Regular Linda’s Book Bag readers know that I am involved in the Deepings’ Literary Festival which takes place from 23rd to 26th May 2019. It’s the second such festival and you can find out more and book tickets here. We have a brilliant line up of authors and a mix of events to suit everyone so do take a look. Tickets are going fast!

I was fortunate to attend several events at the first festival held in 2017 (which you can read about here). Also at that festival I was thrilled to be able to interview Alison Bruce, author of both non-fiction books and the DC Gary Goodhew crime books set in Cambridge. You can also read my review of Alison’s Cambridge Black here.

On Tuesday this week we had the the first of our run-up events to this year’s literary festival; Crime Around the Fireside with Alison Bruce which was held in the Waterton Arms.

After a quick committee photo we joined others around the fireside to listen to Alison tell us all about her writing.

Alison latest book, the stand alone psychological thriller I Did It For Us has just been released by Little Brown imprint, Constable, and is available for purchase through these links. As Alison couldn’t say too much about I Did It For Us as she didn’t want to spoil the read, I thought I’d just tell you a bit about it before saying more about the evening:

I Did It For Us

From the first time I saw them together I knew it felt wrong. I didn’t like the way he touched her or the self-conscious way he played with Molly and Luke. Joanne saw none of it of course. So I did it to prove to her that she was wrong. I did it for us.

Emily’s instincts tell her that best friend Joanne’s new boyfriend is bad news. Emily fears for Joanne. Fears for Joanne’s children. But Joanne won’t listen because she’s in love. So Emily watches, and waits . . . and then she makes a choice.

But Emily has a past, and secrets too. And is she really as good a friend to Joanne as she claims?

Now doesn’t that sound brilliant?

Although she didn’t want to spoil the read, Alison did say that the inspiration for I Did It For Us came in a flash when she was attending (as many of us have and do) Crime in the Court, and that the time scale from that first visualisation of the book to it being signed was a mere 10 days.

Alison is the most amazing speaker and held us captivated throughout the evening. Given that I am supposed to be finishing my own languishing novel this year, albeit in a different genre, I was fascinated to hear about Alison’s writing process and experiences.

Sharing how she first thought of the perfect way to murder someone on her way to work Alison explained how her first book took around five years to write and over time she has probably ditched about 250,000 words. She had originally decided to divide her first book in to 12 chapters but it subsequently became 91 and she advised new writers to consider how we often read in short chunks on e-readers so short accessible chapters fit the bill perfectly. Interestingly, when Alison bins her writing she leaves it there. She doesn’t rewrite it or save it for another part of her work.

In Alison’s experience the second book is the hardest to write because the initial ideas have been used and links need to be consistent in a series of books. It was interesting to find Alison’s first completed book actually became the third in her DC Gary Goodhew series as a result of her meetings with agents and her publisher. I was heartened to find Alison thinks a writer’s ‘voice’ becomes embedded and second nature after about 100,000 words – there’s hope for me yet!

Alison is very much a plotter. She writes so many notes and checks details personally so that the actual writing of the books is now easier for her. I’m not sure I’d go wandering around alone at 1AM in insalubrious places just to see how threatening it might be for a character though! In fact, Alison is so passionate about the accuracy of her writing she has done everything from drawn sketches on location, through finding her own Home Office pathologist to call on for technical details to studying for a degree in crime and investigation.

Alison also suggested that new writers might try different ways of approaching their writing. She has tried dictating in her garden shed, writing hidden under a table at an event, using a computer and writing longhand. She’s even completed over 9,200 words in 24 hours with a deadline looming though I’m not sure she’d recommend that approach too often!

It was a really entertaining and interesting evening listening to Alison talk about criminology, writing and the publication process. I left feeling doubly inspired. Firstly Alison has made me want to progress my own writing and, excitingly, I can’t wait to read I Did It For Us!

About Alison Bruce

Alison Bruce is the author of eight crime novels and two non-fiction titles. Her first novel, Cambridge Blue (2008), was described by Publishers Weekly as an ‘assured debut’ and introduced both detective, DC Gary Goodhew, and her trademark Cambridge setting. She went on to complete the DC Goodhew series with a further six novels before writing the psychological thriller I Did It for Us.

​Alison Bruce was born in Croydon and grew up in Wiltshire before moving to Cambridgeshire in 1998. Alison worked as an electroplater, taxi driving and band promoter and spent ten years working in the IT industry before leaving to concentrate on completing her first novel.

Alison is a proud supporter of local libraries and is the patron of Lakenheath Library in Suffolk. Alison teaches creative writing at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.

You can follow Alison on Twitter @Alison_Bruce and visit her website.

My enormous thanks to Rachel Sergeant for inviting me to be part of the launch celebrations for the paperback of The Good Teacher, and to Finn Cotton at Harper Collins for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review. Not only do I have my review of The Good Teacher, but I also have an extract to share with you today.

Published by Harper Collins imprint, Killer Reads, The Good Teacher is available for purchase through these links.

The Good Teacher

Even the good have to die.
A beloved teacher is murdered and left in a ditch beside a country lane. His wife is found beaten and gagged in their suburban home.

