#BlogTour - All I Said Was True by Imran Mahmood

When Amy Blahn was murdered on a London office rooftop, Layla Mahoney was there. She held Amy as she died. But all she can say when police arrest her is that ‘It was Michael. Find Michael and you’ll find out everything you need to know.’ 

The problem is, the police can’t find Michael – there is no evidence that he exists. And time is running out before they have to either charge Layla with Amy’s murder, or let her go. 

As a lawyer, Layla knows that she has only forty-eight hours to convince police to investigate the man she knows only as ‘Michael’ instead of her. But the more she attempts to control her interviews with police, the more the truth leaks out – and how much of that truth can Layla risk being exposed? 

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‘Every one of the billions of stars and planets - every single one is just cause and effect. They exist in their current states because of the things that happened beforehand. Do you think you’re immune from cause and effect, but whole galaxies aren’t?’

Imran Mahmoud’s third novel, ALL I SAID WAS TRUE, is narrated by Layla Mahoney, a personal injury lawyer, being questioned by police in connection with the murder of Amy Blahn. Layla’s story unfolds NOW, as she is interrogated by detectives who have 48 hours in which to decide whether to charge her, and THEN, as we find out how she came to on the roof of her husband’s workplace cradling the dead body of a woman whom she claims not to know, and, in particular, her strange relationship with a man called Michael, a man she claims is really responsible. 

As with the protagonists of Mahmood’s previous novels, YOU DON’T KNOW ME and I KNOW WHAT I SAW, Layla is an unusual, perhaps unreliable, narrator. It is clear from the start of her interrogation that Layla knows more than she initially offers, that she seems to be giving up her information to a planned timetable. She maintains that Michael killed Amy but the police cannot find any evidence that Michael was on the roof, or that he actually exists. THEN, Layla tells us that Michael saved her from being run over by an out of control car on a London street. Thereafter, Michael appears at intervals, claiming that he has not been following Layla, that their meetings are not coincidental, that they are in fact linked in some way, that they are intended to prevent some terrible occurrence. At times the reader might question whether there is something supernatural going on here, or Michael may just be a liar who Is following her…

‘And then there’s this one immovable fact - I can’t face a murder charge. I didn’t do it. But there’s a danger in saying too much which would be worse for me that a murder trial.’

Imran Mahmood is clearly the master of unconventional narrators. Layla is a complex character; we know she is withholding information from both her interrogators and from us as readers, that she is playing some longer game,  but she also appears to have episodes when she is unsure of herself, when she questions the reality of what she sees, when she makes very questionable decisions. And yet, Layla is entirely relatable and three-dimensional. There is a lot going on in ALL I SAID WAS TRUE and, like Layla, Mahmood gives us just enough information to keep us on tenter hooks while keeping the big reveals until later. It is a delicate balance but it really works. ALL I SAID WAS TRUE builds on the craft of the author’s previous novels, honing it to an even sharper edge; a thoroughly entertaining mystery.

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Imran Mahmood is a practising barrister with thirty years’ experience fighting cases in courtrooms across the country. His debut novel You Don’t Know Me was chosen by Simon Mayo as a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice for 2017 and longlisted for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year and for the CWA Gold Dagger, and was made into a hugely successful BBC1 adaptation in association with Netflix. His second novel I Know What I Saw was released in June 2021, was chosen as a Sunday Times crime novel of the month and reached no. 2 on the Audible charts. He has been commissioned to write three screenplays and is working on his next novel. When not in court or writing novels or screenplays he can sometimes be found on the Red Hot Chilli Writers’ podcast as one of the regular contributors. He hails from Liverpool but now lives in London with his wife and daughters. @imranmahmood777

#BlogTour - The Woman on the Bridge by Holly Seddon

A STRANGER IN NEED - WOULD YOU INVITE THEM INTO YOUR HOME? 

'Strangers On A Train meets The Pact in this high concept thriller: daring, dramatic and totally original, I loved it.' Gillian McAllister

How far would you go to save a perfect stranger?

Maggie is trapped. Dumped on her wedding day, rejected by her family and hounded by a man determined to make her suffer.

Charlotte is desperate. Double-crossed by her only friend and facing total ruin, she will go to any lengths to save what matters.

Two women, one night. A decision that will change everything.

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Charlotte screams into the emptiness.

THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE is a clever, twisty, tightly plotted thriller which grabs the reader right from the opening sentence and doesn’t let go until the conclusion. When we meet Charlotte, she is hurtling through the night in her late mother’s Tesla, wishing the electric car had a screaming engine note to accompany her own screaming. Charlotte has had a bad day having discovered that her friend, Anna, whom Charlotte has taken on to help her run the antiques business inherited from her father, has uncovered some financial irregularities and intends to blackmail Charlotte into relinquishing control of the business. Her screams are understandable. And then she meets Maggie.

Maggie is perched on the rail of a bridge, dressed in a stained wedding dress, deciding when to jump. Despite, perhaps because of, her own troubles, Charlotte talks Maggie down, takes her into her car, and then into her home. There is an uncomfortable rapidity to the friendship the women share. They share their stories and frustrations as they dry off and warm up. Maggie spends the night in Charlotte’s cottage and in the morning she suggests that they might be able to help each other. And soon things begin to spiral out of control…

Holly Seddon is a wonderful writer. Her prose flows effortlessly. Her dialogue is naturalistic and her characters believable. The book alternates between Charlotte’s and Maggie’s viewpoints and we really get to understand the pain and confusion each feels as they find themselves thrown together seemingly by fate. As the page-turning plot develops, the women become more entangled, the stakes getting higher. As Gillian McAllister says, it really echoes Strangers on a Train, except that both characters are very likeable, even if their decision making is questionable. And then Holly Seddon pulls the rug out from below the reader’s feet…

The twists in the novel are as deliciously fiendish as they are unexpected. THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE is gripping and exciting, and incredibly good fun. The book is full of ‘you’re kidding me’ moments. It races towards the conclusion like the Tesla in the first chapter and, unlike the car, it makes a hell of a noise when it gets there.

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Holly Seddon is the international bestselling author of TRY NOT TO BREATHE, DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES, LOVE WILL TEAR US APART, THE HIT LIST and THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE.

After growing up in the English countryside obsessed with music and books, Holly worked in London as a journalist and editor. She now lives in Kent with her family and writes full time.

Alongside fellow author Gillian McAllister, Holly co-hosts the popular Honest Authors Podcast. You can find her on Twitter @hollyseddon, Instagram and Facebook @hollyseddonauthor.

Thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers, @Tr4cyF3nt0n, Orion Books @orionbooks and Holly Seddon @hollyseddon for the invitation to the Blog Tour.

Two crime-writing legends join forces for the first ever case of DI Laidlaw: the original gritty Glasgow detective who inspired an entire genre

William McIlvanney’s Laidlaw trilogy changed the face of crime fiction in the 1970s and 1980s, inspiring an entire generation of crime writers including Mark Billingham, Val McDermid, Denise Mina, Chris Brookmyre – and Ian Rankin.

When McIlvanney died in 2015, he left half a handwritten manuscript of Laidlaw’s first case – his first new novel in 25 years. Now, Ian Rankin is back to finish what McIlvanney started. 

In The Dark Remains, these two iconic authors bring to life the criminal world of 1970s Glasgow, and the relentless quest for truth.

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William McIlvanney’s three Laidlaw novels are classics of the crime genre, the touchstone for ‘Tartan Noir’, gritty, realistic depictions of Glasgow’s criminal underbelly. The Laidlaw novels have inspired many crime-writers, including Val McDermid, Alan Parks, one of my current favourites, whose Harry McCoy series really takes up the Laidlaw mantle, and, of course, Ian Rankin, whose Rebus novels can stand alongside McIlvanney’s on the top plinth. That said, I was still nervous about Rankin reviving Laidlaw. I should not have worried.

THE DARK REMAINS takes us back to Laidlaw’s early days, some time before LAIDLAW, when McIlvanney’s DI is just starting out. Ian Rankin apparently worked from notes and drafts left by William McIlvanney when he sadly passed and is is to his credit that it is impossible to tell just how much of each author is in the finished book. I suspect that there may be more Rankin than McIlvanney but I could be completely wrong, because this feels like a Laidlaw novel; the tone is the same; 1970s Glasgow feels exactly the same; the dialogue is as witty and the humour as dark as in the original trilogy. Laidlaw is younger, less sure of himself, but he is recognisably the same character, albeit feeling his way into his career, setting out on his mission, bending the rules where necessary.

The city of Glasgow is as much a character in the novel as Rebus’s Edinburgh is in Rankin’s own series, and he captures it perfectly, the grime, the poverty, a Glasgow unsure of its direction prior to the City of Culture cleanup. Jack Laidlaw is a complicated character, driven, playing by his own rules, tortured by his calling, literate yet tough; I love the character and revisit the Laidlaw novels often. It is tribute to Ian Rankin that I will be including THE DARK REMAINS in my regular re-reads.

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William McIlvanney is the author of the award-winning Laidlaw trilogy, featuring Glasgow’s original maverick detective. He died in December 2015. 

Both Laidlaw and The Papers of Tony Veitch gained Silver Daggers from the Crime Writers’ Association, while the third in the series, Strange Loyalties, won the Herald’s People’s Prize. 

The McIlvanney Prize, named in his honour in 2016, is awarded annually for the best Scottish crime novel of the year.

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Ian Rankin is the number one bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus series. The Rebus books have been translated into thirty-six languages and are bestsellers worldwide.

He is the recipient of four Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards, including the prestigious Diamond Dagger, and in 2002 he received an OBE for services to literature. He lives in Edinburgh.

@beathhigh | ianrankin.net

#BlogTour - Good Cop, Bad Cop by Simon Kernick

Brave hero or criminal mastermind?

Tonight we find out. 

Undercover cop Chris Sketty became a hero when he almost died trying to stop the most brutal terror attack in UK history. With the suspects either dead or missing, the real motive remains a mystery.

But someone is convinced Sketty is a liar.

A criminal mastermind.

A murderer.

