Cover Reveal - Murder in Paris!

Ta dah! Cover reveal for Murder in Paris - book 21 and a new adventure for Kitty and Matt. HERE

Freshly baked baguettes and strong coffee,a moonlit walk beneath the twinkling lights of the Eiffel tower, sunset over the rooftops… and oh là là! A murder in the French capital? This is one for Kitty Underhay! Paris, 1937. Kitty Underhay, with a croissant in hand and her handsome husband Matt by her side, is soaking up the delightfully Parisian charms of the French capital. Kitty attends a fashion show where she is enamoured by the dazzling gowns, but the afternoon takes a very sour turn when one of the models, Simone Belliste, is found dead with a pair of razor sharp tailoring scissors nearby. Kitty and Matt are determined to work out who could be behind the murder. They perch in tiny cafés on cobblestone streets, deliberating over who would do such a thing. Simone had many admirers, including a wealthy older Englishman who had been wooing her and a handsome young Frenchman who was besotted with her. But she was also surrounded by glamorous designers, competitive models, and a jealous younger sister… and nobody is without motive. Just as Kitty and Matt are jotting down their list of suspects, they receive a call: Simone’s sister Nathalie has been attacked, and her valuable folder of dressmaking patterns is missing. Can they unravel the secrets surrounding the two sisters? Or will they be next in line…? With a murderer in their midst, can the team of two find the killer before it’s adieu for both of them? Or will this Parisian sojourn be their last?

Book 20!

Can you believe it? Book 20 in the Miss Underhay series is out today! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me on this crazy journey. I never expected people to love Kitty and Matt as much as me so it's an absolute joy to keep writing these mysteries. I hope you'll enjoy this one!

You can get your copy HERE

Bristol Crime Festival

UK readers - I'll be on two panels at TICKETS Friday 16th and Sunday 18th May so coming up very quickly. There are some fabulous authors appearing so if you are in and around Bristol next weekend it would be lovely to see you :)

Book news!!

I'm thrilled to say that I've signed a new contract with Bookouture for 6 more books! You can read all about it HERE

Verity Bright is back!

A wam welcome back to Verity Bright and their wonderful new book, A Recipe For Murder. You can get your copy HERE

Cream cakes, cucumber sandwiches, apple tarts and… poison? Lady Swift is trying to plan the menu for her wedding, until murder strikes in kitchens across the village! Lady Eleanor Swift’s marriage to dashing Chief Inspector Hugh Seldon is just days away. There’s a lot to organise from the dress to the catering, including, of course, the all-important wedding cake. But Eleanor is heartbroken when their chef, apple-cheeked Annie Tibetts, dies of poisoning. And as the doctor confirms her death wasn’t an accident, accusations fly around the whole community. With more of the village struck down by the poison, Eleanor must unmask a killer who seems intent on spreading chaos amongst her nearest and dearest. Everyone is accusing their neighbour… and Eleanor is in a pickle as the seating plans for the wedding fall apart. But she soon has bigger fish to fry when the source of the poison is traced to a trusted establishment in town. Eleanor is certain they are being framed and that sabotage is afoot… And when a sample of poisoned wedding cake is delivered anonymously to Hugh working at his station miles away in Oxford, Eleanor realises that while she has been planning for the future, her past has been catching up with her. Eleanor must race across the countryside to save her love from certain death. Can Eleanor find the proof in the pudding and save Hugh in time? And will the poisoner finally get their just desserts?

Release day for The Secret Detective Agency!

Release day at last for the first book in the Secret Detective Agency series. Book 2, The Seaside Murders is out at the end of next month. So, if you like Agatha Christie type twisty plots, world war 2 settings and quirky characters then this is the book for you. Includes added catitude with Marmaduke the one eyed ginger cat.

