Wow oh wow! How are we already at December? What a year in books it’s been! I’m excited for 2021 already. But December is bringing some gorgeous gems for release.

Here’s some I’m excited for:

Nature? Nurture? Or just plain luck?

Single mums, Tia and Kay, meet when their sons are born on the same day.

Tia is a product of the welfare system but wants a better life for her son. Her entrapment by her manipulative and controlling boyfriend in the world of drink, drugs, crime and enforced prostitution suggests otherwise. Is she a ‘born devil’ or can she change and break free?

Kay comes from a stable home but sacrifices it all, initially, to live her own kind of life.

Overshadowed by betrayals, mistakes, regrets, and the mystery of an abandoned child, their paths – and those of their families – run parallel or criss-cross over twenty-five years.

Can determination and the power of the snow globe offer a chance of happiness?

Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One perfect crime.

When Amelia is invited to an all-expenses-paid retreat on a private island, the mysterious offer is too good to refuse. Along with six other strangers, she’s told they’re here to test a brand-new product for Timeo Technologies. But the guests’ excitement soon turns to terror when the real reason for their summons becomes clear.

Each guest has a guilty secret. And when they’re all forced to wear a memory-tracking device that reveals their dark and shameful deeds to their fellow guests, there’s no hiding from the past. This is no luxury retreat—it’s a trap they can’t get out of.

As the clock counts down to the lavish end-of-day party they’ve been promised, injuries and in-fighting split the group. But with no escape from the island—or the other guests’ most shocking secrets—Amelia begins to suspect that her only hope for survival is to be the last one standing. Can she confront her own dark past to uncover the truth—before it’s too late to get out?

‘Mama, wake up.’

The little girl reached for her mother’s face with one pudgy hand. But the eyes stayed closed, and the blood continued to trickle across the floor.

When the body of a young woman is found, tied to her bed and the victim of a brutal attack in her own home, Detective Morgan Brookes is sickened by what she finds as she searches the house. And unprepared for the nightmares it inspires about her childhood.

When the DNA collected gives a positive ID, Morgan can’t wait to put the attacker behind bars. But the person it matches to is already in prison. How could the DNA of someone who has been locked up for over twenty years have shown up in Morgan’s crime scene? And then they make another close match. To Morgan herself.

Faced with the impossible proof that she is somehow connected to this case, Morgan delves deep into the crimes of a killer who stalked the Lake District two decades ago. But distracted by the old case, she misses the signs that he has found a new victim. And when he strikes close to home, Morgan finally realises that she has been living on borrowed time. To find this killer, it’s clear she must confront the nightmares in her past…

A heart-racing, nerve-wracking crime thriller. Fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Patricia Gibney will be completely gripped.

Don’t close your eyes. Don’t fall asleep. Don’t let them in.

Thea is an insomniac; she hasn’t slept more than three hours a night for years.

So when an ad for a sleep trial that promises to change her life pops up on her phone, Thea knows this is her last chance at finding any kind of normal life.

Soon Thea’s sleeping for longer than she has in a decade, and awakes feeling transformed. So much so that at first she’s willing to overlook the oddities of the trial – the lack of any phone signal; the way she can’t leave her bedroom without permission; the fact that all her personal possessions are locked away, even her shoes.

But it soon becomes clear that the trial doesn’t just want to help Thea sleep. It wants to control her sleep…

An unputdownable, gripping psychological thriller for fans of The One, Behind Her Eyes and Girl A!

Afraid Of The Christmas Lights is brought to you by eighteen bestselling crime and thriller writers who between them have topped the Sunday Times and Amazon charts, been Richard and Judy bestsellers, won the Crime Novel of the Year Award, the Bath Novel Award and the UK National Book Awards, had their work made into major television series and been published in over 50 territories worldwide.

Mark Billingham

Rachael Blok

Heather Critchlow

Elle Croft

James Delargy

Clare Empson

Jo Furniss

Sophie Hannah

T.E. Kinsey

N.J. Mackay

S.R. Masters

Val McDermid

Phoebe Morgan

Dominic Nolan

Robert Scragg

Victoria Selman

Kate Simants

Adam Southward

Harriet Tyce

Separated by time. Brought together by fate.

Indulging her fascination for the Viking language and losing herself in an archaeological dig is just what Linnea Berger needs after her recent trauma. Uncovering an exquisite brooch, she blacks out reading the runic inscription, only to come to, surrounded by men in Viking costume, who seem to take re-enactment very seriously.

Lost and confused, Linnea finds herself in the power of Hrafn, a Viking warrior who claims her as his thrall and takes her on a treacherous journey across the seas to sell her for profit. Setting sail, she confronts the unthinkable: she has travelled back to the ninth century.

Linnea is determined to find a way back to her own time, but there’s a connection forming with Hrafn. Can she resist the call of the runes and accept her destiny lies here…

When Jade Ferguson’s affair with a married man abruptly ends, she’s devastated.

There is no quick fix for a broken heart. A fresh start is required.

New job. New home. New neighbours.

The residents of Gresham Terrace seem pleasant enough.

Except for one…

An absolutely gripping debut psychological thriller.

Jess is falling for Sam.

Sam is falling for Jess.

But it seems life will do whatever it takes to make them fall apart.

When Jess and Sam lock eyes at a party, a spark ignites. The spark. But love at first sight isn’t like the movies, especially when Sam’s ex, Victoria, is determined to make their honeymoon period a living hell.

Is love at first sight enough?

Plunging under the cold ocean surface, her long blonde hair drags in the current and she frantically kicks towards the light. With her arms and legs tied she is helpless. As water fills her lungs, she has just one regret. She never told anyone about her date.

On a lonely stretch of coast at daybreak in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Detective Casey White is shocked to find the drowned body of a much-loved local woman, Ann Choplin, her beautiful face covered with specks of sand. The green and white rope binding her wrists reveals the terrifying truth that this innocent mother’s death was no accident.

With the incoming tide flooding the scene and swallowing all evidence, Casey’s team has nowhere to turn… but it’s Casey who realizes this beach will be devastatingly familiar to her partner, ex-sheriff Jericho Flynn. His wife was found murdered here years ago, thrown into the ocean alive just like Ann. But the twisted and jealous woman guilty of that crime has been in prison for years.

Days later, another woman is found drowned on the same beach, her wrists tied. Casey fears a copycat killer is on the loose, playing a deadly game with Jericho by digging up the horrors of his past.

Certain that finding a link between these women will crack the case, Casey works through the night digging into their lives and finds an old photo of the two victims at school together, smiling in their cheerleader uniforms. But cold betrayal floods Casey as she sees Jericho in the background. She’d thought it was safe to let him into her life, but he never once mentioned he knew the victims. What other secrets is he hiding?

When a coil of green and white rope is found in his garage, Casey’s whole team is convinced that the mounting evidence is stacked against Jericho. But with Casey’s instincts screaming that Jericho could never hurt anyone, it will mean risking her own career—and her life—to clear his name. If she’s wrong, she is placing her trust in a killer… but if she’s right, more innocent women are in terrible danger.

An absolutely unputdownable crime thriller, with twists and turns that will leave you breathless. Fans of Robert Dugoni, Kendra Elliot and Rachel Caine will be addicted.

What happens when your love life becomes the talk of the town?

As birthdays go, this year Everly Dean has hit rock bottom.

If catching her boyfriend cheating with his assistant wasn’t enough, Everly’s rant about Simon the Snake, a.k.a. Cheating Ex, accidentally being broadcast live on the radio really sealed the deal…

When public humiliation turns her into a viral sensation with a string of potential dates, and suddenly there’s some serious chemistry with her cute but until now distant boss Chris, Everly – the woman who could win a gold medal in people-avoidance – is going to have to dig deep.

They say fake it till you make it, and Everly’s making a list: The Ten Rules for Faking It.

Because sometimes making the rules can find you happiness when you least expect it.

THE PERFECT HUSBAND . . .

After a difficult pregnancy, Esther is grateful that her husband Robin offers to put his career on hold so that she can return to the job she loves.

But Esther finds leaving her daughter Riley behind more challenging than she’d thought. And soon the new imbalance in her relationship with Robin brings old tensions to the surface.

OR A PERFECT LIE?

Then one day Esther arrives home from work to find Robin and Riley are missing. As the police investigate their disappearance, it becomes clear that nothing about this modern-day family is what it seems…

Is Robin the perfect father everyone thinks he is? Or was it all a perfect lie?

Thrilled to join Random Things Tours for this blog tour.

Synopsis

Eccentric, headstrong and engaging, Isabel Flores Montserrat is a cross between a highly charged Precious Ramotswe (The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) & Phyrne Fisher (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries).

