Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to be joining the Sometimes People Die blog tour. Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson is published later this week (that’s Thursday 1st September 2022) by The Borough Press and will be available in hardcover, paperback, audio and digital formats. Today I am thrilled to join the tour with a spotlight post, so without further ado let’s find out what the book is all about…

“The year is 1999. Returning to practice after a suspension for stealing opioids, a young Scottish doctor takes the only job he can find: a post as a senior house officer in the struggling east London hospital of St Luke’s.

Amid the maelstrom of sick patients, over-worked staff and underfunded wards a darker secret soon declares itself: too many patients are dying.

Which of the medical professionals our protagonist has encountered is behind the murders? And can our unnamed narrator’s version of the events be trusted?”

I love the sound of Sometimes People Die and I hope you do too! Make sure you get your pre-order in ready for publication of this gripping medical thriller on Thursday.

‘Sometimes People Die blew me away and cost me a night’s sleep as I read it on tenterhooks. Both a revelatory glimpse into the rigours and strains of medicine and a thrilling piece of entertainment, this astounding novel announces the arrival of a new Michael Crichton for the zeitgeist’ Ken Bruen, author of The Guards

‘An under-stated serial killer thriller about a junior doctor recovering from opioid addiction who takes a job at a Hackney hospital in 1999 and falls under suspicion when ‘excess’ patients start dying. Stephenson intervweaves first-person narration delineating the daily dramas of life on the wards with real historical cases. Combining the dark humour of Adam Kay with the intrigue of a whodunnit, this cerebral mystery probes the ‘paradox of healthcare murder’ The Bookseller

‘The witty writing, quirky protagonist, and anecdotal descriptions of real-life medical villains combine to make Sometimes People Die a delightful read. The serial killer plotline is an added bonus. I loved it’ Kathy Reichs, the #1 New York Times bestseller

‘Dark and haunting, powerful and propulsive, Sometimes People Die is a smart, cinematic, tour de force written by an exceptional talent. Simon Stephenson’s debut novel is simply unputdownable’ Lara Prescott, New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets We Kept

‘Simon Stephenson gives us a medical thriller that echoes Robin Cook by way of Edgar Allan Poe, with a lying, cowardly, mediocre doctor as our guide to St. Luke’s Hospital, where the staff have lives in their hands and death under their thumbs. As the mystery spirals and the bodies pile, his cynical charm and black humor will draw you in. You’ll trust him to get you through it. But should you?’ Judy Melinek & T.J. Mitchell, New York Times bestselling authors of Working Stiff and First Cut

Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson was published in the UK by Borough Press on 1st September 2022 and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | Book Depository | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop |

Simon Stephenson originally trained as a doctor and worked in Scotland and London. He previously wrote Let Not the Waves of the Sea, a memoir about the loss of his brother in the Indian ocean tsunami. It won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards, was a Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4, and a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year.

His first novel, Set My Heart to Five was a Bookseller Book of the Month and was described by the Daily Mail as ‘Funny, original and thought-provoking.’ It has been optioned by Working Title Films to be directed by Edgar Wright from Stephenson’s screenplay.

He currently lives in Los Angeles, in a house where a famous murder took place. As a screenwriter, he originated and wrote the Benedict Cumberbatch starrer The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and wrote the story for Pixar’s Luca. He also contributed to everybody’s favourite film, Paddington 2.