerous then, wouldn’t it? The clock is ticking…
My Review
I’m exhausted after that! I must stop using the term ‘roller-coaster of a ride’ but I can’t think of anything else appropriate. The tension and excitement never let up.
Poor Nick! One minute he’s a rich financial whizz kid with a posh house, a beautiful wife and an Aston Martin – the next he’s witnessed the brutal murder of his friend by three unknown men, but no-one believes him and he is on the run. He has motive you see, and opportunity. But to say much more would be a spoiler.
Ed is his childhood friend and the only person he can turn to for help. But Ed is a Police Officer and to help a murderer on the run (even if he is innocent) would put his job in jeopardy. But someone else wants to help – Ed’s sister Annelies, who has always had a crush on Nick – but she wouldn’t would she?
The three men Nick witnessed have a quantity of plutonium left over from the Cold War. They are going to use it to blackmail the government into handing over 60 million quid’s worth of diamonds in exchange for not releasing a number of plutonium ‘dirty bombs’ into the atmosphere. And Nick is going to follow them. They have a car and a white van. Why do they need two vehicles? What exactly is in the back of the van and why is it kept padlocked? The mysteries – and the bodies – are piling up and the plot gets more and more complicated. Once I got to around two-thirds of the way through, I just couldn’t stop reading. It was too exciting.
In her Twitter profile it says that Karla writes about: ‘murder, terrorism, blackmail, revenge, war, death and plutonium’. I think that sums it up nicely don’t you think.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to be part of #damppebblesblogtours
About the Author
Karla Forbes first began writing books when she was twelve years old. Heavily influenced by Ian Fleming, she wrote about guns, fast cars and spies. Naturally, she knew nothing of her chosen subject and was forced to use her imagination to make it up as she went along. These books, half a dozen in total, ended up being thrown out with the rubbish. Several years later, she dabbled in a futuristic sitcom and a full length horror story. Although both of these efforts were also consigned to literary oblivion, at least no one could have accused her of being in a genre rut.
She began writing properly more than twelve years ago and her first book, The Preacher was published on Amazon in July 2011. Thirteen books in total are available to download from the Amazon kindle book store. She writes about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations and she aims for unusual but scarily believable plots with a surprising twist.
She moved from Sussex to Scotland in 2020 and is enjoying the stunning scenery and friendly people but feeling less enthusiastic about the weather.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarlaForbes
Website: http://karlaforbes.yolasite.com/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3l711os
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3l3oqqJ
Bookchatter@Cookiebiscuit 