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A Sky Full of Stars by Fay Keenan #Review #PublicationDay

  Here we are on the outskirts of Bristol for a visit to the countryside with Fay Keenan . A Sky Full of Stars is published today by Boldwood Books on March 18th. Charlotte James prefers having her head in the stars to having her feet on the ground. Moving around for her job as an astronomical archivist gives Charlotte plenty of opportunity to avoid putting down roots. When she accepts a post in the idyllic Somerset village of Lower Brambleton to archive an old observatory before its demolition, all that is on her mind is a chance to preserve the treasures of this remarkable place and another summer without having to settle down. Tristan Ashcombe is managing the development of Observatory Field and as far as heā€™s concerned, the sooner the observatory is razed to the ground the better. The building holds complicated memories for him and his family, memories heā€™s ready to put behind him. But as Charlotteā€™s work begins to unravel mysteries from a complex past, she realises t...

The Burning Stones by Antti Tuomainen translated by Don Bartlett #Review #Giveaway

 

Welcome back to another Orenda Book Tour with Antti Tuomainen. The Burning Stones  was published by Orenda on October 24th.  I also have a print copy for you to win. Details on how to enter are at the foot of this post.

 Saunas, love and a ladleful of murderā€¦
 
A cold-blooded killer strikes at the hottest moment: the new head of a sauna-stove company is murdered ā€¦ in the sauna. Who has turned up the temperature and burned him to death?
 
The evidence points in the direction of Anni Korpinen ā€“ top salesperson and the victimā€™s successor at Steam Devil.
 
And as if hitting middle-age, being in a marriage that has lost its purpose, and struggling with work werenā€™t enough, Anni realizes that she must be quicker than both the police and the murderer to uncover who is behind it all ā€“ before itā€™s too lateā€¦
 
From the international bestselling author of The Man Who Died and The Rabbit Factor, comes a darkly funny, delightfully tense new thriller that showcases humanity at its most bare ā€“ in middle age, suspected of murder and, of course, in a saunaā€¦

My Thoughts

 Written in Antti Tuomainen's trademark style, there is plenty of black humour to be found. Having just visited Finland where I heard how ubiquitous and popular saunas are in the country, I was rather amused to find that the saunas are the setting for this crime thriller. There are plenty of suspects to be found and each one has their own backstory and personality. At first sight, the sauna company they all work at seems quite humdrum but work dynamics reveal a different story.

    At the centre, is Anni. All fingers seem to point to her in some people's ayes. However, you discover that some motivation is full of bias and fury at past scores. Anni seems surprised to be told that she is the main contender to be promoted to manage the company. As the story evolves, you do see her reappraise her capabilities and work through changes which she needs to bring in in her personal life. Her relationship with her husband is stale and spent. A past relationship also rears its head and you find out that Anni has a closely guarded secret which threatens her relationship. This is a tightly plotted crime thriller which entertains as well as intrigues.

In short: a cast of suspects to entertain 

About the Author

Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, Tuomainenā€™s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for ā€˜Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2011ā€™ and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. Two years later, in 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ā€˜King of Helsinki Noirā€™ when Dark as My Heart was published. With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died (2017) became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach Finland (2018) was an immense success, with The Times calling Tuomainen ā€˜the funniest writer in Europeā€™.


You can follow Antti here: Website   |  Twitter   |  Instagram
                                           | Facebook  

Book links: Amazon UK
 

Thanks to Antti Tuomainen, Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater of Orenda Books for a copy of the book and a place on the Blog Tour.
 
Check out these great bloggers! 


Giveaway (UK only)


To win a print copy of The Burning Stones just Follow and Retweet the pinned tweet at @bookslifethings and good luck!
 
Closing date is October 26th 2024 and there is one winner.    
 
*Terms and Conditions ā€“ UK only.  The winner will be selected at random via a random retweet selector from all valid entries and will be notified by X (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 winnersā€™ 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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