Red is the colour
#Redisthecolour @bloodhoundbook @MFowlerAuthor #RITC
The synopsis:
Bullying. Corruption. Murder. It is the summer of 2002. The corpse of a 15 year old boy, missing for thirty years, is discovered in Stoke-on-Trent. The city is on the cusp of change and Chief Superintendent Berkins wants the case solved quickly. DCI Jim Tyler has arrived from London under a cloud, moving to Staffordshire to escape his past. He is teamed up with DS Danny Mills to investigate the case, but there is tension between the detectives.When the dead boy’s sister comes forward, describing a bright, solitary child, she points a finger at the school bullies. Important careers may be at stake.Then one of the bullies is found brutally murdered.As Tyler and Mills dig deeper they start to suspect a cover-up. What is the connection between the death of a schoolboy in 1972 and this latest killing? With the pressure building, and the past catching up with DCI Tyler, will he and DS Mills be able to put aside their differences in order to catch a cold-blooded killer?
My thoughts:
I have to start by saying that i was really looking forward to this book. Mark has a brilliant style of writing that captures the readers imagination from the very first page to the last.
After all the anticipation, this story is no exception. An excellent start to an all new crime series, and one that did not disappoint.
Red is the colour introduces us to two new detectives, DCI Tyler & DS Mills. Mills is Stoke born & bred, where as Tyler is new to the area known as the potteries. Arriving at the station in strained circumstances, he is thrown straight in at the deep end when a boy and his dog discover bones of a young schoolboy, missing for 30 years.
As the duo start their investigation what unfolds is a tale of historic bullying, cover ups, corruption, and a stark difference in the disciplines of then and now. The 70's were a very different time.
It has to be said that our leading pair don't exactly hit it off. Each suspicious and mistrusting of the other, with a distinct personality clash. Their relationship is as tense and intense as the tale the author has woven. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and watching their relationship unfold and evolve and am so looking forward to reading more.
Mark has beautifully captured the feelings of despair, and heartbreak that goes hand in hand with someone suffering at the hands of bullies. Alan Dale was 15 when he went missing. For years some people have carried their own burdens and feelings of helplessness and inadequacies. Wishing they had done more, wondering if they could have.
This is a book that for me, had everything i could want. An original and great storyline, perfectly executed. Interesting relationships with the main characters. All brought together by an author with an unquestionable talent for writing. Singularly unique in his storytelling he is a master in his field. This really was worth the wait and now i'm left with the same problem i had before i started this one....I'm now eagerly awaiting the release of his next book! But it's a fabulous problem to have. Thank you Mark!
Author Bio:
Mark L. Fowler is the author of the novels Coffin Maker, The Man Upstairs, Silver, and Red Is The Colour, and more than a hundred short stories. His particular interests are in crime and mystery, psychological thrillers and gothic/horror fiction.
His first published novel, Coffin Maker, is a gothic tale set between our world and the Kingdom of Death. In the Kingdom the Coffin Maker lives a solitary existence, and every coffin he completes signals the end of a life in our world. One day he discovers that he is to be sent two apprentices, amid rumours that the devil is arriving on Earth.
Mark’s second novel, The Man Upstairs, features the hard-boiled detective, Frank Miller, who works the weird streets of Chapeltown. Having discovered that he is in fact the hero of twenty successful mystery novels, authored by The Man Upstairs, Frank has reasons to fear that this latest case might be his last.
In 2016, Silver, a dark and disturbing psychological thriller was published by Bloodhound Books. When a famous romance novelist dies in mysterious circumstances, she leaves behind an unfinished manuscript, Silver. This dark and uncharacteristic work has become the Holy Grail of the publishing world, but the dead writer’s family have their reasons for refusing to allow publication.
Red Is The Colour is Mark’s latest book, a crime mystery featuring two police detectives based in Staffordshire. The case involves the grim discovery of the corpse of a schoolboy who went missing thirty years earlier. Red Is The Colour is the first in a series featuring DCI Tyler and DS Mills, and will be published in July 2017 by Bloodhound Books.
The author contributed a short story, Out of Retirement, to the best-selling crime and horror collection, Dark Minds. Featuring many well known writers, all proceeds from the sales of Dark Minds will go to charity.
A graduate in philosophy from Leicester University, Mark lives in Staffordshire, and is currently writing a follow up to Red Is The Colour. When he isn’t writing he enjoys time with family and friends, watching TV and films, playing guitar/piano and going for long walks.
