Category: Book Reviews

CTG Reviews: THE WRONG GIRL by Laura Wilson

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THE WRONG GIRL cover image

THE WRONG GIRL cover image

What the blurb says: “In 2006, three-year-old Phoebe Piper went missing on a family holiday. Despite massive publicity and a long investigation, no trace of her was ever found. Seven years later, Molly Jackson, aged ten and recently uprooted to a Norfolk village, finds her great uncle Dan dead in his bed. Molly remembers nothing of her early years, but she’s been sure for ages that she is Phoebe. Everything in her life points to it.

Dan’s death brings his sister Janice back to Norfolk where she’s re-united with Molly’s mother Suzie, the daughter she gave up for adoption decades earlier. Janice discovers that a former lover, Joe Vincent, lives nearby. Joe was a rock star who, at the height of his fame, turned his back on public life. As she is drawn back into the past, Janice begins to wonder if Dan’s death and Joe’s reputation as a reclusive acid casualty are quite what they appear. And then Molly disappears.”

 

Janice – still in shock from the sudden death of her brother, and thrust unprepared into meeting her long lost daughter who she has always yearned to connect with – returns to Norfolk to her family home. It’s a place that holds many memories for her, not all of them good. It’s here that she meets Suzie – her daughter – and Molly – her grand-daughter – and tries to forge a relationship with both of them. But it’s not easy, and as the memories of the past mingle with the reality of her brother’s death, Janice begins to wonder if something, or someone, more sinister is at work.

I found myself pulled headlong into Janice and Molly’s worlds. Through their narratives the reader discovers the events in their pasts that have shaped their sense of selves and identity, and how the secrets and suspicions that they hold influences each of their decisions in the present. One of the many joys of this book are the fabulous characters – they are so vividly drawn, and the dialogue pitch-perfect, that it feels like you’re watching real-life action unfold before you.

A twisting, turning mystery of tangled secrets, guilt and regret THE WRONG GIRL artfully combines the dark undertones of past trauma with a growing sense of impending doom, and had me captivated from the first page to the last.

With stunning writing, vivid characters and bags of suspense, THE WRONG GIRL is a must read for fans of psychological thrillers – highly recommended.

 

To find out more about Laura Wilson and her books hop on over to www.laura-wilson.co.uk and follow her on Twitter @LWilsonCrime

 

 

 

CTG Reviews: ONLY THE BRAVE by Mel Sherratt

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Only the Brave cover image

Only the Brave cover image

What the blurb says: “When one of the notorious Johnson brothers is murdered and a bag of money goes missing, a deadly game of cat and mouse is set in motion. DS Allie Shenton and her team are called in to catch the killer, but the suspects are double-crossing each other and Allie has little time to untangle the web of lies. As she delves deeper into the case, things take a personal turn when Allie realises she is being stalked by the very same person who attacked her sister seventeen years ago and left her for dead.”

This is the third book in the fantastic DS Allie Shenton series following on from Taunting the Dead and Follow the Leader. Taking place over forty-eight hours, the story centres around a fatal stabbing – one where there are many people who seem to know something about the incident, but none of them are going to give up that information easily to Allie and her team.

Allie is used to working hard, but this case has more personal connections than Allie is comfortable with. History is dredged up when Terry Ryder’s daughter – Kirstie – turns out to be the girlfriend of the victim, pushing Allie back into contact with Ryder, something she would much prefer to avoid.

The emotional stakes are high in this story as Allie’s sister Karen, whose health took a turn for the worse at the end of the previous book ‘Follow the Leader’, is getting progressively more ill. Allie is torn between finding the killer and being there for her sister. Unable to choose, she tries to do both – exhausting herself both physically and psychologically. But as she gets closer to solving the murder case, there is another danger lurking nearby – a person who’s been waiting a very long time to get Allie to themselves – and as the book hurtles along towards its dramatic conclusion, Allie has to use every ounce of her determination and resolve if she’s to escape with her life.

Slickly plotted and a real page-turner of a read, ONLY THE BRAVE is a rollercoaster of grit and emotion.

Highly recommended.

 

[with thanks to Mel Sherratt and Thomas & Mercer for my copy of ONLY THE BRAVE] 

#VintageMurderMysteries – The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

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The Crime at Black Dudley cover image

The Crime at Black Dudley cover image

Those lovely people over at Vintage are bringing Margery Allingham’s golden age murder mysteries back into print under their Vintage Murder Mysteries banner. The book covers have been given a fantastic make-over, and the whole of the Mr Campion series will be published between May 2015 and August 2016.

One of five Margery Allingham titles published this month is The Crime at Black Dudley.

What the blurb says: “A suspicious death and a haunted family heirloom were not advertised when Dr George Abbershaw and a group of London’s brightest young things accepted an invitation to the mansion of Black Dudley. Skulduggery is most certainly afoot, and the party-goers soon realise that they’re trapped in the secluded house. Amongst them is a stranger who promises to unravel the villainous plots behind their incarceration – but can George and his friends trust the peculiar young man who calls himself Albert Campion?”

This is the first of Margery Allingham’s books that I’ve read and it’s certainly a lot of fun. With quirky characters, and a mysterious family custom involving a haunted dagger, this is a lively locked-room mystery with plenty to keep the reader on their toes as George Abbershaw tries to figure out the truth behind the strange and sinister goings on at Black Dudley mansion. As the danger mounts, and the group of London’s bright young things decide to take action into their own hands, it’s a race against time for them to escape the locked-down mansion and bring the culprits to justice.

To find out more about The Crime at Black Dudley and read an extract, hop on over to Dead Good Books to read the first chapter here

 

[with thanks to Vintage for my copy of The Crime at Black Dudley]

The #Snowblind Blog Tour: CTG reviews Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson

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Snowblind cover image

Snowblind cover image

I’ve been raving about this book for a while now and so I’m really thrilled to be a part of the Snowblind blog tour. Written by Ragnar Jónasson, Snowblind is published by fabulous new publisher Orenda Books and translated from Icelandic by crime writer Quentin Bates.

What the blurb says: “Siglufjörđur: an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors – accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Ari Thór Arason: a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavik – with a past that he’s unable to leave behind. When a young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theatre, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life. An avalanche and unremitting snowstorms close the mountain pass, and the 24-hour darkness threatens to push Ari over the edge, as curtains begin to twitch, and his investigation becomes increasingly complex, chilling and personal. Past plays tag with the present and the claustrophobic tension mounts, while Ari is thrust ever deeper into his own darkness – blinded by the snow, and with a killer on the loose.”

Ari Thór Arason relocates to the remote costal village of Siglufjörđur to take up his first job in the police. He’s thorough and tenacious, keen to learn and enthusiastic to do a good job in a community where no one locks their doors and the crime rate is virtually zero – until now. When the seemingly accidental death of an elderly writer is followed by what seems to be a vicious attack on a young woman the community is thrown into chaos – is a killer among them? And how, in a place where everyone knows everyone’s business, can there be no witnesses?

Distanced from his girlfriend, Kristín, both by the geography and the unspoken upset each feels with the other from their reaction to Ari’s job move, Ari feels increasingly alone. Tómas, his boss, is one person who helps him feel more part of the community, but it is Ugla – living now in Siglufjörđur as a self imposed exile for a tragedy in her past – who he connects with most. Before long it’s a relationship that starts to create complications of its own.

Determined to get to the truth, Ari presses for answers, and as he does Siglufjörđur is covered in ever deepening snow – becoming cut off from the rest of the country and trapping the inhabitants together. As darkness descends, and Ari takes increasing risks to lure out the killer, the claustrophobic suspense ramps up to the max.

Snowblind uses its stunningly beautiful yet brutally remote setting to create a chilling, atmospheric locked room mystery. It’s a fantastic read with great writing, engaging characters and an expertly crafted plot filled with twists, turns and slight of hand.

Ragnar Jónasson is an outstanding new voice in Nordic Noir, and I’m really looking forward to the next in the series – Nightblind – that’s out next year.

Highly recommended.

 

To find out more about Ragnar Jónasson visit www.orendabooks.co.uk/book/snow-blind

You can follow him on Twitter @ragnarjo and his publisher @OrendaBooks and translator Quentin Bates @graskeggur

Find out about Quentin Bates’ experiences of translating Snowblind from Icelandic in his guest post here

And get a glimpse at the Snowblind book launch here

Also, be sure to check out all the great tour stops on the Snowblind Blog Tour …

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Out Now: #TheOtherHalf by Mark Billingham and My Darling Clementine

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The Other Half album cover

The Other Half album cover

Today is the release day of something rather wonderful. Best selling crime writer Mark Billingham and award-winning country duo My Darling Clementine have come together to collaborate on a fabulous album – The Other Half.

