Chase: The Complete Trilogy by Thomas Dellenbusch

 

"He wanted to battle criminals, but not to become one himself. Killing was never a part of the plan during these operations".

Chase: The Complete Trilogy by Thomas Dellenbusch is an entertaining and gripping story of suspence. There are lots of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. 

Blurb:

Chase, the famous detective agency in Hamburg, is faced with three extremely tricky cases. Solving the intricate mysteries is one thing, the dangers involved are another. Chief investigator Rique Allmers and his team are always up against powerful and unscrupulous opponents.

In "The Hunt for the Mute Poetess", they set out to uncover the family secret of a deaf-mute author, which is closely guarded by the Hamburg mafia.

In "The Hunt for a King", the two Chase agents Jerome and Chen Lu travel to Scotland to solve the murder of a history professor. Without knowing it, they fight to preserve one of the greatest legends of mankind.

In "The Hunt for the Tsar's Treasure!, Andree, Chase's IT specialist, after his girlfriend is kindnapped, suddenly finds himself in a trace to find what is probably the most valuable lost treasure in the world.

This series introduces us to the concept of KopfKino.

"KopfKino (a German term for Theatre of the Mind) means relaxing, thought-provoking and enthralling movie-length stories. With an approximate reading time of between 60 and 180 minutes".

All books are published as movie-length instalments.

Chase: The Hunt for the Mute Poetess is the first book in the trilogy.

The plot of the first story shows the dark side of the organised crime empire with its evil ganglords. This grim network, enforced by fear, is involved in the vicious murders, exploitation, human trafficking, ruthless violence. Dramatic events of the past have repercussions that stretch their ugly tentacles into the present.

We're plunged into an action scene from the first page. A young barefoot woman collides into Rique Allmers, the private detective, as he walks in the city centre. She looks terrified, and no surprise, as she is chased by a couple of dangerous thugs. Rique helps the woman escape her pursuers, but the hunt is not over. The adversary - the Hamburg mob - is lethal and ruthless.

Katja Krömer has no idea why she is being hunted by the gangsters. To rescue her, Rique's team has to solve the clues and find the answers in Katja's mother's past.

While the series is named Chase after the agency, there is plenty of chasing in all books, so it's an apt title from both points of view.

Rique Allmers is the head of the enterprise named Chase. "His services, which were commissioned by corporations, celebrities and wealthy citizens, included property- and personal-security, surveillance, extortion-, missing-persons- and industrial-espionage investigations, and much more. The government also engaged Rique's services for covert operations..."

The group consists of a varied group of specialists, from those skilled in close-combat techniques to computer and technology whizzes.

As the plot unfolds, we meet different members of the group, and begin to appreciate their talents.

In "The Hunt for a King" the action moves to Scotland. The pace, suspence and intrigue are expertly handled. 

A professor of history dies in suspicious circumstances. Police declare it to be an accident caused by a drink-drive. The problem is - the well-respected professor didn't drink. Who has killed Ronald Campbell and why? Professor's sons are in danger too. Two agents from Chase, Jerome and Chen Lu, arrive to Scotland to help work out the mystery.

I found this part of the trilogy most exciting, as it turns to be a creative and imaginative interpretation of Arthurian legends. 

In The Hunt for Tsar's Treasure we follow Andree, the IT specialist from Chase, as he tries to rescue his girlfriend Manuela, who's been kidnapped. Finding and freeing Manuela becomes his priority, but to save her, the team needs to decode a series of puzzles, with clues hidden in riddles and artifcats.

This story sets the team looking for the priceless treasures, which were lost during the WWII. 

It's a smart, corkscrew plot, with interesting forays into the historical past.

The main characters of the series are not super-humans, we see them making mistakes, not paying enough attention, or not being physically fit to escape the criminals.

KopfKino has proved to be a promising concept. 

Pros: You can easily read each instalment during a train or plane journey, or whenever you find some free time to yourself. 

Action-packed, these stories are rather visual and suspensful. 

Cons: Due to the format, there is no in-depth character development, or backstory. I would have liked to know more of the background of Rique, Katja etc, to find out how the agency was born.

This gripping read would make a great TV series.

If you enjoy a mix of action/mystery/conspiracy/thriller, Chase will take you on a rollicking adventure.

Many thanks to Thomas Dellenbusch for my free copy of the e-book!

About the author:

Thomas Dellenbusch was born in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1964, and still lives there. The former police detective and advertising copywriter has been actively writing for more than twenty years on a wide variety of topics. 

Although the lion's share of his assignments originate from the advertising industry, he has also put his talents to use producing speeches for government officials, poetry for individuals, screenplays, rulebooks, newspaper articles, sketches and much more. In short, any subject that can be communicated in a stimulating manner. 

Since 2013, he has specialised in the production of movie-length stories - written both by himself and seven other authors via the publishing company he founded expressely for that purpose.

The Ideal Couple by Anna Willett

 

"Despite her misgivings, the idea of being together, of doing something adventurous and romantic, made her stomach flip with excitement. Gold or no gold, this was going to be a time they would treasure in years to come, the fondest of memories to look back on when they were old and grey... Nothing bad was going to happen..."