Meet Miss Jane Treen – the coffee-drinking cat lover dressed head to toe in tweed, who just happens to be a secret super sleuth! London, 1941: Miss Jane Treen is at her desk, strong black coffee in hand and fluffy ginger cat by her side, when her top-secret government work is interrupted by an urgent call to Devon. A woman has been found dead in a lake in a place where she shouldn’t have been. Jane needs to gather the clues and find the killer before someone else from the agency gets hurt… Shy and handsome code-breaker Arthur Cilento is bewildered by the arrival of the efficient Miss Treen and her cat Marmaduke. She bursts into his life unexpectedly, forcing him out of his comfort zone. The reluctant colleagues huddle near the warmth of a crackling fire in Arthur's country home, working to piece together the murderous puzzle at hand. In the sleepy Devon village, someone is hiding something: but is it the busybody vicar and his sister, the dutiful housekeeper and her secretive son, the stern librarian, or someone else altogether? And who were the people with the woman in the lake on the day she died? No sooner have Arthur and Jane have drawn up a list of suspects, than a parcel reveals a clue that sends them in hot pursuit of a coded diary stashed in a village church. But as the heavy wooden door slams behind them and a key turns in the lock, one thing is sure: they need to unravel the truth and crack this code before the killer decides their number is up… But if they can catch the culprit in time, might this unusual pair become the finest crime-solving partnership since Holmes and Watson hung up their hats…? If you love twisty crime novels, top-secret intrigue and the very best of Golden Age mysteries, then you will adore Helena Dixon’s totally gripping cozy novel, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T E Kinsey and Verity Bright! You can get your copy HERE Tomorrow I have a big launch party planned here in Devon and I'll pop some pics up afterwards!

London Book Fair

This week is London Book Fair, a massive trade gathering for publishers and overseas buyers. I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled I was when my agent sent me this pic of the Hachette stand. (Bookouture, my publisher are part of Hachette)For years my dream has been to see a book of mine on a big poster in a railway station or on the Underground. I used to joke that was when I would know I had made it. Getting this pic today made me cry good tears. It's been a dream for so long and London Book Fair is such a huge thing. To have my title selected for this kind of attention is incredible. When I signed my last contract I never even got a mention in the Bookseller - the book trade magazine. It was a six book contract for Miss Underhay and then a 3 book contract for The Secret Detectives so you know you would have thought... So this is just fantastic

Not long now till it's released and you can read it for yourself on March 27th!!!!!

Murder on the Cornish Coast out today!

Whoop, whoop! Release day for Murder on the Cornish Coast! BUY HERE if you haven't yet got your copy. Five star reviews on Net Galley which is brilliant and already waving a best seller flag in Australia!

Celebrating Book 20 for Verity Bright!

A warm welcome back to my friends, Verity Bright who are a little ahead of me in the number of books in their series. A Midwinter Murder is the latest release and is book 20!!! Yay!!!

I asked how they felt to be at book 20 and they said: When I started the Lady Eleanor Swift mystery series I never imagined I would now be publishing book twenty! The books currently have 100,000+ four and five star reviews on Amazon which gives me so much joy to know people are getting pleasure from the series. I’m so grateful to the readers who have stuck with Eleanor through all her investigations and personal ups and downs (especially her romantic ones!) I hope you enjoy book twenty, A Midwinter Murder, as much as I enjoyed writing it. Here's the blurb!!! Homemade baubles, reindeer-shaped cookies and snowy walks across the rolling moors… but Lady Swift’s festive plans are ruined when a body turns up! Winter 1924. When Lady Eleanor Swift unexpectedly finds herself a guest of the reclusive Duke of Auldwyke, she’s determined to enjoy Christmas with all the trimmings at his sprawling manor house. And that includes kisses under the mistletoe and cozying up by the fire with her fiancé, dashing detective Hugh Seldon. Instead, the season of goodwill turns frosty as she finds the Duke’s studious secretary, Mr Porritt, dead in the storeroom. Clasped in his chilly hand is a golden pendant in the shape of a rose. The Duke denies ever having seen the necklace before. But Eleanor can see the lies in his eyes… Did it belong to his mysteriously absent wife? Hugh and Eleanor must ditch relaxing with hot cocoa in favour of interviewing the Duke’s holiday guests. Every suspect has a secret they’d kill to keep: the socialite with the false name, the Sir with a questionable inheritance and the husband hiding a crack in his marriage. As the blizzard outside rages, Auldwyke Hall becomes cut off. Trapped by the snow, Eleanor and Hugh must skate around the increasingly secretive Duke to unwrap the identity of the killer. But does the answer to the secretary’s murder lie with a ghost of Christmas past? And when an attempt is made on the Duke’s life too, they realise the killer is closer than they think… You can get your copy HERE

Murder on the Cornish Coast is up for Preorder!

Murder on the Cornish Coast - book 19 in the Miss Underhay series is now up for preorder. Set in lovely St Mawes, Kitty and Matt are engaged in a complex case to try to solve a crime which happened he previous summer. They also need to protect the surviving witness from that deadly attack.

You can preorder your copy HERE

Murder in New York is out!

I'm thrilled to say that Murder in New York is out today and already sporting best seller flags in Australia and the UK! Murder on the Cornish Coast is the next book and look out for that one shortly. Murder in the Countryside is also fee on kindle for the next few days and is number 1 in the Amazon UK free chart and number 2 in the Amazon US ree chart!! Thank you all so much for all your support with this series. This week we also heard that Murder at the Dolphin Hotel is being acquired for French translation which is very exciting. Merci beaucoup! Hopefully I should be able to share news with you about the new series, The Secret Detective Agency books which will launch next year. So you'll have even more books to look forward to!

HERE You can get your copy of Murder in New York by following the link if you haven't got it already!

6 years ago

Six years ago today I took the huge step of leaving my job to become a full time author. It was a big leap into the unknown. The ink on my contract was barely dry and I had no idea if anyone other than me, my fabulous agent, Kate Nash and my incredible editor Emily Gowers, would like the Miss Underhay series. Six years later I am about to write book 20 in the series and launch a new series next year - The Secret Detective Agency. Kitty and Matt have found their way around the world into translations in Estonian, Bulgarian, Italian amongst others. The books have had best seller flags and topped the charts around the world. On Kindle Unlimited they have achieved almost 120 million pages read. Thank you all so much for believing in my little stories. I've been a writer for all of my life. Since I was very young I had stories running around my brain and it's an enormous priviledge to be able to share them. I'm having a bit of a celebratory giveaway on my facebook author page. It's where I post a lot of my writing news - including here of course. If you haven't found it yet, pop over and join in HERE

Whoop whoop!

Celebrations all round! I'm thrilled to announce that I've just signed a sparkly new 6 book contract with Bookouture to bring you more of Kitty and Matt's adventures!!

Guest blogger - Jessica Hatch

A very warm welcome to the fabulous Jessica Hatch as she celebrates the release of her latest novel! Jessica Hatch writes hilarious, heartfelt romantic comedies for the girls who grew up rooting for the main character's best friend. Her first novel, My Big Fake Wedding, debuted at #1 in Humorous American Fiction, and her second novel, How to Keep a Husband for Ten Days, is widely anticipated by an international readership. She loves to develop quirky, high-concept scenarios and then drop her characters into them, escape room–style, to see what happens next. Her work spotlights characters and locales the reader can fall in love with, and aims to explore real-world issues that women and nonbinary people face. (She also enjoys loafing around, largely ignoring her characters and binge-watching Netflix instead.) Her latest release is How to keep a husband for 10 days and you can grab your copy HERE

Faking a marriage… How hard can it be?! When Lina’s oldest friends unexpectedly announce they’re coming to stay, she has to think fast. No one knows she and her husband Brown are breaking up and, if their friends find out, she knows they’ll take sides, and they’re just not ready for that. Surely they can pretend to be married for ten days? Determined to only tell her friends when she’s figured out how she’s feeling, Lina comes up with a set of rules for her and Brown to follow: 1.Strike “couple” poses (try not to throw your back out) 2.Laugh at each other’s jokes (not so loud it sounds fake) 3.Stare into each other’s eyes (remember to blink) 4.Hold hands when walking (use a grip of steel) 5.Share a bed… (GULP) But, despite her step-by-step guide, pretending to be married isn’t as easy as she thought. Being back in the same house with her husband – laughing together, holding hands, sharing a bed – is making her more confused than ever. And by day five, Lina is starting to realise there’s a thin line between love and hate. And while she can try to fool her friends, she can’t fool her heart. What might have begun as faking a marriage is starting to feel like the real thing… Is this becoming more than make believe? And is it too late to find out if Brown feels the same? This absolutely hilarious and totally addictive romcom is perfect for fans of Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis, Christina Lauren’s The Unhoneymooners, and Emily Henry. "⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jessica Hatch has done it again! I was so engrossed in each page, and I couldn't wait to find out what was happening next!" -- Gabriella, @reads.withgab

UK kindle bargain for February!

Murder at the Wedding is a UK kindle monthly deal at just 99p for this month! February is a short month though so don't miss out! You can grab your copy HERE

Contract News!

My fab news today! Emily Gowers has acquired world rights in three new cosy historical mysteries in the Miss Underhay series by Helena Dixon, from Kate Nash of the Kate Nash Literary Agency. Emily says, ‘It’s a real pinch-me moment, to think that I can continue to work with Helena, who has now sold over 100k copies, on this incredible series. Kitty and Matt can’t seem to keep out of trouble, and I can’t seem to stop loving every moment of it!’ Helena says, ‘I am so excited to continue working with Emily and all the Bookouture team on the Miss Underhay series. I know my readers will be delighted too. I love being in Matt and Kitty’s world and can’t wait to write more mysteries for them to solve.’