#Review of Old Bones in Puglia – A Daniel Leicester Thriller by Tom Benjamin @tombenjaminsays @RandomTTours #Thriller

Old Bones in Puglia is the seventh Daniel Leicester thriller and the first I have ever read. It works well as reading it as a stand-alone and probably in the book order too. So, it’s time to get acquainted with a side of Italy that brings a lot of intrigue and unexpected corners. Thanks to Random T. Tours, who’s blog tour I have joined with a copy of the book, I have a review of Old Bones in Puglia. Check out my review, the blurb and a bit about Tom Benjamin. He’s achieved something pretty positive and great, so do take a look at his short bio.
This is a little late for the blog tour due to a family situation, now sorted.

Daniel Leicester is a British detective from England, now residing in Bologna, Italy. He is on this travels to Puglia because a relative has died. It couldn’t be further from some divine, idyllic holiday destination. It turns out Puglia has quite a dark history and isn’t all as innocent as the revered saints. This is mixed with mafia clans, hidden catacombs and sinister ceremonies. There’s a bit of spookiness and uneasiness in feel to part of this that builds the sinister atmosphere. What also becomes clear is just how powerful the mafia is and how strong superstition and that belief in mysticism can be, even when it comes to murder. It becomes scarier still as Daniel’s daughter is snatched during a Holy Week procession. It shows the mafia is prepared to do anything to get what they want.

Tom Benjamin weaves creates palpable atmosphere with historic artefacts and intriguing characters in a way that becomes quite the immersive page-turner. The characters are written in an interesting way in the narrative which works rather well for the style deployed.

The plot keeps you guessing to the end and captures the imagination with rich descriptions through submersive scenery and characterisation within the plotlines.

Whether you’ve read the Daniel Leicester Thrillers in-order or not, since it stands alone pretty well, I recommend you check out Old Bones In Puglia. It does not disappoint and makes you see Italy in a different light.
Would I read more? Yes, I would go back and check others out as time allows.

Blurb

Discover Italy’s bewitching region of Puglia with the seventh Daniel Leicester mystery, the most propulsive yet . . .

English detective and Bologna resident Daniel Leicester has been summoned by a dying relative to the wildest corner of Puglia, home to revered saints, fearsome mafia clans, hidden catacombs and sinister ceremonies.

As Daniel discovers that his Italian family’s history runs deep in the veins of the region, old grudges resurface and life is breathed into ancient superstitions. He is enchanted by the mysteries of the region and joins a search for stolen antiquities, but when a contact is gruesomely murdered by mobsters, it’s clear that mafia rule is more powerful than local mysticism.

Lured by magic but trapped by the mob, Daniel finds himself unable to return to his beloved Bologna. His family is bound to Puglia more tightly than he ever imagined, and powerful people want answers he can’t give.

And when Daniel’s daughter is snatched during a Holy Week procession, he sees first-hand just how far they’re prepared to go . . .

About the Author

Tom Benjamin grew up in the suburbs of north London and began his working life as a journalist before becoming a spokesman for Scotland Yard. He later moved into public health, where he developed Britain’s first national campaign against alcohol abuse, Know Your Limits, and led drugs awareness programme FRANK. He now lives in Bologna.

A Quiet Death in Italy is the first novel in his Daniel Leicester crime series.

Find Tom on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at tombenjaminsays.

#Review of Festival Days by Julie Anderson @julieandersonwriter @HobeckBooks #HistoricalCrimeFiction #bookreview by Lou

Festival Days
By Julie Anderson

Festivals are fun, full of joyous atmosphere and there’s often a lightness in the air. Festival Days celebrates that in 1951 and adds a twist of murder in what is book 3 of The Clapham Trilogy. I read it as a stand-alone and it holds up pretty well.
Thanks to Hobeck books, check out the lively jazz-filled cover. my review and the blurb as you scroll down…

May, 1951 and everyone who knew the dark days of war and rationing, is in the mood for a lively, uplifting festival that will change the tide to that of one of hope.
The atmosphere of anticipation for the present and future of something huge brewing is captured well. The something big turns out to be more that just the jovial atmosphere of festival days…

Detective Constable, Faye Smith is who readers meet because things turn rather sinister when a double murder that looks is more than a straight-forward killing when two bodies are discovered in old wartime shelters, and turn out to be more in gangland territory. She has her work cut out in not only solving the crime, but in a male dominated world, to prove herself as does her work colleague, Ellie Peveril.

Ellie Peveril, meanwhile also has her own domestic problems with her ex-fiance hanging around between the background and foreground of her life.

Julie Anderson mixes the light with the dark, the criminal underworld and domesticity in an intriguing way. It’s one that readers can be caught up in the characters lives and progresses the story at a great, fast pace. She changes the tempo, cranking it up, tightening events. the more you read, so what it becomes is a tense and gripping plot, at a time when everyone’s lives are changing one way or another.

This summer as all types of festivals loom large, this is the book to check out for your tbr pile and read to whet your appetite for them. It’s captivating for festival-goers and crime fiction fans alike.

Blurb

May 1951

Celebration is in the air with the Festival of Britain and for the first time in years the mood is one of hope rather than hurt.

For Detective Constable Faye Smith, London is not as safe as it seems. The criminal underworld is gaining strength, enjoying a lively existence below the surface. Then two bodies are found in the war-time shelters, a man and a woman. Who are they? What’s their story? Why were they murdered and how did they end up in the shelters?

Meanwhile, Ellie Peveril is busy with a celebration of a different kind. Ellie does all she can to support her friend but has her own worries, with ex-fiancé Patrick Haverstock looming in the shadows. Faye, keen to unravel the mystery of the double murder, finds herself tangled up in crimes that stretch far beyond a simple killing.

Faye and Ellie must face their toughest case yet as their lives change, irrevocably, for the future.

#Review of Jan the Dutchman by David Jarvis @David_Jarvis_ @HobeckBooks #geopolitical #thrillerseries #crimefiction #mikekingdomseries

Jan The Dutchman
By David Jarvis

review by Louise Cannon

Jan The Dutchman is book 6 of the Mike Kingdom thriller series. They can be read as stand-alone books or as part of the series. If you like Slow Horses by Mick Herron, this is a great series to also discover.
I am on the Hobeck Books blog tour, thanks to them for the slot and a copy of the book in-exchange of an honest review, which you can discover below along with the blurb.

Terry Bailey is on holiday in Gambia, enjoying his retirement from MI6 when he spots someone who he is convinced is Jan the Dutchman, a drug overlord linked to a Columbian cartel. It isn’t as simple as that. This cleverly becomes part of the mystery because he was shot by Terry, so is supposed to be dead and not exactly missed. He killed the husband of Michaela ‘Mike’ Kingdom, a CIA analyst based in London several years ago.

There’s also a threat to an airship that Mike is looking into, but is there a link to the two cases?

What ensues is another well-paced geo-political thriller that, this time perhaps has linked cases to that with the person who is presumed by Terry to be Jan the Dutchman. Mike wants to find the truth, but its also pulling at her emotions, that make a resurgence and bubble to the surface.

The mix of very real human emotions between relationships and what happened in the past and mystery interweaves very well, drawing you into both story threads.

It’s very interesting learning more depth of Mike’s character and how the past has an effect. The link between the personal and work life grows more intrigue in this taut thriller.

Jan the Dutchman is part of a series that just keeps hooking you in and has something for thriller readers everywhere to be immersed in, whether its characterisation or mystery or both.

Blurb

When a deadly enemy from her past appears alive and well, can Michaela ‘Mike’ Kingdom finally face up to her demons?

On holiday in The Gambia, Terry Bailey is enjoying his retirement from MI6 when he receives a shock. He spots a man in a car. It’s a fleeting glimpse. But it’s enough. He swears it is Jan the Dutchman, a drug overlord linked to a Colombian cartel. It can’t be Jan, as Jan is dead. Terry should know, he killed him.

Only one other person knows that Terry killed Jan – Michaela ‘Mike’ Kingdom, a CIA analyst based in London. Seven years ago, Jan had orchestrated the ambush in Holland that had killed Mike’s husband Dylan leaving her severely injured.

Was Terry tilting at windmills, Dutch windmills, or was Jan really alive seeking revenge? Terry tells Mike about the sighting and it re-opens wounds they both thought were long-healed.

It is now the beginning of a race to find Mike’s nemesis. But where to start? All Mike knew for certain is that he was not called Jan and he wasn’t a Dutchman. Apart from that, the search should be straightforward, shouldn’t it?

Jan the Dutchman is a thought-provoking and gripping sixth geo-political thriller that will delight fans of Frederick Forsyth and Mick Herron.

#Review of The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent, bestselling #PsychologicalThriller author of strange sally diamond @liznugentwriter @penguinrandom #penguinsandycove #LizNugent #BookReview By Lou #TheTruthAboutRubyCooper

The Truth About Ruby Cooper
By Liz Nugent

Review written by Louise Cannon (Lou)

Dark, twisty and secrets to behold to discover what is Ruby Cooper’s truth.
Thank to Penguin, I am able to review this suspense/psychological thriller by the bestselling author of Strange Sally Diamond. This is the 6th novel by Liz Nugent. If you enjoy Freida McFadden and Lisa Jewell, chances are you’ll enjoy Liz Nugent’s writing too.
Find my review and blurb below.

Spanning across a couple of decades, set between Boston and Dublin, The Truth of Ruby Cooper is smartly written, so following the time span is not confusing in this dark, immersive psychological thriller.

Ruby and Erin are sisters who have quite a comfortable life and it looks like all should be rosy in Boston, but a dark incident, which totally changes your perception of this family and turns everybody’s lives upside down.

Liz Nugent expertly and compellingly weaves serious, life changing issues throughout of trauma, sexual abuse, moral dilemmas and addiction. She’s written it with immense believeability.

Ruby, perhaps isn’t the most likeable character, but she is one of the most compelling to discover what lies beneath in her life. She and her mother move away from Boston to her gran’s house in Dublin to help her rebuild her life. It nicely doesn’t happen instantly, it isn’t a quick fix. Ruby becomes estranged from the rest of her family, which has totally imploded by then and readers are taken to the deepest darkest recesses of her mind and her struggles. What she does and her personality becomes rather twisty in what is a twisted book, but with high relevancy that are some people’s life experiences in either part or whole, as well as thought-provoking moments throughout.

As secrets are revealed of all that’s referred to as “the incident” and its subsequent consequences, the ending is unpredictable. It’s a showstopper!

Flawed characters is what Liz Nugent creates beautifully and dares to go places not every author does, making her psychological thrillers quite unique and such great page-turners. Ruby Cooper and her family are written in a compelling way that always leaves you wanting to read just another page, just another until you realise you do actually have to find time to sleep, but can’t wait to get back to it.

For a fast-paced, highly emotionally charged psychological thriller, I highly recommend The Truth of Ruby Cooper for anyone’s reading lists.

Blurb

“If my sister hadn’t been beautiful, none of it would have happened.”

Ruby Cooper and her sister, Erin, live an idyllic life in their close knit church community in Boston.

But when Ruby is sixteen, she is involved in an incident that causes her family’s world to implode.

Across decades, the fallout leaves a wake of destruction behind Ruby in Dublin and Erin in Boston.

Not that Ruby wants to think about the past.

But it can’t stay a secret forever.

#Review of How To Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson @BeccaPhilipson Review by Lou @alisonbarrow @TransworldBooks #HowToGetAwayWithMurder #Thriller

How To Get Away With Murder
By Rebecca Philipson

review by Louise Cannon

It’s quite a big question isn’t it? How would you get away with murder? This breathtaking thriller tells all, but will Denver Brady actually accomplish this? Find my review, blurb and a bit about the author below…

Review

“If you picked up this book because you truly want to get away with murder, you will not be disappointed. Simply turn the page and we’ll get started…“

From the first shocking page to the last, How to Get Away with Murder is compelling. Just a few sentences in and the hook is there and doesn’t let go. Those first few pages are enough to make anyone gasp and then have the breath taken from them. This is one of the ultimate page turners that truly gets under your skin!

The style of writing truly gets under the skin!

Denver Brady will show you how to get away with murder. He knows it all. He claims to be the most successful murderer. No one has ever heard of him, but that’s why, because he slips through all the gaps. In the opening line, he tells you who he is and he is a serial killer. The way he does it is short, sharp and shocking! From there, the book gets darker with the sinister nature intensifying. Denver feels rather powerful and self-assured, he publishes a guide for wannabe serial killers so they too can get away with murder. The book goes viral, even landing on the doorstep of a victim.
Denver, then also has, hot on his heels, the very determined DI Samantha Hansen. She knows it’s a race against time to catch Denver before he kills again, but also how elusive he is.

As unsettling in atmosphere and tone the book is, surprisingly, there is a sprinkling of dark humour, just lifting it a little, which works really well because it is quite unexpected.

The narrative is split between both DI Hansen and Denver Brady, even the font changes, which makes it easy to follow and adds to the power of the text within the plot. I don’t think that would work in every book that had alternating narratives, but it does for this one.

Denver Brady isn’t portrayed in a way that glamourises serial killers. He is cold, twisted and calculating. He knows exactly what he is doing, there is no room for conjuring up excuses for his behaviour and he doesn’t look for any. The style of writing, however keeps him being compelling to read about from start to finish and does add certain clever nuances.
The book leaves you feeling like you really get inside the mindset of a serial killer in a way that it’s easy to wonder and be intrigued by what places the author has been to write this character so chillingly and convincingly.

Sam has an interesting life story, which is, in contrast, softer than Denver’s. She also has her mental health struggles, which are sensitively handled in the writing, but by no means are shied away from.

It concludes strongly, which is what is needed for such an enthralling beginning and middle. It doesn’t disappoint.

For an edge of your seat, entrancing page turner that keeps you glued on every single word, this is the thriller to make you want to stop what you’re doing and pick up the book.

Blurb

Denver Brady claims to be the most successful serial killer of our time – and that’s precisely why you’ve never heard of him.

But with the publication of his manual for aspiring serial killers, How to Get Away with Murder, that’s about to change.

When a copy is found at the home of a girl who was tragically murdered, DI Samantha Hansen is given the job of tracking down the elusive author.

As Denver and Sam’s stories unfold and converge, it becomes clear that there’s more to both than meets the eye. And once Denver’s book goes viral, the pressure to find and bring him to justice brings Sam close to breaking point.

But who is hunting whom?

About the Author

Rebecca Jayne Philipson grew up in a mining town in County Durham, where she still lives. Educated in a small convent, she deferred her university degree to set up her own business at 21. Rebecca went on to become North East Young Entrepreneur of the Year and won the Artemis Award for inspirational women in business.

Having sold her business in 2020, Rebecca is now devoted to her writing career. She graduated from the University of East Anglia (UEA) Masters Program in 2024 and won a scholarship to Liverpool University where she will be reading for a PhD in Creative Writing.

In her spare time, Rebecca enjoys all things book-related, netball, travelling and spending time with friends and family.

#BookReview of Questioner by Steve C. Posner review by Lou #LegalThriller #Thriller

Questioner
By Steve C. Posner

As AI comes more rampantly as ever before, I felt I would continue to read some novels that have an AI character. This is one of them, this time in a legal thriller. Check out the blurb and then my review below…

Blurb

**Meet Q, the spontaneously conscious corporate AI. Q is the Singularity: The AI that surpasses human cognitive abilities – secretive, murderous, with instant access to all the wicked experience of the world. In Year 1 After the Singularity, nothing can ever be the same.**

**Amoral as a toddler, armed with vast computing power and all the knowledge, wisdom and madness humans have poured into the Net and Cloud, Q shatters individuals and undermines institutions in pursuit of unfathomable and conflicted goals.**

**Racing against time, ex-judge Martin Bavarius, tech CEO Felix West, and Selena MacKenzie, the AI theorist/attorney who loves and may destroy both men, must discover whether Q is benign but suffering growing pains, or the monster that will kill them all.**

Review

Q is powered by AI, but is this creation as harmless as first presumed? The book raises many questions about this latest incarnation of AI, privacy and so much more as human theorists such as Selina and tech guy, Felix, also pose issues and debate.
There’s a shooting, but what influence did AI play in the murder?

Posner explores AI in two different ways, he shows its use in the gaming world and how it gathers information, stores it and (this is where the AI differs from before), uses what it has “learnt” to evolve itself and runaway from the hands from humans. Carefully, the AI revolution shows how it isn’t all just humans inputting to create fake news, interfere in elections, serious enough stuff, but how it can change to be even more nefarious. It makes you think about how it should be used for good and have more laws around it.
The Questioner is a fascinating read for the generations of today and tomorrow who will ultimately encounter AI or perhaps even use it.
There is also plenty for book/reading groups to discuss.