#Blogtour Murder On The Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict.

About the Author

Alexandra (AK) Benedict is a best-selling, award-winning writer of short stories, novels and scripts. Educated at Cambridge, Sussex, and Clown School, Alexandra has been a indie-rock singer, an actor, RLF Fellow, and a composer for film and TV as well as teaching and running the prestigious MA in Crime Thrillers at City University. She is now a full-time writer and creative coach.

Her most recent novel, under the name Alexandra Benedict, was the bestselling The Christmas Murder Game. She is currently writing another Christmas mystery, a high-concept thriller and TV scripts. Alexandra lives on the south coast of England with writer, Guy Adams, their daughter, Verity, and dog, Dame Margaret Rutherford. 

Alexandra Benedict’s brand-new Christmas thriller The Christmas Jigsaw Murders is publishing 9th November. Follow @ak_benedict on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter)

About the book

Can You Solve the Case? - Eighteen passengers. Seven stops. One killer.

In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the sleeper train to the Highlands is derailed, along with the festive plans of its travellers. With the train stuck in snow in the middle of nowhere, a killer stalks its carriages, picking off passengers one by one. Those who sleep on the sleeper train may never wake again.

Can former Met detective Roz Parker find the killer before they kill again?

Review

Roz is trying very hard not to disappoint her daughter again, she needs to keep her promises of being there to support during one of the most important times in her life. The last thing Roz needs is to get swept up in anything that might make her forget her priorities, but her professional instinct takes over and sleuthing takes the lead again.

We have a versatile cast of characters - a few of them potentially make both the perfect victim and suspect, which is probably why the whole story becomes such a Rubik's cube of a puzzle. Who did what to whom, and why?

This definitely has a Christie vibe - a train full of potential suspects and victims, a possible killer who is so at ease with their plans that they take the time to pick up snacks in case they get hungry before or after the event. Seems either very calculated, a wee bit insane or perhaps it's just a very organised potential killer.

Thinking of Christie I also thought Roz Parker was a bit Rutherford, McKenzie, and yet also embodies the image of a woman struggling to meet expectations in her relationships and battling past trauma. A sleuth to watch. (hint, hint)

It will be interesting to see whether the author can maintain this combo of modern meets old school mystery and crime - it has the potential to be a series and the author is one to watch. Saying that, I think her Christmas mysteries are a great idea and leave so much room for individual exploration and development.

Buy Murder on the Christmas Express at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon and Schuster, pub date 28 September 2023 - Paperback £9.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick.

About the Author

Denzil Meyrick is from Campbeltown on the Kintyre Peninsula in Argyll. After studying politics, he enjoyed a varied career as a police officer, distillery manager, and director of several companies. He is the No.1 bestselling author of the DCI Daley series and is now an executive producer of a major TV adaptation of his books.

Denzil lives on Loch Lomondside in Scotland with his wife Fiona and cats. You can find @Lochlomonden on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter), on Facebook @DenzilMeyrickAuthor, or on his website: denzilmeyrick.com

About the book

A village of secrets - It's December 1952, and a dead stranger has been found lodged up the chimney of Holly House in the remote town of Elderby. Is he a simple thief, or a would-be killer? Either way, he wasn't on anyone's Christmas wish list.

A mystery that can't be solved - Inspector Frank Grasby is ordered to investigate. The victim of some unfortunate misunderstandings, he hopes this case will help clear his name. But as is often the way for Grasby, things most certainly don't go according to plan.

A Christmas to remember - Soon blizzards hit the North York Moors, cutting off the village from help, and the local doctor's husband is found murdered. Grasby begins to realise that everyone in Elderby is hiding something - and if he can't uncover the truth soon, the whole country will pay a dreadful price...

Review

Do things just happen to Inspector Frank Grasby or is it merely a case of a sequence of unfortunate events always seem to unfold whilst he is in the vicinity? His superiors only care about the chaos he leaves in his wake and not the results, hence being sent to the middle of nowhere (North Yorkshire Moors) where he can lay low for a while. Not his choice, but as he says himself it's still preferrable to some other notorious areas he could end up in.

Where Frank walks mysteries and crimes follow quickly behind, although at times I wasn't entirely sure whether he was the source of most of the disruption. That is absolutely the charm of this story by the way, the strength of the main character. His innate ability to believe in his own self is what makes the reader believe the same, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Perhaps that is why he uncovers bit by bit what others have tried to hide crime after lie after betrayal - we all know the truth always outs, well it sounds a lot more poetic than the actual reality of the sleuthing that takes place, but hey-ho we are here for the Grasby dynamic of crime solving.

