What an absolute thrill to be part of the launch celebrations for The Last Passenger by Will Dean. My enormous thanks to Alainna Hadjigeorgiou at Hodder for inviting me to participate. It’s a real pleasure to help close the blog tour.

I adore Will’s writing and you’ll find my reviews of other of his books by clicking on the titles:

Wolf Pack 

First Born

Bad Apples

The Last Thing to Burn

Published by Hodder and Stoughton on 11th May 2023, The Last Passenger is available for purchase through the links here.

The Last Passenger

A luxury cruise liner, abandoned with no crew, steaming into the mid-Atlantic.
And you are the only passenger left on board.

‘Astonishing’ IAN RANKIN
‘Expect not just the unexpected but strokes of genius’ IMRAN MAHMOOD
‘Thrilling and terrifying in equal measure with a brilliantly heart-stopping ending. So good!’ B.A. PARIS

Caz Ripley, a cafe owner from a small, ordinary town, boards the RMS Atlantica with her boyfriend Pete and a thousand fellow passengers destined for New York.
The next morning, she wakes to discover that everyone else on board has disappeared.
And that’s just the beginning. Caz must prepare for a crossing that will be anything but plain sailing …

With the drama of The Woman in Cabin 10 and the tension of And Then There Were None, The Last Passenger is a psychological thriller set aboard a cruise ship about a woman whose seemingly ordinary life is suddenly thrown dramatically off course. Will Dean is The Master of Intense Suspense and this novel is full of his trademark twists and turns.

My Review of The Last Passenger

Goodness me. The Last Passenger is a book and a half! Like a terrifying, dystopian Agatha Christie, The Last Passenger is a locked room mystery thriller that bends morality, shines a stark and unforgiving spotlight on today’s world and ensnares the reader in its actions. 

Initially I wasn’t certain I was going to enjoy The Last Passenger, but Will Dean’s writing is utterly persuasive so that before I knew it I was entirely invested in the narrative. Once I grasped the concept I was completely hooked. And now I have a problem, because I can’t really comment on character, plot or themes as I would normally do because any one of those might contain a spoiler for other readers. 

I can say that the short chapters, the variety of sentence structure, the contrast between Caz’s first person account and other third person narrative ensures layer upon layer of mesmerising tension. I can say that the escalation of events is terrifying and scarily plausible as they build on what happens now in our more prosaic lives so that The Last Passenger is immediate, realistic and dystopian in a terrifying blend. I can say that from an uncertain start for me, I thought The Last Passenger was totally fabulous and I simply could not set the book aside, but rather put ordinary life on hold to gulp it down with my heart thumping more the more I read this disturbing narrative.

The ship setting is inspired, as the veneer of luxury and privilege is stripped back to reveal a reality that leaves the reader’s mind reeling. Caz’s experiences on board illustrate the way her past family life affects her, with an immediacy of the need to survive on the ship so that through her the reader contemplates so many aspects of modern life and the way in which we have, to a scary extent, lost a grasp of reality and humanity. The Last Passenger is completely entertaining and gripping as a story, but even more it is a thought-provoking and terrifying contemplation of humanity that resonates long after the book is finished. 

I’m aware that I haven’t really reviewed The Last Passenger at all. Blame Will Dean’s manipulative, sublime and completely engrossing writing for that. I really don’t want to spoil the book for other readers. So, here’s my overarching comment: The Last Passenger is utterly brilliant. Buy it! 

About Will Dean

Will Dean lives in the middle of a vast elk forest in Sweden, where the Tuva Moodyson novels are set. He grew up in the East Midlands. After studying Law at the LSE, and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden and built a wooden house in a boggy clearing, where he lives with his wife and son, and it’s from this base that he reads and writes.

Will Dean is the author of Dark Pines, Red Snow, Black River and Bad Apples in the Tuva Moodyson series. His debut novel in the series, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s Book Club and shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize. The second, Red Snow, won Best Independent Voice at the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards and was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2020, as was his third novel, Black River. The series is in development for television. Will is also the author of two stand-alone novels, The Last Thing to Burn, shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2022, and First Born, both published by Hodder.

Will Dean posts regularly about reading and writing on YouTube and you can find him on Twitter @willrdean, Instagram and Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

Now, I’m not supposed to be blogging today as I’m taking some time out, but I simply couldn’t wait any longer to share my review of Eighteen Seconds by Louise Beech. I’d like to thank Louise for organising a copy of Eighteen Seconds to be sent to me and thank Mel Sambells at Mardle Books for ensuring it reached me in return for an honest review.

I love Louise’s writing and you’ll find an extract from Nothing Else here, my review of This Is How We Are Human (one of my books of the year in 2012) here, of Call Me Star Girl here, Maria in the Moon here and of How to be Brave here.

Eighteen Seconds: A shocking and gripping memoir of horror, forgiveness and love, was published by Mardle on 27th April 2023 and is available for purchase through the links here.

Eighteen Seconds

Family is the best thing in your life. And the worst.

My mother once said to me, ‘I wish you could feel the way I do for eighteen seconds. Just eighteen seconds, so you’d know how awful it is.’

