#Blogtour The Drownings by Hazel Barkworth

Celebrating the paperback release of The Drownings by Hazel Barkworth - publication date 10th April 2025, published by Headline Review | £10.99 | Paperback.

'From the critically acclaimed author of Heatstroke, The Drownings is a captivating and intoxicatingly atmospheric novel about competition, obsession and influence; about female rage, and how the darkness of the unconfronted past continues to haunt our present.'

About the Author

Hazel grew up in Stirlingshire and North Yorkshire before studying English at Oxford. She is a graduate of both the Oxford University MSt in Creative Writing and the Curtis Brown Creative Novel-Writing course. Hazel works as a cultural consultant, delving into the cultural topics and conversations with most pertinence. This fascination sparked the themes explored in both of her novels. Her debut novel Heatstroke was a Cosmopolitan Best Book of the Summer in 2020. The Drownings was written back in the streets of her own university days, where the ghosts of her student self were lurking around every corner. She now lives in York with her partner.

About the book

University wasn’t in the plan. But when a catastrophic knee injury destroys Serena’s future as an Olympic swimmer, the years of brutal training and spellbinding manifestation lead her to Leysham, a dark and gloomy university campus in the north. 

Walking home at night, Serena stumbles on a young woman floundering in the viscous and freezing waters that snake through the campus. Helped by a mysterious older woman, they drag the student from the water to safety.

Attending an enthralling lecture shortly after, Serena instantly recognises the woman speaking. It is Jane – the woman who helped Serena save a life. And as Jane speaks, Serena’s eyes are opened to the history of witch trials, misogyny and murder that lives in Leysham’s waters, and continues to infect the present day, with drink spiking and sexual assaults rife on campus.

Captivated by the older woman, Serena and her cousin Zara, a rising star of social media, launch a campaign to force the university to confront the misogyny and violence which haunts Leysham. But as protests flare across the campus, a simmering rivalry takes hold between the cousins. And when cracks start to appear in Jane’s motives, everything spirals out of control…

Review

I'm not even sure whether any screen version could do this the justice it deserves. It would take a simultaneous narration throughout to capture the way Serena interacts with her inner thoughts and self. The constant exploration of past, present and future, the way the doubtful introvert blossoms into the uncontrollable extrovert who is set alight by imagined transgressions.

However, the most powerful connection and conversation is the one Serena has with water. It's almost a compulsion and intrinsically linked to her failure, her success, her drive and power. The first chapters highlight this overwhelming obsession with bodies of water - no matter how large and in what setting. 

Alongside this larger than life character, who is for all intent and purposes, the wallflower and the quiet observer; is Zara. Zara is the complete opposite and also the cousin who wants to stand in the spotlight and be heralded as voice of change. 

Set to a background of a long line of past transgressions against women, which emboldens the present population of young men to view women in their vicinity as prey. The two young women become enmeshed in a rebellion of sorts, a fierce stand against misogyny and the patriarchal systems that protect the predators - always.

I really enjoyed this, perhaps because the author has the ability to write with a flair of lyrical prose then flip to social interactions and scenes that have a more abrupt and intense style. It makes the reader wonder whether Serena is on the precipice of something, a cliff or a realisation, then again it could simply be a discovery and regaining of self. Loved it! It's a brilliant read.

Buy The Drownings at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Headline Review - pub date 10th April 2025 | £10.99 | Paperback. Buy via Bookshop.org

#Blogtour After Death by Dean Koontz

It's my turn on the Blogtour After Death by Dean Koontz.

About the Author

Dean Koontz is the author of many #1 bestsellers. His books have sold over five hundred million copies in thirty-eight languages, and The Times has called him a ‘literary juggler’. He lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, and their golden retriever, Elsa. Follow @deankoontz on Twitter

About the book

Michael Mace, head of security at a top-secret research facility, is amazed to open his eyes in a makeshift morgue twenty-four hours after an event in which everyone perished – including him and his best friend, Shelby Shrewsberry.

Having awakened with an extraordinary ability unlike anything he – or anyone else – has ever imagined, Michael now finds that he is capable of being as elusive as a ghost. He sets out to honour his late friend by using his new-found gifts to help Nina Dozier and her son, John, whom Shelby greatly admired.

Although what Michael does for Nina is life changing, his actions also evoke the wrath of John’s father, a member of one of the most violent street gangs in Los Angeles. But an even greater threat is descending: the Internal Security Agency’s most vicious assassin, Durand Calaphas. Calaphas will stop at nothing to get his man. And if Michael dies twice, he will not live a third time.

From the tarnished glamour of Beverly Hills to the streets of South Central to a walled estate in Rancho Santa Fe, only Michael can protect Nina and John – and ensure that light survives in a rapidly darkening world.

Review

There is a lot going on in this story, but it's Koontz, ergo you kind of expect the creative drive and often wild exploration of a variety of ideas. Science meets speculation, injustice meets a strong sense of justice, and dodging death means death is forever on your heels.

Behind or hovering in the background is the sub-premise upon which the author is driving a lot of the stories - the futuristic collaboration of gene therapy and nanobot technology - The Singularity. In this story it's melded with the concepts that wander into speculative fiction, perhaps even bordering a deeper understanding of life and after-life.

I think the main character had a little bit of an Equalizer meets Robin Hood, as Michael steps accidentally into the role of an settling scores and making things a little more equal for those on dangerous positions.

It's gritty, sometimes crude depending on the character, which is a reflection of the gang and prison culture featured in the story. It also has the potential for further books or explorations - speculative is the gift that keeps on giving.

Buy After Death at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Thomas and Mercer, 18th July 2023 - Hardcover | Kindle Ebook | Audiobook. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Tell Me How This Ends by Jo Leevers

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Tell Me How This Ends by Jo Leevers. A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick! 

About the Author

Jo Leevers grew up in London and has spent most of her career working on magazines, most recently writing features about homes and interiors for leading newspapers and magazines. This means she gets to visit people around the country and ask them about all the things in their homes. Some might call this a licence to be nosey…

Tell Me How This Ends is her debut. Whether writing fiction or interviewing people for articles, she is fascinated by the life stories that we all carry with us. She has two grown-up children and lives with her husband and their wayward dog, Lottie, in Bristol. Follow @JoLeevers on Twitter, Visit linktr.ee/joleevers

About the book

The captivating debut novel from journalist Jo Leevers is a beautifully rendered exploration of loss, morality and the power of storytelling. 

Haunted by the past, Henrietta throws herself into a new job transcribing other people’s life stories, vowing to stick to the facts and keep emotions at arm’s length. But when she meets the eccentric and terminally ill Annie, she finds herself inextricably drawn in. And when Annie reveals that her sister drowned in unexplained circumstances in 1974, Henrietta’s methodical mind can’t help following the story’s loose ends…

Unlike Henrietta, Annie is brimming with confidence—but even she has limits when it comes to opening up. Ever since that terrible night when her sister left a pile of clothes beside the canal and vanished, Annie has been afraid to look too closely into the murky depths of her memories. 

When her attempts to glide over the past come up against Henrietta’s determination to fill in the gaps, both women find themselves confronting truths they’d thought were buried forever—especially when Henrietta’s digging unearths a surprising emotional connection between them.

Could unlocking Annie’s story help Henrietta rewrite the most devastating passages in her own life? And, in return, can she offer Annie a final twist in the tale, before it’s too late?

Review

I loved this, the story encapsulates the essence of what a huge impact some human interactions can have. Just small moments, often they seem so inconsequential, especially to the people involved. Annie and Henrietta have no idea that they are two people caught up in exactly such a moment. Their lives lived enduring, coping with and never quite processing the trauma.

Henrietta reminds me of Eleanor Oliphant, the person who never quite fits in because her way of experiencing life and interacting isn't the expected societal norm. The new job is a challenge and an exciting adventure at the same time. Dealing with people telling their life stories to be turned into a precious memory for loved ones and even the clients themselves, well it seems like a really annoying task and simultaneously it could be a simple job, right?

Annie is one of those clients, but isn't convinced that she has enough to warrant telling her life story, except there is the small matter of the sister that just disappeared off the face of the earth. Henrietta finds herself captivated by this mystery of the missing sister and starts to dig, and in doing so starts to unlock her own buried secrets and trauma.

It's a beautifully introspective story that draws a connection of thin threads between the characters, which is driven by hidden balls of emotions they have successfully ignored for many years. Beautiful, blunt, and I can't wait for more by this author.

Buy Tell Me How This Ends at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing; pub date 1st May 2023 | Paperback original: £8.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Tell Me Lies by Teresa Driscoll

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Tell Me lies by Teresa Driscoll. From the two-million copy bestselling author of Her Perfect Family and I Will Make You Pay.

About the Author

Teresa Driscoll is a former BBC TV news presenter whose psychological thrillers have sold nearly two million copies across the world. Her first thriller I Am Watching You hit Kindle Number 1 in the UK, USA and Australia and has sold more than a million copies in English alone. 

Teresa writes women’s fiction as well as thrillers and her work has been optioned for film and sold for translation in more than 20 territories. For decades Teresa was a journalist working across newspapers, magazines and television. Covering crime for so long, she was deeply moved by the haunting impact on the relatives, the friends and the witnesses and it is those ripples she explores now in her darker fiction. Teresa lives in glorious Devon with her family and blogs regularly about her ‘writing life’ on her website, www.teresadriscoll.com. Follow @TeresaDriscoll on Twitter

About the book

From bestselling author Teresa Driscoll comes a chilling thriller of past secrets and present terror. Deep in a rural hideaway, it’s only the owls watching them … right?

After a betrayal that sent their marriage into freefall, Hannah and Sam are desperate for a fresh start with their eight-year-old daughter Lily—and where better than picture-perfect Owl Cottage in beautiful Cornwall. But something about the holiday home stirs dark memories for Hannah …

When she finds dead creatures on the doorstep and hears mysterious knocks at the door, Hannah can’t help wondering whether someone is messing with her—or whether the past she’s been running from has finally claimed her sanity.

As the disturbing events at Owl Cottage seep out into the local community and the police become involved, Hannah turns to Sam for help. But he dismisses her worries, and she begins to wonder if she was wrong to ever trust him. Are the memories making her paranoid, or is this something more sinister than she dares imagine?

Review

I think Hannah is a curious character in the sense that she can appear to tick boxes and perhaps even irritate readers to the point of manoeuvring herself into the position of prime suspect or guilty party.  At the very least she then emerges as the hypersensitive cuckolded wife leaning towards sightly unhinged.

It's easy to believe she is merely manifesting fear in a certain way, because there has been massive betrayal and upheaval in her recent life. Playing into that is the unresolved trauma she is unaware of or rather of the magnitude of her unresolved subconscious issues.

I thought the author did a great job of not only highlighting the skewing of boundaries when it comes to lived trauma, generational trauma being projected on to the next person in line and perhaps not being able to comprehend where one stops and the reality of a situation happening now ends. How women are gaslit on a daily basis when it comes to mental health, medical issues and just life in general.

It's a dark domestic psychological thriller that keeps the reader guessing for quite a while. It has that creepy isolated atmosphere fuelled by what appears to be paranoia and a healthy dose of mistrust. You know what they say though - it isn't paranoia when they are really out to get you, right?

Buy Tell Me Lies at Amazon uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Thomas & Mercer pub date 18 April 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Black Foam by Haji Jabir

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Black Foam by Haji Jabir - translated by Sawad Hussain and Marica Lynx Qualey.

About the Author

Haji Jabir is an Eritrean novelist who was born in the city of Massawa on the Red Sea Coast in 1976. He currently lives in Doha, Qatar, where he works as an Al Jazeera journalist. Jabir’s creative aim is to shed light on Eritrea’s past and present and to extricate his homeland from its cultural isolation. He is one of the most important Arabic-language authors of his time. 

