Charlot King: The Cambridge Murder Mysteries, and Animal Tales Sunday, Jan 6 2019 

Continued series winner and mystery to die for and Series not to be missed Auntie M Writes Crime 12:01 am


Auntie M recently had a chance to interview Cambridge author Charlot King. She’ll tell readers about her two series, The Cambridge Murder Mysteries, and Animal Tales.

Auntie M: You write the Cambridge Murder Mystery series but just brought out a new series, Animal Tales, very different. What prompted the switch?

Charlot King: Stories pop into my head, and I write them. I reckon it’s more of an addition than a switch. I’m still writing a lot more Cambridge Murder Mysteries if I’m spared, as I enjoy writing them. But sometimes, it’s nice to try something different, and the two series could not be more different. I hope that those readers of the Cambridge Murder Mysteries who try the Animal Tales will enjoy them. I don’t have a long-term plan; the strongest story or character at the time gets my attention.

AM: The covers on both series are wonderful, very eye-catching. Who designs them for you, and do you have input?

CK: I’ve commissioned Robin Howlett to illustrate all my stories so far. I have initial ideas of how I’d like each of the covers to look. I then give Robin a brief, and he brings each one to life. I wanted to find an illustrator who could draw art deco well. I struck lucky with Robin. I found him by spotting his poster illustrations and only afterwards discovered that he lives really near me. We have since been to the pub together on more than one occasion, and I count him as a friend!

AM: The mysteries give readers a great setting in Cambridge. Was it always on your mind to set them there?

CK: Places leave a strong impression on me, like they’re a living character or someone I know. I’m sure lots of people feel the same way. I write about other places in other books that I love, too, but the Cambridge Murder Mysteries are an homage to the city I live in that’s captured my heart. Cambridge is a very beautiful place, and there are so many little streets and alleyways, perfect for setting a murder or two. I don’t think I’d ever run out of places to stage the next murder mystery.

AM: You do a series of photographs of Cambridge taken on walks with your dog, Moobear . I keep telling you they should be made into notecards or postcards; they’re that good. Is your photographer’s eye something you call on when writing the mysteries?
Charlot King and Moobear:

CK: That is kind of you, I’m a total amateur, and all the photos are on my iPhone. Just snaps. I like to capture moments, steal them for later. I’m in awe of beauty generally. Who isn’t? I don’t set out to photograph Moobear either, she just mostly walks into the shot! I find walking more than therapeutic. It is part of who I am. Wherever I am, if I’m indoors for too long I get a strong urge to get outside. I don’t mean that I’m a mountain climber, but if I had all the time in the world, I’d love to walk from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. At rambling or wandering pace. With lots of stop offs for tea and cake. Perhaps it’s something about slowing down? Chatting to people through happenstance? The photographs are just something I do when I’m out walking. If I had to give up one of them, it would be the photography.

AM: The Animal Tales showcase your affinity for animals. Have you always loved animals?

CK: Wouldn’t it be a boring and strange planet without them? If they could talk, everything would be so different… When I was younger, the family always had dogs and cats. We mostly lived in towns, and when I was very little, I wanted a pony, mainly from reading the Norman Thelwell books. I also wanted a lion, after watching Daktari on Saturday morning television. I suppose as I grew older I realised that would be a bad idea. But I’ve always wanted to share my life with animals as I think they teach us so much. They are humbling and awe-inspiring. And they deserve better than they get from humanity.

AM: Elizabeth Green is the professor who does the sleuthing in your Cambridge Murder Mysteries. How did you develop her character?

CK: Back in the early 2000s, I was on a walk in Chilham near Canterbury in Kent – of all places. My father had been the head teacher in the village, and I wanted to go back and take my family to see it. While walking, we saw this lady standing outside her back gate. She had such an intelligent face and was engrossed in conversation. Her voice boomed out as we walked by. The idea came to me as I was walking past her. I have no idea who she was, but she inspired me. As we drove back home, I already had the first murder in my head.

AM: There’s a lot of science involved in those plots. Do you do the research yourself or have a good resource?

