Blog tour: Thin Ice by Quentin Bates

Thin Ice by Quentin Bates
Publisher: Constable
Release date: 3 March 2016
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: Snowed in with a couple of psychopaths for the winter... When two small-time crooks rob Reykjavik's premier drugs dealer, hoping for a quick escape to the sun, their plans start to unravel after their getaway driver fails to show. Tensions mount between the pair and the two women they have grabbed as hostages when they find themselves holed upcountry in an isolated hotel that has been mothballed for the season. Back in the capital, Gunnhildur, Eiríkur and Helgi find themselves at a dead end investigating what appear to be the unrelated disappearance of a mother, her daughter and their car during a day's shopping, and the death of a thief in a house fire. Gunna and her team are faced with a set of riddles but as more people are quizzed it begins to emerge that all these unrelated incidents are in fact linked. And at the same time, two increasingly desperate lowlifes have no choice but to make some big decisions on how to get rid of their accidental hostages...

Thin Ice is the Fifth novel in Quentin Bates' Officer Gunnhildur series and the first that I have had the pleasure of reading.

Ossi and Magni are on the run without a getaway car when they decide to carjack a Mother and her Daughter. But rather than killling the pair, they decide to bring them along for the ride.

On the run not only from the law, but also from the criminal that they stole money from, Ossi and Magni are desperate.

When they discover a hotel closed and abandoned for the winter, they quickly make themselves at home with their hostages, who are well aware that one single move could leave them dead.

Knowing that the paid will be missed, Ossi and Magni must decide what do with their hostages before time runs out for all of them.

Thin Ice is full of loveable characters - although I'm pretty sure that some of them are not supposed to be!

It's ending surprised me somewhat but only added to my overall enjoyment of the novel!

Thin Ice is available from 3 March 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online.

Don't forget to follow the rest of the blog tour!

    Many thanks to the publishers who sent me an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks also to Linda MacFayden for coordinating the mammoth blog tour!

Review: The Shadow Hour by Kate Riordan

The Shadow Hour by Kate Riordan

Publisher: Penguin - Michael Joseph

Release date: 25 February 2016

Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: Nineteen twenty-two. Grace has been sent to the stately and crumbling Fenix House to follow in her grandmother's footsteps as a governess. But when she meets the house's inhabitants, people who she had only previously heard of in stories, the cracks in her grandmother's tale begin to show. Secrets appear to live in the house's very walls and everybody is resolutely protecting their own. Why has she been sent here? Why did her grandmother leave after just one summer? And as the past collides with the present, can Grace unravel these secrets and discover who her grandmother, and who she, really is? 
 

I loved Kate Riordan's first novel the Girl in the Photograph, so I was thrilled to be able to read the Shadow Hour pre-publication.

The author has such a wonderful way with words, and as regular readers of my blog will know, I am a big historical fiction fan (and not necessarily always easy to please!)

Fenix house has seen better days when Grace Fairford arrives from Bristol to take up the position of governess recently advertised in the press. Harriet Jenner, Grace's grandmother worked at Fenix house decades before and told Grace such wonderful stories that she felt drawn towards the position.

When the child allegedly in Grace's care is unavailable to meet on her first day, she doesn't think too much about it , but as the days draw on and there is still no sign of Lucas, Grace begins to wonder if she shouldn't just leave.

Fenix house is nothing like her Grandmother described!

But then she meets Lucas, and her Grandmother's letters start to arrive, and Grace begins to realise that there is a lot more to Fenix house than first meets the eye...

Told both from Grace's and Harriet's (retrospective) points of view, the Shadow Hour is a beautifully written, very atmospheric novel and I very much look forward to the authors next.

The Shadow Hour is available from 25 February 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online.

      Many thanks to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: What a Way to Go by Julia Forster

What a Way to Go by Julia Forster
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Release date: 7 January 2016
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: 1988. 12-year-old Harper Richardson's parents are divorced. Her mum got custody of her, the Mini, and five hundred tins of baked beans. Her dad got a mouldering cottage in a Midlands backwater village and default membership of the Lone Rangers single parents' club. Harper got questionable dress sense, a zest for life, two gerbils, and her Chambers dictionary, and the responsibility of fixing her parents' broken hearts. Set against a backdrop of high hairdos and higher interest rates, pop music and puberty, divorce and death, What a Way to Go is a warm, wise and witty tale of one girl tackling the business of growing up while those around her try not to fall apart.

 

What a Way to Go is a wonderful homage to the 1980s. The decade that fashion most certainly forgot.

Harper Richardson is 12 years old when her Mum invites Kit to live with them.

After the breakdown of her parents marriage, Harper is already feeling different to her friends, in particular her best friend Cassie whose family can afford holidays abroad and private school fees (for Cassie's sister). 

Harper's father is struggling in a mouldy cottage in the middle of nowhere, dragging Harper along to Lone Rangers singles club (which she secretly enjoys)

Then Harper meets a BOY and everything changes.

Suddenly the world isn't all about grown ups and their problems, it is very much about teenagers and their problems!

Set against a wonderful backdrop of 80s music and fashion, What a Way to Go is a beautifully written coming of age story and I hope to read more from this author.

What a Way to Go is available now from  Amazon online and all good book shops.       Thank you to the Curtis Brown Book Group who sent me an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Blog tour: Kill Me Again by Rachel Abbott (Author Guest Post)

Today I am delighted to be hosting Rachel Abbott, author of Kill Me Again to talk about her...

TOP FIVE DEADLY WOMEN

What a great subject to talk about! The fact is, of course, that very few women are actually killers. That was the whole thinking behind my first novel Only the Innocent. I wanted to create a woman that we could all care about who actually had no choice but to murder a man. In devising the plot, I had to think what would make me kill somebody (not that I have done – or at least, not yet). So I particularly like the idea of deadly woman. However, it has to be said that the women below didn’t have any excuse for their behaviour – whereas I try to give my bad guys at least some reason for their actions!

Annie Wilkes – Misery – Stephen King

The woman who gave us Cockadoodie and hobbling? I still shake from head to toe when I recall how Annie Wilkes puts the brakes on her favourite writer, Paul Sheldon. The genius of Stephen King to have the writer become the prisoner of his ‘number one fan’ strikes a nerve!

Nurse Ratchet – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey

The nurse as battleaxe is sealed with this performance from Louise Fletcher. With her crazy winged hair and staring eyes, she has total control over her already damaged and vulnerable patients. I love that her desire to humiliate them is challenged by the arrival of charismatic Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) who nearly succeeds in strangling her. She lobotomises him as revenge!

Mrs Danvers – Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier 

My favourite book of all time! In this story the evil housekeeper – Mrs Danvers – is grief stricken by the death of the beautiful, vivacious first Mrs de Winter, Rebecca. Mrs Danvers sets out to unsettle and unseat the rather plainer, quieter second wife of the wealthy Maxim, whose name we never learn. Danvers – or Danny, as Rebecca used to call her – convinces the second wife that she will never replace Rebecca in Maxim de Winter’s heart and she is an evil presence throughout the book. On reading Rebecca, the icy fingers of ‘Danny’ curl around your neck and make you shudder!

Barbara Sabich – Presumed Innocent – Scott Turrow

This lady took no prisoners when she found out that her husband was having an affair. Attorney Rusty Sabich had a relationship with his colleague Carolyn Polhemus who is subsequently found murdered after an apparently bungled sex attack. He quickly becomes the prime suspect. I can’t give away what the character Barbara Sabich did to exact her revenge but it was ground-breaking at the time and still shouts originality to this day.

Merricat Blackwood – We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson

The heroine and narrator of this book, Merricat, displays so much love and devotion to her sister Constance that it’s hard to hate her for what she has done. But as the story unravels we can see that Constance is a prisoner of this love because she is the only one who has survived the wrath of Merricat’s last little tantrum. She’s a poisoned chalice but we are left wondering how responsible she is for her own sugar-laced actions.

**Twitter Giveaway**

With thanks to Katie Brown PR and Rachel Abbott-
 I'm delighted to be hosting a paperback and t-shirt giveaway on Twitter today.
Head over to @WelshLibrarian for details!
(UK and Ireland Only)

Don't forget to follow the rest of the blog tour!

You can read my review of Kill Me Again here.

