Please welcome friend and author ...

...  Alistair Liddle to the blog today.  Hi Alistair, thanks so much for making time to be here today.  So, tell me, what is your current release?

AJL     No Rules Apply is the third book in the Lieutenant Ramaz Donadze series.

AW     Sounds interesting.  What first got you into writing and why?

AJL   I retired from working in the Oil and Gas sector in 2019.  I knew I needed a new “mission” and decided to write a novel.  I think of writing as a job now – albeit a job I thoroughly enjoy.

AW     You write crime fiction set abroad.  Is it all imagination or do you do research?

AJL     My books are set in the Republic of Georgia where I lived and worked for fifteen years.  All the places I “visit” in the books are real and I’ve been to most of them so I can write from memory.  I also have a good handle on Georgian culture and get that right most of the time, although I have a couple of Georgian friends who I check in with.  It’s important to me to make my books authentically Georgian.  I still have to research other information, e.g. which weapons can be fitted with silencers.

AW     Last month you took part in the Shetland Noir Crime Festival – how did that feel?  Was it a good event?

Alistair on Shetland

AJL     I thought Shetland Noir was truly excellent.  It felt friendly and informal and there was a lot of interest and support from Shetlanders, judging by the numbers who turned up for the panels, readings etc.  It was lovely to meet fellow authors. By coincidence, I worked and lived in Shetland for five years during my career in Oil and Gas.  Shetland holds many fond memories for me and my family and was great to return.  And – as a bonus – the weather was so good that I managed a dip in the sea!

AW     Shetland is a lovely place and the festival was my first visit to the island.  So, next question, Alistair.  Famous authors Roald Dahl and Dylan Thomas had a special space for writing.  Do you have a writing shed of your own?

AJL     Not so much a shed but a scruffy corner in a room in our house.  I can write anywhere but that seems to be my most productive space!

AW     And finally, what would your eight-year-old self think, and say about you and your achievements today?

AJL     I’m sixty-six and I think my eight-year-old self would say, ‘Why did you leave it so late?’ But I don’t think I’d be so surprised because, even at that early age and later, I’ve always enjoyed writing and telling stories.

about the author …Alistair is a Scottish novelist, former ships’ captain and operations manager in the oil and gas industry.  He drew on his fifteen years of living and working in the Republic of Georgia to write three novels featuring Georgian detective, Lieutenant Ramaz Donadze.  His first novel, No Harm Done was shortlisted for the 2021 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize.  Alistair is married with two grown children, a granddaughter and a grandson.  His interests, when not writing, include travel, walking, cooking, supporting Heart of Midlothian FC, swimming in Scotland’s beautiful lochs, playing guitar (badly) and writing occasional songs for his old-guys band, The Grumps.  Born in Edinburgh, he has travelled extensively but is now settled in Stirling, Scotland.

about the book … A bank is robbed, cash stolen, two people brutally murdered. Cruel and vicious criminality in Georgia’s capital city.

The work of professional killers, their actions appear senseless: pointless murder and a small sum of money taken.  And what of the bank itself?  Georgia’s most important financial institution, guardian of the nation’s prosperity and a major employer.  Protected, powerful and too big to provoke?

Lieutenant Ramaz Donadze doesn’t think so.  For him, all murder is personal. With a growing reputation for getting the job done, his tragic past continues to haunt and drive him; his actions compulsive, reckless and ultimately damaging to himself and the people he holds most dear.

As the Georgian nation nervously watches war play out in a neighbouring country, the memories of its own war with the same aggressor still raw, Donadze must deliver his enduring promise regardless of the cost—justice for the dead and punishment of the guilty.

You can get Alistair's book Here

You can follow Alistair on Amazon where you can find all of his books.  You can also follow him on his Website on Facebook  Twitter and on Linkedin

Come stroll with me...

... through the quaint and ancient heart of Pontivy...

The town of Pontivy sits on the river Blavet, which feeds the Canaux de Bretagne. The river rises in central Brittany and flows some 150 Kilometers to the Atlantic Ocean on the south coast of the peninsula near Lorient. At Pontivy, the river and the canal system join within the heart of the town. The canal links the two major seaports of Nantes and Brest and runs through the centre of Brittany for 385 kilometres. Along the length, there are 238 locks. I regret to say that on my visit to Brittany, I didn’t bring my bike, so there will be no notes about which locks I have or haven’t navigated!

