Book launch of ‘The Blood Promise’ by Liz Mistry
June 5 @ 18:30 – 21:00
Join us in the shop as we celebrate the launch of a new gritty Scottish crime series by Liz Mistry, and she introduces us to The Blood Promise.
Liz moved to West Yorkshire in the late 1980s. Her gritty crime fiction police procedural novels set in Bradford embrace the city she describes as ‘Warm, Rich and Fearless’ whilst exploring the darkness that lurks beneath. Yet, her heart remains in Scotland, where childhood tales of bogey men, Bible John and grey lady ghosts fed her imagination.
Her latest work, The Blood Promise is an explosion of grit and suspense, with dashes of humour throughout, but also juggles much bigger themes, from mental health, racism and misogyny in the police force. Book 1 in the series, follows detectives Jazzy Solanki and Annie McQueen as they are called to a murder investigation, but the case becomes personal when the killer is linked to Jazzy’s stalker. The new duo must solve the case, before Jazzy becomes the next victim. Jazzy’s Scottish/Indian upbringing in contrast to Annie McQueen’s 50 something, die hard, traditional Scot make for a unique duo. Their contrasting cultural life experiences come head to head as they work together to tackle the crimes of the Lothian underworld.
This latest crime series is set around West Lothian, where Liz uses the distinctive landscape, historic heritage and Scottish culture as a backdrop to her gritty yet often humorous stories.
Struggling with clinical depression and anxiety for many years, Liz often includes mental health themes in her writing. She credits her MA in Creative Writing from Leeds Trinity University with helping her find a way of using her writing to navigate her ongoing mental health struggles. The synergy been creative and academic writing led Liz to complete a doctorate in creative writing researching the importance of representation of marginalised groups within the genre she loves.
Her husband, three children and huge extended British Indian family are a constant support to her. In her spare time, Liz loves visiting the varied Scottish and Yorkshire landscape, travelling, listening to music, reading and blogging about all things crime fiction on her website blog, The Crime Warp.