Book Reviews – Page 57 – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Review: ‘Homicide in Herne Hill’, by Alice Castle

Publication Date: 3rd October 2018

Published By: Crooked Cat Books

Format: Kindle and Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 9781724129325

Price: 99p (Kindle); £6.99 (Paperback)

Blurb

Beth Haldane, SE21’s premier – and only – single mum amateur sleuth, is really pleased to find a new friend at the school gates, in the shape of irrepressibly bouncy Nina. As well as a way with words, Nina has a puzzle she wants Beth to solve, centred on the solicitor’s office where Nina works in Herne Hill.

But as the mystery thickens, threatening to drag in not just Nina and her boss, but the yummy mummies of Dulwich, too, Beth is about to find out just how far some people will go to keep up appearances.

Join Beth in this fourth instalment in the London Murder Mystery series for her toughest case yet.

Purchase Link – myBook.to/homicideinhernehill

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GPGBSC6

There’s a chance to win a signed copy of the book at the bottom of the post.

Continue reading “Review: ‘Homicide in Herne Hill’, by Alice Castle”

November Bonus Review #5: ‘Tempests and Slaughter’, by Tamora Pierce

Published By: HarperCollins UK

Publication Date: 20th September 2018

I.S.B.N.: 9780008304331

Format: Paperback

Price: £8.99

Blurb

The legend begins.

In the ancient halls of the Imperial University of Carthak, a young man has begun his journey to becoming one of most powerful mages the realm has ever known. Arram Draper is the youngest student in his class and has the Gift of unlimited potential for greatness . . . and of attracting danger.

At his side are his two best friends: clever Varice, a girl with too often-overlooked, and Ozorne, the ‘leftover prince’ with secret ambitions. Together, these three forge a bond that will one day shape kingdoms.

But as Ozorne inches closer to the throne and Varice grows closer to Arram’s heart, Arram realizes that one day – soon – he will have to decide where his loyalties truly lie.

In the Numair Chronicles, fans of Tamora Pierce will be rewarded with the never-before-told story of how Numair Salmalín came to Tortall. Newcomers will discover an unforgettable fantasy adventure where a kingdom’s future rests on the shoulders of a boy with unimaginable gifts and a talent for making deadly enemies.

Continue reading “November Bonus Review #5: ‘Tempests and Slaughter’, by Tamora Pierce”

November Bonus Review #4: ‘Madness, Murder and Mayhem’, by Kathryn Burtinshaw and Dr. John Burt

Madness, Murder and Mayhem

Published By: Pen & Sword

Publication Date: 2nd October 2018

I.S.B.N.: 9781526734556

Format: Hardback

Price: £15.99

Blurb

Following an assassination attempt on George III in 1800, new legislation significantly altered the way the criminally insane were treated by the judicial system in Britain. This book explores these changes and explains the rationale for purpose-built criminal lunatic asylums in the Victorian era.

Specific case studies are used to illustrate and describe some of the earliest patients at Broadmoor Hospital – the Criminal Lunatic Asylum for England and Wales and the Criminal Lunatic Department at Perth Prison in Scotland. Chapters examine the mental and social problems that led to crime alongside individuals considered to be weak-minded, imbeciles or idiots. Family murders are explored as well as individuals who killed for gain. An examination of psychiatric evidence is provided to illustrate how often an insanity defence was used in court and the outcome if the judge and jury did not believe these claims. Two cases are discussed where medical experts gave evidence that individuals were mentally irresponsible for their crimes but they were led to the gallows.

Written by genealogists and historians, this book examines and identifies individuals who committed heinous crimes and researches the impact crime had on themselves, their families and their victims.

