Tuesday 29 January 2019

Revenge on the Rye by Alice Castle - Blog Tour, Book Review & Giveaway

Today, I am delighted to be part of Alice Castle's blog tour for her new book Revenge on the Rye, thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources ...... please check out my review below ..... and there's also a chance to win a copy of Revenge on the Rye!

Genre:  Cozy Crime
Publication Date:  17 December 2018
Publisher:  Crooked Cat Books
Estimated Page Count:  288
Standalone Fifth Book in the London Murder Mysteries Series

Beth Haldane, SE21’s answer to Miss Marple, thinks she is going for a carefree stroll on Peckham Rye with her best friend, Katie, and her annoying new puppy, Teddy. But before Beth knows it, she is embroiled in her most perplexing mystery yet.
​
Strange events from her family’s past, present-day skulduggery in the art world, and the pressures of moving school in south London threaten to overwhelm Beth. Will she be able to piece together the puzzle before her son’s crucial interview at Wyatt’s? Or will Beth’s insatiable curiosity finally drag down all her dreams for the future?
​
Join Beth, her irascible on-off boyfriend, Detective Inspector Harry York of the Metropolitan Police, and the dog walkers of Peckham Rye in a tale of murder, mayhem – and bloody revenge.



Revenge on the Rye is the fifth book in this cozy mystery series set in Dulwich in London and, this time Beth's friend Katie has a new puppy which they innocently take for a walk on nearby Peckham Rye ...... but when they stumble upon an elderly labrador sitting obediently next to his dead owner, Beth, of course, can't resist trying to find the who, the why, the how and the whodunnit!

From art world spying to grafitti art, from a naughty puppy to an older, well brought up dog, this is a tale of contrasts while Beth's normally calm and unflappable friend Katie is reduced to a simpering wreck, hiding from other dog walkers, while trying to train her new excitable puppy.

Beth's still juggling her work at Wyatt's school with single-handedly bringing up her young son, still seeing the lovely DI Harry York, and still worrying whether she's a good enough mum and where her relationship with Harry is going, she is so endearing and I can so easily identify with her and her insecurities.

This can be read as a standalone as there are no spoilers from previous storylines, though mention is made several times of Beth's adventures from the earlier books.

I really enjoyed this mystery, the writing was full of detail, so true to life, it's so entertaining following Beth when she's on the scent of a mystery, with richly-drawn characters, this is a must for any cozy mystery fan!


About the Author


Author Bio – Before turning to crime, Alice Castle was a UK
newspaper journalist for The Daily Express, The Times and
The Daily Telegraph. Her first book, Hot Chocolate, set in
Brussels and London, was a European hit and sold out in two
weeks.
Death in Dulwich was published in September 2017 and has
been a number one best-seller in the UK, US, France, Spain
and Germany. A sequel, The Girl in the Gallery was published
in December 2017 to critical acclaim. Calamity in Camberwell,
the third book in the London Murder Mystery series, was
published this summer, with Homicide in Herne Hill following
in October 2018. Alice is currently working on the sixth London
Murder Mystery adventure. Once again, it will feature Beth
Haldane and DI Harry York.
Alice is also a top mummy blogger and book reviewer via her
website.
Social Media Links – http://www.alicecastleauthor.com
Links to buy books:.


Check out the other Bloggers on the Tour


Giveaway – Win a signed copy of Revenge on the Rye
(Open Internationally)
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. 
Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner
will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid
entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no
response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to
select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or
over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry
is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third
parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This
will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for
fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I
am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Friday 18 January 2019

He Said She Said by Erin Kelly - Book Review


Genre:  Crime, Thrillers & Mystery
Date Published:  April 2017
Publisher:  Hodder & Stoughton

In the hushed aftermath of a total eclipse, Laura witnesses a brutal attack. She and her boyfriend Kit call the police, and in that moment, four lives change forever.
Fifteen years on, Laura and Kit live in fear.
And while Laura knows she was right to speak out, she also knows that you can never see the whole picture: something is always hidden . . . something she never could have guessed.

