BLOG TOUR: Another Good Killing: DI Marco Book #2, by Stephen Puleston #BOOKREVIEW #CRIMEFICTION #POLICEPROCEDURAL @INSPECTOR_MARCO @BOOKS_N_ALL

It’s my pleasure to be the final stop on the Blog Tour for “Another Good Killing”, by Stephen Puleston.  Inspector Marco is a very talented Detective and has a great team working with him on is cases.

Another-Good-Killing - cover

Another Good Killing (Inspector Marco #2)
Does any man deserve to die?
When a well-connected and wealthy banker is found dead in his luxury car in the middle of Cardiff, the motive for the crime seems clear. The killer even left a note telling the world the man deserved to die, simply for his greed.
But despite the obvious clues, seasoned detective, John Marco has his doubts that this was just a disgruntled employee. The killing was too clean, the crime scene too perfect. Marco also has a gut feeling that the family of the victim are hiding something…
And when another business executive is murdered, Marco’s fears come true – there is now a serial killer to catch. An online video points to a violent anarchist group, determined to make the bankers pay for their perceived sins. But Marco doubts a ragtag bunch of anarchists would be granted breathing space in the world of the sophisticated uber rich.
As the case progresses and Marco starts piecing together the clues, things take a dramatic twist when a member of Marco’s team is kidnapped. Now the killer has made things personal and Marco faces a race against time to bring the murder to justice – before it’s too late…

Stephen Puleston author photo

Biography

I write crime fiction based in Wales and about Wales. The rural landscape of north Wales provides the backdrop to the Inspector Drake novels. And Cardiff the capital of Wales provides the setting for the Inspector Marco novels set in a modern urban environment.
I love the novels of Raymond Chandler, Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Henning Mankell, Val McDermid – the list could go on! And I enjoy watching detective series on the television the recent Hinterland series based near Aberystwyth in Wales was great. One of my favourites is the French series Spiral but The Bridge and Broadchurch and the Rebus series with Ken Stott and Kenneth Branagh in Wallander are great too.

I have been on writing courses at the Welsh Writers Centre in Llanystymdwy, North Wales tutored by Matt Whyman and Marcus Sedgwick as well as crime writing courses with Peter Robinson and Andrew Taylor at the Scottish Writers centre.

I was born in Anglesey an island off the north Wales coast and after leaving school in Holyhead I went to University in London before training as a solicitor/lawyer. I practised in a small family business doing criminal work in the magistrates and crown courts, divorce and family work.
I still live on Anglesey, North Wales near the beach and the mountains of Snowdonia.

 

BLOG TOUR BANNER - Another Good Killing

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My Review:

Another Good Killing was another great read by Stephen Puleston, It was fast paced, with twists and suspense throughout. The way that Detective Marco figures out each case is unique and his instincts are generally always on. He gets that “gut feeling” when something feels off or not quite right, and when he investigates further or looks as the facts again he can generally find a clue that will help him.

In Another Good Killing, DI Marco feels that he has messed up and put one of his team in danger. It leads to a touchy situation for him and almost causes him to back slide. I was rooting for him the entire time while reading this section that he would walk away. His intensity for his work as well as his loyalty to his team and the people that he cares about is what makes him a a great character. DI Marco does a lot of reflecting in this story on his life and his family. This story helps him realize what is important in life and helps him to analyze his life and make changes.

I enjoyed reading this story and found it to really challenge my detective brain as well as it did DI Marco’s. I give this story a 5 star review. I highly recommend the DI Marco series to readers who like a good challenge when reading a crime thriller and like to play a couch detective while reading. I look forward to more DI Marco stories in the near future.

 

ARC Review of “Scathed”, by Sue Coletta @SueColetta1 @RosieAmber1

Scathed

Scathed
Grafton County Series, #3
Author: Sue Coletta,
Award-Winning, Best-Selling Crime Writer
Cover Art: EJR Digital Art (ejrdigitalart.com)
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing

On a picturesque fall morning in Grafton County, New Hampshire, a brutal murder rocks the small town of Alexandria. In the backyard of a weekend getaway cabin, a dead woman is posed in red-satin, with two full-bloomed roses in place of eyes.

In her hand, a mysterious envelope addressed to Sheriff Niko Quintano. Inside, Paradox vows to kill again if his riddle isn’t solved within 24 hours.

With so little time and not enough manpower, Niko asks his wife for help. But Crime Writer Sage Quintano is dealing with her own private nightmare. Not only did she find massive amounts of blood on the mountain where she and her family reside, but a phone call from the past threatens her future–the creepy mechanical voice of John Doe, the serial killer who murdered her twin sister.

Together, can Niko and Sage solve the riddle in time to save the next victim? Or will the killer win this deadly game of survival?
Pre-order SCATHED and save with one-click! Releases July 25, 2018.

Buy link: https://smarturl.it/SCATHED

My review:

Sue has done it again! I was so happy to receive this book as an ARC and I am very happy to give an honest review of this book. I must say that Sue Coletta is one of those authors that I will purchase her books as soon as I hear that she has a new one out, without reading the blurb, or reviews. Sue is a great author and there is so much of her in her books. For anyone who follows Sue on social media and then reads her books will see her in the story. One of my favorite lines from the book is “We all want to be remembered after we die. Through the power of the written word authors are immortalized.” This is only part of the quote, but the quote really resonated with me and I loved it.

I loved Scathed. It was a story that had me thinking and trying to figure out who the killer was, but Sue doesn’t make it easy to figure out. The twists and turns in this story were intriguing and interesting. I found myself thinking one thing and finding out that I was not on the right trail after all. The characters are so real to me in Sue’s books. I love Niko and Sage, they are such a great couple and they work so well together to figure out the cases. They are so well developed that they feel like my neighbors. Being a Vermonter myself, I felt as if I could see the mountain they were on and the area they live in with no problem.

If you like stories that will draw you in, keep your interest throughout the book. This is a great book to pick up and read. I hated to put it down, and I hated to see it end. I wanted more of Niko and Sage. I love that Frankie is not afraid to be herself with everyone that she meets. She doesn’t hold anything back and that makes her a great character.

I loved the twist at the end and look forward to the next book in the Grafton County Series to see what happens next. I give this book a 5 star review and highly recommend it to anyone who likes crime, thrillers, and suspense stories and characters who will draw you in to their lives.

Outlook-3u5fi3hi

 

 

 

ARC Review: “Giovanni”, by Natasha Knight @givemebooksblog and @NatashaKnight13 #TuesdayBookBlog

Intense, dark, Mafia Men, Cartel Men, and a Cartel Princess are all brought together when the brother of the Cartel Princess double crosses the mafia.

Giovanni Santa Maria is the right-hand man of the mafia king and he is determined to find Alessandro Estrella for double crossing the mafia and disappearing. Giovanni will get his man one way or another but he doesn’t figure that the Cartel Princess, Emilia Estrella will mean more than the means to an end, the capture of her twin brother. Giovanni is a mafia man and he is not a good man. He is ruthless, dark, and lethal.

Emilia Estrella has hidden away for four years and has changed her name to keep from being found by the one man who has hurt her to breaking, her twin brother Alessandro Estrella. Emilia is broken, but she is also a strong woman who fights for herself. Alessandro is an evil man who has a very dark heart and has no love for his own sister. He is a part of the Cartel and even his own men are afraid of him and don’t like him. Alessandro will find that he isn’t as strong or bad as Giovanni.

This book was well written, it is dark, intense and the suspense in the story was a page turner for me. I wanted to know Emilia’s story as well as the truth of Giovanni’s story. I wanted to know how Giovanni and Emilia’s story would end, and I was not disappointed. Emilia found the only other man in her life who would defend her and protect her and put her back together after her brother broke her apart. I give this book a 4.5 star review and I hope there will be more to read in the near future of the Benedetti’s and hopefully more of Giovanni and Emilia.

Review of “Betrayed Angel: Coastal Adventure Series (Volume 1)”, by Tom Haase @HiddenGemsBooks @TommHaase

Chuck McGregor is lost, confused, and looking for a new life since he retired from the Army. He is wasting his days away by drinking and laying on the beach until one fateful day when he witnesses what he will later discover is the kidnapping of a young woman who is mistreated and owned by the men who have her. He moved back home to his childhood city to find that a lot has changed since he joined the Army.

The police aren’t able to do their job due to one of their own working against them, but is it only one of their own? Can Chuck trust anyone? He will have the chance meetings of high school teammates, old bosses, and past partners, but who will he be able to trust and rely on. His relationship with his old Sergeant, when he was a police officer has not improved, and actually things are even worse than they were before he went into the Army.

The story line of this book was good and it was interesting. I kept wondering who would be on Chuck’s side and who he would be betrayed by. It kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen to Chuck and the people that he met and worked with. It had it’s ups and downs throughout the story. It was a slow read in the beginning but it picked up after the first few chapters. I give this story a 3.5 star review.

Review of “Unfinished Business: David Trilogy, Book 2”, by S. C. Cunningham @rararesources @SCCunningham8

Unfinished Business - EbookDavid is back and he is still in control, unfortunately. He is pulling Tara and her friends back into his web. He will continue to manipulate and terrorize anyone that has a mind to.

Tara wants to move on with her life and is trying but there always seems to be something coming between her and her life moving forward. Tara had to deal with a lot after her abduction and close death from David, but she will find that she is stronger than she thought she was when she returns to London.

