#BlogTour Perfect Dead by Jackie Baldwin @KillerReads @JackieMBaldwin1 #LoveBooksGroupTours #PerfectDead

Each murder brings him one step closer to the perfect death.

Ex-priest, DI Farrell is called on to investigate a gruesome death in rural Scotland. All evidence points to suicide, except for one loose end: every light in the cottage was switched off. Why would he kill himself in the dark?

The question sparks a murder investigation that leads to the mysterious Ivy House, home of ‘The Collective,’ a sinister commune of artists who will do anything to keep their twisted secrets hidden.

And when the remains of a young girl are uncovered on a barren stretch of coastline, Farrell realises that there is something rotten in this tight-knit community. Now he must track down a ruthless killer before another person dies, this time much closer to home…

Extract  

(From Prologue of Perfect Dead) 

June 2009

Ailish opened her eyes then closed them again as her head started to throb. She stumbled to her feet, fighting the urge to throw up. Unwelcome flashbacks of the night before painted her face in disgust. Looking at her slight form in the mirror with yesterday’s make-up blurring the lines of her face, she felt older than her nineteen years. She glanced at her phone and tears prickled. It was her mother’s birthday. She could picture her sister and father laughing and chatting as she opened her presents in Ireland. It was as if she had ceased to exist, such was the disgrace she had rained down on them when she ran off with Patrick, three years ago. He had completely turned her head with all his big talk. She had fancied they would live in London, not the tiny harbour town of Kirkcudbright tucked away in a corner of south-west Scotland. Instead of the romantic existence she had pictured for them, they had wound up living in this glorified hippie commune or, ‘The Collective’, as they liked to be known. At first it had been fun, exciting even. A world away from the parochial narrow-minded community she had left behind. She had been proud to be Paddy’s muse and loved nothing more than to bask in the warmth of his regard as he painted her from various angles.

Lately, she had felt Patrick’s love receding like an outgoing tide. He was preoccupied and distant and hadn’t asked her to pose for him in ages. The atmosphere in the house was different as well. She had a feeling they were all keeping secrets from her and each other. They had always used drugs but lately the drugs had become harder and the parties more forced and a little weirder. There was a powerful undertow dragging them all down to God knows where.

Suddenly, as she looked out of the window, she knew with unusual clarity that she didn’t want to be part of this toxic environment anymore. She would lay it on the line with Patrick and ask him to leave with her. He had been holed up in his studio for days now. She’d been warned off disturbing him as he was working on something new. Well, tough! This couldn’t wait. He would see sense. He had to.

After a quick shower she threw on her favourite dress and swept up her long curly hair, just as he liked it. A slick of lipstick and a touch of mascara and she was ready to do battle.

She flung open the door to the studio and stood, open mouthed, tears spilling from her eyes as she took in the scene before her. A beautiful young girl stared back at her insolently, maintaining her pose. She was reclining naked on a velvet chaise longue, one arm positioned behind her head. Only the blush of colour staining her chest betrayed her.

Patrick turned round, and their eyes met. He dropped his gaze. There was nothing left to say. Wordlessly, Ailish spun on her heel and left the studio. She was done. It was time to go home and beg for forgiveness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jackie Baldwin is a Scottish crime writer. Her debut crime novel, Dead Man’s Prayer, was published by Killer Reads, Harper Collins on 2nd September 2016. The second in the series, Perfect Dead was published on 15th June 2018. For most of her working life, she has been a solicitor specialising in Family and Criminal Law. However, she now practices in Dumfries as a hypnotherapist which is where her novels are set. Married, with two grown up children, she has filled her empty nest with Golden Retrievers. She can often be found in a forest walking the dogs, covered in mud and with twigs in her hair.

#CoverCrush Carousel Beach by Orly Konig

For new visitors do I want to explain that Cover Crush is something that my friend Erin over at Flashlight Commentary came up with and I adopted the idea together with some other friends. And, now we try to put up a Cover Crush every week. You can check below my pick of the week for their choices this week!

A powerful novel that untangles the secrets of love, heartbreak, and misunderstandings between three generations of women, perfect for summer beach reading and book clubs

A cryptic letter on her grandmother’s grave and a mysterious inscription on a carousel horse leads artist Maya Brice to Hank Hauser, the ninety-year-old carver of the beloved carousel she has been hired to restore in time for its Fourth of July reopening in her Delaware beach town. Hank suffers from Alzheimer’s, but on his “better” days, Maya is enthralled by the stories of his career. On his “off” days, he mistakes her for her grandmother—his secret first love.

While stripping chipped layers of paint from the old horse and peeling layers of fragmented memories from the old man, Maya untangles the intertwined secrets of the woman she thought she knew and, maybe, her own heart.

Thoughts:

This week's Cover Crush is a wonderful cover that makes me long for the beach. Isn't it gorgeous?

Check out what my friends have picked for Cover Crush's this week:

Stephanie @ Layered Pages

Heather @ The Maiden's Court

Holly @ 2 Kids and Tired Books

Colleen @ A Literary Vacation

Meghan @ Of Quills & Vellum

Erin @ Flashlight Commentary

#BookReview Tystnaden (The Silent Corner) by Dean Koontz (SWE/ENG) @deankoontz @Bokfabriken

The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SWEDISH REVIEW

”Jag måste verkligen dö nu”, är de sista skälvande orden från en man som har allt men ändå tar sitt liv. I eftersvallet av hans handling står änkan, FBI-agenten Jane Hawk. Hon är fast besluten att göra det som all sorg och ilska inom henne kräver: att till varje pris finna sanningen.

Ett oroväckande mönster börjar träda fram. Hennes make verkar inte vara ensam. Många framgångsrika människor, till synes lyckliga och rofyllda, har den senaste tiden begått självmord. Det verkar som om någon försöker skydda en hemlighet så viktig eller hemsk att ett människoliv inte är värt någonting i jämförelse.

Men Jane är lika skarpsinnig som hennes motståndare är grymma och hon drivs av ett raseri som tar henne långt. Ett raseri som de aldrig kan förstå, fött ur kärlek.

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För många, många år sedan läste jag Blixsken av Dean Koontz och sedan dess har jag älskat Dean Koontz böcker. Jag har under de senaste åren inte hunnit läsa så mycket Koontz, men jag har sakta men säkert börjat ta mig igenom de böcker jag inte hunnit läsa. Så, det var extra kul att få chasen att läsa Tystnaden den första boken i en ny thriller serie 

Boken börjar stark med att Jane Hawk försöker hitta en anledning till varför hennes man och flera andra människor har begått självmord, trots att de aldrig visat sig vara deprimerade. Vad Jane får veta kommer att få henne att att bli jagad på flykt då hänsynslösa människor kommer göra allting för att tysta henne för gott.  

Jag tyckte att Tystnaden var både otrolight härlig spännade och mystisk. Jag älskar att boken börjar starkt, ingen långsam börjar här inte. I stället BAM och och sedan är det spänning rakt igenom boken. Eftersom det här är den första boken i en serie så får man naturligtvis inte att svar på alla frågor, men slutet är tillfreställande och jag vill verkligen ha nästa bok i serien!  

Detta är en perfekt bok för thriller fans!

Tack till Bokfabriken för recensionsexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

I very much need to be dead.

These are the chilling words left behind by a man who had everything to live for but took his own life. In the aftermath, his widow, Jane Hawk, does what all her grief, fear, and fury demands: find the truth, no matter what. 

People of talent and accomplishment, people admired and happy and sound of mind, have been committing suicide in surprising numbers. When Jane seeks to learn why, she becomes the most-wanted fugitive in America. Her powerful enemies are protecting a secret so important so terrifying that they will exterminate anyone in their way. 

But all their power and viciousness may not be enough to stop a woman as clever as they are cold-blooded, as relentless as they are ruthless and who is driven by a righteous rage they can never comprehend. Because it is born of love.

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I read Lightning by Dean Koontz many, many years ago and since then I have loved Dean Koontz's books. I haven't read that many Koontz books in recent years, but I have slowly started to read through the books I have missed. I was really thrilled to get the chase to read The Silent Corner, the first book in a new thriller series.

The book starts off strong with the book's heroine Jane Hawk trying to find a reason for why her husband and several other people have committed suicide, despite never showing any sign of being depressed. What she learns will make her run for her life as she also tries to find a way to stop people who will stop at nothing to silence her.

I found the book to be both intriguing and thrilling to read. I love that the books start off strong, no slow starts to ease into the story. Instead, BAM and away. Since this is the first book in a series will the book of course not answer all the questions, but it's a satisfying ending and I felt that I really wanted the next book after I finished The Silent Corner.

This is a perfect book for thriller fans!

Thanks to Bokfabriken for the review copy!

#BookReview The Pharaoh Key by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child @GrandCentralPub #Giveaway

The Pharaoh Key by Douglas Preston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Gideon Crew--brilliant scientist, master thief, intrepid adventurer--is shocked when his former employer, Eli Glinn, vanishes without a trace, and Glinn's high-tech lab Effective Engineering Solutions shuts down seemingly overnight.

Fresh off a diagnosis that gives him only months to live, Crew is contacted by one of his former coworkers at EES, Manuel Garza, who has a bead on one final treasure hinted at in EES's final case, the long-awaited translation of a centuries-old stone tablet of a previously undiscovered civilization: The Phaistos Disc.

What lies at the end of the trail will either save Gideon's life--or bring it to a sudden, shocking close. Crew once again faces incredible odds--but as Gideon has proved again and again, there's no such thing as too great a risk when you're living on borrowed time.

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The Gideon Crew series is Douglas Preston and Lincon Child's other series besides the Pendergast series. I'm much more familiar with the Pendergast series (having read all the books published) while I have only read Beyond the Ice Limit before I read The Pharaoh Key. Still, it's Douglas Preston and Lincon Child and I just love reading anything they write (together or separately).

If you have read Beyond the Ice Limit then you know that Gideon Crew is living on borrowed time. He's dying and there is nothing to do about it. Well, he could go out with a bang while haunting a lost treasure with Manuel Gaza his former coworker at EES (Effective Engineering Solutions that has now shut down by Eli Glinn, its creator). So, off they go to Egypt to find the location that has now been revealed on The Phaistos Disc. And hopefully, survive the journey...

Eli Glinn is hardly in this book, it's Gideon and Gaza (and a fellow traveler that shows up later) and I like Gideon although I found Gaza to be a bit trying in this book. Still, I kind of miss Pendergast. Wouldn't it be great if he showed up in this series?

Storywise is this book not as thrilling as Beyond the Ice Limit. I never really felt truly pulled into the story. Don't take me wrong I enjoy the book, it's good and the pace is even. It's just that it felt so safe. I was never worried about what would happen to Gideon nor Gaza. It felt like "Oh they will be saved in the last minute" all through the book. And, nothing really surprised me, the book just felt ... too safe. I would have loved more suspense, or at least felt the story gripping me more. I liked it, and I want to read more and hopefully, the next book will rock my boat a bit more!

I want to thank Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

The Pharaoh Key by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

#BookReview The Body in the Ballroom by R.J. Koreto @crookedlanebks

The Body in the Ballroom by R.J. Koreto
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

President Teddy Roosevelt’s daring daughter, Alice, leaps into action to exonerate a friend accused of poisoning a man just about everyone hated.

Alice Roosevelt, the brilliant, danger-loving daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, has already risked an assassin’s bullet to solve one murder. She never expected to have to sleuth another, but she’d never pass up the opportunity, either. Anything to stave off boredom.

And such an opportunity presents itself when Alice is invited to a lavish ball. The high-society guests are in high spirits as they imbibe the finest wines. But one man, detested by nearly all the partygoers, quaffs a decidedly deadlier cocktail. An African-American mechanic, who also happens to be a good friend of former Rough Rider-turned-Secret Service Agent Joseph St. Clair, is suspected of the murder-by-poison, but Alice is sure he’s innocent and is back on the scene to clear his name.

From downtown betting parlors to uptown mansions, Alice and Agent St. Clair uncover forbidden romances and a financial deal that just might change the world. But neither Alice nor her would-be protector may survive the case at hand in The Body in the Ballroom, R. J. Koreto's gripping second Alice Roosevelt mystery.

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I was thrilled to get the chance to read the sequel to Alice and the Assassin. Alice Roosevelt is a fabulous character, just as colorful in the series as she was in real life. Joseph St. Clair returns to be her bodyguard in the book and one of the first events they do are a ball. Well, not together, it's Alice that's going to the ball, Agent St. Clair is just waiting for her and playing poker with drivers, etc. Just a peaceful evening. Until Alice finds St. Clair and tells her there is a dead body...

The Body in the Ballroom is a good sequel to Alice and the Assassin. I have become quite fond of Alice Roosevelt. She's a bit unconventional and that's something I truly enjoy. It would be great fun to see her interact with her cousin Eleanor in some book in the future. Especially since they don't like each other.

The man that was killed was pretty much hated by everyone, but when a good friend to both Alice and St. Clair is accused of the murder must they act fast to catch the real murderer. Now they just have to find who hated him enough to kill him. The drawback with this murder investigations was that I suspected the truth for a long time before it was revealed that I was right. It was not that hard to figure out the truth, to be honest. The story would have been much more interesting if there had been some surprising twist to it. But, all and all a really nice book and I will definitely read more books in the series.

I want to thank Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

#BookReview The Puppet Show by M.W. Craven @MWCravenUK @LittleBrownUK

The Puppet Show by M.W. Craven
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A serial killer is burning people alive in the Lake District's prehistoric stone circles. He leaves no clues and the police are helpless.

When his name is found carved into the charred remains of the third victim, disgraced detective Washington Poe is brought back from suspension and into an investigation he wants no part of.

Reluctantly partnered with the brilliant but socially awkward civilian analyst, Tilly Bradshaw, the mismatched pair uncover a trail that only he is meant to see. The elusive killer has a plan and for some reason Poe is part of it.

As the body count rises, Poe discovers he has far more invested in the case than he could have possibly imagined. And in a shocking finale that will shatter everything he's ever believed about himself, Poe will learn that there are things far worse than being burned alive...

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I'm so very pleased to say that The Puppet Show is a fabulous book! I had high hopes, and you know high hopes high falls, so I'm especially glad when I realized not only is the book engrossing to read, it features two new favorite characters Detective Washington Poe and very socially awkward civilian analyst Tilly Bradshaw. Oh, their working relationship makes me think of Ash Henderson and Alice McDonald in Stuart Mcbride's series about Ash Henderson. Poe and Tilly just click, and there are so many wonderful moments, both funny and more serious.

Anyhow, this is a crime novel so of course, there is crime happening. In this case, brutal murders, with the emphasis on brutal. Yes, being a man reading about the mutilations must be hard. I love the setting of the story, I really get a rugged landscape before my eyes and those stone circles that have been there so long time that no one knows what they are for. Now they are used for human sacrifices and Poe has to figure out who is killing these men and why and the investigation starts to reveal hints that the answers lie in the past...

The ending is great, I started to have my suspicions towards a certain person towards the end and I was one the right course. It was such a fabulous ending, at one moment I was afraid it would end with a cliffhanger, and in a way it did, but in a good way. The book ended with me feeling satisfied and eagerly awaiting the next book!