Even the best schools have secrets.
New detective Pippa Adams learns that the teacher ran a homework club for vulnerable pupils. But what did he really teach them?

Even the perfect family has something to hide.
When Pippa scratches the surface of the school community, she meets families who’ve learned a shattering lesson. And finally uncovers the good teacher’s darkest secrets…

An Extract from the Good Teacher by Rachel Sargeant

Thank you, Linda for letting me stop off at your blog on my tour for The Good Teacher. I’d like to share some of chapter three. Bartholomew Hedges is a man with a lot on his mind, and DC Pippa Adams visits a crime scene:

Across town Bartholomew Hedges climbs down his ladder. He can’t work. He tells himself it’s the heat, but knows it isn’t. The fair weather is his friend, kind for completing the exterior paintwork. The Lord shines the sun on him. He should be getting on; the customer has started asking questions. Bartholomew can’t blame the dormer roof for much longer.

As he replaces his brush in the paint can, some of the white undercoat slops onto the patio. He scoops it back in with his palette knife and removes the rest of the stain with white spirit. He sprinkles more spirit on his hands and wipes them down with the rag from the pocket of his shorts.

His fingers aren’t clean, but pale like a white man’s. He needs a wash down with soap and water. But he doesn’t want to go into the house as the customer’s wife is at home. She might ask him why he’s stopped again.

He sits on the edge of the patio. The step down to the lawn is low and his paint-flecked knees come up high in front of him. The grass is yellow, even though he’s seen the owners using a sprinkler every evening. He’s heard them talking of having it re-turfed – as soon as the decorating’s finished. He sighs. Perhaps he should tell them that God will replenish their lawn long before Hedges House Painting Services retouches their eaves.

He’s surprised they gave him the contract at all. He knows the man didn’t want to and he can’t blame him. As far as he was concerned Bartholomew had already proved himself unreliable. In February he’d been due to start on their dining room – a big job to take off the Anaglypta wall covering, cross line it and paint over in mushroom gold. Bartholomew had to cancel at two weeks’ notice when he couldn’t find his steam stripper. It would have taken a month of God’s sacred Sundays to scrape off Anaglypta without a steamer.

The machine disappeared from the back of his van one night, but there’d been no sign of a break-in. Had he forgotten to lock the van? Convincing himself that it was his own foolish mistake, he hadn’t gone to the police or contacted his insurance company. Back then, the possibility that someone else could get hold of the van key hadn’t crossed his mind. Bartholomew wipes his chin with his forearm and wonders whether that suspicion had been in his head all along but he’d chosen to ignore it. February? Were the signs already there?

He shuffles along the patio edge to his toolbox. Underneath his Thermos flask of Cherry Tango is his Bible, wrapped in a plastic bag. He longs to take it out, ask it the questions, and seek solace. But he can’t touch it until he’s washed his hands.

The same passage comes into his mind. It’s been there almost constantly for three weeks now. Proverbs 10: 1: “A wise son makes his father proud of him; a foolish one brings his mother grief.” The words have been pressing against his brain ever since he saw his own son, Saul, being … doing …

He shivers. The fear comes back and he thinks of Job 20: 16: “What the evil man swallows is like poison.” Is Saul evil? Every day he prays for a sign, for the Lord to reassure him. Bartholomew needs to know that the evil lies elsewhere, not in a boy like Saul. Again and again he’s asked Saul why he did it. Saul says it’s like falling into cotton wool. It lets him find a warm and happy place that he wants to keep going back to. Where did Bartholomew go wrong? He’s found comfort from a life of faith. Why hasn’t Saul found it there, too?

A scenes of crime officer dusts a bedside locker while another hunts through drawers. I look at the unmade double bed that the Brocks must have been dragged from in the night. The room’s simply furnished – a large pine wardrobe and matching dressing table – again tidy, no lipsticks or perfume bottles in sight.

The second bedroom looks like an advert for an office suppliers. A black swivel chair slots underneath a desk as if it’s never been used. Even the few sheets of printed papers on top lie in a perfect pile. A plastic dust sheet covers the computer. The blotting pad looks fresh and a single ballpoint pokes out of a pen-tidy. The only incongruous item is a birdcage complete with a bell and a seed hopper under the desk. Two forensic officers come in behind me, so I leave them to begin a detailed search.

Whereas the rest of the upstairs appears sterile, the third bedroom is a surprise. Three walls are bright yellow and the fourth displays a magnificent hand-painted circus scene. Trapeze artists fly across the red and white striped backdrop of the big top. Clowns juggle silver hoops and two white horses rear up at each other. It must have taken someone days to complete. In the middle of the room is a large cot with a clown motif mattress, but no bedding. The drawers of the nappy changing unit next to it are empty.

I go downstairs, psyching myself up for the next round with Matthews.

He’s on his mobile, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. “No, ma’am, nothing of interest so far. They’ve bagged up a few bits and pieces.”

I wander into the kitchen. Dave, the forensic scientist, kneels at the opened back door, scraping at a broken pane of glass. I look beyond him into the garden. Typical new-estate small, the paved patio is surrounded on three sides by conifers.

Two familiar figures come round the side of the house and I smile in relief. “Anything interesting?” I call.

