What’s a crime reader to do when visiting a new country for the first time? Find a crime book set there, of course! On my first-ever trip to Scotland this fall, I picked up a copy of PERFECT REMAINS by Helen Fields - a Scottish crime novel which came highly recommended to me by friends and a Waterstones bookseller alike! PERFECT REMAINS has all the gore and shock value that readers expect from a serial killer thriller, coupled with its uniquely-Scottish backdrop and roots. If you’re in the market for a visceral and relatively gory crime novel with a side of police procedural, PERFECT REMAINS will be right up your alley. While this book didn’t upend some of my recent favorite serial killer thrillers (THE FOURTH MONKEY by J.D. Barker and HIDE AND SEEK by M.J. Arlidge, to name a couple), I thoroughly enjoyed this chilling story.
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Author Interview: M.J. Arlidge (DI Helen Grace Series)
Every reader has that dream list of favorite authors they would love to meet; for me, one of the people at the top of my list is M.J. Arlidge, author of the DI Helen Grace series. While in Scotland for the Bloody Scotland crime festival, I had the fantastic chance to sit down with Arlidge and interview him about the Helen Grace series as a whole, and HIDE AND SEEK in particular! I'm thrilled to share this interview as part of the Graceland Blog Tour, a week spent exploring the world of Helen Grace, one book at a time.
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Blog Tour | Book Review: MARIA IN THE MOON by Louise Beech
Some books seem to defy categorization and expectation entirely—Louise Beech’s MARIA IN THE MOON is that kind of read. Releasing from Orenda Books on September 30th, this enchanting and brooding story managed to captivate me, unsettle me, and keep me fully immersed from the first page to the last. I’m delighted to participate in the blog tour for this stunning novel today! Whatever your expectation for this story might be, MARIA IN THE MOON is likely to surprise you; this book is neither crime fiction nor literary fiction, it’s neither terribly dark nor is it wholly uplifting. What it is is honest: Beech’s writing feels raw, as though the reader is privy to the author’s innermost self, laid bare on the page. MARIA IN THE MOON is a beautifully-constructed and wholly transporting novel, one that draws readers into a young woman’s search for her own memories—a search which reveals truths she has long since hidden from herself.
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Book Review: HIDE AND SEEK by M.J. Arlidge (Helen Grace #6)
The wait is nearly over: one of crime fiction's most compelling, complicated detectives DI Helen Grace returns this October in HIDE AND SEEK by MJ Arlidge (Berkley; on sale 10/10/17) – and she's back in a big way. Arlidge's gripping crime series has been a favorite of mine ever since I first dove into Book 1 (EENY MEENY) nearly two years ago. Somehow, Arlidge manages to just get better and better; with each new series installment, Arlidge ups the ante, delivering more insight into Helen's complicated character and higher stakes for the crimes she must solve. True to form, Arlidge has outdone himself yet again with HIDE AND SEEK: this superb thriller reads like a cross between a locked room mystery and an episode of Criminal Minds, serving up one of my favorite reads of the series so far.
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Bloody Scotland Interview: Christopher Brookmyre
Earlier this month, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Scotland for Bloody Scotland, an annual crime fiction festival held in the town of Stirling! Of all the fantastic opportunities this festival provided, my personal favorite was the chance to sit down and chat with some of crime fiction’s most exciting authors. Thanks to publicist extraordinaire Fiona Brownlee, I had the opportunity to interview Scottish crime fiction author Christopher Brookmyre and get an overview of his bibliography, discuss his most recent US release THE LAST HACK, and a whole lot more! I’m thrilled to share a recap of my conversation with Chris as part of the blog tour for the Bloody Scotland book today - you can read more about this short story collection at the bottom of this post.
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