"Iron Creek was a small community. It was only natural that the same faces would show up all over town. Still, she had the sense they were being watched, so she made a mental note of the ute's licence number".

The Ideal Couple by Anna Willett is an intriguing, well-plotted thriller/police procedural set in Australia.

Blurb: 

When detectives try to close a missing persons case, a small town’s twisted secrets begin to unravel… A couple disappear in a region of the outback known for its gold mining. Some three years on, there is still no trace of them. 

Detective Veronika Pope is handed the cold case. It’s cold only in name. When she turns up to the godforsaken town where the couple were last seen, the heat is sweltering; suspicion simmering. 

The detectives stay in the same seedy hotel as the couple did. The townsfolk aren’t welcoming. Nobody wants the cops probing into their affairs. 

From what Pope can gather, the missing duo were the perfect couple. Loving. Happy together. The picture of marital bliss. 

Assuming a murder but missing a motive, the detectives do make progress. They might even find the bodies, as the trail is hot. Almost too hot to touch. Pope is in serious danger of getting burned.

Perth-based detective Veronika Pope and her partner Jim are called to investigate the cold case of the missing couple in the outback town of Iron Creek. 

The Special Crime Squad specialises in unsolved homicides and long-term missing persons declared as cold cases.

Three years earlier Laura and Jonas Rankin go on an adventure of a lifetime, exploring the old abandoned mines in the isolated areas with a hope of finding gold. Later the camp is found, with two cups of tea sitting on the table, prospecting gear still attached to the ute, the tent pitched, and no sign of Laura or Jonas.

The camp from where the Rankins have disappeared is "eighty kilometres outside the nearest town, Iron Creek, close to five hundred kilometres north-east of Perth and what felt like light years away from the Special Crime Squad offices".

Veronika and Jim stay in the same hotel where the couple stayed before their last trip. Welcome Rest Hotel bar, a one-room saloon, is quite seedy. "Like a rusting flagship, it loomed over the ramskackle streets in all its red glory". Its owner Des is sleazy and rough, the locals are distrustful of any police involvement. 

While Veronika and Jim dig into the disappearance at Iron Creek, her team continue probing further in Perth, investigating the families of the missing couple.

As the information is gathered, both at Iron Creek and Perth, the Rankins appear to have been a loving couple, happy and devoted to each other. An ideal couple.

The Rankins are most likely the murder victims, but where are their bodies, and what are the motives? 

Pope must wade through the fears of the local community and unravel the town's secrets... and the dangerous murderer is following her closely.

There is a heavy sense of foreboding as the investigation progresses. The fascinating social insight into the small community sets a perfect background for the mystery.

The town is hardly more than ten streets, with a hotel, a garage, a mining museum, and a bunch of unfriendly locals who don't like the police poking their noses in the local affairs. Iron Creek is not a place where you would go on a holiday, it's bleak, unwelcoming and has a weird vibe to it. The descriptions of the town create an uneasy atmosphere which sets the scene. It's hot, very dusty, oppressive and suffocating.

"It wasn't just the constant heat and the buzz of flies, but also the monotony of red and the feeling of isolation. No wonder the residents seemed so kooky. Living in the strange Mars-like environment was enough to send anyone a bit nuts. Or was it the small-town feel that had him on edge?"

The plot is well-constructed and believable. Veronika Pope makes a strong female lead, she is intelligent and shrewd, as well as humane and emphathetic.

Supporting characters are also credible and memorable.

The Ideal Couple is the fourth book in the Cold Case Mysteries series, which features detective Veronika Pope. The previous books in the series are: The Woman Behind Her, The Family Man and The Newlywed.

The Ideal Couple reads as a standalone. After finishing the book, I'm curious to catch up on the first three books.

The Ideal Couple is a tense, emotional thriller, with a compelling plot, plenty of false leads and red herrings, and convincing characterisation.

Many thanks to Anna Willett, and The Book Folks for my e-copy of the book!

Author bio: 

Anna Willett was born in the United Kingdom and emigrated to Australia with her family when she was six years old. She developed a love of reading thanks to her mother who introduced her to authors such as Stephen King, Mario Puzo and John Steinbeck to name just a few. Although her reading tastes are eclectic, when it comes to writing, Anna is drawn to thrillers and dark tales. 

Anna writes about the shadowy side of the human experience and how ordinary people cope in extraordinary situations. Common tropes in Anna’s writing include people who get into trouble after they leave the safety of the city and the rupturing of domestic bubbles in which those who one is supposed to trust become a threat. 

Anna lives in Western Australia with her husband and their two children. When she’s not writing or reading, she enjoys movies, dining out and bushwalking with her dogs. 

