Dead In Venice by Fiona Leitch @fkleitch Blog Tour @audibleuk - My Life in Books - #DeadInVenice

 Bella Tyson is a famous 40-something crime writer suffering from writer's block ever since a bitter divorce two years before. When a fan offers her the use of an apartment in Venice, Bella jumps at it, hoping a change of scene will have her writing again. Once there, she soon meets Will, a charming Englishman, who shows her around the city. 

Enchanted by both Will and her new surroundings, Bella decides to write a supernatural murder mystery and begins researching local legends and the city's more sinister side, including an illicit visit to the island of Poveglia, spooky former home of Venice's asylum. Soon Bella uncovers more than she has bargained for and finds herself enmeshed in a series of gruesome real-life murders that uncannily mirror the legends she is researching. 

As she and Will join forces to investigate, real life and local lore merge disconcertingly - for nothing in Venice turns out to be what seems, including Will....

Dead In Venice by Fiona Leitch was published as an audiobook on 11 September 2018 by Audible.

As part of the #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I'm delighted to welcome Fiona Leitch here today, she's talking about the books that are special to her in My Life in Books.

My Life in Books - Fiona Leitch

‘The Shadow of the Wind’ by Carlos Ruiz Zafon    A fantastic gothic mix of romance and intrigue set in Barcelona in 1945, during the fascist regime. It’s such an evocative story it made me pack my bags and go to see Barcelona for myself! I hope my book will do the same for Venice.

‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’ by Gail Honeyman   A wonderful book that made me laugh and cry, sometimes both at once. Eleanor is an amazing character and the ending is very satisfying.

‘Wyrd Sisters’ by Terry Pratchett     Terry Pratchett is one of my all-time favourite writers. He manages to write about worlds that are both fantastic and at the same time, completely recognisable. Hard to choose just one of his books (‘Good Omens’ is another brilliant one) but out of all his characters, the three witches of ‘Wyrd Sisters’ have to be my favourite. I’d like to say I’m clever and a natural leader like Granny Weatherwax, but I’m far more likely to be found singing dirty songs and wearing my knickers on my head like Nanny Ogg… 

‘The Stand’ by Stephen King     Never trust anyone who doesn’t own at least one Stephen King book. That’s all I’m saying…

‘The Crow Road’ by Iain Banks    A great writer who left us too young. Iain Banks wrote novels full of macabre wit. Great characters, great plot and I do love a Scottish accent, even on the page.

‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen   In my other life as a screenwriter I specialise in romcoms, and this is the original! I’ve loved every screen adaptation of the story as well, even the Bollywood one (Bride and Prejudice). If I’m feeling down, Elizabeth and Darcy always cheer me up.

‘The Number One Ladies Detective Agency’ by Alexander McCall Smith    I’ve read so many of his novels; they’re full of warmth and wit and humanity, but none more so than his tales of Botswana’s premier (only) female detective Precious. She’s a wonderful, completely original character, the sort I would love to be able to create.

‘Five Quarters of the Orange’ by Joanne Harris    Another of my favourite writers. Everyone knows ‘Chocolat’, of course, and this is set in similar territory. But here the story spans two very distinct periods in the main character Framboise’s life – her wartime childhood and middle age. It’s an intriguing story that keeps you guessing, and it’s bound up with food and family loyalty and finding love late in life. I would love to adapt this into a movie!

‘Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell’ by Susannah Clarke     Harry Potter written by Jane Austen. What’s not to love?

‘A Room With a View’ by E.M. Forster    I read this after falling in love with the Italian countryside in the film version, and fell in love with it and the heroine Lucy all over again in the book. I love the fact that everyone is very staid, but underneath it all passion lurks – sometimes in the unlikeliest of characters!

Fiona Leitch - October 2018 

Fiona Leitch is a writer with a chequered past. 

She’s written for football and motoring magazines, DJ’d at illegal raves and is a stalwart of the low budget TV commercial, even appearing as the Australasian face of a cleaning product called ‘Sod Off’. 

After living in London, Cornwall and New Zealand she’s finally (for the moment) settled on the sunny South Coast of England, where she enjoys scaring her cats by trying out dialogue on them and writing funny, flawed but awesome female characters.

Her Westminster-set romantic comedy ‘Parliamentary Affairs’ was recently optioned by an up and coming LA producer, and her action comedy ‘Lost In Berlin’ was a finalist in New York’s Athena IRIS Screenwriting Lab 2017. 

She’s also been shortlisted for the BBC Writers Room. 

Her debut novel ‘Dead In Venice’ has just been shortlisted for the Audible New Writing Grant, while her short horror story ‘Tinder’ was selected for the Twisted 50, volume two anthology, published Spring 2018

Website : http://www.fionaleitch.com/

Twitter : @fkleitch