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Claire Ladds

Crime and suspense author

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Beneath the Flesh: a FREE Darker Minds e-book when you join my Readers’ Club – Read an Extract (Do You Love Prologues?, Part 5)

4th March 2023 by claireladds Leave a Comment

Welcome to the fifth and final part of my mini-series, touting my love for writing prologues!

Today’s extract is quite a long one, as the prologue itself is split between the viewpoints of two main characters, from opposing backgrounds and with vastly different character traits. Prologues can, most definitely, be used to emphasise what the characters are like. I don’t think it’s easy (or necessarily helpful to the book) to use a prologue only for this purpose because the whole book itself, chapter by chapter, should be doing this anyway. But what the prologue can do is show how a character behaves and set up the reader’s expectation for the ways they might react when problems begin to be thrown at them – or, in my book’s case, probably murder…

The extract I have for you today is from Beneath the Flesh. This is, at the time of writing, the book I offer exclusively as a FREE gift to readers who sign up for my Readers’ Club emails. As you’ve probably gathered, the prologue gives the reader a massive insight into the main characters of the book. It also sets up an incident (often called the inciting incident) which directly leads to everything that happens in the main story. Without it, the rest of the action, suspicions and skulduggery would have nothing to hang on. Look at this prologue at a very wordy coat hanger, if you want!

There you have it – the final part of my mini-series showing you how much I love prologues and how I use them. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the extracts. If you want to read more of my work, you’ll find details of all my books on this website and also on many e-book stores.

Please note that, as my extracts are crime-related books or dark fiction of some kind, they are suitable for an adult readership. Please read responsibly.

Happy reading!

Claire

P.S. The one obvious profanity is replaced with **** for the purposes of this extract.

[Read more…] about Beneath the Flesh: a FREE Darker Minds e-book when you join my Readers’ Club – Read an Extract (Do You Love Prologues?, Part 5)

Filed Under: All News, Extracts, News Tagged With: crime fiction, Darker Minds Crime and Suspense, free read, novella, psychological suspense, psychological thriller, Readers Club, suspense fiction

Grab Some Fantastic Mystery, Thrillers and Suspense in December 2022

1st December 2022 by claireladds

Can you believe it’s December already?! Have you got your Christmas tree up yet? Mine is still in the box (apologies to you if you shudder at the thought of an artificial tree) but it’s going up today. As it’s December, it also means I now have the legitimate excuse to watch Hercule Poirot’s Christmas countless times!

If you fancy some new reads in the last part of the year, to take you up to the Christmas period (and beyond), then you might enjoy taking a look at what I have to offer you in this post. I’ve joined together with some other fantastic authors to bring you THREE promotions that run until the end of the year.

The Free Crime Fiction Black Friday Giveaway contains a whole load of books from some fabulous crime authors. And, yes, you don’t have to pay for any of the books you download. You’ll find my Darker Minds novella, Beneath the Flesh, in there, which you can only get by becoming a member of my Readers’ Club (and that doesn’t cost you a penny, either). So, if you want to grab yourself some free crime fiction, just hit the button below to go straight to this promotion.

Take me to the Black Friday Giveaway

The Black Friday Deals promotion does exactly what it says on the tin – it gives you the chance to find your next favourite read which range from free to $4.99. The books offered here are available on all major (and some smaller) e-book stores, so you should be able to find a crime, mystery, suspense or thriller on the store of your choice. Hit the button below to head to the Black Friday Deals. You’ll find my Darker Minds Crime and Suspense books popping up there, too, if you fancy one.

Let me see the deals!

Throughout December, we bring you the Mayhem and Motives: Mystery, Thriller and Suspense Reads. Loads of books are available in this promo on all the main stores, some in Kindle Unlimited, too, so you’re sure to find a book at a store or through a subscription that suits how you prefer to read your mysteries, thrillers, or suspense books. I bet you never guessed – you will find my Darker Minds books lurking here, too. So why leave yourself in suspense – grab yourself a mystery thriller that I’ve written, or that one of the other great authors in this promo has for you.

I want to investigate the December Mayhem and Motives

There you go – three promotions, joining together lots of talented authors and their books, and something to suit every price point, (including some books of mine!) I hope you find some exciting, twisty reads, full of murder, mystery and dark deeds.

Happy reading!

Back to HOME

Filed Under: News Tagged With: crime and mystery fiction, crime fiction, free read, psychological thriller, suspense fiction

Fancy a FREE Crime Read this August?

5th August 2022 by claireladds Leave a Comment

Do you crave crime fiction? Is suspense your secret reading sauce? If so, you’re in for a treat.

