Category Archives: Crooked Cat Books

HUNTER’S CHASE by Val Penny #tartannoir #Edinburgh #crime

hunter's chase

Hunter’s Chase

by

Val Penny

 

hunter's chaseRELEASE DATE: 2nd February 2018

PUBLISHER: Crooked Cat Books

SERIES: The Edinburgh Crime Mysteries #1

GENRE: CRIME

Hunter by name – Hunter by nature: DI Hunter Wilson will not rest until Edinburgh is safe.

DI Hunter Wilson knows there is a new supply of cocaine flooding his city and he needs to find the source but his attention is transferred to murder when a corpse is discovered in the grounds of a golf course. Shortly after the post-mortem, Hunter witnesses a second murder but that is not the end of the slaughter. With a young woman’s life also hanging in the balance, the last thing Hunter needs is a new man on his team: the son of his nemesis, the former Chief Constable. Hunter’s perseverance and patience are put to the test time after time in this taught crime thriller.

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK: https://goo.gl/5Gwmv6

AMAZON US: https://goo.gl/uNbsgo

 

Author Endorsements for Hunter’s Chase

 

Erin Kelly – author of psychological thrillers including ‘Broadchurch’ and ‘The Poison Tree’

“A gripping debut novel about power, politics and the importance – and danger – of family ties. Hunter Wilson is a compelling new detective and Val Penny is an author to watch.”

***

Stuart Gibbon – Former Murder Squad DCI & co-author of ‘The Crime Writer’s Casebook’

“A cracking read featuring the unforgettable DI Hunter Wilson.”

***

Kate Bendelow – author of ‘The Real CSI: A Forensic Handbook for Crime Writers’

“An exciting debut – a police procedural that is refreshing, gripping and witty. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the next one.”

***

Michael Jecks – author of unmissable historical mysteries including the ‘Jack Blackjack’ crime series including ‘Rebellion’s Message’ and the ‘Knights Templar’ mysteries including ‘The Last Templar’ and the contemporary spy novel ‘Act of Vengeance’

“This tartan noire book is a real coffee-cooler. I had three cups of coffee that went cold, forgotten while reading. Val Penny created a cast of characters I want to see in another book as soon as possible.

This is a truly astonishing debut from a writer to watch for the future.

Believable characters, gut-wrenching scenes, and a plot that sizzles along. A taut police procedural that is up there with Ian Rankin, Alex Gray and Quintin Jardine.”

Hunter's chase

About Val Penny

 

hunter's chase

Val Penny is an American author living in SW Scotland. She has two adult daughters of whom she is justly proud and lives with her husband and two cats. She has a Law degree from Edinburgh University and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, lawyer, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer. However she has not yet achieved either of her childhood dreams of being a ballet dancer or owning a candy store. Until those dreams come true, she has turned her hand to writing poetry, short stories and novels. Her first crime novel, ‘Hunter’s Chase’ set in Edinburgh, Scotland will be published by Crooked Cat Books on 02.02.2018. She is now writing the sequel, ‘Hunter’s Revenge’.

www.authorvalpenny.com

www.facebook.com/valerie.penny.739

Friends of Hunter’s Chase – www.facebook.com/groups/296295777444303

https://twitter.com/valeriepenny

 

PURGATORY HOTEL by Anne-Marie Ormsby #thriller #paranormal

purgatory

Purgatory Hotel

by

Anne-Marie Ormsby

 

purgatoryGenre: Thriller/paranormal

Release Date: 26th September Paperback 7th November Kindle

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

18+

Dakota Crow has been murdered, her body dumped in a lonely part of the woods, and nobody knows but her and her killer.Stranded in Purgatory, a rotting hotel on the edge of forever, with no memory of her death, Dakota knows she must have done something bad to be stranded among murderers and rapists. To get to somewhere safer, she must hide from the shadowy stranger stalking her through the corridors of the hotel, and find out how to repent for her sins.But first she must re-live her life.Soon she will learn about her double life, a damaging love affair, terrible secrets, and lies that led to her violent death.
Dakota must face her own demons, and make amends for her own crimes before she can solve her murder and move on.

