Celebrating Publication Day with Angela Marsons

Book 9 is out today to buy, grab yours HERE

Thanks so much for taking some time out to answer questions for us, the Crime Book Club family are very excited and a few also wanted some questions popped in.




As you know I am new to the series this year, despite the CBC members raving about them for so long. I LOVE DI Kim Stone, she is such a loyal character, a true copper who is the victims voice. How did it come about creating her and getting into actually writing them?

I spent many years writing books I thought editors would like. They were all character driven emotional stories which I loved writing but I’ve always loved reading crime. I never thought I could write a crime book so I kind of sat down with the intention of writing the book I wanted to with the character who was in my head based in an area I know well. I totally expected to hit a wall due to plotting issues but as soon as I gave Kim Stone a voice she ran away with my pencil. No-one was more surprised than me when I realised I had finished the book and Silent Scream had been born.


Is Kim Stone based on anyone?

She isn’t based on anyone but her voice had been in my head for many years. I didn’t let her out as she didn’t sound all that likeable in my head so I thought well if I don’t like her, no-one will. It wasn’t until I started writing about her in Silent Scream that I realised she had many good points too and although not the most socially adept person she was passionate and driven to fight for the underdog.


As a Tolkien fan I squealed when I read “that” line, just how big a fan are you and will we see any other references?

I do love the films but what I loved more was the inference that such a dark, desolate land was based on the Black Country. It really helped me to give people the tone and atmosphere that I wanted to portray in the books.


How did it feel getting your first book published and how does it compare to getting a book published now, years later?

Ooooh, this is a great question. I don’t think anything compares to that first experience of fear mixed with excitement mixed with stress and more excitement. I had no expectations when Silent Scream was published and was just so grateful to Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to give Kim Stone a chance. When Silent Scream was published and hit the #1 spot on Amazon I was working 12 hour night shifts and would ring my partner, Julie, on my lunch break (at 2am) for an update on the charts!! I just couldn’t believe the amazing response to the book. But, I have to say that each new book is just as exciting to publish as each novel is a different journey and you never lose the fear of people hating what you’ve done. I’m still a mix of excitement and fear waiting to see what people think. Neither the fear or the excitement ever goes away.


How do you come up with the stories? They are fantastic and so fresh, what inspires them?

Every story is inspired by a subject or an idea that I want to explore or research. Silent Scream came from a memory of walking past a children’s home and wondering about the occupants. It always stayed with me. Evil Games came to be because I wanted to explore the true nature of a sociopath and their capabilities and I loved the idea of a psychological battle between two equally intelligent women. With Lost Girls I wanted to explore the psychology and effects of having to choose the life of one child over another.


When are you coming to a book festival *hint hint* Edinburgh?

Unfortunately I’m not good with festivals. Two bouts of depression have left me with Social Anxiety which can be crippling at times. I do try to push myself to do smaller things and have swung by my local libraries for low key coffee and cake chats with readers but who knows what I might be able to achieve in the future.


What is the creative process and how long does it normally take to complete a book?

I write two books each year which are normally released Spring and Autumn so each book is a six month process from beginning to end. I normally take the first four months to research and write the first draft and the other two months to work through draft 2 and draft 3 before sending it to my editor. This isn’t straightforward by any means as during this time I will be receiving edits/copy edits/proofs to work through and read for the previous book written so there’s always swapping from one story to another which can become a little confusing at times.


Do you have any rituals, favourite pen (if you write by hand), clothes, somewhere you must write?

I still write the first draft with pencils and A4 notepads. I’ve tried a couple of times to write straight on to the laptop but it just doesn’t work for me. I have to feel the lead of the pencil scratching against the paper. It taps directly into my creative brain. I have to use the Bic Original automatic pencils and I only ever write on the right hand side of the page. I leave the left hand side blank to write myself notes as I go. I never interrupt the flow to go back and change something. Instead I’ll scrawl myself a note for second draft like ‘this is awful, do better’ or ‘add more action here’ or ‘not enough emotion’ but I just keep moving forward on the first draft.


Where is the best place for fans to connect with you?

I’m always around on social media as I love chatting and interacting with people who are reading the books so I can be found


https://www.Facebook.com/AngelaMarsonsAuthor

https//www.Twitter.com/@WriteAngie

https://www.AngelaMarsons–Books.com

We are all patiently waiting for the new release, what date in October is it coming and more importantly HAVE YOU STARTED WRITING BOOK 10? :P

Yes book 9 – Fatal Promise is out on 19th October and absolutely yes Book 10 is cooking quite nicely right now.

Anything you would like to answer I haven’t asked?

Great questions and nothing I’d like to answer but I would like to say a massive THANK YOU to the love and support from CBC. It’s a very positive place to be and there’s still nothing like just seeing a post from someone recommending one of your books. It truly does make an author’s day.

Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell

Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 368

Publisher - Stripes Publishing

Source - Amazon

Blurb from Goodreads

We're waiting for you to come and play. Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind...Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lilias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. And then there's her other cousin. The girl with a room full of antique dolls. The girl that shouldn't be there. The girl that died.


My Review

After a life changing encounter Sophie heads to visit her cousins and stay at the old school house. Lilias is the youngest and emotionally up and down, Cameron is bordering on rude/aggressive but Piper is lovely and welcoming. With Sophie having to face her own grief a change of scenery could but the perfect choice. The more time Sophie spends there the more eerie things become, Lilias is worried about the old dolls and the damage they can cause, Cameron is becoming more hostile and Piper seems the only one she can talk to. But everything is not what it seems and secrets have a way of coming out.

This is my first time reading this author and it won't be my last. We kick off with a ghostly encounter or is it just a fluke in circumstances. We meet Sophie's family and as we get to know them we discover just how bizarre things are at the old school house. It has a past, it is linked to the dolls and the youngest member of the family is terrified. We learn along with Sophie about her cousins, those on this earth and the one in the spirit world.

Secrets, ghosts, supernatural, friendship, family and a whole lot of spookiness is central to the book. Lots of different threads and I sank into it quickly. We get small snippets of the frozen Charlotte story at the beginning of each chapter, I liked that and hadn't heard it before. The supernatural aspect I found captivating and scary dolls isn't something that has been done lots (well in the books/movies I have read). A great wee read and I look forward to the next book, 4/5 for me this time.

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A Christmas gift by Sue Moorcroft Blog Tour

Today is my stop on the blog tour for A Christmas Gift by Sue Moorcroft. I know I know you are thinking it is October for goodness sake BUT if like me you like to plan ahead for some of your seasonal reads then this is perfect. I have an extract so if you have a wee read at that and like it, there you have your first Christmas book sorted, organised or what!.





Queen of the lightning-fast shower, she switched on the water, wriggled out of her running kit and hung it on the radiator so it wouldn’t be clammy for the run home, and jumped into the spray. Soon she was dressing in the clean clothes she unrolled from her backpack. Two further minutes with hairbrush, tinted moisturiser and mascara wand and she was ready to start her day.

As she emerged into the corridor, students were streaming towards rehearsal rooms or first sessions, crowding her with their backpacks and instrument cases and confining her pace to what she thought of as ‘the student shuffle’.

Chatter and laughter rippled through the air. Georgine smiled. She loved this time of year. Halloween and bonfire night had passed and now the students were looking towards the main event of the term: Christmas. Already posters advertising A Very Kerry Christmas, Uncle Jones were appearing in Middledip, Bettsbrough and even as far afield as Peterborough.

Some of the students called, ‘Hey, Georgine!’ and she returned their greetings, only pausing when a tall, solemn youth with a guitar-shaped gig bag on one shoulder fixed his gaze on her and announced sternly, ‘Got me grade seven acoustic guitar.’

Not fooled by the unsmiling delivery from Tomasz, a student generally held to be ‘challenging’, she raised her hand for a high-five. ‘Fantastic, Tomasz! That’s awesome!’ ‘I’ll get a stiffycut.’ Tomasz’s heritage might be Polish but his accent was pure Bettsbrough. He performed his part in the high-five as if obliged to humour her, but triumph shone in his eyes before he turned away.

Georgine was still grinning at his pronunciation of ‘certificate’ when she reached the office suite, calling ‘Morning!’ to Fern as she passed through the admin office and reached the door marked Norman Ogden at 8.30 a.m. precisely.





"A Christmas Gift" is out to buy now on kindle, click HERE or in hardback from the 1st of November.

Day by Day Armageddon Ghost Run by J L Bourne

Day by Day Armageddon: Ghost Run by J.L. Bourne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 256

Publisher - Gallery Books

Source - Amazon buy

Blurb from Goodreads

The acclaimed and eagerly anticipated fourth thriller in the zombie apocalypse series from the author of Day by Day Armageddon and Day by Day Armageddon: Beyond Exile, for fans of the smash hit show The Walking Dead.

In a desperate bid to survive as hordes of bloodthirsty undead now dominate the ravaged U.S. population, a Navy commander discovers an incredible secret about the pandemic in this fourth novel in the acclaimed Day by Day Armageddon series.

Task Force Phoenix may be humanity’s final hope, and the narrator's agonizing decisions could mean living one more day—or surrendering to the eternal hell that exists between life and death.

