Blog Tour: Every Move

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I’m so excited to be on the blog tour for Every Word by Ellie Marney today! I’m feeling totally remiss as a blogger as I realized I never put up a review for book one in this series Every Breath. So let me start by saying thanks to Nikki at There Were Books Involved raving about this Aussie version of Sherlock Holmes and Watson I purchased Every Breath – and I loved it.

Rachel Watts moves with her family from the Australian country to Melbourne and where she befriends her nextdoor neighbor James Mycroft. Rachel is down when we meet her – she is not a city girl, her family is struggling and she’s just flat out homesick for the farm they left behind. I loved Rachel for just being a normal girl. She’s not the character who is too beautiful for her own good. She knows how to work, is a good friend and she is happiest in her flannie and jeans. Watts is full of anger that her family lost their farm, but still trying to help her parents get by while she finishes high school. Mycroft has moved from England after his parents were killed in a car accident. He’s everything you’d expect with his name – brilliant, socially challenged, dismissive of authority and loyal to his friends. When Homeless Dave, a friend of Mycroft’s, is found murdered and the police aren’t sufficiently interested he at Rachel investigate on their own. This was a fast mystery that grabbed me and with an end I didn’t see coming at all.

And so,

That leads us to the reason I’m posting today! More #Wattscroft goodness was released this year in Every Word. The official blurb reads:

James Mycroft has just left for London to investigate a car accident similar to the one that killed his parents seven years ago…without saying goodbye to Rachel Watts, his ‘partner in crime’.

Rachel is furious and worried about his strange behaviour – not that Mycroft’s ever exactly normal, but London is the scene of so many of his nightmares. So Rachel jumps on a plane to follow him…and lands straight in a whole storm of trouble.

The theft of a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, the possible murder of a rare books conservator, and the deaths of Mycroft’s parents…Can Watts help Mycroft make sense of the three events – or will she lose him forever?

Once you’ve read Every Breath I can tell you that you’ll have fallen for Rachel and Mycroft together. They are clearly perfect for each other. He’s slightly insane and she’s balancing and they are just good for each other – not just Rachel supporting her boyfriend. So when Rachel receives word that Mycroft has gone to London to help investigate a car-jacking similar to the one that caused his parents’ deaths, she knows that he needs help. Marney develops Mycroft’s role in the investigation in such a way that it doesn’t feel implausible for this high school student along for the assist. Rachel’s already in trouble for her last adventure with Mycroft and knows full well that she’s making a choice that her parents are going to punish her for – and again the way she gets herself to London just works with the story.

Marney definitely does not glamourize the violence or the death in this series. It is gritty and painful and you feel right there with the characters. We have young love and angst, murder, kidnapping, Shakespeare and 221B Baker Street. What more do you need in mystery? Watts and Mycroft are fantastic together and the drama is tense. This is a strong sequel to Every Breath and just a fun series.

Thank you Tundra Books for this copy in exchange for an honest review!

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Ellie Marney was born in Brisbane, and has lived in Indonesia, Singapore and India. Now she writes, teaches, talks about kid’s literature at libraries and schools, and gardens when she can, while living in a country idyll (actually a very messy wooden house on ten acres with a dog and lots of chickens) near Castlemaine, in north-central Victoria. Her partner and four sons still love her, even though she often forgets things and lets the housework go.

Ellie’s short stories for adults have won awards and been published in various anthologies. Every Breath was her first novel for young adults.

You can get to know Ellie better via her Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and/or Pinterest.

Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour:

Monday, Nov. 16

Samantha at Bellsie Books

Mandy C. at Forever Young Adult

Eri at Airy Reads

Heather at Books and Quilts

Nicole at Reading Lark

Tuesday, Nov. 17

Shelly at Books and Writing

Michelle at Michelle & Leslie’s Book Picks