Here’s what the blurb says: “With her best years seemingly behind her, a former Las Vegas showgirl works double shifts in a rundown Memphis bar. Alone and estranged from her daughter, Marcia lives life vicariously through her customers and the everyday tragedies of people falling in and out of love. These are moving tales of grief and heartbreak, lust, murder and domestic horror. Serving beer and burgers as these very different stories unfold, Marcia reflects on her single doomed shot at happiness. Then one day, she receives a phone call that changes everything …”

I was super lucky earlier this week to go to the launch event for the album and got to hear some of the story performed live. It’s breathtakingly good – great story, fascinating characters, amazing music and vocals – and transports you right there to the bar in downtown Memphis where Marcia works.

It’s a perfect pairing of spoken word and songs woven together to tell a hauntingly compelling story of heartbreak, horror and hope.

Simply wonderful – a real must-listen.

Mark Billingham & My Darling Clementine on stage

Mark Billingham & My Darling Clementine on stage

The album is available on CD, Audiobook and limited edition vinyl. On it Mark Billingham and My Darling Clementine are joined by special guest performances by brilliant actor David Morrissey, singer-songwriter legend Graham Parker, and the Brodsky Quartet.

To listen for yourself, hop on over to The Other Half website to hear a clip http://www.theotherhalfshow.com/content/the-album

And, you can watch them perform The Other Half live on their UK tour (I’ve already booked my ticket!) – for dates and venues head over to http://www.theotherhalfshow.com

To find out more about Mark Billingham hop over to http://www.markbillingham.com and follow him on Twitter @MarkBillingham

To find out more about My Darling Clementine pop over to http://www.mydarlingclementinemusic.co.uk and follow them on Twitter @My_Darling_Clem

 

[I bought my own copy of The Other Half]

 

 

CTG Reviews: Summerchill by Quentin Bates

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Summerchill cover image

Summerchill cover image

What the blurb says: “It’s the tail end of a hot summer when half of Reykjavík is on holiday and the other half wishes it was. Things are quiet when a man is reported missing from his home in the suburbs. As Gunna and Helgi investigate, it becomes clear that the missing man had secrets of his own that lead to a sinister set of friends, and to someone with little to lose who is a fugitive from both justice and the underworld. It becomes a challenge for Gunna to tail both the victim and his would-be executioner, racing to catch up with at least one of them before they finally meet.”

This pacey novella is a perfect weekend read. Published this month, it continues Quentin Bates’ popular Icelandic detective series and, at 142 pages, is a perfect stop-gap to tide you over until his next novel comes out.

The story focuses on Logi, a carpenter (amongst other things!) who finds himself doing a job for some people who turn out to be rather dodgy. As one incident leads to another Logi finds himself getting deeper into trouble and is soon forced to take some dramatic actions of his own.

As their investigation for the missing man encounters dead ends and non co-operative witnesses Gunna and Helgi have to draw on all of their resources to piece together what has happened. The story thunders along as both criminals and police race to locate their target before its too late.

Although the story follows Gunna and Helgi’s investigation, it’s more about the criminal underworld lurking beneath the surface of Reykjavík. It immerses the reader into the world Logi becomes drawn into, highlighting some of the illegal practices and the ways in which criminal gangs extort money from the vulnerable and unsuspecting.

Recommended for fans of Icelandic noir and police procedurals.

You can find out more about Quentin Bates by hoping over to his website at www.graskeggur.com and follow him on Twitter @graskeggur

You can also read a guest post by Quentin Bates on his experiences in translating Icelandic Crime fiction here

 

 

 

 

#TheLie Blog Tour: CTG reviews The Lie by C.L. Taylor

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The Lie cover image

The Lie cover image

I’m delighted to be part of the #TheLie Blog Tour, and for the tour stop today I’m posting my review of this fabulous psychological thriller …

What the blurb says: “Jane Hughes has a loving partner, a job in an animal sanctuary and a tiny cottage in rural Wales. She’s happier than she’s ever been but her life is a lie. Jane Hughes does not really exist. Five years earlier Jane and her then best friends went on holiday but what should have been the trip of a lifetime rapidly descended into a nightmare that claimed the lives of two of the women. Jane has tried to put the past behind her but someone knows the truth about what happened. Someone who won’t stop until they’ve destroyed Jane and everything she loves . . .”

