Today it's my turn on the BlogTour The Last Lemming by Chris Chalmers.
Chris Chalmers was born in Lancashire and lives in south-west London. He's been the understudy on Mastermind, visited 40 countries and swum with marine iguanas. His first novel, 'Five To One', was winner of a debut novel competition and nominated for the Polari First Book Prize; his latest, 'The Last Lemming', is out now in paperback and ebook. He has written a diary for 42 years and never missed a night.
Click on a reading from 'The Last Lemming', or a Five-To-ONE-MINUTE-MOVIE for a 60-second intro to the main characters and themes of 'Five To One'. Or search 'chris chalmers novelist' on YouTube, for clips of Chris reading from his other books, poems about Christmas Eve and butcher's shops, and fox cubs dancing to ABBA. (Yep, it's as high-brow as that.)
About the book
TV naturalist ‘Prof Leo’ Sanders makes it to his deathbed without a whiff of scandal — then confesses his career-defining wildlife discovery was a hoax.
A National Treasure shattering his own reputation on YouTube is enough to spark a media frenzy, and the curiosity of part-time journalism student Claire Webster who makes him the subject of her dissertation.
Her investigations lead to Prof Leo’s estranged family, and a high-flying advertising guru he also slandered in the video. Ultimately Claire uncovers the truth behind the discovery of the Potley Hill Lemming — the first new species of British mammal in a century.
It’s a mystery spanning four decades; a tale of greed, obsession and long-forgotten murder at a lonely beauty spot.'
It's a cosy mystery which definitely has a comedy vibe, perhaps not intentionally but the whole lemming storyline was highly entertaining.
Claire is hot on the trail of an intriguing story. A national phenomena caused by the discovery of an elusive species, which is stopped in its tracks when the animals disappear soon after. The person who discovered them, Leo, is thrown for a loop and caught between trying to maintain credibility and wanting the acknowledgment.
The media frenzy is a double-edged sword. It brings recognition, attention and notoriety, but it also threatens to take all of those things and more away at the same time. It changes Leo and determines his actions, choices and the rest of his life.
Why would a man so invested in the truth turn around and call himself a fraud, how desperate is he or is this about discrediting someone else entirely?
Chalmers keeps readers questioning what it is they have got themselves into. Is it a coming-of-age story, one about discovering what you want in life, a window into the world of competitive wildlife conservation or is it really all about an unidentified body? I guess that is the charm of this read - you never really know what is heading your way.
Now I've written my review I am just popping my wellies on, grabbing my night goggles and wildlife camera - it's time to hunt the elusive Lemmings!
Buy The Last Lemming by Chris Chalmers at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: J.Mendel Books; pub date 10 July 2020. Buy at Amazon com.
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