MEET THE AUTHOR – ANN CLEEVES

Most Wednesdays are a bit dull. Normally, referred to as hump day. Normally I make a bit of tea, perhaps do a bit at the allotment if the weather is dry, then it’s persuading the toddler that it’s bath and bedtime. Not this week!
This week I had the joy of spending my Wednesday afternoon attending a local author event at Cockerton Library in Darlington to meet crime novelist Ann Cleeves.

Ann was there to promote her recently published book – The Rising Tide.

Ann’s talk was very inspiring she happily covered everything from her private life, writing career, publishing journey, and aspirations for future books. I took some notes and thought I would share them here (any errors I do apologise, I was trying to do this both subtly and hastily so that I could keep up).

How did you get started?

I first started writing whilst living with my husband as the only inhabitants of Hilbre Island (Wirral). In the winter, the island was a desolate place with only the occasional bird watcher seeking it out. The Bird in the Hand was written here. It’s no coincidence that I killed off a bird watcher in that book.

How did you first gain success?

For the best part of twenty years, I wasn’t overly successful, just successful enough that the publishers kept me going. If you want to know the secret to my success, it comes down to one thing, luck.

How did Vera come about?

I was writing a novel at the request of the publishers, they didn’t want a traditional detective novel, they wanted something different. I was about a third of the way in and didn’t have a clue where the book was going. I was completely stuck. There is a Raymond Chandler quote that says: “When in Doubt Have a Man Come Through a Door with a Gun.” Well, that’s what I did, only instead of a gun, in walked Vera, with a Morrison’s shopping bag. The rest as they say is history.

How did Vera become a tv sensation?

Luck. A woman was browsing a second-hand shop in Crouch End, London, looking for a book to take on holiday. She picked up the first Vera novel. That woman’s name was Elaine Collins. When she returned from holiday, she optioned the Vera Stanhope novels to the ITV team, who were looking for something to replace the Frost slot. Vera was selected and Elaine Collins then developed and produced as Vera, starring Brenda Blethyn.

Do you plot your novels?

No, never. I never have yet. I never know how it’s going to happen or how it’s going to end. There’s no fun in writing a book if you know how it’s going to end. I enjoy the thrill of a blank screen; you can believe at that point you are going to write a really good book.

Do you ever get stuck on a plotline?

I do. Everyone does. I find a long train journey often helps me work through it.

Will you write another Shetland novel?

Probably not. There are around 23,000 people across all of the Shetland Islands and I’ve killed a fair few of them off in my books and the BBC has added to that toll!

What is your favourite book?

Small things like these. I was given it and wasn’t convinced it was my kind of book, but I got really into it and it’s a book that every word counts. Highly recommend it.

Big thank you to Ann Cleeves for a wonderful afternoon’s entertainment (and to Cockerton Libraries, the fantastic hosts). I have my signed copy added to my to-read pile and can’t wait to crack on with it.

Ann is a wonderful supporter of local libraries, most of whom will stock her books. Check them out for a copy.

Socials:

https://www.facebook.com/anncleeves

Tweets by AnnCleeves

Would you like to be featured?

If any New2writing followers have an upcoming book and would like to be featured, please drop me an email at kl.caley@yahoo.co.uk.

Review of Blackwater by Conn Iggulden

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Genre: Fiction – Quick reads – Crime Thriller – Violence

📖 This is such a strange book for me. None of the characters are particularly likeable yet the book was enjoyable.

✍️ Davey is the protagonist of the story. The book opens with him standing in the Sea at Brighton, fully clothed and contemplating his life. Through a series of flashbacks, we are introduced to Davey’s older, slightly bullying brother. Then we are told of Carol, Davey’s wayward straying wife. When Carol captures the eye of Denis, a well-known gangster type, Davey soon finds himself in trouble and calls on his brother to help.

🗣 I often think it’s useful to see an extract of a book to get an idea of the writing style. Here is a brief extract so that you can see a sample of the writing yourself:

I think my brother killed him. I’d never had the nerve to ask outright, but our eyes had met as the coffin dropped down into the hole between us. I hadn’t known how to look away, but before I could he’d winked at me and I’d remembered all the secret cruelties of his life.

👓 Without giving too much away, one of the greatest things about this book was the twists at the end. I didn’t predict it at all and love it when something like that catches you out. It is dark and probably not what I would normally read but that is one of the great things about the quickreads series is that it encourages you to try something you might not otherwise.

👫 This is such a strange book as Davey who tells the story isn’t the most likeable character. Yet the author does a great job of intriguing the reader enough to make you want to know what happens to Davey and his straying wife.

🗺 I’ve been trying to think of authors that write similarly to this and the only one that comes to mind is Louise Candlish (The Skylight novella particularly springs to mind).

💭 Overall View: Certainly a quirky book. I imagine if you are into dark crimes or unreliable narrators this will be right up your street.

👍 Please leave a like if you think my review/feedback of the item was helpful to you. Alternatively, please contact me if you want me to clarify something in my review.

View all my reviews

Meet the Author – C.J. Grayson

Most Tuesday nights in my household are a bit dull. Normally I make a bit of tea, walk the dog, perhaps do a bit at the allotment if the weather is dry, then it’s persuading the toddler that it’s bath and bedtime. Not this week!
This week I had the joy of spending my Tuesday night attending a local author event at Cockerton Library in Darlington to meet crime novelist C.J. Grayson.

Grayson launched his debut novel, Someone’s There in 2019 and followed this up with the Byrd and Tanzy Trilogy based in his home town, Darlington.

Chris’s talk was really inspiring, he happily covered everything from his busy home life, writing inspirations, the self-publishing process and aspirations for future books. I took some notes and thought I would share them here (any errors I do apologise, I was trying to do this both subtly and hastily so that I could keep up).

· What was the first thing you ever wrote?

Chris told us how he wrote a book as a teenager and then again in his early twenties. Looking back he jokingly confessed they weren’t very good but the drive to write his stories was there from a young age.

· What inspired you to write your book?

Chris told us how his wife is always forgetting his phone and how it sparked the core of his first novel. He tells how the main protagonist rings his wife’s missing phone, but when he remembers seeing it downstairs earlier in the kitchen, he goes to hang up, only for it to be answered by strangers who’ve broken into the house. The strangers are looking for something specific. He said from there the novel grew quite organically until it formed “Someone’s there” his debut novel.

All of his novels have started from that initial ‘what-if’

· Do you do a lot of research?

Chris told us that his books require a lot of research particularly the crime/police/procedural elements to his novel as this is not his background. He also said he uses a police officer friend to help proofread his books to try to keep them as accurate as the story allows.

· Are there any locations that have a special connection for you or the book?

Chris told us how all of his Byrd and Tanzy Trilogy is based in Darlington, with several well-known areas appearing. He said he had even used his childhood home as one of the locations used in the novel.

· Who do you enjoy reading?

Chris enjoys reading most crime novels although admitted he didn’t get as much time as he’d like to read (do any of us?!). His favourite genre to read is crime and he has been enjoying the novels by L.J. Ross.

· What’s next?

Chris is currently working on his 5th novel….HIDDEN PIECES with a new setting in Manchester and a new female protagonist DS April Fisher.

Big thank you to C.J. Grayson for a wonderful evening’s entertainment (and to Cockerton Libraries, the fantastic hosts). I have my signed copy of his trilogy eagerly added to my to-read pile and can’t wait to crack on with it.

Check out C.J. Grayson’s Amazon Author Page for more info and see his wonderful collection of publications. His books start at just 99p or are FREE to read for those with Kindle Unlimited subscriptions.

Or follow him at:

https://www.facebook.com/cjgraysonauthor/

https://www.instagram.com/cjgrayson_writer/?hl=en

Would you like to be featured?

If any New2writing followers have an upcoming book and would like to be featured, please drop me an email at kl.caley@yahoo.co.uk.

Review of Clean Break by Tammy Cohen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Crime – Relationships – Psychological thriller

📖 Kate wants a divorce. Her husband Jack doesn’t want a divorce. Their marriage has been on the rocks for years, Kate isolating herself from friends and family over the years to appease her controlling husband Jack. When she finally plucks up the nerve to ask for a divorce she begins to feel free but life is never that simple and Jack’s controlling nature surfaces again in unsuspecting ways.

✍️ Wow, this book pulled me in quickly and didn’t let go, with an ending that had a hell of a twist in its tale. This book is dark, it’s all about keeping secrets. Yet also, so much of it is entirely relatable.

👓 The story alternates from Kate’s viewpoint to Jack’s, each time revealing just a little more about their past (or their present) with a few surprises along the way.

🗣 I often think it’s useful to see an extract of a book to get an idea of the writing style. Here is a brief extract so that you can see a sample of the writing yourself:

For the first hour or so after the policeman left, all she could think of was Tom, and the look in his green eyes when he told her he was falling in love with her.
But now her thoughts have moved to Jack. How his mouth had twisted up when he’d said, ‘I can smell him on you.’ The hatred coming off him in waves.

🗺 This book is part of the “quick reads” collection which I like to intersperse between larger novels. The idea of this collection is exactly as it says on the tin (or should that be cover), a shorter than a normal book by world-leading authors (less than 100 pages). One of the things I quite like about these books is that they force the authors to cut out a lot of the waffle that sometimes goes on in books. This keeps the stories quite fast-paced with a lot happening in less time. This author certainly uses that fast pace to full advantage.

👫 I have never read Tammy Cohen’s work before but based on this novella I certainly will look out for future works from her.

💭 Overall View: A clever story, with a dark plot and the dual narrator method really pulls you in.

👍 Please leave a like if you think my review/feedback of the item was helpful to you. Alternatively, please contact me if you want me to clarify something in my review.

IF YOU WISH TO SEE MORE OF MY BOOK REVIEWS PLEASE VISIT:
BLOG: HTTPS://NEW2WRITING.WORDPRESS.COM/
FACEBOOK: HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/KLCALEY/
INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT: HTTPS://WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/KL.CALEY/

View all my reviews

Review of Wish You Were Dead by Peter James

Wish You Were Dead by Peter James

Genre: Crime – Thriller – Police Procedural

📖 This is a great holiday read for those wanting a crime twist to their holiday reading. Roy Grace is a detective superintendent who packs up his family for a luxury holiday at a small boutique type hotel in France. Arriving late, things go wrong very quickly, with an unhelpful host, and a member of their party not yet arrived, the holiday is stalled before it has even begun. Yet, things take a more sinister turn which leaves Roy fighting to protect his family from an old adversary he had hoped never to meet again.

✍️ As other reviewers have pointed out, this story does not involve the traditional police procedural detective novels some might expect if they are familiar with the Roy Grace novels. It instead focuses on his family and his need to protect them. I have never previously read the Roy Grace series but didn’t feel this detracted from the story.

🗣 I often think it’s useful to see an extract of a book to get an idea of the writing style. Here is a brief extract so that you can see a sample of the writing yourself:

As Cleo dialled yet again, Bruno announced, reading from his iPad, ‘Papa, Mama, Listen!’
‘Yes, Bruno?’ Cleo said.
‘It says that next to being in a car, this is where you are most likely to die. Guess where?’
‘In an aeroplane?’ said Cleo, who did not like flying.
‘Wrong!’
‘Your kitchen,’ Roy Grace said.
‘Wrong, this is the third most likely place! It says here the next most likely place to dis is on holiday. We’re in a car and we are on holiday. Doesn’t that make it probable we are all going to die?’
Roy frowned. Bruno often came up with weird stuff. ‘So it’s lucky we’re not in a camper van, then, Bruno?’
‘Why?’
‘Because they have kitchens. So we would be in a car, on holiday and in a kitchen!’
They all laughed.¨C22C

👓 The story itself was fast-paced (which is how I like my crime novels) with the whole thing taking place in around 24 hours. I hadn’t read any of the previous Roy Grace novels but felt it gave more than enough backstory to those books to figure out who was whom and why they were important.