But when she finds out what she did wrong, will she be truly sorry?

BUY LINKS

AMAZON – https://goo.gl/SWNMGx

GOODREADS – https://goo.gl/LhZ47j

My recommended reading list – The top 5 Books that Inspired Me.

 

  1. The October Country – Ray Bradbury – This was the book I read aged 9 which made me want to become a writer. This collection of creepy stories was my introduction to Bradbury, and he is till my favourite writer. It was his use of descriptive narrative that has always been my biggest inspiration when trying to set a scene- to create a picture in the readers mind.
  2. The Shining – Stephen King – this is my favourite of Stephen Kings books, the mixture of madness and the paranormal in a huge empty hotel cut off from the world is just perfect. While Purgatory Hotel looks nothing like The Overlook, that feeling of the mystery of long endless hallways definitely influenced me.
  3. The Woman in Black – Susan Hill – a beautifully written ghost story, a classic simple story of unrest from beyond the grave has been a favourite of mine from when I was a young teenager. Again a big desolate house with secrets behind its closed doors, this may be where the Victorian hotel theme came to my mind. Dusty, decaying lace and velvet harbouring vengeful angry ghosts.
  4. Visions of Gerard – Jack Kerouac – this was a Kerouac book it took me a long time to get around to and it educated me that it wasn’t all road trips and drugs in Kerouac’s work. This beautiful retelling of Kerouac’s childhood and his relationship with his big brother who died at the age of nine when Kerouac was just four. I love his descriptions his home town and his heart rending explorations of dealing with grief as a child.
  5. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte – This was the first ‘romance’ novel I ever read, and I think it ruined every other romance for me. This story has it all, ghosts, death, obsession, inheritance wars and at its core, a love story so passionate and dangerous that nothing else can compare. I fell in love with Cathy and Heathcliff and their angry, all-consuming love for each other and I never really got over it. Their relationship was in part the inspiration for Jackson and Dakota.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PURGATORY

On a warm day in July 1978, a mother was admitted to hospital, awaiting the arrival of her new baby. She was reading Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie and the midwives thought it a gruesome choice for an expectant mother. A story of a long forgotten murder and repressed memories. As it turned out her new baby, Anne-Marie would grow up and find herself drawn to all things macabre, and would one day herself turn out a story of murder and memories lost.

Anne Marie grew up on the Essex coast with her parents and six siblings in a house that was full of books and movies and set the scene for her lifelong love of both.

She began writing short stories when she was still at primary school after reading the book The October Country by Ray Bradbury. He was and still is her favourite author and the reason she decided at age 9 that she too would be a writer someday.

In her teens she continued to write short stories and branched out into poetry, publishing a few in her late teens. In her early twenties she began committing herself to writing a novel and wrote one by the age of 20 that she then put away, fearing it was too weird for publication.

She wrote Purgatory Hotel over several years, but again kept it aside after several rejections from publishers. Luckily for her, she found a home for her twisted tale with Crooked Cat Books.

Her favourite authors include Ray Bradbury, Jack Kerouac, Stephen King, Denis Lehane and Douglas Coupland. She also takes great inspiration from music and movies, her favourite artists being Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Johnny Cash, Interpol, David Lynch and David Fincher.

Anne-Marie moved to London in 2008 where she lives to this day, amidst books and DVDs, with her husband and daughter.

 

Facebook: https://goo.gl/JC4NR3

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AOrmsbyAuthor

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17197211.Anne_Marie_Ormsby

Blog: https://pirateburlesque.wordpress.com/

Website: https://www.annemarieormsby.com/

PURGATORY

Welcome back Alice Castle and her #mystery GIRL IN THE GALLERY

Alice Castle

The Girl in the Gallery

by

Alice Castle

 

Alice CastleSeries: London Murder Mystery series book #2

Genre: Cozy Crime

Release Date: 19th December 2017

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Dulwich…

It’s a perfect summer’s morning in the plush south London suburb, and thirty-something Beth Haldane has sneaked off to visit one of her favourite places, the world-famous Picture Gallery.

