Book Review - Blog Tour: Lying and Dying by Graham Brack

Title: Lying and Dying
Author: Graham Brack
Series: A Josef Slonsky Investigation #1
Publisher: Sapere Books
Publication Date: 1st August 2018
Pages: 282
Format Read: Ebook
Source: Courtesy of publisher.

What do you do when the poison comes from within…?

The body of a young woman is found strangled by the side of the road.

There are no obvious clues to what happened, apart from the discovery of a large amount of cash concealed on her person.

The brilliant, but lazy, Lieutenant Josef Slonský is put in charge of the case.

With a wry sense of humour, a strong stubborn streak and a penchant for pastries, Slonský is not overly popular with the rest of the police force. But he is paired with the freshly-graduated, overly-eager Navrátil, whom he immediately takes under his wing.

When fingers start to point inwards to someone familiar with police operations, Slonský and Navrátil are put in a difficult position.

If what they suspect is true, how deep does the corruption run? Are they willing to risk their careers in their pursuit of the truth? Anyone could be lying - and others may be in danger of dying… 

A young woman is murdered and her body dumped near a railway station. It appears as if the murderer wanted the body found. The case is taken by Lt Josef Slonsky, a veteran of nearly forty years on the force.

Approaching 60, his days on the force are numbered but Slonsky isn’t ready to retire yet and he still has a lot to offer as he is training young recruit, Navratil.

 “Navratil? He’s all right. Got to learn to pace himself though. You get nowhere rushing. Fortunately he has the great advantage of having me to show him the ropes.” 

As the evidence is slowly gathered it all points to one person, a man in a high ministerial position. But it’s not all cut and dried and the story follows many twists and turns.

Slonsky’s dry, irreverent humour makes for many laugh out loud moments. He is gruff at times but has real concern and empathy when it is warranted.

Slonsky has the obligatory slight disdain for his superiors and food is always foremost on his mind.

“Slonsky smiled angelically and lowered his bulky frame into the car. ‘My brain’s slowing down. It could do with a pastry or two. Come on, lad, put your foot down’."

“The Minister told us to redouble our efforts, Navratil. So we’re going for two beers and two sausages.”

Slonsky’s policing methods are unconventional to say the least but he gets results so a blind eye is turned to his practices.

The story starts out with plenty of dry humour, sarcasm and witty banter between the characters but as the case hots up the atmosphere becomes very deep and serious and Slonsky drops his flippant manner.

Brack includes snippets of Prague’s history and how the characters fit into these events, which in turn explains their actions.

Lying and Dying is an entertaining political crime mystery. Slonsky is an endearing hero and even though the ending is somewhat unconventional it suits our protagonist perfectly and I loved it.

The first Josef Slonsky Mystery is an excellent start to a new series.

*I received a copy from the publisher to read and review.

My rating: 5/5  🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Photo courtesy of Sapere Books

Graham Brack hails from Sunderland and met his wife Gillian in Aberdeen where they were both studying pharmacy. After their degrees Gillian returned to Cornwall and Graham followed. This is now called stalking but in 1978 it was termed “romantic”. They have two children, Andrew and Hannah, and two grandchildren, Miranda and Sophie.

Graham’s foray into crime writing began in 2010 when he entered the Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger competition and was highly commended for The Outrageous Behaviour of Left-Handed Dwarves (reissued as Lying and Dying), in which the world was introduced to Lt Josef Slonský of the Czech police. The Book of Slaughter and Forgetting (reissued as Slaughter and Forgetting) followed and Sapere Books have published book three, Death On Duty,

In 2014 and 2016 Graham was shortlisted for the Debut Dagger again. The earlier novel, The Allegory of Art and Science, is set in 17^th century Delft and features the philosophy lecturer and reluctant detective Master Mercurius. Sapere Books will publish it as Death in Delft in 2018.

Check out the other posts and reviews on the Lying and Dying blog tour.

Book Review & Giveaway: My Polar Dream by Jade Hameister

Title: My Polar Dream
Author: Jade Hameister
Publisher: Macmillan Australia
Publication date: 11th September 2018
Pages: 240
RRP: 29.99
Format read: Paperback
Source: Courtesy of publisher

Fourteen-year-old Jade Hameister had a dream: to complete the Polar Hat Trick.

In 2016, she skied to the North Pole.
In 2017, she completed the Greenland Crossing.
In 2018, she arrived at the South Pole.

This is the story of an adventurer who never gave up - who set herself incredible challenges beyond her years and experience. An adventurer who endured extremes of cold and blizzards; tackled treacherous terrain where one wrong step could be fatal; struggled through sastrugi, ice rubble and emotional lows to achieve an extraordinary goal.

Along the way, she made a sandwich for online trolls, inspired young people, and made international headlines.

At sixteen, Jade Hameister became the youngest person in history to complete the Polar Hat Trick.

Jade Hameister is the youngest person to complete the Polar hat-trick – skiing to the North Pole, crossing Greenland coast to coast and skiing from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole.

From an early age, adventure was just a regular part of family life for jade, climbing Mt Kosciuszko at age 6 and climbing to Everest Base Camp with her family at age 12. These trips instilled a sense of adventure in Jade and she had dreams of bigger and better conquests. With the support of her parents her Polar hat-trick dream evolved.

Life wasn’t all winning, as Jade tells how she missed out on School Captain. She didn’t take this as a failure but as a spur to keep striving.

Jade is honest in her account. The training was gruelling and makes you physically fit for the trip but the mental hardships were problems that could only be faced on the trip.

It’s who you become from pushing through the pain and suffering and achieving your goal. Back spasms, blisters on feet, and sunburn made the trek difficult enough but add nose bleeds and light headedness, not many people would push on under these conditions.