💔 Any Negatives: I enjoyed this story. I wouldn’t say it was as good as some of the other quick reads mostly because it is clearly an extension to or even an excerpt of a much larger series. Therefore, it is probably not the best place to start within a series. As a member of the quick-reads collection, it is often the aim to encourage the users to pick up a book and read which they wouldn’t normally. Something with so much backstory is probably not the best place to start. If a new reader now wanted to continue the series they need to decide whether to go back to the beginning of the Roy Grace series or try to pick up where this book sits and continue from there. I think that could be off-putting.

💭 Overall View: I enjoyed this book and it was great to see a lighter crime novel in amongst the quick-reads series. I enjoyed the story, the characters and the setting. I would certainly look out for other works by this author.

👍 Please leave a like if you think my review/feedback of the item was helpful to you. Alternatively, please contact me if you want me to clarify something in my review.

IF YOU WISH TO SEE MORE OF MY BOOK REVIEWS PLEASE VISIT:
BLOG: HTTPS://NEW2WRITING.WORDPRESS.COM/
FACEBOOK: HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/KLCALEY/
INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT: HTTPS://WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/KL.CALEY/

At the time of reviewing this book it is on sale for £1.00 at Amazon (affiliate link):

https://amzn.to/35l41KF

📣 Disclaimer: This book review contains an affiliate link. This means I earn a small commission if you use the links on my book reviews to make a purchase. You will not be charged extra, but you will help support my reading habit and keep me supplied in books to review. Thank you. 😘

Review of Blackout by Emily Barr – 5 Stars

Blackout by Emily Barr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Genre: Crime Thriller

Premise: Sophie should have a perfect life. she has the perfect man, Rob, a hard-working school teacher, and now a new-born baby son called Arthur. When she wakes up in Paris, in a strange house, on her own and recognising no-one she panics. No passport, no money, she needs to get back to London back to her family and figure out what on earth has happened to her.

I liked this book. It is part of the “quick reads” collection which I have begun looking through lately. The idea of this collection is exactly as it says on the tin (or should that be cover), a shorter than normal book by world leading authors. One of the things I quite like about these books are that they force the authors to cut out a lot of the waffle that sometimes goes on in books. This keeps the stories quite fast paced with a lot happening in less time. Blackout is no exception, with a clear-cut and fast-paced plot it meets the quick read criteria perfectly.

I always think it is useful to see an extract of an author’s writing and in this book, there are quite a few action-focussed parts to choose from but I thought this one is quite interesting as its intriguing without giving too much plot away:

“It is Thursday. The day that should be Monday is actually Thursday. Even at my worst I never lost three whole days. Nobody loses three days. It is not possible. Days come one after the other, from the day you’re born until the day you die. If you stay in bed for a day, the day still happens. If you black out in a coma or something, you wake up in hospital. You do not wake up in a mysterious room in Paris.

I went back and forth on whether to give this book 4 or 5 stars but I settled on 5 as despite the books small size it captured quite a few themes; relationships, trusts, childhood memories, post-partum depression, estrangement (to name a few), and I think that is an amazement achievement for an author.

I also liked the character Sophie, she was an interesting mix of vulnerable and strong and I think she came across as very likeable.

I had never read any of Emily Barr’s work before, but I will certainly look forward to reading more of her works.

Please leave a like if you think my review/feedback of the item was helpful to you. Alternatively, please contact me if you want me to clarify something in my review.

View all my reviews

Review of Clouded Vision by Linwood Barclay – 4 Stars

Clouded Vision by Linwood Barclay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Crime Thriller

Premise: Keisha Ceylon is a fraudulent psychic who passes herself off as possessing real powers in order to extort money from vulnerable families with missing family members, in return fpr psychic predictions regarding their disappearance. When Keisha spots Wendell Garfield on tv pleading for information regarding his wife’s disappearance she decides to pay him a visit. However, the man might not be quite as innocent as he looked on camera.

