Violet by SJI Holliday - resharing my review!

I loved Violet by SJI Holliday so much that I'm sharing my review again today. If you visit SJI Holliday's website blog here, you can see photos from 'Violet's journey'. The book is set on the Trans-Siberian Express. SJI Holliday took this journey herself in 2006 and, for 30 days in September to October this year, shared photos of locations that feature in her book.

And here's my review:

Violet 
By SJI Holliday
Published by Orenda Books (E-book - 14 September 2019; Paperback - 14 November 2019)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

Publisher's description

When two strangers end up sharing a cabin on the Trans-Siberian Express, an intense friendship develops, one that can only have one ending … a nerve-shattering psychological thriller from bestselling author SJI Holliday

Carrie's best friend has an accident and can no longer make the round-the-world trip they'd planned together, so Carrie decides to go it alone. 

Violet is also travelling alone, after splitting up with her boyfriend in Thailand. She is also desperate for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express, but there is nothing available.

When the two women meet in a Beijing Hotel, Carrie makes the impulsive decision to invite Violet to take her best friend's place.

Thrown together in a strange country, and the cramped cabin of the train, the women soon form a bond. But as the journey continues, through Mongolia and into Russia, things start to unravel – because one of these women is not who she claims to be…

My verdict
If you follow my reviews, you'll know that I love SJI Holliday's books. Violet is set to be one of my favourite reads of this year.

Violet was great fun to read - there's mystery, humour and intrigue on every page. The writing is beautiful and compelling. The plot is creepy, chilling and clever - and very dark and very twisted.
It's what I often call a 'car crash book'. When you know something bad is going to happen but you have no idea what, and there's obviously nothing you can do to stop it. And then, BAM, it all hits you.

I could tell that the author has first-hand experience of the Trans-Siberian Express journey, from all of the tiny descriptive details, and I suspect that the book was a highly personal one to write. Maybe not the best book to read when your 18-year-old son is interrailing around Europe, but fortunately my son came back safely in one piece - unlike some of the characters in this book!

SJI Holliday has written two believable and deeply flawed unreliable narrators. I had no idea which one was to be trusted, if either of them. I read the book with bated breath - and wanted to applaud the author's brilliance at the end.

I don't often 'compare' books as it's not something I'm very good at, and reading is such a subjective experience anyway. But immediately I thought of Liz Nugent's Skin Deep - both books featuring an in-depth analysis of a female psychopath.

SJI Holliday is proving to be a master of psychological thrillers, with expert plotting and fabulous characterisation. Brilliant stuff! 

Follow the Blog Tour

Violet by SJI Holliday

Violet 
By SJI Holliday
Published by Orenda Books (E-book - 14 September 2019; Paperback - 14 November 2019)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

Publisher's description

When two strangers end up sharing a cabin on the Trans-Siberian Express, an intense friendship develops, one that can only have one ending … a nerve-shattering psychological thriller from bestselling author SJI Holliday

Carrie's best friend has an accident and can no longer make the round-the-world trip they'd planned together, so Carrie decides to go it alone. 

Violet is also travelling alone, after splitting up with her boyfriend in Thailand. She is also desperate for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express, but there is nothing available.

When the two women meet in a Beijing Hotel, Carrie makes the impulsive decision to invite Violet to take her best friend's place.

Thrown together in a strange country, and the cramped cabin of the train, the women soon form a bond. But as the journey continues, through Mongolia and into Russia, things start to unravel – because one of these women is not who she claims to be…

My verdict
If you follow my reviews, you'll know that I love SJI Holliday's books. Violet is set to be one of my favourite reads of this year.

Violet was great fun to read - there's mystery, humour and intrigue on every page. The writing is beautiful and compelling. The plot is creepy, chilling and clever - and very dark and very twisted.
It's what I often call a 'car crash book'. When you know something bad is going to happen but you have no idea what, and there's obviously nothing you can do to stop it. And then, BAM, it all hits you.

I could tell that the author has first-hand experience of the Trans-Siberian Express journey, from all of the tiny descriptive details, and I suspect that the book was a highly personal one to write. Maybe not the best book to read when your 18-year-old son is interrailing around Europe, but fortunately my son came back safely in one piece - unlike some of the characters in this book!

SJI Holliday has written two believable and deeply flawed unreliable narrators. I had no idea which one was to be trusted, if either of them. I read the book with bated breath - and wanted to applaud the author's brilliance at the end.

I don't often 'compare' books as it's not something I'm very good at, and reading is such a subjective experience anyway. But immediately I thought of Liz Nugent's Skin Deep - both books featuring an in-depth analysis of a female psychopath.

SJI Holliday is proving to be a master of psychological thrillers, with expert plotting and fabulous characterisation. Brilliant stuff! 

Violet by SJI Holliday - cover reveal!

Today, I'm delighted and excited to be hosting a cover reveal for Violet by SJI Holliday, which is being published by Orenda Books in November 2019.

SJI (or rather, Susi) Holliday is a favourite author of mine, as many people will know. I was mesmerised by her last book, The Lingering, on my way back from Harrogate last year. 
So I can't wait to read this new one. 

Before I show you the cover of Violet, you must read the blurb. 

*drum roll*

Violet: Read the blurb

Carrie's best friend has an accident and can no longer make the round-the-world trip they'd planned together, so Carrie decides to go it alone. 

Violet is also travelling alone, after splitting up with her boyfriend in Thailand. She is also desperate for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express, but there is nothing available. 

When the two women meet in a Beijing Hotel, Carrie makes the impulsive decision to invite Violet to take her best friend's place.

Thrown together in a strange country, and the cramped cabin of the train, the women soon form a bond. But as the journey continues, through Mongolia and into Russia, things start to unravel – because one of these women is not who she claims to be…
A tense and twisted psychological thriller about obsession, manipulation and toxic friendships, Violet also reminds us that there's a reason why mother told us not to talk to strangers…

Sounds brilliant, doesn't it?! 
I can't wait to read it - Susi is such a great writer and Violet sounds like yet another chilling read.   

AND NOW.... *drum roll*

Are you ready????

Violet: View the cover

Isn't this amazing? Clue: try standing on your head. 
If you've seen the cover of The Lingering, you'll see how well these two covers will sit alongside one another. If you haven't seen The Lingering, check out the cover and buy the book too! 

Violet: Read about author SJI (Susi) Holliday

S.J.I. (Susi) Holliday is a scientist, writing coach and the bestselling author of five crime novels, including the Banktoun Trilogy (Black Wood, Willow Walk and The Damselfly), the festive chiller The Deaths of December and her creepy Gothic psychological thriller The Lingering. Her short story Home From Home was published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and shortlisted for the CWA Margery Allingham Prize. Encapsulating her love of travel and claustrophobic settings, her latest novel, Violet, explores toxic friendships and the perils of talking to strangers. All of her novels have been UK ebook number-one bestsellers. Susi was born and raised in Scotland and now divides her time between Edinburgh, London and as many other exciting places that she can fit in.

Find Susi Holliday via her website, through her Facebook page and on Twitter - @SJIHolliday

For ALL of your Orenda news, visit the Orenda website and follow @OrendaBooks on Twitter.

Susi Holliday's spooky holiday snaps!

I am delighted to be today's stop on the blog tour for The Lingering by S.J.I. (Susi) Holliday. I love looking at Susi's holiday posts on social media, as she's been to some fascinating (and often scary-looking) places. So I asked her if she would share some of her spookiest destinations on Off-the-Shelf Books today. The Lingering was published by Orenda Books on 15 November 2018.

Susi Holliday's spooky holiday snaps!

