"Dying for Christmas" Tammy Cohen

I am missing. Held captive by a blue-eyed stranger. To mark the twelve days of Christmas, he gives me a gift every day, each more horrible than the last. The twelfth day is getting closer. After that, there'll be no more Christmas cheer for me. No mince pies, no carols. No way out.

But I have a secret. No-one has guessed it. Will you?

Since hearing Tammy Cohen speak about "How to Write a Psychological Thriller" at the Killer Women Crime Festival this autumn, I had been wanting to read one of her books - there are three on my TBR pile............ Then this title came up again in another high profile list of recommendations and I felt that I just had to read it, especially with it being the festive season!

I'm so glad I haven't left it any longer to discover a writer who creates characters who are so eerie and chilling! This is such a great 'alternative' Christmas read!

The first chapter starts with a killer opening line and I was totally intrigued:

Chances are by the time you finish reading this, I'll already be dead.

In fact the whole of the chapter is just a succession of killer lines which present us with the very three dimensional, vibrant character of Jessica, who we immediately learn a lot about from her blunt tone, down to earth comments and open revelations about her unhappy childhood, lack lustre relationship and her odd character traits that imply some sort of mental health issues. The voice of Jessica is very direct and informal and I felt like I was being spoken to directly. It's a clever technique of Cohen's to ensure the reader quickly engages.

Oh well, you live and learn. Except in my case you don't.

Jessica invites a sense of confidence between the reader and herself. The way in which she addresses the reader means that from the outset you are very quickly aligned with her and caught up in her story. Chapter one leaves us with so many hints about Jessica's background and so many questions about what might happen next that it is impossible not to read on - Cohen has opened her thriller perfectly with all the right ingredients, in the right quantity, with a perfectly pitched voice that leaves the reader desperate to for more.

The story opens with Jessica shopping on Christmas Eve and meeting a random stranger while sharing a table in a cramped coffee shop. Dominic is handsome, charming and alluring. As Jessica acknowledges:

Men who look like that don't exist in my life. Not in 3D form anyway.

I knew men like him didn't fall in love with women like me. 

Through Jessica's first person narrative, Cohen has implied that she is vulnerable, unhappy and perhaps someone who is reckless, irrational and prone to taking risks. The reference to therapy, voices in her head and a dysfunctional family history create tension. The sense of danger and imminent threat is obvious but Jessica's slightly quirky narrative makes it believable and tangible. The references to life and death could seem too clunky and leading but actually they add a kind of sarcasm and wry humour that makes Jessica even more interesting.

What I was after was an experience, a memory I could store in tissue paper and take out every now and then in years to come when no one was around.

I wanted a break. I wanted to be someone else for a bit, with someone else's life. You're a long time dead, I told myself.

Jessica knows that the reader is not going to be totally convinced by how easily she ends up in such a precarious predicament -even with the knowledge of her homelife it still feels rather unlikely that a grown woman in a stable relationship would go home with a complete stranger, but Jessica knows this and very openly admits she was foolish and completely out of her depth. I liked the originality in Cohen's plot that our protagonist is not duped, abducted or drugged by the villain, but actually willingly agrees to go along with him knowing its the wrong thing to do - and takes responsibility for this.

What on earth was I thinking? What would possess an educated young woman, well versed in the perils of stranger danger - a young woman with a long term boyfriend- to get in a car with a man she'd only just met? And if you have to ask you're probably too clear headed, too normal, not lonely enough to understand.

And there it was. The thing that lurked beneath the perfect glass surface of our encounter. The thing that I'd been trying not to face. .....And it was all my fault.

The chapters are short and all end with a short sentence that forms a cliffhanger, revelation or confession. Cohen's writing style is candid and tight. This is mirrored by the short chapters and suggestion that events are going to take place quickly and over a short period of time. All these factors work brilliantly in encouraging the reader to keep reading as it feels like this is going to be a clear, straightforward story that will be over in a relatively short time frame. Its accessible, informal style convinces us that we have it all the characters worked out and all the motivations sown up.

Well, any lover of psychological thrillers will know how foolish it is to ever think that!

Once Jessica finds herself trapped in the flat with Dominic, sentences like "All in good time", "Time to find out" and the suggestion that Dominic is totally in control, fully prepared and has meticulously planned the whole thing create a sense of inevitability and finality. Dominic's intention to keep her in the flat for the 12 days of Christmas, every day presenting her with a gift which reveals something more creepy, unpleasant or shocking about him, give the novel real shape and builds tension and gives it a clear timeframe. This is a story that will unfold over 12 days and then....... well, isn't that why we are all reading on?!

