Blog Tour: Guest Post by Marnie Riches

Hi, guys.

Today I have a great pleasure to welcome one of my favourite crime writers ever, Marnie Riches. She made a big BOOM with the series #TheGirlWho. If you haven't read any of them, GO, GO, GO and get your copies. In meantime, read this amazing post of hers and don't forget to visit all the amazing bloggers who hosted this blog tour.

Why crime fiction? By Marnie Riches

I have read crime fiction and thrillers sporadically but with great enthusiasm since my childhood, plundering my mother’s copies of Harold Robbins A Stone for Danny Fisher and Peter Benchley’s Jaws at the tender age of about ten. It was never unusual for me to read something quite adult and thrilling as a child, alongside more traditional age-appropriate fare of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books. My reading choices were never censored, thankfully.

Book Discussion: Why I didn't rate your book with five stars?

Hi, guys.

It is Sunday, and it is raining here, so I hope that you're having chilling Sunday evening cuddled with a good book. Here is one topic that I want to talk about: rating the books.

When writing a review, it takes time and effort to write really honestly what we like and what we dislike and being objective as much as possible, and when I say „we“ I mean us , the book bloggers. Some authors take it really personally when we tell them that the characters aren't developed well, or it is hard for us to follow the story. But that's why we obliged ourselves to write a review, to tell our honest opinion. It is nothing personal, it is simply what we think about your book. I might love and adore the author in real life, but that doesn't mean that I think that all his/hers books are masterpieces. I always try to be as much as constructive as possible. If an author asks for an honest review, he/ she suppose not to expect only five stars. I disagree with people who never read the book but rate it with one star just because it arrives at their door later than expected. I always finish what we've started, spend time reading the book and thinking about it, so when the review is written, sometimes later than expected, the story is well consumed and overslept, and there is an inner discussion about every single character.

The Body on the Doorstep by A.J. Mackenzie Blog Tour + Guest Post

Kent, 1796. Shocked to discover a dying man on his doorstep - and lucky to avoid a bullet himself - Reverend Hardcastle finds himself entrusted with the victim's cryptic last words. With smuggling rife on England's south-east coast, the obvious conclusion is that this was a falling out among thieves. But why is the leader of the local Customs service so reluctant to investigate? Ably assisted by the ingenious Mrs. Chaytor, Hardcastle sets out to solve the mystery for himself. But smugglers are not the only ones to lurk off the Kent coast, and the more he discovers, the more he realises he might have bitten off more than he can chew.

The Body on the Doorstep by A. J. MacKenzie 
Series: Romney Marsh Mystery #1 
Published by Zaffre 
Published on 21.4.2016 
Genre: historical fiction 
Pages: 272 
You can buy the book on amazon.co.uk or  amazon.com 
Goodreads 

Detection without DNA

Some of our friends and fellow authors who write police procedurals are frankly envious of our working in the eighteenth century. So is Marilyn’s sister, a crown prosecutor in Canada. ‘You don’t have to worry about DNA or any of the technical stuff’, she complained. ‘You’ve got it easy.’

On one level we do, and we are full of admiration for our friends who write police procedurals and other modern crime drama. To make these books believable requires a lot of technical knowledge and – even more important – the ability to make that knowledge interesting to a non-technical reader and integrate it into the story. Very impressive, you guys. Don’t know how you do it (but love the results).

Our technical problems are few and simple. If we need to know whether it is possible for someone to be murdered in a particular way, we tend to act it out ourselves. This will get us in trouble one day, as our windows face onto the village street and we sometimes forget to close the curtains. To any members of Devon and Cornwall Police who may be reading this: we really are writers, what you saw as you drove past just now was just research. Honest.

Guest Post by Ananda: Review of The Parisian Christmas Bake Off by Jenny Oliver

*Copy provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

OH FOOD! GLORIOUS FOOD! This book is yummy indeed! I know Christmas is long gone, but I'm one of those that can read Christmassy books all year round.

It's a typical feel-good read and quite a short one, so I'm sure you'll devour it in one sitting. The story is fun too, it's centered around Rachel and her trip to Paris for a cooking competition. It was not her idea to go to Paris, since recently she lost her mother and going away from home is the last thing on her mind. But her friends make her do it, thinking she is a great baker and can show the world her great cooking skills. After hesitating and finding out her boyfriend to whom she was devoted for two years is not actually planning on marrying her, she decides to go to Paris after all. It can't be that bad, right? She's to meet one of the best Chefs and work with lots of new and interesting people, enough to take her mind of grieving and her boyfriend.

And so she takes off on quite an interesting journey where's she's to meet all kinds of people, bake beautiful and delicious food and meet the Devil himself - Chef Henri Salernes.