On a sidenote, can I just say the epilogue is absolutely spot on in relation to the first paragraph, I often wonder what those who fought so very hard during the Cold War would think about the situation we are in now. I'd also love to see a Grasby post-war crime series, just saying.

Buy Murder at Holly House at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. ~Publisher: Bantam, pub date 9th November 2023 | Hardback | £16.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok.

"Fifth Season developing series based on Jean Kwok Novels The Leftover Woman and Mambo in Chinatown"

About the Author

Jean Kwok is the international bestselling author of Girl in Translation, Mambo in Chinatown, and Searching for Sylvie Lee, which was a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club pick and an instant New York Times bestseller. Her work has been published in twenty countries and is taught in schools across the world. 

She has been selected for numerous honours, including the American Library Association Alex Award, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award and the Sunday Times Short Story Award international shortlist. She immigrated from Hong Kong to Brooklyn when she was five and worked in a Chinatown clothing factory for much of her childhood. She received her bachelor's degree from Harvard University and earned an MFA from Columbia University. She currently lives in the Netherlands. Follow @JeanKwok On X (the artist formerly known as Twitter), Visit jeankwok.com

About the book

'I will find my daughter. No matter the cost...' - Jasmine Yang thought her daughter was dead at birth. But five years after she was taken from her arms, she learns that her controlling husband sent the baby to America to be adopted, a casualty of China's one-child-policy. Fleeing her rural Chinese village, Jasmine arrives in New York City with nothing except a desperate need to find her daughter. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she's forced to make increasingly risky decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her child.

Meanwhile, Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardise not only Rebecca's job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble.

Two women in a divided city, separated by wealth and culture, yet bound together by their love for the same child. And when they finally meet, their lives will never be the same again...

Review

Throughout the trials, tribulations, pain, desperation and fear that play a heightened role for the duration of this story, it would be easy to overlook some of the smaller, but perhaps more poignant moments in the book. 

One of those is in the last few pages when the past comes full circle in a way, and some semblance of peace has been restored to the lives of the women who take centre stage in this book. It's fair to say that identity, cultural identity, historical and genealogical identity, play a huge role in the story. Also the division caused and lived when one culture melds into another, when Jasmine moves to America for instance.

It's never more pronounced than when Rebecca, her family, and the child they are raising realise how important it is to recognise the division and the necessity to acknowledge both for the child. That cultural and biological identity is a core experience that must be incorporated into her life.

It's a powerful moving story of love, motherhood and understanding what it means to have the strength to make the right choice for someone you love when they are unable to do so themselves.

Buy The Leftover Woman at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Viper, pub date 10 Oct. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Solstice by Helen Steadman

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Solstice by Helen Steadman.

About the Author 

Helen Steadman's first novel, Widdershins and its sequel, Sunwise were inspired by the 1650 Newcastle witch trials. Her third novel, The Running Wolf is about a group of master swordmakers who defected from Germany to England in 1687. Helen's fourth novel, God of Fire, is a Greek myth retelling as seen through the eyes of Hephaestus, perhaps the least well known of all the Olympians. 

Helen is particularly interested in revealing hidden histories and she is a thorough researcher who goes to great lengths in pursuit of historical accuracy. To get under the skin of the cunning women in Widdershins and Sunwise, Helen trained in herbalism and learned how to identify, grow and harvest plants and then made herbal medicines from bark, seeds, flowers and berries. 

The Running Wolf is the story of a group of master swordmakers who left Solingen, Germany and moved to Shotley Bridge, England in 1687. As well as carrying out in-depth archive research and visiting forges in Solingen to bring her story to life, Helen also undertook blacksmith training, which culminated in making her own sword. Follow @hsteadman1650 on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter

About the book

England, 1673. Still a world of witches, witch trials and witchfinders. - When a new vicar arrives to take over the parish of Mutton Clog, the village finds itself in the grip of puritan fever, and suspicious eyes are turned on Rose Driver. Rose’s mother, brother and grandmother were all put to death by the fanatical witchfinder, John Sharpe.

Almost quarter of a century after the Newcastle witch trials, Sharpe is no longer a threat. Rose should be safe in her quiet village, but is history about to repeat itself?

Find out in Solstice, the powerful conclusion to The Widdershins Trilogy, which tells the story of one woman’s struggle for survival in a hostile and superstitious world.

The Widdershins Trilogy was inspired by the little-known Newcastle witch trials, where fifteen women and one man were hanged for witchcraft on a single day in August 1650.

Review

The alternating views of Rose and Patience give an excellent overall view of how the majority of these witch hunts were created and driven, often to a disastrous conclusion. How the creation of doubt and rumour can become the perfect weapon of destruction, regardless of whether any accusation has any merit. Witch trials were a perfect way to tick quota boxes of the puritanical zealots who would rather have a living breathing scapegoat than accept not everything in life can be explained or predetermined.

