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The Battle of the Bookshops by Poppy Alexander #Review

  The Battle of the Bookshops by Poppy Alexander was published by Avon Books on September 25th.  A charming literary-themed novel about a young woman determined to save her great-aunt’s beloved bookshop from extinction by the shiny new competition—which also happens to be run by the handsome son of her family’s rivals. The cute, seaside town of Portneath has been the home of Capelthorne’s Books for nearly a hundred years… The shop, in the heart of a high street that stretches crookedly down the hill from the castle to the sea, may be a tad run-down these days, but to Jules Capelthorne, the wonky, dusty world of literary treasures is full of precious childhood memories. When her great-aunt Florence gets too frail to run it alone, Jules ditches her junior publishing job in London and comes home to make the bookshop’s hundredth birthday a celebration to remember. Jules quickly discovers things are worse than she ever imagined: The bookshop is close to bankruptcy, ...

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

I am delighted to be taking part in the celebrations for the paperback launch of  Antti Tuomainen's The Burning Stones. I am happy to repost my original review for the hardback edition and to offer a great giveaway of a printed copy of The Burning Stones. Details on how to enter are at the foot of this post.

 Saunas, love and a ladleful of murder…
 
A cold-blooded killer strikes at the hottest moment: the new head of a sauna-stove company is murdered … in the sauna. Who has turned up the temperature and burned him to death?
 
The evidence points in the direction of Anni Korpinen – top salesperson and the victim’s successor at Steam Devil.
 
And as if hitting middle-age, being in a marriage that has lost its purpose, and struggling with work weren’t enough, Anni realizes that she must be quicker than both the police and the murderer to uncover who is behind it all – before it’s too late…
 
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 – in middle age, suspected of murder and, of course, in a sauna…


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, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for ‘Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2011’ and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. Two years later, in 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ 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 ‘the funniest writer in Europe’.

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 26th August and there is one winner.    
 
*Terms and Conditions – 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 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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