The Torments by Michael J Malone

 
I'm so delighted to be joining the blog tour for The Torments by Michael J Malone, The follow up to the first Annie Jackson Mystery, The Murmurs. And this one is just as chilling and spooky as that was! Huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy. I've since bought my own paperback.

The Blurb

Hiding from the world in her little white cottage on the shores of a loch, Annie Jackson is fighting to come to terms with the world of the murmurs, a curse that has haunted female members of her family for centuries.

While she is within the ancient, heavy stone of the old dwelling, the voices merely buzz, but the moment she steps outside the door they clamour to torment her all over again, bringing with them shocking visions of imminent deaths.

Into this oasis comes her adoptive mother, Mandy McEvoy, begging for Annie's help. Mandy's nephew Damien has gone missing, after dropping off his four-year old son at his mother's home.

Unable to refuse, but terrified to leave her sanctuary, Annie, with the help of her brother Lewis, is drawn in to a secretive, seductive world that will have her question everything she holds dear, while Lewis' life may be changed forever…

My Review

After coming to terms with the curse that has blighted the women in her family and learning that if she stays inside the sanctuary of her isolated wee cottage, her murmurs stay pretty quiet. She does venture out occasionally to a little part time job in the village cafe, until an incident there isolate her further, and she hides away in the cottage. She is supported by her brother and her adoptive mum, until Mandy asks Annie for help - to find her sister's son, Damien, who has gone missing. Annie agrees to help, together with Lewis, but at the same time is not feeling herself, and is also drawn to a large house they pass one day in their investigations. Neither Annie or Lewis can possibly imagine where their journey will lead them...

Oh, goodness, I feel for Annie. She is doing her absolute best to survive, to make her life bearable by staying out of the way of people when she can as the curse frightens her so much but also because there is nothing she can really do to help. But she is so strong and resilient, especially for such a young woman - I would've folded way before now if it was me! And I love how supportive Lewis is, and Mandy too - I'm not sure Annie would be quite so stable without their support. 

The descriptions of her murmurs and the visions she experiences are so vivid they are really quite chilling. And there is more otherworldly stuff described in this book too : ancient witchcraft and spells, the legend of the Baobhan Sith and the story of the cannibal Sawney Bean - it's all gruesome stuff. And there are some truly awful, evil people featured in the pages of this book - all brilliantly described and sending a chill right through me. 

The story is satisfyingly twisty and tense with an amazing denouement, but it's full of emotion too. Annie and Lewis really care about what they're doing, the people they meet, and it shows. Also, the way Annie is affected, both physically and mentally, by events is brilliantly described. And my opinion of one particular character in the wider cast really changed and he ended up unexpectedly tugging at my heartstrings. 

This is such a fantastic follow up to The Murmurs, I loved catching up with Annie, and Lewis. But I also loved learning about ancient Scottish legends and stories of witchcraft, even if the knowledge might give me nightmares! The Torments is a fantastic peak into that world from a  contemporary standpoint, but also the continuing story of   a very strong young woman and triumph over adversity. 

The Author

Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines
throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. His dark psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and is currently in production for the screen, and five powerful standalone thrillers followed suit. The Murmurs, first in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series, was published to critical acclaim in 2023. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as an IFA and a bookseller. Michael lives in Ayr, where he also works as a hypnotherapist.

Bloody Scotland 2024

 
A week today I will be heading off to Stirling for the weekend of fun and frolics because it's Bloody Scotland time! Scotland's biggest crime writing festival is now in its 13th year and yet again has a fabulous programme of events lined up. I'm not sure how long I've been going, think this is my eighth time, and it's always a highlight of my year. I'm going to share some of the events I'm looking forward to below. Many thanks to Fiona Brownlee at Brownlee Donald for inviting me to take part. 

I've been asked to talk about the two events I'm most excited about at this year's festival, which I'm going to do, but there are so many brilliant things in the programme, I might sneak in one or two more of the sessions that I'm hoping to catch!


Debut Prize Panel

I am really, really looking forward to this year's Debut Prize Panel. Every year, Bloody Scotland awards two prizes - The McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year and The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize. The shortlisted authors for the latter will be taking part in a panel on Friday afternoon. The five contenders this year are Doug Sinclair for Blood Runs Deep, Daniel Aubrey for Dark Island, Suzy Aspley with Crow Moon, Martin Stewart for Double Proof and Allan Gaw for The Silent House of Sleep. I've read all of them - all very different - and they're all great reads and I'm excited to see such strong finalists. I loved Daniel Aubrey's Orkney set thriller Dark Island featuring a young neurodivergent main character and a very dark storyline, and Blood Runs Deep by Doug Sinclair introducing us to haunted main character Malkie McCulloch - a well written police procedural, laced with dark humour. I'm glad I'm not the one picking a winner from this talented bunch - we'll be hearing a lot more from all these authors, I'm sure! Unfortunately, the Debut Prize Panel is sold out but tickets are still available for the Opening Reception and Prize Ceremony where the winners will be announced and interviewed on stage. Tickets are also still available for Saturday's panel in which author Alex Gray's New Crimes, picks her choice of debut authors from the last year, It features Marie Tierney, CL Miller, Tom Baragwanath and Roxie Key. 

Abir Mukherjee & Chris Whitaker

The second event I am super excited about is on Saturday morning - Abir Mukherjee and Chris Whitaker in conversation. These authors have written two of my favourite books of the year so far, and I'll be bringing my copies along to get them signed! Hunted is the first book by Abir I've read (hangs head in shame!) and I know it's very different to his other books. I loved it - super pacy, very tense, incredibly relevant, covering radicalisation and terrorism, but also the unwavering love and commitment of two very different parents for their respective children. It's brilliant, and one of the books shortlisted for this year's McIlvanney Prize. I'd been waiting for Chris's new book, All the Colours of the Dark, ever since finishing We Begin at the End. I loved that book, but it also broke me! Heartbreakingly beautiful, or maybe beautifully heartbreaking. Whichever, All the Colours of the Dark gave me the same chills. Spanning twenty plus years and crossing the US, it's a story of a terrible crime and the ripple effect of that one act but also a tale of friendship, love and devotion . I was crying ugly tears by the end of it! It's going to be fascinating listening to these two authors chat and I fear an hour won't be long enough!

There are lots of other panels I'm hoping to see over the weekend - there are three events for every timeslot so absolutely tons to choose from. So here are just a few that caught my eye.



Henry Hemming: Four Shots in the Night

Although I read a load an awful lot of crime fiction, true crime has never really been my thing. But investigative journalist Henry Hemming's session in the opening slot sounds absolutely fascinating. Four Shots in the Night discusses the murder of a British agent in Northern Ireland in 1986, which thirty years later was rumoured to have been carried out by another British agent, leading to a massive murder inquiry. I'll be making every effort to arrive early enough for this one.

The Rest is History: Eleni Kyriacou, David Greig & AJ West

A panel that I unfortunately can't attend due to a time clash is Saturday morning's The Rest is History featuring Eleni Kyriacou, David Greig and AJ West. I've read AJ's The Betrayal of Thomas True, about love and betrayal in the molly houses of 18th century  London and loved it - London and it's characters are so richly described and the story deeply affecting. The other two authors have written novels set in different times and places but both The Unspeakable Acts of Zuma Pavlou and Columba's Bones sound fascinating and this is sure to be an interesting panel.

Capital Offences: Emma Christie, Helen FitzGerald & Doug Johnstone

My final quick pick is towards the end of the festival on Sunday lunchtime. Capital Offences features Emma Christie, Helen FitzGerald and Doug Johnstone, authors who have all set their books in Edinburgh. I'm lucky enough to have read and enjoyed all three of these books - all very different, and you can find my reviews of Halfway House and Living is a Problem on the blog. I think this session will be a lot of fun.

