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Death at the Village Christmas Fair by Debbie Young #Review #CotswoldCuriosityShopMysteriesBook3 #PublicationDay

  I am delighted to feature this cozy crime novel, Death at the Village Christmas Fair  by Debbie Young . It is published today by Boldwood Books on August 16th.   It’s been a busy year for Alice Carroll, with her Curiosity Shop opening for business, and not one but two murders shaking things up in her quaint Cotswold village. She’s looking forward to her first countryside Christmas, complete with traditional Christmas Fair and Santa Run. But her hopes for innocent festive fun are thwarted when one of the Santa Runners steals something from her mum's knitting stall. His festive outfit makes him hard to spot, until he's found fatally injured outside the village hall with the stolen item. Despite what the police say, Alice suspects there's more to his murder than meets the eye. She's determined to solve the mystery - including why, once more, a stranger thought something from her Curiosity Shop was worth killing for. With the help of her charming neighbour Rob...

The Golden Orphans by Gary Raymond #TheGoldenOrphans @GaryRaymond_ @parthianbooks ** Blog Tour Review**

Welcome to today's stop on the Blog Tour for The Golden Orphans by Gary Raymond

The Golden Orphans offers a new twist on the literary thriller.


Within the dark heart of an abandoned city, on an island once torn by betrayal and war, lies a terrible secret…

Francis Benthem is a successful artist; he's created a new life on an island in the sun. He works all night, painting the dreams of his mysterious Russian benefactor, Illy Prostakov. He writes letters to old friends and students back in cold, far away London. But now Francis Benthem is found dead. The funeral is planned and his old friend from art school arrives to finish what Benthem had started. The painting of dreams on a faraway island. But you can also paint nightmares and Illy has secrets of his own that are not ready for the light. Of promises made and broken, betrayal and murder...

My Thoughts

The Golden Orphans is one of those books which draws you into its web and slowly paints a picture with some tantalizing details and a few red herrings. Set in Cyprus, we are presented with an island which has been partitioned after warfare and where the locals feel marginalised and as if they are outsiders in their own homeland. This is an atmospheric story where you feel that no one is quite who they seem. It was only after finishing the book and trying to refresh my memory as to the narrator's name that I realised that he is never named. It didn't seem important at the time.  

    It is only halfway through the story that you realise the significance of the title. This sums up much of the story for me. The island is full of secrets and half-truths. You are never quite sure how free the narrator is to move about. Every step he takes seems to be observed covertly. Beautifully crafted with a fluent style, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel which provided surprise after surprise as the story developed.

In short: An atmospheric and mysterious read.
 
About the Author


Gary Raymond is a novelist, critic, editor and broadcaster. He is The Review Show, and is one of the founding editors of Wales Arts Review. He is the author of two novels, The Amazon Author PageGolden Orphans (Parthian, 2018) and For Those Who Come After (Parthian, 2015). He is a widely published critic and cultural commentator.
the presenter of BBC Radio Wales',



You can follow Gary here:  Twitter  |  Amazon Author Page

 Book links: Amazon UK   |  Amazon US   |  Waterstones 
                  |  Barnes & Noble   |  Kobo   |  Book Depository  

Thanks to Gary Raymond, Parthian Books and Emma Welton of Damppebbles Blog Tours for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.

                                                         Check out the rest of the tour!


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