Blog Tour Calendar #Rararesources #AliceCastle #CalamityInCamberwell

Kicking off tomorrow, on publication day, there’s a blog tour, organised by Rachel, of Rachel’s Random Resources, for Alice Castle’s new cosy crime novel Calamity in Camberwell. No review from me this time, but as I reviewed the first two books in the series last month, I agreed to host a promo post, including a rafflecopter link for a chance to win a signed copy of the book. Lots of other book lovers are reviewing though, so head to any of the blogs on the calendar or follow @rararesources on Twitter for links to blog posts, for reviews.

Calamity in Camberwell Full Tour Banner

‘The Bespokist Guide to London’ Blog Tour Q&A

Here we are on the last day of the tour and I’m going to share with you a Q&A sent to me by the author. Presumably the interview comes from his efforts to collect information for the book…

Continue reading “‘The Bespokist Guide to London’ Blog Tour Q&A”

Blog Tour Calendar: Tommy Twigtree

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Tommy Twigtree and his friends enjoy peace and harmony in their garden.

That is until Robbie Rabbit and his Bandits decide that carrots are on the menu!

Tommy Twigtree And The Carrot Crunchers is the first book for children

by Michael Firman.

Illustrations are by Nick Roberts.

Information about the Book

Title: Tommy Twigtree and the Carrot Crunchers

Author: Michael Firman

Release Date: 14th August 2018

Genre: Picture Book

Publisher: Clink Street Publishing

Format: Paperback

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41030626-tommy-twigtree-and-the-carrot-crunchers

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twigtree-Carrot-Crunchers-Michael-Firman/dp/1912262959

 

Author Information

Michael FirmanMichael lives in rural Sussex with his wife. His story telling started when his eldest grandchild was old enough to appreciate a bedtime tale. Rather than read to her he began to craft stories about the trees, plants and animals that live in his garden. As time passed and a second grandchild also enjoyed these tales of adventure and daring, the stories began to create a whole world that lived and went about its business right in his garden.

His grand kids, Poppy and Rudi continue to enjoy further developments in the lives of the characters that populate these stories and Tommy Twigtree and The Carrot Crunchers is the first in a series charming garden tales.

 

Dissertation Update: Week ‘I have no idea’!

Morning all. I slept downstairs last night, because the air was too hot in my room. It’s much cooler in the living room. My back aches a bit because the ‘put u up’ bed isn’t the most comfortable, but it makes a change from spending the night sliding down the bed and getting up by rolling on to the floor. My bed is broken.

But, back to the dissertation.

Where did I get to? Did I tell you I’d sent the complete draft to my dissertation supervisor and asked how I make the good essay excellent? I got a response and ad a two week breakdown? Yes, I think I did.

Right then, week before last I decided to tackle it again and got the introduction done before having another breakdown, then last Wednesday I got up early and was suddenly able to write. 2000 words just flowed. Actually, I did some cutting and pasting from the old essay, adding some stuff, took some other stuff out, and produced something.

Honestly, I wasn’t happy with it, but I sent it to the dissertation supervisor anyway.

Yesterday I got a response. The critique is excellent, I’m ‘nearly there’ but the bibliography needs to be longer, twice as long.

Guess what I spent yesterday evening doing? To be fair, I had referenced books but had forgotten to add them to the bibliography, so it wasn’t much work to add them. Then I had to raid my library for the books that had helped with some of my ideas. The thing is, I pick up information from all sorts of books, articles, web pages, talking to people, etc. and synthesise them into a whole picture. But I can’t necessarily tell you were the individual information came from. It’s a bit of a bugger when I have to provide references and reading suggestions…

Anyway, the bibliography is now twice as long, and it may get longer, I have a few doctoral theses to read that I found on the subject of crime fiction. And I’m sure there were some books I borrowed from the university library last year that should go in there too.

Review: ‘The Cheesemaker’s House’, by Jane Cable

The Cheesemaker's House front cover

Published By: Matador

Publication Date: 1st August 2013

I.S.B.N.: 9781783061242

Format: Paperback

Price: £7.99

Blurb

Just think, Alice, right now Owen could be putting a hex on you!

When Alice Hart’s husband runs off with his secretary, she runs off with his dog to lick her wounds in a North Yorkshire village. Battling with loneliness but trying to make the best of her new start, she soon meets her neighbours, including the drop-dead gorgeous builder Richard Wainwright and the kindly yet reticent cafe´ owner, Owen Maltby.

As Alice employs Richard to start renovating the barn next to her house, all is not what it seems. Why does she start seeing Owen when he clearly isn’t there? Where – or when – does the strange crying come from? And if Owen is the village charmer, what exactly does that mean?

The Cheesemaker’s House is a gripping read, inspired by a framed will found in the dining room of the author’s dream Yorkshire house. The previous owners explained that the house had been built at the request of the village cheesemaker in 1726 – and that the cheesemaker was a woman. And so the historical aspect of the story was born.

Jane Cable’s novel won the Suspense & Crime category of The Alan Titchmarsh Show People’s Novelist competition, reaching the last four out of over a thousand entries. The Cheesemaker’s House can be enjoyed by anyone who has become bored of today’s predictable boy-meets-girl romance novels.

