Tag: crime thriller

CTG Reviews: Personal by Lee Child

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Personal by Lee Child cover image

Personal by Lee Child cover image

What the blurb says: “Someone has taken a long-range shot at the French president but failed to kill him. The suspected sniper has serious skills and is a hard man to find. Reacher tracked him down once and put him in jail. Now he’s asked to hunt him again, and put him away permanently.
Tracking the shooter will take Reacher from France to England after a killer with a treacherous vendetta. He’ll need to uncover who did the hiring and what’s behind the assassination attempt before executing his orders.”

As a massive fan of Lee Child’s writing, I must confess that it was a huge thrill and a privilege to get to read an advance copy of PERSONAL.

In PERSONAL – the latest novel and nineteenth in the Jack Reacher series – Reacher spots an advert in the Personals from a military colleague asking him to get in touch. He owes this guy from way back and so Reacher being Reacher, he makes the call and finds himself pulled into a high profile case that threatens international security.

There’s been an attempt to assassinate the French president. The sniper fired from a range of fourteen hundred yards, more than three-quarters of a mile. There are very few people in the world that could have made the shot, and one of them has a bad history with Reacher. Question is, was he the one who pulled the trigger? And, if he was, can Reacher track him down before he tries again at the London G8 summit?

Partnering up with young agent Casey Nice, Reacher follows the trail, taking him from the US to Paris, on to London and back to the US. But with half-truths and bureaucracy at every turn, the inter-agency team remains a step behind their person of interest. With the time ticking away, Reacher takes matters into his own hands – in a way that only he can.

This is a fast paced, action packed story, with all the twists and turns you’d expect from a Reacher novel. Reacher himself is as witty and smart as ever, and a strong mentor for Casey on her first operational mission on overseas soil. And it’s great to see Reacher making a trip across to Europe. I particularly loved the London scenes, and picturing this great anti-hero in locations that I know.

Cinematic and slick, this heart-thumping, page-turning read is a must for all thriller fans.

Highly recommended.

 

PERSONAL is out today in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and on September 2nd in the US and Canada.

[with big thanks to Random House – Bantam Dell for my copy of PERSONAL]

Guest Blog: Michael Sears talks about storytelling, family and the importance of reading

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Michael Sears

Michael Sears

Today, Michael Sears, Edgar-nominated and Shamus-winning author of Black Fridays, drops by the CTG blog to talk about storytelling, family and the importance of reading …

I come from a family of storytellers. There were five children and to get any attention in that crowd, you had better have a good tale to tell. My father left me both his sense of humor and his heart, but it was my mother who fed my love of reading and language.

She was a powerful story teller and still is; it is her voice that is most heard at a family gathering. My cousins tell about a time when she was visiting and in the middle of telling a good yarn, a paper napkin, too close to the dinner candle, burst into flame. Without pausing for as much as a deep breath, or missing a beat in her story, my mother poured her water glass over the conflagration, doused the fire, and wrapped up the whole mess in another napkin. They were all in awe of her.

The various adventures of Freddy the Pig, in a series of two dozen or so books by Walter R. Brooks, introduced to me the idea of character, despite the fact that the few humans in the stories barely spoke. Freddy, Jinx the cat, and the cow, Mrs. Wiggins were all sharply drawn, complex characters with points of view, strengths, and weaknesses that made them distinct. They were talking animals, but they were more human to me than the Hardy Boys, who I could never keep straight. Frank was the older one, right?

One of the many benefits of being an avid reader, is that when your nose is deep in a book, parents think you are working and leave you alone. I was not excused from chores or having to do homework, but they couldn’t insist that I play with my little brother while I was reading.

I remember sometime in high school telling my father that I was reading War and Peace and he asked me, “Why?” “Because it is a challenge,” I answered. “It is the longest book I have ever read.” I don’t remember much of the story, but I do remember that it was very long. It was a challenge.

But a few years later, I was a lifeguard for the summer at a private club on a deserted stretch of Fire Island. The only access was by boat, or a mile hike along the beach from the next club, which was much fancier and had a ferry that ran to it (that was my daily commute). The club would get very busy on the weekends, but there were many days during the week when I was the only person there – all day. I couldn’t shut the beach down unless the weather or surf conditions warranted, so I sat there and read. I read all of Shakespeare that summer. Imagine the thrill it was for me to read aloud Henry V, or Lear, or Prospero, seated on a tall lifeguard’s chair, with the constant roar of breaking waves as background. It was a glorious summer.