CK: I studied politics for my first degree, but then for my PhD, I studied public policy and biotechnology. Specifically, I looked at the deliberate release of genetically manipulated organisms and public policy. I am not a biologist, but I did have to read up on an awful lot of genetics, biology and botany. So I draw heavily on memory and books on poisons. I try as best I can to be accurate, but my novels are in no way police procedural. They are just stories, so I’d hope my readers like them for other reasons than for their scientific precision.

AM: Who were your influences to turn to crime fiction when you started writing?

CK: Colin Dexter and Agatha Christie for sure, but I don’t read crime fiction these days. I used to read a lot when I was younger. I think the books that influenced me the most – which I think this question is about – came to me when I studied the Politics of English Literature as a module for part of my first degree at the L.S.E. It covered the whole sweep of political novelists, poets and playwrights. I was in heaven on that course, reading Woolf, Wilde, Shaw, Thomas, Huxley, Yeats, Joyce, Orwell, the list goes on. Our teacher, Professor Black, would take us to Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club for some of our lessons.

I also like a bit of poetry. Favourites at the moment include: ‘The Old Vicarage, Grantchester’, by Rupert Brooke (there’s a lovely recording of that poem on YouTube by the way!) Also, love listening to Dylan Thomas’s ‘Under Milk Wood’, read by Richard Burton. Dylan Thomas’ poem, ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ was particularly helpful recently, as I lost my father just last year. Perhaps that’s why I’m going through a phase of reading a number of autobiographies by comedians. My heart belongs to comedy. I’m just not a funny writer. I’ve tried.

AM: What’s a writing day like for Charlot King when you’re working on a manuscript?

CK: I aim to write 1,000 words a day. Sometimes it comes quickly. Sometimes it takes ages. I find writing the first draft the most enjoyable. But, I spend most of the time rewriting a book. Probably 80% is rewriting for me. That is a much more agonising task. I much prefer making up the story in the first place. I like the puzzle. I expect one day a computer will do all the hard rewriting for us. Can’t wait.

AM: Finally, whose books would we find on your nightstand, waiting to be read?

CK: I’ve mentioned I like reading autobiographies about British comics. I’ve just bought Paul O’ Grady’s ‘Country Life’. I don’t tend to read at night, as my eyes are pretty shot and need the rest.

AM: Where can readers find your books?

CK: Amazon around the world, and if they are in Cambridge, Heffers Bookshop. And if any of your readers are on Twitter, please do get in touch. I’m @queencharlot. Or Instagram is charlot_king_cambridge, and my website is charlotking.com.

 

Sarah Ward: The Shrouded Path Monday, Dec 31 2018 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:26 am


Almost Happy New Year to Auntie M’s readers, and she leaves you for 2018 with one of her favorite reads of this year.

Sarah Ward’s newest DC Childs mystery, The Shrouded Path, has led the Guardian to note: “Like Ann Cleeves . . . Ward has a gift for the macabre.”

Auntie M hadn’t really thought of Ward’s series that way, but she supposed it fits, as that sort of creepyiness that infiltrates the best of Cleeves work is at play in this series, too.

The plot centers around events of 1957, with some details dropped in from that time period alerting the readers to a well, macabre incident that happened then but isn’t made clear until near the end of the book. All in good time . . .

For DC Connie Childs, getting used to DI Matthews covering for DI Sadler, having a staycation, news that an elderly woman has been found dead sitting upright in her own living room sounds like nothing more than a routine death, if death can ever be routine to the person whose died. Then why does Connie feel like she should pursue the matter? Is it simple boredom, or a wish to impress their new DC, Peter Dahl?

At the same time, Mina Kemp, a gardener known locally as the Land Girl, has been visiting her dying mother in hospital. When her mother becomes agitated over a girl known as Valerie, it soon becomes apparent that to ease her mother’s mind, she must find this Valerie, whom her mum keeps insisting has visited her. But then the oddest thing happens. Mina’s mum confesses Valerie is dead.

With Connie using her instincts to push on the investigation, a second death of an eldery woman comes to light, and when it seems the two women knew each other, Connie and Peter Dahl are alert to the connection. And then a third woman dies, and this time there can be no pretending this was a natural death, especially when she’s linked to the other two women.