I finished He Said She Said a couple of days ago and I was so stunned by the ending twists that I had to go over all the events in my head before I could even think of writing a review that summed up my feelings about the whole story.
Author Erin Kelly has the most amazing imagination to come up with a storyline that is so well-written and so clever and complex.
Moving back and forth in time worked really well giving it an overall dramatic feel and painting a vivid picture of the events leading up to the attack, during and after.  I loved this writing style and felt as if I knew the characters intimately so I wasn't at all prepared for the shocks to come!
I love these kind of psychological thrillers where you really don't know the whole story, you don't know how reliable the narrator is, you only get tantalising glimpses as the tension builds and builds.
A first class thriller, full of intrigue, lies, guilt, secrets and deception that was well-written and well-plotted.

My thanks to publishers Hodder & Stoughton for giving me the opportunity to read He Said She Said in exchange for an honest review.

Available to buy from



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Thursday 17 January 2019

Island of Secrets by Diane Demetre - Blog Tour & Extract

Today, I am delighted to be part of Diane Demetre's blog tour for her new book Island of Secrets, thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources ...... please check out an excerpt below .......

Island of Secrets
A captivating story of love, mystery and hope

Two love stories separated in time. Two women following their dreams. In a paradise littered with painful secrets, will love turn the tide?

1973. Cecilia “CiCi” Freemont has a restless soul and the voice of an angel. Leaving her privileged upbringing behind, she chases her dreams to the sandy beaches of an unspoiled Hawaiian paradise, Harbor Island. But life takes an unexpected turn when she falls for the island’s young heir-apparent and her newfound adventure becomes too much to bear…
2017. Investigative journalist Tina Templeton has dedicated herself to the pursuit of truth. But when she inherits Harbor Island, her career plans take a confusing twist. Managing the sprawling island estate is tough business even with the help of aging cabaret singer, CiCi Freemont. Especially when a massive ecological disaster threatens to destroy her beautiful beaches—and the responding coast guard captain steals her heart.
As the investigation into the disaster reveals a 40-year-old mystery that could change their lives forever, will Tina find love among the secrets, or will CiCi’s painful past dash her dreams on the rocks?
Island of Secrets is an epic love story. If you like generations-spanning drama, characters with hidden pasts, heart-warming romance and intrigue, then you’ll love Diane Demetre’s powerful romantic mystery in paradise.



EXTRACT

EXCERPT SEVEN
2017 – After attending a welcome home party the night before, Tina goes to town to assess how business is faring on the island.
On rising the following morning, Tina was surprised not to see any of the staff anywhere. Deducing they were all hungover, she requisitioned the truck and escaped the property so as not to face Sebastien. That showdown she wanted to keep for later. When she arrived in town, planning to have breakfast in the diner, it was closed. In fact, even now, one hour after their advertised opening hour of seven o’clock, the diner, the Local Store, and mechanics’ shop were still shut. Harbor Island’s esplanade felt more like a ghost town than a thriving visitor destination. Disappointed, she shook her head, and her jaw clenched tight. These people need to muscle up. Like most journalists, she’d hauled her sorry ass out of bed while nursing a blinding hangover when on assignment. But that’s what you did. You had a job to do, and if you were dumb enough to wipe yourself out the night before, you still had to front up and get the job done. Harbor Island will not succeed if these people don’t take responsibility.
By the time Suzie Lin opened her souvenir shop, Tina had paced the length of The Esplanade’s pavement three times, her frustration growing. When the door cracked open, and its owner peered out, Tina huffed. Behind a pair of fine gold-rimmed round glasses, Suzie’s dark eyes blinked, obviously startled to see a customer. A diminutive woman of about fifty, she wore ankle-length black silk trousers, topped with a blue mandarin-collared silk blouse printed in a delicate oriental design. Pinned with chopsticks, her glossy black hair coiled tight on top of her head, while her make-up free face shone in an even honey tone.
Tilting her head, she studied Tina closely. “Hello. Do I know you?”
“Good morning, Suzie. It’s me, Tina Templeton. Dickie’s niece.”
Joy blossomed on Suzie’s face, and she threw open the door. “Tina Templeton. I thought it was you, but you’ve cut your hair so short. Come in. Come in.”

