The Haunting of Hattie Hastings: Part One by Audrey Davis
Published: 24th November 2017
Pages: 90
Available on Kindle
Rating: 4/5
Blurb
Some people just won't take death lying down … ! (NB: cliffhanger ending).
Part one of a fun-filled trilogy about life, death and letting go.
Hattie Hastings is happily married, even if husband Gary drives her up the wall at times. When tragedy strikes, she is left alone and heartbroken, with only an assortment of family and friends to prop her up.
Struggling to cope, she is left reeling when her deceased other half returns, popping up at the most inappropriate times.
Hattie can't convince anyone that Gary has returned. Not even best friend Cat – now free from the cruel and controlling Stewart – will believe her.
Why has Gary returned? And what will Cat do when her slimy ex-husband tries to worm his way back into her affections?
The Haunting of Hattie Hastings will make you laugh, cry and count down until Part Two …
Review
The Haunting of Hattie Hastings part one is part of a three
part novella written by Audrey Davis. Hattie has recently lost husband Gary
after a car accidentally ran into him while he was taking out the dustbin. Just
as Hattie is beginning to come to terms with Gary’s passing she begins to
notice half-drunk glasses of whisky all-round the house, the drink Gary loved
every night. Assuming its son Johnny Hattie thinks nothing of it until Gary
appears to her and begins talking. Hattie’s totally thrown, especially as he
disappears just as quickly and nobody else seems to believe her.
There’s no doubting this is a funny read, Audrey Davis has
excellent comedy timing which translates in to some great scenes. Gary is quite
uncouth and doesn’t mince his words but I felt like he was a loveable rouge who
just adored Hattie and for that reason I found myself warming to him. I felt we
didn’t really get to know Hattie very much but I’m sure that will come in later
parts.
I did feel there was a lot to take in such a short read with
viewpoints from Hattie, Johnny, her best friend Cat, her mother Rachel and
brother Jack and of course Gary. Some interesting plotlines have been laid down
so I’m interested to see where this story goes with its next instalment, which
I hope is on the way soon.
About Audrey Davis
Scottish-born Audrey studied journalism in Edinburgh more decades ago than she cares to admit. She cut her writing teeth on provincial newspapers (using a typewriter) and a London-based video magazine (another sign of her advanced years).
Engagement to her now-husband Bill took them to Singapore, Australia and Buckinghamshire, England, before they settled in Switzerland in 2002. Along the way they had two boys, both all grown-up and living in the UK.
Her journey to becoming a published author began with an online Writing Fiction course. It took well over a year but, in June 2017, Audrey published her debut romantic comedy novel, A Clean Sweep. It was quickly followed by a shorter and darker prequel, A Clean Break.
The idea for The Haunting of Hattie Hastings came from nowhere, just a random title that popped into her head and from there grew into Part One of a trilogy. It comes under the same genre, but has some poignant scenes and – hopefully – lots of laughs! Audrey admits to being a worrier, and has always used humour as a defence mechanism, as her friends will attest.
When Audrey isn’t writing, she loves shows like The Walking Dead, American Horror Story and Strictly Come Dancing (a strange mix, she knows). Her interests include cooking (and eating pretty much anything apart from oysters), travelling and going to the gym. OK, the last one is mainly to compensate for her passion for food!
Audrey would describe herself as a ‘pantser’ rather than a ‘planner’, preferring to run where a story takes her and scribble copious notes along the way. She’d love to write a page-turning thriller, but fears her natural tendency to see the comic side of life might be an obstacle.
Website - https://audinsuisse.wordpress.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/audreydavisbooks
Twitter - https://twitter.com/audbyname
Thank you to the publishers and Rachel Gilby for inviting me to be part of the blog tour and for sending me a copy to review.
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