I don’t understand writers who claim not to read. Not every reader has a book in them, but every writer must know what has gone before, if only to avoid the most common mistakes. Being a writer, now with two books published and a third due out next year, places me on a great timeline that stretches back for millennia. Like Homer, and the various writers of the tales of Gilgamesh or Beowulf, I am also a bard. A storyteller.

Mortal Bonds cover image

Mortal Bonds cover image

A big thank you to Michael for dropping into the CTG blog today. 

Michael Sears’s Mortal Bonds, the follow-up to Black Fridays, marking the return of financial investigator Jason Stafford in a sensational story of fraud, murder and redemption is out now, published  by Duckworth Publishers.

 

Re-blog: David Khara stops by to talk about The Bleiberg Project

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cover image

cover image

Last year David Khara, author of The Bleiberg Project, dropped by the CTG blog to talk about the launch of his new conspiracy theory action thriller eBook. As The Bleiberg Project – the first in the Consortium Thriller series – has now come out in paperback we thought we’d re-blog the interview and excerpt. 

But, before we get started with the interview, here’s a little taster of the book (please note contains strong language):

Excerpt:

“Besides work and getting high, what do you do all day?”

No answer. You’re out of luck, pal. I’m pig-headed. “The journey will seem shorter if we talk, don’t you think?”

He sighs. “When I’m not on an assignment, I paint.” I can’t help laughing. “You think that’s funny?”

“I’m picturing you on a stool with your palette and brush, gazing at a green valley or a snowy mountaintop. Sorry, but with your look and build, it’s funny!”

“If you’re just going to make fun of me, the trip is going to seem very, very long.” He clams up.

“There’s no harm in a little fun. OK, I’ll stop,” I snort, laughing even louder. Why do giggling fits always hit at inappropriate times?

“What about you? Besides driving home from clubs dead drunk, what do you do?”

Bastard. That’s below the belt. On second thought, I guess I deserved it. “I try to survive. I thought about blowing my brains out, but I’m too much of a coward. So I drink. I smoke like a chimney. Every day, I destroy myself a little bit more.”

“Suicide isn’t a sign of bravery, but of giving up. We all make mistakes. You don’t judge somebody by the number of blows they can give.”

“What do you judge somebody by, Mr Freud?”

“The number of blows they can take.”

His words hit home. “You’ve taken a lot, right?” I ask. A long, long beat.

“More than you can ever imagine.”

Why am I not surprised? This guy’s been around the block. I’d bet my life on it. “How do you do it?”

“Pardon me?”

“Blowing guys away like that. How do you do it?”

“Who said it was easy?” He sighs heavily. A long awkward silence.

(Excerpted from The Bleiberg Project by David Khara. First published in French as Le Projet Bleiberg, ©2010 Editions Critic. English translation ©2013 Simon John. First published in English in 2013 by Le French Book, a digital-first publisher specializing in best-selling mysteries and thrillers from France.).

And now, for the interview …

So David, your new book, The Bleiberg Project, is a thriller with links to World War II. What was it that inspired you to write a novel along that theme?

The whole idea for The Bleiberg Project idea came while I was driving to my office, listening to the news. A pharmaceutical company was doing research on an orphan disease that touched fewer than 100 kids in Europe. A man said that the study was being ended because the budget was 50,000 euros short. I was stunned. These companies make tons of money, amazing profits, and 50,000 euros is a drop in the ocean. When I got to my office, I started looking into the subject and found articles establishing links between Nazi and Japanese scientists during WWII and pharmaceutical companies. I also found information about how Allied governments were interested in the results of immoral and incredibly cruel human experiments. Through my research, I realized the world we live in rose up from the ashes of war, and was built on the corpses of 60 million victims. I wanted to write about it, through entertainment to make it more bearable.

What research do you do to ensure the atmosphere, locations and characters feel authentic?

The answer is pretty easy: 1000 hours listening to survivors, watching documentaries over and over again, and reading biographies. The point was not for me to merely tell the stories. I needed to get in the minds of both victims and criminals. I wanted to be there with them. This inspired many of the characters of the series, even those set in the present day. And everything that happens in the past is, at one point or another, is based on the truth.

Tell us a little about your writing process, do you plot out the story events before sitting down to write, or do you drive right in and see where the story takes you?

