BLOG TOUR: 6 Ripley Avenue - Noelle Holten

 

ONE HOUSE

EIGHT KILLERS

NO WITNESSES

Jeanette is the manager of a probation hostel that houses high risk offenders released on license.

At 3am one morning, she receives a call telling her a resident has been murdered.

Her whole team, along with the eight convicted murderers, are now all suspects in a crime no one saw committed…

Don’t miss the first nerve-shredding standalone thriller from Noelle Holten, author of the Maggie Jamieson series.

What did I think?

6 Ripley Avenue is Noelle Holten's first standalone thriller following the success of her Maggie Jamieson series, of which I'm a huge fan, so I was very excited to read it and I was not disappointed.

Told from various perspectives, the plot centres around the murder of an offender in a probation hostel.  With a house full of killers, any one of the offenders could have done it so the police have their work cut out.  It's not just the offenders who have motive though, neighbours and staff are all under suspicion.  I could say that I got the murderer right but that's only because I suspected everybody at one time or another.

I found it really interesting to glimpse inside a probation hostel and seeing the challenges that brings for staff, offenders and neighbours was very enlightening.  It's certainly not a job I could do so I really must applaud people who work in the probation service.  Just remembering all of the many acronyms is challenging enough!

Gripping, tense and filled with suspense, 6 Ripley Avenue is another winner from Noelle Holten and it's well worth a read.

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

My rating:

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About the author:

Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR & Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of risk cases as well as working in a multi agency setting. She has three Hons BA's - Philosophy, Sociology (Crime & Deviance) and Community Justice - and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle's hobbies include reading, attending as many book festivals as she can afford and sharing the booklove via her blog.

Dead Inside - her debut novel with One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK is an international kindle bestseller and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson.

Connect with Noelle on social media here:

Subscribe to Newsletter: http://ow.ly/cgww50BkBtt

Twitter: (@nholten40) https://twitter.com/nholten40

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

Blog FB page: https://www.facebook.com/crimebookjunkie/

Instagram: @author_noelleholten

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

Bookbub author page : https://bit.ly/2LkT4LB

TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZS5P7Y2n/

Amazon:  https://amzn.to/37G2Cha

Pinterest: https://pin.it/1VgMygp

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BLOG TOUR: The Sacrificial Man - Ruth Dugdall

What I want to say is that suicide is my choice. No-one else is to blame. Man seeks beautiful woman for the journey of a lifetime: Will you help me to die? 

When Probation Officer Cate Austin is given her new assignment, she faces the highest-profile case of her career. Alice Mariani is charged with assisted suicide and Cate must recommend a sentence. 

Alice insists her story is one of misinterpreted love, forcing those around her to analyse their own lives. Who is to decide what is normal and when does loyalty turn to obsession? 

Investigating the loophole that lies between murder and euthanasia, Cate must now meet the woman who agreed to comply with her lover's final request. Shocking revelations expose bitter truths that can no longer be ignored.

What did I think?

Having been blown away by her debut, The Woman Before Me, it's about time I read another Ruth Dugdall book and what a brilliant one to choose.  The Sacrificial Man held me in its chilling grasp from the very start and refused to release the grip from its icy fingers until I had turned the final page.

I really have to applaud Ruth Dugdall for coming up with such an exceptional and thought-provoking plot.  When David decides to end his life, he posts an advert for a partner in crime; not for someone to actually do the deed but for someone to be there with him at the end.  Alice answers David's advert and the plans begin to form.  My head was like a whirligig with so many questions flying round my head.  Why does David want to die?  Why on earth has he chosen the stomach lurching method he has chosen? And what sort of person is Alice to be willing to take this journey with him?  So many questions which will all be answered as fast as I could possibly read.

It was great to catch up with Probation Officer Cate Austin again.  Cate has been called in to recommend a sentence when Alice is charged with helping David to die, despite him leaving a suicide note.  It's an odd one really as for all intents and purposes Alice was only present at David's death, she didn't help him make the decision or force him to go through with it.  On the surface, I wondered what exactly Alice had done wrong; but this is the whole debate regarding euthanasia which is illegal in the UK but we often hear about people fighting for their right to decide when and how they die.  Surely David was the one at fault but the police can't prosecute a dead man so Alice will have to do.

Of course there are always two sides to every story and Cate Austin tries to find out not only what exactly happened on the night that David died but the motivation behind both participants.  This makes for one hell of a story and I would have read the whole book in one sitting had I not started it at bedtime.

Chilling, gripping and stomach-lurchingly twisted, The Sacrificial Man is an outstanding thriller that I will be thinking about and debating for a long time to come.  If you're looking for something different to read over Christmas, you've just found it!

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon




About the author:

Ruth worked as a Probation Officer for almost a decade, working in high security prisons with numerous high- risk criminals. Her writing is heavily influenced by her professional background, providing authenticity and credibility. She currently lives in San Francisco.

Follow Ruth:

Twitter @RuthDugdall

Instagram @Ruth_Dugdall

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BLOG TOUR: Dead Inside - Noelle Holten

‘Kept me hooked … excellent pace and a very satisfying ending’ Angela Marsons

‘An excellent read’ Martina Cole

'A brilliant debut – gritty, dark and chilling. Noelle Holten knows her stuff’ Mel Sherratt

A dark and gripping debut crime novel – the first in a stunning new series – from a huge new talent.

