TRIGGER WARNING: infanticide, child neglect/abuse
Chief Maggie Riley discovers a body then moments later a young woman wanders out of the wood. Maggie begins an investigation into the death but becomes personally involved with Heather’s recovery from her shock as she finds out the truth about the teen’s awful home life. Meanwhile Maggie and her boyfriend Steve are both hiding secrets…
The Girl Who Lied is the first book in a new detective series set in America.
Maggie was a high flying detective until her little brother disappeared and she lost her family and career. She retreated to a small town where nobody knew her and was satisfied with the low profile crimes she faced. But a murder victim changes everything and Maggie is startled to find links between the dead man and her colleague as well as vulnerable Heather.
The book is written from multiple perspectives, some (Maggie, Steve and Heather) in the first person which provide an emotional pull towards these characters. Maggie and Steve have both been keeping secrets from each other about their pasts but now they need to be open and honest.
Heather’s character arc is hugely emotive and Maggie is forced to call in social services to deal with the child abuse and neglect that she discovers at their family home. Heather admits to a crime but Maggie believes that there are extenuating circumstances which diminish her culpability. The original murder case is not entirely straight forward and there are significant twists along the way.
The Girl Who Lied is a gripping crime and detective thriller with a strong emotional element. The next book in the series, Their Angel’s Cry is also available now (see blurb below) and I intend to read ASAP!
MEDIA PACK
Book: The Girl Who Lied & Their Angel’s Cry
Author: Shannon Hollinger
Pub Day: August 2nd 2023
Buy Link(s):
Audible:
Audible:
About the Books:
The Girl Who Lied
Rain hammers the earth and a vicious wind rattles the trees. Then lightning strikes, the flash illuminating a young girl staggering out of the woods, her brown eyes wide with fright, a silent scream on her lips…
There’s a storm approaching the tiny Maine town of Coyote Cove when Chief Maggie Riley comes across the body of a man, blood seeping from stab wounds into the damp forest floor. As she desperately struggles to secure the evidence before the rain hits, Heather, a local teenage girl, emerges from the woods, shivering and unable to talk.
Maggie, once a high flying big-city detective, lost everything when her four-year-old brother went missing five years ago. Heart-broken, she’s never stopped searching for him: but now she is plunged back into the world she left behind.
The victim, Maggie discovers, knew secrets about everyone in isolated Coyote Cove. It seems there are more local suspects in this case than people she can rule out. And with Heather still traumatised, Maggie struggles to unravel her strange appearance at the crime scene. Until, following a faint, bloody trail deep into the forest, she’s horrified to unearth what the terrified girl’s been hiding…
But when Heather is kidnapped, the battle to identify the killer becomes a race to save an innocent girl’s life. And with the whole town terrified, Maggie is shocked to uncover that this twisted killer is much closer to home than she’d ever imagined. Battling her own demons and memories of her missing brother, how far will Maggie have to go to save Heather? Or will another innocent young life be lost forever…?
A totally addictive crime thriller packed with suspense. If you love Lisa Regan, Louise Penny and Melinda Leigh, you’ll love The Girl Who Lied.
Their Angel’s Cry:
The little dog trembles and whimpers, but refuses to move. Maggie reaches further into the undergrowth, trying to tempt it out. But as she moves closer, she sees something that stops her heart—a tiny, shivering baby, wrapped in a thin, pink blanket, saved only by its loyal protector.
There’s a ferocious storm heading toward the isolated town of Coyote Cove when Chief Maggie Riley gets the call every cop dreads. Three bodies have been found on Rattlesnake Mountain, half a day’s hike from civilization. And when Maggie finally reaches the site, exhausted and freezing, she discovers something even more terrifying—a tiny baby girl, kept alive only by the warmth of a small dog who refuses to leave her side.
As Maggie races the baby to safety, she wonders, why on earth the family risked hiking the mountain in this weather? Who were they and who could possibly have killed them?
A former detective, Maggie may be an experienced investigator, but she’s still an unwelcome newcomer. Battling town prejudice, her fears for the orphaned baby, and the increasingly dangerous weather, Maggie soon discovers the case is far more complicated than she could have imagined. The family is not who they seemed. The mother has never had a baby, there’s no link between them at all. So whose baby is it, and where are they now?