It is a very delicate mix of both. I’ve got a few dots I need to link together to get the whole picture. I do not use notes, nor do I write an outline. I know what I’m going to write, and since the novels are built as puzzles with chapters taking us back in time, I have everything in mind before starting. That means I constantly think about it. There is just no day off when I start working. Still, the absence of a written script gives the characters some space to explore unplanned directions. My job is then to make sure they don’t stray too far from the plot and my goals.

How do you organise your writing day: do you have a favourite time and place to write?

My writing day is a well-established ritual. I write in my garden, a cup of coffee on the left side of my computer, and my cigarettes (bad, I know) on the right side. I put sunglasses on, then headphones because I need music to keep me in the mood of each chapter. With that, I’m ready for 6 to 8 hours of intensive writing. I usually work from 10 in the morning to 6 in the evening, with a break for lunch. When I’m not in the mood for writing, I go back to my research.

And what’s next for you, are you planning your next novel, or already well into the writing of it?

The Morgenstern Project, the third book in the Consortium thriller series, was just released in France, so I’m traveling a lot for book signings and interviews. My next novel is planned, and I’ll start writing it pretty soon and it is about time because I’ve had it in mind for three years now and lots of readers ask for it. The Bleiberg Project movie production should move to a new phase soon, which will have a direct impact on my schedule. 2014 will be a very busy year, believe me.

A big thank you to David Khara for dropping by to talk to us. To find out more about David and The Bleiberg Project, you can check out the link below:

Web page: http://www.thebleibergproject.com

The Broadchurch Beacon Blog Tour: The Broadchurch novel by Erin Kelly

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Broadchurch novel cover image

Broadchurch novel cover image

What the blurb says: “It’s a hot July morning in the Dorset town of Broadchurch when Beth Latimer realises her eleven-year-old son, Danny, is missing. As Beth searches desperately for her boy, her best friend, local police officer DS Ellie Miller, arrives at work to find the promotion she was promised has been given to disreputable Scottish outsider DI Alec Hardy.

When Danny’s body is found on the beach Ellie must put her feelings aside as she works with DI Hardy to solve the mystery of Danny’s death. As the case becomes a murder investigation, the news hits the press, jolting sleepy Broadchurch into the national spotlight.

As the town’s secrets begin to unravel, members of this tight-knit community begin to consider those in their midst. Right now it’s impossible to know who to trust …”

I was so excited to get my hands on this hotly anticipated novel.

Inspired by the BAFTA award-winning ITV series created by Chris Chibnall, Erin Kelly has done a fabulous job of capturing the atmosphere and tone of the show in this translation from screen to page.

True to the characters and honest to the story, what the reader gets from the novel is the chance to experience events from inside the heads of the main characters. It’s like seeing the whole thing in HD through a lens angled slightly differently, exploring the characters inner thoughts and emotional battles for a deeper insight into what happened that dreadful July when Danny died.

Told in the present tense, the novel feels immediate and dynamic. The tension arising from the different styles of DI Alec Hardy and DS Ellie Miller vibrates off the page and, as in the TV series, they make for compulsive watching (reading). As the small seaside town of Broadchurch reels from the loss of one of it’s own, and the police (and the journalists) strive to find Danny’s killer, it becomes clear that beneath their smiley exterior some locals have dark secrets in their past that once revealed will change the small seaside town forever.

So, the big question, does the book feel authentic to the characters and the series? Definitely, yes.

And, does it feel like a story and entity in its own right? Absolutely, yes.

Emotive and suspenseful, this is a must-read for fans of the show and crime fiction readers alike.

Highly recommended.

 

To find out more about the book, hop over to The Crime Vault where you can read an extract: http://www.thecrimevault.com/ebooks/broadchurch/

This post is part of the Broadchurch Beacon Bloggers Tour. Check out the other fabulous tour stops here:

Broadchurch Beacon Blog Tour poster

Broadchurch Beacon Blog Tour poster

CTG Reviews: The Inside Man by Jeff Abbott

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The Inside Man cover image

The Inside Man cover image

What the blurb says: “Sam Capra’s friend Steve has been murdered, shot dead in the rain outside of his Miami bar. The only lead: a mysterious, beautiful stranger Steve tried to protect. To avenge his friend, Sam goes undercover into the Varelas, one of Miami’s most prominent and dangerous families.

Now on the inside, playing a part where one wrong move means death, Sam faces a powerful, unstable tycoon intent on dividing his business empire between his three very different children, who each may hold murderous secrets of their own.

