Crime Fiction Month Review: Block 46 by Johana Gustawsson

Reviewed by Louise Wykes

Falkenberg, Sweden. The mutilated body of talented young jewellery designer, Linnea Blix, is found in a snow-swept marina. 

Hampstead Heath, London. The body of a young boy is discovered with similar wounds to Linnea's. 

Buchenwald Concentration Camp, 1944. In the midst of the hell of the Holocaust, Erich Hebner will do anything to see himself as a human again. 

Are the two murders the work of a serial killer, and how are they connected to shocking events at Buchenwald? Emily Roy, a profiler on loan to Scotland Yard from the Canadian Royal Mounted Police, joins up with Linnea's friend, French true-crime writer Alexis Castells, to investigate the puzzling case. They travel between Sweden and London, and then deep into the past, as a startling and terrifying connection comes to light.

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Crime Fiction Month Giveaway: Take your Pick of these 3 Fab Reads

I can't believe it's the last day of May already so the final day of my Crime Fiction feature month.  Sadly my plans to read and review lots of crime fiction from my backlog this month didn't quite pay off due to illness and work commitments but hopefully you've enjoyed The Write Stuff with... guest posts from the authors.

As it's the final day I couldn't not do a giveaway for you so I'm giving someone the chance to win one of these books, Sirens by Joseph Knox, Watch Her Disappear by Eva Dolan or He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly.  These books were all on my list to read to review this month and I had planned to do separate giveaways for them alongside the reviews.  Instead the winner can take their pick of which book they would like to win, the other two will be put aside to do a giveaway alongside their review once I've read the books.

Crime Fiction Month: The Write Stuff with... Tina Seskis

Sadly this week there has been a poor showing on the Crime Fiction month front due to me being so far behind on reading, my plan to read and review quite a few crime books this week has failed spectacularly!

So instead I'm delighted to be able to bring forward this guest feature from author Tina Seskis, Write what you know (up to a point...).  Tina's new psychcological thriller The Honeymoon is published this Thursday and I'm hoping to read this for review sooner rather than later.

I don't think I was that little girl who wore pink, and dreamed of marrying her handsome prince, and wandered around pushing a dolly in a pram.  In fact, I know I wasn't.  I preferred roller skating, and Cowboys and Indians, and the Bay City Rollers (don't judge me), and the boy across the road was a partner-in-crime, not a sweetheart.  And then once I grew up and got boyfriends they were never husband material, and we were too busy breaking up and making up with each other to be worrying about any future together.

And then I hit my mid-thirties.  I fell in love, properly at last. We got married (on the island where Agatha Christie wrote And Then There Were None, as it happened). I was pregnant.  My dress looked like a pair of curtains.  The planning was chaotic.  The wedding had to be brought forward half an hour at the very last minute because we'd got the tides wrong. We were worried the band wouldn't turn up.  There was a terrible storm. It was fabulous.  We went on honeymoon, to The Mal—

Crime Fiction Month Giveaway: Win a taste of Crime bundle

This afternoon I have been having a bit of a sort out as sadly I'm running out of storage space so need to cull my books... don't worry they're not being thrown out as I've sorted into piles to take into work, to charity shop and to donate to my local library.  Whilst doing so I have come across a selection of sampler booklets, postcards and bookmarks that I've collected from various book events/festivals in the last year so have decided to give away as a bundle to a follower as a crime fiction taster.

Crime Fiction Month Review: Cursed by Thomas Enger

Reviewed by Louise Wykes 

When Hedda Hellberg fails to return from a retreat in Italy, her husband discovers that his wife's life is tangled in mystery. .Hedda never left Oslo, the retreat has no record of her and, what's more, she appears to be connected to the murder of an old man, gunned down on the first day of the hunting season in the depths of the Swedish forests...

Henning Juul becomes involved in the case when his ex-wife joins in the search for the missing woman, and the estranged pair find themselves enmeshed both in the murky secrets of one of Norway's wealthiest families, and in the painful truths surrounding the death of their own son. When their lives are threatened, Juul is prepared to risk everything to uncover a sinister maze of secrets that ultimately leads to the dark heart of European history.

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Crime Fiction Month Giveaway: Win a Copy of No Middle Name by Lee Child (The Complete Collected Reacher Short Stories)

As a blogger I'm very fortunate to be sent many books by publishers to review, some I get contacted about first but quite a few arrive unexpectedly.  But sadly there are not enough hours in the day to read and review every single book I receive so instead I often will do a spotlight post or run a giveaway to promote the book instead.

One such book I have recently received out of the blue is No Middle Name by Lee Child, a collection of his Jack Reacher short stories.

Jack 'No Middle Name' Reacher, lone wolf, knight errant, ex military cop, lover of women, scourge of the wicked and righter of wrongs, is the most iconic hero for our age. This is the first time all Lee Child's shorter fiction featuring Jack Reacher has been collected into one volume. Read together, these twelve stories shed new light on Reacher’s past, illuminating how he grew up and developed into the wandering avenger who has captured the imagination of millions around the world.

My Crimefest 2017 experience plus giveaway

This morning I am officially wrecked after an amazing weekend in Bristol for Crimefest 2017 😴 Last year I went to Crimefest for the first time just for the Saturday which was amazing but also very full on as felt like I needed to attend every single session.  But it also whetted my appetite for me wanting to experience the whole convention so as soon as the tickets went on sale I booked to return again this year but for the whole weekend, Thursday to Sunday.  And what a weekend it was 😉

Thursday

Day 1 lulled us into a false sense of security as didn't start until after lunch giving us delegates time to arrive and prepare for the weekend ahead.  I had already decided which panels I wanted to go to in advance and wasn't disappointed as each of the ones I chose was informative and entertaining.

• Debut Authors: An infusion of fresh blood with Steph Broadribb, David Coubrough, Mary Torjussen & Lucy V. Hay - moderated by Karen Robinson

• SHHHHHHH! Keeping Secrets and Telling Lies with Andrea Carter, Julia Crouch, Lucy Dawson, Rod Reynolds - moderated by Valentina 'VM' Giambanco

• What are you hiding? The Dark Side of Human Nature with Johana Gustawsson, Jørn Lier Horst, Doug Johnstone, Luke McCallin - moderated by Michael Stanley

Friday

After a reasonably early night and the memory of last year's experience I knew that it was virtually impossible to attend every panel of the day as physically, and mentally, you need a break if you're going to survive the day!

• Partners in Crime: Male/Female Police Duos with Sarah Hilary, Anne Randall, Stav Sherez, Luca Veste - moderated by Sarah Ward

• Behind Closed Doors: When Domestic becomes Noir with Jane Corry, Lisa Hall, Michael J. Malone, Mary Torjussen - moderated by Julia Crouch

As it was a gorgeous sunny day I decided to pop out for lunch and enjoyed a sandwich outside before coming back for the afternoon sessions 😊

Crime Fiction Month: The Write Stuff with... Chris Lloyd

Today it's my pleasure to be handling the blog over to Chris Lloyd, author of The Elisenda Domènech Investigations series, to talk about the challenges (and fun) of setting stories in a real location.

It was the name that got me.

There are moments when you read or hear something that punches the breath out of you. I was researching in the city archives in Girona, in Catalonia, for a guide book and I came across the story of a small statue not far from where I was. Outside, I looked for the statue and found it above one of the medieval gateways into the city. She was serene and beautiful, a Madonna and child surrounded by ornate and brightly-painted curlicues and cherubs, and she was called the Virgin of Good Death. 

She was called that because she was the last blessing for prisoners as they were led out of the medieval city to be executed outside the city walls. It was the beauty and the brutality that struck me, the benevolence and menace, and it was the germ of the first book in my Elisenda Domènech series, about a police officer in present-day Girona. Back in the archive, I then came across a series of local legends that left my head reeling at their folklore wisdom and savage imagery, and that sealed the deal. I knew I had to write about it all. The problem was whether anyone who didn’t know Girona or Catalonia would be interested. I’d lived in Girona and Barcelona for 24 years and I’m passionate about Catalonia and its culture, and the one thing I was concerned about was maybe I was being just that bit too niche.

And that, I think, is one of the first dilemmas you face when you set your stories not just in a real location, but in a foreign one. There’s a balancing act between looking too narrowly at your setting while finding stories to set there that will appeal to a wider audience and to readers who might not know the place you’re writing about. It’s a question of finding a harmony between the local and the global, telling a universal story that we can all feel through a unique and very specific setting that only you can tell. But it’s precisely that intensely local atmosphere that can create its own strength and become even more powerful and evocative as long as you can find a way to use it as the vehicle to tell a story that touches on everyone’s life.

Crime Fiction Month Giveaway: Win a copy of Wicked Game & Deadly Game by Matt Johnson

Today's giveaway is for a pair of books by ex-policeman turned author Matt Johnson, Wicked Game and Deadly Game,  Despite having both of these books on my Kindle I have not yet managed to find the time to read either of them so if anyone could magic up a few more hours in a day I would greatly appreciate it 😉

2001. Age is catching up with Robert Finlay, a police officer on the Royalty Protection team based in London. He s looking forward to returning to uniform policing and a less stressful life with his new family. But fate has other plans. Finlay's deeply traumatic, carefully concealed past is about to return to haunt him. 

A policeman is killed by a bomb blast, and a second is gunned down in his own driveway. Both of the murdered men were former Army colleagues from Finlay's own SAS regiment, and in a series of explosive events, it becomes clear that he is not the ordinary man that his colleagues, friends and new family think he is. And so begins a game of cat and mouse a wicked game in which Finlay is the target, forced to test his long-buried skills in a fight against a determined and unidentified enemy. 

Crime Fiction Month: The Write Stuff with... Samantha Wood

What I love the most about blogging is discovering new authors, especially those overseas who I might otherwise not hear about.  So I was delighted when Australian Samantha Wood, author of The Bay of Shadows. responded to my shout out for authors to take part in guest posts for this Crime Fiction month.

I was talking to a friend recently about the plot for my next novel, and she asked if anyone was going to die in this one. I laughed and told her yes, because, really, that’s the beauty of being a novelist: you can get rid of all the pesky characters.

“Everybody dies in your books!” she continued.

“Not everybody,” I protested. “Just the bad guys.”

It did get me thinking about my piece for this blog, though. Especially Sharon’s question about why crime fiction/psychological thrillers are so popular. And what attracted me to write in this genre.

It certainly wasn’t a conscious decision, rather I think it was an essential element of the storyline, and one which unfolded organically. In The Bay of Shadows my main protagonist, Elena, is faced with a situation that can only be described as kill-or-be-killed and so decides to take whatever measures necessary to ensure her safety and that of her foster child, Daniel. When I started writing I didn’t know how the story was going to pan out so I let my characters lead the way – the end result was part romance, part thriller, part crime, which suited the plot and gave me a lot to work with. The other thing that really attracted me to this genre was the question, and the tagline of the novel: how far would you go for love? When people say “I would never do that,” I’m always intrigued by that answer. My first thought is: are you sure? Because we are all capable of amazing and terrible things given the right circumstances. As Elena says after a particularly violent encounter with her child’s father, “I’ll do whatever it takes.” And that is the message at the heart of the novel, that love makes us really powerful.

Crime Fiction Month Giveaway: Syringe Pen, Pencil & Black Notebook to be won

As a fan of all things stationery I couldn't have a feature month without some form of stationery giveaway so today I'm offering one follower the chance to win a pen in the form of a syringe, a thin blue spine pencil (think this came from a publisher) & you can't have a pen or pencil without a notebook to take relevant notes for any crimes you may spot 😂

Crime Fiction Month Giveaway: Win a copy of Rupture by Ragnar Jónasson

Regulars of the blog will probably have noticed that Louise and I are proud members of #TeamOrenda and are always happy to support Karen Sullivan and her authors by reviewing and promoting their fabulous books.  One such book is Rupture by Ragnar Jónasson which Louise reviewed earlier this year and it was one of the first books that sprang to mind as a giveaway prize when I started planning this Crime Fiction feature month.

1955. Two young couples move to the uninhabited, isolated fjord of Hedinsfjörður. Their stay ends abruptly when one of the women meets her death in mysterious circumstances. The case is never solved. Fifty years later an old photograph comes to light, and it becomes clear that the couples may not have been alone on the fjord after all…

Crime Fiction Month: The Write Stuff with... Kerensa Jennings

Today's The Write Stuff with... feature comes from debut author Kerensa Jennings talking about how a real life case inspired Seas of Snow. 

As a journalist who worked in television for many years, I was exposed to some of the best and worst of humanity. I have filmed in refugee camps where former child soldiers were teaching little children how to read and write. Directed the shoot of a life-saving quadruple heart by-pass operation. Made films for Make Poverty History, Comic Relief and Live8. Seen horrific rushes of suicide bombings, raw footage from terrorist attacks (including 9/11), and the unedited aftermaths of devastating earthquakes and floods. 

When I was Programme Editor of Breakfast with Frost with Sir David Frost, I was lucky enough to make programmes with a host of the world’s most famous people including world leaders, and stars from stage, screen, sport and music. The programme with Nelson Mandela is one of the highlights of my life – such an inspiring man. Such an extraordinary life.

Nothing I experienced throughout my TV career affected me as profoundly, or impacted me as emotionally, as leading the BBC News coverage of the Soham investigation. 

The BBC had been selected by Cambridgeshire Constabulary to work closely with them during the months of the investigation. They had quite rightly responded to the extraordinary levels of public interest in the case, and wanted to be able to tell their story. They felt a huge responsibility to do the right thing by the families and friends of the two little girls whose lives were so brutally stolen from them. The community in Soham discovered they had a killer in their midst, and two people who were prepared to hide in plain sight, telling lies after lies after lies to anyone who would listen. The nation was appalled and devastated that a man employed as a school caretaker could have committed such a monstrous act. 

Crime Fiction Month Review: Dead Simple (Quick Reads 2017)

A woman reports a crime to the police, with unexpected results

The grieving widow who finds that she's about to lose more than just her husband 

When a man attempts the perfect murder, it's not quite as easy as he thinks

Two men in prison play a deadly game of Scrabble

A young woman tries to trick an old man and gets more than she bargained for

Sometimes crimes are solved in ways you can't explain 

A murderer about to be hanged finds that's not the worst thing that can happen

You never know who's going to turn up at your door

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Crime Fiction Month: The Write Stuff with... Amanda Reynolds

Today it's my pleasure to welcome author Amanda Reynolds back to the blog as part of this feature month with a guest post talking about settings.

I didn’t set out to write a crime novel, only realising I had when I was invited to a Crime Writers’ party at my publisher’s! Perhaps that’s why I didn’t choose a traditional setting for the genre, but that’s the beauty of crime novels, they can be set anywhere.

My inspiration is the place I live, a small village surrounded by the dramatic landscape of the Cotswold Hills. It’s not gritty, or urban, quite the opposite, but the fascination for me is the contrast between the ascetics of a location and the lives of the inhabitants; the side we don’t see, led in private, and so different perhaps than we might perceive. 

The popularity of psychological suspense feeds on our collective absorption with the private lives of others, and as an author I am presenting you with a glimpse behind the closed door of a marriage. The protagonist is someone like you, or reminds you of someone you know. It’s this proximity to ourselves that draws us in, the thought we could so easily be in that situation, and if we were, what might we do? 

Crime Fiction Month Giveaway: Win a copy of Closed Casket: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah

This Crime Fiction month hasn't gotten off to a good start on the reading and reviewing front  as I had planned to do a review and giveaway today but sadly I've not had as much reading time this week as I had hoped.  But fear not as I've just brought forward one of the other giveaways I had planned for later in this feature month.

Are you an Agatha Christie fan?  Today you could win a copy of Closed Casket, the new Hercule Poirot mystery which has been written by Sophie Hannah.

Hercule Poirot returns in another brilliant murder mystery that can only be solved by the eponymous Belgian detective and his ‘little grey cells’.

‘What I intend to say to you will come as a shock . . .’

Crime Fiction Month: The Write Stuff with... Janet Pywell

Today it's my pleasure to hand the reins of the blog over to Janet Pywell, author of the Culture Crime Series, to talk about Location, Location, Location.

I’m fortunate to have worked in the travel and tourism sector for over thirty years. This allowed me to travel extensively, meet interesting people and learn about foreign cultures and lifestyles.

I was lucky to work in a sociable industry that’s fun and often conversational, and where I was able to enjoy other people’s anecdotes and listen to their stories.

On a visit to Vilnius I met a Russian lady. We were on a trip where travel agents get to know a location and become familiar with hotels so they can sell the product to their clients back in their home country. One afternoon, a few of us found a small bar in the old town and over a glass of red wine we swapped stories:

She was happily married and had two children; a boy and a girl but when the boy was eight he became very sick. She had no money for his lifesaving medical treatment but she knew an old man with lots of money who liked her. So, she divorced her husband who then walked his ex wife up the aisle to marry the rich old man. She saved her son’s life but the old man wasn’t kind and with a new younger wife, he wasn’t in a hurry to die. When I met her she had just divorced the old man and remarried her first husband whom she’d never stopped loving.

Several years later she showed me professional photographs of her son. He was entering the world of fashion modelling. She had tears in her eyes and her chest was filled with pride and I remembered the story she had told me in far more detail than these few sentences. It made me realise the power of love and the sacrifice that she and her husband endured to make her son healthy and well.

The memory of sitting in the bar as they whispered their stories in broken English and halting sentences, struggling for the right words, amid their painful memories has stayed with me. Years of Russian suppression had built up resentment and I was interested to learn about the lives from the assortment of agents. It was a time when the Baltic countries were separating from Russia, cruise ships weren’t yet pulling in to their ports and ‘no-frills’ airlines had not yet opened up travel opportunities.

But I haven’t written about these people in my novels or these locations.

Crime Fiction Month Giveaway: Win a Handcuffs BookBandz & Police Procedural book of your choice

Regular followers of the blog will know that I'm a huge fan of the handmade bookmarks that are made by Karen at BookBandz so I ordered this handcuffs one especially for this crime related giveaway.

But it's no good having a bookmark if you don't have a book to use it on so I've decided to also offer the winner a police procedural book of their choice as well (up to a value of £8).  I've picked a few for you to consider below but you can pick whichever book you fancy.

Crime Fiction Month: The Write Stuff with... Rachel Ward

Today I'm delighted to be hosting the first of what I hope will be many The Write Stuff with... guest features from authors as part of this month's Crime Fiction month.  So it's my pleasure to be handing the reins over to author Rachel Ward who is talking about Turning to Crime.

This year I’m turning to crime. Well, crime writing to be more precise. My first novel for adults, The Cost of Living, will be published by Sandstone Press in September. It’s a warm, contemporary tale of supermarkets, date nights and charity spinathons, wrapping around the darker thread of young women being attacked in a small market town.

I’ve been writing YA thrillers for eleven years (published for eight) and so it feels a bit like changing horses in mid-stream. It wasn’t planned. Over the years, I’ve found that I don’t really choose what to write – my stories choose me. 

My mum hasn’t hidden her bemusement (and dismay) at me producing dark, scary tales for teenagers. ‘Where do they come from?’ she asks. The answer is mysterious. Who knows? I’ve surprised myself with all my books, and The Cost of Living is another surprise, but a completely different one.

Crime Fiction Month Giveaway: Win a Trio of Cosy Crime Reads

Today is the start of a new feature month on the blog, during May I'll be bringing you a combination of guest features, reviews and giveaways but although the month will predominantly feature a mixture of all things crime, there will also be a few non crime-related posts for blog tours I'd already agreed to host.

So to kick off Crime Fiction month I've bought a trio of Cosy Crime books to give away, I've not read any of these myself but they came highly recommended in the shop.

Murder on Sea by Julie Wassmer (I didn't realise when I bought this that it was book 2 in a series but hopefully it will still read OK as a standalone.)

It's not the season of good will to all men...

The festive month is kicking off in style and Pearl is rushed off her feet with her restaurant, The Whitstable Pearl. She's also busy planning her own family Christmas and providing mulled wine for a charity church fundraiser when Christmas cards begin arriving all over town - filled with spiteful messages from an anonymous writer.

Pearl's curiosity is piqued but having pledged not to take on a case at her detective agency before Christmas, she reluctantly agrees that Canterbury's DCI Mike McGuire should take over; poisoned pen cards are after all a matter for the police. And with only the church fundraiser now between Pearl and Christmas, she invites McGuire along as her guest. The event appears to be a great success; St Alfred's church hall is packed and Pearl happily finds herself standing close to McGuire beneath some mistletoe . . . but then a guest suddenly collapses. Too much of Pearl's delicious mulled wine - or could it be something more sinister?

The last thing Pearl expects for Christmas is murder but soon the bodies are piling up. Can Pearl possibly solve the mystery in time to make 25th December an unforgettable day - or will the murderer contrive to ensure her goose is well and truly cooked before then?