The #MysteryNovember Book Tour Day 4 – Frances Evesham @FrancesEvesham #wwwblogs

It’s Day 4 of the #MysteryNovember book tour.

Today our guest is Frances Evesham and her book Murder At The Lighthouse

Book blurb

Love cosy crime? Feed your little grey cells on Murder at the Lighthouse, a short culinary mystery set in a small seaside town in Somerset.

Everyone knows the dead woman under the lighthouse, but no one seems to know why she died. What brought the folk-rock star back to Exham on Sea after so many years? Who wanted her dead? Did the key to her murder lie in the town, or far away across the Atlantic?

Libby Forest arrives on the coast after years in a disastrous marriage, determined to build a new life making cakes and chocolates in Exham on Sea. She finds the body and discovers her own talent for solving mysteries, helped by Bear, an enormous Carpathian Sheepdog, and Fuzzy, an aloof marmalade cat. Libby joins forces with secretive Max Ramshore and risks the wrath of the townspeople as she puts together the pieces of the jigsaw to solve the mystery of Susie Bennett’s death.

Pit your wits against Exham’s female sleuth and solve the mystery.

The first short read in the series, set in the coastal resort of Exham on Sea, Murder at the Lighthouse introduces a cast of local characters, including Mandy the teenage Goth, Frank Wolf the baker at Wolf’s the Bread and Detective Sergeant Joe Ramshore, Max’s estranged son. The green fields, rolling hills and sandy beaches of the West Country provide the perfect setting for crime, intrigue and mystery, for lovers of Agatha Christie novels, Midsomer Murders, lovable animals and cake.

Where is your home town? 

I live in Burnham on Sea, in Somerset, although I’ve only been here for 20 years, so I’m still a newcomer in Somerset terms. Burnham is the inspiration for Exham on Sea. As the series features a collection of sometimes eccentric characters, I’ve set the stories in a mythical place, to avoid giving offence to friends and neighbours.

What do you like about writing in the mystery genre? 

Sir John Gielgud put his long life down to solving crossword puzzles: he lived to be 97. Just like crosswords, mysteries exercise your little grey cells, challenge and tease, then leave you with a deep sense of satisfaction when the pieces fit together and you find the answer. It’s even more fun to write them.

What sub-genre of mystery does your book fit?

Murder at the Lighthouse is a short cosy mystery, one of a series of quick reads, where the focus is on discovering ‘who (or why) dunnit’ rather than on gory murder scenes. To go even further my sub-genre, it’s a British cosy animal, culinary, small town seaside mystery. Who knew there could be so many sub-genres?

Where is your book set?

As mystery fans will have spotted, I gave that away in my first answer! Somerset is perfect for mystery, with sea, hills and the famous flooding levels all within easy reach. In autumn, when the confusingly named Spring tides are high, the sea is a treacherous place. That’s why the body shows up under the lighthouse in the first Exham on Sea story. Then, the weather calms and Glastonbury Tor rises like a ghost out of the November mists, promising more mystery, murder and mayhem.

Can you introduce us to the main characters?

Libby Forest, widowed after a long, unhappy marriage, comes to Exham to build a new life, with her true love, cooking. Along with the aloof cat Fuzzy, and Bear, the enormous Carpathian Sheepdog, she’s determined to get to the bottom of the mysterious death at the lighthouse. Then, there’s elegant, puzzling Max, Mandy the teenage goth, and a few gossipy members of the local history society, who somehow never get around to talking about history – there’s far too much happening right now in Exham.

 

Where can readers find out more about you and your writing?

I tweet (a lot) at www.twitter.com/francesevesham

and an author page at Author.to/francesevesham

I have a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/frances.evesham.writer

My website is at www.francesevesham.com

Where can readers find your book?

Murder at the Lighthouse is available from Amazon, currently on sale. Snap it up quickly, because it goes back to its usual price tomorrow!http://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-Lighthouse-Exham-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B015RR2C4C

Here’s a universal link that should take readers to the Amazon page in their own country myBook.to/murderatthelighthouse

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Lighthouse-Exham-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B015RR2C4C

 

 

Rosie’s Avid Readers #RBRT The Singing Bowl by Roy Dimond

Rosie’s Avid readers are people who like reading and have a book to tell us about, they are the voice of a friend who says ” I just read this book….”

Today’s book on the Avid reader theme has previously been read and reviewed by me as an e-book. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-50f I really enjoyed the book, connecting with it in a big way and I wanted to share my experience with some of my regular avid readers who prefer a paperback, so I bought a copy to share with others.

The Singing Bowl was also featured on Day 3 of our Mystery November Tour http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5LU

The Singing Bowl – Roy Dimond

The Singing Bowl   by Roy Dimond. Avid Reader’s thoughts

 

The tale of a Monk who travels from Tibet to British Columbia via Pakistan Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt & Santorini to name but a few. His preferred method of travel is on foot, while he goes in search of a Long Lost Book.  What is that book? There is a mystery in the book and where it will be found. Our Monk searches over many years failing to find anything material but what is found is the very meaningful way love, peace & understanding can be found between all races & religions. Through-out the years of travel there is meditation & even very deep meditation sometimes in groups often looking back & forth in time. An extremely readable & thought provoking book of travel, adventure and mind searching.

Book Description

A Tibetan monk embarks on a journey of a lifetime, filled with harrowing dangers and strange mysteries. His quest is to find a lost book and save an ancient way of life. Under attack from Chinese Communists, a monk traveling the wilds of Tibet is given a daunting task – to bring a way of life back from the brink. That’s the spellbinding journey revealed in Roy Dimond’s new, action-packed adventure tale. Given an ancient artifact from his monastery, the sacred Singing Bowl, the young monk heads out on a trek to find a lost book and reunite a broken circle to keep his centuries-old civilization alive. Join the intrepid monk as he: # Finds the love of his life in exotic Katmandu. # Links up in Egypt with the Old Woman of Alexandria. # Meets the strange Mexican Carlos at the wondrous Machu Picchu. # Encounters a wise student of Mahatma Gandhi called the Librarian. # Learns the precious secrets of the Navajo Indians. # Meets Albert Einstein’s boyhood friend. And lives many more incredible adventures in The Singing Bowl, a riveting new book in which the traveling monk and all of us learn that the true meaning of any quest is wrapped within the experience itself.

Find a copy of The Singing Bowl from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

We welcome recommendations especially from non-authors for this feature, and would love to hear from anyone who would like to leave a comment and follow the blog

Good Deeds Challenge Year 2, Week 33

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year, now I am into my second year.

This week I’ve been doing the following;

November 30th – The Last day of the Mystery November book tour and out guest today was Ethel Lewis and her book Twilight Images. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5TH

Am working with Terry Tyler to gather some more genuine book reviewers for the review team. Creating more pictures for my Tweets about my book reviews as visual aids really do help.

December 1st – My morning helping at school listen to children reading.

December 2nd – Just sorting out the post for the books that I have featured in two local magazines, the online version for one has a glitch so can’t post about it yet. Am reading Twisted Wire by Ray Stone.

December 3rd – So busy on the blog, a diary malfunction means I have 4 posts going out today and tomorrow with book reviews, book review team posts, a guest author piece and my Fleet Life and EHDirectory post. We are off out for tea tonight for the oldest to help her friend prepare for a theory driving test, then I’m meeting up later with another group of friends for dinner. Will be passing on books I’ve read for others to enjoy.

December 4th – Just adding new reviewers to the team today, hopefully we can get through more of the books we have on our list. Have started filling my 2015 diary with book review slots today.

December 5th – Signed up to help fellow authors promote some of their books. Today I did a book cover for Charles Yallowitz who has a new fantasy book out on December 12th. I shall also be helping Barb Taub soon, plus I’ve taken on 5 new books to review for Brook Cottage in the New Year.

December 6th – A quiet day today. Posted a couple of book reviews for the book review team and pointed another author in the direction of the blog where he can decide if he wants to add his book to the team list. Trying to get a book finished today but got side-tracked by a re-run of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Seen the film loads of times but will always watch any of them again and again. Planning a Harry Potter film day once the Christmas holidays start.

Mystery Book Tour Day 30 #MysteryNovember Twilight Images by Ethel Lewis

Welcome to the very last day of our Mystery Book Tour. Today’s guest is Ethel Lewis and her book Twilight Images.

 

1)         Where is your home town?

After retiring I moved to Galveston, Texas. My home town. But originally, I guess you would call my hometown Genoa, Texas, a small suburb located about 30 miles southeast of Houston. Although I was born in Dallas, my parents and I moved to Genoa when I was in kindergarten. I grew up here and returned to the Dallas area when I was in my mid-twenties, up until I retired..

2)        How long have you been writing?

I began writing in the early 1980’s, although I kept it pretty much under wraps. I tried to find the ‘elusive’ agent and/or publisher – and failed. As anyone might easily guess – I became discouraged and tucked my manuscripts, notebooks, and other writing related things into an old trunk and hid them away. Wish I hadn’t done that!

3)         What is your favourite sub-genre of mystery?

I love all things mystery. Cosy mystery, suspense mystery and at times even the horror genre of King and Koontz and J.A. Konrath.

4)         Where is Twilight Images set?

Twilight Images is set in the Denver, Pueblo, Colorado area. The small town of “Shady Oaks Village” is a fictional town I created where Thad and his family enjoyed spending their summer vacations.

5)         Introduce us to Thad Connors

Thad Connors is a loving husband, married to his college sweetheart, Dorothy, for nearly six years. He is a hardworking young man, the proud owner of his own small landscaping company. And yet he is plagued with horrendous nightmares, nightmares that are taking a toll on his happy life.

6)        Why is he suspicious about the conclusions to his parent’s deaths?

Since the death of his parents, ten years ago, Thad has been plagued with recurring nightmares. He has been the route of endless therapy sessions, which at first seemed to help, but now, they are returning. And not only are the nightmares returning, they are becoming even more frightful.

7)         Does he work alone on his search for answers?

I would have to say, basically, yes. He is encouraged by his wife, Dorothy, to go back to the cabin where the death of his parents occurred. She hopes he might find the answers there. But once he is there, Thad sets out on his own, trying to uncover anything, any clue which might point him in the right direction.

8)         Tell us some of the stones he must upturn to solve the mystery.

First off, Thad returns to the local police, researching their evidence files – had anything been overlooked?

Next, he turns to realtor offices, to see if he can locate any residents who might have lived nearby at the time of the deaths – had anyone seen something and maybe forgotten to report it?

He also turns to the news reporter who reported the incident in the local papers. Were there any clues here?

He finds clues, although some are more subtle than others, at all these places. So he keeps digging.

9)         Tell us what you are working on at the moment.

At the moment I’m working on a novel in a totally different genre. As I mentioned earlier, I started writing in the early ‘80’s. At the time I was into romance novels – Danielle Steele, etc. I dug into my treasure trunk and pulled out my first novel, which I am currently re-working and re-editing. It is called “Leave Yesterday Behind”. The story of two young women, Becky Carson and her college roommate, Mandy Powers, who journey life’s highway together. They form a loving bond in college which carries them through the many upheavals and highlights of life from the early 1970’s in Berkeley, California, to their busy and tumultuous lives in New York City.

10)       Where can readers find out more about you?

Like most of us in this day and age, you can usually find me somewhere on the web.

I have an author website – http://ethellewis.weebly.com/

Book website – http://twilightimages-ahauntinjourneyofsuspense.weebly.com/

Good Reads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2548316.Ethel_Lewis

Blog – http://ethellewis.wordpress.com/

Google+ – https://plus.google.com/105553825411171545947/posts

Twitter – https://twitter.com/EthelLewis20

 

Buying Links:

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MCSO92I

Amazon UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00MCSO92I?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Barnes and Noble – http://tinyurl.com/ooqsq2o

iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id908560396

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hiroller401

Kobo – http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/twilight-images-a-haunting-journey-of-suspense

Good Deeds Challenge, Year 2 Week 32

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year, now I am into my second year.

This week I’ve been doing the following;

November 23rd – Today is rained hard nearly all day, I stayed inside and read and reviewed two books instead. Good Deeds received, brother-in-law came and took away our old lounge furniture.

Today’s book in the November Mystery Tour was Buffalo Soldiers by Nicholas Denmon http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5Vx

November 24th – My morning helping at school. Today’s mystery book is Blond Cargo by John Lansing. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5PG

November 25th – Today it’s the turn of Lily Bishop on the Mystery November book tour with her book No Strings Attached. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5SR Visited my parents and helped out with their computer issues.

November 26th – A mystery set in Cyprus was today’s book on the mystery tour, Isia’s Secret by Ray Stone. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5SC Posted my review of Elsa Winckler’s book Touched to the Heart on my blog, a romance set in South Africa.

November 27th – Donated food to the local food bank for the homeless today. Pattern of Shadows by Judith Barrow is the mystery tour book today. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5VH

November 28th – A Much needed walk today in the fresh air and a chance to pick up litter. Today’s mystery tour book is Eden’s Garden by Juliet Greenwood. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5Ti

November 29th – The mystery book tour is nearly at an end and today it’s the turn of Thorne Moore and her book A Time For Silence. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5Td

Drafting up the post for the December issues of the magazines I write book reviews for and drafting up the copy for the January issues to send to the editor due to the short deadline in the run up to Christmas.

 

Mystery Book Tour Day 29 #MysteryNovember A Time For Silence by Thorne Moore

Please welcome today’s guest on the Mystery November book tour, it’s Throne Moore and her book A Time For Silence.

 

Where is your home town?

I was born and grew up in Luton, and still think of myself as a Lutonian, but for the past 30 years I’ve lived in North Pembrokeshire, not far from Cardigan and this is very much my home now. No towns, exactly. Not even very serious villages, but a lot of farms, trees, hills, sea and sky.

How long have you been writing?

I remember discussing my writing ambitions at school, so at least 45 years. I wrote fantasy for years, then sci-fi, which I still enjoy writing, but most of what I produce now is strictly reality-based.

What is your favourite sub-genre of mystery?

Psychological. I’m more interested in examining why something happened rather than making a mystery of who or how.

Tell us where and when your book is set.

A Time For Silence is set mostly in North Pembrokeshire, in two periods. The chapters alternate between Sarah’s story, set in the present day, and her grandmother Gwen’s story, set in the 30s and 40s.

Please introduce us to Sarah.

Sarah is a young woman who apparently has everything – good career with prospects, high-flying fiancé – but in reality she’s completely lost her way. She’s looking for an escape and she finds it when she comes across her grandparents’ derelict farmhouse and discovers a family secret that she’d known nothing about.

Can you tell us a bit about Gwen and John?

Gwen belongs to a completely different world that Sarah, decades later, can’t begin to understand. Society, religion and economic necessity have placed her in a cramped and subservient position as the wife of John Owen and she thinks her guiding principle is duty, though in reality it’s pride. Her husband John struggles to survive as the tenant of a tiny farm. His proud determination is seen as a sterling virtue by the local community, but it’s the front of an obsessive controlling personality. As his wife and mother of his children, Gwen knows what lies beneath the surface.

What is the mystery element in this book?

John Owen was murdered. No one was ever charged. No one speaks about it. For Sarah, the mystery is who did it and how did they get away with it. The mystery, for the reader, is how it could have been allowed to happen and how it was all buried.

What inspired some of the ideas for the storyline?

Two local stories. There’s a derelict cottage near me, and I was told (never confirmed) that a crime was committed there and everyone, including the police, knew about it but nothing was done. What intrigued me was the idea of a society so closed and isolated that such blanket secrecy could be possible. I found the other story in a 1950s newspaper: a magistrates’ court report, concerning a young girl who was up before the bench for the ‘wicked crime’ of attempting suicide. Her explanation was brushed aside as a lie. Yet, reading between the lines, it was clear the magistrates did believe her but couldn’t openly acknowledge something that would undermine their understanding of the way society worked. That may sound too cryptic, but I don’t want to give the whole book away.

Tell us what you are working on at the moment.

I’m just waiting for the final edit of my second book, Motherlove, which will be published in February. It’s less focussed on Pembrokeshire, but like A Time For Silence, it’s split between periods – the present day and 1990. There’s a crime that’s just as bad as murder, but is there really a criminal? After that, I’m working on a couple of mysteries, both set in Pembrokeshire.

Where can readers find out more about you?

I have a website: www.thornemoore.co.uk, which has links to several interviews, as well as lots of photos of North Pembrokeshire, just to set the scene. I also have a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thornemoorenovelist

My Twitter account is @ThorneMoore

Buying links:

UK.

Honno Press: http://www.honno.co.uk/dangos.php?ISBN=9781906784454

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Silence-A-Thorne-Moore/dp/1906784450/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1384095395&sr=8-1 (sorry, is the link really that long?)

Waterstones: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/thorne+moore/a+time+for+silence/9226207/

USA

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Time-Silence-Thorne-Moore/dp/1906784450/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413530501&sr=1-3&keywords=a+time+for+silence

Barnes&Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-time-for-silence-thorne-moore/1113608839?ean=9781906784454

Mystery Book Tour Day 28 #MysteryNovember Eden’s Garden by Juliet Greenwood

 

Welcome to today’s guest on the mystery November book tour, Juliet Greenwood and her book Eden’s Garden.

Where is your home town?

I live in a traditional quarryman’s cottage on the edges of a village in Snowdonia in North Wales, halfway between Conwy Castle and the romantic island of Anglesey. I lived and worked in London for several years, so I certainly appreciate the peace and quiet! It’s a very traditional village with one or two outrageous characters, and many an intriguing story to tell…

How long have you been writing?  

All my life! I was first inspired by Rosemary Sutcliffe and wrote my first rip-roaring historical (set in Saxon times) at the age of ten, and never looked back. It’s taken me a long time to be actually published and begin to be the writer I want to be. It’s been a long learning curve, and I still feel I’m at the beginning, but I feel that it’s vital to the making of a long-term career as a writer.

What is your favourite sub-genre of mystery?

I love cosies (I’m squeamish) and historical mysteries. I love Miss Marple, who is still my comfort reading, Sara Waters and Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody murder mysteries set in Victorian Egypt starting with ‘The Crocodile on the Sandbank’ – may Amelia wield her trusty umbrella against cads and rascalians forever! Some of my favourite classics are Wilkie Collins and Dickens’ ‘Bleak House’ – Inspector Bucket is still my favourite detective.

Tell us where and when Eden’s Garden is set.

The story of Eden’s Garden moves between Cornwall and Wales, with a touch of London in between. It’s a timeshift, with two parallel stories taking place in contemporary and Victorian times.

Can you introduce us to Carys?

Carys is the heroine of the modern story. When we first meet her, she is in her thirties and at a crossroads in her life. She returns to her home village to look after her mother as she recovers from a fall, and finds herself becoming a historical sleuth to solve a mystery from the past. The story she uncovers challenges her own choices, and changes her future forever.

What is Plas Eden, who did she know there?

Plas Eden is a rambling old house on the outskirts of a village in southern Snowdonia. It is the ancestral home of the Meredith family and holds many memories, not least a collection of mysterious statues in its overgrown grounds that set Carys off on her journey of discovery into the past. As a child, Carys had been drawn into Plas Eden and the lives of the Merediths after a family tragedy. As she returns, she meets up again with her teenage sweetheart, David Meredith, who is trying to save the estate. But Plas Eden is haunted by past secrets, ones that threaten to destroy everything Carys and David hold dear….

Now tell us about Ann, please

Ann is the heroine of the Victorian strand of the mystery. We first meet her on Westminster Bridge, a young woman wracked with grief and guilt, who is has lost everything and feels she has nothing to live for. At the last minute, instead of throwing herself in the river, she makes her way to the nearby Meredith Charity Hospital, where her story becomes intertwined with that of Plas Eden and the Meredith family.

What is Carys looking for as she follows Ann’s trail?

Carys and David travel to Cornwall to try and uncover the story behind the mysterious statues, hoping to find a way of saving Plas Eden. As they begin to uncover the past, they are drawn into an increasingly terrifying story of love and betrayal, of redemption and the enduring power of female friendship.

Tell us what you are working on at the moment.

I’m writing my next historical mystery, this time set in Devon and London in the years between ‘Eden’s Garden’ and ‘We That are Left’, just before the First World War. It has a rambling old house, greed, betrayal and love – and maybe even a brick-wielding suffragette or two….

Where can readers find out more about you?

 

‘Eden’s Garden’, Honno Press, 2012

Finalist for ‘The People’s Book Prize’, May 2014

Amazon Kindle #5 June 2014

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edens-Garden-Juliet-Greenwood/dp/1906784353

US: http://www.amazon.com/Edens-Garden-Juliet-Greenwood-ebook/dp/B007W4E68Y/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0BYS2TAADCR6KXW9Z34N

‘We That Are Left’, Honno Press, 2014

The Welsh Books Council’s Book of the Month, March 2014

The National Museum of Wales Book of the Month, March 2014

Waterstones Wales Book of the Month March, 2014

Amazon Kindle #4 May 2014

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/That-Are-Left-Juliet-Greenwood/dp/190678499X