Sam is relentlessly drawn into this family’s intense drama, amplifying painful echoes of his own shattered relationships as a son, brother, father, and husband. And just when he thinks he understands why the family is self-destructing, he discovers a lethal secret so shocking that the Varelas cannot let him walk away alive . . .”

As you know, I love a good action thriller and The Inside Man, book three in the Sam Capra series, doesn’t disappoint. There’s plenty of seat-of-your-pants action in this high energy, high stakes thriller.

When Sam Capra’s old friend Steve Robles is shot and killed outside a bar in Miami as he tries to protect his client – Cordelia Verela – Sam can’t just stand by and let justice go unserved. Risking his own safety and the wrath of his employers, Sam sets out to find out who murdered his friend, and in doing so becomes embroiled in the lives of the hugely wealthy and extremely dangerous Varela family.

But what at first appears to be an old-fashioned family feud soon is revealed to be a whole lot more. Determined to avenge his friend, and get Cordelia to safety, Sam follows the evidence and digs deeper into the smuggling myths about the family’s criminal connections.

As the body count rises, and Sam becomes a target, he discovers a much darker secret hidden inside the core of the family’s history. Question is, will he live long enough to tell the tale?

The story hurtles along with the gas pedal pressed firmly to the floor, following Sam as he seeks out the truth and vows to bring the killer of his friend to justice. There are plenty of twists and turns, and a cast of highly suspious and potentially criminal characters, that combine to keep you guessing over the identity of who it was behind Steve’s murder.

With plenty of slick action sequences, chases, and fight scenes – and a smuggling technique that’s highly unusual and, for a moment, made me think the story was taking a sci-fi turn – this pacey, race-against-time thriller makes for a great summer read.

Highly recommended.

 

[I bought my own copy of The Inside Man]

CTG Reviews: The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

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The Good Girl cover image

The Good Girl cover image

What the blurb says: “I’ve been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don’t know the colour of her eyes or what they look like when she’s scared. But I will.

Mia Dennett can’t resist a one-night stand with the enigmatic stranger she meets in a bar. But going home with him might turn out to be the worse mistake of Mia’s life …”

This spellbinding debut thriller uncovers just how many dark secrets can be hidden behind a perfect family image. Schoolteacher, Mia Dennett, turned her back on her family’s extravagant lifestyle to work as an inner-city teacher and make her own way in the world. But when her boyfriend stands her up one time too many, a spare-of-the-moment decision to go home with the smooth and attractive Colin has horrifying consequences for more than just Mia.

Told through three main viewpoints – the mother, Eve, the kidnapper, Colin, and the cop, Gabe – each character shows the reader a different perspective on the events, and on Mia, leading up to, during and following the kidnapping.

It’s really hard to write about this story without giving anything away (and, trust me, you don’t want me to do that). What I will say is that with the different time-points told out-of-sequence, the story gradually builds the tension to the max as the details of what happened to Mia are uncovered. It’s a complex tale of deceit, jealously, fear, and love played out against the bustling, bright lights of Chicago and the frozen, unforgiving landscape of rural Minnesota in winter.

I found this artfully crafted story brutal at times, and yet so beautiful that it made me cry (and I can’t remember the last time a story did that). A stunning debut.

Highly recommended.

 

[with thanks to Harlequin MIRA for my copy of The Good Girl]

CTG Reviews: Blackbird by Tom Wright

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Blackbird cover image

Blackbird cover image

What the blurb says: “The day after a terrible storm, electricity still crackling in the air, a woman is found dead on the outskirts of a Texan town. She has been brutally attacked and nailed to a cross.

The victim is Dr Deborah Gold, a psychologist who has taken a lot of people’s secrets to her grave.

Which means a lot of suspects for Detective Jim Beaudry Bonham to investigate. And lately he could use some psychological help himself …”

Set in a small Texan town, this gritty and uncompromising thriller follows Detective Jim Bonham, or Biscuit as he’s known to his friends and family, as he tries to unpick the truth behind the brutal killing of Dr Deborah Gold.

With a nod to the supernatural, Jim follows both the evidence trail and his own visions and hunches. But as he discovers more about the dark deeds Deborah Gold had been involved in, he finds his own buried emotions about recent and past losses return to haunt him.