Purchasing links: 

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CHJXJ7W5/ 

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHJXJ7W5/ 

AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CHJXJ7W5/

 Social Media links 

Website: https://thebookfolks.com 

Insta/Threads:@the_book_folks 

Twitter: @thebookfolks 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/thebookfolks 

Blog: https://thebookfolks.com/blog/ 

Author’s social media links 

X: @AnnaWillett9 

Insta: @annawillettauthor 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Anna-Willett/ 

Author’s website: https://www.annawillett.info/

One Down by Diana Wilkinson

 

"I'm already shaking with the real or imagined threat. But these three clues are different. They're warnings. They conjure up my worst nightmares. I may be paranoid, but the threats feel real, and combined with the earlier clues, it all becomes too much".

One Down by Diana Wilkinson is a psychological thriller with a linguistic twist.

Blurb:

I'm not being paranoid! It's all there in the crossword clues... in black and white. There's no doubt the threat is real. Today, the answers spell out my murder.

May Third. Amanda. Silver Birch. Noontime. Assassination.

Is Nathan, my estranged crossword-setter husband, really planning to kill me? Or is it someone closer to home?

I check the door is bolted, slither to the ground, and count down the seconds to noon. There's nothing left to do, and no one I can call. who'd believe me anyway? The lady on the ground floor has already left the building, and my new boyfriend is on holiday. Or is he?

A tread of footsteps. A rap at the door, and I close my eyes, hold my breath...

Amanda is an alcoholic, who suffers with panic attacks when she tries to go out. She lives at Silver Birch, a once majestic home, which is now divided into several flats. 

Every morning Amanda is glued to a cryptic crossword in the local newspaper. She listens to the sounds from the flats below. Her nearest neighbout, Edward Heath, nicknamed Agaves by Amanda and her ex-husband Nathan, is her lover. 

Ever since Nathan has left her, the crossword clues have a sneaky theme weaved through the teasers. The clues are directed at Amanda, each one of them linked to her alcoholism, and her personal life. 

"I'm the target of an online stalker, a word-troll maniac, who's been methodically toying with my sanity for six months now, give or take".

Amanda knows her ex is "a smart-arse cruciverbalist", and most likely the linguistic abuse comes from him.

"The list of answers is a story told in shorthand. It's a story for me. A story to give me nightmares. I know it's meant for me because who else could it be for.

Amanda. Silver Birch. Noontime. May third. Sunday. Assassination. Slaughterhouse. Throttle. Death duties. Epitaph".

 As the clues become more and more menacing, Amanda is not sure, if more than one crossword-setter is involved in the bullying. 

Who can Amanda trust? Is it just her increasing paranoia of imagined warnings, or is the murder threat real? 

The premises of the story sounds captivating. The murder is being announced via a series of crossword clues.

Amanda is the most unreliable narrator. She often has no recollection of what's happened the evening before. She is trying to keep sober, goes to the AA meetings and has a sponsor, Joseph, who has access to her flat in case she needs urgent help.

The crossword clues and explanations on how the cryptic crosswords work make this mystery more creative and inventive, but they also slow down the pace of the narrative.

While the stalking via cryptic crosswords sounds intriguing, it also depends on the person doing them regularly. What if Amanda has given up on her hobby in the meantime? People can be obsessed with hobbies and then abandon them only never to return to them. So, all this careful planning could have been for nothing.

If you enjoy cryptic crosswords (or crosswords in general), you will have fun, following the progress of solving each sinister clue. If a wordplay is not your cup of tea, you might find the search for hidden meanings less riveting.

The narrative jumps from the present to the past (the first meeting of Nathan and Amanda three years earlier, the tragedy that happens during the birthday party etc). And all this time you think Amanda is such an objectionable character, she's ego-centric in the extreme. It's hard to feel sympathy for her predicament. She is the kind of person you would try to avoid to socialise with. Amanda is flawed, awkward and unhinged when she starts drinking.

To be fair, it's not just Amanda, it's impossible to relate to any of the characters. Nathan is an intimidating buffoon whose great joys in life are doing cryptic crossword clues and controlling his wife. It's when his wife is at her lowest, that he feels empowered. "He enjoyed the role of carer, minder, saviour of my soul. It was like a hobby, one he embraced with vigour". Nathan belives himself to be brilliant, a genius of the crossword world. 

Then there's a revolting editor Hunter, and loathsome Joseph, and manipulative Bagheera. The list goes on. 

There is probably one exception - elderly Mr Beckles, a widower who lives on his own with his cat in the house next door.

Potential triggers: alcoholism problems, voyerism, rape, death of a child, murder, abuse of power over the vulnerable adults.

One Down is a slow-paced twisty tale of addictions and revenge, tense and incisive. A gripping psychological thriller. This is a convincing portrayal of an out-of-control obsession.

This review is part of the blog tour for One Down.

Many thanks to Diana Wilkinson, Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

3

Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/3DoDE45

 

Author Bio –

Diana Wilkinson is a graduate of Durham University, spending a short spell in teaching before taking up a full-time career in tennis development. A former Irish international player, she finally stepped off the tennis court to become a full-time writer.

