Blog tour: 21 to 28 February 2024

Synopsis

Ash Carter returns to Israel on what should be a straightforward mission. However, there is a mystery. Why did Alfred Duffy go AWOL from the British Army, go to Israel and then hand himself in at Acre Prison?

The mystery deepens when Carter finds that Duffy escaped just as he arrived.

The hunt begins but as the mystery unravels towards an exciting climax, it becomes unclear who is the hunter and who the hunted.

My review

Set in the new state of Israel in the late 1940s, The Prisoner of Acre is the fourth book in the Ash Carter Near East crime thriller series. The series is a prequel to the brilliant Ash Carter mystery thrillers, which are based in Singapore in the 1950s.

It’s April 1949 and Captain Ash Carter, who is in the British Army’s Royal Military Police (in the Special Investigations Branch), has been tasked with finding an AWOL soldier, Sergeant Alfred Duffy, from the Royal East Kent Regiment. Duffy was temporarily assigned to Provost Company 225, based in Cyprus, but went missing after getting a two-day leave pass. A week later, he turns up at Acre Prison in Israel, where he hands himself in, and Carter is sent to Haifa, with two colleagues, to bring Duffy home.

It sounds like a simple task but, knowing this fascinating series, I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy for Ash!! Right from the start, I was waiting for the action to kick off and it didn’t take long for things to go awry!

Carter sets off to find Duffy, cleverly following clues about his whereabouts, and meets lots of different characters along the way. Some people are more helpful than others and most of them definitely shouldn’t be trusted. As the novel progresses, Ash finds himself involved in something a lot bigger than he imagined and he’s not really sure what’s happening and why. He faces some terrifying situations and I genuinely couldn’t see him escaping some of them and was wondering when his luck was going to run out!

Overall, The Prisoner of Acre is a well-researched, action-packed and gripping read! It’s well plotted and fast paced with lots of action, lots of tension and some terrifying twists and turns. There are startling revelations and some violent and shocking scenes, but all in keeping with the story. The characters are well drawn and the main protagonist is intelligent and brave but also rather reckless at times, which adds to the excitement as you never know what he’s going to do next! I love the way his brain works and how he manages to put the clues together and figure out what’s happening, especially when things are at a dead end.

There are lots of military and political tensions in the period and area in which the book is set and it’s all very tense and volatile. I could really picture the location and it was well described. There’s such a sense of menace and danger to the story and no one can be trusted, even those close to Carter. While reading, I was on edge the whole time, waiting for someone to be threatened or attacked!

I was wondering how the story was going to be resolved but things came to a dramatic and satisfying conclusion, which left me wanting to read more! I really enjoyed the original Ash Carter thrillers and this prequel series is intense and absorbing and an excellent addition to the author’s list. I hope there’s going to be another book soon.

Buy the book

The Prisoner of Acre (Ash Carter, Near East crime thriller, book 4) by Murray Bailey is released on 23 February and can be preordered on Kindle from Amazon.

About the author

Murray Bailey got his first taste of success when he was published in The Times at 18 and in his local newspaper. Although he went on to pursue a different career, he continued to write and edit and became the editor of an international magazine and editor of four technical books.

I Dare You was the first of his books to be published in 2016. It was followed by Map of the Dead, the first of the series based on his interest in Egyptology. His main series, however, is the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father’s experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s.

Murray was born in Greater Manchester, England and has been moving south ever since. He now lives on the beautiful Dorset coast with his wife and family.

Twitter: @MurrayBaileybks
Facebook: @MurrayBaileyAuthor
Instagram: @murraybaileyauthor
Website: https://murraybaileybooks.com/

Blog tour

Thanks to Murray Bailey for my digital copy of The Prisoner of Acre and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 5 to 18 February 2024

Synopsis

When her husband suggests a romantic break, Claire feels obliged to say yes but immediately regrets it.

After the tragedy they’ve been through, how can one weekend in Paris save their marriage?

Claire and Ronan aren’t the only people on a make-or-break visit to the City of Love. There is a big-shot movie producer from Hollywood, full of regret for a life ill-lived; a student from Boston, torn between love and duty; a Ukrainian refugee struggling to protect her little sister; and an old woman from Dijon, hoping to be braver than she has ever had to be before.

When their lives briefly intertwine, something extraordinary happens …

My review

Set in Paris over one September weekend, Last Chance in Paris tells the story of multiple characters who are all in the city for different reasons.

A married couple from Cork, Claire and Ronan, are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary and trying to find each other again after heartbreak; well-known movie producer, Harry, working on his next film, is looking back over his life and regretting some of his choices; US student and bookshop assistant, Dan, is falling in love but unsure if things will work out; Yeva, a Ukrainian refugee, is trying to protect her younger sister; and an old lady called Mireille from Dijon is being brave and facing the past.