The atmospheric setting of this novel is both hauntingly eerie and colourfully vivid. Wright has created a cast of unique, larger-than-life characters: from the determined and slightly clairvoyant Jim Bonham, to his no-nonsense colleague Mouncey, his wife Jana (with whom his relationship is decidedly sticky) and the girls. Even Jim’s good companion cat, Mutt, has one hell of a personality.

Rich with beautiful prose and lyrical dialogue that I found highly reminiscent of the late, great Elmore Leonard, this book was a treat to read. Heart-wrenchingly compelling, and hard to put down, the story events draw you into Jim Bonham’s world and have you rooting for him to find the killer of Deborah Gold, and the answers to the questions that have haunted him for so long.

Highly recommended.

 

[with thanks to Cannongate for my copy of Blackbird]

 

CTG Reviews: The Distance by Helen Giltrow

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The Distance cover image

The Distance cover image

What the blurb says: “Charlotte Alton has put her old life behind her. The life where she bought and sold information, unearthing secrets buried too deep for anyone else to find, or fabricating new identities for people who need their histories erased.

But now she has been offered one more job. To get a hit-man into an experimental new prison and take out someone who according to the records isn’t there at all.

It’s impossible. A suicide mission. And quite possibly a set-up. So why can’t she say no?”

This is a stylish, espionage-type thriller with a bold and courageous female lead character. Karla (and her alter-ego Charlotte Alton) is super-smart, brave and principled (in her own very distinct way). She is the best of the best at helping people who want to disappear, and is herself a master of disguise.

But this job is different. To get a hit-man into ‘The Programme’ – an experimental prison that is meant to be impossible to break in or out of, and the hit-man is Johanssen – a guy she has a history with.

Karla takes the job, but as Johanssen assumes a new identity in order to enter The Programme, Karla gets increasingly suspicious of the client and their motives. The target of the hit is a woman, and the only information they have on her is a photo and an assurance that she did ‘something bad. Yet she seemingly has no identity, no history, and there is no record of her being inside the prison. Still, Karla has seen the CCTV footage – she knows that the target is inside and very much exists.

Concerned for Johanssen’s safety, Karla digs deeper to find the identity of the target and, in doing so, unravels the complex web of lies, bribes and murder. As she gets closer to uncovering the violent truth hidden behind the hit, Karla, and those close to her, become targets.

Set in the near future and played out over twenty-four days, the story is packed with tension. It’s told in the present tense, which adds to the momentum, and hammers along at a tremendous pace. The plot twists and turns, then twists some more and turns again, ramping up the suspense page by page. A great read, it had me hooked from the first page to the last.

Dark, edgy and, at times, brutal, this is a stylish and highly original debut.

Highly recommended.

 

[I bought my copy of The Distance]

 

CTG Interviews: Chris Culver, author of the Ash Rashid series

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Today, I’m delighted to welcome author Chris Culver, New York Times Bestselling author of the Ash Rashid series of mysteries, to the CTG blog.

Welcome, Chris. Let’s jump straight into the questions …

Your latest book NINE YEARS GONE is out this month. Can you tell us a bit about it?

NINE YEARS GONE is a standalone, which is a little unusual for me. It’s the story of an average guy from the Midwest who, to save her life, helps his girlfriend disappear and then frames her evil and quite powerful stepfather for her murder. Then, nine years later on the evening after the wicked stepfather is executed and when my hero is married and has everything he’s ever wanted in life, his former lover returns to upend his entire world.

It’s a story about revenge and the fine line between love and obsession. I’m probably biased, but I think it’s fun.

NINE YEARS GONE cover image

NINE YEARS GONE cover image

NINE YEARS GONE is your second standalone book. What was it that prompted the idea for the story?

NINE YEARS GONE was a departure for me, both from my Ash Rashid series and my typical genre, thrillers. It’s psychological suspense, and I wrote it because I needed a break. I love my reoccurring series character, and I don’t plan to abandon him anytime soon, but it’s easy to get stuck in a rut writing in the same universe over and over again. I don’t know where this analogy originally came from, but I think it’s fitting: writing in a series is a bit like a painter buying a canvass only to discover half the painting is done. The painter still has a lot of room to work with, but his new work has to fit the old work. Sometimes, it’s just nice to try something new.

The actual idea for the book came from a footnote in a legal textbook. It involved a 17th or 18th century case in which a man was hanged for murdering his neighbor and then disposing of the body. Unfortunately, that neighbor was on a trip abroad and returned just in time to see a familiar man swinging from the gallows in the town square. When I read that, I couldn’t help but wonder if it could happen in the contemporary United States. From there, I just started asking myself “What if. . .?”