US: http://www.amazon.com/That-are-Left-Juliet-Greenwood-ebook/dp/B00FVECG5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413531668&sr=8-1&keywords=We+that+are+left

Website:         http://www.julietgreenwood.co.uk/

Blog:               http://julietgreenwoodauthor.wordpress.com/

Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/juliet.greenwood

Twitter:           https://twitter.com/julietgreenwood

 

Mystery Book Tour Day 27 #MysteryNovember Pattern Of Shadows by Judith Barrow

Welcome to Day 27 of our Mystery Book Tour. Please welcome Judith Barrow and her book Pattern Of Shadows.

Where is your home town?

I was born and brought up in a place called Saddleworth; a group of villages at the base of the Pennines. I loved walking across the moors where I watched skylarks, grouse and grey sheep. But for the last thirty-five years have been a happy immigrant in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. Lovely coastline here, where I can walk along the coastal path watching seals, seagulls and white sheep.

How long have you been writing?

Forever. But I’ve only been brave enough to let it loose on the public over the last twenty years. I suppose I didn’t want to chance finding out my writing was no good. So I used the excuses that I worked full time, had a family to bring up, was a carer for two elderly relatives, was involved with too many committees. Not forgetting making and selling my novelty cakes. See – Any excuse!

What is your favourite sub-genre of mystery?

Sagas. I love writing family sagas. I’m always intrigued by the intricacies of relationships; the secrets, the ‘unspoken’ – to use a cliché, the ‘skeletons in the cupboard’. And it gives me scope to balance humour and gritty drama. Do love a bit of drama.

 

Where and when is Pattern Of Shadows set?

Pattern of Shadows was inspired by my research into a disused cotton mill in Oldham, Lancashire and its history of being the first German POW camp in Britain during WW2. As with all my books, so far, Pattern of Shadows is set between Wales and Northern England. I still speak with a strong Lancashire accent and I’ve been told my voice comes through in the book. A compliment … I think?

 

Please introduce us to Mary.

Mary is a civilian nurse in a hospital attached to the prisoner of war camp, and the main breadwinner of her family. She’s a strong independent woman who loves her work. But she lives within the shadows of her family’s expectations of her – a pattern that rules her life: the acceptance of the responsibility for the spoilt younger sister, the belief that she always needs to protect her eldest brother, a Conscientious Objector, now in Wormwood Scrubs, the dependence of her weak but loving mother, the presence of both her aggressive younger brother and her bullying father in the home. She’s loyal to her dysfunctional family and, on the whole, endures the weight of the demands on her. But she has almost no social life and so, when Frank Shuttleworth appears, she is flattered by his attentions and falls in love with him

.

Tell us about Frank.

Frank Shuttleworth is not what he seems to be. As a guard at the POW camp he’s been watching Mary for a while and contrives a friendship with her younger brother to be able to approach her On the face of it he is a handsome, genial bloke but underneath he is a possessive and jealous man who resents Mary’s commitment to her work and family. There is also some ambiguity about how he arrived at the camp; a young strong soldier, who was apparently injured at Dunkirk. His hatred for the German is revealed through his cruelty and is exacerbated when a German doctor arrives as a prisoner at the camp.

How would locals have felt about the POW camp?

There were mixed reactions in the town about the POW camp. After the war, many of the local people took prisoners into their homes at Christmas and for other occasions. But, apparently, during the war there were fears that the Germans would escape and murder them in their beds. The die-hard Nazis were especially feared; although many of them were eventually transported to Canada. But some locals did have compassion for the prisoners and would throw cigarettes and food over the fence to them. And, of course, after the war many POWs were unable to go home; either the area where they had lived was obliterated or was within the Russian sector or the men did not want to live under Communism. Many of them went on to marry local girls.

What is the mystery element of this book?

For me, the mystery is what Mary ever sees in Frank. But to be serious, a major crime is committed by one of the characters in the story that changes all the lives of everyone in Mary’s family. The perpetrator is only revealed to the reader at the end of the book but never to any of the other characters. That comes out in the second of the trilogy, Changing Patterns.

 

Tell us what you are working on at the moment.

I’m editing the third of the Pattern series, which is due out in the autumn of 2015. And I’m also writing another completely different novel which is set around a woman who is a carer for her mother who is an Alzheimer sufferer.

