Veronika Jordan's Blog, page 69

The Soho Killer by B.L. Pearce

The body of a middle-aged man is discovered in Soho. DCI Rob Miller, who’d thought he’d seen it all, is shocked by the violent death.

The victim, dressed in a leather bondage outfit, has whip marks on his back and a ball-gag in his mouth. It looks like he’s been raped and strangled, but whether it was autoerotic or murder, that remains to be seen.

#TheSohoKiller @BibaPearce #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour

Just when Rob’s team is making headway with the investigation, another man is found dead, killed in the same fashion as the first victim. This turns their theory on its head and they are forced to release their suspect and go back to the drawing board. When a third man is murdered, it’s clear someone is sending a message. Criminal profiler Tony Sanderson, a long-standing friend of Rob’s, is called in to consult on the case. Together, they must unravel the killings that have left the local community reeling and bring an increasingly depraved serial killer to justice.

My Review

The Soho Killer is the sixth in the series featuring DCI Rob Miller. I haven’t read any of the others, but I still managed to follow everything that was happening. We are fed information along the way about the previous novels, like the murder of one of his colleagues, human trafficking and a killer in prison.

Rob is married to Jo and they have a 10-month old son called Jack. Jo has returned to work at MI5, albeit a desk job. They share the parenting of Jack where possible with the help of Tanya, who was their babysitter and is now the nanny. They also have a dog called Trigger.

Rob is a seasoned detective, in charge of his team. He’s been involved in many murder cases, but this one is something else. A middle-aged man, dressed in a leather bondage outfit, is found in Soho, with whip marks on his back and a ball-gag in his mouth. He’s been bound, raped and strangled, but whether the cause of death is autoerotic or murder remains to be seen.

There doesn’t seem to be a motive for the killing and the victim’s husband of many years swears that neither of them were into sadomasochism or bondage. But then another body turns up, killed in a very similar manner, yet seemingly unconnected and the team needs to start looking again.

When a third body is discovered, dressed in bondage gear and killed in the same way, it’s obvious a pattern is emerging. So Rob brings in long-term friend, criminal profiler Tony Sanderson to try and help build a picture of the killer.

Not for the faint-hearted, The Soho Killer is pretty grisly in parts and the killings are gruesome and graphic. Just the sort of thing I love! And boy what a twist at the end. I’d never have guessed.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Biba Pearce is a British crime writer and author of the DCI Rob Miller series. Biba grew up in post-apartheid Southern Africa. As a child, she lived on the wild eastern coast and explored the sub-tropical forests and surfed in shark-infested waters. Now a full-time writer with more than twenty-five novels under her belt, Biba lives in leafy Surrey and when she isn’t writing, can be found walking through the countryside or kayaking on the river Thames. 

Website www.bibapearce.com
Twitter @BibaPearce
Instagram @author_bibapearce

Blind House by Jamie-Lee Brooke

Fame is about to get deadly in this terrifying, fresh take on a haunted house thriller.

Set in an idyllic Cotswolds village, rookie paranormal investigator, Megan Forrest, is roped into investigating the strange goings-on at the home of Hollywood actor, Ross Huston.

Ross and his wife Deborah are convinced that their Victorian mansion is being haunted by the mentally ill patients who resided there in the late nineteenth century. Patients who were brutally treated and murdered at the hands of a cruel doctor.

#BlindHouse @Jamie_LeeBrooke @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour

As Megan investigates ghosts from the past, two women from the present go missing- women who were last seen at the Huston’s property. Who was the doctor and how is everything connected?

When Megan finds herself swept up in a dangerous game, she can’t escape. Who was the Doctor? One thing she knows for sure, is that there is something watching her…

My Review

It’s been years since I read a book that involves a Ouija board and then just like the buses, three come along at once. First there was The Parlour Game, then Ouija and now Blind House.

In Blind House Megan Forrest – our rookie paranormal investigator – uses an upturned glass as the planchette, just like my brother and I did all those years ago. And like my mother’s experience, when the ‘spirit’ got angry, the glass flew off the table and smashed on the floor. Megan also uses EMF monitors, cat toys that light up when spirits are around, and a contraption that plays white noise. I love a haunted house mystery and this one was as good as they get.

