November Bonus Review #6

Landru’s SecretPublished By: Pen & Sword

Publication Date: 10th October 2018

Format: Hardback

I.S.B.N.: 9781526715296

Price: £15.99

Purchase Link

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb

On 12 April 1919, the Paris police arrested a bald, short, 50-year-old swindler at his apartment near the Gare du Nord, acting on a lead from a humble housemaid. A century later, Henri Désiré Landru remains the most notorious and enigmatic serial killer in French criminal history, a riddle at the heart of an unsolved murder puzzle.

The official version of Landru’s lethal rampage was so shocking that it almost defied belief. According to the authorities, Landru had made “romantic contact” with 283 women during the First World War, luring ten of them to his country houses outside Paris where he killed them for their money.

Yet no bodies were ever found, while Landru obdurately protested his innocence. “It is for you to prove the deeds of which I am accused,” he sneered at the investigating magistrate.

The true story of l’affaire Landru, buried in the Paris police archives for the past century, was altogether more disturbing. In Landru’s Secret, Richard Tomlinson draws on more than 5,000 pages of original case documents, including witness statements, police reports and private correspondence, to reveal for the first time that:

Landru killed more women than the 10 victims on the charge sheet.

The police failed to trace at least 72 of the women he contacted.

The authorities ignored the key victim who explained why the killings began.

Landru did not kill for money, but to revel in his power over what he called the “feeble sex”.

Lavishly illustrated with previous unpublished photographs, Landru’s Secret is a story for our times: a female revengers’ tragedy starring the mothers and sisters of the missing fiancées, a lethal misogynist and France’s greatest defence lawyer, intent on saving his repulsive client from the guillotine.

Continue reading “November Bonus Review #6”

November Bonus review #5: ‘England’s Witchcraft Trials’, by Willow Winsham

 

England's Witchcraft TrialsPublished By: Pen & Sword

Publication Date: 6th September 2018

ISBN: 9781473870949

Format: Paperback

Price: £12.99

Purchase Link

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

With the echo of that chilling injunction hundreds were accused and tried for witchcraft across England throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. With fear and suspicion rife, neighbour could turn against neighbour, friend against friend, with women, men and children alike caught up in the deadly fervour that swept through both village and town.

From the feared “covens” of Pendle Forest to the victims of the unswerving fanaticism of The Witch Finder General, so-called witches were suspected, accused, and dragged into the spotlight to await judgement and their final fate.

Continue reading “November Bonus review #5: ‘England’s Witchcraft Trials’, by Willow Winsham”

Blog Tour Calendar: ‘And The Swans Began To Sing’, by Thora Karitas Arnadottir

I’m looking forward to sharing this one with you, it’s a memoir by Icelandic author Thora Karitas Arnadottir.

And The Swans BT Poster

The swans on the pond, quite abruptly began to sing. It was a singing so loud they were almost screaming. The swans were screaming, screaming as if they saw the horror of the world.

Gudbjorg Thorisdottir has been hiding from the ghost of an ugly secret for most of her life. When she finally faces the truth of what happened throughout her childhood, the ghost floats away. Painting an evocative picture of her life in Iceland, this is the story of a little girl who didn’t know how unnatural it was to experience both heaven and hell in the same house.

Thora Karitas Arnadottir (b. 1979) studied drama in the UK, and is a producer as well as appearing on stage and television. And the Swans Began to Sing is her first published book; her mother’s story, and formed the final dissertation for her MA in Creative Writing. The book was nominated for the Icelandic Women’s Literary prize Fjoruverdlaunin in 2016.

 

Website: Wild Pressed Books

 

 

Rosie’s top 10 of 2018

It’s a hard choice to make and these are in no particular order. These are my top ten favourite reads, not necessarily published this year but read this year.

Honourable mentions go to:

Top five audio books that saved my sanity this year:

  • For We Are Legion (We Are Bob), by Dennis E Taylor, read by Ray Porter
  • For We Are Many, by Dennis E Taylor, read  by Ray Porter
  • All These Worlds, by Dennis E Taylor, read by Ray Porter
  • Raising Steam, by Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs
  • Making Money, by Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs

I pretty much have these on a repeat cycle, and just listen too them every time I leave the house.

Favourite Podcasts of the year:

  • Small Town Murder, with James Pietrogallo and Jimmie Whisman
  • Casefile True Crime

Blog Tour Calendar: ‘Mavis and Dot’, by Angela Petch

Mavis and Dot Full Tour Banner

Blurb

A warm slice of life, funny, feel-good, yet poignant. Introducing two eccentric ladies who form an unlikely friendship.Meet Mavis and Dot – two colourful, retired ladies who live in Worthington-on-Sea, where there are charity shops galore. Apart from bargain hunting, they manage to tangle themselves in escapades involving illegal immigrants, night clubs, nude modelling, errant toupees and more. And then there’s Mal, the lovable dog who nobody else wants. A gently humorous, often side-splitting, heart-warming snapshot of two memorable characters with past secrets and passions. Escape for a couple of hours into this snapshot of a faded, British seaside town. You’ll laugh and cry but probably laugh more.”This book is quirky and individual, and has great pathos…[it] will resonate with a lot of readers.” Gill Kaye – Editor of Ingenu(e). Written with a light touch in memory of a dear friend who passed away from ovarian cancer, Angela Petch’s seaside tale is a departure from her successful Tuscan novels.

All profits from the sale of the books will go towards research into the cure for cancer.

Finally submitted my final assessment

For the Writer’s Bureau Comprehensive Creative Writing course that I started in January 2015. It’s been a very useful course although I haven’t made my course fees back. I haven’t really been trying to though because of everything else going on. It’s been a difficult almost four years.

For my final assessment, I’ve submitted the first 2800 words of a sci-fi short story. The final work will probably be quite a bit longer than the target market’s limit, but it could easily be broken into a serial. I’m still writing the first draft, but I’ve already made changes between the hand-written and typed versions.

Now, I’m tired and my hands hurt so it’s time to get to sleep.

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

Homicide in Herne Hill Cover

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”

Dissertation printing and binding update

Thanks to a donation from scientist, poet and musician Divya M Persaud, I am able to afford the ring binding option for my dissertation copies. If anyone wants to help out, another £60 will allow one hard bound and one ring bound copy.

In other news, I didn’t get PIP, I missed daily living by 2 points. I didn’t get anything for mixing with others and verbal communication. You know, those two areas I really struggle with. Apparently, if I can talk to someone just about coherently in a small, quiet room for a bit then I’m fine. We sent a mandatory reconsideration request, with lots of extra evidence, last Tuesday. Give it a few months and I might hear back.

Edit: I’ve just found out graduation is going to cost another £42! Gees! Do they think we’re made of money?