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#BlogTour #BookReview #Ad A Winter Grave by Peter May @riverrunbooks

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A Winter Grave Peter May Blog Tour FinalWelcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for A Winter Grave by Peter May. My thanks to Jess at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to riverrun for my review copy via NetGalley.

A Winter GraveAbout the Book

A TOMB OF ICE

A young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station in Kinlochleven discovers the body of a missing man entombed in ice.

A DYING DETECTIVE

Cameron Brodie, a Glasgow detective, sets out on a hazardous journey to the isolated and ice-bound village. He has his own reasons for wanting to investigate a murder case so far from his beat.

AN AGONIZING RECKONING

Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose.

Format: eARC (368 pages)                Publisher: riverrun
Publication date: 19th January 2023 Genre: Crime, Thriller

Find A Winter Grave on Goodreads

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Hive | Amazon UK
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My Review

A Winter Grave is set in Scotland but it’s not a Scotland we would recognise. The year is 2051 and Scotland has achieved independence and rejoined the European Union. However, at the same time, the effects of climate change on the world have become all too obvious. Whilst parts of the world are suffering extreme heat, prompting the migration of millions of people from Africa and Asia to Europe, great swathes of Scotland are now under water due to rising sea levels caused by the melting of the Greenland ice sheets and the country now has the climate of northern Norway.

As Brodie investigates the death of a man found frozen in the ice of a snow tunnel, it becomes clear his enemy is not just the person or persons responsible for the man’s death but the weather as well. Ferocious storms have become a frequent occurrence for the residents of Kinlochleven, resulting in power cuts and the loss of communications with the outside world for days at a time. Venturing out into a particularly violent storm, Brodie witnesses the extreme weather conditions for himself. ‘He seemed to be driving headlong into the gale. Hailstorms flew out of the darkness like sparks, deflecting off the windscreen… He could barely see the road ahead of him, hail blowing around and drifting like snow on the recently cleared tarmac.’

Alongside an absorbing and action-packed crime story, and the depiction of the potential impacts of climate change on the world, is Inspector Cameron Brodie’s deeply personal story, told through flashbacks to 2023. Brodie hasn’t long left on this earth but in the time remaining he wants to lay to rest the ghosts of the past, attempt a reconciliation and, perhaps, receive forgiveness. ‘It wasn’t until now, with his own death imminent, that he had been moved, finally, to drag all the skeletons from the closet, and lay them out to be judged.’ It’s a story of love, loss and sacrifice and I found the end of the book intensely moving.

For those who like action, there’s plenty of it and for those who like intrigue, there’s plenty of that as well. There’s even a role for future technology the prospect of which might either thrill you or appall you depending on how you feel about flying in a pilotless plane or living in a 3D printed home.  Add to this a central character prepared to give his all in one last fight and you have a totally gripping crime thriller that is chilling in more ways than one. This is the first book I’ve read by Peter May but it definitely won’t be the last.

In three words: Immersive, exciting, intense

Try something similar: The Coming Darkness by Greg Mosse

Peter MayAbout the Author

Peter May was born and raised in Scotland. He was an award-winning journalist at the age of twenty-one and a published novelist at twenty-six. When his first book was adapted as a major drama series for the BBC, he quit journalism and during the high-octane fifteen years that followed, became one of Scotland’s most successful television dramatists. He created three prime-time drama series, presided over two of the highest-rated serials in his homeland as script editor and producer, and worked on more than 1,000 episodes of ratings-topping drama before deciding to leave television to return to his first love, writing novels.

In 2021, he was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. He has also won several literature awards in France, received the USA’s Barry Award for The Blackhouse, the first in his internationally bestselling Lewis Trilogy; and in 2014 was awarded the ITV Specsavers Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read of the Year award for Entry Island. Peter now lives in South-West France with his wife, writer Janice Hally. (Photo: Facebook profile)

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BookReview The Witches of Vardø by Anya Bergman @ZaffreBooks

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Book Cover The Witches of Vardo by Anya BergmanAbout The Witches of Vardø

Norway, 1662. A dangerous time to be a woman, when even dancing can lead to accusations of witchcraft. When Zigri, desperate and grieving after the loss of her husband and son, embarks on an affair with the local merchant, it’s not long before she is sent to the fortress at Vardø, to be tried and condemned as a witch.