    A huge thank you to Katie Brown PR and Rachel for allowing me to take part in the Kill Me Again blog tour.

Blog tour - The Glittering Art of Falling Apart by Ilana Fox (Author Guest Post)

Today I'm delighted to be hosting a guest post by Ilana Fox, author of the wonderful 'the Glittering Art of Falling Apart';

 

1980s Soho is electric. For Eliza, the heady pull of its nightclubs and free-spirited people leads her into the life she has craved - all glamour, late nights and excitement. But it comes at a heavy cost. Cassie is fascinated by her family's history and the abandoned Beaufont Hall. Why won't her mother talk about it? Offered the chance to restore Beaufont to its former glory, Cassie jumps at the opportunity to learn more about her past. Separated by a generation, but linked by a forgotten diary, these two women have more in common than they know . . .

Here Ilana talks about her writing journey;

MY WRITING JOURNEY

When I first decided to see if i could write a novel, lots of people didn’t really believe I’d a) actually be able to finish a full manuscript, and b) get an agent. In a way neither did I - it seemed like a fairytale, a fantasy -  but I was determined to see if I could give it a go. So I did.

Back then I was working at the Daily Mail where I’d just launched reader comments on the website and was working 14-hour days (dear world, I am sorry), had extortionate mortgage repayments and had such little money that I couldn’t even afford a proper internet connection at home.

Instead of a snazzy MacBook Pro, I had a super-old laptop that my father’s company was going to throw away as the battery was on its last legs. The only way I could get it to work was to keep it plugged in all the time, and if the plug fell out at any time the laptop would instantly die - and I’d lose all my work! Strong sellotape and pressing ‘save’ a lot got me through it, along with a steely determination to get the first draft done: I wrote for three hours every evening and for 12 hours every Sunday until I’d finished.

I finished the first draft of the novel in nine months, and the jubilation of having actually finished a manuscript from start to finish was achievement enough for me. Still, I wanted to see if I could have feedback from an agent, so I chose one who I thought sounded quite good (Michael Sissons at PFD, how naive I was: he’s an actual literary agent legend) and wrote him a rather cheeky letter asking if he’d like to read my manuscript. It seems odd now that I approached him by letter instead of email, but this was what the publishing industry was like back then. Plus, I still didn’t have internet access at home.

When I received a letter back from Michael, I couldn’t quite believe it. Nor could I believe that he wanted to read my manuscript, which he did (along with his daughter, as she was much more my intended readership), but he also got me my first two-book deal with Orion. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Michael changed my life and that I am forever grateful.

Fast forward to my fourth novel, THE GLITTERING ART OF FALLING APART, and things are quite different. Everyone talks about the ‘second difficult novel’, but I experienced it with this one. I was quite pleased with my first draft, but in retrospect it wasn’t great. My editor, Kate Mills, made me rewrite the manuscript and then rewrite it again, and at one point my living room walls were covered in huge fluorescent post-it notes and I was curled up in a ball refusing to turn my laptop on. I’ve never worked so hard on anything before - or for as long! - and even though I don’t think any writer is fully happy with what they’ve written, I’m really proud of this book. The characters really did get under my skin and I hope they come alive for the reader as much as they did for me.

http://www.ilanafox.com/

The Glittering Art of Falling Apart is available now from Amazon online and Orion. 

You can read my review again here.

Don't forget to follow the rest of the blog tour!

    Many thanks to Ilana Fox and Elaine Egan at Orion for allowing me to be part of this glittering blog tour.

Review: Last Prophecy of Rome by Iain King

Last Prophecy of Rome by Iain King

Publisher: Bookouture

Release date: 28 January 2016

Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: An ancient empire. A terrifying threat to the World’s Superpower. Only one man can stop it. ROME: Maverick military historian Myles Munro is on holiday with girlfriend and journalist Helen Bridle. He’s convinced a bomb is about to be detonated at the American Embassy. NEW YORK: A delivery van hurtling through Wall Street, blows up, showering the sky with a chilling message: America is about to be brought down like the Roman Empire. Juma, an African warlord, set free by the Arab Spring, plans to make it happen. When a US Senator is taken hostage, a chilling chain of events begins, and Myles finds himself caught in a race against time to stop Juma. But, he’s not prepared for the shocking truth that the woman he once loved, Juma’s wife, Placidia, has now become a terrorist. 

