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Archive for February 21st, 2019

Glasgow Kiss

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How Far Would You Go To Catch A Serial Killer?

Glasgow Kiss Episode 1 eBook-final.jpgGlasgow Kiss Episode 1. (Publication Date: February 7th, 2019)

Genre: Thriller/ Serial Killer

Author: C.S. Duffy

Haunted by the fact that he never got the chance to tell best friend Lorna that he loved her before she was murdered, Ruari sets out to track down the man he saw her with the night before she was murdered – the man police are certain was her killer.

Forensic psychologist Amy Kerr has been watching prominent Glasgow lawyer Alec McAvoy for months, certain that he is the so-called Dancing Girls Killer who evaded capture in London five years previously.

Now Ruari and Amy are closing in on the same man – but every step they take draws them deeper into the killer’s web.

“…completely addictive. Very fast paced with the short punchy time-stamped chapters adding to the sense of a fast-moving investigation.” – Joanne Baird, Portobello Book Blog

“…full of the Glasgow banter and humour laced with a good old-fashioned murder mystery. Lots of twists and turns and little pools of red herrings kept me engrossed all the way through.” – Sharon Bairden, Chapterinmylife Blog

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Excerpt

None of this is happening, Ruari thought furiously.

His now don’t laugh but… speech was still rattling around his head.

Any minute now Lorna would come barreling up, laugh her head off and call him a fanny for sitting there with an ice pack on his head and blood dripping over his face. Everything would start to make sense again.

A torrent of pins and needles roared through him and for a horrible moment he thought he would make a liar of himself and puke after all. The paramedic rubbed his back and Kevin pressed a paper cup of strong tea into his hands.

‘Has she been formally identified?’ Ruari croaked, the delusional note of hope sounding pathetic in his own ears. ‘Lorna.’

He had to keep saying her name. If he kept saying her name, then she wasn’t gone.

Kevin nodded, catching Boyle’s eye with a brief nod Ruari only just caught out of the corner of his eye. He was on the other side of it now. How to Treat Recently Bereaved Witnesses. He was struck by the absurd notion that if he hadn’t been sacked then somehow he would be standing where Kevin was now, and it would be somebody else’s best friend’s flat being ransacked for evidence. He shuddered, an abyss of horror lapping at his toes.

‘Her parents are there now. Sister’s on her way up fae London.’

‘Greer,’ muttered Ruari pointlessly.

‘When was the last time you saw Lorna, Ruari?’ asked Cara gently and Ruari blinked at her. He hadn’t noticed her approaching.

‘Monday,’ he said, his voice sounding thin and faraway in his own ears. ‘Our Crossfit —’

No.

That wasn’t the last time he saw her.

The memory struck him like kick in the ribs and he folded over, gasping for breath as though he’d been physically winded.

Tuesday night.

Last night.

She’d come in to the restaurant where he worked in Finnieston, all cosy with some slimy chancer. Ruari had been seething. He snapped that he was busy when she came up to the bar to talk to him, cutting off any potential requests to evaluate the new man. He’d wondered what she was playing at, flaunting it in front of him like that. At his work, for goodness sake, where she knew fine he couldn’t escape.

Then on the way home he remembered that she wasn’t flaunting it. She had no idea how he felt about her. Because he’d never told her.

‘Can you remember anything about the man she was with?’ Cara asked, and Ruari shook his head. He was some slick bastard, that’s all he knew. He hadn’t been looking at the guy, after all. He’d just been staring at Lorna. Feeling like hell because she looked happy.

That was when he burst into tears.

Now Available!

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About the Author

CS Duffy

C.S. Duffy writes crime thrillers with a healthy dose of black humour. Her background is in film and TV. She has several projects in development in Sweden and the UK and her other writing has appeared in Elle Canada and The Guardian. She is the author of Life is Swede, a thriller that was originally written as a blog – leading several readers to contact Swedish news agencies asking them why they hadn’t reported the murder that features in the blog. She was selected as a Spotlight author at Bloody Scotland in 2018.

CS Duffy | Twitter | Instagram | “Author on the Go” Instagram

 

My Review

4 Stars

Ruari is in love with Lorna but the last time he saw her was the night before when she brought a new guy into his work. He realizes that Lorna had no idea how she feels since he has never told her. But when he goes to tell her, he learns that she has been murdered and he is now a suspect.

At the same time forensic pathologies Amy Kerr thinks she has found the Dancing Girls Killer that escape capture in London five years ago. Ruari is a former officer and not going to sit by the side and let the police conduct their investigation. Both Ruari and Amy decided to catch the killer.