“Hi, Pippa, good to see you. Nothing out here,” PC John Whitton says, coming towards the doorstep. “But Forensics pulled some clothes out of the washing machine. They want to check whether anyone’s tried to wash away evidence.”

“Unlikely though,” PC Kieran Clarke says. “It’s a towel and a few men’s shirts and trousers, probably the husband’s. We won’t find any bloodstains. All his blood is spread across Martle Top.” He gives a half-hearted chuckle.

“The relief’s missing you already,” John says. “So how are you getting on in CID?”

The thought of my day so far makes my insides clench but I manage a breezy “Fine”. Trying not to sound desperate, I say how glad I am to see them again and go back through the kitchen.

(I’m sure that will have whetted your reader appetite. I’m delighted to be sharing my review of The Good Teacher too.)

My Review of The Good Teacher

Pippa Adams has just joined CID, but it isn’t necessarily easy to fit in.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Good Teacher, because it is an interesting and entertaining murder mystery without the gratuitous and graphic violence that sometimes spoils these stories for me. I thought The Good Teacher was really well plotted and I enjoyed making the connections in the story alongside Pippa, finishing the book with a sigh of satisfaction. Rachel Sargeant has a brisk, lively quality to her writing that makes the plot zip along effortlessly.

I found Pippa a cracking character. The reader is drip fed aspects from her past and reading The Good Teacher has left me wanting to know more about her. She’s set up perfectly for a very satisfying series and I found her multi dimensional and engaging. I loved her nickname Agatha after Agatha Christie and actually, I could imagine Agatha Christie thoroughly appreciating the way The Good Teacher is written because there are many resonances with her own style. Rachel Sargeant understands that readers sometimes need less gore and more depth of character.

I also really enjoyed the themes explored. Rachel Sargeant encourages the reader to think about the difference between appearance and reality, about the dynamics of race, family, gender and authority, and about identity, grief and loyalty. I think there is huge potential for Pippa Adams in the future.

The Good Teacher isn’t a high octane police procedural, but I enjoyed it all the more for being a measured and compelling first book in a series that I will be following with great enthusiasm and interest. The Good Teacher is a smashing book and very well worth reading. I really recommend it.

About Rachel Sergeant

Rachel Sargeant is the author of Kindle Top Ten bestseller The Perfect Neighbours. She is a previous winner of Writing Magazine’s Crime Short Story competition and has been placed or shortlisted in various competitions, including the Bristol Short Story Prize. Her stories have appeared in My Weekly and the Accent Press Saucy Shorts series. Rachel grew up in Lincolnshire, spent several years living in Germany and now lives in Gloucestershire with her husband and children.

To find out more you can follow Rachel on Twitter @RachelSargeant3, visit her website and find her on Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I’d been hearing such good things about The Cactus by Sarah Haywood that I broke my own self-imposed Netgalley ban and successfully requested a copy of the book, only to discover when I was sorting out some unread books from my TBR that lovely Alice Herbert at John Murrays and Two Roads Books had already sent me a beautiful hard backed copy a year ago and I had bought another copy when it came out in paperback! Consequently, I thought it was about time I got round to reading The Cactus and reviewing it.

The Cactus is available for purchase here.

The Cactus

It’s never too late to bloom … People aren’t sure what to make of Susan Green – family and colleagues find her prickly and hard to understand, but Susan makes perfect sense to herself.

Age 45, she thinks her life is perfect, as long as she avoids her feckless brother, Edward – a safe distance away in Birmingham. She has a London flat which is ideal for one; a job that suits her passion for logic; and a personal arrangement providing cultural and other, more intimate, benefits.

Yet suddenly faced with the loss of her mother and, implausibly, with the possibility of becoming a mother herself, Susan’s greatest fear is being realised: she is losing control. And things can only get worse … at least in Susan’s eyes.

My Review of The Cactus

Susan enjoys life on her own controlling terms, but life has a habit of misbehaving.

I so enjoyed The Cactus because every word I read could have been spoken by someone I know well. As a result, The Cactus made me grin inanely the whole time I was reading – or rather, listening to what Susan had to say, as it seemed as if she were speaking directly to me in conversation. I found it very funny and, ultimately, quite moving too.

The Cactus is a brilliantly ascerbic insight into Susan’s life told with the wit and intelligence of a modern Jane Austen in Sarah Haywood’s writing. I thought it was so entertaining. Cleverly plotted, in The Cactus Susan has to learn that life may not always conform to her stringent, and to her, perfectly logical, demands. She cannot simply rearrange things for the best possible outcome as she might the cacti on her desk. The analogy between her personality and the cacti was so perfect. I didn’t much like the prickly, forthright, and occasionally vindictive Susan initially even if I found myself agreeing with her more often than I might like to admit, but the more she ‘spoke’ to me, the more I came to love her. And I genuinely do find it difficult to think of Susan as a character in a fiction and not a real person. She’s such a striking and vivid individual. I actually felt quite envious of her at times. I’d love some of that unwavering confidence in her own self-worth and rightness that she displays in the early part of the story. Indeed, it is evidence of the quality of Sarah Haywood’s writing that I didn’t like her protagonist at all to begin with but I couldn’t stop reading about her. I felt compelled to find out what happened to Susan.