I thought about it. Realised we could all learn from being in another person’s head for eighteen seconds. Eighteen seconds inside Grandma Roberts’ head as she sat alone with her evening cup of tea, us girls upstairs in bed. Eighteen seconds inside one-year-old Colin’s head when he woke up in a foster home without his family. Eighteen seconds inside the head of a girl waiting for her bedroom door to open.

Writer, Louise Beech, looks back on the events that led to the day her mother wrote down her last words, then jumped off the Humber Bridge. She missed witnessing the horror herself by minutes.

Louise recounts the pain and trauma of her childhood alongside her love for her siblings with a delicious dark humour and a profound voice of hope for the future.

My Review of Eighteen Seconds

A memoir.

Let me say at the outset that I’m not a huge lover of memoir and frequently find them self-indulgent, contrived and probably filled with untruths. That said, I’m a huge fan of Louise Beech’s writing and have read several of her eclectic fiction titles so I knew Eighteen Seconds would be good. It isn’t merely good. It’s magnificent. I have been utterly undone by the terrible honesty in this book. I could not have loved Eighteen Seconds more or have been more completely mesmerised by it.  It is an astonishing read that left me in pieces. If I didn’t know that Eighteen Seconds was a memoir, I’d think it was a most painfully exquisite work of fiction. But knowing it is true, that Eighteen Seconds is Louise Beech’s life laid bare makes it outstanding. And beyond emotional. And life changing. I’d defy anyone to read Eighteen Seconds and not find a little bit of themselves between its pages so that this remarkable book is metamorphic. 

If this were fiction then the plot would be described as character led and impactful, but this is real life in all its imperfections so that it feels as if Louise Beech has afforded her readers an insight into a world (hopefully) unfamiliar but that illustrates to perfection how we can never really know just what others might be experiencing. She deals with dark and disturbing themes and events with integrity and breath-taking authorial skill. Not only is Eighteen Seconds a fascinating account of a life, it is a masterclass in writing too. 

The structure of Eighteen Seconds is so clever as the author weaves her childhood experiences into her mother’s post-suicidal treatment along with snippets of the recent Covid pandemic which means that there are hooks where even readers who have experienced the complete opposite to Louise Beech’s tumultuous life, feel seen and recognised. The author might have been searching for a personal catharsis in writing her memoir, but her strength gives hope to her readers too. 

It is actually impossible to review Eighteen Seconds with any semblance of coherence because it isn’t really a book you read. It’s one you feel and live through with the author in a profound and searing manner.

It feels entirely inappropriate to say that I adored Eighteen Seconds as it’s filled with the darkness of poor mental health, many kinds of abuse and terrible neglect. But it’s also brimful with humanity, love and hope so that it is raw, emotional and magnificent. To be honest, I don’t quite know how to review Eighteen Seconds as it is, quite simply, outstanding and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Just read it.

About Louise Beech

Louise’s debut novel, How to be Brave, was a Guardian Readers’ pick in 2015 and a top ten bestseller on Amazon. The Mountain in my Shoe longlisted for the Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize 2016. The Sunday Mirror called Maria in the Moon ‘quirky, darkly comic, original and heartfelt’. It was also a Must Read in the Sunday Express and a Book of the Year at LoveReadingUK. The Lion Tamer Who Lost was described as ‘engrossing and captivating’ by the Daily Express. It also shortlisted for the RNA’s Romantic Novel of the Year and longlisted for the Polari Prize 2019. Call Me Star Girl hit number one on Kobo. It also longlisted for the Not The Booker Prize and won the Best magazine Big Book Award 2019. This Is How We Are Human was a Clare Mackintosh August Book of the Month 2021. Audiobook memoir Daffodils came out in 2022, and novel Nothing Else too. Her memoir is Eighteen Seconds published in April 2023.

Louise also writes as Louise Swanson.

You can follow Louise on Twitter @LouiseWriter, find her on Facebook and Instagram and visit her website for further information.

I didn’t sign up to the blog tour for Cuckoo in the Nest because I didn’t think I could review in time and then the tour would be over before I could post my review. However, I love Fran Hill’s writing and Cuckoo in the Nest kept calling to me (pun intended) and with my enormous thanks to Olivia Le Maistre for sending me a copy of Cuckoo in the Nest in return for an honest review, I’m delighted to share my thoughts today.

I’ve also reviewed Fran’s Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean? here. 

I also stayed in with Fran in a post you’ll find here.

Published by Legend Press on 26th April 2023, Cuckoo in the Nest is available for purchase here.

Cuckoo in the Nest

It’s the heatwave summer of 1976 and 14-year-old would be poet Jackie Chadwick is newly fostered by the Walls. She desperately needs stability, but their insecure, jealous teenage daughter isn’t happy about the cuckoo in the nest and sets about ousting her.

When her attempts to do so lead to near-tragedy – and the Walls’ veneer of middle-class respectability begins to crumble – everyone in the household is forced to reassess what really matters.

Funny and poignant, Cuckoo in the Nest is inspired by Fran Hill’s own experience of being fostered. A glorious coming of age story set in the summer of 1976.

My Review of Cuckoo in the Nest

Jackie’s life is tricky.