This is a really good mystery that had me guessing through the whole book. I love how the view point is from a couple of different people that are not the police. It gives the mystery a fresh look from the regular police procedure yet still fast paced. And I have to say the ending is a huge cliffhanger. Now I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

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The author is giving away the entire digital box set (Episode 1 to 5) to one lucky winner! Just click on the link below to enter!

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Blog Tour Schedule

Feb. 18th

Reads & Reels (Guest Post)

Cats Luv Coffee Blog (Promo)

The Writer’s Alley (Review)

Jessica Rachow (Review)

Feb. 19th

Tsarina Press (Promo)

The Bookworm Drinketh (Review)

Dash Fan Book Reviews (Review)

Feb. 20th

Life at 17 (Review)

The Most Sublime (Review)

Feb. 21st

From Belgium with Book Love (Review)

JBronder Book Reviews (Review)

Valerie’s Musings (Promo)

Feb. 22nd

Online Blanket Fort (Promo)

Inked and Blonde (Review)

Go By the Book Blog (Review)

Blog Tour Organized By:

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I would like to thank R&R Book Tours for the opportunity to read and share this book.

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Into the Light

Into the Light

by Darcia Helle

on Tour February 1-28, 2019

Synopsis:

Into the Light by Darcia Helle

Max Paddington refuses to go into the light until he finds his killer. This presents a dilemma, since Max is even less competent as a spirit than he was as a live person. No one sees or hears him and he can’t manage to get anywhere or do anything on his own.

Joe Cavelli is a private investigator, living an ordinary life. Then one day he walks across a parking lot, gets yelled at by a ghost, and his life only gets stranger from there.

Max and Joe team up to find Max’s killer. In the process, they form an unlikely friendship and change each other’s lives in ways they never expected.

 

Book Details:

Genre: Paranormal Suspense
Published by: Indie
Publication Date: July 14th 2011
Number of Pages: 250
ISBN: 146364020X (ISBN13: 9781463640200)
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Audible

Read an excerpt:

Chapter 1Divorce. She slid the word across the table like it was part of his breakfast. Here’s your toast and coffee and I want a divorce.

Max Paddington stared into his wife’s clear brown eyes and said the only thing that came to mind. “What?”

“I want a divorce,” Rachel repeated.

At least she’d left out the toast and coffee bit. Divorce hadn’t been a side order, after all. “Are you still mad about the golf clubs?” he asked. “I’ll take them back if it’s that big of a deal.”

“Max…”

Rachel said his name as if it left a sour taste on her tongue. Max swiped a hand through his damp hair. He’d been awake less than a half hour and already his day had turned to shit. Rachel, his wife of fourteen years—no, it was fifteen now—stood in front of him with her arms folded over her breasts. She wore a black camisole, pantyhose, and three-inch heels. And he was supposed to take her seriously?

“Rach,” he said. “You want to get divorced over golf clubs?”

“It’s not the golf clubs, Max.”

“Well, what the hell?”

“I need to finish getting dressed or I’ll be late for work.”

“So be late! You can’t tell me you want a divorce, like you’re telling me the weather for the day, then walk out the door.”

“I can’t be late today.”

“Or what? The world will implode because you don’t serve your boss’s coffee on time?”

Rachel glared. “I do not serve my boss coffee. I only did that for you and I won’t be doing it anymore.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Max pushed his coffee mug aside, the object having suddenly become an obstacle between them. “I didn’t mean that. It’s just that you dumped this bombshell on me and you won’t even talk to me about it.”

“I don’t understand why you’re so surprised.”

“What? I should have been expecting a divorce with my breakfast?”

“Think about it, Max.”

With that, she turned and strode from the room. He watched her ass, naked beneath the pantyhose. Divorce. What the hell?

~ ~ ~

Max took his miserable attitude to work at the local Publix, where he’d been assistant manager for nearly five years. Before that, he’d been the assistant manager at Winn-Dixie. Always the assistant. Never the boss. And now his wife wanted a divorce because he’d bought expensive golf clubs. How had he managed to earn such a low rank in life?

He took his misery out on the new stock boy, a skinny sixteen-year-old with pockmarked skin and the grace of a five-thousand-pound elephant. The kid was close to tears by the time Dan, the manager, caught wind of the bad karma in the air. Max muttered an apology to his boss, said he was having a bad day, and wandered out to the stockroom. While sorting through overstock, he knocked an open case of olives onto the floor. The green ones in the glass jars. Four of the jars shattered. Little green eyeballs rolled in a puddle around his feet. One of the stockers helped him clean the mess with only a minimal of razzing.

