The Bread Of Tears

A Sister Rose crime thriller. When she was a cop, she made their life hell. Now she’s a nun, God help them! Before taking her vows, Sister Rose was Maggie Weaver, a Newcastle policewoman. While uncovering a serial killer, she suffered severe trauma, and after being nursed back to health she becomes a nun. In her new calling she is sent to London to run a hostel for the homeless. Here, she does good works, and also combats prejudice and crime. As she attempts to save a homeless woman from a local gang boss, events crystallise, taking her back to Newcastle, the scene of her nightmares, to play out the final confrontation against drug traffickers, murderers and old enemies in the police. She finds her spiritual self and a new identity. She is healed through faith and forgiveness. It’s also about her surviving trauma and grief – a triumph of the human spirit, of good over evil. 'All the characters and horrific events in this crime thriller are extremely visual and well drawn, making this a riveting read. It would make a brilliant TV series!'

The Bread of Tears (Crime Thriller)

By Nik Morton

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN #978-1544123158

Price $12.75 (Paperback)

350 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

Sister Rose returns to London after a speaking engagement, only to find murder at the hostel for the homeless. In an alleyway outside she discovers the body of one of the girls she tended, brutally murdered, the sign of the cross carved in her chest. Rushing into the hostel she finds two more bodies, also slain in a familiar manner. The Sister was not always a Nun. She had once been a Newcastle police officer, but after a horrible incident that left her husband dead and her in mental straights, she had been secreted away to a hideaway run by Nuns. There she had given her life over to God and made her vows. Five years later and these new deaths, and her mind wonders if they are connected to the old case.

There are several stories going on: the new murders in the hostel are connected to her past, the dead girl in the alley belongs to another murderer, and then there is the criminal empire involved in drugs and prostitution of young girls, and they will kill her if she intervenes. And add to these problems, she may be having certain feelings for one of the investigators.

Wow, I found Maggie Weaver, aka Sister Rose, one tough Nun. The author weaves the three stories together into a neat pattern, dropping Sister Rose into death traps that she must escape or suffer a horrible death, yet she holds to her Faith as she struggles against great odds. In the end she isn’t afraid to send evil to Hell a little early. This was a fun read, and kept me turning the pages. The author’s writing is smooth and the story flows easily. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of CARNIVAL OF DEATH

Killing At The Carnival

Cassie Pengear thought a visit to the carnival would be fun: see some shows, eat some sweets, help her landlady’s nephew decide if the cowboy was real or an actor. But then the cowboy shot the volunteer, and he didn’t get up. Now Cassie has a ten-year-old boy insisting the cowboy isn’t a killer and a landlady insisting she help solve the killing at the carnival. 29,000 words, print version 126 pages

Killing At The Carnival (Cozy Steampunk Mystery)

“Cassie Pengear Mysteries Book #1”

By L. A. Nisula

ISBN #B00RHWHOBM

Amazon Kindle

Price $0.99

126 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“A Fast Fun Read.”

Cassie Pengear, an American in London, does some typing for Scotland Yard. This usually throws her into some investigations of her own; something Inspector Burroughs wants her to stay out of. In fact, in this current case she stumbles into innocently enough, involves a carnival that may be mixed up in a bank robbery five years previous. Unknown to Cassie, Scotland Yard has the Kingston Carnival under observation when she takes her landlord’s ten year old nephew to see cowboy trick shooter Nick Culpepper perform his western act. But when a person from the audience is shot dead by the cowboy in the trick-shooting act, she’s in the audience to witness the killing. Ten-year-old Davy Hawkin tells her that Cowboy Nick didn’t kill the victim, and it’s up to Cassie to prove his innocence.

Okay, I admit it, I love stories set at the circus or a carnival, so I jumped at the chance to read this fast-moving short novel, and I wasn’t disappointed. Well written, with a nice plot, and interesting characters, it kept my interest from the first page. There is no deep mystery for us to solve, it’s a cozy after all, very short and fun. A quick read in only a couple of hours, it still gives the reader their money’s worth. Readers who enjoy a light mystery set in steampunk will enjoy this new series. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories

Eleven Days Thriller

Eleven Days (Thriller)

By Stav Sherez

Europa Editions www.europaeditions.com

ISBN #978-1609452254

Price $18.00

281 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Spellbinding And Difficult To Put Down.”

Detective Inspector Jack Carrigan and his partner Detective Constable Geneva Miller are handed a case that at first looks like an accidental fire, but Carrigan believes it was arson. Ten nuns were burned to death in their convent, The Sisters of Suffering. They were each seated around their dining table, and had not tried to escape. Why? An eleventh victim is discovered below, in a confession booth, also burned alive. It’s this final victim that intrigues Carrigan. There were only supposed to be the ten nuns, so who was the eleventh woman? Clues point their investigation to Peru, following the nun’s background where they fought for the rights of the poor, even if it required violence on their part. And in London, the investigation unravels their activity helping young girls escape prostitution ruled over by the Albanian gangsters. Was the fire accidental, or was it set, and if so, who would have killed these eleven women?

This was another well-written story, with a horrific background for a murder mystery. The evil that men do can prove more monstrous than any horror novel, and leaves the reader wondering if our civilization has truly sunk so low, or is this mere fiction? Mystery readers will find this novel truly spellbinding, and difficult to put down. And the characters memorable. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories

A Dark Redemption

A Dark Redemption (Detective Murder Mystery)

By Stav Sherez

ISBN #978-1609451172

Europa Editions

Price $17.00

345 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Gritty and Real.”

A young East African student from the university is found murdered in a London apartment. She had been raped and viciously mutilated, her dying words videotaped. Jack Carrigan, Detective-inspector of the Criminal Investigation Division, is assigned the case with an assistant, Detective-constable Geneva Miller. With their team of investigators assembled, Carrigan and Miller trace the girl’s background and studies as far as possible, though records are mysteriously blocked at the university, and there appears to be interference from both the African embassy and British Foreign Affairs. Who was the murdered girl, and why was she killed in such a brutal manner?

There is a back story concerning Jack Carrigan and two close friends who, twenty years previous had graduated from college together, and decided to vacation in East Africa before entering promising careers. Jack Carrigan was a musician on his way to the top already with an album. But something happened during that trip to Uganda that summer, and we get small hints throughout the story, but nothing concrete until the very end. Jack never continued his music career, but became a criminal investigator instead. Did that vacation have something to do with the murder of this girl?

A novel as powerful as this comes along rarely in the mystery field. The plot is gritty, real, and with strong characters moving the story from beginning to end. There is deep emotion driving the murderer, and the reader follows the investigators as they uncover clues and suspects. The story doesn’t bog down with the backstory, as we are only fed small bits occasionally, not all at once.  A thrilling mystery you will not want to put down.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories