Bookouture Blog Tour for THE DAY SHE VANISHED by Jen Craven

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I’m always happy to take part in Bookouture blog tours! This one was a psychological thriller that had me reading the entire thing in one sitting as I could not put it down and I needed to know what happened! Need I say more? Here’s the scoop:

Clutching my husband’s hand, I screech with delight as the rollercoaster loops through the air. I feel young and free for the first time in years, but as we roll to a stop and I look for our three beloved children in the crowd, I panic. I can only see two. Where is my daughter?

Today was meant to be special. A final fun family day out before five-year-old Summer joins her big siblings at school. But in an instant, we’re plunged into a nightmare. We scream her name as we frantically search the amusement park for a glimpse of her flaming red hair.

When the police ask about strangers, grudges and enemies, I have no answers, just questions. Why did I think I could leave my children alone, even for a minute? What kind of mother am I?

I feel in my heart that Summer is out there somewhere. But as I obsess about finding her, my family is falling apart. My eldest daughter Merritt is withdrawn. My son Gus is angry. And after seventeen years of marriage, my husband has never felt more like a stranger. Where does he go when he says he’s working late? Who is he constantly messaging?

I must fight to hold my family together, but I’m terrified Summer’s disappearance will destroy us all. Will I ever forgive myself for letting her out of my sight? Will I ever hold her tiny hand in mine again?

A completely gripping and emotional page-turner about every parent’s darkest fear. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Jojo Moyes and Kate Hewitt.

Author Bio:

Jen Craven is the author of emotional and suspenseful women’s fiction, stories where one decision changes everything. A former college instructor, she loves dark campus novels, which led to her contemporary debut, Best Years of Your Life, published in August 2022. Her writing style blends poignancy with drama to create what-would-you-do narratives of the human experience.
Aside from fiction, Jen has personal essay bylines in national outlets, including The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Today’s Parent, Scary Mommy and many more.
She writes from northwestern Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and three children. When not working on her books, she can be found thrift shopping, taking long walks, and beating her kids in backgammon.

https://www.jencraven.com/

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Jen Craven here: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/jen-craven

Buy Link: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0DB84RY56social

Thank you for my copy!


Estrellas: Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago by Suzanne Maggio

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“Despite evidence to the contrary, I do not think of myself as a particularly courageous soul. I am not content to bask in my accomplishments nor do I spend much time tooting my own horn. I wasn’t raised that way. I was taught to downplay my successes. To steer clear of vanity. I was raised to be humble. So, as I sit down to write this, I hope you’ll forgive me for saying something completely out of character here, but I feel the need to tell you that 779 kilometers is a long way to walk – and I walked every single step…

…As you travel along with me on my journey, I invite you to take the opportunity to explore the spaces around you. Notice the way the sunshine peaks peek through the leaves of the dogwood tree. Listen to the gentle whirr of the wings of the hummingbird. Smell the salt in the sea air. Use your senses. Pay attention to the things that we are often too busy to see. To hear. To smell. Let them take you inward. See where the path leads you.

Buen Camino.”

So if you know me, you might know that my husband and I hope to walk the Camino when we retire in a few years. It was We Love Memoirs Day on August 31 and Suzanne’s publicist at PR By the Book had reached out about whether I’d like to read/feature her new novel. Since I’m a little obsessed with the Camino, I said yes (even though my tbr is hovering around 200 right now and I’ve just started a new full time job and was named to a selection committee for a major children’s book award so that’s another 90 books to read). What first amazed me about this book is how much Suzanne and I had in common. It actually was almost weird. I grew up in the North Bay Area (Napa) and Suzanne lives in Sonoma County. We both have grown children. She was turning 60 (I’m turning 59 – shhh! don’t tell). We both are Italian and Catholic. We both grew up in similar families (those Suzanne’s seemed like they had more means than mine did). We both went to BC. We both had loving but “complicated” relationships with our mother. We even both have great husbands and kids that we are close to!

So it was probably no surprise that I loved this book so much! Suzanne’s journey is personal, physical, and spiritual and I related to it so much. I loved “walking along” with her and hearing about the people she met and her thoughts and ruminations while on the Camino. I have friends who have walked the Appalachian Trail (it took months – a friend and her 15 children – see the blog “32 Feet Up”) but the Camino can also be a pilgrimage and I find that so compelling. This was a quick read for me, but a memorable one. Thank you for reaching out to me and for my copy so that I could share in Suzanne’s journey.

