Cover Reveal - The Afternoon Tea Murders

Cover reveal today for book 4 in The Secret Detective Agency Series -The Afternoon Tea Murders! Now available for preorder. HERE

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!!!!!

News!

Wow! February is turning into a very busy month. On a personal front it was my birthday and then, just yeserday my second grandson arrived. Ezra Reuben 6lb 1oz making Isaac William a big brother! Book 20 in the Miss Underhay series now has a title, Murder at the English Manor, and I've had a sneak peek at the cover. It looks lovely and bright! The cover reveal for book 2 in the Secret Detective Agency series also took place yesterday!

You can preorder your copy HERE With Murder on the Cornish Coast out on Feb 20th, The Secret Detective Agency out March 27h and The Seadside Murders out April 30th Murder at the English Manor will be out May 23rd!!! Phew!!!!!!!!!

February!

Well, here we are in February. I hope this finds you all safe, well and snug. Signs of spring are popping up here in my corner of Devon. A few crocus and daffodils, primroses and snowdrops open in the lanes. All signs that Spring is on the way. That means new books! Murder on the Cornish Coast is out on February 20th! Preorder and of course the release of the first of the Secret Detective Agency books is also drawing nearer. Out on March 27th! I've had a sneak peek at book 2 in the new series, Murder at the Seaside and it looks fab with Marmaduke the cat gracing the cover once more. You can preorder book 1 HERE Since February is my birthday month and I have my second grandson due any day now I am very excited for the next few weeks. There will be a special giveaway to celebrate the launch of the Secret Detective Agency series so watch this space!

Cover Reveal for The Secret Detective Agency

It's here at last! I am so excited that the first book in the new series is now available for preorder! It releases on March 27th 2025 and is set in 1941. If you loved Moonlighting, Tommy and Tuppence, Nora and Nick this is the book for you!

You can preorder your copy HERE

Almost May!!!

Wow! This month has shot past! My editor loves book 1 of the Secret Detective Agency and I'm getting stuck in to writing the second book. The series will launch early next year and I am so excited for you to meet Jane, Arthur, Benson and Marmaduke the cat. For my Miss Underhay fans, have no fears, there are lots more Matt and Kitty stories in the pipeline. Murder on the French Riviera is live on Netgalley for advance readers and getting great reviews! Phew! I'm almost done on the first draft of Murder in the apple orchard which is possibly the title we're getting for the next book in the series. May will be a busy month for me as Murder on the French Riviera releases the day before my middle daughter's wedding! May is also mine and Mr Nell's 39th wedding anniversary (On Star wars day lol) and my youngest daughters birthday. So if I seem a bit frazzled around then you'll know why!

The Secret Detective Agency

Huge, bigly announcement from me today!!! The Friday Night Project has been contracted and is now called The Secret Detective Agency. Here is what my publisher had to say!!!! We’re over the moon to announce that commissioning editor Maisie Lawrence has acquired a world rights in a brand-new cosy crime series by Helena Dixon from Kate Nash of Kate Nash Literary Agency. Dixon is the author of the bestselling Miss Underhay mystery series, which has delighted fans worldwide with over 95 million Kindle Unlimited pages read and over 250,000 copies sold. Bookouture are also thrilled to be publishing four new Miss Underhay mysteries with Dixon in 2025. The first book in her new series, The Secret Detective Agency, will publish in March 2025. The book opens in 1941 at the house of Arthur Cilento, an asthmatic academic, who finds a woman’s body in the gardens of his manor house. Miss Jane Treen, a government officer from London who manages an elite group of spies, knows exactly who the mystery woman was and why she was there. Forced to work together, the race is on to solve a deadly puzzle that Arthur and Jane were not anticipating. Maisie said, ‘Helena Dixon is a cosy crime master and totally brilliant at crafting twisty, gripping plots, combined with tantalising settings that are an utter joy to read. In this new series, she has created two truly unforgettable characters – and an excellent cat – who will solve tricky crimes together. She’s a joy to work with, always going above and beyond to delight her readers and I can’t wait for them to fall in love with The Secret Detective Agency.’ Helena said, ‘I am so excited to bring The Secret Detective Agency to readers. Maisie and the team at Bookouture are so great to work with that I know Jane, Arthur and Marmaduke the one-eyed cat couldn’t be in better hands.’