Dominic is frightening because he is so ordinary. These are always the most scary kinds of psychopaths - the ones that appear like you or me, charming, normal, intelligent, articulate, professional. As we spend more time with him trapped in the flat, his revelations about his childhood, his relationship with his mother and his sister are deeply deeply disturbing. He is both a compelling and repulsive character.

Jessica's narrative is broken up with sections from the character of Kim, a workaholic detective with her own issues, unhappiness and internal conflict. At first I wondered if the plot actually needed another character and sub plot that was also very emotionally tense as I was always keen to get back to the story of Jessica and Dominic - which held enough psychological intrigue for me - but actually as the novel progresses, Kim's role becomes more important, significant and then completely intrinsic to the whole success of the book. She's a clever lady this Tammy Cohen!

During her entrapment we learn much more about Jessica. She makes some really intriguing comments about her family history - I loved the fact that her parents bought her 6 sessions with a therapist for a Christmas present! It's clear she's never quite fitted in anywhere, that she could be prone to mental illness or potentially suffering from an undiagnosed one; she struggles to make friends and frequently "disappears into the recesses of her head" - she hears voices and self harms.......I began to wonder whether it was sympathy or suspicion that I was feeling for this complicated character. There are clues, hints and tiny suggestions that all is not as it seems. Is Jessica a reliable narrator?

Part Two. I love a "Part Two" as I know that this is the midway twist, the moment when the rug is pulled out from under my feet and the moment when I have to totally rethink everything I thought I knew. And boy, Cohen does not disappoint.

Kim comes into her own with her reluctance to accept that all is what is seems. She begins to plant more questions in the reader's mind and is persistent in her belief that people are rarely as they seem. As the investigation gathers more information and delves deeper, there are more inconsistencies and unexplained aspects of Jessica's story that start to flag up more questions and suspicions. There is a new voice, there are more twists.

To be honest, this is a real psychological drama as much as a thriller. It is really clever - I underestimated quite how so until I had finished it and then felt I had to start again from page one. All the pieces kept slotting into place as I raced through the last pages and even long after I've finished, more ideas or realisations kept crossing my mind. The book is billed as a cross between "Misery" and "Gone Girl" and this probably captures it as well as any comparison I could make. I liked it a lot. I will be recommending it and I will even be buying it for a few friends this Christmas! I really enjoy a book filled with double meaning where nothing is ever what you think and Cohen totally delivers on this front. Her clever and thoroughly planned exposition is really satisfying and impressive.

I can't say any more without spoiling it for you all but honestly, this story is not just about one twisted mind, it is about several! And who knew, that Tammy Cohen, that lovely, smiling, attractive lady who was so warm and approachable during her talks at Killer Women Festival could be capable of something so deeply disturbing and twisted!!!

Happy Christmas!

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat, please find me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

"Willow Walk" SJI Holliday

She bangs the door shut. Hard. Starts walking. Fast. Something pings at her. Get away from here. You need to get away. Behind her in the house, no one flinches. No one stirs. No one breathes. 

And so begins SJI Holliday's second book in her Banktoun series. As if the cover isn't eerie enough. Fairgrounds - like clowns - are atmospheric and foreboding places and it immediately sets the mood of the book. With "Willow Walk" Holliday has written a great crime detective story with prose that is at times deeply unsettling and unnerving.

"Willow Walk" has three threads with three central protagonists and a few more important characters circling around. It is set in Banktoun, a small fictional town in Scotland and centres on Marie, DS Davie Gray and 16 year old Laura. At first the link between Laura and Marie's stories seems unrelated but as the novel continues, Holliday cleverly intertwines the plots to a climatic finale.

DS Gray is investigating an increase in local drug crime amongst the teenagers - particularly a new drug that has catastrophic effects which has caused several deaths. Then a woman is brutally attacked by an escaped inmate from a psychiatric hospital and suddenly DC Gray finds himself swept up the hunt to track down this dangerous man. As the novel develops, Holliday uses the drug crime storyline  and the psychiatric hospital to explore themes of addiction, dependency, vulnerability, obsession and madness in various different guises and through various different characters. I found this really effective and it added another depth to the story.

Laura is 16 and in love with Mark. They get together at the fairground which is a fantastic backdrop to capture the hazy, aphrodisiac kind of illusion of true love which almost hypnotises Laura and certainly drags her under some kind of spell.

"The tingle hits her hard, shoots down her spine and there's a moment: dance music blaring out all around them, shrieks and laughter, the pop of rifles, the ringing of bells, the mingling scents of hot dogs and candy floss, the thick smell of engine oil from the ancient rides, the thumps of the engine dodgems bumping each other...it all swirls around them both.......lost in a daze."

