The Blurb
Five twisted tales of murder and revenge.
Time doesn’t heal; it just incubates old wounds.
Last Orders – Jeff Tully’s wife has left him. Trying to run his pub single-handedly, he increasingly turns to his barmaid, Alyson, for help. But when Alyson tells him of her own troubles, they hatch a plan to get rid of Alyson’s violent, abusive husband. But will Jeff live to regret he ever got involved with his barmaid?
Lucy’s Return – No one remembers Lucy at the school reunion, but she remembers them. Especially one boy who made her life hell, and now she’s going to do the same to him.
Private Museum – Retired nurse Mandy Rostron never thought she’d find love again after her husband died, but in Anthony Mallard she’s found the perfect gentleman. Or so she thinks. Mallard has some very dark secrets in his basement, or his Private Museum as he calls it, and Mandy is about to discover the truth about the man of her dreams.
Ballad of the Unsung Hero – Retired shopkeeper Jennifer Price is at her wits end. Her husband Kenneth thinks more of his fishing than he does of her. But when she meets the man of her dreams at a spiritual church, Jennifer is hell-bent on getting her man – whatever it takes.
The Tallyman – Donna is in debt, and the loan shark is making her life unbearable, with increasingly vile demands when she can’t make her payments. But her elderly neighbour, Elsie, has the perfect solution to get rid of the tallyman once and for all.
My Review
Poetic Justice comprises of five short stories, each one loosely based on a poem also written by the author. Many of you will know that I love a bit of poetry and I was very interested to read those produced by Mark. Unsurprisingly, they are pretty dark but beautiful. Here's just a couple of lines from Last Orders to give you an idea:
'Tell me what's your poison, son, what's your chosen brew?
We've fine fermented tears, squeezed from a bleeding heart'
The stories are also dark, and as we've come to expect, fairly twisted, but not as much so as recent books have been, and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.
The characters inhabiting the tales are all well drawn. We clearly see Jeff's desperation after his wife disappears from the pub in Last Orders and Jennifer's mounting frustration at boring husband Kenneth in Ballad of the Unsung Hero. The scene setting is excellent whether we're in the pub, the spiritual church or one of the various homes we visit along the way. And the less said about the basement in Private Museum, the better - super creepy!
I had a couple of favourites. I loved Lucy's Return because it went in a very unexpected direction, at least for me. And hurrah for Malcolm although he's maybe a little too perfect. And I found The Tallyman really sad in places but it also made me smile afterwards - felt like I 'd been through the emotional wringer a bit. But I loved Elsie, for ALL the reasons!
So, Mr Tilbury has proven he can turn his hand to something new. Poetic Justice is a great collection of entertaining short stories but I particularly loved the poetry & would like to see some more of that in the future. Who knows, only time will tell! But I'm sure he'll be back with a dark slice of something before too long!
The Author
Mark lives in a small village in the lovely county of Cumbria, although his books are set in Oxfordshire where he was born and raised.
He's always had a keen interest in writing and after being widowed and raising his two daughters, Mark finally took the plunge and began self-publishing. Mark's writing has earned him the name #TwistedTilbury due to the dark and twisted nature of his books. He's published 11 thrillers to date.
When he's not writing, Mark can be found playing guitar, reading and walking.
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