 

Where can readers find out more about you?

Here I am:

wwwjudithbarrow.com

wwwjudithbarrow.co.uk

wwwtwitter.com/#judithabarrow

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3295663.Judith_Barrow

judith.barrow.3@facebook.com

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pattern-Shadows-Judith-Barrow/dp/1906784051.    

http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Shadows-Judith-Barrow-ebook/dp/B00940YWKQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414399602&sr=1-1&keywords=pattern+of+shadows 

http://www.honno.co.uk/dangos.php?ISBN=9781906784058.

 

Mystery Book Tour Day 26 #MysteryNovember Isia’s Secret by Ray Stone

Todays’ guest on our Mystery November Book Tour is Ray Stone and his book Isia’s Secret.

1)            Where is your home town?

I was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex; a seaside town on the estuary of the Thames. A popular holiday resort, it was once the annual holiday destination for EastEnders from London. The town also boasts the longest pleasure pier in the world – just about a mile and a quarter with its own passenger trains running back and forth. I still visit every few years just to smell the Thames and remember my boyhood.

2)            How long have you been writing?

I started writing when I was eleven. From the age of seven I read to my father each night as he ate dinner. I would read short items from the newspaper. One night he asked me to go and fetch any book I liked from his room. I started reading a book and by the time I was two chapters in I became inspired to start telling stories and writing. The book was Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. I later won a writing competition at school and in my teens started writing poetry. I later went on to win an internet national poetry competition, had a full page article published in my local press with a by line and collaborated with a composer to produce and record five Blues numbers. I have been writing for 57 years.

3)            What is your favourite sub-genre of mystery?

Thrillers top my list, particularly political mystery thrillers and some modern gritty British crime thrillers. My favourite authors are John le Carre, Vince Flynn and Daniel de Silva. There are many more.

4)            Where is Isia’s Secret set?

The story originates on Cyprus during the 70’s when Greek s and Turks were involved in bloody battles over a period of twenty years, fighting for sovereignty over the island. The plot switches to modern day after the intro prologue. It follows a political correspondent assigned to write a story about a Greek billionaire who has a lot of dark secrets and skeletons in his family’s past. He will murder to keep them hidden. One of them relates to a young girl named Isia and an illegitimate son. This leads Enda to uncover political manoeuvrings by the billionaire within Brussels EU and a dangerous plot to start a civil war on Cyprus. The plot thickens as our reluctant hero races to expose the plot, following leads from London to Cyprus and on to Istanbul, Nice and across the Mediterranean in a cruise ship. The story ends in a spectacular attack on the ship and a couple of unexpected and surprising twists.

5)            Can you introduce us to Enda Osin?

Enda is a political columnist for a large London newspaper. He is a flawed man with an extraordinary sense of integrity who expects everyone else to live by traditional ethics. His Irish personality and workingman’s attitude make for outstanding news articles that constantly offend the corrupted hearts and minds of the men at the top of the British government. Enda is a bachelor with one dark secret from his childhood and a guilty conscience he lives with. Love is something he has a lot to learn about, especially after meeting his new assistant, Jessica Du Rosse. Half his age, a beautiful West Indian raised by parents within the diplomatic corps, she is soon putting him in his place as he falls in love with her. As the story reaches a climax, Enda faces his demons and overcomes his greatest fear.

6)            Who is Paul Hrisacopolis?

Paul Hrisacopolis, powerful and popular with the Greek public, is a man who is used to getting his own way. He has attracted notoriety for his fight for Cypriot sovereignty, funding the EOKA terrorist organisation during the sixties and seventies during which time he lost his son in the fight. He is paranoid about anything that could stand in the way of his bid for a powerful position in Brussels and the subsequent successful conclusion to his secret political dream. Under threat he is not averse to silencing those who would expose his dark secrets and a family history that would ruin him and bring disgrace to his family name. So wrapped up in his own ambition, he is blind to death threats coming at him, one seeking profit, another seeking political victory, and another seeking revenge.

 

7)            What is Paul’s dream for Cyprus?

Paul seeks sovereignty for Cyprus by causing civil unrest through his powerful position on the Agricultural and Fisheries committee, awarding trade agreements to Greek companies only. With escalating unrest within the Turkish community it would not take long before violence erupted. His plan is to influence an EU decision to use UN troops to stop the violence. With help from an unscrupulous Turk in his pay the violence would escalate into civil war and the UN would have no option but to evict the Turks. Greece, unlike the Turks, already EU members, would be in a position to request sovereignty.