How well do we really know our friends, and how strong are those bonds when they’re tested to the limit? These are two of the questions C.L. Taylor’s latest psychological thriller prompts the reader to think about as they follow the dual storyline narratives of The Lie to their explosive conclusion.

The story pulls you in straight away, and the flowing narrative holds you captive until the final page has been turned. It’s a story packed with tension, twists and turns, immersing you into Jane’s world and feeling the fear inside her building as she’s contacted by someone who can’t possibly be alive. Or can they?

Deeply unsettled, Jane relives the horror of the past through a series of flashback chapters which transport her (and the reader) back in time to the ‘trip of a lifetime’ she took with her then best friends – Daisy, Leanne and Al – to Nepal. As they travel from their hotel to a remote retreat in the mountains it soon becomes clear that the ripples of tension and jealousy within the group are rising, and it’s not long before the friendships start to unravel with devastating consequences. As the creepy, shocking truth (and serious danger they’re in) becomes more apparent in the Nepal timeline, the threat level in the present escalates to a critical level.

I can’t really say much more about the story without giving away some of the excellent twists, but what I will say is that C.L. Taylor has brilliantly captured the complex and changing dynamics between the four young women on their adventure turned nightmare, bringing them to life in a wholly believable (and therefore very scary!) way. Jane is a wonderfully complicated character – she’s passionate about her job at the animal sanctuary and determined and bold in dealing with the difficult characters she encounters, yet claustrophobic and terrified into panic when a trigger to a memory from the past is pressed. She’s a character that I found myself really caring about and rooting for.

High drama and high stakes, this is a real pulse-pounder of a psychological thriller and a must-read for 2015.

Highly recommended.

 

You can find out more about C.L. Taylor and her books at www.cltaylorauthor.com and follow her on Twitter @callytaylor

And be sure to check out all the other #TheLie blog tour stops …

BlogTour

 

CTG Reviews: #ILetYouGo by Clare Mackintosh

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I Let You Go cover image

I Let You Go cover image

What the blurb says: “In a split second, Jenna Gray’s world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever. Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating …”

Opening with a hit-and-run incident which leaves a five-year-old boy dead, this hard-hitting psychological thriller grabs you by the throat and keeps you pinned until the very last page.

Jenna has left everything behind to make a new life for herself in Wales. At first she stays inside the remote cottage she’s rented, not engaging with the community, and reliving the horror she’s been through, unable to see a way through her grief. But as the months pass, she gradually begins to forge tentative relationships and starts to believe that perhaps it is possible to continue living. That’s the moment the past catches up with her with terrifying consequences.

Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Ray Stevens hasn’t given up on getting justice for the little boy killed in the hit-and-run. Although his superior officers have told him to move onto other cases, and his wife is getting increasingly irritated by his lack of support in helping resolve the problems their son is having at school, he continues to work the case supported by Kate, the newest Detective Constable in his team. As his home life becomes tenser, and the case remains a mystery, Ray and Kate get increasingly closer as they spend more and more time investigating the details in secret.

With brilliantly drawn characters, and a hard-hitting emotional core to the story, this is a truly gripping novel. From the hauntingly atmospheric winter at a Welsh seaside town, to the claustrophobic terror of Jenna’s inner demons, and the tenacious determination of Ray and Kate to bring justice to a case no matter how long it might take, this is a thought-provoking book.

Beautifully written, and with a twist that will have you gasping out loud (it did me!) I Let You Go is an utterly compulsive read, and one that will stay with you long after you’ve read the final page.

Undoubtedly one of my top reads of 2015.

Highly recommended.

 

You can find out more about Clare Mackintosh by hopping over to her website at http://claremackintosh.com/, looking her up on Facebook at ClareMackWrites and following her on Twitter @claremackint0sh

She also did a brilliant guest post for the CTG blog yesterday on TWISTS – you can read it here

And be sure to check out all the fabulous stops on her blog tour …

I_Let_You_Go_Blog_Poster (4)

CTG Reviews: Can Anybody Help Me? By Sinead Crowley

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Can Anybody Help Me? cover image

Can Anybody Help Me? cover image

What the blurb says: “It was crazy really, she had never met the woman, had no idea of her real name but she thought of her as a friend. Or, at least, the closest thing she had to a friend in Dublin. Struggling with a new baby, Yvonne turns to netmammy, an online forum for mothers, for support. Drawn into a world of new friends, she spends increasing amounts of time online and volunteers more and more information about herself.
When one of her new friends goes offline, Yvonne thinks something is wrong, but dismisses her fears. After all, does she really know this woman? But when the body of a young woman with striking similarities to Yvonne’s missing friend is found, Yvonne realises that they’re all in terrifying danger Can she persuade Sergeant Claire Boyle, herself about to go on maternity leave, to take her fears seriously?”

