BLOG TOUR: The Devil's Mark (D.I. Graves Book 3) - WD Jackson-Smart

 

Bloody remains. Multiple victims. Ritual sacrifice?

When a blood-stained effigy of body parts is found in a central London park, D.I Daniel Graves must set about trying to discover what it could mean and find the person responsible. Symbols at the crime scene suggest the occult. Who would leave a murder victim in such a way, and why?

As Graves and partner DI Charlie Palmer begin to investigate the ritual and the act of human sacrifice, they enlist the help of Charlotte Gooding, a talented professor specialising in the subject. They hope to narrow down on a motive. Could the killer believe in the supernatural? Witchcraft even?

Then the next crime scene is found. More blood, more symbols, and out in the open. It seems the killer wants the world to pay attention, but why? How are they choosing their victims?

The pressure is on for Graves to put an end to the murders before more remains show up in brutal tableaus. One thing is for sure, this killer is out for blood and is not afraid to make it a very public display.

There's just one problem. Grave's past is still not behind him. Someone is eager to make sure he doesn't forget, cannot move on. And they're not playing games anymore. There may be an occult killer out there, but now there's another out for blood, Daniel Grave's blood.

What did I think?

I've really been enjoying the Palmer and Graves partnership in WD Jackson-Smart's novels; they're police procedurals but with an element of supernatural so absolutely anything can happen and it frequently does.  Although I've kept up with the series, you can definitely read The Devil's Mark as a standalone as any recurring characters are given a good introduction so that new readers are not disadvantaged.

In quite a grisly instalment, Palmer and Graves are on the trail of a killer who dismembers bodies and surrounds the crime scene with bloody symbols suggesting human sacrifice.  They aren't sure who or what they are hunting but as the body count rises, there is officially a serial killer in London.

I felt like I was part of a secret club as the storyline played out; the reader is able to see a lot more of the picture than Palmer and Graves can see.  They do say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but a fearful woman at the end of her tether can also make rash decisions.  It seems like there's always someone waiting to pounce on vulnerable people and profit from their insecurities.

The Devil's Mark is a fast-paced, gripping and chilling thriller; it's pretty dark and often squeamishly vivid but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the page.  It has made me want to read the earlier books all over again now as it really is a cracking series.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour; all opinions are my own.

My rating:

Buy it from:

Panther Publishing

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the author:

WD Jackson-Smart, 35, is a London-based horror and crime fiction author who has been writing crime and horror fiction since 2011. His novel Red Light was self published on Amazon and charted in the top twenty best selling Suspense / Thriller Kindle books on release. 

 

His horror short story, What's Yours Is Mine, was shortlisted for the Horror For Good anthology.

 

His first crime thriller Slasher, about a serial killer targeting slasher movie actresses in Hollywood, is out now, and he has launched a brand new crime series set in London and starring D.I. Graves. The Demons Beneath is the first in the series, and the sequel From Inside The House was published on July 1st 2019.

 

As well as his passion for horror and crime thrillers in all forms, WD Jackson-Smart also loves art and design, having studied Fine Art and Art History in Leeds and Toronto and working as a graphic designer for the majority of his career.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wdejackson

Website: https://www.wdjacksonauthor.co.uk/

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

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BLOG TOUR: The Witch House - Ann Rawson

Who can you trust, if you can't trust yourself?

Alice Hunter, grieving and troubled after a breakdown, stumbles on the body of her friend and trustee, Harry Rook. The police determine he has been ritually murdered and suspicion falls on the vulnerable Alice, who inherited the place known locally as The Witch House from her grandmother, late High Priestess of the local coven.

When the investigations turn up more evidence, and it all seems to point to Alice, even she begins to doubt herself.

Can she find the courage to confront the secrets and lies at the heart of her family and community to uncover the truth, prove her sanity, and clear herself of murder?

What did I think?

Oh wow The Witch House is a book that has it all: murder, mystery, family secrets, the occult, an unreliable narrator and, rather surprisingly, archaeology.  With all of those wonderful ingredients, it feels like The Witch House was written especially for me with many of my interests in mind.

Alice has a breakdown after the death of her grandmother and wakes up in an institution.  When she is released, she returns to the house she has inherited via a trust from her grandmother, much to the chagrin of her mother who was left with another property and a meagre allowance.  Alice doesn't really have any kind of relationship with her mother, having been left in her grandmother's care at a young age.  Alice also inherits her love of archaeology from her grandmother and I absolutely loved this part of the story.