Max hid his embarrassment behind a gruff attitude, then ducked into his office. He poured himself a cup of coffee and promptly spilled some on his tie. Next, he slipped on a newly waxed section of floor and did a fancy skid that landed him on his ass in the middle of the aisle. After that, he gave up on even pretending to work and managed to steer clear of everyone until quitting time.

He cursed his Honda Civic for not being a Mercedes, then cursed the traffic for getting in his way. His house mocked him with its dark silence. The coffeemaker mocked him from its place on the counter. Would you like a divorce with your morning coffee? A sweep of his arm sent the machine and its glass carafe sailing across the room. Leftover coffee exploded with the glass.

Was Rachel even coming home? Max watched the coffee form a river between the floor tiles. He cursed at the mess on the floor and the mess that was his life. Think about it, she’d told him. As if he could think about anything else!

He grabbed his keys and slammed out the door. Stupid to sit around sulking on the off chance that Rachel would come home soon. She was probably humping her boss on his fancy desk in his cavernous office. Damn lawyers. If the guy wasn’t overweight and bald, that thought would bother him a lot more.

Max brought his attitude to Chili’s, where he ate a burger and drank two large Cokes. Rather than one of the cute waitresses, he got stuck with a twenty-something waiter with a hundred-watt smile and perfect hair. The kind of guy who got threesomes on a regular basis. The kid’s name was Carlos and Max hated him on sight.

The noise level in the place had Max chewing on the edge of his glass. An entire building full of couples and families, all talking to each other, smiling and happy. He sat alone, being waited on by the pinup boy for Playgirl, looking like the true loser he’d become.

Would you like a divorce with your order?

Max left Carlos what was likely the worst tip the kid had ever received and stomped back out to his car. He’d been forced to park in the bank’s lot next door. That should have been a sign for him to stay out of the place. The food, liquor, noise and Carlos’s perfect white teeth only managed to further sour his mood.

Maybe Rachel would be home by now and be willing to talk. As he yanked his door open, it occurred to him that he should have gotten her some food. What if she hadn’t been avoiding him and had only worked late? What if she was waiting for him now, in their kitchen with the glass and the coffee river?

He spotted someone standing in the shadows, twenty feet from his car. A thin man, maybe a woman. Couldn’t tell with that stupid ball cap pulled low, half hidden behind the palm trees where no lights fell. Why the hell was the guy standing there in the dark? That was the thought Max had when the bullet ripped through his left eye, tore through his brain, and exploded out the back of his skull.

***

Excerpt from Into the Light by Darcia Helle. Copyright © 2019 by Darcia Helle. Reproduced with permission from Darcia Helle. All rights reserved.

 

Darcia Helle

Author Bio:

 

Darcia Helle is a Massachusetts native, who escaped the New England winters to write in the Florida sunshine. She lives with her husband in a home full of spoiled rescue animals and an occasional stray lizard. She writes because the characters trespassing through her mind leave her no alternative.

Catch Up With Darcia Helle On:
Website, Goodreads, Twitter, & Facebook!

 

My Review

5 Stars

Max Paddington is a regular guy with a streak of bad luck. He doesn’t feel like he really has accomplished anything then finds out that his wife wants a divorce. If that wasn’t bad enough he then finds himself murdered. Now he can’t cross over until he finds the murderer and figures out somethings from his life. But things are not going well for him. He didn’t stand out in life and now that he is dead he can’t even begin to figure out the who and why he was killed.

Joe Cavelli is a private investigator that happens to hear Max. Joe decides to help Max figure out who killed him. Joe starts digging around for the murderer. At the same time Max is trying to figure out what went wrong with his life. This is also something he has to get straightened out if he is going to cross over.

This is a great story. You have two ordinary guys that have a powerful message. Joe has always had imaginary friends, or did he? I loved how well he works with Max. They bicker and are an odd couple but they work together well. The mystery had me guessing the whole time.

But the part that really got me was Max. He didn’t think he accomplished anything in life and couldn’t figure out where his marriage went south. This retrospect really shows you have little things can make such a big difference in our lives along with affecting others. This part of the story almost had me in tears.

This is an amazing paranormal mystery that has such a strong message. I can’t believe this is the first book from Darcia Helle that I have read. She is a killer author and now I’m hooked. I can’t wait to read more from her.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

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This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Darcia Helle. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on February 1, 2019 and runs through March 1, 2019. Void where prohibited.

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