Here’s some information about the author:

Throughout her 30 year career as a licensed clinical social worker, Suzanne Maggio has helped hundreds of families improve their relationships by encouraging them to open their hearts and share their stories. She now trains the new generation of helpers as a university lecturer in Psychology, Counseling and Social Work. The granddaughter of Italian immigrants, she grew up understanding the importance of family and the pleasures of gathering around a dining room table laden with good company and delicious food. Passionate about travel, cooking and sports, Suzanne is an avid baseball fan. She attended her first New York Mets baseball game at the age of eight with her grandfather, a former sports writer from Italy. In 2016 she won a silver award from Travelers Tales for “Yo Soy,” a story about the search for identity while traveling in Nicaragua. Her work has been published in Sonoma Family Life, an award winning parenting magazine and Junior Baseball Magazine.

She lives in Northern California with her husband, where they raised their two sons and where they now manage three rambunctious dogs and a brood of demanding chickens.

Follow Suzanne Maggio!

on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecardinalclub

on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/bottomofninth

on Instagram: https://instagram.com/mamasuzanna

Thank you so much for my copy of Estrellas (which means “stars” FYI), and for sharing this experience!

Bookouture Blog Tour for Fliss Chester’s Death in the Mayfair Hotel

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I absolutely adore this fun cozy mystery series set in the 1920’s. Cressida is always bumping onto trouble and I love that she goes everywhere with her little pug, Ruby. There’s always a lively cast of characters in each story and it will keep you guessing! I also love “holiday reads”, set during the holiday season.

Are you a fan of Rhys Bowen’s Lady Georgie (Royal Spyness series)? If so, you will certainly enjoy this series by Fliss Chester!

Book Description:

In a candlelit ballroom, London’s most fashionable amateur sleuth, Cressida Fawcett, is dancing the night away in her sparkling silk dress. It’s a night Cressida will never forget. Because outside the window, there’s a body under the falling snow…

Christmas Eve, 1925. The Honourable Cressida Fawcett is delighted to attend an exclusive ball at London’s glamorous Mayfair Hotel. When she steps out into the moonlit courtyard with her little pug Ruby wrapped in her furs, she is thrilled to see a dashing man propose to her best pal under the swirling snowflakes. But instead of squealing ‘yes’, Dotty lets out a terrified scream…

Because floating in the fountain, with her long blonde hair rippling in the ice-cold water, is the body of their dear friend Lady Victoria Beaumont.

It’s clear the wealthy young beauty was murdered, whacked over the head with a bottle of champagne. Would Victoria’s elderly husband Lord Beaumont kill his wife over rumours of her younger beau? Or did someone clobber Victoria to prevent her producing an heir for the Beaumont fortune?

A snowstorm prevents the authorities from arriving, and just as Cressida searches for clues, she finds herself locked inside a large wicker hamper. Why does the scent of the hamper’s smoky luxury tea remind her of the crime scene? And will a suspiciously rotund Ruby follow her snuffly nose and find Cressida in the nick of time?

Trapped in the hotel with a killer lurking among the guests, will Cressida lose someone dear to her heart? And when she finds a clue among the Christmas crackers, can Cressida solve her most mysterious case yet?

The perfect cozy whodunnit for a cold winter’s night. Fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss won’t be able to put this down!

Author Bio:

Fliss Chester lives in Surrey with her husband and writes historical cozy crime. When she is not killing people off in her 1940s whodunnits, she helps her husband, who is a wine merchant, run their business. Never far from a decent glass of something, Fliss also loves cooking (and writing up her favourite recipes on her blog), enjoying the beautiful Surrey and West Sussex countryside and having a good natter.

https://www.instagram.com/flisschester/

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Fliss Chester here: https://www.bookouture.com/fliss-chester

Buy Link: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0CZPCRZS2social

Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour!

The Women by Kristin Hannah

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I love Kristin Hannah’s books, so I was excited to see that she had another one coming out last winter. But everyone, and I mean everyone, was reading this novel and gushing about it. People were saying it the best book they ever read. They cried. It was unforgettable. Best book of the year. So I did what I often do – I stayed away. It is inevitable that when everyone loves a book, I can’t stand it, and I’m left feeling like I missed something.