Set in an idyllic Cotswold village – always a winner for me as I live in the Cotswolds and we have one of England’s most haunted villages close by – ghost detective Megan has been asked to investigate the ghostly goings-on at the home of celebrity heartthrob actor Ross Huston. His wife Deborah believes that the ghosts are the spirits of the mentally ill patients who were brutally tortured and murdered by the cruel doctor who ran the asylum in 1878. In typical poltergeist fashion, things are moved around, thrown and broken, noises can be heard in the walls, and there are mysterious sightings in the gardens around the house.

Marc is Ross’s friend and looks after his security, but he doesn’t seem to be taking any of this very seriously. However, he is rather attractive (as is Ross of course), but Megan has just escaped an abusive relationship and is not looking for romance.

In the meantime, two women have gone missing – both were last seen at the Huston’s house – and the police are investigating. Ross is up for a new TV role and none of this is good for his reputation.

This is a book full of menace and suspense and the twist is a masterpiece of writing, especially as this is the author’s debut novel. I absolutely loved it.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Jamie-Lee Brooke is the pen name of Brooke Venables who lives with her twin sons in the Worcestershire area. She is an author of both horror and thrillers and works as a dental nurse which gives her plenty of scope to imagine putting people in uncomfortable situations. She loves her job and takes great satisfaction in helping people to smile.

Jamie-Lee’s biggest achievement to date is graduating after studying with the Open University for six years, achieving a BA Honours in Humanities with classical studies and creative writing. It was no mean feat whilst working and being a mum to twins who both have autism and learning difficulties.

Follow her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063616654780 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jamie_LeeBrooke
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/jamielee_brooke_author
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamielee_brooke_author/

Buy Links – https://geni.us/A6fvVR

Ouija by Zoé-Lee O’Farrell

The only thing for certain is the deaths were no accident.

Rayner High School – once a prestigious school – stands in ruins after such a terrible event.

#Ouija #Zoe-Lee O’Farrell @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour

A year later, a group of friends return to the abandoned school and their nightmare begins.

Something wants to get out and won’t take NO for an answer…

My Review

When I was a child my mother told me that she and my father had tried having a seance with a Ouija. In those days you made your own letters of the alphabet and used an upturned glass as the planchette. She said the ‘spirit’ got angry and the glass flew off the table and smashed on the floor. So a few years later my brother and I tried the same thing. Needless to say we didn’t conjure up any deceased relatives or demons, but it did have a marked effect on us. We are both still fascinated by ghosts and things that go bump in the night. However, I wouldn’t be trying to contact the dead in the place where a horrific crime was carried out.

But enough of that and on to the book Ouija, the brilliant debut from a new voice in YA horror fiction, Zoe-Lee O’Farrell. Now anyone who knows me is aware that I find there is a very thinly drawn line between horror and dark humour and initially I found some of that here. A bit like The Blair Witch Project of the late nineties, which I struggled to take seriously much of the time. But Ouija gets scarier and scarier, without ever resorting to the ridiculous.

The nineties was the decade of teen horror films and there were loads. Ouija pays homage to the best of them, but it’s not a slasher story like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer (The Faculty is my personal favourite though that chucks in Sci-Fi as well), it’s all about lost spirits and a demon. Supernatural, the TV series which began in the early 2000s, immediately springs to mind.

I was slightly out of my comfort zone with Ouija, as my teen experience of horror was Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and the books of MR James and Bram Stoker, but I really loved it. In a review on Goodreads, the reviewer refers to Ouija being for fans of Point Horror, Fear Street and Goosebumps. I think these are from my children’s generation – I’ve heard of Point Horror but not the other two.

Ouija is quite short and because of that it never lets up on the shocks and scary moments. Nothing is wasted on long descriptions and while the ‘romance’ and text messages are a bit meh and bleh, they are teenagers after all, so are not likely to proofread their texts, looking for grammatical errors (like me)!

The story is very simple really. Six teenagers decide to visit the scene of a horrific crime – Rayner High School now in ruins – and see what happens when you try to conjure up spirits using a Ouija board. That’s just asking for trouble and moaning minnie Lara never misses an opportunity to make her feelings known. Perhaps they should all have taken her more seriously. Jon is the leader, Ben is Lara’s boyfriend, Caley is her best friend and twins Simon and Sophie are there for the ride. And some ride it turns out to be. More terrifying than Nemesis at Alton Towers (says someone who finds the teapot ride scary), it will have you closing your eyes and holding your breath.

