PINTEREST
BLOGLOVIN
GOODREADS
TWO DEATHS
Tommy and Markie Jones are discovered dead at the side of a road in Scotland.
TWO RIVAL GANGS
Detectives Jazzy Solanki and Annie McQueen are on the scene where the bodies are identified as the nephews of Loanie Gibbs, head of a notable Edinburgh gang.
The turf war between the gangs of Glasgow and Edinburgh has existed for years, but these murders signal an escalation in violence.
ONE UNFORGIVABLE BETRAYAL
As the investigation unfolds, there’s suspicion about a leak within the police force, and to her dismay Jazzy is asked to keep a watchful eye on someone close to her. With distrust on all sides, can the pair uncover the truth before the body count mounts even more?
My thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for the tour invite and to Liz for providing a guest post. The Revenge Pact is book no #2 in the Solanki & McQueen crime series and published by HQ in ebook, audiobook and paperback (21 November 2024).
GUEST POST
‘Revenge is Sweet and Not Fattening’ Alfred Hitchcock
by Liz Mistry
It’s delightful to be here on My Reading Corner Blog talking about Revenge and celebrating the publication of my latest book, appropriately titled The Revenge Pact
There are many well-known quotes about revenge and vengeance, but the one above amused me and with it being from Alfred Hitchcock, I thought it was apt for this article.
So, come on, who’s going to admit to committing the odd act of well-deserved revenge on occasion? Come on now, don’t be shy, we’ve all done it… haven’t we?
The odd snide comment to land someone else in bother? Getting back on an old skinflint by forgetting your purse and ordering the most expensive meal and leaving them to pay? Eating the last cream cake because your partner finished your chocolate bar? – No? Just me then.
On the whole, I reckon we find this level of ‘revenge’ fairly benign, harmless, almost funny. But what about those who take revenge to the next level?
I mean, we’ve all heard of one partner using the other’s toothbrush to clean the toilet. Or, cutting the spouse’s most expensive clothes up, or emptying the bank account, or dobbing them in to their boss – all for whatever misdeeds the person has committed. All because of the hurt inflicted and the pain that takes up residence in your heart at being betrayed.
Do we still consider this harmless fun? Perhaps we consider it well deserved depending on the betrayal inflicted in the first place. Or do we feel a little bit more uncomfortable with this level of revenge taking? I know, although I might understand the motivations behind it, it rests a little uneasily on me and I wonder how much regret follows these, what can surely only be impulsive actions acted out through emotion. How much further damage is added to the revenge taker for acting this way? Perhaps they feel liberated by taking their revenge, and some may say who can blame them. But some, I suspect might be horrified by their actions.
In The Revenge Pact the revenge we’re taking about is on an entirely more violent and final level – murder and torture – and is perpetrated by many of the criminals my detectives seek to bring to justice.
Meir Kahane says that, ‘No trait is more justified than revenge in the right time and place.’
Which to me implies that there may be mitigating factors for extreme revenge-taking which involves violent torture and murder. Not sure I can commit fully to that idea.
The Revenge Pact explores not only the events leading to the acts of vengeance we see in the story, but also, through different characters it explores their different motivations.
As I was writing some of the characters taking revenge, I found myself going through a range of emotions and I really had to grapple with questions like; what is enough revenge? Can murder ever be justified? How long can a person hold onto their desire for revenge before acting? What might trigger someone to take violent revenge?
This sort of revenge veers into vigilantism and, although sympathetic to the parent who kills their child’s murderer, or the spouse who takes violent revenge on behalf of an injured partner, vigilantism is not the answer.
I would like to think that my characters Jazzy and Queenie see their role as police detectives more as seekers of justice than perpetrators of revenge. Their philosophy is more in line with Elizabeth Fry’s when she says ‘Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal.’
I’d be interested to hear readers think about how I’ve dealt with the subject of revenge in The Revenge Pact. Hope you enjoyed reading my article
Liz Mistry moved to West Yorkshire in the late 1980s. Her gritty crime fiction police procedural novels set in Bradford embrace the city she describes as ‘Warm, Rich and Fearless’ whilst exploring the darkness that lurks beneath. Yet, her heart remains in Scotland, where childhood tales of bogey men, Bible John and grey lady ghosts fed her imagination.
Her latest work, The Solanki and McQueen crime series is set around West Lothian, where she uses the distinctive landscape, historic heritage and Scottish culture as a backdrop to her gritty yet often humorous stories.
Struggling with clinical depression and anxiety for many years, Liz often includes mental health themes in her writing. She credits her MA in Creative Writing from Leeds Trinity University with helping her find a way of using her writing to navigate her ongoing mental health struggles. The synergy been creative and academic writing led Liz to complete a doctorate in creative writing researching the importance of representation of marginalised groups within the genre she loves.
Her husband, three children and huge extended British Indian family are a constant support to her. In her spare time, Liz loves visiting the varied Scottish and Yorkshire landscape, travelling, listening to music, reading and blogging about all things crime fiction on her website blog, The Crime Warp.
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Purchase links: Amazon UK | Amazon.com
Great review lovely x
Thanks for stopping by Jo x