Starting book 15

Can you believe we're at book 15 already? It seems to have flown by. The working title is Murder at the Island Hotel. I'm sure you can guess where the inspiration is from! There are lots of small islands and rocky outcrops just off the Devon and Cornish coast. Most people have heard of Burgh Island, made famous by Agatha Christie in And Then There were None. This Island is called Bird Island and Kitty will be working with Alice for this one while poor old Matt is stranded on the mainland! So it should be fun!

Guest Blogger - Anita Davison

A very warm welcome to a fellow writer of history mysteries! Anita Davison is here to tell us about her first book in a new 1920's set series! Murder in the Bookshop was released on August 22nd so is hot off the press!

It is September 1915 and the country is in the second year of a war. Hannah Merrill helps run her Aunt Violet’s bookshop in Covent Garden and one morning, rumours of an air raid the night before makes her worry for the state of the bookshop. She finds the building unharmed, but the manager's poor judgement has resulted in the business failing. Hannah sacks him, and tells her Aunt Violet she intends taking over the bookshop herself with the help of their junior assistant, Archie; decisions her aunt is ambivalent about. However, when Hannah arrives to start her regime as the bookshop manager the next day, she finds her best friend Lily-Anne Soames sitting in a wing-back chair in the reading corner – dead. Distressed by the murder of her friend, she meets Detective Inspector Farrell, the police officer in charge of the investigation, who is less than happy with her story. Why was Hannah’s closest friend inside the locked bookshop at night with Hannah’s paper knife thrust into her heart? The previous spring, the Germans started a campaign of using Zeppelins to fly over the Channel and bomb the English coast. That the enemy could make direct attacks on the English people was something no one could imagine, and the resulting terror this created was immense. Reactions were mixed. While the Government's war machine ran public campaigns to expand the army and manufacture weapons, the man in the street feared a potential invasion, and public drunkenness reached worrying proportions. The licensing hours were drastically reduced, and it was made illegal to buy a round of drinks in a public house. King George V also made a pledge that the royal family would henceforth not imbibe in alcohol.The number of English, Australian and Canadian soldiers flooding into London streets created a festival atmosphere as young men from the battlefields arrive on leave eager to spend their pay. Their presence in the public houses and dance halls attracted young women taking advantage of their new freedom to enjoy themselves when they still could. This so-called khaki fever, was considered a further fall in moral standards and a real threat to family life. Women in quasi-military uniform accompanied by police officers were sent to patrol the streets to accostunaccompanied young women and intimidate them into returning home. It is in this atmosphere of uncertainty and danger, Hannah enlists her aunt’s help, determined to find out who killed Lily-Anne and clear her own name. You can get a copy of Murder in the Bookshop HERE And you can find out more about Anita and the second book in the series which will be out soon HERE

Guest Blogger - Nicola Pryce

A warm welcome to todays guest. Here is a bit about Nicola and her writing! Nicola Pryce is published by Atlantic Books and is represented by Teresa Chris. She trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, loves literature and history, and has an Open University degree in Humanities. She is a qualified adult literacy support volunteer and lives with her husband in the Blackdown Hills in Somerset. She and her husband love sailing and together they sail the south coast of Cornwall in search of adventure. It is there where she sets her books.

Her latest book is The Cornish Rebel set in Cornawall in 1801

In the wake of her mother’s death, Pandora Woodville has finally escaped her domineering father and returned to Falmouth. Bright with the dream of working at her Aunt Harriet’s school for young women, Pandora is shocked to learn the school is facing imminent closure after a series of sinister events has threatened its reputation. Acclaimed chemist Benedict Aubyn has also recently returned to Cornwall, to take up a new role as Turnpike Trust Surveyor. Pandora’s arrival has been a strange one, so she is grateful when he shows her kindness. As news of the school’s ruin spreads around town, everyone seems to be after her aunt’s estate. Now, Pandora and Aunt Harriet must do everything in their power to save the school, or risk losing everything. However, Pandora has another problem. She’s falling for Benedict. But can she trust him, or is he simply looking after his own interests? Sounds fabulous! you can get your copy of The Cornish Rebel and others in the series from HERE HERE or for UK readers who like paperbacks HERE I asked Nicola to tell us a bit about how this book came together. Sometimes, my stories seem to weave themselves together. In The Cornish Rebel,six threads were hanging tantalisingly in the air: John Loudon McAdam was in Falmouth in 1801, a renowned chemist was seeking to capture arsenic in soluble form, the Truro to Falmouth Turnpike trust had drawn a map of their proposed new route, a headmistress of a girls’ boarding school was seeking to keep her school viable, and Her land Mine in Gwinear yielded 115 tons of silver ore which, partly smelted on site, realized £5469. The sixth thread was the Old Well at St Feock with its superstitious tale of divining the man you were going to marry by visiting it at full moon. Almost by itself, the threads wove themselves together and the story began to take shape. I moved Miss Mitchell’s School for young ladies from the outskirts of Truro to the shores of Restronguet Creek and the book seemed to write itself. Well, almost. Best wishes and happy reading, Nicola

Cover reveal for Murder at the Highland Castle!

Isn't it fab? You can preorder your copy HERE A majestic castle by a Scottish loch, a glass of whisky by a roaring fire, stockings hung by the chimney… and a body? It’s a midwinter murder for Kitty Underhay! Winter, 1935. Lightly dusted with snow and nestled on the edge of a sweeping Scottish loch, Finnglach Castle looks positively magical. Kitty Underhay, her husband Matt and their beloved dog Bertie are delighted to be celebrating the new year with a Hogmanay party, but moments before midnight, a shot rings out across the grounds… Their host, Lord Barlas, is dead, murdered in the snow. The killer’s footprints have vanished and the gun is missing. With the snow-covered castle completely cut off, and a killer in their midst, Kitty and Matt need to work fast to find the culprit before someone else ends up as dead as the turkey! As the weather worsens one of the guests begins telling dark Highland stories about evil spirits. But with a sour daughter, a new wife set to inherit a fortune and a suspicious spiritual adviser, Kitty is sure the killer is close at hand. Can she, Matt and Bertie sniff out the treacherous culprit in time for haggis and whisky or will they find themselves skating on dangerously thin ice? Don’t miss this incredibly charming cozy page-turner! If you love TE Kinsey, Agatha Christie or Lee Strauss, you’ll fall head over heels for this totally unputdownable historical mystery.

Re -release news!

I'm thrilled to say that some of my older romances which have been out of sale for a while are being re-released back onto the market as e book only deals. The first to go up is The Cinderella Substitute. This is the very first book I ever had published. First by Moonlit Romance and then by Astraea Press. It's a clean/sweet novella and I still really love it. You can get a copy HERE and I love the new cover! You can find large print copies still floating around and probably at your local library.

In the two years since the tragic car crash that killed his fiancée, Nathanial (Nate) Mayer has successfully avoided another relationship. His family and especially his twin sister Nathalie are worried. Jennifer (Jenni) Blake is Nate’s personal assistant. Hired after the accident, she has her own problems to deal with, including the deaths of her adoptive parents and the debts incurred by their nursing care. But those difficulties pale into insignificance when Jenni finally traces her birth mother…

Murder at the Village Fair is out!!

Yay! So thrilled to say that the latest Miss Underhay adventure is out in the big, wide world. You can get your copy in ebook, audio or paperback HERE

Summer 1935. Enjoying a belated honeymoon visiting her new husband Matt’s family in the rolling Yorkshire hills, Kitty strolls through a village fair. But when Kitty persuades Matt to visit the fortune teller’s tent, the lovebirds are shocked to find the body of Madame Zaza slumped over her crystal ball, pearl necklace askew and a half-drunk cup of tea at her elbow. After predicting so many of the villagers’ misfortunes, how did she not foresee her own murder? From a pompous old colonel to a reticent reverend and a dodgy village doctor, Kitty soon feels like half the village had a motive for murder. But with more suspects than tarot cards, she and Matt are no closer to finding the culprit. Madame Zaza had been a part of the community’s life for decades and discovering a photograph album of the villagers through the years gives Kitty and Matt the breakthrough they’ve been searching for. Kitty is soon hot on the killer’s trail when her sleuthing puts her in terrible danger. Will her lucky stars align, or is her life line about to run out?

Murder at the Playhouse

Just a heads up for my UK lovelies that Murder at the Playhouse is a bargain 99p for the whole of August in the UK! Grab your bargain HERE Tell a friend!!