Review: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – The Ripper Legacy by David Stuart Davies

Goodreads Blurb

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson investigate the case of a kidnapped child. With no ransom note, and a sinister connection to the highest echelons of Victorian society, the companions’ lives are in danger. What is the child’s true heritage? And what is the connection with the vicious Whitechapel murders?

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

An exhilarating mystery solved by the one and only Holmes. A marvelous book with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. They work marvelously together to find a boy that was kidnapped. Holmes is an intelligent detective that with little evidence, he can deceiver the whereabouts of the kidnappers. The plot was very interesting and had me thinking who and why would take a child. Great book for any lovers of Sherlock Holmes.

Author Biography

David Stuart Davies was a British writer. He worked as a teacher of English before becoming a full-time editor, writer, and playwright. Davies wrote extensively about Sherlock Holmes, both fiction and non-fiction. He was the editor of Red Herrings, the monthly in-house publication of the Crime Writers’ Association, and a member of The Baker Street Irregulars and the Detection Club.

Cover Reveal: A Prayer Before Killing by CC Gilmartin

A Prayer Before Killing by CC Gilmartin (The Colin Buxton series; Book 3)

Cover Reveal: 17th October

Genre: Crime/ Mystery

Blurb

An exclusive Catholic boys’ school…the death of a young nun…a potential cover-up

When Colin Buxton arrives in Glasgow to care for his gravely ill mother, he’s drawn into a perplexing mystery: how a bangle that once belonged to a murdered nun has inexplicably appeared on the wrist of a statue of the Virgin Mary. With a priest having been convicted of the crime, could someone be trying to signal that justice wasn’t served?

As Colin delves deeper, he uncovers a group of teenage boys whose unsettling connection to the young nun raises troubling questions about the original investigation. And then there’s the school itself, whose dubious past may be concealing the truth. What secrets is the Catholic church hiding, and how far will they go to protect their own?

In A Prayer Before Killing, the third gripping novel in CC Gilmartin’s Colin Buxton Series, dark truths emerge as Colin navigates a web of deception and betrayal, challenging everything he thought he knew about faith, loyalty, and justice.

Perfect for fans of JM Dalgliesh, LJ Ross, Simon McCleave and Rachel McLean.

Author bio

We’re Chris Deans and Colin Thomas Begg, the bestselling writing duo behind the pen name CC Gilmartin.

Scots born, we’ve lived in London, Sydney, Berlin, and Barcelona, but now call Glasgow home. With diverse backgrounds, we’ve come together to share our passion for crime fiction and suspense. The stories we create have dark secrets at their heart. Love, denial and betrayal drive, and sometimes destroy, our characters. We’re also inspired by the Scottish landscape and the great cities we’ve been lucky enough to live in.

Want to know more about our books? Join the CC Gilmartin Readers Club at https://www.ccgilmartin.com/book-club and receive a FREE Colin Buxton story, plus regular updates on our writing and travels.

Pre-order Links

Review: Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Goodreads Blurb

Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.

I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.

Who was it?

Let’s get started.

EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE

My brother

My stepsister

My wife

My father

My mother

My sister-in-law

My uncle

My stepfather

My aunt

Me

My Review: Rated 4 out of 5 stars

A family of killers will have an unforgettable reunion. Each member has not only killed someone, but they have a closet full of skeletons that will unleash an unexpected family member who will bring to light the mystery of this family. Ernest narrates the story and brings funny moments to the story of Whodunit. Can the writer Ernest put together the puzzle pieces?

The story includes ten characters who each have killed someone. Ernest narrates the story for each character by dividing the book into parts by family members and going over what the family members did and how he got involved. He did a fantastic job connecting the dots for each murder and having Ernest tell everyone his conclusion about who the murderer was and why this all occurred.

The story was a little slow, but it piqued my interest after he spoke to his brother Michael, and the deaths and mysteries were unraveling. I expected the story to turn out differently than it did. Too much was at stake, with too many secrets. This story shows how money can cover any secret.

Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Goodreads Blurb

Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar. Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

When the green grass on the other side of the fence isn’t exactly green after all!! This was absolutely thrilling. It takes the reader out of their comfort zone and has them open their eyes that people do not want to think them to be. We all have skeletons in our closest some more than others. Rachel’s life was a total disaster. She fell into an obsession with a couple who she thought were perfect, but what you see isn’t always real. I felt for Rachel every moment she picked up a bottle to drink her sorrows away. Drinking just caused her to confuse what truly happened to her in real life. Her mind twisted everything, making it seem just like a dream. As I read the book, I didn’t come to realization that the murderer wasn’t the obvious person but the person you would least expect. I learned that people lie in order for them to get ahead without realizing the damage they do to others. I totally enjoyed this train ride to a story full of secrets, deceit, jealousy, obsession, and love beyond reason. Can’t wait to see the movie in a few weeks.

Author Biography

Paula Hawkins is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Girl on the Train, which was made into a major motion picture. Her new novel of psychological suspense, Into The Water, is coming May 2.

Review: A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult

Goodreads Blurb

The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.

After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.

But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.

Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.

Jodi Picoult—one of the most fearless writers of our time—tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Jodi created a novel that pushes boundaries once again. Abortion is a huge political issue still today. This book is epic. It will leave the reader wondering if you pro-life or pro-choice? She started the book with a women’s reproductive health clinic being held hostage by a gunman. Then she built the book going through each hour backward to lead off back to where it began. She is a brilliant storyteller bringing such vivid characters to life and unraveling their story like an onion layer by layer. The background story for each character shows how each characters life’s interweave with each other and how they all ended up in this clinic at the same time. This book will bring you to tears. The emotions are like a roller coaster from happiness to desperation, loneliness, forgiveness, fear, joy, relief, and the will to fight, live, and save lives. The part with the steps in the abortion procedure will leave you squirming. I believe each woman should have a choice to decide, and the courts and states shouldn’t make this decision. Jodi had personally researched for this novel, and I felt she elaborate in statistics and court rulings that will give more understanding in this controversial issue.

Author Biography

Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels, including Wish You Were Here, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister’s Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire.

MAD HONEY, her new novel co-authored with Jennifer Finney Boylan, is available in hardcover, ebook, and audio on October 4, 2022.

Website: http://www.jodipicoult.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jodipicoult

Cover Reveal: The Cartagena Cartel by T.C. Roberts

BOOK DETAILS:

The Cartagena Cartel
by T.C. Roberts
(The Misadventures of a Modern-Day Nomad, #2)
Publication date: August 15, 2024
Genres: Adult, Crime, Humor

Synopsis:

Archie, a heartbroken young man who has skipped bail, embarks on his first adventure as a wannabe digital nomad. Seeking new beginnings in the romantic old town of Cartagena, Colombia, he hopes to find love once more. But Cartagena is far from the idyllic escape he envisioned.

Instead, Archie attracts all the wrong kinds of trouble, hitting rock bottom in a foreign land, completely broke. Alone and desperate, he strikes a risky deal with a charming local street hustler, Christian, hoping to impress the enigmatic “Pocahontas” who could be his only saviour to make it out of Cartagena alive.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214162135-the-cartagena-cartel

AUTHOR BIO:

This author also writes as Tim Roberts
T.C. Roberts is the author of the non-fiction title, Goodbye Office, Hello World!, the novel, Highly Flawed Individual, and the forthcoming graphic novel Killer Sexbot. Originally from Sydney, Tim has no fixed address and considers himself a citizen of the world. When he is not writing, he’s traveling and exploring new places, or seeking out his next destination.

Author links:

Home

https://www.facebook.com/DigiDrifter

Tweets by DigiDrifter

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/45251509.T_C_Roberts

Review: Grimm’s Furry Tail by Kathi Daley

Goodreads Blurb

A cozy mystery series set on Madrona Island, a fictional island within the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State. As a fourth generation islander, Caitlin Hart is struggling to make her way as the economy and culture of the island evolves toward a tourism based industry. Cait lives in a cabin on her aunt’s oceanfront estate where she helps her aunt run Harthaven Cat Sanctuary. When she isn’t working with the cats, she helps best friend Tara, operate the coffee bar/bookstore/cat lounge they own, named Coffee Cat Books. In the third book in the series, Cait’s friend Cody buys the old newspaper and discovers a previously unpublished edition that details a murder that occurred decades ago. The fact that the story was written but never published piques the curiosity of the friends, who decide to delve into a cold case that reaches back fifty years. When the truth is discovered they struggle with the ramifications of what they have uncovered. They know that revealing it will rock the small island community to its core.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Another amazing book written by Kathi. I really loved how the cat was used to try to help in the case. Emily did a great job in solving the case. She goes straight to the hurricane without looking back in order to find justice. I was hoping that her and Cody were going to get back together. Guess I would have to find out in the next book if it happens. This book has an amazing cover. As I read, I kept on trying to decipher who the killer was. It had some shocking moments that I didn’t expect.

