#ADGIFTED book given in return for an honest opinion and review. I choose my favourite authors and genres whenever possible.

Silence on the Island: A Detective Liam O’Reilly Mystery (DI Liam O’Reilly mysteries Book 7)

From bestselling author, Stewart Giles, comes a new addition to the brilliant Detective Liam O’Reilly series.
January on the island of Guernsey is grim. It’s dark and depressing. Detective Liam O’Reilly expected as much.

What O’Reilly didn’t bargain for was the eerie silence on the island in the dead of winter.

And when an old lady disappears from a care home and reappears, dead on the grave of a soldier who died 80 years ago, O’Reilly has absolutely no idea what to think.

When more old people are found, murdered amongst the tombs of these dead soldiers, and O’Reilly is met with silence everywhere he turns, he really has no idea why these people had to die.

Then he finally hears the truth.

But it is a truth that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

What readers are saying about SILENCE ON THE ISLAND
Stewart Giles gives the reader so much to think, laugh and peruse about, as well as a top rate murder investigation to solve with a first class ending. Highly recommended. – Carol
A cleverly crafted plot line to keep the grey matter active right through, just how I like it. A wonderful read, highly recommended. – Misfits Farm
It is a perplexing case for Liam and his team and I just wanted to keep reading to find out who was the crook. The characters are a mix of personalities and they really add to the story. There is humour throughout too which is great. – Maureen
Riveting chapters will keep you engrossed figuring out the mystery. Following the maze-like twists and turns will keep you guessing until the surprising conclusion you’ll never see coming. – Lena
BOOKS BY STEWART GILES

STANDALONE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS
The Ghostwriter
The Guests

DS JASON SMITH SERIES
Book 0.5 – Phobia
Book 1 – Smith
Book 2 – Boomerang
Book 3 – Ladybird
Book 4 – Occam’s Razor
Book 5 – Harlequin
Book 6 – Selene
Book 7 – Horsemen
Book 8 – Unworthy
Book 9 – Venom
Book 10 – Severed
Book 11 – Demons
Book 12 – Deadeye
Book 13 – Motive
Book 14 – Australia
Book 16 – Wishbone
Book 17 – Ghosts
Book 18 – Scarecrow

DI O’REILLY MYSTERIES
Book 1 – Blood on the Island
Book 2 – Lies on the Island
Book 3 – Fear on the Island
Book 4 – Malice on the Island
Book 5 – Revenge on the Island
Book 6 – Christmas on the Island
Book 7 – Silence on the Island

DC HARRIET TAYLOR SERIES
Book 1-The Beekeeper
Book 2-The Perfect Murder
Book 3-The Backpacker
Trotterdown a box set of DC Harriet Taylor books 1-3

DS JASON SMITH &DC HARRIET TAYLOR SERIES
Book 1 – The Enigma
Book 2 – Dropzone
Book 3 – The Raven Girl
Trilogy: The DS Smith & Harriet Taylor box set

THE MIRANDA TRILOGY (psychological thrillers)
Miranda
Mistress
Medusa
STAND-ALONE HORROR
The Divide

Stewart Giles – Author Bio

After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.
In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later.
3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series.
The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.
I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results. I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018.
After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.
The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.
The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow with book 17 now available. In addition, I have a new series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey. The first 7 books in the Detective Liam O’Reilly series are now available. There are also 3 stand alone novels.

Website: http://www.stewartgiles.com
Twitter: @stewartgiles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stewart.giles.33

My Review This is surely my 10th book I’ve read by Stewart Giles, and while I get a sense of familiarity in characters, nothing is ever stale, or over done, so it feels fresh and new like the first one I’ve picked up.

Finding bodies in cemeteries felt familiar somehow, I’m sure I’ve just read a book that had that in it, so that confused me for a while, I ended up questioning myself have I read this before. But no I hadn’t. It soon drifted into a plot I hadn’t had before, and it’s set in Guernsey.

Characters are now perfectly padded out and like family at this point, you can predict their behaviour and almost think like them. That’s a bonus of reading an author you truly enjoy and look forward too.

Plenty of twists to keep you on the edge of your seat, and burning the candle at both ends to finish.

After an epic night Friday we woke (barely slept) and went off to hunt for coffee and a freshen up. Shrewsbury has a beautiful river to walk along, and a dingle to walk around.

It’s super peaceful and relaxing, we decide to hang around here for far longer than I had originally thought we would.

Heal is open at midday but we decide to take a little longer in resting before we head off again, as I’ve got hip pain and back pain. Even though I’m taking more pain relief and using my walking stick 100% of the time.

I hid my stick behind me, so fed up of it in photos

We visited the lost village part of the festival, where belly dancing, yoga, meditation and drumming were the norm. It was a beautiful area, muggy weather so sticky at times. I wish bodily I wasn’t as broken as I was, as it makes it hard to enjoy as much as you want too. There was barely any chairs for us to sit on.

We ended back in the tent where it began, and we loved it. I would definitely do it again, but I’m going to need a long time to recover from this. Cramp set in while I was sleeping and omg the leg is so painful.

Friday teatime we arrive at Shrewsbury for some drum n bass music from the legend that is Nicky Blackmarket, and top man General Levy.

We soon settle in and it’s quiet at first as the main day is tomorrow, so main stage and a few stalls are being set up ready.

After having an amazing evening, it’s soon 11pm and it’s all over for tonight, time to get some sleep in our sleeping bags and hope the hip behaves tomorrow.

Not much sleep was had sadly, road was quite busy. We had little naps until around 9am, and then it was off to find some coffee.

I swear we get 2 lovely boiling hot days, and then bam it’s over. And in the time of boiling hot days you panic buy the summer clothes, and book all the summer events. Half way through the year and I can count on one hand how many really nice days we’ve had.

Got some lovely flowers popping up from my wild flower seeds so that’s lovely. But my goodness it’s been too windy for drone flying, chilly for sitting out, and wet for beachy days. Can you believe we’ve seen the beach once so far this year and that was back in March!!

Roll on 13th July when we go camping with friends, fingers crossed for good weather. So it’s Festival day today and tomorrow, with Yoga, Reiki, Drumming and Tibetan Singing Bowls as well as 4 zones of music from Reggae, Dance, Indy and Techno. I’ve been looking forward to this all week. But I’ll be packing a rain coat and hoodie for sure, as this weather is unpredictable.

Will the hip behave itself this weekend, I sure hope it does.

Getting ourselves ready for a Wellbeing and Music festival on Friday/Saturday so I’m not over doing the physiotherapy exercises, but I’ve done 3 sessions so far, with rest time too. They seem to flare the thigh up, but rest and hot water bottles does control it, and it goes down again soon enough. I haven’t had more than 1 tramadol and 2 paracetamol on most days. I will say it still hurts to do the most basic Heel to Butt slide on the bed. Will this ever get better? 😭 Not feeling too hopeful that the injection has worked really.

Managed to make some jewellery which I don’t do often due to my hands. But it felt good to get some pieces done.

These are my favourite as they are Chalice Well charms, so remind me of Glastonbury and our trips there.

The festival will be a good amount of walking and standing, so I’m keen not to overload and flare it up beforehand. I will be taking my walking stick and I will be increasing pain relief as well.

Wondering if after this week I can get my Bosu ball back out? Next official physio appointment is 13th July, the day we go camping, so aiming to go to that, then set off for camping immediately. They will obviously be able to guide me better once I’m seen. Not clue if the ROH want to see me, or when. Maybe in August when I’m coming up to my 1yr post op anniversary.

It’s now been 13 days since the Psoas injection so I think it’s time to start some physio at home. But what to do for the best?

Over the weekend I did some Sit to Stand 10 reps X 2, Wall plank 30 second hold X 2, Sitting down lateral arm raises 20 reps X 2, Wall push ups 10 reps X 2 and Wall deadbugs 10 reps X 2. These felt ok, the deadbugs being the worse, and it did flare up a bit. However the knee did come up smoother and higher than it has done.

