Book description for my new Jefferson Tayte mystery thriller.

DYING GAMES - Description

The blurb for the back cover of DYING GAMES has been finalised, and I'm very pleased to be able to share it with you. The book will be out in all formats worldwide on 4 May 2017 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon now. See details below.

Here's what it's about...

                                     ___________________________________________

Washington, DC: Twin brothers are found drowned in a Perspex box, one gagged and strapped to a chair. It’s the latest in a series of cruel and elaborate murders with two things in common: the killer has left a family history chart at each crime scene, and the victims all have a connection to genealogical sleuth Jefferson Tayte.

Hoping his insight and expertise will help solve the case, the FBI summon Tayte back to the capital. But as he struggles to crack the clues, the killer strikes again—and again. Tayte is known as the best in the business, but this time he’s up against a genealogical mastermind who always seems to be one step ahead.

With the clock ticking and the body count rising, Tayte finds himself racked with guilt, his reputation and career in tatters. The killer is running rings around him; is it only a matter of time before he comes for the ultimate target?

                                     ___________________________________________

I'm very excited about it! I'll be proofreading DYING GAMES over the Christmas holidays, after which my part in bringing the book to you will be more or less complete. The cover design is almost ready and I can't wait to share that with you, too. I'm really pleased with it. I'm also having a bit of fun with a book trailer video so do watch out for that.

To pre-order DYING GAMES from Amazon, click this link to visit the product page in your country.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2017. 

My new Jefferson Tayte mystery thriller is called...

I've been aching to tell you the title of my new Jefferson Tayte book for months, and now at last I can. It will be the sixth book I've written about the affable genealogist whose sense of right and wrong is often placed ahead of his own safety as he goes about his business of digging up the past. As you can see from the mock book jacket below, it's called DYING GAMES and I can't wait for you to read it.

The jacket cover is still being designed and the book description isn't ready yet either, but I can tell you that much of the story is set in JT's home city of Washington, DC this time, and as you can probably tell from the title, which I feel suits the story very well, it's quite a dark tale. If you've been following the series, you'll know I like to mix the format up a bit from time to time so things don't get stale or predictable, so as with the third book in the series, The Last Queen of England, there's no past narrative in this book. It's very much a thriller, and there's plenty of genealogy for family history buffs to follow.

DYING GAMES is scheduled for release on 4 May next year - look out for the Facebook launch party invitation! I'll tell you more about it as soon as the description is set, when I'll hopefully also be able to share the cover design with you. I've not seen any draft images yet, but if it turns out anything like the image I have in my head, I'll be very pleased with it.

KINDRED - OUT NOW!

KINDRED - the fifth Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery is out now!

It's publication day and my new Jefferson Tayte mystery is out!  If you're following the series, or want to start, I sincerely hope you enjoy it. The reviews from advance copy readers so far have been excellent with comments like this one from Cleopatra Loves Books: 'I don’t know if I have the right words to convey just how exceptional this book is; the storytelling was perfect ... An absolutely wonderful story.' You can read the full review HERE.

The most difficult book I've ever written.

If you would like to read about the inspiration and the challenges I faced while writing Kindred, I've added a detail page to my website, which gives some insight into why this book was so difficult for me to write. Follow this LINK to my website to read more.

If you'd like to hear Simon Vance's performance of Kindred you can listen to a sample on my website, or by clicking the link on my blog sidebar to the right. Telling Jefferson Tayte's own family history story has been a marvellous journey, often dark, but always fascinating. I very much hope you enjoy reading it. 

KINDRED - Out 12 April

NEW RELEASE

I'm very excited to say that my new Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery KINDRED will be out this month on 12 April. It follows on from The Lost Empress, which was released in October 2014, and as with all the books in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone story.

I'm also very pleased to report that multi-award winning narrator Simon Vance has once again performed the audio editions, and having listened to it I can say that fans of audio books are in for another treat.

WIN A COPY

If you would like to chance to win 1 of 20 copies of KINDRED in paperback, follow this LINK to enter the Goodreads giveaway, which runs until the launch on the 12th.

Netgalley members can request a download for review HERE. 

If you can't wait until the 12th to start reading, here's a snippet to whet your appetite. Click the link at the end of this extract to read the full prologue and a little bit of JT's opening chapter.

Prologue

Karwendel Mountains. Bavaria, Germany. November 1973.

He wished now that he had taken the road. The road would have led him down to a town or village where he could have sought help. But he knew that if he had tried to escape by the road, he would already be dead. The mountains, on the other hand, gave him places to hide, but beneath an overcast sky, amidst frozen rocks that were already partly settled with snow, he felt so cold. He pulled his jumper up over his mouth and tried to calm himself. His breath, swirling up into the chill morning air, could certainly give him away. Despite trying to warm his hands in his pockets and in the folds of his jumper, his pale, blueing fingertips were already losing sensation and he had only stopped to rest for a few minutes. He had to keep moving...

Follow this LINK to read more. I hope you enjoy it.

To coincide with the release of KINDRED Amazon have reduced the price of the entire series in the US to $1.99 this month for Kindle and $7.99 in paperback, and in the UK they have extended last month's Kindle promotion until 17 April at £1.99. Here's a LINK to my author page in your country, where you can find out more about my books, or you can visit my website HERE.

SALE!

The charity auction has begun!

CLIC Sarget 'Get in Character' 2016 fundraiser.
I'm helping to raise funds for children and young people with cancer. If you would like the chance to be a named character in my sixth Jefferson Tayte book, and receive a personalised signed copy of the book once it's released, please follow this LINK to my eBay Auction page. The auction ends at 19:33 GMT on 6 March.

For more information, and to see a list of all the other authors taking part, please visit CLIC Sargent HERE.

THANK YOU!

Get in Character 2016 charity fundraiser

Get in Character 2016

This year I'm once again very proud to say that I've been invited to take part in CLIC Sargent's 'Get in Character' charity fundraiser for children and young people with cancer. In short it's an eBay auction where the winning bidder gets to have their name, or the name of a loved one, immortalised in one of my Jefferson Tayte mystery thriller books, together with a personalised signed copy from me. The eBay auction runs from Thursday 25 February for ten days. See below for all the details. I hope you can join in.

Your name, their book

Whatever genre you love to read – be it crime, chick-lit, thriller or romance – from Thursday, 25 February 2016 we have a fantastic selection of authors taking part in a unique 10-day eBay auction to name a character in a forthcoming novel after you or a loved one:

Alex Shaw	Ali McNamara	Anthony McGowan & Jo Nadin
Anouska Knight	Catherine Alliott	Clare Donoghue
Emma Hannigan	Elly Griffiths	Emma Donoghue
Jodi Taylor	Holly Martin	Jane Fallon
Amanda Jennings	Julie Cohen	Kate Ellis
Katie Fforde	Katy Regan	Lisa Jewell
Luca Veste	Lucy Clarke	Paula Hawkins
Renee Knight	Roger Ellory	Santa Montefiore
Sara Gruen	Sarah Hilary	Sarah Morgan
Simon Kernick	Stephen Edgar	Steve Robinson
Tim Weaver	Tammy Cohen	Penny Hancock
Christie Barlow

Get bidding 

Paula Hawkins, writer of the best-selling novel The Girl on a Train, is proud to be involved with Get in Character.

She said: "CLIC Sargent does invaluable work helping children and young people coping with the most difficult of circumstances."

It's an honour to be able to help out with a donation of a character name for my new book.

There is also the chance to get your hands on signed books from Lee Child, Ian Rankin, Tania Carver, Peter James, Liane Moriarty and Kathy Reichs, and aspiring writers can bid to have their work critiqued by best-selling authors Eve Seymour, Claire Dyer and Philippa Ashley.

Last year, the Get in Character auction raised £14,500 to help CLIC Sargent provide clinical, practical and emotional support to children, young people with cancer and their families.

The bidding starts at 8pm Thursday, 25 February and ends at 8pm Sunday, 6 March 2016.

Find out more

Please contact our team by emailing: charityauction@clicsargent.org.uk.