When 33-year-old Isabel Flores Montserrat quits a promising career with the Spanish police to run her mother’s holiday rentals agency in rural Mallorca, it seems that her crime-fighting days are far behind. Basking in the Mediterranean sunshine with pet ferret, Furo, she indulges her passion for local cuisine, swimming in the sea and raising her pampered hens. However, when a young florist goes missing, Isabel is once again seconded by the National Police to help solve the mystery. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in her own village with a sinister spate of animal disappearances. When another islander vanishes, Isabel and the local police chief, Tolo Cabot, must hunt a potential serial killer using their unorthodox investigative skills. With the clock ticking, they urgently need to find answers and restore harmony to the island once more.

Bookish Opinions

This has been my first read by this author but I definitely want to read more. This has been a great read from start to finish. I have definitely been left wanting more.

I love Isabel, she is the perfect sleuth in this book. The writer has given her a great personality and made us feel as though we know her.

This has been an interesting and unique read which I highly recommend as it has been a fun and easy read.

I have devoured this book in just one sitting and immediately added others by this author to my TBR.

Absolutely delighted to have had the opportunity for a Q&A with Martin Bodenham, author of Crime and Justice as part of the Damp Pebbles blog tour.

What type of books do you enjoy reading? 

My favourite genre is crime thrillers. I’m a lazy reader, so I prefer short chapters, which I can graze on when I have a few minutes. Crime thrillers tend to have short chapters as they help maintain the pace. I once watched a documentary on a well-known thriller author (whose name escapes me). I remember him saying all thriller novels and movies have about fifty or sixty chapters/scenes in order to maintain the pacing. He was right. Now I can’t stop myself from counting the scenes of every thriller I watch.

 

Who are your favourite authors? 

My preferred authors are John Grisham and Michael Connelly. They both have an easy flowing, conversational writing style. It looks easy. Believe me, it is incredibly hard to achieve.

 

An oldie that I must mention is Deliverance by James Dickey. Many remember the movie that was made soon after the book came out in the early seventies. It is still one of the best thrillers I have read.

 

Finally, I must mention Red Notice by Bill Browder. It is actually non-fiction, but the book reads like a thriller.

 

Do you have a writing routine? 

Because I used to commute into London for many years, I am an early riser. Most of my writing is done in the mornings, often before 8 a.m. when the phone isn’t ringing and there are few distractions. When I am writing the first draft of a novel, I set myself a target of 1,000 words a day so I can finish the rough version in three months. I have tried writing with the radio on, but it prevents my thought process. I prefer complete silence or quiet instrumental music in the background. My one rule is that I must have a strong espresso around eleven each morning to keep me going.

 

 

Where do you find your inspiration? 

Some of my ideas have come from my first career in corporate finance. The corporate takeover world is full of big egos and larger than life people. Some of their characteristics I have “borrowed” for characters in my novels. As for storylines, I like to read news headlines and obituaries, both of which are great sources for plots and character arcs.

 

When I came up with the idea for Crime And Justice, I had recently seen a documentary on the use of DNA matching and its use in exonerating people in old cases. It made me realise how much we have come to rely on that forensic process, almost without question. I wondered how easy it might be for the results to be manipulated.

 

 

 

Do you know the ending when you begin to write? 

 

Yes. I am very much a plotter. Once I have a story idea, my next step is to create a paragraph or two for each of the fifty or so chapters. That becomes the outline of the story. I spend quite a lot of time at this stage, reordering the plot, looking for gaps and thinking of twists. Only when I have a complete outline of thirty pages or so, do I begin to write the novel. That way, I know I have a story that hangs together. Usually, as I write the book, new thoughts come to mind, which I try to weave in for greater depth. The outline has to be an organic thing. It cannot be too rigid. Some of my best plot twists have come from new ideas as I write the book.

 

 

How long does it take you to write a book?

The best part of a year. Normally, once I have a story idea, it takes me about a month to create the outline. Once I begin writing the book, I aim to complete the first draft in around three months. Then I leave it for a few weeks before beginning the revision process. That can involve several months going over the book, rewriting sections, correcting errors and deleting redundant sections. Only when I am absolutely sick of reading the draft will I send it to a couple of beta readers for their feedback. After that, I send it to my publisher and the editing team there begins its process. A year flies by in no time.

 

Do you read your reviews? How do you cope with good/bad reviews?

Of course. I read all reviews. Early on as a writer, you learn that your work will not be everyone’s cup of tea. While it’s always welcome to receive positive reviews, there are some gold nuggets to be found in the negative ones. If there are recurring themes/comments, I try to learn from them so I can make sure I don’t repeat the same thing on future novels. That’s how I learned not to include too many technical details in my financial thriller novels. Some reviewers of my first novel mentioned how the technical content slowed down their enjoyment of the story. I made sure I scaled back on the technical stuff in later novels, hopefully, without detracting from their authenticity.

