Blog Tour – Extract
Good morning everyone and welcome to my stop on the Danube Street Blog Tour hosted by Love Books Group. I have an extract to share with you all and it is an intense one. The excerpt is taken from the prologue of the book and it sets a very dark scene for the novel. Danube Street seems to be a dark crime-thriller and I am eager to read it very soon. Enjoy the extract and thank you for supporting my blog tour post. Please make sure to visit all the other stops on the tour for plenty more insights into the novel and both Linda Tweedie and Kate McGregor. Thank you to Kelly at Love Books Group for including me on the tour.
04.06.2018 / Fledgling Press / Historical Crime-Thriller / Kindle / 352pp /
About Danube Street
From the authors of the bestselling Coyle Trilogy comes a fantastic new title.
Danube Street tells the tale of notorious Madame, Stella Gold, and her mission to turn the infamous number 17 Danube St into Edinburgh’s most exclusive brothel.
The house, situated in one of Edinburgh’s most exclusive streets, was known the length and breadth of the country; a magnet for red-blooded males, single or otherwise. Danube Street was always the first port of call when Merchant or Naval ships docked in Leith, and was the attraction, never to be missed by visiting clergymen of every denomination.
Stella Gold began life far from the bright lights of the city. Born Agnes McLeod, she was reared in the wilds of Ayrshire. The only daughter of a tenant farmer, she endured a harsh, rugged upbringing. Now, although the darling of Edinburgh’s glitterati, she finds herself the victim of a vendetta by the city’s most dangerous and violent criminal brothers,and a corrupt Chief of Police.
Survival was a constant challenge which Stella thought she had under control. How wrong could she be?
Pick up a copy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads
Danube Street – Extract
Prologue
The overpowering stench as he smashed open the front door stopped him dead in his tracks. It was the rank stench of decaying flesh and body fluids, coupled with the sweet cloying reek of poverty that hit him like a truck. The flat was freezing cold and almost derelict. The only furnishings were an ancient, stained sofa and a coffee table littered with the evidence of the tenant’s pastime. He was having great difficulty retaining the contents of his stomach. God knows how long the poor soul had lain there decomposing with the needle still in her arm.
Christ, it was true; the faint mewing of a child confirmed the rumours. She’d been pregnant right enough. It was a blessed miracle that something so tiny, so neglected, could still be alive. Only just though, its pulse was so faint, it seemed impossible the wee mite could survive much longer. Time really was of the essence. Wrapping the baby in a foul-smelling blanket he dashed for the door. There was nothing more he could do here and the smell was unbearable.
His instructions had been crystal clear. Find the girl and return immediately to Danube Street. There was to be no involvement from any authority, no matter the circumstances. Looking at this tiny scrap of humanity, could he take the risk? It was almost the same distance from this shithole to either destination, the Western General Hospital being slightly closer. He was no doctor but even he knew this child wouldn’t survive without immediate medical treatment. However, he wouldn’t survive without the payment for this job. It was no contest; he’d have to take his chances on the child surviving.
He turned out of Caledonia Street just as the first police car screeched to a halt, followed by several others and a couple of ambulances. He heaved a huge sigh of relief, he’d made it just in time. It was a pity no-one had gone to her aid when she needed it. They were quick to respond now, when it was too late.
God knows what the kid’s future would be, if it had one. What fate lay in store for the wee soul? The product of a junkie, a crackhead mother, father unknown and delivered to the richest, most notorious Madame in the country.
About Linda Tweedie & Kate McGregor
LINDA TWEEDIE and co-author KATE McGREGOR live (separately) in East Lothian, enjoying semi-retirement from their previous escapades in the hospitality trade. Between them, they’ve generated years worth of stories from working behind a bar, planning sexy parties and ignoring customers’ requests that they should write a book. However, the time came when the pair decided to be mistresses of their own destiny, and so they embarked upon their journey as writers. Tweedie and McGregor have co-authored several books, including The Life series, the first of which, Life Behind Bars, was a finalist in The People’s Book Prize, shortly followed by the bestselling Coyle Trilogy: The Silence, The Betrayal and The Reckoning. Danube Street is their first stand-alone novel, and if you want to read about crime and debauchery from two of Scotland’s biggest partners in crime, you’ll love this.
Always Trust In Books 