I am a Linwood Barclay fan. His books are all quite similar and if you have read one of the books, the others are quite predictable. That said I do enjoy his style of writing, easy to read, quick-paced and not overly gory. This book is part of the “quick reads” collection, which I have begun looking through lately. The idea of this collection is exactly as it says on the tin (or should that be cover), a shorter than normal book by world leading authors. One of the things I quite like about these books are that they force the authors to cut out a lot of the waffle that sometimes goes on in books. This keeps the stories quite fast paced with a lot happening in less time. This shorter novel suits Linwood Barclay’s writing style.

The only downside to this book (and I realise it is a personal taste thing) but this is one of the reasons I haven’t given it 5 stars, is that in this book there are actually no likeable characters. Keisha who seems to be the main character/hero of the book, you are told from the outset is a fraud and is there to pray on vulnerable people. The grieving husband is covering something so already you like and distrust him, even the vanished wife is a constant nag and in some ways, you think the family are better without her.

I always think it is useful to see an extract of an author’s writing and in this book there are quite a few action focussed parts to choose from but I thought this one is quite interesting as its intriguing without giving too much plot away:

You started off vaguely, with something like, ‘I see a house… a white house with a fence out front…’
And they’d say, ‘A White house? Wait, wait, didn’t Aunt Gwen live in a white house?’
Someone else would say, ‘That’s right, she did!’
Then picking up the past tense, you said, ‘And this Aunt Gwen, I’m sensing… I’m sensing she’s passed on.’
And they said, ‘Oh my god, that’s right, she has!’

I did enjoy this book. As I said, it was predictable especially if you are familiar with Barclay’s previous work but it was still a good read.
Please leave a like if you think my review/feedback of the item was helpful to you. Alternatively, please contact me if you want me to clarify something in my review.

View all my reviews

Review of Wrong Time, Wrong Place by Simon Kernick – 4 Stars

Wrong Time, Wrong Place by Simon Kernick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Crime Thriller

Premise: Ash and Guy are hiking in the Scottish Highlands with their couple friends who they are quickly becoming irritated with. The couples come across a girl. She is half-naked, has been badly beaten, and she can’t speak English. She is clearly running away from someone or something. The couples argue whether to leave her or help her when Ash makes the decision they should help her and they take her back to the holiday home they are renting. However, unbeknownst to them the girl is being followed and the follower is determined to cover their tracks at all costs.

I liked this book. It is part of the “quick reads” collection which I have began looking through lately. The idea of this collection is exactly as it says on the tin (or should that be cover), a shorter than normal book by world leading authors. One of the things I quite like about these books are that they force the authors to cut out a lot of the waffle that sometimes goes on in books. This keeps the stories quite fast paced with a lot happening in less time. Wrong Place, Wrong Time is no exception with a clear cut storyline and fast paced plot it meets the quick read criteria perfectly.

The only downside to this (and the main reason I haven’t given it 5 stars) is that in this book particularly you aren’t really given the time to really like or hate any of the characters. Ash who seems to be the main character/hero of the book, I couldn’t remember the name of and I had to flick back through the book to find it out before writing this review. I have read a few books in the quick reads series now and others seem to manage this slightly better.

The last thing she remembered was the current driving her into the shallows where she could feel the ground beneath her feet. Then, finally, everything went black.

This book takes place in the Scottish Highlands and I think the author manages to capture the sense of remoteness and isolation very well in this book.

I liked the ending of this book. It was not what I expected at all and I love when a book can still surprise me. All in all a pretty good read. A great introduction to this author and I look forward to reading more of his work.

Please leave a like if you think my review/feedback of the item was helpful to you. Alternatively, please contact me if you want me to clarify something in my review.

