The Chalk Pit Blog Tour

5th March 2017- This is my stop for the blog tour for The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths. I apologize for this post being a few days late. 

Boiled human bones have been found in Norwich's web of underground tunnels. When Dr Ruth Galloway discovers they are recent - the boiling not the medieval curiosity she thought - DCI Nelson has a murder enquiry on his hands. Meanwhile, DS Judy Johnson is investigating the disappearance of a local rough sleeper. The only trace of her is the rumour that she's gone 'underground'. This might be a figure of speech, but with the discovery of the bones and the rumours both Ruth and the police have heard of a vast network of old chalk-mining tunnels under King's Lynn, home to a vast community of rough sleepers, the clues point in only one direction. Local academic Martin Kellerman knows all about the tunnels and their history - but can his assertions of cannibalism and ritual killing possibly be true? As the weather gets hotter, tensions rise. A local woman goes missing and the police are under attack. Ruth and Nelson must unravel the dark secrets of The Underground and discover just what gruesome secrets lurk at its heart - before it claims another victim. 

 

Barbara Murray has gone missing, but what has happened to her and who did it? Bones have been found beneath Norwich, but who do they belong to and why were they killed? Who is murdering homeless people and does this have anything to do with the missing woman Barbara Murray? A action packed thriller set in the heart of Norwich. 

This was an intense thriller which always kept you guessing as to who the villain was. When you thought you had guessed who it was it would lead you in a completely different direction. It seemed like every character had dark sinister secrets. You thought someone was a good guy and it turned out they might have been someone a bit darker with a bad background. Every character added a lot of different elements and skills to the storyline.

All of the police officers, such as Nelson, Judy, Tanya and Clough, would stop at nothing to find the missing women and find the murderer of two homeless men. They were very brave as they never knew where the investigation was going to take them or what dangers they would face when they got to the end of the line. At times the case often became personal for a few of the characters. Ruth was also a great character as she just wanted to find out the truth about the bones buried beneath the city and she got to join the missing persons case towards the end of the novel. 

Some characters were a bit annoying such as Jo and Leo. Jo was the Superintendent and she thought she was all powerful bossing all the officers around. They didn't like that so would sometimes call her names behind her back and not listen to any of her rules. Leo thought he was the greatest director in the world when he clearly wasn't. So he made some plays which people came to see but that didn't make him anything special. His plays also seemed really weird as his Alice's Adventures Under Ground was more like people taking a trip on acid, the play was that weird from what I read in the novel.

The action scenes happened sporadically throughout the novel and weren't just situated in one area of the novel. The language was easy to read. As Ruth was an archaeologist Elly Griffiths didn't use lots of hard to read language to talk about Ruth's job. I was scared that there would be lots of terms or phrases that I wouldn't understand when it came to reading about Ruth's job and her latest case, but there wasn't.

Overall, I gave this novel 4/5 stars. It was an intense and thrilling read. You were always asking yourself who could the bad guy actually be. Turned out a lot of characters in this novel had bad parts about them. I hope to read more novels in this series in the future. Unfortunately I haven't read the previous 8 novels but I will be picking them up at some point in the future. They really are captivating reads and leave you asking a lot of questions. Questions which will only be answered when you get to the end of the novel.

                        Rating 4/5
   

Burned and Broken Blog Tour

Burned and Broken by Mark Hardie

Published- 26th January 2017
Publisher- Sphere 
Pages- 368 pages (paperback)

An enigmatic policeman - currently the subject of an internal investigation - is found burned to death in his car on the Southend sea front. A vulnerable young woman, fresh out of the care system, is trying to discover the truth behind the sudden death of her best friend. As DS Frank Pearson and DC Catherine Russell from the Essex Police Major Investigation Team are brought in to solve the mystery that surrounds their colleague's death, they're under intense pressure to crack the case without damaging the force's reputation. When a dramatic turn of events casts a whole new light on both cases, the way forward is far from clear. Were the victims connected in some way? And just how much should Pearson and Russell reveal to their bosses as they begin to unearth some dark secrets that the force would rather keep buried? Mark Hardie's stylish and gripping debut introduces a brilliant new detective duo to the world of crime fiction, weaving together two suspenseful stories that end in a breath-taking finale. 

The body of a policeman is found in a burned out car, but who killed him and why? Why did a young girl end up dead at the bottom of an overpass? This book will leave you asking yourself questions as you go through reading it. 

This was a great thriller novel as you didn't know who had killed a policeman or why they did it. I loved how it started when the body of Carragher had been found, then went back in time by four days to tell you what happened leading up to Carragher's death. You also found out that a young girl was also dead, but you don't know how she was killed or how she ended up dead. You just know she was found at the bottom of an overpass. There was wide range of characters featured within this novel each with their own different traits and quirks.

Pearson and Russell were great main characters as they just wanted to find out the truth as to why Carragher wasn't showing up for work in the days before he died and find his murderer. Pearson was brave aswell as he would risk his own life to save those of others. Russell was a woman who always spoke her mind no matter who was in the firing line. She would protect her friends when it was most required. Carragher was a bit of a shady character as you were always finding out dodgy stuff about him in the days leading up to his death and finding out more about the man he was. Donna and Malcolm were kind of like mystery characters as you just wanted to find out more about them and their backstories as the novel went along.

The plot moved smoothly and the novel was easy to read. There wasn't a lot of hard language throughout the novel, as that would have made it difficult to read. It took me a while to read though as the text was so small within the novel and it was just under 400 pages long. I wanted to take my time so I understood everything that was happening and I didn't forget a major plot point. It was also interesting to read about Police Standards and why they were asking questions about Carragher and it told you a bit about their job role aswell. 

The action was sporadic throughout this novel and that was really good as you never knew what action packed thing was going to happen next. The opening of the novel was action with the body being found, then action throughout the middle and at the end when you found out who the murderer was and why they did it. I find novels with all the action centered in one place (e.g. middle or end) hard to read as you just find the other parts of the novel really slow.

Overall, I gave this novel 4 out of 5 stars. I can't wait to read the next novel in the series by Mark Hardie. If you love crime thrillers then you will definitely love this novel. It is action packed and contains lots of elements of mystery. You are always trying to guess who the killer is then getting annoyed when you couldn't guess or got the wrong killer. A definite must read if you are a crime or thriller fan.

Rating 4/5 

   

Death At The Seaside Blog Tour

Nothing ever happens in August, and tenacious sleuth Kate Shackleton deserves a break. Heading off for a long-overdue holiday to Whitby, she visits her school friend Alma who works as a fortune teller there. Kate had been looking forward to a relaxing seaside sojourn, but upon arrival discovers that Alma's daughter Felicity has disappeared, leaving her mother a note and the pawn ticket for their only asset: a watch-guard. What makes this more intriguing is the jeweller who advanced Felicity the thirty shillings is Jack Phillips, Alma's current gentleman friend. Kate can't help but become involved, and goes to the jeweller's shop to get some answers. When she makes a horrifying discovery in the back room, it soon becomes clear that her services are needed. Met by a wall of silence by town officials, keen to maintain Whitby's idyllic façade, it's up to Kate - ably assisted by Jim Sykes and Mrs Sugden - to discover the truth behind Felicity's disappearance. And they say nothing happens in August . . .

  

Alma Turner's daughter, Felicity, has gone missing and no one knows where she has gone or if something has happened to her. Felicity is also Kate Shackleton's goddaughter. Jack Phillips has also been murdered, but who murdered him and why? What secrets are the people living in Whitby hiding and why don't they want the police to find out? 

This was quite a good novel, but it was quite a slow paced novel in a lot of areas. There wasn't much action throughout this novel and I did guess halfway through who the killer would turn out to be. So at the end it wasn't much of a surprise to me when the killer was finally revealed. The main action came when Kate discovered the body in the jewelers shop backroom. The language was very easy to read though but some parts were old writing as it was set in the 1920s. 

Kate was a good character as she would do anything she could to get to the truth of the situation. She didn't want an innocent person to go to jail for a crime they did not commit. She was a searcher for the truth. Jim Sykes was also a great character as he didn't want an innocent person to be jailed either. Alma Turner sometimes annoyed me as she wasn't doing much to search for her daughter. She just stayed at home and waited for people to find her daughter for her. 

As the action was so slow paced within this novel it did take me a while to read, but it made it more enjoyable as I was getting through it. I did wish there was more action though throughout the novel as then I would have enjoyed reading it a lot more. The characters were the main reason I kept reading this novel as a lot of them were likable, but some did annoy me a bit. It also annoyed me that the police didn't seem to be doing much of a job to find the murderer or to find Felicity. Kate seemed to be doing more investigating than the actual police themselves. 


Overall, I gave this novel 3/5 stars as it was quite a slow read and my only enjoyment came from the characters and guessing who the murderer was. As I guessed the killer within the middle part of the novel I had to mark it down. Plus, because of the lack of action that was another reason I had to mark the novel down. Apart from those two matters I did enjoy reading this novel and will definitely be reading more from the Kate Shackleton novels in future. 

              Rating 3/5
  

Never Alone Blog Tour

6th October 2016- This is my stop on the blog tour for Never Alone by Elizabeth Haynes. 

Sarah Carpenter lives in an isolated farmhouse in North Yorkshire and for the first time, after the death of her husband some years ago and her children, Louis and Kitty, leaving for university, she’s living alone. But she doesn’t consider herself lonely. She has two dogs, a wide network of friends and the support of her best friend, Sophie. When an old acquaintance, Aiden Beck, needs somewhere to stay for a while, Sarah’s cottage seems ideal; and renewing her relationship with Aiden gives her a reason to smile again. It’s supposed to be temporary, but not everyone is comfortable with the arrangement: her children are wary of his motives, and Will Brewer, an old friend of her son’s, seems to have taken it upon himself to check up on Sarah at every opportunity. Even Sophie has grown remote and distant. After Sophie disappears, it’s clear she hasn’t been entirely honest with anyone, including Will, who seems more concerned for Sarah’s safety than anyone else. As the weather closes in, events take a dramatic turn and Kitty too goes missing. Suddenly Sarah finds herself in terrible danger, unsure of who she can still trust. But she isn’t facing this alone; she has Aiden, and Aiden offers the protection that Sarah needs. Doesn’t he?

                   

Sarah lives on a farm in North Yorkshire and she invites her old friend Aiden to stay in her cottage next door. Will, an old friend of her son Louis, has suddenly reappeared in town, but is he being honest with everyone. What secrets is Aiden hiding? Her friend Sophie suddenly goes missing, but what has happened to her? With the snow closing in, is Sarah really alone on her farm and is it dangerous being alone? 

I loved the layout of this novel as it had chapters from different characters, so the chapters changed views between Sarah and Aiden. You also had a mystery chapter writer who was watching Sarah in her house. These points of view were very creepy as you didn't know who was writing them, but you knew why they were writing them. I enjoy novels that are written from different points of view as you find out more to the story this way. 

Aiden was a good main character as he would do anything for Sarah and he just wanted to protect her and her friends/family. He tried to keep Will away from Sarah when he found out that Will was being less than honest with them. Sarah was a great character aswell as she was really brave, would do anything to protect Aiden and Kitty and wanted to find out what was really going on with the men who had just come back into her life. Will was a very creepy character as you didn't know his true intentions towards Sarah and Sophie, plus you never knew when he was telling the truth and when he was lying. 

This was a fast paced novel, with the action spread throughout the novel and not just in one area of the book. However, because the action was so spread apart it did feel quite slow in some parts as nothing much was happening. The book was also separated into different parts so that sped up the reading process aswell as you could get to the end of one part then stop reading or carry on reading the next part. Every time I read the mystery writer's chapters I got chills as they were very creepy parts with the writer just watching whatever Sarah did in her house. However, I did kind of guess who the mystery writer was so it wasn't much of a surprise when this was revealed at the end of the novel.

Overall, I gave this novel 4/5 stars. With the action being so spread apart that kind of slowed down the novel from me in some parts. However, it was a really creepy read and sometimes made you feel like you aren't safe inside your own homes. It made you feel for Sarah and Aiden as you just wanted both of them to be safe and survive until the end of the novel. It also kept you guessing as to who the mystery writer could be. This is a great thriller read though and a must read if you are a fan of Elizabeth Haynes.

                       Rating 4/5
   

And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Published- 3rd December 2015
Publisher- Harper Collins UK
Pages- 250 pages (paperback)

Why have these 10 individuals been invited to Soldier Island? Who is the mysterious U.N.Owen? Who is killing off the 10 individuals one by one? What is the significance of the 10 little soldiers nursery rhyme contained within every room of the house on Soldier Island?

And Then There Were None is a great thriller read as you have no idea who the killer could be or why he is committing this terrible crime. You spend a lot of the novel guessing who the killer could be. However, when you believe you have identified the murdered that person then themselves gets murdered. If you read it very carefully then you can find some clues as to who the murderer might be. It was easy to imagine what was happening in the novel as I recently watched the TV show And Then There Were None featuring a top quality cast.

I used the cast from the TV show to imagine what was happening to each of the characters within the novel. For example, I pictured Aidan Turner when imagining what was happening to Phillip Lombard and Anna Maxwell Martin when I was reading about Mrs Rogers. This helped me to follow the plot more smoothly as I could imagine the place and the characters perfectly. 

Phillip Lombard was one of my favourite characters as he was always calm even when everybody around him was dying and he tried to keep other people safe aswell not just himself. Vera Claythorne was quite an annoying characters at times because she became hysterical for no reason at all and she would complain and whine a lot of the time. Justice Wargrave was also kind of annoying as he didn't stop talking and tried to order everybody about for most of the novel. 

The death scenes were followed perfectly according to the nursery room contained within each room. For example, one character was killed whilst they were chopping up sticks and another was killed by a big bear. As you know they would have noticed a big bear on the island, but this was not a real bear of course but something much different. However, not all of the deaths were murders, or were they all murders? 

The language was easy to read which made the novel easy to follow. It was also quite a quick read as some of the chapters were quite short. The chapters were also broken down so within 1 chapter you could have either 6 or 7 different parts. The title is a line from the nursery rhyme which comes at the end of the rhyme. The line comes after the last person on the island has been killed.

Overall, I give this novel 5/5 stars. It was a great thrilling read. It was easy to follow and had you guessing the identity of the murderer throughout the whole novel. You should also give the TV show a watch aswell if you liked this novel. A definite must reads for fans of Agatha Christie or just thrillers in general. Everyone will love Agatha Christies most popular and best selling thrilling novel.

                               Rating 5/5

     

Black Ice

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Published- 7th October 2014
Publisher- Simon and Schuster UK
Pages- 384 pages (ARC paperback)

A girl is murdered in the first chapter of this novel, but who killed her and why? Britt and Korbie are going on a trekking holiday in the mountains and they encounter 2 mysterious guys when they get caught in a snowstorm. Who are Mason and Shaun. Also, why has Calvin, Korbie's brother, suddenly returned from university?

I really enjoyed this novel as it was a thriller and it contained elements of romance throughout. The whole novel leaves you trying to guess who the real killer is and why they were killing these young girls. It also leaves you wondering more about Shaun and Mason and why thy are trying to hide out in the mountains. There was action straight away in the first chapter, but it did kinda slow down towards the middle. However, the action picked up again towards the end of the novel.

Britt was a great character in my opinion as she would do anything from her friend Korbie so they both got off the mountain alive. She was brave and willing to do whatever it took. Korbie annoyed me at times as she moaned a lot and complained and basically didn't believe anything anyone told her about her family. So in my opinion she wasn't that likeable of a character.

Mason was a brilliant male lead character. He wanted to protect Britt and make sure that Shaun didn't hurt her. Their romance story was a good side plot to the main novel. Shaun was a great bad guy as he would hurt whoever he wanted to just so they could get off the mountain without being caught by the police. I did like Calvin at first, but the more you found out about him just changed your opinion of him. 

I was lucky enough to go to a questions/answers session with Becca Fitzpatrick at Foyles in London and meet the her too. She was such a lovely lady and signed my copy of Black Ice. This was the first Becca Fitzpatrick novel I've read, but I might have to give the Hush Hush series a read in the future.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable thriller for me. Loved trying to guess what was going to happen next and I always try to guess who the killers are. I gave this novel 5 out of 5 stars. Give it a read if you are a fan of Becca Fitzpatrick or just love reading thrillers/romance novels. 

                                    Rating 5/5