Brittany began developing its network of waterways in the early 1500s in order to improve the navigation on the river Vilaine. But, it wasn’t until Brest was blockaded by the English fleet that Napoleon Bonaparte decided that a navigable inland routeway was required to provide a safe inland link and access to the Atlantic ports. Building eventually began in 1811, and it was Napoleon 3 – the nephew of Bonaparte – who had the duty of officially opening the canal in 1858. At that time, the canal was the most ambitious building project undertaken in France.

In 1920, the canal was dammed at Guerlédan and the safe route across country was lost.  The entire section of the canal west of the dam was closed in 1957 and the fall in commercial traffic (26m barges carrying 140 tonnes) resulted in massive silting along the length of the canal.  But there are and have been plans for dredging and opening up sections of the canal for pleasure boats since the 1980s/1990s.

The town of Pontivy has a population of around 15,000 inhabitants. It sprawls along the river and canal, and the ancient heart of the town is charming. The name Pontivy has its roots in the 7th century. A monk called Ivy visited the town and built a bridge across the river Blavet. Hence the name, which in translation means Ivy’s bridge.

As this is the region of Bretagne, you might think it would not be unusual to hear the Breton language being spoken. Especially as the municipality launched a special linguistic project way back in 2004. Part of that plan saw all the street signs in the town replaced with new dual-language ones. So, as I meander among the streets, I can see the Breton names juxtaposed with the modern French. But the ancient language? I didn’t hear a single word. Back at the campsite and I take the opportunity to politely ask about the popularity of the old language. My query is met with a very gallic shrug and just the admission that Breton is not spoken that much. I nod and take my leave.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like to read some of my other jottings about my trips along the Nivernais and Bourgogne canals.  Just click the links.

I'm reviewing Cursed Bread...

 ... by Sophie Mackintosh.  Read on...

Told from the point of view of a baker’s wife in Pont St Esprit, this is a fiction based on a series of events that took place in the late summer of 1951. As the author’s notes stipulate at the end of the story, there are many theories about what might have really happened. This book being a form of dramatisation of the author’s own thoughts.  Of course, I couldn't let that go.  I had to undertake the research.

Pont St Esprit is a small town in the département of Gard in southern France.  Noted for its religious connections and its place on the route to Rome, it is an ancient crossing point for the Rhône and the bridge is mentioned in texts as early as the 14th century.

In August 1951 the town was struck with a sudden form of poisoning.  The local surgeries were flooded with people that presented similar symptoms - nausea, vomiting and dramatic variations in body temperature.  The symptoms worsened quite quickly and patients began experiencing convulsions, hallucinations and psychotic episodes.

Two local doctors investigated the cause of the problem and within a few days conclude that it must be the bread that was to blame from a particular bakery in Pont St Esprit.  The local police became involved and undertook an investigation.  A judge was appointed and arrests on the charge of involuntary manslaughter were made.

The conclusions reached were that the flour used for the bread had become contaminated with ergot - a fungal poison that can occur naturally in cereals, in particular rye.  Under the Vichy government, the supply of flour was strictly controlled and rationed, which mean that a baker had no control over the quality of the flour he received or the amount.  It was not unheard of to add other cereal grains to the flour.  In addition, there were outbreaks of the same symptoms in neighbouring villages who were also supplied from the same source as Pont St Esprit.  Although there have been other theories espoused since and some discredited, it seems likely that the cause of the mass poisoning was connected with the flour supply.  The most interesting question for me relates to whether the infection in the flour was really naturally occurring or deliberately introduced.  A further rider to that is, were there other hands at work maliciously?  My research left me with no definitive answer but the impact on the populous was tragic as ergot has the same psychotic effect as LSD.  A trawl of the newspapers from the 1960s in the UK and the USA will provide many examples of premature deaths caused by the fake beliefs induced by what is now a stringently controlled Class A drug.

With that as the backdrop, the novel reads uncomfortably.  Told in retrospect, the narrator Elodie shows herself to be unreliable from the outset.  Within the first two opening sentences, she poses the question ‘...why not tell it differently?’  She considers this possibility and finally declares that ‘perhaps it’s best to be honest, now.’  And there you have it, the one word that can undermine even the very best of intentions, ‘perhaps’.

As I was reading the text that one word kept popping back into my head.  Is this the real story from Elodie's point of view?  Could it be her imagined and preferred version of the history of the events or something more sinister from her poison-addled memory?  Those three strands kept me glued to the page from the beginning to the end.  I read the book virtually in one sitting.

I really enjoyed the presentation of the small rural community – and in 1951, with a population of just over 4,000 people, Pont St Esprit was a typical small, southern town that sat on the west bank of the Rhône.  The petty rivalries between the ladies of the town and the dynamics between the various bakeries are all keenly observed.  The relationship between Violet – the Ambassador’s wife and new to the town – and Elodie is especially well-drawn and at times painful to see being played out on the page.

Despite that, I found it difficult to be empathetic to any of the characters.  But, the story was so interesting, the dynamics between the individuals so cleverly interwoven that my distance from them didn’t seem to matter.  It was a fascinating read and an equally absorbing piece of research once I had finished the book.

Please welcome friend and author JR Lancaster ...

... to my blog today.  Hi J.R., and thanks for being here.  I understand you have a new book out that will be released on July 9th and that you're happy to let me share a short extract with my readers.  So, here it is... 

When silence finally fell upon the neighborhood, it seemed to come so slowly that I hardly noticed. A knock sounded at the door, sending my heart through my chest. I stood still for a moment, hoping that whoever was on the side might give up and go away. Thump, thump, thump.

I gently cracked the door open just enough to see the man from earlier staring back at me. His dark eyes were encased in dark circles and puffed up to look worn and heavy. He had disheveled and messy hair, only adding to his rumpled appearance. Yet, there was an air of kindness about him that even a blind man could pick up on.

   “Hello. The name’s Detective Sergeant Thornhill. Dowden Thornhill,” he said, as he pulled a leather badge from his pocket. “I was wondering if I might come inside and have a word with you?”

   “Actually, now’s not a good time. What is this about?” I replied.

   “I promise this will only take a minute. It’s rather important, actually. However, I would prefer that we talk in private. You understand.” Dowden stood his ground, leaving me no other way about it. I opened the door and let him in.

  “Thank you. Quite a nice place you’ve got here. Is there a lady of the house? I might need to ask her a few questions as well.”

I noticed him craning his neck to peer into the dining room. I contemplated whether he realized I felt his questions were rude. I noted his empty ring finger. Hypocrite.

  “No. It’s just me who lives here.” I pulled at my vest even though it didn’t need straightening.

  “Oh, I see. I didn’t catch your name,” He said as he made his way around the sitting room looking at all the photos on display. Disgusted, I watched, feeling vulnerable as he touched all the beautiful things that now sat lifeless and collecting dust. Does he feel like this glimpse into my life, my past life no less, will help him get to know me better? I wonder if he knows who I am. It’s obvious he isn’t from around here as I’ve lived here my whole life and don’t recall ever meeting him.

   “Basil Billingsly,”

I eyed him as he walked toward the sofa and casually took a seat. What possessed a person to do that? I would much rather prefer he not make himself at home. But, being that he was an officer of the law, I held my tongue.

   “May I call you Basil?”

   I nodded, “If you must.” 

I moved across the room to adjust the pictures he left off-center, paying special attention to the one of my mother holding me as an infant. A sour feeling exposed itself as I wondered if my past would make its way into our conversation.

   “Are you alright?”

   “Yes, I don’t like… I mean… er... It’s been a rather long time since I have had proper visitors. I like to keep to myself.” I turned to face him. “Forgive me. Where are my manners? Would you care for a cup of tea?”

   “Ah, I see. No, thank you. Why don’t you have a seat?”

I couldn’t read the look on his face. But I will do anything to speed up our time together. I took my seat in my mother’s tattered checkered chair by the fireplace. It was her favorite place to read, no matter the time of day. Though, I did not know the irony that would come into play when he revealed his reasons for darkening my doorstep.

Well, that's got me interested.  I'm looking forward to reading some more.

about the author… J.R. Lancaster is a published journalist, Editor and CEO of Musings & Company Creative Agency.  She lives in the Midwest with her husband and children. J.R. is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University and possesses an MFA in Creative Writing and Teaching Degree in English.  She has a passion for writing that is only rivaled by her love of reading.  In her spare time, you can find her outside with her family or behind the pages of a book.

about the book… Basil Billingsly has dedicated more than ten years to flying under the radar of everyone in Badger's Hollow.

He employs Mrs. Greene to do his bidding while he sets to work with clients far from prying eyes in the Village.  He answers to no one and there isn't a soul alive that relies on him either.

Everything was perfect, until it wasn't.

Now, a decade later, the killer has struck again, and Basil is forced to revisit the unsolved murder of his mother.  Torn between love and lies, Basil must sort out his feelings before it’s too late.  Old habits die hard, will he break them to save his friends, or will solitude call him home?

The book is available for pre-order and you can get it on Amazon

You can follow J.R. on Twitter and on Instagram

I will be reviewing J.R.'s book here on the blog in October - so keep watching this space!