An unpredictable killer is loose on the streets of Glasgow, experimenting with death. Beginning with brute force, the murderer moves on to poison and drowning, greedy for new and better ways to kill.
Faced with a string of unconnected victims, DCI Lorimer turns to psychologist and friend Solomon Brightman for his insights. Lorimer is also assigned to review the case of a fatal house fire. His suspicions are raised by shocking omissions in the original investigation. Some uncomfortable questions have been buried but Lorimer is the man to ask them.
As the serial killer gets closer to Lorimer’s family, can the DCI unmask the volatile murderer before the next victim is found too close to home?
Book Details:
Genre: Procedural
Published by: Witness Impulse
Publication Date: July 11, 2017
Number of Pages: 368
ISBN: 0062659189 (ISBN13: 9780062659187)
Series: DCI Lorimer #7, All are Stand Alone
Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗
When Mary heard the back door being knocked, a smile lit up her wizened features: it was him! Danny hadn’t let her down after all, she thought. Shuffling through the hall, the old lady placed one hand on the papered walls for support, breathing hard at the effort. She switched on the kitchen light, an expression of delighted anticipation on her face at the shadow beyond the half-glazed door. The tea tray was still prepared for them; Danny’s favourite biscuits on a plate beneath the embroidered cloth, two china cups and saucers all ready beside them. Mary smoothed down her skirt and patted her tightly permed white curls, just as if she were about to welcome a young suitor to her parlour.
Eager fingers turned the key and then the cold air rushed in, sweeping Mary’s skirt above her knees, making her tremble at the empty darkness. Where was he? The trees outside swayed in the gathering storm. Had she really seen his shadow there on her doorstep? Or was it a trick of the light?
‘Danny? Danny! Are you out there? Come in, lad, it’s too cold for me to leave the door open.’ Mary’s smile faded as she heard the branches of the old apple tree creak in the wind. Had she imagined the door being knocked? Had her heightened anticipation tricked her into imagining that familiar sound? Was it the wind?
Disappointed, Mary was about to shut the door once again when she heard it: a pitiful cry just out there in the garden, some small animal in distress. Was it a cat? She’d had cats for years, but after Tiggle had been put down Malcolm had persuaded her not to have another one. It’s too much for you, Mother, he’d scolded. But Mary still missed the companionable creature and on a night like this a furry body curled on her lap would have been very welcome. So, was it a stray cat, perhaps?
Peering into the darkness, Mary heard it again, a bit closer this time.
‘Puss?’ she queried. ‘Here, pussy,’ she said, her words drawn away by a gust of wind. Venturing forwards, Mary took one step down, her fingers gripping the rail that the nice man from social services had put in for her, and called again. ‘Puss, puss . . .’
The figure seemed to come from nowhere, the hood concealing his face.
‘Danny?’ Mary stood still, wondering, doubting as he mounted the steps towards her.
But in that moment of hesitation she felt her fingers being pried from the railing, then the figure was suddenly behind her.
One blow to her spine and she was falling down and down, a thin wail of pain coming from her mouth as the sharp edges of the stone steps grazed her face, cut into her flailing arms.
Mary closed her eyes before the final thud, her skull smashing against the concrete slab below.
‘Miaow!’ the hooded figure cried, then laughed softly at the inert body splayed at the foot of the steps. Bending down, it lifted one of the woman’s thin wrists, feeling for a pulse. A moment passed then the hood nodded its satisfaction, letting the dead woman’s arm fall back on to the cold, hard ground.
—
Excerpt from Five Ways to Kill A Man by Alex Gray. Copyright © 2017 by Alex Gray. Reproduced with permission from Witness Impulse. All rights reserved.
Alex Gray was born and educated in Glasgow. After studying English and Philosophy at the University of Strathclyde, she worked as a visiting officer for the Department of Health, a time she looks upon as postgraduate education since it proved a rich source of character studies. She then trained as a secondary school teacher of English.
Alex began writing professionally in 1993 and had immediate success with short stories, articles, and commissions for BBC radio programs. She has been awarded the Scottish Association of Writers’ Constable and Pitlochry trophies for her crime writing.
