Kath Middleton - Books - Blog

Kath Middleton - Books

Old Year, New Year

12/29/2018

In 2018 I read 138 books. I published two. They say that reading is inhaling and writing is exhaling but obviously you can do the first much faster than the second. Stephen King says that if you want to be a writer you must do two things: you must read a lot and write a lot. There are writers who don’t read while they are working on a book in case it somehow influences or taints their work. Unless you set out to write fan fiction or pastiche you must set out to develop your own style.

I don’t believe reading influences writing other than to give you a taste of good vocabulary and sentence construction. This, of course, means you need to read good writing. After a while you become more discriminating and I no longer try to persist in reading a book that’s clumsily written or with incorrect word choices. I love most of the books I read because I don’t finish those I don’t love. I think you can tell when a writer isn’t a great reader.

I’ve discovered some fantastic authors new to me this year. I shan’t list them because you’d nod off reading the list. I have a few authors whose new work I jump on as soon as I can, but I also love to find new favourites. Some are traditionally published but some are self-published. Many writers get hung-up on whether self published authors are real authors. In my experience the readers don’t notice who the publisher is for the most part. A good read is a good read.

I wish you many good reads for 2019.

Kath x

The Real Sundown House

10/31/2018

Sundown House Retirement Home for Ladies is the setting for my recent publication. Physically, Sundown House is almost a replica of Holderness House, a care home in Hull. My mother-in-law spent her last couple of years in there and it’s an exemplary place. It’s not quite like Sundown House in that the latter is a retirement home so my ladies need, for the most part, less input. Both were magnificent private residences, however, left in trust by the civic bigwig owner.

If you knew the inspiration you would recognise the grand staircase, the library, the residents’ lounge and the dining room. You’d know about the magnificent grounds, the little arboretum and even the small summer-house from which several of my ladies eyed-up the new gardener. I must add, however, that the staff and managers of Sundown House came entirely from my own imagination!

We were sitting in Mum’s room one winter’s afternoon as the sun was lowering and the view was red, when she told us some of the gossip. The ladies were real characters. You don’t stop being you when you enter a care home or residential home. As you age and physically shrink a little, you become more concentrated. The kindly Millie is now benevolent. The tetchy Lilian is now irrascible. Just because people need basic help with living, they aren’t stupid and still want self-determination.

We noticed that, because there has to be some organisation to enable a place like that to run smoothly, like set mealtimes, not whenever the resident fancies eating, it resembled a boarding school. That’s when ‘St Trinian’s with arthritis’ leapt out of my mind and onto the page. My ladies became real people to me as I wrote them. I’m not sure whether I got into their heads or they got into mine.

As you get older, you realise this is something you’ll have to deal with. Being treated like a child. Not having your voice heard. Not being allowed choices. Still, when you lose younger friends on the journey, you realise you’ll be lucky to get that far.

If you read The Sundowners, I hope you’ll enjoy the story and realise there’s always fun in life if you put it there.

Just a thought - If life gives you lemons, make a gin and tonic. We're all far too old for lemonade.

News!

10/1/2018

A little update. One of my Facebook groups, the UK Crime Book Club, raised an amazing £2,200 for the two young people’s charities. We held an auction of books and character names to celebrate the fact that the group had topped 5,000 in membership, and I’m very proud to have been part of it. The book in which the three members’ chosen names appear has now gone to my editor, so things are moving forward. Entitled The Angel Monument, it will be published in 2019.

In the meantime I'm looking forward to publishing The Sundowners. It’s a humorous look at life in a retirement home for ladies. Those of you who know me well might spot me there in various guises! I hope it will be available on Amazon from the end of the month. I also have a rather dark short story in the pipeline. Not sure what to do with that!

And on to the next book. More of that later!

Blog Blitz - The Third Breath by Malcolm Hollingdrake

9/2/2018

What's the book about?

DCI Bennett is away on compassionate leave. After much soul-searching, he has decided to attend his father’s funeral.

DS Owen is left at the helm when the discovery of a body in a car in the multi-storey car park is reported. Initially, the Coroner rules out suspicious circumstances but when a second body is found with similar symptoms, Bennett is back in the fold. He suspects that the coincidences must be of some significance.

Soon Bennett’s team are hunting for a callous and devious killer who has covered his tracks effectively.

Will Bennett’s perseverance and attention to detail eventually crack this perplexing case?

My review -

Something that kills people in three breaths? Something that leaves no trace. Cyril Bennett has his work cut out here. There are several victims and they seem to be linked together by coincidence. Do you believe in coincidence? We have an unusual killer with what seems to be a random selection of victims and it’s interesting to see how the pieces fit together. I enjoyed the further delving into Cyril’s past life, his bequest from his father, and Julie and his stepmother Wendy’s continuing relationship. There’s the most unusual murder method I’ve ever read about, combined with some delving into Cyril’s past relationships which give a balance of head and heart that I really liked. Engrossing and satisfying.

