Shoot! Tackle! Murder!

 

Shoot! Tackle! Murder!

By @michaelduffy001

Huge thanks to Michael and @randomTTours for letting me be part of the tour. 

Review: 

I have to say I jumped at the chance to read this one. I have loved the previous books by Michael and this one did not let the team down. 

A mix of comedy, drama and a little bit of lost romance. Shoot! Tackle! Murder! is a light hearted yet sadly real look at life as you get older and small communities who struggle to survive as times changes around them - although most perhaps don’t have to deal with quite soo much crime. 

The characters are well written and I found myself rooting for the good guys (and those possibly wrongly accused) and wishing for the comeuppance of the bad guys. A wonderful twist nearly saw me switch side on a couple of occasions but telling would be spoiling it for others. You will just have to read it for yourself and see how you feel about the characters by the end. 

I think possibly my favourite duo were Frank and Maggie - I hope my marriage lasts with the same love and sarcasm as theirs. 

If you want a book that will have you laughing to yourself as you read then this is one for you. 

Book Blurb.

 Shoot! Tackle! Murder!

 A tragi-comedic murder mystery about a bunch of senior friends pulled out of their comfort zone into a world of both sporting and criminal skullduggery. Set against the parallel story of two lovers caught by menacing forces intent on destroying them both. 

 Walking Zeds FC, a walking football team of unfit pensioners are driven by one thing - saving their social club from being demolished by a pushy developer.

But nobody wants to see their one-time friend, Tony Ackersby, back in town. He’s fresh out of jail after serving 25 years for murdering his actress ex-girlfriend, Estelle Aurora - none other than the nation’s sweetheart.

 As fate conspires to bring Walking Zeds and Tony ever closer to one another, can they work together to save the club that is the heartbeat of their little community? In doing so, confronting villains at every turn, can they finally prove Tony’s innocence?

 In the small town of Slainsworth, many secrets lay buried deep.

 

 

 

 

Author bio

 Born in the North West of England in the days of black and white tellies, cassette players and paper maps, Michael A. Duffy’s formative years were shaped by the cobbled streets and dour characters of a grim Lancashire Mill town. No wonder he grew up to be so miserable! Luckily, this trait was balanced by a cutting Northern sense of humour, which today means at least his novels are likely to make you smile. Occasionally. 

When he became old enough, he escaped off to Merseyside to watch his favourite footy team, Liverpool FC, where he was mugged by an old skinhead at Kirkdale Station. So he decided to try life in late Seventies Manchester instead. There, he wasn’t mugged, but became heavily involved in the indie music scene. Playing in bands and writing for both national and local music magazines meant he didn’t have much time or inclination for studying. That’s why, on graduating, he became a teacher – as nobody else would have him. 

Later on in life he found himself back in Liverpool, having calculated that the old skinhead that mugged him as a teenager would by then be probably dead. There he got involved in internet marketing because nobody else yet knew about it and so couldn't tell if he was talking b*llocks or not! 

Meanwhile, soaking up all the colourful characters that drifted in and out of his life in both Lancashire and Merseyside, he had the brilliant brainwave to shamelessly steal all their fascinating characteristics to put into fictional stories. Therefore making loads of money! Well, so far, he did steal those characters – but up to now the loads of money thing is not quite there. 

A kind of semi-retired, ‘good-for-nothing, sofa sloth’ these days (quote: Mrs Duffy), he now dabbles in creating humorous fiction and looking up health conditions and ailments on Google. He lives in a pleasant and rural part of Lancashire – away from the mills and terraced streets - with his wife, Sue. Both are occasionally visited by their grown upkids - none of whom wish to listen to Michael's later life singer-songwriting efforts, nor indeed hear him wax lyrical about his next novel idea, you know, the one that's sure to be the Next Big Thing! 

 

His later life ambition is to become a successful author who is not a celebrity. So, as you can see, in this day and age, he is very much a dreamer!