Today I am delighted to be kicking off the blog tour with Irish Crime Fiction Writer Sinéad Crowley and her latest novel in the Sergeant Claire Boyle series, One Bad Turn.
One Bad Turn is a book I reviewed on my blog last week where I was lucky enough to have Sinéad join me in a wonderful Q & A (Read HERE )
I have re-posted my ‘review only’ today for the tour which you can read below as well as full details of the tour with my fellow bookbloggers…
Book Info:
How could your good friend become your worst enemy?
Being held hostage at gunpoint by her childhood friend is not Dr Heather Gilmore’s idea of a good day at work. It only gets worse when she hears that her nineteen-year-old daughter Leah has been kidnapped.
Sergeant Claire Boyle wasn’t expecting to get caught up in a hostage situation during a doctor’s appointment. When it becomes apparent that the kidnapping is somehow linked to the hostage-taker, a woman called Eileen Delaney, she is put in charge of finding the missing girl.
What happened between Eileen and Heather to make Eileen so determined to ruin her old friend? Claire Boyle must dig up the secrets from their pasts to find out – and quickly, because Leah is still missing, and time is running out to save her.
My Review:
Sergeant Claire Boyle is about to have a very bad day!!!
Having arrived at her GP for a consultation, Claire is looking forward to some time out with a cuppa and an hour’s peace afterwards. With her little girl sound asleep after a feed, Claire needs to clear her mind and consider her options about some family matters that have been playing around in her head.
Dr Heather Gilmore, Claire’s GP, is still in her office after Claire’s appointment and as Claire is in the bathroom she hears angry voices and distressful sounds outside. With the practice now closed for lunch, Claire soon realises that she, with her baby, are the only others still there.
It isn’t long before circumstances get out of control and Claire finds herself caught up in a frightening hostage crisis.
Using all her police training, Claire attempts to calm the situation as she is made aware that Dr Gilmore and Eileen Delaney, the hostage taker, know each other.
And so begins a story that takes the reader back in time to the mid 1980’s when Heather Gilmore and Eileen Delaney first meet. Both dealing with the impact of teenage angst, they form a loose alliance that continues into adulthood.
Two lives lived very differently over the years, yet two lives that seemed to be entwined by invisible thread.
Claire Boyle, with the assistance of her police colleague Flynn, is soon embroiled in a much bigger case, as it is discovered that as well as the hostage scenario, Heather Gilmore’s daughter Leah has been kidnapped.
Claire must try and figure out what happened that caused such hatred from Eileen towards Heather. What secrets are hidden in their past? But Claire has to work this case under the scrutiny of the media, as Heather Gilmore is the ex-wife of a very influential Irish business man who is looking for immediate answers.
Claire Boyle is a difficult character to pin down. Her husband Mark has been managing most of the running of their home-life, allowing Claire the freedom to pursue her career. But now Mark’s own business is beginning to develop further taking him away from home on a more regular basis. Claire is trying her best to balance her new work/home-life situation but she is clearly struggling. As a result, her attitude at times can come across as quite selfish. Sinéad Crowley deals with this topic in the book in a very ‘real’ way, as this is a position that many couples do face in the busy society we live in today.
One Bad Turn is not like the usual police procedurals I have been reading recently. This is not a gritty novel, as Sinéad Crowley tackles more than just the criminal aspect of life.
One Bad Turn is a very human story. It is a story that deals with relationships in many different forms, from the first tentative steps into the teenage years up to marriage and children. It is story that deals with the impact of decisions made and how the aftermath can have a bearing on so many.
I have not read the two previous novels in this series but I think One Bad Turn is perfect as a stand alone. The characters are well developed and the narrative flows easy. It is an ideal novel for those looking for their crime fiction to have little less blood and with a very personal story running through the pages.
Purchase Link ~ One Bad Turn
Author Bio:
Sinead Crowley is Arts and Media Correspondent for RTE, Ireland’s national broadcaster, working for television, radio and online.
Her debut thriller, Can Anybody Help Me? was a bestseller in Ireland, and both it and her second book Are You Watching Me? were shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Crime Book of the Year.
Sinead lives in Dublin with her husband and two young sons.
Twitter ~ @SCrowleyAuthor
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