Growing up near Edinburgh, there was never any shortage of eerie places to discover in my youth – the old town streets are oozing with dark history, especially Mary King’s Close - the street full of plague victims that was blocked off – while all the inhabitants were still alive; and Greyfriars Kirkyard – the most haunted graveyard in the world – where George ‘Bloody’ Mackenzie imprisoned the covenanters and left them there to die. So, with that morbid history imprinted on me from the start, it’s no great surprise that I developed a fascination with the creepy and macabre on my travels… here’s a small selection of my favourites.

A scary Mexican saloon

No Scum Allowed Saloon’ – a bar in White Oaks, New Mexico. Once a mining community, and now officially a ghost town, this place was once frequented by Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. We stayed in a dilapidated mobile home on an old rock mine… and didn’t sleep a wink. 

Eerie desert sands

On the same trip, we visited White Sands National Monument – an eerie desert of gypsum and calcium sands, bordering the White Sands Missile Range, where they tested the first atomic bomb.

Haunting Chinese memorial

Nanjing Massacre Museum, China – a haunting place filled with the bones of the dead. I found out about it after reading Mo Hayder’s book ‘Tokyo’ and became fascinated by a dark period of history that I had previously known nothing about. This led me to read Iris Chang’s book ‘The Rape of Nanking’ – and it was only when I saw the memorial to her here that I found out that she had committed suicide two years earlier, purportedly haunted by her research.

Statues of remembrance

Jizo Statues, Kamakura, Japan – another thing I learned about in Mo Hayder’s book – these are statues to remember unborn babies. It is believed that as the babies did not have the chance to build up good karma on earth, Jizo helps smuggle the children into the afterlife in the sleeves of his robe. Beautiful concept, but chilling, nonetheless.

Gothic Yorkshire ruins 

Whitby Abbey, Yorkshire – classic gothic pilgrimage spot, famous for being the place where Dracula came ashore as ‘a large dog’ and proceeded to climb the 199 steps which lead up to the ruins. The steps are a bit of a challenge, but it’s a must-do to get the full experience. There’s a youth hostel attached to the abbey, which is still on my ‘must-stay’ list.

Dracula's Transylvanian castle

Bran Castle, Transylvania – the famous ‘Dracula’s Castle’ – very difficult to get to, and while it’s a fascinating place, the journey there via a (possibly) psychotic Romanian taxi driver was more frightening than Bram Stoker’s book, the true story of Vlad the Impaler, and the tourist-eating brown bears that roam the mountains, all put together.

Czech church of bones

Kutna Hora Ossuary, Czech Republic – a church full of bones, apparently decorated by a mad monk… again, while the place itself was quite eerie, it was far more chilling walking the streets of this almost deserted town in the Czech countryside.

Creepy Cornwall moors

The Jamaica Inn, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall – nothing much to report during the day, although walking across the moor in the fog is quite an experience – but come night-time, when the bus parties of cream-tea tourists have departed, this place is more than a little creepy… another place where I didn’t sleep a wink!

            

About S.J.I. (Susi) Holliday

S.J.I. (Susi) Holliday is a pharmaceutical statistician by day and a crime and horror fan by night. Her short stories have been published in many places and she was shortlisted for the inaugural CWA Margery Allingham prize with her story ‘Home from Home’, which was published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in spring 2017. She is the bestselling author of the creepy and claustrophobic Banktoun trilogy (Black Wood, Willow Walk and The Damselfly) featuring the much-loved Sergeant Davie Gray, and has dabbled in festive crime with the critically acclaimed The Deaths of December. Her latest psychological thriller is modern gothic with more than a hint of the supernatural, which she loved writing due to her fascination and fear of ghosts. She is proud to be one of The Slice Girls has been described by David Mark as 'Dark as a smoker's lung.' She divides her time between Edinburgh and London and you will find her at crime-fiction events in the UK and abroad. 

Find S.J.I Holliday on Facebook, on her website and on Twitter - @SJIHolliday

About The Lingering

The Lingering

By S.J.I. Holliday

Published by Orenda Books (15 November 2018)

Publisher's description

Married couple Jack and Ali Gardiner move to a self-sufficient commune in the English Fens, desperate for fresh start. The local village is known for the witches who once resided there and Rosalind House, where the commune has been established, is a former psychiatric home, with a disturbing history.
When Jack and Ali arrive, a chain of unexpected and unexplained events is set off, and it becomes clear that they are not all that they seem. As the residents become twitchy, and the villagers suspicious, events from the past come back to haunt them, and someone is seeking retribution...


Here's a snippet from my review: 'Susi Holliday has created a brilliant combination of psychological thriller and ghostly mystery - a 'chiller thriller' or 'ghostly noir'.'

Read my full review here.

Follow the Blog Tour

Crime Fiction Coach - a new service from four leading crime authors!!

Writing fiction can be a daunting experience, and many writers (unpublished and published) often welcome a helping hand.

Thanks to four brilliant, experienced crime fiction authors -
Steph Broadribb, Susi Holliday, AK Benedict & Louise Voss -
there's a new coaching service focusing specifically on writing crime fiction. 

Crime Fiction Coach can help you through all stages of the writing process:

• gathering together your thoughts and ideas
• finding the writing process that works for you
• keeping you motivated
• writing a first draft
• wading through the editing process
• offering honest constructive critique
• creating a polished manuscript to submit to agents and publishers. 

I've been fortunate enough to gather these four authors together to find out more about Crime Fiction Coach and how it can provide advice, guidance and support.

Why did the four of you set up Crime Fiction Coach - and did anything in particular prompt this decision?
We set up Crime Fiction Coach because we know what it's like to be just starting out writing your first novel, or having written a novel not being sure what to do next, and we wanted to make a place for those people to come and get advice and support. We also wanted to create something that is flexible to individual needs - yes we do standard coaching programmes, critiques and writing packages, but we also recognise that everyone is different and so we can create a programme or package that's tailored for a person's needs if our standard services aren't hitting the spot.

Who is Crime Fiction Coach aimed at?
Crime Fiction Coach is aimed at people who want to write, whether they're at the very start of their writing project (or not sure how to start) all the way through to getting their final draft and submission package ready for agents and publishers. 

Do you think writing crime fiction requires additional or different skills to writing in other genres?
If we’re talking commercial genre fiction overall, then the elements are quite similar – bestselling books are generally hooky, well-paced and written in a way that makes you want to keep turning the pages. Crime fiction does have some additional elements – namely suspense, mystery and often psychological elements of both the good and the bad guys. If you’re writing commercial fiction of any sort, then your main aim has to be to keep the reader hooked throughout. In crime, it’s about that, plus leaving clues, red herrings and creating satisfying ways to murder people that serve as entertainment rather than purely exploitative gore. Also, there are so many sub-genres of crime fiction, that it’s often the case that you read a book that is not billed as crime, but still contains many similar elements. I think the four of us specialise in crime because we prefer the darker side of storytelling. 

Why are the four of you ideal for the job?! 

Steph Broadribb

"I write two series - one US set action thriller, and one UK police procedural - and have a background in coaching. I'm passionate about working with writers at all stages of their journey and use a range of coaching techniques to help you free your creative thinking and move forward to achieve your ambition. I love a fast-paced page turner and my strength is in supporting writers who are writing for the commercial fiction market."




Susi Holliday

"I’m still juggling a day job with writing and other commitments, so I know how hard it is to find the time to write and stay motivated when you feel under pressure – this is something that I think I can help others to work out in their own way, to make sure you stay on track with everything and don’t get totally overwhelmed."








AK Benedict

"I have over ten years' experience in coaching writers, guiding them from their tentative first drafts to finished, often published, novel or script."











Louise Voss

"We all have different strengths so whatever your writing issue, we have no doubts that one of us will be able to fix it. Personally, I love to help people bring their characters to life using great dialogue and vivid detail."









