Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen

Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen.
Published 30th April 2019 by Berkley.
Read May 2020.

New York, 1965: The Big Apple is filled with opportunities for small town country girls on the hunt for adventure.

Alice Weiss, fresh from her small Midwestern town, arrives in New York to pursue her dream of becoming a photographer, inspired by her late mother's love of both the big city and photography. But for now she needs a job.

With the help of an old friend of her mother, Alice finds herself working as the secretary of Cosmopolitan magazine's new controversial editor-in-chief, Helen Gurley Brown, even though she knows nothing about the magazine world.

Fortunately, Helen Gurley Brown, author of the bestselling no holds barred book, Sex And The Single Girl, is new to magazine life herself, and she takes an immediate liking to Alice.

Helen has been handed somewhat of a poisoned chalice by her bosses, who seem intent on letting Cosmopolitan fail after falling sales, but she is not to be discouraged. She has a whole new and brazen vision for Cosmo, to make it appeal to younger women who are interested in fun and freedom - including in the bedroom - and it is going to take a lot of dedication in order to get her dream off the ground.

Alice is keen to back Helen all the way, but she is completely unprepared for the new world she has entered and finds it hard to keep hold of her own hopes and dreams. With editors and writers refusing to work for Helen and resigning, memos and article ideas finding themselves in the wrong hands, and members of the staff secretly working to undermine her, the going is tough.

The battle lines have been drawn.  Can Helen save a dying publication by daring to talk to women about all things off-limits, and can Alice keep her head among all the glamorous parties, fancy restaurants and Don Juans - especially since she has been told she can have it all?

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Park Avenue Summer is a heady mix of fact and fiction that gives the reader a glimpse inside the crazy world of the Cosmopolitan offices of 1965, after the introduction of the groundbreaking and controversial new editor, Helen Gurley Brown.

I imagine there can't be many women who have not leafed through the pages of Cosmopolitan magazine - even if only in a dentist's waiting room - so the type of content included should be familiar to most of you out there. But have you ever thought about how the transition from the staid women's magazines of the 1950s (full of knitting patterns, etiquette guides and ads for domestic products) to the modern, sexy magazines we have today, actually happened?

Let's go back to Renee Rosen's compelling world of the Cosmo offices of 1965 for a clue. Love her or loathe her, Helen Gurley Brown is one of the reasons why women's magazines started to change. For a start, even the idea of a woman being Editor in Charge of a magazine for women readers was a radical idea, especially one who had written such a scandalous book as Sex and the Single Girl,  and it is interesting to speculate whether Hearst intended this appointment to fail from the very start, so they could finally close down Cosmopolitan for ever and maintain the status quo - or if this really was an opportunity to save the magazine.

Gurley Brown certainly had a fight on her hands to bring about the changes she wanted in the format of the magazine, to appeal to a whole new set of readers - the ones she thought of as "her girls" (even if it was not quite as vociferous as the way Rosen describes it), and it was fascinating to see the likes of well-known names such as Nora Ephron appearing in the new line up.

Much of Gurley Brown's philosophy may have been unpalatable to her co-workers, both male and female, and her brand of feminism was certainly contentious, but I think we can be in no doubt that her vision was a successful one and Cosmopolitan went from strength to strength under her guardianship (at least for the majority of her time there) - the sales figures don't lie - and her legacy is one we should all be grateful for, I think.

But this is also a coming of age story, told through the eyes of small town girl Alice, who is fresh to the big city and intent on chasing her dreams - and finding herself in the process. I really liked the way Renee Rosen takes you right into the heart of a steaming New York summer of 1965 - the sights, the sounds, and the smells are all so beautifully described that you can feel yourself walking the sidewalks with Alice as she soaks up everything the city has to offer - accompanied by her trusty Leica.

It is via Alice that we see the evolution of Cosmopolitan magazine, and this was a brilliant device by Renee Rosen as it really immerses you in the intoxicating world of the Mad Men era, crossed with The Devil Wears Prada - the glamorous parties, the chic restaurants, the suave men, the drinking and the smoking - that turn Alice's head, at least at first. Alice has been told she can demand it all, but is this what she really needs, or even wants?

Alice has to navigate this world while keeping hold of her dreams and herself, and this part of the story is really touching. I loved Alice's desire for roots, family and connection - the way she ultimately decides what is real underneath all the hollow promises and glitz and directs her own destiny in terms of her career and love life.

There is a lot to take from this book and I think it makes an ideal choice for those of you looking for good book club choices. It's a fascinating blend of historical fiction, and real-life events, with a heartwarming story, and it kept me turning the pages right to the very satisfying end - and it has the most wonderful cover too! I, for one, will be searching out more of Renee Rosen's books in the future.

Park Avenue Summer is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer, in paperback ebook and audio book formats.

Thank you to Ben at Turnaround Publisher Services for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

From the cover of the book:

It’s 1965 and Cosmopolitan magazine’s brazen new editor in chief—Helen Gurley Brown

—shocks America and saves a dying publication by daring 

to talk to women about all things off-limits...

New York City is filled with opportunities for single girls like Alice Weiss, 

who leaves her small Midwestern town to chase her big-city dreams 

and unexpectedly lands a job working for the first female editor in chief of 

Cosmopolitan magazine, Helen Gurley Brown.

For Alice, who wants to be a photographer, it seems like the perfect foot in the door, 

but nothing could have prepared her for the world she enters. 

Editors and writers resign on the spot, refusing to work for 

the woman who wrote the scandalous bestseller Sex and the Single Girl, 

and confidential memos, article ideas, and cover designs 

keep finding their way into the wrong hands. 

When someone tries to pull Alice into a scheme to sabotage her boss, 

she is more determined than ever to help Helen succeed.

While pressure mounts at the magazine, Alice struggles not to lose sight of 

her own dreams as she’s swept up into a glamorous world of five-star dinners, 

lavish parties, and men who are certainly no good. 

Because if Helen Gurley Brown has taught her anything, 

it’s that a woman can demand to have it all.

About the author:

Renee is the bestselling author of historical fiction including: Park Avenue Summer, What the Lady Wants, Windy City Blues, White Collar Girl and Dollface, as well as the YA novel, Every Crooked Pot. The social Graces, a novel of Alva Vanderbilt and Mrs. Astor vying for control of New York society during the Gilded Age, will be published in April 2021 from Penguin Random House / Berkley.

