My enormous thanks to Susi Holliday for sending me a copy of her latest novel Substitute in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today.

Susi’s writing makes regular appearances here on Linda’s Book Bag – most recently with my review of The Last Resort that you’ll find here.

You’ll also find my review of Willow Walk here, an interview with Susi to celebrate The Damsel Fly here and my review of her excellent Violet here.

Published by Thomas and Mercer today, 12th August 2021, Substitute is available for purchase here.

Substitute

Three people live. Three people die. You make the choice.

Like any mother, Chrissie wants to protect her family. She would do anything to keep them safe. So when a mysterious stranger turns up at her door, offering to prevent the deaths of the people she loves, it sounds too good to be true. The only problem: she must choose someone to die in their place. A substitute.

When her daughter Holly has a terrible accident, Chrissie has no option but to enter the programme. In that horrifying moment, she would do anything to save her. But even after Holly makes a miraculous recovery, Chrissie is convinced it’s just a coincidence. After all, who can really control the laws of life and death?

But as the dangers to her family escalate and her chosen substitutes begin to disappear, Chrissie finds herself in an underworld of hidden laboratories and secretive doctors. And the consequences of playing by their rules are far deadlier than she ever imagined…

My Review of Substitute

Chrissie has a few choices to make!

What I so enjoy about Susi Holliday’s writing is that the reader never quite knows what they will be getting because each book is so different. Substitute is an excellent example because it’s part crime thriller, part sci-fi, part dystopian potential, part exploration of family relationships, and always crafted through a compelling plot that hooked me in and spat me out the other side feeling that I had been manipulated and entertained in equal measure. Initially I wasn’t sure where Substitute would take me, but read with a constant feeling of dread that lurked even in the most innocuous of events. Susi Holliday has that uncanny ability to unsettle, to shock and to wrong-foot her readers and I found Substitute did that brilliantly.

It’s not going to be possible to say too much about the plot, but I found it terrifyingly plausible – especially those events that are controlled by those in power. I don’t want to spoil the story for others but I found myself wondering just what I might have done in Chrissie’s position and who might have made my substitute list. Reading Substitute had the effect of making me consider my own ethics and that’s not always an easy thing to do. I think the impact of Substitute lingers long after the reader has finished it. It seems to inveigle its way into the subconscious so that I keep thinking about it.

However, exciting and disturbing plot aside, it is the flawed, believable Chrissie who makes Substitute so compelling. Family relationships, friendships and neighbours are presented in a kaleidoscope of patterns with Chrissie at the heart so that I felt I had a brilliant insight into her thinking and behaviour. Substitute made me wonder how well I really know those around me in a manner I found quite worrying. Similarly, the personalities of Michael and Edward illustrate the possibilities we have with the same choices in front of us. There’s very much a feeling that one wrong choice, one substitution at any level and life can spin off its axis.

As well as personal choices and behaviour, the other themes of Substitute are scarily astute. In recent times, we’ve probably learnt more than we care to know about corruption at high levels, decisions that lead to life and death, and control over news and information, so that as a result Substitute feels authentic, plausible and unnerving.

Substitute is not only an interesting and entertaining read, but it is a book that will leave the reader wondering ‘what if?’. Susi Holliday has that knack of making her readers contemplate their own dark souls and here she does so brilliantly. I wonder how reading Substitute might make you feel!

About Susi Holliday

Susi (S.J.I.) Holliday grew up in East Lothian, Scotland. A life-long fan of crime and horror, her short stories have been published in various places, and she was shortlisted for the inaugural CWA Margery Allingham prize. She lives in London (except when she’s in Edinburgh) and she loves to travel the world.

Her serial killer thriller The Deaths of December, featuring Detective Sergeant Eddie Carmine and Detective Constable Becky Greene was a festive hit in 2017.

Writing as SJI Holliday, she also has three crime novels set in the fictional Scottish town of Banktoun, which are a mix of police procedural and psychological thriller. They are: Black Wood, Willow Walk and The Damselfly – all featuring the much loved character, Sergeant Davie Gray.

Also as SJI Holliday, her spooky mystery The Lingering was released in September 2018, followed by Violet – a psychological thriller set on the Trans-Siberian Express – in September 2019. Violet has been optioned for film.

You can find out more about Susi Holliday on her website and on Facebook or Instagram and by following her on Twitter @SJIHolliday.

I’m so excited to have Louise Candlish’s latest book The Heights on my TBR because I love Louise’s writing. Sadly I couldn’t fit in reading The Heights in time for today’s blog tour stop but I am thrilled to be able to share an extract from the book with you.