AUTHOR BIO

Diane began her career as a school teacher before moving into the entertainment industry as a choreographer, director, event manager, dancer and actress, working in television and live theatre, and managing multi-million dollar productions.
Following her onstage career, she spent many years as a stress & life skills therapist, keynote speaker and presenter, appearing on national radio and television.
 When she launched into a writing career, Diane’s debut erotic romance series, the Dance of Love was voted Luminosity Publishing Readers’ Choice Best Books and Best Covers for 2015 and 2016.
Her romantic suspense, Retribution won the Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Pro Award 2017 for Best Unpublished Manuscript. Diane loves to write genre-busting stories with a twist. Her works are packed with emotional punch and feature empowered heroines who live life to the fullest, much like the author herself.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

WEBSITE                   www.dianedemetre.com

BLOG                         https://dianedemetre.com/blogposts/

FACEBOOK                https://www.facebook.com/dianedemetreauthor

TWITTER                   https://twitter.com/DianeDemetre

AMAZON                 https://www.amazon.com/Diane-demetre/e/B015P878H4/




Check out the other Bloggers on the Tour



Behind the Scenes

In this moving tale of love lost, love found and love eternal, award-winning author Diane Demetre makes us believe in the power of love — a love that is timeless and ageless.
In 1973, when wild child, Cecilia Freemont flees her privileged upbringing in San Francisco for sex, drugs, and adventure, she finds herself embroiled in the local superstition and secrets of Harbor Island, an unspoiled paradise off the coast of Maui. Against her better judgment, she falls in love with the island’s young heir-apparent, Dickie Reginald. But the odds are stacked against them, and Cecilia must make a heart-wrenching decision that will change her future forever.
Forty years later and under the saddest of circumstances, investigative journalist Tina Templeton and successful cabaret singer, CiCi Freemont find themselves involved in another of the island’s secrets. Despite being strangers, Tina, now the new owner of Harbor Island must work with CiCi to solve the mystery of Origin Beach which threatens to devastate the island. But when the US Coast Guard is called in, past and present collide with the arrival of Captain Jack Holmes. He brings with him a new mystery. One which may unearth the island’s deepest secrets.
Will Harbor Island’s legacy topple or will love triumph and transcend time?
If you love stories rich in emotion and fueled by intrigue, Island of Secrets will make you laugh, cry and capture your heart. An epic love story not to be missed.

****
I remember vividly when the idea for this book came to me. My husband and I were out in our boat on the Broadwater on the Gold Coast in Australia. It was one of those magnificent boating days—calm, sultry and cloudless. Having just completed Retribution, I’d been waiting on the inspiration for my next book. Nothing yet had beamed in. As someone who is willing to wait for inspiration rather than forcing my creativity, I was enjoying a couple weeks off from my writing schedule.
While we were relaxing on the Broadwater and lapping up the beautiful weather, an old Huon pine cruiser drove past us. Like a bolt out of the blue, Island of Secrets landed in my consciousness. The story arrived well-formed, with characters I immediately visualized.
I’d visited Hawaii a couple of years earlier, and Maui, with its volcanic geography, lush vegetation and captivating sea life lived up to its name of the Magic Isle. It was the ideal location for Island of Secrets.
Immersing myself in the island’s history, I grabbed a copy of James A. Michener’s epic tale, Hawaii. In discovering how the missionaries came to the islands and their impact on the indigenous population and culture, I gained a deeper insight into this special place. An insight I’ve woven into Part One of Island of Secrets.
Told across forty years, the story begins in the heady 1970’s. Having been a teenager during this time, I drew on my experience, as well as researching this amazing decade. The early 1970s saw the world undergo exponential change. With a sense of freedom coursing through our veins, we viewed the planet’s evolution with passionate optimism, seeking out opportunities to make the world a better place. It was an empowering time of enthusiasm, peace protests and free love; all bubbling forth from the post-civil and equal-rights era and the women’s liberation movement. With this as her backdrop, Cecilia launches into her big adventure. And like many young women of that time, she is fired in the kiln of life.
In Part Two, we meet her again. Now in her late sixties, she is matured and polished, but her essence and loyalties remain the same. She becomes the reflection character for Tina, who must deal with her own personal and environmental issues to save the legacy of Harbor Island.
At its heart, Island of Secrets examines the lives of not just Cecilia and Tina, but all the empowered women—Leilani, Victoria, Beatrice, Loretta, Silly Suzie et al. Women from different times and cultures who face similar challenges and find the courage and strength to overcome them. It is an exploration of how we view the fundamentals of life. Is it love or money that motivates us? Where does loyalty lie in the equation? What moves us to make the decisions we do? And no matter the dilemma we face, there comes a time when we must acknowledge that love is the ultimate answer.


