Blog Tour: I Have A Hunch by Jeremy Decoursey (Cosy Mystery)

December 2019, Jeremy Decoursey, 296 pages, Paperback, Review copy

Book summary

Summer holidays are for relaxing, spending time with friends and listening to great music. All things that Alice desperately wanted to do. Instead she was sent to London to work with her Uncle Humphrey, a world famous private detective. Things start to get interesting when they’re employed to investigate the mysterious murder of millionaire, Victor Tymm. Together they start to gather clues  before they run out of time, and the killer can strike again.

Nayu's thoughts

Due to a slight hiccup my end I will have to share my review of the book at a later date, apologies for that. Jeremy has kindly written a guest blog post about his favourite detective books - I like Agatha Christie! None of the others though, which is fine as everyone has different tastes in books. See if you like his picks! 

Please excuse the format - Blogger and I are having a few issues.

Author Jeremy DeCoursey’s Top 5 

Detective Books

 

Meet Jeremy!

If you were to have a look through my bookshelves (digital or physical), you would find many genres of books. I stray towards science fiction and fantasy, however, I do have a lot of detective novels scattered across the shelves.

Below are a selection of detective and mystery novels and series which have inspired me to write I Have a Hunch.

Sherlock Holmes series

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Top of the list, of course! Although, I must confess I didn’t read the books until the time of the BBC adaptation of Sherlock. My favourite novel is the Red Headed League. As the story unfolds you realise that it’s a bigger mystery than you’d ever expect…

I was always aware of the stories, with a Sherlock Holmes film seemingly on TV every Sunday afternoon while I was growing up. There have been so many film and TV incarnations of the world-famous detective that I’m often hard-pressed to pick my favourite. I enjoyed Michael Caine’s comedic portrayal of in Without A Clue. But, because it was Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock that, made me pay attention to the books I must choose him. I feel privileged to have worked on the series with him, and to have my name attached to one of the many adaptations of Sherlock Holmes.

The Rivers of London series

Ben Aaronovitch
Magic, police, and mystery, set in London. This series feels like the Harry Potter sequels I hoped for. I was blown away when I read the first book in the series. Aaronovitch is able to conjure a realistic form of magic that blends with the real-world in a truly believable way. Each book expands the world which Aaronovitch has written and that is something which is very inspiring. With the next book just around the corner I can’t wait!

I was recommended the novels by the actor, Kobna Holbrook-Smith, who narrated the audiobooks, and now I often buy the books for my friends. I heard that the series is going to be adapted for TV; I would absolutely love to work on that!

Cormoran Strike series

Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling) At their heart, the Harry Potter series is written like a mystery series. Especially Chamber of Secrets where Harry, Ron, and Hermione have to piece together the clues to figure out why the Chamber was being opened. Part of why I love J. K. Rowling’s writing is that she plants clues throughout the novel, and series, so that big reveals don’t come completely unexpected. I have recently reread the entire series and am currently midway through The Deathly Hallows. Revisiting these books means you can see exactly where she’s placing the clues along the way.
As soon as I heard that the Cormoran Strike novels were written by J. K. Rowling, under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, I had to read them. Once again she has created a world that you can immerse well. There might not be any magic here, but the story keeps you guessing at each point of the plot. One of my favourite parts about the entire series is how there are real-world, recent events which help drive the story.

And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie

The first book of Christie’s I read was the Poirot classic Murder on the Orient Express, which seems to have the most TV adaptations. I enjoyed the book, but I felt I didn’t connect to the lead detective Poirot. This was not because it was poorly written or an uninteresting mystery, but because I think I was expecting too much! It was almost overhyped as a classic murder mystery. I partly blame the shows I’ve watched which parody the story, it kind of ruins it.

However, that didn’t stop me reading more of Christie’s work. The next one I picked up was And Then There Were None. I was blown away. The idea of ten strangers on an island all slowly getting picked off one by one, in the same way described by a poem is so so simple yet extremely clever. From the first death you know that the countdown is on until all the remains is the murderer and the last victim. To try and figure it out as the characters do, and to be mislead again and again is what makes Christie such a great writer.

Lemony Snickett’s A Series of Unfortunate Events This might be a strange choice for a selection of detective novels as it doesn’t necessarily have a detective in the lead. However, it does have a core mystery running throughout the entire series – who are the VFD and how did Baudelaire children’s parents die?
Growing up as a Harry Potter fan, I saw the Series of Unfortunate Events series as a weird copy. (I think this was because on the covers, Klaus wore glasses so they must be similar, right?). So, having seen the film, with Jim Carrey’s brilliant performance of Count Olaf, I decided to read the books. I was probably in my early twenties when I read them. The first few books are very self-contained. But then, in The Ersatz Elevator (the sixth book), the mystery really gets going and the stories start linking together. Because of the cleverly woven narrative, I have put it on this list. I love the way these books are written and they definitely inspired me to write I Have a Hunch.

What are your favourite detective novels? Tweet me at @DeCoursey!

 Bio

Jeremy DeCoursey grew up in Weston-super- Mare. He graduated with a Triple Distinction BTEC in Film Production, before moving to London to work in the film industry. As a Location Manager, he has worked on BBC's Sherlock, Star Wars: Rogue One, Paddington, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, to name a few!

Besides reading and writing, Jeremy enjoys watching films, seeing musicals and travelling to far-flung places. He lives in London and has a kitten named Artemis.

I Have a Hunch is Jeremy’s first novel for teenagers. It’s about a teenage girl called Alice who is tasked with solving a murder mystery with her Uncle Humphrey, a world-famous detective in London. I Have a Hunch is available now in paperback and e-book.

Twitter: @DeCoursey

Instagram: jeremy_decoursey