My enormous thanks to Jess Barratt at Simon and Schuster for inviting me to participate in this blog tour and for sending me a copy of The Heights which I intend to review just as soon as I can.

Whilst I have still to read my signed copy of Those People, you’ll find my review of Louise’s Our House here and of The Other Passenger here.

The Heights was published by Simon and Schuster on 5th August and is available for purchase through these links.

The Heights

He thinks he’s safe up there. But he’ll never be safe from you. 

The Heights is a tall, slender apartment building among the warehouses of Tower Bridge, its roof terrace so discreet you wouldn’t know it existed if you weren’t standing at the window of the flat directly opposite. But you are. And that’s when you see a man up there – a man you’d recognize anywhere. He’s older now and his appearance has subtly changed, but it’s definitely him.

Which makes no sense at all since you know he has been dead for over two years.  You know this for a fact.

Because you’re the one who killed him.  It’s time to confess what we did up there.

‘Kieran Watts has been dead for over two years when I see him standing on the roof of a building in Shad Thames…’

#CloseToTheEdge

An Extract from The Heights by Louise Candlish

When you read the opening to The Heights you’ll see why I’m such a huge fan of Louise’s writing. To read that opening, click The Heights chapter 1.

See what I mean?

About Louise Candlish

Louise Candlish is the Sunday Times bestselling author of fourteen novels. Our House, a #1 bestseller, won the Crime & Thriller Book of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards, was longlisted for the 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award. It is soon to be a major ITV drama made by Death in Paradise producers Red Planet Pictures.

Louise lives in London with her husband and daughter.

You can follow Louise on Twitter at @louise_candlish or find out more on her website or on Facebook and Instagram.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

Oh dear. I really shouldn’t call myself a blogger. You see, I was supposed to stay in with Luke Murphy in May 2020 but I quite simply forgot until about two weeks ago. I cannot apologise to Luke enough. There are lots of excuses, ranging from receiving upwards of 200 emails a day concerning books because of the pandemic, to struggling to keep up with supporting my elderly mother, but it really isn’t good enough.

Luke has been utterly lovely about the whole thing and actually has just had a brand new book out too, so today I’m delighted finally to host Luke and to bring you details of his latest book Finders Keepers before staying in with him at last.

Better late than never!

Finders Keepers

To beat the streets…

Calvin Watters spent three hard years on the Vegas streets, working the depths of the red light district. When a string of escort murders surfaces and the LVMPD has no answers, they realize that there is only one man they can turn to for help.

…you have to know the streets.

Calvin vowed to never return to his former life, but this new case pulls him back in. As he hits the streets, his honed survival skills kick in, and the PI must call upon his past experience to outwit a worthy opponent.

Caught in the crosshairs.

When Calvin killed Derek Baxter, he added fuel to an ever-growing fire inside Baxter’s longtime sniper partner, Jackson North. Now North is out for revenge, but how far will the hitman go to leave his mark on Calvin’s life?

****

Sounds good doesn’t it?

Finders Keepers has just been released and is available for purchase here.

Now, let’s see what Luke told me about another of his books when I finally got round to staying in with him.

Staying in with Luke Murphy

A very belated welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Luke! Thank you not only for agreeing to stay in with me but with being so patient.

Thanks for the invitation, Linda. Any time I can get a night away from my kids, I’ll take it LOL.

This is a child free zone Luke, so relax. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

Tonight I brought KISS & TELL, book #1 from my Charlene Taylor Mystery series. This was such a fun novel to write, that I’m excited to share it with your followers.

What can we expect from an evening in with KISS & TELL?

Kiss & Tell is a fast-paced crime-thriller set in Los Angeles, following the career of rookie detective Charlene Taylor.

Rookie Charlene Taylor—the screw-up daughter who defied her cop dad until one day surprised everyone by following in his footsteps—is on her first homicide case while secretly working her father’s murder…

That sounds great. How has it been received?

Here’s one review:

“An intricately detailed and clever mystery featuring a tough minded but vulnerable protagonist, with more than a few demons of her own. The twists and turns kept me guessing to the very end.”—Christy Reece, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing To Lose.

How brilliant. I bet you’re delighted with that kind of response Luke.

What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I’m Canadian, so I wouldn’t be very patriotic if I left home and showed up in the UK without a Tim Horton’s coffee LOL. Tonight I’ve chosen a French Vanilla, probably my favourite drink from the coffee chain.

Hmm. I’ll allow you the patriotism but as an English woman I much prefer tea!

And of course we need a little sugar snack, so I also grabbed an assortment of ‘timbits’. What can I say, I have a sweet tooth!

Now you’re talking my language Luke. I’ve got a sweet tooth too! Thank you so much for staying in with me and for being so patient! I’m sorry it took quite so long for us finally to get together. 

You’re forgiven Linda!

Phew. Thanks Luke. Now, you share out some of those delicious looking ‘timbits’ and I’ll give Linda’s Book Bag readers a few more details about KISS & TELL:

KISS & TELL

With the death of her father…

Officer Charlene Taylor has received her dream promotion—working Homicide with the LAPD. Her first case is the high-profile murder of Ken Anderson, a playboy UCLA professor with a haunted past. A mafia kingpin, billionaire tycoon, cheated wife and jaded lover are only a few on a long list of suspects, all with motive and opportunity.

…all hope of reconciliation is lost.

Not only does she feel the pressure from media and her boss to solve her first case, but Charlene must also deal with her father’s murderer, the “Celebrity Slayer,” a serial killer who enjoys baiting her with his knowledge of her life and routines.

Can a rookie detective work two high-profile cases and still keep her sanity?

The first book in Luke Murphy’s Charlene Taylor series, KISS & TELL is available for purchase here.

About Luke Murphy

Luke Murphy is the International bestselling author of two series: The Calvin Watters Mysteries and The Charlene Taylor Mysteries.

Luke played six years of professional hockey before retiring in 2006. His sports column, “Overtime” (Pontiac Equity), was nominated for the 2007 Best Sports Page in Quebec, and won the award in 2009. He has also worked as a radio journalist (CHIPFM 101.7).

Luke Murphy lives in Shawville, QC with his wife and three daughters. He is a teacher who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, and a Bachelor of Education (Magna Cum Laude).

For more information on Luke and his books, and to sign up for his newsletter, visit his website, and find him on Facebook and Instagram. You can also follow Luke on Twitter @AuthorLMurphy.

My enormous thanks to Sarah Mather at Titan for sending me a copy of Good Neighbours by Sarah Langan in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today.

Published by Titan on 13th July 2021, Good Neighbours is available for purchase through these links.

Good Neighbours

A sudden tragedy pits neighbour against neighbour and puts one family in terrible danger.

Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world. But when the Wilde family moves in, they trigger their neighbours’ worst fears. Arlo and Gertie and their weird kids don’t fit with the way Maple Street sees itself. As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and neighbourhood Queen Bee Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes. Suddenly, it is one mother’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.

A riveting and ruthless portrayal of suburbia, Good Neighbours excavates the perils and betrayals of motherhood and friendships and the dangerous clash between social hierarchy, childhood trauma, and fear.

My Review of Good Neighbours

The Wildes have moved to Maple Street

My goodness I found Good Neighbours a horrifyingly compelling read. Initially I was unsure if I’d enjoy the book but it wasn’t long before I was completely ensnared because Sarah Langan presents such a razor sharp insight into suburban American life that I simply couldn’t tear myself away. Good Neighbours lays bare the delusional, corrupt underbelly of provincial society with such clarity that I almost feel tainted by the read.

From the very first page there is a pervasive menace that lurks just like the sink hole that precipitates so many events. The plot is presented so cleverly with futuristic interviews, reports and newspaper articles, interspersed between events taking place in a little over a month so that the reader can see just how false witness can reverberate down the years with terrifying results. Add in the oppressive heat, the petty everyday lives of people living in Maple Street and the ease with which rumour can spread and Good Neighbours becomes an almost sentient, malignant being in its own right rather than simply a narrative.

The characters are a triumph. Whilst obvious empathy lies with Arlo and Gertie (if indeed it can be obvious with all the accusations and rumour in the story), it is Rhea who is one of the most fascinating literary characters I’ve encountered. She’s complex, malevolent, dangerous and terrifying so that I found myself thankful I’d never encountered her in real life, but at the same time I found the reasons why she is as she is, realistic and deserving of sympathy. The children too are completely authentic so that Maple Street’s Good Neighbours are a microcosm of American society at its very best and very worst.

Whilst the plot races along and the characters are completely fascinating, the themes underpinning Good Neighbours give it astounding depth and credibility too. Social control, mass hysteria and victimisation, family and societal relationships, authority at many levels, abuse in several forms – whether that be through drugs and alcohol or inappropriate relationships and violence – hope and despair, madness and evil, compassion and cruelty swirl through Good Neighbours until the reader is moved as well as entertained, horrified and uplifted and thankful for their own life well away from Maple Street.

