Book Blog Tour Stop and Extract: Retribution by Christina O' Reilly

Retribution by Christina O'Reilly

Notes: This extract is from the very beginning of Retribution – Chapter 1

A soft grey dawn was breaking on Ripton Beach, the rising sun casting a pinkish glow onto the sombre clouds above. Archie followed DC Ben Travers down the concrete boat ramp. His legs felt oddly numb, as if they didn’t belong to him, but all the same they carried him inevitably towards the horror on the beach.

The body of a young woman had been found by a walker and his dog just an hour earlier. It had been twelve days now since Archie’s spat with his eldest daughter; twelve days during which she had either ignored, or – a much more worrying possibility − been unable to answer his calls. Where was she? Why wasn’t she answering her phone? Dread sat like a stone in his stomach.

At the bottom of the ramp, Travers led him to the right where, in the distance on the hard grey sand, a crude wigwam-like construction made of driftwood was now surrounded by markers and police tape. Closer, they could see escaping between the silvery wooden struts a ragged lock of pale blonde hair wafting in the breeze.

Archie’s heart plummeted. He forced himself to keep walking, and as they drew nearer he let Travers look in at the body first. Travers knew Alicia. He would know if it was her.

Bracing his hands against his thighs, Travers bent his tall frame forwards to peer inside the flimsy wooden structure. A moment later he straightened up, an inscrutable expression on his face.

Archie could stand it no longer. Elbowing his DC aside, he sank to his knees in front of the body, saw the mud-streaked bony face, the unfamiliar clothes, the tiny, exposed bare feet.

He pushed himself upright with his hands and staggered away towards the sea, dragging great gulps of air into his lungs. His head buzzed dizzily as if he’d drunk a large glass of champagne very fast.

‘You alright, boss?’ Travers came up behind him and laid a steadying hand on his shoulder.

A young woman has been murdered on Ripton Beach.

DSS ‘Archie’ Baldrick and DC Ben Travers eventually identify the body as that of Lucy Martin, who has been renting a bach in the area. Her husband, Oliver, seems to know very little about his wife or her background.

What was Lucy hiding? Why has she no family or friends?

As the number of suspects mounts up, Archie begins to conclude that the real answer lies in Lucy’s dark and mysterious past, and that the murderer may be just a little too close for comfort …

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Christina is a writer and professional proofreader living in the Waikato region of New Zealand. Four of her short stories have been published, one in a magazine and the others in anthologies produced by Page and Blackmore, Rangitawa Publishing and most recently in Fresh Ink: Voices from Aotearoa, produced by Cloud Ink Press.

As well as being a finalist in the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards, Christina’s first crime novel Into the Void was longlisted for the 2019 Michael Gifkins Memorial Prize for an unpublished novel.

https://www.facebook.com/Christina-OReilly-Author-102419694721372/

Book Blog Tour Stop with an Author Guest Post: Invisible by Lindsay Woodward

Do You Ever Feel Invisible?

I have a very close friend that I always share my book ideas with. During the planning stage of Invisible I told her about this comical plot I was developing. It was a simple idea of a girl who was invisible called Alice. She’s been invisible for quite a few years until one day she bumps into a man and finally becomes visible again. Her excitement is stumped, though, when it transpires that it’s only when she’s in this man’s company that she’s visible. As soon as he goes out of sight, so does she. And even worse is that she can’t stand this man that she ends up being stuck with. He’s so gross, he actually makes her want to heave.

As soon as I’d finished explaining all this to my friend, her response took me by surprise. Rather than commenting on the idea of being stuck with a horrible man, she told me that she could totally relate to the idea of being invisible. Despite everything else, it was this element that she latched on to. She said she’d often felt invisible herself.

It was at this moment that I realised how through my life I’ve often felt invisible too. And if we have both felt this way, other people must have also. This is when I knew the key theme of this book had to be invisibility in itself.

From this point I decided that for each character I’d either make them invisible in some shape or form, or very visible. Alice is obviously literally invisible, but for her closest friend, Dan, I made his invisibility a little more subtle. Firstly, he is a middle child and somehow always feels lost. Then he is also overshadowed by a scheming work colleague.

Whereas Dan often feels invisible, his work colleague, Emily, is a visible force of nature. Big and bold, she always charms everyone she meets. So much so that the people around her can’t see that she’s stealing Dan’s clients. Dan is a steady, reliable worker, but his self-doubt and more understated approach don’t get noticed, and the truth gets masked behind Emily’s bravado.

This same sense of the visible person hiding their true nature is seen in Ethan, one of Alice’s love interests. With a flawless appearance and extreme confidence, he captures attention wherever he goes. But this visible façade is pretty much all there is to him, and it’s hiding very little underneath. However, most of the people around him can’t see past his vibrant outer shell, so visible is it.

At the start of the book Alice aspires to be like Ethan. He mesmerises her. But how often in life are strikingly visible things actually just hiding something that we aren’t supposed to see? I liked exploring that notion in the story and seeing how the elements of visibility and invisibility actually worked side by side.

This book is undoubtedly a fun comedy, and none of these elements are there to challenge my readers. But those words from my friend stayed with me. I also came to believe that wherever there is something invisible, it’s only right to balance it with very visible. Writing this story has made me think we all have a bit of both, and we only ever show people just what we want them to see.

Invisible by Lindsay Woodward

Alice Bloom has shut herself away from the world for years. But all that changes when three men come into her life. Firstly there's the rather disgusting Karl, who has the key to her problems but turns her stomach. Then there's smooth and sexy Ethan, whom Alice falls head over heels for, but she just can't seem to get time alone with him. And finally there's her lovely, supportive friend Dan, if only they could ever actually get to meet. Because the biggest problem of all is: Alice is invisible.

The complications become more and more hilarious as Alice tries to steer her way through her conflicting emotions and find her way to happiness. Will she succeed or will life always get the better of her?

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I'm a British author who lives in Warwickshire with my husband and cat. I've had a lifelong passion for writing, starting off as a child when I used to write stories about the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock.

Knowing there was nothing else I'd rather study, I did my degree in writing and I've now turned my favourite hobby into a career.

I write love stories with a twist, always leaving readers guessing right until the end. They're far from your normal romance stories, but a love story runs through the heart of all my books, with a sprinkling of something weird thrown into the mix.

When I’m not writing novels, I’m a Marketing Consultant specialising in copywriting, so words really are my world!

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