It’s a lovely, poignant read as we learn more about their lives and the things they’ve faced over the years. Each of them has a moving story to tell. It was fascinating to see how the story expanded, how their paths crossed and how various connections between the characters were revealed.

The setting of Paris was great – it’s always lovely to spend some time in this beautiful city and visit the sights! I really felt like I was exploring Paris with them all and it reminded me of my visits there.

I liked the fact that there were French and Ukrainian phrases scattered throughout the book. It was a nice touch and I had fun looking them up!

I really enjoyed this book; it was well written, thought provoking and emotional and I enjoyed the way that people’s lives and stories were cleverly woven around each other. It had me guessing about how the characters were linked and wondering how their stories were each going to end. I felt such a range of emotions while reading and I couldn’t put it down as it was so engaging and captivating.

This is the author’s debut novel and I will definitely be looking out for her next book!

Buy the book

Last Chance in Paris by Lynda Marron can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks. See also Ethical Book Search.

About the author

Lynda Marron was born in Dublin and spent her early childhood in a small town called Prosperous in Co. Kildare. At the age of nine, she moved to Cork. She has not yet mastered the language.

In her teens, she learned that reading curbed her anxiety, and that writing swept it clean away. Thus began her addiction to ink.

Lynda graduated from University College Cork in the mid-nineties with two degrees in microbiology, neither of which brought her any closer to her dream of writing a novel. She opted for the longer route, the Life Experience Creative Writing Course, which included teaching English to Italian teenagers, filing letters in a GP’s surgery, writing listicles for an online bookseller, and a 25-year module called Read All the Books.

She has made and raised four lovely humans, each of whom she taught to read. When she isn’t busy writing her second novel, you’ll find her reading, not weeding, in her rewilded garden. Her greatest ambition is to one day plant a forest, or even just an oak.

Last Chance in Paris is her debut novel.

Instagram: @sultanabun

Blog tour

Thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers and Eriu Books for my digital copy of Last Chance in Paris and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 18 to 31 October 2023

Synopsis

Judge not the man.

Charles Balcombe cannot control his alter ego.

BlackJack is killing for fun and DI Munro knows his partnership with Balcombe can’t continue.

While Balcombe seeks help, Munro is asked to work for the Hong Kong governor’s aide-de-camp. He seems to be sidelined as Garrett resumes his hunt for the Squeezed-heart murderer.

But people have secrets and the more Munro investigates, the murkier they seem. When people start dying and with Balcombe’s help, Munro tries to get to the bottom of a conspiracy of silence.

Will he find the truth?
Will Garrett catch his killer?
Will Balcombe learn the truth about himself?

As the psychoanalyst told him: a third of the mind is darkness. If you dig too deep, be prepared. You won’t like what you find there.

My review

In the third book in this series from Murray Bailey, it’s July 1954 in Hong Kong and Charles Balcombe (not his real name) is still struggling to control the murderous urges from his alter ego, the mysterious BlackJack. In fact, things seem to be getting worse and even Balcombe’s passions – free climbing and dalliances with multiple married women – can’t keep the darkness at bay.

Balcombe moved to Hong Kong the previous year to escape his past, change his name and his life. He’s in his mid-twenties and a bit of a player. He used to be a member of the elite Special Investigations Branch of the Royal Military Police.

Inspector Gordon Garrett was taken off the squeezed-heart murder cases but he’s back to challenge Detective Inspector ‘Babyface’ Munro for his job and still suspicious of Balcombe, who he believes is responsible for the killings.

To keep him out of trouble, Munro asks Balcombe to help find a missing 17-year-old woman called Patricia Albright, who is the daughter of the aide-de-camp, the personal assistant to the governor of the island. As he investigates, Balcombe makes lots of interesting discoveries and learns that there’s more to Patricia’s disappearance than meets the eye. He has to investigate far and wide, and question various people and, slowly, vital clues and elements are revealed as the story progresses.

There are startling revelations and some violent and disturbing scenes, but all in keeping with the story. The characters are well drawn and Balcombe is a fascinating protagonist – he’s intelligent and charming but reckless and impulsive and you’re never sure what he’s going to do next. I enjoyed getting to know him again and learning a bit more about his past and seeing the flashes of BlackJack, who he struggles to control in certain situations, especially after a few drinks. It was also interesting to see how he responded to the psychoanalyst, Doctor Swift, who was recommended by his friend, Roy Faulls.

The rickshaw driver called Albert who Balcombe befriended in the first book is an important character and still works for him and is often sent on special undercover jobs. Albert is invisible and very useful, often getting close to people without them realising!

As with other books from the author, the story is set in a rather tense and volatile area. Various gangs add a sense of menace and danger and there are also military and police tensions and elements of corruption and abuse. It’s a clear case of trust no one and I was suspicious of all as I was reading – everyone seems to have their own agenda and is looking out for themselves and can’t be trusted.

Hong Kong, its culture and its various suburbs and areas are richly described and I could really picture the location and the contrast between the richer and poorer areas.

I really enjoy the police procedural element to the BlackJack series of novels. In this book, there are some great twists and turns, as well as clever misdirection, along the way, before we come to the conclusion of everything. With a Murray Bailey book, you know there’s going to be a cleverly plotted ending that catches you by surprise and there were certainly some startling revelations this time round!

Overall, A Third is Darkness is another well-written, action-packed and gripping read! It’s fast paced with lots of tension and shocks, and the short chapters meant that I raced through the book, just wanting to read one more chapter!

I really enjoyed the original Ash Carter thrillers and this follow-on series is gripping, exciting and entertaining but also a slightly different style to the others. It’s an excellent addition to the author’s list and I look forward to reading his next book soon!

Buy the book

A Third is Darkness by Murray Bailey is available in paperback from Amazon now and on Kindle from 3 November.

Set in Hong Kong in July 1954, this is book three of the BlackJack series. The author recommends reading Once a Killer and Second to Sin first.

About the author

Murray Bailey got his first taste of success when he was published in The Times at 18 and in his local newspaper. Although he went on to pursue a different career, he continued to write and edit and became the editor of an international magazine and editor of four technical books.

I Dare You was the first of his books to be published in 2016. It was followed by Map of the Dead, the first of the series based on his interest in Egyptology. His main series, however, is the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father’s experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s.

Murray was born in Greater Manchester, England and has been moving south ever since. He now lives on the beautiful Dorset coast with his wife and family.

Twitter: @MurrayBaileybks
Facebook: @MurrayBaileyAuthor
Instagram: @murraybaileyauthor
Website: https://murraybaileybooks.com/

Blog tour

Thanks to Murray Bailey for my paperback and digital copies of A Third is Darkness and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 9 to 13 October 2023

Synopsis

Six days to stop a deadly attack. And no one else believes it’s real.

Former CIA undercover operative Ellen McGinley is battling to overcome PTSD when she stumbles upon a domestic terror plot. The deadly attack is due to take place in six days and will strike at the very heart of her homeland.

For Ellen, it’s a chance to find redemption for her greatest mistake – one she will never allow herself to forget.

But no sooner than she alerts the authorities, she finds herself diagnosed as delusional and locked in a psychiatric ward. No one believes her story.

She’s the only one who thinks the danger is real, which means she’s the only one who can stop it.

Ellen must draw on all her old skills to escape, stay alive, protect her family, and find those responsible – before all hell breaks loose.

My review

This is the first book I’ve read by Chris Merritt and I loved it! It’s such a gripping read and I couldn’t put it down. I finished it in a couple of days and it only took that long because I had to sleep and work!

When the main protagonist, Ellen McGinley, a former CIA undercover operative, overhears a conversation between two men at the hotel in Washington DC where she’s attending a function, it sounds suspiciously like a terror plot.

A week later, on the way to a meeting in Philadelphia with a contact to discuss what she heard, she realises that she’s being followed. In an effort to protect herself, Ellen goes too far and is arrested and taken in for questioning. No one believes her story and she ends up at the local state-run psychiatric facility when they learn about her past medical history, including her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Set in the US, the story is told over seven days, in the lead up to the terrorist attack, and there are flashbacks to an event in Ellen’s past that happened five years ago and which caused her PTSD. We also hear from the five people planning the attack as well as some mysterious characters who are also involved in the plot but at a higher level. Intriguing stuff!

Ellen is a great character! She’s very brave, strong and intelligent and uses her CIA experience to get herself out of numerous scrapes and difficult situations. She is also mum to six-year-old Josh and wife to Harry, a congress person.

This is an action-packed thriller with lots of twists and turns, and the storyline takes Ellen on a crazy journey as she fights to save herself, her family and all the numerous people who could be injured or killed in a potential terrorist attack. She’s attacked, terrorised and hunted down and constantly watching her back.

Overall, I really enjoyed Committed – it was an intense, gripping and exciting read and I was holding my breath at certain points, terrified about what was going to happen next! It’s very fast paced and tense and had me turning the pages frantically. It would definitely make a great film – I could just imagine watching it at the cinema!

This is the first book of the author’s that I’ve read but I’ll definitely be checking out his other seven books very soon!

Buy the book

Committed by Chris Merritt can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks.

About the author

Chris Merritt is a British author whose crime thrillers combine psychology, suspense, and characters you care about.

All his novels are set in London, where he lives. His first trilogy starred Zac Boateng and Kat Jones, two detectives motivated by family, who tackle organised crime and police corruption. Last Witness, the second Boateng and Jones book, reached #13 in the UK Kindle chart in 2019.

His second series features detective Dan Lockhart – an ex-soldier with a missing wife – and psychologist Dr Lexi Green, an American living in London. These novels are darker, more psychological serial-killer cases, with romantic relationships as a central theme.

Chris began writing fiction in 2014, after previous careers as a diplomat, based in Iraq and Jerusalem, and later as a psychologist working with victims and perpetrators of crime. He specialised in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which sparked his interest in telling stories about how people cope when faced with extreme adversity.

Now, he spends most of his time writing novels and drinking coffee while thinking about writing novels. When he’s not writing, Chris loves climbing and playing basketball.

Twitter: @DrCJMerritt
Facebook: @chrismerrittauthor
Instagram: @cjmerritt81
Website: cjmerritt.co.uk

Blog tour

Thanks to Rosie Margesson at Headline Books for my paperback copy of Committed and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 3 to 14 July 2023

Synopsis

One missing person. Ten sleepless nights. Whatever happens, don’t close your eyes …

Catherine is frantic. It’s her husband Simon’s turn to take their son to nursery and he’s nowhere to be seen. He promised he’d be here. So, where is he? And why isn’t he taking her calls?

Her worst fears are soon realised when the police arrive at her door to tell her that Simon is missing, presumed dead. Refusing to accept that he’s gone, Catherine spends her days retracing his last steps, and her nights searching the streets in desperation.

She will not rest, she will not sleep, until she’s put her family back together.

The days merge into one, and things quickly unravel. Then comes another knock at the door. This time, a young woman. A stranger. Who tells Catherine she doesn’t know her husband at all. That their whole life is a lie.

Catherine needs to know the truth. She needs to find Simon more than ever.

The body can’t survive for more than 10 days without sleep. Will Catherine find her husband and uncover the truth, before it’s too late?

My review

Catherine Wells is looking forward to her day: a lie-in, before brunch with her friend, Lydia, at London Bridge at 11, then they’re visiting the Cezanne exhibition at the Tate Modern in the afternoon. Her husband, Simon, is supposed to be getting their four-year-old son, Charlie, ready before taking him to nursery.

Catherine is woken up by Charlie crying and soon discovers that there’s no sign of Simon. At first, she assumes that he’s gone out jogging, then she remembers that he was going out for work drinks last night. Typical, he’s obviously hungover and has stayed with a colleague!

As she leaves the house to take Charlie to nursery, Catherine is alarmed to find two police officers on the doorstep and even more shocked when they reveal the reason for their visit – her husband is missing, presumed deceased.

Catherine refuses to believe that her husband is dead and she frantically tries to trace his last movements and work out exactly what happened. Her mum helps look after Charlie while Catherine, rather foolishly, fights sleep and refuses to let her mind and body recover and heal. She’s in a state of sleep-deprived delirium as she struggles to put all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together.

There are several secrets to be revealed as we meet friends and colleagues of the couple and the web of deceit grows larger and larger.

The story is mainly told from Catherine’s perspective, as well as a young woman, Sara, who we meet later in the book. There are also flashbacks from that night, when Simon went missing, which slowly and suspensefully reveal what happened.

In another thread to the story, there’s mention of an incident that happened one Friday morning in early August 2018, in which a male jogger pushed a female pedestrian into the path of an oncoming double-decker bus. All very intriguing and I was curious to discover how things were all linked, if at all!

Catherine and Sara were very different characters but were both likeable, if rather naive. Luckily, both women have close friends, in Lydia and Helen respectively, who are there to support them. Simon was an unpleasant character and I really disliked him and was shocked by various revelations concerning his behaviour.

This was a tense and gripping read, and cleverly plotted. I really enjoyed the premise of the story too – it was a bit different and, just when I thought I’d sussed things out, there were a few twists and turns that kept me on my toes! It was a very engaging and absorbing read and I whizzed through it in a couple of days and didn’t want to put my Kindle down!

Overall, I really enjoyed Don’t Close Your Eyes and I can’t wait to read the author’s next book later this year!

Buy the book

Don’t Close Your Eyes by P.S. Cunliffe can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks. See also Ethical Book Search.

About the author

P.S. Cunliffe is originally from the North-West of England. A musician and artist, as well as a writer, he holds degrees in fine art and creative writing.

He has spent the last 20 years working for some of the world’s biggest websites, and now lives in North London with his wife, Bailey, and his dog, Rufus.

Don’t Close Your Eyes, published by Embla Books, is his debut thriller and tells the story of Catherine, a woman who refuses to sleep until she has found her missing husband. His second book will be published in November 2023.

Twitter: @paul_cunliffe
Instagram: @pauliecunliffe
Website: paulcunliffe.com

Blog tour

Thanks to Embla Books for my copy of Don’t Close Your Eyes and Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 3 to 14 July 2023

Synopsis

From G.T. Karber, the creator of the popular online daily mystery game at http://www.Murdle.com, comes this fiendishly compulsive and absolutely killer collection of 100 original murder mystery logic puzzles. Join Deductive Logico and pit your wits against a slew of dastardly villains in order to discover:

• Who committed the ghastly deed?
• What weapon was used to dispatch the victim?
• Where did the dreadful demise occur?

These humorous mini-mystery puzzles challenge you to find whodunit, how, where and why. Examine the clues, interview the witnesses and use the power of deduction to complete the grid and catch the culprit. Packed with illustrations, codes and maps, this is the must-have detective casebook for the secret sleuth in everyone.

Are you the next Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot? You’ll soon find out, if you dare to Murdle!

Today’s clue

There are three weapons that the murderer might have used in THE MYSTERY OF THE MURDERED MILLIONAIRE: A red herring, a chess board, and a bulletproof vest. With the red herring, if you hold it by the tail, you can get some real momentum behind it. A bulletproof vest would be an ironic weapon to kill someone with. And a chess board presents a game that’s much like a global conspiracy. For example, uh …

The Murdle Detective Agency: Solve a special blog tour murder mystery case by checking out all the blog reviews, starting with @mrsbookburnee on Insta, where you’ll find some instructions to help you on your way. See also @mymidnightbooks, @thevampireslibrary and @susiesbooksreviews (tomorrow). For the remaining clues, visit the bloggers listed on the blog tour banner below.

What is Murdle?

Murdle is a deduction game where you solve mysteries with the logically minded Deductive Logico and his rival, the esoteric Inspector Irratino. Every puzzle can be solved using only your mind, a piece of paper and a pencil.

Join Deductive Logico as he investigates murders at luxury ski resorts, quaint village halls and grand science institutes. (But beware of Logico’s arch rival, Inspector Irratino, of whose clairvoyant mystic methods he deeply disapproves.) Examine the clues, interview the witnesses and complete the deduction grids to catch the culprits.

Together, you’ll uncover a secret buried beneath the murders and a message that can only be decrypted when you’ve solved them all …

My review

With postal delays, my copy of Murdle only arrived yesterday so I haven’t had a chance to get stuck into many of the puzzles yet but they all look great fun! I used to love doing logic puzzles when I was younger and these are even more devilishly devious and really make you think!

There are 100 murder mystery logic puzzles to solve and they gradually increase in difficulty from elementary to occult medium to hard boiled and, finally, impossible! Luckily, there are hints at the back of the book and also the solutions!

Each logic puzzle is a complete murder mystery case and you have to analyse the clues, decode ciphers, examine witness statements and apply your reasoning and logic skills to work out the who, what and where, using the deduction grid provided to bring it all together … and lots of paper in my case! (Make sure you use a pencil and not a pen too!)

The puzzles are cleverly concocted and also humorous too. They’re very moreish – I tried one and, before I knew it, I’d worked my way through several more! I’d definitely recommend them to anyone who’s looking to challenge their mind and blow out the cobwebs!

I hadn’t heard of the Murdle.com online puzzles before and it sounds like I’ve been missing out! I’ll definitely be checking those out every day from now on.

Buy the book

Murdle by G.T. Karber can be purchased in paperback from Amazon, Blackwell’s, Waterstones, Hive, Bookshop.org and independent bookshops. See also Ethical Book Search.

There’s a new Murdle book out in October, Murdle: More Killer Puzzles, as well as a third volume, Murdle: Even More Killer Puzzles, in March 2024.

About the author

G.T. Karber grew up in Arkansas, the son of a judge and a civil rights attorney. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arkansas with a degree in mathematics and English literature before gaining an MFA from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. As the General Secretary of the Hollywood Mystery Society, he has staged more than 30 immersive whodunits in the Los Angeles area.

Twitter: @gregkarber
Instagram: @gregkarber
Website: murdle.com

Blog tour

Thanks to Angie Curzi and Souvenir Press for my copy of Murdle and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.