Patience is the living breathing example of an almost innate hysteria grounded in false morality. How convenient is it to cast a shadow of doubt on others and in doing so to take a pedestal and elevate yourself to the higher spheres of saintliness. Can you tell she got on my nerves just a tad? It's interesting to note that the accused were unable to wash the stink of doubt from their reputations - such an efficient way to rid the world of people who don't fit in.

I really enjoyed how Rose is introduced and the innocent actions, words, thoughts so easily are twisted into something strange and threatening. The trauma she carries, and the empathy she feels for others, is perhaps part of her downfall.

This is the third book in the Widdershins trilogy, which the author has written with a bit of a reverse Star Wars vibe. It captures both the oddity, the tragedy and the repercussions of the accusations of witchcraft.  

Buy Solstice at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Bell Jar Books pub date18 Sept. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Never Tell Anyone Your Name by Federico Ivanier

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Never Tell Anyone Your Name by Federico Ivanier.

About the Author

Federico Ivanier is an acclaimed Uruguayan writer for young people. He has written over twenty books that have been published across Latin America. On more than one occasion, his works have been awarded the National Prize for Literature from the Uruguayan Ministry for Education and Culture as well as the Premio Bartolomé Hidalgo, one of the country’s most important literary awards. Federico has also worked occasionally as a screenwriter and teaches English as a second language. Follow @FedericoIvanier on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter)

About the Translator

Claire Storey translates from Spanish and  German into English. She specialises in literature for younger readers with a particular interest in MG and YA fiction. In 2021/22, she was given funding from Arts Council England for a translation project focusing on Young Adult Literature from Latin America. She regularly volunteers in schools to talk about careers with languages and was named Outreach Champion 2021 by the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. Follow @ClaireStorey16 Visit clairestoreylanguages.co.uk

About the book

Travelling between France and Spain, a 16 year-old-boy is marooned in on the Spanish border, in the unfamiliar Spanish town of Irún, with nowhere to go. Snow is falling, darkness is creeping in, and the next train to Madrid is not till midnight. 

Lost and hungry, he has eight hours to kill. His favourite rock band blasting in his ears, he explores the shuttered town, thinking of Lucrecia, his first love who told him it was over, and how he was heartbroken. A dark-eyed Spanish girl befriends him, and he is instantly attracted to her. But what are her intentions, and who is she really? The two teens spend the evening walking and talking as night falls. Midnight approaches, and the boy with no name must leave and return to board his train. Dark forces gather, and his hours in Irún come to a truly shocking end. 

Review

This is a short, poignant and memorable read - novella length. It's very much - the reading experience and what you take away from it - will be determined by the reader and their frame of reference. Not that it isn't usually the case, but this story might just have a wide range of responses.

Although the story is perhaps a step into the macabre, a tinge of horror, and a dollop of darkness - there is light at the end of the tunnel. The spark of humanity that is drawn through the story like a line in the sand, dividing the hope and the base inhumanity we know exists.

How close do we walk between the two sides of our emotional and physical responses, how many of us walk exactly on the divide and are always in danger of slipping into one or the other. Simultaneously the realisation that someone who walks through life with an open mind embracing the world and people around them, is probably going to be disappointed by how often that open embrace is misused, taken advantage of and creates a potentially dangerous situation.

What I took away from this very astute, well written and compelling piece of literature, is that trust has become an almost mythical element of our existence that is a rare quality never experienced. Equally that behind every external appearance and base assumptions is the interior of boundaries, memories and emotions we are unable to recognise.

I really enjoyed the read and the ride - I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this author. Also kudos to the translator for capturing the voice of the story. 

Buy Never Tell Anyone Your Name at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎HopeRoad, pub date26 Oct. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett.

About the Author

Janice Hallett is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Appeal (a Waterstones Thriller of the Month, the Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year and winner of the CWA Debut Dagger award) and the Sunday Times bestsellers The Twyford Code and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels. She lives in West London. Follow @JaniceHallett on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter)

About the book

* The Cast of Sunday Times Bestselling The Appeal return for a festive Murder Mystery *

One dead Santa. A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth? Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal.

But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up.

Of course there's also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?

Review

I've said this before, but it's definitely worth repeating, this author brings an entirely new vibe to fictional writing. It's fresh, innovative, will probably appeal to and bring in a wider audience. It's also worth noting that they are an author to watch.

This a novella length read, a 1.5 add-on to the novel Appeal, and the chaos has lost none of its charm. The focus, once again, is on the Fairway Players and their inability to stay away from murder and mayhem. In the midst of low-key tensions, jealousies and competitive drive, the Fairway Players take centre stage in this murder mystery - if they aren't careful they might start getting a reputation for always being in the middle of a scandal.

It's up to Femi and Charlotte to discern the lie from the truth, the malice from the merely incompetent, the eternally annoyed from the blatantly stupid, but most importantly they have to decide where the line is drawn between accident and intent. 

As always it's the kind of read that keeps you reviewing the information you are taking on board, even if it means revisiting some details, because the answers are in the small details and sometimes they are in the turn of a phrase.

I thought the twist towards the end was intriguing, could this be a potential plot of a further Appeal? Please make the twist the villain in a new venture! Before I forget, can I just say kudos for the murder 'weapon' - I will never see, listen to or read that story without thinking of this rather unusual piece of evidence.

Buy The Christmas Appeal at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Viper, pub date 26 Oct. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Run to the Western Shore by Tim Pears

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Run to the Western Shore by Tim Pears.

About the Author

Tim Pears is a much-admired, prize-winning writer whose prose has been likened to Marquez, Faulkner and Hardy. His recent West Country Trilogy was a critic’s favourite. Born in 1956, Tim grew up in Devon and left school at sixteen. He worked in a wide variety of jobs: welder, librarian, reporter, archaeological worker, fruit picker, psychiatric nurse, groundsman in a caravan park, painter & decorator, and night porter in Devon, Wales, France, Norfolk and Oxford.

Throughout this time he was always writing, and later making short films. He completed a Directing course at the National Film and TV School, graduating in the same month that his first novel, In the Place of Fallen Leaves, was published, in 1993.

In the Place of Fallen Leaves was awarded the Hawthornden Prize and the Ruth Hadden Memorial Award. Tim’s second novel, In a Land of Plenty, was made into a ten-part drama series for the BBC broadcast in 2001. Other novels include, A Revolution of the Sun, Wake Up, Blenheim Orchard, Landed and Disputed Land.

Landed was given the MJA Open Book Award and was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. All of these novels were chronicles of our time, exploring moral challenges as they are expressed in the dynamics and politics of relationships and family life.

In the Light of Morning was a departure, set in Yugoslavia in the Second World War. Tim then embarked on his most ambitious work, a trilogy of novels (The Horseman, The Wanderers and The Redeemed) set before, during and in the aftermath of the First World War.

Tim is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in Oxford, and is married to a psychoanalyst. He and his wife have two children. Apart from family life, he enjoys urban rambling and walking the dog (his first listener and a harsh critic) and rural foraging. Along with cinema, sport has been Tim’s other passion. He was a third-rate footballer and mediocre tennis player, and remains a poor ping-pong player. He continues to be an avid spectator of the ‘amazing human invention that is the game of football’

About the book

Run To The Western Shore is a beautifully written, evocative historical novel of quest and struggle - an ode to the land and Welsh folklore and a love story about the reconciliation of opposites in times of need.

Set in Britain in AD 72, Run to the Western Shore tells the story of a young Roman slave, Quintus, and Owen, daughter of the chief of a local tribe. Quintus, long exiled from his people, has travelled great odysseys in the retinue of a powerful man, and although he is a citizen of nowhere, he is also a man of reason who is fluent in many languages. Owen, imperious tribal royalty, is rooted in her native land (Wales) - a volatile warrior, fiercely attached to the natural world.

Promised to a powerful Roman by her father as part of a peace treaty, Owen flees during the night, taking Quintus with her. Hunted by an army, the two make their way across the country, living off the land, heading for the western shore…

Review

It's interesting how the author creates this juxtaposition of identity both culturally, socio-economically and even when it comes to gender roles. Quintus is completely enveloped in his status as a slave, which also serves as his identity. He has been trained to never query, to think beyond the boundaries set for him, to act without thought. This is particularly evident when Owen questions his knowledge of possible pursuit, routines and standard reactions expected in response to their flight or excursion.

Owen, both in identity and action, is a physical and visual representation of her country, people, the tribal nature of the times. What is law unto them is perhaps unlawful to the oppressor, ergo never the twain shall meet on grounds of common understanding. What both Owen and Quintus come to realise is that despite the huge differences between them, they have the commonality of useful commodity that links the two of them.

It's a tale written with the hand of prose, but never forgetting the reality of the historical setting. It's a story of connection, of footsteps that leave barely a reminder, and yet the importance of the two sets the tone for future removal of barriers. A stark reminder of sameness, regardless of the differences the world, the structure, and the variety of societal norms and cultural rules we think must keep us apart.

Buy Run to the Western Shore at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Swift Press on 2 November 2023 | Hardback | £12.99. Buy at Amazon com.