I thought as it’s Monday, fresh week and almost 2 weeks since the injection. I would add in some hip bridges, and clam exercises.

Just adding 10 reps for now, felt good and strong doing these.

10 reps, these I’ve never felt so weak at doing. Felt at my worst! Like early days recovery. Definitely a massive weak point.

It does flare up doing the movements, still deadbug and now clam are the weakest. But hot water bottles does make it feel better along with rest.

Pain is localised over front of thigh at the top, and then just above the knee too.

#ADGIFTED all opinions are my own in exchange for a review, life is too short for bad books, so I choose authors and genres I enjoy. I always choose thriller, murder mysteries. So I have a blast reading them.

DEVIL’S CHIMNEY BY ADAM LYNDON

MEET DETECTIVE RUTHERFORD BARNES IN THIS BRILLIANT NEW CRIME SERIES FROM A SERVING POLICE OFFICER.

Discover an absolutely gripping crime thriller with a massive twist.

On a wild and stormy night on England’s south coast, ambitious young police constables Rutherford Barnes and Harriet Holden are doing the rounds when they see a burglar fleeing the scene of the crime.

And it’s Harriet’s house. The ground floor is ransacked. Scrawled in red across one wall are the words: DEAD COPS SLEEP LONG.

Then a few days later, Harriet’s battered body is discovered in a shabby seafront hotel.

Newly promoted to Detective, Barnes vows to discover who killed his partner, and why.

Harriet had a dark secret. As Barnes uncovers a layer of corruption which threatens to expose people at the highest levels of the force, he has a terrible choice to make: justice for Harriet — or his career.

Perfect for fans of Joy Ellis, Helen H. Durrant, Bill Kitson, Michael Hambling, Peter James, Angela Marsons, Rachel McLean, J.D. Kirk, Rachel Abbott, Elly Griffiths, J.M. Dalgliesh or Patricia Gibney.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DEVIL’S CHIMNEY:

“Packed full of unexpected twists and turns.” Sheila M.

“Pulled me in and held me to the end.” Dawn T.

“Cracking good police story. Complex and twisty.” Joan

“Very good and gripping.” Kay C.

“Some really convoluted twists and turns. I loved it.” Rob

“Excellent sense of place, strong characterization . . . authentic and detailed police procedure, and a thrillingdenouement” Oliver T.

“A real page-turner. I thoroughly enjoyed it.” Mike B.

THE DETECTIVE
DC Rutherford Barnes is young, good-looking and ambitious — perhaps too ambitious for his own good. His all-consuming desire for promotion makes him vulnerable to temptation. His happy marriage to nursery school teacher Eve is marred only by the couple’s inability to conceive, leading Barnes to throw himself headlong into his work.

THE SETTING
Set against the picturesque landscape of the South Downs, the Sussex seaside town of Eastbourne is packed with tourists during the summer — but it can seem pretty dismal during the winter months. Only fifty-odd miles from London, the town is not immune to the violence which occasionally spills over from the city. Pockets of deprivation and criminality exist alongside reminders of Eastbourne’s more genteel past in the grand Victorian hotels that line the seafront, the pier and the bandstand. The town also boasts one of Britain’s best-known — and most infamous — beauty spots, Beachy Head.

ADAM LYNDON
Adam was born and raised in Sussex. He has been a police officer for twenty years both in the UK and in New Zealand, working across a range of disciplines including uniformed ops, firearms command and as a detective in CID and specialist investigations.
He went around the world a couple of times, living in New Zealand for a year before realising home was where all the stories were. Adam writes gritty, Eastbourne-based police-procedurals with hard-edged authenticity, forming a daisy chain along the south coast alongside the likes of Graham Hurley and Peter James. He has been married for twenty years and has four children. His ambition, as his children keep reminding him, is to own a dog.

My Review A totally new author for me this time round. I have high hopes it’s dark and gritty, and moody. Like some of the itv and BBC dramas are. I’m in the mood of sinking my teeth into a gritty novel.

Dash of nostalgia with mobile phones that aren’t smart, remember them? When you’d programme in your own ringtone and feel like the coolest hacker, or spend hours playing snake!