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Sunday 13 January 2019

The Convalescent Corpse by Nicola Slade - Blog Tour, Book Review & #Giveaway

Today, I am delighted to be part of Nicola Slade's blog tour for her new book The Convalescent Corpse, thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources ...... please check out my review below ..... and there's also a chance to win a copy of Nicola Slade's recent book The House at Ladywell ...
The Convalescent Corpse Cover

Genre:  Historical Cosy Mystery
Publication Date:  20 November 2018
Publisher:  Crooked Cat Books
First Book in a potential Series


A story of Family, Rationing and Inconvenient Corpses.
​
Life in 1918 has brought loss and grief and hardship to the three Fyttleton sisters. Helped only by their grandmother (a failed society belle and expert poacher) and hindered by a difficult suffragette mother, as well as an unruly chicken-stealing dog and a house full of paying-guests, they now have to deal with the worrying news that their late – and unlamented – father may not be dead after all.  And on top of that, there’s a body in the ha-ha.



The Convalescent Corpse is the first book in a potential new series and I so hope there will be another as I'd love to know where author Nicola Slade takes Christy and her quirky family next!

 There's never a dull moment in the all women household, mother, a reclusive author, is obsessed with books and rarely speaks to her family, in fact they're sure she doesn't know who they are half of the time!

 Alix, always cheerful, volunteers at the local convalescent home for officers at Groom Hall, where she's desperately looking for a husband.

 Addy, 15, wants to go to medical school, loves dissecting things and has been expelled from schools for being an unruly pupil.

 The story is narrated by Christy, 18, who is very organised, practical and is also a writer of boys adventure serials.  She's not convinced that one of the wounded officer's death is an accident.

 The Fyttletons are such a likeable family and this was a well-plotted mystery, with red herrings, humour, secrets and surprises, and a family that doesn't take itself too seriously!

 Meet the Author

Nicola Slade lives in Hampshire where she writes historical and contemporary mysteries and women’s fiction. While her three children were growing up she wrote stories for children and for women’s magazines before her first novel, Scuba Dancing, was published in 2005. Among other jobs, Nicola has been an antiques dealer and a Brown Owl! She loves travelling and at one time, lived in Egypt for a year. The Convalescent Corpse is Nicola's 9th novel. Nicola is also a member of a crime writers’ panel, The Deadly Dames https://www.facebook.com/DeadlyDames/
Twitter: @nicolasladeuk



Giveaway – Win a paperback copy of The House at Ladywell (Open Internationally)


*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
To enter the Giveaway click this link

Follow the other bloggers on the tour for extracts and reviews



‘I love it. A delightfully unusual mystery with wonderful characterisation and historical detail.’ -
LESLEY COOKMAN BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LIBBY SARJEANT MYSTERY SERIES

Purchase Links
https://amzn.to/2RrkDoz     https://amzn.to/2ODJeYR







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