I’m delighted to be helping begin the blog tour for Slow Slicing by Tony J Forder on publication day today. My thanks to Sarah at Book on the Bright Side for inviting me to participate in this blog tour for Slow Slicing, the seventh book in his DI Bliss series.

Being a local author to me Tony is a regular here on Linda’s Book Bag and we have met several times in person. Covid 19 permitting, we’re looking forward to welcoming Tony to The Deepings Literary Festival in 2021.

I ‘stayed in’ with Tony to discuss Scream Blue Murder in a post you can read here and I shared my review of that book here.

Other posts include:

My review of Endless Silent Scream here

A guest piece from Tony about The Cold Winter Sun imperative you will find here,

A  moving post about becoming a writer here when Bad to the Bone was published

Tony also told us about writing outside his comfort zone here

His characters Bliss and Chandler from The Scent of Guilt introduced each other here.

Published today, 10th August 2020, Slow Slicing is available for purchase here.

Slow Slicing

WHEN DEATH BECOMES THE KINDEST CUT OF ALL

When slices of flesh and body parts are discovered in different areas of the country, DI Bliss and his team are tasked with running the operation. After Bliss realises the victims have been subjected to a specific form of torture, it leads him to a cold case involving the brutal and bloody murder of a woman in London twenty-six years earlier.

As the team discover links between their victims, the murdered woman, and gangland crime, they begin a dangerous investigation into both the past and the present. But Bliss is stumped, unable to decide if the current spate of mutilations are acts of revenge or the result of ageing criminals seeking to hide their despicable actions. Following a leak to the media, Bliss’s reaction may have dire consequences.

With the hunt for the victims at fever point, Bliss uncovers evidence steering him in the direction of one particular individual. The only problem being, his prime suspect is the one person it cannot possibly be. When Bliss orders a sting operation, the astonishing truth is revealed. And that’s when things really start to go wrong…

My Review of Slow Slicing

Jimmy Bliss has his work cut out – literally – in this new case!

There’s a real skill in writing the seventh book in a series that doesn’t need readers to have encountered the series before in order to enjoy it completely. Tony J Forder has that skill in spades. Slow Slicing may be book seven in the DI Bliss series but it works equally well as a stand alone book.

I would say that those of a nervous disposition should look away now. I found some of the descriptions in Slow Slicing very gruesome and way beyond my normal comfort zone, but still essential and integral to the plot so that they never felt gratuitous. Indeed, although I had to read some elements through narrowed eyes, I found these passages helped me understand just how such crimes could work.

Insight into the workings of police investigations is threaded carefully throughout so that there’s credibility and status behind the storytelling. The plot is deviously constructed so that it is both credible and surprising. It did make me wonder how on Earth Tony J Forder came up with such a riveting story because it is exciting, entertaining and utterly surprising.

Used to Tony J Forder’s accurate descriptions of the Peterborough area near my home that always bring pleasure, this time I relished the added geographical, cultural and historical details that I wasn’t expecting. I felt this added a richness to the storytelling, making for a very satisfying read.

I really appreciated the manner in which the cold case linked to this investigation gave the feeling, through Bliss’s reactions, that the police do care about victims, even a quarter of a century on – that there is the potential for humanity within an establishment that is sometimes viewed as uncaring and remote from the very people it is supposed to support and protect. Whilst there are still those within Tony J Forder’s police who are less than perfect, the humanity feels like something a reader can really relish.

Bliss’s underlying loneliness comes through so well too. There’s a lesson to be learnt here. Slow Slicing isn’t just a cracking crime story, but a lesson in not making ourselves detached from feelings and humanity. Bliss shows how we all, regardless of what we might believe, need companionship and a sense of belonging. This element balanced the more cruel and violent aspects perfectly I thought.

Although Slow Slicing had the elements of story-telling, policing and character I have come to expect from reading Tony J Forder’s work, this time it felt somehow darker and even more accomplished. I thought Slow Slicing was an excellent read.

About Tony J Forder

Tony J Forder is the author of the bestselling crime thriller series featuring detectives Jimmy Bliss and Penny Chandler. The first four books, Bad to the Bone, The Scent of Guilt, If Fear Wins, and The Reach of Shadows, were joined by The Death of Justice, on 9 September 2019 with book number six, Endless Silent Scream, on 9 March 2020.

Tony’s dark, psychological crime thriller, Degrees of Darkness, featuring ex-detective Frank Rogers, was also published by Bloodhound Books. This is a stand-alone serial-killer novel. Scream Blue Murder, an action-adventure thriller, was published in November 2017, and received praise from many, including fellow authors Mason Cross, Matt Hilton and Anita Waller. The sequel, Cold Winter Sun, was published in November 2018.

Tony lives with his wife in Peterborough, UK, and is now a full-time author.

You can follow Tony on Twitter @TonyJForder, visit his website and find him on Facebook.

You’ll find all Tony’s books here and he’s also on Goodreads and Fantastic Fiction.

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