8)            What are the artifacts that Enda travels with are they stolen or lost items being returned home?

The Elgin marbles were originally obtained by Lord Elgin with permission while Greece was part of the Ottoman empire. Disputed to this day, the Greeks claim the marbles were never given and they should be returned. When they arrived in Britain, Lord Elgin had the marbles stored and later sold them to the British Museum. The marbles were part of a massive shipment sent back to England and after Elgin’s team of workers had finished they had ruined many parts of the Parthenon. Priceless artefacts lay on the ground for years. The British Museum and the government continue to claim they received the marbles legally.

9)            Tell us what you are working on at the moment.

I am currently working on the third in the trilogy of Enda Osin Mystery books. Glassfrogs & Chameleons takes place in Venezuela and sees Enda Osin involved in oil and secret military deals with the Russians. I like to use some current political situation as part of my plot and mixed with fiction to create believability. I like reality – not James Bond.

10)          Where can readers find out more about you?

I have a blog site at www.raystoneauthor.co.uk

or www.raystoneauthor.com

Facebook www.fb.com/raystoneauthorpage

 

Xeeme http://xeeme.com/TwistedWire

Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=196895002&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

Buying Links

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Isias-Secret-Enda-Osin-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00FCRGON8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1410329950&sr=1-1&keywords=isia%27s+secret

 

http://www.amazon.com/Isias-Secret-Enda-Osin-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00FCRGON8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1410329950&sr=1-1&keywords=isia%27s+secret

 

http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00FCRGON8?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

 

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00FCRGON8?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/353047

 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Isia-s-Secret?store=allproducts&keyword=Isia%27s+Secret

Ray’s first book a thriller titled Trojan Towers is currently FREE on Smashwords  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/341881

 

 

 

 

Mystery Book Tour Day 25 #MysteryNovember No Strings Attached by Lily Bishop

Welcome to Day 25 of the November Mystery Book Tour, today our guest is Lily Bishop with her romantic mystery No Strings Attached.

Where is your home town?

I grew up in Maysville, Georgia, a small town of about a thousand people. Maysville is located an hour Northeast of Atlanta, Georgia.

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing since I can remember stringing sentences together. I received my first typewriter in middle school and my first word processor in my sophomore year of college, way back in 1987. I haven’t looked back. I published No Strings Attached in 2013, and I think I started that one in 2009.

What is your favourite sub-genre of mystery?

I love romantic suspense.

Where is No Strings Attached set?

No Strings begins in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the characters spend time in Miami, Atlanta, and a private island in the Bahamas.

Tell us about Laura.

Laura Todd is an administrative assistant who has been going to night school to obtain a graduate degree in marketing. Unfortunately, marketing jobs are hard to come by, and she hasn’t been able to find a job in her field. Her boss has promised to promote her to a consulting position, but he dangles it just out of reach.

How does she meet Fox?

She gets the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas to a conference and she meets him in the casino.

Tell us about Laura’s sister’s talent and where it leads.

Laura’s sister Lindsey is a mathematical genius and she has certain methods that she uses to win at blackjack. Laura is trying out Lindsey’s techniques when she meets Fox at the blackjack table.

Which tropical location does the mystery take them all to?

They all travel to Calliope, a private island in the Bahamas. I created the island as a ritzy resort fashioned after a castle. Think Atlantis, but more remote and elite.

Tell us about the second book in the series.

The second book is titled Under His Protection and it focuses on Fox’s brother Lee, who we meet in the first book. Lee has been out of the Marines for a few years, and he wants to start his own security company. In the second book, he has started a company called Security Solutions, and he receives a contract to protect the daughter of a state senator. Elizabeth Crowne has received multiple death threats, as she is preparing to declare her candidacy for attorney general for the state of Georgia.

Where can readers find out more about you?

I blog at http://LilyBishop.com.

Buy links: New lower kindle price on Amazon until December 1st – go check the links.

No Strings Attached- Amazon

No Strings Attached – Amazon UK

No Strings Attached – B&N

No Strings Attached – KOBO

No Strings Attached – iTunes

I reviewed this book here on the blog, follow the link to the review http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-3j0