Social Media Links –  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiKennett

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DiWilkinson2020

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianakennett37/

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/DianaWilkinsonNews

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/diana-wilkinson

Out for Revenge by Tony Bassett

 

"You didn't need to use the shooter," the car passenger complained as they sprinted along the alley and entered the street. "I'm sure he got the message. You didn't have to go and kill him".

"That's just the point," said the driver. "We did have to. Customers have to know the consequences if they don't pay for their stash."

Out for Revenge by Tony Bassett is a crime novel/ police procedural, based around Birmingham and West Midlands.

This is the 4th book in the DCI Roscoe and DS Roy series, and the second one I have read (see my review for Murder on Oxford Lane). It can be read as a standalone, but as often happens in mystery/crime series, you will understand the dynamics of the relationships between the main protagonists better, if you are already familair with them).

Blurb:

When notorious gangland boss Tadeusz Filipowski is released from prison, several people start looking over their shoulder.

A volatile character, not shy of picking fights, Filipowski plans to expand his drugs empire and put his competitors on a backfoot. That's until he turns up dead. Very dead.

DS Sunita Roy of the Heart of England police is handed the case but it's a challenge to find the killer of a man with so many enemies.

DCI Gavin Roscoe would lend more support but he is busy nailing down suspicions of corruption plaguing the force.

Soon, however, the investigations will bump into one another. And unless Roy and Roscoe can get to the bottom of the mystery, they could well become the next victims.

The book starts with a dramatic murder two years before the main story develops. A local artist is ruthlessly killed in his own house for owing money to the organised crime group. This murder sends a clear message to anyone who deals with the gang that they mean business and won't tolerate any refusal to obey their rules. 

Two years pass. The head of the OCG, Tadeusz Filipowski arrives to Birmingham after a short spell in Spain. His sidekick Tyrone Blake warns him that the cops will be on the look-out for him. But according to Filipowski, business is business, and he cannot supervise his empire from abroad properly. The "trade"'s going well, and he wants to expand his drugs empire.

Short-tempered and known for his fearsome temper, Filipowski goes nuts at the merest whiff of provocation. There is no reasoning with him. When another driver overtakes their car and makes a two-fingered gesture, Filipowski sees red. The offender's vehicle is rammed and damaged, which brings the incident to the attention of the police. 

The police immediately realise that the drug baron is back in the country. Filipowski's nickname is Tiff, because "he's got a temper like a deranged fishwife".

DCI Roscoe receives the news from Chief Superintendent that his suspicions towards the end of the previous year have proved correct. One of their detectives has gone rogue. Now that they've got clear evidence of this, they understand they deal with a serious case of police corruption.

"This concerns a detective inspector at Summerstoke who, for all intents and purposes, is involved in running an OCG linked to the drugs trade". That's the same CID who investigated the death of the artist, and there's a strong suspicion that there was a miscarriage of justice, when wrong people were convicted of the crime.

A new taskforce is set up, with a codename Operation Temple.

DS Sunita Roy and DCI Gavin Roscoe make a formidable team, complementing each other's strengths. As they pursue different cases, tension escalates.

They find out that the corrupt police officer is aiding the drug baron's operations and tipping him off about police activity. There's a suggestion, he may be taking a percentage of the drugs profit.

Rival drugs gangs are targeted if they pose any threat to the 101 Crew's sphere of influence. "The situation's got the potential to turn into a gang war on the streets of Brum".

As Roscoe says, "We want to crack down on them before a gang war breaks out. Senior officers are concerned people are going to get killed and untold damage will be done to the reputation of the police unless we act quickly".

Filipowski's death heralds a change in the echelons of power among the local OCGs. The drug baron has had many enemies. Involved in both drugs and prostitution, he has become a target in the world in which he operated.

Inter-gangs wars, police corruption, infiltrating the OCG to gather information, all these elements of the investigation come together and meet at the crossroads. 

Roscoe and Roe are well-developed characters, with background stories enhancing the main plotline. 

The organised crime gangs are portrayed convincingly. 

Out for Revenge is a fast-paced thriller. I can easily see this series televised on BBC, as there is plenty of drama, unexpected twists and completely absorbing plotlines. Once again, Tony Bassett has created a riveting and credible police procedural story. Intelligent, gripping and engrossing.

This book review is part of the blog tour for Out for Revenge.

Many thanks to Tony Bassett, The Book Folks and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BK9PJLHK/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BK9PJLHK/

Author Bio –  

I am a semi-retired journalist who was born in West Kent. While growing up, I spent hours reading and writing, and, from an early age, nursed an ambition to become first a journalist and then novelist. My theory was that, in order to write novels, one had to have life experiences to colour one’s writing and one could obtain those experiences through journalism.

 

I was fortunate enough to be named Time-Life Magazine Student Journalist of the Year in 1971 in a competition organised by the National Union of Students. At the time, I was editing the student newspaper at Hull University, where I gained a BA Honours degree in History and Political Studies.

 

After six years working on provincial newspapers in Sidcup, Worcester and Cardiff, I became a freelance journalist in London. For 24 years, I was a reporter on the staff of the Sunday People (now part of Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror). Over the years, I sold tens of thousands of stories to the national newspapers, including the Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, The Sun, Daily Star, Daily Telegraph and London Evening Standard. I helped cover the Jeremy Thorpe trial at the Old Bailey for the Evening Standard. I broke the news in a Sun newspaper exclusive in April 1989 that Bill Wyman, the Rolling Stones guitarist aged 52, was to marry 18-year-old Mandy Smith. I bought 200 blank MOT forms to expose a trade in fake certificates.

 

My speciality was tracking people down. For instance, I found evidence about Rod Stewart’s secret love child Sarah Streeter by tracing a retired adoption agent through a library ticket. On one occasion, I took an escaped gangster back to prison. Some of my stories can be read on my website (see below); others are generally available online. For thirty years, I was also employed as a birth and marriage researcher mainly for the Mail on Sunday, Sunday Mirror, Sunday People and The Sun.

 

I have a grown-up son and four grown-up daughters who all live in South Wales.

Social Media Links –   www.tonybassettauthor.com

www.twitter.com/tonybassett1

www.facebook.com/tony.bassett.92505 

www.instagram.com/tonyba1

Blood on the Tyne: Red Snow by Colin Garrow (guest post)

I'm thrilled to invite Colin Garrow to my blog today!

 Blood on the Tyne: Red Snow (book 3 in the Rosie Robson series).

A dead body. A hoard of forged banknotes. A gangster out for blood.

Newcastle, December 1955. Returning home after a weekend away, singer and amateur sleuth Rosie Robson discovers a man lying on a baggage trolley with his throat cut. After the police get involved, an attack on Rosie and her boss prompts Inspector Vic Walton to find a safe house for the pair. But the bad guys seem to be one step ahead of them and Rosie is forced to track down a possible witness to the murder in a bid to learn the truth. Can the canny crooner solve the mystery before a Newcastle gang boss catches up with her? 

Set on Tyneside, Blood on the Tyne: Red Snow is book #3 in the Rosie Robson Murder Mysteries series.

Purchase Link - https://geni.us/3PKXkN

Author Bio:

True-born Geordie Colin Garrow grew up in a former mining town in Northumberland and has worked in a plethora of professions including taxi driver, antiques dealer, drama facilitator, theatre director and fish processor. He has also occasionally masqueraded as a pirate. Colin’s published books include the Watson Letters series, the Terry Bell Mysteries and the Rosie Robson Murder Mysteries. His short stories have appeared in several literary mags, including: SN Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, The Grind, A3 Review, Inkapture and Scribble Magazine. These days he lives in a humble cottage in Northeast Scotland.

 

Social Media Links –

Website (Adults) https://colingarrow.org/

Website (Children) https://colingarrowbooks.com/

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B014Z5DZD4

Twitter https://twitter.com/colingarrow

Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/colingarrow

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/colingarrowthewriter

Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/colin-garrow

It's alwayas fascinating to have a glimpse on the writing process, and today Colin Garrow talks about his writing methods, and what he thinks of the concept of the first draft.

Guest Post – What’s All This First Draft Nonsense?

 

Whenever I read blogs or Twitter posts by an author who’s just finished the first draft of their WIP (work in progress), I always wonder if I’m the only person in the world who thinks first drafts are just another way of saying, ‘what I’ve written is crap so I’m going to do it all again.’

First of all, I’m aware that many writers create a first draft to get the basic story down on paper and develop ideas. It’s also likely that this first version of the book hasn’t undergone any kind of editing and will be stuffed full of clunky dialogue, rambling sentences, grammatical gaffs and hundreds of typos. So, then they write the second draft, working on the structure and sorting out stuff like conflict and resolution and fixing any plot holes. Those who write murder mysteries, for example, might want to make sure they’ve given the reader enough clues to allow them to work out who the killer is while creating a puzzle that will still leave a surprise at the end.

But I don’t do any of that.

Why? Because I practice my craft with a slightly obsessive attention to detail.

In the past, I’ve tried those techniques where you start writing and ignore typos, gaffs and anything else that might distract from the story, and power on to the end of the book. And yes, that would be great if I could do it. But I can’t. My need to correct my work as I go comes from the same place that screams at me when I read an email or a text message with misspelled words or missing capital letters. Instead of concentrating on the message, I want to respond to the writer with suggestions on how to improve their grammar.

In place of writing a first and second draft, I write the final draft, correcting and rewriting as I go along. Admittedly, there will still be typos and grammatical blunders that depart from what is true, right, or proper. But luckily those will usually be picked up by my editor. I don’t seem to suffer from problems with the plot, which I suspect is due to my habit of rereading everything from the beginning before I start each writing session (obviously I don’t this this so much when the book has reached thirty or forty-thousand words).

Being a pantser (an author who writes with no plan or outline), I detest any hint at knowing how the story will end. Sometimes, of course, I have a sense of how a particular character or scenario might work out, but often the ending is as much a surprise to me as to my readers.

