Review [Blog Tour] - the Damsel Fly by SJI Holliday

The Damselfly by SJI Holliday

Publisher: Black & White Publishing

Release date: 2 February 2017

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: Katie Taylor is the perfect student. She’s bright and funny, she has a boyfriend who adores her and there are only a few months left of school before she can swap Banktoun for the bright lights of London. Life gets even better when she has an unexpected win on a scratch card. But then Katie’s luck runs out. Her tragic death instead becomes the latest in a series of dark mysteries blighting the small town. The new school counsellor Polly McAllister, who has recently returned to Banktoun to make amends in her own personal life, is thrown in at the deep end as the pupils and staff come to terms with Katie’s death. And it’s not long before she uncovers a multitude of murky secrets. Did Katie have enemies? Is her boyfriend really so squeaky clean? And who is her brother’s mysterious friend? With Banktoun’s insular community inflamed by gossip and a baying mob stirring itself into a frenzy on social media, DS Davie Gray and DC Louise Jennings must work out who really murdered Katie before someone takes matters into their own hands . . 

So here we are, book 3 in the Banktoun series and I must say, SJI Holliday's writing just gets better. The great thing about this series is that they can all be read as stand alone novels, but why on earth wouldn't you want to read Black Wood and Willow Walk? 

Katie Taylor is an exceptional student, her talents wasted in the small town of Banktoun. She cannot wait to go to University in London and leave her dysfunctional family behind. Just a few more months until the end of school and Katie's life will be just perfect.

DC Louise Jennings is just finishing her morning run when news comes in of Katie's tragic and sudden death and she and her colleague (newly promoted) DS Davie Gray are sent to investigate. Young girls with no pre-existing medical conditions don't just pass away in the night, something must have happened to cause Katie's death.

And so the investigation starts.

As always with a small town, everyone is under suspicion; Katie's boyfriend, her sister, her best friend, her favourite teacher, even her Mother. When it transpires that she was indeed murdered, despite the frenzied gossip, the community is in shock. Katie was popular, who on earth would want her dead?

With social media at the forefront of the novel, the Damselfly brings the sleepy town of Banktoun into the (sometimes) frightening world that we all live in on a daily basis. This is a novel that will be keep you on your toes as it's twists and turns lead us to Katie's killer - and I definitely did not guess the killer's identity before it was revealed.

And the ending? 

Well let's just say I really do hope that this isn't the last of the series, even though it's been marked as a trilogy. If it is I will be devastated. I need more Banktoun (and DS Gray) in my life -  but on the flip slide, I would quite like to see what else this author has up her sleeve!


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

The Damselfly is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

 Thank You to the publishers who sent me an advanced proof of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Willow Walk by SJI Holliday

Willow Walk by SJI Holliday

Publisher: Black and White Publishing

Release date: 10 June 2016

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: When the past catches up, do you run and hide or stand and fight? When a woman is brutally attacked on a lonely country road by an escaped inmate from a nearby psychiatric hospital, Sergeant Davie Gray must track him down before he strikes again. But Gray is already facing a series of deaths connected to legal highs and a local fairground, as well as dealing with his girlfriend Marie's bizarre behaviour. As Gray investigates the crimes, he suspects a horrifying link between Marie and the man on the run - but how can he confront her when she's pushing him away? As a terrified Marie is pulled back into a violent past she thought she'd escaped, she makes an irrevocable decision. And when events come to a head at a house party on Willow Walk, can Gray piece together the puzzle in time to stop the sleepy town of Banktoun being rocked by tragedy once more? 

SJI Holliday's second novel is once again set in the small Scottish town setting of Banktoun. And although this is the second novel in Holliday's Banktoun trilogy, you don't have to have read the first, Black Wood to be able to read this. Willow Walk works well as a standalone novel.

But I do suggest you read Black Wood if you can, as you've missed a treat if you've not already been introduced to Banktoun and its residents, particularly the rather lovely Davie Gray.

I digress....

Willow Walk's beginning; a rather creepy and nasty prologue, has you, the reader, straight in at the deep end, the morning after a party, where something has clearly gone very very wrong.