I would say it’s a slow burner, and you need to be focused, and not let your mind wander. But it’s sometimes nice to have a slower darker pace of realistic police work, rather than instantly solved and they know everything immediately. I will definitely be trying out this author again for sure.

I know it said after the steroid no strenuous exercise, but we had a date with the solstice and Glastonbury Tor. So with a lot of painkillers and grit I made it, took me probably 3 times the time of others, but who cares, we loved the views along the way.

Walking stick very much my best friend at the moment, I wore trainers mainly but no insoles so the lower back did suffer.

We made it with walking boots on and insole to take pressure off my back. Still used walking stick throughout. It’s a life saver.

We watched the sun go down and listened to the drumming, the atmosphere was amazing.

Sitting was a painful affair though, and I required far more pain relief than usual, but it was worth it. Not every day is a summer solstice. Alas I was too broken to visit chalice well afterwards, but I was pleased with what I’d done.

The next day we ambled and window shopped around the town, back in trainers so again lower back pain was nagging. But… Silver lining it was 7 days post #PsoasInjection and I stepped upwards and it felt easier!!! But I don’t want to jinx it. So we are resting once home again.

Hopefully it won’t take too many rest days to recover, but on this little victory, I’m looking for some psoas rehabbing exercises to start trying Monday next week.

For Litha (aka Summer Solstice) I purchased a Witch in the Wilderness box from Here as it had an oil in I already wanted and a resin. So it worked out cheaper to buy like this and get extras too. So pleased with it.

We have a written success spell scroll (won’t show it incase it’s copyrighted). A couple of cards with the crystal, colours and flowers and herbs correspondences, and also one for a Litha ritual too. (Again won’t show the ritual card in case it’s copyrighted)

The Litha oil was in here which I’d had my eye on anyways, and Litha resin.

Included in the box was a freebie Rose quartz cube

I also had a protection powder included, see photo above the rose quartz. A beautiful big Tigers eye crystal, and 2 hand dipped Red candles. Which are amazing. And finally there was charcoal also included which I loved, as I actually di£nt have any, and I found this inclusion super helpful.

All the products that can be handmade, Like the Candles, Oil, Powder and Resin as all handmade and exclusive to Witch in the Wilderness, so you know it’s not generic and it’s made with such love and care, I can’t wait to get stuck in and burning my cares away.

#ADGIFTED all opinions are my own, book given for a review good or bad. But I do specifically choose hooks and authors I know I enjoy, as life is too short for dull books.

TRICK OF THE NIGHT by Joy Ellis

A GRIPPING NEW CRIME THRILLER FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND BRITISH BOOK AWARDS CRIME & THRILLER OF THE YEAR NOMINEE JOY ELLIS.

From two-million-selling author Joy Ellis comes one of the most highly anticipated mysteries this year.

Matt and Liz may have retired from the police, but that doesn’t guarantee a quiet life.

A deserted building. A face in the window. A face that shouldn’t be there.

Photography student Toby Unsworth has found the location for the perfect night-time shoot. A cobbled street in the old part of Fenfleet. Later, when he looks at the images on his laptop, he thinks he sees a woman’s face in the window of an old, disused building. He asks his housemate Alex to come and take a look . . .

Two days later, Toby and Alex are dead. Carbon monoxide poisoning. An unfortunate accident. But Alex’s mother doesn’t believe it. She hires Matt and Liz to find out the truth.

Meanwhile, nine-year-old Simon is missing. He was staying with his Aunt Jessie in a cottage on the edge of the marsh. And his older sister Kellie is increasingly worried.

Matt and Liz’s investigations reveal that something very big and very dangerous has descended on the small market town of Fenfleet. And if they don’t get to the bottom of it, more deaths will follow.

DISCOVER A TOTALLY ENTHRALLING CRIME THRILLER.

