Blog Tour: Guest post from J. Woollcott, Author of Blood Relations

Genre: Police Procedural
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: August 2023
Number of Pages: 327
Series: The Belfast Murder Series, 2
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Belfast, Northern Ireland: early spring 2017. Retired Chief Inspector Patrick Mullan is found brutally murdered in his bed. Detective Sergeant Ryan McBride and his partner Detective Sergeant Billy Lamont are called to his desolate country home to investigate. In their inquiry, they discover a man whose career with the Police Service of Northern Ireland was overshadowed by violence and corruption. Is the killer someone from Mullan’s past, or his present?

And who hated the man enough to kill him twice?

Is it one of Patrick Mullan’s own family, all of them hiding a history of abuse and lies? Or a vengeful crime boss and his psychopathic new employee? Or could it be a recently released prisoner desperate to protect his family and flee the country?
Ryan and Billy once again face a complex investigation with wit and intelligence, all set in Belfast and the richly atmospheric countryside around it.

Enjoy this guest post from the author! 

When I was young, growing up in Northern Ireland, my mum loved ‘a good murder’. In fact when I think back, that may well have been the reason I chose to write mysteries in the first place. Back then, I liked musicals and comedies and couldn’t understand my mum’s fascination with True Detective magazine, Columbo and Perry Mason, all that. But as I grew up and needed something to read I seemed to gravitate towards mysteries. No romances or sci-fi for me, no animal stories or fantasies, apart from Lord of the Rings—obviously. The Famous Five, the Secret Seven, then on to spy thrillers and the like. 

My television preferences also tended towards the slow unraveling of clues, shows like Vera and Shetland, or Dalgleish, and Inspector Morse.

It wasn’t until I finished work for good and finally had some free time that I seriously considered writing a book of my own. And what kind of book did I decide to write? a murder mystery, of course.

I set my first book, the story of a child kidnapping, in Mexico and Manhattan. And even though I’ve been to both places, I’ve never lived there and to be honest don’t have an in-depth understanding of either location. And there is this old writerly saying…write what you know. I don’t believe that’s true generally, but nevertheless, I decided to set my next books back home in Northern Ireland, and make them Police Procedurals. Mum would have been thrilled!

I found then with the new series, I could write settings with confidence, I understood on a deeper level that feeling of being in the countryside when the weather is about to change, either from a bright, sunny, day, to rain and clouds—or vice versa. People from home never change plans because of the forecast, and that old saying, ‘if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute,’ is so true. And the populace—stoic one moment and hilariously funny the next. Some of the old sayings I remember so well, looking for a friend’s house? A helpful neighbour will tell you, ‘Two doors down up the street,’ or trying to get your car out of a tight spot? ‘Aye, love, back ahead there, back ahead.’ Annoyed about something? ‘Suffering duck, is that the festering rain again?’

I did try to incorporate a little of this particular brand of humour into my books. I’ve made my hero, DS Ryan McBride, a serious-minded, dedicated policeman—albeit with some definite character flaws, and his partner, DS Billy Lamont, a foil of sorts for him, always there to unintentionally lighten the mood. Sometimes with procedurals things can get a little grim and serious, so I’ve tried to lighten the tone a little—but not too much, they are murder mysteries after all!

 

Author Bio:

J. Woollcott is a Canadian author born in Belfast, N. Ireland. She is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers and BCAD, University of Ulster. Her first book, A Nice Place to Die won the Daphne du Maurier Award, was short-listed in the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in 2021 and was a Silver Falchion Award finalist at Killer Nashville 2023.

Catch Up With J Woollcott:
JWoollcott.com
Goodreads
Twitter - @JoyceWoollcott

 

 

Tour Participants:

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