Dragon in the Snow - ready for preorder!

The dragon lunged and burned. Ketil felt its hot breath, but he knew it was only a dream.

When Sigrid goes to stay on Shapinsay, Ketil is unconcerned – nothing ever happens on Shapinsay. But then the fires start, and it seems that Ketil’s dream has come to life. Will he and Sigrid find the arsonist, before a whole settlement is wiped out forever?

Introductory price of 99p!

Dragon in the Snow - Orkneyinga Murders 3

Book tour: Gangs of Social Media!

We're on a quick book tour this weekend for this one:

'Gangs of Social Media' is a mirror of our present situation all over the world. Our lives are taken over by Social Media and we are a slave to our apps. And one of the most poisonous side effects of social media is Fake News. 

The story reveals how India’s one and only Forensic Cyber Psychologist, Professor Fabulous is summoned by the National Cyber Defense of India to hunt down the mastermind behind a cyber-attack on social media users who intentionally or unintentionally spread fake news. 

In a desperate race against time, Professor Fabulous encounters online scammers, cyber hacktivist gangs, paid trolls, Social Media business executives, Politicians, Cybersecurity Start-ups, and a forgotten victim of fake news before the mastermind reveals his motive behind the cyber-attack.

Will this be the end of fake news or the end of social media itself? 

Synopsys

Gangs of Social Media is a crime mystery thriller set-in present-day India. The story is of 12 hours when Mr. RAJPUT, Deputy National Cyber Defense Chief teams up with PROFESSOR FABLUOS who is India’s only Forensic Cyber Psychologist to hunt down the MASTERMIND of the worst cyber-attack of all time on SOCIAL MEDIA users who often indulge in spreading FAKE NEWS.

The story begins with three nameless youths in three metro cities of India, namely Bangalore, New Delhi, and Mumbai. All three of them heavily use WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter to do one and only one thing, to spread FAKE NEWS motivated by aimless emotion, blind political affiliation, and money. These three represent most social media users in India.

But that day, all the social media users who have been spreading fake news with whatever intention and without any consequences will have to pay a heavy price. A ransomware (computer virus) disguised in the form of a WhatsApp message or Facebook post or as a tweet is circulated and as usual, without thinking of consequences, the users start sharing this message. The moment the users shares any fake news, their device either phone, tablet or laptop or computer will hang, and a message is displayed, demanding a ransom of Rs.1,00,000 to be paid within 12 hours as a consequence of sharing fake news. If users fail to pay the ransom, the devices will be destroyed and all the data on the device will be made public.

Professor Fabulous and Mr. Rajput have a bitter past, but they put their personal differences away to catch the culprit behind this cyber-attack. The story narration is sequential but keeps the reader guessing. The division of the book into 15 chapters with titles that almost foreshadow the narration that would happen in the chapter is marvelously and artistically done by the author.

Gangs of Social Media sounds dangerous but there is not much to be worried about as Professor Fabulous is fabulous at his job. But what happens at the end. Is the search over? Does Professor Fabulous get to the criminal? The book trades us through the process. It takes us from one person to the other. The end is what the reader must discover herself or himself. It’s the most surprising the realistic climax and leaves reader with few open-ended questions.

Book Purchase Links: Amazon India | Amazon USA

Some Interesting Quotes from the Book: 

"Fake news existed in the past and will continue to exist until human civilization exists, there is no escape from it… "- Professor Fabulous

"Three greatest inventions of the 21^st century. The Smartphone, the Internet, and Social Media. The device, the medium, and the platform. The holy trinity of Fake news Empire." - Professor Fabulous

“The color of this shirt is blue…that is a fact, and nobody can dispute that. The color of this shirt is awesome!!! That is an opinion… it is highly subjective, biased, and customized to individual needs. The color of this shirt gives me superpowers… that is false or fake news...” - The prime suspect

About the Author

Vasimraja was born on 29th February 1984, in India.  He currently lives in San Francisco Bay Area, California USA. He started reading fiction novels at the age of eight after overhearing a story narration of Sherlock Holmes by his father. He grew up in different towns of Northern Karnataka State before his family relocated to Dharwad, the literature capital of Karnataka where he met celebrated playwright and author, Late Girish Karnad. He was greatly influenced by Karnad’s writing and personality.

