I am extremely fond of historical fiction and I love a bit of travel, so it gives me very great pleasure to welcome Patrick Canning to Linda’s Book Bag today to tell me about one of his books.

Staying in with Patrick Canning

Hi Patrick. Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Thanks for having me! I’m glad whatever better plans you had fell through.

You’re more than welcome! Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

The Colonel and the Bee, a coming of age/adventure story that takes place in the Victorian Age. I would consider it escapist entertainment in a lot of ways, which I think people need right now given how stressful things seem to be. So many current events and the ensuing news coverage is overwhelmingly negative, I think sometimes it’s okay to check out for an hour or two. This book has some dramatic and emotional moments, but a lot of the time it’s a fun adventure, and I hope it genuinely makes people feel better as some books have done for me in the past.

(Brilliant philosophy Patrick. I agree that fiction can be the perfect escapism.)

What can we expect from an evening in with The Colonel and the Bee?

The story is very playful. Sometimes when we hear Victorian Age/1800s, we think of a stuffy society, but the characters in The Colonel and the Bee are always raring to explore and escape danger, using great Victorian slang along the way like “enthuzimuzzy” (making a big deal out of nothing) and “butter upon bacon!” (excessive extravagance). If I did my job right, an evening with this book will make you laugh, worry for the characters, and maybe even enliven your wanderlust with its menagerie of fantastic destinations (better make sure your passport is up to date before reading, just in case).

(Sounds perfect for me. I already have itchy feet and am always looking for my next adventure.)

What else have you brought along and why?

I have brought the Oxford Starladder, it’s just outside killing the grass on your lawn. The four-story house attached to a hot air balloon is full of trinkets from a thousand destinations, complex navigational equipment, a nursery of exotic flowers, and a packrat named Jasper who steals anything that isn’t nailed down. We’d better get going as the wind is picking up…

Oh! I’m not terribly keen on heights. You won’t mind if I shut my eyes whilst we take off will you. Don’t worry about the grass. It’s been so hot here of late it’s dead anyway!

Thanks so much for staying in with me to tell me all about The Colonel and the Bee Patrick – and for this trip in the Oxford Starladder!

The Colonel and the Bee

A peculiar explorer and downtrodden acrobat span the globe on a building-sized hot air balloon, in search of a precious artifact and the murderous treasure hunter who seeks it.

Beatrix, a spirited but abused acrobat in a traveling circus, seeks more than her prison-like employment offers. More than anything, she wants to know her place in the world of the halcyon 19th century, a time when the last dark corners of the map were being sketched out and travel still possessed a kind of magic.

One night in Switzerland, the mysterious Colonel James Bacchus attends Beatrix’s show. This larger-than-life English gentleman, reputed to have a voracious appetite for female conquests, is most notable for traveling the world in a four-story hot air balloon called The Ox.

Beatrix flees that night to join the Colonel, and the two of them make a narrow escape—Beatrix from her abusive ringleader, the Colonel from a freshly-made cuckold. Beatrix, feeling the Colonel may have the answers to her problems, pledges to help him catch the criminal he seeks in exchange for passage on his magnificent balloon.

The criminal seeks a precious figurine, The Blue Star Sphinx, but he’s not alone. The Sphinx’s immense value has also drawn the attention of the world’s most deadly treasure hunters. A murder in Antwerp begins a path of mystery that leads all the way to the most isolated island on Earth.

What dangers await the Colonel and the acrobat?

The Colonel and the Bee is available for purchase through these links.

About Patrick Canning

Patrick Canning lives in Los Angeles where he spends a lot of time stressing out over proper sentence structure. His greatest achievement is beating a dog in a hamburger eating contest, and he aspires to one day be on Jeopardy.

You can find out more by visiting Patrick’s website and finding him on Instagram @catpanning.

My enormous thanks to Millie Seaward for inviting me to be part of the launch celebrations for Kill For Me by Tom Wood and for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review. I haven’t quite got to reading Kill For Me yet as life has got in the way but it doesn’t matter as I have a hardback copy of the book to give away to a lucky UK reader so that they can see for themselves just what an exciting book this is! You can enter at the bottom of this blog post.

Published by Sphere, a Little Brown imprint, on 26th July, Kill For Me is available for purchase through the links here.

Kill For Me

For years, two sisters have vied for the turf of their dead crime boss father. Across the streets of Guatemala City, bodies have piled up; the US Drug Enforcement Agency, operating far from its own borders, is powerless to stop the fighting.

But now one sister has a weapon that could finally win the war – a cold, amoral hitman known, fittingly, as ‘Victor’.

Freed from previous employers the CIA and MI6, Victor is a killer for-hire whose sense of self-preservation trumps all else. Yet as betrayal and counter-betrayal unspool in the vicious family feud, Victor finds himself at the centre of a storm even he could be powerless to stop.

About Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a full-time writer born in Burton-on-Trent who now lives in London. After a stint as freelance editor and film-maker, he completed his first novel, The Hunter, which was an instant bestseller and introduced readers to a genuine antihero, Victor, an assassin with a purely logical view on life and whose morals are deeply questionable. Like Victor, Tom is passionate about physical sport, being both a huge boxing fan and practising Krav Maga martial arts, which has seen him sustain a number of injuries. He has not, however, ever killed anyone.

You can follow Tom on Twitter @TheTomWood and find out more by visiting Tom Wood’s website. You can find Tom on Facebook and there’s more with these other bloggers.

Kill For Me UK Hardback Giveaway

For your chance to win a hardback copy of Kill For Me by Tom Wood, click here.

UK only I’m afraid. Giveaway closes at UK midnight on Friday 3rd August 2018.

Earlier this year I was so lucky to host a guest post from Cara Hunter all about Positive Social Media to celebrate the publication of Close to Home. You can read that post here.

I’m thrilled to be part of the launch celebrations for Cara’s latest book, In the Dark and I’m sharing my review. I cannot thank Jane Gentle at Penguin enough for inviting me to be part of this tour and I’m honoured to be closing it today.

Published by Penguin, In the Dark is available for purchase through the links here.

In the Dark

A woman and child are found locked in a basement room, barely alive.

No one knows who they are – the woman can’t speak, and there are no missing persons reports that match their profile. The elderly man who owns the house claims he has never seen them before.

The inhabitants of the quiet Oxford street are in shock. How could this happen right under their noses? But DI Adam Fawley knows that nothing is impossible.

And that no one is as innocent as they seem . . .

My Review of In The Dark

When a young woman and a boy are found in a cellar, finding out who they are will not be easy.

Well my goodness. What a book. I was left reeling by Cara Hunters’ In The Dark. It is a magnificent read. Not only are the two captives literally in the dark at the start, but the police, other characters and the reader are all metaphorically in the dark too as this story writhes along.

Cara Hunter writes with fabulous skill. In the Dark is an absolute triumph of plotting with a stunning structure so that the reader has access to part pictures the police don’t necessarily have. So much information is presented through different means in diaries, bulletins, newspaper reports and so on, that this is a stunningly fresh and totally riveting read. I simply didn’t know what would happen next and every bit of the action was utterly convincing. I had to stop reading every so often to process the intimation I had received and reassess my theories so that reading In the Dark was like being on the investigative team itself rather than being a passive observer, giving an extra dimension of interest to an already captivating read.

Alongside the exciting and pacy story is such wonderful depth too. I haven’t read the first in the DI Adam Fawley series yet but I loved the subtle way Cara Hunter humanises the police so that we see who they really are as people and how they are affected by the crimes they have no choice but to investigate. I found this a very emotional and touching surprise. There are no stereotypical hard boiled detectives here, but rather real people I now care about deeply so that I have to go back and read Close to Home now too.

I also thought the way Oxford was presented as a backdrop to the action was intelligent and skilfully handled. The writing is nuanced and perfectly balanced. There’s a real sense of place but without it ever feeling contrived or not integral to the narrative.

It’s very difficult to review In the Dark without giving too much away and spoiling the experience for other readers. What I will say is that I have read some absolutely fantastic crime thrillers but In the Dark ranks among the very best. I thought it was utterly outstanding and completely magnificent and Cara Hunter is a genius.

About Cara Hunter

Cara Hunter is the pen-name of an established novelist who lives in Oxford, in a street not unlike those featured in her series of crime books, who is starting a new life of crime in a series of Oxford-based books to be published by Viking/Penguin.

She also studied for a degree and PhD in English literature at Oxford University.

Close to Home was her debut featuring DI Adam Fawley, and her second, In the Dark, is out now.

You can follow Cara on Twitter @CaraHunterBooks.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

My enormous thanks to friend and fellow blogger Shell Baker for inviting me to be part of the celebrations for Dragged to the Depths by Cheryl Elaine as I have been taken outside my normal reading comfort zone and a very good thing that has been too.

Dragged to the Depths is available for purchase here.

Dragged to the Depths

Tormented with grief after losing her father, Emilia journeyed to her gran’s, in a desperate attempt to escape the memories surrounding her. But once there, she found little rest and respite on the remote Orkney islands after discovering a supernatural world under the sea.

The gods, goddesses and unfamiliar species of Mother Earth’s oceanic lands welcomed her with open arms – particularly Erox, the love of Emilia’s life. Her eyes were opened to the greed and hatred of her fellow mortals; it wasn’t a question of whether she was simply following destiny – she knew the path to RESET was one she could not ignore.

Erox smiled before giving Emilia a lingering kiss. She didn’t hesitate, and gave herself freely to the vortex before heading into the unknown. Could she save herself, let alone everyone else on the planet?

Dragged to the Depths will lead readers into a magical world full of secrets, legacies and adventure. An apocalyptic love story for those who believe there’s someone for everyone, somewhere…

My Review of Dragged to the Depths

Moving to the Orkneys to recover from her father’s death will lead to adventures Emilia could never have imagined.

I am not much of a reader of apocalyptic or fantasy books so I wasn’t particularly anticipating enjoying Dragged to the Depths, but it surprised me. I found it a very entertaining and exciting story with a fast pace and imaginative plot that was really engaging so that I was keen to find out what was going to happen next. I also appreciated the way Cheryl Elaine has researched her mythology to give real substance behind her writing.

The descriptions in Dragged to the Depth give a smashing sense of place so that I could picture myself there too. I think I might be avoiding the sea in future! Cheryl Elaine also conveys physical attraction extremely well and appropriately for her Young Adult audience, but Dragged to the Depths is a roller-coaster story that can be enjoyed by any age group so I don’t think we should allow the YA audience to have it for themselves!

Whilst I enjoyed meeting the characters, especially Erox (who wouldn’t!), it was the themes and messages behind the writing that I found most appealing. There’s a real sense of beauty being in the eye of the beholder, of not necessarily taking everything at face value, but of looking for the good in others beneath the surface. There’s a strong morality woven through a highly entertaining read too. We should learn to tolerate and appreciate others and to live together harmoniously.

Dragged to the Depths is a narrative worthy of being part of the mythological tradition and is a cracker of a story for its YA audience. It was great fun to read for me too and I enjoyed it.

About Cheryl Elaine

Cheryl Elaine was born in Germany but moved to Northern Ireland as a young child. She then moved to Yorkshire where she spent most of her childhood and this is where she currently resides with her husband and 3 daughters.

Cheryl Elaine is an avid reader and enjoys watching horror movies – the more gruesome the better! She enjoys travelling and socialising but also loves spending time at home with her family and her ever expanding menagerie which currently includes two dogs, a budgie, two fish and a rat called Rocky!

You can find out more by visiting Cheryl’s website, following her on Twitter @CherylElaine15 and finding her on Instagram. Cheryl is also on Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I can’t believe it’s over two years since Leigh Russell was last on Linda’s Book Bag telling us all about the inspiration for her book Journey to Death in a post that you can read here. I knew I had to rectify that gap so when lovely Katherine Sunderland asked me if I’d like to be part of the launch celebrations for Leigh’s latest book Death Rope, of course I said yes!

I’m thrilled that Leigh is staying in with me today to tell me all about Death Rope.

Staying in with Leigh Russell

Welcome back at last to Linda’s Book Bag Leigh. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Thank you for inviting me to join you here.

As if I didn’t know, tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

Tonight I’ve brought along a copy of Death Rope, the new Geraldine Steel murder investigation. The reason for my choice it is that it’s only just come out so I’m very excited about it! Death Rope is the eleventh book in the series, but it works fine as a stand alone. So if any of your followers are interested in it but haven’t read the earlier titles in the series, that’s not a problem. And if you are following the series, this book sees Geraldine working closely with her friend and former sergeant, Ian Peterson.

(I can’t believe this is the eleventh Geraldine Steel book. Many, many congratulations Leigh.)

What can we expect from an evening in with Death Rope?

Hopefully you can expect a few shocks, as well as a few plot twists. My editor said, ‘all these years of editing Geraldine Steel and you still never fail to surprise me!’ So even if you’ve read the other ten Geraldine Steel investigations, I really hope you’ll still struggle to predict everything that happens in Death Rope.

(It sounds as if you’ve another cracker of a book here!)

That said, I do my best to make my plots believable, as I hate it when I’m reading and something happens that breaks the illusion. It’s a constant juggling act to both surprise and shock your reader, while still keeping to a plausible narrative.

(I totally agree and I know you do it brilliantly.)

What else have you brought along and why?

I’ve brought a hamper of goodies. Chocolates, because there’s nothing more enjoyable than curling up on a sofa with a good book and a box of your favourite chocolates. Of course we need Champagne so we can celebrate the publication of my new book, so I’ve brought a few crates along.

(You’ll see I’ve poured a glass or two…)

And because we couldn’t possibly eat and drink so much and still be sober enough to read, I’ve invited a few friends to the party here. They’re the team from No Exit Press who helped turn Geraldine Steel’s latest murder investigation into a book. Time to party!

I know some of those No Exit Press folk well so it’s definitely time to party! Thanks so much for coming back to the blog and staying in with me Leigh. Congratulations on Death Rope and here’s to the next 11 Geraldine Steel books! 

Death Rope

THEY SAY SUICIDE. SHE SAYS MURDER.

Mark Abbott is dead. His sister refuses to believe it was suicide, but only Detective Sergeant Geraldine Steel will listen.

When other members of Mark’s family disappear, Geraldine’s suspicions are confirmed.

Taking a risk, Geraldine finds herself confronted by an adversary deadlier than any she has faced before… Her boss Ian is close, but will he arrive in time to save her, or is this the end for Geraldine Steel?

Death Rope is available for purchase here.

About Leigh Russell

Leigh Russell is the author of the internationally bestselling Geraldine Steel series: Cut Short, Road Closed, Dead End, Death Bed, Stop Dead, Fatal Act, Killer Plan, Murder Ring, Deadly Alibi and Class Murder. The series has sold over a million copies worldwide. Cut Short was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association (CWA) John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award, and Leigh has been longlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. Her books have been #1 on Amazon Kindle and iTunes with Stop Dead and Murder Ring selected as finalists for The People’s Book Prize. Leigh is chair of the CWA’s Debut Dagger Award judging panel and is a Royal Literary Fellow. Leigh studied at the University of Kent, gaining a Masters degree in English and American Literature. She is married with two daughters and a granddaughter, and lives in London.

You can find out more about Leigh on her website and you can follow her on Twitter @LeighRussell. Leigh is on Facebook and there’s more with these other bloggers too:

Some weeks ago I was approached by Melissa at Literary Book Gifts to see if I would like to feature her website here on Linda’s Book Bag, but as a couple of other lovely bloggers also showcased Melissa’s lovely gifts I thought I’d wait a while before doing so here.

Melissa is passionate about books and puts together all the designs and products herself and ships worldwide from her base in Toronto. As a special favour to Linda’s Book Bag readers, Melissa is offering a 20% discount using the code LINDASBOOKBAG20. There is no minimum spend and you can pay safely through PayPal and Google Pay.

On the Literary Book Gifts website you’ll find clothing from vests to hoodies and bags from totes to backpacks.

I especially like the Anne of Green Gables Hoodie and the typewriter backpack as my personal favourites.

Do take a look at Melissa’s site as there are some smashing products on offer. You’ll find everything she stocks right here.

Happy shopping!