The plot of this novel is so believable so that the themes of identity, relationships, nature and nurture, belonging and isolation in The Cactus elevate it from an amusing and entertaining read to a book that also shines a light on what makes us who we are. Along with cacti, Sarah Heywood illustrates that people also have the ability to thrive and bloom given the right conditions.

I suspect Susan’s character will divide readers of The Cactus, but I thought she was brilliantly depicted, utterly believable and I adored meeting her through Sarah Heyward’s adept and accomplished writing. I really recommend The Cactus.

About Sarah Haywood

Sarah Haywood was born in Birmingham. After studying Law, she worked in London and Birkenhead as a solicitor, in Toxteth as an advice worker, and in Manchester as an investigator of complaints about lawyers. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University, and lives in Liverpool with her husband, two sons and two ginger cats.

You can find out more by visiting Sarah’s website, finding her on Facebook and following her on Twitter @SarahxHaywood.

I’d like to thank Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of the launch celebrations for Maybe This Time by Jill Mansell. There’s a bit of an irony to this blog post today as I’ve always loved Jill Mansell’s writing but she hasn’t appeared on the blog since 2016 when I hosted an extract from You and Me, Always that you can read here. Just at the point I had decided not to take on any blog tours for 2019, along came Maybe This Time and I simply couldn’t resist. It’s been far too long since I read one of Jill’s books.

Maybe This Time is published today, 24th January 2019, by Headline Review and is available for purchase through the links here.

Maybe This Time

Mimi isn’t looking for love when she spends a weekend in Goosebrook, the Cotswolds village her dad has moved to. And her first encounter with Cal, who lives there too, is nothing like a scene in a romantic movie – although she can’t help noticing how charismatic he is. But Cal’s in no position to be any more than a friend, and Mimi heads back to her busy London life.

When they meet again four years later, it’s still not to be. Cal is focusing on his family, and Mimi on her career. Then Cal dives into a potentially perfect new romance whilst Mimi’s busy fixing other people’s relationships.

It seems as if something, or someone else, always gets in their way. Will it ever be the right time for both of them?

My Review of Maybe This Time

Mimi’s adventures in the Cotswolds won’t all be plain sailing!

Maybe This Time is wonderful. It can be tricky reading a book from a favourite author in case they disappoint, but I just loved Maybe This Time. It had everything I expect from Jill Mansell and so much more besides.

I found it impossible to drag myself away and when I wasn’t reading the story I was thinking about the characters. I often find children and animals in fiction quite stilted and unrealistic, but both Otto and Cora felt as vivid to me as any of the adults. I think it is the superb quality of the direct speech that creates this effect. Jill Mansell has the ability to make it sound so natural that it’s more like eavesdropping a conversation than reading it on the page.

I also really appreciated the balance of characters. Sometimes in women’s fiction it seems to me as if the writer is a misandrist, but in Maybe This Time, men were as equally well presented as women which I found hugely satisfying. Characters like Kendra and Rob gave a balance to Mimi and Cal. I thought Lois was inspired too because her vulnerability illustrates the warm humanity I expect from this author.

I loved the plot. I was desperate for Mimi to have a happy ending but I had no real idea how, or even if, it would manifest itself, so that each event almost felt as if it were happening to me, never mind a character in a book, because I was so invested in the narrative. The small incidents that run alongside the main story add such a warmth and depth to the read that Maybe This Time has something to attract every reader. The themes of love and relationships, family and friendship, grief and joy all combine into a perfect blend of gorgeous storytelling. Jill Mansell’s style is so effortless to read so that I truly felt as if I were coming home to an old friend in reading this narrative. The descriptions too made Maybe This Time so lovely to read. I was able to place myself in Goosebrook particularly easily.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Anyone who loves Jill Mansell’s writing needs to know that Maybe This Time is her writing at her most glorious, and entertaining best and is an absolute joy to read.

About Jill Mansell

Jill Mansell is the author of over twenty Sunday Times bestsellers including The One You Really Want and Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay. Take a Chance on Me won the RNA’s Romantic Comedy Prize, and in 2015 the RNA presented Jill with an outstanding achievement award.
Jill’s personal favourite amongst her novels is Three Amazing Things About You, which is about cystic fibrosis and organ donation; to her great delight, many people have joined the organ donor register as a direct result of reading this novel.

Jill started writing fiction while working in the field of Clinical Neurophysiology in the NHS, but now writes full time. She lives in Bristol with her family.

You can follow Jill on Twitter @JillMansell and visit her excellent website. You’ll find her on Facebook and there’s more with these other bloggers.

 

My enormous thanks to Josie Murdoch at Penguin for sending me a copy of Love For Imperfect Things by Haemin Sunim in return for an honest review.

Although Love For Imperfect Things isn’t out until tomorrow, 24th January 2019, I couldn’t wait any longer to share my thoughts!

Love For Imperfect Things is available for purchase through the links here.

Love For Imperfect Things

“Hearing the words ‘be good to yourself first, then to others’ was like being struck by lightning.”

Many of us respond to the pressures of life by turning inwards and ignoring problems, sometimes resulting in anxiety or depression. Others react by working harder at work, at school or at home, hoping that this will make ourselves and the people we love happier.

But what if being yourself is enough? Just as we are advised on airplanes to take our own oxygen first before helping others, we must first be at peace with ourselves before we can be at peace with the world around us.

In this beautiful follow-up to his international bestseller The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, Buddhist monk Haemin Sunim turns his trademark wisdom and kindness to self-care, arguing that only by accepting yourself – and the flaws which make you who you are – can you have compassionate and fulfilling relationships with your partner, family and friends.

“Even products labelled ‘limited edition’ are made on a production line with hundreds that are exactly the same. But there is only one you in the world.”

My Review of Love For Imperfect Things

2019 seems to be the year of the self-help book, and I’ve read a few so far this year, but Love For Imperfect Things is one of the best. I loved it.

I want to begin my review by saying something about the lovely quality of the way the hard-backed book is produced. The robust cover means that this is a book that will withstand years of use as readers dip in and out. What really enhances Love For Imperfect Things though, are the wonderful illustrations by Lisk Feng. They have a naive quality that enhances Haemin Sunim’s writing that has been so skilfully translated by Deborah Smith. In fact, the very first image in the book, of a seascape, made me feel instantly more relaxed and calm.

What works so effectively and affectingly in Love For Imperfect Things is the structure of the chapters. Haemin Sunim is unafraid to lay bare his own imperfections so that both he and the reader can learn, advance and find peace and acceptance. Each chapter opens with a personal account of events that have happened to Haemin Sunim and his responses to them, followed by brilliant advice presented in an almost poetic form. I loved both these approaches. The note to the author’s graduate school friend brought tears to my eyes and his chapter on Listening Is An Act of Love brought me up short. I simply don’t do enough active listening to those around me.

I genuinely felt taller and lighter after reading Love For Imperfect Things. So much of it resonated with me. In fact, I think, having read it right the way through once, I need to go back and reread Haemin Sunim’s words again and again as I believe I have much more to learn about myself and others. I never think I’m good enough in whatever I do, but Love For Imperfect Things has shown me I don’t need to be perfect. I just need to be me and accept myself as I am.

After I’ve read books I tend to pass them on, but Love For Imperfect Things is a keeper. I don’t want to part with it because it spoke to me heart and soul. Love For Imperfect Things is wise, accessible, humble and uplifting and I would urge others to read it too.

About Haemin Sunim

Haemin Sunim is one of the most influential Zen Buddhist teachers and writers in South Korea, where his books have sold more than three million copies and are popular as guides not only to mediation but also to overcoming the challenges of everyday life.

Born in South Korea, he went to the United States to study film, only to find himself pulled into the spiritual life. Educated at UC Berkeley, Harvard, and Princeton, he received formal monastic training in Korea and taught Buddhism at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

He has more than a million followers on Twitter and Facebook and lives in Seoul when not traveling to share his teachings.

To find out more, visit Haemin’s website. You can follow Haemin on Twitter @haeminsunim and find him on Facebook.

My enormous thanks to M.W. Craven for arranging to send me a copy of The Puppet Show in return for an honest review.

The Puppet Show is published by Little Brown imprint Constable and is available for purchase through these links.

The Puppet Show

A serial killer is burning people alive in the Lake District’s prehistoric stone circles. He leaves no clues and the police are helpless. When his name is found carved into the charred remains of the third victim, disgraced detective Washington Poe is brought back from suspension and into an investigation he wants no part of . . .

Reluctantly partnered with the brilliant, but socially awkward, civilian analyst, Tilly Bradshaw, the mismatched pair uncover a trail that only he is meant to see. The elusive killer has a plan and for some reason Poe is part of it.

As the body count rises, Poe discovers he has far more invested in the case than he could have possibly imagined. And in a shocking finale that will shatter everything he’s ever believed about himself, Poe will learn that there are things far worse than being burned alive …

My Review of The Puppet Show

A man burns to death in the centre of a stone circle in Cumbria and an investigation will follow.

My goodness me. What a book! From the incredibly dramatic opening to the final word I was entirely gripped by M. W. Craven’s writing. It’s going to be difficult not to slip into hyperbole to describe my thoughts about The Puppet Show.

Firstly, the plot is not so much fast paced as supersonic. It’s like quicksilver so that just when you think you have it all worked out M. W. Craven twists what’s happening in such an effective and credible manner that it’s breathtaking. My heart was thumping as I read The Puppet Show. It’s one of those books that kept making me exclaim aloud, ‘Ooo.’ Usually I’m not overly fond of police procedural narratives, but this one had me gripped throughout, partly because there is an intelligent and compelling psychological aspect to it too and partly because the fabulous plot is so brilliantly character driven.

Washington Poe is wonderfully generated. Part of his past is uncovered and The Puppet Show provides fertile ground for his future so that, having read this first book in the series I am now desperate for the next. Poe is an anti-hero without the stereotyping that often puts me off this kind of book. He has his daemons but they do not dominate excessively. He has integrity but isn’t afraid to break the rules – and vice versa. I found Poe such an engaging character that I was filled with admiration for the writing and the man, Poe. I loved the developing working relationship he has with Tilly who is herself a glorious individual. On the autistic spectrum she is the perfect balance to Poe’s creative thinking.