Laura is a likeable character. An impressionable age; falling in love for the first time, taking new risks and in the transition to adulthood. Led by desire, her perception of events is unreliable and her vulnerability is clear to the reader as we try to figure out just how good to be true this Mark really is. There's a great passage when Laura visits a fortune teller at the fair and during her reading the fortune teller starts to stammer and fall over her words, trying "to rub them all together, removing the pattern and the story they've told...." Holliday creates a really palpable sense of impending doom but we are as quick to dismiss it as Laura. She has found love. She is safe.

But soon we see things are not as they seem and Laura is propelled into a much more threatening and dangerous situation that arises from a series of coincidences, revelations and intertwining relationships as the characters story lines begin to impact on one another.

The passages about the fairground are highly memorable. Holliday conveys the 'epileptic' flashing lights, the smells, the confusion, euphoria, shrill screams, tinny music, colour and artificial vibrancy of a fairground effortlessly in a way that not only transports you to that place but also haunts you. These glimmers of dreamlike prose sprinkle a kind of supernatural feel over some of the pages which I liked. Holliday effectively controls the balance in her voice between a gritty realism, violent, graphic crime scenes and mesmerising prose.

I was most fascinated by Marie though. We soon realise that she too is perhaps not as reliable as we thought. As Davie begins to delve deeper into his investigation, he also becomes anxious of her strange behaviour. There is clearly a terrible back story to discover here - and my goodness, aren't we desperate to have it revealed to us! She is introverted, a victim, unhappy, stressed. As her past is referred to more fully, Holliday restrains from falling into a gratuitous detail but still the revelations are deeply harrowing.

But then at times, Marie is unable to help herself and her behaviour to us as the rational bystanders is perhaps harder to understand. However her relationships with her brother is tremendously complicated. Holliday really exploits this idea of secrets, shame, obsession, love and sibling relationships and makes it a compelling aspect of the book.

By the end of the book I was full of questions about her and as chilled by her behaviour as her brother Graeme's. Graeme is also a very well developed character. He is as unnerving and terrifying as some of the greatest psychopaths in thriller fiction. His letters, which are inserted between chapters, are so menacing that they really put the reader on edge or even high alert as we can barely watch to see his role in the story unfold.

My absolutely favourite part was Chapter 35. This was some of the most beautiful description I have read in a crime thriller. It was so absorbing. I could feel the weight of silence, see the camera's panoramic sweep of the room, felt completely mesmerised by the words painting such a visually intriguing scene and was totally wrapped up in the moment. The sense of unnatural calm, stillness and silence was hugely evocative. There are some scenes in the book which literally linger in the air and make the reader feel like they have pressed the pause button on a film so they have a chance to really look around and take in every detail of the devastation around them.

There's a lot to think about in "Willow Walk". There are themes of siblings, relationships, violation, innocence, bonds, addiction, drugs and madness. Some of the themes and ideas crept up on me and left me pondering for a few days after. Some of the scenes came back to me like mini flashbacks of a bad dream in the time after I'd out the book away. It's like a film that will stays in your head long after you've finished watching the rolling credits. Particularly as Holliday plants a few clues in the epilogue hinting at the next instalment in the Banktoun series.

I really enjoyed "Willow Walk". I liked the writing style a lot and I liked the various different characters and how they interacted together. I read "Black Wood" a long time ago and although "Willow Walk" is the next instalment, it equally works as a stand alone and doesn't need to be read in sequence.

"Willow Walk' was published in 2016 and The Damselfly - the 3rd Banktoun book -is out in Februrary. I can't wait!

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat please follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

**Children's Picture Books** "Rosie's Special Present" Myfanwy & Gwen Millward

Rosie’s Special Present is the perfect birthday story from award-winning illustrator Gwen Millward and her talented writer-sister Myfanwy Millward. 

Rosie is hoping for a very special present. Meanwhile Rosie's present is hoping and thinking and wishing too! What will Rosie be like? And will he be special enough? This is a warm and witty celebraton of new friends and special days.

“My box is so big and has such a giant bow that Rosie will think something really wonderful is inside…like a magical bird…or a juggling rabbit…or a hundred dancing mice…I have the best box, but when Rosie opens it, will she think I’m the best present?”

Today I welcome Myfanwy Millward to my blog to talk about the children's book she wrote with her illustrator sister Gwen. 

"Rosie's Special Present" was published in 2015 by Penguin and is suitable for 3-5 year olds. 

Thank you so much Myfanwy for coming on my blog today! My 5 old son, 7 year old daughter and myself have read your lovely story many times! The questions that i"m going to put to you today come from my daughter! 

Where do you get your ideas from? 

My ideas come from all kinds of places. An animal, a feeling, something in a museum, someone I know, but I suppose the strongest ideas come from deep inside and start with a strong emotion about something.

What comes first- words or pictures?

I see pictures first though I’m not an illustrator. I imagine scenes and then the characters and words emerge from those images.

Are you writing lots of stories about Rosie and Max? Can you tell us anything about the sort of adventures they might have together?

I’ve written one more story about Rosie and Max. It’s Halloween and grandma comes to visit with her big, black and not very friendly cat. Max has a bit of a tough time!

Why did you choose a cat to be Rosie's special present rather than any other animal?

When I first wrote Rosie’s Special Present, I actually chose a penguin to be the present not a cat! It was a Christmas story but then it became a birthday story and a kitten made more sense as a present. 

Do you have a pet cat? What is it called? 

I don’t have a cat but we always had pet cats when I was growing up. The first was called Mewm.

Do you base the characters on yourself or anyone you know?

I think Max definitely has some of my character traits. He worries about all kinds of things in the story. Will I be good enough? Is my box the best? And I’m a bit of a worrier myself. I think a lot of us worry about things when we don’t need to.

What was your favourite book when you were 7 years old?

I absolutely loved The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I loved it so much I climbed into my grandma’s big old wardrobe one day to see if I could get to Narnia. I didn’t find Narnia but I tried a few different wardrobes after that…just in case. George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl was another of my favourite stories.

Who is your favourite children's author? And illustrator?

It’s difficult to choose a favourite but for children’s authors I think it could be Roald Dahl along with Quentin Blake’s fantastic illustrations. My sister, Gwen is one of my favourite illustrators too (and I’m not just saying that because she’s my sister!).

What is it like working with your sister? 

It’s been great to work with Gwen. She’s such an experienced illustrator so she really helped me understand how Rosie’s Special Present would work in a picture book. We live really close to each other too which helps when it comes to meeting and discussing ideas.  

Thank you so much Myfanwy for answering our questions today! We wish you lots of success with "Rosie's Special Present" and we will look out for any of your future books!  

More about Myfanwy:

I'm a freelance writer based in Bristol. 

Communication can take many forms and over the years I’ve enjoyed finding different ways of connecting with audiences. I’ve been writing professionally since 2008 and my experience ranges from print media to television. I’m also a published children’s book author. 

After graduating with a BA in Journalism and Film I trained as a video editor at the School of Image and Design in Barcelona (IDEP). My experience in post-production gave me a real insight into how words work with images (invaluable for scriptwriting!). I also worked as an English teacher in Italy, Spain and the UK and learned everything I possibly could about the English language.

Nowadays I collaborate with graphic design agencies, film production companies and small businesses to produce scripts, marketing materials and much more. I also do more creative work writing plays, poetry and children’s stories. 

http://www.myfanwymillward.com

For more recommendations and reviews you can follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk) 

What Books Can I Buy Him For Christmas?

I have received a plea from a desperate Christmas shopper wondering what which books she could buy for her husband this year. At the risk of outrageous stereotyping, here's a few suggestions that might appeal to a male reader......! 

"Classics" 

Debut Novels 2016

More Crime.......

Fiction & Literary Fiction 

Which titles would you recommend for the men on your Christmas Shopping List?! 

For more recommendations and reviews you can follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)  

"Follow Me" Angela Clarke

LIKE. SHARE. FOLLOW . . . DIE

The ‘Hashtag Murderer’ posts chilling cryptic clues online, pointing to their next target. Taunting the police. Enthralling the press. Capturing the public’s imagination.

But this is no virtual threat.

As the number of his followers rises, so does the body count.

Eight years ago two young girls did something unforgivable. Now ambitious police officer Nasreen and investigative journalist Freddie are thrown together again in a desperate struggle to catch this cunning, fame-crazed killer. But can they stay one step ahead of him? And can they escape their own past?

Time's running out. Everyone is following the #Murderer. But what if he is following you?

It's hard to ignore a book with the strap line "Online no one can hear you scream." It's hard to ignore a book with a blurb like this. It's hard to ignore a book with an opening chapter title FML. It's hard to ignore a book with a main character like Freddie. It's hard to ignore your phone every time it pings with a Twitter notification, Facebook update, email or text message.

It's hard to ignore this story!

Angela Clarke has written a crime thriller which is so 'of the moment' it's as compulsive as our obsession with social media sites and living our lives through our social media profiles. This book is as loud as that dreaded 'ping' of a new notification, as vivid as the brightest filter on Instagram, as fast paced as a Twitter feed and as addictive as Facebook. It's so up to date in its content that it really is a book that should immediately downloaded.

Social media presents a whole new world for a murderer to inhabit and where they can gain the kudos, following and acclaim that they seek. They can be more threatening, more intrusive, more anonymous, harder for the police to track and identify - and with the frenzy in which hashtags can suddenly trend and go viral, it is a whole new platform from which they can manage their deadly behaviour. Clarke uses this as the premise for her 'Hashtag Murderer' and "Follow Me" is an unsettling and chilling novel in which a viral threat becomes a very real threat for the protagonist, Freddie.