With tales of old, secrets kept, and people who’ve learned to cope moving on, even Sadler will be surprised at the turn of events in this fully realized, compelling mystery. A strong entry in a fine series, this one just keeps getting better and better, and earns Auntie M’s ‘highly recommended rating’ for the last day of 2018.

 

Louise Penny: Kingdom of the Blind Tuesday, Dec 25 2018 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:33 am


Merry Christmas to all of Auntie M’s readers, and Happy Holidays if you celebrate another.

And the merriest of holidays to readers everywhere for Louise Penny’s newest, Kingdom of the Blind, a holiday gift to her readers everywhere that many thought wouldn’t occur this year.

No one would have blamed Penny for not giving us an Inspector Gamache book this year after the death of her beloved husband, Michael, the model for Armand Gamache. And indeed while it is later than her usual August publication, it’s a wonder and a delight she found the courage and stamina to write at all. So thank you to Louise Penny for giving her readers another Gamache to savor and enjoy.

With Gamache on suspension and still being investigated after the events of last year’s Glass Houses, the detective is enjoying Three Pines and his lovely wife, Reine-Marie, but is intrigued when a letter arrives expecting him to be present at an old farmhouse outside of town. Derelict and looking ready to collapse, it is there he meets, to his surprise, his good friend, bookstore owner and former psychologist Myrna Landers, also summoned, plus a rather eccentric young builder named Benedict.

All three are puzzled to learn they have been named the liquidators, or executors we would say in the US, of the will of a local cleaning woman most knew by sight, who liked to be called “the Baroness.”

Why did Bertha Baumgartner entrust the liquidation of her estate to three people she barely knew? And what of the odd bequests in the will itself?

What starts out as an oddity soon turns into tragedy when a body is found, connected to the old woman, and under most unusual circumstances. While the case begins for some, and leads to surprising quarters, Gamache is still bound up in trying to find the opiods he allowed to be brought into Quebec in order to end the large US-Quebec cartel operating in the area.

It’s why he’s on suspension, and with the deadly drug ready to hit the streets, the reason he’s racing against time, using any means possible to find the location of the drug. And he will find help in a most unlikely quarter, but at what cost to himself, his career, and others he cares about?

In her books Penny always manages to bring tears to Auntie M’s eyes, and this one is no exception. As the climax approaches with tremendous suspense, readers will be flipping pages wildly to seek the result.

With her keen ability to use Gamache to illustrate her characters as he sees them, readers become entwined with even the most secondary character and their outcomes. And to those who are repeat characters, readers attach a deep affection and interest in their lives.

While able to pierce the darkest parts of a human soul, Penny has a unique gift that allows those holes to let in the light and grace deep within us all.

Highly Recommended~

 

Michael Robertson: A Baker Street Wedding Wednesday, Dec 19 2018 

amateur sleuth and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for and Series not to be missed Auntie M Writes Crime 1:00 am

    One of Auntie M’s favorite series for your holiday consideration:


    Michael Robertson’s fifth Baker Street Mystery, A Baker Street Wedding, features modern solicitor Reggie Heath, whose offices with his brother, Nigel, at the infamous 221B Baker Street London address bring them letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes.

    This latest installment revovles around Reggie’s wedding to actress Laura Rankin, and as the book opens, the disasterous day has taken off literally. There is the leak to paparazzi of the Cornwall location, which makes the reception as short-lived as the wedding cake. With the newleyweds desperate for peace and quiet, they escape to a remote village where Laura once attended school.

    The design for this comes early in the story, but Laura doesn’t mention that she has this destination in mind when she pulls Reggie into a plane he didn’t know she could pilot and flies them away from the hounding photographers.

    The small village where they arrive, in a valley between the cliffs and the moors, is one long block long. The school Laura attended has been closed, and the local theatregroup are doing a fundraiser of the Scottish play in hopes of reopening it.

    Small wonder, then, that Laura ends up here, and when the local gal playing Lady M dies tragically, Laura is seconded to not only save the show, but figure out if the young woman’s accident might be murder.

    With Reggie in the dark at first, groping blindly as secrets from Laura’s past come to the forefront, he will scramble to save her and himself. And when his best efforts fail, it will be up to an unlikely source to pitch in.

    The wry tone of the book will delight readers as much as the clever plot. Perhaps Auntie M’s favorite of the series so far.

     

Shawn Reilly Simmons: Murder with all the Trimmings Tuesday, Dec 18 2018 

amateur sleuth and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for and Series not to be missed Auntie M Writes Crime 12:42 am


Please welcome Shawn Reilly Simmons, with her new release Murder With All the Trimmings, a grand gift for the holidays, who will graciously share her writing methods.

Thanks for having me on the blog, Auntie M!

Whenever I’m speaking at an author event at a bookstore or library and the audience is prompted to ask questions, I generally get at least one about my writing process. The questions typically revolve around how I got started writing or how I’ve managed to write so many books so quickly (six in about seven years, and close to a dozen published short stories).

Every writer has their own routine and method of getting their work done, and my way may not work for everyone. But in the event it might be helpful to some, here is how I approach my writing.

I wrote my first book early in the mornings from five to around seven or eight, or whenever my infant son woke up for the day. When he was born, I left my day job to stay home with him, and that’s also when I got serious about my writing.

I’d always wanted to write for a living, but as it often does, life (and luxuries like paying rent and buying groceries) got in the way, and I ended up pursuing a marketing career in New York City after graduating college.

Those early days as a new parent are exhausting, and your time really isn’t your own until they’re through those first crucial years. And forget about sleep, at least in my situation. Those early morning hours, however, are unique in their serenity, and they were always when I could get the most work done. The habit has stuck and to this day I still get 90% of my writing done at that time of the day.
I prefer to write while it’s quiet, no music or TV background noise, with just a laptop and a cup of coffee on my desk. Besides the early mornings being quiet in my house, they’re also quiet out in the rest of the world, generally speaking. At that time of the day, I typically haven’t gotten any emails or texts or Facebook messages that have to be dealt with right away, or that provide a distraction from the task at hand.

Another skill that I cultivated in those early years of motherhood was contemplating the next morning’s work during those quiet moments at the end of the day. While listening to my infant son fall asleep, I’d think about the next scene in the book I’d write. I’d work out how the plot would progress, and what my characters would be up to. It worked so well, that I still practice this quiet meditation seven years later. My last thought as I’m falling asleep is my work in progress and the next scenes to be written.

I think because of this habit, I’ve never experienced writers’ block. I’m ready to go every morning, having worked out the way ahead in the plot before I’ve sat down.

The last tip I’d suggest to writers who are working on being more productive is to find that magic hour or hours that works for them, and write every day during that time. Magic time is when you feel the most creative and relaxed, and when you can tune out the world for a while, and focus on your story. This timeframe will be different for everyone. I have author friends who are early risers like me, and others that swear those late hours after everyone else has fallen asleep are their most creative. Once you find the time of day that works best for you, commit to writing during that time, be consistent, and really write (no Facebook or research!) You can research outside your magic time.

Before you know it, you’ll have a finished story or book. And the added benefit of holding yourself to a routine is that self-discipline brings confidence with it, and as writers we’re always grateful for more of that!

Hopefully one or more of these pointers can help a writer or two out there. Keep writing, everyone, and Happy Holidays!
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Murder With All the Trimmings, the sixth book in The Red Carpet Catering Mysteries, was released on November 13, 2018. Shawn’s books are available online and in book stores and libraries everywhere. For a listing of events, to join Shawn’s monthly email newsletter (recipes included!), and for a complete list of published books and stories, please visit http://www.shawnreillysimmons.com/
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Shawn Reilly Simmons

Shawn Reilly Simmons is the author of The Red Carpet Catering Mysteries featuring Penelope Sutherland, an on-set movie caterer, and of several short stories appearing in various anthologies including “Burnt Orange” in Passport to Murder: the 2017 Bouchercon Anthology (Down & Out Books), and “The Prodigy” in Mystery Tour, the Crime Writers’ Association Anthology (Orenda Books).

