Death Rites by @WendyCartmell @BrookCottageBks Police #Crime #Aldershot setting

Death Rites previously known as Rules of the Earth: A dark disturbing detective thriller by Wendy Cartmell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rules of The Earth is an easy read police drama set in the local, to me, town of Aldershot, Hampshire, UK. So I enjoyed reading about all the local settings, recognising many of them.

The book opens with a gruesome Satanic Baptism and the blood letting of a drugged child. Bethany has been kidnapped from Birmingham, brought to a hidden location, kept drugged and fed little in an underground location. However one day her captor is distracted when he leaves her and she finds the door unlocked and escapes, where she is later found wandering on the Ash Ranges. Traumatised and unable to speak, she is a puzzle to DI Anderson and his team at Aldershot police station.

Sgt Major Tom Crane has lost his career and life after an army accident. He’s enjoyed a past working relationship with the civil police and Anderson really needs his help on the case. But Crane is in a lot of pain and a bad mental place right now. He doesn’t want sympathy, nor does he want to end up on the rubbish heap of life. With a bit of persuation he agrees to help out as a civilian consultant and then the case gets moving.

A second child is kidnapped by the Satanic group, but things go wrong and a trail to the offenders begins to appear. However investigations are hampered by some personal issues for DS Bullock whose own actions divert the attention of some of the team.

A quick read for those who enjoy police crime thrillers or those with an interest in the setting location.

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RULES OF THE EARTH

BY WENDY CARTMELL

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Release Date: 10^th June 2016

Publisher: Costa Press

Sgt Major Crane is out of the army, out of a job and definitely out of sorts. So when DCI Anderson throws him a lifeline, Crane grabs it. A young girl has been found, dazed, bruised and mute. As Crane and Anderson try to find out what happened to her, another girl is found. But this time she’s dead…
Extract

Prologue

It was stifling inside the black hood and he was sure the pointed top was wilting in the heat; just as he was. The smell of the blood in the chalice was making him feel sick and, if he was honest, the last thing he wanted to do was to drink it. But the humiliation of not joining in the ceremony was probably worse than taking a drink. Just.

He and his fellow supplicants formed a semi-circle around an altar, upon which lay a young child: she was very much alive but drugged to keep her quiet while the bloodletting took place. Her long blond hair was in dramatic contrast to the plain black shift that she wore. Her face was white, lips flesh coloured and only the faintest rising and falling of her chest indicated that she was breathing. On the back of one hand was a needle that fitted snugly into her vein. Attached to the needle was a small plastic tube that allowed her precious blood to drip out into the chalice. She could have been asleep, instead of unconscious. Around her were placed seven candles, six black and one white, their flames guttering and smoking in the hot fetid air.

Normally children were banned from attending these rituals, the only exception being the Satanic baptism, which was specifically designed to involve infants, and such a baptism was taking place in the basement of a remote house in the dead of night. It was a ceremony deemed to be necessary to override any Christian or other religious ceremonies that the child may have been subjected to before joining the Satanic Church. He wasn’t so sure it was necessary himself, but then all the churches had their rules, didn’t they? He guessed it was no different to a Catholic first communion or a Jewish Bar Mitzvah and so he’d decided he may as well play along. Let’s face it he had nothing better to do that night. And as he was moving soon, he’d thought he’d better make the most of the last meeting he would be attending.

As the chalice was passed to him he muttered the rite: Cursed are the lambs of God for they shall be bled whiter than snow.

Taking the tiniest of sips but still gagging on the foul taste of the blood, he just about managed to swallow it instead of coughing it out and spraying it all over the child. Thankful that he’d managed to get through it, he passed the cup to the next in line. To be fair, the group had tried to adhere as closely to the ritual as they could, using the rules described in the Satanic rituals, or dramatic performances as they were sometimes called. They followed the suggestions of the clothing to be worn, the music to be used and actions to be taken. It was said that the pageantry and theatricality was intended to engage the participant’s senses on all levels. He could relate to that, for apart from the blood, the rest of it was definitely working for him.

All the males wore black robes and hoods but the young women were encouraged to make themselves attractive to the males present. As a result he was surrounded by a surfeit of black leather and rubber, long shiny thigh length boots and even the odd whip or two. Everyone wore the sign of sulphur around their necks. The intent of the women to stimulate sexual feelings amongst the men was exciting and he couldn’t wait for the bloody ceremony to be over, so they could get on with the really interesting part, the part that started once the ceremony ended.

The Church of Satan smashed all concepts of what a ‘church’ was supposed to be. It was a temple of indulgence, where one could openly defy the temples of abstinence that had previously been built. Rather than an unforgiving, unwelcoming place, as so many of the church’s built by religions that worshiped God were, theirs was a place where you could go to have fun. It was a religion based on self-indulgence, of carnality (of the here and now instead of the there and then), and, most importantly to him, of pleasure instead of self-denial

At last the final person drunk from the chalice, the welcome sound of the bell ringing nine times rang around the room, signalling the end of the ceremony. The formal part over, it was time for the only reason he was there. It was time for the fun to start….

ABOUT WENDY CARTMELL

Wendy Cartmell is the author of the Amazon #1 Bestseller STEPS TO HEAVEN. She lives on the Costa del Sol with three mad dogs and her even madder husband. She inherited her love of reading from her parents and discovered her ability to weave a good story at Reading University, which she attended at the tender age of 40.

After several failed attempts at writing in various genres, Sgt Major Crane, a military policeman, knocked on her proverbial door and the rest, as they say, is history. All 8 Crane crime thrillers are published by Endeavour Press, as well as the Emma Harrison mystery trilogy, set in Reading Young Offenders Institution.

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/wendy.e.cartmell

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Twitter: @wendycartmell

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5276123.Wendy_Cartmell

LinkedIn: https://es.linkedin.com/in/wendy-cartmell-bb52b142

Blog: https://wendycartmell.wordpress.com/

Website: http://wendycartmell.webs.com/

GIVEAWAY

The book is free during tour so grab your copy from AMAZON today!!!

BUY LINKS

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01GBITOKG/

http://getbook.at/rulesoftheearth

Guest Author John P Ford

Today my guest is John Ford author of yesterday’s book “The Royal Descendant”. John is a local author and lives in Fleet, this is his first book. If you missed the book review catch up by following this link http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4Ph

Lets find out more about John and his book.

1) Where is your home town?

Fleet, Hampshire

2) How long have you been writing?

On and off for fourteen years

3) From which key element did your idea for The Royal Descendant spring from?

The premise that the Queen may have had a child. What would happen if the present day descendant decided that they should be on the throne?

4) It took 13 years to write this book, did the plot change much over that time?

The basic idea remained unchanged but as I wrote, particularly after the ten year break, lots of ways to improve the story and the readers experience came to me. For example the letter was a fairly late addition which spawned a whole new method for me to join the past and present.

5) The book travels far and wide across Great Britain, did you travel to all of the places too during your research?

I have visited most of the places mentioned, but not all. Imagination and Google Earth came to my rescue!

6) There is a lot of computer technology in the book, did that come easy to you?

I am fairly IT literate plus I had the help of my son who is an expert.

7) I liked Andrew’s feisty mother-in-law, which was your favourite character to write?

That’s a difficult question to answer. I saw all the characters as parts of the whole and used them to realise my goals as regards telling the story. But it was fun to show Lambert emerging from being an emotional recluse.

8) Professor Lambert plays a big part, can you tell the readers a bit about him?

The character developed as I wrote it. I wanted someone who seemed ordinary and fairly geeky to start with, but had the potential to break out of his boring lifestyle. Making him physically attractive and intellectually brilliant, allowed me to explore elements of both. He hates new technology which gave me scope for some humorous moments. His relationship was also enjoyable to write. It gave me an opportunity to highlight how many normal people are out there who are lonely and find it difficult to find someone special, even though that’s not my own experience.

9) Can you tell us more about the coat of arms calling card used by the killer?

The Bear & Ragged Staff exists and was adopted by Robert Dudley and his brother who were fascinated by an ancestor who fought in the hundred years war. I thought it was a perfect symbol for the killer to use as it gave a clue that would show who had committed the crime, but was obscure enough not to give too much away initially. It also proved visually appealing on the cover and throughout the book.

10) Do you think Andrew Larkin would really resign and take up an easy life after living in the fast lane of National security? Or is there a sequel waiting to be written?

Who said he was taking up an easy life? He had just had enough of the manipulation and politics. I have two projects in the pipeline, neither of which involve any of the characters. But its possible we will revisit them as some point. Perhaps the readers have a view?

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

John will be having a promotional event at Costa Coffee in Fleet on Saturday 22nd March from 10.00-2.00, if you are local and free that day, please try and support him. Thanks.

Thank you John for a fascinating insight in to your book, good luck with the new ideas for your next piece.

Guest Author Elaine Jeremiah

Today our guest is Elaine Jeremiah, author of yesterday’s book review The Inheritance, here is a link to the review http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4oH

Let’s find out more about Elaine and her work.

1) Where is your home town?

I live in Bristol, UK but I grew up in Hampshire near Southampton.

2) How long have you been writing?

I’ve been doing some form of writing most of my life.  I always loved doing creative writing while I was at school as well as at home.  Unfortunately being in education for so long (I studied English at university) meant that for a while my creative writing was put on the back burner, as I was doing a lot of studying.  But since leaving university I’ve been able to concentrate on my writing again and now I’m writing more or less every day.  I’m writing more now than ever.

3) What was the inspiration behind “The Inheritance”?

Well question no 7 pretty much answers this one!  I was searching for inspiration for a story I could write.  I hit on the idea of retelling the parable of the prodigal son for a modern audience.  I thought it would be interesting to tell it from the point of view of two sisters and ‘The Inheritance’ was what I came up with.

4) Do you come from a farming or rural background?

No I don’t.  I had to do some research on farming as I don’t know a lot about it.  It was interesting to me to find out a little about how dairy farms are run.  I have always loved being out in the countryside in England though, and I know parts of Cornwall as I have a lot of family living there.  So using my knowledge of Cornwall and researching the parts I didn’t know seemed to work well.

5) Would you like to live in London as Emma did?

Again, no!  I like to visit London, I find it’s incredibly fascinating as a place, but I would hate to live there.  The reason being it’s just so huge and busy as well as being a bit impersonal.  My sister lives and works there and I have yet to visit her at her new flat, so I’m planning on doing that soon.  I think there are various sides to London; it’s incredibly big as I’ve said and you can have different experiences depending on where you live.  If you’re very wealthy as my character Emma’s best friend is that potentially affects how you see it, I should imagine.

6) Tell us more about Steven’s brother Dan.

He’s been difficult for Steven as a brother because he’s always on the wrong side of the law and trying to get Steven involved in his schemes.  He’s not really interested in Steven as a person, certainly not in a brotherly way.  He just sees him in terms of how he can be useful to him in his dealings with other criminals.  So not a nice man.

7) I’m not the first to mention that the story reflects the parable of the prodigal son, was this your intention?

Yes, this was my intention (see above).  But I wanted to put my own slant on the retelling of it, particularly by having it be about two sisters and set in modern England.  I hope I’ve achieved that.

8) What’s your favourite genre and why?

Oh that’s a hard one.  The truth is I don’t really have one favourite genre; I have lots.  I’ve read a lot of historical fiction, some crime, romance, thrillers…  I could go on.  I think for me to enjoy a novel when I’m reading it, it has to grab me and be gripping no matter what genre it is.

9) What are you working on at the moment?

My current work in progress is called ‘Reunion’.  It’s a romance about a young woman who goes back to her school for a reunion.  Her schooldays were not happy ones and she’s only gone because her best friend thought it might be good for her.  It’s about the consequences of her going to it and what happens to her as a result after that.

10) Do you have an expected publication date?

I haven’t set a specific date to publish it.  I haven’t finished writing it yet, but I hope to get it finished and publish it sometime this year.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Thank you Elaine, it was great hearing more about your work, good luck with the next book.

The Summer House by Santa Montefiore

The Summer House by Santa Montefiore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the tale of a modern English Family, set in Hampshire, and how they deal with a shocking surprise during a funeral at the start of the book. A new family member is introduced and rocks the familiar routines of all involved. The distances between the family are brought together as they all join to restore the folly which stands in the grounds of the family home. Finally they understand the power of forgiveness and its role in all their lives. I really liked many of the lessons that Phaedra passed on during the book and only wish I could find an easy to pronunciation of her name. Many ghosts were put to rest by the end of the very pleasant story.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

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The Haunting by Alan Titchmarsh

The Haunting by Alan Titchmarsh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. It is set on my door step in the beautiful county of Hampshire. So many of the places and their names were everyday words to me. Alan wove a lovely novel through two timespans which joined together at the very end. He used his vast knowledge of nature and gardening to enhance the descriptions and bring them alive. Harry Flint, a retiring History teacher buys a house in much need of repair. Whist searching for more links to his family tree he finds the past catches up with him. The storyline kept me enthralled, I do love a happy ending!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Haunting-Alan-Titchmarsh/dp/0340936908/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367999303&sr=8-1&keywords=The+haunting+by+Alan+Titchmarsh

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