She’s enjoying a few moments’ respite from juggling her job at prestigious private school Wyatt’s and her role as single mum to little boy Ben, when she stumbles across a shocking new exhibit on display. Before she knows it, she’s in the thick of a fresh, and deeply chilling, investigation.

Who is The Girl in the Gallery? Join Beth in adventure #2 of the London Murder Mystery series as she tries to discover the truth about a secret eating away at the very heart of Dulwich.

BUY LINK

https://MyBook.to/GirlintheGallery

ABOUT ALICE CASTLE

Alice Castle

Alice Castle was a UK newspaper journalist for The Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph before becoming a novelist. Her first book, Hot Chocolate, was a European best-seller which sold out in two weeks.

Alice is currently working on the sequel to Death in Dulwich and The Girl in the Gallery. The third instalment in the London Murder Mystery series, it will be published by Crooked Cat next year and is entitled The Calamity in Catford. Once again, it features Beth Haldane and DI Harry York.

Alice is also a top mummy blogger, writing DD’s Diary at www.dulwichdivorcee.com.

She lives in south London and is married with two children, two step-children and two cats.

Alice Castle’s Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/alicecastleauthor/

Alice Castle is on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DDsDiary

Links to buy Alice Castle’s books: myBook.to/GirlintheGallery  myBook.to/1DeathinDulwich, myBook.to/HotChocolate

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dds_diary/?hl=en

Blog: http://www.dulwichdivorcee.com

GIVEAWAY

A signed copy of the book and a £20 Amazon voucher!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WHALES AND STRANGE STARS by Kathy Sharp #historical #fiction

whales

Whales and Strange Stars

by

Kathy Sharp

 

whalesSeries: First book in my new Wych Ferry Series

Genre: historical fiction

Release Date: 12th December, 2017

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

A world beyond her own.

A sea captain passes through the forgotten port of Wych Ferry, and whiles away an hour relating his traveller’s tales to young Rosamund Euden. He tells her that the stars are different, if you sail far enough, that the horizon isn’t quite real, not when you get there; he speaks of sea serpents and whales, and mysterious islands.

To an impressionable girl who has never left her home, the whales and strange stars of his stories come to symbolise the great outside world she longs to see. The sea captain moves on, unaware of the dramatic events he has set in action as Rosamund’s search for adventure leads her into a world of dangerous secrets in the marshlands of eighteenth century Kent.

Torn between loyalty to her uncles, and her desire to discover what lies beyond the marshes, Rosamund seeks help from an unexpected source. But who can she really trust?

BUY LINKS

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2CqGR6v

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2CucLhr

ABOUT KATHY SHARP

WHALES

Kathy Sharp was born and brought up by the sea in Kent. Life took her inland, and she worked for many years as a desktop publisher for Surrey County Council, and as a tutor in adult education.

And then, one day, she visited a friend who had just moved to the Isle of Portland, Dorset, and fell in love with the place. She has now lived by the sea in the Weymouth and Portland area for more than ten years, and still loves it. The wonderful Jurassic Coast, and Portland in particular, were the inspiration for her Larus Trilogy of novels.

Kathy also sings with, and writes lyrics for, the Island Voices Choir on Portland, and is a keen member of local writing groups, as well as enjoying studying the local flora.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kathy-Sharp-111574195915740/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathySharp19

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2728164.Kathy_Sharp

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-sharp-5b5a9736/

Blog: https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/blog/

Website: https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kathy-Sharp/e/B00E5BJ0BK/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

 

THE GIRL IN THE GALLERY by Alice Castle #coverreveal #cozycrime

gallery

The Girl in the Gallery

by

Alice Castle

 

gallerySeries: London Murder Mystery series book #2

Genre: Cozy Crime

Release Date: 19th December 2017

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Dulwich…

It’s a perfect summer’s morning in the plush south London suburb, and thirty-something Beth Haldane has sneaked off to visit one of her favourite places, the world-famous Picture Gallery.

She’s enjoying a few moments’ respite from juggling her job at prestigious private school Wyatt’s and her role as single mum to little boy Ben, when she stumbles across a shocking new exhibit on display. Before she knows it, she’s in the thick of a fresh, and deeply chilling, investigation.

Who is The Girl in the Gallery? Join Beth in adventure #2 of the London Murder Mystery series as she tries to discover the truth about a secret eating away at the very heart of Dulwich.

BUY LINK

https://MyBook.to/GirlintheGallery

ABOUT ALICE CASTLE

GALLERYAlice Castle was a UK newspaper journalist for The Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph before becoming a novelist. Her first book, Hot Chocolate, was a European best-seller which sold out in two weeks.

Alice is currently working on the sequel to Death in Dulwich and The Girl in the Gallery. The third instalment in the London Murder Mystery series, it will be published by Crooked Cat next year and is entitled The Calamity in Catford. Once again, it features Beth Haldane and DI Harry York.

Alice is also a top mummy blogger, writing DD’s Diary at www.dulwichdivorcee.com.

She lives in south London and is married with two children, two step-children and two cats.

Alice Castle’s Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/alicecastleauthor/

Alice Castle is on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DDsDiary?lang=en

Links to buy Alice Castle’s books: myBook.to/GirlintheGallery  myBook.to/1DeathinDulwich, myBook.to/HotChocolate

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dds_diary/?hl=en

Blog: http://www.dulwichdivorcee.com

STOP PRESS!!!

Are you interested in reviewing this book? There is a review tour running 15th – 19th January 2018. Want to take part? Then email brookbooks@hotmail.co.uk for more details!

 

THE HOUSE AT LADYWELL by Nicola Slade #CrookedCat #extract

ladywellTHE HOUSE AT LADYWELL

by

NICOLA SLADE

 

LADYWELL

Genre: Contemporary romance with historical interludes

Release Date: 14th November 2017

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

A hare carved in stone and the scent of flowers in a house full of echoes – can Freya’s inheritance help her to leave the past behind? 

Had I gone completely crazy that first day? To open the door, take one astonished look round, and decide on the spot that I would live there?

To fall in love with a house?’

When Freya Gibson inherits an old, run-down property she has no idea she is the last in a long line of redoubtable women, including the Tudor nun who built the house. Unknown to Freya these women, over centuries, fought with whatever weapons came to hand – deception, endurance, even murder – to preserve their home and family.

Freya falls in love with the house but her inheritance includes an enigmatic letter telling her to ‘restore the balance’ of the Lady’s Well. Besides this, the house seems to be haunted by the scent of flowers.

In the past the Lady’s Well was a place of healing and Freya soon feels safe and at home, but she has demons of her own to conquer before she can accept the happiness that beckons.

 **********

EXTRACT

 

‘Something I’d failed to mention to anyone: not to Louise, not when I was enthusing to Patrick, and certainly not to the helpful solicitor, was the letter that had been waiting for me on that first day.

Beside the front door stood a small table on which sat an old walkabout phone in a base station, and two envelopes, one large and the other letter-sized. The smaller envelope was addressed to me.

The handwriting straggled shakily across the page and the contents of the letter startled me.

When you were born I knew you were the one. Before anything else you must go into the garden and pick some flowers. It doesn’t matter what you pick: in winter look for leaves, rosemary or winter jasmine, but if it’s summer pick simple flowers – a rose, a sprig of yellow broom, nothing fancy. Pick what you can and weave them into a wreath made from the rowan tree – you’ll know it by the wooden bench underneath. Hang it on the hook inside the front door.

When that’s done, say the words written below, making sure you’re alone. My grandmother had the verse from her own grandmother and so on. I expect the words have altered over time but the spirit remains the same. Show reverence when you do these things but do this first of all. You must not delay.

You must restore the balance.’

 

It had been a sleety February day, with flowers few and far between but I persevered, driven by the sense of urgency in the letter. I found secateurs in the kitchen. The rosemary was easy, a great, straggling bush standing sentinel by the path, with yellow winter jasmine spread against the wall. In a sheltered spot I found a clump of snowdrops and, to my delight, a primrose or two.

I had to stand on the bench to snip a couple of pliable twigs from the rowan, and back in the house I bent them into a makeshift circle and threaded in the flowers and leaves. Still under the compulsion I’d felt on reading the letter I stood on a chair to hang my creation on the waiting hook.