Shawn was born in Indiana, grew up in Florida, and began her professional career in New York City as a sales executive after graduating from the University of Maryland with a BA in English. Since then Shawn has worked as a book store manager, fiction editor, convention organizer, wine rep, and movie set caterer. She serves on the Board of Malice Domestic, and is an editor at Level Best Books.

Shawn is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, the International Thriller Writers, and the Crime Writers’ Association in the U.K.

Cooking behind the scenes on movie sets perfectly combined two of her great loves, movies and food, and provides the inspiration for The Red Carpet Catering series, published by Henery Press.

 

Holiday Historicals: More great gifts Saturday, Dec 15 2018 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and historical saga and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:52 am

Post #2 of Auntie M’s holiday suggestions, today she offers several set in other eras for that person on your list who likes a change of time period.


Will Thomas’s Barker and Llewelyn series is a favorite of Auntie M’s and Blood is Blood a strong entry. In Victorian London, the private enquiry agents are readying themselves for the younger Llewelyn’s wedding when their offices near Parliament are bombed. The damage to the building is severe and Barker is lucky to be alive.

With Barker in hospital and not being charitable about it, it will be up to Llewelyn to take on the role his mentor would fill, directing the investigation. He’s not helped by the surprise turnup of Barker’s brother, Caleb, who turns up from the US and tries to help–or does he? Working his way through a list he’s compiled of Barker’s enemies who might be behind the bombing, it soon becomes obvious that these same enemies are being picked off.

Throw in a bride who’s suddenly unsure of her soon-to-be husband’s occupation, a lovely young woman who just might be deceitful, and that brother who might or might not be invovled, and you have all the ingredients for a first class mystery.


Karen Odden’s A Dangerous Duet takes readers to Victorian Soho where a young female pianist must face a mystery while she tries to overcome the mores of the day.

With a brother, Matthew, in Scotland Yard, and a family history that discourages her interest, Nell Hallam’s goal is to attend the Royal Academy of Music. To earn her tuition, she plays piano–brilliantly–at a music hall. Disguised as a man, sneaking out her house at night to her job, Nell soon finds the lively atmosphere and different performers suit her, as does the the owner’s son, Jack, until the night another young woman performer is found dead in an alley. When Nell becomes involved in London’s underworld, she also entangles herself in her brother’s investigation.

A tough choice follows when Matthew has Jack in his sights. Filled with realistic details of the Victorain music halls and crimes of the day, London’s seedier side of town illustrates the danger and vitality that made it so fascinating.

Dangerous to Know is Renee Patrick’s second mystery featuring Edith Head and social secretary to the stars, Lillian Frost. Readers enjoying old-world Hollywood will enjoy this story, set in 1938, with the shadow of WWII hanging over everyone.

There’s something for everyone here, with appearances by Marlene Dietrich, suspicious of the Third Reich, when Jack Benny and George Burns face smuggling charges, and a talented visiting composer goes missing. Billy Wilder, Dorothy Lamour and Greta Garbo, in addition to others at Paramount, show up in cameos. It’s a world of beautiful gowns and secrets behind old movies we still adore when Lillian tries to find the composer and instead finds herself embroiled in a murder.

Great fun and packed with old gossip and real details that are fascinating and show the depth of research the married authors bring to the series.

 

Cozy Christmas: Cozies for Holiday gift-giving Wednesday, Dec 12 2018 

amateur sleuth and complex mystery and Continued series winner and debut and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:05 am

Around the holidays, Auntie M likes to give her readers choices for great gift books for those on their list. No matter what holiday you celebrate, a new book holds the promise of a story yet to be told. Today we’re talking cozies:


MB Shaw’s new series debuts with Murder at the Mill, where artist Iris Grey, coping with a disintergrating marriage, rents a house to give herself mental breathing space. Enjoying the nature-filled area and sketching soon give way to a commission to paint the portrait of her cottage’s owner, celebrated crime writer Dominic Wetherby. Iris meets the extended family and more at the Christmas Eve party the Wetherby’s hold.