So imagine my delight when I started reading this novel in September and truly enjoyed it! What a read! I loved the character of Frankie so much. I thought the depictions of wartime life were incredible. I don’t have much memory of the Vietnam War, except that it was on television news a lot and very scary to me as a young child. Kristin Hannah tells a story of strong women who made a difference, based on their courage and fortitude. It was a unique and important viewpoint to share.

Wonderful read and highly recommended! Thank you for my copy!

Description

A #1 bestseller on The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times!

From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah’s The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

MURDER ROAD by Simone St. James

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This was a thrilling, sometimes creepy novel by an author that I’ve enjoyed before. I loved the supernatural element in this story! It kept me up reading at night.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my review copy!

Here’s the scoop:

Description

A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases.

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

Bookouture Blog Tour for Katie Gayle’s Murder on a Country Walk

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I LOVE this series – cozy mysteries featuring Julia Bird, former social worker, single older woman, and dog lover! In this one a body is found off a cliff near a popular walking trail and Julia is sure that it is not an accident. I actually didn’t figure this one out in advance either.

Thank you for my copy and for having me on the tour!

Book Description:

Julia Bird loves a walk in the countryside. There’s nothing quite like the fresh air and green rolling hills of the Cotswolds to clear your head. Unless you come across a dead body, that is…

When the local Berrywick vet, Dr Eve Davies, is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, the police believe it’s nothing more than a tragic accident, but Julia isn’t so sure. Just a few days earlier when she took her dog, Jake, to the vets, Dr Eve said she believed something awful was about to happen. It turns out she was right…

But who would want the beloved village vet dead? Was it her mother Kay, a down-and-out gambler who stands to inherit her unwedded daughter’s home? Was it her assistant Olga, who was close to getting fired? Or was it her cut-throat tennis partner Will, with whom Dr Eve had an argument shortly before she took a tumble? And who is the stranger skulking around Berrywick peering into people’s windows?

When a second body appears in the exact spot where Dr Eve was found, Julia knows it can’t be a coincidence. Both victims were pushed off the cliff, but why? Should Julia let sleeping dogs lie, or will she be like a dog with a bone to find the murderer?

A totally gripping and charming cosy mystery set in the English countryside. Fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and Betty Rowlands will love the Julia Bird Mysteries.

Author Bio:

Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both make their debut in the cozy mystery genre. Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with husbands, children, dogs and cats. 

https://www.facebook.com/KatieGayleWriter

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Katie Gayle here: https://www.bookouture.com/katie-gayle

Buy Link: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0CY6BCMFNsocial

Bookouture Blog Tour for Murder in the Scottish Highlands by Dee MacDonald

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I love being in on the first installment of a new cozy mytery series and this one was engaging and fun to read. I also love a protagonist who is, shall we say, a “woman of a certain age” who is intelligent, strong, and interesting. Ally McKinley is starting a new life with a bed and breakfast in the Highlands when one of her guests ends up murdered!

I enjoyed this novel and definitely look forward to more in the series!

Thanks for letting me be part of the tour and for my copy.

Book Description:

Majestic mountain views, whisky by the fire and… a murder to solve? Join Ally McKinley at her cosy little guesthouse in the Scottish Highlands as she tackles her first puzzling case!

For recently retired Ally McKinley, the tiny village of Locharran is the perfect place to open the guesthouse of her dreams in a lovingly restored old Scottish malthouse. Before long she is making friends with the locals, including Hamish Sinclair, the earl who owns the nearby castle. But things take an unexpected turn when her first paying guest, American tourist Wilbur Carrington, is found sprawled across her cobblestoned courtyard with a dagger in his back…

With the police baffled, Ally’s instincts get the better of her, and she can’t resist launching her own investigation. In no time at all she and her Labrador puppy Flora are on the case, making enquiries over tea and excellent shortbread. She finds that Wilbur, a keen amateur genealogist, was convinced that he was the rightful Earl of Locharran… Even worse, he had plans that would put many people out of their jobs and even their homes.

But which of the locals resorted to murder? The hotel owner furiously trying to save his business? Locharran Castle’s fiercely loyal housekeeper who’d do anything for the earl? Or the earl himself, whose entire way of life was threatened by what Wilbur knew?

Looking for clues, Ally finds a faded photograph in a hidden drawer in Wilbur’s room. Could this be the key to solving the mystery? But when one of her suspects dies in a suspicious accident, Ally realises that things are getting a wee bit too close for comfort… Can she uncover the truth or will a killer get off scot-free?