I really enjoyed the first novel in the Myles Monro installment 'Secrets of the last Nazi' and have been looking forward to the second installment for a while now.

Last Prophecy of Rome is a prequel to the previous novel and sees Myles drawn into helping the US fight a terrorism plot from an individual intent on destroying the country if the US doesn't agree to review its immigration policy.

As before Myles is a reluctant hero, drawn into the situation almost entirely by accident. This time due to the US senator specifically asking for him by name.

It transpires that an individual that Myles studied with is intrinsically involved with the plot and will only co-operate with the US if Myles is involved.

When Myles first meets the US senator he is ready to refuse the invitation to help him out, but he isn't given the chance, and before he knows what is happening they are heading towards the middle of the danger and Myles is confronted with someone he never thought he'd see again.

The US is under threat by terrorists intent on using the fall of Rome as a template and Myles with his historical knowledge must figure out exactly which element of this are using before the US faces imminent danger.

Last Prophecy of Rome is a very relevant novel and makes you think about terrorism from a different point of view.

Recommended.
 

Last Prophecy of Rome is available now from Amazon online and Bookouture.

    Thank you to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  

Review: Kill Me Again by Rachel Abbott

Kill Me Again by Rachel Abbott

Publisher: Black Dot Publishing

Release date: 17 February 2016

Rating: **** and a half

Back cover blurb: When your life is a lie, who can you trust? When Maggie Taylor accepts a new job in Manchester, she is sure it is the right move for her family. The children have settled well although her husband, Duncan, doesn’t appear to be so convinced. But nothing prepares her for the shock of coming home from work one night to find that Duncan has disappeared, leaving their young children alone. His phone is dead, and she has no idea where he has gone, or why. And then she discovers she’s not the only one looking for him. When a woman who looks just like Maggie is brutally murdered and DCI Tom Douglas is brought in to investigate, Maggie realises how little she knows about Duncan’s past. Is he the man she loves? Who is he running from? She doesn’t have long to decide whether to trust him or betray him. Because one thing has been made clear to Maggie – another woman will die soon, and it might be her. 

Kill Me Again allows us to meet the brilliant Detective Chief Inspector Tom Douglas again. 

When the body of a young woman is found, she bears a disturbing resemblance to Tom's ex-girlfriend Leo. The victim has been marked with a distinctive sign, reminding Tom of an unsolved case from twelve years previously.

Back then three blonde girls were targeted presumably due to their likeness to each other, two were murdered, the other lived to tell the horrific tale. The Police hoped that she would be able to identity someone from the meagre list of suspects they had gathered, but no such luck.

Meanwhile back in the present Maggie Taylor is left distraught when her husband Duncan goes missing. Not only is his disappearance completely out of character but he also left their two young children unattended. Maggie knows whatever made Duncan leave is serious.

Whilst Maggie is deliberating over whether or not to report her husbands disappearance to the Police, Tom is searching for his ex Leo who as well as being unlucky enough to look like his recently discovered murdered victim, has also seemingly disappeared.

When another body is discovered Tom knows that it is only a matter of time before they have yet another victim in their hands. 

Then Maggie Taylor calls to report a stalking incident and everything changes... 

Her resemblance to Leo is astonishing but confuses Tom and his team further.

Is Maggie the real murder target or is her resemblance to Leo just a coincidence?

And where on earth is Leo?

Tom's only real certainty is the hope that they find who is responsible for these horrific crimes before they strike again.

Kill Me Again is available from 17 February 2016.

You can pre-order it now from Amazon online.

      Thank you to Katie Brown PR who provided me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.   I am delighted to be taking part in the Kill Me Again blog tour on 21 February 2016

Blog tour: Elemental by Amanda Curtin

Elemental by Amanda Curtin

Publisher: Scribe UK

Release date: 11 February 2016

Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: It has taken a lifetime for me to see that the more afraid people are of the darkness, the further into it they will flee. Nearing the end of her life, Meggie Tulloch takes up her pen to write a story for her granddaughter. It begins in the first years of the twentieth century, in a place where howling winds spin salt and sleet sucked up from icefloes. A place where lives are ruled by men, and men by the witchy sea. A place where the only thing lower than a girl in the order of things is a clever girl with accursed red hair. A place schooled in keeping secrets. Moving from the north-east of Scotland, to the Shetland Isles, to Fremantle, Australia, Elemental is a novel about the life you make from the life you are given.

Elemental is 'Fish Meggie' 's story, told to her granddaughter Laura, through a series of handwritten notebooks.

Split into four sections, Water, Air, Earth told from Meggie's perspective and Fire told from Laura and Laura's Daughter in Law, Avril's perspective.

Meggie's life starts in Roanhaven, where she is the youngest child in a poor family. Life is tough - the area is dominated by the sea. The sea which is both godlike and witch like in its powers.

Days are long, and unable to help with any manual work Meggie escapes to the world of fiction, aided by her teacher who gives her books to treasure.

When she is deemed to be of age Meggie follows in her sister Kitta's footsteps and leaves Roanhaven to become a 'gutting girl' on the Shetland Isles. The girls are forced to work incredibly long days in poor conditions, covered in blood and guts, cleaning herring to be packed in brine. 

Meggie isn't a natural gutting girl, but away from her quiet home life she begins to make friends, including a young boy, a cooper (someone who makes barrels). 

Despite vowing never to marry, soon Meggie becomes a wife, and she and her husband emigrate to Freemantle, Western Australia to start a new life. 

This new life is tainted by the onset of World War I and Meggie must realise the horrors of War, not least when Magnus returns from the front, a different man to how he went away...

The years that follow are steeped with tragedy until we reach the final part of this beautifully written tale, the Coda; 2011 told from Laura and her daughter in Law Avril's point of view.

Elemental is a wonderfully atmospheric novel that really takes you to the heart of Meggie and her life. It will stay with me a very long time.

Elemental publishes 11 February 2016.

Elemental is available to buy now from Amazon online.

Don't forget to follow the rest of the blog tour;

     Many thanks to the publishers who sent me an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review: the Turning Tide by Brooke Magnanti

The Turning Tide by Brooke Magnanti

Publisher: Orion

Release date: 25 February 2016

Rating: ***

Back cover blurb: Erykah Macdonald has a nice life-the kind of life you're meant to want. But on her twentieth wedding anniversary, she's about to cross a line. Several hundred miles away in the shallow waters of a Hebridean island, a body is found. It's been in the water long enough to make identification tricky but it's clear this is no accidental death. Erykah knows she's about to make a choice you can't reverse - but she's lived with secrets most of her life - she thinks she's ready. The trouble is, there are far worse secrets than her own about to emerge. From the gurney of a morgue in the Highlands, to the media circus of the national press, and from the seemingly calm suburbs of London to the powerplays in Westminster, a net is tightening. And those that find themselves caught in are willing to kill to get out with reputations intact. Erykah must work out what she's capable of if she's going to keep her head above water-she must leave behind her comfortable life and start breaking rules. She knows she should be scared...but sometimes, stepping over the line is the first step to freedom...

The Turning Tide is an intriguing novel, a mixture of politics, crime and hidden secrets. Throw in a body and a surprise lottery win and you have the recipe for a great story.

Erykah Macdonald is on the verge of leaving her husband when he drops a bombshell that could see both of their lives change forever.

Perhaps just not in the way that either of them were anticipating...

Erykah has had a tough life, her past before meeting her husband was troubled. But that is nothing compared to the trouble that her husband has now found himself in.

Drawn into a situation that she can see no easy way out of Erykah begins to work with some less than desirable characters in order that they leave her and husband alone once and for all.

But the problem with some criminals is that they are merely the monkeys and the organ grinders are far more dangerous than you ever could imagine. 

As Erykah becomes more involved in a world that she knows next to nothing about, the danger increases.

Can she stop it all before someone gets seriously hurt?

Or is she already too late?

The Turning Tide is available from 25 February 2016.

You can pre-order it now from Amazon online and Orion.

  Many thanks to the publisher who gifted me with a copy of this novel!