I think Good Neighbours is a triumph because I’d defy any reader not to have a strong opinion about it. Some might not wish to deal with Sarah Langan’s laying bare of the human potential for evil and goodness, but I round it a riveting portrayal of toxic society. I loved it.

About Sarah Langan

Sarah Langan grew up on Long Island, in a town called Garden City, but not on a crescent bordering a park. She got her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, and also received her Master’s in Environmental Health Science/Toxicology from New York University. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughters.

She’s received three Bram-Stoker awards, and her work has often been included in best-of-the year lists and anthologies. She’s a founding board member of the Shirley Jackson Awards, and works in both film and prose.

For further information about Sarah, follow her on Twitter @SarahVLangan1, visit her website and find her on Facebook and Instagram.

It seems a long time since David Videcette last featured here on Linda’s Book Bag. Then, having just reviewed David’s excellent The Detriment in a post you’ll find here, I’d asked David his thoughts on The Fine Line Between Right and Wrong and he provided a super guest post you can read here.

With David’s latest book investigating a true crime that has been part of the fabric of my own life, Finding Suzy, I simply had to invite David back onto the blog even though I hadn’t time to fit in a read. Luckily he agreed and has provided another superb guest post today. Before I share that post, let me tell you more about Finding Suzy.

Finding Suzy was published on 5th August and is available in ebook and paperback from your regional Amazon.

Finding Suzy

How can someone just disappear?

Step inside a real-life, missing person investigation in this compelling, true crime must-read.

Uncover what happened to missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, as David Videcette takes you on a quest to unpick her mysterious disappearance and scrutinise the shadowy ‘Mr Kipper’.

One overcast Monday in July 1986, 25-year-old estate agent Suzy Lamplugh vanished whilst showing a smart London property to a mysterious ‘Mr Kipper’.

Despite the baffling case dominating the news and one of the largest missing persons cases ever mounted, police failed to find a shred of evidence establishing what had happened to her.

Sixteen years later, following a second investigation and under pressure from Suzy’s desperate parents, police named convicted rapist and murderer John Cannan as their prime suspect. However, the Crown Prosecution Service refused to charge him, citing a lack of evidence.

Despite several high-profile searches, Suzy’s body was never found. The trail that might lead investigators to her, long since lost.

Haunted by another missing person case, investigator and former Scotland Yard detective, David Videcette, has spent five years painstakingly reinvestigating Suzy’s cold case disappearance.

Through a series of incredible new witness interviews and fresh groundbreaking analysis, he uncovers piece by piece what happened to Suzy and why the case was never solved.

People don’t just disappear…

The Flashbulb: indelible memories that change our lives

A Guest Post by David Videcette

There are a handful of moments in our lives that we can vividly remember in great detail from one year to the next, and even fewer that last for decades or even a lifetime.

Can you remember exactly where you were, what you were doing and the conversations you had, when you heard of the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States or the London 7/7 bombings? Perhaps you are old enough to remember what you were doing when you heard the news that JFK had been assassinated?

It’s what’s known as a ‘Flashbulb Memory’.

In a 1977 scientific research paper, Roger Brown and James Kulik first hypothesized that: “Flashbulb Memories are memories for the circumstances in which one first learned of a very surprising and consequential (or emotionally arousing) event.”

Decades later, in the modern day, using studies of people’s flashbulb memories of  9/11, scientists have proven that the original hypothesis of Brown and Kulik was right; there is such a place in our minds where these indelible flashbulb memories are stored.

Looking backwards at some of my own flashbulb memories, two stand out as having influenced my decision to spend five years reinvestigating the disappearance of missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh and write my latest book Finding Suzy. Both of my flashbulb events happened in 1996 within a few months of one another.

At 7:01pm on 9th February 1996, one-and-a-half tons of explosive hidden in the back of a truck detonated in London’s Docklands.

I’d never heard a sound quite like it before. Sitting inside a small police station close to the Blackwall Tunnel in South London, the ground shook and the glass in the windows rattled against their frames. Little over a mile away, a lorry bomb had killed two people, injured one hundred others, and destroyed South Quay Plaza at Canary Wharf, leaving a crater 32ft wide and 10ft deep.

As we raced to help, I can remember in vivid detail the colours of the devastated buildings blasted off their very foundations, and the shock on people’s faces. I remember wondering how on earth anyone could investigate this awful crime. Where would you even begin to look for the evidence among this scene of annihilation? The emotions I felt at the time come flooding back as I think about it today; the memory of that ravaged blast site still chills me to the bone.

My second flashbulb memory relates to a missing person case. On a warm summer’s evening, with half-an-hour to spare before my night shift started, I’d grabbed the chance to catch up on the intelligence briefings in the tiny coffee room.

There had been a hiss of static as the battery slid into place on my archaic police radio, before I heard the operator in our control room ask:

‘Is there a unit that’s free to deal, please? Caller claims to have found what he thinks is someone’s arm sticking through a pile of soil and rubbish on the railway embankment behind their house.’

The moment I heard it, my stomach lurched. Although Suzy Lamplugh had vanished exactly ten years before, almost to the day – I already suspected whose body it might be.

Fifteen-year-old Joanne Eddison had failed to return home from school one Tuesday afternoon in May 1996. She’d disappeared just days short of her sixteenth birthday. I feared the worst. Her distraught parents had called the police when she’d failed to return home from school. It had been my team that had taken the original missing person report.

Nine weeks later, on that warm summer’s night on the railway embankment, we identified Joanne from the rings on her fingers. I was posted to stand guard over her body until we could organise a forensics team to recover her remains and collect any evidence that may be on or around her, although that wouldn’t be until the morning. Her parents were duly informed by a fellow officer that their daughter was dead, and that she was lying beneath a pile of rubbish. As soon as Joanne’s father heard, he clawed his way through the undergrowth and trees at the back of the houses to try and get to his daughter.

“You can’t just leave her there in the ground! It’s inhuman – that’s my daughter. I just want to take her home. Let me take her home, you can’t leave her lying there,” he screamed into my face, his spittle settling on my cheeks and lips. His eyes filled with tears, as he bristled with pain and anger.

I still don’t know how I managed to persuade him not to dig her out with his bare hands. I remember telling him that we had to preserve as much evidence at the crime scene as we could. I assured him that to do the best for Joanne, he had to let me do my job.

Both of those incidents in 1996 ultimately changed my life; altered where I saw my role in this world. They taught me that evil walks among us unseen every single day, and sometimes there’s very little we can do to prevent it. But these events also taught me that regardless of the type of crime, or the magnitude of the crime scene and investigation, everything can be solved.

It would ultimately set me on a course to investigate Suzy’s case.

****

My goodness David. What a post and no wonder you’ve embarked on this latest book. Many thanks for sharing this with us.

FINDING SUZY: The hunt for missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh and ‘Mr Kipper’ by David Videcette, is available now through UK Kindle, UK paperback, US Kindle, AUS Kindle, and CAN Kindle.

About David Videcette

As an investigator, David Videcette has worked on a wealth of famous cases. He’s chased numerous dangerous criminals and interviewed thousands of witnesses.

With decades of experience working in counter-terror operations and combatting organised crime, David investigated the 7/7 London bombings as a Scotland Yard detective.

Today he uses his policing expertise to painstakingly investigate cold cases in his true crime series: Investigations by Videcette. David is also the author of the Detective Inspector Jake Flannagan thrillers.

David lives in London. When he is not writing, he consults on security operations for high-net-worth individuals and is a key media commentator on crime and policing for many broadcasters and newspapers, both nationally and internationally.

For more on David and his books, visit David’s website, by following him on Twitter @DavidVidecette, Instagram and on Facebook.

The Secrets of Wishtide is this month’s choice for the U3A Reading Group I belong to and I’m delighted to share my review today. I’m really looking forward to finding out what others in the group thought too.

The Secrets of Wishtide was published by Bloomsbury on 7th July 2016 and is available for purchase through these links.

The Secrets of Wishtide

The first in the delightfully cosy and clever mystery series featuring private detective, Laetitia Rodd.

Winter, 1850. Mrs Laetitia Rodd is the impoverished widow of an Archdeacon, living modestly in Hampstead with her landlady Mrs Bentley. She is also a private detective of the utmost discretion.

When her brother Frederick, a criminal barrister, introduces her to Sir James Calderstone, a wealthy and powerful industrialist, she is tasked to investigate the background of an ‘unsuitable’ woman his son intends to marry – a match he is determined to prevent.

In the guise of governess, she travels to the family seat, Wishtide, deep in the frozen Lincolnshire countryside, where she soon discovers that the Calderstones have more to hide than most. As their secrets unfold, the case takes an unpleasant turn when a man is found dead outside a tavern, and Mrs Rodd’s search for the truth takes her from elite drawing rooms to London’s notorious inns and its steaming laundry houses.

My Review of The Secrets of Wishtide

Laetitia Rodd has a mystery to solve.

My goodness, The Secrets of Wishtide is an entertaining read. I thoroughly, thoroughly it. Filled with high Victorian melodrama, plenty of murder and an enormous dash of humour and wit, The Secrets of Wishtide makes for a really fun and immersive read and would translate into fantastic television drama.

Letty is a triumph. Her narrative voice rings through the pages and I loved the occasional moments when she addresses the reader directly, or references her own prejudices and less than perfect behaviours and attitudes, because they really add depth and interest to her character. In a Dickensian world dominated by men and the wealthy, Letty shines like a feminist beacon of the down at heel middle classes. I really rather hope she finds romance in future books in the series – possibly with the taciturn Blackbeard! The conversational style through Letty’s narration is perfect for the book’s setting and era. It feels slightly tongue in cheek and yet completely authentic so that The Secrets of Wishtide is a total treat to read.

Indeed, it is Kate Saunders’s exploration of class, morality, money and hierarchy that give such piquancy to the read. Some characters are deliberately, whilst effectively and endearingly, stereotypical whilst others burst from the expected norms of class and behaviour so that the whole panoply of human life is here. Other themes of identity, trust, betrayal, love and duty add depth and give the narrative layers of interest that I found very entertaining. In fact, The Secrets of Wishtide might be set in the Victorian era with nods to Dickens’s own writing, but it it equally as twisty and modern in plot as any psychological thriller.

And what a plot it is. Crimes abound, suspects swirl and at the heart of the action is the unflappable Laetitia Rudd, gathering her evidence and manipulating interviewees every bit as well as any Poirot or Miss Marples. I had to concentrate to keep up with some of teh events and characters but this is by no means a criticism. It simply added to my enjoyment.

And I really, really enjoyed Kate Saunders’ writing. The Secrets of Wishtide is an absolute cracker of a read. Perfect for cosy crime lovers, it held me captivated, entertained me completely and lifted my spirits. I absolutely recommend it.

About Kate Saunders

Kate Saunders is an English author, actress, and journalist. The daughter of the early public relations advocate Basil Saunders and his journalist wife Betty (née Smith), Saunders has worked for newspapers and magazines in the UK, including The Sunday Times, Sunday Express, Daily Telegraph, She, and Cosmopolitan.

She has also been a regular contributor to radio and television, with appearances on the Radio 4 programs Woman’s Hour, Start the Week, and Kaleidoscope. She was, with Sandi Toksvig, a guest on the first episode of the long-running news quiz program Have I Got News For You.

Kate Saunders has also written multiple books for children and for adults.

It’s always a thrill being in at the start of something new, and today I couldn’t be more excited than to share news of a brand new digital first imprint from Bonnier – Embla Books who start out in the world today, 4th August 2021. Embla is led by Jane Snelgrove.

Embla are launching with three books for the rest of the year – an amazingly funny and heartwarming rom com in September, a chilling and scary thriller in October, and a psychological suspense in November and I’m really looking forward to finding out more about those books. Embla will have many more exciting announcements to come from well known authors and debuts across genre fiction.

Embla’s goal is to publish quality commercial fiction for all readers. Books will include romance, historical fiction, psychological suspense, thrillers and book club fiction. Books that make you laugh, cry, fall in love and stay up all night and I cannot wait to see what’s on offer.

My enormous thanks to Jennifer Porter, Head of Marketing at Embla, for sending me a super launch pack to celebrate Embla’s birthday.

The fabulous Kindle/tablet stand is created by ibeanibags and you’ll find their website here. You’ll also find them on Twitter @ibeaniworld and Facebook. You can also find Teapigs on Twitter @teapigs and their full range of Cold Brew teas on their website. Teapigs are also on Facebook and Instagram.

To keep up to date with all the news make sure you follow Embla on Twitter @emblabooks. You’ll also find Embla on Facebook and Instagram where I’m sure they’d appreciate a follow!

It’s a real pleasure to welcome C F Barrington to Linda’s Book Bag today to stay in with me to chat all about his latest book about to be released in paperback as I think it sounds brilliant and I’m sure you will too!

Let’s find out more:

Staying in with C F Barrington

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Thank you for inviting me, Linda. Staying in is something we’ve all been getting very used to over this last year or so isn’t it?

It certainly has. This new ‘freedom’ feels a bit weird to me. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought with me my debut novel – The Wolf Mile – which was by launched Head of Zeus adventure imprint, Aries Fiction, on 6th May in e-book and is about to come out in paperback on 5th August.

How exciting Chris and congratulations. Is The Wolf Mile a stand alone?

It is the first in a five-book saga about The Pantheon, with Book 2 (The Blood Isles) launching in October 2021 and Book 3 (The Hastening Storm) coming in spring 2022.

You must be thrilled to be writing such a series. Tell me a bit more about The Wolf Mile.

I’ve chosen it tonight because the story – and indeed the genre – has sparked much discussion amongst my early readers, because it is hard to pin into a single category and defies my many attempts to condense it into a snappy teaser.

You’ve got me intrigued now.

The most concise description came from one of my advance readers, who said it was ‘Fight Club with swords’. I’ll take that! And my agent (Laura Macdougall at United Agents) said it had ‘elements of The Hunger Games’ when she first read it.

I love a book that doesn’t readily fit a precise genre and this sounds so exciting. What can we expect from an evening in with The Wolf Mile?

It is a story which, first and foremost, is inspired by a sense of place. Apart from a sojourn into the forests of the Highlands, the book’s action all takes place in the closes, tunnels and rooftops which flow from the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Indeed, it was Edinburgh’s Old Town which really allowed the story to manifest. The dark, malevolent history of the Old Town and its stunning architecture and rumours of tunnels and secret passages, set my mind ticking. I am sure that the whole concept of The Pantheon could not have come together if it had not been for my life in and around Edinburgh.

This aspect of Edinburgh sounds perfect to inspire a series.

The story was also prompted by two other factors: Firstly, I had always wanted to take my love of historical fiction and coax it into a modern thriller – without going down the well-trodden route of some sort of time-travel. Secondly, after a career spent in major gift fundraising for charities and universities, I had communicated with many very wealthy individuals and I got to wondering what makes someone excited when they can buy everything? As the book asks….. Imagine riches beyond your wildest dreams. What would you do with them? Travel the world? Buy a yacht? Now times it by ten.  A hundred. We’re talking mega-wealth – the kind that buys governments, shapes economies, enervates security forces and makes a mockery of justice systems. NOW what would you do with it? Less certain?

Crikey – that’s got me thinking…

In ancient times, the wealthy of Rome spent their money and energies on forsaking human life in the gladiatorial stadia – and that’s where the concept of The Pantheon grew from in my head.

The Wolf Mile charts the rise of Tyler Maitland and Lana Cameron as they are plucked from their normal lives to become players in The Pantheon, a secret game bankrolled by the world’s wealthy elite and watched online by thousands. Warriors from seven ancient civilisations are trained, sworn to allegiance, then pitted against each other in battles amongst the claustrophobic alleys which flow from Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and filmed in real-time.

The Wolf Mile sounds thrilling.

Set in today’s city, this is very much a modern thriller, but it mixes elements of historical fiction, as well as a sweeping romance over the five-book series, which takes the protagonists from friends, to sworn enemies and finally to lovers. So when Aries came along and declared it was, above all, adventure fiction, it was perfect – because this is exactly what the saga is: A twisting, turning, relentless adventure with a big cast of characters, which propels the protagonists on a journey more horrifying and wondrous than they could ever have dreamed, into a world which perhaps we all secretly wish we experience.

I’m hooked! I need to add The Wolf Mile to my TBR immediately. How is it being received?

The book has yet to launch in paperback and so reviews are only just beginning to come in. But comments so far include:

‘Featuring two compelling yet flawed lead characters, an intriguing mystery and unrelenting action, I can’t wait to see where Mr Barrington takes us in the future.’

‘It is a very cool idea and I think if done right will become one of my favourite secret societies.’

‘Get ready for a rip-roaring adventure through the streets of Edinburgh – The Wolf Mile is the perfect escapist read!’

You must be delighted with those responses.

What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I’ve brought a few of my photos of the Old Town which have helped inspire me.

One evening before the pandemic, a friend and I toured the Old Town cameras in hand. We ended up climbing onto buildings and lying in the middle of roads, getting carried away discovering the dark, brooding essence of The Pantheon.

It was great fun and hopefully the images provide a taste of what to expect in The Wolf Mile.

These photos make me want to travel to Edinburgh immediately! As it’s a bit of a trek from here in south Lincolnshire I’ll just have to go vicariously through reading The Wolf Mile. Thank you so much for staying in to tell me all about it. I think it sounds a cracking start to your new series. Let me me give blog readers a few essential details:

The Wolf Mile

An action-packed adventure thriller, where modern-day recruits compete in an ancient, deadly game in the streets of Edinburgh.

Welcome to the Pantheon Games. Let the streets of Edinburgh run with blood…

The Games are the biggest underground event in the world, followed by millions online. New recruits must leave behind their twenty-first century lives and vie for dominance in a gruelling battle to the death armed only with ancient weapons – and their wits.