Becoming entangled with the entire Wetherby family, the idyllis Hampshire village soon turns nightmarish after the youngest son finds a body in the water on Christmas Day. Was this an accident or a murder? Attracted to the family attorney, Iris finds herself sleuthing when she becomes frustrated with the local police, just as she soon feels herself being stalked.

A terrific puzzle and an engaging start to a new series.


Ellen Crosby’s newest in her Wine Country series, Harvest of Secrets, takes readers to Virginia and the Montgomery Estate Vineyards during their busy season. Mixing an unearthed skull on Lucie Montgomery’s family property with a modern mystery, Lucie also has a new murder to contend with when shortly after arriving in the area at a neighboring vineyard, head winemaker Jean-Claude de Marignac is found dead.

The prime suspect is an immigrant worker, Miguel Otero, who had quarreled with the new winemaker. But with Lucie’s own immigrant helped ready to revolt during the harvest, she plunges into figuring out the real culprit. It doesn’t help that the dead man was one of Lucie’s first crushes decades ago.

A nice mix of old and new mysteries, with Lucie facing buried secrets.


The 27th Agatha Raisin mystery, Dead Ringer, features all of MC Beaton’s usual wit and eccentric characters. The Bishop’s visit means the bellringers are practicing up a storm when Agatha manages to convince the lawyer Julian Brody of their team to hire her to investigate the Bishop’s missing fiancee`. Local heiress Jennifer Toynby disappearance years ago, with no body found, remains unsolved.

But that’s not the only thing occupying Agatha. There’s the body of the local policeman discovered in the crypt; one of the bellringers twins is murdered near the church; and a journalist who was once briefly Agatha’s lover is found dead in her very own sitting room. Just how is the Bishop connected to these deaths?

Now a British TV show, the Agatha Raisin series remains a favorite and a classic cozy series.

From its charming cover to the the cast of cats in the characters, Melissa Daley’s Christmas at the Cat Cafe` glows with all that is merry and bright. Set in the town of Stourton-on-the-Hill, owner Debbie allows her sister to move in after a heartbreak. But that doesn’t sit well with the cat side of the home, Molly and her three kittens, who are soon at the mercy of Linda’s dog, Beau. Things go from bad to worse when another cat threatens Molly’s home ground.

With Molly’s point of view at the forefront, this tale is a holiday delight for cat and animal lovers.

 

Olga Wojtas: Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar/The Bunburry Mysteries Wednesday, Dec 5 2018 

amateur sleuth and debut and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:50 am

Please welcome Olga Wojtas, author of the new Bunburry series, which has been described as a mix between Miss Marple and Midsomer Murders. She’s here to talk about Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar, a time-travel mystery with an inept sleuth, written as an homage to writer Muriel Spark.

Greetings from Edinburgh, Scotland, where I went to high school, and where I still live and work. The writer Muriel Spark was a fellow alumna of James Gillespie’s High School, which she immortalised as Marcia Blaine School for Girls in her iconic novel, “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.”

That’s what inspired my novel, Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar. It’s a wacky romp featuring 50-something librarian Shona McMonagle, a former pupil sent on a time-travelling mission to 19th century Russia by Miss Blaine herself.

Shona has a generally sunny disposition, apart from her deep loathing of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which she thinks gives her alma mater a bad name. Impeccably educated, and an accomplished martial artist, linguist and musician, she is thrilled to be chosen for the one- week mission, which she deduces is to pair up the beautiful, shy, orphaned heiress Lidia Ivanovna with Sasha, a gorgeous young man of unexplained origins.

But despite having had the finest education in the world, Shona might well have got the wrong end of the stick about her mission. In fact, she arguably qualifies for the grand Scottish word “numpty” (according to The Urban Dictionary, “A person who is incapable of performing the simplest of tasks correctly”). As the body count rises, will she discover in time who the villain is?