Vasimraja works in the field of semiconductor engineering and has two patents on semiconductor memories. He is an avid reader of English, Kannada and Hindi literature.  He presents the most complex ideas in a very simple form, leaving a lasting impression on readers.

Catch up with Vasimraja Bhavikatti On:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Email

Missing Orkney

O to be in Orkney, now that summer’s here,
O to be in Orkney, and drink Dark Island beer,
I’d ferry up to Westray, and stroll by Skara Brae,
And watch the gentle breezes birl my bobble hat away.

I’d worship with St. Magnus, and visit Judith Glue
And eat huge fresh crab sandwiches, and beremeal biscuits too,
I’d ogle Ortak jewellery, try jerseys on for fit,
And buy more wool than any knitter’d ever hope to knit.

I’d go to the Orcadian, and buy a load of books

And recipes to satisfy long-dead Orcadian cooks

I’d go to the distilleries at Scapa and the Park

And try a Seaglass gin or two – but maybe after dark.

I’d go hiking with the Vikings, and march to Rackwick Bay
I’d crawl inside Maeshowe again, imagine New Year’s Day,
I’d walk the coast of Rousay, and poke in cairns and cists,
And I’d get a lovely suntan – but only to my wrists.

I’d cross the Churchill Barriers, and peer in Scapa Flow
(but never dare to dive to see the blockships down below);
I’d wonder at the Chapel, and the frescoes in the mess
Of the battery that guarded wartime Orkney at Stromness.

I’d visit Orkney Library, and commune with the balls,
But COVID’s set up barriers more terrible than walls.
So I’ll sit here in my study till Northlink says okay,
O to be in Orkney – but I’ll be back one day!

Ballater Bugle

The usual quick post to say the newsletter and a Murray short story went out today, so if you haven't received it and expected to let us know at contact@kellascatpress.co.uk. A couple of people seem to have changed addresses since we last sent one out!

Dragon in the Snow is now fully drafted, but will require a good edit (what doesn't?) before its appearance!

May's reading

See that time lag again this month? That's because I was determined to finish Tombland before I posted my reviews!

So here we go:

Tombland, C.J. Sansom: Complex, nuanced, subtle and intriguing – just as good as ever. A shame my arthritic thumbs made reading much of the heavy paperback at any time a rather painful experience, but that’s not the author’s fault and at least it made me pace it. The plot is very rich, particularly as it draws heavily on real events, though Shardlake’s doings are interwoven seamlessly with them. It could have done with a touch more editing, but it is a huge book. Towards the end it became more and more grim and for a while I had to force myself to read one more chapter, just one more chapter – then resolution began, and again it flowed.

Here's a non-crime:

Bridget Collins, The Binding: Clever concept and a thought-provoking, emotional book, in which books are only rarely ‘made up’ but instead are the repository of memories of people who have visited a binder. To destroy a book is to restore those memories to the person, usually with resulting trauma: memories can be removed through kindness, but also for commercial or personal gain. To say more might be to give away too much: this is a twisty book, stretching the ideas into strange shapes in a society something like Victorian England.

As it happens, I managed to read a non-fiction in May, too:

All that Remains, Sue Black: My usual resistance to factual books slowed me on this but it really is a fascinating book – very strange in places, and more about her relationship with death than either her life or her career. She touches with sensitivity on real cases and her experiences in Kosovo, and to an extent Thailand post-tsunami. It is very well written and flings us from humour to pathos and back through the realms of scientific explanations with great ease.

Now for May's crime fiction:

Gerald Hammond, Dog in the Dark: This has the feeling of a slightly mournful and bad-tempered Dick Francis, which from me is a compliment. I was immediately drawn into the world of dog-training and eager to learn more (the reason I like Dick Francis is that I always learn something from them). In the end the plot was quite good but some of the attitudes felt more dated than the late 1980s. Still, I liked the general idea and several of the relationships, and might well go back for another one.

A.A. Abbot, The Bride’s Trail: Intriguing missing person / identity theft mystery involving gangsters and city types. Amy the heroine was annoying naïve but otherwise this was entertaining and exciting.

Frances Brody, Dying in the Wool: I enjoyed this, liking both the setting and the main character. She was intelligent without being too precocious and stayed quite well in her historical place. The plot worked, and the characters were pleasantly ambiguous.

M.W. Craven, Black Summer: Tilly and Poe are back for another chase, cleverly plotted and North Country-set. This is a very enjoyable series – Tilly and Poe are excellent characters – but I must try Craven’s other one, too, beginning with Born in a Burial Gown (Avison Fluke, I think?).

Cecila Peartree, Careless Death: How did I miss this one? I’ve read the following one! Anyway. One always feels for at least some of the characters in the Pitkirtly series – Christopher, mostly – but this time our sympathies focus on Mollie the librarian, trying to cope with a trying mother, and then accused of trying to murder her. It’s still funny, but Mollie’s problems are real and very sad. But our valiant cast saves the day as always: the world needs Pitkirtly just now!

Other editions

Jodi Taylor, Roman Holiday, When a Child is Born and A Trail Through Time: two novellas and the next episode in this hilarious series – hilarious, thrilling, exciting, and very well researched. Max and Leon head a cast of complete misfits, some good, some bad, in plots that gallops through history but always return to mad St. Mary’s to find some new way to blow the place up. Really good fun.

Other editions

Tony Forder, Bad to the Bone: An appealing police procedural, with interesting, if often dim, characters and a decent plot, though the setting (Peterborough) is almost deliberately dull. Bliss did not seem to care much about his dogs, but that happens. There were some fumbly bits of dialogue and description and though I liked the main characters I didn’t think they were very bright, but generally it was a very enjoyable read that I came back to each evening with pleasure. I don’t like the phrase ‘park up’, though – what’s wrong with just parking?

Ross Greenwood, The Snow Killer: I had to stop reading this at first as it was set in Peterborough as was another one I was reading (the Tony Forder). I don’t usually like to hear the perspective of the killer but this was rather different and very compelling, if upsetting. When we moved on to the police procedural bit it was again well done (though I hope Nav has not just retired completely out of the series), with real people and proper issues convincingly presented. Again we have people parking up (up what?) – perhaps it’s some weird Peterborough thing? But it’s an exciting conclusion and very enjoyable.

OAmbrose Parry, The Art of Dying: Life has moved on a little for Sarah and Raven, but it doesn’t take long until they are once more embroiled in mystery. The medical descriptions are great, the balance between the characters is appealing, and the plot is pleasantly busy. It would be quite nice if Raven were right about something for a change and Sarah were wrong, but the ending was beautifully ambiguous and I’m of course looking forward to the next one.

Well, after all that if anyone's still here I can say that I'm a bit over two-thirds of the way through Dragon in the Snow, the third Orkneyinga Murders book. The plan is that it will be out in late summer / early autumn ... I also now have a website! The content is a little basic just now but things will be added - feel free to drop in and see what you think (and let us know if anything doesn't work!). It's at www.lexieconyngham.co.uk - come and visit!

Reading in April

April's reads! Definitely in no particular order, and I think all crime this time.

Keith Moray, Deathly Wind:  I’m sorry, the lurking ten-year-old in me just wants to giggle at the title! Glasgow gangsters, dead dogs, revenge and retribution: quite an entertaining read once you get all the characters sorted out.

Other editions

Keith Moray, Murder Solstice: Entertaining now I’ve got to know the characters a little, though I still don’t want to know what everyone is driving or riding. Incidentally sixteen is the age of legal responsibility in Scotland. I think I’ll happily carry on with this series.