He has published four novels: Samrawit (2012), winner of the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity in 2012, Fatma’s Harbour (2013), The Game of the Spindle (2015), which was longlisted for the 2016 Sheikh Zayed Book Award, and Black Foam (2018). Follow @7aji on Twitter

About the Translators

Marcia Lynx Qualey is the founding editor of ArabLit, an online magazine and resource that won the 2017 "Literary Translation Initiative" award at the London Book Fair. She writes, edits, and translates for a variety of newspapers and magazines, teaches writing in Morocco, and also works with a number of Arabic literature projects, including Kitab Sawti and the Library of Arabic Literature.

Sawad Hussain is a translator from the Arabic whose work has been recognized by English PEN, the Anglo-Omani Society, and the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, among others. She is a judge for the Palestine Book Awards. Her recent translations include Passage to the Plaza by Sahar Khalifeh and A Bed for the King's Daughter by Shahla Ujayli. She has run workshops introducing translation to students and adults under the auspices of Shadow Heroes, the British Library, the Yiddish Book Center, the National Centre for Writing, Africa Writes, and the Shubbak Festival. She is the 2022 translator in residence at the British Centre for Literary Translation. 

About the book

From award-winning Eritrean author Haji Jabir comes a profoundly intimate novel about one man’s tireless attempt to find his place in the world.

A chameleon, Dawoud―or David, Adal, or Dawit, depending on where and when you meet him―is not lost in this whirl of identities. In fact, he is defined by it. Black Foam follows a group of Ethiopian Jews, the “Falash Mura”, who driven by poverty and desperation, emigrate to Israel in search of a better life. Amongst the group is “Dawoud”. 

Dawoud is on the run from his murky past, aiming to discover where he belongs. He tries to assimilate into different groups along his journey through North Africa and Israel, changing his clothes, his religious affiliations, and even his name to fit in, but the safety and peace he seeks remain elusive. It seems prejudice is everywhere, holding him back, when all he really wants is to create a simple life he can call his own. Dawoud’s journey is circuitous and specific, but the desire to belong is universal. 

Spellbinding to the final page, Black Foam is both intimate and grand in scale, much like the experiences of the millions of people migrating to find peace and safety in the twenty-first century.

Review

A journey to belong, to be part of community, to be accepted by a new home and country. Sounds so simple, and yet it is at the core of this story. The essence of a man, woman, child - human being - to try and resettle your roots after they have been ripped out.

I think it's hard, perhaps even impossible, for people who have been rooted solidly to one place or country their entire life, to fathom what it might be like to be torn from such security. Having to assimilate and integrate into new cultures, whilst being confronted daily by systemic racism and the negative preconceptions of other people.

Dawoud becomes something of a ever evolving chameleon when it comes to moving from place to place. He becomes the person he needs to be in order to be safe, to be accepted and in a way to remain nearly invisible. There is always the constant threat sitting on his shoulder and of course the hard truth is that staying low and inconspicuous won't necessarily from becoming a target.

Reality speaks to truth in the last few chapters. No matter what you do there are some things that will always make refugees the target of those who are unable to deal with diversity, are unable to comprehend the destruction of home countries and the normal wish to keep families and self safe. The wish and a basic human right.

It's a poignant read - an unforgettable one. A complex web of politics, religion, identity and the many facets of racism and bigotry.

Buy Black Foam at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Amazon Crossing, pub date 7th February 2023 | Paperback Original | £8.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Fires by Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir

 It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Fires by Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir.

About the Author

Icelandic author Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir studied history in Reykjavík and Salamanca and journalism at Columbia University in New York and previously worked in Copenhagen before moving back to Reykjavík, where she lives with her husband, children, and stepchildren. Her bestselling debut, Island (2016), was nominated for the Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize in 2017. Her highly anticipated third novel, The Fires, is a bestseller and viral hit in Iceland. 

Larissa Kyzer is a writer and translator of Icelandic literature. She holds an MA in literary translation from the University of Iceland as well as an MS in library and information science and a BA in comparative literature. Her translation of Kristín Eiríksdóttir’s A Fist or a Heart (Amazon Crossing) was awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s 2019 translation prize. The same year, she was one of Princeton University’s translators in residence.

About the book

Anna Arnardóttir has fire in her blood. - A second-generation volcanologist, she’s Iceland’s leading expert on the fire-breathing giants that could, without warning, reduce a country to ash. 

Her work regularly puts her in harm’s way, but Anna never takes unnecessary risks, living an orderly, suburban life with her tax-lawyer husband and children. Then a series of earthquakes rocks Reykjavík, and Anna’s stable life is suddenly on shaky ground when she falls for Tómas Adler, a bohemian photographer. 

As Anna tumbles into a passionate affair, the earthquakes take a violent turn. Small volcanic eruptions herald disaster to come, but will she trust what she knows in her heart is about to happen? Or listen to her head and risk the safety of the entire nation? Having so much of her world and what she knows about herself upended, can she trust her instincts? 

The Fires is a lyrical, heart-stopping tale of survival and self-discovery about one woman’s reckoning with all she holds sacred―though it will take every fibre of her being.

Review

Not gonna lie - the science had me gripped. The entire story managed to be a learning experience and a cracking read at the same time. It was absolutely fascinating. I also really enjoyed the way the earth, the natural catastrophe, the living world around us, became something akin to an analogy for Anna and her actions. Specifically the way her emotions, wants and needs steer her into a dangerous direction.

As the area around her begins to erupt, move and catch fire, she becomes immersed in something equally as heady and destructive. Risk, risk more - she is the volcano.

I really want to talk about the last chapter - I can't without revealing too much. Let me just say that it brings the beauty, the pain and the lyrical prose full circle and ends with the woven nature of of coexistence between humans and the earth they walk upon. Beauty and cruelty, strength and weakness, the joy and the incredible loss.