Local Police Sergeant Davie Gray is investigating the use of legal highs in Banktoun and the surrounding are when he is called to the local hospital by a colleague. A woman has been brutally attacked and Davie may be able to identify her.

Davie fears the worse, his new girlfriend Marie is supposed to be at work. But what if she's not?

Thankfully the victim of the attack is not Marie, who works behind the bar of the local pub. Her relationship with Davie is still in its infancy so when she begins to receive some disturbing letters, the last thing she wants is police involvement.

But Marie is scared, scared that the letters mean she's about to be forced to relive a past she thought she'd escaped long ago.

When it transpires that an escaped psychiatric patient is suspected of attacking the woman mistaken for Marie, Marie's worst fears begin to come true. The closer Davie tries to get to Marie the more she pushes him away.

Can Davie figure out what's going on before tradegy occurs?

Or will the Police become distracted by the arrival of the local fair and a resurgence of dangerous legal highs.

The quiety sleep town of Banktoun is about to be awakened in the worst possible way.

Willow Walk is a brilliantly creepy and atmospheric novel that will grip you from its first page.

Willow Walk is available from 10 June 2016.
You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and Black & White publishing.

   

Black Wood Blog Tour

 Q and A with SJI Holliday - author of Black Wood

You’ve previously worked as a statistician. What made you change your career path or was being an author something you'd always aspired to?

Well I still work as a statistician. There’s nothing like a day in front of a computer screen staring at loads of numbers to inspire the creative brain! Seriously, I think it’s always something I wanted to do but something I never imagined I’d be able to do. I took six months off to travel the world in 2006 and it was then that I realised I wanted to pursue it. I started with short stories, then lots of unfinished novels, before I finally got stuck in and finished Black Wood.

Do you have a favourite author?

No. I read so many authors. I often cite Stephen King as my favourite, but I’m not actually sure anymore! I like different styles and voices. I do love Mo Hayder though. The darkness of her mind is fascinating.

If you could have written any novel what would it be?

Bird Box by Josh Malerman. Just. So.Clever.

Do you have any peculiar writing habits or quirks?

Not really, unless you counting writing in bed?! My worst habit is being too easily distracted by social media.

What are you reading at the moment?

I’ve just finished Untouchable by Ava Marsh. It’s not out until May, but I’ll tell you now - it is fantastic. I’ve got a few books that I’ve read a bit of and put back for later – I’m bad for that! I like a sneak peek of things before I settle down with the one I want.  I’m am trying not to start anything new at the moment as I need to focus on writing, but I know I’m going to crack… I can’t stop myself. I have a to-be-read pile the size of a house.

Is there another novel on the cards? If so can you give anything away yet? And will it be the same genre?

Yes. No. Sort of. I never talk about a work-in-progress in case I jinx it.

Will you continue to write short stories now that you’ve taken the leap and written a novel?

Definitely. I was shortlisted for the CWA Margery Allingham competition last year with a story featuring a character from Black Wood. I’m still trying to decide how to publish that story. I’ll always write short stuff, even though I have less time. They’re great for experimenting with ideas and styles, and it’s satisfying to finish something in days rather than months

Have you read anything that made you think differently about how you write?

That’s a great question. Yes, most definitely. I think everything I read makes me think differently about how I write, especially now that I am a writer as well as a reader. It’s impossible to read now without analysing the writing – you never stop learning about structure and voice and language, especially with crime as people are writing things in many different ways. I love to read first person – it really draws me in and helps me to imagine the character. Black Wood is written partly in first and partly in third, and it’s my aim to one day have the confidence to sustain a whole novel written in first.

Do you prefer an E-book or a physical book?

Physical – and I prefer paperback to hardback, just because they’re more portable and don’t hurt so much when they fall on your face when you drop off to sleep. I do read eBooks too, on a tablet and an iPad. Those things really hurt when they fall on your face!

Davie Gray is an extremely likeable character. If there is another book on the cards, how likely is he to feature, and would you consider a series of books featuring him?

You know what – he was never even meant to be in the book. I needed to add in another character, and I decided to try writing a policeman, sitting bored in a station in a town where nothing much happened. I wrote a chapter and sent it to my writing buddy, and he said he loved him. He grew from there and took on a life of his own. He’ll definitely be back.

There are lots of twists and turns to the plot in Black Wood. How do you keep track of your story as it becomes more complex?

Haha! Ask my editor. I thought it made perfect sense until we realised that one character’s story ended on Tuesday and everyone else was still going on Thursday. I do use a spreadsheet to try and track the timeline and a brief description of each scene, but it tends to get abandoned during the frantic writing phase (i.e. when the end is in sight).

Black Wood is quite a dark book. How did you feel when writing it? And did you need to take any time out to get away from the story whilst writing it?

The sections in the woods freaked me out a bit – I could picture them clearly and the thought of what happened made me feel sick. And there are two sort-of-supernatural scenes that actually scared me when I wrote them. It didn’t help that I wrote them in our old house, which was apparently haunted… I always had to play some uplifting music after a writing session and watch at least half an episode of Friends. That’s a great mind cleanser.

Great questions – thanks for having me!

  Black Wood is available from 19 March 2015. You can pre-order it now from Amazon online.    You can read my review of Black Wood here.   Don't forget to visit crimethirllergirl.com tomorrow for the next blog tour installment!     

Huge thanks to Susi for answering my questions and to Liz for organising the blog tour!

Review: Black Wood by SJI Holliday

Black Wood by SJI Holliday

Publisher: Black and White Publishing

Release date: 19 March 2015

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: He spots the two girls through the cracked screen of beech, sycamore and leg-scratching gorse: a flash of red skirt and a unison of giggles… Something happened to Claire and Jo in Black Wood: something that left Claire paralysed and Jo with deep mental scars. But with Claire suffering memory loss and no evidence to be found, nobody believes Jo’s story. Twenty-three years later, a familiar face walks into the bookshop where Jo works, dredging up painful memories and rekindling her desire for vengeance. And at the same time, Sergeant Davie Gray is investigating a balaclava-clad man who is attacking women on a disused railway, shocking the sleepy village of Banktoun. But what is the connection between Jo’s visitor and the masked man? To catch the assailant, and to give Jo her long-awaited justice.. contd.


Black Wood is Susi Holliday's debut novel, but you wouldn't know it. A truly gripping read from start to finish, Black Wood is one of the best debuts I've read in a while.

Black Wood is set in a small claustrophic Scottish town, where everyone knows everyone (and their business), and some very unpleasant things have happened. Think Broadchurch crossed with Taggart and you're almost there.

Black Wood is the setting of life changing events for Jo and Claire that neither of them are able to really move away from even years later. Affected in different ways both physically and mentally, Jo and Claire although still friends, are bound together by their past.

Whilst Claire would be happy to forget what happened that fateful day in Black Wood, Jo is slightly more reluctant to let go, convinced that a man who has recently returned to Black Wood had something to do with what happened. So convinced is Jo of this persons involvement that she enrols the help of the local police Sergeant, Davie Gray.

Sergeant Davie Gray is a thoroughly likeable character which puts him at odds with quite a few of the other characters in Holliday's debut. A few of whom are thoroughly unpleasant. But this helps to make Black Wood the atmospheric novel that it is.

Davie, although wanting to help Jo, has other concerns. A masked suspect has been seen in the Black Wood area. frightening and attacking young girls. Is it the same man that Jo has been so concerned about, or is it something even more sinister? Something that no one in Black Wood, least of all Jo or Claire, could ever have imagined?

Black Wood without a doubt has to be one of my favourite ever crime debuts, and I urge you to read it. You won't be disappointed!

Black Wood is available from 19 March 2015. You can pre-order it now from Amazon online.   You can read my Black Wood blog tour Q and A with SJI Holliday here.   Don't forget to visit crimethirllergirl.com tomorrow for the next blog tour installment!     

 
    Huge thanks to Liz Wilkins for sending me a copy of the novel and allowing me to take part in Susi's blog tour.