Ghost Run is a suspenseful, gripping, and intelligent thriller that will terrify die-hard horror fans and reinforce J.L. Bourne’s reputation as “the new king of hardcore zombie action” (Brad Thor, author of Act of War).


My Review

This is book four in the series and I would recommend reading the others before this one as the main character in this book isn't the main in the previous ones. There is also a lot of history to be read and small kickbacks to the previous book events so I think you would be better off reading them. The book does however start off with a wee mini recap of the previous books so you aren't starting off blind.

The main character, Kil, is Navy trained and one of the top guys. He knows combat, weapons, training and it is strong throughout the book. Whilst this will be a huge kick for some readers I didn't love it. A lot of the weapons, use of items, things he came across as Joe Public I had to re read some things, google, check as I didn't know what they were. I think it makes a bit of a change to have a main character who is so knowledgeable and weapon specialist. For me I do like a main character though who would struggle with stuff like this. I loved the wee machine that was like a dog, I just could not accurately envision it but I did love it. Something that is often missing in these books are animals or we get them and bad things happen.

There is a ton of action, death scenes, attacks and of course zombies galore. We have a good bit of travel in the book too and as with the previous books it is told in diary like entries cataloguing his experiences. 3.5/5 for me, I do enjoy this series and I look forward to the next book.

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The Toy Thief by D W Gillespie Blog Tour

Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Toy Thief by author D W Gillespie, although I am closing the tourplease check out the other stops on the tour as we all have different content, so you don't miss anything. Before I post my review, check out the cover for this one, I don't (or didn't use to) bother with covers but there are a ton of great ones out there. Like this one, how eerie, spooky and freaky is it, it was the cover that drew me to the post about the book to be honest!





The Toy Thief by D.W. Gillespie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 3 days

Pages - 240

Publisher - Flame Tree Press

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

Jack didn’t know what to call the nameless, skeletal creature that slunk into her house in the dead of night, stealing the very things she loved the most. So she named him The Toy Thief… There’s something in Jack’s past that she doesn’t want to face, an evil presence that forever changed the trajectory of her family. It all began when The Toy Thief appeared, a being drawn by goodness and innocence, eager to feed on everything Jack holds dear. What began as a mystery spirals out of control when her brother, Andy, is taken away in the night, and Jack must venture into the dark place where the toys go to get him back. But even if she finds him, will he ever be the same?


My Review

What happens when you see something you aren't supposed to? We open with Jack (Jacqueline), reflecting on her, her brother Andy, family and the past. Written in first person narration, we see Jack in present day and lots of throwback to childhood memories and why she is the way she is today. We know something happened when she was younger and it takes a wee bit of unravelling before we hear about and "meet" The Toy Thief.

Jack isn't a very nice person as an adult and if bad language offends you this is your headsup, Jack swears a fair bit. As she goes back in time and recalls what happened, the first glimpse, the actual encounter and the fall out afterwards you get a bit more appreciation for how she has been shaped to the person she is today.

For me the story is two fold, the spooky horror aspect and the family dynamics, both are strong and bring shape to the story. The Toy Thief is creepy and a few of the scenes made the hair at the back of my neck stand up. We all have things that freaked us out as kids and flashes of the story made me think about irrational childhood fears, memories and that is always a thumbs up for any author.

The family bond shone through, Jack and her brother Andy have a strained relationship, no mother and only their family raising the two of them. From the get go we know things aren't perfect between the siblings but they have a bond and are close, when we see their childhood and everything that follows it makes the reader have a better understanding of the relationship.

I have read a few books from published by Flame Tree Press, it is almost like a new brand of horror. You have the creepy, the darkness, family/relationship elements and with horror but not always in your face or over the top. This is my first dance with this author, it won't be my last, the book doesn't give up its secrets quickly, like an onion you have to go through each layer, getting more as you go, 3.5 out of 5 for me this time.

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Friendship Never Ends by Ella Dyson Blog Tour

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Friendship Never Ends by Ella Dyson, please check out the previous stops and the closing stop tomorrow, we all offer different content and it is a great wee book!







Friendship Never Ends by Ella Dyson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time Taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 252

Publisher - Trapeze

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

A big-hearted comedy about friendship, the 90s and the greatest girl band in the world

Three independent women - and one man who lives for drama - haven't spoken to their best friend in 20 years, after an epic talent show disaster tore them apart during the height of Spice-mania.

Self-appointed gang leader Carmen then decided to go it alone - Geri style. But now, in 2018, the school reunion is fast approaching. Friendship Never Ends tells the story of Carmen's plan to win back her former besties - Jemma, Ellie, Laura and Benny - ahead of the big night. But has Carmen really changed? And can their friendship ever really go back to how it was?


My Review

Split between past and present, we open in present day and meet Carmen who bumps into an old flame who happens to be a high profile football player now. Carmen knows she has to win him back and the school reunion is the place to do it, she just needs to get the old gang back together. Her high school friends she hasn't seen since the talent contest at school twenty two years ago, when their friendship was ripped apart. Ellie, Laura, Jemma, Benny and Carmen made up their wee group, all spice girls fanatics and the inspiration for their talent show performance.

A story about the struggles of adult hood before we go back to their high school days, their friendship dynamics, coming of age and eventually what happened that day to break up their friendship. We come full circle and back to present day and Carmen trying to get everyone back together and her plan to woo Darryl Kenny.

Carmen is not a nice character, she is shallow as an adult and a spoilt self centred brat as a kid. Each of the group have their own issues and demons to face, a lot of the story centres on their teenage time leading to the big "event". For some this might be a bit too teen angst but for me, I loved it, it was a trip down memory lane. The friendship dynamics, the learning dances/songs, picking who was who in the spice girls line up, the music, the things they chatted about. I loved that and the memories it evoked fantastic. We are actually planning a mini holiday/reunion with some of my oldest friends so this book was just bang on perfect timing.

Some cringe moments, funny, horrifying, sexuality, self discovery, stereotypes among other issues and I would be shocked at anyone reading this and not being transported back to some part of their teenage years or school days. Light hearted, funny, sad, mortifying a wee bit of a journey for the kids and adults. A book that doesn't take itself too seriously and one you can chuckled away at. Leave your adult responsibilities behind for a few hours, grab some popcorn and settle down to stroll down memory lane espesh if you were a teen when they Spice Girls crashed into the world of pop! This is my first time reading this author I cannot wait to see what else she brings out, 4/5 for me this time.

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Gross Anatomy by Mara Altman

Gross Anatomy by Mara Altman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 day

Pages - 320

Publisher - Harper Collins

Source - Review Copy

Blurb from Goodreads

An honest, funny, neurotic, and totally gross love child of Mindy Kaling and Mary Roach.

Mara Altman's volatile and apprehensive relationship with her body has led her to wonder about a lot of stuff over the years. Like, who decided that women shouldn't have body hair? And how sweaty is too sweaty? Also, why is breast cleavage sexy but camel toe revolting? Isn't it all just cleavage? These questions and others like them have led to the comforting and sometimes smelly revelations that constitute Gross Anatomy, an essay collection about what it's like to operate the bags of meat we call our bodies.

Divided into two sections, "The Top Half" and "The Bottom Half," with cartoons scattered throughout, Altman's book takes the reader on a wild and relatable journey from head to toe--as she attempts to strike up a peace accord with our grody bits.

With a combination of personal anecdotes and fascinating research, Gross Anatomy holds up a magnifying glass to our beliefs, practices, biases, and body parts and shows us the naked truth: that there is greatness in our grossness.



My Review

Well this was certainly different that is for sure. Altman takes us on a journey down the female body, our hang ups, embarrassing problems, why we are ashamed or embarrassed of some things in our body. Using humour, research and speaking to professionals in their fields about things that happen or puzzle us or even affect us so much we resort to surgery to change the appearance of a particular body part we have an eye opening journey.

Altman is brutally honest about things that she questions on her own body, some thoughts/accounts will make you blush or squirm. One section about headlice had me clawing as I was reading. She doesn't just tackle her own hangups, she examines why so many females have issues with so many things, from excess hair, to removing hair from areas, odours, sweating, discharge yup if that word makes you uncomfortable this book will NOT be for you. She refers to the female anatomy with the P word and even the C word sneaks out a few times in conversations in the book. I could feel myself going red reading some paragraphs and the book wasn't about me and I don't embarrass easily.

I think she has been really brave tackling some of the issues in the book, why do we feel the need to go to extremes to deal with hair, sweating, odours, aesthetics it is really interesting in parts. I love that she spoke to specialists, examined research that had been conducted and added very honest confessions about her own "issues" hangups and experiences.

It is very uncomfortable reading at points but a lot of it is very valid and I am sure many females will be nodding when reading parts of the book. It is not the easiest book to read purely because it is so honest and the things she discusses are things many people, even some of the experts wouldn't engage her in chatting about. She challenges some ideas, pushes some boundaries and I think many will find it empowering to be so honest about so many things we shy away from. 3/5 for me this time, although this was my first dance with this author I would look out for more of her offerings. If you like a book that pushes you a wee bit, this would be perfect for you to pick up. Honest, funny, cringe, mortifying, embarrassing, well researched and I think you would struggle to find a more personal book that tackles issues that I would be surprised if any female didn't relate to something in the book.

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