BLOG TOUR: Murder at the Tower (DCI Viv Lee Mystery Series Book 1) - Stacey Murray

For seven hundred years, Yeoman Warders have guarded the Tower of London, where their homes are inside the walls and where the gates are locked at night.

One of them, Tony Warboys, is on night watch duty, patrolling the ancient grounds. But he won't live to see the sun rise. When his body is found on the cobbles by the peculiar figure of the Tower Ravenmaster, the Met quickly discover that Tony had no shortage of enemies.

As they navigate the intriguing world and hierarchy of the Tower, and public fascination with the case mounts, DCI Viv Lee uncovers shocking secrets which could rock the place to its foundations.

But can she catch the killer before she kills her career?

Murder At The Tower is a classic whodunnit set in the present-day Tower of London.

 

What did I think?

WOW!  Murder at the Tower is an absolutely cracking murder mystery and there is no better location for a locked room mystery than the fortress that is the Tower of London.

You don't need to be familiar with the Tower to enjoy the story as there is a map at the front of the book and I do love a map!  I did visit the Tower about 30 years ago and of course you can see images online but Stacey Murray really brings the location to life with her wonderful descriptions. 

I don't think anyone is that bothered about the victim as Tony Warboys ruffled more than the ravens' feathers.  It literally could have been any one of his colleagues as they all had motive through their dislike of him and means, being ex-military, but who had the opportunity?  

Enter DCI Viv Lee and what a fabulous character she is.  I am so excited that this is just the first book of hopefully many starring this sharp, witty and tenacious female detective.  I simply couldn't read it fast enough and raced through it in two sittings.  I didn't have a clue 'whodunnit' and I think I had every single character under suspicion at one point or another.

Filled with mystery and suspense, Murder at the Tower is a whodunnit that Agatha Christie would have been proud of.  A high bar has been set for book two and I can't wait to see how Stacey Murray follows this magnificent book.  It's an absolutely superb murder mystery and a very highly recommended read.

I received a gifted paperback to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

Hobeck Books

Amazon

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BLOG TOUR: Kindred Spirits: Regal Retribution - Jennifer C. Wilson

A visit to London’s West End sends an already angry ghost into a fury, vowing revenge on those he believes have wronged him in life (and in death). 

Soon, the attacks begin – across the city and beyond – revealing that rarest of beings: haunted ghosts!

When a pattern starts to emerge, a council is established to formulate a plan, but can they work out who is behind the hauntings? As the severity escalates, can the combined force stop the avenging spirit, before the worst happens?

Bringing together the ghostly communities of the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and other places, discover friendships and feuding in the race to retaliation…

 

What did I think?

The Kindred Spirits series is great fun to read and you don't need to have read the earlier books to enjoy Regal Retribution, the sixth book in the series.  As you can guess from the title though, this is a darker novel than its predecessors with a vengeful ghost wreaking havoc on the relatively peaceful community.

Although it doesn't take long to work out who is out for revenge, I really enjoyed the hunt for the elusive ghost; a ghost who won't listen to reason, even from their own family.  Why they are out for revenge also made me pause for thought, as so many historical figures are purposefully painted in the wrong light to increase the popularity of their successors.

The War of the Roses continues on in death, even though the ghosts are living together in the vicinity of their final resting places, but they must work together to rid themselves of this turbulent ghost.  Mixing historical fact with fantasy fiction, I love how Jennifer C. Wilson breathes so much life into her characters that you can really imagine that they spoke and acted like they do.

Hugely entertaining, Kindred Spirits: Regal Retribution is a fun and riveting read.  I really enjoyed it and recommend both this novel and the whole series.

I received a digital ARC to read and review for the blog tour; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the author:

Jennifer has been stalking dead monarchs since she was a child. It started with Mary, Queen of Scots, then moved onto Richard III. At least now it results in a story!

She won North Tyneside Libraries' Story Tyne short story competition in 2014 (no dead monarchs, but still not a cheerful read), and has been filling notebooks and hard-drives ever since. Her Kindred Spirits series, following the 'lives' of some very interesting ghostly communities, is published by Darkstroke, and her historical romances by Ocelot Press.

Jennifer is currently exploring some new ideas for historical romance, and hoping to visit Kindred Spirit friends old and new, north of the border...

Social Media Links – 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/inkjunkie1984

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifercwilsonwriter

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifercwilsonwriter/

Blog: https://jennifercwilsonwriter.wordpress.com/ 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jennifer-C-Wilson/e/B018UBP1ZO/ 

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Kindred Spirits: Tower of London - Jennifer C. Wilson

A King, three Queens, a handful of nobles and a host of former courtiers…

In the Tower of London, the dead outnumber the living, with the likes of Tudor Queens Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard rubbing shoulders with one man who has made his way back from his place of death at Bosworth Field to discover the truth about the disappearance of his famous nephews.

Amidst the chaos of daily life, with political and personal tensions running high, Richard III takes control, as each ghostly resident looks for their own peace in the former palace – where privacy was always a limited luxury.

With so many characters haunting the Tower of London, will they all find the calm they crave? But foremost – will the young Plantagenet Princes join them?

What did I think?

It took me a little while to get my head around Richard III in conversation with Anne Boleyn.  They are two famous historical figures from different centuries who meet as ghosts in the Tower of London; once they are dead, time has no meaning so we find Tudor and Plantagenets 'living' and haunting together.  Richard and Anne are joined by too many historical names to mention but thankfully Jennifer Wilson included a list of characters in the back of the book so we could keep track of who was who.

After his remains were famously found in the car park in Leicester, Richard III's popularity has increased.  At school, I remember thinking of him as the hunchback who murdered his nephews but many believe that this couldn't be further from the truth.  His skeleton alone smashes the hunchback myth to smithereens.  So you can imagine Richard's devastation when as a ghost he goes to watch the Shakespearean play about himself and sees the actor playing a hunchback.  Jennifer Wilson is a one-woman PR machine for Richard III as I really felt as if I got to know him better than I ever have.  I know the basics of the House of Plantagenet, in fact that was my house in school, but have never really delved into their history.  I'm encouraged to read more about this ambitious and ruthless family after reading Kindred Spirits: Tower of London.

Aside from the history, the ghosts have fun haunting the Tower of London.  They all get along well, apart from Jane Boleyn who seems to hover in the shadows after she is accused of betraying the Boleyn family and causing their downfall.  It seems even ghosts hold grudges.  There are two ghosts that Richard would give anything to see in the Tower, those of his nephews, Edward and Richard.  He has been searching high and low for centuries but the boys remain elusive.  Are they hiding from Richard because he killed them or were they not even killed in the Tower?  Both are questions that many historians have struggled to answer for centuries and it remains one of the great mysteries of British History.

The handy character guide proved immeasurably useful as I negotiated all the Georges and Janes.  There are a LOT of characters in the book, as many ghosts as you could imagine inhabiting the Tower of London, and it could sometimes be confusing if you don't know your history.  For example: George, Clarence and George Plantagenet all appear in the book but they are actually the same person.  It was fine for me but I could imagine it would be confusing for some people.  

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Kindred Spirits: Tower of London to historical fiction fans looking for something that little bit different from the tired old stories set in the Tudor court.  Jennifer Wilson makes history fun in Kindred Spirits: Tower of London and she has brought history to life by putting flesh on the bones of the brittle old skeletons lying in the royal tombs.

On a final note: this book gave me goosebumps and not from the hauntings.  I was so invested in the story that I had tears in my eyes at the end and I could have gone on to read many more pages about this unlikely band of regal characters.  

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon