About the Book
Author: Matt Doyle
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: Monday, November 4 2019
Format: Paperback, eBook
Price: $4.99
Length: 59,100 words
Cover Artist: Natasha Snow
Genres: Lesfic, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Keywords/Categories: Lesbian, near future, hardboiled detective
Series Title: The Cassie Tam Files
Position (Number) in Series: Fourth
Necessary to Read Previous Books: Yes
Other Books in the Series:
- Addict
- The Fox, The Dog, and The King
- LV48
Warnings: Contains: bullying, stalking, a deceased family member, guns, and workplace harassment
Synopsis
Shadows of the Past is the new novella collection set in The Cassie Tam Files universe! Enjoy two new stories that follow PI Cassie Tam and her girlfriend Lori Redwood as they deal with the fallout from LV48. This book is part of a series and needs to be read in sequence.
A Week in New Hopeland
When Lori Redwood agrees to help out her girlfriend, PI Cassie Tam, by going undercover at a local shipping firm, she gets more than she bargained for. Her ‘boss’ Mr. Graves is a misogynist and a bully, and has been targeting one girl in particular. Cassie is known to him, and he tends to be cautious around Tech Shifters. Which means that Lori may be the best person for the job.
Will Lori be able to help Cassie gather enough evidence for the police to act, or will she become the next target?
Shadows of the Past
PI Cassie Tam is not the only person who lives with regrets, and like most people, she just wants to get on with her life. But in New Hopeland, the past never remains buried. When she’s hired to track a stalker that’s been using some interesting tech to mask their identity on the city’s security cameras, Cassie ends up face-to-face with her darkest memory.
Can Cassie find out who’s responsible before her past mistakes tear her – and her friends – apart?
Series Blurb:
New Hopeland City was built to be the center of the technological age. It was supposed to be a shining example of humanity’s achievements. A beacon to guide us towards a better future. But some habits die hard. Within five years, it had become a hotbed of crime and corruption. And now, even the police are sometimes in too deep to help. That’s where I come in. My name is Cassie Tam. I’m a PI. When no one else will help, I’m the one people turn to …
Purchase Links
Publisher | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords
Review
I love Cassie Tam, and I was thrilled to see a new one. It’s a terrific pairing of two separate stories, both of which hit the spot.
First, we get a real treat with a story from Lori’s perspective. Heed the warnings on this one. It’s especially relevant with workplace bullying and harassment continually in the news. Lori proves again just how brave she is. And then she delights us with a reminder that she’s also thoughtful and kind. We get the fast-paced action of taking down the baddie, and then we get the quiet tenderness of Lori and Cassie having a pretty ordinary moment afterward. I’d say this shorter story feels like it’s written for fans, purely to entertain us. And I’m absolutely cool with that.
The second part of the book is the longer and more complex story. I would say it’s necessary to have read at least one previous book to enjoy the first story, or else the tech and relationships won’t make sense. But to enjoy the second one, yes, it’s necessary to have read the series. There’s an ongoing arc, so beware of reading out of sequence.
The nice part about it is that the author doesn’t waste time re-explaining things. It’s just assumed that we’ll have read the books and know what’s what. I appreciate that because even if it’s a while between books, or between my reading of them, I don’t want everything re-built for me. Cassie’s world is detailed and fascinating, and each dive takes us deeper.
It’s a mystery, so of course, I don’t want to spoil anything. But this is definitely where it’s vital to have a good grasp of the running plot and some of the side elements so far. And because it is a mystery, those details matter more than otherwise. That said, I love how things came together.
There’s a lot to praise here. The storytelling is excellent. I think each installment has gotten better. The world building and the way we’re led further in is wonderful. And in the middle of it all, Cassie and Lori’s relationship is refreshingly ordinary, despite their extraordinary circumstances.
For a combination of great storytelling and great world building, a dynamic duo of awesome women, and ultimately a pair of terrific novellas, this gets 10/10 fountain pens.
Excerpt
A Week in New Hopeland – Chapter One
I roll over in bed and let my arm flop into the empty space next to me. Even with my eyes closed, I can tell the early morning light is beginning to creep in through the window. My slightly bent leg finds a long warm spot, giving away that Cassie hasn’t been up long. I instinctively grip the bedsheet where her body would normally end and let out a content sigh.
“Mine,” I say to myself and roll onto my back again. I raise my hands to my face and rub the sleep out of my eyes, taking in the familiar sight of my bedroom as I clear the cobwebs a little. There are other things to wake me up too; new things that are becoming more familiar as time passes. Smells and sounds I don’t experience as often as I’d like. But I have to be careful, gentle even. Cassie is outwardly quite rough, but she’s softer on the inside. She’s like an emotional armadillo.
A partial conversation from last night flashes across my mind, and a smile reaches my lips. I sit up and stretch, forcing out a yawn as I glance at the back of the door. “Someone’s borrowing my robe again.”
I grab my spare from the wardrobe and tie it up, then walk down the hall, through the living room, and up to the kitchen. I rest against the doorframe, watching Cassie as she carries on oblivious to my presence. After a moment, I say, “Morning.”
Cassie jumps a little and smiles my way. She pulls gently at the sleeve of the robe and says, “Sorry, I didn’t bring mine. I wasn’t planning to stay over, but…”
“Ink can be quite persuasive, can’t she?” I nod to the frying pan on the hob and ask, “What’cha cooking?”
Cassie’s lips tighten and her nose wrinkles, making her look like a cute, frustrated, pouting bunny. She taps the bowl she’s been piling the food in. “It was supposed to be pancakes. I don’t know what went wrong, I’m normally really good with pancakes. These keep sticking, though. And burning. Maybe I didn’t use enough oil.”
“Nah, it’ll be the pan,” I reply, walking into the room and grabbing some plates from the cupboard. “And they look fine, just a little broken.”
“The pan, eh?”
“Yup. That one never was much good. Everything sticks to it, no matter what you do.”
“Huh. If it’s that bad, why keep it?”
“Sentimental reasons,” I reply and start splitting the pancakes out. “So, come on, detective, see if you can figure it out.”
“The first thing you bought for here?” she tries.
I hand her a plate and shake my head. “Nope. Try again.”
“A gift from a relative?”
“Swing and a miss,” I say and start pouring us a drink from the percolator she’s been keeping warm in preparation. “One more guess.”
She shrugs and grabs two forks from the drawer. She hands me one as she answers, “You got me.”
We walk to the living room and sit on the couch. “Well, a few years back, I was woken up by this noise in the kitchen. It must have been about three in the morning, I think. Anyway, I started panicking, right? There’s someone in the house. Who is it? What do they want? That sort of thing.
“Well, we’d been covering some home break-in stories at work, and I decided there and then I wasn’t going to be just another victim, sitting scared in my room while someone takes all my stuff. So, I got up, and creeped up to the kitchen as quietly as I could, and what did I find? Someone going through the fridge.”
“Who was it?”
“I couldn’t tell. Between tiredness, the darkness, and the fridge door being slightly closed, I couldn’t see anything at all really, other than a silhouette. So, I grabbed the first sturdy thing I could.”
“The frying pan.”
“Exactly. I grabbed it, waited for them to step back, and swung. Bam.”
“Then what happened?”
“The woman dropped her milk and starts yelling, ‘What the fuck, Lori?’ So, I turn the light on, and everything starts slotting into place. I’d been out at a club and taken this lady home. Karen, I think her name was. The problem was, I’d gotten a bit drunk and, between that and the stories we’d been covering, I’d completely forgotten she’d stayed over and had gotten a little paranoid.”
“Was she all right?” Cassie asks, staring at me in disbelief.
“She was angry more than anything. That was our one and only night together, though. But yeah, so the frying pan is sentimental for me because it reminds me that one, I shouldn’t bring people home if I met them while drunk, and two, I’m not as much of as a wuss as I thought.”
Cassie laughs. “I guess I should be happy you didn’t think I was an intruder, eh?”
I smile and kiss her forehead. “You never need to worry. If I wake up and you’re gone, I’ll just assume you’re off dealing with any intruder. And even if I did somehow forget you were staying over, I can always tell when you’re in the kitchen in the morning. You sing while you cook.”
Cassie stops mid-sip, and her eyes go wide, peering over the top of the mug. “Diu. You can hear that?”
“‘Iris’ by the Goo Goo Dolls, wasn’t it? I mean, it’s clearly a product of its era, but it’s a good track.”
“Oh, no, no, no. You weren’t meant to hear that. It’s why I stop when I hear your bedroom door open.”
I tilt my head and frown. “Really? I like it. You sound happy.”
“I am happy, but…I don’t really sing…well. Or in front of people.”
“Oh,” I reply, a little worried now. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t really notice you stopped. I always get excited to see what you’re making, so it never really occurred to me.”
“It’s fine,” she says, but I can tell she’s still embarrassed. “Anyway, it can’t be that exciting. I only use what you have in.”
“I know, but I don’t always bother myself. Usually, it’s cereal or toast if it’s just me. Work, right?”
Cassie’s shoulders relax a little and she takes another mouthful of coffee. “Oh, I get that. I’m the same at the apartment, really. I don’t usually stay here when I have a case on, so there’s rarely any rush for me in the morning when I do. I do try to get up early, though, just in case you need to head out earlier. I can make sure I still get something made for you then.”
I take a leaf from Cassie’s playbook and fail to stop the blush rising to my cheeks. If she enjoys doing it, I may as well tell her. “Okay, confession time. Sometimes, I buy a few things I know I might not have the time to cook. You know, to see if you use them when you stop over. I kinda might have noticed you enjoy cooking more than you let on. And, you know, I quite like what you put in front of me.”
I take another big mouthful of pancake to prove the point, and Cassie giggles. “Well, aren’t you full of surprises today?”
“Oh, speaking of surprises, it’s the Saturday after next, right? Your birthday?”
She rolls her eyes. “Yes, it is. Look, Lori, I really don’t want you to make a big deal out of it. Just something small, eh?”
I wave my hands frantically, spilling a little coffee on my knee. Good job it’s cooled down. “Absolutely. I promised I wouldn’t go overboard, so I won’t. We’ll do a stop at a café. And maybe a present or two.”
“No more than two,” she says, fixing me with a stern look.
“No more than two,” I reiterate.
“And a limit of one hundred dollars.”
“I know, I know. You never did explain why you don’t like doing too much.”
Cassie sighs and puts her empty mug down. “Okay, I guess I owe you that much at least. If you really have to know, my birthday falls exactly one week before…one week before the anniversary.”
Cassie’s dad was a cop back in Canada. He took a bullet for her during her last major case back there, and his death tore her and her mom apart. That was why she moved to New Hopeland. “I’m sorry. I knew it was coming up, but the connection didn’t click.”
She waves it away, and her walls come up a little. “It’s fine; I never told you the date. Honestly, if I didn’t want to do anything at all, I wouldn’t have told you my birthday either.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Just don’t be a Nancy, okay?”
“A Nancy?”
“My nan. She hated having a fuss made on her birthday, like at all. But she never told us because she didn’t want to disappoint anyone. It wasn’t until she was at death’s door that she finally came clean. Don’t be like her. If it’s too much, tell me so I can back off.”
Cassie’s face softens a little and she pulls me into a gentle kiss. “Thank you. It means a lot knowing you’d do that. It’s fine; just keep it low key. Anyway, I better get a wash and head back home. You never know when the next case will drop in your lap.”
She gets to her feet and starts walking to the door, but I can’t help myself. “An armadillo.”
She stops. “What?”
“Last night. You asked what sort of animal I thought you’d be if you were a Tech Shifter? Well, I’ve decided. An armadillo.”
“An armadillo,” she repeats. “Why?”
I gather the plates and mugs and give her a wink. “I’ll let you figure that one out.
Interview
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
The idea with this book was two-fold. For the first novella in the collection, A Week in New Hopeland, I wanted to give Lori a moment in the spotlight. She has been Cassie’s love interest since book one, but the romance has been a slow-burn subplot rather than the focus. As a result, we only ever get to see her for short spells, and through Cassie’s eyes. This story was designed to give her a bit more of a voice and let us see how she views her relationship with the snarky detective.
The second story, Shadows of the Past is the first one that you need to have read the other books to fully get into. This one was written to start tying up the loose ends and nudge the story towards the overall arc that’s been running in the background. I wanted to show readers that some things are more linked than they may have seemed.
I think I achieved my goals in both cases. Or I hope I did, at least. I know my editors for this one picked up on the need to have read the previous books, and that Lori had a few sweet moments. So, fingers crossed it all comes across the way I wanted.
What secondary character would you like to explore more? Tell me about him or her.
Definitely Devin Carmichael. He’s a local assassin that works alongside both criminals and law enforcement. Readers have really enjoyed his moral outlook so far, taking a refusing jobs based on whether he thinks the victim fits with his own ideas of a bad guy. Basically, imagine a well-toned, cowboy hat wearing Southern boy with a strong moral code who is a crack shot with a sniper rifle. Despite the way he messes with her at times, he’s actually one of Cassie’s better friends, and does help her out a fair bit when she needs it. We get a little more about him in the upcoming fifth book, but it would be fun to delve into his past a little more.
Are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that affect your writing?
I’m in the middle, I think. Previously, I’ve always been a part-time writer, snatching an hour or two of an evening when I could. Since being made redundant from my old job though, my incomes has come solely from books and my website. So, I spend a lot of time writing now, whether on fiction or reviews and blog articles. It doesn’t really feel full-time though as there’s a lot more to it, like dealing with advertisers, social media and site maintenance.
What pets are currently on your keyboard, and what are their names? Pictures?
The most frequent offender right now is Blue. She’s a Siberian Husky, and a little over a year old. She’s the friendliest dog I’ve ever met, and thinks that everyone – animal or human – must want to be her friend. She’s also very adamant that she should have all the attention. If I’m working, she comes over for strokes. If I’m talking to someone, she comes over for strokes from both of us. If I’m upstairs, she’s up there like a shot to make sure she’s not being left out. In short, she’s lovely, and boy does she know it!
Do you have any strange writing habits or superstitions?
I can’t write in silence, so I have to queue up a playlist before I even start. I get distracted very easily, and if I’m left in silence, my mind will wander here, there and everywhere. The only way I can stop it is to play music in the background. It’s like having that one set distraction keeps my mind from getting distracted by other distractions. If the music fits with what I’m writing too, it becomes less of a distraction and more of a mood setter.
What fantasy realm would you choose to live in and why?
I’d want to live in Sonic the Hedgehog’s world. Sure, there’s the risk of a mad doctor trying to turn you into a robot and attempting to take over the world, but honestly, I mostly just want to hang out with Tails and Blaze. Sonic has been part of my life since childhood and is still a huge part of it now, so how could I pick anywhere else? Plus, look at the scenery! Sonic’s world is really picturesque!
Author Bio
Matt Doyle is a speculative fiction author from the UK and identifies as pansexual and genderfluid. Matt has spent a great deal of time chasing dreams, a habit which has led to success in a great number of fields. To date, this has included spending ten years as a professional wrestler, completing a range of cosplay projects, and publishing multiple works of fiction.
These days, Matt can be found working on multiple novels and stories, blogging about pop culture, and plotting and planning far too many projects.
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