I really liked the fact that each chapter is given the title in text style abbreviation - with a translation for those of us not completely bilingual in this new language. These headings capture the essence of the book. This is a novel bursting with vitality; a book which rattles along with a protagonist who is reckless and unconventional. The short chapters are fitting for a thriller that bases itself on the brevity of modern communication and ensures that actually it is as impossible to switch off from this story as it is your online timeline.

Clarke also starts each chapter with a break down of how many followers the Hashtag Murderer has and how many people he is following which creates a sense of panic, tension, need for action as well as reflecting just how quickly things can go viral on social media these days. Clarke is also exploring the effect of social media on a police investigation - how people can hide their anonymity, ensure their activity is untraceable, leak police details and generate endless speculation or indeed encourage people to get involved in a potentially dangerous situation. Anyone can get involved in the twitter feed from a murderer, call him names, guess his next move and solve the riddles before the police. Even the detective finds out his young daughter has been following the Hashtag murderer because "everyone else is". Some of these throw away comments that appear to be merely a plot device are actually chilling statements about the potential risk and danger of social media.

Meet Freddie, the main character. Totally unconventional. Flawed. Not always completely likeable. Not always completely reliable. But with enough determination, grit and energy to make the reader want to engage with her and stick with her throughout the story.

"Her brown hair, cut by a mate with kitchen scissors, sprang away from her shoulders like she'd been shocked. Flashes of red hair chalk zigzagged toward her DIY fringe. Her legs, stubbornly plump despite working on her feet and taking more than the recommended 10,000 steps a day, poked our from beneath her nightshirt....She wiggled her black plastic rectangular-framed glasses. Not traditionally beautiful." 

Freddie lives and breaths journalism and social media. She is constantly searching for a story and in the way that some people view their live through the next Facebook post, Freddie lives hers through the next headline or potential lead story.

Are Millennials cut out for work?
Seize the story. Push yourself into uncomfortable situations. 
Disposable jumpsuits: the ideal Freelance Uniform?

This effectively captures the dead pan humour of Freddie and conveys her frustration and quirkiness. It also helps the reader to develop a closer relationship with her as we learn more about how her mind works even though it's a third person narrative.

Freddie is also honest and acknowledges her shortcomings. I really enjoyed some of her observations and I could almost hear her sighing and rolling her eyes as I read the sentences:

"Fear makes you braver. Despite deriding the inspirational quotes that appear over photos of sunsets and the ocean on Facebook, Freddie was disappointed to discover that when she reached her own life crossroads her brain filled with nothing but cliches." 

Nasreen, a childhood friend of Freddie's who has not seen her for years, is one of the police officers working on the murder. There are hints of a secret past between these two and a lot of intrigue surrounding their wariness and estrangement from each other.

"Nasreen never wanted to see Freddie Venton ever again." 

This sub plot adds further tension, suspense, mystery and drama to the story and Clarke writes about the dynamics, dilemmas and complexities between these two characters well.

I was shocked to find Freddie accused of murder on page 50 and to be honest I have made very few notes since that page as I obviously became completely engrossed in the story! Although, I think there is one very good piece of advice given by Freddie which we should all remember.......

No matter how internet savvy you think you are, you can still get fooled.

Clarke's research and knowledge about social media sites, twitter handles, identities, abbreviations and everything technical is extensive and absolutely faultless. She uses all sorts of aspects of the internet to enhance her storytelling and make the plot and characters as effective and authentic as possible. I thought the ending offered a particularly pleasing bit of prose about the internet:

"Keys are pressed and code unfurls; filing the screen, multiplying, travelling through wires, air, light; reaching out in invisible waves of orange, blue, yellow from one computer to another. From one phone to another. Spreading the millions of words, the millions of images that fill up the Internet, that fill us all up. An email address is entered. A password. A date of birth. A phone number. A new account is created." 

Thankfully there is more to come so from Clarke so don't worry when you reach the final page! Her second novel "Watch Me" will be published in January and I am looking forward to seeing what else she has in store for us and what might be lurking inbetween our tweets, posts and WhatsApp conversations!

If you enjoyed Fiona Neil's "The Good Girl, "Viral" by Helen Fitzgerald and "Cut to the Bone" by Alex Caan then this is the book for you! If you are looking for a thoroughly modern, unconventional story then this is for you. I recommend!

"Follow Me" is available as an ebook or a paperback from Amazon and all good bookshops. "Watch Me" will publish on 12th January 2017 by Avon.

For more reviews, recommendations and book chat you can find me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

**Author Q&A** Melissa Daley "Christmas at the Cat Cafe"

Looking for a purrfect Christmas read or present for someone? How about this very festive looking novel?

