Zoë Sharp was born in Nottinghamshire, but spent most of her formative years living on a catamaran on the northwest coast of England. After a promising start at a private girls' school, she opted out of mainstream education at the age of twelve in favour of correspondence courses at home.
Zoë went through a variety of jobs in her teenage years. In 1988, on the strength of one accepted article and a fascination with cars, she gave up her regular job to become a freelance motoring writer. She quickly picked up on the photography side of things and her photo-journalism took her as far afield as the United States and Japan, as well as Europe, Ireland and the UK. She is now a full-time fiction author and creator of the Charlie Fox series of crime thrillers.
Zoë wrote her first novel when she was fifteen, but success came in 2001 with the publication of KILLER INSTINCT − the first book to feature her ex-Special Forces heroine, Charlotte 'Charlie' Fox. The character evolved after Zoë received death-threat letters in the course of her photo-journalism work.
Later Charlie Fox novels − FIRST DROP and FOURTH DAY − were finalists for the Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel. The Charlie Fox series has also been optioned for TV.
As well as the Charlie Fox novels, Zoë's short stories have been published in anthologies and magazines, and have been shortlisted for the Short Story Dagger by the UK Crime Writers' Association. Her other writing has been nominated for the coveted Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America, the Anthony Award presented by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, the Macavity Award, and the Benjamin Franklin Award from the Independent Book Publishers' Association.
A keen library supporter and public speaker, Zoë blogs regularly on her Blog page. She also witters on Twitter (@AuthorZoeSharp) and fools about on Facebook (ZoeSharpAuthor). She was formerly a long-term contributor to the acclaimed Murderati blog—alas, now defunct. She's a regular blogger at MURDER IS EVERYWHERE and also has a presence on Goodreads.
Zoë lives in the English Lake District. Her hobbies are sailing, fast cars (and faster motorbikes), target shooting, travel, films, music and reading just about anything she can get her hands on.
DANCING ON THE GRAVE
Release Date 6/30/18
ISBN-13: 978-1909344402
Buy from Amazon/ B&N/ iBooks/ Kobo / Smashwords
Add to your GoodReads shelf.
For newly qualified crime-scene investigator, Grace McColl, it’s both the start of a nightmare and the chance to prove herself after a mistake that cost a life.
For Detective Constable Nick Weston, recently transferred from London, it’s an opportunity to recover his nerve after a disastrous undercover operation that left him for dead.
And for a lonely, loveless teenage girl, Edith, it’s the start of a twisted fantasy—one she never dreamed might come true.
The author wrote an interesting blog the other day about where to start with reading her books because of how her characters have grown. Here’s a link if you are interested in the discussion. https://www.zoesharp.com/why-im-going-to-tell-people-not-to-read-my-books/ The reason I mention it, is because this book is the perfect place to start if Ms. Sharp is a new author to you.
DANCING ON THE GRAVE is a standalone police procedural set in the English countryside. The setting is lovely and well described but not overly done so as to be distracting. The story changes POV, and all of the characters are fully developed and interesting people. This is not a thriller in the typical action-packed way; however, I think it is billed that way because of the Charlie Fox series, which is also penned by Zoë Sharp.
The first chapter grabs you immediately, and you suddenly find yourself hooked. I have to put in a warning, however. The first murder victim is a dog that had been killing a flock of sheep. So...I guess the sheep were actually the first victims. Once the dog died, I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep reading, I am a serious animal lover! But the book is worth continuing--well worth it. The dog is treated as a serious case, and the killing is not grisly or gratuitous. On the scene, the crime scene investigator, Grace McColl, calls in a detective because the animal is owned by someone of influence. Here, we meet Detective Constable Nick Weston, new to small-town life and rife with baggage. Grace is not impressed by Nick, nor he with her. Through the course of the investigation, they become good partners, and the story unfolds beautifully.
I was given a review copy of the book early, but I also purchased a copy to keep.
DANCING ON THE GRAVE
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