A regular on the Scottish bestseller lists, she is the author of thirteen DCI Lorimer novels. She is the co-founder of the international Scottish crime writing festival, Bloody Scotland, which had its inaugural year in 2012.
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What a thrill. Today I have been gifted with the best selling author, Brian McGilloway, on my blog. Brian McGilloway is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Inspector Benedict Devlin and DS Lucy Black series. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. After studying English at Queen’s University, Belfast, he took up a teaching position in St Columb’s College in Derry, where he was Head of English.
His first novel, Borderlands, published by Macmillan New Writing, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger 2007 and was hailed by The Times as ‘one of (2007’s) most impressive debuts.’ The second novel in the series, Gallows Lane, was shortlisted for both the 2009 Irish Book Awards/Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year and the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2010. Bleed A River Deep, the third Devlin novel, was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of their Best Books of 2010.
Brian’s fifth novel, Little Girl Lost, which introduced a new series featuring DS Lucy Black, won the University of Ulster’s McCrea Literary Award in 2011 and was a New York Times Bestseller in the US and a No.1 Bestseller in the UK. The follow-up novel, Hurt, was published in late 2013 by Constable and Robinson and will be published in the USA in May 2014. The third Lucy Black novel will follow later in 2014.
In 2014, Brian won BBC NI’s Tony Doyle Award for his screenplay, Little Emperors, an award which sees him become Writer In Residence with BBC NI.
Brian lives near the Irish borderlands with his wife, daughter and three sons.
SYNOPSIS: A young man is found in a riverside park, his head bashed in with a rock. One clue is left behind to uncover his identity—an admission stamp for the local gay club.
DS Lucy Black is called in to investigate. As Lucy delves into the community, tensions begin to rise as the man’s death draws the attention of the local Gay Rights group to a hate-speech Pastor who, days earlier, had advocated the stoning of gay people and who refuses to retract his statement.
Things become further complicated with the emergence of a far-right group targeting immigrants in a local working-class estate. As their attacks escalate, Lucy and her boss, Tom Fleming, must also deal with the building power struggle between an old paramilitary commander and his deputy that threatens to further enflame an already volatile situation.
Hatred and complicity abound in McGilloway’s new Lucy Black thriller. Compelling and current, Bad Blood is an expertly crafted and acutely observed page-turner, delivering the punch that readers of Little Lost Girl have grown to expect.
Lucy Black – Lost and Found.
Lucy Black first appeared in Little Girl Lost. The idea for the story was that a child was found wandering in the snow, in her night clothes, marked with blood which was not her own. The child had witnessed a traumatic incident but could not speak about it. In the course of planning the book, I’d spoken with a psychologist who suggested the way to identify the type of trauma that a child had suffered, if they were reluctant to speak about it, was to see which fairy tale they identified most closely with. His argument was that fairy tales are built around basic childhood fears – separation anxiety and the fear of those we think we can trust turning on us – and each tale related to a different form of trauma (e.g. physical, sexual or emotional abuse). My plan, then, was to have a detective sitting with the child at night in the hospital and reading stories to her to pass the time. One of those stories triggers a reaction in the child.
This idea necessitated a female detective and one with no family responsibilities that meant she was able to sit at night in a hospital with someone else’s child. It also required that she be dedicated enough to work beyond her regular hours, that she be empathetic enough that she does not want to see a child left without someone to care for them, and that she would see, perhaps, something of herself in a lost child. These key ideas came to define Lucy in that book. There are actually four lost girls in the book, all in different ways let down by their father figures in particular, and Lucy is no exception. Indeed, her relationship with her father is at the heart of the book. Alongside this, though, runs a second thread, which is her relationship with her estranged mother. For fairytales generally involved absent mothers and failing fathers. And Little Girl Lost was a fairy tale about Lucy, lost in the forest of young adulthood, trying to find some recognisable path to follow.
The ending of the book offers her that path, though at significant cost. But, with the events that close the book, Lucy finds a purpose, a need to protect, at any cost, other lost girls.