I’ve joined together with a whole host of other crime, suspense and thriller authors to bring you TWO fantastic giveaway promotions for the entirety of August. Nip over to the promotion home pages, choose your freebies, download your ebooks and (if you’ve time, after reading those), feel free to come back for more.

One of my books is in both the promotions, so if you don’t yet have a copy of Beneath the Flesh, here’s your chance to bag yourself a copy.

You can access the August giveaways using the buttons below.

FREE CRIME THRILLERS
AUGUST CRIME GIVEAWAY

Happy reading!

Claire 😊


Have you got all my books?

Darker Minds Crime and Suspense:

Show Me Dead

That Killer Image

No Deadlier Time

Hearts and Crimes (dark women’s fiction):

The Reason for Everything

The Secrets That Haunt Us

Filed Under: Free Reads, News Tagged With: august free reads, crime and mystery fiction, crime fiction, crime thrillers, free read, giveaway, psychological thriller, suspense fiction

Thriller and Suspense Giveaway

11th February 2022 by claireladds Leave a Comment

This is the third giveaway that I have to offer you this month, and if you love thrillers and suspense, then this is the one for you! Feel free to head to the giveaway page where you’ll find loads of books by an array of crime, thriller and suspense authors. Grab whichever books take your fancy and fill up your e-reader. This giveaway runs all February, so you can pop in and grab some books that take your eye, then come back for more if you want to!

If you’d like to grab my free novella, Beneath the Flesh, while you’re there, too, please be my guest. This is part of my Darker Minds Crime and Suspense series, and is only available as an e-book through promotions like these, or directly by signing up to my Readers’ Club.

Happy downloading throughout February, and happy reading! 😊

TAKE ME TO THE THRILLER AND SUSPENSE GIVEAWAY

If you’d like to head straightaway to sign up to my Readers’ club and get a copy of Beneath the Flesh as your welcome gift, then you can do that here.

Filed Under: News, Read for Free Tagged With: crime fiction, free books, free read, mystery and thriller, psychological thriller, read for free, suspense fiction

Mystery and Thriller FREE books!

8th February 2022 by claireladds Leave a Comment

I have another book promotion for you today. If you enjoy mysteries and thrillers, then you’ll love this one! There are loads of ebooks full of intriguing mystery, thrills and spills from a variety of authors in this giveaway.

This Mystery and Thriller promotion runs for the entire month of February, so feel free to grab the FREE books that you fancy, then head back to see if there’s anything else that catches your eye. You’ve got until February 28th to help yourself!

Among the free books in this promotion is the novella in my Darker Minds Crime and Suspense series, Beneath the Flesh. It is exclusive to my Readers’ Club, and you can’t buy it anywhere. If you’d like it, especially if you’re starting to collect all the books in the series, do please grab your copy.

Happy downloading and happy reading! 😊

TAKE ME TO THE MYSTERY AND THRILLER GIVEAWAY

If you’d just like to head straight to my Readers’ Club and sign up (and get your copy of Beneath the Flesh as a welcome gift), you can find it here.

Filed Under: News, Read for Free Tagged With: crime and mystery fiction, crime fiction, free books, free read, mystery and thriller, mystery books, read for free

Revenge: Grab your FREE books (1-15 Feb)

5th February 2022 by claireladds Leave a Comment

This month I have three (yes, three!) opportunities for you to download some extra reading to your devices. And all for FREE!

The first promotion I’m sharing with you is the Revenge giveaway (1-15 Feb only). If you’re looking for a crime read with some kind of payback for dirty deeds done, then this one could be for you. There are loads of ebooks by a myriad of authors for you to choose from, including books containing gritty crime, assassins, and all sorts of revenge. Pick as many as you want – and come back for more, if you’d like!

You’ll also find Beneath the Flesh, a novella in my Darker Minds Crime and Suspense series, among the books here. You can’t get hold of this book except as a member of my Readers’ Club and/or through promotions like this, so if you’d like a copy please do help yourself!

Happy downloading and happy reading! 😊

TAKE ME TO THE REVENGE GIVEAWAY

If you’d like to head straight over to sign up to my Readers’ Club and get Beneath the Flesh as a welcome gift, you can do it here.

Filed Under: News, Read for Free Tagged With: crime and mystery fiction, crime fiction, free books, free read, read for free, suspense fiction

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I participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and other geographical Amazon sites such as Amazon.co.uk (as the UK is where I live). Please also expect to find other affiliate links, too. I only ever use affiliate links on products or services I have used myself and wholeheartedly recommend.

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