 

Could you tell us a little about your writing process, do you dive right in, or plan the story out first?

I do a little bit of both. My outline for NINE YEARS GONE ran 40 single-spaced pages and contained almost 20k words. It had snippets of dialogue, outlines of the various plot twists, the backstory—everything I needed to write the plot of the novel. In addition to that, I have character worksheets that I keep for every character in the book.

As soon as I sit down and start typing, I throw it all out the window. My characters take on a life of their own and do things that surprise even me. At that point, they sort of take over.

 

What advice would you give to new writers aspiring to publication?

Practice. Your first book is the hardest to write and, hopefully, the worst book you’ll ever write. My first book was an absolute affront to literature, but it taught me a lot. My second book was significantly better, and my third book was even better than that. Most writers go through that sort of progression. So don’t give up. If you want to be a writer, keep writing, keep practicing, and never stop trying to improve your craft.

Author Chris Culver

Author Chris Culver

And lastly, what does the rest of 2014 have in store for you?

I’m going to be busy. I’m about 65% complete with my fourth Ash Rashid title. I think it’ll be a great book when it’s done. After that, I’m thinking of starting a new series. It’s a big undertaking but one I’ve wanted to do for quite a while.

 

Sounds exciting. I can’t wait to read them.

Thanks so much for dropping by the CTG blog to answer our questions.

Chris Culver’s latest book, NINE YEARS GONE, is out this week.

Here’s what the blurb says: “Nine years ago, Steve Hale saved the love of his life from her abusive and very powerful stepfather by helping her disappear and framing him for her murder. Today, that stepfather is dead, executed by the state of Missouri for a crime he didn’t commit, and Steve has a loving wife, a little girl who depends on him, a home, a career – everything he ever wanted and believed he could never have. He also has a new voice mail from a woman the rest of the world believes is dead.

A reunion with his former girlfriend quickly sours when Steve realizes that her stories don’t match up – the one she told nine years ago and the one she told today.

As he unravels her twisted knot of lies, he discovers that events are already in motion and plans are being carried out. Unwittingly, he’s hurtling toward a dark secret – one some very dangerous people are willing to protect at any cost.”

And, you can connect with Chris at: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@Culver_C
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrisCulverBooks
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4697453.Chris_Culver?from_search=true

Guest Post: Laura McHugh author of The Weight of Blood

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The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh, published in hardback by Hutchinson at £14.99

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh, published in hardback by Hutchinson at £14.99

Laura McHugh’s debut psychological crime novel came out earlier this month and is gathering rave reviews. Today I’m pleased to welcome Laura to the CTG blog to tell us a bit about the true crime small town justice that inspired her to write the book …

In The Weight of Blood, the people of Henbane are more likely to cover up crimes than report them to the law, and that’s a common occurrence in some of the small, tight-knit, rural Ozark communities where everyone knows—or is related to—everyone else.

One well-known example took place in the nearby town of Skidmore, Missouri. Ken McElroy was the town bully, and he’d gotten away with a number of serious crimes, including assault, arson, burglary, and shooting the elderly town grocer. The townspeople had had enough, and they decided to take action. They gathered on the main street with their guns, and McElroy was murdered in broad daylight in the middle of town, in front of dozens of witnesses.

No one called an ambulance. Not a single person ever spoke up to say who had killed him. Every witness claimed that they did not see anything, and no one has ever been charged in connection with McElroy’s death.

A huge thank you to Laura for dropping by the blog to talk about the shocking real-life event that influenced her to write The Weight of Blood and create the fictional small town of Henbane where the story is set.

The Weight of Blood is out now. It’s gripping, packed with suspense and set in an isolated community where family lies and dark secrets hide.

Here’s the blurb: “People still whisper about Lucy Dane’s mother who vanished years ago from the town of Henbane, deep in the Ozark mountains. When one of Lucy’s friends is found murdered, Lucy feel haunted by the two lost women: by the mother she never knew, and the friend she couldn’t protect. But her search for answers, in a place where secrets are easily concealed, leads her to a chilling discovery. And with this revelation, she must grapple with the meaning of family, the secrets we keep, and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love.”

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh is published in hardback by Hutchinson, priced £14.99.

To find out more about Laura, pop on over to her website at http://www.weightofblood.com