Witch Fire On the Levels by David Hodges

#ADGIFTED in return of a view but all thoughts and opinions are my own, I chose the genre to read, so I enjoy the reviewing.

Witch Fire on the Levels (Kate Hamblin #8) by David Hodges

MEET DETECTIVE KATE HAMBLIN IN THIS BESTSELLING SERIES FROM A FORMER POLICE OFFICER.

BEHIND ANCIENT SUPERSTITIONS, SOMETHING EVEN SCARIER MAY LIE.

A terrified young woman runs out into the path of Detective Kate’s car. The unidentified woman is fleeing something very strange on the misty marshes. She ends up in a coma.

Meanwhile Kate investigates alleged witch Lilith, a local woman who lives in an isolated old shack. She has been accused of vandalising a church. But Lilith has disappeared. In her hovel, Kate discovers hemlock and two sinister ragdolls pierced with pins.

One resembles police officer Eddie West and the other vicar Jacob Truly.

What happens next frightens the life out of the local community, but Kate believes that the criminals are closer to home than prime suspect Lilith. What’s really going on?

DISCOVER A BREATH-TAKING NEW SERIES OF MYSTERIES THAT YOU WON’T WANT TO PUT DOWN

Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Robert Bryndza, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell.

THE DETECTIVES
Kate is a feisty, young police detective, with a dynamic approach to her job. She is plucky and tenacious, but prone to being impetuous and headstrong, which often lands her in tight spots and does not exactly endear her to her crusty boss, DI Ted Roscoe.

In stark contrast to Kate, her detective partner, Hayden, is an overweight, untidy ex-public schoolboy, with a pompous, laid-back attitude, which drives her to distraction. But he is also highly intelligent, with a keen, analytical mind and a practical, reasoned approach to everything, which, with a prevailing wind, can sometimes act as a brake on his partner’s more impulsive actions.

THE SETTING
A patchwork of fields, peat moor and marshland, dotted with picturesque villages and criss-crossed by man-made irrigation ditches or rhynes, the Somerset Levels covers an area of about 160,000 acres between the Mendips and Quantock Hills, in the County of Somerset. Sparsely populated outside the local towns of Bridgwater, Glastonbury and Street and prone to flooding, it is a haven for wild life, a wild, secret place with an atmospheric brooding stillness, which creeps into the very soul; a place where the booming call of a bittern or the beating of an owl’s wings in the mist is bound to fire the imagination of any self-respecting crime novelist, whose thoughts will invariably turn to . . . murder.

THE AUTHOR

A former police superintendent, with thirty years’ service. Since ‘turning to crime’, he has received critical media acclaim, including a welcome accolade from Inspector Morse’s creator, the late great, Colin Dexter, and he is now a prolific novelist with eleven published crime novels and an autobiography on his police career to his credit. His previous police experience has enabled him to provide a gritty realism to his thrillers and his Somerset Murder Series, featuring feisty female detective, Kate, and her partner, Hayden, has gone from strength to strength, attracting interest in the United States as well as in the UK.

DETECTIVE KATE HAMBLIN MYSTERY SERIES
Book 1: MURDER ON THE LEVELS
Book 2: REVENGE ON THE LEVELS
Book 3: FEAR ON THE LEVELS
Book 4: KILLER ON THE LEVELS
Book 5: SECRETS ON THE LEVELS
Book 6: DEATH ON THE LEVELS
Book 7: POISON ON THE LEVELS
Book 8: WITCH FIRE ON THE LEVELS

MY REVIEW

Glastonbury and (Boscastle) are my spiritual home, my heart soars when I’m there, and for Glastonbury it’s full of like minded people, so the book drew me in being set there. Witches and murder it’s like this was written for me!!

A new author again for me, so I have no previous knowledge of the characters or the series, nore the writing style of the author.

From the first off you can tell there is personal experience within the police career, it shines through the writing.

A perfect quick read that I loved, could easily look and read more of them. While I’m still in spooky season mode I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Murder Amongst Friends by Janice Frost #BlogBookTour

#ADGIFTED Given this book as a review,to read and share, all opinions are my own.

So hot off the heels of the previous book, I have another killer one to share. This time it’s a completely new author to me, so new style and new characters, and I couldn’t wait to dive in!!

MURDER AMONG FRIENDS

DISCOVER A BRAND-NEW SERIES FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR JANICE FROST.

Meet Jane Bell. After her husband dies she leaves her job as a teacher to volunteer as a special constable with the police.

On her very first shift Jane is called to the scene of a murder. A young man has dragged himself to the top of Greenstone Stairs to die. Following her instincts, Jane finds herself becoming very involved in the case . . .

For Detective Steph Warwick, specials have no place in a murder investigation — and this upstart rookie is meddling where she doesn’t belong.

The victim ran a group at the university teaching men how to pick up women. Jane and Steph must venture into a dark and dangerous world of online misogyny.

Steph knows about abusive men. But can she work with Jane to put this killer behind bars?

MURDER AMONG FRIENDS is the tantalizing first instalment in the new Warwick and Bell series.

Perfect for fans of Ruth Rendell, Helen H. Durrant and Michael Hambling.

MEET THE DETECTIVES
SPC Jane Bell is forty-five, a widow of three years following the premature death of her husband, Sam. She has two grown-up children, Patrick and Norah, who are pursuing careers in London. After Sam’s death, Jane makes some changes to her life. She downsizes from their large family home in the country to a cottage in Lincoln.