Most people discover their love of reading first and then decide to try writing. For Renee Rosen, it was just the opposite. From the time she was a little girl she knew she wanted to be a writer and by age seventeen had completed her first novel, with what she admits was the worst opening line of all time. Her hopes of being the youngest published author on record were soon dashed when her “masterpiece” was repeatedly rejected. Several years and many attempts later, Renee finally became a reader first.

Since then she has been fortunate enough to study the craft of writing from such esteemed novelists as Michael Cunningham, Susan Minot and Carol Anshaw.

Renee now lives in Chicago where she is working on a new novel.

The Collective Nouns For Birds (Poetry Anthology) by Amanda Huggins

The Collective Nouns For Birds (Poetry Anthology) by Amanda Huggins.

Published 28th February 2020 by Maytree Press.

Read April 2020.

The Collective Nouns For Birds is a poetry collection filled with glimpses of teenage dreams, lost loves, chance encounters and what-might-have-beens; a nostalgic journey through life’s quiet and pivotal moments.

Frequently taking inspiration from the natural world, this collection of memories is often imbued with a melancholy longing or the search for reparation, yet also resonates with beauty and hope.

****************************************

I loved every single thing about this beautiful collection from Amanda Huggins - including the lovely cover illustration, The Charm, by Alice Parker.

So many of these poems spoke to me, made me smile, and frequently made me cry - especially those harking back to memories of parents, and animals. They are evocative, tender, and nostalgic - recalling many of those moments from life that stay with you for ever.

My particular favourite (although I loved them all!) is Not Quite You, a touching tribute to a beloved cat who is no longer here, which reminded me so much of the passing of our own aged cats - catching glimpses of them from the corner of your eye and hearing their footsteps on the hall floor, even many years after they have gone. I am not ashamed to say that I sobbed.

The Collective Nouns For Birds has just won the Sabouteur Award for Poetry 2020, which has pleased me enormously since I voted for it, and it is a most worthy winner. I cannot recommend this collection highly enough and am really looking forward to reading more of Amanda's work.

If you like you poetry tender and beautifully observed, then this is the collection for you - I might also add that, if you think poetry is not for you, then this would also be a grand place to start.

The Collective Nouns For Birds is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer!

Many thanks to Amanda Huggins, who was kind enough to send me a copy of this wonderful collection.

About the author:

Amanda's work has been published in anthologies, travel guides, text books, and literary magazines, as well as in The Guardian, The Telegraph, Reader's Digest, Take a Break’s Fiction Feast, Mslexia, Traveller Magazine, Wanderlust, Popshot, and Writers' Forum.

She was a runner-up in the 2018 Costa Short Story Award and her travel writing has won several awards, including the British Guild of Travel Writers New Travel Writer Award in 2014.

A selection of her short fiction is showcased in the InkTears anthology, Death of a Superhero, and her first collection of flash fiction, Brightly Coloured Horses, was published by Chapeltown Books in February 2018.

She was the first author to be signed up by Retreat West Books, and her full length short story collection, Separated From the Sea, was launched on June 2nd 2018 and received a Special Mention at the 2019 Saboteur Awards. Her poetry collection, The Collective Nouns for Birds, was published in February 2020 by Maytree Press. Her second story collection, Scratched Enamel Heart, will be published by RWB in Spring 2020.

Girl With A Gun by Diana Ammi and Karen Attwood

Girl With A Gun by Diana Ammi and Karen Attwood.
Published 5th March 2020 by Unbound.
Read May 2020.

Diana Nammi, also known as Galavezh, grew up in the Kurdish region of Iran in the 1960s and 70s. The daughter of parents who fortunately believed that girls were to be cherished and educated as much as boys.

But the area in which Galavezh lived has never been destined for peace, and its people have had to struggle with discrimination and persecution for much of their history, in pursuit of their own independent homeland of Kurdistan.

Galavezh became involved in politics when she was student and was very active in the campaign for social change, especially the rights of women, playing a part in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

But the hard-line Islamic regime that took its place was even more strict than that under the Shah, and when Kurdistan was brutally attacked, she knew it was her destiny to become a fighter and protect her homeland as a member of the Peshmerga, the famed Kurdish military force.

Galavezh spent twelve years on the front line as a member of the Peshmerga, as one of the very first women fighters in its ranks, leading the struggle for equality and women's rights for the Kurdish people, and becoming one of the Iranian regime's most wanted in the process.

This is the amazing story of a Girl With A Gun, determined to make the lives of her people better, but it is also a tale of love, family and great resilience in the face of terrible danger.

********************************************************

Girl With A Gun is a most fascinating and humbling story of a girl compelled to take up arms in the fight against discrimination and violence - and it is the first-ever account of its kind from a woman Peshmerga fighter. 

I am of an age to vaguely remember the Iranian Revolution which deposed the Shah and the return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran, which ushered in an era of religious extremism and more years of war and persecution.

Although I don't remember much being made of the plight of the Kurdish people at the time, their struggle for a place to call home in an area that spans the borders of Iran, Iraq and Turkey has certainly been in the news in the following years. most memorably in relation to the horrific gassing of civilians by Saddam Hussein, and in terms of the bravery of the Kurdish fighters battling against ISIS - but there was so much I did not know about these people and especially the Peshmerga, until reading Galavezh's amazing account of her life among their ranks.

What really impresses me about this book is the utmost conviction of Galavezh and her young comrades to take up the fight against injustice, especially at such a young age, even in the face of enormous danger. This really sparked the Revolution that Iranians had been working towards in their aim for equality for all.

Unfortunately, the hoped for Revolution also led to a power vacuum that meant it was hijacked by those bent on bringing in an era of religious extremism, rather than the longed for social changes Galavezh and her friends had campaigned for. Instead of freedom, what came was harder times for the Kurdish people, violence and full-on war.

The downturn in conditions for her people, and the burning conviction inside, led Galavezh to take the decision to become a member of the Peshmerga and take up arms in the battle for freedom - and this was certainly not an easy task, as the overwhelmingly male membership of the fighting force were reluctant to allow women on the frontlines. 

But Galavezh has never been afraid of confronting the powers that be, and her bravery and belief in herself and her fellow women meant she took up the fight for equality within the ranks of the Peshmerga with as much determination as she approaches everything in her life. She did not rest until she proved to her male comrades that she was just as able to be a soldier as they were, and she actually brought about significant changes in the make up of the Peshmerga that have left a great legacy. In fact, there are currently a thousand women in active frontline duty with the Peshmerga against ISIS in northern Iraq, and much of this is down to the drive led by Galavezh.

The twelve years Galavezh spent on the frontline were hard indeed and she found herself in near-death situations countless times, but she never shied from danger, even though many of her fellow fighters fell along the way. All through these years, she continued to campaign for women's rights and tried to help the women of the villages she found herself stationed in as much as possible - educating them about their rights and encouraging them to stand up for themselves. 

As her bravery led to recognition and promotion among the Pershmerga, Galavezh became a target for the Iranian authorities and eventually she was left with no choice but to flee her homeland and seek political asylum in the UK, although she left her mark.

Part of her great belief in positive change has always been demonstrated by her work surrounding women's rights and she continues in this vein to this very day. In 2002, she set up her own charity, the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation, and she has been tireless in her campaigning, receiving much deserved recognition for her work from organisations such as the UNHCR.

But this is not just a story about campaigning and military action. There is so much here about the bonds of friendship, the ties of family and even romantic love that show the reader that this is the story of a woman with a great capacity to feel, as well as fight. There are some very touching moments in these pages - a lot of sadness and grief for what has been lost, but also happiness and the fulfillment of the wishes of the heart too.

Girl With A Gun is a most incredible, inspiring book. It leads me to think that we can all do a little more to help the lives of others, working towards positive change that can make a real difference - and I am sure that I will not be alone in feeling this after reading this book. Highly recommended!

Girl With A Gun is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer in hardback and ebook formats.

Thank you to Diana Nammi, Karen Attwood and Unbound for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

From the cover of the book:

Diana Nammi became a fighter with the Peshmerga when she was only seventeen. 

Originally known as Galavezh, she grew up in the Kurdish region of Iran in the 1960s and 70s. 

She became involved in politics as a teenager and, like many students, 

played a part in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. 

But the new Islamic regime tolerated no opposition, and after Kurdistan was brutally attacked, Galavezh found that she had no choice but to become a soldier in the famed military force. 

She spent twelve years on the front line, and helped lead the struggle for women's rights 

and equality for the Kurdish people, 

becoming one of the Iranian regime's most wanted in the process. 

As well as being the startling account of Galavezh's time as a fighter, Girl with a Gun is also a narrative about family and resilience, with a powerful love story at its heart.

This is the first-ever account of its kind from a woman Peshmerga fighter: there are currently a thousand women in active frontline duty with the Peshmerga against ISIS in northern Iraq. 

About the authors:

Diana Nammi

Diana Nammi spent twelve years on the front line as a Peshmerga before moving to the UK as a political refugee, founding the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation in 2002. 

Karen Attwood

In 2014 she received the Special Jury Women on the Move Award from UNHCR and was recognised as one of the BBC's '100 Women'. In 2015 she won the Voices of Courage Award from the Women's Refugee Commission in New York.

In a twenty-year career as a journalist, Karen Attwood's work has been published in all UK national newspapers as well as several international publications.

She is a former staff writer at the Independent and the Press Association, and was on the launch team for Abu Dhabi's first English-language newspaper, the National.

The Game's Gone by Simon Barnes (Audio Book)

The Game's Gone by Simon Barnes (Audio Book), narrated by Colin Mace.
Published as an Audible Original on 23rd April 2020.
Listened to May 2020.

David Rose, 'Rosie' to his friends and colleagues, may not be anyone's idea of a star reporter (including himself), but he does believe in his craft and he's proud to be a sportswriter for a national newspaper.

Football is his first love. He's happiest when sitting pitchside writing about the beautiful game, but he can turn his hand to most sports when called on - from Formula One, to Tennis, to cricket, and all the way to the sporting pinnacle of the Olympic Games.

Rosie has seen it all, and with it the rise and fall of many a flashier talent, and he prefers to keep his head down and concentrate on what's important - writing a good piece about sport. But sometimes he cannot fail to be involved in the inevitable dramas that come with the job, such as the bother that comes with having to babysit the new "talent", or a bitter boss intent on blaming Rosie for his own dark deeds, but he hopes it is the quality of the story that will win in the end - and of course, revenge is ever so sweet, even if it is a long time coming.

******************************************************

The Game's Gone is not the typical kind of audio book that graces my listening choices, but my interest was piqued by this one - and I am mighty glad to have given it my time.

Simon Barnes' tale is beautifully narrated by Colin Mace who brings our hardworking and conscientious hero Rosie to life and draws us into the life of a sportswriter, from the early days of a junior on the local rag, all the way to the dizzy heights of Fleet Street and beyond. 

And what a life this is! Filled with spellbinding detail about the pecking order, camaraderie, rivalries, and (usually) fake bonhomie of the hacks that fill the columns of our newspapers with sporting news - a lot of which I am sure can be applied to journalism in general, and not just the sports side of reporting.

I found Rosie to be an endearing and thoroughly likable character from the start. He is a self-effacing, decent guy in a career not generally known for its integrity, and is able to offer many a sharply observed quip. He is intelligent, without being too obvious about it, and enjoys a glass or two of decent plonk. Most of all, he is dedicated to his craft, and this is what carries him through the ups and downs of the journalistic world.

Rosie is an old school reporter in times of great change in the journalism, but he is able to adapt himself to the evolving environment rather well - even if he does like to grumble about it a lot - and although he has many trials to contend with, such as new technology, upstart graduate types and even (shock, horror) women reporters, he always keeps his head above water. I really enjoyed the way Rosie actually comes to recognise that these "new types" might have something to offer, and he is able to appreciate their contribution, even if somewhat reluctantly at first.

This is a tale that brings alive the world of sports journalism and starts you thinking about how much of this is actually real, since our author was a Chief Sports Writer himself. In fact, Simon Barnes says he has toned down a lot of the madness to make it believable!  It is touching, humorous and completely compulsive listening. I can't remember the last time I chuckled so much when listening to an audio book, if ever! It is also filled with mentions of some of the biggest sporting events of the last few years, which I found really nostalgic, and the ending is pretty special too!

If you are looking for an original audio book that is a little bit different, and will completely immerse you in a most fascinating world, then I highly recommend this as your next listen. It's a corker!

The Game’s Gone is available now for 1 credit to Audible members or priced at £19.99 for non-members.

Thank you to Amber Choudhary of Midas Public Relations for giving me the chance to listen to The Game's Gone in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

From the cover: 

The Game’s Gone vividly captures the entertaining world of sports journalism. 

