When the crow moon rises, the darkness is unleashed…
Book blurb
An investigative reporter gives up her job when her young twins are killed in a fire, but when she stumbles across the body of a missing teenager, she's thrust into a chilling investigation that will leave no one unscathed…
Martha Strangeways is struggling to find purpose in her life, after giving up her career as an investigative reporter when her young twins died in a house fire.
Overwhelmed by guilt and grief, her life changes when she stumbles across the body of a missing teenager – a tragedy that turns even more sinister when a poem about crows is discovered inked onto his back…
When another teenager goes missing in the remote landscape, Martha is drawn into the investigation, teaming up with DI Derek Summers, as malevolent rumours begin to spread and paranoia grows.
As darkness descends on the village of Strathbran, it soon becomes clear that no one is safe, including Martha…
My thoughts
With a fair number of characters appearing through the book the main one is Martha, journalist who has taken herself away from her work after a heartbreaking tragedy befell her family and tore her marriage apart.
When Martha finds the body of a missing teenager that has part of a long forgotten script written on his body she needs to find out what happened and is drawn into searching for answers.
I was immersed into a story of missing children, young people trying to find answers and help in the aftermath of loss and a main character who is still struggling with grief. Along with the ways in which grief affected the lives of the main characters this story brings us a dark, grim tale that brings fear in its wake not only to Martha and her family but the whole community.
The detective leading the investigation doesn't want Martha to interfere or be put into any danger, for that matter Martha isn't keen to be put into a difficult or dangerous situation either. Still, he is grateful for the information that Martha is able to provide. Martha's investigative skills and instincts are too ingrained to let things go. As she pieces together evidence things start to make sense but it leads to very real danger and a chilling conclusion. As the book reaches a climax with a search for another missing child will the child be saved or will Martha become a victim too?
Suzy Aspley creates a great deal of atmosphere and tension in Crow Moon with a wonderful storyline and a strong, engaging lead character in Martha. Suzy Aspley deserves all the praise and recognition she is getting for this very accomplished first book and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
I rarely listen to audio books but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book on BookBeat (*) it was very well read by Sarah Barron who really brought it to life and I would highly recommend either listening to or reading Crow Moon.
Book: Listened* to on BookBeat (subscription required after trial period, which gave me 20 hours of listening and reading, is £5.99 month). I took advantage of the trial period and enjoyed listening to Crow Moon which was very well narrated by Sarah Barron.
The current limited summer deal is 60 days for free, valid until 5th of August. During the trial period, you get access to 40 hours of listening and reading. After the trial period, BookBeat costs from £5.99/month. You can cancel your subscription at any time.
Information
Published: Orenda Books Ltd (14th March 2024) | 300pp | ©2024 Suzy Aspley (P)2024 Isis Audio
Buy: Orenda Books |Your local bookshop | AmazonSmileUK |Hive | bookshop.org (affiliate link) | Your local library
Orenda Books Ltd
Suzy Aspley (c/o X)
Author
Originally from the north east of England, former journalist Suzy Aspley has lived in Scotland for almost 30 years. She writes crime and short stories often inspired by the strange things she sees in the landscape around her. She won Bloody Scotland's Pitch Perfect in 2019 with the original idea for her debut novel and was shortlisted in the London Capital crime festival's new voices award. In 2020, she was mentored by Jo Dickinson as part of the Hachette future bookshelf initiative. Her novel Crow Moon was also long listed this year for the Caledonia Novel Award. She's currently working on the second book in the series featuring journalist Martha Strangeways. When she's not writing, she's either got her nose buried in a book, or is outside with her dogs dreaming up more dark stories.
Twitter @writer_suzy on | instagram @suzyaspleybooks | website: Suzy Apsley Writer
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