Thursday 2 April 2020

BLOG TOUR: Blood on the Tyne: Body Parts - Colin Garrow


I always get a thrill when I read books set in my native North East so I jumped at the chance to take part in the damppebbles blog tour for Blood on the Tyne: Body Parts by Colin Garrow.  I am releasing my review as part of the blog tour so scroll down to read what I thought.



Newcastle, 1955. A death in the family brings nightclub singer Rosie Robson home to Newcastle, but her planned return to London hits a snag after she agrees to perform with her old band. Learning the group’s previous singer left after an argument, Rosie begins to wonder if there might be a sinister reason behind the young woman’s disappearance. Uncovering the first in a series of grisly murders, Rosie decides to investigate, but in doing so, finds her own name has been added to the killer’s list…


Blood on the Tyne: Body Parts is book #1 in the Rosie Robson Murder Mystery series.


What did I think?

I love reading books set in the North East of England so I couldn't wait to dive into Blood on the Tyne: Body Parts that is set in Newcastle.  Colin Garrow brings the story to life by choosing to write his characters' speech in a Geordie dialect; although it's not easy to read, it works really well and gives some authenticity to the story.  I have to say that sometimes I struggled with the dialect and I'm fluent in Geordie, so it might be difficult for people outside the region to understand, however, Colin Garrow has preempted this by including a few handy Geordie translations at the end of the book.

Chapter 1 starts with a gripping in-built prologue where a body is found thereby immediately hooking the reader like a hungry fish, but we then roll back 4 days to Rosie's return to Newcastle from London for a family funeral.  I love how not only the scene is set but the time period of 1955 is planted firmly in the reader's mind with Rosie returning home the day that Ruth Ellis, the last woman in the UK to be executed, was hanged.

Rosie's nightmares begin, both literally and figuratively, in Newcastle.  Sleeping in her old bedroom results in a recurring disturbing dream but she keeps waking up before the conclusion.  Something happened in her past that her psyche had buried but being in the same place it happened has brought it to the fore.  Rosie doesn't have time to dwell on it too much as she's talked into helping out her old band when their lead singer goes missing.  Julie isn't the only singer to go missing though and it looks like Rosie's real nightmare is about to begin when she becomes the next target.

Although Rosie is in danger, she can't help but investigate the other disappearances like an amateur sleuth.  With links to the pub and club scene, people will talk to Rosie rather than the police but Inspector Walton is quite happy for Rosie to run a parallel investigation and the pair end up helping each other out.  I loved the dynamic between Rosie and Walton and I do hope that this is not the last we'll see of this pairing.

Blood on the Tyne: Body Parts is a gripping and authentic North East murder mystery.  The scene setting, both time and place, is excellent and I felt as if I was walking in Rosie's footsteps.  I really enjoyed this first book in the Rosie Robson series and can't wait for the next book.  In my native lingo: Aye, it's canny good like. Howay man wi' the next 'un!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:


Buy it from:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Smashwords





About the author:

True-born Geordie Colin Garrow grew up in a former mining town in Northumberland and has worked in a plethora of professions including taxi driver, antiques dealer, drama facilitator, theatre director and fish processor, and has occasionally masqueraded as a pirate. Colin has published three stage plays, six adventures for middle grade readers, two books of short stories, the Watson Letters series and the Terry Bell Mysteries. His short stories have appeared in several literary mags, including: SN Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, The Grind, A3 Review, Inkapture and Scribble Magazine. These days he lives in a humble cottage in North East Scotland where he writes novels, stories. poems and the occasional song.


Social Media:
Website (adults): https://colingarrow.org/
Website (childrens): https://colingarrowbooks.com/
Website (The Watson Letters): https://thewatsonletters.com/




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