Who is Malcolm Hollingdrake?

You could say that the writing was clearly on the wall for anyone born in a library, that they might aspire to be an author but to get to that point Malcolm Hollingdrake has travelled a circuitous route.

Malcolm worked in education for many years, even teaching for a period in Cairo before he started writing, a challenge he had longed to tackle for more years than he cares to remember.

Malcolm has written a number of successful short stories and has ten books now available. Completing ‘The Third Breath’ fulfils the seven book publishing contract with Bloodhound Books but there are exciting plans for the future, not only with DCI Bennett and his team but also with another series. More information will follow soon.

Born in Bradford and spending three years in Ripon, Malcolm has never lost his love for his home county, a passion that is reflected in the settings for all his novels.

This year, Malcolm self-published a beautiful and poignant short story titled ‘The Penultimate Man’ to commemorate the centenary of the conclusion of WW1. It has also been released as an audiobook.

Malcolm has enjoyed many hobbies including collecting works by Northern artists; the art auctions offer a degree of excitement when both buying and certainly when selling. It’s a hobby he has bestowed on DCI Cyril Bennett, the main character in his latest novel, 'The Third Breath'.

The book is available from Amazon and you can find it on Malcolm's author page here.

Blog Blitz - The Long Revenge

8/15/2018

Previously published as Ledston Luck (the name of a village in Yorkshire) .

What's it about?

They say you can always trust a policeman. They are lying.
They lied thirty years ago and they are still lying today.
When a booby-trapped body is discovered in a long-abandoned chapel, CSI Eddie Collins and his team are called to investigate. But when the scene examination goes horribly wrong, Eddie and DI Benson are injured and one of the team killed.
Heartbroken by the death, Eddie is also guilt-ridden. But more than that he is angry. Very angry.
Eddie will stop at nothing to bring the guilty to justice, and will teach them that even when served cold, revenge is a killer dish.

My review -

Eddie Collins is such an annoying man. Sometimes I could slap him. He’s irascible, angry, stubborn, but usually, he’s right. He’s a man driven by a desire for justice. He’s at a scene when a booby-trap kills his colleague and injures him. It’s the scene of an old murder, but a new killing, also booby-trapped makes old and new murders come together. Someone higher in the system is trying to frustrate the case and sideline Eddie. They didn’t reckon with the fact that Eddie won’t let go, especially when he’s angry – and he feels guilty.

The wonderful thing about an Andrew Barrett book is that you often don’t totally like the goodies and you feel strong sympathy for the baddies. As with real life, there are no black and white characters, but many, many shades of grey. Stories like this make you think and there are often no easy answers. This book’s packed with action but there’s room for thoughtful contemplation, too. It works on many levels. A brilliantly good read.

Who is Andrew Barrett?

Andy has been a real life CSI since 1996, after a varied life working on a farm and in the Kuwait oil fields. His first trilogy, beginning with A Long Time Dead, features Roger Conniston, a SOCO (scene of crime officer as they were called then) and these were the first book of Andy's that pulled me in to his brilliant writing style.
Today, Andy is still producing high-quality, authentic crime thrillers with a forensic flavour that attract attention from readers worldwide. He’s also attracted attention from the Yorkshire media, having been featured in the Yorkshire Post, and twice interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds.
He’s best known for his lead character, CSI Eddie Collins, and the acerbic way in which he roots out criminals and administers justice. Eddie’s series is four books and two short stories in length, and there’s still more to come.

You can buy The Long Revenge here on Amazon uk and here on Amazon dot com.

Changing names

8/14/2018

This is the image that inspired the book I'm writing at the moment. I'm calling it The Angel Monument and it's set in 1824-25. I'm getting within sight of writing The End under the first draft.

I belong to a Facebook book club, the UK Crime Book Club, which recently passed the milestone of 5,000 members so we wanted to celebrate. We decided to have a month of fundraising in aid of two educational charities - how great to share our love of reading. They are The Lighthouse School (for autistic children) and Dyslexia Sparks. Generous authors immediately leapt in with offers of signed books to raise funds for these two causes. As I don't write crime (though I read it!) the readers here are not really my audience. I decided to offer people the chance to have their name - or a relative's - used in this book. I now have a gentleman of mysterious background by the name of Joshua Stevenson, a young lady of honour and intelligence by the name of Caroline Maston, and a boot boy named Alfie Laidler who works in the big house and turns into a bit of a star.

I'm pleased to say that our total so far, after just over a week, is in the region of £700, with another week and a half to go. What an achievement.

Blog Blitz - The Hammer Falls by Andrew Barrett

8/3/2018

PLEASE NOTE, THIS BOOK WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS SWORD OF DAMOCLES

What's it about?

Some secrets, no matter how well buried, refuse to die.

When the remains of a woman are found in a burnt-out car, Eddie Collins reluctantly teams up with his enemy, DI Benson, to untangle the knot of lies behind this apparent suicide.

In the midst of all this, Eddie’s life grows more complicated by the day; his perfect relationship is suffocating him. As a CSI in the Major Crime Unit, he is also being forced to accept a promotion that he doesn’t want, leading a team that he can’t control or tolerate.

Even when the mystery is solved, proving it turns out to be deadly.

My review -

Scenes of Crime expert Eddie Collins is the real star of this novel. His private life is as hopeless as ever and he takes on his dad’s problems too. You know that situation when, an hour or so too late, you think of the great put-down, the witty riposte, but you weren’t fast enough? Eddie Collins is the man. He’s razor sharp and is no respecter of persons and we laugh with him while cringing as we watch him digging the hole deeper. He is also the newly-promoted head of his team and his methods of personnel management and team building are not the usual ones. He is a tragic combination of empathy and temper.

Eddie tackles a murder on his patch but he finds a connection with an unsatisfactory verdict of thirty years ago. His methods are irregular but as he’s meticulous and the best at the job, he finds the evidence from which the detectives solve their cases. The story lines weave together very well and the interplay between the characters is a delight. The ending knocked me over. I really love the complexity of these stories and I hope we’ll hear more from Eddie in the future. This story could be read as a stand-alone although it forms part of a superb series. Hard-hitting and imaginative, this book is an absolute cracker.

About the author -

Andy has enjoyed variety in his professional life, from engine-builder to farmer, from Oilfield Service Technician in Kuwait, to his current role of Senior CSI in Yorkshire.
He’s been a CSI since 1996, and has worked on all scene types from terrorism to murder, suicide to rape, drugs manufacture to bomb scenes. One way or another, Andy’s life revolves around crime.
In 1997 he finished his first crime thriller, A Long Time Dead, and it’s still a readers’ favourite today, some 200,000 copies later, topping the Amazon charts several times. Two more books featuring SOCO Roger Conniston completed the trilogy.
Today he is still producing high-quality, authentic crime thrillers with a forensic flavour that attract attention from readers worldwide. He’s also attracted attention from the Yorkshire media, having been featured in the Yorkshire Post, and twice interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds.
He’s best known for his lead character, CSI Eddie Collins, and the acerbic way in which he roots out criminals and administers justice. Eddie’s series is four books and two short stories in length, and there’s still more to come.
Andy Barrett is a proud Yorkshireman and sets all of his novels there, using his home city of Leeds as another major, and complementary, character in each of the stories.

Where can I find the book?

The Hammer Falls is available from Amazon uk here and from Amazon dot com here.

Blog Tour: Blue Murder by Mark L Fowler

7/24/2018

About the book -

Fame. Fortune. Murder.

April 2003. Johnny and the Swamp Seeds are on the cusp of success when singer Johnny Richards goes missing. The body of a young man is found in the local canal.
But the dead man is not Johnny Richards.
DCI Jim Tyler leads the investigation into the brutal murder of Adam Lane, ex band member and friend of Richards since schooldays. Is the disappearance related? Is Richards alive or dead? Was he responsible for the death of his friend?
DS Danny Mills has concerns for DCI Tyler. The demons from Tyler’s past have caught up with him, threatening to tip him over the edge. Meanwhile, news of the singer’s disappearance has gone viral, sending the band to the top of the charts and turning a national spotlight on the case. Tyler is under immense pressure and Mills can see the cracks spreading.
Will Tyler and Mills find out what happened to Johnny Richards, and who killed Adam Lane – or is catastrophe looming for the stricken detective?

About the author -

Mark is the writer of the crime series featuring Tyler and Mills. The first book to feature the detectives, RED IS THE COLOUR, was shortlisted for the 2018 Arnold Bennett Book Prize. The second book, BLUE MURDER, can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel.

He is also the author of THE MAN UPSTAIRS, featuring hard-boiled detective Frank Miller, and SILVER, a psychological thriller. Mark's first book, COFFIN MAKER, continues to defy any attempts to categorise it.

My review -

The story begins with the callous murder of a young man, and DCI Tyler and DS Mills have the task of discovering who killed him. He used to be in a band which is about to get its big break, but he left to start his university studies. He wrote one of the songs that his erstwhile best friend is claiming authorship of. There’s a tangled web between the young men involved, and two sisters who at various times have been the girlfriends of some of them. These lives and intrigues weave together to make a real knot, and it’s a job and three quarters for Tyler and Mills to untangle it.

