Debut Spotlight: Clodagh Phelan

Today I'd like to introduce to you debut author Clodagh Phelan whose name you might recognise if you're a regular follower on the blog as she has helped me out in the past with some guest reviews. So now it's my pleasure to turn the tables and feature Clodagh and her debut novel The Eighteenth of November.

Clodagh Phelan is a professional copywriter and editor. The Eighteenth of November is her first published book. She takes a great interest in criminal justice and is an avid reader especially of crime fiction. A passionate champion of the underdog, Clodagh volunteered for many years at the Connection at St Martins, the centre for homeless people in London’s iconic Trafalgar Square. 

She is currently a volunteer with A.C.E. (Animal Care España), a hugely dedicated organisation that rescues abused and abandoned dogs in southern Spain. Apart from helping out at El Refugio, whenever she can, she writes their English language blog. 

She also writes regular blog posts and book reviews on her own website. 

It is 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 18th November 1987. Fabriel, a maverick journalist, finds himself at King's Cross underground station and has a sudden, clear vision of the tragedy that's about to unfold. Unable to stop the progress of the fire he gets swept up in it as he tries to save Alice, a young single mum, and her baby Zoë. 

Fabriel, still troubled by the violent dreams and weird visions that haunted him in life, is tormented by a series of encounters with a spiteful entity. Confused and traumatised, Alice clings to Fabriel but he cannot handle the powerful emotions she evokes in him. 

Alice remembers her baby and begs Fabriel to help look for her, but Fabriel has finally discovered the meaning of his dreams. Convinced that the entity knows his secret, Fabriel abandons Alice and sets off in pursuit of the creature but when the entity threatens Alice he rushes to her rescue - and finds that it is Alice, after all, who holds the key. 

Set in and around King's Cross and St. Pancras stations in London, and in the Gothic splendor of the abandoned Midland Grand Hotel, this is the story of Fabriel's rebellion and it's consequences. A tale of passion that endures across centuries. Alice's desperate search for Zoë and Fabriel's quest for his identity lead them both to discover the true meaning of love. Then Fabriel is faced with a final and terrible choice.

How long have you been writing? How did you start?
I’ve been writing since I was a teenager. I can’t really remember a time when I wasn’t writing something. However a patchwork of careers in the law, social work and advertising distracted me. Nevertheless these, together my travels and some offbeat short-term jobs, including being the worst temp typist ever and a pretty good artist’s model, were wonderful experiences for a writer. 

Guest Book Review: Luke Delaney - The Keeper

Reviewed by Clodagh Phelan

Thomas Keller knows exactly who he’s looking for…

They tried to keep them apart, but when he finds her, he’s going to keep her. Just like he knows she wants him to.

DI Sean Corrigan is not like other detectives. His dark past has given him the ability to step into a crime scene and see it through the offender’s eyes. He understands what drives a person to commit terrible acts – but sometimes his gift feels more like a curse.

When women start disappearing from their homes in broad daylight, Corrigan’s Murder Investigation Team is reluctant to take on a missing persons case. But then the first body turns up, and Corrigan knows he must quickly get into the mind of the murderer. Because this killer knows exactly who he wants. And he won’t stop until he finds her.

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Guest Book Review: Luke Delaney - Cold Killing

Reviewed by Clodagh Phelan

NO MOTIVE. NO MERCY. NO REMORSE. 

A series of brutal killings leaves South London’s Murder Investigation Unit struggling to connect the crimes: no recognizable method; no forensic evidence; and the victims have nothing in common. 

NO TIME TO LOSE. 

DI Sean Corrigan’s troubled past has left him with an uncanny ability to identify the darkness in others – a darkness he struggles to keep buried within his own psyche. Sean knows these murders are the work of one man. As the violence escalates, Sean must find the evidence he needs to bring the perpetrator to justice – before the next attack hits too close to home…

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Guest Book Review: Sharon Bolton - Like This, For Ever

Reviewed by Clodagh Phelan

Twelve-year-old Barney Roberts is obsessed with a series of murders.

He knows the victims are all boys, just like him.

He knows the bodies were found on river banks.

And he's sure the killer will strike again soon.

But there's something else, a secret he'd rather not know, a secret he is too scared to share . . .

And who would believe a twelve-year-old boy anyway?

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Guest Book Review: Terri Nixon - A Rose in Flanders Fields

Reviewed by Clodagh Phelan

Driving an ambulance through the mud in Flanders, aristocrat Evie Creswell is a long way from home. At Oaklands Manor all she had been expected to do was to look pretty and make a good marriage. But with the arrival of World War One everything changed…

And Evie, to the horror of her family, does not choose a husband from her blue-blooded set; instead she weds artist Will Davies, who works as a butcher’s apprentice. Soon she is struggling nightly to transport the wounded to hospital, avoiding the shells and gas attacks – her privileged home life, and her family’s disappointment at her marriage, a lifetime away.

And while Evie drives an ambulance in Belgium, Will is in the trenches in France. He withdraws from her, the trauma of his experience taking hold. Evie has the courage to deal with her war work, but it breaks her heart to think she is losing Will’s love. Can their marriage survive this terrible war? That is, if they both get out alive…

Amazon Link: Kindle