Tyler Maitland and Lana Cameron have their own reasons for signing up. Now they must risk their lives and join the ranks of seven ancient warrior teams that inhabit this illicit world. Their journey will be more extraordinary and horrifying than anything they could have dreamed, testing them to breaking point.

Let the Season begin.

Published by Head of Zeus imprint Aries Fiction on 5th August, The Wolf Mile is available for purchase through these links.

About C F Barington

C F Barrington spent twenty years intending to write a novel, but found life kept getting in the way. Instead, his career took him into major gift fundraising, leading teams in organisations as varied as the RSPB, Oxford University and the National Trust.

When his role as Head of Communications at Edinburgh Zoo meant a third year of fielding endless media enquiries about the possible birth of a baby panda, he finally retreated to a quiet desk beside the sea and discovered the inspiration for the Pantheon saga.

Raised in Hertfordshire and educated at Oxford, he now divides his time between running over the hills of the Lake District and dog walking on the beaches of Fife.

For more information, visit C F Barrington’s website and find him on Facebook. You can also follow him on Twitter @barrington_cf and Instagram which shows lots of his hill-running adventures with his spaniel, Albie!

It’s a real privilege to begin a blog tour and I’m thrilled to commence the tour for Cecily by Annie Garthwaite. My enormous thanks to Georgia Taylor at Penguin Random House for inviting me to participate and for sending me a copy of Cecily in return for an honest review. I love historical fiction and am delighted to share that review today.

Cecily is published by Penguin today, 29th July 2021, and is available for purchase through the links here.

Cecily

‘Rebellion?’
The word is a spark. They can start a fire with it, or smother it in their fingertips.
She chooses to start a fire.

You are born high, but marry a traitor’s son. You bear him twelve children, carry his cause and bury his past.

You play the game, against enemies who wish you ashes. Slowly, you rise.

You are Cecily.

But when the king who governs you proves unfit, what then?

Loyalty or treason – death may follow both. The board is set. Time to make your first move.

Told through the eyes of its greatest unknown protagonist, this astonishing debut plunges you into the closed bedchambers and bloody battlefields of the first days of the Wars of the Roses, a war as women fight it.

My Review of Cecily

Cecily Neville has ambitions.

What a cracking historical fiction Cecily is. It’s quite difficult to believe Cecily is a debut novel because it’s written so compellingly. Annie Garthwaite has taken a little explored character from history and created a vivid, portrait of a woman at the heart of political life. Cecily leaps from the page as a real woman, flawed, ambitious, loyal, duplicitous, strong and vulnerable. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her. It was the characterisation in Cecily that really captivated me. I so appreciated having a fresh female perspective on a well-known historical period.

Aspects of the plot are familiar to those who enjoy this era (and given that I grew up in the next village to Fotheringhay where my parents were married, I loved the references to it) but Annie Garthwaite gives them a vibrant innovative presentation that enhances history and truly brings it to life. She weaves in back stories and relationships so that the scene is clearly set, ensuring her reader has a thorough understanding of the social and political times, without ever slowing the pace or providing too much extraneous detail. I thought the balance was excellent and was transported back in time brilliantly.

I think the immediacy and pace in Cecily is enhanced by the continuous present tense because it makes the book feel as if it is happening now rather than several hundred years ago. That said, the narrative style and authorial voice fits the era perfectly giving an added layer of authenticity. Add in the iterative image of strategic chess that runs through the book and Cecily becomes a narrative treat of intrigue, manipulation and politics at international, national, local and personal level. Here we get insight into the world of real people. However, regardless of the obviously exemplary historical research that makes Cecily authentic and engaging, this book has as many twists and turns as any psychological thriller or crime fiction, making it appealing to a wide range of readers and a captivating read. The frequent short sentence hooks at the end of chapters compel the reader to continue and I found I had consumed the story almost without realising.

With vivid characterisation, carefully crafted writing and meticulous research, Cecily is a satisfying read for any lover of historical fiction. But what gives Annie Garthwaite’s Cecily the edge is the feminism; the insight into, and the appreciation of, a strong woman in a world of men. Cecily may have been a woman of her time, but Annie Garthwaite makes sure she has resonance and relevance in today’s society. Great stuff!

About Annie Garthwaite

Annie Garthwaite grew up in a working-class community in the north-east of England. She studied English at the University of Wales before embarking on a thirty-year international business career. In 2017 she returned to her first love, books, and set out to write the story of a woman she had always felt drawn to: Cecily Neville. This became her debut novel, Cecily.#

For more information, follow Annie on Twitter @anniegarthwaite and Instagram, visit her website and find her on Facebook.

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