Mark Fowler had given all these characters a reason to mistrust one another, in some cases even to hate each other. Yet is it enough to murder someone? Someone who wasn’t even in the band any longer? The more questions they ask the tighter the knot becomes. I found this intriguing and at times very exciting as the detectives, whose banter has now become more relaxed, work their way through conflicting evidence. Is anyone telling the truth? A very good read indeed.

You can find the book here in the UK or here in the US. Mark's Amazon page can be found here.

Blog Blitz: No Time to Die by Andrew Barrett

7/19/2018

About the book -

When CSI Eddie Collins finds a dead woman in his house, he thinks life can’t get any worse, until a violent gang ties his hands together and puts a gun to his head. And this time there’s no way out.

Operation Domino is the investigation into gang boss, Slade Crosby, and his connection to an undercover officer’s death. But tampered evidence kills the investigation’s progress, and with Eddie gone, Slade is in the clear.
There’s only one way to get Slade in cuffs, but it won’t be easy…

About the author -

Andy has enjoyed variety in his professional life, from engine-builder to farmer, from Oilfield Service Technician in Kuwait, to his current role of Senior CSI in Yorkshire.
He’s been a CSI since 1996, and has worked on all scene types from terrorism to murder, suicide to rape, drugs manufacture to bomb scenes. One way or another, Andy’s life revolves around crime.
In 1997 he finished his first crime thriller, A Long Time Dead, and it’s still a readers’ favourite today, some 200,000 copies later, topping the Amazon charts several times. Two more books featuring SOCO Roger Conniston completed the trilogy.
Today, Andy is still producing high-quality, authentic crime thrillers with a forensic flavour that draw attention from readers worldwide. He’s also attracted attention from the Yorkshire media, having been featured in the Yorkshire Post, and twice interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds.
He’s best known for his lead character, CSI Eddie Collins, and the acerbic way in which he roots out criminals and administers justice. Eddie’s series is four books and two short stories in length, and there’s still more to come.
Andy is a proud Yorkshireman and sets all of his novels there, using his home city of Leeds as another major, and complementary, character in each of the stories.

My review -

In this novel by Andrew Barrett we again meet Scenes of Crime Officer Eddie Collins. He has stormed out of a crime scene and resigned, and has been recruited to the Major Crimes Unit. Eddie is his usual self here – irascible, sarcastic, almost permanently angry and yet vulnerable. He becomes involved in unravelling the deaths of an undercover policeman and his wife and with investigating the murder of one of the local gang members. There’s unrest in the Crosby gang and there’s a territory fight between them and another local group. There are sub-plots going on in the background, as you would expect if you’ve read any of the author’s previous work. The story is sprinkled with clues – it’s up to us to link them together. As always, Eddie’s heart is in the right place, but acting for someone else’s good results in some heart-breaking scenes.

This is an energetic and exciting novel which could easily be read as a stand-alone. There are some heart-stopping moments here, which I read with a lump in my throat - if you read it you’ll find it hard to forget. Amongst its other themes, it deals with rape, and its after-effects, and with male domination of women. Hard topics to read about but as well as food for thought they provide a fast and thrilling story. The book is at once gruesome and beautiful, containing as it does, violence, tough language, wonderful writing and some very poignant moments. Amazing contrasts and thrilling highlights make this an utterly absorbing read.

It can be found on Amazon uk here, and on Amazon dot com here and will rush you a mere 99p ($1.31) for a great read.

Andrew's website can be found here.

PLEASE NOTE, THIS WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED UNDER THE TITLE BLACK BY ROSE.
Personal observation here - in my view, this title change was unnecessary. Black by Rose is a unique book title and gave the reader that wonderful lightbulb moment when the reason for the name became obvious. There are lots of books on Amazon with the new title. Sorry, publishers, you've taken a backward step here.

Writing Prompts

5/29/2018

"How do you think up stories?"
"What inspires you to write?"

I have to say it’s holidays! Both this year and last I came home with a photograph that made me want to tell a story. Last year’s was the grotesque on the archway at Dunster Priory which led to The Novice’s Demon.

This year it’s a ruined chapel in the grounds of a Teesdale stately home.

With this one, I wondered why it had fallen into disuse. Many large estates had their own private chapel so the Lord and his family didn’t have to mix with the great unwashed. Without it, they’d have to travel and to worship with their social inferiors. Why did it become so ruined that a tree managed to grow up through it? The walls are standing, but what happened to the roof? And above all, why is there a small carving on the wall depicting three cherubs?

I’ve asked myself a few questions about this over the last day or two, and I’ve come up with an answer. It’s not the true answer, but it’s my answer, and I’ve begun to write it. This is the exciting part of the process. Creation.

Thanks for reading.

Kath