It’s unusual to have a crime novel in which the protagonist is completely inept. But my aim is to have that as part of the comedy. Astute readers like yourself will pick up on the clues long before Shona does, and I hope you’ll have fun watching her get into deeper and deeper water (literally, at one point, when she’s the victim of an attempted drowning). If you’re a fan of Jeeves and Wooster, one of the loveliest reviews I’ve had described my book as “Anna Karenina written by P G Wodehouse”. Shona is something of a female Bertie Wooster, touchingly unaware of her own limitations and, I hope, endearing with it.

She’s surrounded by a host of extraordinary Russian characters, from the serf Old Vatrushkin (a young man who’s terrified of being emancipated) and an elderly nanny who knits (though never produces anything recognisable) to a snobbish countess with a dangerous cleavage, and her ill-trained lapdog which Shona describes as an animated floormop. Will it all work out in the end?

I hope it’s not a spoiler to tell you that it does – but whether Miss Blaine thinks Shona deserves to be sent on another mission is another matter. I’m thrilled that the novel is one of the Christian Science Monitor’s top ten books for November 2018, and one of the Kirkus best books of 2018.

I also write the Bunburry e-book series of novellas under the name Helena Marchmont. These are short cosy crime mysteries which can be read in a couple of hours, set in the rolling hills of the English Cotswolds. I’m half-Scottish and half-Polish, and figured that my real name didn’t fit very well with the quintessential Englishness of the subject matter. So I took my middle name, Helena, and the street I grew up on, Marchmont Road, to create a new persona who I think sounds suitably Anglicised.

The main character is Alfie McAlister, a self-made millionaire who has relocated from London to the idyllic village of Bunburry following a personal tragedy, but finds himself playing amateur detective alongside his late aunt’s best friends, Liz and Marge.

He’s touchingly unaware of how attractive he is (less to do with his money than his good looks), and it never crosses his mind that local policewoman Emma and American environmental activist Betty might be interested in him. Each novella contains an individual mystery. But there’s also a mystery in his family background which gradually unfolds as the series continues: the first e-book came out in September 2018, and the others are being published at two-monthly intervals.

Alfie doesn’t remember his Aunt Augusta who left him a cottage in the village, although he has fond memories of his grandparents who were killed in a car crash when he was twelve. Through Liz and Marge, he begins to discover more about the crash and about his family.

These are more mainstream stories than the quirkiness of Shona, but I’ve still introduced some humour. Alfie’s best friend is the aristocratic Oscar de Linnet, who refuses to leave Bunburry to visit the country, which he dismisses as “pub grub, mud and cows”. He sees himself as a reincarnation of Oscar Wilde, and is always prepared with a Wildean quip.

News Flash: The Bunburry Mysteries will soon be available in Audio in GERMANY, performed by none other than Nathaniel Parker of Inspector Lynley fame.

If you read either Shona or Bunburry (or even both), I do hope you enjoy them! And thank you, Marni, for this opportunity to introduce myself! https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2018/1114/10-best-books-of-November-the-Monitor-s- selections https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/olga-wojtas/miss-blaines-prefect-and-the- golden-samovar/

 

EJ Copperman: Bird, Bath & Beyond Sunday, Dec 2 2018 

Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:28 am


EJ Copperman’s second Kay Powell mystery, Bird, Bath & Beyond, is as hilarious as the first.

His wry humor and pun-filled prose makes this an enjoyable sequel as the agent who represents animals finds herself once again embroiled in a murder investigation.

This time Kay is repping a canny parrot, who can utter lines on cue. Barney is the right-hand bird of the medical examiner in a television show Dead City, where zombies are involved, making it an apt title for what’s about to happen.

Of course it will be Barney who is the only witness when the show’s star is shot in his trailer during a shoot. Despite Kay explaining that Barney recites learned lines and can’t actually carry on a conversation, much less be interviewed, detectives keep trying to interrogate the feathered lad.

It will be up to Kay to track down a killer to keep her client safe when it seems the killer believes Barney can finger–um, feather him.

A fun romp with a sharp protagonist in Kay, for animal lovers and mystery fans alike.

