Today, I’m delighted to say, is my stop on the blog tour for The Six Loves of Billy Binns by Richard Lumsden. This is a wonderful novel and Oh Billy, you have … Continue reading The Six Loves of Billy Binns by Richard Lumsden
Category: Debut
The Girl with the Shark’s Teeth by Cerrie Burnell
The Girl with the Shark’s Teeth is a story that shows us that courage, friendship and goodness comes in all kinds of packages. Minnow is different to the other girls in … Continue reading The Girl with the Shark’s Teeth by Cerrie Burnell
Attend by West Camel
Every now and then a novel comes along that is something particularly extraordinary and unusual. Attend is one such novel. A tapestry in novel form, West has built a story that brings … Continue reading Attend by West Camel
Street Cat Blues by Alison O’Leary – Blog Tour
This evening I’m delighted to be hosting the blog tour for Street Cat Blues by Alison O’Leary. A quiet life for Aubrey? After spending several months banged up in Sunny … Continue reading Street Cat Blues by Alison O’Leary – Blog Tour
Vox by Christina Dalcher
100 words. That’s all you have per day. You are being watched, your every action and movement monitored and if you step out of line the consequences are unthinkable. This is America, once the land of the free but now the land of the ‘Pure’. The unimaginable has happened. For women the freedom of speech has been eradicated.
Amazing, thought provoking and absolutely terrifying, Vox is so relevant it’s frightening. It’s a stark message to never stop trying to be heard. Never let anyone take away your voice.
Absolutely brilliant, Vox is the novel that everybody will be talking about. (100 words)
The Devil’s Dice by Roz Watkins – a guest review by Liz Robinson
Here Liz gives us the heads up on the start of a fantastic, thrilling new Crime series…
The first in the ‘DI Meg Dalton Thriller’ series is an addictive, absolute treat of a read. Meg recently moved forces and is now based in Derbyshire, she is thrown in the deep end when a lawyer is found dead in a cave and a sinister game of cat and mouse is initiated. ‘The Devil’s Dice’ was shortlisted for the 2016 Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award (for unpublished writers), so my expectations were high, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. The first few pages set my thoughts fluttering, and throughout this tale a ghostly shadow hovers over the pages. Roz Watkins allows humour to enter at just the right moments, and has created a fabulous main lead. While Meg does have her fair share of problems, and a certain vulnerability too, she really grew on me. As I read, I set my mind free, to delve into the pages, to ponder, to speculate. The Devil’s Dice’ is just so readable, this is a thoroughly modern tale with a teasing strange connection to the past, and a towering cliff hanger of an ending… hopefully there will be many more stories to come.
Synopsis:
A SHOCKING DEATH
A lawyer is found dead in a Peak District cave, his face ribboned with scratches.
A SINISTER MESSAGE
Amidst rumours of a local curse, DI Meg Dalton is convinced this is cold-blooded murder. There’s just one catch chiselled into the cave wall above the body is an image of the grim reaper and the dead man’s initials, and it’s been there for over a century.
A DEADLY GAME
As Meg battles to solve the increasingly disturbing case, it’s clear someone knows her secrets. The murderer is playing games with Meg and the dice are loaded
A white-knuckle crime debut introducing DI Meg Dalton, perfect for fans of Broadchurch and Happy Valley
The Devil’s Dice was pubished by HQ an imprint of HarperCollins on the 8th of March 2018
Sal by Mick Kitson – a guest review by Liz Robinson
There’s nothing quite like discovering a new author. Here’s Liz’s review for this wonderful debut by Mick Kitson.
Just gorgeous… this is an emotional and quite, quite beautiful read. After a particularly traumatic time at home, 13 year old Sal and her younger sister Peppa escape into the wilds of Scotland. Sal has spent a long time preparing, the wilderness beckons them, can they survive on their own? Sal tells their story, the first chapter is so clever, I started to realise what had been happening, and then a few carefully chosen, yet almost casually thrown away words, sent a shockwave running through me. I could clearly hear Sal’s voice, she is so individual and distinctive, her words entered my mind and expanded, filling my heart. Mick Kitson encourages the Scottish countryside to sing with intensity, while you can hear Sal, you can see and feel the clean and natural space she and Peppa find themselves in. Kindness flows from unexpected places, and love is behind every word shared by Sal, even in the darkness. Simple, beautiful, provocative yet touching, this is an outstanding debut, and a read I will return to again and again. Highly recommended.
Synopsis:
This is a story of something like survival.
Sal planned it for almost a year before they ran. She nicked an Ordnance Survey map from the school library. She bought a compass, a Bear Grylls knife, waterproofs and a first aid kit from Amazon using stolen credit cards. She read the SAS Survival Handbook and watched loads of YouTube videos.
And now Sal knows a lot of stuff. Like how to build a shelter and start a fire. How to estimate distances, snare rabbits and shoot an airgun. And how to protect her sister, Peppa. Because Peppa is ten, which is how old Sal was when Robert started on her.
Told in Sal’s distinctive voice, and filled with the silent, dizzying beauty of rural Scotland, Sal is a disturbing, uplifting story of survival, of the kindness of strangers, and the irrepressible power of sisterly love; a love that can lead us to do extraordinary and unimaginable things.
Sal was published by Canongate on the 1st of March 2018
The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey – a review by Liz Robinson
Told over a period of three weeks, with forays into the past, this thrilling debut gathers tension into a knotted tangled ball, before hurling it sky high. Set in Australia, a teacher is found murdered in the town lake with roses scattered in the water above her. Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock ignores connections to the past in order to pursue the case, yet years old secrets start to push forward and batter at her mind.
Sarah Bailey allows Gemma her own voice, she speaks with a simple intensity, her words have a gritty almost dispassionate feel, yet passion is clearly simmering in the background, edging ever closer to the forefront. Other characters are occasionally allowed voice, giving further insight into Gemma. As information is slowly revealed, and the policing team struggle to place all the pieces, I felt the links closing in.
The Dark Lake simmers with tension, infatuation, secrets, and lies, ensuring an absorbing, provocative read.
The Dark Lake is published by Atlantic Books on the 1st of March 2018.
Tales Before Bedtime 