It has everything a teen spookfest needs from shock and horror to suspense and a body count of, well, loads. Read alone in the dark for added scariness. Unfortunately it’s far too scary for my collaborator and sidekick aged 8 to review with me. Recommended for reading ages 13 to 18 years.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Zoé O’Farrell grew up in Watford but left the town life to live by the sea down at the White Cliffs of Dover. She spends her days working with numbers before escaping in the evening to the world of words and movies. Her go-to relaxation is watching a scary movie or reading a terrifying book!

She is a book blogger and tour organiser just to keep her extra busy. When she is not reading or writing, you can usually find her watching Watford FC or at a gig. Failing that she can be found rolling her eyes at her husband as he acts the same age as her spitfire of a Mini-Me whilst separating her two cats. Ouija is her debut novel.

Follow her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZoeOFarrellAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zooloosbookdiary/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zooloo2008
Website : https://zooloosbookdiary.co.uk/

Buy Links – https://geni.us/3vA33F

Surviving Her by Jo Johnson

Nicky is the child with the hurting eyes and desperate ways. Rescue him.
Claus is the man with the empty eyes and controlling ways. Rescue her.

Broken by the death of her sister, Keziah can’t believe her luck when Claus, a beautiful psychologist saves her from a disciplinary disaster. Desperate to heal herself and restore her parents, she marries in haste. But her husband’s idiosyncrasies and unexplained absences are easy to ignore ‒ until the past resurfaces and forces Keziah to confront the uncomfortable truth.

Nine-year-old Nicky, is also living the life of luxury but desperate to escape ‒ he can’t.

When Keziah ends up in hospital, her world collides with Nicky’s. The secrets he shares have far-reaching consequences and, if mishandled, will blow everyone’s future out of the water…

My Review

So we all feel desperately sorry for Nicky (none of it is his fault – he’s only nine – though he thinks it is). No-one ever explains anything to him so he takes everything literally. If he doesn’t do this or that or count to a certain number, then that prevents him from keeping everyone safe. But his alcoholic mum should be keeping him safe – not the other way round. And his father doesn’t have a clue.

Claus is a dangerous man, exercising coercive control over Keziah. She is gradually becoming estranged from her friends and family. He also lies, hides things and disappears for days. He wants to know where she is all the time and even tracks her. But is he really dangerous or simply over-protective to the point of paranoia? When I was a child, if my father was an hour late back from work, my mother would start ringing the police and the hospitals. It had nothing to do with control. It arose from her crippling levels of anxiety. But Claus is a psychologist so he should know better, shouldn’t he?

The book is set in two timelines – one is Nicky’s childhood in the eighties – though the exact date is not always clear – and at times so sad I wasn’t sure initially if I would be able to carry on reading. The other is told from the point of view of Keziah, a primary school teacher who has recently married Claus, supposedly the man of her dreams, the man who would rescue her. Because Keziah’s life has never been the same since her sister Esther died when they were both in their teens and she still harbours the guilt she felt at the time. I think sometimes she feels she deserves whatever has been handed out to her.

It’s an amazing book which perfectly captures the themes of love, loss, parenthood, childhood trauma, guilt and control. Having been written by a psychologist, we know that these themes, together with that of mental health, will be dealt with sensitively and realistically.

There is so much more that resonated with me but it would lead to spoilers, so I can’t say more, but suffice to say this is a book that will make you reevaluate your prejudices.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.

About the Author

Surviving Her is dual-narrative, domestic suspense. It combines engaging, complex characters with a fast-moving plot that explores what goes on behind fancy doors! It’s a timely page turner, it’s a novel novel and Jo Johnson has a unique voice (her kids say a scratchy and irritating one but hey!)

She qualified as a clinical psychologist in 1992 specialising in neurology since 2000. She worked for fifteen years within the NHS but in 2008 made an impulsive decision to leave in order to write and explore new projects. She continues to practise psychology hoping one day to become perfect at it! In her spare time she loves writing fiction and given her day job she believes she can write characters who could be real. Surviving Her is her second novel.

The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen translated by David Hackston

Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen has finally restored order both to his life and to YouMeFun, the adventure park he now owns, when a man from the past appears – and turns everything upside down again.

More problems arise when the park’s equipment supplier is taken over by a shady trio, with confusing demands. Why won’t Toy of Finland Ltd sell the new Moose Chute to Henri when he needs it as the park’s main attraction?

#TheMooseParadox @antti_tuomainen @OrendaBooks
#RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #BlogTour 

Meanwhile, Henri’s relationship with artist Laura has reached breaking point, and, in order to survive this new chaotic world, he must push every calculation to its limits, before it’s too late.

My Review

Just a quick recap as this is book two in the series. In book one Henri Koskinen lost his job as an actuary. He just wasn’t moving with the times. He couldn’t get his head round all the modern, team-building crap his boss spouted about, so he was out on his ear. Then his brother Juhani died and left him an adventure park called YouMeFun, plus all his debts.

Henri’s only real friend is his cat Schopenhauer, in whom he confides. Schopenhauer always understands, though he is not always sympathetic. I like this cat. He’s aloof and sensible. All four paws furrmly planted on the ground.

Henri also inherited the staff. Kristian reminds me of a cross between Joey Essex and Pooh Bear, all muscle and little brain. Esa is the park’s head of security who wants surveyance drones in the air, Minttu K is the marketing and sales manager and reeks of gin and cigarettes. Samppa is in charge of play, while Johanna runs the Curly Cake Cafe and has spent time behind bars – and I don’t think we mean the ones in pubs. And then there’s the artist Laura Helanto. Their relationship didn’t quite work out in book one so we’ll have to see what happens this time.

By the end of the first book, everything was back on the straight and narrow, notwithstanding a body or two, but then a face from the past turns up and it’s all chaos again.

The park’s equipment supplier Toy of Finland Ltd has been taken over by a shady trio, and they are refusing to sell the new Moose Chute to Henri when he needs it to boost the park’s finances. They want him to have the redundant Crocodile Canyon instead, at a ludicrously inflated price.

I found The Moose Paradox hilarious in a deliciously dark way. At one point Henri is reminiscing about his parents’ funeral – only one of whom was in a coffin.

‘They went to find another coffin,’ explains Henri’s brother Juhani, but, ‘there was a misunderstanding about the price….I had to decide between the fish terrine and the coffin, but by then most of the terrine had been eaten.’

‘You swapped our mother for a cake?’ spluttered Henri.

Now for some people this may all be in rather bad taste (and I’m not talking about the fish terrine here). But for those of us who cut our teeth on Dave Allen’s coffin race sketch amongst others, it’s all very funny. I can’t wait for book three – I hope there is one.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author in 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach Finland was an immense success, with Marcel Berlins (The Times) calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’. Little Siberia (2020), was shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, the Amazon Publishing/Capital Crime Awards and the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The Rabbit Factor (2021), the first book in Antti’s first ever series, is in production by Amazon Studios with Steve Carell starring. The Moose Paradox, book two in the series is out in 2022.

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.

The Parlour Game by Jennifer Renshaw

Death is only the beginning….

London, 1873. Ivy Granger, an amateur botanist, is plagued by disturbing dreams and faceless whispers. Misunderstood by her father, she fears for her sanity – threatened with the asylum or worse, the hands of a man she loathes.

But a stranger at her mother’s funeral reveals Ivy’s world has been a lie, and she could have a different life, for she is capable of so much more…

#TheParlourGame #JenniferRenshaw Instagram @jen_renshaw #TheCorvidaeHauntings #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour

Miss Earnshaw, London’s most renowned spiritualist, is Ivy’s only hope of revealing what secrets her mother took to the grave and discovering her true purpose.

Ivy’s journey for knowledge takes her to Blackham House, a building haunted by a terrible past – full of macabre artefacts and ancient studies of the supernatural. But behind closed doors, the Blackhams collect more than relics alone, and Ivy will soon find herself at the centre of a conspiracy spanning generations, and a hidden evil waiting to be unleashed.

Can Ivy survive in a world where women must play their part or risk being silenced?

My Review

This is the book I have been waiting for! A gothic tale of sinister goings-on, mysterious disappearances, hauntings and macabre artefacts with special powers.

As a teenager I was obsessed with Dennis Wheatley and his tales of the occult and black magic. I became fascinated by the stories and even when I read religious studies as part of my OU degree in my fifties, I was still enthralled. Articles such as ‘The Victorian Supernatural‘ and ‘The Fashionable Science of Parlour Magic‘ are just up my street. It was a golden age of belief in supernatural forces and energies, ghost stories, weird transmissions and spooky phenomena. (Source https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-victorian-supernatural)

Spiritualism attracted people from all walks of life and was made popular due to the Victorian’s obsession with mesmerism, clairvoyance and trying to contact the dead. Also, the spiritualist movement did not have to adhere to the strict orthodox rules of the established churches which did not approve of such practices, so it was perfect for those who wanted to contact their dear departed. Its proponents included the famous writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle amongst others. Unfortunately many of the practitioners turned out to be frauds and plenty of paranormal investigators found great pleasure in ‘unmasking’ them. In fact I recently attended a live Victorian Seance podcast event where we learnt some of the tricks that were used.