It’s a marvellous listen – funny, touching and compelling. 

No one would call David Rose - or ‘Rosie’ as he’s known to one and all 

– a star, but he’s good at his job and proud of his work as a sportswriter for a national newspaper. 

He’s used to the ups and downs of a journalist’s life but when his venal boss pins his own misdemeanours on the entirely innocent Rose, he is forced to work closely

 first with a frustrated poet, then with a moral puritan 

and then the final horror: a real woman. 

How will Rosie cope?

About the author:

Simon Barnes was the Chief Sports Writer for The Times until 2014, having worked for the paper for 30 years, during which he covered seven Olympic Games and six World Cup finals.

He writes about sports and wildlife and is the author of over 20 books, including the best-selling How to be a Bad Birdwatcher; Epic: In Search of the Soul of Sport and Why It Matters; and Rewild Yourself: 23 Spellbinding Ways to Make Nature More Visible. 

Simon Barnes commented: “It was only after I had left the asylum that I was truly aware of the madness. So I thought I’d try and write the madness before I forgot it. But I thought I’d better tone it down a bit – to make it believable.”

Goldilocks by Laura Lam

Goldilocks by Laura Lam.
Published 30th April 2020 by Wildfire.
Read May 2020.

This is a future where humanity is reaping a bitter harvest. The world has been ravaged by environmental disaster, greed and oppression, and time is running out for life on Earth.

But there may be light at the end of the tunnel. A planet has been identified in the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions may be just right for humanity to start again - the planet Cavendish.

Although the current political climate is bringing more and more restrictions on the freedom of women, entrepreneur Valerie Black is heading up the first all-female mission in space. on the ground breaking ship Atalanta - one to the new promised land of Cavendish - and she has recruited her adopted daughter Naomi to take on the role of ship's botanist.

When political pressure means that the mission is snatched out of Valerie's hands and her all female crew is dropped in favour of an all male one, she is not content to let sleeping dogs lie. In fact, she and her brilliant crew of women steal the Atalanta from under the nose of NASA and head to Mars in preparation for their space-time bending jump to Cavendish.

Unfortunately, when things start to go wrong on the ship, Naomi begins to suspect that Valerie's intentions are not quite as altruistic as she has represented to her crew, and the time left for life to exist on Earth may be a lot shorter than they thought.

Can Naomi finally step out of Valerie's shadow and really make a difference, even if it means going up against the woman who she has come to look on as her own mother?

***********************************************************

As soon as I heard about Goldilocks, I knew I was going to love it - and dear reader, I did!

It has been described as a high-concept thriller, akin to The Martian by way The Handmaid's Tale, and I can see why. There are certainly elements which are reminiscent of both of these stellar (pardon the pun) novels, especially since Laura Lam places quite a lot of emphasis on the way women are gradually being sidelined in Naomi's time in the name of safety - and of course, Naomi is a botanist, much like dear old Mark Watney.

Undeniably, the disenfranchisement of women is important as a plot device in this book and it is one which inevitably gets the reader wholeheartedly behind Valerie and the gang when they take the decision to snatch the Atalanta and proceed with their mission as planned - take that patriarchal NASA! What do you know, women can be astronauts too! And, as such, this is a very enjoyable feminist set-up against which to play out the story, which gives Laura Lam scope to explore how an all female crew might shape the future of humanity.

However, I am am wary of comparing this with Atwood's dystopia too much, as I think it detracts from the fact this this book is a essentially a cracking space story - there is much more Martian here than Margaret, albeit with an all female crew, and the book is all the better for it.

Although the timeline goes back and forth, so we can get to know Naomi well, and get a glimpse into the kind of woman Valerie may really be underneath the steely exterior, the guts of this tale take place in space, not on Earth. And it is clear that Laura Lam has really done her homework here. This is an exciting tale, with credible detail about life aboard a space ship, and I thoroughly enjoyed the way Naomi has to use her experience and intellect to solve all kinds of problems along the way.

There is plenty of suspense and the tension builds rather nicely, with a nice little bit of long-distance romance thrown in too. I also appreciated the nice twist at the end.

Inevitably, there have been the usual rumblings about this book on some reviewing platforms from the crowd who are sniffy about women authors in the science fiction genre - other than as scantily clad bimbos - but of course, they are talking utter rubbish, as usual. This is an intelligently written, thrilling book that deserves to go onto great things, and I will be singing its praises as much as I can - and also searching out more of Laura Lam's work. Highly recommended!

Goldilocks is available to but now from your favourite book retailer, in hardback, ebook and audio formats. Buy it now, you won't be sorry!

From the cover of the book:

Ravaged by environmental disaster, greed and oppression, our planet is in crisis. 

The future of humanity hangs in the balance - and one woman can tip it over.

Despite increasing restrictions on the freedoms of women on Earth, 

Valerie Black is spearheading the first all-female mission to a planet in the Goldilocks Zone, 

where conditions are just right for human habitation.

It's humanity's last hope for survival, and Naomi, Valerie's surrogate daughter 

and the ship's botanist, has been waiting her whole life for an opportunity like this 

- to step out of Valerie's shadow and really make a difference.

But when things start going wrong on the ship, Naomi starts to suspect 

that someone on board is concealing a terrible secret 

- and realises time for life on Earth may be running out faster than they feared . . .

This is The Martian by way of The Handmaid's Tale 

- a bold and thought-provoking new high-concept thriller.

About the author:

Laura Lam was raised near San Francisco, California, by two former Haight-Ashbury hippies. Both of them encouraged her to finger-paint to her heart’s desire, colour outside of the lines, and consider the library a second home. This led to an overabundance of daydreams.

She relocated to Scotland to be with her husband, whom she met on the internet when he insulted her taste in books. She almost blocked him but is glad she didn’t. At times she misses the sunshine.

The Catch by T.M. Logan

The Catch by T.M. Logan.
Published in ebook and audio formats 30th April 2020, and paperback on 11th June 2020, by Zaffre.
Read May 2020.

When Abbie announces to her parents that she and her boyfriend, Ryan, are getting married in a few weeks, they are somewhat surprised - especially as they have only just met him.

But Ryan does appear to be something of a catch, and Abbie's mother, Claire, is overjoyed for her. However, her father, Ed, is not so sure.

Ed is convinced that Ryan is lying to them about something and he just can't shake this feeling, even though everyone else seems to adore him.