“The suffering wasn’t something to avoid, but to relish as an opportunity to reinvent ourselves.”

The story includes facts about the North Pole, Greenland, the South Pole and how we can help to save our planet.

Jade is a tireless advocate of climate change and she is passionate about empowering women.

Jade talks about personal issues, such as toileting with no privacy and in temperatures down to -50°C, with a sense of self mocking fun. The tears, anger and arguments with her father as they lived in close quarters for days on end and how she dealt with the internet trolls are also included.

 “It’s so easy nowadays to get sucked into distractions like our phones and miss what is really going on around us and in our minds. It was a really good opportunity for me to learn something about myself.”

When you’ve achieved such extraordinary goals and see your dreams become reality can ever live an ‘ordinary’ life again? Does the everyday become mundane? Jade admits not having a new adventure to work towards has left her in a lull, but she is ready to move on. She plans on continuing her efforts to empower young women and inspire young people to choose bravery over perfection and to raise awareness of climate change.

My Polar Dream is a truly inspiring and educational story suitable for all ages.

I can’t wait to see what Jade does next!

Jade Hameister began her Polar Hat Trick quest in April 2016 at the age of 14, when she became the youngest person to ski to the North Pole from anywhere outside the last degree and was awarded Australian Geographic Society's Young Adventurer of the Year as a result. In June 2017, she became the youngest woman to complete the 550-kilometre crossing of Greenland, the second largest ice cap on the planet.

In January 2018, Jade skied 600 kilometres from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole unsupported and unassisted, after an epic 37-day journey via a new route through the Transantarctic Mountains and up the Kansas Glacier, from the Amundsen Coast.

In finishing this incredible journey, Jade has set a number of world records including:
* The youngest person to ski from the coast of Antarctica to South Pole unsupported and unassisted
* The first Australian woman in history to ski coast to Pole unsupported and unassisted
* The first woman to set a new route to the South Pole
* The youngest to ski to both Poles
* The youngest to complete the Polar Hat Trick.

Jade lives in Melbourne and is currently a year 11 student.  Her ultimate goal is space.   

Giveaway: (Australia only) 

 

This giveaway is now closed. See the giveaway tab for more giveaways.

Book Review: The Night Caller by David Field

Title: The Night Caller (Esther & Jack Enright Mysteries #2)
Author: David Field
Series: Book 2
Publisher: Sapere Books
Publication date: 10th May 2018
Pages: 214
Format Read: EBook
Source: Publisher 

 

Looking for your next fix of Victorian crime? Discover a new series of historical mysteries perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Rory Clements and Antonia Hodgson…

A shadowy presence is haunting London. Can anyone shine a light on the darkness?

London, 1891

The city is still reeling from the brutal Ripper killings and now women are once more being sexually harassed.

Someone is breaking into their homes, stealing their undergarments and leaving threatening messages behind.

With no valuables stolen and no murders committed the police fail to take the women seriously.

But when Esther Jacobs finds herself personally acquainted with one of the victims, she starts to believe something more sinister could be going on. Enlisting the help of her fiancé, police officer Jack Enright, Esther is determined to solve the mystery.

Are women being targeted at random? Is it the work of a deranged sexual deviant?

Or is this a calculated attack on the women of London?

THE NIGHT CALLER is the second crime thriller in an exciting new historical series, the Esther and Jack Enright Mysteries, a traditional British detective series set in Victorian London and packed full of suspense.

I really enjoyed The Gaslight Stalker which was a fictional take on Jack the Ripper and the introduction of our intrepid sleuths Esther Jacobs & Jack Enright. You can read my review here.

The Night Caller is another well written mystery set in 1890’s London. This one isn’t as gory as The Gaslight Stalker with the main focus on an underwear thief mystery.

Esther has befriended Helen Trenchard. Helen is a staunch advocate for women’s equality in the workforce and has founded a union for working women. When working women have their homes invaded, their knickers stolen, and are left threatening notes not to join the union, the local police do not seem to take the case seriously causing Percy Enright to take the investigation into his own hands.

The story is centred round the opening of a women’s union and the brazen attempts to stop women from joining the new workers union. It highlights the working conditions for women, the class system and the poverty of the lower class. Real events are mentioned throughout to place it firmly in its time period.

Esther is determined, self reliant and outspoken. She once again uses her great investigative and analytical skills to help solve the case.

Jack is taken under the wing of his experienced Uncle and learns a thing or two about investigative policing. Sergeant Percy Enright brings humour to the story with some rather funny and politically incorrect sayings.

I am really enjoying this series. They are quick, light reads. The first was a bit gory as it centred on Jack the Ripper however this book was more mystery with plenty of humour and character development. Uncle Percy Enright has a major role and the burgeoning love story between Jack and Esther is continued as they plan their wedding day.

Field has done an excellent job with the essence of time by including real events, appropriate vocabulary and current mindset. I was as much enthralled by the characters in this book as I was by the plot.

Content: No coarse language

                No sex scenes

                Implied sexual assault

My rating 5/5                 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

 

  

 David Field was born in post-war Nottingham, and educated at Nottingham High School.
 
After obtaining a Law degree he became a career-long criminal law practitioner and academic, emigrating in 1989 to Australia, where he still lives.

Combining his two great loves of History and the English language he began writing historical novels as an escape from the realities of life in the criminal law, but did not begin to publish them until close to fulltime retirement, when digital publishing offered a viable alternative to literary agencies, print publishers and rejection slips.

Now blessed with all the time in the world, his former hobby has become a full time occupation as he enjoys life in rural New South Wales with his wife, sons and grandchildren to keep him firmly grounded in the reality of the contemporary world.