The second book then, followed this idea through. Called Hurt in the UK and Someone You Know in the US, the book was about men who targeted young girls with self-esteem issues. I suspected it would be a case close to Lucy’s heart. In this book, she makes the wrong decisions for the right reasons. To my mind, the first stage of any career is learning when to act on an impulse. The second stage is learning when it’s best not to act. Lucy is rash in this book, inclined to impulsivity.
By book 3 (Preserve the Dead in UK/The Forgotten Ones in US) I wanted to move away from stories involving crimes against young people. I have four children of my own and teach full tie – such stories are not ones I want to be carrying around with me for the year or so it takes to plot and develop each book. But Lucy has found her vocation now – a drive to protect the vulnerable in society. In her personal life, her relationship with her boyfriend has reached a tipping point where either she ends it or they move in together. The book is about Lucy deciding how best to move forward. Indeed, from the start of the book she is conflicted about redecorating her father’s house in which she now lives, for in so doing she is moving forward, letting go of the hurts of the past. Her taking a young homeless girl under her wing, like a younger sister, was a way of her dealing with the distance she feels from her own family but the simultaneous desire to have familial support.
Bad Blood then marks a change in Lucy. She is confident in her job now, so much so that she is prepared to stand against colleagues whose behaviour she considers inappropriate. She is also coming to terms with her actual family finally – particularly her mother. In this book I think she is less impulsive, more socially aware than before and, ultimately, happier. And the ending of the book provides her with an opportunity to prove to herself that she is empowered. The lost girl of book one is long gone and Lucy has found her place.
I’m looking forward to finding where she wants to go next…
Book Details:
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Published by: Witness Impulse
Publication Date: June 13th 2017
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 0062684558 (ISBN13: 9780062684554)
Series: DS Lucy Black #4
Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗
The hall was already packed by the time Detective Inspector Tom Fleming arrived. The air was sweet with perfume and talc and, beneath that, from the farmers still wearing their work clothes, the scent of sweat and the smell of the earth.
The congregation were on their feet, being led in the opening hymn by Pastor James Nixon. Fleming smiled apologetically at those he squeezed past to get to a free seat in the third row from the back. The hymn finished, the assembly took their seats just as Fleming reached his, and settled to listen to the words of Pastor Nixon.
‘My brothers and sisters, it is a great honour to be here with you this evening and to see so many of you have taken the time to come and pray with me.’ His voice was strong despite his age, a rich baritone still carrying the inflections of his native Ballymena accent.
‘But it is a time of great challenge for us all. Daily, all good people face an assault on their morality with the rampant homosexual agenda that assails us and belittles everything we hold to be true and dear. Men of conscience are tried for refusing to make a cake celebrating homosexuality or print leaflets and posters furthering that agenda. And on the other side of the border, the Irish Republic has voted to allow homosexuals to marry, as if two women playing house is no different to the consummated union of a man and a woman. As if it is not a perversion which shames us all.
A few voices appended his comment with ‘Amen’.
Nixon raised his hands, acknowledging their support. ‘There are those who would silence me, silence us. They tell us we must accept homosexuals in our town, our shops, allow homosexual bars and public houses to operate on our streets. We must allow sodomites to teach our children and to corrupt our young. We must stay silent while a new Gomorrah is built next to our homes and farms, our shops and schools. They say I am dangerous. They say I preach hatred. They say I should be silent. But I say this: I say that there is no danger in truth. I say that there is no hatred in goodness. And I say that I will not be silent.’
Another chorus of ‘Amens’ greeted his proclamation, accompanied by a smattering of applause which began at the front and rippled its way through the hall.
‘I will not stand idly by as our families are exposed to sin and depravity. I will not countenance the laws of the land being used to protect profane persons, allowing them to indulge their lustful practices, forcing those of us with consciences to humour this lifestyle. It is an abomination. The people who practise it are abominations and, like those before them, they will end in fire and brimstone.’
Fleming glanced around at the others in the congregation. While one or two shifted uncomfortably in their seats, for the most part the listeners sat intently waiting for Nixon to continue.