Feeling out of her depth and isolated at home with her new baby, the netmammy online forum is a lifeline for Yvonne. On the forum she connects and becomes friends with other mums, sharing secrets and worries – things they’d never tell their families or admit to real world friends – and getting advice and support. But when one of her closer ‘friends’ disappears, and a woman matching her description is found dead, Yvonne starts to suspect that there may be something more sinister going on and tries to find out the true identity of the person she only knows as MyBabba.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Claire Boyle is grappling with own pregnancy. Her husband, Matt, wants her to slow down, but she’s determined to find the killer of the murdered young woman before she goes on maternity leave. But the case takes her out of her comfort zone, both physically and online, and forces her to confront her own fears as the danger gets closer than she’d ever have imagined. She’s a courageous, determined and resourceful investigator, and a very human character – trying to balance her personal relationships and her career ambitions, and not always managing too, to the detriment of her own health.

This fast-paced psychological thriller is a real page-turner of a read. The online forum interactions interspersed into the narrative are unusual and intriguing, and it’s very easy to see how Yvonne quickly becomes immersed into the online netmammy world. The story shows a shadowy side to social media and how the information we share about ourselves online can be used against us to devastating effect.

Recommended for fans of psychological thrillers and police procedurals alike.

[with thanks to Quercus for my copy of Can Anybody Help Me?]

The Corpse Role Blog Tour: an interview with author Keith Nixon

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The Corpse Role cover image

The Corpse Role cover image

Today I’m delighted to welcome Keith Nixon, author of The Corpse Role, to the CTG blog as part of his blog tour.

The Corpse Role is out now, can you tell us a bit about it?

It’s a police procedural with a major twist at the end. This is the blurb:

When the body of a security guard implicated in a major robbery two years ago turns up in a shallow grave DI Charlotte Granger is called in. £1.2 million went missing in the heist – the money has never been found and the culprits remain at large. At the time the robbery had been major news and becomes so again, with investigative journalists, her own superiors and career criminals crawling all over the case. However, Granger’s own past threatens to catch up with her…

How did you get the idea for the story?

These things usually start with the kernel of an idea and then I add the layers and Corpse was no different. The trouble is, if I tell you the original idea, I’ll give the twist away!

What’s your writing process – do you plan first or dive straight in?

A mix of both to be honest. I put a degree of planning in up front, have a central theme, characters, some chapters mapped and an ending but the stuff in between is a mystery until I get down to the nuts and bolts of writing! It’s also fairly normal for me to hit a wall about a third of the way in and then have to take a step back and have a good look at how the narrative is working out.

If you had to pick one, what’s your best writing moment so far?

Dream Land for sure. It’s an 8k word novella that’s now the first part of Russian Roulette – Konstantin the Russian tramp from my first debut novel and his first 24 hours in Margate. 8 days of hectic writing and editing around my day job. The Russian found his place in the world as a result of that work.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given on writing?

Never, ever give up.

Author Keith Nixon

Author Keith Nixon

And, lastly, what does the rest of the year have in store for you?

Lots! May 11th I have I’m Dead Again being published, the third Konstantin novel after The Fix and Russian Roulette. I’m also working on the fourth in this series, a further stand alone police procedural and finally I’ll start the 3rd in Roman historical fiction series about Caradoc, Britain’s first great General, but later in the year.

Wow, that sounds like a very busy year!

Huge thanks to Keith for coming and talking to us at the CTG blog today.

The Corpse Role is out now. Recommended for fans of police procedurals, this twisty-turny tale follows DI Charlotte Granger as she investigates a chain of murders where the targets are both criminals and cops. With evidence tampered with, and no one telling the full truth, can she find those responsible before the next person dies? Told across two time-lines, this is an intricately woven tale, with one hell of a twist towards the end.

To find out more about Keith Nixon and his books hop on over to his FaceBook page here https://www.facebook.com/keithnixonauthor and follow him on Twitter @knntom