What are you offering that other critique services don’t?
There are lots of great companies offering manuscript critique services, agent submission package critique, feedback on partial and full novels – we do offer those things – but for us the focus is more about helping people along the way. The coaching element is our unique selling point. Whether you are a complete beginner and don’t know where to start, or you’ve written for a while but haven’t secured a deal yet, we can help you. Our aim is to guide you through the things that are holding you back, whether it’s time, ideas, being blocked, lacking in confidence – whatever it might be – these are the things that we are passionate about helping you with.

Thanks for the insight into Crime Fiction Coach, Steph, Susi, AK and Louise!! 

And good luck with what looks to be a fabulous service.

Visit the Crime Fiction Coach Website here to learn more and join the mailing list. 

You can also join the Crime Fiction Coach online writing group on Facebook (click here).

The Deaths of December by Susi Holliday

The Deaths of December
By Susi Holliday
Published by Mulholland Books (16 November 2017)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher.

Publisher's description

The hunt is on for a serial killer in a thrilling festive crime novel.

It looks like a regular advent calendar. 

Until DC Becky Greene starts opening doors...and discovers a crime scene behind almost every one. 

The police hope it's a prank. Because if it isn't, a murderer has just surfaced - someone who's been killing for twenty years. 

But why now? And why has he sent it to this police station? 

As the country relaxes into festive cheer, Greene and DS Eddie Carmine must race against time to catch the killer. Because there are four doors left, and four murders will fill them...

It's shaping up to be a deadly little Christmas. 

My verdict
I'm a great fan of Susi (SJI) Holliday's writing, having enjoyed her Banktoun series - Black Wood, Willow Walk and The Damselfly. So I was very excited to read her new book, The Deaths of December. 

This is a police procedural with a Christmas theme. Someone has sent negatives of crime scenes in an advent calendar to the police. I loved the new characters - DC Becky Greene and DS Eddie Carmine - who have to figure out whether this is a prank or if there's a serial killer on the loose. I have no idea if this is the start of a new series, but I really hope it is, as I'd love to watch them develop.

The Deaths of December is definitely Susi Holliday's best one yet. It reads very differently from her others, proving the flexibility of her writing skills. I feel like I've watched her grow as an author over the last couple of years. This chilling book has a great twisty plot, with a race against the clock, and is lots of fun (in a sinister murderous kinda way). It also has realistic dialogue and great descriptive writing. It kept me guessing and I couldn't put it down.

I have to be honest - I don't 'do' Christmas, not in the way most other people do (please don't hate me for writing that). And I don't read Christmas-themed fiction. Or rather, the only Christmas-themed fiction I usually read involves crime, thrills and... erm... murder.

So The Deaths of December was a perfectly wrapped festive read for me. And I'm sure it will be a perfect Christmas stocking filler for other crime fiction fans too. Buy it!!!!

The Damselfly by SJI Holliday

I am delighted to be today's stop on the blog tour for The Damselfly by SJI Holliday. The Damselfly is published TODAY by Black & White Publishing. Here's my review...

The Damselfly
By SJI Holliday
Published by Black & White Publishing (2 February 2017)
ISBN: 978-1785300875

Publisher's description

An unsolved murder. A community turned against each other. A killer close to home...

Katie Taylor is the perfect student. She is bright, funny, and has a boyfriend who adores her. She’s just had a very handy windfall of cash, and there are only a few months left of school before she can swap the small town of Banktoun for the bright lights of London. But she doesn’t make it that far...

Because Katie is dead.

Polly McAllister has left her husband and returned to Banktoun to make amends. She wants to start afresh with the father of her unborn child – but she’s got to tell him, first. She’s thrown in at the deep end with her job as school counsellor, and it’s not long before she uncovers a multitude of murky secrets.

Katie had enemies. Katie’s boyfriend is not so squeaky clean.

DC Louise Jennings has a crush on a colleague: her new partner. Fresh from training, Detective Sergeant Davie Gray must work with Jennings to unravel the latest dark mystery in a town blighted by tragedy.

Katie’s brother has a mysterious friend. But it’s OK. He’s only imaginary. Isn’t he?

With the community enveloped in angry turmoil, Gray and Jennings must find out who murdered Katie, before someone takes matters into their own hands.

Trial by social media. A baying mob.

But they’ve got the wrong man...

Because the real killer is closer than you think.

My verdict
The Damselfly is intense, unsettling, gripping and dark. I loved the first two books in the Banktoun series - Black Wood and Willow Walk - and have found each book to be even better than the last. This could easily be read as a standalone but I would recommend them all.

Yet again, the author tackles everyday contemporary issues, this time focusing on teenage lives in a small Scottish town. The story is narrated by several voices - all are believable yet with very different points of view. Each character has their own backstory, which creates a multi-layered plot. I love how the author takes some characters from her previous books - it's like coming back to some old friends each time. I certainly love Sergeant Davie Gray!

The book played with my mind and kept me guessing all the way through. It's a rollercoaster read, right until the shocking heart-stopping ending. But of course, it's not just about twists and turns. The Damselfly is well written and well plotted, with an atmospheric small town feel.

The Damselfly is the last book in the series - but I'm (really) hoping we'll see some of these characters again. I 'may' have to stalk/badger/bribe/plead with the author just to make sure (or at least try)!

I received an Advance Reader Copy

Follow the Blog Tour

Black Wood by SJI Holliday - BLOG TOUR

I am delighted to be today's stop on the BLOG TOUR for SJI Holliday's Black Wood, which was published in paperback on 19 March 2015 by Black & White Publishing.


Black Wood
By SJI Holliday
Published by Black & White Publishing (Kindle edition - 24 February 2015; Paperback - 19 March 2015)
ISBN: 978-1-84502-953-1

Publisher's description
Something happened to Claire and Jo in Black Wood: something that left Claire paralysed and Jo with deep mental scars. But with Claire suffering memory loss and no evidence to be found, nobody believes Jo's story.

Twenty-three years later, a familiar face walks into the bookshop where Jo works, dredging up painful memories and rekindling her desire for vengeance. And at the same time, Sergeant Davie Gray is investigating a balaclava-clad man who is attacking women on a disused railway, shocking the sleepy village of Banktoun. But what is the connection between Jo's visitor and the masked man?

To catch an assailant, and to give Jo her long-awaited justice, Gray must unravel a tangled web of past secrets, broken friendships and tainted love. But can he crack the case before Jo finds herself with blood on her hands?

My verdict
Black Wood is set in a small sleepy village not far from Edinburgh. This is an ideal setting for a psychological thriller with dark secrets at its root. SJI Holliday has captured village life beautifully, with astute observations of the village inhabitants and graphic descriptions of the local surroundings. Everyone wants to know each other's business, especially the town busybody, yet the villagers still have secrets to hide. Strangers get noticed and treated with suspicion, but they are not always the ones to watch.

The story centres around what happened to Jo and Claire in Black Wood all those years ago. A vicious attack by two boys left both of their lives in tatters. Jo is a complex character, shaped by both her childhood and the events on that fateful day - she is confused, distrustful and psychologically damaged. Claire was left paralysed, but tries desperately to get on with her life. She is unable to remember what happened in Black Wood and prefers to leave it that way.

SJI Holliday has written an atmospheric thriller with intriguing characters. She cleverly weaves past and present together to gradually expose chilling secrets. This is a well-written tale of discovery, revenge and deception. Various twists and turns lead the reader off track, resulting in stunning revelations at the end.

SJI Holliday is one to watch - this is an excellent debut.

I received this from the publisher as an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Follow the tour

Visit shazsbookboudoir.blogspot.co.uk tomorrow (25 March 2015)