The Haunting of Hattie Hastings

(Part One)

by Audrey Davis 

Goodreads

Amazon US / UK

The Haunting of Hattie Hastings 

The Haunting of Hattie Hastings Part Two

The story continues … Hattie is used to her deceased husband Gary dropping in and out of her life. His timing might not always be great, but at least he’s still around. Although – when Hattie tentatively tries a spot of dating – his interference isn’t entirely welcome.
Best friend Cat is lapping up her new relationship with teacher Jamie, but ex-husband Stewart isn’t prepared to fade into the background.
Hattie’s mother Rachel faces a daunting battle, one she doesn’t want to burden family and friends with. But there’s someone waiting in the wings who might be more than a shoulder to cry on.
Gary still doesn’t know what his mission on earth is, and spirit guide Clarence isn’t offering any clues? Will an encounter with another provide him with answers, or put Hattie in an impossible situation?
Prepare for more laughs and tears in the second installment of a trilogy which takes a darkly comic look at life … and the afterlife.

Warning: Cliffhanger ending

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Part 1 

Hattie kept one eye firmly closed, and squinted through the other. Why she thought this would change anything she had no idea, but she wasn’t ready for the reality of full-on vision.

 A few days after the funeral, they’d returned in a taxi, his mum insisting on carrying his urn in her capacious handbag. Unfortunately, the driver took a speed bump a little too fast and the contents of the urn upturned and mixed with the contents of the aforementioned bag. Thus, Gary’s remains were scooped back into the receptacle along with ancient biscuit crumbs, loose change and a couple of mangled Werther’s Originals.

You just farted! Silent but deadly. Christ, Hats, I might be on the other side but that could fell North Korea. Or serve as their nuclear deterrent.

Jeez, bro. You took your time getting that off your chest! I had you down as a bottom bandit for – ooh! – at least three years.

The last she’d heard – they hadn’t seen each other for more than five years – he’d moved to Switzerland where he was something big in private banking… Cat allowed herself a small grin as she recalled Hattie insisting that a ‘w’ was more appropriate than a ‘b’.

 Part 2

Gary did the finger thing, which looked more like an ‘up yours’ than the three-fingered salute synonymous with the organisation. Cat doubted he’d ever been a Boy Scout. More like a street gang member, all swagger and lager.  

It’s been a very long time… but they say it’s like riding a bike. Although we might have to go through a few gears to hit our stride.

Stewart looked uncomfortable at her question. Seeing him squirm in his seat was akin to watching a politician being grilled about dodgy expense claims.

Lost her husband? How she hated that phrase. As if she’d misplaced him, like a house key or a phone.

There was nothing wrong with Roger; he was just a million miles from right. Maybe his perfect match was in French Polynesia, patiently weaving a hair garland and dreaming of a man with cartoon character undies.

How he could display remarkable dexterity when shooting down villains on Play Station yet miss the toilet bowl by inches when peeing was another of life’s mysteries.

My Review:

The Haunting of Hattie Hastings was a delightful and witty treat. Part 1 was a quick and fun read that had me primed and eager for the rest of the series.  Part 2 added several new wrinkles and concerns, some of which squeezed my heart. Death has always been a difficult and uncomfortable process for me to work through, it was how I knew the medical field was not for me and brought about a swift change in career planning.  I don’t know how I would handle Hattie’s conundrum of a deceased husband who has not… departed, yet isn’t an angel or a zombie.   I smirked and giggled-snorted over the witty twist used for a child’s orange-faced troll doll named Grump, who was named for the man he resembles in the media.   Snort. 

I enjoyed the unique storylines, endearing and quirky characters, and Ms. Davis’s amusing and clever humor. I started this series knowing it was a serial of three parts, so I was prepared and braced for the cliffhanger endings. I was warned to ward off a possible… okay, probable tantrum. And, score!   I have a new addition to my Brit vocabulary list with doolally, which means Mr. Google told me was “temporarily deranged or feebleminded.”   Which is how cliffhangers generally make me feel 😉  I  am extremely eager for Part 3 to magically appear on my Kindle. Hurry Ms. Davis, please!

About Audrey Davis

Audrey Davis survived secondary school on the West coast of Scotland. Rubbish at science but not too bad at English, she originally wanted to be an actress but was persuaded that journalism was a safer option. Probably wise. She studied at Napier College in Edinburgh, the only place in Scotland at that time to offer a journalism course.

Her first foray into the hard-nosed newspaper world was as a junior reporter in Dumfriesshire. Duties included interviewing farmers about the prize-winning heifers to reporting on family tragedies. She persuaded her editor to let her launch an entertainment column which meant meeting the odd celebrity – or just the downright odd. From there, she moved to the loftier rank of senior reporter back in her home patch. Slightly more money, less farm animals but a higher crime rate. As Taggart would say: ‘There’s been a murrrrder!’

After a stint in London on a video magazine – yes, she is that old – Audrey moved to Singapore with her fiancé. She tried valiantly to embrace the stinking heat, humidity and lack of jobs, although she did work briefly on a magazine which was banned by the government for ‘artistic’ use of naked men’s bottoms.

Next on her adventures was a land Down Under where her main focus was raising Cost Centre One (aka firstborn) and coming to terms with the imminent arrival of Number Two. Still, she loved the Aussie way of life – BBQs, beaches and bring your own booze to restaurants – so it came as a blow when OH announced a move back to the UK. Not a job between them, the climate a possible deal breaker and an Exorcist-style vomiting infant on the flight home didn’t bode well …

Always a survivor, Audrey sought out similar-minded friends (i.e. slightly bonkers), got the children into a good school and thought about taking up writing again. Sadly, thinking about it was as far as she got, unless you count shopping lists. Then, hubby drops another bombshell. Switzerland. As in – it’s packing time again. Off to the land of cheese, chocolate, scarily efficient trains and a couple of teeny, tiny issues. Like driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road and speaking a foreign language (French). The former was conquered fairly quickly (we’ll skip over the wall demolition in week two), the latter remains an ongoing battle of the hopeful against the hopeless. At least she provides amusement for the local workforce.

It wasn’t until 2016 that Audrey rediscovered her writing mojo with an online Writing Fiction course. From there, her first novel – A Clean Sweep – was born, although it took a bit longer than nine months from conception. A short, darker prequel – A Clean Break – followed, and in November 2017 she published the first in a novella trilogy, The Haunting of Hattie Hastings Part One. Part Two is published on 21 March 2018, with the conclusion following in May/June. After which she might have a wee lie down …

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The Major Crimes Team – A DI Harry Evans novella

by Graham Smith

Goodreads

When a single mother, Julie Simon, is found in her kitchen with a stab wound to her stomach, Cumbria’s Major Crimes Team are handed the case. Under the supervision of DI Campbell and with advice from his former DI, Harry Evans, DC Amir Bhaki fights to discover who assaulted an innocent woman and left her with life-threatening injuries.

Nothing is as it first appears and when the team looks into Julie’s life they uncover a hidden sex-life that may just hold the key to the identity of her attacker.

Purchase from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Comment-Major-Crimes-novella-ebook/dp/B07B6FMX9K/

Purchase from Amazon. Com – https://www.amazon.com/No-Comment-Major-Crimes-novella-ebook/dp/B07B6FMX9K/

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

He knew better than to assume that a good family meant he was a good citizen. Some of the most evil people he’d encountered were from decent families. They would present one face to the world and another to their victims. Their status in life a shield they would hide behind until it was time to swing a sword in private.

That one sentence about female cops explained to Campbell just why such an outwardly attractive man needed to use Tinder to get laid.

The public couldn’t, and probably shouldn’t, know how much investigating certain crimes took from coppers. How there were sleepless nights and nightmares when sleep did come. How relationships failed and how solace was sought at the bottom of a bottle. Sometimes coppers chose drink, and sometimes drink chose them.

