Blog Tour: Malcolm Hollingdrake's Brand new release - The Third Breath

Available here

Although the Bennett books are stand-alone reads I do always recommend that readers progress through the series in order. I assure you that even though I’m a true Yorkshireman this is not said for pecuniary reasons on my part but in order for the reader to see the development of the characters and their working relationships. Introducing the characters, no matter what part they play within the books, is one of the joys of writing a series. However, it does not allow me to take anything for granted even if a large percentage of my readers are fully aware of the characters’ foibles and nuances. Every book is tackled as if nobody has read the previous offerings.

It is true that Bennett now is quite real, he exists and feel as though I know him well. I am sure he is

part of me and I him but he is also an amalgam, a 

collection of characters I have met throughout my life. I  have tried to take elements that create a plausible and credible personality. I have surrounded him with others to contrast and compliment to bring out the best in all. I hear that Bennett has a lot of followers but Owen seems to attract a fair few fans also.

I started ‘The Third Breath’ very differently this time round. I wanted to give a little background to make sure the book would work but also put the reader into the head of a killer by comparing turning over the first page of a new book, a Bennett book, hopefully with that pleasure derived by the killer as they see the results of their work exposed to the public.

It is only a few weeks ago that I typed the last words of this new book but already I am well into writing the next book. Thankfully the ideas keep coming. Writing is fairly straightforward, it is the research that takes the time. Some days I spend hours but add only a few words to the book but that is the price I pay to ensure accuracy.

            Now please let me introduce you to book seven, ‘The Third Breath’.

Knowing his father was critically ill had impacted little on Cyril’s emotional state but the news had brought with it a moral dilemma. He knew that he had neither the appetite nor the enthusiasm to reconnect with his past, a past that he thought he had successfully locked away in his memory, deep within a vacuum, hidden, closed off and forgotten.

            Why he had gone to see his dying father in his last days, he would never really understand; maybe it was his partner Julie’s sensitive guidance, maybe his own copper’s curiosity, or was it the last opportunity eventually to tell his father what he truly thought of him? Whatever the answer, after that visit Cyril was assured that the correct decision had been made. He had matured and he could see that life and relationships were not purely black and white. His ice-like emotions towards his family were beginning to thaw and for that reason, he had decided to attend the funeral.

***

You will find, as with all books, that turning over the first page is easily done with a simple flick of the finger. You will, I hope, feel a flutter in your stomach and a keen sense of anticipation of what is to come… Well… I feel those same emotions; I feel that tingle of illicit excitement as I prepare each step, even now, as I lift the white enamelled freezer lid and look inside at my work; every victim is a new chapter…. And I remember that I must do unto others as they have done to me but I must do it with a greater degree of subtlety.

 As the results of my labours unfold in the local and national press, I receive the same excitement, the same anticipation you feel as you start this book… so… it could be said that we are not too dissimilar… are we?

Contact Malcolm here:

Amazon page

  

Publisher page

Facebook @AuthorMalcolmHollingdrake

Twitter @MHollingdrake