This totally gripping crime thriller is perfect for fans of L.J. Ross, Peter May, J.D. Kirk, Angela Marsons, J.M. Dalgliesh, Elly Griffiths or Ann Cleeves.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT JOY ELLIS:

“The suspense starts on page one and continues through the twists and turns until the very surprising ending.” Linda Strong

“OMG, this book was fantastic. I absolutely loved it. I was gripped from the first page, but as the tension and suspense mounted throughout the book it just got better and better. And that ending, well, just WOW!” Dawn

“I absolutely loved it.” Viv

“Will keep you guessing until the end of the book.” Barbara

“What a book!!!” Sian

“I was so engrossed I sat up way too late to finish it in one sitting.” Elaine

THE SETTING
England’s rural fenland is a strange place, with its never-ending fields, winding tracks, and long straight droves (the old livestock routes) that lead to nowhere. The lonely lanes are flanked either side by deep drainage ditches and are, for a good part of the year, filled with tall, whispering reeds. Closer to the Wash, high seabanks form a barrier between river and marsh, and the richly fertile soil of the drained land. But when the mists come down, as they so often do, perspective is destroyed and all sense of direction lost, and then the fens become a rather frightening place of mystery and danger. Somewhere that you do not want to be at night.

ALSO BY JOY ELLIS
THE BESTSELLING NIKKI GALENA SERIES
Book 1: CRIME ON THE FENS
Book 2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS
Book 3: HUNTED ON THE FENS
Book 4: KILLER ON THE FENS
Book 5: STALKER ON THE FENS
Book 6: CAPTIVE ON THE FENS
Book 7: BURIED ON THE FENS
Book 8: THIEVES ON THE FENS
Book 9: FIRE ON THE FENS
Book 10: DARKNESS ON THE FENS
Book 11: HIDDEN ON THE FENS
Book 12: SECRETS ON THE FENS
Book 13: FEAR ON THE FENS

JACKMAN AND EVANS
Book 1: THE MURDERER’S SON
Book 2: THEIR LOST DAUGHTERS
Book 3: THE FOURTH FRIEND
Book 4: THE GUILTY ONES
Book 5: THE STOLEN BOYS
Book 6: THE PATIENT MAN
Book 7: THEY DISAPPEARED
Book 8: THE NIGHT THIEF

DETECTIVE MATT BALLARD
Book 1: BEWARE THE PAST
Book 2: FIVE BLOODY HEARTS
Book 3: THE DYING LIGHT
Book 4: MARSHLIGHT
Book 5: TRICK OF THE NIGHT

STANDALONES
GUIDE STAR

JOY ELLIS
UK #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE JACKMAN & EVANS AND DI NIKKI GALENA SERIES; SHORTLISTED FOR BOOK OF THE YEAR FICTION: CRIME & THRILLER AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARS 2021
OVER 2 MILLION BOOKS SOLD!
Joy grew up and lived in Kent, trained in floristry in Mayfair and ran her own highly successful floristry business in Weybridge for many years. In the mid-1990s, she followed her lifelong love of books, first as the manager of an independent bookshop in Leatherhead, Surrey, then as a writer. When she retired, Joy and her partner Jacqueline and their two spaniels settled in a village just outside Boston, captivated by the Lincolnshire Fens.
Joy’s happy home life is far removed from her storylines, however, and while she loves living in the misty Fens, the area provides a remote and eerie backdrop to her novels. Joy is also able to add the authenticity vital to any crime thriller by drawing on Jacqueline’s inside knowledge, to confirm procedures and the reality of tackling brutal crime and criminals in a modern police force.

My Review I’ve read at least 2 books from this author before, However not from this series. So the characters and personalities are all brand new to me. I love the active pace of the writing style she has. I love that her police knowledge comes through and is peppered throughout.

There are 2 story lines and at first I wasn’t even sure if they were connected, but they soon get interwoven and all the pieces start to fall into place. The parents of the university students just know the official line isn’t true, I think parents do have a good sense of this in real life, so I liked how it was portrayed. There are red herrings but none that felt pointless and frustrating, they still felt relevant to the story.

Loved reading this, the plot is perfectly paced, so I wanted to turn the page and no stop. I didn’t get lost, so it wasn’t so complex I feel stupid for not getting it.