 

Graham Smith: The Silent Dead Friday, Nov 30 2018 

complex mystery and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:19 am


Graham Smith’s The silent Dead introduces Detective Beth Young, working in the Lake District, one of Auntie M’s favorite settings. This one’s on her radar and here’s what the buzz is about the book:

He’d found one angel for his collection. One angel at a time was never enough…

Detective Beth Young has just joined the Lake District major crimes team when a body is found posed in a ritualistic manner – arms spread and graceful wings attached – at a crumbling castle in the hills of the Lake District.

The entire police force are on red alert. But Beth begins to feel she’s the only one who can follow the disturbing clues left by the twisted killer. Because she doesn’t think like everyone else. To Beth, crimes are puzzles she can solve. Even if real life is a little harder.

As more bodies are discovered in derelict stately homes across the Lake District, she knows she’s in a race against time.

But the killer is looking for another victim to add to his collection… Will Beth be able to save her? Or will he get there first?

A tenacious young detective with scars both physical and emotional, Beth Young will stop at nothing in her fight for justice for the innocent. The Silent Dead is the first book in the series. Set in the Lake District, it is perfect for fans of Joy Ellis, LJ Ross, and Peter James.

Readers love Graham Smith:
‘A talented storyteller.’ No.1 bestseller Peter James

‘Wowzer… this book is that fantastic I don’t know where to start. It literally blew me away!… If you’re looking for a fast-paced, gritty read that will have you on tenterhooks I highly recommend this.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘A brilliant thriller. This fast-paced crime thriller is packed with suspense. From the beginning I was hooked.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘Graham Smith is the name to watch in fast-paced, high-octane crime fiction. Smith writes with an assured energy that pulls the reader deeper and deeper into a plot that twists and turns… This is great, fully-leaded crime fiction.’ Craig Russell

‘The plot is dark and disturbing with tension that grows throughout the story.’ The Suspense is Thrilling Me

‘A dark and suspenseful read that just drew me in and placed me slap bang in the thick of things.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘One of the best serial killer thrillers I have read in a LONG time. I couldn’t stop turning the pages and devoured the book in two short days.’ Damppebbles.com

‘Couldn’t put it down. Full of twists and plots… Highly recommended.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘Hard-hitting, tightly paced and with lots of great twists and turns.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘I love, love, LOVED this book! I’ve always been a fan of serial killer novels and this one absolutely nailed it.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘A hell of a read, fast paced with bucketfuls of suspense… nail-biting with fascinating characters… If you are a lover of a highly original crime thrillers I would suggest you add this book to… the top of the pile, you won’t be disappointed I promise.’ The Book Review Café
Silent Dead Purchase Links
‘This is the type of novel that will keep you up all night reading… Graham Smith knows how to keep the crime moving, keeping all of his readers glued to every page.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘He will literally have you on the edge of your seat praying for the bad guys to get their comeuppance. Brilliant!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘It’s a really, really, really brilliant, superb, awesome book that you absolutely, unequivocally, must, without a doubt, have to read.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

You can find The Silent Dead at: BUY LINKS:
Amazon: mybook.to/TDDCover
iBookstore: https://tinyurl.com/ydhftyxx
Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/y75k5vng
Googleplay: https://tinyurl.com/ybchbhzl


Graham Smith is a time served joiner who has built bridges, houses, dug drains and slated roofs to make ends meet. Since Christmas 2000, he has been manager of a busy hotel and wedding venue near Gretna Green, Scotland.

He is an internationally best-selling Kindle author and has six books featuring DI Harry Evans and the Cumbrian Major Crimes Team, and three novels, featuring Utah doorman, Jake Boulder. His latest series features DC Beth Young and is highly anticipated before its November release.

An avid fan of crime fiction since being given one of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books at the age of eight, he has also been a regular reviewer and interviewer for the well-respected website Crimesquad.com since 2009

Graham is the founder of Crime and Publishment, a weekend of crime-writing classes which includes the chance for attendees to pitch their novels to agents and publishers. Since the first weekend in 2013, ten attendees have gone on to sign publishing contracts.

Graham can be found at

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/grahamnsmithauthor
Twitter

Website
http://www.grahamsmithauthor.com

 

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