Review: The Ex by Alafair Burke

The Ex by Alafair Burke

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Release date: 4 February 2016

Rating: **** and a half

Back cover blurb: Olivia Randall is one of New York City’s best criminal defense lawyers. When she hears that her former fiancé, Jack Harris, has been arrested for a triple homicide—and that one of the victims was connected to his wife’s murder three years earlier—there is no doubt in her mind as to his innocence. The only question is, who would go to such great lengths to frame him—and why? For Olivia, representing Jack is a way to make up for past regrets and absolve herself of guilt from a tragic decision, a secret she has held for twenty years. But as the evidence against him mounts, she is forced to confront her doubts. The man she knew could not have done this. But what if she never really knew him?

The Ex is a legal thriller and the first of Alafair Burke's novels that I have read - it won't be the last.

Jack Harris is a lonely widower with a teenage daughter. He has immersed himself in his work as an author, and he has tried desperately to move on with his life after the loss of his wife in a fatal shooting years earlier. 

Largely, he has succeeded, but he has yet to find love again.

When his eye is caught by a lonely stranger on a morning jog, Jack's best friend Charlotte is eager to help Jack find the elusive woman. But on the morning he sets out to meet her, he instead find himself at the Police station under investigation after three people are shot dead in a New York park.

At first glance the motive is strong, one of the victims was involved in the shooting that killed Jack's wife Molly. Jack's daughter calls upon a local lawyer to help her Dad out, certain that he should not be the one in trouble.

Olivia Randall is the high profile successful criminal defense lawyer, bought in to assist Jack, who just happens to be an ex-girlfriend who broke his heart.

Both Olivia and Jack have changed since they were together, but Olivia knows Jack inside out...  knows that he is not capable of one murder, let alone three, and is determined to help clear his name.

As the investigation into the shootings continues Olivia is forced to ask herself if she really knows Jack at all.

And if she doesn't, then what exactly is she getting herself in to...

The Ex is available now from Amazon online and Faber and Faber. 

    

Thank you to the publishers who provided me with an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza

The Girl in the Ice

Publisher: Bookouture

Release date: 12 February 2016

Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: Her eyes are wide open. Her lips parted as if to speak. Her dead body frozen in the ice… She is not the only one. When a young boy discovers the body of a woman beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London park, Detective Erika Foster is called in to lead the murder investigation. The victim, a beautiful young socialite, appeared to have the perfect life. Yet when Erika begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the murder and the killings of three prostitutes, all found strangled, hands bound and dumped in water around London. What dark secrets is the girl in the ice hiding? As Erika inches closer to uncovering the truth, the killer is closing in on Erika. The last investigation Erika led went badly wrong… resulting in the death of her husband. With her career hanging by a thread, Erika must now battle her own personal demons as well as a killer more deadly than any she’s faced before. But will she get to him before he strikes again? 

Robert Bryndza is probably better known as a romantic fiction author, but I'll be totally honest, I had never heard of him before his latest gem of a novel popped up on netgalley.

When the body of Andrea Douglas-Brown is found in a less than desirable part of London the Police have their work cut out for them.

Not only is Andrea the daughter of Lord Simon Douglas-Brown, but she also has an influential and wealthy fiancée in the form of Giles Osborne who runs a very successful events company. The investigation into Andrea’s murder therefore must be dealt with quickly and carefully.

No one likes a scandal - particularly not those rich enough to try and influence the police...

DCI Foster is bought into from Manchester to assist the Met in their search for the murderer. Her first assignment after the death of her husband and colleague Mark Foster at a (unsolved) shooting in Rochdale.

Despite her own recent loss, Foster is determined to get to the bottom of the Douglas-Brown case. But there are those that are less keen on Foster's digging, and soon the investigation gets very political and very messy.

As she begins to see connections to other murders and feels like she is getting somewhere, she is dramatically dropped from the case leaving her colleagues to find the murderer under a less popular colleague.

Can they close the case before the killer strikes again? Or will Erika be haunted by yet another unsolved crime.

I really hope to see DCI Foster in a future novel as I would love to find out more about her, her husband Mark and some of her colleagues. The Girl in the Ice is a thoroughly enjoyable novel and I hope to read more in this genre from this author.

The Girl in the Ice is available from 12 February 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and Bookouture.

    Thank you to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.