The only problem with this method is that sometimes my lack of planning ties me up in knots, such as with Terminal Black, the first book in my Relic Black Thriller series, where I became totally confused by the plot and the ridiculous number of characters I’d created. But usually, it works out fine. If there comes a time when it doesn’t, I might have to reconsider, but being a control freak, I probably won’t.

Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair by M.K.Wiseman (review + #giveaway)

 

"Let me first say, most emphatically, that curiosity does not a case make. In my experience, however, it may function much the same as hard evidence or fact."

Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair by M.K. Wiseman is a clever historical mystery, featuring the world's greatest literary detective.

The Sherlock Holmes canon is expertly spun out in this diverting mystery, written in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This book is a prequel, i.e. we meet Sherlock before Dr Watson comes into his flat and life, but we do see references and glimpses of characters which appear in the classic series of books: Inspector Lestrade being one of the important figures to feature in the original mysteries.

Blurb:

Before Baker Street, there was Montague.

Before partnership with a former army doctor recently returned from Afghanistan, Sherlock Holmes had but the quiet company of his own itellect. Solitary he might be but, living as he did for the thrill of the chase, it was enough.

For a little while, at the least, it was enough.

That is, until a client arrives at his door with a desperate plea and an invitation into a world of societal scandal and stage door dandies. Thrust deep in an all-consuimg role and charged with the safe-keeping of another, Holmes must own to his limits or risk danger to others besides himself in this case of the aluminium crutch.

Review:

The story begins familiarly enough, as told by Dr Watson, who mentions that the manuscript has entered into his possession after the passing of Sherlock Holmes. 

"To me John Watson, chronicler and friend, he left an old tin box... Red tape bundles of paper and other curiosities lay nestled within that chest. Case notes. Many from the time before I had known him. It was here the enormity of the loss - that of the world and mine - caught me afresh..."

Thus how Dr Watson discovered the case described in the manuscript as the Singular Affair of the Aluminium Crutch. 

After the initial introduction, it is Sherlock's story that we get engrossed into.

At the time, he lives in Montague street rather than Baker Street, on his own. One day Miss Eudora Frances Clarke visits his place, asking to find her missing fiancé, Tobias-Henry Price.

"Letters exchanged for months, fervent promises for a far shorter period of time. A meeting, a deferment. And then?" Then her fiancé vanishes, to be replaced by someone claiming to be Tobias-Henry Price.

Why would someone impersonate Price? And what's happened to the man Miss Clarke claims to have known since their childhood? What's even more bizarre, Price's uncle, Sir Edgar Price, insists that the man is not an impostor but his true nephew.

She is adamant, "I stand against the world in my convictions as to the identity of the man I love".

Sherlock is intrigued. "The source of Miss Clarke's troubling disparity as to the true identity of Mr Price was likely not a large crime. It was, quite possibly, not a crime ar all. But it was not nothing, and thus the very idea of the thing had awakened in my imagination a series of questions, and it was wholly within my power to discover the answers".

Holmes follows the trail that will lead him to discovering the truth, through the higher echelons of the London society, as well as shadowy corners and residencies of the gang members. It is a complicated case, with shifty characters galore and a few gruesome murders.

Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair is an intelligent homage to the original character penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He is exactly as we know him, possessing great deductive as well as acting skills, he loves his violin and has a vast network of informers.

If you are a fan of the classic books, you will enjoy references to the untold stories and mentions of the characters that you remember. Langdale Pike, the notorius gossipmonger (introduced in The Adventure of the Three Gables), helps Sherlock with his queries.

Ormond Secker is, of course, the original name of Dr Watson. Thanks goodness, Conan Doyle changed this weird name for the one we know and admire.

The author has managed to capture the essence of the Sherlock Holmes stories. The style of writing feels authentic and faithful to the original. 

If you enjoy prequel stories of the famous detectives as young(er) people, you will love to meet a young and energetic Sherlock Holmes, working alone and just thinking of moving to a new flat and getting a trustworthy flatmate. 

There is action, mystery and deduction to please the fans of the classic detective.

This post is part of the blog tour.

Many thanks to M.K.Wiseman and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

 Purchase Links

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09DXQVT56/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DXQVT56/

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sherlock-holmes-the-singular-affair-m-k-wiseman/1140115651?ean=9781734464146

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/sherlock-holmes-the-singular-affair

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/sherlock-holmes-amp-the-singular-affair/id1583511548

 

Author Bio – M. K. Wiseman has degrees in Interarts & Technology and Library & Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her office, therefore, is a curious mix of storyboards and reference materials. Both help immensely in the writing of historical novels. She currently resides in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Social Media Links –

http://mkwisemanauthor.com

https://twitter.com/FaublesFables

https://www.facebook.com/FaublesFables/

https://www.instagram.com/faublesfables/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7073540.M_K_Wiseman

 

Giveaway to Win 2 x M. K. Wiseman Sherlock Holmes Book Bundle (Open to US / UK and Canada)

Prize includes:

Signed and ‘annotated’ with a few margin notes copies of Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair  & Sherlock Holmes & the Ripper of Whitechapel

Nifty ‘magnifying glass’ bookmark

*Terms and Conditions –

UK / US & Canada 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 Rachel’s Random Resources reserves 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 Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  

I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Please note that this giveaway is running through several blogs. 