The killer is just getting started…

When three wife beaters are themselves found beaten to death, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she is facing her toughest case yet.

The police suspect that Probation Officer Lucy Sherwood – who is connected to all three victims – is hiding a dark secret. Then a fourth domestic abuser is brutally murdered.

And he is Lucy’s husband.

Now the police are running out of time, but can Maggie really believe her friend Lucy is a cold-blooded killer?

What did I think?

This is the kind of book that would make award winning blogger CrimeBookJunkie say 'holy flaming sh*tballs', however, Noelle won't be reviewing Dead Inside because she wrote it!  That's right, top blogger CrimeBookJunkie has turned into bestselling author Noelle Holten.  I can say bestselling with some degree of proof as Dead Inside was THE top selling book at Newcastle Noir 2019.  Luckily, I grabbed a copy on day one of the festival as I saw the pile rapidly depleting.

I've followed Noelle Holten on social media for quite some time and, having read her amazing book reviews, I knew I was in for a gripping and hugely entertaining story but to be honest, every single thing about Dead Inside exceeded my expectations.  The characters themselves are a who's who of the blogiverse, named after some of the best book bloggers out there, and the plot itself is simply stunning.  

I'm not giving away any of this amazing story, other than to talk a little bit about what is already in the blurb.  It is a story about domestic violence so it is sometimes difficult to read; as a former probation officer, and through her own personal experiences, Noelle has a gritty and no holds barred style of writing which adds to the authenticity of the story.  The domestic abuse gets turned on its head as the beaters become the beaten and, even though it's fiction, it's so realistic that I actually felt a little guilty enjoying the wife-beaters getting their comeuppance.

Dead Inside is a phenomenal debut and I was gripped from start to beyond the end as a little thread of intrigue is left dangling to lead us very nicely into book 2.  Dead Inside is definitely the book to read this year and I'm wishing the year away already as I can't wait for Dead Wrong, the next DC Maggie Jamieson instalment to be released in November 2019.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon



About the author:

Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR & Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and a regular reviewer on the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast. Noelle worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of cases including those involving serious domestic abuse. She has three Hons BA’s – Philosophy, Sociology (Crime & Deviance) and Community Justice – and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle's hobbies include reading, author-stalking and sharing the booklove via her blog. 

Dead Inside is her debut novel with Killer Reads/Harper Collins UK and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson.

Links:

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

Twitter: (@nholten40) https://twitter.com/nholten40

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18489795.Noelle_Holten

Blog: https://www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk

Instagram: @crimebookjunkie  

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BLOG TOUR: The Woman Before Me - Ruth Dugdall

They came for me, just like I knew they would. Luke had been dead for just three days.

Rose Wilks' life is shattered when her newborn baby Joel is admitted to intensive care. Emma Hatcher has all that Rose lacks. Beauty. A loving husband. A healthy son. Until tragedy strikes and Rose is the only suspect.

Now, having spent nearly five years behind bars, Rose is just weeks away from freedom. Her probation officer Cate must decide whether Rose is remorseful for Luke's death, or whether she remains a threat to society. As Cate is drawn in, she begins to doubt her own judgement.

Where is the line between love and obsession, can justice be served and, if so... by what means?

What did I think?

...and the creepiest Opening Chapter award goes to Ruth Dugdall for The Woman Before Me!  This opening chapter made my skin crawl as one of my fears and one of my foibles were brought together.  I don't like to think people are watching me without me knowing and I have a fear of a stranger entering my bedroom (and killing me) when I am asleep.  So when Rose stands over Emma watching her sleep, I really did gasp out loud and that was only the tip of the iceberg!

Rose is arrested for starting a fire that night in Emma's house where Emma's baby son died and Emma claims to have been alone in the house, but Rose knows that she wasn't.  Rose keeps this information to herself and accepts her fate, which I think has a lot to do with the post traumatic stress from which she is suffering after the death of her premature baby, Joel.  Rose lost her mother at a young age and doesn't know how to be a mother herself, but she doesn't even get the chance so it was no surprise to see her latch on to Emma and her baby, Luke.  Emma is only too glad of the help as she leaves Luke with Rose so she can have some time to herself.  It would be easy to blame Emma, and in a way I did, as she used Rose for free babysitting services but she probably thought that Rose was her friend, despite knowing nothing about her and not caring enough to find out.  

Now Rose is up for parole and Probation Officer, Cate Austin must decide whether Rose should be released or not.  As Cate digs into Rose's disturbing past she, like all of us readers, wants to know whether Rose was indeed guilty of starting the fire that night.  I was constantly questioning this but then came up with another conundrum: if Rose didn't start the fire, who did?  And if she didn't do it, why did she accept her prison sentence so easily?

I am not surprised that Ruth Dugdall won the CWA Debut Dagger Award in 2005 for The Woman Before Me.  It is a gripping, skin-crawling, dark, psychological thriller that I didn't want to put down.  It is so intriguing that I felt as if I read it too quickly, as I needed to find out the whole story as fast as I could, so it's a good excuse to read it again to savour every detail of this dark and delicious domestic noir book.  Disturbing, gripping and highly recommended.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

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