What you Don't Know Blog tour

Joann Chaney's debut novel is a dark and addictive literary thriller which looks at the aftermath of a serial killer and the impact on those who survived. Three people are forever linked by their connection to Jacky Seever a notorious serial killer who was arrested and sentenced to death 7 years earlier after 33 bodies were found buried under his house. There's Paul Hoskins one of the officers who arrested Seever and exposed him as a killer but Hoskins has never been able to get Seever out of his head and it's impacted every part of his life, his marriage is over, his father is loosing his memory and he's been kicked out of the homicide unit to work in the basement on the cold cases. Sammie Peterson reported on the case when Seever was arrested, her name was splashed all over the papers alongside his, but seven years later she can't get a story accepted and she's working at a make up counter at the mall wondering where it all went wrong. Gloria Seever should have known her husband better than anyone. People are still convinced that she knew and she has to deal with being shouted at in the grocery store and washing graffiti off her house but still she tells herself she knew nothing. And then people connected to Seever start to turn up dead; brutally murdered in a strikingly similar way to Seever's original victims. Is the killer a copycat? a partner? or one of those closest to him?

There are shades of Gillian Flynn in this scalpel sharp tale of the dark underbelly of Midwesten life and in the lies the characters tell themselves. Chaney looks deep into the heart of each character and poses the question are there really such things as good and evil or do we carry the possibility of both inside us? This is a disturbing and unsettling book. If you are ready for a psychological thriller than offers real and chilling psychological insight this is it.

For an interview with the author and some insight into her inspiration and her writing days Follow the link below to JaffaReadsToo which was yesterday's stop on the blog tour. I am excited to see what Joann does next.

http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.ie/2017/02/blog-tour-what-you-dont-know-by-joann.html

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay

The Witches of New York is the third novel from bestselling author Ami McKay. While the new novel sees the return of Moth from her previous novel The Virgin Cure it can be read as a stand alone. The story opens in New York in September 1880 with Moth; now Adelaide and her dear friend Eleanor who have opened Tea & Sympathy a tea shop where they offer spells, remedies and advice to the well heeled ladies of Manhattan. While Eleanor is the expert on remedies and tea, Adelaide is a talented seer and happy to proclaim herself a witch. Having lost an eye to an acid attack from a jealous rival she revels in her witchy appearance. The ladies workload has increased and so Adelaide places an advert seeking an apprentice and Beatrice comes into their lives. Beatrice has travelled from small town upstate New York seeking adventure and magic and she is a wonderful addition to the store but it soon becomes obvious that she has incredible magical abilities. While Eleanor wants to help the girl to develop at her own pace Adelaide wants to test out Beatrice’s abilities and before long Beatrice disappears. Has she run away? Or has she been taken? Because in a society that condemns women is it ever safe to be a witch? The growth of Beatrice’s character is skillfully woven throughout the novel as she turns from country girl to a young woman in charge of her own destiny. This is a beautiful novel, impeccably researched, powerfully plotted and packed with intriguing characters. Carefully blending fantasy, crime and historical fiction this is a charming and atmospheric read. Perfect for fans of Sophia Tobin, Susan Hill and Essie Fox.

Available now from Orion Books

This review originally appeared in Historical Novel Review 79 (Feb 2017) as an Editor's Choice. 

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-witches-of-new-york/ 

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Headline Publishing have re-issued  a number of titles from the powerful and hugely influential science fiction author Octavia E. Butler with titles available in both print and e-book format. I was delighted to be sent a print copy of this classic American book first published in 1979. While there is an element of science fiction in this novel it is also a politically charged tale of pre-civil war slavery. Dana a young black writer just moving into her new home with her husband feels dizzy and wakes up to find herself in early 19th century Maryland. She sees a young boy thrashing about in a river and pulls him out and revives him saving his life just as a hard faced man points a rifle into her face she is suddenly back home in her new apartment and soaked through. A series of trips back into the past then commences, some lasting for weeks and months at a time. Dana experiences first hand the cruelty of slavery and of being considered something to be traded as she struggles to stay alive and to keep her ancestors from harm. This book raises huge questions about equality, identity, race and gender. It is powerful, compelling and disturbing. Recommended even if you aren't a fan of time travel (as I am) or of science fiction generally. Thanks to Headline and Bookbridgr for a review copy of this book.

Seven for a Secret

Seven for a Secret is a crime novel which succeeds both as a follow up to last year’s Gods of Gotham and as a mystery in its own right. We are back with the fledgling NYPD in 1846 and Copper Star Timothy Wilde has a new case to solve as a young woman rushes into the police headquarters reporting her family has been stolen. Soon Wilde is on the trail of a gang of blackbirders; legal slave catchers who Mrs Lucy Adams claims have illegally taken her sister and son. With the help of the Vigilance Committee and his brother Captain Valentine Wilde, Timothy discovers a web of corruption that leads to his old adversary Silkie Marsh and to the heart of The Democratic Party. Lyndsay Faye has painstakingly recreated 19^th Century New York with meticulous research, rich contemporary language and fantastic characterisation. From the wealthy and well-dressed politicians to the starving orphans, from the drunks to the dandies, this book is peopled with a fascinating cast of characters. The Wilde brothers are by turns comic and tragic and despite their faults utterly likeable. Don’t start this book at bed time as you are likely to lose sleep as I did, desperate to know what happened next and what scrape the Wilde’s will find themselves in. Perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes and anyone that loves a wild thrill ride of a tale.

Available now in hardback, trade paperback and e-book from Headline Review.

This review originally appeared on welovethisbook.com

http://www.welovethisbook.com/reviews/seven-secret

The Golem and Djinni by Helene Wecker

This a fabulous debut. An historical fantasy tale set in New York in 1899 in which the author conveys a strong sense of time and place. The author brings to life the many various neighbourhoods of turn of the century New York, the cold, the poverty, the overcrowding but also the customs and the habits and most importantly she brings alive the legends and the heritage as the two main characters are creatures of Arabic and Jewish mythology. The Golem is Chava a woman made from clay her purpose to serve her master in all things but when her master dies she is cast adrift and must find new purpose. Ahmad is the Djinni trapped for centuries in a copper flask and freed by a unwitting tinsmith. Each has their own separate beginning but the author seemlessly weaves together the disparate mythologies and unites the two characters who are hunted by a desperate and dangerous magician. This is a glorious and page turning escapist read perfect for fans of Susanna Clarke, Deborah Harkness and Carol Goodman.

A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow

I have wanted to read this book ever since my favourite author Diana Gabaldon posted it on her methadone list. This is a list which Diana posts on her website and updates regularly of books which she recommends you read while waiting fora new book in her Outlander series.  The Outlander books are a series of historical adventure romances featuring a time travelling doctor and her 18th century Scottish lover. They are not to be missed. Diana recommended this series for those who enjoy mystery or crime fiction a few years ago but until this year they weren't published in UK and Ireland. A friend of mine who saw my earlier post about this book sent me a copy (Thanks Carrie) it has a different cover not as attractive as the one above but if you are in the UK or Ireland these are the covers to look for as the design implies the story takes place in Alaska on the edge of the National Park. It is a bleak cold and lonely place and many of the locals find comfort and amusement in drinking and fighting. However when a young park ranger goes missing and the investigator who went looking for him also disappears Kate Shugak is asked to investiagte, she had once worked for the DA in Anchorage and doesn't really want to get involved but when the danger seems to come closer to home she has little choice. Kate is a wonderful creation; wild, resourceful and unafraid she lives on the edge of the wilderness with just her husky Mutt for company. This is the first in the series and there are a number of Kate Shugak mysteries available now in paperback from Head of Zeus.

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

I have been wanting to read this book for so long. I first heard about it through Julie's facebook page and of course the American edition was published first. Now at last book lovers in the UK and Ireland will be able to get their hands on a copy as it is published by Pan on 20th June 2012. Calling Me Home is being compared to The Help and while there are similarities I feel that if anything Calling Me Home is a better book dealing as it does with the harsh realities of the racial divide in 1930s America. The plot of the novel was inspired by real events in the life of Julie's grandmother; who fell in love with a black man when she was a teenager only to have their families separate them. Julie also discovered that her father's home town had a sign warning black people to be gone before sundown. The novel features two strong female characters Dorrie Curtis a feisty black hairdresser raising a family alone and afraid to let the new man in her life get too close and Miss Isabelle her rather cantankerous client a ninety year old lady living alone, They make unlikely friends but over the years that is what they have become, so when Miss Isabelle needs someone to drive her from Texas back to Kentucky for a funeral it is to Dorrie that she turns. Over the course of their journey Isabelle reveals the story of her youth, her passionate love for a young black man and how dangerous it was it that time of bigotry, hatred and fear. I don't want to give away too much of Isabelle's story suffice to say there is love, there is heartbreak and there is finally peace. This fantastic story is told in such an elegant and talented writing style, Julie Kibler is a born storyteller. Don't let this one pass you by.
Thanks to Sophie Orme from Mantle Books at Pan Macmillan for sending me a proof copy of the book