#BlogTour ‘Five Deaths For Seven Songbirds’ by John Everson

About the book…

A modern Giallo, Everson’s homage to the stylish Italian mystery thrillers. When Eve Springer arrives in Belgium to study with the world-famous Prof. Ernest Von Klein at The Eyrie, an exclusive music conservatory, it’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. But that dream is soon to become a nightmare.

When the star of the school’s piano program is strangled with a piano wire, the only clue to the killer is a grainy picture of the victim during her final moments, mouth wide and screaming, posted on the girl’s own Facebook account, alongside a classic music video. What does it mean? Eve soon finds herself taking the girl’s place as the enclave’s star pupil, in line for a coveted scholarship and a new member of the famed jazz combo, the Songbirds.

When Eve is drugged and another Songbird murdered at a campus party, she suddenly finds herself on the list of suspects. Another picture is posted online of the victim in her final moments, and this time, Eve is sure the hands around the girl’s throat… are hers! Could she have killed the girl while under the influence of whatever someone had slipped in her drink? The police and others at the Eyrie are suspicious; the murders began when she arrived. Her new boyfriend Richard insists that she could not be the killer. But who would want the Songbirds dead? One of the other Songbirds, like Gianna, the snarky sax player who seems to hate everyone? Or Philip, the creepy building caretaker and occasional night watchman? Or could it be Prof. Von Klein himself, who seems very handy with a camera and has a secret locked room behind his office where the light always seems to be on after dark?

Whoever it is, Eve knows she needs to figure it out. Because when a dead canary is left as a bloody message on the keys of her piano, she knows her own life may be in deadly danger.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things for the blog tour invite and Flame Tree Press for the e-arc of ‘Five Deaths For Seven Songbirds’ by John Everson which is available in e-book and hardcover from March 22nd.

From the design of the cover to the title of the novel,everything about “5 Deaths…” is a tribute to the giallo style of Italian detective novels.

Opening with a brutal murder which creates the space which Eve, our principle character, can step into,this book pulls no punches in showing exactly what it is about.

There is an international feel at this exclusive school with the elite musicians being whittled down, again,through auditions to join to the most elite group of all, the Songbirds.

After successfully auditioning to join and stepping into her predecessor’s shoes, Eve is overwhelmed by the sights, relationships and sounds at the Eyrie.

Resembling a gothic monolith, run by the peculiar Professor Von Klein and aligned to nearby cafe,Heavy Beans, which is run by an enigmatic musician, Claude, in a state of mourning for his lost sister Vanessa, you are clearly knee deep in a mystery which is tumbling inexorably towards a satisfying conclusion.

The only thing left dangling in mid air, suspended on a piano wire-as did one of the victims-is how many songbirds will make it to the final curtain call.

Steeped deeply in traditional story telling but with added gore,unique and memorable death scenes and a sinister, gothic undertone, I really , really, enjoyed the deaths, the air of suspicion which drenched every page, and Eve as a determined and fearless young heroine/detective.

Reading the book felt like being taken to another world where everything was just a little off kilter and everyone was suspect. Highly recommended for fans of thrillers and horror alike!

About the author…

John Everson is a former newspaper reporter who writes thrillers filled with erotic horror and supernatural suspense. He is the author of the Bram Stoker Award winner ‘Covenant’, and finalist ‘NightWhere’, which reviewers called “50 Shades Meets Hellraiser!”

He is also the creator of the characters Danika and Mila Dubov, seen in the Netflix series V-Wars, based on the books created by Jonathan Maberry.

Booklist said his latest, ‘Voodoo Heart’, “is a solid blend of supernatural horror and hard-boiled detective fiction, and should appeal to horror devotees as well as mystery buffs” while Living Dead Magazine called him “the master of dark and sexy.”

Links-http://www.johneverson.com/

Twitter @johneverson @RandomTTours @FlameTreePress