It gives me enormous pleasure to be part of Sophie Sabbage’s Lifeshocks blog tour and I’d like to thank Natalie Connors at The Book Publicist for inviting me to take part. In a slightly different, and very personal post, I’m delighted to be able to share a piece from Sophie’s Lifeshocks and an example of a lifeshock of my own.

Published by Coronet on 14th June 2018, Lifeshocks is available for purchase here.

Lifeshocks

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED IF LIFE IS TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING?

This is a book about all the unwanted and unexpected moments in our lives. They surprise us, they blindside us. They shock us. They command our attention. Some bounce off us, other strike deep into our being. These moments are collision points between how we see life and how life actually is. These are lifeshocks.

In her new book Sophie explains how lifeshocks awaken us. She offers her own deeply personal story as well as other case studies as a vehicle for bringing the theory and teachings to life. She focuses on three kinds of lifeshocks we all receive: limiting lifeshocks which challenge our arrogance and appetite for control; exposing lifeshocks which challenge our affectations and pretences; and evoking lifeshocks which challenge our closed-heartedness.

This groundbreaking new book reveals how these lifeshocks can bring healing, transformation and peace.

An Extract From Lifeshocks

Nowhere to Hide

There are moments in time when our internal percep­tions are confronted by external events, when what is assumed, wished for or imagined collides with what actually is. I would later learn a term for these moments from the man who became my spiritual mentor: lifeshocks.

One of my most memorable was just after I’d finished my studies at university. I read English Literature, which I loved for what it gave me that my life didn’t; my large library overflowed with anti­dotes to my inadequacies. It was hallowed ground.

As I packed up my student flat to go home, I bought a roll of black rubbish sacks, filling them with about five hundred books before storing them in the garage at my parents’ house in London. The books included the beautifully bound collections my godmother had given me as a child, as if she knew in advance how deeply I would fall in love with literature. When I came to pick them up a few weeks later, they were gone. Believing the sacks were full of rubbish, Mrs Yeldham, my mum’s cleaner, had thrown them all away. The following morning, I barely registered the degree results, a first class, that arrived in the post. I was too gutted to take in that information.

Ever since I was a child books had been my sanctuary from the inner voice that made me too ugly, too clever, too weird, too intense, too loud, too privileged, too fat, too emotional, too difficult and too damn much.

At the age of ten I read Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird in one sitting on a family holiday in New England. We were visiting friends who lived in a white, wooden, ocean-front house at the top of a cliff on the coast of Maine, with a view across the Atlantic Ocean. It was summer. Their garden was in full bloom and the table was laid for a fresh lobster lunch, but I wasn’t there. I was in Maycomb, Alabama, with Jem and Scout, as they found gifts in the tree outside Boo Radley’s place. I begged to be excused from socialising and was permitted to sit under a tree with my book while our hosts cooked lunch.

Lobsters scream when thrown in boiling water and I cried listening to them. My dad tried to reassure me it was just a release of heated vapours whistling out of the shell joints, but I didn’t believe him. Though I wasn’t brave enough to save the lobsters, I refused to eat them, which gave me another excuse to keep reading about the complexities of race, class and injustice in the American Deep South of the 1930s. I finished my book under a tree in the summer sunshine, occasionally distracted by the great black-backed gulls laughing over­head, and listening to more lobsters scream.

From then on, I kept company with novelists and poets. I would bring them home after school or univer­sity and sit with them in the small hours, inviting them to change me. I wanted to be someone else, to be rewritten; to wake up one day cast as Cleopatra or Anna Karenina – beautiful, revolutionary and epically loved.

This lifeshock – hearing the words, ‘I threw them away’ from the distraught, abjectly apologetic woman who had worked for my mum for years – forced me to face the unhealthy aspect of my love affair with books. Granted, it was a very first-world loss, but it led me to admit that no number of books could provide permanent refuge from my deepening insecurities and the interminable noise in my head. They were not a temple. They were books. Brilliant, beautiful, mind-bending narratives that often fed my soul when it was hungry, but could not save me from my loneliness, my longing or my shame. I cried all day. I couldn’t stop. I kept saying sorry to Mrs Yeldham, who was almost as upset as I was, but the dam had broken – the one I had built with the complete works of Austen and Dickens, Shakespeare and the Brontë sisters, Maya Angelou and Mary Oliver. Eventually my mum, who was also there that day, got a bottle of wine from the fridge and poured three glasses. And we sat with Mrs Yeldham, getting drunk.

Sometimes we need to lose what we are hiding behind to see that we are hiding. It took the sudden loss of my library to expose the emotional distress beneath my intellectual poise. Without my books, I felt naked. I had written a first-class dissertation about mad women in literature and women who wrote their way out of madness, while my own madness spiralled out of control. I think that was the day my conscious quest for ‘Something Greater’ began.

My Day of Lifeshocks

Imagine a cold wintry Monday in 1996. You’ve just brought back your father-in-law from South Wales to Lincolnshire as his wife is dying and, because he is disabled as a result of a massive stroke and completely deaf and blind on his left side, it isn’t right to leave him alone 250 miles away. The phone rings at 6.30AM to say your mother-in-law has just passed away. It sounds a pretty sad moment doesn’t it? It’s one of those times Sophie Sabbage might define as a lifeshock.

That’s what happened to me, but just after I rang the school where we both taught to say my husband and I wouldn’t be in, as we had to deal with a family death, my sister rang me. I’ve never forgotten her tone as she said, ‘I don’t want to add to your troubles but Dad has just been rushed into intensive care with a suspected heart attack.’ Lifeshock number two on the same morning.

As we spent the day juggling phone calls, making funeral arrangements, supporting my father-in-law and dealing with our grief, we also had to find time to travel a 60 mile round trip to collect my mother and take her to see Dad in hospital, not knowing if he would survive.

Next to Dad’s bed in the intensive care unit where he was being closely monitored, Mum looked very pale and unwell. As we were leaving it all became too much for her and she simply keeled over, unconscious on the floor.

Lifeshock number three on the same day.

At that point we had my mother-in-law in the morgue, my disabled grieving father-in-law at home, my Dad on the brink between life and death and my Mum incapacitated as we looked on in horror.

That day seems to me to be one of Sophie Sabbage’s lifeshocks days. A day when the individual has to make a choice about their life.

Now, not all of the outcomes were good, but my husband and I see that day as pivotal in our lives. We’d never intended to work until retirement age, but that day cemented our resolve to live our lives to the full.

And we have.

We ‘retired’ very early, taking the risk that we could live on our savings. We’ve travelled the world from Antarctica to Zanzibar. We’ve had fun. We’ve laughed  – a lot! And we’ve had some bad times too which make the good ones all the sweeter in our 35 year marriage. And as we plan ahead with Bali, Indonesia and Hong Kong coming up as our next trip we definitely think our ‘lifeshock’ moments have helped us live our lives to the full.

About Sophie Sabbage

For sixteen years Sophie Sabbage was mentored by Dr. K. Bradford Brown. He was a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and Episcopalean minster, but he drew on ancient spiritual traditions from far and wide as well as modern psychological wisdom and practices. His work synthesises Western psychology and Eastern philosophy in a powerful, accessible and modern way that anyone can use for their development. For over twenty years Sophie Sabbage took Dr. Brown’s work into corporate companies through her company Interaction – from British Airways to Unilever and the NHS. She is still a Senior Trainer with the educational charity he co-founded, in which she teaches people from all walks of life how to engage with their lifeshocks.

Since her diagnosis she has been delivering talks and workshops to cancer patients to empower them to listen to the lifeshocks that this brutal disease delivers in ways that empower them mentally and emotionally. She is the author of the bestseller, The Cancer Whisperer.

Sophie lives in Kent with her husband John and daughter Gabriella.

You can follow Sophie on Twitter @sophiesabbage and visit her website. You’ll also find her on Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too.

My grateful thanks to Katrin Lloyd at Accent Press for inviting me to be part of the launch celebrations for The One That I Want by Lynne Shelby. I’m very excited that Lynne has agreed to stay in with me today and tell me more about this latest book.

Staying in with Lynne Shelby

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

Hi Linda. Thank you so much for hosting me.

My pleasure. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought along my second novel, The One That I Want. I’m super-excited that it’s just been published on 26th July.

(Congratulations Lynne. A slightly belated happy book birthday!)

What can we expect from an evening in with The One That I Want?

You can expect the glamour of show business as well as an authentic look behind the glitz, a love story, and a story about the importance of family and friendship.

There is a link to a trailer for the book here.

(I really enjoyed watching the trailer Lynne. Some great shots of London there!)

And here is an extract in which Lucy, a theatrical agent, and Cassie, a TV star, who have been friends since childhood, are discussing Owen, an up-and-coming actor:

‘I don’t have a favourite client,’ I said. ‘But I do think Owen is a very talented actor. If you’d seen him on stage, you’d think so too.’

‘You like him, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I do,’ I said. ‘Actually, I’m meeting him for a drink tomorrow after work.’

‘Was that your idea or his?’ Cassie said.

‘I’m not sure.’ The previous night, after we’d finished our champagne, we’d left the charity gala together, and I’d invited Owen to share my hired car, dropping him off at his flat in South London. While we sped through the dark streets, we’d talked non-stop, but as to which of us had suggested continuing the conversation over a drink, I’d no idea. I said, ‘I think it was me. I don’t remember.’

Cassie gave me a long look. ‘Lucy, tell me honestly. Is there something going on between you and Owen?’

‘There honestly isn’t,’ I said, taken aback. Where was this coming from? ‘We had a good time together last night, but I’m not attracted to him.’

‘Does he know that?’ Cassie said.

(And now, of course, I really want to know what happens next!) 

What else have you brought along and why?

I’ve brought along a photo of crowds watching stars arriving on the red carpet for a film premier in Leicester Square, London, which I pinned to my inspiration board when I was writing The One That I Want, a bottle of champagne because my characters often drink champagne, and a CD of show tunes, because I love musical theatre and some of my characters are musical theatre performers.

I think we all love a bit of musical theatre! The One That I Want sounds a smashing read Lynne. Thanks so much for staying in with me and telling me all about it. Now, let’s get that champagne open and celebrate The One That I Want in style!

 The One That I Want

The latest sparkling romance from the award-winning author of French Kissing.

When Lucy Ashford lands a top job at a leading theatrical agency in London, work mixes with pleasure, as she literally falls into the arms of Hollywood heartthrob Daniel Miller.

Handsome, charming and irresistible, Daniel is just what unlucky-in-love Lucy needs, and she is quickly drawn into his glittering celebrity lifestyle. But can she tame the A-list bad boy or is she just one more girl in Daniel s long line of conquests?

And then there’s up-and-coming actor Owen Somers, fiercely talented but as yet uncast in a starring role. After she takes him onto the agency’s books, Owen and Lucy’s friendship slowly grows. If she looks closely, Lucy’s leading man might be right before her very eyes…

The One That I Want is available for purchase here.

About Lynne Shelby

Lynne Shelby writes contemporary women’s fiction. Her debut novel, French Kissing won the Accent Press and Woman magazine Writing Competition. She has done a variety of jobs from stable girl to child actor’s chaperone to legal administrator, but now writes full time. When not writing or reading, Lynne can usually be found at the theatre or exploring a foreign city, writer’s notebook, camera and sketchbook in hand. She lives in London with her husband, and has three adult children who live nearby.

You can find more information on Lynne’s website, on Facebook and by following Lynne on Twitter @LynneB1.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I love travel and one of the places I have enjoyed visiting is South Africa so when Rachel Poli asked me if I would like to support Zozi Flash 2017, an anthology of South African authors, with an extract and giveaway I jumped at the chance.

Although I didn’t have chance to read and review all the Jozi Flash 2017 entries, I have chosen one to share with you today that particularly caught my attention.

You can download Jozi Flash 2017 here.

Jozi Flash 2017

It’s not quite the Gummi Bears, but it certainly bounces around a lot.

Jozi Flash 2017 combines the talents of ten brilliant authors with one gifted artist, to bring you a collection of 80 flash fiction stories across eight different genres.

From a children’s story about the folly of summoning dragons, to the horrors held in deliciously treacherous ice cream, the authors take you on journeys that weave fantasy and folklore together alongside practical detectives and everyday tragedy.

With stunning artwork prompts by Nico Venter, these South African authors have created an anthology that will leave you breathless.

An Extract from Jozi Flash 2017

Artefact by Nthato Morakabi

We were constantly searching for them. Researchers, analysts, and scholars from across all fields pursued possibilities of unknown artefacts that vetoed Fringe Science had suddenly revealed to us.

It was merely a matter of time before I was attacked by Them.

Pin pricks crawled along my bare feet and up along my legs. I felt them all. Millions of tiny needles clawing up my body.

My feet failed to budge. My body refused to move. It seemed only my internal system worked as my heart thumped in my chest and my frigid blood converged along my spine. My mind whirred uncontrollably at the irrational prospect of being covered in swarms of millipedes, perhaps ants, or worse – spiders. The skittering continued below the thermal blanket covering me, rising higher. The heat-reflective plastic sheet over me crackled with irregular movement.

Frantic, I urged my body to move. I utilised all mental capabilities to force some sort of response – to no avail. When the prickling feet reached my abdomen, some seemingly superhuman strength hoisted my body upwards, feet kicking haphazardly, hands hysterically sweeping over my body hoping to rid myself of whatever critters had infiltrated my bed. But there were none. Still shivering, I called to the ship’s AI for light.

Then I saw it.

It stood before me on myriad segmented legs that tapered to the floor. They were attached to an oblong cephalothorax that became a bulbous abdomen scraping the ceiling. A large head hovered above me and drew closer. The chelicera clicked together once. All eight eyes blinked separately.

Professor.

It spoke.

A film of sweat covered my body as though every inch had been suffused in ice. I shivered uncontrollably.

I understand this form is a terror imbued within the human psyche, hence why I approached you thus.

“What …” was all I managed.

What do I seek? It is simple. Your ship approaches my home and my people are severely hostile towards your approach. Any closer and we will–

The door to my pod swished open, cutting off the voice. The creature scuttled around to face the intruder.

Captain Halberd.

Relief washed over me as the great, bearded captain raised his Dissonance pistol and took aim. Only it wasn’t towards the creature, it was …

The weapon fizzled with life and an electric current buzzed through my mind. A moment later, the arachnoid began to shrink and amalgamate in a viscous fluid, its limbs fusing with a metallic glint until a single cubed entity hovered at the foot of the bed.

“Man versus machine was such a cliché in my day.” Captain Halberd grunted. A moment later, his secondary pistol had let off a resounding bang. The cube turned to ash. From behind his jacket he pulled out the infamous pocket watch displaying a swirling galaxy – the First Artefact. He looked up as though seeing me for the first time.

“I suggest you rest, Professor. We will require your expertise soon. We found a new artefact.”

About the Jozi Flash 2017 Authors and Artist

Ten talented authors and one gifted artist joined forces to create an anthology of flash fiction stories that embody the multicultural melting pot that is South Africa.

For more info on the individual authors, take a look at their author pages here.

International Giveaway

Win free copies of eBooks by three Jozi Flash 2017 authors:

Beneath the Wax by Nthato Morakabi

1723: Constantine Bourgeois is a man of many secrets. Artisan by day, killer by night, he turns his victims into wax figures for his shop.

2045: Richard Baines works for the renowned Anthony Garfield Historical Museum. His mundane existence is a stark counterpoint to his fascination with serial killers and science fiction.

Constantine’s nightmares drive him to undertake a journey to uncover a long-forgotten secret. Richard’s research uncovers a company secret and the mystery of Madame Bourgeois.

Two men, two timelines, and truths that will only be revealed when they look Beneath the Wax…

Dim Mirrors by Carin Marais

Dim Mirrors is a collection of 39 flash fiction stories that open windows into worlds of fantasy and nightmare. Interwoven with images from mythology and folklore are the themes of love, loss, and memory. The comical “Not According to Plan” leads to more serious and introspective works like “Blue Ribbons” and “The Destroyer of Worlds”, while mythology and folkloric elements come together in stories like “The Souls of Trees” and “Ariadne’s Freedom”.

Sketches by Nicolette Stephens

Like art sketches, flash fiction stories are fleeting moments captured in a few hundred words.

In a world without men, the first boy child is welcomed as the saviour of his race; a cuckoo clock holds death and destruction in its beautifully carved figures; and a snowman holds a silent vigil of peace during war.

In this collection of 50 stories, illustrated with her artwork, the author delves into worlds of imagination and reality inspired by words and drawings.

Please note that this competition is run independently of Linda’s Book Bag and I have been asked to provide the following statement:

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter link here.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

For more about Jozi Flash 2017 follow the tour with these other bloggers:

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

Staying in with Patrick Canning

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What else have you brought along and why?

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

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

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

The Colonel and the Bee

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

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

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

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

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

What dangers await the Colonel and the acrobat?

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

About Patrick Canning

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

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

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

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

Kill For Me

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

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

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

About Tom Wood

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

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

Kill For Me UK Hardback Giveaway

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

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

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

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

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

In the Dark

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

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

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

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

My Review of In The Dark

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

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

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

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

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

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

About Cara Hunter

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

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

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

You can follow Cara on Twitter @CaraHunterBooks.

There’s more with these other bloggers too: