gritty – Judefire33 – The Book Blog

My #Review of #TheDeadOfWinter by #StuartMacbride @TransworldBooks

It was supposed to be an easy job.

All Detective Constable Edward Reekie had to do was pick up a dying prisoner from HMP Grampian and deliver him somewhere to live out his last few months in peace.

From the outside, Glenfarach looks like a quaint, sleepy, snow-dusted village, nestled deep in the heart of Cairngorms National Park, but things aren’t what they seem. The place is thick with security cameras and there’s a strict nine o’clock curfew because Glenfarach is the final sanctuary for people who’ve served their sentences but can’t be safely released into the general population.

Edward’s new boss, DI Victoria Montgomery-Porter, insists they head back to Aberdeen before the approaching blizzards shut everything down, but when an ex-cop-turned-gangster is discovered tortured to death in his bungalow, someone needs to take charge.

The weather’s closing in, tensions are mounting, and time’s running out – something nasty has come to Glenfarach, and Edward is standing right in its way…

Judefire33 rating for The Dead Of Winter

Firstly thank you so so much to Transworld books for sending me a proof copy of The Dead Of Winter.

Now I am a huge fan of Stuart MacBride, and absolutely adore his Logan MacRae novels, however in recent years Stuart has been writing more standalone novels, and The Dead Of Winter is one.

This is a bloody fabulous novel, this is Stuart MacBride back to the absolute top of his game and what he does best. From chapter one we are sent on a rollercoaster thrill ride, with Stuart’s normal dark humor and gritty realism, and this is by far one of his best novels since the Logan MacRae series. I read it at breakneck speed and laughed so much!

Our two main stars are Detective Constable Edward Reekie and his boss, Detective Inspector Victoria Mongomery-Porter, the opening chapter is a scene on a freezing day somewhere in the snowy woods in Scotland. It would appear that DC Edward Reekie is being buried in a shallow grave in the cold ground and that grave is being dug by none other than DI Victoria aka Bigtoria Montgomery-Porter….and that my dear followers, is the absurd setting that starts The Dead Of Winter.

From then on you will be taken thru an exceptional cast of characters who all live in the small sleepy quaint hamlet of Glenfarach….and no it’s not really an ordinary place as it’s full of rapists, gangsters, and murderers. There are security cameras everywhere here like big bugs in the sky stalking everyone as there is nowhere to hide. All the residents have their own little homes and all are electronically tagged and subject to a 9 pm curfew… sounds like a safe place right? Wrong, the fast-paced writing of Stuart Macbride takes you through an almost comedic set of murders and events that draw to a brilliant ending.

I absolutely raced through The Dead Of Winter and i love love loved it! The writing style that Stuart MacBride has is unique in the crime fiction genre, others try to do something similar but no one can write like Stuart MacBride does. The aplomb, that he writes murder and gruesomeness in one sentence and then sarcastic humor in another is exceptional. Having myself, worked for the Police for 12 years in the 1990s, I’m well aware of the dark humor used in extreme situations to lift the pressure, Stuart writes that in such a realistic way it’s superb.

This is a real gem of a novel, and in my opinion, Stuart Macbride’s best for many years, if you like gritty, dark, Scottish crime fiction with a dose of really dark humor thrown in then you need to rush down to the bookshop, and buy The Dead Of Winter, you won’t be disappointed.

A superb 5-star rating from me.

Stuart MacBride is a Scottish writer, most famous for his crime thrillers set in the “Granite City” of Aberdeen and featuring Detective Sergeant Logan McRae. Stuart MacBride was born Feb 27 1969 in Dumbarton, Scotland and raised in Aberdeen. His careers include scrubbing toilets offshore, graphic design, web design and IT/computer programming.
MacBride’s publishing deal was secured with the writing of Halfhead, however the publishers were more interested in Cold Granite, concerning DS Logan MacRae. He was signed on a three-book Logan deal, which was further extended to six books. In 2009 he signed another deal, allowing him to write two more Logan books, and two standalone novels, the first of which is due after the sixth installment of the Logan MacRae series.
He now lives in north-east Scotland with his wife, Fiona and their cat Grendel. He is reputed to be a passionate potato grower, but claims to have a “vegetable patch full of weeds”.

You can follow Stuart Macbride on FACEBOOK

Staurt MacBride has a website HERE

You can buy The Dead Of Winter HERE

My #Review of #DeathOfADancingQueen by @KGGiarratano published by @DaturaBooks on 14.2.2023

After her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Billie Levine revamped her grandfather’s private investigation firm and set up shop in the corner booth of her favourite North Jersey deli hoping the free pickles and flexible hours would allow her to take care of her mom and pay the bills. So when Tommy Russo, a rich kid with a nasty drug habit, offers her a stack of cash to find his missing girlfriend, how can she refuse? At first, Billie thinks this will be easy earnings, but then her missing person’s case turns into a murder investigation and Russo is the detective bureau’s number one suspect.

Suddenly Billie is embroiled in a deadly gang war that’s connected to the decades-old disappearance of a famous cabaret dancer with ties to both an infamous Jewish mob and a skinhead group. Toss in the reappearance of Billie’s hunky ex-boyfriend with his own rap sheet, and she is regretting every decision that got her to this point.

Becoming a P.I. was supposed to solve her problems. But if Billie doesn’t crack this case, the next body the police dredge out of the Hudson River will be hers.

judefire33 rating

Firstly kind thanks to Caroline at Datura Books for kindly sending me a copy of Death of a Dancing Queen.

From the very first chapter of Death of A Dancing Queen, I was hooked! The novel opens with a brutal murder in 1991, that sets the scene for a gritty, smart and dark thriller that had me absolutely gripped.

Billie Levine is a Private Investigator working for her grandfather’s Agency, she’s not qualified yet but that does not put her off. When she is hired by a local gangster to help find evidence to defend his son Tommy, whose girlfriend was found murdered in a garage where he works, Billie throws herself into the investigation.

I adored Billie, she is tough, smart and at times funny! Her powers of investigation are excellent and she comes across as a natural investigator, her mind just works that way. She gets herself into danger during the investigation and there are some hairy moments, and throughout all of this, we have the background of her and her Brother David trying to care for their Mum who has Early Onset Alzheimers. I loved that in Death Of A Dancing Queen we got to see Billie in her home life and the struggles of looking after someone with Alzheimer’s encounters, it is very well researched and really sat extremely well with the rest of the novel.

The cast of characters was superbly well written, Kim Giarratano is obviously someone who studies people as she has been able to bring a great cast to life within the pages. I did at times find it a little confusing, but I went back and actually write the characters down which helped me, this is not a criticism as it’s probably just me!

There are lots of references to the Jewish faith and culture, as Billie’s family are Jewish, and I found this very interesting, I learnt a lot, which I always find a bonus when reading a novel.

I loved Death Of A Dancing Queen, the way it’s written is almost like one of those old 1950s crime movies I used to watch on a Saturday Afternoon with my mum, but there are emotional scenes and humour thrown in as well. This was a totally refreshing read and a novel that stands out in the crime fiction genre.

A fabulous 5 stars from me, and I cannot wait for book 2!

Kimberly G. Giarratano lives in the woods of northeastern Pennsylvania with her husband and small children. She loves politics, podcasts, and British crime dramas.

You can follow Kimberly Giarratano on TWITTER INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK

Kimberley Giarratano has her own website HERE

You can buy Death of a Dancing Queen HERE

#BlogTour #TheDavesNextDoor by will_carver published by @OrendaBooks 21st July 2022 #WillBlowUpThisTrain

A disillusioned nurse suddenly learns how to care.

An injured young sportsman wakes up find that he can see only in black and white.

A desperate old widower takes too many pills and believes that two angels have arrived to usher him through purgatory.

Two agoraphobic men called Dave share the symptoms of a brain tumour, and frequently waken their neighbour with their ongoing rows.

Separate lives, running in parallel, destined to collide and then explode.

Like the suicide bomber, riding the Circle Line, day after day, waiting for the right time to detonate, waiting for answers to his questions: Am I God? Am I dead? Will I blow up this train?

Shocking, intensely emotive and wildly original, Will Carver’s The Daves Next Door is an explosive existential thriller and a piercing examination of what it means to be human … or not.

Firstly thank you to Anne @RandomThingsTours and Orenda Books for my copy of The Dave’s Next Door.

