The Survivors by @janeharperautho #ContemporaryFiction set in Tasmania #MurderMystery #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Contemporary Fiction, Murder, Mystery by Cathy

Author: Jane Harper

Narrated by Stephen Shanahan

Published: September 2020 by Hachette Audio UK

Category: Contemporary Fiction, Murder, Mystery, Audiobook Review

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Kieran Elliott’s life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences. The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal town he once called home. Kieran’s parents are struggling in a community which is bound, for better or worse, to the sea, that is both a lifeline and a threat. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.

The Survivors is a story of family, secrets, lies and friendships and takes place in the small, fictional coastal town of Evelyn Bay in Tasmania. Kieran, along with girlfriend Mia and baby daughter Audrey, have returned to their home town from Sydney, in order to help Kieran’s mother pack up and move his father to a nursing home in Hobart.

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6Oct2020

#GuestPost from Randy Overbeck #author of the Haunted Shores Mysteries @OverbeckRandy #GhostStory #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Ghost Story, Guest Post, Mystery, Paranormal by Cathy

Today, I’d like to welcome Randy Overbeck with his post ‘First, Get The Setting Right,’ so over to you, Randy…

Of course, it takes several important ingredients to create an engaging mystery—an intriguing murder, a suspenseful plot, credible characters, large and small. But any good writer also recognizes the importance of the right setting for their narrative, of creating a credible “world” the reader can inhabit for hours at a time. Sometimes this “world” can be as familiar as a small resort town or as unusual as a completely different time or place. As a reader, I’ve particularly enjoyed the worlds created by such notable mystery writers as William Kent Krueger, Walter Mosley and C.J. Box and I’ve tried to learn from their examples.

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5Oct2020

#BookReview ~ Winter of the Wolf by Martha Hunt Handler #Mystery #Spirituality #DebutNovel

Posted in Book Review, Debut Novel, Mystery, Spiritual, Young Adult Fiction by Cathy

Author: Martha Hunt Handler

Published: July 2020 by Greenleaf Book Group Press

Category: Mystery, Spirituality, YA (with reservations) Book Review

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A tragic mystery blending sleuthing and spirituality

An exploration in grief, suicide, spiritualism, and Inuit culture, Winter of the Wolf follows Bean, an empathic and spiritually evolved fifteen-year-old, who is determined to unravel the mystery of her brother Sam’s death. Though all evidence points to a suicide, her heart and intuition compel her to dig deeper. With help from her friend Julie, they retrace Sam’s steps, delve into his Inuit beliefs, and reconnect with their spiritual beliefs to uncover clues beyond material understanding.

Winter of the Wolf is the story of a family’s grief and how they cope with tragedy. It’s far from all doom and gloom though. This coming of age story is about following instincts and beliefs, exploring new avenues to discover the truth, however painful. And, although the story centres on teens, there are serious adult themes and topics in the book that I think wouldn’t be suitable for younger teen readers.

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29Sep2020

Killing Rock (A Sullivan and Broderick Murder Mystery Book 3) by @RobertDaws ~ #CrimeFiction Set in Gibraltar @HobeckBooks #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense by Cathy

Author: Robert Daws

Published: July 2020 by Hobeck Books

Category: Crime Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Book Review

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A wealthy family massacred. Unidentified mummified remains. Is there a connection?

Gibraltar is shaken by echoes from its history once again as a serial killer stalks the Rock.

Detectives Tamara Sullivan and Gus Broderick face the most dangerous and elusive murder investigation of their lives, and for Sullivan, it’s about to become all too personal.

Can their relationship endure this latest peril, and will the Rock ever escape its ghosts?

Killing Rock, book three in the series featuring Detective Sergeant Tamara Sullivan and Chief Inspector Gus Broderick, begins in 2005 as a woman, scared for her life, attempts to flee Spain for Gibraltar.

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28Sep2020

#MiniBlogBlitz #Extract ~ Eternal Forever by Syl Waters #Mystery @waters_syl @rararesources

Posted in Blog Blitz, Extract, Fiction, Humour, Mystery by Cathy

Welcome to the Mini Blog Blitz for Eternal Forever, courtesy of Rachel’s Random Resources.

Today I have an extract for you, but first we’ll see what the book is about…

Fame, glory and… foul play!

Jessie was a shop worker dreaming of the big time, then YouTube found her. But staying in the limelight requires meticulous management: pop stars are made not born.

With awards night approaching, the pressure’s on for Tito, Jessie’s manager, to whip her into shape. Getting so close wasn’t in the contract, but then neither was him being murdered in Spain.

Alone and scared of the negative publicity, Jessie turns to Mack, her account manager at Eternal Forever, the UK’s first digital legacy management agency. But Mack’s got his own issues: the company’s fast running out of cash, his key developer’s on the turn and a blogger’s suicide looks suspicious.