An utterly unputdownable new Scottish cosy mystery series from bestselling author Dee MacDonald. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and Clare Chase.

Author Bio:

Aged 18, Dee arrived in London from Scotland and typed her way round the West End for a couple of years before joining BOAC (forerunner of British Airways) in Passenger Services for 2 years and then as a stewardess for 8 years.

She has worked in Market Research, Sales and at the Thames TV Studios when they had the franchise.

Dee has since relocated to Cornwall, where she spent 10 years running B&Bs, and only began writing when she was over 70!

Married twice, she has one son and two grandsons.

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDeeMacDonald
https://twitter.com/dmacdonaldauth

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Dee MacDonald here: https://www.bookouture.com/dee-macdonald

Buy Link: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0D388V9HPsocial

Gone by Dawn by H. K. Christie

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Today I’m part of the Bookouture Blog Tour for GONE BY DAWN by H.K. Christie, the first in the Val Costa mystery series. I love a good mystery with a plucky female protagonist. This one takes place in Northern California, too (my hometown area). I liked the pacing in this story and the characters, though I’m happy it’s part of a series as I want to know more about what happens to Val and her family afterwards!

Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the tour!

You kissed your daughter goodnight. By morning, she’s gone.

Two days ago, FBI Agent Val Costa came face to face with a serial killer known as the Bear. One of only two women ever to survive, she’s forever branded with his signature: a curling “S” carved into her skin. Val knows it’s only a matter of time before he takes another victim.

Forced home to recover, Val returns to Red Rose County, California, to be with her son. But the very next day she finds the close-knit community panic-stricken over the disappearance of blonde-haired, freckled-faced local teen, Scarlett Douglas.
Defying orders, Val interviews the Douglas family at their farmhouse and uncovers a less-than-idyllic picture. Housebound since a devastating diagnosis, Scarlett’s world was crumbling. The sight of Scarlett’s unworn prom dress hanging in her room brings a tear to Val’s eye. She won’t sleep until this sweet girl is home and safe.

Val and her team search the nearby towering redwoods for any clue to what happened the morning Scarlett disappeared. But the case takes a sinister turn when a little pink teddy bear is delivered to Val’s door. Did the Bear follow her to Red Rose County? Is her family now in terrible danger? Could Scarlett be his latest victim?

Working around the clock, Val begins to question if the Douglases are the loving parents they claim to be. With time running out to save Scarlett’s life, and the truth just within her reach, will Val once again come face to face with the Bear? And who—if anyone—will survive?

A totally addictive and pulse-pounding crime thriller for fans of Lisa Regan, Mary Stone and Willow Rose. You won’t be able to put this page-turner down!

Author Bio:

H.K. Christie is an Amazon bestselling crime novelist best known for her Martina Monroe crime thriller series. H.K.’s writing style is a gripping blend of suspense and pace. Her ability to craft complex plots creates a dynamic ebb and flow of tension that keeps readers captivated and eager for more. Inspired by true crime and social justice, she develops realistic, multidimensional characters that bridge the gap between fiction and reality. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and feisty pup, Charlie.

https://authorhkchristie.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorHKChristie

https://www.instagram.com/authorhkchristie/

@authorhkchristie

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from H.K. Christie here: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/h-k-christie

Buy Link: Not affiliated with BBNB

Gone By Dawn: https://geni.us/B0D94GH21Vsocial

Don’t Make a Sound: https://geni.us/B0DBHQR17Rsocial

SILENCE by Julia Park Tracey

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I’m shouting it out about this novel, which I’m currently reading and which is publishing later in September. Have it on your radar if you like realistic historical fiction from the colonial era.

Here’s the scoop:

“I am no witch, nor adulteress, thief, nor murderer. They say I have lost my reason, but I know only that my heart is shattered, and in crying it aloud, now I must pay the cost….” 

After three grievous losses, Puritan woman Silence Marsh dares to question God aloud in the church, and that blasphemy lands her in trouble—she is silenced for a year by the powers that be. Broken in heart and spirit, Silence learns to mime and sign, but it isn’t until a new Boston doctor, the dashing Daniel Greenleaf, comes to her backward Cape Cod village that she begins to hope again. Rather than treating Silence with bleeding or leeches, Dr. Greenleaf prescribes fresh air, St. John’s Wort, long walks—and reading. 