Chez Maximka is hosting the Rafflecopter gadget for free for the purposes of the book promotion. I am not involved in the selection of the winner, or dispatch of the prize. I have no access to the collected data either.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Death on the Crags by Jo Allen

 

"He was falling.

Her eyes must be playing tricks. She blinked. but nothing changed except a sountrack kicking in to this nightmare, his terrified scream tearing the silence a split-second after the fall. He seemed to hang in the air forever, arms and legs flailing like a huge black bird that had suddenly lost the power of flight, and all the while that horrible, tortured scream hung on the wind".

Death on the Crags by Jo Allen is a compelling mystery/police procedural, set in the Lake District.

This is book 9 in DCI Satterthwaite series. This book reads as a standalone, but to understand the undercurrents in the police unit and dynamics of personal relationships, I suggest reading a few of the previous books. I started the series from book 4, and have read all of them onwards (except book no.8).

Blurb:

Everybody loves Thomas Davies. Don't they?

When policeman Thomas Davies falls from a crag on a visit to the Lake District in full view of his partner Mia, it looks for all the world like a terrible but unfortunate accident - until a second witness comes forward with a different story.

Alerted to the incident, DCI Jude Satterthwaite is inclined to take it seriously - not least because of Mia's reluctance to speak to the police about the incident. As Jude and his colleagues, including his on-off partner Ashleigh O'Halloran, tackle the case, they're astonished by how many people seem to have a reason to want all-round good guy Thomas out of the way.

With the arrival of one of Thomas's colleagues to assist the local force, the investigation intensifies. As the team unpick the complicated lives of those who claim to care for Thomas but have good reasons to want him dead, they find themselves digging deeper and deeper into a web of blackmail and cruelty... and investigating a second death.

A traditional British police procedural set in Cumbria.

Review:

From the first pages I thought that this book confirms yet again that Jo Allen is a master storyteller.

It's not just the intricate crime plotlines, it's also the continuation of personal stories that keep you turning the pages. With each book you get to see how the main characters' relationships develop. They almost become your family, as you get to know them. You sympathise with them, sigh at what you perceive as their short-sightedness and stubborn mistakes, but accept them for who they are. 

Jo Allen's ability to paint a picture with words, the use of descriptive language to set the background (the landscapes of Cumbria appear atmospheric, and often reflect the inner thoughts of the protagonists), the clever introduction of suspence - all keep you engaged and interested.

The case under investigation might appear as an accident to the police and ambulance who arrive at the scene of the fall on the crags, but the reader is alerted from the start of the book that it is much more sinister than that. 

One of the witnesses happens to be working alongside Jude. When the police begin looking into the victim's life and work, they come to the initial conclusion that Thomas Davies is a nice guy.

"There were bad apples, corrupt coppers, police officers whose heavy-handedness made enemies even among those who weren't criminals, but Thomas wasn't one of them. Or was he? Did he have something to hide - or know something someone else was determined should be kept quiet?"

Thomas's partner Mia behaves suspiciously, avoiding to talk to the police. She is obviously shocked to witness her partner's fall, but there is more to her reticence to communicate with the investigation unit.

Mia is one of those women who lack self-confidence, and self-destruct personal relationships. Abandoned by her mother as a young child, Mia has lived with her father, stepmother and stepbrother. She has resented her stepmother Sarah for many years, to the point of wishing her dead.

It is interesting to see a stepmother in fiction, who is not one-dimensional. We first see her through Mia's eyes, as an interfering annoying woman, but as we get to know her, Sarah is far from being the wicked stepmother. She has her faults, yet Mia has an unpleasant side to her too. 

The main plotline, crime and interpersonal, is running in parallel to the personal relationships between Jude, and Becca, and Ashley and her obsession with her ex. Jude and Ashley are friends with benefits. They trust each other, and work well as a team (as a reader, I never warmed up to Becca, and was hoping that Jude and Ashley will be together). 

"Sometimes he [Jude] thought he'd trusted her too much himself, given away too much, let her in on secrets about himself that she ended by understanding better than he did".

Death on the Crags is a gripping, intense and thought-provoking read. It makes you think about the complexity of human relationships, and frailties of love. I have great admiration for Jo Allen's work. She creates plausible flawed characters, unpredictable and multi-dimensional.

This review is part of the blog tour for Death on the Crags.

Many thanks to Jo Allen and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!

Purchase Links 

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BB33T34Y 

US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BB33T34Y 

Author Bio – 

Jo Allen was born in Wolverhampton and is a graduate of Edinburgh, Strathclyde and the Open University, with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in geography and Earth science. She's been writing for pleasure and publication for as long as she can remember. After a career in economic consultancy she took up writing and was first published under the name Jennifer Young, in genres of short stories, romance and romantic suspense. She wrote online articles on travel and on her favourite academic subject, Earth science. In 2017 she took the plunge and began writing the genre she most likes to read -- crime.

