Lycanthrope, by Michael J Richardson (Aka, me). Self promotion Sunday.

Two long have I written this blog with no self-promotion so, as of today, that's stopping.
Don't worry, I'll still be posting reviews on the many books that I read and I'll do my best to keep them as eclectic as possible so you don't get bored but in the meantime I thought it only right to share some of my writing with you - this is Mad Mike's Writing Blog after all!
Most of my writing has a similar theme - be it the short stories, poems or novels - that theme being, reality interspliced with a little something out of the ordinary. This could be a haunting, a vampire, magic or, as is the case here, a Werewolf, but I like the unreality just touched upon, hinted at, rather than it dominate the narrative so, over the next few months you'll see a few more posts like this; posts about what I write and what might be coming.
I hope you enjoy these and I look forward to any feedback too, so without further ado, Lycanthrope, the subject of this post, which I thought a perfect place to start as it is one of my oldest short stories, one I wrote when I was nineteen - now why would that be of any significance, constant readers? - and I've learnt a lot since then.
Probably one of my less subtle efforts, admittedly but I still feel it has something all these years later as, amidst all the death and violence the main theme here is that of love. So have fun discovering it for yourselves and next time I'll introduce you to a ghost, a vampire, or some good old-fashioned magic.
In addition, as a little bonus, you can also read about an unfortunate runner who trips and has a fall, in the flash fiction, Root.
Lycanthrope can be downloaded for free from:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00E4X8YY8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

Don't forget to search my blog for your favourite authors and books and if I haven't read them, message me with your recommendations.

The Detective's Daughter, book review. (Lesley Thomson)

Crime, it isn't my preferred genre, but I managed to acquire this one for one pound on my Kindle, so gave it a go. 

It was in the most part, quite good, but this book does have its problems. 

Convincing the reader, that a grown man can live entirely undetected in a stranger's (host's) house, for weeks, sometimes months on end, was just too much. In fact, I almost gave up at that point, and with a few to many coincidences stretching the boundaries of belief, you might wonder why I kept going. 

The answer to that is in the strength of the writing. 
Talking of coincidences: The main character, Stella Darnell, happens to run a cleaning company, who cleans for a woman, who lived next door to the woman who was murdered in the early eighties, that her deceased father investigated, (when he was a detective in the Met police) but never solved, that Stella subsequently finds out he was still investigating, when he mysteriously dies.
Then we discover, that her latest employee, is the dead woman's son, and has an intolerance for the colour she has just chosen for her new uniforms, to the point where he vomits. 
Then, Stella starts to date her (spoiler alert) dentist, who turns out to be our murderer! 
Suffice to say, I won't be reading any more of this Lesley Thomson series, but based on her ability to set a scene, to create believable dialogue and plonk the reader smack bang in the middle of a very believable, cold and depressing London during a miserable winter, means that I will endeavour to read something else by the author. 

The finale was both creepy, fast paced and revealing in equal measure.

Her sense of place and description of the capital, had me thinking of another crime novel I read recently, (J.K.Rowling's, The Cuckoo's Calling), which I think, is praise indeed. 

Only three stars for this one then, but just enough for me to remember the name, Lesley Thomson.

Oh, and congratulation to Emily May, fellow blogger from 'The Book Geek', on the birth of her first child. I wait with baited breath, for her book review of 'The Hungry Caterpillar'