My First Blog Update

Well, what a month it has been since I started my Little Book Worm blog...

I have discovered a whole host of wonderful people within the publishing industry; authors, publishers, fellow bloggers and readers and I must say, what an amazing group they are! All filled with lovely and meaningful advice and always happy to help and promote each other, it really is a joy to be involved with these great people!

My most successful blog post is by far the absolutely amazing The Sister by Louise Jensen, what a flipping book... With over 600 views, I was blown away!

I've read some great books over the last couple of weeks, including:

• Silent Scream by Angela Marsons
• Mummy's Favourite by Sarah Flint
• The Fire Child by S.K Tremayne
• Local Missing Girl by Claire Douglas
• The Step Mother by Claire Seeber
• Willow Cottage (Sunshine & Secrets Part 1) by Bella Osborne

And I even had my first ever book banner quote by Aria Fiction with a quote taken from my review!

I've just added an email subscription option to my site (only just figured out how to do it!) so feel free to sign up!

Over the next few weeks you can expect reviews of the following:

• In the Wake of Death by Billy McLaughin
• The Good Husband by Christobel Kent
• The Lost Girls by Angela Marsons
• Evil Games by Angela Marsons
• Cut To The Bone by Alex Cann
• Play Dead by Angela Marsons

I am certain you may have noticed a theme running through my TBR pile... I read my first Ms Marsons book, Silent Scream last week and boy oh boy, what a book it is! I was gripped, totally and utterly adore the way she wrote and as such, I downloaded the rest of her books on my Kindle immediately, I have these to read for pleasure though as I have a few reviews to do for others first (which is obviously brilliant, but at the same time I want to read more D.I Stone!!)

I am also working on writing some retrospective reviews of the book s I have read in the past, this is taking a while though as I am reading and working on the current book reviews! One thing I have noticed since starting this blog is that I am never not reading, having recently given up a career in sales to start training as a proofreader, all I seem to do at the moment is read, read & read some more!!! I took a little part time job in customer services for a carpet manufacturer and as it's all phone based, I can read in-between calls - which is brilliant!

Well, I'm heading off to start another book, the lovely Shell Barker over at https://www.facebook.com/groups/CrimeBookClub/ has asked for a review so I best get started... Then next on the list is Christobel Kent's The Good Husband which I will be completing for www.TheBookBag.co.uk

Hope you all have a great week get in touch if you would like me to review a book or just to say hi!

Love & all that jazz

Emma x

 

Kill Me Again by Rachel Abbott

Black Dot Publishing Ltd

17 February 2016

The Blurb . . .

When Maggie Taylor accepts a new job in Manchester, she is sure it is the right move for her family. The children have settled well although her husband, Duncan, doesn't appear to be so convinced.

But nothing prepares her for the shock of coming home from work one night to find that Duncan has disappeared, leaving their young children alone. His phone is dead, and she has no idea where he has gone, or why. And then she discovers she's not the only one looking for him.

When a woman who looks just like Maggie is brutally murdered and DCI Tom Douglas is brought in to investigate, Maggie realises how little she knows about Duncan's past. Is he the man she loves? Who is he running from?

She doesn't have long to decide whether to trust him or betray him. Because one thing has been made clear to Maggie - another woman will die soon, and it might be her.

Gripping from the beginning, this is an absolute edge of your seat, unputdownable thriller which will leave you desperate for more. Do not start reading unless you have the stamina to do it in one go! 

My Review . . .

DCI Tom Douglas is fast becoming my favourite police officer, and that is really saying something considering the competition provided by Peter James' Roy Grace, Ian Rankin's Rebus, Peter Robinson’s DCI Banks and my absolute favourite, Val McDermid’s DCI Carol Jordan.

Kill Me Again is the fifth instalment of the DCI Tom Douglas series and what an instalment it is! We meet Maggie Taylor, who has recently uprooted her family from Suffolk to Manchester following a job offer as a criminal lawyer. Her husband, Duncan, stay at home dad to their 2 young children and part time plumber, suddenly disappears without a trace, leaving the children home alone, his mobile phone off and absolutely no clue as to his whereabouts. As Maggie starts to dig about, something becomes very clear, Duncan is absolutely not the man she thought he was.

The story flashbacks to 12 years ago when the then DI Tom Douglas is working on a murder case, fast forward to the present and it appears that he is working on an identical case, leading him (and the reader) to wonder if he got the right man the first time round! Without delivering any spoilers, this is a fast paced and enthralling story, weaving you deeper into the man Douglas was when he was first starting out in Major Crime, which in turn allows you to really feel for him as the man he is in the present. Supported by his second in command, DI Becky Robinson, Douglas must race against the clock to discover the truth about what really happened all those years ago, and what impact that case has on the goings on in the present.

It is so utterly clear that the author was in the Police Force, the attention to true detail in the policies and procedures is brilliant, there are no unrealistic sudden clues that miraculously help to solve the crime at the last possible minute, everything about this story is totally and utterly compelling and realistic. The descriptive narrative is also wonderful, drawing you completely in to the worlds of Maggie and Tom, giving just the right amount of detail to feel that you could be stood right next to them, without completely boring your socks off!

I thought I had it all figured out by about chapter 20 – boy was I wrong!!! A real edge of your seat, plot twisting and spine chilling thriller which I suggest you go and buy immediately!

About the author . . .

Rachel Abbott's debut thriller, Only the Innocent, was an international bestseller, reaching the number one position in the Amazon charts both in the UK and US. This was followed by the number one bestselling novels The Back Road, Sleep Tight and Stranger Child. Nowhere Child - a short novel based on the characters from Stranger Child - was Rachel's fifth book. In February 2016 she released her sixth novel, Kill Me Again.

In 2015 Amazon celebrated the first five years of the Kindle in the UK, and announced that Rachel was the #1 bestselling independent author over the five-year period. She was also placed fourteenth in the chart of all authors. Stranger Child was the most borrowed novel for the Kindle in the first half of 2015.

Rachel now lives in Alderney - a beautiful island off the coast of France, and is now able to devote time to her other love - writing fiction. For more information, see Rachel's website, or follow her on Twitter.

Rachel's website can be found at

Website : http://www.rachel-abbott.com
Blog : http://rachelabbottwriter.wordpress.com/
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/RachelAbbott1Writer

And via Twitter - see the Twitter feed on this biography page.