Saying the words Violet had written made me pause.

‘It sounds like a spell,’ I half-whispered, hushed by the strangeness of it all. Was Violet a witch? Wasn’t this all complete nonsense? I read the words again and summoned up my rusty Latin vocabulary, almost forgotten since ‘A’ Level. ‘Domina means lady; something about water? And leporum – rabbit? No,’ I corrected myself. ‘Lepus is a hare, and benedic – any kind of blessing can’t be bad.’

There was something about the place that I couldn’t explain. I felt safe and – odd as it sounds – wrapped in loving arms. The house was filled with a friendly silence and I felt comforted for the first time in ages. What harm could it do to obey Violet’s last instructions when she given me this precious gift?

I took a deep breath and bowed my head before the ring of twigs and flowers, not in prayer but in a kind of grateful submission, as I quietly murmured the Latin words, stumbling over a rough translation in my head…’

 

BUY LINKS

 

AMAZON UK – http://amzn.to/2iprcIs

AMAZON US – http://amzn.to/2j2t3Cz

**********

ABOUT NICOLA SLADE

 

LADYWELL

Nicola Slade had her first short stories published in her early twenties and wrote for children and for women’s magazines while her three children were growing up.

Nicola’s books are all set in Hampshire and include the romantic comedy, ‘Scuba Dancing’, and two cosy mystery series. The Charlotte Richmond books set in 1858 feature a young widow with a shady past and a habit of stumbling over the occasional corpse and the contemporary Harriet Quigley mysteries, featuring a retired headmistress and her cousin and sidekick, the Rev. Sam Hathaway.

Nicola lives in Hampshire with her husband, and as well as writing she belongs to a local art workshop; among other things she has been a Brown Owl and an antiques dealer.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/nicolasladeuk/

Twitter @nicolasladeuk

Blog: www.nicolaslade.wordpress.com

Website: www.nicolaslade.com

**********

GIVEAWAY

 

AN ECOPY OF THE ART OF MURDER X 2

ladywell

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HEART OF STONE by John Jackson #historic #fiction

stoneHeart of Stone

by

John Jackson

stone

Genre: Historic Fiction

Release Date: 24th October 2017

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

Dublin, 1730

When young and beautiful Mary Molesworth is forced to marry Robert Rochford, widowed heir to the earldom of Belfield, she finds that her idea of love is not returned. Jealous, cruel and manipulative, Robert ignores her after she has provided him with a male heir, preferring to spend his nights with his mistress. Power-hungry, Robert builds up a reputation that sees him reach for the highest positions in Ireland.

Caught in an unhappy marriage, Mary begins to grow closer to Robert’s younger brother, Arthur. Acknowledging their love for each other, they will risk everything to be together. But Robert’s revenge threatens their lives and tears them apart.

Will Mary and Arthur find a way to escape Robert’s clutches?

Based on real events, Heart of Stone is a tale of power, jealousy, imprisonment, and love, set in 1740s Ireland.

BUY LINKS

http://amzn.to/2imoHtd

http://amzn.to/2xPutL9

ABOUT JOHN JACKSON

stone

Following a lifetime at sea, John Jackson has now retired and lives in York and has now turned his hand to writing fiction.

An avid genealogist, he found a rich vein of ancestors. They included Irish peers, country parsons, and army and navy officers. They opened up Canada and Australia and fought at Waterloo.

John is a keen member of the Romantic Novelists Association and graduated through their New Writers Scheme. He is also a member of the Historic Novel Society and an enthusiastic conference-goer for both.
He describes himself as being “Brought up on Georgette Heyer from an early age, and, like many of my age devoured R L Stevenson, Jane Austen, Edgar Allen Poe and the like.”

His modern favorite authors include Bernard Cornwell, Simon Scarrow, Lindsey Davis, Liz Fenwick and Kate Mosse.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=597036631

Twitter: @jjackson42

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17103004.John_Jackson?from_search=true

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john5642/

Blog: https://johnjacksonauthor.com/