The Costwolds' town of Stourton-on-the-Hill has its very own cat café. Resident cat Molly, and her kittens, live here in feline paradise, while owner Debbie serves the locals home-made goodies. But even in the most idyllic surroundings, things don't always go to plan . . .

When Debbie's heartbroken sister Linda arrives at the café, Debbie insists she move in. But Linda is not alone, and the cats are devastated with the arrival of Linda's dog, Beau. Sadly, Beau's arrival is not the only bombshell - now Molly's home is also under threat when a rival cat moves in on her turf.

With Christmas approaching, Molly is unsettled, barely roused by the promise of tinsel to play with. Fearing for her feline family she hopelessly stares out of the café window searching for an answer. Only a Christmas miracle could bring everyone together . . .

Christmas at the Cat Cafe is the wonderfully festive sequel to Melissa Daley's uplifting tale, Molly and the Cat Cafe.

Today I welcome Melissa Daley to my blog to tell us all about her second novel "Christmas at the Cat Cafe" which is published by Pan Macmillan and available on ebook and paperback from Amazon and all good bookshops. Thank you Melissa for your time today to answer my questions! 

You refer to a real Cat Cafe in your acknowledgements at the back of the book. Can you tell me a bit about the 'real cat cafe' and why you decided to write about it?

The idea for the cat cafe setting came from the publisher Pan Macmillan originally. Although I have never been to a cat cafe (having two cats of my own at home I have never felt particularly cat-deprived!) I could immediately see the potential of a cat cafe as a location for the story, offering the perfect setting to mix feline stories with human ones. I wanted to speak to someone at a real cat cafe to check for accuracy, and the manager of Maison du Moggy in Edinburgh kindly agreed to answer my questions.  

This is a series of books. Can you tell us a little bit about the previous titles and how the stories link together?

Christmas at the Cat Cafe is the sequel to Molly and the Cat Cafe, which was published in 2015. The first book tells the story of how the feline protagonist Molly ended up homeless, before eventually finding a new home with Debbie, the owner of a struggling sandwich shop in a Cotswolds town. When Molly unexpectedly has a litter of kittens, the sandwich shop ends up becoming a cat cafe by default. 

The story is narrated by Molly the cat. What particular challenges does this pose for you? What decisions, problems or difficulties do you come across when writing a narrative from the point of view of a cat? 

Writing from the point of view of a cat is a mixed blessing. I love trying to imagine myself into the mindset of a cat and how they perceive the world and human behaviour, so creatively it's great fun. However although Molly does have many 'human' emotions, she has to come across to the reader as convincingly feline, so I can't allow her to show too much insight into the human psyche. From a writer's point of view, can be restrictive and frustrating at times. 

What do you enjoy the most about writing through Molly's eyes?

I adore the tiny minutiae of cat's behaviour, whether it's embedding their claws in your knees when they sit on your lap, or staring disdainfully at passing dogs, or getting under your feet when they want to be fed. I love writing about all those quirky little traits from the cat's point of view.

Do you own a cat yourself? Does this help / hinder? 

Yes I own two cats, Nancy and Pip. It's no exaggeration to say I couldn't have written these books without them. They are my muses, and I would frequently go and stare at them if I needed inspiration for some descriptive passage about feline movement or behaviour. 

What other animal do you think would make a good central character or whose perspective you would like to write from?

Personally, I don't think any other domestic animals have quite the same enigmatic qualities as cats, or lead semi-independent lifestyles in the way that cats do,. Cats never quite give away what they're thinking, so they're the perfect vessel for our creative projections.  

As well as the storyline about Molly and her family, there is an equally engaging storyline about the cafe owner Debbie, her daughter, her partner and her sister. Which story comes first?!

I did try and make sure the feline and human storylines were evenly balanced in terms of the novel's structure. The relationship between Molly and her human owners is very much central to both novels and it was very important that both stories were interconnected and that Molly and Debbie's fates were intertwined. 

The novel is set in the Cotswolds. Is this somewhere you know well?

I spent a weekend visiting different Cotswolds towns to find the perfect location to use as a base for the novel. I chose Stow-on-the-Wold, (which in the books becomes Stourton-on-the-Hill), partly because it is a quintessential picturesque Cotswolds town, set around a beautiful market square. It also has a network of alleyways criss-crossing the town, which I thought would be fantastic plot device for a story about cats. I even found the perfect tea-shop in Stow, called Lucy's, which is what I had in mind when describing Molly's Cat Cafe.

 

Debbie and Linda are very easy to visualise as characters. What do you like best about them? Who did you find easier to write about and why?

I loved writing about the love-hate relationship between Debbie and her sister Linda. I'm not sure if I found one easier to write than the other. I could have some fun with Linda because she is a less sympathetic character (to start with, at least), whereas Debbie's character is slightly more long-suffering and just trying to keep things together.  

This is a Christmas story. This must affect some decisions you make about the plot line. Can you tell us a bit about this and how it was different from previous books you have written? 

I knew the story had to end on Christmas day, so when I had written my initial chapter plan, I had to work backwards to make a week-by-week timetable of the plot points. Once I had done that, I knew the novel had to start in October. At times, the timing issues were a bit of a headache to keep on top of, and I had to do a fair amount of googling of mundane things like 'what time does it get dark in the third week of November' in order to make sure descriptive details were accurate.    

What were the deadlines for publishing a book in time for Christmas? Were you writing this in the middle of your summer holiday?!

In order for the book to be published in October I had to deliver it at the end of May, so the first half of the year was pretty much spent writing solidly (although that did at least mean it was all over by the time the summer arrived!) 

Can you tell us a little bit about your writing day?

My writing day wasn't really a 'day' as such, as I had to juggle the writing around my other work as a psychodynamic counsellor. As a rule, if I was at home, I was writing, whether that was in the evenings, weekends, or early mornings. I don't think I was much fun to be around for a few months, if I'm honest.

What are the challenges of writing a series of books? What have you enjoyed the most? 

The biggest challenge writing the second book was working out how much I should refer to the previous book, especially at the start of the novel. I had to fight the urge to write a 'recap' of what had happened previously, and instead launch straight into the new story and let the readers work out for themselves what had happened in the past. 

From the ending of the book, there is clearly more to come from the cat cafe! Are you working on another title? 

I haven't started working on another one yet, but I do find myself wondering what Molly and Debbie are up to, so watch this space. 

What genre do you most enjoy reading? Who are some of your favourite authors?

I don't know if I have a specific genre which I enjoy reading - I tend to go more for authors I like. I'm loving Kate Atkinson at the moment - Life after Life and a God in Ruins. But I found Robert Galbraith's (aka JK Rowling) Cormoron Strike series really helpful when writing the cat cafe books, as they combine storylines that zip along, and characters that seem completely real and engaging. I think that's definitely what I was aiming for in my own writing.

Thanks so much Melissa! Great answers and lovely to hear more about the story behind the cat cafe and your writing life! I hope you have a great Christmas and Nancy and Pip keep themselves out of mischief! 

"Christmas at the Cat Cafe" is an engaging read which will appeal to cat lovers and fans of fiction about families, sisters, parenthood, relationships and happy endings! Read on for my review!

This is a perfect easy-one-sitting read for any cat lovers! Told from the viewpoint of Molly, the mother cat who lives with her kittens and Debbie- owner of the cat cafe- in the Cotswolds, we watch the ups and downs of events in the cafe. 

This story centres on the arrival of Linda, Debbie's sister, who is reluctant to really explain why she has arrived out of the blue and seems to be hiding several secrets from them all. She then sets about getting involved in the running of the cafe and threatening the cosy routine that Debbie, Molly and her kittens have become so used to. 

The story has several threads running through it- a good balance between the drama and adventures of the cats and the drama of the relationships between Debbie, her sister, her daughter and her partner. Although the story is from Molly's point of view, there is enough about Debbie and her storyline to appeal to anyone who enjoys an easy read. 

It is well written, engaging, pleasant read full of colourful characters. All told with enough mentions of the cafe's cat's whiskers cookies and feline fancies to satisfy any appetite for a gentle, heartwarming story. Perfect Christmas gift for cat lovers and cake lovers!

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat you can follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

"Deadly Alibi" Leigh Russell

Two murder victims and a suspect whose alibi appears open to doubt.... Geraldine Steel is plunged into a double murder investigation which threatens not only her career, but her life. And then her previously unknown twin Helena turns up, with problems which are about to make Geraldine's life turn toxic in more ways than one!

Incredibly this is the ninth book in the Geraldine Steel series by Leigh Russell who now has an established fan base with glowing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. I only came across the series at #8 but one day I intend to go back to #1 and meet Geraldine at the beginning of her journey- out of interest rather than a necessity, as the two Steel mysteries I have read work as stand alone novels. But as Steel's own story arc is beginning to really carve itself out alongside the criminal investigation in Book 9, it would satisfy my own curiosity to see how Russell portrayed her from the beginning.

Anyway, back to "Deadly Alibi" which begins with a fittingly anonymous, ambiguous and dramatic prologue throwing us straight in at the deep end, immediately raising plenty of questions as well as setting an appropriately sinister and dark atmosphere necessary for a good crime novel!

The story opens with several threads unspooling across the pages but the most captivating one being the discovery of a woman's body in a wheelie bin. The investigation sets of at a gallop. Russell's procedural detail is authentic, detailed enough without weighing down the text with overwhelming jargon or technical talk. Russell uses a lot of dialogue and those that are more familiar with the series will recognise favourite characters returning to their desks to carry out their part in the investigation.