The Parlour Game really was a book I could not put down. I’m so glad I read it on holiday so I didn’t have to. There is an underlying spookiness in every page, just waiting for the darkness, the bumps in the night, the voices in the walls.

Following the death of her beloved mother and the attendance of the celebrated spiritualist Miss Earnshaw at the funeral, Ivy Granger’s life will never be the same. The spiritualist tells her that she knew her mother and that Ivy’s life is in peril and gives her a card with her address. But Ivy’s father tells her it’s all nonsense and has decided that Ivy is to be married to the local undertaker. Her dream of studying to be a botanist is fast fading.

But Ivy isn’t having any of it. Marriage to this man is a fate worse than death, so she packs her things and heads off alone on the coach to London to seek out Miss Earnshaw.

‘Ivy’s journey for knowledge takes her to Blackham House, a building haunted by a terrible past – full of macabre artefacts and ancient studies of the supernatural.’ Maids who only stay a few days and then disappear, the mysterious butler who is there one minute and gone the next, an evil gardener who feeds the ‘mischief’ of magpies, Master Blackham, wracked with drink and opium, and his mother Lady Blackham, a cross between Mrs Danvers and the Wicked Witch of the West, only worse.

I loved this so much! Poor Ivy is totally out of her depth. But will she have the courage to take on the Devil himself? This is definitely one of my favourite books of the year.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.

About the Author

Jennifer Renshaw grew up in Sussex, England, and is a former analyst. She has always been fascinated by history and enjoys a gothic mystery. She now lives in Denmark with her family and two portly cats.

Website: https://jenniferrenshaw.com/

The Corvidae Hauntings
The corvids are no ordinary family of birds. 
Magpie, Crow, Jackdaw, Raven and Rook.
Each one with a purpose and a distinctive trait.
Collector, Thief, Mesmerist, Trickster and Oracle.
Nobody is safe from their influence in Victorian London.

The next book in the series will be…
Book 2: The Crow -There is a thief in the night!

The Mystery of Four by Sam Blake

Murder is easy…when it doesn’t look like murder.

Tess Morgan has finally made her dream of restoring the beautiful Kilfenora House and Gardens into a reality. But during rehearsals for the play that forms the opening weekend’s flagship event, her dream turns into a nightmare when a devastating accident looks set to ruin her carefully laid plans.

There are rumours that Kilfenora House is cursed, but this feels personal, and becomes increasingly terrifying when more than one body is discovered. Could someone be closing in on Tess herself?

Clarissa Westmacott, ex-star of stage and screen, certainly believes so, particularly when she learns that purple-flowered aconite has been picked from the Poison Garden. And Clarissa will stop at nothing to protect the friend she has come to see as a daughter…

My Review

You can’t beat a good whodunnit, especially when – like in this case – you don’t have a clue right up until the very end. Suspicious, too obvious, no motive, too obscure, couldn’t have, wouldn’t have, a red herring – all the possibilities are here.

Following a personal tragedy which saw Tess Morgan escaping to a job in Dubai, she has finally decided to return to Ireland and restore the beautiful Kilfenora House and Gardens. It’s cost her a fortune in time and money and nothing can stand in the way of success. Tess can’t allow it to, not after all the effort and hard work.

So when a devastating accident occurs just days before the opening night, Tess is drawn into a nightmare that could derail her plans. They say that Kilfenora House is cursed, but who believes that kind of nonsense these days? But when more bodies turn up, it begins to feel personal. Who is trying to terrify her and could she be next?

There are a lot of characters involved and it took a while to work them all out, but bear with. It all becomes clear as to who is who (just), though I still didn’t know who was guilty. I even began to suspect Merlin the cat, who seems to be as clever as the rest of them put together, though Clarissa is really the star of the show. Well she was, literally, for many years and she knows her stuff. Especially when it comes to the purple-flowered aconite which grows in the Poison Garden. Because it kills without trace. After a few days it’s gone from the system and the cause of death mimics a heart attack. But who is cunning (and daring) enough to use it?

