#BlogTour No Time to Cry by James Oswald

Today it's an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour No Time to Cry by James Oswald. It's the first part in a brand new crime series featuring tougher than old boot nails DC Constance Fairchild.

About the Author
James Oswald is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Inspector McLean series of detective mysteries. The first two of these, Natural Causes and The Book of Souls were both shortlisted for the prestigious CWA Debut Dagger Award. No Time To Cry is the first book in James's new Constance Fairchild series.
James farms Highland cows and Romney sheep by day, writes disturbing fiction by night.

Follow @SirBenFro @Wildfirebks
Visit jamesoswald.co.uk
Buy No Time to Cry

About the book
Undercover cops are always dangerous, but DC Constance Fairchild never expected things to go this wrong.
Returning to their base of operations, an anonymous office in a shabby neighbourhood, she finds the bloodied body of her boss, and friend, DI Pete Copperthwaite. He's been executed - a single shot to the head.
In the aftermath, it seems someone in the Met is determined to make sure that blame for the wrecked operation falls squarely on Con's shoulders. She is cut loose and cast out, angry and alone with her grief... right until the moment someone also tries to put a bullet through her head.
There's no place to hide, and no time to cry.

Quickfire Questions with James Oswald (supplied by the publisher) 
Give us three adjectives to best describe your new novel?
Thrilling, breathless, short
What are the three most important character traits of your protagonist?
Dogged determination, ability to think on her feet, she doesn’t much care what others think of her
Where is the novel set?
London, Northamptonshire, Perthshire and Angus
Who is your biggest influence as a writer?
Without a doubt, Terry Pratchett
Have you ever killed anyone off from real life in one of your novels?
Frequently. One friend even asked if he could be the villain. He dies naked in his bath.
What was your favourite ‘terrible’ review?
The Hangman’s Song, book three in the Inspector McLean series, has a one star Amazon review that ends
“Incidentally, even the title is misleading - there's no singing in the book.”
What is your favourite writing snack?
Chocolate. It’s the perfect brain food.
Which of your characters would you most like to have dinner with?
Madame Rose. Or maybe Mrs McCutcheon’s Cat.

Review
DC Constance Fairchild certainly doesn't have time to cry or take a breather. It is non-stop action from the get go, from the very moment she finds her mentor, superior, colleague and friend murdered. Instead of the police trying to widen the net and look for possible suspects they zoom in on Connie, so she finds herself suspended and without back-up in a very precarious situation.

Simultaneously an old school friend asks her to look for her missing teen sister, which leaves Connie in the strange position of wanting to find the girl, but being unable to use the usual resources to do so. She soon finds herself in the middle of deeply buried family secrets and running for her life at the same time.

I loved her bolshy attitude. She is the rich kid, who dislikes her family and yet gets treated like a posh kid with connections, despite working hard to get where she is in her career. She is also a woman, which means having to deal daily with misogyny, sexism and harassment. Not exactly a raving endorsement for the police force. Her frustration and anger are understandable, so kudos to her for not whacking them all around the head with a baseball bat.

My second favourite element of the story was Pete. The fact the 'two' of them engage in dialogue brings an aura of the paranormal to the story, despite Connie telling herself that he isn't really there. Her conscience speaks to her in the most informative way. Sort of like the Watson to her Sherlock or the alarm signal in her gut.

Let's not forget the cat, the hardened fuzzy criminal who becomes a steadfast feature in Connie's life, albeit inadvertently. In fact overall all the characters came together so perfectly it's almost as if they were meant to be together from the start.

What Oswald does brilliantly and with such panache, is to deliver the tragic and serious with an almost indiscernible layer of wit. It's always there just hovering in the background waiting to spring forward into the scenes. This is the start of fantastic new series and I can't wait to read more.

Buy No Time to Cry at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Publisher: Wildfire (1 Nov. 2018)