Blackmailed into revealing the truth, Sketty will share a twisting tale of betrayal, deception and murder...with a revelation so shocking that nothing will be the same again.

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I got off to a bad start with Simon Kernick having struggled with one of his early novels, which just didn’t gel with me. It has to be said though that Kernick is in good company - I abandoned the first Lee Child I started and have no idea, having re-read it and others, why… I did enjoy the author’s last novel, KILL A STRANGER and looked forward to GOOD COP, BAD COP. And I was not disappointed. 

GOOD COP, BAD COP is a fast moving, high octane undercover cop thriller which hits the ground running and doesn’t let up until the end. The novel tells the story of Chris Sketty, a retired cop who, fifteen years ago, heroically saved the lives of innocents caught up in one of the worst terrorist attacks in the UK. We are introduced to Sketty as he tells his story to Dr Ralph Teller, a man who believes Sketty anything but a hero, and believes he has enough evidence to blackmail Chris into telling the truth. Sketty then narrates his tale, of how he was recruited to work undercover to expose a rogue police officer in London’s Gang Intelligence Unit, and of how things spiralled out of control leading to the terrorist attack on the Villa Amalfi restaurant.

Sketty’s world is a tough one, the men with whom he works, tough men. It is very masculine and the reader is unsure just how truthful Sketty is being; has he been seduced by the violence and criminality? The suspense is intense and Simon Kernick ramps it up even further by the use of short chapters with cliff-hanging, ‘little did I know’ endings. You are encouraged to keep reading to find out what happens. The pace is breathless; even the odd interruption from Teller simply accelerate things as they remind you that this could be a story told by a very good liar. 

I am so glad I gave Simon Kernick another chance - it was definitely a case of ‘it’s me, not him’ and I now have a back catalogue to work through. For me GOOD COP, BAD COP is one of the thrillers of the year so far. Thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers, @Tr4cyF3nt0n, @headlineepg, @RandomTTours and, of course, the author @simonkernick for the invitation to the BlogTour.

#BlogTour - The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley

KEEP YOUR FAMILY SAFE.

WHATEVER THE COST… 

Jamie and Victoria are expecting their first baby.

With a few weeks to go, they head off for a final weekend break in a remote part of the North Pennines. The small and peaceful guesthouse is the ideal location to unwind together before becoming parents. Upon arrival, they are greeted by Barry and Fiona, the older couple who run the guesthouse. They cook them dinner and show them to their room before retreating to bed themselves.

The next morning, Jamie and Victoria wake to find the house deserted. Barry and Fiona are nowhere to be seen. All the doors are locked. Both their mobile phones and car keys have disappeared. Even though it’s a few weeks early, Victoria knows the contractions are starting.

The baby is coming, and there’s no way out.

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THE GUEST HOUSE is a taut, incredibly tense psychological thriller which cleverly builds suspense by releasing little bits of information to the reader through the first person narratives of Jamie and Victoria, the expectant couple who visit the titular guest house for some relaxation prior to the birth of their first child. I listened to the the audiobook version of the novel, read expertly by the narrators, primarily playing Jamie and Victoria. And I was completely drawn in from the start.

The narration alternates between the couple, and between THEN, at the guest house, and NOW, several weeks later. It is clear that something terrible happened during the couple’s getaway; Victoria is no longer pregnant, but there is no baby. It also becomes increasingly clear that something is very wrong in the relationship. Jamie, the more sympathetic of the two, and not just because of his cerebral palsy, is haunted by whatever happened at the guest house. Victoria seems certain that, if the truth was to come out, she would be in serious trouble because of something she did.

The couple’s meeting with their hosts is strange right from the off. Barry and Fiona are an odd couple. There is a really creepy atmosphere and Robin Morgan-Bentley’s writing in these scenes reminds me of something out of a John Wyndham novel, or of one of the better Hammer Horror movies; there is something very English and very wrong; we are not sure exactly why but there is something very disquieting about the house and the hosts.

It would be unfair to give anything away beyond the set up. There is a lot more happening than we might originally think and Morgan-Bentley keeps us guessing throughout, teasing plot points and dropping little pieces of information through Victoria’s and Jamie’s accounts, and they often don’t fully tally with each other. It is quite a way into the novel, through several chapters of anxious, hair-standing-on-the-back-of-the-neck tension, before the reader begins to suspect what is actually going on. And, even then, Morgan-Bentley ramps things up even further with unexpected twists. 

THE GUEST HOUSE is a pleasure to read, or to listen to. An uneasy, uncomfortable pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless. Thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers, @Tr4cyF3nt0n, @orionbooks and, of course, the author, @rmorganbentley for the opportunity to experience THE GUEST HOUSE.

About Robin Morgan-Bentley

Robin Morgan-Bentley was born and grew up in London. After studying Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge University, he went on to work for Google before moving to Audible, where he has been working since 2014.

His debut thriller, The Wreckage, was nominated for the CWA Dagger John Creasey New Blood Award, the CrimeFest Specsavers Debut Crime Award and Capital Crime's Debut Book of the Year Award.

Robin lives in Buckinghamshire with his husband and son.