There are so many nuances to this story that it is hard to do it justice. It isn't just about a woman and her connection to land she lives on and with, or one about her allowing herself to grow and take a trip of self-discovery. It takes her surroundings and relationships then deconstructs every aspect of them to then rebuild. All of it is enhanced by the very specific style of writing - a constant flow of dialogue, thoughts and events without making a differentiation between any of them.

Kudos to the translator too for doing this story justice in a non-original language. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this and can't wait to read more by this particular author. Loved it.

Buy The Fires at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Amazon Crossing pub date 1 Feb. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour A Stolen Memory by David Beckler

Antonia Conti returns in the explosive sequel to A Long Shadow! Don't miss A Stolen Memory by David Beckler.

About the Author

Born in Addis Ababa in 1960, David Beckler spent his first eight years living on an agricultural college in rural Ethiopia where his love of reading developed. After dropping out of university he became a firefighter and served nineteen years before leaving to start his own business. David began writing in 2010 and uses his work experiences to add realism to his fiction. 

The first in his Antonia Conti series, A Long Shadow, was inspired by David’s concerns about the growing role corruption and privatisation play in public life, and was published in October 2022. David lives in Manchester, his adopted home since 1984. Follow @DavidBeckler1 on Twitter, Visit davidbeckler.com

About the book

London, the near future. GRM, a shadowy company running private prisons, has introduced a programme to alter prisoners’ memories, removing those that led to their criminal behaviour. When journalist Antonia Conti hears rumours that the technology has deadly side effects, she decides to investigate.

Antonia has looked into GRM’s corrupt dealings with the government before – and she knows they are merciless. It’s not long before she finds herself narrowly escaping a horrific car accident that leaves a whistle blower dead. 

She enlists her old friend DI Russell Chapman to check out the supposed ‘accident,’ and discovers that he’s already investigating three other deaths that appear suspiciously linked to her own investigations.

But the deeper Antonia probes, the more her friends and colleagues are at risk. Whatever sinister experiments GRM are conducting, they are determined to keep them secret – by any means necessary. Can Antonia and Chapman thwart them before anyone else loses their mind – or their life? 

Review

Looking for solutions when it comes to criminal behaviour, seems like such an obvious thing to back and support. The current methods or justice system doesn't appear to be working - time for new solutions, right. The idea sounds very dystopian and a way to address quite a few deviant and violent behaviours. Erase the memories, reduce triggers that cause the behaviours - it all seems so simple.

Yeh, aside from the fact nothing is ever that easy I'm sure it would be a very profitable venture for any company. The real problem is that if you can manipulate people that easily, and their behaviour, then someone is going to use the technology for nefarious purposes. Enter this premise stage left.

This is the sequel to A Long Shadow, and I think it is fair to say both Conti and the author are just getting started. Corruption, greed and power is a very deep and endless source of material. The question is how Antonia is going to keep herself from being swallowed up by the pit.

The author gives us the kind of premise that can become a bit of a moral dilemma, in the sense that a lot of people could be persuaded to ignore the clear negative aspects of this idea and the collateral damage, because of the profit margin and many ways this can used to control, but also because the conscience of the do-gooders in society will be easily swayed by an easy-fix. A little bit like when everyone thought a lobotomy was an insta-fix for every and any illness.

This main character is getting a bit of a reputation for being fearless and relentless. Can't wait to see where this series goes next.

Buy A Stolen Memory at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher Thomas & Mercer, pub date 19th January 2023 | £8.99 | Paperback Original. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour When I First Held You by Anstey Harris

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour When I First Held You by Anstey Harris.  

'Inspired by Anstey Harris’s own family history, When I First Held You explores the scandal of forced adoptions, where thousands of babies born to unmarried mothers throughout the 1950s to the 1970s were removed and placed with families deemed suitable.'

About the Author

Anstey Harris was born in an unmarried mothers’ home in Liverpool in 1965. Now a mother and stepmother herself, she lives in Scotland. She has been inspired by her own search for her birth family and hopes to give a voice to the women and children—16,000 a year during the 1960s in the UK—separated from each other by forced adoptions.

Anstey won the H. G. Wells Short Story Award in 2015 and her debut novel, The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton, a Richard and Judy Book Club choice, won the Sapere Books RNA Popular Romantic Fiction Award in 2020. Her second novel, Where We Belong, was shortlisted for the RNA Book of the Year Award 2021. Follow @Anstey_Harris on Twitter

About the book

In 1960s Glasgow, anti-nuclear activists Judith and Jimmy fall in love. But their future hopes are dashed when their protestors’ squat is raided and many, including Jimmy, are sent to prison. Pregnant and with no word from Jimmy, Judith is forced to enter an unmarried mothers’ home, give up their baby and learn to live with her grief.

More than half a century later, Judith’s Mending Shop restores broken treasures, just as Judith herself has been bound back together by her late, much-missed partner, Catherine. But her tranquillity is shattered when Jimmy—so different and yet somehow the same—reappears, yearning to unpick the painful past.

Realising they each know only half of the other’s story, Jimmy and Judith finally break the silence that tore apart what might have been their family. Amid heartbreak and hope, how much can now be mended? 

Review

What the author does with the precision of a surgeon is create the visual image of the invisible emotional volcano Judith carries around with her day in and day out. The lid she places on top of the bubbling mountain, is one that move at any moment to expose the scars and the years of feelings that she has had to hide from herself and the world.

This is never more obvious than when Jimmy appears out of nowhere after over half a lifetime. The pressure beneath the lid begins build, as the past comes rushing back to both haunt and completely devour Judith.

Kudos for the realistic statistics and ripping the veil from the unicorn fluff versions of adoption reunion stories. The truth and reality doesn't make for such great television. Too many questions remain unanswered, which can be incredibly painful and frustrating for those involved.

This is a story that is all the more poignant, because the roots are based in truth, and because of the throwaway attitude towards the lives of the girls, women and children who were torn apart without a second thought.