 

Do you have a favourite character you have created? 

It would have to be Detective Linda Farrell, who heads up the investigation into the rape allegation against the mayor’s son in Crime And Justice. I love her rebellious character, her disdain for arrogance, and her unstinting search for justice. While she makes mistakes and takes decisions that appear reckless at times, her heart is always in the right place. I’m hoping she might become my first serial character.

 

 

What advice would you give an aspiring writer? 

Do it for fun, not money. Most writers don’t earn more than minimum wage!

 

Enjoy the process. Listen to editors. Don’t be precious about your work. None of us has a monopoly on good ideas. Editors can turn a good story into a great one.

 

 

What do you hope readers take away from your book?

Crime And Justice, although based around a charge of sexual assault, is really about Detective Linda Farrell’s search for truth and justice in the face of political corruption and corrupted evidence. If you like Lynda La Plante’s Jane Tennison, you’ll love Detective Linda Farrell.

 

 

What key challenges do you face when writing? 

Once I have a story idea, I don’t have a problem writing the book or creating characters. However, I am not one of those authors whose heads are filled with story ideas. I find I dismiss most of the ideas I come across because I ask myself, “Is this idea strong enough to devote a year’s effort to?” That’s a tough but realistic hurdle. Only when I am certain the story is worth the effort, will I begin the process.

 

If this book happened to become a movie/series- who would you like cast? 

You have hit upon something here. When I create a character, often I will try to think of an actor for the role at the outline stage. That way, I can more easily visualise each character as I write. That said, I try not to share those thoughts with the reader. In my view, authors can become too descriptive. I like to leave a lot of room for the reader to create his/her own visual image of the main characters. It makes them more real.

 

However, if you really want to know who was in my mind as I wrote Crime And Justice, here they are:

 

Detective Linda Farrell: Sandra Bullock

Clark Stanton (crime lab manager): Edward Norton

Jeff Peltz (corrupt fixer for the mayor): Michael Kelly

 

What have been the highlights of writing this book? 

I had a lot of fun researching the DNA matching protocols within crime labs and I learned much about the US DNA databases. It’s a fascinating world. After I wrote the novel, Netflix brought out a documentary called How To Fix A Drug Scandal. It’s about the criminal actions of two employees at US crime labs and the effect their actions had on the legal process. I took a lot of encouragement from this as it highlighted similar issues brought up in my novel.  You can’t just make stuff up as an author. As the late, great Tom Clancy once said, “The difference between truth and fiction is that fiction has to make sense.”

What if we could no longer trust DNA profiling, the silver bullet of our criminal justice system? For years, we’ve relied on it to solve decades-old crimes, convict the guilty, and liberate the innocent from death row. But what happens to that trust when a crime lab scientist is leaned on to manipulate the evidence or, worse still, lose it altogether?

 

Ruthless Seattle mayor, Patti Rainsford, announces her candidacy for state governor. She’ll do anything to succeed. When her son is arrested for the rape and assault of a seventeen-year-old girl, Rainsford’s political career is in jeopardy.

 

Detective Linda Farrell is assigned to investigate. After twelve years working in SPD’s sexual assault unit, her career is drifting, not helped by the single-minded detective’s contempt for police protocol and the pressure of her failing marriage. The high-profile rape case is a rare chance to shine and maybe even get her life back on track. Nothing will stop her seeking justice for the young victim.

 

With a mountain of personal debt and his wife’s business on a knife-edge, Clark Stanton is facing financial meltdown. Then a stranger offers him a lifeline in return for a favor. As the manager of Seattle’s crime lab, all Clark has to do is make the rape kit evidence against the mayor’s son go away.

 

 

About Martin Bodenham:

Martin Bodenham is the author of the crime thrillers The Geneva Connection, Once a Killer, and Shakedown. Crime And Justice is his latest novel.

 

After a thirty-year career in private equity and corporate finance in London, Martin moved to the west coast of Canada, where he writes full-time. He held corporate finance partner positions at both KPMG and Ernst & Young as well as senior roles at several private equity firms before founding his own private equity company in 2001. Much of the tension in his thrillers is based on the greed and fear he witnessed first-hand while working in international finance.

 

 

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MartinBodenham

LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/martin-bodenham-8228307

Website: https://www.martinbodenham.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martinbodenham/

 

 

Purchase Links:

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/38jJq90

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3n1kLKz

Google Books: https://bit.ly/2IcS4LS

Waterstones: https://bit.ly/32oUnlX

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3p99Yjx