Author Biography

Kathi lives with her husband, kids, grandkids, and dogs in beautiful Lake Tahoe. When she isn’t writing, Kathi likes to read (preferably at the beach or by the fire), cook (preferably something with chocolate or cheese,) and garden (planting and planning not weeding). She also enjoys spending time on the water when she’s not hiking, biking, or snowshoeing, the miles of desolate trails surrounding her home.
Kathi uses the mountain setting in which she lives, along with the animals (wild and domestic) that share her home, as inspiration for her cozy mysteries.

Publication Day Party: Catch Me Twice by Catherine Yaffe

Blurb

Perfect for fans of JD Kirk, Val McDermid, Peter James, Rachel Mclean

Operation Wonderland

It’s 1989 – the so-called Second Summer of Love

The days are endlessly hot, and ravers are riding on a hedonistic wave of Acid House and MDMA.
It’s the biggest youth movement since the 60’s and it’s out of control.
Rave organisers mix with underworld gangsters who don’t care about the devastating consequences.
But when ravers start dying, undercover cops are sent to infiltrate the chaotic, deadly scene.
Little did anyone know that their actions in those heady days would come back to haunt them nearly a decade later.

Was it really the Second Summer of Love, or a deadly Summer of Death?

And can the instigators be caught twice?

Author bio

Catherine Yaffe is the author of crime thrillers that readers and reviewers frequently describe as compulsively readable. A graduate of Curtis Brown Creative academy, Catherine wrote her first crime thriller, The Lie She Told in 2020 whilst the UK was in Lockdown. On its release it debuted in the top 10 hot new releases on Amazon and to date has accrued hundreds of five-star reviews

https://amzn.to/3WWEsbw

Publication Day Party: Masks by Sydney Ashcroft

Blurb

Maria Grayson has sworn off relationships and love, focusing instead on her double life. During the day she works in the family business and lives as a socialite. At night she dons a mask and assumes the identity of Balestra to fight crime on the streets of New York. She balances her two lives as best as she can, but that balance is threatened when a new drug floods the streets of New York…and Tomas Dorrance walks into her life.

Tomas Dorrance arrives in New York on a business trip with his father and twin sister and finds that he’s immediately captivated by Maria. After spending one passionate night with her, Tomas is obsessed and wants more time with her. The more he sees her, the more he wants something more than casual sex.

As Balestra, Maria must stop the spread of a new drug and find and destroy the source. As Maria, she must resist falling for Tomas, who is doing his best to change her mind about love and relationships. Her two lives are on a head-on collision course and Maria doesn’t know if she’ll come out alive or with her heart intact.

Buy Links

Review: A Time of Torment by John Connolly

Goodreads Blurb

Jerome Burnel was once a hero. He intervened to prevent multiple killings and in doing so damned himself. His life was torn apart. He was imprisoned, brutalized.

But in his final days, with the hunters circling, he tells his story to private detective Charlie Parker. He speaks of the girl who was marked for death but was saved, of the ones who tormented him, and an entity that hides in a ruined stockade.

Parker is not like other men. He died, and was reborn. He is ready to wage war.

Now he will descend upon a strange, isolated community called the Cut, and face down a force of men who rule by terror, intimidation, and murder.

All in the name of the being they serve.

All in the name of the Dead King.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Wow, this book was intense from the moment I read page one to the very last page. The title says it all. Torment is written all over this book. I was clenching my teeth of how cruel and heartless the characters were in this book. I was tormented reading every word the author wrote, tormented with every thought the characters thought, tormented with every action, death, rape, kidnapping, and torture. John wrote a book that captures the reader and leaves them wanting more. When you thought the end was near, the book was only beginning its torment. This book also had a few paranormal events throughout the book. This was a five-star read. I highly recommend you read this book and clamp yourself to your seat. Beware!!

Author Biography

John Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, to which he continues to contribute.

He is based in Dublin but divides his time between his native city and the United States.

This page is administered by John’s assistant, Clair, on John’s behalf. If you’d like to communicate with John directly, you can do so by writing to contact-at-johnconnollybooks.com, or by following him on Twitter at @JConnollyBooks.