Is Ed being overprotective of Abbie, like he has before, or is Ryan really not as perfect as he appears to be? Ed will not rest until he has uncovered Ryan's secrets, and he needs to move fast if he is to save Abbie before it is too late...

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The Catch is he new thriller from the best-selling author Tim Logan, and one I have been looking forward to since reading his previous, and utterly brilliant, novel, The Holiday.

This time we are treated to a family drama about a man who finds himself over-protective of his daughter, as the fall-out from feeling responsible for the death of  her younger brother many years ago. This makes him open to going to extreme lengths to save her from any perceived danger, especially in terms of the men she chooses to keep company with. and means he has been known to overstep the mark when it came to her previous boyfriends.

But this time, Ed is sure he is not overreacting, even if his wife and daughter keep telling him he is imagining things. He is sure there is something very wrong about Ryan and he will not rest until he knows what it is - even if this means letting all other areas of his life slide and alienating his wife and daughter along the way.

It's hard to say too much about this one without giving away unintentional spoilers, but I can say that this is a fast-paced, page-turner of a novel, that kept me absorbed from page one, about obsession, gut instinct and the desire of a parent to do anything to protect their child from danger. I will add that I spent a considerable amount of time while reading this book yelling at Ed to try to get him not to do the things he rushes into - but suffice to say, he did not listen to a word I said!

For me, The Catch lacks much of the complexity, speculation and delicious inter-play between the characters that had me spellbound in The Holiday, but this is certainly a book that offers huge appeal for the lovers of psychological thrillers, and the insidious cat and mouse element is darkly seductive. I am sure Tim Logan will be notching up another best-seller to his name with this one....and I absolutely loved the double meaning behind title!

The Catch is available to purchase in ebook and audio formats, and to pre-order in paperback, now.

Thank you to T.M. Logan and Zaffre for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

From the cover of the book:

She says he's perfect. I know he's lying....

He caught me watching and our eyes met. That was when it hit me. 

There was something not quite right about my daughter's new boyfriend....

The doting father.

Ed finally meets his daughter's boyfriend for the first time. Smart, successful and handsome, Ryan appears to be a real catch. Then Abbie announces their plan to get married.

The perfect fiancé.

There's just one problem. Ed thinks Ryan is lying to them.

Who would you believe?

All of Ed's instincts tell him his daughter is in terrible danger - but no one else can see it. With the wedding date approaching fast, Ed sets out to uncover Ryan's secrets, before it's too late....

The unmissable new thriller from the best-selling author of Lies and The Holiday.

About the author:

T.M. Logan's thrillers have sold more than 750,000 copies in the UK and are published in 19 countries around the world including the USA, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Greece and the Netherlands.

Tim's brand new thriller, The Catch, is out now in e-book and audiobook, with the paperback due to be published in the UK on 11th June, 2020. His previous thriller, The Holiday, was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick and spent ten weeks in the Sunday Times paperback top ten. The Holiday takes place over a sweltering summer week in the south of France, as four best friends see the holiday of a lifetime turn into a nightmare of suspicion, betrayal and murder. Tim's debut, Lies, was one of Amazon's biggest selling e-books of 2017 and was followed by 29 Seconds in 2018.

Tim was a national newspaper journalist before turning to novel-writing full time. He lives in Nottinghamshire with his wife and two children, and writes in a cabin at the bottom of his garden.

You can find out more about Tim here:

Author's website     Twitter     Facebook     Instagram

Call For Submissions: PM Press

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!

We are a Kindle-First imprint of Holland House Books that specialises in crime, thriller and dystopian fiction. 

Phaidra Robinson and Mia Skevington set up PM Press in April 2020 in order to pursue their respective loves of true crime and detective fiction. 

Our background of Literary Fiction at Holland House Books means that we bring an expectation of and experience in producing high quality books to these genres. 

An inaugural imprint, this is the time for authors to submit their work for the chance to be one of our founding book releases.

We are looking for most types of crime and thriller fiction, from the classic English whodunit through to police procedurals, or classic noir through to mind-bending psychological thrillers. Maybe you want to introduce us to a dystopian future. We want well-written, satisfying work – a good twist and convincing characters are the ways to our hearts. It may be cosy and comfortable or dark and disturbing… or something completely different.

If you have a completed novel or novella which you believe may fit, then send us:

1) The first fifty pages of your work.
2) A synopsis of your work (maximum two pages).
3) A covering letter with a brief overview – we do NOT need you to do a brilliant ‘pitch’ or the kind of blurb which would go on the back of the book. The basic story, main character(s) and the general themes is all we need.

​These documents should be Word Documents, size 12 in a standard font, with a line spacing of 1.5.

Please email us at pmpress@hhousebooks.com and address them to the Editor Phaidra Robinson.

Social Media Links:

PM Press Website

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BLOG BLITZ: The Strange Book of Jacob Boyce by Tom Gillespie

BLOG BLITZ

The Strange Book of Jacob Boyce

by Tom Gillespie

Coming 21st July 2020

from Vine Leaves Press

A spiralling obsession. A missing wife. A terrifying secret. 

Will he find her before it’s too late?

When Dr Jacob Boyce’s wife goes missing, the police put it down to a simple marital dispute. 

Jacob, however, fears something darker. 

Following her trail to Spain, he becomes convinced that Ella’s disappearance is tied to a mysterious painting whose hidden geometric and numerical riddles he’s been obsessively 

trying to solve for months. 

Obscure, hallucinogenic clues, and bizarre, larger-than-life characters, guide an increasingly unhinged Jacob through a nightmarish Spanish landscape to an art forger’s studio in Madrid, 

where he comes face-to-face with a centuries-old horror, 

and the terrifying, mind-bending, truth about his wife.

The Strange Book of Jacob Boyce is available to pre-order now HERE.

About the author:

Tom Gillespie grew up in a small town just outside Glasgow.

After completing a Masters in English at Glasgow University, he spent the next ten years pursuing a musical career as a singer/songwriter, playing, recording and touring the UK and Europe with his band. 

He now lives in Bath with his wife, daughter and hyper-neurotic cat, where he works at the university as an English lecturer. Tom writes long and short stories. 

His stories have appeared in many magazines, journals and e-zines. 

He is co-author of Glass Work Humans-an anthology of stories and poems, published by Valley Press.

Visit Tom at: tom-gillespie.com/

J

These Lost And Broken Things by Helen Fields

These Lost And Broken Things by Helen Fields
Published in paperback 16th January 2020 and ebook 11th May 2020.
Read May 2020.

London, 1905: Sofia Logan finds herself a penniless widow with two young children, and is desperate to find a way to support her family to keep them out of the workhouse.

With no prospect of gainful employment, Sofia approaches her late husband's shady employer. Emmet Vinsant, as a last resort and finds herself working in one of his gaming houses - for Sofia has a past that makes her an expert at counting cards and spotting cheats, and Vinsant knows all about her skills.

As Sofia becomes drawn into Vinsant's world, it seems he also has a use for her other hidden talents and she has little choice but to accept his demands if she is going to save herself and her children. Her role is become Vinsant's assassin..and she is rather good at it.

In a city where poverty and disease are rife, Vinsant is happy to exploit Sofia's precarious position for his own ends. But this is a city that is changing, albeit ever so slowly - the Suffragettes are on the march,and the fallout from their campaign is about to come very close to Vinsant's home....

*********************************************************

Helen Fields writes a cracking crime story - as readers of her thrilling DI Callanach series (which she writes under her own name), or her recent delicious courtroom drama Degrees of Guilt (under the name H.S. Chandler) will attest. So I was really interested to see what she could do with her first foray into the world of historical fiction, with her new book These Lost And Broken Things.

As it turns out, there were parts of this book I liked very much and other elements that I thought did not work quite as well.

The concept of a hard-pressed single mother, driven by the fear of losing her children and home into not just a life of crime, but also the role of assassin, is a very appealing one, especially set against the backdrop of Edwardian London and the rise of the Suffragette movement. Plenty for an author to get their teeth into here! It is made extra spicy by the revelation that Sofia is no stranger to shady dealings (if you will pardon the pun), or to the shedding of blood - in fact, she rather revels in the chance to unleash a side of herself that has been hidden for so long.

As Sofia's story unfolds, we learn that she is the child of a Romani family, brought up as part of a travelling fair. She is quick and intelligent and a dab hand at the gaming table, but she is also a child who longs for a settled home, away from the unpredictable life of a nomad, and she is not afraid to take a chance to get what she wants. Unfortunately, Sofia's skills get her into the kind of trouble that results in bloodshed, and bring about a change in the course of her life.

So, we get to know that Sofia is a tough cookie - our author goes to great pains to let us see every little hurt and heartache that has made her into the 'lost and broken thing' she is inside. However, at the beginning of our tale, we surprisingly find her living a life of domestic idyll, as a devoted wife and mother (one who, it seems, asks few questions about the ins and outs of the working life of her husband). All well and good you may think - Sofia has found her settled home. 

However, in retrospect, I found this quite difficult to equate with what we learn about Sofia in the course of the book. We come to know that Sofia is capable of a great deal more than life as a wife and mother, and she has a great capacity for revenge. So how does she get here? I needed to know more about what happens to Sofia in the intervening years that brings her to settle for this kind of life, and keep her inner wants and desires under such tight control. 

I also felt that the circumstances that bring Sofia to Vinsant's door were too contrived. Given that a young woman in 1905 who finds herself a widow, with two young children, and no prospect of respectable employment (and one who is already a bit of an outsider by virtue of her blood) would be in financial straits anyway, her difficulties would have been great enough without the convoluted goings on that Helen Fields inflicts upon poor Sofia. Less could perhaps have been more here and made Sofia's story a little more credible.

For me, the greater part of the domestic side of Sofia's life needed a lot more development throughout - the characters were all a bit one dimensional and needed more filling out to make them feel real, especially since Sofia was supposed to be desperate to protect her loved ones, rather than being a distraction from the more interesting side of the tale. 

The fun starts when Sofia stops dithering and accepts Vinsant's proposal to work in his gaming houses, and then subsequently as his assassin. This is where the real story lies, and where Helen Fields' skills as an author start to tell. 

Vinsant makes a glorious baddie, a nice sort of hangover Victorian melodrama-esque despicable landlord sort of character and if anything, I felt Helen Fields could have got away with a lot more with him than she does in this book. I wanted to know more about his shady dealings and the behind door mischief that went on in the gaming houses and as part of his under the table business arrangements, and would have relished reading more about these - and the characters that Sofia met as part of this scene.

So, some parts needed expanding on, but this cannot be said for the episodes where Sofia is free to indulge the more juicy side of her double life - when she is plying her trade as a hired killer. This is where Helen Fields' own trade as an accomplished author of crime thrillers comes to the fore. There is bags of gory detail about the killings Sofia has to undertake, and the glimpses we get of the inner monster she has kept hidden are rather fascinating. These are the page turning moments!

I also have to take my hat off to Helen Fields for the number of hours she clearly spent researching the historical facts of the era in which she places this book. At times, I felt some of this story would have been better placed earlier in time, in the Victorian era, but the Edwardian period is an interesting one to opt for, and I completely understand why she wanted to use the Suffragette protests as a background for Sofia's story (and she clearly has an eye on where she wants Sofia to end up from the very beginning).

Through Sofia's story, we learn a lot about not only the Suffragette movement of the time, but also a lot of detail about the political situation, the education system and even law enforcement, which added an enjoyable depth that would have been missing had Helen Fields set her story in a more hackneyed Victorian environment. Definitely the right choice, Helen.

This is a spoiler free zone, so I am not going to give anything away about the ending, except to say that it was quite unexpected and somehow very fitting. There is definitely scope for a sequel here and I would be interested to see where Sofia's story goes next should Helen Fields choose to write another adventure for her.

These Lost And Broken Things is available buy now from your favourite book retailer, or via the link HERE (Amazon UK).

Thank you to Helen Fields and Wailing Banshee for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Love Books Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

From the cover of the book:

Girl. Mother. Assassin.

How dangerous is a woman with nothing left to lose?

The year is 1905. London is a playground for the rich and a death trap for the poor. When Sofia Logan’s husband dies unexpectedly, leaving her penniless with two young children, she knows she will do anything to keep them from the workhouse. But can she bring herself to murder? Even if she has done it before…

Emmet Vinsant, wealthy industrialist, offers Sofia a job in one of his gaming houses. He knows more about Sofia’s past than he has revealed. Brought up as part of a travelling fair, she’s an expert at counting cards and spotting cheats, and Vinsant puts her talents to good use. His demands on her grow until she finds herself with blood on her hands.

Set against the backdrop of the Suffragette protests, with industry changing the face of the city but disease still rampant, and poverty the greatest threat of all, every decision you make is life or death. Either yours or someone else’s. 