Continue reading “November Bonus Review #4: ‘Madness, Murder and Mayhem’, by Kathryn Burtinshaw and Dr. John Burt”

November Bonus Review #3: ‘The First Forensic Hanging’, by Summer Strevens

The First Forensic Hanging Published By: Pen & Sword

Publication Date: 5th September 2018

Format: Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 9781526736185

Price: £10.39 (normally £12.99)

Purchase Link

This is one of the new books Pen & Sword have sent me to review (Thanks to Rosie Crofts, Digital Marketing, Pen & Sword). There will be a few coming up, as I have four more in this delivery, nine in a delivery due today, and two or three more on order. What can I say? I do enjoy their books. Next up will be Murder, Madness and Mayhem by Kathryn Burtinshaw and John Burt.

Blurb

‘For the sake of decency, gentlemen, don’t hang me high.’ This was the last request of modest murderess Mary Blandy, who was hanged for poisoning her father in 1752. Concerned that the young men in the crowd who had thronged to see her execution might look up her skirts as she was ‘turned off’ by the hangman, this last nod to propriety might appear farcical in one who was about to meet her maker. Yet this was just another aspect of a case which attracted so much public attention in its day that some determined spectators even went to the lengths of climbing through the courtroom windows to get a glimpse of Mary while on trial. Indeed her case remained newsworthy for the best part of 1752, for months garnering endless scrutiny and mixed reaction in the popular press.

Opinions are certainly still divided on the matter of Mary’s ‘intention’ in the poisoning of her father, and the extent to which her coercive lover, Captain William Cranstoun, was responsible for this murder by proxy. Yet Mary Blandy’s trial was also notable in that it was the first time that detailed medical evidence had been presented in a court of law on a charge of murder by poisoning, and the first time that any court had accepted toxicological evidence in an arsenic poisoning case. The forensic legacy of the acceptance of Dr Anthony Addington’s application of chemistry to a criminal investigation is another compelling aspect of The First Forensic Hanging.

Continue reading “November Bonus Review #3: ‘The First Forensic Hanging’, by Summer Strevens”

Review: ‘The Cuckoo Wood’, by M. Sean Coleman

Published by: Red Dog

Publication Date: 25th July 2018

I.S.B.N.: 9781916426214

Format: Paperback

Price: £8.99

Purchase Links

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cuckoo-Wood-Alex-Ripley-Mystery/dp/1916426212

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/Cuckoo-Wood-Alex-Ripley-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07FWGJDHR

Direct from Red Dog Press – https://www.reddogpress.co.uk/shop

Blurb

A THRILLING, MELODICALLY CREEPY MYSTERY.

Samantha Jaynes took her life in the cold lake. Now Rosie Trimble has done the same. Both claimed they had seen an angel. And they’re not the only ones.

A spate of teenage suicides rattles the rural community of Kirkdale, in England’s Lake District. Before they died, each of the girls talked about seeing an angel. Is this collective hallucination, or is something more sinister leading these young girls to their deaths?

That’s a question for Dr Alex Ripley, the so-called Miracle Detective. Brought in to help the police, she finds a community rooted in fear and suspicion, bound by their strange faith, unwilling to help, unable to forgive.

Because the people of Kirkdale have buried their dark past once, and they’re not about to let Ripley dig it up again.

The Cuckoo Wood is the first Alex Ripley Mystery

Continue reading “Review: ‘The Cuckoo Wood’, by M. Sean Coleman”

November Bonus Review #2: ‘The Real Guy Fawkes’, by Nick Holland

The Real Guy Fawkes Published By: Pen and Sword

Publication Date: 9th October 2017

ISBN: 9781526705082

Format: Hardback

Price: £19.99

Purchase link

Blurb

Guy Fawkes, born in York in 1570, is one of the key figures in British history, taking a central role in a plot that would have destroyed the ruling class and changed the nation forever. Today protesters wear his mask, families burn his effigy, and he is an instantly recognisable name and face. But just who was the real Guy Fawkes? In this new book, we take an exciting look at the flesh and blood person behind the myth. We find out what radicalised the man who was born a Protestant, and yet planned mass murder for the Catholic cause. The book takes a fresh look at Guy’s early life in York and beyond, and examines how that led to him becoming a Catholic mercenary and a key member of the 1605 Gunpowder treason.

