#BlogTour-‘Tightrope’ by Marnie Riches

About the book…

My grateful thanks to Marnie and Alainna at Trapeze Books for the blogtour invite, and my gifted paperback copy of ‘Tightrope’ which is out now, go buy it!
Well read my review whilst you are grabbing your purse/putting your shoes on, as I took quite a bit of time waxing lyrical about this series opener, stay with me chaps!

‘Dark, gritty and funny.‘ STEVE CAVANAGH
‘A gripping page-turner of a plot‘ ROZ WATKINS
‘A corking thriller‘ ED JAMES

What happens when a private investigator ends up being the one uncovered?

Having lost everything after a failed marriage, Beverley Saunders now lodges in the basement flat of a house owned by her best friend Sophie and her husband, Tim. With Bev’s former glittering marketing career in the gutter, she begins to do investigative work for other wronged women, gathering dirt on philanderers, bosses and exes.

But when Beverley takes on the case of Sophie’s friend Angela, who is seeking to uncover grounds for divorce from her controlling husband, Jerry, the shadow Science Minister, she soon discovers that she isn’t the only one doing the investigating…

Beverley has a secret history she doesn’t want coming out – but will she manage to stay hidden long enough to give Angela the freedom she deserves?

Marnie Riches is back in this darkly comic thriller, perfect for fans of Martina Cole and Kimberley Chambers.

Praise for Marnie Riches:

‘Gritty and gripping’ Kimberley Chambers, Sunday Times No.1 Bestseller

‘Marnie Riches is already a leading light in the field of Mancunian noir.’ The Guardian

‘Gritty and great fun.‘ The Express

‘Pacy, poignant, funny and violent, it grabs you by the hand and drags you down the mean streets of Manchester with such verve and authenticity that you can almost smell the rain and blood as you turn the pages.’ Simon Toyne

‘Fast-paced and enthralling’ C. L. Taylor

‘Fast, furious, fantastic…One killer thriller!‘ Mark Edwards

‘Edgy‘ Clare Mackintosh

”Beverley Saunders was no longer Rob’s passive,pleading wife.She was now a woman who wouldn’t take any more shit,helping women who weren’t yet strong enough to fight their own battles.And didn’t she still have the biggest battle of her own to fight? This job could give her the security and professional standing to convince the judge she was back on track and a responsible adult”.

Bev is the heroine of Marnie Riches new series aout a P.I whose own life needs rescuing through no fault of her own. Completely ruined by her vile ex-husband who holds their child as collateral , Bev is reduced to living in the mould infested basement of her best friend,Sophie’s, palatial residence. Lost and with her career and reputation in tatters she re-establishes herself as a private investigator , her first case coming courtesy of Sophie whose friend,Angela, is trapped in an abusive marriage.

The twist-Angie’s husband is the Shadow Science Minister and darling of the very same media that tore Bev apart…when someone as influential and in the public eye as much as Jeremy Fitzwilliam is, how do gather proof of his infidelity and his abusive behaviour? In the meantime she has an almighty battle looming with her ex, and the possibility of a stalker to deal with…

Opening with a shocking act of violence, ‘Tightrope’ pulls no punches in its depiction of all types of violence against women and the patriarchal attitude of men towards women and girls being no more than disposable playthings. These women are bright, intelligent and fierce yet face subjugation, sexual assault and death from men who deem them worthless.

The narrative alternates between Bev, a character known as ‘The Wolf’, and Angela, the woman so in need of Bev’s help. Nearly every chapter ends on a cliff hanger which hurries you to finish it as it is the very definition of unputdownable. The suspense is nail biting and sphincter tightening as you urge Bev to finish Jerry off, he is the most odious male character I have read this year and sadly I can absolutely say I have met men like him who feel the female of the species should fall to their knees for the privilege of breathing the same air as him. It’s not all darkness though, ‘Tightrope’ has an immensely Northern sensibility which keeps it grounded and rooted with a vein of humour runnign through it like lettering in rock. There is a fabulous scene set in a swimming pool that will have the reader cheering and a hoover repair man who is unforgettable.

As readers, we have the luxury of closing the book, saying that was a fabulous thriller and walking away. The things that happen to the women in this novel occur every day. Bev has a complex and multifaceted past which has led her to the point where she is acting to support women who are cheated on, let down and abused whilst struggling to acknowledge that all of this happened to her. She is ballsy, warm hearted and fearless and she exists to make a life for her daughter. In doing so she turns over every stone to expose the dark underbelly of a world which treats half of its citizens as a commodity. Domestic violence is the biggest world wide killer of women, it’s a figure that doesn’t change in the UK either, accounting for 2 deaths every week. Until it becomes a fairer society for women, their narratives could fill a million books and this is what Marnie Riches is doing-shining a light on how sex trafficking is something happening everywhere, the systems in palce designed to isolate women financially,emotionally and physically.

It’s a 5 star read that pulls no punches, I absolutely recommend it and cannot wait to catch up with Bev again on her next outing.

About the author…

Marnie Riches grew up on a rough estate in north Manchester. Exchanging the spires of nearby Strangeways prison for those of Cambridge University, she gained a Masters in German & Dutch. She has been a punk, a trainee rock star, a pretend artist and professional fundraiser.

Her best-selling, award-winning George McKenzie crime thrillers, tackling the subject of trans-national trafficking, were inspired by her own time spent in The Netherlands. Dubbed the Martina Cole of the North, she is also the author of ‘Born Bad’ and ‘The Cover Up’– the critically acclaimed hit series about Manchester’s notorious gangland.

‘Tightrope‘ is the start of a brand new series, set mainly in the famous footballer-belt of Hale, Cheshire, and introducing flawed but fearless northern PI, Bev Saunders who risks everything to fight the corner of her vulnerable client. A second Bev Saunders novel will follow in early 2020. So far, Marnie has sold an impressive 250,000 books and counting…

When she isn’t writing gritty, twisty crime-thrillers, Marnie also regularly appears on BBC Radio Manchester, commenting about social media trends and discussing the world of crime-fiction.

Links-https://marnieriches.com/

Twitter @Marnie_Riches

@TrapezeBooks

@womensaid