I really like the suspense in this series and want to know how it will end. I am so frustrated with Tara.

I give this story a 4 star review and look forward to the final book in the trilogy. I only hope that it ends the way I am hoping it does. I love the twists that come out in this book and the suspense of what will happen, who someone could be, and the finality of this story keeps my intrigue in this series.

ARC Review: The Devil Don’t Sleep, by Janine Infante Bosco @IndieSagePR @JanineBosco #TuesdayBookBlog

I received an ARC to read for an honest review of this book.

I loved this story. As a matter of fact, I stayed up until 2:00 am to read and would have stayed up longer to finish the book, but decided I needed some sleep, luckily, I started reading on a Friday night into Saturday. The pages just kept turning while reading this book. I love Bas and I had to find out what was going to happen.

This book was very well written and the characters were very well rounded and came off the pages for me. I had read Loner, of the Nomad Series, so I knew a lot of the characters in this story. I really like how the Satan’s Knights of Brooklyn are a real family and they watch out for each other. It makes the book so much more enjoyable to read. I love Jack and his craziness. He makes these stories fun to read. Bas is such a strong character and to read his story was great.It was nice to watch Mac find herself again and be the woman that Bas loved at one time. I was happy to read their story and have them find each other again and work out their past. I love Ryder too. He’s such a great little boy. I love how Bas is such a different person from the members of the Kentucky MC. He has a heart and his own mind.

I give this story a 4.5 star review and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to read MC stories or romantic suspense. I look forward to more stories of the Satan’s Knights MC.

 

BLOG TOUR OF SPEECHLESS: INSPECTOR MARCO #1, BY STEPHEN PULESTON #BOOKREVIEW #CRIMEFICTION #POLICEPROCEDURAL @INSPECTOR_MARCO @BOOKS_N_ALL

 

BLOG TOUR BANNER - Speechless

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Speechless, by Stephen Puleston. I have the final stop on this intriguing story of murder and sex trafficking. DI Marco will have to work hard on this case and his life will be in danger while trying to find the murder.

Speechless:

The body of a young Pole working in Cardiff is pulled from the River Taff. His tongue has been amputated in some sort of ritual.

More murders in the Polish community take Inspector John Marco and his team into the East European immigrant community and the murky world of people trafficking.

But what is it that links all the deaths together?

When the evidence points to one of the city’s criminal and the involvement of a gangster from Poland Marco faces the challenge of gathering evidence from a close knit and secretive community.

And why do the Polish Secret Service seem to be interested?

When Marco finds himself entangled emotionally its impossible for him to think clearly. In search of an answer Marco travels to Poland only to find himself implicated in a murder and hoping he can avoid another.

Racing back to Cardiff he hopes he has enough to unravel the case and arrest the perpetrators.

Speechless-cover

Biography

I write crime fiction based in Wales and about Wales. The rural landscape of north Wales provides the backdrop to the Inspector Drake novels. And Cardiff the capital of Wales provides the setting for the Inspector Marco novels set in a modern urban environment.
I love the novels of Raymond Chandler, Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Henning Mankell, Val McDermid – the list could go on! And I enjoy watching detective series on the television the recent Hinterland series based near Aberystwyth in Wales was great. One of my favourites is the French series Spiral but The Bridge and Broadchurch and the Rebus series with Ken Stott and Kenneth Branagh in Wallander are great too.

I have been on writing courses at the Welsh Writers Centre in Llanystymdwy, North Wales tutored by Matt Whyman and Marcus Sedgwick as well as crime writing courses with Peter Robinson and Andrew Taylor at the Scottish Writers centre.

I was born in Anglesey an island off the north Wales coast and after leaving school in Holyhead I went to University in London before training as a solicitor/lawyer. I practised in a small family business doing criminal work in the magistrates and crown courts, divorce and family work.
I still live on Anglesey, North Wales near the beach and the mountains of Snowdonia

Stephen Puleston author photo

My Review:

The intrigue and deception in this story kept me turning the pages. DI Marco works overtime to find the murder in this story and to save the Poles in his community. He doesn’t care who was murdered, his job is to find the murder and put them behind bars, he has no prejudices against the murder or the victims. His only goal is to find the bad guy and make them pay for their crimes.

I love DI Marco and enjoy reading these stories. It’s kind of funny, when I was reading this story, I felt as if I was listening to the detective in the old Dragnet series from the 60’s and 70’s. Some of the dialogue and writing made me think of it. I liked it and found it to be an interesting way of reading the story. I find DI Marco and Boyd to be a great team and like how Marco knows when he is doing something he should not be and Boyd will mention it to him, but he is always respectful in his approach to Marco. You can feel the respect between the two men and that is why they work so well together.

