Book Extract: The Automobile Assassination by MJ Porter
I am pleased to be welcoming MJ Porter back to Novel Kicks.
A 1940s mystery
Erdington, September 1944
As events in Europe begin to turn in favour of the Allies, Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is once more prevailed upon to solve a seemingly impossible case.
Called to the local mortuary where a man’s body lies, shockingly bent double and lacking any form of identification, Mason and O’Rourke find themselves at Castle Bromwich aerodrome seeking answers that seem out of reach to them. The men and women of the royal air force stationed there are their prime suspects. Or are they? Was the man a spy, killed on the orders of some higher authority, or is the place his body was found irrelevant? And why do none of the men and women at the aerodrome recognise the dead man?
Mason, fearing a repeat of the cold case that dogged his career for two decades and that he’s only just solved, is determined to do all he can to uncover the identity of the dead man, and to find out why he was killed and abandoned in such a bizarre way, even as Smythe demands he spends his time solving the counterfeiting case that is leaving local shopkeepers out of pocket.
Join Mason and O’Rourke as they once more attempt to solve the impossible in 1940s Erdington.
MJ Porter has shared an extract from The Automobile Assassination. Enjoy!
*****beginning of extract*****
In which Detective Inspector Mason and Sergeant O’Rourke encounter one of the Automobile Association’s sentry boxes.
In front of them, Mason could see old Watling Street coming into view as they travelled along Sutton Road. He caught a first glimpse of the unmistakable Automobile Association telephone box. Even it had been repainted in less lurid colours than usual because of the war effort. All the same, the road sign placed above the box was a monstrous thing as it sat atop the sentry box, decked out in camouflage green and black stripes. It drew the eye easily enough.
To the bottom, the set of double signs directed the motorcar driver, bus or motorcycle rider towards Fazeley or Hints. The higher-up signs led the traveller towards Tamworth or Lichfield, depending on which way you wanted to travel.
The signs were the same green as the telephone box was edged in, with the writing in black on them and the distance given in miles. He smirked on seeing it. He well remembered when he was a much younger man, and the signs had been more simplistic, simply highlighting the ancient milestones used for so many decades, if not centuries, and often written on what was little more than lumps of handy stone.
by 
Book Extract: When The Rainbow Turns Black by Peter J. Venison
I am pleased to be welcoming Peter J. Venison to Novel Kicks. He’s here with the blog tour for his book, When The Rainbow Turns Black.
This is the epic story of four young men, born in obscurity in South Africa at the height of Apartheid. Two are white; two are black. All four achieve fame in their lifetime. It is also the story of the women in their lives, with mixed race marriage, love and deception, set against a background of huge political and social change.
Expectations are high for the new Rainbow State, but will they be met amongst the corruption and greed that is endemic? Can our four find their way in the new South Africa or will they be derailed and overcome by events beyond their control or even by their own passion? Their journey through the world of international sport, show business and politics is riddled with twists and turns as they battle to prosper in the ever changing place they call home. Can our four young men survive and prosper in the post Apartheid era or will their futures and that of their country turn black?
This is a rollercoaster ride that will keep you strapped to your seats from its humble beginning to its surprising end.
Peter has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
It is January, 1970. Two little boys are starting school for the first time. They both live in Randburg, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. They are both white. One of them, Gerhadus, is quite nervous; the other, Lance, can’t wait. Randburg is a large suburb, covering several square miles and the two boys live in different areas, each with their own primary school. Gerhadus is attending the General Christian De Wet primary in Triomph and Lance, the Laeskool Jim Fourie in Crosby. They will both be taught primarily in the Afrikaans language, since their districts are heavily populated with Afrikaners, but, because English is the other official language in the country, they will also have lessons in English. They will be taught to neither speak nor write any of the other eleven languages in common use in the land of their birth; these are the languages of the native Africans, who make up 80% of the population.
by Book Review: Chaos at Carnegie Hall by Kelly Oliver
I am so pleased to be welcoming Kelly Oliver to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her book, Chaos at Carnegie Hall.
Agatha Christie meets Downton Abbey in the Fiona Figg and Kitty Lane Mystery series opener.
Can Fiona catch a killer and find a decent cup of tea before her mustache wax melts?
- New York.
Notorious spy, Fredrick Fredricks, has invited Fiona to Carnegie Hall to hear a famous soprano. It’s an opportunity the War Office can’t turn down. Fiona and Clifford are soon on their way, but not before Fiona is saddled with chaperon duties for Captain Hall’s niece. Is Fiona a spy or a glorified babysitter?
From the minute Fiona meets the soprano aboard the RMS Adriatic it’s treble on the high C’s. Fiona sees something—or someone—thrown overboard, and then she overhears a chemist plotting in German with one of her own countrymen!
And the trouble doesn’t stop when they disembark. Soon Fiona is doing time with a group of suffragettes and investigating America’s most impressive inventor Thomas Edison.
When her number one suspect turns up dead at the opera and Fredrick Fredricks is caught red-handed, it looks like it’s finally curtains for the notorious spy.
But all the evidence points to his innocence. Will Fiona change her tune and clear her nemesis’ name? Or will she do her duty? And just what is she going to do with the pesky Kitty Lane? Not to mention swoon-worthy Archie Somersby . . .
If Fiona’s going to come out on top, she’s going to have to make the most difficult decision of her life: the choice between her head and her heart.
*****
It’s 1917 and Fiona Figg finds herself in New York. She’s been invited by spy, Fredrick Fredricks to Carnegie Hall, to watch a famous soprano. However, on top of her duties for the war office, she’s also having to chaperone Eliza, her boss’s niece.
From the moment they board the ship for America, there is mystery and potential crimes.
The plot thickens when Fiona’s prime suspect is found dead.
Can Fiona solve the mystery?
I was intrigued by the premise of this novel. I love mysteries and so this seemed right up my street and it didn’t disappoint.
by NK Chats To…Suzie Hull
Hi Suzie. Thank you for inviting me onto your blog tour. Can you tell me about your novel, Far Across the Ocean and what inspired it?
There are several things that kickstarted the idea for this novel. I was at a hotel on the coast and on the wall they had documented the story of a baby who had been washed up on the beach one day. She and her mother had been in a little boat, but when they were found, the mother had died and sadly nobody ever found out the identity of the baby. there have been countless times when this must have happened through history, and also recreated in fiction, but Far Across the Ocean was my take on how that ‘baby in the boat’ situation might have played out.
The next part was choosing the setting for my novel. Within my own family we have a long line of Quakers from the Yorkshire area. One branch of the family had a Worsted woollen mill in Bradford and looked after their workers very well, as did most Quaker employers at that time. It made sense to weave this part into my story, and Clara’s mother, aunt and uncle came from this fictional family of mill owners.
The last part of the setting came from another snippet I found when looking up details on the Quaker family, and I discovered some had travelled to Madagascar in the late 1800’s. This island setting, so far from home seemed to be the perfect setting to place my ‘baby in a boat’ situation.
What are the challenges you found when writing your novel?
I always wanted to ensure that I had done enough research to be respectful of the past history of the Malagasy people and represent their culture properly. I did have access to memoirs of European people who lived for a while on the island, but none of any Malagasy people from that time, which I would have liked, so that was my main challenge.
What’s your typical writing day like and in your opinion, what are the essential tools of the trade for a writer?
I’m afraid I don’t really have a typical writing day. I have a day job in a school, so generally work in the afternoon or evening, but I’m quite flexible. On the other hand, I can’t do without using Scrivener. All of my early drafts are written on it, and then when structural edits come back, I’m still using it. I’d be lost without it as I like to dip in and out of different chapters when things occur to me.
From idea to finished book, what’s your writing process like and how long does it typically take you?
I tend to have an idea about something that interest me for years before it comes to fruition. I love reading non-fiction books and when something stands out, I bookmark it, or jot down story ideas in a notebook or on Scrivener for the day I’ll get to write it. It could be anything up to five years before I finally commit a story idea to paper. In that time the story idea is percolating in my brain and I’m coming up with characters and plot ideas or gathering more information that I’ll need. One day I’ll get to sit down and write that story.
Which authors do you admire?
There are so many authors I admire! Most of my favourites are female authors who write historical novels, either from my childhood are ones who write now. For example I loved Catherine Cookson, Daphne Du Maurier, Jane Austen and Mary Wesley. Recent authors are Dinah Jefferies, Kate Morton, Liz Fenwick, Jenny Ashcroft and Jojo Moyes.
Any advice for aspiring writers?
by NK Chats To… Sandy Barker
Hi Sandy. Thank you so much for inviting me on the blog tour. Can you tell me about your novel, The Christmas Trip, and what inspired it?
When I wrote The Christmas Swap back in 2020, I didn’t know that I’d eventually write a sequel, but that niggling question, ‘Where are the May Ladies now?’ kept popping into my head. I wanted to bring them all together this time―from their various homes around the world―and thought ‘Hawaii!’ It’s a destination we’ve travelled to twice and it’s so incredibly beautiful. In Book 2, there are new characters, including Mama Leilani, plenty of May Ladies mayhem, some rocky romantic situations, and a Hawaiian Christmas to remember. It was a blast to write.
What’s your typical writing day like?
I still work in adult education 4 days a week, so I typically write or edit in the early mornings before switching gears to work mode. Fridays are a writing day but with the freedom of a sleep-in till at least 6:00am 😉. And I typically write on Saturdays and Sundays for at least a few hours. If I’m editing, I simply swap writing for editing on the same schedule but those weekends become a lot more intense. There’s usually a tight turnaround on edits―1-2 weeks.
What are the challenges you found when writing your novel?
Many authors, me included, will spend years writing their first novel. I drafted the book that became One Summer in Santorini so many times that the story started to ‘blur’ for me. It took a professional eye―my first editor, Molly Walker-Sharp―to help me pare back the story and go deeper into the characters while still maintaining my writerly voice and ensuring that the setting―the Greek Islands―really sang.
What songs would make up a playlist for your book?
I’m a die-hard Mariah Carey-Michael Bublé Christmas album fan. Throw in a bit of Bing, even Elvis and I am HAPP-PPYYY! I even love a lot of the Christmas hymns. ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’, ‘Silent Night, ‘The Little Drummer Boy’, ‘Oh, Holy Night’ … I’ll sing along at full volume. And, of course, The Christmas Trip is set in Hawaii so ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ and the (not-so-Christmassy-but a fave nonetheless) ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow-What a Wonderful World’ by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.
From idea to finished book, what’s your writing process like and how long does it typically take you?
From Chapter 1 to a completed manuscript typically takes me 3-5 months, depending on how much mental space I have outside of my other job. And editing earlier books often cuts into writing time. This book actually took me the longest to write since my first book―about 6 months―because I had to stop writing to edit A Sunrise over Bali and A Wedding in Tuscany.
What’s your favourite word and why?
by Book Club