My Review:

This was my first experience with Mr. Graham Smith and his unusual yet compelling assortment of coppers who were working under new leadership.  The premise was unique and relevant and the storylines were active and cunningly crafted while giving the reader a chance to learn the quirks and personalities of the squad while they were tasked with a puzzling crime.  Each member was required to employ their unique skills and personal hidden talents that maybe shouldn’t be looked at too closely, but all their tricks were needed to dig deep and unearth a more devastating and disturbing problem than they had initially anticipated.   And I proudly add a new word to my Brit vocabulary list with woodentops – an informal and not so polite term for a British uniformed officer.

About Graham Smith

Graham Smith is a time served joiner who has built bridges, houses, dug drains and slated roofs to make ends meet. Since Christmas 2000, he has been the manager of a busy hotel and wedding venue near Gretna Green, Scotland.

He is an internationally best-selling Kindle author and has four books featuring DI Harry Evans and the Cumbrian Major Crimes Team, and three novels, featuring Utah doorman, Jake Boulder.

An avid fan of crime fiction since being given one of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books at the age of eight, he has also been a regular reviewer and interviewer for the well-respected website Crimesquad.com since 2009

Graham is the founder of Crime and Publishment, a weekend of crime-writing classes which includes the chance for attendees to pitch their novels to agents and publishers. Since the first weekend in 2013, eight attendees have gone on to sign publishing contracts.

Graham can be found at

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The Longest Silence

by Debra Webb

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: MIRA (March 6, 2018)

“The twists and turns in this dark, taut drama make it both creepy and compelling.” —New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry

A killer stole her voice. Now she’s ready to take it back. Don’t miss the chilling Shades of Death series from USA TODAY bestselling author Debra Webb.

Joanna Guthrie was free. She had been for eighteen years–or so she needed everyone to believe. What really happened during the longest fourteen days of her life, when she and two other women were held captive by the worst kind of serial killer, wasn’t something she could talk about. Not after what they had to do to survive.

But when more women go missing in an eerily similar manner, Jo knows her prolonged silence will only seal their fates. She’s finally ready to talk; she just needs someone to listen. FBI special agent Tony LeDoux can’t deny he finds Jo compelling–he’s just not sure he believes her story. But with the clock ticking, Jo will do anything to convince him, even if it means unearthing long-buried secrets that will land them squarely in the crosshairs of the killer…

“This psychological thriller is rife with tension that begins on page one and doesn’t let up. It’s a race against the clock that had me whispering to the pair of flawed, desperate protagonists, ‘Hurry, hurry.’ A gripping read.”  —New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Sharing the news of his divorce with his sister had been relatively easy, the career crash and burn, however, was a whole different ball game. He didn’t want to see the disappointment in her eyes. She’d always looked at him as if he was a hero, starting the day he’d kicked nine-year-old Lacon Turner’s butt for putting gum in her hair.

Shoulder-length hair badly in need of a wash. A few curly hairs that looked more like they belonged somewhere in the vicinity of his balls sprouted from his chin. Tony felt reasonably confident the tight, ripped jeans were cutting off the blood supply to his upper body and, more important, his brain.

The world we were snatched from no longer exists. There is only this place, this moment and our fears.

The darkness they had shared was an unspoken knowing between them. It was a bond that could never be broken.

My Review:

This was a gripping and well-crafted read that was devastatingly real. This was my first time reading Ms. Webb’s works and I am an instant fan. This book was the fourth in a series but had strong legs to stand-alone and kick-butt while doing so. The main premise of the storyline was itchy creepy with the type of nightmarish situations that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, yet it wasn’t as gruesome or graphic as you would expect while still getting across the seriousness and ghastliness of their terrifying circumstances. Written from multiple POVs, the story threads were engrossingly intriguing and maintained a taut level of suspense while slowly relating the flinch-worthy and riveting details of the past and present crimes and the brutal and nefarious actions of those involved. I grew to admire and respect the deeply flawed and critically damaged characters and would be more than interested in delving into the rest of the series.

About Debra Webb

DEBRA WEBB is the award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of more than 130 novels, including reader favorites the Faces of Evil, the Colby Agency, and the Shades of Death series. With more than four million books sold in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood on a farm in Alabama.

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