It's wonderfully written, it's also like having a view into the patchwork family of strangers brought together by the coincidence of DNA. What is family really? Healing the deepest wounds is a myth, but gaining a semblance of peace is possible. 

Buy When I First Held You at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing, pub date 24th January 2023 - Paperback £8.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Death in Heels by Kitty Murphy

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Death in Heels by Kitty Murphy.

About the Author

Kitty Murphy lives with her husband, Roger, on the very westerly edge of CO. Clare, Ireland. She adores drag in all its forms and crime fiction in all its chilling splendour. Kitty is bi/queer. From a well spent youth divided equally between the library and the LGBTQ+ scene, it was only a matter of time until both worlds collided in a flurry of fictional sequins. Follow Kitty on Instagram: @kitty_murphy writes or on Twitter: @scribblingink1

About the book

When Fi went to support her best friend's drag debut, she didn't imagine a killer would be going to watch it too. And they're waiting for their grand finale...

Fi McKinnery is overwhelmed with pride, watching her best friend Robyn perform his drag debut as the dazzling Mae B at Dublin's premier drag club Trash. But the evening is ruined when bitchy young queen Eve Harrington lampoons Mae B's performance and ruins the show. Eve is unceremoniously evicted from the club, and later that night Fi finds her dead, face down in a flooded gutter.

The police decide it was an accident and the queens are keen to move on as well,  but Fi isn't so sure. Eve had plenty of enemies with her casual cruelty and many people might have wanted her dead. Fi is determined to uncover the truth, even though her 'Hagatha Christie' sleuthing is driving a wedge between her and Robyn, whose star is now rising at TRASH.

Something dark is lurking beneath the feathers, glitter and sequins of Dublin's drag scene. Fi is determined to protect her friends, even as they distance themselves from her. Can she stop the killer before more people die?

Review

I wonder if Fi realises that supporting and encouraging her friend Robyn to emerge themselves into the world of drag is also a step that will lead to humiliation and death. Is her quest to find a vicious murderer also the beginning of the end of their friendship, even if Fi is only trying to keep her friend safe. Fi has become a hazard to the newly found sanctuary and their community.

It's interesting to watch Robyn slowly be drawn into the close circle of the drag queens. Home has finally opened its doors, and same embraces same, whilst simultaneously drawing a line between Fi and Robyn. As she investigates the death Robyn takes on a defensive stance and begins to regard Fi as the enemy.

Aside from Robyn escaping the cocoon of societal norms and boundaries, and the journey to face internal and external fears and threats, I found the cracks that appear in the relationship between Fi and Robyn quite deep. Once inseparable and supportive of each other, one of the friends finds themselves fighting to fix the chasm that has appeared between them. I'm sure the question of whether finding the killer is worth throwing their friendship away is one that hovers in the background, and equally whether it is sustainable after Robyn finds a new place to become the inner butterfly that has been waiting to emerge.

It's a murder mystery, one that fits under the genre heading of crime, but it ventures beyond the vast space all things murder and mayhem encompasses - it's also a tale of coming-of-age, of coming out, of discovery of self. Perhaps most importantly it's a story about finding a safe space where you belong and are accepted for each and every facet of your self.

Buy Death in Heels at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Thomas and Mercer, Pub date 1st January 2023. Paperback - £8.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Small Deaths by Rijula Das

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Small Deaths by Rijula Das. - Winner of the 2021 Tata Literature Live! First Book Award – Fiction Longlisted for The JCB Prize for Literature 2021.

About the Author

Rijula Das received her PhD in Creative Writing/prose-fiction in 2017 from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where she taught writing for two years. She is a recipient of the 2019 Michael King Writers Centre Residency in Auckland and the 2016 Dastaan Award for her short story Notes From A Passing. Her short story, The Grave of The Heart Eater, was longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2019. Her short fiction and translations have appeared in Newsroom, New Zealand and The Hindu. She lives and works in Wellington, New Zealand. Follow @RijulaDas on Twitter

About the book

In the red-light district of Shonagachhi, Lalee dreams of trading a life of penury and violence for one of relative luxury as a better-paid ‘escort’. Her long-standing client, Trilokeshwar ‘Tilu’ Shau is an erotic novelist hopelessly in love with her.

When a young girl who lives next door to Lalee gets brutally murdered, a spiral of deceit and crime begins to disturb the fragile stability of this underworld’s existence. One day, without notice, Lalee’s employer and landlady, the formidable Shefali Madam, decrees that she must now service wealthier clients at plush venues outside the familiar walls of the brothel. But the new job is fraught with unknown hazards and drives Lalee into a nefarious web of prostitution, pimps, sex rings, cults and unimaginable secrets that endanger her life and that of numerous women like her. 

As the local Sex Workers’ Collective’s protests against government and police inaction and calls for justice for the deceased girl gain fervour, Tilu Shau must embark on a life-altering misadventure to ensure Lalee does not meet a similarly savage fate.

Set in Calcutta’s most fabled neighbourhood, Small Deaths is a literary noir as absorbing as it is heart-wrenching, holding within it an unforgettable story of our society’s outcasts and marking the arrival of a riveting new writer.

Review

This is very much a read between the lines story, despite the fact the brutal reality of these scenarios couldn't be presented in a more precise and clear way. With that in mind, and the fate of the vulnerable, the disposable and those who have no one to miss them when they disappear without a trace - the title of small deaths takes on an entirely different meaning.

In the midst of the degradation, the abuse and the lack of control over her life Lalee accepts help from one of few who have shown her kindness. Is it kindness though, when Tilu is just another customer? Sometimes you just have to grasp at straws, especially when you are in the midst of a whirlpool of expendability.

When you take a close look at the frame of the premise you can take it and place it in multiple countries - the structure is always the same. You take the desperate, the innocent, the vulnerable and those who are easy victims and create a profitable base for criminals and deviants. In Shonagachhi you see the way these specific areas become their own cosmos - a community within the wider societal community.

It's literary fiction, the retracing of what led to a crime, and the attempt to change just one small iota - one life - of the many held captive by the depravity of the criminals and collaborators of Calcutta and its red-light district. It's a bleak reality check and an excellent read. Kudos for the last chapter.

Buy Small Deaths at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Amazon Crossing; pub date 13th September | Paperback: £8.99 UK | €9.99 EU. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour #Audiobook Women Like Us: A Memoir by Amanda Prowse

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour for the Audiobook - Women Like Us: A Memoir by Amanda Prowse.

About the Author

Amanda Prowse is an International Bestselling author whose twenty-six novels, non-fiction title and seven novellas have been published in dozens of languages around the world. Amanda is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today; her titles also consistently score the highest online review approval ratings across several genres. Her books, including the chart topping No.1 titles What Have I Done?, Perfect Daughter, My Husband’s Wife, The Girl in the Corner and The Things I Know have sold millions of copies across the globe.

A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda is a regular panellist on Channel 5’s ‘The Jeremy Vine Show’ and numerous daytime ITV programmes. She also makes countless guest appearances on BBC national independent Radio stations including LBC and Talk FM, where she is well known for her insightful observations and her infectious humour. Described by the Daily Mail as ‘The queen of family drama’ Amanda’s novel, A Mother’s Story won the coveted Sainsbury’s eBook of the year Award while Perfect Daughter was selected as a World Book Night title in 2016. Follow @MrsAmandaProwse on Twitter

About the book

Amanda Prowse has built a bestselling career on the lives of fictional women. Now she turns the pen on her own life. From her childhood, where there was no blueprint for success, to building a career as a bestselling novelist against all odds, Amanda Prowse explores what it means to be a woman in a world where popularity, slimness, beauty and youth are currency – and how she overcame all of that to forge her own path to happiness.

Sometimes heartbreaking, often hilarious and always entirely relatable, Prowse details her early struggles with self-esteem and how she coped with the frustrating expectations others had of how she should live. Most poignantly, she delves into her toxic relationship with food, the hardest addiction she has ever known, and how she journeyed out the other side.

One of the most candid memoirs you’re ever likely to read, Women Like Us provides welcome insight into how it is possible – against the odds – to overcome insecurity, body consciousness and the ubiquitous imposter syndrome to find happiness and success, from a woman who’s done it all, and then some

Review

I thought it was interesting how Amanda simultaneously gives the reader, the audience, this trifecta of reasoning and emotion that pings off itself. Acknowledging the truth of her family, upbringing and all the nuances of the working class background and feeling the societal guilt the world (very much a British thing, sorry) forces into our very psyche at the same time. You're supposed to feel inferior and as if those around you are too. Somehow feel ashamed for who you are.

When you take that invisible burden and it is weighed down by layers of remarks and what people like to refer to as banter, however the way the target receives it can be completely different. In this case it has created a foundation of almost self-loathing and doubt, which leads to seeking comfort in external sources.

It's a frank and open dialogue about herself and her life, one that is a rollercoaster of emotions. As a reader you go on that ride and often find correlation in situations, thoughts and experiences. It's brave to open yourself up in such a way, even if it is a self-examination of sorts. It's definitely an audiobook I would recommend to others.

On a side note - the author narrates the story herself and does so extremely well, but what I wanted to mentioned is what a perfect voice for audio she has - deliciously soothing with a hint of sultry. Combined with her story, which I think most women will be able to relate to in one way or another, it makes it such an easy listening experience.

Buy Women Like Us at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher - Audible UK: pub date: 6th September 2022 | Paperback: £8.99. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Audible Uk.

Listening Length - 12 hours and 16 minutes, Author - Amanda Prowse, Narrator - Amanda Prowse, Audible.co.uk Release Date - 06 September 2022, Publisher - Brilliance Audio, Program Type - Audiobook, Version - Unabridged, Language -  English.

#Blogtour The Secret of Elephants by Vasundra Tailor

It's a pleasure to kick off this fantastic Blogtour The Secret of Elephants by Vasundra Tailor.

About the Author

Vasundra Tailor was born in India and was just a few weeks old when her parents brought her to Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) in 1954. Though set against a backdrop British colonial rule and segregation in the area, Vasundra had a happy childhood, surrounded by a large extended family.

She qualified as a pharmacist in 1977, and was eager to leave Zimbabwe for the UK to escape the fighting between the minority white government and local freedom fighters. She arrived at Heathrow in the Spring of 1978, and moved to Strathclyde for her Masters in Pharmaceutical Microbiology, before settling in London a year later, where she is still based today.

Vasundra started writing in 2016, after enrolling onto an online Creative Writing course, joining book groups and local writing groups, which gave her the feedback and confidence to tackle her first book. Fascinated by human relationships, Vasundra's writing is interested characters from diverse backgrounds and explores how people connect with those around them.

The Inspiration for The Secret of Elephants, Vasundra's debut novel, came from the families currently living in a property in India which once belonged to her father. In November 2019, an extract of The Secret of Elephants won the second runner-up prize for the Mo Siewcharran Fiction Competition, to help discover unpublished fiction writers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. Follow @vasundrajay on Twitter

About the book

Two sides of the same family - one living in luxury in a magnificent mansion, the other penniless in its shadow. Could a mysterious letter from the past help Nirmala and her young son take back what is rightfully theirs?

Navsari, India. Penniless and trapped in a loveless marriage, Nirmala spends her days anxiously caring for her sick young son, Varun. Looming over Nirmala's impoverished home is an imposing mansion built by her grandfather, and from its balcony her cruel aunt scorns them, refusing to help in any way.

But when a mysterious letter addressed to her long-dead father arrives from Zimbabwe, it opens a door to a past Nirmala never knew existed and a future she never imagined possible. If the contents of the letter can be believed, not only does she have family in Africa, but they might also hold the answers to a family mystery that spans three generations.