Cuckoo in the Nest is glorious – written with Fran Hill’s characteristic mix of emotion and humour that gets right to the heart of her characters and brings them into vivid life for her readers, laying bare their innermost thoughts, hopes and fears. Through this wonderful narrative Fran Hill explores the veneer of personality that we so often place over our true feelings and emotions to provide a persona to the world that belies our messy, flawed truths. She also illustrates to perfection why people behave as they do and how they can worsen situations whilst trying to atone for other perceived ills. This is such engaging, mature and intelligent writing. It’s funny too.

Equally evocative is the cultural 1976 setting for the story through such references of food, television, the hot weather and music for example. They transported me right back to being a teenager when I was a year older than Jackie in the story, because they are so perfectly observed. As the theme of fostering is so relevant to today, Cuckoo in the Nest feels simultaneously modern and nostalgic so that it tugs at the reader’s emotions in a perfect blend.

Jackie is a triumph. The way her experiences are depicted acts as a voice for all those whose lives are not conventionally lived in a warm and loving home. Through Jackie’s placement with her foster family the Walls, Fran Hill peels back the layers of ostensibly perfect society and reveals many kinds of dysfunction that are sensitively handled and brilliantly engaging to read about. Amanda in particular shows the pressures a teenage girl can experience. My heart went out to her every bit as much as it did to Jackie. There’s a fabulous authenticity within the narrative that made me recall youngsters I’ve taught whose lives were similar and this aspect makes the book all the more affecting.

As well as including engaging characters and a plot that examines real life, Cuckoo in the Nest has so many elements that add layer upon layer of enjoyment for the reader. Jackie’s witty speech, her poetry, Bridget’s domestic obsessions, Amanda’s eating and so on all add a perfectly balanced lightness of touch and depth of feeling that I thought was brilliant.

Having had possibly unrealistically high expectations for this book, I’m delighted to say I adored Cuckoo in the Nest because is warm, witty and wonderful. Don’t miss it! 

About Fran Hill

Fran Hill is a writer and (semi) retired English teacher living in Warwickshire, England. Fran has written three books: a novella called Being Miss (self-published 2014), a funny teacher-memoir called Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean? (SPCK 2020) and a novel called Cuckoo in the Nest published by Legend Press in April 2023.

Fran is a member of the Society of Authors and the Association of Christian Writers and was selected for the prestigious Room 204 emerging writers’ programme run by Writing West Midlands in 2016-17.

For more information, visit Fran’s website, or her blog, find her on Facebook or follow Fran on Twitter @franhill123.

Back in January it was a privilege to help reveal the cover of The Nice Guy and the Devil by Tom Trott. Today, with the book’s publication day fast approaching, Tom has kindly allowed me to share an extract from The Nice Guy and the Devil with Linda’s Book Bag readers. In addition, Tom has provided some fabulous photographs that link to his writing.

Out on 5th May 2023, you can pre-order The Nice Guy and the Devil through the links here. If you’re quick, there are still a couple of days left to grab your copy for 99c or 77p depending on your location!

The Nice Guy and the Devil

Nice, France — Retired CIA agent, Cain, is living a quiet life, trying to stay out of trouble.

But he can’t turn off his old instincts like a lightswitch.

When an unsuspecting American woman becomes the target of criminals, he can’t sit back and do nothing.

What starts as one good deed puts Cain in the sights of highly-trained mercenaries, brings him to the attention of INTERPOL, and puts him on a collision course with evil personified.

With no one he can trust, in a land of double-crosses, Cain must rely on his wits to survive.

An Extract from The Nice Guy and the Devil

About Tom Trott

I can’t believe it’s six months to the day that Sarah Mallory featured here on Linda’s Book Bag with an excellent post on researching historical fiction to celebrate The Duke’s Family for Christmas and I’m still waiting to read that one! Today Sarah has another fabulous sounding book out – The Night She Met the Duke and it’s a privilege to share an extract with you.

Published by Mills & Boon Historical today, 27th April 2023, The Night She Met the Duke is available for purchase here.

The Night She Met the Duke

Who is her mysterious midnight visitor?

The Duke!

Hearing herself described as ‘a lady as dull as her name’ is the final straw in Prudence Clifford’s disastrous Season, so she decides to stay with her aunt in Bath. But Pru’s new life is anything but dull when one night she finds an uninvited, devastatingly handsome duke at her kitchen table! Pru knows she will never forget the emotional connection they shared. But it’s their unexpected reunion three months later which will prove truly unforgettable…

An Extract

from

The Night She Met the Duke

Setting: Pru had gone down to the kitchen to find the lamps burning and a stranger sitting at the table.

‘What is the meaning of this?’

At Pru’s outraged exclamation the stranger looked up. Her first thought had been that he was a friend of Nicholas, but she quickly changed her mind. A fashionable curly brimmed beaver hat lay beside him on the table and his dark coat was perfectly tailored to fit over his broad shoulders. His white silk waistcoat was exquisitely embroidered and as he raised his head, the candlelight glinted on the diamond nestling in the folds of his dishevelled neckcloth. Despite his craggy features and the dark stubble covering his face, this was no servant.

He did not get up, merely glowered at her from beneath his black brows.

‘The gate to your area steps was open.’

‘That may well be so, but it does not excuse your coming in here.’

‘I fell down the damned steps! Since the door was open, I thought I might as well come in this way, rather than go back up to the front door.’

‘But it is one o’clock in the morning!’ she retorted.

‘Aye. The night is still young.’

From the faint slurring of his words, she suspected he was not quite sober. She blew out her candle and placed it on the table.

She said coldly, ‘I would be obliged if you would leave the way you came. Immediately.’

‘Oh, I don’t think so. You see, I am in dire need of diversion.’

He pushed himself to his feet and Pru quickly stepped aside, keeping the full width of the kitchen table between them.

‘Go,’ she commanded. ‘Get out!’

‘Ah, you are thinking I have no money.’ He glanced down at his clothes. ‘I grant you I am a little dusty from the fall, but be assured, I can afford to pay for my pleasures.’ He threw a heavy purse upon the table. ‘There, does that make my presence more acceptable?’

‘Not in the least,’ Pru retorted. ‘If you were a gentleman, you would go away this minute.’

‘Well, I’m not. I am a duke—’

She gave a scornful laugh. ‘Even worse!’

‘For heaven’s sake, ma’am, I have only come here to play.’

He took a step towards Pru and she snatched up the poker from the hearth behind her.

‘Stay away from me!’ she warned him. ‘Get out now, or, or I will call my manservant.’

The stranger scowled. His black hair had fallen across his brow and he pushed it back with an impatient hand.

‘Hell and damnation, woman, I have no designs upon your virtue! I want to play cards.’

‘Cards!’ Enlightenment dawned, but Pru did not lower the poker. ‘Then you have the wrong house.’

His dark eyes stared at her. ‘This is not Sally Triscombe’s house?’

‘It most certainly is not.’

‘I’ll be damned.’

She winced at his language but replied in chilling accents.‘Very likely, but not here. Now please, go away.’

He ignored her.

‘This is Kilve Street, is it not?’ He rubbed a hand across his eyes. ‘And Sal Triscombe has a house here. A widow lady,’ he added. ‘Very attractive and…accommodating, I am told.’

‘How dare you suggest I would know any such creature.’

‘Are you telling me you don’t?’

Pru bit her lip. She had heard rumours, of course, but no lady would discuss such matters with a strange man. He was looking at her, expecting an answer.

She said carefully, ‘I believe such a person might live in the house two doors along.’

He nodded, but the effort seemed to weaken him. He staggered.

‘I beg your pardon,’ he said, leaning on the table to support himself. ‘I am damnably drunk you know.’

‘I gathered that much.’ Good heavens, what was she doing, talking with this man?

‘I have been drinking with my friends since dawn.’

‘I have no wish to know about your celebrations.’

‘Oh, I wasn’t celebrating,’ he told her, his lip curling. ‘Drowning my sorrows. Although I didn’t tell my friends that.’

But Pru was no longer listening. His head was bowed and he was clearly struggling to stay on his feet.

‘When did you last eat?’ she demanded.

‘I cannot remember. Not today. We broke our fast with wine this morning…’

‘Good heavens.’ She waved him back towards the chair. ‘Sit down.’

‘What?’

‘You need sustenance before you go anywhere.’

‘Nonsense!’

‘Believe me you do,’ she told him. ‘I would not wager on you getting more than a few yards in your present state. You are far more likely to collapse and be set upon by footpads. Sit down and I will find something for you to eat.’

With an effort he raised his head and looked at her. ‘Why should you do that?’

‘Because I would not want your death on my conscience!’

With a shrug he lowered himself gingerly onto the chair and Pru bustled about, fetching various foods from the larder. She set before him a knife, fork and a plate upon which she had placed the remains of a game pie. She found bread, cheese and a few jars of pickles and put them on the table before going off to retrieve a ham from the larder.

‘Are you going to join me?’ he asked, as she began to carve the ham.

‘No.’

‘But you are going to watch me.’

‘I certainly do not intend to leave you alone here. Who knows what mischief you might make?’ She placed two thick slices of ham on his plate. ‘There. Make a start on that and I will fetch you a tankard of ale.’

‘What, no wine?’

‘I wish to make you sober, not more drunk.’

‘Then at least pour a drink for yourself.’

Pru was about to make some cutting reply, but she stopped, realising that she would indeed like something to fortify herself.

Five minutes later she was sitting opposite the stranger at the table, sipping at a glass of small beer while her companion feasted on the cold meats and pickles she had provided. How prosaic she was. How ordinary. The heroine of her novel would have fainted off to find an intruder in her house. She would not have fed him.

‘What do you find so amusing?’ Her companion’s voice cut through these wry thoughts. She looked up to find him watching her.

He waved a knife in her direction. ‘You were smiling.’

‘Not intentionally.’

‘Perhaps not.’ He studied her. ‘Ah, I see now. Your mouth curves up naturally at the corners.’

‘Yes.’ She looked away, saying with a faint sigh, ‘It is a fault.’

‘It is as if you are always on the edge of laughter. How can that be a bad thing?’

‘My mouth is too wide.’

‘I do not think so.’

Pru realised this was not a proper conversation to be having with a strange man and did not reply.

‘May I know to whom I am indebted for this supper?’ he asked her presently.

‘To my aunt, Mrs Clifford. This is her house.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘It is your name I wish to know.’

‘I am Miss Clifford.’

He raised his brows and Pru firmly closed her lips, determined not to tell him her first name. However, after a few moments curiosity got the better of her and she broke the silence.

‘And who are you, sir?’

‘Garrick Chauntry. Duke of Hartland.’

****

Oo. And now of course, I want to know what’s going to happen between them!

About Sarah Mallory

Sarah Malloryis an award-winning author of over 50 published books, including more than 30 historical romances for Harlequin/Mills & Boon, and she also writes sparkling adventure romances as Melinda Hammond.

Originally from the West Country, Sarah lived for many years high on the Yorkshire Pennines, but in 2018 she ran away to the Scottish Highlands and now lives by the sea, enjoying a whole new adventure.

You can follow Sarah on Twitter @SarahMRomance. You can also visit her excellent website and find her on Instagram or Facebook.

Lovely Miriam McGuirk has been such a supporter over the years and I’m delighted to welcome her to Linda’s Book Bag today as part of the blog tour organised by Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources. To celebrate her new book, Miriam has kindly agreed to stay in with me.

Let’s find out more:

Staying in with Miriam McGuirk

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

It is my pleasure to spend time with you, Linda.

Tell me, (as if I didn’t know!) which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

Surprise surprise, I have brought along my newly released novel, Second Chances. I am proud of this book and what an incredible journey bringing these characters and their world to life.

In the world today, community has never been more relevant. We all need a true sense of belonging and sharing.  Readers want to escape and get lost in heart-warming stories. Perhaps it helps them understand their personal experiences of life.

Oh I quite agree!

Second Chances is a feel-good novel, including community spirit, an emotive story, with secrets, and questions, love and family bonds at its heart.

It sounds lovely. What can we expect from an evening in with Second Chances?

I was delighted with this early review from UK Author Elly Redding:

‘Your writing is beautiful and at times poetic, conjuring up descriptions that transport the reader through time and place, into the world of your characters, so perfectly that I felt I was there, with them, on every step of their journey. What’s more, the visualisations remain with you, long after you read that final page. The knowledge and beauty of India was perfectly conveyed, and I fell in love with Boudie and her guest house – what a wonderful woman.’

That makes Second Chances sound so enticing.

What else have you brought along and why?

Hope you do not mind, I have brought a few of my characters from Second Chances with me. They have insisted on sharing food, drink, and music with us this evening.

That sounds great. Tell me more.

Indian spiced salmon and spinach Vol au Vents straight from Colonel Bryce Beckwith’s hot oven, and Tarte Tatin served with lashings of freshly whipped cream. (He is a wonderful cook!)

Colonel Bryce Beckwith can come again!

A bottle of champagne from Boudie’s Fridge (Florence’s sister who runs a boutique B&B in Little Shore).

Oh, there is a knock at the door. I spy through the letter box  Molly has gifted us a record from Peter Sarsted, Where Do You Go To My Lovely.  

Gosh, that’s a blast from my past. I love that song.

And later, my characters wish to dance to Come Fly with Me by old blue eyes—Frank Sinatra—not forgetting, Chattanooga Choo-Choo by Glen Miller.

Well I think you should put the music on and pour some champagne and you and your characters can get the party started whilst I tell readers a little bit more about Second Chances. Thanks so much for being here Miriam.

Second Chances

Second Chances is a touching tale that takes us on a journey from India to Kent, UK, following the intertwined lives of the residents who live on the same road.

At the heart of the story is Molly—kind-hearted, resilient, and determined to make a fresh start after her husband Rory leaves her and their son Jamie.

But when Jamie disappears on the day they were supposed to move to Kent, Molly’s new life takes an unexpected turn.

As Molly settles into her new community, she befriends her neighbours, Florence and Colonel Bryce Beckwith, who share their own stories of love, loss, and longing for second chances.

The three of them navigate their regrets and come to realise that it’s never too late to make a change.

Second Chances is a poignant, multigenerational tale of connections and community, showcasing the unbreakable human spirit and the hope that can come from taking a leap of faith.

Second Changes was published yesterday, 25th April 2023, is available for purchase through the links here.

About Miriam McGuirk

Born in Dublin, there has been a constant thread of writing and storytelling running through Miriam’s life. She proudly nurtures her ability to tell stories thanks to her Irish heritage.

Miriam lives in the historical town of Rye, East Sussex with her husband, Chris, spending time in her Writing Cave where only her characters join her.

When not writing, Miriam enjoys reading, cooking, sea swimming, and walking along the healing coast.

For further information visit Miriam’s website, find her on Facebook and Instagram or follow her on Twitter @Miriam_McGuirk.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

It’s a very exciting guest on Linda’s Book Bag today as I stay in with Tim Sullivan to find out all about his latest novel. My enormous thanks to Emma Finnigan for arranging this for us. Let’s immediately find out more:

Staying in with Time Sullivan

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Tim.

Thanks for asking me.

Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

No problem. Got to the age where I prefer a good night in to a moderate one out!

Oh me too! Anno domini and all that! Tell me, (although I rather think I know) which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

My latest, The Monk, featuring DS George Cross as it’s out tomorrow.

Happy publication day for tomorrow Tim. What can we expect from an evening in with George Cross?

Hopefully a good yarn but also sense of understanding someone like George. He’s on the autistic spectrum and so sometimes misunderstood. He can be literal, socially awkward and unintentionally rude. But his way of approaching his life is also his gift when it comes to solving crime, murder in particular. He’s a dogged follower of the evidence. He’s doesn’t have gut instincts about cases and won’t let things go until he’s got to the bottom of them. He simply can’t. He’s drawn to outsiders in cases because in many ways that is what he is himself. He actually fits into a tradition of detectives who we would now say are possibly on the spectrum, from Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes to Poirot.

He sounds a brilliant character. I must catch up with the series. What do readers think about George?

This is what some readers have said –

‘I never review books, I’m a rater but not a reviewer but I just had to share that I love George!’

‘I love the character that is George Cross. Brilliant, socially awkward with a mind for puzzles second to none.’

‘DC Cross as a character is funny, irritating, clever and makes you really laugh at times with his black and white view of the world and how it results in interactions with his colleagues or people on the case. For all of his quirks, he is an excellent detective…’

‘George Cross is a wonderful character, an unusual detective, brilliant to read… Putting my finger on why I loved this book so much is difficult, it’s different to the norm, Cross is different, I really loved him.’

It seems that it really is all about George.

He sounds fabulous! So why have you chosen a monk as a victim in this book?

The Monk is set in Bristol where I went to school – in fact the book is dedicated to my English teacher there. It’s a city I know well and love. I decided on a monk being the victim in this particular book because it seemed so unlikely. Why would anyone want to kill a man who is secluded from normal life by choice and has devoted his to God. I myself was an altar boy at Farnborough Abbey as an adolescent and so have drawn on my experience of the place for the book.

I think all authors draw a little on what they know. As an ex-English teacher I love the dedication to your teacher Brian.

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

I’ve brought my wife along to tell me when my jokes aren’t as funny as I think they are.

I have a feeling many husbands might need to do that – mine included…

John Coltrane and Miles Davis for music and endless snacks so we don’t have to bother with a proper meal rounded off with some fantastically wicked ice cream. I’d love a couple of readers to come along as well as I’d be fascinated to hear what they have to say about the books.

From what I’ve been hearing about The Monk Tim I think they’d be saying very positive things indeed. I’m delighted to have The Monk on my TBR and can’t wait to read it. Now, you get the music on and dish up the ice cream and I’ll give readers a few more details.

The Monk

‘I am insanely in love with George Cross’ Stephen Fry

To find a murderer, you need a motive . . .

THE DETECTIVE
DS George Cross has always wondered why his mother left him when he was a child. Now she is back in his life, he suddenly has answers. But this unexpected reunion is not anything he’s used to dealing with. When a disturbing case lands on his desk, he is almost thankful for the return to normality.

THE QUESTION
The body of a monk is found savagely beaten to death in a woodland near Bristol. Nothing is known about Brother Dominic’s past, which makes investigating difficult. How can Cross unpick a crime when they don’t know anything about the victim? And why would someone want to harm a monk?

THE PAST
Discovering who Brother Dominic once was only makes the picture more puzzling. He was a much-loved and respected friend, brother, son – he had no enemies. Or, at least, none that are obvious. But looking into his past reveals that he was a very wealthy man, that he sacrificed it all for his faith. For a man who has nothing, it seems strange that greed could be the motive for his murder. But greed is a sin after all…

The Monk is part of the DS George Cross thriller series, which can be read in any order, is published tomorrow 27th April 2023 by Head of Zeus and is available for purchase here. 

About Tim Sullivan

Author image courtesy of Ivan Weiss

Tim Sullivan is a crime writer, screenwriter and director whose film credits include A Handful of Dust, Jack and Sarah and Cold Feet. Early in his career he directed Jeremy Brett’s iconic portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in ITV’s The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes¸ cementing his lifelong passion for crime fiction.

Tim’s crime series, featuring the socially awkward but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross, has been widely acclaimed and topped the book charts. The Monk is the fifth in the series.

He lives in North London with his wife Rachel, the Emmy Award-winning producer of The Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman.

To find out more about the author please visit Tim’s website, follow him on Twitter @TimJRSullivan find Tim on Instagram.

My enormous thanks to Will Dady of Renard press for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for Crossing Over by Ann Morgan and for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review. It’s my privilege to share my review today.

Published by Renard Press tomorrow, 26th April 2023, Crossing Over is available for purchase here.

Crossing Over

Edie finds the world around her increasingly difficult to comprehend. Words are no longer at her beck and call, old friends won’t mind their own business and workmen have appeared in the neighbouring fields, preparing to obliterate the landscape she has known all her life. Rattling around in an old farmhouse on the cliffs, she’s beginning to run out of excuses to stop do-gooders interfering when one day she finds an uninvited guest in the barn and is thrown back into the past.

Jonah has finally made it to England – where everything, he’s been told, will be better. But the journey was fraught with danger, and many of his fellow travellers didn’t make it. Sights firmly set on London, but unsure which way to turn, he is unprepared for what happens when he breaks into Edie’s barn.

Haunted by the prospect of being locked away and unable to trust anyone else, the elderly woman stubbornly battling dementia and the traumatised illegal immigrant find solace in an unlikely companionship that helps them make sense of their worlds even as they struggle to understand each other. Crossing Over is a delicately spun tale that celebrates compassion and considers the transcendent language of humanity.

My Review of Crossing Over

Edie and Jonah’s lives are about to collide.

Crossing Over was a complete surprise. I was rather expecting an easy read portraying the relationship between two unlikely companions, but instead what I got was an intelligent, thoughtful, profound and affecting multi-layered narrative that ought to be compulsory reading for every politician because it illustrates to perfection the lives of two people for whom convention and rules are unworkable and inappropriate. I thought Crossing Over was incredibly powerful. It’s descriptive, moving and beautifully written with a Dylan Thomas type of intensity in its language and a Shakespearean pathos that I found intriguing, mesmerising and far more emotional than I’d anticipated. 

There’s deep emotion and occasional dark humour mixed with uncomfortable themes of PTSD and dementia, refugee lives and family relationships, racism, war and corruption as well as small community dynamics so that Ann Morgan portrays life in all its nuances in Crossing Over. This is a book that makes the reader think and to ponder it long after the final page is read. 

I loved the way the chapter headings are random and confusing, just like the eddying memories and experiences swirling in both Edie and Jonah’s minds. I thought this was an inspired aspect of the text and the manner with which the two main characters’ stories blend and cross over is skilfully wrought so that echoes between their lives feel natural as well as surprising and entertaining. 

Both characters are richly depicted because Ann Morgan gets right inside their minds, presenting their innermost thoughts with all their flaws, feelings and obsessions with a kind of brutal tenderness that feels astonishing. Through their past lives we come to understand their present selves to perfection.

The plot of Crossing Over appears deceptively simple in that two people find themselves sharing the same house, but that belies the sensitive and layered way Ann Morgan illustrates how we become who we become. She shines a spotlight on the way our past affects us and how the expectations about us from other people, including their prejudices and mis-judgements, are often facets of life we simply can’t escape.

Crossing Over is a beautiful, sometimes stark, and disturbingly realistic exploration of otherness and similarity that blends two disparate cultures into one simple humanity in an affecting, sobering and compelling narrative. I thought it was an incredibly pertinent and sobering tale that deserves a wide audience. 

About Ann Morgan

Ann Morgan is an author, speaker and editor based in Folkestone. Ann’s writing has been published widely, including in the Guardian, Independent and Financial Times, and by the BBC. In 2012, she set herself the challenge of reading a book from every country in a year – a project that led to a TED talk and to the non-fiction book Reading the World: How I Read a Book from Every Country. Her debut novel, Beside Myself, has been translated into eight languages. Crossing Over, her latest novel, draws on her experience living just a few minutes from where many of the small boats crossing the Channel land. She is Literary Explorer in Residence of the Cheltenham Literature Festival for 2022 and 2023.

For more information, visit Ann’s website and follow her on Twitter @A_B_Morgan. You’ll also find Ann on Instagram.

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I don’t know if you’ve discovered Cranachan children’s books yet but I love them and I couldn’t be happier than to support their latest release – Euro Spies by Lindsay Littleson. I’m thrilled that Lindsay has kindly provided a guest post today about her favourite five European cities to celebrate Euro Spies.

Euro Spies was published on 20th April 2023 and is available for purchase here.

Euro Spies

COULD YOU BE A EURO SPY?

Samia is thrilled to win a sight-seeing holiday to Europe, but when shots are fired in the middle of the night on the Euro Metro, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary school trip…

Samia, and her fellow prize-winners, Ava and Frankie, are catapulted into a world of art, espionage, and terrible danger, as they discover the trip is being used as cover for a spying mission.

Can the children solve the fiendish clues hidden on famous European landmarks and avoid the scary strangers who are stalking their every move as they help Miss Watson from MI6?

Top Five European Cities

A Guest Post by Lindsay Littleson

Euro Spies is a love letter to all those magical cities in Europe I’ve visited in real-life and to those I haven’t visited YET.  My hope is that the novel will inspire young readers to want to see these places too. The characters in Euro Spies travel on the fabulous Euro Metro and zoom effortlessly between Paris,  Bern, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Brussels and Amsterdam. Giving a flavour of what each city has got to offer seemed a brilliant way to ignite children’s interest in European travel and certainly made the novel a joy to write.

Here is my own top five list of European cities!

Venice

I visited Venice with my partner a few years ago and completely fell in love with this stunning, romantic city.  Highlights of our trip included a visit to the island of Murano, St Mark’s Basilica and the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, but to be honest, the best part of visiting Venice is just enjoying wandering across the bridges and through the narrow lanes. The gorgeous buildings give the city a magical atmosphere, which I’ve tried to describe in Euro Spies.

The gondolier, smart in his striped polo-shirt and straw boater, used the long oar to push through the sun-splashed green waters of the canal. On either side, ornate palazzos rose dream-like from the water.

Venice is such a special place, and if you haven’t visited, I’d highly recommend. There are downsides of course, and I mention them in Euro Spies. In summer, the city is overwhelmed by tourists and can become uncomfortably hot and crowded. But, I can only echo the words of  Charles Dickens. “I have never in my life been so struck by any place as by Venice. It is the wonder of the world. There is nowhere in the world quite like Venice!”

Paris

Paris holds a special place in my heart because it was my first visit to somewhere outside of the UK. Unusually for the early 70’s, the headteacher of the small village primary school I attended had ambitious ideas for school trips and decided the P7 pupils should go to Paris for four days. That trip was the highlight of my school days, which to be fair, isn’t saying a lot. But it WAS marvellous to be abroad for the first time in my life and I loved every moment. In Euro Spies, Samia feels that same sense of excitement.

As they headed up the stairs towards street level, and dropped off their luggage in the lockers, excitement started building in her chest. Caught in the crowds surging out of the exit, she scrambled to catch up with the others, and joined them on the pavement. 

Blinking in the sunlight, Samia gazed around at the tall elegant buildings with their wrought iron balconies, the shops with their colourful awnings, the cafes with their crowded outside tables. The city buzzed with movement and noise.

My Paris experience was a lot less dangerous and dramatic than the Euro Spies’ trip.  The highlight was when my best friend’s mum, who was with us as a parent helper, demonstrated how to remove her bra without taking off her jumper. It wasn’t information I needed at the time, but it has come in useful many times since!

Amsterdam

Another city on my Top Five is the capital city of the Netherlands. I love its cheerful, relaxed atmosphere, the plethora of cyclists, the lovely little shops on the Nine Streets and the fabulous art galleries. Like all my favourite cities, there are lots of lovely cafes in Amsterdam, , or you could do what Samia and the other Euro Spies do, and have a picnic lunch in the Vondelpark.

After they’d finished the tour of Anne Frank’s house and the museum, they went for a half hour walk along Amsterdam’s cobbled streets and canal banks to the Museum Quarter, where they ate a picnic lunch, sitting on the grass in the Vondelpark. In the distance, jazz music was being played in the bandstand. The paths were busy with cyclists and skateboarders. Samia bit into her broodje, a delicious sandwich filled with smoked chicken breast, crispy bacon and lettuce and she wished that they could stay here all afternoon, chatting and laughing and enjoying the sunshine and the park’s lively atmosphere.

Of course, all my travel plans, like everybody else’s were put on hold during lockdown. My most recent visit to Amsterdam was in March 2020. At the end of our Friday visit to the magnificent Rijks Museum, the doors closed and didn’t reopen for a long time. The Anne Frank Museum shut that afternoon too, and we came home from our break early, concerned that flights were about to be cancelled. I’ve still got our unused tickets for the Anne Frank Museum and have promised myself I’ll be back very soon.

Rome

As a child, I loved reading stories about Roman and Greek Gods. I visited Athens in 2017 and have always been keen to visit Rome. Finally, I’ve managed to organise a trip there and can’t wait to see the Eternal City. During the 2021 lockdown, I went on quite a lot of virtual tours to various European cities, as part of my Euro Spies research, and am so looking forward to seeing the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and the Colliseum in real-life! I’m imagining my experience will be similar to Samia’s.

As they exited the Termini Train Station, Samia was hit in the face by a chaotic hubbub of noise, heat and movement. Scooters weaved crazily between buses, horns blasted and crowds of people surged along the pavements. Rome seemed like bedlam after Bern’s calm orderliness, and it was strangely thrilling.

Seville

The final city on my Top 5 list isn’t a Euro Spies location…but could well appear in Euro Spies 2! I first visited Seville in December 2019 and adored the fact I could walk around the beautiful Royal Alcazar Gardens without needing a jacket, despite it being mid-winter.

The Nativity market was enchanting and the Christmas decorations in the Plaza San Francisco were stunning. I would totally recommend a winter trip to this glorious city.

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Those are fabulous cities Lindsay. Thanks so much for sharing your favourites with us. I can’t wait to revisit them all again when I read Euro Spies – and you will have to include Seville in book two!

About Lindsay Littleson

Lindsay Littleson is a bestselling, prize-winning author. She won the Kelpies Prize for her first children’s novel The Mixed-Up Summer of Lily McLean (Floris, 2014). Guardians of the Wild Unicorns (Floris, 2019) was nominated for the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal. Her best-selling The Titanic Detective Agency (Cranachan, 2019) regularly tops the Amazon charts in its category. The Rewilders (Cranachan, 2022) and Euro Spies (Cranachan 2023) are Lindsay’s seventh and eighth children’s novels respectively.

Lindsay lives with her partner Ian and their very noisy cat in a small village near Glasgow.

For further information, visit Lindsay’s website, follow her on Twitter @ljlittleson or find Lindsay on Instagram.

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