Other editions

Carmen Radtke, A Matter of Love and Death: Very different from the Missing Bride series but really interesting, beautifully sensitive and suspenseful. Set in Adelaide in a time of poverty and distress, this sees respectable telephonist Frances edging into a much more dubious world of nightclubs and illicit drinking, yet she manages to hold true to herself. A very satisfying mystery.

Other editions

Jason Goodwin, The Janissary Tree: Yashim is a eunuch in early 19^th century Istanbul, able to enter the harem of the Sultan and investigate the murder of one of the girls, but also trusted to help the seraskier investigate the deaths of of four young officers in his new army, the force brought in to replace the Janissaries. The Janissaries, however, do not really want to be replaced. This is a fascinating insight into the Istanbul of the time, fragile, flammable, and frightening in many ways – exciting, too.

Lynda Wilcox, The Lockington Legacy: A very entertaining, light read, with an awful lot of Ls in it! Linzi and Loren Repton have set up a detective agency, and are commissioned to recover the Lockington Legacy, a diamond necklace, in the course of which they stumble upon a murder. Instrumental in their solution is the mysterious Magda, dog owner and feeder of the homeless who looks like a bag lady but is evidently much more (quite apart from consuming heroic quantities of tea and biscuits). I need to find out more about Magda!

Other editions

E.S.Thomson, Dark Asylum: The setting has shifted to a lunatic asylum but this plot is just as deep, macabre and intriguing as the first book, and the writing is just as good. As insanity is a looming threat in these books this is particularly poignant for our main character: there’s just enough relief to keep us going.

Other editions

James Oswald, Nothing to Hide: Constance is a much put-upon person, so that the reader feels some kind of relief when she fetches up in the Leith Walk home of Madame Rose and her cats, to be succoured and supported. Constance is rather self-destructive (she reminds me a bit of Claire Balding and her autobiography My Animals and Other Family) but very sympathetic and we really do want her to win, even if occasionally we’d like her to keep her mouth shut just for a little while. I’m sorry it’s written in the present tense, but it’s possible to get past it as it’s first person narrative.

Doug Johnstone, A Dark Matter: This was not what I was expecting – I had thought from comments I had read that it would be more comedic. Instead it is tragic, wistful in places, but ultimately very pleasing with some very odd turns in the mysteries that are investigated by this odd family of undertakers and private detectives in Edinburgh. For anyone concerned about these things (like me) the cat is all right.

Elly Griffiths, The StoneCircle: Really enjoyed this as usual – the perfect pandemic escape. I had intended to ration it and instead read it in a couple of evenings. What a shame!

Cecilia Peartree, The Spy who came out of the Bushes: Delighted to meet the 20^th Pitkirtly mystery, which even makes reference to the demand for archivists in the black economy. Oh, I love Christopher and Amaryllis! And all the other regulars – and poor Maisie Sue whose wedding day to Benjamin or Benedict is inevitably spoiled by the appearance of her supposedly ex husband sporting a fatal knife wound.

Other editions

M.J. Lee, Death in Shanghai: I wasn’t sure about the cliched British (fine, no doubt a lot of British administrators were indeed silly asses but this was a bit shallow) or the endlessly dancing waiters, but I was intrigued by the set-up and keen to know more. I found a lot of it to be rather trite, and here and there rather American. But there was originality here, too, and some well observed characters: I don’t think I’d like to work with Danilov, but I enjoyed reading about him, and about Strachan.

J.D. Kirk, The Last Bloody Straw: Another excellent episode in this series, black and hilarious by turns. The twist at the end was both necessary and satisfactory - or should I say twists? Some more foreseeable than others. And poor DC Tyler is beginning to come into his own.

Chris Longmuir, Missing Believed Dead: the third in the Dundee Crime series. I was really trying to find her suffragette series but kept missing! Anyway, these are very good. This third one has a missing girl who seems to have come home, thus causing more disruption in her family almost than her original disappearance. An excellent mystery, right up to the last minute (and maybe even beyond).

Short stories out now

               




















Quite Useful in Minor Emergencies - a quick collection of sixteen short stories out today! BUT if you receive the newsletter you'll have seen most of them already so don't rush off blind to buy it - you've been warned!