Read the first explosive historical thriller from best-selling crime writer of the DI Callanach series, Helen Fields.

About the author:

An international and Amazon #1 best-selling author, Helen is a former criminal and family law barrister.

Every book in the Callanach series claimed an Amazon #1 bestseller flag. Her next book, the sixth in the series, Perfect Kill is due out on 6 February 2020. Helen also writes as HS Chandler, and last year released legal thriller Degrees of Guilt. Her previous audio book Perfect Crime knocked Michelle Obama off the #1 spot. Translated into 15 languages, and also selling in the USA, Canada & Australasia, Helen's books have won global recognition. Her first historical thriller These Lost And Broken Things comes out in May 2020. A further standalone thriller published by Harper Colllins will come soon.

She currently commutes between Hampshire, Scotland and California, where she lives with her husband and three children. Helen can be found on Twitter @Helen_Fields for up to date news and information or at www.helenfields.co.uk

Singapore Killer (Ash Carter Book Five) by Murray Bailey

Singapore Killer by Murray Bailey.
Publishing 1st June 2020 by Heritage Books UK.
Read May 2020.

Ex-British Army officer and military investigator, Ash Carter is trying to make a go of it as a Private Investigator in 1950s Singapore - with the help of his craggy receptionist, Madame Chau - but it is proving more than a little tricky to make a living out of this gumshoe lark.

So, when Ash is called on to help with an investigation into a crash involving a helicopter, in which the pilot and a military policeman were burned to death, he jumps at the chance for something to get his teeth into - and as it turns out, he is onto something big, as the crash seems to have been no accident and an enigmatic clue at the scene points towards the name BlackJack.

Ash knows that the Special Investigations Branch are looking for a killer, who seems to be targeting military personnel - and the bodies are starting to pile up. Could these all be the victims of the unknown BlackJack?

A trail of clues leads Ash to a small town in north-east Malaya, where he is supposed to rendezvous with a contact who will fill him in on details of the hunt for BlackJack and a possible link to gold smuggling. When his contact fails to show, Ash is sure his disappearance is somehow related to a mysterious compound outside the town that the locals are reluctant to talk about.

The time has come for Ash to take matters into his own hands and head to the mysterious compound, called Shangri-La. He is about to find out that something very evil lurks behind those walls and it is going to be down to him to put matters right.

**********************************************************************

Singapore Killer is set in 1950s Singapore and is the fifth book in the Ash Carter series. Although this is my first Ash Carter book, I was easily able to pick up enough of Ash's backstory from the little asides he drops throughout, and had no trouble reading it as a stand-alone - but I will say that having read this one, I will certainly be going back and filling in all the gaps by reading the first four books as well!

When we first meet Ash, he has been called on to stand in as the investigator of a helicopter crash, in the absence of official military personnel, and his insight soon exposes that this was no accident. At the scene of the crime, there is also a set of dog tags which bear the name BlackJack - a clue that is set to open a whole dangerous can of worms as far as Ash is concerned.

Before the search for BlackJack takes off, we are treated to some examples of the kind of P.I. work Ash has been occupying himself with since trying to make a living in civvy street, under the watchful eye of the glorious Madame Chau, his faithful receptionist. These cases seem to range from the sublime to the ridiculous, but they serve to show that Ash is a decent man, and rather good at this old investigating game. As for Madame Chau, she may be ever so crusty and irascible, but under that hard exterior she clearly does care about Ash, and she is a wily old bird too. I absolutely adored her.

However, the heart of this book is about the gripping search for the serial killer BlackJack, whose killing methods seem to be getting ever more flamboyant, and as the bodies pile up, Ash finds himself tied up in gold smuggling and the cult like goings on behind the walls of the community of Shangri-La. This is where the story takes an even darker turn, and what was already proving to be an absorbing read turned into a proper page-turner too. This is beautifully paced, with ever increasing tension, and you find yourself wracking your brain to put all the pieces together before it is too late. No spoilers from me, but this is exciting stuff and I loved the twisty ending very much.....and there is scope to pick up the story of a certain character in a later adventure, I think (please, Mr Bailey?).

One of the things I particularly enjoyed about this book is the 1950s military setting, with an action movie twist - and more than a touch of James Bond about it. I found this really nostalgic and rather classy, as it put me in mind of Sunday afternoons in front of the TV as a child, when my dad would be glued to some cracking old movies - with proper old school heroes. I was easily able to picture Ash Carter as Bill Travers with an equally estimable supporting cast of the ilk of Anthony Quayle, Alec Guinness and co. But this book still works well in the modern age and is just as exciting as any action story with a contemporary setting, or dark serial killer tale.

There are also some fascinating details about the political situation in Singapore and Malaya in these pages, that I found really interesting, as I did not previously know a lot about the fall-out from World War Two in this part of the world.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Singapore Killer and am keen to see where Murray Bailey takes Ash Carter next in his forthcoming adventure Singapore Fire - and, of course, as mentioned above, I also need to fill in all the backstory. Highly recommended!

Singapore Killer is available to buy from your favourite book retailer in ebook and paperback format from 1st June 2020.

Thank you to Murray Bailey from gifting me a copy of Singapore Killer in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

From the cover of the book:

A helicopter crash results in the pilot and a military policeman burned to death. 

It’s unclear what they were doing, but this was no accident 

and the name BlackJack is found at the scene. 

Ash Carter knew that the Special Investigations Branch were tracking a killer, 

and when a faceless body is found in Perak, and he loses contact with the SIB, 

he races to north-east Malaya to help. 

There Carter discovers a mysterious town that the locals won’t talk about.

With no sign of his contact and a mounting body count, 

Carter is drawn into a dark case from which there seems no escape.

Other books in the Ash Carter series:

Book One: Singapore 52

New Year 1952. Ash Carter is coerced into working for the Singapore government. Both political and military tensions are high. The great fear is that the “war” in Malaya will spill over onto the island and that Chinese Communists are plotting against the government. Carter is tasked to uncover the plan. Meanwhile he has his own personal agenda. He wants to find out who killed his friend.

Book Two: Singapore Girl

A grisly discovery. When a headless body is found on the causeway, Ash Carter is called upon to investigate. He needs to find out if this is just another drug-war punishment or something more. The investigation soon gets shut down. But he knows it’s not over. And it’s not in his nature to quit.

Book Three: Singapore Boxer

Undercover agent. Ash Carter joins a private protection force in Malaya. He thinks he’s investigating a missing person, but locals are dying. Amid intrigue, deceit and deception, will Carter uncover the truth before it’s too late?

Book Four: Singapore Ghost

Bad spirits in Penang. Ash Carter has a job that seems beneath him: babysit a newspaper reporter. She’s investigating ghost stories at the Penang barracks but it’s Carter’s past that is back to haunt him. Stuck between the two criminal organisations, Carter must find a solution and put the ghosts to rest.

Book Six: Singapore Fire - to be released early 2021

The Endgame: Ash Carter is in love, but Su Ling is inextricably linked to Andrew Yipp, the head of the biggest Chinese Secret Society in Singapore. Political tensions are high and the Secretary for Internal Security tasks Carter to find evidence against Yipp. Fail to do so and Su Ling will be arrested and charged. Once again caught between the government and the criminal gangs, it’s time for Carter to choose. Escape now or stand and fight?

About the author:

Murray Bailey got his first taste of success when he was published in the Times at 18 and in his local newspaper.

Although he went on to pursue a different career, he continued to write and edit and became the editor of an international magazine and editor of 4 technical books. 

His first work of fiction, I Dare You, was published in 2016 and The Lost Pharaoh continues the ancient Egyptian story glimpsed in Map of the Dead and is his ninth title. 

Murray was born in Greater Manchester, England and has being moving south ever since. He now lives on the beautiful Dorset coast with his wife and family.

Fallible Justice (Wilde Investigations Book One) by Laura Laakso

Fallible Justice (Wilde Investigations Book One) by Laura Laakso.
Published in paperback, audio and digital formats by Louise Walters Books on 8th November 2018.

Read May 2020.

Welcome to Old London, almost part of the world we know and yet not quite, because this is a world where paranormal races exist alongside humans, and criminal cases are judged by all-seeing beings from another plain of reality - and the Heralds of Justice are infallible... or are they?

Yannia Wilde has left behind the restrictive life of her people, the Wild Folk, to pursue a career as a private detective and to find a place for herself in Old London. She is the only one of her kind living here and, like them, she can draw on the sensory abilities of all living things. She has attracted a certain amount of attention from the other paranormal races, and not all of it is welcome, but Yannia has no interest in celebrity. Although being an outsider does not worry her, since her people have always been seen as reclusive and insular, Yannia is struggling to adapt to city life away from the power of nature that she needs to recharge her abilities - and she is a little lonely.

When an unusual case falls into Yannia's lap, she recruits the help of her only friend, the Bird Shaman Karrion, to help her, and this is going to be tough case to crack. A mage has been found guilty of the murder of another of his kind, but his daughter is convinced he has been wrongly accused of the crime, even though he has been judged by the supposedly infallible Heralds of Justice.

Can Yannia and Karrion do the impossible and prove that a man who has been found guilty under their flawless system of justice is in fact innocent?

*********************************************************

Fallible Justice is a book that has been sitting on my to-be-read shelf for quite a while now, and I am kicking myself that it has taken me so long to pick it up and read it, because it is brilliant!

Laura Laakso has created the most intriguing urban fantasy world in this book - one where humans and magical folk live alongside each other, fully aware of each other's existence - and it works beautifully. Our author has clearly put a lot of thought into how humans and magical folk might live together in a kind of harmony, and the world she has built is well formed and very appealing.

This is a book with a wealth of different kinds of magical folk, some more pleasant than others, and they seem to be as much motivated by all those pesky emotions as the non-magical folk are, which makes them both strangely human and very realistic. Although most may prefer to live in the protected environment of Old London, in many ways they are quite similar to the humans they live among, albeit with added powers, and some even choose to marry their human neighbours. This all adds to build a credible world that is just the right amount of different from our own, so that you can almost taste it. Perhaps you may even find yourself looking a little differently at the mad cat lady who lives down the road, or the old man who always sits by the fire down at the local pub?

There are some wonderful characters for you to fall in love with, who you meet as Yannia goes about her quest, which form into an interesting little band of compatriots that I can see being a very big feature in the following adventures. And there are some delicious baddies too! 

However, this is not just an urban fantasy tale. It is also a cracking crime thriller as well. Yannia may not be your ordinary private detective and she and her friends do use their magical powers to good effect to help solve the case, but there is plenty here to for the most ardent of human crime story fans too. This is a proper gum shoe story, with questions to be asked, clues to be tracked down and pieces to be put together to solve a very tricky case. It is all perfectly paced, tense, and full of suspense, with just the right mix of menace and humour - and it has a very intelligent twist at the end that will set you thinking too.

I found Fallible Justice to be a most engaging and impressive debut book. I absolutely inhaled it, desperate to find out whether Yannia and Karrion could do the apparently impossible. It seems surprising to me that Laura Laasko has now written three books and yet her work is comparatively little known so far, especially when she is writing books of this quality. I cannot wait to read the next two books in the Wilde Investigations series - Echo Murder and Roots of Corruption - which are also fortuitously in my possession.

You can be sure that I will be singing the praises of Laura Laakso's books from now on, and the fabulous independent press behind them - Louise Walters Books - which is rapidly becoming one of my favourites!.

Fallible Justice is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer, or via the links below.

Amazon UK      Amazon US     Louise Walters Books     Hive.co.uk

Thank you to Damp Pebbles Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

From the cover of the book:

In Old London, where paranormal races co-exist with ordinary humans, 

criminal verdicts delivered by the all-seeing Heralds of Justice are infallible. 

After a man is declared guilty of murder and sentenced to death, 

his daughter turns to private investigator Yannia Wilde to do the impossible 

and prove the Heralds wrong.

Yannia has escaped a restrictive life in the Wild Folk conclave where she was raised, 

but her origins mark her as an outsider in the city. 

Those origins lend her the sensory abilities of all of nature. 

Yet Yannia is lonely and struggling to adapt to life in the city. 

The case could be the break she needs. 

She enlists the help of her only friend, a Bird Shaman named Karrion, 

and together they accept the challenge of proving a guilty man innocent. 

So begins a breathless race against time and against all conceivable odds. 

Can Yannia and Karrion save a man who has been judged infallibly guilty?

About the author: 

Laura Laakso is a Finn who has lived for most of her adult life in England. She is an accountant, dog trainer and author. Fallible Justice is her debut novel and the first in her paranormal crime series Wilde Investigations.

Find out more abut Laura Laakso here:

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