Jo lives in the English Lakes, where the DCI Satterthwaite series is set. In common with all her favourite characters, she loves football (she's a season ticket holder with her beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers) and cats.

Social Media Links – 

https://www.facebook.com/JoAllenAuthor

https://twitter.com/JoAllenAuthor

https://www.instagram.com/joallenauthor/

The Silent Child by MJ White

 

"If I could smuggle you inside my head, you'd know I wasn't dumb. You'd hear my thoughts screaming. Because behind the silence everyone sees, I am screaming. I've been screaming for eleven months...

If you were inside my head, you'd know why I don't speak.

Why I can't speak again..."

"There are no words?" Tris frowned. "So she's imprisoning her thoughts as well as her spoken voice?"

"Exactly."

The Silent Child by MJ White is a tense psychological thriller/police procedural. This is the second book in Dr Cora Lael series. You can read it as a standalone, but it might help to understand the unique gift of the main protagonist, and the dynamics of the relationships if you read The Secret Voices first.

Dr Cora Lael is an educational psychologist with a remarkable talent, "an emotional synaesthesia, the ability to sense emotional echoes from discarded objects". This gift has been a curse and blessing at the same time. Cora has learnt to live with her gift, managing it, so that it doesn't overwhelm her everyday life.

When a gruesome discovery is made in an abandoned Suffolk farm, the police believe at first that the murder is related to the territorial drugs war. The victim, however, is identified as a popular local secondary school teacher. This murder does not fit the drugs wars' scenario.

DS Rob Minshull who has worked with Cora Lael on one of the previous cases, wants her exclusive insight into the new case.

At the same time Cora is invited to work with an electively mute fifteen-year-old Lottie. She is not sure how she can help, but her boss insists that Cora sees things which others miss. Standard approaches haven't worked. Lottie has not spoken for eleven months. Her family are at their wits' end, all interviews have so far revealed no reason for trauma. What has triggered this long silence?

"Lottie has received two courses of speech therapy and has been under the care of a consultant neurologist. Neither the speech therapists nor consultant have been able to identify any psychological or neurological reason for her lack of speech. Current conclusion is that she is displaying indicators of Elective Mutism".

Cora agrees to meet Lottie. "Why would a fifteen-year-old refuse to speak? Cora had to admit it was a puzzle that appealed to her".

Cora is intrigued by the case. This is an opportunity for her to explore her own abilities further, push deeper into the voices only she can hear in her head.

"But she had never encountered anything like Lottie Arundel's secret voices before. The complete absence of words, coupled with the magnified physical manifestation of emotion she experienced was unfamiliar territory to navigate".

Along the main investigation, the South Suffolk CID has to deal with a new menace, as a ferocious and pitiless vigilante group begins their own campaign of corrupted "justice". The danger is rapidly progressing in scale. 

While Cora is trying to help Lottie, she realises that her silence could be connected to the main case. Cora and Rob must work together as a team to get to the bottom of the mystery of the silent child, and find the killer before they claim another victim.

"One man's death has opened a Pandora's box of horros that nobody in this tight-knit community can comprehend."

Cora is unlike any other character in the world of psychological thrillers. Her unique abilities give her an extra edge, but also underline her vulnerability. This is the gift which is bordering on special needs, as Cora would never be able to live a "normal" neuro typical life. 

It is interesting to observe how her relationship with Rob is progressing through the series, from distrust and disbelief to acceptance, understanding, mutual respect and a possibility of a romance.

Lottie's character is a very complex one. You feel sad and anguished on her behalf, but also shocked with her actions. Her story is harrowing and distressing. 

Sadly, fiction reflects the real life. There are too many cases when victims' voices are ignored, mocked, silenced, when the allegations of abuse are downplayed, brushed aside and disregarded for a variety of reasons, protecting the perpetrator and enabling them to continue their abusive behaviour.

It is a bleak story, where anger and desire for revenge turn into a dark force.

The Silent Child is a compelling and intriguing read, full of dark secrets, complex characters, and menacing twists and turns. MJ White creates a tense, tight atmosphere which culminates in an unsettling and bleak denouement.

The Silent Child is well-written: the atmospheric setting is the perfect background to the heart-breaking and thought-provoking plotline.

Potential triggers: sadistic murder, child grooming/abuse.

This review is one of the stops on the blog tour for The Silent Child.

Many thanks to MJ White and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

If you enjoyed this review, you might want to read the review of the first book in the series, The Secret Voices.

Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/3yiWXZT

Author Bio – MJ White is the pseudonym of bestselling author Miranda Dickinson, author of twelve books, including six Sunday Times bestsellers. Her books have been translated into ten languages, selling over a million copies worldwide. A long time lover of crime fiction, The Secret Voices is her debut crime series. She is a singer-songwriter, host of weekly Facebook Live show, Fab Night In Chatty Thing..

Social Media Links – 

https://twitter.com/wurdsmyth

https://www.instagram.com/wurdsmyth/