OK it is time to stop what you are doing, because I have some exciting news!

On 16 February 2023 Orenda Books are publishing Vanda Symon’s new thriller Expectant, which is exciting news for sure, but what is really really really exciting is the cover of Expectant. I was right in the middle of something, when an email pinged in from those lovely people at Orenda, so I stopped for a moment to take a quick glance at it, and that was it, I was entranced, and completely lost the flow of what I was supposed to be doing. The cover picture is below – take a look at the book blurb first (which is the drum roll part).

(If you’ve already seen it at the opening of this blog post – well that’s a bonus!)

Book Blurb – kindly supplied by https://orendabooks.co.uk/

The shocking murder of a heavily pregnant woman throws the New Zealand city of Dunedin into a tailspin, and the devastating crime feels uncomfortably close to home for Detective Sam Shephard as she counts down the days to her own maternity leave.

Confined to a desk job in the department, Sam must find the missing link between this brutal crime and a string of cases involving mothers and children in the past. As the pieces start to come together and the realisation dawns that the killer’s actions are escalating, drastic measures must be taken to prevent more tragedy.

For Sam, the case becomes personal, when it becomes increasingly clear that no one is safe and the clock is ticking…

Publication date: 16 February 2023

Links: 

Ebook: https://amzn.to/3UeI8kr

Paperback: https://bit.ly/3Uk6jOB

…. and here it is – the stunning cover …

… well, isn’t that absolutely fantastic!

This is the first new Sam Shephard thriller in twelve years, and will be the 5th in the series. I haven’t (yet) read any of this series, but I understand that Sam Shephard is a feisty and wonderful character – so whilst I’m waiting to read Expectant , I’m going to nip over to my audiobook supplier to start catching up on this series. I’m thinking I’ll start with the first book in the series Overkill – let me know in the comments section below which book in the series you think I should start with.

The Sam Shephard series was shortlisted for and won New Zealand’s Ngaio Marsh Awards.

I am a relatively new fan of Vanda Symon as Faceless is the only book of hers I have read so far. Click on the picture below for my review . Faceless however has me excited to read more by this author, so if you should spot me out walking in the countryside around here expect to see me with headphones on immersed in one of the earlier Sam Shephard thrillers.

About the Author:

Vanda Symon lives in Dunedin, New Zealand. As well as being a crime writer, she has a PhD in science communication and is a researcher at the Centre for Pacific Health at the University of Otago.

Overkill was shortlisted for the 2019 CWA John Creasey Debut Dagger Award and she is a three-time finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel for her critically acclaimed Sam Shephard series. Vanda produces
and hosts Write On, a monthly radio show focusing on the world of books at Otago Access Radio.

When she isn’t working or writing, Vanda can be found in the garden, or on the business end of a fencing foil.

All the best, Emma of EmmabBooks.com