Zigri’s daughter Ingeborg sets off into the wilderness to try to bring her mother back home. Accompanying her on this quest is Maren – herself the daughter of a witch ­- whose wild nature and unconquerable spirit gives Ingeborg the courage to venture into the unknown, and to risk all she has to save her family.

Also captive in the fortress is Anna Rhodius, once the King of Denmark’s mistress, who has been sent to Vardø in disgrace. What will she do – and who will she betray – to return to her privileged life at court?

These Witches of Vardø are stronger than even the King of Denmark. In an age weighted against them they refuse to be victims. They will have their justice. All they need do is show their power.

Format: eARC (400 pages)               Publisher: Zaffre
Publication date: 5th January 2023  Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Witches of Vardø on Goodreads

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Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
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My Review

The setting of The Witches of Vardø, an isolated fishing community in a remote part of Norway in the latter half of the seventeenth century along with its subject matter, reminded me strongly of The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave which I read in 2021. And those who have read, as I have, books such as The Manningtree Witches by A. K. Blakemore or Widdershins by Helen Steadman will be familiar with accusations of witchcraft being levelled against women, especially those considered “different”, for instance women skilled in healing. Also how fear of association can turn a community against those accused, how natural events can be interpreted as portents of evil or how unconventional behaviour can be viewed as a sign of possession by the Devil.

In The Witches of Vardø we follow the story of Zigri’s arrest, imprisonment in the fortress at Vardø, and trial for witchcraft through the eyes of her eldest daughter, Ingeborg.  Ingeborg is determined to rescue her mother and sets out to do so, placing herself and her younger sister in danger. She is accompanied by Maren, the daughter of a woman executed for witchcraft, who urges Ingeborg to trust in the power of women to resist the actions of men and seems able to harness the forces of nature in ways which introduce a supernatural element to the story.

Alongside this is the first person narrative of Anna Rhodius, former mistress of the King of Denmark, who has been banished to  Vardø for reasons she does not understand, much like the unnamed queen in J. R. Thorp’s Learwife. She becomes convinced the way to restore her liberty is to assist the Governor of Finnmark in his mission to search out witches, viewed as a ‘blight’ on the kingdom of Denmark and held responsible for happenings such as storms, the loss of ships and the spread of disease. ‘Yes, yes, now I understand your intent because my exile was a ruse, a pretence, was it not? I am not prisoner but a soldier under your command.’ It results in her entering into an agreement with the Governor that is akin to ‘a pact with the Devil’. The dreadful consequences of the bargain she has made only become apparent much later, although as her own sad history is revealed we learn a little more about her motivation.

The chief male characters – Governor Christopher Orning and witch-hunter Bailiff Lockhert – are utterly vile. (A welcome contrast is provided by Zare, a young Sámi man, who plays a key role in Ingeborg’s endeavours, the Sámi themselves being a persecuted community.) Fuelled by a combination of lust for power, religious fanaticism and perverted misogyny, the cruelty and violence of Orning’s and Lockhert’s efforts to force the women accused of witchcraft to confess would be beyond belief were it not that they are based on historical fact, as the author explains in her fascinating afterword.  There’s also a useful glossary to help with some of the Norwegian and Sámi words used in the book.

The Witches of Vardø is a chilling story of prejudice, cruelty and ignorance with a great sense of time and place.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Zaffre via NetGalley.

In three words: Atmospheric, unsettling, assured

Try something similar: The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Anya BergmanAbout the Author

Anya Bergman became interested in the witch trials of Vardø and the vivid folk tales of the north while living in Norway. Travelling to the Steilneset memorial, in which Louise Bourgeois and Peter Zumthor commemorated those persecuted as witches, she became fascinated by their stories. Now resident in Ireland, she is currently undertaking a PhD by Published Works at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland where she also lectures as well as tutoring for Jericho Writers. She is working on her next novel, which unites the fates of two very different women against the tumultuous backdrop of the French Revolution. (Photo: Twitter profile/Bio: Author website)

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