With Coyote Cove cut off by the storm, Maggie knows that wherever the killer is, they won’t be able to leave. Stuck in town with a murderer on the loose, Maggie must race to find them before anyone else gets hurt. But she hasn’t counted on the killer taking matters into their own hands, and going after Maggie first…
An utterly compelling and addictive crime thriller, perfect for fans of Melinda Leigh, D.K. Hood and Lisa Regan.
Author Bio
With degrees in Crime Scene Technology & Physical Anthropology, Florida author Shannon Hollinger hasn’t just seen the dark side of humanity – she’s been elbow deep inside of it! She finds writing to be a much cleaner way to spend her time than the autopsy suite. Most days it smells better, too.
Her debut novel, the psychological thriller Best Friends Forever, is the first of a five-book deal with publisher Bookouture.
Her short fiction has appeared in Suspense Magazine, Mystery Weekly, and The Saturday Evening Post, among a number of other magazines and anthologies, and her story Lady Killer was a finalist for the 2021 Al Blanchard Award sponsored by the New England Crime Bake.
Social Media
TRIGGER WARNING: domestic violence, mental health issues
Neighbours harbouring secrets. Eileen is haunted by the past while Lucy doesn’t have the perfect life she presents to the world…
The Family Next Door is a domestic drama novel set in Ireland.
Eileen moved into her home 9 months ago but has kept herself away from others. Next door live Lucy’s family but the households have barely had contact. Lucy is desperate for another baby but her husband is vehemently against it. What lengths will he go to in order to get his own way?
The book is written from Eileen’s first person perspective which is almost chatty in style as well as a third person view to show Lucy’s experiences. I could almost hear Eileen’s accent as she narrates the events and leaves clues about her past for us to piece together.
Both main characters are hiding secrets from others and themselves. I liked both Eileen and Lucy and found myself caring about how events would play out for them. Eileen is forced to confront her past as she helps Lucy face the future and I enjoye the developing friendship between the pair.
The Family Next Door is an emotional domestic drama novel.
The Family Next Door
No one really knows what goes on behind closed doors.
On the quiet street of St Brigid’s Terrace in Dublin, Eileen Murphy lives alone at number 26 with her dog Dora. Virtually a recluse, she keeps herself to herself as she tries to come to terms with her tragic past.
Next door in number 28 lives beautiful Lucy Walsh, her husband Neil and their 5-year-old daughter Anabel. To Eileen, who watches from her window, the Walshes are the perfect family.
But one fateful night, Eileen is pulled into their world and she realises that Lucy Walsh’s life isn’t as perfect as she thought.
With the unexpected help from little Anabel, the women become a lifeline for each other to overcome the demons in their lives.
Through Eileen’s help, Lucy finds the courage to overcome her fears and in aiding Lucy, Eileen is forced to emerge from her solitary world and take baby steps to confront her own past.
As the bonds of friendship change these women forevermore will Lucy find the courage to forge a new life for herself and her daughter and will Eileen find it within herself to forgive for her old mistakes?
Author Bio –
Caroline Finnerty is an Irish author of heart-wrenching family dramas and has compiled a non-fiction charity anthology. She has been shortlisted for several short-story awards and lives in County Kildare with her husband and four young children.
Social Media Links –
Dogwalkers are notorious for discovering dead bodies. But Paul Young and Lisa the German Shepherd find a body months after finding the last one. Then they find another…and another… Coincidence or could Paul be responsible…?
The Dogwalker is the 23rd book in the DS Jason Smith detective crime thriller and police procedural series. There are lots of references to events in previous books which were fab so I would advise reading all the books in order!
DS Smith doesn’t believe in coincidence so is highly suspicious of the dogwalker who keeps finding murder victims. Women are being brutally killed but their eyes are left untouched so Smith thinks this must be significant. The murders happen in quick succession and the police are overwhelmed as they try to piece together the clues.
Smith also has personal issues to deal with as his adopted daughter is having fights at school and falling in love. Plus she knows a big secret from his past and is in danger of revealing the truth which would have catastrophic consequences.
