Tuesday 1 January 2019

Hello 2019 - Looking forward


Welcome to 2019, and Happy New Year to you all! I hope the new year brings all you want it to.

So, what am I looking forward to in 2019?

Well, I've made all the usual resolutions, that I make and break every year, because it's part of my seasonal traditions now! You know the ones - eat better, exercise more, go to the gym, sort your junk out, that kind of thing. But really I just want for to maintain my improved mental and physical health. On top of that, I want to expand my proofreading and editing business, and I'm hoping to do some unrelated work for a charity.

But I've made some loose bookish resolutions too:
- Improve and expand this blog
- Be more active in the blogger community.
- Limit the amount of blog tours I say yes to (although I 'm already failing at this for January and February). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE taking part in blog tours and discovering new books, and often new authors. But I have a room full of tree books and a kindle full of ebooks of my own that I want to read.
- Try to get to at least one more festival. Funds are tight, and I don't think that 2019 is going to be the year I get to Harrogate or Newcastle, but I'm  hoping to maybe squeeze Bute Noir in.
- Keep better records.
- Use Instagram more, especially as I 'm now taking part in Bookstagram tours.
- Start my money jar afresh. If you're unfamiliar with this idea, I, and many others, put £1 away every time I finish a book. The accumulated funds pay for more books and book events.

What about you? Any booky resolutions?

There are also a number of books I'm looking forward to this year. Amongst them are:

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, published on 7th February. Can't wait to be on the blog tour for this one.


ALICIA
Alicia Berenson writes a diary as a release, an outlet - and to prove to her beloved husband that everything is fine. She can't bear the thought of worrying Gabriel, or causing him pain.

Until, late one evening, Alicia shoots Gabriel five times and then never speaks another word.

THEO
Forensic psychotherapist Theo Faber is convinced he can successfully treat Alicia, where all others have failed. Obsessed with investigating her crime, his discoveries suggest Alicia's silence goes far deeper than he first thought.

And if she speaks, would he want to hear the truth?

THE SILENT PATIENT is the gripping must-read debut thriller of 2019 - perfect for fans of THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A.J. Finn, THIRTEEN by Steve Cavanagh and THE GIRL BEFORE by JP Delaney. 

You can pre order it here.

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Thunder Bay by Douglas Skelton, published on 7th March. So excited about this one for lots of reasons, not least because the cover is gorgeous and purple.


When reporter Rebecca Connolly is told of Roddie Drummond's return to the island of Stoirm she senses a story. Fifteen years before he was charged with the murder of his lover, Mhairi. When he was found Not Proven, Roddie left the island and no one, apart from his sister, knew where he was or what he was doing.

Now he has returned for his mother's funeral - and it will spark an explosion of hatred, bitterness and violence.

Defying her editor's wishes, Rebecca joins forces with local photographer Chazz Wymark to dig into the secrets surrounding Mhairi's death, and her mysterious last words of Thunder Bay, the secluded spot on the west coast of the island where, according to local lore, the souls of the dead set off into the after life. When another murder takes place, and the severe weather that gives the island its name hits, she is ideally placed to uncover the truth about what happened that night fifteen years before.

You can pre order it here.

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What She Saw Last Night by MJ Cross (otherwise known as Mason Cross - haven't figured out this MJ thing yet), published on 18th April. His first standalone novel, I'm really looking forward running a wee feature on this in the run up to publication date.


No one will believe ... WHAT SHE SAW LAST NIGHT.

Jenny Bowen is going home. Boarding the Caledonian Sleeper, all she wants to do is forget about her upcoming divorce and relax on the ten-hour journey through the night.

In her search for her cabin, Jenny helps a panicked woman with a young girl she assumes to be her daughter. Then she finds her compartment and falls straight to sleep.

Waking in the night, Jenny discovers the woman dead in her cabin ... but there's no sign of the little girl. The train company have no record of a child being booked on the train, and CCTV shows the dead woman boarding alone.

The police don't believe Jenny, and soon she tries to put the incident out of her head and tells herself that everyone else is right: she must have imagined the little girl.

But deep down, she knows that isn't the truth.

You can pre order it here.
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Twisted by Steve Cavanagh, published on kindle on 24th January and in paperback on 4th April. Steve's first standalone novel is set to be huge, and I'm stoked to be on the blog tour for it.


BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK
I WANT YOU TO KNOW THREE THINGS:

1. The police are looking to charge me with murder.
2. No one knows who I am. Or how I did it.
3. If you think you've found me. I'm coming for you next.

After you've read this book, you'll know: the truth is far more twisted...

You can pre order it here.
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Dead Inside by Noelle Holten, published on 31st May. I am so excited for blogger extraordinaire Noelle with the publication of her debut novel this year, which sounds fantastic.


When three domestic abuse offenders are found beaten to death, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she is facing her toughest case yet.

The police suspect that Probation Officer Lucy Sherwood – who is connected to all three victims – is hiding a dark secret. Then a fourth domestic abuser is brutally murdered. And he is Lucy’s husband.

Now the finger of suspicion points at Lucy and the police are running out of time. Can Maggie and her team solve the murders before another person dies? And is Lucy really a cold-blooded killer?

You  can pre order it here

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Thin Air by Lisa Gray, published on 1st June. I remember talking to Lisa early last year, when she had just finished working on this, her debut novel. I'm delighted to see all her hard work coming to fruition, and can't wait to read the book. 


She investigates missing persons—now she is one.

Private investigator Jessica Shaw is used to getting anonymous tips. But after receiving a photo of a three-year-old kidnapped from Los Angeles twenty-five years ago, Jessica is stunned to recognize the little girl as herself.

Eager for answers, Jessica heads to LA’s dark underbelly. When she learns that her biological mother was killed the night she was abducted, Jessica’s determined to solve a case the police have forgotten. Meanwhile, veteran LAPD detective Jason Pryce is in the midst of a gruesome investigation into a murdered college student moonlighting as a prostitute. A chance encounter leads to them crossing paths, but Jessica soon realizes that Pryce is hiding something about her father’s checkered history and her mother’s death.

To solve her mother’s murder and her own disappearance, Jessica must dig into the past and find the secrets buried there. But the air gets thinner as she crawls closer to the truth, and it’s getting harder and harder to breathe.

You can pre order it here.

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There are loads more fab books being published this year that I can't wait to read, but these are my standouts for the first few months. I am very privileged to be in the advance reading teams for a couple of authors, and in touch with a couple of others, and so I know there will be something new this year from a few of my favourite people.

But there are plenty of books from last year, and earlier, that need my attention. One of my first 2019 reads will be The Long Drop by Denise Mina for my real life book group. I'm looking forward to rereading and reviewing Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh and The Suffering of Strangers by Caro Ramsay. Good Samaritans by Will Carver is right near the top of my pile, as are The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor, Dark Pines by Will Dean, The Puppet Show by MW Craven and The Bone Keeper by Luca Veste.

So, the year is looking good already. As far as blog tours go, I'm full for January, February and March, but, if necessary, I can always make space for something fabulous!

Thank you for hanging in here with me. Here's to a fabulous 2019 for us all!


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