‘Friends, only last week, I read of an African nation – a heathen nation, a Godless nation – who arrested two men for homosexual acts. One of these men was sixteen. Sixteen! And do you know what they did to the pair of them? They stoned them. They took them out of the town and they threw rocks at them until the pair of them were dead. And do you know what I thought? Shall I tell you?’
An elderly lady in the front row called out ‘Yes’, to the amusement of those around her. Nixon smiled mildly at her, as if indulging her.
‘Stoning was too good for those men. Every rock that struck them was a just reward for their sinfulness, their immorality, their ungodly behaviour. Every drop of their blood that stained the ground was a reminder that they deserved to die. It was the wages of their sin!’
***
Excerpt from Bad Blood by Brian McGilloway. Copyright © 2017 by Brian McGilloway. Reproduced with permission from Witness Impulse. All rights reserved.
Brian McGilloway was born in Derry, Northern Ireland. After studying English at Queen’s University, Belfast, he took up a teaching position in St Columb’s College in Derry, where he was Head of English. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling Lucy Black series, all to be published by Witness. Brian lives near the Irish borderlands with his wife and their four children.
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I am offering a special gift to all my followers. If you’re seeking to become more conscious of your spiritual growth, develop a closer relationship with nature, and awaken to your inner guide and wisdom, there is no greater mentor than Wes Gietz.
Introducing Wes Gietz, Windwalker.
Main Areas: Vision Quest, Rites of Passage, Natural Mentoring, EFT
Career Focus: Guide, facilitator, Elder
Wes Gietz has studied and practiced natural skills and beliefs for over fifty years, with pauses as required by the necessities of love and life. He has been taught by Tom Brown Jr. and Native teachers the skills of survival and living, awareness, and philosophy, the ceremonies of daily life, and the ceremonies and responsibilities of the sweat lodge. He has studied Coyote Mentoring with Jon Young and Wilderness Awareness School, and is regarded as an elder by many. He honours these ways by keeping them for the generations yet to be born, and has taught them in workshops and at gatherings since 1993.
Wes has guided Rites of Passage for individuals and groups for over 15 years, including the 24-hour Solo and the four-day Vision Quest, for both young people and adults.
He has taught a nature-based path of spiritual awakening and power since 1994, and combines this with the path of the sweatlodge and the Vision Quest.
He practises and teaches EFT, a powerful meridian-based technique for healing emotional disturbances, phobias, addictions and a variety of physical problems.He has worked for seven years with CanAdventure Education, a wilderness-based program for youth at risk, facilitating ceremony and nature awareness for staff and participants.
Wes facilitates the learning of Natural Mentoring and Coyote Mentoring through programs of nature awareness and experiential learning, in both English and French, for individuals and school groups.
He has published numerous articles in various journals and newsletters on topics such as edible and medicinal plants, spirituality, healing, tracking, and Coyote Mentoring, and is contributing author of Peak States of Consciousness, Volume 2: Acquiring Extraordinary Spiritual and Shamanic States (Grant McFetridge with Wes Gietz).
In 1999 he initiated the Firemaker Primitive Skills Gathering, an annual week-long learning and celebration of ancient skills and community held on Vancouver Island.
In his former professional life, he has a Bachelor’s degree in English and Master’s degrees in biochemistry and public administration, and 15 years of consulting experience in training, strategic planning, and human resource management. He has taught at the University of Victoria and North Island College. He is bilingual in French and English, has very little hair on top, and is omnivorous.
Wes Gietz: I am a mentor, coach, guide. My areas of special interest are men, business professionals, older folks, and spiritual coaching. My approach to mentoring and coaching will be an excellent choice for you if you want to grow and expand beyond your current understanding and capabilities in personal growth and development, entrepreneurship and business, your spiritual life – or any combination of these.
Feather’s Review:I received a free copy of 66 Metres in exchange for an honest review.
66 Metres begins with gripping intrigue. Right from the first page, I knew this novel’s plot promised an intense and exciting experience. I followed well developed characters into a world that was foreign to me and, thus, full of surprises. Some of the characters were on the edge of morally bankrupt, callous beyond comprehension, and I hated them. One or two I managed to feel twinges of sympathy. That’s the gift of an accomplished author like J. F. Kirwan.
