I’m delighted to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for The Other Twin by L V Hay, which is published by one of my favourite publishers Orenda Books. To celebrate I have a really interesting guest Post from the author which has resulted in me adding even more books to my huge TBR pile, so be warned!
TOP 5 TWISTED SISTER STORIES TO CREEP YOU OUT
By @LucyVHayAuthor
Things come and go in terms of ‘fashions’ and crime fiction is no different … Just recently, it would seem sisters are prevalent in the genre. Even my own book, a mystery set in the LGBT community in diverse Brighton, features a pair of sisters!
The Other Twin follows the fates of Poppy, a young woman who suspects her sister India has been murdered. India has left behind a blog, detailing a number of people with code names who all may have a motive for killing her. Poppy must work out who these people are and why they could have had it in for India. We also hear from India, in her own words, via the blog.
So, to celebrate The Other Twin being released, I thought I would reflect on five of my favourite recent ‘Sister’ stories – how many of these have you read, too? Don’t worry if you haven’t read them yet though, there’s NO SPOILERS:
My Sister’s Bones by Nuala Ellwod I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one … and it plays with your assumptions throughout! It’s a clever tale, with thought-provoking commentary, but it’s still easy to digest. I devoured it very quickly, mainly thanks to the three-dimensional characters and the situation they find themselves in. Protagonist Kate is a war reporter, so the scenes in Syria are hard-going, yet it’s the ones in her backwards little hometown that are the creepiest!
My Sister’s Secrets by Tracy Buchanan I have three sisters myself and they can be secretive beasts, so reading this was a no-brainer for me! I enjoyed this tale of intrigue, set in a seaside town and focusing on a family bereavement. The diving sequences in the submerged forests were especially creepy and claustrophobic, plus the characters of the three sisters in this story were appealing. Recommended.
Little sister by Isabel Ashdown This book is set on the Isle of Wight, a place I know particularly well, so the storyworld really added something for me. But even if I hadn’t known the island, the author really ratchets up the tension here in this child abduction thriller: it’s a twisty tale with a relentless, fast pace. There have been LOTS of missing child thrillers in recent years, but this one really stands out for me because it’s always one step ahead – I am pretty good at figuring out twists, but this one really GOT me!
The Sister by Louise Jensen This one is *slightly* different to the rest on this list in that it doesn’t involve the protagonist’s own sister, but her deceased best friend’s! I really liked the intrigue here – when Grace finds a note, written a long time before best friend Charlie’s death, it reads: “I did something terrible Grace. I hope you can forgive me …” I was BESIDE MYSELF with wanting to know what this *terrible something* was! Great job.
My Sister And Other Liars by Ruth Dugdall My personal favourite on this list, this is a devastatingly authentic read. Dugdall never shies away from grabbing the dark and taboo with both hands and she excels here, confronting issues of self-harm, anorexia and domestic abuse. Told via the POV of Sam, a girl intent on starving herself to death, she must confront her memories and work out who could have attacked her big sister Jena – and why. As you might expect from this author, the ‘showdown’ is quite something in that it may take you somewhere VERY uncomfortable!
BONUS!
Twisted’s Evil Little Sister, Volume 1 Twisted50 is a crowd-sourced collection of fifty horror stories – I took part last year and was thrilled when my story, The Retribution of Elsie Buckle was picked for the anthology. However, there were SO MANY great entries that the people at Create50 – the initiative behind Twisted50 – created another anthology, Twisted’s Evil Little Sister, Vol 1 AS WELL! So obviously no round up of ‘sister’ books would be complete without this evil tome … There are some real sick minds behind this volume, it creeped me out to the max: you have been warned!
BIO: @LucyVHayAuthor is a novelist, script editor and blogger who helps writers. Lucy is the producer of two Brit Thrillers, DEVIATION (2012) and ASSASSIN (2015). Her debut crime novel, THE OTHER TWIN, is due out with Orenda Books in 2017. Check out her website HERE and all her books, HERE
Book description
When India falls to her death from a bridge over a railway, her sister Poppy returns home to Brighton for the first time in years. Unconvinced by official explanations, Poppy begins her own investigation into India’s death. But the deeper she digs, the closer she comes to uncovering deeply buried secrets. Could Matthew Temple, the boyfriend she abandoned, be involved? And what of his powerful and wealthy parents, and his twin sister, Ana?
Enter the mysterious and ethereal Jenny: the girl Poppy discovers after hacking into India’s laptop. What is exactly is she hiding, and what did India find out about her? Taking the reader on a breathless ride through the winding lanes of Brighton, into its vibrant party scene and inside the homes of its well- heeled families, The Other Twin is a startling and up-to-the-minute thriller about the social-media world, where resentments and accusations are played out online, where identities are made and remade, and where there is no such thing as truth …
Print Length: 300 pages
Publisher: ORENDA BOOKS (18 May 2017)
Buy links: Amazon UK 🇬🇧 Amazon US 🇺🇸
My thanks to L V Hay for her guest post, Karen Sullivan over at Orenda Books and Anne Cater for my ARC of The Other Twin and for allowing me to be part of this awesome blog tour.
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