Continue reading “Review: ‘The Cheesemaker’s House’, by Jane Cable”

Review: ‘Duck Egg Blues’, by Martin Ungless

Duck Egg Blues CoverPublished By: Independently Published

Publication Date: 25th May 2017

Format: Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 978-1521495919

Price: £8.99

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb

This perfect slice of ‘cozy crime’ is narrated in the voice of a pre-war English butler and concerns a rich and powerful businesswoman whose daughter goes missing from their country house estate. That the story- teller is a robot belonging to an impoverished detective brings a fresh and original take on ‘cozy’, and as for ‘crime’… well, it does begin to escalate, what with MI6, criminal gangs, corrupt police, and that’s not to mention international cybercrime!

​As the plot strands weave together, we discover that behind one mystery lurks a greater threat. No one is safe, not even PArdew…

​This is without doubt the robot-butler-detective thriller you have been waiting for!

Continue reading “Review: ‘Duck Egg Blues’, by Martin Ungless”

Blog Tour Calendar: ‘The Bespokest Guide To London’, organised by #rararesources

I’ll be doing a ‘Q&A’ post for this tour, because I didn’t think I’d have time to review – I only have a MONTH to finish my dissertation. Reading the ‘Q&A’ I’ve been sent, I wish I did have the time to read the book. It’s too funny! But you’ll see on my tour stop what I mean. I’m posting on the last day of the tour, so feel free to have a gander at some of the earlier posts.

The Bespokist Society Guide to…London Full Tour Banner

A little about the book

The Bespokist Society Guide to…London

“sparse… some glaring omissions” FoodPorn London

“only page 23 is of mild interest” http://www.londonpetlover.com

“Wow!!! A genuinely bespoke city guide!!!” Tommy Sponge, Chairman, The Bespokist Society

You have in your hands one of the most curated city guides ever created. As the first travel book produced by the hugely influential Bespokist Society, this handy guide takes you to a London you’ve never seen: a London of challenging Etruscan restaurants, edgy branding parlours, emoji hotels and hidden Icelandic communities; a London where 8-ply toilet paper is a thing.

On the way, meet an eclectic band of inspiring Londoners – from scriveners to socialites via urban wordsmiths and coffee preachers – and see why London is now the global epicentre of Bespokist consciousness, community and culture.

Purchase Link – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bespokist-Society-Guide-London/dp/1912615142/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523828780&sr=8-1&keywords=bespokist


And about the author 

The Bespokist Society Guide to London is a work of fiction written by born and bred Londoner, Jeremy Liebster. Somewhat surprisingly, Jeremy is also a city lawyer – formerly at DLA Piper and now a General Counsel within a large private equity group. Jeremy is utterly obsessed with travel books and although he might poke fun at urban fads, hipster fried chicken is his guilty pleasure. He also has an unusual interest in clothes hangers.

 

Social Media Links – @TheBespokist www.bespokistsociety.com

Blog tour calendar: Duck Egg Blues, by #UnglessM, organised by #rararesources

I’m taking part in this blog tour and I rather enjoyed the book so I can’t wait to tell you about it. Anyway, here’s the calendar or the tour. I’m one of the first to review so if you’re interested you can read what others thought of the book too.

Duck Egg Blues Full Tour Banner

Here’s some information about Duck Egg Blues and author Martin Ungless:

Duck Egg Blues Cover

Duck Egg Blues is funny, sad, mysterious and thrilling. “A robot butler detective, what’s not to love?”

Martin Ungless is a WCN Escalator Prize winning author who has twice been shortlisted by the Crime Writers’ Association for their Debut Dagger Award.

What the CWA Judges said about his work:

‘A clever and ambitious story’
‘I was laughing and crying and hugging the sheets to my chest’

This perfect slice of ‘cozy crime’ is narrated in the voice of a pre-war English butler and concerns a rich and powerful businesswoman whose daughter goes missing from their country house estate. That the story- teller is a robot belonging to an impoverished detective brings a fresh and original take on ‘cozy’, and as for ‘crime’… well, it does begin to escalate, what with MI6, criminal gangs, corrupt police, and that’s not to mention international cybercrime!

As the plot strands weave together, we discover that behind one mystery lurks a greater threat. No one is safe, not even PArdew…

This is without doubt the robot-butler-detective thriller you have been waiting for!

Purchase Link – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Duck-Egg-Blues-PArdew-Book-ebook/dp/B071226XSW

For the duration of this blog tour, Duck Egg Blues will be on a Kindle Countdown Deal, so if you are tempted, purchase before the price rises

Author Bio – Following this year’s success, Martin Ungless had now been shortlisted three times by the Crime Writers’ Association for their Debut Dagger. He has won a WCN Escalator Award, and been successful in a number short-story competitions. Martin started life as an architect though now lives in the Norfolk countryside and writes full time. Martin is currently studying for the prestigious MA in Fiction (Crime) at UEA.

Social Media Links – https://twitter.com/UnglessM

#BlogTour Calendar: ‘The Cheesemaker’s House’, by Jane Cable #Rachel’sRandomResources

I’ll be taking part in the blog tour for ‘The Cheesemaker’s House’, by Jane Cable. August marks the 5th anniversary of the publication of Jane’s first novel, and I’m happy to help her celebrate. The book is lovely to hold, by the way. I’m one of the last bloggers to review so take a look at the others on the poster if romantic suspense novels are your thing.

The Cheesemakers House Full Banner