With the assistance of J-Pop, Mack’s assistant and wannabe reality TV star, Jessie turns sleuth. But in a world where everybody’s watching, it’s hard to escape. Reputation is everything and some people will do anything to protect it.

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24Sep2020

#ThrowbackThursday ~ The Quiet Child by John Burley #Audiobook #Suspense #Histfic #Thriller

Posted in Audiobook, Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller by Cathy

Throwback Thursday this week looks back at an audiobook full of tension and twists, performed brilliantly by MacLeod Andrews. It was released in August 2017 by Harper Audio.

My Thoughts

Set in 1950s California, the McCray family live in the small town of Cottonwood. Kate McCray was born and bred there and when she married Michael McCray that’s where they set up home. Their two boys, Sean and Danny, ten and six respectively, complete their family.

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4Sep2020

Endless Skies: A modern day romance with a historical twist… by @JaneCable #Mystery #Romance #FridayReads

Posted in Book Review, Contemporary Fiction, Paranormal, Romance by Cathy

Author: Jane Cable

Published: July 2020 by Sapere Books

Category: Contemporary Fiction, Romance with a touch of the Paranormal, Book Review

If you want to move forward, you have to deal with the past…

After yet another disastrous love affair – this time with her married boss – Rachel Ward has been forced to leave her long-term position in Southampton for a temporary role as an Archaeology Lecturer at Lincoln University.

Rachel has sworn off men and is determined to spend her time away clearing her head and sorting her life out.

But when one of her students begins flirting with her, it seems she could be about to make the same mistakes again…

Rachel Ward has a tendency to embark on relationships that end up being something of a disaster. The consequences of her latest romance with a married professor in Southampton results in her banishment to Lincolnshire for a twelve months stint as Visiting Lecturer in Archaeology at Lincoln University. However, it’s not long before her position at the University is in jeopardy due to another unwise choice.

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28Aug2020

Fame & Fortune: The Victorian Detectives by @carolJhedges #BookReview for #RBRT #FridayReads

Posted in Book Review, Historical Fiction, Murder/Mystery, Victorian by Cathy

Author: Carol Hedges

Published: August 2020 by Little G Books

Category: Historical Fiction, Murder, Mystery, Book Review

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London, 1867. When the body of a man is discovered hanging from a Thames bridge, Detectives Greig and Cully, two of Scotland Yard’s finest crime-solvers, are called in to investigate the mysterious circumstances of his death. Their inquiry will lead them into a world of extortion, robbery and human trafficking, and at its centre, the Black brothers, Munro and Herbert, London’s most evil and ruthless individuals, who will stop at nothing to keep their position at the top of London’s criminal underworld.

Fame & Fortune is the eighth outing for DS Jack Cully, DI Lachlan Greig and DI Leo Stride, otherwise known as the Victorian Detectives. Carol Hedges immerses us once again in a London peopled with the sad and the bad, the rich and the poor, and the evocatively described back alleys, slums and more fashionable thoroughfares they inhabit.

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13Aug2020

#ThrowbackThursday ~ Family Values (A Leo Waterman Mystery) by G.M. Ford #BookReview #Thriller

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller by Cathy

Throwback Thursday this week features a Leo Waterman mystery. This is a series I enjoy very much which began in the mid 1990s. From 2000 there was a big gap until the books started again in 2012. Family Values was published in 2017.

My Thoughts

Retired PI Leo Waterman returns to Seattle a day earlier than he expected. It’s Valentine’s Day and he plans to surprise his girlfriend, forensic examiner Dr Rebecca Duvall, with chocolates and flowers. There’s no answer at Rebecca’s house but Leo can hear her phone ringing inside when he tries to contact her. Realising something must be wrong, Rebecca is always on call, he breaks down the door to be hit with an overpowering smell of gas. He finds Rebecca unconscious with a needle dangling from her arm. Desperate, Leo manages to get Rebecca outside before he’s overcome by the fumes.

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11Aug2020

After The Fire (Inspector Tom Reynolds #6) by @SpainJoanne ~ Nobody was supposed to get out alive… #Irish #CrimeFiction #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Crime, Fiction, Murder, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller by Cathy

Author: Jo Spain

Performed by Aoife McMahon

Released: June 2020 by Quercus

Category: Irish Crime Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Audiobook, Review

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On a Dublin city street, packed with afternoon shoppers, a young woman appears, naked, traumatised and bearing burn marks.

Tom Reynolds, now Chief Superintendent, is no longer head of the murder squad. But when it transpires the woman escaped from a house fire started deliberately and that there are more victims, Tom is sucked in. What begins as a straightforward case of arson, soon becomes something much more sinister.