I look forward to reading more of the DI Marco stories in the near future. I kept waiting for trouble to be in store for Terry. The same as I did for Dead Smart. It seems he gets put into some very dangerous situations, but he still does it. I give this story a 4 star review and highly recommend it to anyone who likes detective or crime stories.

Review of “Leather Horizons”, by Laverty Sparks @Sparkswriter

Meet Misty Briscoe, 42, a Chicago entertainment journalist, who hangs out in blue-collar bars and even Chicago boardrooms, and contemplates giving up one for the other. Either way, will the decision be the right one?

In the meantime, you will be introduced to Misty’s best friend Rebyl Miles. Owner of a southwestern Michigan resort, she has plans and deadlines, refusing to slow down in the fast lane of life. This woman is bold, street-smart, and enterprising, often gambling with dangerous encounters. She defies conventionalism. But there is one clear challenge that soon becomes an enemy.

Adding intrigue to the plot, Misty’s elderly grandfather vanishes along with his deceased wife’s body leaving a community waiting for clues. The answer comes just in time. One obvious savior, reserved, industrious, with nothing to prove, gets caught up in an unselfish act leading to a surprising revelation.

But when Misty meets entrepeuneur Austin Matthews, she gains the strength and courage needed to bow out of the big city attitude and embrace the familiar mindset of leather jackets and blue-collar salvation of home.

Come along for the ride into LEATHER HORIZONS.

This description peeked my interest to read this book when I was contacted by Ms. Sparks. It looked like a good read so I agreed to read the book and do a review. I am very glad that I did. This book is about life, love, loss, and friendships. It was a story of a woman (Rebyl Miles) who is trying to find herself and in the process living life to it’s fullest and not let anyone tie her down. She lives life on her own terms and makes no apologies for it to anyone. She will encourage her best friend, Misty to do the same.

Misty will realize that her life is more than she thought it was and that she should be valued more than she is in her life in Chicago. She will find that there is someone who will cherish her and treat her the way she should be treated, as if she is the most important woman in the world. I really enjoyed this story and I look forward to reading more by Ms. Sparks in the future. Thank you for contacting and asking me. I give this book a 4 star review and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary romance, a story about life and all that there is to enjoy of it.

Review of Diana Christmas: Screen Siren Noir, by F.R. Jameson @frjameson

A story of a once young actress who after a party leaves the film industry. Now jump ahead twenty years. She is still has fans who want to know what she is up to and why she left, but will her story ever get published? A young reporter who has been a fan of Diana’s for years is assigned to interview her, only their meeting doesn’t go as planned and their “relationship” will drag hem both through a lot of tough times and trouble.

I enjoyed this story and found it reminiscent of some of the movies I watched as a young girl. A majority of this story takes place in the 1980’s and there is a lot of names dropped fo actors from Diana’s time in the movies. The story is well written and there were a lot of twists throughout the book. The characters are very well written and rounded. The characters go through a lot of emotions and tough times. I liked the ending, but I wished that it had given a final decision by Michael.

I give this story a 4 star review and recommend it to anyone who likes noir, crime, or Hollywood biographies. I think that you will find it to keep distracted from what is going on around you and draw you into a different time a place.

ARC Review of “Roses & Thorns: Conquer”, by Bry Ann

THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS SERIES!!! I love this series and the ending of it was bitter sweet. I loved the end, but I hate to see it end. I love being in Sven, Rose, Lacey’s, and Boss’ lives. I love reading the twists and drama going on in their lives, and meeting new friends in their lives. The characters in this series are well developed and really came out of the book for me. They were broken, beaten, strong, lovable, and a joy to read.

The end of Roses & Thorns: Conquer was perfect. The HEA for two women who had a lot of drama and trauma in their young lives it perfect. They deserved it more than anyone. Rose’s strength comes out when Sven is near and when he pushes those buttons that make her annoyed and push her strength and sassiness to come out. I love Rose, but I hate seeing her be so dejected and scared. I like the strong Rose and her character is much better when she is strong. Lacey is still a bada** and one of the strongest women I have read in awhile, even considering all she has been through. I know that Boss is her strength and he helps her overcome the darkness that can seep in.

Sven has grown so much in this series and his reaction to Rose when she returns is great. He doesn’t show any anger towards her until later in the story. They’ve overcome a lot in their relationship considering how it started. It is great to see how Sven and Boss have grown so much throughout this series. Their relationship has grown as much as they have and it’s great. They are a great team.

I thinks this series has been one of my top reads for this year so far. I am so happy to see that other characters will get their own story and I look forward to visiting these characters again in other stories. I give this book a 5 star review and highly recommend it to anyone who likes mafia romance, alpha males, kick butt heroines, or just a story with great characters and a well written story. I can’t wait for Cut’s story. I love a dark, brooding, sexy man.