THIS IS A CELEBRATION!
What is the occasion? Another winning book by Faith Mortimer. She has wowed readers with thrilling and sometimes chilling books like "The Crossing" and "The Assassin's Village." Now she's done it again with her new release "Children of the Plantation"
Exotic Agatha Christie -Style Mystery
Faith Mortimer was born in Manchester and educated in Singapore, Malaya and Hampshire, England. I qualified as a Registered nurse and after some years changed careers to oversee a number of travel and sport related companies.
I am happily married with four children. Once the children began to attend University, I decided to join them in reading for a Science degree. I obtained my Honours Science degree with The Open University in 2005 and believes that the dedication and stamina needed to sit for a degree gave me the confidence to finish writing my first novel. I achieved this and January 2009 saw the publication of The Crossing. This novel is based on a true incident and Ithoroughly enjoyed the six months or so research that went into the book and the 12 months writing and editing.
The Crossing is available in paperback and Kindle format on Amazon.
In 2010 I finished writing my second novel; a murder mystery set in the Troodos mountains of Cyprus where I spend the majority of my time.
This 93,000 word novel was posted on the Harper Collins/Authonomy site and out of over 8000 books was chosen in November 2010 to be the Number 1 book! You can read the review here.
Harper Collins Review for The Assassin's Village
'The Assassin's Village' is a traditional murder mystery, set in Cyprus. It centres on the brutal murder of Mr Leslie, an expatriate whose Lothario ways, military past and cavalier demeanour have earned him no shortage of enemies among the villagers. It is a novel written very much in the style of Agatha Christie: a classic who-done-it, in a small, gossiping, rural village. The prose is brought up-to-date with the fairly explicit themes of sexual liberation and exploitation.
As a thrilling read, 'The Assassin's Village' certainly fits the bill. I flew through the first 19 chapters. The prose is easy to follow, and dramatic in duly regular intervals.
I was particularly engaged by the different perceptions of Mr Leslie. We are already interested in the character, knowing from the prologue that he is to be our victim, and the author cleverly throws our judgment of him with every new perspective. Particularly endearing is the relationship between Antigone and Mr Leslie. Indeed, the sequence of chapter seven, where Antigone watches her brother hunting, is by far the strongest in the novel so far. It illustrates all of the strengths of the writing, the prose is obviously impeccably researched, and brings in a political element that raises the calibre of the story; the setting is evocative; and the characterisation is strong and feels fresh...
...I should say that, I really like the way you subverted normal linear chronology to lay out the events. It is, clear that you are capable of presenting the clues very well, and I particularly liked the way you used Diana's sketching to map out the facts and unlock the possibilities.
From here I would consider the relevance of everything in the plot. There are many motifs centred on the play Macbeth - the suggestions of occult activities, the play being put on by the villagers, the quotes prefacing each chapter, the relationship between Antigone and Mr Leslie, and Mr Leslie's endearing side in general, the political history, and the parallels of Diana's writing to the unfolding of the broader plot are all strong - these are all interesting themes...
... overall, there is a lot to commend in this manuscript.
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OTHER BOOKS TO LOOK FOR AND WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
The Crossing
Absorbing midlife reckoning with fascinating detail
Gripping from start to finish!
A beautiful supernatural tale you're sure to remember...
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