#HalloweenTakeover The Lost Ones by Anita Frank

Welcome to the #HalloweenTakeover for The Lost Ones by Anita Frank. You don't want to miss this fantastic ghost story!

About the Author
Anita Frank was born in Shropshire and studied English and American History at the University of East Anglia. She lives in Berkshire with her husband and three children and is now a full-time carer for her disabled son. This is her first novel.

Follow @Ajes74 on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Buy The Lost Ones

About the book
England 1917
Reeling from the death of her fiance, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion Greyswick - but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by gear and suspicion.

Before long strange incidents begin to trouble Stella - sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs - and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.

Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick's dark and terrible secrets - secrets the dead whisper from the other side...

Review
This is how you write a good ol' ghost story.
Set in 1917 in England, during one of the most devastating periods the world has gone through - the era of the Lost Generation. Husbands, sons, brothers and fathers struck down, whilst protecting their country. In an era where PTSD, shellshock were not recognised as genuine health conditions and trauma considered a weak personality trait, it's no surprise that grief is waved away as inconsiderate and inconsequential nonsense.

This is where the story starts with Stella. A brave young woman who has served her country and is drowning in grief since the loss of her childhood sweetheart. Grief that has driven her to attempt the last resort and in doing so has placed her firmly in the bracket of unstable.

To escape the prying eyes of her parents and the local head shrink she volunteers to keep her pregnant sister Madeleine company in Greyswick, the ancestral home of Madeleine's husband. She brings a maid called Annie with her - a young woman who has her own secrets.

The two of them find a distraught Madeleine, who is convinced she is being taunted or haunted by someone, which her mother-in-law and her companion find ridiculous. Is the hysteria catching or is there really something wrong at Greyswick?

That's as much information as I am willing to give, because readers should experience the read for themselves, both the creepy, the insidious and the moments that are guaranteed to make you angry at certain characters.

The story is set around the First World War, which plays a pivotal part in the characters lives and the storytelling, but for me it was also the only element of the book that was off-key in a way. Why, because it is written with the spellbinding magic of a slightly older era. The skirt-swishing Victorian era, the gothic atmosphere and sense of being taken back into time. I had to remind myself of the year it was actually set in.

It's an absolutely captivating ghost story, it's historical fiction, a plot written with a Christie crime vibe and executed with the same kind of precision. I very much hope this is the first of many stories by Frank - she is an excellent writer.

Buy The Lost Ones at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HQ; pub date  31 Oct. 2019. Hardback £12.99 - eBook £9.99 - Audio Download £12.99. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Waterstones.

#BlogTour Evil Things by Katja Ivar

Today it's my pleasure to take part in the BlogTour for Evil Things by Katja Ivar. It’s a fascinating combo of Cold War political thriller with a hint of Scandi noir and a riveting murder mystery.

About the Author
Katja Ivar grew up in Russia and the U.S. She travelled the world extensively, from Almaty to Ushuaia, from Karelia to Kyushu, before finally settling in Paris where she lives with her husband and three children. She received a B.A. in Linguistics and a master's degree in Contemporary History from Sorbonne University. Evil Things is her debut novel.

Follow @KatjaIvar @bitterlemonpub, Buy Evil Things

About the book
Lapland, Finland, 1952. It’s the height of the Cold War and Finland is a snow-smothered powder keg. Sharing a long border with the Soviet Union the country is engaged in a high-wire act of protecting its independence from its sometimes dangerous neighbour.
Hella Mauzer is the first female Inspector in the Helsinki Homicide Unit. Or was, until she was deemed too ‘emotional’ for the job and reassigned to Lapland. When a man disappears from a remote village on the Soviet border, Hella jumps at the chance to investigate. Her boss is sceptical; after all, people disappear in the snows of Finland all the time. Then a body is found. But the small village of Käärmela is harbouring a second crime. A crime whose evil is of another magnitude.

Review
I can imagine some readers may be inclined to overlook this book because the title suggests something more along the genre of horror. Luckily the blurb allays any such notion, because this is the perfect read for lovers of Scandinavian crime and Cold War fiction to dip into.

I'll admit it took me by surprise. It is well-written and plotted with a fantastically obnoxious and eccentric main character. I think Hella Mauzer might be my grumpy soul spirit living in the type of freezing environment I would never venture into or live in.

One of the most annoying and most poignant points the author makes in the story is the second-class status of females in the police force during more than the first half of the twentieth century. Women were perceived, as is Mauzer, to be too emotional and fragile to work as effective police officers. They certainly weren't allowed anywhere near a crime scene. Good gosh, they might cry or be overwhelmed with emotions. They should be at home making babies and baking cookies, waiting for their partners, who clearly have to be chosen by other people, because hey we all know women weren't capable of making lucid choices for their own future. 'Sigh.'

Those kind of attitudes are enough to drive anyone to become withdrawn or spend a lifetime pretending to be something they aren't. They certainly do nothing for the career Hella wants to expand and enjoy. Instead she is blocked, deterred and insulted at every opportunity by the colleagues who should have er back, which leaves her in dangerous situations at times.

Unlike her male colleagues, Hella has a nose for crime. She has a gut instinct for things that just don't see quite right, but gut instinct just screams women's intuition to her boss, which means he ignores her observations.

She heads up to an isolated area in Lapland to investigate the disappearance of a man, after his young grandson is found cold and hungry in their cabin. Everything Hella finds out suggests she would never leave the boy alone for six days, well not voluntarily. So, where the heck is he?

It's a fascinating combination of Cold War political games with a hint of Scandi Noir, and a riveting murder mystery. The main character and the way she reacts to her environment and other people is what gives this read a flair of eccentric humour. You can almost imagine her stomping off into the cold or interviewing suspects with her brusque and less than charming manner.

I commend Ivar for coming up with a character who has to try and solve crimes within the constraints of misogyny and misguided misconceptions. She is without a doubt a writer to watch out for.

Buy Evil Things on Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press, pub date 11 Jan 2019
Visit bitterlemonpress.com and Buy Evil Things

The Lost Codex by Alan Jacobson

The idea of the Codex and the explosive contents of the ancient scroll is quite good. Definitive proof of Israel's claim, which would cause utter chaos if exposed to the world.

Saying that the Codex seems to play more of a secondary role in the book, as opposed to the whole military operation, which tends to be at the forefront all of the time.

I would have enjoyed more emphasis on the Codex and the possible repercussions. Instead there are long winded explanations of the motivations and reasoning of suicide bombers.

This book features a recurring character in Jacobsen's books. Karen Vail is drawn into the investigation about terrorism, which in turn links to the missing scroll.

The one thing I can say is that it is continuous action from the beginning until the end. So definitely something for readers who enjoy a fast-paced action type thriller with strong police and military procedures.

Buy The Lost Codex at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.