When the trustee is murdered in an apparent pagan ritual, Alice not only discovers the body but becomes the prime suspect.  As more evidence points the finger in Alice's direction, she becomes the sole focus of the police's attentions.  Alice must dig for evidence herself with a little help from her friend and her archaeology professor.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed archaeology playing a part in the story.  It's so unusual to find it in a fiction book and I loved the descriptions of the Roman treasures, fake or otherwise, that were part of Alice's grandmother's collection.  The descriptions are so vivid that I even felt like I was part of the field trip taken by Alice's course. It's so exciting to think that we're walking in the footsteps of the Romans and there could be treasure buried beneath our feet.

Of course, although it is of huge interest to me, archaeology is only a small part of the story.  Alice's grandmother was a High Priestess and Alice has been brought up surrounded by the occult and pagan traditions, with her grandmother choosing to hand down her knowledge to her granddaughter rather than her daughter.  Once you get to know Alice's mother, it's very easy to see why she has been bypassed!

The Witch House is a completely gripping and compelling murder mystery with an unusual occult slant.  Even when you think you have it all worked out, Ann Rawson still has the element of surprise hidden up her sleeve in this outstanding novel.  I was on the edge of my seat towards the end and couldn't read it fast enough.  Ann Rawson is an exceptional storyteller and I'll certainly be looking out for more of her books.  So very different from other crime novels, The Witch House is a very highly recommended read.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

About the author:

Ann Rawson has long been addicted to story. As a child she longed to learn to read because she knew there was magic in those pages, the inky squiggles that turned into words and became images in her head – the stories that could transport her away from the everyday. As she grew older, she divined there was truth in books too. They were a glimpse into other minds. Her reading became the foundation of a deep and abiding interest in what makes people tick – and so she soon became hooked on crime fiction.

Age ten, she wrote to Malcolm Saville, author of the Lone Pine Series, enclosing her first short story. He wrote back and encouraged her to continue writing – and she is heartbroken that the letter is long lost. His book, Lone Pine Five, sparked a lifelong interest in archaeology, as it mentions the Mildenhall Treasure which makes an appearance in The Witch House.

A lapsed witch with enduring pagan tendencies, she lives on the south coast. She still thinks of herself as a Northerner, although she’s been in exile for many years. Almost every day she walks on the Downs or the white cliffs with her husband, plotting her next novel while he designs computer systems.

Ann’s debut novel, A Savage Art was published by Fahrenheit Press in 2016. She has published some short fiction, and in 2019 her memoir piece If… was shortlisted for the Fish Short Memoir Prize.

She is currently completing a memoir and working on her third novel.

You can follow her on Twitter @AE_Rawson (where she doesn’t go far, to be honest), find her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/aerawson/, and her blog is at www.strawintogold.co.uk

Starve Acre - Andrew Michael Hurley

The worst thing possible has happened. Richard and Juliette Willoughby's son, Ewan, has died suddenly at the age of five. Starve Acre, their house by the moors, was to be full of life, but is now a haunted place.

Juliette, convinced Ewan still lives there in some form, seeks the help of the Beacons, a seemingly benevolent group of occultists. Richard, to try and keep the boy out of his mind, has turned his attention to the field opposite the house, where he patiently digs the barren dirt in search of a legendary oak tree.

Starve Acre is a devastating new novel by the author of the prize-winning bestseller The Loney. It is a novel about the way in which grief splits the world in two and how, in searching for hope, we can so easily unearth horror.

What did I think?

What in the name of all that is holy have I just read?  I have never been so creeped out by a book but being able to evoke such emotions meant that I strangely enjoyed it.  I have never read the critically acclaimed The Loney so this is my first introduction to Andrew Michael Hurley's writing and wow can he write!  It's like Andrew Michael Hurley studied horror writing at the University of Stephen King and graduated with first class honours.  

Starve Acre is a very creepy place, reputed to have had an old hanging tree on the land of which Richard is searching for evidence.  When his son Ewan was alive, Ewan claimed to be able to see this fabled tree and Ewan could also hear the voice of scary legend Jack Grey, telling him to do certain wicked things.  Richard's wife, Juliette, is obviously suffering terribly after the loss of her son but she claims to see Ewan in the house.  The story gets really spooky when Juliette invites a group of occultists into her home and even the leader of the group is creeped out by the house.

Starve Acre is deeply atmospheric, as well as being very weird and horrifying but I rather liked it.  Not only due to the lack of chapters, but because of the increasingly intriguing and spooky storyline, it's a book that is very difficult to put down.  To say that it is weird would be an understatement; if you think Stephen King books are weird then Andrew Michael Hurley is like Stephen King on steroids.

Starve Acre is a difficult book to recommend to all as it fits more of a niche group of readers; you definitely need to have an open mind and not take your fiction too seriously.  If you're looking for something different with a hint of the supernatural and a huge dollop of weird, then you'll love Starve Acre.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon