I am hugely indebted to Nikki Barrow at Hodder for a copy of Britt-Marie Was Here in return for an honest review. Britt-Marie Was Here is published in hardback and e-book by Scepetre and is available for purchase on Amazon, from Waterstones, WH Smith and all good bookshops.

Britt-Marie Was Here

For as long as anyone can remember, Britt-Marie has been an acquired taste. It’s not that she’s judgemental, or fussy, or difficult – she just expects things to be done in a certain way. A cutlery drawer should be arranged in the right order, for example (forks, knives, then spoons). We’re not animals, are we?

But behind the passive-aggressive, socially awkward, absurdly pedantic busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams and a warmer heart than anyone around her realizes.

So when Britt-Marie finds herself unemployed, separated from her husband of 20 years, left to fend for herself in the miserable provincial backwater that is Borg – of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it – and somehow tasked with running the local football team, she is a little unprepared. But she will learn that life may have more to offer her that she’s ever realised, and love might be found in the most unexpected of places.

My Review of Britt-Marie Was Here

Oh my goodness, the tension as I approached reading Britt-Marie Was Here. I adored the first two books by Fredrik Backman and was so worried that a third might be too great a possibility to live up to the charms of My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises (my review here) and A Man Called Ove (my review here).

I had also met the author too so it was even more nerve wracking as Fredrik Backman is such a charming and entertaining man that I was desperate not to be disappointed in this third novel. You can see what happened when I met Fredrik Backman by clicking here.

What a relief Britt-Marie Was Here turned out to be. I adored every single word of it. Whilst some readers might find the style too similar to the other books, for me it was like encountering an old friend and finding I still loved them.

Fredrik Backman has such a perfect turn of phrase so that every nuance of emotion and meaning is accessible even though the book is in translation. Credit and congratulations must also be given to Hennig Kock for translating the original manuscript. I think what makes the writing so successful is the balance of sentence length and style as well as the present tense narrative so that there is a vivacity and liveliness that is totally captivating.

I laughed aloud and shed several tears reading Britt-Marie Was Here. Indeed I enjoyed it as much as A Man Called Ove and more than My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises. Fredrik Backman has the uncanny knack of being able to delve inside a person’s soul and convey exactly what they are thinking. He achieves this as much by what he doesn’t write as by what he does – he knows how to convey meaning through a character’s glance as well as by what they say, for example.

It is the desire to belong, the sense of loneliness and the ultimately uplifting emotions that make Britt-Marie Was Here so fantastic. There is also such lovely gentle humour that entertains and delights. So too do the small illustrations at the start of every chapter, the meanings of which become clear as you read.

In a sense there isn’t a complicated plot. Britt-Marie needs a job and gets one in Borg, a run down and small provincial town. That said, I couldn’t stop reading without pause, so intent was I in wanting to know what happened to Britt Marie and the inhabitants of Borg. Almost incidentally Fredrik Backman drops in burgeoning homosexuality, small time crime, murder and violence which you wouldn’t expect and which add depth to the plot. There is also tenderness and humanity that touches the soul.

The characters are wonderful. Even the bell above the door to the shop/ post office/ pizzeria/ garage has a personality. Britt-Marie is a fantastic creation and I found her as compelling as Ove. She is revealed as much to herself as to the reader as the story progresses and I thought the ending of the novel was totally apt and fitting.

It wouldn’t matter whether readers have read the other novels by Fredrik Backman. Each works as a stand alone and some might enjoy Britt-Marie Was Here more if they haven’t read the others, but I thought it was truly gorgeous. I thoroughly enjoyed every word and thought that Britt-Marie Was Here was perfect.

You can follow Fredrik Backman on Twitter and visit the blog where his writing began (I find Google Translate helps!)

My grateful thanks to Jan Ellis for sending me a copy of French Kisses in return for an honest review. French Kisses was published by Endeavour on 27th July 2015 and is available in ebook from Amazon and you’ll find more from Jan here.

French Kisses

To the outside world, Rachel Thompson has it made: a wealthy husband, a successful career as an artist, and a to-die-for house in the middle of rural France.

That is until her husband Michael hits 40, discovers his inner love-rat and runs off with the kids’ young, skinny dance teacher.

Determined to ignore her friends’ advice to up-sticks and move back to England with her children, Rachel decides to turn their crumbly stone farmhouse into a bijou hotel.

As Rachel strives to create a new life for herself, friends and family rally around to give her a Christmas and New Year with plenty of surprises.

With help – and some hindrance – from her loved ones, Rachel transforms their home into a cosy guest house for an eclectic collection of visitors, including Josh Perry, a handsome American academic.

Although Rachel is getting plenty of attention from local admirers, her husband Michael is never far away…

Will Rachel and Michael rekindle their love affair?

Or will she be sharing French Kisses with someone else…?

‘French Kisses’ is a fun romance about starting again and learning what really matters.

My Review of French Kisses

When artist Rachel’s ex Michael has a baby with his new and much younger partner, the whole of the French village where Rachel lives think it’s time to give her a new project, preferably with a new man and so Rachel opens Tournesol Guest House.

French Kisses is a lovely light, romantic novella just perfect for the beach or, as I did, for reading on a long haul flight.

Alongside characters to care about with Rachel as a down to earth person anyone would be pleased to have as a friend, there’s humour and wit with spiders and ragged trousers playing their part fully. Given that this is a novella, I thought the depth of Rachel’s character was incredibly well presented. Her natural dialogue and the emotions and thought processes she displays are all very clearly and carefully depicted so that she comes across as a highly plausible ‘real’ woman.

What Jan Ellis does so well though, is evoke the setting. She provides a feast for all the reader’s senses from the texture of a cat’s fur to the shades of red in a print for the wall. The creation of a typically French village is perfect without being cliched and I could picture the blue serge suits of middle aged men and almost taste and smell the delicious pastries, cheeses and Christmas dinner.

The plot is fairly simple but still gives plenty of interest with life not always running smoothly for Rachel and the story is well thought out so that it is a hugely satisfying to read. I wasn’t entirely sure if Rachel would get her man – or if she did, which one it might be! You’ll have to read French Kisses for yourself to see what happens!

I really enjoyed the escapism of French Kisses and I want to book my stay at Tournesol Guest House immediately.

You can find out more about Jan Ellis by following her on Twitter, and by visiting her Facebook page and her website.

It’s always a pleasure to find a new to me author and today it’s Kacey Vanderkarr and her Reflection Pond series. I’m delighted to be supporting Brook Cottage Books in bringing you a spotlight on Reflection Pond with an opportunity for you to enter to win a $25 Amazon giftcard, or equivalent, at the bottom of this blog post.

Reflection Pond

This Young Adult Fantasy book was originally released by Urban Fey Press on April 1, 2014

Sometimes you find home, sometimes it comes looking for you.

Callie knows a lot more about pain than she does about family. She’s never belonged, at least, not until she falls through a portal into her true home. The beautiful faerie city of Eirensae doesn’t come free. Callie must find her amulet and bind herself to the city, and most importantly, avoid the Fallen fae who seek her life. Seems like a small price to pay for the family she’s always wanted.

Then she meets cynical and gorgeous Rowan, who reads the darkness of her past in her eyes. He becomes Callie’s part-time protector and full-time pain in the ass. He has secrets of his own for Callie to unravel. What they don’t know is that the future of Eirensae lies with them, and the once peaceful city is about to become a battleground for power.

There are also other books in the series you might like to read too.

Poison Tree – Book 2

 The road to the City of War is dangerous.

With their home in ruins, Callie and Rowan are Eirensae’s last hope of stealing the cauldron back from Fraeburdh. They must travel into the human world where the Fallen hide. The banished fae wait for Callie, desperate to sacrifice her before she comes of age.

If Callie and Rowan survive the journey, something worse looms in Fraeburdh. Rowan is destined for a dark family legacy too horrifying to accept, and his father is anxious to welcome him home. Once the truth is revealed, will Callie ever look at Rowan the same way?

Trapped between feuding cities lost in a centuries-old war, Callie and Rowan will face their biggest rivals yet, and neither of them will make it out unscathed.

 Torch Rock – Book 3

War is coming, and she takes no prisoners. Faced with an impending battle Eirensae cannot win alone, Rowan journeys to Macántacht to seek allegiance from its leader. The City of Honor is beautiful, still untouched by conflict, and full of surprises that bring Callie’s darkest experiences to the surface.

With her friends’ lives at stake, Callie must confront her past, and accept help from a faerie whose face torments her memories. Reconciling the power beneath her skin has never been more painful.

Amid persistent threats from Fraeburdh, an old enemy reemerges with deadly force. Even with Macántacht fighting beside her and Rowan at her back, the odds are insurmountable. Callie’s biggest trial will come not on a blood-soaked battlefield, but in the quiet moments when she must choose.

You can buy Kacey’s books by clicking the links: 

Reflection Pond

Poison Tree

Torch Rock

 About Kacey Vanderkarrr

KACEY VANDERKARR has a penchant for fantasy and frequently listens to the voices in her head–most of whom are teenagers. Her favorite place to write is an old salon chair in her kitchen, with coffee in one hand and adoring cats sprawled across her arms. She prefers her music loud and her skeptics quiet. When she’s not writing, Kacey coaches winterguard, works as a sonographer, and hangs out with other weirdos like her at the Flint Area Writer’s club. In addition to her novels, The Reflection Pond Series, Antithesis, and The Stone Series, Kacey’s short fiction is featured in Sucker Literary Vol III, Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things, and Out of the Green: Tales from Fairyland.

You will find Kacey on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and her website.

Enter to win a $25 (or equivalent) gift card by clicking here.

My enormous thanks to LoveReading for an advanced reader copy of Florence Grace by Tracy Rees in return for an honest review. Florence Grace is published by Quercus on 30th June 2016 and is available to order on Amazon and directly from Quercus.

Florence Grace

Florrie Buckley is an orphan, living on the wind-blasted moors of Cornwall. It’s a hard existence but Florrie is content; she runs wild in the mysterious landscape. She thinks her destiny is set in stone. But when Florrie is fourteen, she inherits a never-imagined secret. She is related to a wealthy and notorious London family, the Graces. Overnight, Florrie’s life changes and she moves from country to city, from poverty to wealth. Cut off from everyone she has ever known, Florrie struggles to learn the rules of this strange new world. And then she must try to fathom her destructive pull towards the enigmatic and troubled Turlington Grace, a man with many dark secrets of his own.

My Review of Florence Grace

Living a wild existence with Nan, Florrie Buckley’s glimpse into a grander life is about to become a reality.

I so loved Amy Snow by Tracy Rees that I felt almost afraid to read Florence Grace in case I was disappointed, but I honestly think I have enjoyed it even more than Tracy Rees’s debut. You can read my review of Amy Snow here.

I just adored this story. From the opening line to the last word I felt transported to the world of Florrie Buckley as she transforms into Florence Grace.

The quality of writing is perfect. Just right to convey the era of the mid C19th with its fashions and conventions, the language is still totally accessible to a modern readership so that reading the story is completely effortless. I found the descriptions wonderfully balanced to give not just setting, but to provide layer upon layer of character too. Tracy Rees has a cinematic ease to her writing that conjures up the qualities of a Cornish landscape and the contrasting wealth and squalor of London with every phrase. The variety of sentence structure gives a gorgeous flow to the story and draws the reader into the events.

This is most definitely a character driven novel and Florence Grace is an absolute triumph. Tracy Rees somehow manages to convey Florence’s life, emotions and the passion of her love with such clarity and realism that I felt as if I had become Florence and wasn’t just reading about her. It was as if I felt the pain and joy she felt too. I am certain Florence’s first person account helped make me feel this way. There’s almost a sense of the primeval in Florence. She’s certainly no insipid wallflower!

I think having a relatively constrained palette of characters means that each is completely knowable in all their faults and human frailties. This makes for such satisfying reading. I especially liked the troubled and imperfect Turlington Grace and the somewhat mystical Old Rilla.

In a sense, the plot is relatively simple with few major events, but Tracy Rees rather explores the nature of identity, what makes us who we are and how we find a sense of belonging. Above all else though, she conveys an understanding of what it is to love – even when that love is out of our control. Florence Grace is a fabulous tale of identity, longing and love with a heroine for everyone to believe in. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

You can follow Tracy Rees on Twitter (and I think you should!)

I read and review a wide variety of genres on Linda’s Book Bag but I have never been attracted to paranormal romance. When I discovered that Caroline Cairn writes in this genre I had to invite her on the blog to tell me all about it. Caroline has written such a compelling guest blog below that she’s completely converted me!

Caroline’s latest novel Forever and One Week was published on 23rd April 2016 and, although it is the second in the Spirits of Saorodh books, is also a stand alone read. You can buy Forever and One Week on Amazon US, Amazon UK, on ITunes, from B&N and Kobo.

Introducing Paranormal Romance

A Guest Post by Caroline Cairn

What did you immediately think of? A strong, insanely gorgeous Alpha male with supernatural powers, and enough muscles to be a hand to hand combat fighter extraordinaire. He fights evil. He’s a sex God. He’s got self-confidence, arrogance, and women throw themselves at him, but he hasn’t found one who ticks all his boxes. The one who will discover the fluff hidden inside.

Enter average heroine. She might start as a mouse, but she always has a fiery side that will reveal itself because of the hero. She’s his destined mate, you see. The one who will put him in danger, the one who will be in danger and will have to be rescued, despite the fact that she’ll deny needing help, since she is a modern, witty, head strong woman. How dare he believe she can’t defend herself?

And if you thought of the Young Adult genre, I’ll bet you’d have screamed Love Triangle! before I had time to wipe the drool of my bored face. Thank you, Twilight.

So yes, you are right. Most paranormal romance stories follow a clear cut formula. The winning clichés have turned countless books into best sellers. Readers have lapped up the relationships resembling that of our primitive ancestors, with a powerful male asserting his dominance, sorry, protection, over a female who lets him do it. Sometimes with reluctance. But who could resist the six-pack and the chiselled cheekbones for more than half a book. Especially if they’re met with a jealous streak. “You’re mine,” the hero will whisper in heroine’s ear.

Also, the paranormal aspect is usually pushed to the extreme. Very few main characters are average Joes, working nine to five stocking supermarket shelves and driving a nine-year-old car. Good or bad, they’re all special, and normal humans are unaware of their existence, despite a war raging under their noses. Silly humans.

Cue some readers who maybe enjoyed the genre to start with (like yours truly), but now find themselves rolling their eyes upwards more often than an actress asked to read a script written by the producer’s fifteen-year-old nephew. To me, our world offers natural complexities without the need for hordes of shifters or vampires pushing aside every single human character. Bar our heroine of course. But even she doesn’t usually remain average for long.

More than anything, I don’t want perfect characters. No one is perfect in real life. We all have our quirks, hangs up and pet peeves. We’re not brave all the time, or weak all the time. We don’t always think of a clever comeback on the spot, or know which words our friends and family want to hear. We’re not heroes. We’re humans.

And even the non-humans should show their own multi-faceted personality.

So like a few other authors, I am trying to break the mould and explore a more “realistic” approach to paranormal romance, where those stereotypes are limited. No battle against evil. No flawless characters. No destined mate or love at first sight. Instead, expect drama, mystery, and a dash of humour.

Yes, the supernatural elements might put off some readers, but if the romantics at heart are open to step out of their comfort zone and search around, they might be pleasantly surprised at what they find.

Forever and One Week

Spirits of Saoradh Book 2

The Spirits of Saoradh, who carry the guilt of a crime they committed when they were alive, now spend their ghostly days in the Void, dark nothingness where time and space are distorted. Until they get bound to a human. As often as needed, that human can call them to the real world, ask them to grant a wish, then send them back to the Void. The Spirits also have to follow strict rules or be punished, unaware that they can earn their redemption through a selfless sacrifice.

Spirit Logan despises the obedience he has to show to his humans, and prefers the enjoyable solitude of the Void. For three years, he has managed to threaten them into severing their bond, thus having his memory wiped of their existence. Except his latest human, an emotionless woman with a secret past, isn’t scared of him. Worse, she doesn’t care about his ability to make wishes come true.

Tessa, a twenty-six-year-old nursery teacher in Fort William, Scotland, doesn’t expect a sullen ghost only she can see and touch to burst through her solid defences. Both dismayed and intrigued, she offers Logan a deal he can’t refuse: to live with her in the human world for one week, at the end of which she will agree to release him.

Slowly, Tessa braves through the safety of her detachment towards people to show Logan some kindness. But the more her feelings deepen, the more Logan increases his distance…

Forever Hers

Spirits of Saoradh Book 1

Feisty twenty-four year old Holly, or Miss Greedy as her friends call her, receives a wooden cube as a gift from an enigmatic elderly lady, who happens to be her mother’s new neighbour in Lossiemouth, a small Scottish fishing town.

What she doesn’t expect, is for the cube to contain Blayne, a Spirit of Saoradh only she can see and touch. Blayne is a playful, headstrong ghost with no recollection of his human past and an ability to grant Holly’s wishes whenever she calls for him — as long as said wishes don’t raise any questions from the public that is. So a shiny new car might be out of the question, but the possibility of a flat stomach, a consistently spotless house or a perfect daily hairstyle more than make up for it.

Through their incessant banter, Holly and Blayne grow closer while fighting against their mutual attraction since they have no possible future together.

But when the painful reality of Blayne’s existence is revealed, Holly will realize that it’s not always the girl who needs to be saved.

Warning: contains mature scenes not intended for young readers.

About Caroline

Born in France, Caroline studied hotel management before spending a couple of years in England, Ireland and Belgium.

In 2001, she and her husband settled close to the Loch Ness monster in the Highlands of Scotland, and soon, two children and about thirteen fish joined them.

Dramatic scenes are her favourite to work on, which is perhaps a reminiscence of those teenage years when every single ones of her stories had to end in epic tragedy (Shakespeare had nothing on her). Thankfully, these days, she veers towards the happy-ever-after finale in a glorious orange and red sunset.

You can find out more about Caroline on her website and you can follow her on Twitter. She’s also on Facebook and Goodreads.

I’m so excited to be featuring an interview with Catherine Ryan Howard to celebrate the publication of her debut thriller Distress Signals which is out today May 5th 2016, published by Corvus/Atlantic in Ireland and the UK, and out on June 2nd 2016 in Australia and New Zealand. Distress Signals is available to buy on Amazon, Foyles, Waterstones and all good bookshops.

Distress Signals

Did she leave, or was she taken?

The day Adam Dunne’s girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart. Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads ‘I’m sorry – S’ sets off real alarm bells. He vows to do whatever it takes to find her.

Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate – and to a woman, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before. To get the answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable. And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground…

Praise for Distress Signals

“Pacey, suspenseful and intriguing … [A] top class, page turning read. Catherine Ryan Howard is an astonishing new voice in thriller writing.” — Liz Nugent, author of 2014 IBA Crime Novel of the Year Unravelling Oliver

“An exhilarating debut thriller from a hugely talented author. Distress Signals is fast-paced, twisty and an absolute joy to read.” — Mark Edwards, #1 bestselling author of The Magpies and Follow You Home

Read a preview of the first three chapters here.

An Interview with Catherine Ryan Howard

Hi Catherine. Thank you so much for agreeing to answer some questions on my blog about your book  ‘Distress Signals’ which is out today. How does that feel?

Very surreal. I’m still waiting for it to hit me, but at the same time it’s probably a good thing that it hasn’t yet. It’s very, very weird to have wanted something so bad for the best part of three decades – I’ve wanted to be a published novelist since I was eight years old or so – and now for it to be here.

Would you mind telling blog readers a little bit about yourself please?

I’m from Cork in Ireland but I live in Dublin, because I’m currently studying for a BA in English Literature at Trinity College. Over the past few years I’ve self-published non-fiction and been very involved in that side of things, and I’ve also worked freelance for Penguin Ireland, helping their authors with their social media platforms. My great loves are Jurassic Park, coffee, Paris, good TV and shopping for unnecessary stationery. And writing and reading, of course!

How have you managed to balance your studies and your writing?

Everyone is asking me that but the truth is, I haven’t really! My exam results are out in July, so only time will tell.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed for you!

When did you first realise you were going to be a writer?

One of my earliest memories is being in Senior Infants (age 6) and the teacher sitting up on her desk reading aloud to us from a book, holding the book towards us so we could see the pictures. I used to go home and line up all my teddy-bears and Barbie dolls on my bed, hoist myself up onto my dressing table, open a book and “read” to them in the same way. I think I was on the path to becoming a writer before I even realised what that was.

If you hadn’t become an author, what would you have done instead as a creative outlet?

I used to make and sell handmade cards, so probably something like that. I love a bit of crafting, not least because before you do it, you have to do some stationery shopping…

I think we all like a bit of stationery!

How do you go about researching detail and ensuring your books are realistic?

I think the advice to “write what you know” is great, but I don’t interpret it as “if you’re a lawyer, write a legal thriller”. I think you should use as much of what you know as you can in your book. So although I never worked on a cruise ship, I was a housekeeping supervisor in a 2,000 room resort hotel, and the principles of cleaning rooms and cleaning cabins and running both those housekeeping departments are the same. I’d also spent a lot of time in Nice, France, and so that’s where the cruise ship has a port day. As for all the maritime law stuff, I fell down a rabbit hole online – much like my main character, Adam, does in the book.

Which aspects of your writing do you find easiest and most difficult?

Easiest: plotting. I love plotting. (I use Post-Its, so again with the stationery shopping!) Difficult: writing the first draft. You have 400 or so blank virtual pages and you have to murder them all one by one. The pressure’s on.

What a fabulous description of writing – murdering your pages!

What are your writing routines and where do you do most of your writing?

I have no routine really; I tend to write in binges. I almost always write at home, at my desk.

When you’re not writing, what do you like to read?

I read widely, but mostly crime/thrillers and non-fiction. Right now at the top of my TBR pile are Liz Nugent’s new book (out July), Lying in Wait, and Into the Black: The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle and the Men Who Flew Her by Rowland White. (After all the stuff I’ve to re-read for my exams, of course!)

Do you have other interests that give you ideas for writing?

I travel a lot, so that certainly gives rise to lots of ideas about locations, etc.

To what extent did your experience at Penguin Random House prepare you for the realities of getting a book published?

Well, I think I was quite realistic about what was going to happen, what wasn’t going to happen, etc. It really taught me that while you, the author, might be at home clicking Refresh on your Gmail every five minutes waiting for someone in the publishing house to send you some love because you have nothing else on your mind except for your novel which is coming out six months from now, the people at your publisher have about 100 books to worry about and most of them are coming out way before yours, and that’s why they’re not stroking your ego every five minutes – they don’t have time! (And it isn’t time to yet.) It also made me see that really, the ideal set-up, the best chance of a bestseller, is a partnership between the publisher and the author – both sides ready and willing to work hard, and with lots of ideas about how they can reach readers with this book. It also prepared me for what a challenge that is – the average reader has no idea how much work goes into just getting the book on the shelf, let alone trying to promote it.

Which of the characters in ‘Distress Signals’ is most like you?

I’m not like Adam – the main character/narrator – but at the beginning of the book he’s just sold his first screenplay after trying to make it happen for years. He describes this realisation of his dream, this sort of validation of his talent, as having an invisible friend that everyone else can suddenly see. So we do kind of have that in common – for years and years I would tell people I was going to get published, not because I necessarily believed I would but because I couldn’t face having to imagine an alternative – and I know that as more and more time passed, they were probably thinking, “Hmm, okay. But maybe now you should forget the daydreaming and go get a proper job?” I think that’s why, when I got the deal, my biggest emotion was relief.

If  ‘Distress Signals’  became a film, who would you like to play Adam?  

Distress Signals has actually been optioned for TV – they’re hoping to make a miniseries. My pick would be Jamie Dornan. He’d have to let the abs go soft because Adam is NOT a gym-goer (or cover them up, at least – shame, I know!) but stick a pair of glasses on him, and he looks quite like I imagine Adam does. Plus, he did a Cork accent on Jimmy Fallon a while back so we know he can.

My goodness – how exciting – congratulations.

What challenges were there as a female writing from a male perspective?

Well, I wasn’t sure I was doing it right! That’s where your editors come in. But you have to be so careful, because just one little wrong move can give the game away. There is a famous, bestselling thriller written by a man in the voice of a female first person narration, and it is almost perfect – except for one scene in which she puts woollen tights on UNDER a pair of trousers. Now, I can’t speak on behalf of all womankind, but personally I know that what he was describing was essentially a static storm of excruciating discomfort. Clearly he’d never worn wool tights under wool trousers – and that misstep is the detail I remember now, years later.

If you had 15 words to persuade a reader that ‘Distress Signals’ should be their next read, what would you say?

What a challenge! Well, assuming that “Because I will send you loads of chocolate and coffee if you buy it” (which I think is just 13…?) is out, I would say: A gripping thriller with a huge twist exploring the fact there’s no police at sea.

(And it’s all based on real-world law, operations, etc. – there really are no police at sea, essentially. Would you go on holiday to a country with no police?)

(I know that brackets bit is totally cheating – sorry!)

You’re forgiven!

And finally – will you be signing up to the first commercial flights into space?

I’m already saving up.

Thank you so much, Catherine, for your time in answering my questions and the very best of luck with Distress Signals.

About Catherine Ryan Howard

Catherine Ryan Howard was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1982. Prior to writing full-time, Catherine worked as a campsite courier in France and a front desk agent in Walt Disney World, Florida, and most recently was a social media marketer for a major publisher. She is currently studying for a BA in English at Trinity College Dublin.

You can follow Catherine on Twitter and find her on Facebook. She also has a website.

I’m delighted to be celebrating the publication today, 5th May 2016, of Little Sister by David Hewson. Little Sister is available from Macmillan in e-book and hardback and is the third in David Hewson’s Detective Pieter Vos series. Little Sister is available in hardback and ebook from Amazon and publishers Pan Macmillan.

I’m also thrilled that David Hewson has kindle written a guest post for Linda’s Book Bag, giving a whole new perspective on the idea of what makes a crime novel.

Little Sister

Kim and Mia Timmers were just eleven years old when they were accused of brutally murdering the lead singer of the world famous band The Cupids in the belief he had killed their family. After spending 10 years in an institution for juvenile offenders on the island village of Marken, the sisters are now due for release. But when they disappear on the way to a halfway house in Amsterdam, along with the nurse accompanying them, DI Pieter Vos is given cause to reinvestigate the case.

When the nurse is found dead, washed up on the beach nearby, it becomes clear that there is more than meets the eye in Marken. Ever more sinister secrets threaten to come to light, implicating not only the staff at the institution, but also the remaining members of The Cupids, senior politicians, and even Frank De Groot, Vos’s trusted boss. The race is on to find the two sisters, but with the locals naturally suspicious of the city police and unwilling to help, and threats from above to drop the case, the odds are stacked against Vos and his team. And at the heart of the matter are two vulnerable young women, facing the world for the first time in ten years, and determined to unravel the mystery of their family’s deaths – no matter what.

 Praise for David Hewson

‘He has turned TV gold into literary gold’ Daily Telegraph

‘David Hewson has achieved the seemingly impossible…just as gripping as the television serial…this book is worth reading’ Literary Review

‘A story brimming with action and drama’ ShortList

‘One of the most accomplished crime writers in this country’ Daily Express

‘A fast-paced crime novel that’s five-star from start to finish’ Irish Examiner

What Makes A Crime Novel

A Guest Post from David Hewson

For me crime books aren’t really about crime. Like most fiction, they principally concern character. How do people react in life or death situations? What makes them break the law, kill another human being even? How can the victims live with their pain? What do the perpetrators do to try to swallow down their guilt?

It’s guilt that’s the spark for the third book in my Pieter Vos series set in the Netherlands. Two young girls have been in an institution since the age of ten, apparently after murdering a man they believed responsible for a deadly attack on their family. Now in their early twenties they’re deemed fit for gradual release into the community. When they’re allowed out to a halfway house in Amsterdam they disappear, and their nurse along with them.

Pieter Vos, the Amsterdam police brigadier at the heart of the books, finds himself drawn into an old case most thought long buried. With his young assistant Laura Bakker and long-time colleague Dirk Van der Berg, he begins to see that the original case, a nasty multiple murder in the small seaside town of Volendam, was handled in a terribly flawed way.

Are Mia and Kim Timmers, the two sisters, trying to discover what really happened? Or is someone manipulating them to distort the truth even further? Vos has a few ideas. Being a secretive man he doesn’t let them go easily, even with his closest colleagues. Not least because the closer he gets to the case the more it seems someone close to him in the police just might be involved.

At the same time we see Mia and Kim hiding away in the city, a place that offers a freedom they’ve longed for. But when they find it they discover it’s strange and terrifying, and the long years they’ve spent in a remote country institution have not prepared them to deal with it at all.

Guilt. It nags them because they’ve been told for years they were the ones in part responsible for what happened a decade before. But there seem to be plenty of others who are afflicted by it too: a pop group mogul turned politician, a retired cop, and a motley bunch of characters in the small and slightly dodgy seaside town where much of the story takes place.

It’s not the crime that matters, nasty as that is. It’s the fallout from the shattering of the natural order, a loving family ripped apart, lives torn to shreds in ways people either fail to understand or simple refuse to face. These things fascinate me far more than forensic detail which is why you don’t get a lot of that in my books. In the end, of course, Kim and Mia have to find out what really happened, just as the reader must too. There’s a saying in Italian: meglio una bella bugia che una brutta verità, better a beautiful lie than an ugly truth. For Kim and Mia Timmers and those around them the truth is about to become very ugly indeed.

About David Hewson

Photo courtesy of Dingena Mol and Crimezone Magazine

David Hewson is a former journalist who has worked at The Times, The Independent and The Sunday Times. He is the author of nearly twenty crime thrillers set in various European cities, including a critically acclaimed literary interpretation of acclaimed Danish TV drama The Killing and the Nic Costa series set in Rome. His ability to capture the sense of place and atmosphere of the cities in his novels comes from spending considerable research time there. David was inspired to write his new detective crime series starring Pieter Vos (The House of Dolls, its sequel The Wrong Girl and now Little Sister) after exploring the city of Amsterdam whilst visiting for a book festival and accidentally stumbling into the Jordaan: ‘once a rough working class district of the city, very local, very much a tight community…It had lots of visual appeal. Houseboats on the Prinsengracht canal. Bikes everywhere. And those odd statues and slogans which made me curious to discover where they came from.’

In 2011, he and A.J. Hartley wrote an audiobook adaptation of Macbeth, which was read by Alan Cumming and nominated for Audiobook of the Year. In 2014, they followed it up with Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, which was read by Richard Armitage and won Audiobook of the Year.

You can follow David Hewson on Twitter and visit his website.

With it firmly on my ‘to be read’ list, I’m delighted to be supporting the launch of Summer at the Cornish Cafe by Phillipa Ashley which is out in e-book today, May 5th 2016, from Avon Maze (part of Harper Collins). The first book in the gorgeous new Penwith series, Summer at the Cornish Cafe is recommended for readers who loved Summer at Shell Cottage, The Cornish House, Tremarnock and Poldark. Summer at the Cornish Cafe is available for purchase here.

Summer at the Cornish Cafe

One summer can change everything . . .

“Warm and funny and feel-good. The best sort of holiday read.” Katie Fforde

“Filled with warm and likeable characters. Great fun!” Jill Mansell

Demi doesn’t expect her summer in Cornwall to hold anything out of the ordinary. As a waitress, working all hours to make ends meet, washing dishes and serving ice creams seems to be as exciting as the holiday season is about to get.

That’s until she meets Cal Penwith. An outsider, like herself, Cal is persuaded to let Demi help him renovate his holiday resort, Kilhallon Park. Set above an idyllic Cornish cove, the once popular destination for tourists has now gone to rack and ruin. During the course of the Cornish summer, Demi makes new friends – and foes – as she helps the dashing and often infuriating Cal in his quest. Working side by side, the pair grow close, but Cal has complications in his past which make Demi wonder if he could ever truly be interested in her.

Demi realises that she has finally found a place she can call home. But as the summer draws to a close, and Demi’s own reputation as an up and coming café owner starts to spread, she is faced with a tough decision . . .

A gorgeous story exploring new beginnings, new love and new opportunities, set against the stunning background of the Cornish coast. Phillipa Ashley has written a feisty, compelling heroine who leaps off the page and encourages you to live your summer to the full.

About Phillipa Ashley

Phillipa Ashley studied English at Oxford before working as a copywriter and journalist. Her first novel, Decent Exposure won the Romantic Novelists Association New Writers Award and in 2009, it was filmed as a US TV movie called 12 Men of Christmas starring Kristin Chenoweth and Josh Hopkins. Miranda’s Mount won Best Ebook at the Festival of Romance Reader Awards 2012 and It Happened One Night was shortlisted in 2013.

As Pippa Croft, Phillipa also writes as the Oxford Blue series which is published by Penguin Books.

She lives in a Staffordshire village with her husband and has a grown-up daughter. When she’s not writing, she loves falling off surf boards and following Poldark around in a camper van.

You’ll find more about Phillipa on her website and on Facebook. You can also follow her on Twitter.

It gives me great pleasure to be sharing the cover for Sheryl Browne’s latest novel Learning to Love. Learning to Love is published by Choc Lit and is now available to pre-order as an eBook! You’ll find Learning to Love on Kindle UK, Kindle US, Kindle AU and Kindle CA.

Learning to Love

Sometimes help comes from the most unlikely places …

Living in a small village like Hibberton, it’s expected that your neighbours help you in a time of need. But when Andrea Kelly’s house burns down, taking all her earthly possessions with it, it’s the distant and aloof Doctor David Adams – the person she would least expect – who opens his door not just to her, but to her three kids and slightly dotty elderly mother as well.

Andrea needs all the help she can get, dealing with aftermath of the fire and in the suspicious absence of her husband, Jonathan. But, as she gets to know David and his troubled son, Jake, she begins to realise that maybe they need her help as much as she needs theirs …

You can find out more about Sheryl Browne on her Website, by following her on Twitter and on Facebook. You’ll find all her books here in the UK and here in the US. Sheryl is also on Pinterest.