To counterbalance the grisly murders, there is the usual banter between the police team as well as the warm teasing between Smith and Whitton. The pace is lightning quick and the twists come fast and furious. I had no idea if Smith’s intuition would be proved right that the dogwalker was involved so thought that the mystery was well maintained until the very end.
The Dogwalker is a tense and dramatic addition to this fab series.
The Dogwalker (A DS Jason Smith Thriller Book 23)
From bestselling author Stewart Giles comes another brilliant addition to the Detective Jason Smith series.
Detective Smith has lost count of how many times a murder investigation has been set in motion with a dogwalker finding a body. So, when the mutilated corpse of a woman is found by a man taking his four-legged friend for a stroll, it doesn’t sound any warning bells.
But when the same man makes a second gruesome discovery, Smith’s senses are on high alert.
When the dogwalker stumbles upon a third brutally murdered woman, Smith knows there’s more to this meek-mannered dog lover than meets the eye.
But no matter how deep he digs, Smith can’t find anything that links him to any of the victims.
Is it really a case of bizarre coincidence, or is the dogwalker going to be the one who finally outsmarts Detective Sergeant Jason Smith?
What readers are saying about THE DOGWALKER
I really can’t say how much I look forward to reading Stewarts books . There’s a warmth and depth of characters, always a cracking plot and that special something. I want to race through them but at the same time savour them like a good wine as I don’t want them to end. – Misfits Farm
Very twisty and gripping. I do hope there is more to come. I love this series. 5*. – Sue W
Book Twenty Three, and Cor Blimey!!!! This book has lots of almighty twists that I didn’t see coming. – Booklover Bev
I read a lot of crime fiction and think I am an expert in detection but this riveting plot had me baffled and got me thinking. It’s intricate, gripping and full of surprises and suspense. – Carol S
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 brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.
The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.
The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow. I also have another series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey, the Detective Liam O’Reilly series. There are also 3 stand alone novels.
Twitter: @stewartgiles
Sophie uses spreadsheets to keep her life organised. From food to places to visit, from pedicure appointments to exercise. Even her lovelife has a spreadsheet as she tries to avoid any more disasterous relationships. But she accidentally sends a copy of her spreadsheet to all her contacts and some aren’t happy at the ratings…
Was It Good For You? is a romantic comedy about a couple whose date doesn’t go well and they challenge each other to ten more dates.
Sophie has been hurt in the past and now wants to avoid time wasters. She assesses her dates on a range of elements including looks and humour. Her date with Michael does not go well and he scores a measly 2.5 out of 10. When he sees his rating on the spreadsheet, he is upset and determined to show that her method is too impersonal while she is equally determined to proved that spreadsheets are perfect.
Each chapter is split into two parts to show Sophie’s viewpoint and then Michael’s. They have both had heartache in their past and have had different ways of dealing with it. Sophie has dated lots of men but her spreadsheet tells her when to give up. Michael has hidden himself away whilst caring for his grandmother. I could see both points of view and liked both main characters so I really wanted them to end up together and happy.
Was It Good For You? is a light hearted romance novel with a gentle comedy.
Was it Good For You?
If you’re not a ten on Sophie’s spreadsheet, you’re never getting her between the bedsheets…
No aspect of Sophie’s life goes unrecorded in her Excel spreadsheets, so when she accidentally sends it to her entire contact list instead of just her best friend, Sophie has a lot of uncomfortable explaining to do.
First on the list? Dr Michael Adams. After a disastrous first date, Michael scored a ‘3’ on Sophie’s ‘love life’ tab, but when she shows up to apologise for sharing his result with the world, he issues an unexpected challenge: ten dates to prove that love can’t be calculated by an equation or contained by boxes on a spreadsheet.
Sophie isn’t someone who’s used to thinking outside the digital box, but there’s something about Michael that makes her want to take a chance…
Purchase Links
Author Bio – A former pharmacist, I now write romantic comedies; books that bring a smile to the face, but also a lump to the throat. Mr Right Across the Street won the RNA Award for Romantic Comedy in 2022.
With a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), the romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes come in many disguises.
Social Media Links –