View all my reviews

Review of Holy Island by L.J. Ross (DCI Ryan #1) – 5 Stars

Holy Island by L.J. Ross

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I stumbled across this book by chance when it showed up rather cheaply on a Kindle titles sale and the outline sounded quirky and I must say I am very pleased with the find.

This is actually the first of the DCI Ryan detective mysteries series by L.J Ross and it starts the series off with a bang – especially the ending, great job on keeping us readers hooked for the next one in the series. I do think the writing in general was very good, not overly police procedural, plenty of characters to set it up for a series but not too many that you can’t figure out who is who, enough of an intriguing back story about the characters that I suspect may come back to haunt them at a later date. A very strong start to the series.

The plot mainly includes two interlinked storylines/character viewpoints. DCI Ryan has taken a sabbatical from his police duties after a traumatic experience during a murder investigation and temporarily moves to Lindisfarne. After several weeks of calm enjoying the peaceful island, his sabbatical is disrupted when the body of a young woman is found murdered at the priory. The murder looks staged with cult underlying’s and soon more murders in the small island follow. The murderer is smart, leaving very few clues and cleaning the sites so that the investigating team struggles to narrow it down. In the meantime, questioning becomes more and more difficult as the Islanders try to protect their own from outside police interference.

In the second storyline, we follow former local girl Anna who travels back to the island as an informant on the occult. When one of her own family members turns out to be the next murder victim Anna is removed from the case but fearing for her safety and his new-found feelings for her DCI Ryan insists she move into his small cottage that is doubling as police base on the island.

The storylines are very sharp, intricate and clever, but the book itself is not as dark as you would expect for a murder mystery, certainly, there is actually very little gore allowing you to sit back and enjoy the storyline.

I think Ross has done a great job, leaving plenty of room for the characters evolving, in this novel you really feel sorry for Ryan; his mental trauma from his past and how he is suffering trying to suppress those feelings to deal with the new case. I actually finished this book a little while ago but the story and characters still feel very vivid and I think that is a sign of how well the story has been told.

One of the real big highlights for me was the locations. I loved the rugged windswept island and it’s close knit community. The one pub that you need to visit to find out what is going on. Unless you want to risk speaking to the gossipy landlady of the local b&b. All great places and very easy to visualize.

For those that haven’t discovered the DCI Ryan collection, I would suggest these novels are quite similarly written to something like Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway Series – also very good if you haven’t read that). It is crime but not really dark gritty like rebus or anything, also not a Miss Marple cosy crime, something in the middle.

Please leave a like if you think my review/feedback of the item was helpful to you. Alternatively, please contact me if you want me to clarify something in my review

View all my reviews

Review of How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst – 5 Stars

How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Before I even opened this book I was hooked, of all the taglines I have seen this has got to be one of the best – “They told her she killed her baby, She served her time, What if they lied?”
This book is about a woman named Susan Webster who is accused of killing her baby Dylan whilst suffering from terrible post-partum depression. Susan has no recollection of the incident but all those around her; doctors, police & even her husband tell her she has done this terrible crime. When she gets out of prison and starts her new life as Emma she receives a photo of a small child claiming to be Dylan. Throwing her fresh start out the window Susan (with some help from a journalist and her previous prison inmate) begins to hunt down the truth. Can she find it in the web of lies that surrounds her?
This is Jenny Blackhurst’s debut novel and she hasn’t half burst her way onto the crime fiction scene. Her writing style is very fluid, sharp and clear keeping you gripped from the very first page. Loads of twists and turns and hints of information and characters dropped in at just the right time. So many underlying secrets that you can’t tell who is a goodie and who is a baddie.
Psychological thriller huge genre with similar stories out there yet this still stands out very much on its own as a great storyline and excellent writing. If you liked Before I go to Sleep by SJ Watson style of suspense writing then I think you will enjoy this novel.
Please leave a like, if you think my review/feedback of the item was helpful to you. Alternatively, please contact me if you want me to clarify something in my review.

Wow! Dazzling Debut Novel. Can’t wait to read more from this author.

View all my reviews