Category Archives: Historical Thriller

BLOG TOUR – Warrior of Mercia by MJ Porter! (The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles Book 3)

Today I’m kicking off the blog tour for Warrior of Mercia by MJ Porter! (The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles Book 3)

It gets better as it’s only just been released today!!! Congratulations to MJ Porter on a cracking new release!

Here’s the blurb

Icel is a lone wolf no more.

Oath sworn to Wiglaf, King of Mercia and acknowledged as a member of Ealdorman Ælfstan’s warrior band, Icel
continues to forge his own destiny on the path to becoming the Warrior of Mercia.

With King Ecgberht of Wessex defeated and Londonium back under Mercian control, the Wessex invasion of Mercia is over.

But the Wessex king was never Mercia’s only enemy. An unknown danger lurks in the form of merciless Viking raiders, who set their sights on infiltrating the waterways of the traitorous breakaway kingdom of the East Angles, within touching distance of Mercia’s eastern borders.

Icel must journey to the kingdom of the East Angles and unite against a common enemy to ensure Mercia’s hard-won freedom prevails.

Review

Firstly.. WOW..

Secondly… WOW..

We are back with Icel but don’t worry if you are not familiar with the series as the author does a nice little recap of events but in such a subtle way, for new readers it will give you the backdrop to Icel’s life to present, for the readers who have been with him from the start it’s a nice refresher and really gets you in the right zone, and puts you right back into the moment so you already feel those emotions brought on by the previous books again.

It’s only been a few months really since all this craziness started and in that time Icel has lost a lot, including his uncle. Friendships have become strained and he’s struggling to find his feet as a warrior. It doesn’t help that the King has singled him out for favour.. this doesn’t go down well with some!

What MJ Porter manages to do so well is setting the scene.. the emotions..the smell.. it feels like you are right there with Icel, you can smell his sweat and feel his heart pumping.

The Wessex King has run for his life but Mercia isn’t safe yet. The Viking’s are inbound and they could be an even bigger threat than Wessex.. but with so many men dead from the previously hard won battle how will King Wiglaf protect his people and repel these forces?

I keep saying it in my reviews but one thing I need to hit that 5* is character development, if characters go stale or seem out of place it just spoils the flow of my reading but there’s never any worry when reading anything by MJ Porter.

The plot is so expertly woven with character development, and you see each character grow as the page turns and I loved seeing characters like Cuthred with his own story arc. It was also great to see Brute and Wine back.. Icel’s trusty steeds, they don’t say anything obviously but their actions are louder than words and Brute especially brings a massive smile to my face.

Icel’s development is at the forefront and the author did a brilliant job showing the internal battle he faces each day, he trained to be a healer, now he’s a warrior, so many faces of those crush beneath feet, or with ghastly wounds.. he’s torn.. he could have saved some of these men.. and did… only to have them return to the fight and die. There’s a real depth to the character that can’t be beaten!

I’m never one to give spoilers but you can tell from the synopsis there’s going to be some battles.. blood and guts and it was beautifully brutal in detail and merged perfectly with Icel’s development, his feelings, his history… His uncle is never far from his thoughts and there’s clearly a hidden secret..but what? And why does the new Queen hate him so much? All will be revealed…. Or will it? Ha.

A wonderous 3^rd instalment packed full or excitement, I’ve got the kindle version but can’t wait to grab hold of a paperback too!

5/5*

To find out more head to Goodreads or Amazon.

My thanks go to the author, the publisher, and Rachel’s Random Resources for having me on the blog tour! I received an ARC of the book as part of the tour but like I say.. this will be added to my paperback collection as soon as possible! This is one of the reasons I review.. Just to get in there early to read the book knowing I’m going to be buying a copy anyway 😊

Why not follow the tour?

Author Bio –

MJ Porter is the author of many historical novels set predominantly in Seventh to Eleventh-Century England, and in Viking Age Denmark. They were raised in the shadow of a building that they believed housed the bones of long-dead Kings of Mercia – so their writing destiny was set. The first novel in their new Anglo-Saxon series for Boldwood Son of Mercia was published in February 2022.

Social Media Links

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

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/MJPorterNews

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mj-porter

BLOG TOUR – The Wickham Market Murder by Iain Maitland

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Today is my turn on the blog tour for The Wickham Market Murder by Iain Maitland, Book 1 in the Bloomfield & Palmer series.

Here’s the blurb

Suffolk, 1907.
Wickham Market’s local constable William Palmer spends his days yearning to solve a significant case so he can earn his detective’s badge.
But Palmer is torn, because he is also in love with the school mistress Alice Kemp who doesn’t want to leave the village.
One night, the night of a dramatic storm, there is a murder. A housemaid – Evelyn Maud Roberts – is found stabbed to death at the local vicarage.
Palmer has his chance to make a name for himself.
The local doctor declares that Evelyn was six months pregnant.
And the vicar’s daughter, Charlotte Mellor, names three men who may have reason to commit murder; Walter Fisk, soon-to-be-master at the workhouse; Albert Nunn, the postman; Frederick Hawes, the slow-witted village boy in love with Evelyn.
Palmer investigates. But he only has so much time before Inspector Bloomfield – the veteran detective from Suffolk Police – arrives from Ipswich to take over the case.
And before the killer strikes again.

Review.

On a cold and horrible night, Evelyn Maud Roberts rushes for the safety of shelter from weather.. not knowing her life is soon to end.

When her body is discovered, local constable William Palmer decides he wants to solve this himself before reinforcements arrive. Palmer is quite a no nonsense guy and speaks without thinking sometimes..unfortunately this means the investigation doesn’t go as planned.

Soon reinforcements arrive in the form of Inspector Bloomfield. When you put these two together you get a kind of Sherlock Holmes type vibe, the inspector showing Palmer the way, tricks of the trade, the tools to help him as the investigation continues. Bloomfield is flawed though, he can have a blinkers on, which to me seems quite logical as without the tools to investigate you’d be left to rely on your gut and would go with it.. but will he get the right man form the crime? And before another body hits the floor?

The case isn’t clear cut though, there’s multiple suspects all with motives and questionable alibis…all these men could be the father to Evelyn’s unborn child…they have a lot to loose, given the tools available in 1907 it seems like this case will go nowhere.. until things kind of take a drastic turn of events.

I really enjoyed the plot and the pace, it was easy to follow and I was fascinated to see how they might solve this case without clear cut evidence. What was even better is that the story really highlighted justice, or rather injustice at times and how difficult it would be to solve some cases.

The Wickham Market Murder isn’t an overly long book either, which I really enjoyed… towards the end I was utterly focused so would have been highly annoyed if I had to put the book down ha ha. I loved escaping into this world, this case, and I was left wanting more. I’d loved to see this team return, this duo have more tales I’m sure 😊

It’s a cracking 4/5 stars from me!

To find out more head to Amazon or Goodreads

My thanks go to the author, the publisher and ZooloosBookTours for having me on the tour. I had a copy of the book so was my pleasure to jump onboard! 😊

Why not follow along?

Author Bio

Iain Maitland is the author of three previous psych thrillers, The Scribbler (2020), Mr Todd’s Reckoning (2019) and Sweet William (2017), all published by Contraband, an imprint of Saraband. Mr Todd’s Reckoning is coming to the big screen in 2023.

Iain is also the author of two memoirs, Dear Michael, Love Dad (Hodder, 2016), a book of letters written to his eldest son who experienced depression and anorexia, and (co-authored with Michael) Out Of The Madhouse (Jessica Kingsley, 2018).

He is also an Ambassador for Stem4, the teenage mental health charity. He talks regularly about mental health issues in schools and colleges and workplaces.

Find out more about Iain at http://www.iainmaitland.net and twitter.com/iainmaitland

Follow him at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iainmaitland

Website: www.iainmaitland.net

BLOG TOUR – The Fort by Adrian Goldsworthy – REVIEW

Sworn to God by Steven A. McKay – Review

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So David’s Book Blurg has been absent of late. 2020 has been a tough year for us all and like many I’ve had my own share of personal events to deal with. While real life takes priority I’ve still been reading and I’m excited to get back to reviewing and sharing my thoughts with everyone.

I’m coming back with a bang!

Today I’m going to be reviewing Sworn to God by Steven A. McKay.

Here is the blurb –

Genre – Historical Thriller

Yorkshire, AD 1329
A new religious group moves into an abandoned church just north of the village of Altofts, but when men start dying under strange and suspicious circumstances the local bailiff decides to investigate.

The Disciples of God and their charismatic leader, Lady Alice de Staynton, appear truly holy, but something sinister seems to be going on within the walls of the newly refurbished St Joseph’s. Certainly the bailiff, John Little, has his suspicions about some of the warrior-like male acolytes, but are his fears justified? Infiltrating the group seems to be the best course of action, although the volatile Will Scaflock is none too happy about being nominated for the job by Friar Tuck…
Following on from 2019’s Faces of Darkness, this standalone new story sees three legendary heroes battling invisible ‘Black Lords’ and far more dangerous earthly foes, but can they figure out what’s really going on in St Joseph’s before anyone else dies?

Review

Steven A. McKay is back and he’s revisiting some of our favourite characters from his Forest Lord Series.

Friar Tuck has been pulled into a couple of mysteries over the years along with Little John but in Sworn to God we see the lovely addition of Will “Scarlet” Scaflock.

It’s been a few years since the notorious group of men lead by Robin Hood gained their freedom and lives back. Little John has settled into the life of a bailiff, his stature and presence make it very unlikely he’s going to walk away without the money he’s owed but on one fateful day his job casts lights on the Disciples of God.. There is something strange going on.

The Disciples of God are a new order in the area and John wants to know what they are about.. even more so when one of their order takes their own life… John is soon introduced to the charismatic Lady Alice. She’s got this aura about her that draws people to her.

I won’t spoil all the details but lets just say things don’t smell right and when another suicide occurs John, along with Tuck know it’s time to dig deeper into the disciples.

Will is enlisted into the group as an unknown to Lady Alice, this way he’s able to infiltrate the group. What he learns is that for the most part the disciples are honest individuals and believe in the work they do.. but there is still something not sitting right…but what is it.

Things come to a head, and a few discoveries are made that shake the disciples to the core. For the most part you feel as our heroes do.. we know whose behind it all.. but we don’t know the motivations or how to prove anything… you can feel the frustration.

The author throws in a final twist and all becomes clear..

Wow. That ending..

I really enjoyed the plot from start to finish, it really explores the affect that individuals can have on those most in need…when times are tough..how you can be blind to what is going on all around you.

I love this series of books, there is simply no denying that. It’s the thrilling plot mixed with some characters we know and love, it puts a real twist on the normal style of mystery you’d read. It’s fresh and fun, thrilling and brutal all in one.

Overall a really fun way to develop the characters and it just bloody works brilliantly!

More of the same please!

5/5 Stars!

To find out more head to Goodreads or Amazon!

The Architect of Murder by Rafe McGregor – Review

David's Book Blurg

Book reviews from a guy up north (UK)