And Tilly exemplifies one of the reasons I enjoyed The Puppet Show so much – M. W. Craven appears to have a social conscience that he can weave unobtrusively into his story so that the reader thinks and is engaged almost without their own permission. I thought this element was fabulous. I found the overall quality of M. W. Craven’s writing fantastic so that reading The Puppet Show was effortless and compelling.

The Cumbrian setting works beautifully too because it lends a credibility and authenticity to the events. I found the whole book amazingly authentic. The procedures, the social elements, the settings, the characters and so on are all superb, but they add up to a wonderful, wonderful read. In fact, I’m finding it hard to convey just how much I enjoyed The Puppet Show. Quite simply, I want to look at the thesaurus synonyms for brilliant and list them all. I can’t wait for the next book in the Washington Poe series and if you haven’t yet read The Puppet Show, my goodness are you missing out!

About M. W. Craven

W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle. He joined the army at sixteen, leaving ten years later to complete a social work degree. Seventeen years after taking up a probation officer role in Cumbria, at the rank of assistant chief officer, he became a full-time author. The Puppet Show, the first in a two-book deal he signed with the Little Brown imprint, Constable in 2017, was released in hardback in June 2018.

You can follow M.W. Craven on Twitter @MWCravenUK and visit his website for more information.

My enormous thanks to Orion imprint Trapeze and blog tour organiser Tracy Fenton  for inviting me to be part of the tour for We Own the Sky by Luke Allnutt.

We Own the Sky is available for purchase thorough the links here.

We Own the Sky

Anna and Rob were the perfect couple with their whole lives in front of them. When beautiful baby boy Jack came along, their world seemed complete.

But when tragedy strikes they are faced with an impossible choice. They have one chance to save their child, but at what cost?

My Review of We Own the Sky

Anna and Rob’s world is about to be turned upside down.

No, no, no, no, no! I simply can’t put into words what a brilliant read We Own the Sky is. I absolutely adored every word of it even though Luke Allnutt reduced me to a howling, sobbing wreck as I read. I had no idea that a balloon or a bouncy castle could be so emotional. Luke Allnutt has the ability to grasp a reader’s heart and wring it mercilessly so that reading We Own the Sky becomes a truly affecting and visceral experience.

The quality of the writing is such that We Own the Sky is beautifully crafted. The mostly unpunctuated asides to Jack in between some of the chapters, for example, are immensely effective because they reflect the child like innocence that Jack exemplifies. It’s as if Rob is so overwhelmed too by his feelings that he cannot bear to separate himself from those memories of Jack by using full stops and capital letters. The emails and online forums are completely convincing and realistic so that the reader cannot help but be ensnared by the action. But it is the overall craftsmanship that is so alluring. The change from past to present tense, for example, at just the right moment in the action allows hope amongst the despair, and happiness as well as all consuming grief. I have no idea if it was intentional, but thought it was a stroke of genius too that Anna’s name is a palindrome given her need for structure and order.

There is an incredible intimacy in We Own the Sky, partly because there are really only three characters – Jack, Anna and Rob with some supporting roles from a very few others like Nev. Rob’s voice is clear and human so that although he behaves reprehensibly at times I couldn’t help but love him. He illustrates perfectly how desperation can impact on the individual. I’m not a great lover of children in fiction as I usually find their depiction stereotypical or forced but in We Own the Sky Jack seemed entirely right until I was almost as affected by the life he is leading as are Anna and Rob.

The themes of We Own the Sky are sweeping, empathetic and genuine so that I think there truly is something for every reader. Relationships, the effect of illness, parenting, love, grief, hope – even business, invention and social media – all add to the rich tapestry of this book.

I have found it impossible to do justice to Luke Allnutt’s We Own the Sky. It broke my heart. It held me spellbound. I feel privileged to have read it. Sheer perfection.

About Luke Allnutt

Luke Allnutt grew up in Surrey and has lived and worked in Prague as a journalist since 1998, writing mostly about technology and Eastern European politics. In 2013, he wrote about his father’s death from a brain tumour in Unspoken, a Kindle Single for Amazon. A keen runner, he is married and has two young boys.

You can follow Luke on Twitter @lukeallnutt and visit his website. There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I know I said I wasn’t really doing blog tours for a while here on Linda’s Book Bag but when the author lives in your nearest town and is a friend it does mean there have to be some exceptions! My thanks to Ross Greenwood, author of Shadows of Regret and to Caroline Vincent, tour organiser, for inviting me to take part. I’m thrilled to have a guest post from Ross today all about Seizing the Day.

Ross has been a frequent visitor to the blog and you can read a post in which Ross introduces his protagonist for Abel’s Revenge here. You can also read my Lazy Blood interview with Ross here, a guest post and my review of The Boy Inside here and my review of Fifty Years of Fear here.

Published yesterday, 20th January 2019, Shadows of Regret is available for purchase here.

Shadows of Regret

Katie committed a terrible crime. Sixteen years was the price she had to pay.