I want to thank Little, Brown Book Group for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

#CoverCrush The Darkling by R. B. Chesterton

For new visitors do I want to explain that Cover Crush is something that my friend Erin over at Flashlight Commentary came up with and I adopted the idea together with some other friends. And, now we try to put up a Cover Crush every week. You can check below my pick of the week for their choices this week!

When the Henderson family takes in a mysterious teenager, they are happy to have a new addition to the family, but it soon becomes clear that Annie is no regular orphan... 

In the 1940s, Coden, Alabama was a hideaway for movie stars - an isolated playground tucked among live oaks and placid bay waters where pleasure and vice could be indulged. By the summer of 1974 Coden's glamour has faded, but it doesn't bother Mimi Bosarge, who is just happy to have a job as a live-in tutor with the wealthiest family in town, the Hendersons. When the Hendersons generously open their arms to Annie, a troubled teenager with no recollection of her past, Mimi's greatest concern is creating a curriculum for the family's new ward.

But it soon becomes obvious that something is wrong. Annie seems suspiciously savvy for her young age, and Mimi can't quell the unnerving sense that there is something malicious about the waiflike beauty.

Thoughts:

Creepy! Isn't that a perfect world for this cover? A dark forest and the girl looking at you? Reminds me of the Asian horror movies...

Check out what my friends have picked for Cover Crush's this week:

Stephanie @ Layered Pages

Heather @ The Maiden's Court

Holly @ 2 Kids and Tired Books

Colleen @ A Literary Vacation

Meghan @ Of Quills & Vellum

Erin @ Flashlight Commentary

#BookReview 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz

77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am the One, the all and the only. I live in the Pendleton as surely as I live everywhere. I am the Pendleton’s history and its destiny. The building is my place of conception, my monument, my killing ground. . . .

The Pendleton stands on the summit of Shadow Hill at the highest point of an old heartland city, a Gilded Age palace built in the late 1800s as a tycoon’s dream home. Almost from the beginning, its grandeur has been scarred by episodes of madness, suicide, mass murder, and whispers of things far worse. But since its rechristening in the 1970s as a luxury apartment building, the Pendleton has been at peace. For its fortunate residents—among them a successful songwriter and her young son, a disgraced ex-senator, a widowed attorney, and a driven money manager—the Pendleton’s magnificent quarters are a sanctuary, its dark past all but forgotten.

But now inexplicable shadows caper across walls, security cameras relay impossible images, phantom voices mutter in strange tongues, not-quite-human figures lurk in the basement, elevators plunge into unknown depths. With each passing hour, a terrifying certainty grows: Whatever drove the Pendleton’s past occupants to their unspeakable fates is at work again. Soon, all those within its boundaries will be engulfed by a dark tide from which few have escaped.

Dean Koontz transcends all expectations as he takes readers on a gripping journey to a place where nightmare visions become real—and where a group of singular individuals hold the key to humanity’s destiny. Welcome to 77 Shadow Street.

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77 Shadow Street is one of those books that in the end just didn't live up to my expectations. I listened to the audio version of prequel novella The Moonlit Mind before I tackled this book and found The Moonlit Mind to be great. So, I was really looking forward to this book. However, firstly it is way too long. Towards the end, I noticed that my mind started to drift now and then especially during some of the characters parts. Particularly when the One was speaking. Secondly, too many characters, too many uninteresting characters. And, more were added during the process of the story and I just felt that they were not that memorable so I kept forgetting who was who. Thirdly, having the TVs and monitors saying EXTERMINATE during the story just felt like they were fighting Daleks (which actually would have been pretty cool).

On the plus side, the story was interesting, I found that I wanted to know the truth about the building and I found that the conclusion, the truth about the One was refreshingly new and unexpected. I just wish that I had formed a closer bond with the characters, as it is was I more worried about the cats than any of the people. Also, I kept on expecting the characters from The Moonlit Mind to show up, but that never happens. That disappointed me. Still, there were some cool scenes and I would like to read more books in the series.

A bit too long, but in the end and OK book!