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.

About the Author

Sam Blake has had a string of No. 1 bestsellers with her runaway bestselling debut, Little Bones, the first in the Cat Connolly trilogy, shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year. Switching to psychological thrillers, Keep Your Eyes on Me was a No. 1 bestseller, and her next book, The Dark Room was shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year. Her last thriller, Remember My Name, went straight to No. 1 in January 2022. Originally from St. Albans in Hertfordshire, Sam now lives at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains, near Dublin in Ireland.

Red As Blood (An Áróra Investigation Book 2#) by Lilja Sigurðardóttir translated by Quentin Bates

When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Gudrun missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Gudrun will be killed.

Forbidden from contracting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend Daniel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on.

#RedAsBlood @lilja1972 @OrendaBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours 
#IcelandNoir

Meanwhile, Áróra and Daniel continue the puzzling, devastating search for Áróra’s sister Ísafold, who disappeared without trace. As fog descends, in a cold and rainy Icelandic autumn, the investigation becomes increasingly dangerous, and confusing.

Chilling, twisty and unbearably tense, Red as Blood is the second instalment in the riveting, addictive An Áróra Investigation series, and everything is at stake…

My Review

Before starting my review I’m going to do a quick recap of the first book in the series – Cold As Hell.

Our main protagonist Áróra is half English/ half Icelandic, tall, fit and statuesque, the troll (as her father called her) to her older, elfin sister Ísafold.

Ísafold has disappeared, worrying because her abusive, drug peddling boyfriend Björn has previously beaten her so badly she’s ended up in hospital on more than one occasion. Áróra doesn’t live in Iceland – she lives in England and so does their English mother, who is becoming increasingly worried. Áróra and her sister are not on speaking terms because of Ísafold’s relationship with Björn. However, her mum insists that Áróra travels to Iceland and in Red As Blood she is still there and still looking.

In book one she met and almost had a relationship with police officer Daniel and we meet him again in book two.

Basically, Áróra has been asked to help with a case of kidnapping and ransom – she is a financial investigator – by her accountant friend Michael who is working on behalf of businessman Flosi. Flosi’s house has been ransacked, his wife Gudrun is missing and a ransom note left on the kitchen table asks for 2 million Euros.

As Áróra, Daniel and the team start to dig deeper, they discover that Flosi’s life, both business and personal is far more complicated than it initially appears. Nothing is straightforward and everyone seems to be hiding something, particularly Flosi, who has money coming in from every direction, most of them decidedly sketchy.

I loved this book as much as the first one. However, if you haven’t read Cold As Hell, I would suggest you do, otherwise you’ll miss a lot about the already established relationships.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.

Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurðardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written four crime novels, with Snare, her English debut shortlisting for the CWA International Dagger and hitting bestseller lists worldwide. Trap soon followed suit, with the third in the trilogy Cage winning the Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year, and was a Guardian Book of the Year. Lilja’s standalone Betrayal, was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel. The film rights have been bought by Palomar Pictures in California. Lilja is also an award-winning screenwriter in her native Iceland. She lives in Reykjavík with her partner.

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.

The M Word by Eileen Wharton

Roberta Gallbreath is middle aged and menopausal. She dislikes her children, detests her ex-husband and despises her colleagues.

When her mother dies, Roberta is left with a pile of letters and a mystery surrounding her son. The letters reveal Roberta’s heritage is not what it seems and she is soon on a mission to become a better person.

#TheMWord @WhartonEileen @SpellBoundBks @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour

Told with humour and emotion, The M Word is the tale of one woman’s journey to find out where she came from. As she looks to the past for answers, more questions are raised. Will Roberta discover who she really is?

My Review

This was nothing like I expected. Oh how I laughed and cried! It’s really a book of two halves. We have Roberta’s perimenopause experience (I’m glad mine was nothing like hers) and then her mother’s unbelievably sad story of her experiences during and after the second world war.

Had the book just been about Roberta, I would not have enjoyed it so much. Her acerbic tongue is often hilarious though at times you want to cringe.

‘When I get there, I’m sweating like a blind lesbian at a whelk stall.’ What does even mean?

She has no filter and says the first thing that comes into her head, She is rude and offensive. Her ex-husband, Andy, who she calls Knobhead, ran off with Terri-Ann from Thomas Cook years ago and she is still bitter. Her experiences on Tinder, encouraged by work chum Tammy, as she tries to find a date for the office party, is one of the funniest parts of the book. Everyone she meets is either a pervert or a loony and most of them have questionable hygiene practices. When she tries speed dating, it’s even worse if that’s possible.

But there’s only so much of her ‘humour’ you can take, and having gone through my own menopause over 15 years ago, I found it hard to relate. In fact I could hardly relate to Roberta at all. She hates her mother. She detests her sister. She doesn’t even particularly like any of her three children.

‘It’s not enough, Mother, to feed and clothe us,’ says her youngest daughter…’Our souls need nourishment.’ ‘Really?’ replies Roberta, ‘I didn’t look after your feet?’

You could go as far as saying she hates everyone. The doctor simply tells her it’s due to her perimenopause. I could have slapped him.

Then when her mother is on her deathbed, she gives Roberta a pile of letters. They were written mainly from her mother to her twin brother Michael, and then to someone else as well, but I can’t say more. The letters were absolutely heart-breaking. For me it turned the story on its head and the change from light to shade and back again was so well-written that I cried and cried. What started out as a hilarious rom-com turned into an emotional rollercoaster. Absolutely brilliant.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Eileen Wharton is an Oscar winning actress, Olympic gymnast, and Influencer. She also tells lies for a living. Her first novel was published in 2011 to worldwide critical acclaim. And she’s won awards for exaggeration. It did top the Amazon humour chart so she’s officially a best-selling author. She currently has five ‘lively’ offspring ranging from thirty-three to fourteen years of age, and has no plans to procreate further, much to the relief of the local schools and police force. She lives on a council estate in County Durham. She has never eaten kangaroo testicles, is allergic to cats and has a phobia of tinned tuna. She’s retired from arguing with people on the internet.

Follow her at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WhartonEileen
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/eileen.whartonwriter
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/eileenscribblings/

Buy Link – https://geni.us/vSw3C

The Wolf In The Woods by Dan Brotzel

Colleen and Andrew haven’t had sex in eleven weeks and three days [not that anyone’s counting]. Their marriage is in crisis, they’re drinking too much and both have secrets they’re afraid to share. A teetotal week in a remote cottage could solve all their problems. But with the promised beach nowhere in sight, a broken-down car and a sinister landlord, they may not find it so easy to rekindle their romance. In this dark and funny novel, tensions build and tempers fray. 

My Review

I absolutely loved this book. It’s funny and sad at the same time – I laughed out loud, cringed at times (because Wolf really is rather creepy), and even shed a tear or three at the end.

Colleen and Andrew’s marriage (20 years married but 27 years together) is a disaster, but will a week away in a remote cottage in the forest really help? Will their marriage survive the make-or-break getaway? You wonder whether they will both survive at all – and I mean literally.

Wolf (Wolfgang? Mr Wolf?) lives next door and owns the cottage they are staying in. He can’t do enough to help to the point of being intrusive. It’s nice to have a caring landlord, but he is always there, accompanied by his dog Jack, poking his nose in, inviting Colleen to spend time having a drink with ‘Mrs Wolf’. Not a good idea as Colleen and Andrew are trying to stay off the alcohol while they are away. Make a fresh start. Stay sober.

Wolf appears to know so much, doesn’t he. And Colleen and Andrew have some big secrets, one of which is about the drinking, but there are other things which each thinks the other doesn’t know about.

Mrs Wolf – Hildy – is also a strange one.
‘Your Andrew.’ she says to Colleen.
‘Yes?’ said Colleen. ‘Does he have a big one?’

Now the reason this made me laugh was because while at our local Lido with my friend who is probably not far off Hildy’s age, we bumped into someone I have known for years, but she had never met before. He showed us a picture of his beautiful second wife. Admitted punching above his weight.
‘Are you rich.’ my friend asked.
‘No,’ he replied. ‘Then you must have a big one.’ she said.

Brilliant!

About the Author

Dan Brotzel describes himself as a “funny-sad author” and writer of novels, short stories, articles and other motley bits of content. The author of Hotel du Jack, a collection of short stories, and The Wolf in the Woods, a novel, he also co-wrote the brilliantly funny Work in Progress – a “novel-in emails” from award-winning publishers, Unbound. He lives in suburban north London with his partner and three children.

More info at www.danbrotzel.com