Once released from prison, she finds the world has changed. Her chances appear bleak, but Katie is a survivor.

Isolated and alone, she struggles to make sense of her new life. Starting again isn’t easy, especially after what she’s done.

Despite not feeling free or safe, Katie overcomes her fears and confronts the future. But history won’t remain forgotten.

Gradually, memories of the past are revealed. When Katie finally exposes the awful truth and sees there are others who share the blame, she must choose her path.

Will she seek redemption, or will she take revenge?

Seizing the Day

A Guest Post by Ross Greenwood

As some of you may know, Linda is concentrating on her own reading and, hopefully, maybe even some of her own writing… She’s had quite a year. We’ll miss her. When I first started out writing four years ago, she was one of the first people to help. She did a blog post for me when I didn’t know what one was, she added me to groups I never knew existed, and has been consistently helpful and friendly ever since. At the back of my mind, I was wondering how she managed it all. We know now. Thank you for everything.

(Linda: My goodness Ross. You’re making me blush. You’re very welcome to it all!)

She offered a guest post for Shadows of Regret and I’d like to take up her theme of taking control and doing things now, while we still have time.

Thirty years ago, I had a grey patch at the back of my head. I never thought too much of it, although it fascinated my mother. Twenty years ago, my hair began to fall out. Under the now gone grey patch was a squidgy spot, like the flesh on your forearm. I still wasn’t concerned but it slowly grew. I eventually went to the doctors where they decided it was a cyst. I went to Stamford hospital and, for an hour under agonizing local anaesthetic, they tried to remove what turned out to be a tumour.

Not their finest hour. People offered to sue the hospital for me, but there was no malice. I was left with a hefty scar and the knowledge that life was precarious.

But in a way, I’m thankful for it. I bought a scary motorbike and travelled the world. My wound was always a talking point. Risks were taken because I’d seen the worst that can happen. I became flakey at times, as if a job was not worth it, or a relationship didn’t seem to be working, I’d chuck them in at the drop of a hat. Life was too short.

Obviously, you can’t live your life that way for too long. I ended up with a fair few regrets and was unemployed on numerous occasions, skint on many others. I did some terrible jobs; data input or stuffing envelopes in Peterborough, but found some great roles; Call Centre Manager in West London.

Finally, I was lucky enough to find love, have children, and got married. It’s been that which grounded me.

I had a plan for writing a book bubbling away for years in my mind but I couldn’t think of a gritty end, or a decent beginning! I then met an ex-girlfriend, one I’d casually discarded many years before, at my sister’s barbecue. She was the HR manager at our local prison. The only one in the country with a male and female side. We need more officers, she said. We’ll take anyone. She got her revenge.

The first six months in the job were awful. I’d lived an eventful life but nothing prepares you for prison. The sights you see don’t leave you. I was tempted to jack it in, like I’d done on so many other occasions, but this time I didn’t. I’d finally grown up. I did four years in the end, both on the male side of the prison and latterly with the women too.

The urge to finish my story strengthened and I remembered the best part of the shock I received. Seize the day, don’t put things off if you can help it, you don’t know what’s around the corner.

When I left, I had my tale to finish, and through books such as Shadows of Regret, I also had other’s stories to tell.

I hope you enjoy reading about dark lives.

Ross Greenwood

(Oh we will Ross! Can’t wait to read Shadows of Regret too as soon as I can. Thanks so much for a brilliant guest post. I couldn’t agree more. Seize the day!)

About Ross Greenwood

Ross Greenwood was born in 1973 in Peterborough and lived there until he was 20, attending The King’s School in the city. He then began a rather nomadic existence, living and working all over the country and various parts of the world.

Ross found himself returning to Peterborough many times over the years, usually, so he says “when things had gone wrong.” It was on one of these occasions that he met his partner about 100 metres from his back door whilst walking a dog. Two children swiftly followed. And, according to Ross, he is “still a little stunned by the pace of it now.”

Lazy Blood book was started a long time ago but parenthood and then four years as a prison officer got in the way. Ironically it was the four a.m. feed which gave the author the opportunity to finish the book as unable to get back to sleep he completed it in the early morning hours.

Ross Greenwood’s second book, The Boy Inside, was picked up by Bloodhound Books, and in September 2017, Fifty Years of Fear was published. The year 2018 saw the publication of his next psychological thriller, Abel’s Revenge. All his books are thought provoking, and told with a sense of humour.

Ross Greenwood hopes you enjoy reading them.
Please feel free to get in touch on his web site.

You can also follow Ross on Twitter @greenwoodross and find him on Facebook.

Ross’s books are:

The Dark Lives Series:
#1 Fifty Years of Fear – Getbook.at/FiftyYearsofFear
#2 The Boy Inside – Getbook.at/TheBoyInside
#3 Lazy Blood – Getbook.at/LazyBlood

Abel’s Revenge – Getbook.at/AbelsRevenge
Shadows of Regret – Getbook.at/ShadowsofRegret

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

My enormous thanks to Rosie Crofts at Pen and Sword Books for sending me a copy of the children’s book Gary and the Three Turkeys by Richard Guthrie in return for an honest review.