While travelling to Zimbabwe might lead to a brighter future for Nirmala and her son, it could also reignite the bitter family feud that condemned her family to poverty. Nirmala is ready to risk it all to uncover the truth, but how will she cope when this journey changes her life forever?

Review

Nirmala has spent the majority of her life in the shadow of her family and their wealth. She is the poor relative, the one they look down upon, the one who lives in a little ramshackle place across the road from their impressive mansion.

Living a life in fear of the displeasure of a man she never wanted, doesn't love, and who treats her with disdain. A man who thinks her son - their son - is a weakling because he is unwell. When by pure chance a letter addressed to her deceased father  falls into her hands and reveals a secret she was unaware of, she starts to wonder whether life for herself and her son could be different.

The gift of being a natural storyteller isn't one that all writers possess - they all tell stories, but there is a difference between telling a story and being a storyteller. The author leaves lines in the sand as she pulls her rake behind her, with an almost peaceful quality, and compels the reader to follow the patterns of the story being unfolded before them.

It's a tangled web of emotional baggage and trauma. Decisions made in the blink of an eye with no regard for the majority of the people involved, they cast dark shadows over the generations of this family. They influence paths taken, chances missed and how connections are made between family members.

I think one of the most poignant relationships in the story is the one between Kanta and Suresh. The way her lack of emotional attachment creates this wave that devours everyone in their close vicinity. Does the damage inflicted become justifiable when weighed with the truth?

The author pulls in moments from history, surroundings, and politics to give context to the places the story is set in, but does so in a way that never overshadows the main plot and characters. It's a nice wee slow burner of a read.

Buy The Secret of Elephants at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Lake Union pub date 1 Sept. 2022. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Blunder by Mutt-Lon

It's my turn on the BlogTour The Blunder by Mutt-Lon, translated by Amy B. Reid.

About the Author

Mutt-Lon is the literary pseudonym of author Nsegbe Daniel Alain. His first novel, Ceux qui sortent dans la nuit (Those Who Come Out at Night, 2013), brought him critical acclaim when it received the prestigious Ahmadou Kourouma Prize in 2014. Les 700 aveugles de Bafia (2020), published in English as The Blunder, is his third novel and the first to be translated into English. He lives in Douala—Cameroon’s most international and cosmopolitan city—and speaks English fluently.

About the Translator

Amy B. Reid is an award-winning translator who has worked with authors from Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti. Among her translations are the Patrice Nganang titles Dog Days: An Animal Chronicle (2006) and the trilogy comprised of Mount Pleasant (2016), When the Plums Are Ripe (2019), and A Trail of Crab Tracks (2022), as well as Queen Pokou: Concerto for a Sacrifice (2009) and Far from My Father (2014) by Véronique Tadjo. 

In 2016 she received a Literature Translation Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for When the Plums Are Ripe. She holds a PhD in French from Yale University (1996) and is a professor of French and Gender Studies at New College of Florida.

About the book

Cameroon, 1929. As colonial powers fight for influence in Africa, French military surgeon Eugène Jamot is dispatched to Cameroon to lead the fight against sleeping sickness there. But despite his humanitarian intentions, the worst comes to pass: seven hundred local villagers are left blind as a result of medical malpractice by a doctor under Jamot’s watch.

Damienne Bourdin, a young white woman, ventures to Cameroon to assist in the treatment effort. Reeling from the loss of her child, she’s desperate to redeem herself and save her reputation. But the tides of rebellion are churning in Cameroon, and soon after Damienne’s arrival, she is enlisted in a wild plot to staunch the damage caused by the blunder and forestall tribal warfare. 

Together with Ndongo, a Pygmy guide, she must cross the country on foot in search of Edoa, a Cameroonian princess and nurse who has gone missing since the medical blunder was discovered.

As Damienne races through the Cameroonian forest on a farcical adventure that unsettles her sense of France’s “civilizing mission,” she begins to question her initial sense of who needed saving and who would save the day.

Review

Damienne is both the main character and simultaneously the colonial example, ergo a perfect example of the irony and humour the author uses to bring readers this moment of important history. She embodies the white saviour, the colonial attitude towards indigenous people of all countries usurped, used and modified to embody foreign replicas of the home country.

She returns after over three decades to Cameroon, to the scene and aftermath of a terrible injustice and her the part she played in said injustice, and the attempt to stop bloodshed and tribal warfare.

When I read books like this, that have a factual core in the midst of the fiction, and one that has been swallowed into the black hole of history. Forgotten, as many fatal mistakes, atrocities, and in general inhumane acts in the name of colonial regimes. The victors write the history, and in doing so they often omit the details that don't fit in with the white-washed written narrative.

The blunder of Jamot, as it is known, is one of these overlooked omissions - a tragedy that has probably become a bit of a tale of horror passed on through the generations. The need for some people to play the saviour supersedes the necessity for accountability when they make mistakes.

Some translators have the ability to translate both word and voice, which Reid certainly does very well, however I think I was more impressed with the fact its apparent the story was consumed and understood with such clarity. In fact the note by said translator at the end is the perfect add-on to a fascinating read.

Buy The Blunder at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher Amazon Crossing; pub date 12th July 2022 | Paperback £6.99 UK. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Burning Question by Linda Regan

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Burning Question by Linda Regan.

About the Author

Linda Regan is the prolific writer of eight crime novels, as well as a celebrated actress of stage and screen. After winning a worldwide writing competition with her novel Behind You! (2006), Linda published seven more novels, including Passion Killers (2007) which was selected as a Sunday Observer pick of the year. Since then, she has written the immensely popular DI Johnson series (2015) and the DCI Banham series (2019).

In addition to her writing, Linda is a much-loved actress, known for her recurring role in the hit BBC sitcom Hi-De-Hi, and guest appearances in popular shows The Bill, Birds of a Feather, Doctors, and Holby City. Before joining the cast of Hi-De-Hi, Linda started out in a comedy dance troupe in her youth before going on to a lead role in the West End production of Tom Stoppard’s Dirty Linen. Playing such vivid and iconic characters throughout her career, has helped Linda to develop character focused stories that bring a uniquely immersive filmic quality to the page.

