I’m thrilled to say I have The Raven’s Mark by Christie J. Newport on the blog for my stop on the blog tour for Joffe Books today. Massive thanks to Jill Burkinshaw and Joffe Booms for Mt place on the tour and the ARC of the book.
Meet Beth Fellows, a Preston detective haunted by her mum’s murder when she was only four. She’s a driven woman with a heart of gold.
A stranger came into our home, strangled my mother to death and left me sitting alone with her body. What happened to my mum is the driving force behind every major decision I’ve made since . . .
Now Beth faces the hardest case of her career: Rose Danes’s throat is cut, her body discarded on a council estate. Seared into the teenage girl’s skin is the image of a raven.
Six years ago, another girl was attacked. The victim, fourteen-year-old Celine Wilson, barely survived and was left brain-damaged in a coma.
THIS GIRL ALSO HAD A RAVEN BURNED ON HER BODY.
Why wait six years to strike again?
Then Beth receives a mobile phone from the killer — with a warning that he will hurt those closest to her if she tells anyone.
She’s talking to a dangerous predator but nobody knows. Not her team. Not her partner. No one.
If I’d known the personal cost of heading this investigation I would have walked away. No, I would have run as fast as I could and never looked back. Now, it’s far too late . . .
Beth must break all the rules to stop any more girls from suffering. But will her everything be enough to stop a sick murderer?
The Raven’s Mark is Christie J. Newport’s debut book. A police procedural set in Preston in the North West of England. As I always say, I went into this book with an open mind and no expectations. I started reading and was gripped from the start.
Any book set in the North West has my attention. Being from Oldham makes me so interested in any book set near me. I love that I can easily picture the areas involved and The Raven’s Mark did just that. Christie J. Newport’s descriptions of the settings took me straight there.
We meet DCI Beth Fellows, called out to the discovery of a dead teenager, Rose Danes. She has been branded with a raven on her shoulder. Beth knows this mark from six years previously, another girl was branded but survived, Celine Wilson. Known as The Brander, Beth is determined to bring him down, and is willing to do anything to do it.
Christie J. Newport’s characters are well drawn. Beth herself is flawed and has such a mix of contradictions. She is a woman who is impulsive and strong but we see her vulnerabilities also. I liked this. It made her such an intriguing character from the start. I liked that the characters felt like they could be flesh and blood, this added more to the story, I cared about what happened to these characters.
A twisted and fast-paced story that never slows once. Not just a simple police procedural, it has a plot that’s original and skilfully woven with the characters to create a story that makes you keep turning the pages…until there are none left. With a cliffhanger conclusion it certainly makes me want the second book, and soon!
Author Bio
Christie J. Newport was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1981. She now lives in Northumberland with her wife and their Labrador. In 2004, Christie graduated from Edge Hill University with a BA (Hons) degree in Journalism. She is now agented by Northbank Talent Management and works closely with Hannah Weatherill. Her first book in the DCI Beth Fellows crime thriller series is due to be released by Joffe Books on 30th November 2022. You can now preorder a Kindle copy via Amazon.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 