Russell's story has dark elements within it and a couple of scenes were uncomfortable to read. She can capture the villain's character convincingly and describe his actions with chilling bluntness:

"Before he had realised what he was doing, the chisel had struck. It had all happened so quickly. The craziness hadn't lasted long. Once her skull had split open, that had been the end of it." 

However, generally the pages are not splattered with too much gratuitous blood or gore and I think Russell is actually as interested in the characters and the journeys they find themselves on as much as driving the plot forward at a rattling pace.

There are several points when one of the detectives or people working on the case lost themselves in their own thoughts and spoke directly to the victim as if the dead body would answer back. I found this very visual - and I liked the light touch of humour it brought to the pages too when Steel is reminded that the corpse in front of her will never be able to offer any light on the events.

"If she could tell us that, we'd both be out of job!" 

Halfway through the book, after a few twists and turns, the case seems neatly solved, all the loose ends tied up and Steel being congratulated for her work.

"'A case of husbands wanting to murder their wives,' he remarked when she had finished."

"The case was solved. Geraldine should have been pleased, but...." 

But...... there you go...there's the but..... But I was only 48% through so there must be more! And more to come there is! Plenty more!

I'm not going to spoil it for you, but "Deadly Alibi" is a story about identity, the wrong identity, assumptions, evidence, the wrong evidence, false alibi's, seeing and not seeing things. The plot is easy to follow but there are a number of different threads to keep track of and Russell's skill is in the way she weaves everything together to an effective conclusion.

What I found interesting in this book too was that Russell juggled two story lines. Foremost is the story of murder, but secondly is the story of Geraldine Steel - aspects of which mirrored some of the themes about identity that are explored by Steel in a more pragmatic, physical way during her police work.

In this instalment, Geraldine is grieving for her mother, meeting her twin for the first time and confronting things from her past.

"She had managed for forty years without a twin in her life. She wasn't sure she was ready to meet Helena yet." 

This is a very intriguing sub plot - to find not just a sister, but a twin sister - after all this time. As this happens, Steel also has to deal with the death of her mother - whatever the relationship had or hadn't been - and then is very quickly drawn into conflicting situations and tricky moral dilemmas with someone she really doesn't have much of a relationship with at all. Situations which have very serious repercussions for Geraldine's future.

What's interesting is the emotional impact that the funeral and the arrival of her twin Helena have on Steel. I enjoyed this aspect of the novel and found the effect it had on Geraldine's professional life added a layer of drama, complexity and suspense.

"She waited for the sense of urgency that consumed her whenever she saw a murder victim, the feeling that she had to see the killer punished. That was what gave her life a sense of purpose. For the first time she felt only a cold indifference." 

"Everybody died. Did it really matter if the end came prematurely?"

This is a woman under pressure. As Steel herself realises,  "it might have been a mistake to think she could cope unaided with so much personal grief." What effect will this have on her ability to solve the crime, keep herself safe and focused, work with death, grief, untruths and complicated relationships?

I am new to the Geraldine Steel mysteries but I can completely see their appeal. Russell's writing is purposeful, fluent and very readable. The crimes are intriguing, with a controlled level of violence so that the reader is not overwhelmed or intimidated by the scenes they read, but still remains excited and suitably wary. There is a wide range of characters, who are all very real and very relatable. The dynamics between the characters are believable and help to reflect more about their personalities.

Readers like to have a protagonist who is flawed or struggling with some inner demon and in this book Russell achieves this. A lot of detective characters are troubled souls, or socially awkward, aloof or slightly quirky and again, although Steel is professional, bright, dedicated and trustworthy, her emotional fragility does add a further layer of interest to the story.

This novel marks quite a turning point in Steel's story and I would be really interested to see what happens next. I think Russell knew full well her readers would feel this way, as she has kindly left the ending open so there is potential should she wish. I would be interested to see what direction Russell takes us in - if she does move forward to book 10 - and quite how she would follow on from such a dramatic turn of events at the end of "Deadly Alibi".

If you enjoy detective fiction and authors like Marnie Riches, Angela Marson, Peter James, Michael Wood and Nikki Owens then you will enjoy this novel. It's a page turner which isn't afraid to lead you down one path, let you crash into a dead end then pull you back and make you set off in a new direction. You won't need breadcrumbs or wool to find your way through the plot, but there will be enough twists and turns which will ensure you can't put it down for a while!

Geraldine Steel is a very likeable character who the reader is rooting for all the way. I would recommend this book!

"Deadly Alibi" publishes in ebook on 8th December 2016 and 25th May 2017 as a paperback by No Exit Press.

For more recommendations and reviews you can follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)