ACTS OF KINDNESS.

One of thirty bloggers (for the full list and links see the Tour Schedule further down the post) who over 10 days will be participating in this Tour, today (the first day of the Tour) its my pleasure to be sharing my thoughts on ...

Acts Of Kindness by Heather Barnett.

Genre: Mystery, Female Sleuth

Publication Date: 11th March 2021

Publisher: Serpentine Books

Standalone Novel

Estimated Page Count - 288

Pre-Order Link: https://amzn.to/3fhl9Cd

Dream Job. Fresh Start. Big Mistake.

 

When Bella Black arrives in a sleepy Wiltshire village, it seems like the perfect place for a new start: a lovely home, exciting job and an attractive colleague or two to take her mind off her recent divorce.

 

When people start disappearing, she realises she holds the key to a mystery bigger than she could have ever imagined.

 

Who is really pulling the strings at the secretive OAK Institute?

 

Can anyone be trusted?

 

Will Bella make the right choices before its too late?

'Help. Help, please? I'm having a panic attack!' (First Sentence, Chapter One)

A woman holding a brown paper bag stood on the doorstep, the porch light picking out a halo of wild blonde hairs. She looked at Bella through smeary glasses and said nothing.

'Hello,' Bella said. 'You must be from ....?' Number 3? Number 7? A secure mental health unit?

'Knickers,' said the woman.

Bella froze.

'Knickers!' the woman repeated, thrusting the bag at her. 'When you move into a new house you can never find a pair of clean knickers on the first morning. That's why I give them as a gift.'

What even to the men? thought Bella. Out loud she said 'Oh! What a clever idea. Thank you. It's not actually my first night, but ....'

The woman pushed past her without waiting to be invited in. Bella followed her down the hall and into the living room. (Memorable Moment, page 15)

 

MY THOUGHTS ... Headhunted by Acorn Consulting, a company like no other, Bella Black finds herself not only with a exciting new job amongst whom are one or two handsome colleagues but living in a new home with what appear to be some decidedly, err, quirky neighbours.

Good characters? ✔️ Oh yes, as my granddad would have said Acts Of Kindness has some real corkers.

As much as I enjoyed the mystery element, for me the novel's true strength lay not so much in the plot as it did its quirky characters. That I wished Bella had been more so, hey-ho, Maggie Thatcher more than made up for it. 

My absolute favourite character, to say Maggie is eccentric, well, that's something of an understatement. An elderly lady who welcomes new neighbours with the gift of what else but of course a pair of knickers ... the question being does she know more than is at first apparent about the people who are disappearing from OAK Institute (amongst whom is her husband) or is it merely just the ramblings of a elderly, eccentric old woman? 

Decent plot? ✔️ Despite the cover art and to a certain degree the title that to me were slightly at odds with the actual story and that (and I do hope this makes sense) the action scenes read more like an account of the action rather than something I felt what turned out to be entertaining and amusing 'cat and mouse' type mystery. 

ABOUT HEATHER BARNETT ...  Heather Barnett gained a degree in English and French from the University of Leeds and has written ever since: from copywriting to stand-up comedy and sketches. She is now focusing on writing novels. Heather's influences span Jane Austen and Douglas Adams at one end of the alphabet through to PG Wodehouse at the other.

Heather's debut novel, Acts of Kindness, is an uplifting, light-hearted mystery. It was inspired by witnessing commuters helping a woman who'd fallen down the stairs at Paddington station; intermingled with wondering what was behind some grand stone gateposts that she used to drive past in Wiltshire.

 

Her second novel, Lord Seeks Wife, is a romantic comedy and will be published summer 2021.

 

Aside from writing, Heather's interests are classic literature, cats and comedy.

 

Heather is head of marketing at an agency near Oxford and lives by the river Kennet in Berkshire.

 

For more information on Heather and her books, please visit her website: www.heatherbarnettauthor.com or join the discussion on Twitter @WritesHeather.

FOLLOW HEATHER BARNETT ... ~ www.heatherbarnettauthor.com ~ Twitter  ~ Instagram ~ 

~ Serpentine Books: www.serpentinebooks.com  ~ Twitter @ Serpentine Books  ~ 

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