Readers who enjoy deep sea scuba diving will not be able to put this book down. It is that intense. I found it almost too much having narrowly escaped drowning years ago. The memories of shear terror resurfaced. Kirwan takes the reader down into the dark and cruel territory of a sunken wreck where there are no second chances to survive a misstep – other than clever ingenuity and professional skills.
All the while, the reader is sorting out which character can be trusted. One woman’s survival depends upon her sister’s courage and tenacity. Too many men want what she has, and most of all, they want her to permanently disappear. 66 Metres is a suspense/thriller at its highest heart pounding rating.
I have one complaint. When the plot appeared to be resolved, the story continued for another chapter. It felt unnecessary and left me feeling confused. However I did enjoy 66 Metres and highly recommend it to suspense/thriller readers.
A chilling and utterly compelling thriller that you won’t be able to put down!
Everyone said she had her father’s eyes. A killer’s eyes. Nadia knew that on the bitterly cold streets of Moscow, she could never escape her past – but in just a few days, she would finally be free.
Bound to work for Kadinsky for five years, she has just one last mission to complete. Yet when she is instructed to capture The Rose, a military weapon shrouded in secrecy, Nadia finds herself trapped in a deadly game of global espionage.
And the only man she can trust is the one sent to spy on her…
Book Details:
Genre: Thriller
Published by: Carina
Publication Date: August 25th 2016
Number of Pages: 232
ISBN: 9780008207748
Series: Nadia Laksheva Spy Thriller #1
Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗
‘Let’s see if you can really shoot. Give her your pistol,’ Kadinsky said to one of the henchmen, the one with a pockmarked face – Pox, Nadia named him – who immediately lost his sense of humour.
She took the weapon from his outstretched hand, weighed it in her palm. An old-style Smith & Wesson. God knows why the guy had it. Most blatnye preferred semi-autos, Makarovs or the older but higher-velocity Tokarevs. She checked that it was loaded, all six bullets nestling in their chambers. She glanced at Kadinsky, thought about killing him. But the other henchman, the fat one with slicked black hair – hence, Slick – had his Glock trained on her, his lopsided leer daring her.
Kadinsky waved a hand towards Katya, five metres away. He tilted his head left and right, then settled back against the soft leather, took a gulp of whiskey, and smacked his lips. ‘The red rose in the bowl of flowers behind her left ear. Shoot it. From where you stand.’
Slick’s eyes flicked toward Katya, gauging the angles. His leer faded.
Nadia stared at her sister and the rose. Most of it was behind her head. Only one leaf of the scarlet blossom was exposed. She swallowed, then lifted the revolver, and took up a shooting stance like her father had taught her. Right arm firm, elbow not fully locked, left hand under the fist, prepared for the recoil. She had to do it before anger built and disrupted her concentration. She cocked the hammer, lined up the shot, then spoke to Katya’s serene, trusting face: ‘Love you,’ she said. Then she breathed out slowly, as if through a straw, and squeezed the trigger.
Masonry exploded behind Katya. The crack was so loud that three other men burst into the room, weapons drawn. Kadinsky waved them back as Pox peeled the revolver from Nadia’s stiff fingers. Petals fluttered to the floor amidst a plume of white powder from the impact crater in the wall. Katya sat immobile, pale, the hair on the left side of her head ruffled as if by a gust of wind. A trickle of blood oozed from her left temple, and ran down her cheek.
Katya, lips trembling, beamed at Nadia. ‘Still alive,’ she said, her voice hoarse. She touched the graze with an unsteady forefinger.
Nadia began to shake. She folded her arms, refusing to give Kadinsky the satisfaction.
Excerpt from 66 Metres by J F Kirwan. Copyright © 2017 by J F Kirwan. Reproduced with permission from J F Kirwan. All rights reserved.
Barry (JF) works by day in aviation safety, and writes at night. He is also a diving instructor and has dived all over the world. He got hooked on writing when people started arguing about his characters as if they were real people. He is married and lives in Paris, because the coffee is better there, and he needs coffee to write.
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