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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Looking Good Dead (Roy Grace series Book 2) - Peter James

One single act of kindness becomes an endless reign of terror. . .

Tom Bryce did what any decent person would do. But within hours of picking up the CD that had been left behind on the train seat next to him, and attempting to return it to its owner, he is the sole witness to a vicious murder. Then his young family are threatened with their lives if he goes to the police. But supported by his wife, Kellie, he bravely makes a statement to the murder enquiry team headed by Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a man with demons of his own to contend with.

And from that moment the killing of the Bryce family becomes a mere formality - and a grisly attraction. Notice of Kellie and Tom's deaths has already been posted on the internet. You can log on and see them on a website. They are looking good dead.

Looking Good Dead is the second bestselling title in the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series from number one author Peter James.

What did I think?

I've got quite a collection of Peter James books and I'm slowly but surely getting round to reading them.  Despite the appearance of a reasonably chunky book, I've found that Peter James books are very quick reads as you simply can't put them down and this second in the Roy Grace series is a real page turner.

Looking Good Dead draws you in straight away when we're introduced to trainee lawyer, Janie Stretton.  Janie has expensive tastes and certainly dresses the part but before the reader can form an envious thought, we find that somebody has Janie in their crosshairs and her time is almost up.  Businessman Tom Bryce is on a train home to his spendaholic wife, Kellie, when a loudmouthed passenger accidentally leaves a CD on the seat.  Tom picks it up and naturally puts into into his computer in an attempt to identify the man who left it, but Tom gets a lot more than he bargained for when the CD directs him to a site where he witnesses a murder.  The CD wasn't meant for Tom, so now that he's a witness to murder he's also become a target.

Crikey!  You need to clear your diary when you pick up a Peter James book as your life will be on hold whilst you are reading it.  This is only the second book in the Roy Grace series but I've already formed quite an attachment to him.  As mentioned in book one, Dead Simple, Roy Grace is still haunted by the disappearance of his wife, Sandy.  The Sandy thread is picked up again when Roy visits mediums in the hope of finding out what happened to her.  Roy has enough to keep him busy with this new case though, especially as he's threatened with a move to Newcastle if he doesn't show results, that's if DS Branson's F1 style driving doesn't kill him first.  I'm getting to know the team better too and I found Norman Potting to be shockingly hilarious - he is Mr Politically Incorrect but he's a good old fashioned copper and an asset to the team if you can keep his mouth shut.

Looking Good Dead is another brilliant instalment in the Roy Grace series and it won't be long before I pick up book 3: Not Dead Enough.  Gripping, addictive, compelling and extraordinary, Looking Good Dead is a superb addition to the exceptional Roy Grace series.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Local Girl Missing - Claire Douglas

Twenty years ago

21-year-old Sophie Collier vanishes one night.

She leaves nothing behind but a trainer on the old pier -

and a hole in the heart of her best friend Francesca.

Now

A body's been found.

And Francesca's drawn back to the seaside town she's tried to forget.

Perhaps the truth of what happened to Sophie will finally come out.

Yet Francesca is beginning to wish she hadn't returned.

Everywhere she turns are ghosts from her past.

The same old faces and familiar haunts of her youth.

But if someone knows what really happened to Sophie that night then now's the time to find out - isn't it?

Except sometimes discovering the truth can cost you everything you hold dear - your family, your sanity and even your life . . .

What did I think?

Told from two different points of view, Local Girl Missing is one of those intriguing books filled with secrets that you just can't wait to unearth.  Along with the fast pace, I loved the two different voices of the story; that of Frankie returning to her hometown when a body has been found and the voice of Sophie who went missing twenty years ago.  Will the truth about Sophie's disappearance be revealed at last?

Frankie and Sophie were friends but, like all friendships, had their ups and downs with Frankie often appearing possessive and jealous of Sophie.  The girls may not have always got along but a secret binds them together as they are the only people who know what really happened when a local boy fell off the pier.  History repeats itself when the same thing appears to happen to Sophie, but without a body nobody is certain what really happened to her.  It is only twenty years later that a body is found and Sophie's brother, Daniel, asks Frankie to return home to identify the body with him.  Frankie is haunted by visions of Sophie and other strange things keep happening to her.  Somebody is watching and playing with Frankie's mind...

This was quite a tense story, my tension often exacerbated by the many ghostly goose-bumpy feelings I experienced.  It is filled with small town secrets and Frankie's return seems to have made them bubble to the surface and burst with catastrophic consequences.  Frankie and Sophie had quite a toxic friendship and the flashbacks to the past made it interesting to see the dynamic between these so-called friends.