Published on 18th November 2018, Gary and the Three Turkeys is available for purchase here.

Gary and the Three Turkeys

The poem Gary and the Three Turkeys was the creation of Richard Guthrie, a frustrated student at Aberdeen at the time. Bored in a lecture one day, he etched out a rough doodle of an oversized young gentlemen in a baggy sailor’s suit and recalling some fanciful tale of a portly old school friend and his penchant for food and especially turkey, the creative muse was stirred and verses began to flow.

The poem has since entertained many a household dining table, been the subject of insistent recital at a number of official functions and can be found, together with some of its author’s own scribbled sketches, adorning many a wall from Yorkshire through to the Scottish Highlands. Entertaining all but the most Victorian of principle, it has proven a must have party piece for all ages, from those still attired in their school shorts right through to the blanket covered retirement recliners.

Now the Gary and the Three Turkeys has been adapted into a book and a film (featuring Brian Blessed) and a game. By purchasing the book, readers get access to all three via QR codes of web addresses. In addition the book contains 35 pieces of augmented reality which can be view after downloading a free App (also featuring Brian Blessed).

My Review of Gary and the Three Turkeys

Gary is hungry and he wants his favourite food – turkey!

What a completely bonkers book. Children of all ages will love Gary and the Three Turkeys.

Firstly, I have to comment on the quality of the production of Gary and the Three Turkeys. It’s a really robust, heavy-weight, hard back with super glossy pages that will withstand many many readings. Although I haven’t yet used all the augmented reality features, I did enjoy the sounds and animations in the book that really bring the story alive. I’m looking forward to seeing the film with Brian Blessed narrating too.

I thought the language in Gary and the Three Turkeys was excellent. The rhyme scheme works so well and there is an excellent balance of familiar and unexpected vocabulary that will enhance the language skills of children whilst still maintaining the interest of older readers. As an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed the language, rhyme and plotting, particularly the reference to the traditional three little pigs, even if Gary does blow the houses down somewhat differently! I can see the humour will leave youngsters giggling helplessly and can’t wait to share this book with my great-nephew.

Gary and the Three Turkeys is a super book. It’s enormous fun with lots of added extras that I really recommend.

About Richard Guthrie

There’s more about Richard and Gary and the Three Turkeys on the website.

My grateful thanks to the author, Suzy Davies, for sending me a copy of The Cave in return for an honest review.

I previously reviewed another of Suzy’s books, Luna the Moon Pig: The Pig Who Hid, here.

The Cave is available for purchase from Smashwords.

The Cave

Ancient Thai Mysticism and a modern-day tale of The Wild Boars Football Team and their leader’s adventure in a Thai cave are woven together in this young adult’s story of hope, courage, adventure, teamwork, bonds of love and survival.

My review of The Cave

Based on the real life rescue of the Thai boy football team from the flooded caves.

Although The Cave is billed as a young adult book and is a quick read, I think it can be enjoyed on many levels from around the age of 8 upwards, because a great deal of care has gone in to ensuring the style emulates that of traditional fairy stories or morality tales. Language is accessible and well crafted so that confident younger readers could attempt the book independently.

The Cave is an interesting and entertaining retelling of a true event which I found had all the more poignancy because it was based in fact. I appreciated the way in which Suzy Davies made me consider those not directly involved, such as Khun Mae, and I thought the manner in which the story pays tribute to the diver who lost his life in the rescue attempt was very well handled.

I very much enjoyed the descriptive passages, especially those linked to the more spiritual or mythical elements of the story when the writing takes on almost a dream-like quality. What Suzy Davies has done is take a well known international event and bring it alive through the personalities of the boys, their relatives and the culture of the Thai people so that it captures the imagination of the reader.

I thought the themes were very well suited to a teenage audience, with fear and courage, friendship and trust all being explored through the story. I could see The Cave being used as a stimulus for creative writing or drama in middle grade classrooms especially.

The Cave will appeal to a very wide range of readers and is a well researched and fitting tribute to an almost miraculous true event.

About Suzy Davies

Suzy Davies is a Children’s Author, Romance Novelist and Poet. Her new release, Luna The Moon Pig: The Pig Who Hid is illustrated by award-winning world-acclaimed illustrator and animator, Sheila Graber, famed for her work with Paddington Bear and family, Children’s Television and her illustration and animation of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So stories.

Suzy has also published Snugs The Snow Bear, a children’s book, and Johari’s Window, a romance novel.

Suzy has been a writer from an early age. She is a sociologist, and following her first degree at Leicester University, she read for an MA in English Literature at the University of Sussex, in England.

An educationist, Suzy was a Lead English Teacher and Literacy specialist. Suzy is passionate about nurturing future generations of writers, and to this end, she reviews books from time to time, and is an author contributor for The Young Writers’ Newsletter, an international online newsletter which is for young people who wish to write. She is also a regular contributor to The Writers’ newsletter online, where she posts her book reviews.

When Suzy isn’t behind a book, she likes the outdoors and enjoys communing with nature on the beach or by one of Florida’s lakes. She also likes to go to music concerts and enjoys visiting restaurants or mall shopping.

You can follow Suzy on Twitter @birdwriter7.