Silence has half a hope of getting through her year of punishment when the cry of witchcraft poisons the village. Colonial Massachusetts is still reeling from the Salem Witch Trials just 20 years before. Now, after demanding her silence, she is called to witness at a witchcraft trial—or be accused herself. 

A whiff of sulfur and witchcraft shadows this literary Puritan tale of loss and redemption, based on the author’s own ancestor, her seventh great-grandmother.

Me again! If you know me, you know I live in Massachusetts and am greatly interested in the Puritan years and the witch trials. This is a well-crafted story with a fascinating main character, based on the author’s ancestor.

About the Author

Author Julia Park Tracey’s ancestors and their stories have given her a trail to follow from New York and New England to the deep south and the Pacific Coast. The Bereaved: A Novel, the story of her great great grandmother’s loss of her children to the Orphan Train was named in the top 100 indie books published in 2023 by Kirkus Reviews. Christian Kiefer, author of the newly released The Heart of it All, said: “In The Bereaved, Julia Park Tracey reopens America’s wounds in prose that is propulsive and resonant. Theodore Dreiser comes to mind, but so, too, the fine contemporary novels of Jo Baker and Maggie O’Farrell.”

Thank you to my friends at Sibylline Press for my copy! I will need to find Julia Park Tracey’s earlier novel to read, too!

Harper-Collins Blog Tour for THE GHOST CAT by Alex Howard

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This was a fun one to read – part fantasy/part historical time travel/part animal story/part supernatural ghost story. We follow the “ghost cat” through his nine lives, over time, in Scotland. It was fun to read and think about and I loved the ending. I don’t know Alex Howard from Tik Tok, but I’ll have to look him up! This book is on the shorter side, less than 300 pages, so you can get through it quickly.

Thank you for having me as part of the tour!

Here’s the scoop:

THE GHOST CAT 

Author: Alex Howard

Publication Date: August 27, 2024

ISBN: 9781335012333

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing / Hanover Square Press

Price $21.99

Buy Links: NOT affiliated with BBNB

HarperCollins: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-ghost-cat-alex-howard?variant=41281231061026

Bookshop:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-ghost-cat-original-alex-howard/20842988?ean=9781335012333

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ghost-cat-alex-howard/1142352539?ean=9781335012333&st=AFF&2sid=HarperCollins%20Publishers%20LLC_7310909_NA&sourceId=AFFHarperCollins%20Publishers%20LLC 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=9781335012333&tag=hcg-02-20

Social Links:

Author Website: https://alexhoward.org/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199361308-the-ghost-cat

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alexhoward_?lang=en

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/alexwritings

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/housedoctoralex/

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/theedinburghginnel

Book Summary:

For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold and How to Stop Time, a charming novel by TikTok sensation Alex Howard that follows a cat through his nine lives in Edinburgh, moving through the ever-changing city and its inhabitants over centuries.

Early morning, 1902. In a gloomy Edinburgh tenement, Eilidh the charlady tips coal into a fire grate and sets it alight. Overhearing, a cat ambles over to curl up against the welcome heat.

This is to be the cat’s last day on earth. But he is going to return… as The Ghost Cat, a spirit-feline destined to live out his ghostly existence according to the medieval proverb of “The Cat with Nine Lives” – For Three He Plays, For Three He Strays, For Three He Stays.

Follow The Ghost Cat as he witnesses the changes of the next two centuries as he purrs, shuffles and sniffs his way through the fashion, politics and technological advances of the modern era alongside the ever-changing inhabitants of an Edinburgh tenement.

As we follow our new spirit-feline friend, this unique story unearths some startling revelations about the mystery of existence and the human condition and provides a feel-good read full of charm for any fan of history, humour and fur-ridden fun.

About the Author:

Alex Howard is an author, editor and theatre professional from Edinburgh. His TikTok page, Housedoctoralex, has nearly 300,000 followers and his been featured on television and in the national press. A doctoral graduate of English literature, Alex wrote his first book Library Cat (B&W Publishing) while completing his PhD. It won the People’s Book Prize in 2017, and has been translated into French, Korean and Italian. He also writes poetry, which has been published in New Writing Scotland, Gutter and The London Magazine, among others, and his academic book Larkin’s Travelling Spirit was published in 2021 by Palgrave McMillan.