As a blogger I ‘meet’ an awful lot of authors and I’m delighted that Steve Cavanagh is one of them. Steve writes gripping thrillers that are published by Orion and which can be found on Amazon UK, Amazon US, Waterstones, WH Smith and purchased directly from Orion.

Steve’s latest book, The Defense was released March, but is also out today, 3rd May 2016, in the US with Flatiron Booksand he kindly agreed to answer some questions I had about place and character in a guest post that you can read below.

The Defense

Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren’t that different.

It’s been over a year since Eddie vowed never to set foot in a courtroom again. But now he doesn’t have a choice. Olek Volchek, the infamous head of the Russian mafia in New York, has strapped a bomb to Eddie’s back and kidnapped his ten-year-old daughter, Amy. Eddie only has forty-eight hours to defend Volchek in an impossible murder trial – and win – if he wants to save his daughter.

Under the scrutiny of the media and the FBI, Eddie must use his razor-sharp wit and every con-artist trick in the book to defend his ‘client’ and ensure Amy’s safety. With the timer on his back ticking away, can Eddie convince the jury of the impossible?

A Sense of Place and Character

A Guest Post by Steve Cavanagh

Is there a link from your Irish background to New York?

New York is one of those cities in the US which has very strong links to Ireland. And Brooklyn, in particular, had a large Irish population. I wanted my main character to be at least partly Irish so that I would have some kind of basic connection to him. So I made Eddie Flynn’s father Irish, and his mother Italian: A deadly mixture. In terms of creating a sense of place, I relied on the characters to do a lot of that work for me. If the characters are authentic, I think you get a real sense of where they come from and what shaped them through their actions, their dialogue, and sensibility. In terms of creating a real sense of New York, well, I have two confessions. First, I cheated. If I had set the book somewhere like Atlantic city, or Austin, or somewhere like that – I would’ve had to do a great deal of work in describing that city. When you read the words “New York city,” or even “Manhattan,” because that place is already indelibly inscribed in our psyche via TV shows and movies, I don’t have to do a great deal of work describing the place. The reader’s imagination does it for me. Second confession – I have never been to New York. Or the United States. But I am going at the end of April for the first time…

Does your legal background help or hinder your settings in your novels – do you have to curb your descriptions or is it difficult to summon enthusiasm for things you know too well?

At first I didn’t take too much time describing the courtroom. Nearly everyone has seen the inside of a courtroom, so you know the basic set up. But for this novel I wanted to create a fictional courthouse with real character. Most of the novel is set in the Chambers Street Courthouse which is no longer a functioning courthouse – it’s now part of the Department of Education. So I took the basics of that building and exaggerated it, made it a lot more gothic. So it’s much larger, more imposing and the building itself is falling to bits. In a way, the courthouse is a metaphor for the justice system itself. My editor did suggest a more detailed description of the courtroom, and with my legal background I suppose I had overlooked it a little so I added that in just to orientate the reader.

Did your early attempts at screen writing help or hinder a sense of place?

My screenplays were full length features, and none of them were optioned. Writing for the big screen is very much a director’s medium, so I was always careful to be sparse with describing the geography, and the setting.

Is place important at all in character driven writing with Eddie Flynn? And can setting constrain or enhance the plot?

I think setting is important, but it’s not the defining aspect of my style of writing. Some novels have setting as one of their main focal points, and I’m thinking about Scandi-crime I suppose when I talk about this. For me, setting is important for the tone, and for centering the reader in a world, but character is much more crucial to me. I suppose some readers will pick up a book because of the location, but I can’t write those sorts of books. I’m always much more interested in people than places or weather. People make stories, not windswept beaches or skyscrapers. In terms of plot, the setting can be a force in that story, but it’s always merely the stage. People come back to books for the actors on that stage.

About Steve Cavanagh

Steve Cavanagh was born and raised in Belfast and is a practicing lawyer. He is married with two young children. The Defense was longlisted for the UK Crime Writer’s Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for THRILLER OF THE YEAR 2015, and shortlisted for two Dead Good Readers Awards for MOST RECOMMENDED BOOK and BEST ENDING.

Steve writes fast-paced legal thrillers set in New York City featuring former con artist, turned trial lawyer, Eddie Flynn. The Defense is his first novel.

You can find out more about Steve Cavanagh on his website or follow him on Twitter. You’ll also find him on Facebook.

The Plea

Steve’s next novel, The Plea, will be released by Orion on 19th May and is available for pre-order here.

When David Child, a major client of a corrupt New York law firm, is arrested for murder, the FBI ask con-artist-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn to secure Child as his client and force him to testify against the firm.

Eddie’s not a man to be coerced into representing a guilty client, but the FBI have incriminating files on Eddie’s wife, and if Eddie won’t play ball, she’ll pay the price.

When Eddie meets Child he’s convinced the man is innocent, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. With the FBI putting pressure on him to secure the plea, Eddie must find a way to prove Child’s innocence while keeping his wife out of danger – not just from the FBI, but from the firm itself.