The Starlings and other stories….

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Publication Date: Available Now from Graffeg

Source: Publisher Review Copy

Pictures shown during review belong to extraordinary photographer David Wilson

Twelve pictures, twelve tales of crime and mystery. Written by Murder Squad and their accomplices, these page-turning short stories open up a world of intrigue, suspense and fear. With contributions from celebrated crime writers including Ann Cleeves, Cath Staincliffe and Martin Edwards, each tale has been inspired by the atmospheric and evocative work of Pembrokeshire-based photographer David Wilson.

The stories, all illustrated with the images that inspired their authors, include modern day love and betrayal, historical murder mysteries, and crime in the Welsh countryside.

First of all it has to be said that “The Starlings and other stories” is really a most beautiful book – in every way. The starting point for each short story is a picture – and that picture then inspired the author who follows it to write a tale – and boy were there some GREAT tales to be had here alongside the hauntingly evocative images.

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I loved every story – from those that made me shiver to those that made me tearful, every single one was purely brilliant in it’s own way. The photograph at the start of each tale just gave them so much more depth – setting a visual image in your head as a reader, then leading you into some dark and twisty tales that will engage and enthrall you.

There is an immense amount of talent on display here (not only from Mr Wilson either) each author  adding their own indomitable style to things and giving us a varied and utterly compelling set of stories that will stay with you a long time. This is one of those times where I won’t tell you much else – I won’t review each individual one because the point here, very much so, is to have an immersive experience with the imagery and the storytelling.

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I will perhaps tell you my favourite – that was Mountains out of Molehills by Valerie Laws – but that’s it. The rest you’ll have to discover for yourself – including the tale of the title “The Starlings” from Editor of the book Ann Cleeves.

Other authors you will find here: Cath Staincliffe, Mary Sharratt,Chris Simms, Jim Kelly, Margaret Murphy, Toby Forward, Martin Edwards, Helena Edwards,Kate Ellis and Christine Poulson.

All in all fantastic. A book lover’s dream – if you are a collector you need this for your shelf.

Highly Recommended.

Find out about The Murder Squad authors here: http://www.murdersquad.co.uk/

Purchase Information: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Starlings-Other-Stories-Murder-Accomplices/dp/1909823740/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442823452&sr=1-1&keywords=the+starlings+and+other+stories

David Wilson Photography can be found here: http://www.davidwilsonphotography.co.uk/

And you can follow on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/d_wilson_photo

 

 

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