BLOG TOUR ~ Stasi Wolf by David Young

David Young is the CWA Historical Dagger 2016 winner and author of Stasi Child and Stasi Wolf (out now), paperback, £7.99.

Hi Everyone,


Today I'm on the Blog Tour for Stasi Wolf and I'd like to welcome David to my blog today where David has very kindly taken the time to give me an extract from Stasi Wolf as part of the Blog Tour. I was thrilled to be asked by Emily Burns from Bonnier Zaffre Books to take part along with some other fab book bloggers too. You can find out who else is taking part in this fabulous Blog Tour below. So without further ado, here is the extract:




July 1945

Halle-Bruckdorf, occupied Germany



Your leg stings as you shuffle along the ledge to try to get

comfortable. Frau Sultemeier has fallen against you during the

never-ending night. Being squashed together with the others

down in the disused mine gives a little warmth, a perhaps misplaced

sense of safety in numbers. So you feel slightly disloyal

as you move sideways to get some space – feeling your way in

the blackness, where the sun’s rays never penetrate, even during

the day. You daren’t put your foot down because you know your

boot will be filled again by the cold, coal-stained water and the

pain will be unbearable. You can hear it, sloshing around – the

water that seeps in everywhere, into every sore and wound. You

can’t see it, but you know it’s there.



Sultemeier snorts but doesn’t wake. You almost wish she did.

You want someone to talk to. Someone to calm your fears. Dagna

could do that. Your younger sister was never afraid. The drone

of the bombers, the explosions of the bombs, the fi re in the sky,

the dust clouds and rubble. Dagna just used to say: ‘We’re here.

We’re still alive. Be thankful and wait for it to get better.’ But

Dagna’s gone now. With the others. She heard – we all heard –

the stories they told in the League of German Girls. About how

the Red Army soldiers are worse than wild animals, how they

will rape you again and again, tear you limb from limb. The

others didn’t want to find out if it was true. So they’ve gone to

try to reach the American zone.

Another snort from Sultemeier. She wraps her arm round

you, as though you’re her lover. Frau Sultemeier, the miserable

old shopkeeper who before the war would never let more than

two children into her shop at once. Always quick to spot if you

tried to pocket a sweet while you thought her eyes were elsewhere.

She, like most of the others here, was too old to run. And

you, with your injured foot from the last British bombing raid,

you can’t run. So you had to come down here with them. To the

old lignite mine. Most of the brown coal round here they just

tear from the ground, huge machines taking big bites directly

from the earth, feeding what had seemed like a never-ending

war. The war that was once so glorious. Then so dirty, so hateful,

so exhausting. But you Kinder des Krieges knew about the

disused underground mine – the cave, you used to call it – when

you played down here before the war, you and your sister Dagna

astonishing Mutti with how dirty you used to get. ‘Black as little

negroes,’ she used to laugh, playfully patting you on your bums

as you ran to the bathtub. Mutti’s gone now, of course. Died . . .

when was it? A year ago, two? And you’ve still never seen a black

person. Well, apart from in books. You wonder if you’ll ever see

a real, living one.

BLOG TOUR ~ The Good Daughter by Alexandra Burt

Hi Everyone,

Today I kick off the Blog Tour for The Good Daughter and I'd like to welcome Alexandra to my blog today where Alexandra has very kindly taken the time to give me a audio clip as part of the Blog Tour. I was thrilled to be asked by Helena Sheffield from Avon Books to take part along with some other fab book bloggers too.  You can find out who else is taking part in this fabulous Blog Tour below. So without further ado, here is the audio clip:

The Good Daughter Audio Clip



BLURB FROM GOODREADS

What if you were the worst crime your mother ever committed?

Dahlia Waller’s childhood memories consist of stuffy cars, seedy motels, and a rootless existence traveling the country with her eccentric mother. Now grown, she desperately wants to distance herself from that life. Yet one thing is stopping her from moving forward: she has questions.

In order to understand her past, Dahlia must go back. Back to her mother in the stifling town of Aurora, Texas. Back into the past of a woman on the brink of madness. But after she discovers three grave-like mounds on a neighbouring farm, she’ll learn that in her mother’s world of secrets, not all questions are meant to be answered…

The Good Daughter is a compelling take on a genre that shows no sign of slowing down. The perfect read for fans of Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins.

BLOG TOUR ~ Ragdoll by Daniel Cole

Hi Everyone,


Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Ragdoll & on my blog today I post my review below as part of the Blog Tour  which runs from the 21st - 23rd of February. I was thrilled to be asked by Ben Willis from Trapeze Books to take part along with some other fab book bloggers too. You can find out who else is taking part in this fabulous Blog Tour below. So without further ado, here is my review:


Thanks to Sam Eades, Ben Willis & Trapeze Books I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.........

When a murder scene is discovered in London, it is not like any normal scene. It has one body but it's made up of dismembered parts of 6 other victims which have been stitched together like a puppet which the media have nicknamed 'Ragdoll' by the media.

As it is such a shocking case that the police have had to deal with, they assign Detective William 'Wolf' Fawkes who has been recently reinstated to his position at the London Met after having some of his own demons to deal with and his former partner Detective Emily Baxter.

With the 'Ragdoll Killer' continually taunting the police by releasing a list of names to the media along with the dates on which he intends to murder them.  But with 6 people to save, can Fawkes and Baxter catch a killer before it's too late and especially when the world is watching their every move??


This book is the debut novel from Daniel Cole. I didn't love it or hate it but did enjoy it. The prologue was fantastic and kept me gripped from then but I also found myself getting a little bored at times as I felt there was parts of the story were a bit long-winded and it dipped in the middle but the last 70 plus pages I couldn't read this fast enough to get to the end and see how it would all end. However, in saying that I DIDN'T expect the ending of the book, I was gobsmacked and I almost had to pick my mouth off the floor but I really can't wait to read the next instalment as there is definitely more to this story for the reader to uncover and I'm looking forward to the next installment.

This is available on Kindle and in all good bookstores from the 23rd February 2016.

BLOG TOUR ~ All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

Hi Everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for All The Missing Girls and I'd like to welcome Megan to my blog today where Megan had very kindly took the time to answer some questions I put to her as part of the Blog Tour. I was thrilled to be asked by Katherine McPherson from Atlantic Books to take part along with some other fab book bloggers too.  You can find out who else is taking part in this fabulous Blog Tour below. So without further ado, here is the Q&A:

~ What inspired you to write your first book? 

I worked in biotechnology and then as a high school science teacher before writing my first book. I had always loved reading and writing, but I also loved science, and I pursued biology as my first career path. But I kept being drawn to the odd stories, the things that science couldn’t definitively explain yet. So my first book idea stemmed from my background: it was based on a what if science angle, and it was about high school-aged characters.

Since that first book, I now find inspiration everywhere. For All the Missing Girls, I was inspired by the setting, an idea for the main character, and a structure—this idea that I wanted tell the unwinding of a mystery, where the main character would need to go back into the past for answers. That was the kernel of the idea that eventually gave rise to All the Missing Girls.

~ Can you share a little of your current work with us?

All the Missing Girls is the story of two women who’ve disappeared ten years apart, and whose cases are linked by the same group of friends in a small North Carolina town. And it’s told in reverse, from Day 15 to Day 1.

~ What books have most influenced your life? 

As a kid who loved both science and reading, Michael Crichton had a big influence on me. I loved his thrilling plots, but even more than that, I loved how each of his books circled around this ethical science what if question.

~ What were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing it to life? 

The biggest challenge with bringing All the Missing Girls to life was finding the right way to approach the structure—to have the story flow forward, even as it was being told backward. There was a lot of trial and error involved before I landed on what felt like the right direction.

~ What was the hardest part of writing your book?

The middle of a book is always the hardest part for me. Beginnings are always fun for me, because I’m discovering the characters, the setting, and the story. At this stage, it feels like anything is possible. Then comes the middle, when I realize that I really need to step back and figure everything out. Endings are exciting again, because by that point, I know where I’m trying to get, and I can see how to get there. Middles are always a challenge, but it’s also the stage where the book comes to life, all the pieces finally coming together, giving the story shape.

~ Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest? 

Yes, definitely. I’m a big fan of the thriller and suspense genre. Most recently, I really enjoyed Erica Ferencik’s, The River at Night.

The Legacy of Lucy Harte by Emma Heatherington

Thanks to Charlotte Ledger and Harper Impulse, I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.........

Maggie O'Hara knows better than most that life can change in the blink of an eye.  Eighteen years ago she received the gift of life - a second-hand heart which has enabled her to have a second chance at life.  She has always been thankful to the little girl who saved her life, Lucy Harte.  Maggie starts to lose sight of everything that she's lived for as her own life begins to fall apart, until one day an unexpected letter arrives that will change her life forever.  As a keeper of a borrowed heart, Maggie's time is more previous than most so she must make every beat count.............

What a beautiful, emotional and thought provoking story, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. This story had it all from family, love with more sensitive and hard-hitting issues which were dealt with perfectly and it was well researched and written in a very sensitive and compassionate manner. I found I had tears streaming down my face at the end along with shedding a few along the way as it really meant a lot to me as I'm a huge supporter of the issue of transplants for years now as it's possible that I will need one eventually but hopefully it won't be for a long, long time, so grab this book, curl up on the couch with a few tissues and prepare to have a few lump in your throat moments too. This is the first book I've read by Emma Heatherington and I'm really looking forward to reading more of her books. I would highly recommend her if you haven't read any of her books already. I would definitely even say that this is definitely going to huge this year and is already my favourite book that I've read so far.

The Legacy of Lucy Harte is now available on Kindle and from all good bookstores. It is currently only 99p so get downloading it, you definitely won't regret it.

BLOG TOUR ~ Who Killed Helen Fields? A Perfect Remains Blog Tour

Hi Everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Who Killed Helen Fields and I'd like to welcome Helen to my blog today where Helen has very kindly given me an extract from her debut novel Perfect Remains as part of the Blog Tour. I was thrilled to be asked by Helena Sheffield from Avon Books to take part along with some other fab book bloggers too.  You can find out who else is taking part in this fabulous Blog Tour below. So without further ado, here it is:


Her family sat in the front pews. King knew each by name and recited details about them so Elaine could appreciate the depth of his research into her life. It was a tremendous compli­ment that he’d dedicated so much of his precious time to her.

Her cousin, Maureen, did a reading followed by another hymn. After that came a eulogy, delivered beautifully by a man King didn’t know. The man spoke about her when she was younger, a person King didn’t recognise from the description, a tale of a disastrous skiing trip, a girl who worked hard but played harder, private jokes that the world would otherwise never have been party to. Now, it seemed, her life was public property. It had irritated him as he’d filmed. Too many had gathered and the church was full, necessitating the outside screen. The police had been there in droves.

‘A bit flowery, I thought,’ King commented at the end.

‘Michael,’ Elaine said, as if calling from sleep. King pinched her hand roughly.

‘Who was he?’

‘My friend from law school,’ Elaine answered. ‘We lost touch. He moved to New York.’ He glared as tears filled her eyes. She really was insufferable.
‘You should be grateful. How many people get to see and hear the things I brought you? You were respected, loved, admired and you got to hear it all without dying. I liberated you!’

‘Let me go,’ Elaine begged in a hushed voice. ‘I won’t tell anyone. I’ll pretend I have concussion. I don’t think you’re a bad person, just, well, confused.’


King was breathing hard. He could feel hot colour rising in his cheeks. The sound of his own grinding teeth echoed within his skull, and then he could smell her. Unwashed, festering on that mattress. She’d been there twelve days already, and hadn’t even bothered requesting use of the bathing facilities. He’d provided a shower stall in the corner of the room for exactly that purpose, and would happily have supervised had she been suitably placid. All she had to do was ask. She’d tricked him, hadn’t learned a thing. He hated being duped.