Showing posts with label The Deaths of December. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Deaths of December. Show all posts

Tuesday, 21 November 2017

Top 5 Worst Christmas Presents by Susi Holliday

I am delighted to be today's stop on the blog tour for The Deaths of December by Susi Holliday. Today, Susi talks about the top 5 worst Christmas presents. The Deaths of December was published by Mulholland Books on 16 November 2017.


The Top 5 Worst Christmas Presents
By Susi Holliday




5. Household electrical appliances
Seriously, it’s never ok to buy someone an iron for Christmas, even if they really want one. Don’t be too surprised when they channel Little Mo in Eastenders and smack you in the face with it.

4. Out-of-date chocolate
We know you bought it in the January sales, and no we don’t think that flaky white stuff around the edge is put there on purpose to look like snow.

3. Bath salts
They smell funny, they’re gritty, they don’t dissolve properly, and honestly, how old do you think I am? Also, they are really difficult to use when you don’t have a bath.

2. Fitness DVD
What exactly are you trying to say, pal?

1. A “re-gift” to the person who gave it to you last year
Um . . . OOPS?! I totally understand you didn’t really want that ceramic lizard-shaped tea caddy but you really should’ve just thrown that thing out with the wrapping.

Avoid these disasters and play it safe with a gift of books. Or novelty socks. Because everyone loves novelty socks.

About Susi Holliday
S.J.I. (Susi) Holliday has written three crime novels set in the fictional Scottish town of Banktoun, East Lothian, which are a mix of police procedural and psychological thriller. They are: Black WoodWillow Walk and The Damselfly - all featuring the much loved character, Sergeant Davie Gray. Her festive serial killer thriller, The Deaths of December, is out now. 
When she's not rehearsing with her Slice Girl bandmates, you can find Susi on her website, on her FB page and on Twitter - @SJIHolliday

About The Deaths of December

The Deaths of December
By Susi Holliday
Published by Mulholland Books (16 November 2017)



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.

Here's a snippet of my review: 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!!

Click here to read the rest of my review.


Have you followed the Blog Tour?





Thursday, 16 November 2017

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!!!!