My thanks go out to Orenda Books for the chance to be on the blog tour for Simone Buchholtz's The Acapulco which was published on 13th April. This is the first book featuring Chastity Riley. You can read my reviews of more in the series Blue Night here Beton Rouge here Mexico Street here and Hotel Cartagena here and River Clyde here,For the chance to win a print copy of The Acapulco see the foot of this post for details.
A serial killer is on the loose in Hamburg, targeting
dancers from The Acapulco, a club in the city's red-light district, taking
their scalps as gruesome trophies and replacing them with plastic wigs.
Chastity Riley is the state prosecutor responsible for
crimes in the district, and she's working alongside the police as they
investigate. Can she get inside the mind of the killer?
Her strength is thinking like a criminal; her weaknesses are
pubs, bars and destructive relationships, but as Chastity searches for love and
a flamboyant killer – battling her demons and the dark, foggy Hamburg weather –
she hits dead end after dead end.
As panic sets in and the death toll rises, it becomes
increasingly clear that it may already be too late. For everyone…
My Thoughts
Having read several Chastity Riley stories, I was very interested to read the first in the series, when her character was introduced. She is quite a complicated character with a full backstory and an even more complicated present life. Keeping herself in her own space, Carla is one of her only friends. You find yourself wondering why her instincts are to shut people out and to avoid intimacy and need to look at her younger years for the answers. In her role as state prosecutor she shows tenacity and courage but you also feel her horror at the crimes she investigates. You also sense that her relationship with her father has affected how she relates to people, especially men.
Hamburg is a sombre setting for the story which takes us into all the shadowy areas on the edge of society. This adds to the sense of foreboding at what is to come. I found the writing to be accessible and succinct, showing the horror of the situation without overly flowery descriptions. It is clear and to the point. Rachel Ward has done a great job in her rather elegant translation which flows from start to finish.
In short: one death leads to another…
About the Author
Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972. At university,
she studied Philosophy and Literature, worked as a waitress and a columnist,
and trained to be a journalist at the prestigious Henri-Nannen-School in
Hamburg. In 2016, Simone Buchholz was awarded the Crime Cologne Award, and
second place in the German Crime Fiction Prize, for Blue Night, which was
number one on the KrimiZEIT Best of Crime List for months. She lives in Sankt
Pauli, in the heart of Hamburg, with her husband and son.
Thanks to Simone, Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater of Orenda Books for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Check out these brilliant bloggers!
To win a print copy of The Acapulco, just Follow and Retweet the pinned Tweet at @bookslifethings and good luck!
Closing Date is 19th April 2023
and there is one winner.
*Terms and Conditions –UK only. The winner will be selected at
random via Tweetdraw from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right
to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the
competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with
third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed
to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize. I am not
responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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