This is my second novel that I’ve read by Will Carver, I loved Psychopaths Anonymous so was excited to get my teeth in The Dave’s Next Door.

I don’t normally read books set in the future so that was a surprise to start with, but the storyline starts there and takes us back in time to an event.

Will Carvers writing can be challenging and in your face, so The Dave’s Next Door is not an easy read, it’s a hard hitting thought provoking read but then in The Dave’s Next Door so is the subject matter!

The plot was a fascinating slow build and the characters are all richly well written and observed, for some reason Wills writing style in this novel really reminded me of Martin Amis whose books I loved in the 1980’s….but none else can write novels like Will Carver, he is able to throw things at the reader and make you face your prejudices in the most astonishing and shocking way. Will Carvers books are not for the easily offended or faint hearted but that’s what makes them uepic in my opinion! And The Dave’s Next Door is so dark but also the characters lives are mundane in some respect, which makes it even more apt when there’s a curveball to you think and question your own opinions!

As always I’m not going to give any of the storyline away….BUT you seriously need to read The Dave’s Next Door, it’s going to be a classic novel that people will be talking about for years to come. I would love to know how Mr Carver’s mind works, and how he even comes up with these out of the box ideas for novels….but then again that would take some of the magic away!

A superbly well written, tense and thought provoking novel that deserves a definite 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ in my opinion!

Will Carver is the bestselling author of the January Series – Girl 4 (2011), The Two (2012), The Killer Inside (2013), Dead Set (2013) – and the critically acclaimed Detective Pace series, which includes Good Samaritans (2018), Nothing Important Happened Today (2019) and Hinton Hollow Death Trip (2020), all of which were selected as books of the year in mainstream international press. The books in this series have also been longlisted/shortlisted for the Amazon Readers Independent Voice Award, Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, Not The Booker Prize and the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award. Will spent his early years living in Germany, but returned at age eleven. He studied theatre and television at King Alfred’s Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition business and lives in Reading with his children.

You can follow Will Carver on TWITTER INSTAGRAM

And on Will Carver’s own WEBSITE

#BlogTour #review of #DeadInTheWater by #MarkEllis @MarkEllis15 @AccentPress @midaspr @amberchoudhary

Summer, 1942.
The Second World War rages on but Britain now faces the Nazi threat with America at its side.

In a bombed-out London swarming with gangsters and spies, DCI Frank Merlin continues his battle against rampant wartime crime. A mangled body is found in the Thames just as some items of priceless art go mysteriously missing. What sinister connection links the two?

Merlin and his team follow a twisting trail of secrets and lies as they investigate a baffling and deadly puzzle .

This is my first read of a novel by Mark Ellis, but as I love Historical crime fiction, particularly set around the World Wars, I was looking forward to it.

I know that this is the 5th Novel in the DCI Frank Merlin series, but even with a back history, this can be read as a standalone.

The writing is gritty, evocative and absolutely full of attention to detail which makes the reader really feel like they are there in London, in the Summer of 1942. In particular, the description of chaps attires right down to the name of his shirt maker and shoes (both of which I googled to make sure this was factual – it was!).

The plot was character-heavy at the beginning, and I was a little lost BUT all is revealed in the end and it works, it really does. The writing is pure noir and the character descriptions are really amazing. Even famous figures are given the Ellis touch here – Herman Goering for one was spectacular over breakfast with his wife…totally believable!

The plot is thick with spies, Army Officials of all sides and Police including, of course, the wonderful DCI Frank Merlin, who for a first-time reader I instantly loved!

The feel when you read Dead In The Water is amazing, its like you are transported from our messed up 2022 right back to 1942, again I must applaud the attention to detail, it is clear that Mark has an amazing mind at writing intricate and stunning Thriller, but also his love for the period during the Second World War in London. It almost read like a sweeping black and white movie at times!

In essence, this is a fantastic novel of wartime Noir at its best, gritty, tense and intelligent. I shall be awarding it 5-star rating.

If you’ve not read any of the DCI Frank Merlin books then I urge you to, I shall be buying the back catalogue to binge read on!

Mark Ellis is a thriller writer from Swansea and a former barrister and entrepreneur.
He is the creator of DCI Frank Merlin, an Anglo-Spanish police detective operating in World War 2 London. His books treat the reader to a vivid portrait of London during the war skilfully blended with gripping plots, political intrigue and a charismatic protagonist.
Mark grew up under the shadow of his parents’ experience of the Second World War. His father served in the wartime navy and died a young man. His mother told him stories of watching the heavy bombardment of Swansea from the safe vantage point of a hill in Llanelli, and of attending tea dances in wartime London under the bombs and doodlebugs.
In consequence Mark has always been fascinated by WW2 and in particular the Home Front and the fact that while the nation was engaged in a heroic endeavour, crime flourished. Murder, robbery, theft and rape were rife and the Blitz provided scope for widespread looting.
This was an intriguing, harsh and cruel world. This is the world of DCI Frank Merlin.
DCI Frank Merlin appears in four novels: ‘Princes Gate’, ‘Stalin’s Gold’, ‘Merlin at War’ and the just published ‘A Death In Mayfair’.
Mark Ellis is a member of the Crime Writers Association.’MerlinAt War’ was longlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger in 2018.

You can find Mark Ellis’s Website HERE

You can follow Mark Ellis on TWITTER FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM

You can buy Dead In The Water HERE

#Review of #NoLessTheDevil by #StuartMacbride @TransworldBooks @PenguinUKBooks UK Release 28th April 2022

‘We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.’

It’s been seventeen months since the Bloodsmith butchered his first victim and Operation Maypole is still no nearer catching him. The media is whipping up a storm, the top brass are demanding results, but the investigation is sinking fast.

Now isn’t the time to get distracted with other cases, but Detective Sergeant Lucy McVeigh doesn’t have much choice. When Benedict Strachan was just eleven, he hunted down and killed a homeless man. No one’s ever figured out why Benedict did it, but now, after sixteen years, he’s back on the streets again – battered, frightened, convinced a shadowy ‘They’ are out to get him, and begging Lucy for help.

It sounds like paranoia, but what if he’s right? What if he really is caught up in something bigger and darker than Lucy’s ever dealt with before? What if the Bloodsmith isn’t the only monster out there? And what’s going to happen when Lucy goes after them?

Firstly I must say a massive thank you to Transworld Books for kindly sending me an advanced copy of No Less The Devil.

Now I am a HUGE Stuart Macbride fan and with each new release, I’m usually super excited and cannot wait to read his books. For those who haven’t read any, start with the utterly magnificent Logan McRae Series, and you will not be disappointed!

I loved No Less The Devil from the very first chapter, Stuart MacBride is BACK and back to his utter best, writing in that gritty, Scottish Noir style, filled with local dialects and full of humour, sarcasm and frankly bloody dark places, that only He can take you to with such style.

I cannot give away any of the plots but our main protagonist is DS Lucy McVeigh a loveable, brilliant, bright and funny character even though she has some demons of her own (frankly this is an understatement!) and inner darkness so bleak it’s unending! Her trusty sidekick is DC “The Dunk” Fraser, half a step behind, wheezing and coughing his lungs up …but still smoking another fag! I love the way Stuart Macbride can write the dark Police humour with such ease, this is a rare talent and not all authors get it, Mr MacBride gets it in spades!

The story is a fast-paced, intricate, twisty, cannonball of events and takes us to some dark places. Stuart has an amazing talent for writing in the first person and making his characters come alive with each sentence you read, DS Lucy McVeigh is a fabulous character and I really hope we will be seeing her in future adventures around Oldcastle.

May I just add that Stuarts books are spotted with fabulous descriptions of dirty, dank Scottish Towns and the mundane, thus it makes for a gritty Noir of a book, I have to say that No Less The Devil is one of Stuart Macbride’s best novels in ages!

If you like edgey, Scottish Noir with bundles of twists and frankly astounding moments, then, No Less The Devil is for you!

Without a doubt No Less The Devil will be HUGE in 2022.

10 stars from me!!

A BIT ABOUT STUART

Stuart MacBride is the Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author of the Logan McRae and Ash Henderson novels. He’s also published standalones, novellas, and short stories, as well as a slightly twisted children’s picture book for slightly twisted children. Stuart lives in the northeast of Scotland with his wife Fiona, cats Gherkin, Onion and Beetroot, some hens, some horses, and an impressive collection of assorted weeds.

www.stuartmacbride.com Facebook

You can pre-order No Less The Devil HERE in all formats