Although I didn't really empathise with any of the characters, despite disturbing events in their past,  I found the quality of the writing to be excellent.  It was so atmospheric that I felt chilled to my bones and could almost taste the tang of the salty sea air on my lips.  I'll definitely be looking our for any new books by Claire Douglas and I'll make sure to add her debut, The Sisters, to my reading list.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

BLOG TOUR: No Fourth River - Christine Clayfield

I am delighted to be on the blog tour for No Fourth River by Christine Clayfield.  Christine's story is difficult to read at times but that's what makes it so exceptional, that she has the strength to share this with the world.  You can read my 5 star review below and, if you're in the UK, you also have the chance to win your very own copy of No Fourth River along with some chocolates by heading over to Twitter and retweeting my pinned tweet on 13th March.

Electroshock therapy, child abuse and modern-day slavery… just another day in Christine’s life.

Take a heart-wrenching yet inspiring ride through one woman’s incredible journey that is so compelling that you are simultaneously trying to look away and unable to stop yourself from reading on.

Christine’s father is a wealthy, tyrannical man renowned in the diamond business. At the age of just five, little Christine is cast aside into a boarding school where she is ridiculed for two embarrassing problems. She grows up in a never-ending circle of traumatic experiences both in her boarding school and at home. It culminates into a falling out between father and child that was never fully mended, leading her into a world of promiscuity and alcohol, eventually landing her in a violent marriage.

Driven to the limits of despair and heartache, she creates a plan to escape her world of misery. Will her plan work?

What did I think?

No Fourth River is an exceptional true story that manages to be both devastatingly heartbreaking and powerfully inspirational.  I loved the way that it was written with Christine reflecting on her life after returning to Belgium in 2016 to be at her mother's hospital bedside.  

As Christine talks through her life, my heart went out to her.  She has been brought up in a house with four brothers and I felt like her family didn't know how to cope with a girl.  Perhaps her mother was exhausted after having five children and trying to cope with such a strict and violent husband.  Christine's father was a successful businessman but a very unsuccessful family man.  I think Christine described her father perfectly when she said that 'he detonated' on one occasion when her brother wouldn't turn his music down.  I don't think anybody could have described someone's anger any better.

Christine as a child and teenager, although suffering more than her fair share of trauma, had a lot of love to give and nobody to give it to.  It didn't surprise me that she flirted with boys and turned to alcohol, calling it a 'magic potion' to numb her pain.  'Magic potion' made me laugh at first when you think of the crazy things some people (me) get up to when they are drunk, but then I had a sobering thought (no pun intended) as I remembered the magic wearing off.  As Rumpelstiltskin said:  all magic comes with a price, dearie.  A price that Christine almost paid with her life.

In all darkness there is light, and once Christine said enough was enough it was like seeing a beautiful butterfly emerge from a chrysalis.  She followed her dreams, visualised her future and didn't stop until her dreams were realised.  Although I would take my term 'stop' with a pinch of salt as I don't think for a moment that Christine will ever stop.  Christine's sky is not even her limit, her story isn't even close to ending yet.

Along with Christine's story, each chapter has inspirational quotations at the start and I plan to go back through the book and write them all down.  One that particularly sticks in my mind is from self-help advocate, Wayne Dyer:

"Loving people live in a loving world.  Hostile people live in a hostile world.  Same world." - Wayne Dyer

I've been on a few management courses and often get asked to name an inspirational person.  We've all been there...sitting round a table, not hearing anybody's answer as you're desperately trying to think of someone unique and awesome.  Well, I'm all sorted as next time I get asked to name an inspirational person, I won't have to think twice before naming Christine Clayfield.  Christine is such a brave lady, sharing her story and bearing her soul in the hope that her story helps or inspires even just one person.  Well, consider your book a success, Christine.  I have found my awesome inspirational person and I urge you to pick up a copy of No Fourth River and be inspired by Christine's story too.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon


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BLOG TOUR: Holmes: The Darlington Substitution - Melvyn Small

With Watson’s literary career going from strength to strength, he secures a slot on local radio to publicise his new book.  Uncertain as how to well it went, he is still a little surprised when the recording isn’t broadcast. Although disappointed, he disregards this snub to his confidence as a peculiar but unimportant bend in the path of his literary career.

Sherlock Holmes is not so dismissive. He seizes upon the event, certain that there is more to this rebuff than meets the eye. He grills Watson to the content of his interview, convinced a key fact will reveal all. There is nothing. Watson is sure off that. An investigation ensues that takes Holmes to the end of the known world, a place just near Thirsk.

The Darlington Substitution is a retrospective account, occurring during the same time as the adventures chronicled in Holmes Volume 2. It sees Holmes at the height of his wisecracking, foulmouthed, law disregarding deductive brilliance.