There you have it - a very brief look at some of the things I'm looking forward to next weekend but you'll find the full run down of all the events on the Bloody Scotland website. I hope to see some of you there - there's a really warm and welcoming atmosphere and you're sure to come away having made new friends. 

Living is a Problem by Doug Johnstone

We might only be on week five of our #SkelfSummer over on X/Twitter but the blog tour for the sixth book is under way. Welcome to my stop for Living is a Problem, the latest novel featuring the Shelf women, by Doug Johnstone. Thank you to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to the for my review copy. I will be buying my own copy at the forthcoming Bloody Scotland crime writing festival (watch out for a blog post about that later this week).

The Blurb

The Skelf women are back on an even keel after everything they’ve been through. But when a funeral they’re conducting is attacked by a drone, Jenny fears they’re in the middle of an Edinburgh gangland vendetta.

At the same time, Yana, a Ukrainian member of the refugee choir that plays with Dorothy’s band, has gone missing. Searching for her leads Dorothy into strange and ominous territory.

And Brodie, the newest member of the extended Skelf family, comes to Hannah with a case: Something or someone has been disturbing the grave of his stillborn son.

Everything is changing for the Skelfs … Dorothy’s boyfriend Thomas is suffering PTSD after previous violent trauma, Jenny and Archie are becoming close, and Hannah’s case leads her to consider the curious concept of panpsychism, which brings new danger, while ghosts from the family’s past return to threaten their very lives...

Living is a Problem is published by Orenda Books and comes out on 12th September 2024.

 

My Review

I'm so pleased the Skelfs are back, I love this series! But don't worry if you haven't read the previous books, this one is absolutely readable, and very enjoyable, as a standalone - everything you need to know is there. However, and I always say this, you will probably have a richer reading experience if you start at the beginning of the series - if you search Doug's name on the blog you'll find my reviews of the previous books in the series (except for the fourth one, Black Hearts, which I've read but not yet reviewed) and several of his other books.

For anyone who's not familiar with the series, the Skelfs are three generations of women, Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah, who run both an undertakers and a private investigator business from Dorothy's kitchen table. Doug Johnstone has put these women through the wringer over the course of the series but things are settled as the story opens. That is until a drone attacks the funeral of a local criminal and sprays the mourners with pepper spray... As is so often the case, funeral business becomes intertwined with PI business. And that's just one strand of this multi strand story. 

Dorothy is fantastic. Seventy something, she is still active, involved and very much the boss. And incredibly cool. She listens to very cool music -  I know this, because I've not heard of most of the bands. I actually knew of three of the bands mentioned this time around, but one of those was ABBA so that doesn't really count. And she plays drums for The Multiverse, the band collective that has built up around her. They play at local events and the community funerals held for those people with no family. Dorothy is very much the beating heart of the Shelf family and kind of the blue that holds everyone together. And she really feels that in this story. Less so here, perhaps, for Jenny and Hannah, but more for extended, adopted family members - Yana from The Multiverse, young Brodie, and particularly her boyfriend, Thomas. Oh goodness, I felt for him in this story - so clearly troubled. 

It took me a few books to warm to Jenny, she was the one I felt least connected with, but I'm there now. And I'm delighted to see that she's feeling much happier now and looking at life a lot differently. And Archie, long term employee of the Skelfs and Jenny's friend, is really coming into his own - I'm looking at him in a whole new light! Hannah, in some ways, despite being so young, has been the most settled of the three women. Married to wife Indy, who works in the undertaker side of the business, she's finished her PHD in exoplanets (she's got a big brain, I reckon!), she's deciding what to do with her life, looking at lots of big, interesting questions along the way. 