This fresh new biography of Guy’s life removes the layers of complexity that can cloud the British history of this time: an era when fearful Catholics hid in tiny priest holes, government spies were everywhere, and even your closest friends could send you to be hung, drawn and quartered. Guy and his conspirators were prepared to risk everything and endanger everyone, but were they fanatics, freedom fighters, or fools? This explosive read, accompanied with beautiful illustrations, is accessible and engaging, combining contemporary accounts with modern analysis to reveal new motivations behind Guy’s actions.

Continue reading “November Bonus Review #2: ‘The Real Guy Fawkes’, by Nick Holland”

Review: ‘Bertie The Buffalo’, by Wendy H. Jones

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Published By: Sarah Grace Publishing

Publication Date: 30th November 2018

Format: Paperback

Price: £7.99

I.S.B.N.: 9781910786529

Blurb

Bertie the Buffalo is based on a true story of when a Water Buffalo escaped from a Buffalo Park in Fife, near Dundee, Scotland. A rhyming book about the adventures Bertie got up to and how he safely returned home, demonstrating how important each of us is no matter how insignificant we feel. Bertie felt that no one noticed him. But he didn’t need to think that as we are all special. We are all a part of one big family.

Buy Link

https://amzn.to/2Phntyv

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First Bonus Review of November: ‘The Murder That Defeated Whitechapel’s Sherlock Holmes: At Mrs Ridgley’s Corner’, by Paul Stickler

The Murder that Defeated Whitechapel's Sherlock Holmes Published By: Pend and Sword

Publication Date: 16th April 2018

ISBN: 9781526733856

Format: Paperback

Price: £14.99

Purchase link

Blurb

In 1919, when a shopkeeper and her dog were found dead in Hitchin, Hertfordshire with brutal head injuries, there followed an extraordinary catalogue of events and a local police investigation which concluded that both had died as a result of a tragic accident. A second investigation by Scotland Yard led to the arrest of an Irish war veteran, but the outcome was far from conclusive.

Written from the perspective of the main characters involved and drawing on original and newly-discovered material, this book exposes the frailties of county policing just after the First World War and how it led to fundamental changes in methods of murder investigations.

Offering a unique balance of story-telling and analysis, the book raises a number of unanswered questions. These are dealt with in the final chapter by the author’s commentary drawing upon his expertise.

Continue reading “First Bonus Review of November: ‘The Murder That Defeated Whitechapel’s Sherlock Holmes: At Mrs Ridgley’s Corner’, by Paul Stickler”

Review: ‘Nessie’s Husband’, by Sibel Beadle

Publication Date: 31^st October 2018

Published By: Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd

Format: Picture Book

I.S.B.N.: 9781786233394

Price: £6.99

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Witchy-Travel-Tales-Nessies-Husband/dp/1786233398/

Blurb

Miranda’s daughter, Mimi, is half-cat half-human. Mimi wants to become invisible and hopes that Nessie can teach her how to become invisible and hide from her classmates. The story takes, Mimi accompanied by her witch mother and sisters, to a magical trip across Scotland where the family ends up rediscovering themselves and finding Nessie’s husband.

Continue reading “Review: ‘Nessie’s Husband’, by Sibel Beadle”

Review: ‘Reprobation’, by Catherine Fearns

Blurb

Are you one of the elect?

Dr. Helen Hope is a lecturer in eschatology – the study of death, judgement, and the destiny of humankind. She is also a Calvinist nun, her life devoted to atoning for a secret crime.

When a body is found crucified on a Liverpool beach, she forms an unlikely alliance with suspect Mikko Kristensen, lead guitarist in death metal band Total Depravity. Together, they go on the trail of a rogue geneticist who they believe holds the key – not just to the murder, but to something much darker.

Also on the trail is cynical Scouse detective Darren Swift. In his first murder case, he must confront his own lack of faith as a series of horrific crimes drag the city of two cathedrals to the gates of hell.

Science meets religious belief in this gripping murder mystery.

Continue reading “Review: ‘Reprobation’, by Catherine Fearns”