What did I think?

I thought Mel Small's Holmes Volume 1 could not be bettered but I was wrong.  This novella is simply magnificent; it's a page turning mystery filled with the dry wit we have come to expect from Boro's very own Sherlock Holmes.

Mel Small shows his knowledge of the original Sherlock Holmes by naming his book The Darlington Substitution which is the scandal on which Arthur Conan Doyle's son, Adrian, based his short story: The Adventures of the Wax Gamblers.  This isn't a retelling of the tale, though.  It's a fresh, new, modern interpretation of a case that only Sherlock Holmes could solve.

The Darlington Substitution is a brilliant mystery story.  It is based around Dr John Watson who has written about about his escapades with Sherlock Holmes.  Watson is invited to do a radio interview about his new book with DJ Charles Darlington.  Watson, Holmes and friends are all huddled around the radio in their local pub, The Twisted Lip, to listen to the interview, only to find that Watson has been substituted with another author.  Holmes concludes that Watson must have said something in his interview that someone doesn't want broadcast.  Either that or Watson's interview was shit (Sherlock's words, not mine!).

It only takes about an hour to read this novella and I absolutely loved every minute of it.  I quite agree that this is the best Boro Sherlock Holmes story to date, not only that but I also think that it is the best novella I have ever read.  I usually feel unsatisfied by short stories but this one is just perfect.  It had me crying with laughter at Holmes' sharp, cutting and dry humour but I was also completely captivated by this latest mystery.  No dithering over the amount of stars to award here: 5 stars without doubt.  An excellent book!

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

My rating:

Read the first chapters here and keep visiting Indipenned for a new chapter each week.


About the author:

Melvyn Small is an author and the founder of Indipenned, a website that champions the work of independent literature. Thus far he has written two books, Holmes Volume 1 and the imaginatively titled follow up Holmes Volume 2 (Subsequently republished by Fahrenheit Press as the Victor Locke Chronicles).

Mel's perhaps unique spin on Sherlock Holmes, which places the character in a different time, location and section of society, has found fans around the world and is fast becoming a cult classic.  His writing style is pacey and littered with gin-dry humour. It has been described as "hilarious, clever and hugely enjoyable."  The Darlington Substitution novella is his longest story so far and perhaps his best work to date.




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Need to Know - Karen Cleveland

You get to work. Make a coffee. Turn on your computer.

Your task: break into a Russian criminal's laptop and find proof that he's concealing five deep-cover agents - seemingly normal people living in plain sight.

You’re in. Five faces stare back at you.

One of them is your husband.

What did I think?

What a scorching debut!  I read this via The Pigeonhole so read this in 10 staves over 10 days but I definitely think that this would have been a book I would have read in one sitting.  It was torture waiting 24 hours for the next instalment after being left on so many end of chapter cliffhangers and I even set my alarm 30 minutes early so I could read the last instalment before going to work.  It really is THAT good and I don't want to inadvertently reveal any of the plot so I'm going for a brief review.  

Need to Know is a book that constantly has you questioning 'what would I do?' as Viv cracks a Russian spy's computer and sees her husband's picture among his assets.  What would you do?  Call your boss and destroy your family or hit delete and go home to your husband, the spy?  What a moral dilemma for Viv and it's easy to say you'd do one or the other until you're actually presented with the same situation.  I didn't blame Viv at all for her actions although could see her getting deeper and deeper into a hole from which she could never climb out of.

My huge question was 'can Viv trust her husband, Matt?' and I changed my mind over and over again.  I went from yelling 'don't trust him' to thinking that their whole life couldn't be a lie...could it?  The whole book reminded me of a series of 24 with the suspense and tension building with each chapter, so I wasn't surprised to learn that Universal Studios have acquired the movie rights to Need to Know.  If it's half as good as the book, it'll be AMAZING!

Need to Know is an edge of your seat suspense filled thriller that begs a follow up and consider me on my knees begging you for a sequel, Karen Cleveland. A 100% definite 5 star read; do not miss this book!  

This is my honest and unbiased opinion of my first, but definitely not my last, Pigeonhole book.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

BLOG TOUR: The Deal (The Fallen Angel Series Book 1) - S.C. Cunningham

I thought I'd try something a bit different when I was offered the chance to join the blog tour for The Deal.  I do read a bit of fantasy now and again so I was intrigued by the blurb depicting an MI5-style afterlife as imagined by S.C. Cunningham.

A Paranormal Thriller for those who dare to believe that there is something else out there...

At the age of four, Amy was taken…She survived.

A week later, another little girl was taken…She didn't.

Angry that a bad man has gotten away with murder, feisty young Amy Fox makes a deal with God. When she dies, if she’s been a good girl, would God let her sit on a cloud for a while, invisible, to get bad people who slip through his fingers?

Her deal and God long forgotten, career girl Amy mysteriously dies. Her lifeless body is found beneath a London underground commuter train.

She awakens in the afterlife to discover an international network of like-minded souls who’ve all made the same deal. A sophisticated MI5-esque justice machine sits in the skies, protecting, righting wrongs, tracking criminals, and working within strict rules of play…all against time.

Each country's Unit shares intelligence, surveillance, and resources to deactivate dangerous situations. The only evidence they leave behind during their earthly visits is a small white feather sashaying to the ground.

In a chaotic world, powerful adversaries try to close her Unit down. A complex SAS vigilante has been assigned to work as her partner, but with his jealous violent ex-girlfriend on her heels and with her own vendetta to settle, Amy has never worked so hard in her entire earthly life. She has to wonder if making a deal with God was a mistake. 

What did I think?

What a surprising book; I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to which gives it a big thumbs up from me.  I knew it was going to be something a bit different when I started it and it certainly is, but it also managed to hold my interest throughout as I really got to know the amazing characters.

Amy didn't expect to die that day.  After waking up in a strange bed, she does the walk of shame and makes her way to the tube station.  Next thing you know, she's on the tracks with a train barrelling towards her; did she jump or was she pushed?  After a difficult childhood, Amy made a deal that she would get retribution when she died so she finds herself part of The Fallen in the afterlife.  I loved the band of characters in The Fallen:  Jack the dark brooding fatal attraction, Pyke the kind of supervisor who's timing is impeccable and Maggie who is ex MI6, swears like a trooper and loves her cup of tea.  Needless to say, I warmed to Maggie immediately.  Now where's me effin' cup of tea?

I loved the fact that even in the afterlife, Amy and Jack have their insecurities.  They are clearly made for each other but each is frightened to make the first move, then Jack's wife arrives - cue the Eastenders dramatic theme tune.  I'm not going to say anymore about the story as there are twists and turns that left me wide-eyed with surprise.

S.C. Cunningham has taken some popular beliefs and created an outstanding story.  There are so many people who believe that finding a white feather means that they have been visited by a loved one or angel, rather than they have just shaken their duvet.  I'm not a great believer in this as I feel my dearly departed loved ones all around me and I don't need to see a feather to know that they are there, but fair play to those who do believe.  I liked how the white feather was woven into the story when the characters returned to Cloud 9 (love this too!).

I've hovered between a four and a five star rating for The Deal and settled on four stars, although I'm sure there will be many five star reviews forthcoming.  The writing is excellent and the story is brilliant but it is difficult to read at times, even though I felt the graphic scenes had been kept to a minimum so as not to overstep my comfort zone.  The hint is in the title, that this is book 1 in the Fallen Angel series, but it does lead nicely on to a sequel.

The Deal is completely different from anything I have ever read; it is an outstanding book that covers many issues in an ethereal but definitely punchy way.  Step out of your comfort zone and try it - you won't be disappointed.

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

My rating

:

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon USA

About the author:

Author of The Penance List, Unfinished Business and The Deal,  Siobhan C Cunningham (S C Cunningham) creates Paranormal Romance and Psychological Crime Thrillers with a skilled mix of fuelled tension, dark humour, and pulsating sex scenes. Having worked in the industries she writes about, her novels offer a fresh level of sincerity and authority, rare in fiction.

Abducted as a child, she survived; and every night for months afterward, she prayed to God, asking for a deal. This personal journey sparked the fuse behind the intriguing and riveting fictional world she portrays in The Deal, the first in The Fallen Angel series. Twenty years later Cunningham crossed paths with a violent serial attacker, sowing the seed for her mind-bending thriller, The David Trilogy; The Penance List, Unfinished Business, For My Sins.

An ex-model, British born of Irish roots, she married a rock musician and has worked in the exciting worlds of music, film, sports, celebrity management and as a Crime Investigator for the British Police (Wanted & Absconder Unit, Major Crime Team, Intelligence Analyst, Investigations Hub).

Her first novel, The Penance List has been adapted to film screenplay.

She is the proud mother to contemporary Artist Scarlett Raven and owned by three dogs.

Social Media Links –

Website - http://www.sccunningham.com/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/SCCunningham8

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pg/sccunningham8/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/siobhancunningham8/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sccunningham/

Google+ - https://plus.google.com/+SCCunninghamAuthor

Amazon Author Page - https://www.amazon.com/S-C-Cunningham/e/B002L3ZC2U/

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