There are three main storylines here, all of which will pull on the heartstrings despite an underlying feeling of threat in at least two of them. This is a crime novel,after all, and there are some really tense moments. But what I've loved about every Doug Johnstone book I've read is just how much heart there is in all of them. And the big issues that he is able to touch on. 

This is another brilliant entry into the Skelf collection, centred around three fantastic, beautifully written and fully fleshed out women. Doug Johnstone seems equally comfortable writing about environmental funerals (I'm fascinated by both the resomator and the mushroom suit) as he is writing about dodgy cops. Living is a Problem touches on family, loyalty, loss, stillbirth, PTSD, grief, revenge, dignity and love. It's all there. And I can't imagine anyone other than Doug Johnstone writing a book that includes electronic drones, a wind phone (I love this), panpsychism, the Hearing Voices Network and Biffy Clyro!  It's another triumph. 

The Author

Doug Johnstone is the author of seventeen novels, many of which have been bestsellers. The Space Between Us was chosen for BBC Two’s Between the Covers, while Black
Hearts was shortlisted for and The Big Chill was longlisted for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year. Three of his books – A Dark Matter, Breakers and The Jump – have been
shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize. Doug has taught creative writing or been writer in residence at universities, schools, writing retreats, festivals, prisons and a funeral home. He’s also been an arts journalist for 25 years. He is a songwriter and musician with six albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also co-founder of the Scotland Writers Football Club and lives in Edinburgh with his family.

Nighthawking by Russ Thomas #Blogathon

This is going to be a busy week on the blog and I'm kicking it off back on the Russ Thomas #blogathon with Nighthawking, book two in the DS Adam Tyler series. You can find my review of the first book in the series, Firewatching, here. Thank you to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy. I also bought my own paperback copy.

 

The Blurb

NO SECRET CAN STAY BURIED FOREVER​

Sheffield’s Botanical Gardens is an oasis of peace – until one morning when the body of a young woman is found there, buried in a quiet corner. Police determine that she’s been there for months and would have gone undiscovered for years – except someone returned in the dead of night to dig her up.

DS Adam Tyler and his team have many questions to answer – who is the victim? Who killed her and hid her body? And who dug her up?

Tyler’s investigation draws him into the secretive world of nighthawkers: treasure-hunters who operate under cover of darkness, seeking the lost and valuable . . . and willing to kill to keep what they find.

Nighthawking by Russ Thomas is published by Simon & Schuster UK and came out on 29th April 2021.

My Review

Nighthawking sees the return of DS Adam Tyler. His love life is on the edge, he's still not endearing himself to other people and his relationship with his boss is strained. It's not a great starting point for him as he gets involved with this new case. 

A hand and part of an arm is found in the Sheffield Botanical Gardens by volunteer worker Dave Carver, who also happens to belong to a small group of nighthawkers - nighttime metal detectorists. It turns out Dave has some secrets of his own, and things all get very complicated and more than a little messy. In a sub plot, Adam, who is trying to find out more about his late father, befriends a young lad and risks upsetting the head of a local crime family. 

It was great to see Guy Daley back in the team following an incident in the first book, although it's unclear if he's properly for for duty. I have a real fondness DC Mina Rabbani and I was delighted to see her stepping up, standing up for herself with her make colleagues and not suffering any nonsense. Her and Tyler make a good team, albeit a reluctant one. 

The story really takes us to the dark side of late night treasure hunting and beyond with a well written complex plot centred mainly around a small number of key players. The tension builds throughout the book to a dark, violent and sad denouement. And the end of the novel sets things up very nicely for book three...

Nighthawking is a nicely tense police procedural bringing back an interesting team in another great story which touches on love, obsession, jealousy and murder. 

The Author

Russ Thomas grew up in the 80s reading anything he could get his hands on, writing stories, watching television, and playing videogames: in short, anything that avoided the Great Outdoors. After a few 'proper' jobs, he discovered the joys of bookselling, where he could talk to people about books all day. Now a full-time writer, he also teaches creative writing classes and mentors new authors.