In addition to her acting, Linda uses her personal experiences to write her signature brand of “strong crime”. All of Linda’s novels are set in South London, where Linda writes with meticulous knowledge of the landscape where she grew up and currently lives with her husband, actor Brian Murphy. Follow @Linda_Regan on Twitter

About the book

DCI Paul Banham and DI Alison Grainger are back. This time they’re investigating the tragic death of a young woman, burnt in her home. When another identical arson attack is reported, Grainger and Banham are on the hunt for a link, unaware that the new trainee DC, Hannah Kemp, already knows the connection. She also knows that if she comes forward with the information, her own past will come to light, and she’ll potentially lose her job. But, if she doesn’t, more women will lose their lives. 

Hannah knows who they are, and she knows their attacker will stop at nothing to keep his ring of illegal prostitutes earning. Once he realises Hannah is now a police detective, she, too, will be in mortal danger. 

As the clock ticks against her own life, she must decide whether to stay quiet for the sake of her career, or risk everything she’s worked for to stop a ruthless killer once and for all.

Review

It's a mid-series book, however it is absolutely readable as a standalone novel. DCI Paul Banham and DI Alison Grainger are investigating a fatal arson attack with multiple victims. It soon becomes evident that there was an intended victim and some collateral damage. Unfortunately the victim has a link to someone in the team, one she wants to keep buried for very good reasons.

It's a balance between police procedural and cosy crime, the focus and the soft layer gives it a more comfortable feel. Despite the subject matter, which is a bit seedy and dark at times, it doesn't have a brutal hardcore crime vibe. Nothing wrong with that, the author definitely puts an emphasis on the interpersonal scenes and situations.

Perhaps sometimes to the point of making the police procedural side less convincing, because the interpersonal relationships and interactions take precedence over procedure. Again, this is merely a matter of what kind of crime read you are looking for. 

The author definitely likes to muddy the waters when it comes to the rule of law and the areas in between black and white, but perhaps the whole intention is to present a set of flawed characters, because the reality is even the people upholding the law are just mere humans. 

Buy The Burning Question at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Headline Accent, pub date 12th May 2022 | Paperback Original - £9.99. Buy at Amazon com. Via Headline.

#Blogtour The Homecoming by Anna Enquist

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Homecoming by Anna Enquist, translated by Eileen Stevens.

About the Author

Anna Enquist studied piano at the academy of music in The Hague and psychology at Leiden University. She is the author of the novels The Masterpiece; The Secret, winner of the 1997 Dutch Book of the Year awarded by the public; The Ice Carriers; Counterpoint; Quartet; and the international bestseller The Homecoming, which received the Prix du Livre Corderie Royale-Hermione for its French translation. 

Anna is also the author of A Leap, a collection of dramatic monologues, as well as numerous poetry collections, including Soldiers’ Songs, for which she was awarded the C. Buddingh’ Prize; A New Goodbye; and Hunting Scenes, winner of the Lucy B. and C.W. van der Hoogt Prize.

About the Translator - Eileen Stevens

Eileen Stevens earned her MA in linguistics with a specialization in translation from the University of Amsterdam. Her many Dutch-to-English translation credits include Connie Palmen’s Your Story, My Story; Karin Schacknat’s In and Out of Fashion; Vera Mertens’s The Concentration Camp; and Ineke van Doorn’s Singing from the Inside Out. She has also translated numerous essays on classical music and the arts. A New Jersey native, Eileen spent twenty-five years working as a professional violinist in a Dutch orchestra and has lived in Amsterdam since 1990.

About the book

After twelve years of marriage to English explorer James Cook, Elizabeth has yet to spend an entire year with her husband. In their house by the Thames, she moves to the rhythms of her life as a society wife, but there is so much more to her than meets the eye. She has the strength to manage the house and garden, raise their children, and face unbearable sorrow alone.

As she prepares for another homecoming, Elizabeth looks forward to James’s triumphant return and the work she will undertake reading and editing his voluminous journals. But will the private life she’s been leading in his absence distract her from her role in aid of her husband’s grand ambitions? Can James find the compassion to support her as their family faces unimaginable loss, or must she endure life alone as he sails off toward another adventure?

An intimate and sharply observed novel, The Homecoming is as revelatory as James Cook’s exploration of distant frontiers and as richly rewarding as Elizabeth’s love for her family. With courage and strength, through recollection and imagination, author Anna Enquist brilliantly narrates Elizabeth’s compelling record of her life, painting a psychological portrait of an independent woman ahead of her time.

Review

It's always fascinating to read about the women behind important historical figures. The people who remain anonymous, invisible and because of that they disappear into the folds of history books and archives. The importance of their roles is underrated and often never told. Putting that into perspective, who doesn't know about James Cook, and who in turn knows anything about his wife Elizabeth.

We meet Elizabeth as she is preparing for her husband to return to her once again. Not unlike modern military wives, she is the glue that holds the family and home together, awaiting the man who is little more than a distant love. They have spent little time together for the duration of their marriage - his endeavours, tasks and adventures always come first.

She carries the weight of grief alone, the unusual existence of being the wife of an early version of a celebrity. It's no wonder that the two of them have little common ground when he finally and reluctantly returns home. The feet they itcheth to be waterborne once more.

The subtle combination of historical fact, imagined dialogue, actual excerpts of letters and journals with a smidgen of faction thrown in to compliment the tale. It's also a lovely homage to the woman behind the man.

I always appreciate a good translation, which when done well leaves no lasting impression of having been translated, and captures the true essence, the nuances and voice of the author. Kudos to Stevens for that, and to Enquist for the fascinating read.

Buy The Homecoming at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher Amazon Crossing, pub date 1st April 2022 | Paperback: £8.99. Buy at Amazon com.