DI Stephanie Warwick is thirty-five. She left school at eighteen and worked in a bank before joining the police force. She is haunted by her ex-boyfriend, Cal. He attempted to kill her twelve years ago, and murdered her best friend.

ALSO BY JANICE FROST
THE COMPLETE MERRY & NEAL MYSTERIES
Book 1: DEAD SECRET
Book 2: DARK SECRET
Book 3: HER HUSBAND’S SECRET
Book 4: THEIR FATAL SECRETS
Book 5: DIRTY SECRETS
Book 6: MURDEROUS SECRETS

STANDALONE
The Woman on the Cliff

Author Bio

JANICE FROST
Janice was born and grew up in West Lothian, Scotland. After completing an English degree at St Andrew’s University, she moved to London where she lived for ten years doing an assortment of jobs. Her passions are reading, writing and walking in Scotland and the Lake District. She lives in Lincolnshire with her husband and two sons.

LINKS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009761614110
Twitter: @Janice579021
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14005413.Janice_Frost
Amazon: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14005413.Janice_Frost

My Review

Time and care was given into introducing these new characters and their back stories, so you soon know who is who and whybthey behave they way they do.

Good armchair detecting and sleuthing coming from our main character, that just can’t help herself, even if it has serious consequences.

Not as graphic or as fast paced as some of the books I’ve read, but in all honesty it was a tad refreshing that it didn’t go for the total shock gore value, and it’s a solid read, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.

Loving these books for these dark cold nights, it’s giving me a good escape from the real world, which is priceless.

Medusa by Stewart Giles #BlogBookTour

#ADGIFTED In receipt of this book in turn of a blog review, but all thoughts and opinions are my own. I chose a genre that I enjoy and already like, as reading should be enjoyed immensely.

As I travel down to Cornwall, a witches break away for Samhain and no wifi, I prepare to dive into some mayhem, murder and mystery.

So here is #Medusa the cover alone draws me in, but so do the words Miranda is Back!!

Mistress: Book 2 in the Miranda Trilogy by Stewart Giles

From #1 bestseller Stewart Giles comes the final book in the MIRANDA Trilogy
Miranda is back.
She’s escaped from Death Row and her thirst for murder is stronger than ever before. Detective Henry Swales has other ideas. But will he be able to stop the woman who has caused him more heartache than anyone else in his life?
As the sun sets on Death Row and the bodies continue to pile up, Miranda’s bloodlust grows. Nobody seems able to stop her.
Then she makes a mistake and is caught.
And just when Detective Swales thinks it’s all over, he finds himself involved in the most bizarre judicial farce imaginable. Nobody appears to know who is responsible for punishing this monster.
Will Swales stand back and bear witness to this perverse justice or will he resort to his own personal form of retribution?
This is a twisted psychological story that will stick in the mind for a very long time.

What readers are saying about Mistress:
‘One heck of a story. She’s clever, insane and I loved every page. It’s worthy of double the stars.’ – Booklover Bev

‘Miranda’s back. Still evil. Still scheming. Still death wherever she goes. I couldn’t put it down.’ – Sandra Brown

‘Oh blimey crikey! Where do I start? Perhaps with a warning…. do not start this book if you want/need to put it down or be involved in real life.’ – Misfits Farm

‘Giles has done it again! I was riveted. More expertly crafted action packed adventures with Miranda.’ – Carol Stone

‘I read Mistress in two sittings. By the time Miranda finally slipped up and got caught I was so engrossed I had forgotten this was #2 of a trilogy and really thought she was going to get her come uppance but …’ – Alison Gitelson

‘What follows is a gritty, action packed, fast-paced game of cat and mouse and I didn’t know what was going to happen next! It is so good that I didn’t want to stop reading.’ – Sarah

ALSO BY STEWART GILES

DS JASON SMITH SERIES
Book 0.5-Phobia
Book 1-Smith
Book 2-Boomerang
Book 3-Ladybird
Book 4-Occam’s Razor
Book 5-Harlequin
Book 6-Selene
Book 7-Horsemen
Book 8-Unworthy
Book 9-Venom
Book 10-Severed

DC HARRIET TAYLOR SERIES
Book 1-The Beekeeper
Book 2-The Perfect Murder
Book 3-The Backpacker

DS JASON SMITH &DC HARRIET TAYLOR SERIES
Book 1-The Enigma
Book 2 – Dropzone

THE MIRANDA TRILOGY
Book 1-Miranda
Book 2-Mistress
Book 3-coming soon

Stewart Giles – Author Bio

After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.
In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later.
3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series.
The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.
I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results. I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018.
After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brings together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.
Miranda is something totally different. A stand-alone psychological thriller, it is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before. This was followed by the sequel Mistress in 2019. Medusa is coming soon
The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow and there are now 13 books including the introduction: Phobia. Book 12: Deadeye was published in February 2020.
Website: http://www.stewartgiles.com
Twitter: @stewartgiles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stewart.giles.33

My Review

It all started in the car for me, packed up full we start our adventure to Cornwall, so I have ample reading time.

A cottage in Boscastle with no wifi and moody skies, roaring fire, what a divine holiday.

So the madness continues and she is back and badder than ever. The scheming starts and revenge is plotted.

Knowing it’s a trilogy my mind races to think up how the story will continue, and rest assured I will be reading it.