More Holiday Gifts for Readers Friday, Nov 28 2025 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and great read and historical saga and mystery to die for and Private detective , , , , , , , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 4:45 pm

After bringing Nicola Upson’s The Christmas Clue and Mandy Morton’s Six Tails at Midnight to your attention, I’m adding two new releases that would make great gifts for the readers on your list that are not set on Christmas but are delightful reads:

Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club is a favorite series of many readers with good reason. The vastly different foursome of Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim have spent the past year differently after the events of the last installment, The Last Devil to Die.

But with The Impossible Fortune, a wedding (Joyce’s daughter, Joanna, long-yearned for by Joyce) brings the group together for a happy occasion. Then a wedding guest, Nick Silver, who knows of Elizabeth’s history, asks for her help . . . and disappears soon after.

Hoping to grill his business partner, Holly Lewis, only leads to a devastating result, and soon the group are mired deeply in this investigation which revolves around an uncrackable code that leads to riches.

Joanna feels she should help as Nick is a pal of her new husband, and soon adds her help.
Ron’s daughter, Suzi, needs help, too, in getting rid of her abusive thug of a husband, and soon her son Kendrick is added to the population. And Ibrahim’s client Connie, newly out of prison, is mentoring a young woman, Tia, in a highly unusual manner.

It’s a wild ride that manages to come together with startling results along the way. Intricately plotted, and with Osman’s trademark humor but clear-sighted view of human nature, this will please any reader on your list.

Sophie Hannah, the gifted author chosen by Agatha Christie’s family to resurrect Hercule Poirot, gives us a convoluted mystery, The Last Death of the Year, set on New Year’s Eve, 1932, when Poirot and his detective inspector cohort, Edward Catchpool, travel to a remote Greek Island at the the behest of the owner.

The island of Lamperos contains tiny horses, goats, and few buildings, but it does have an unusual house on Liakada Bay called Spiti Athanasiou, The House of Perpetural Welcome, set right on the sea, an attraction for Catchpool, who loves to swim at any time of year.

Their host, Nate Athanasiou, has opened his home to a phalanx of different supporters of the community project he and his good friend Matthew Fair are developing: a place where welcome and forgiveness are given to all who live there, without consideration for past actions.

While the premise seems optimistic, Nate’s nervous demeanor hints at the threat of danger as the reason he’s called for Poirot to attend. That becomes obvious when the game played after dinner, where each of the residents writes a New Year’s resolution that isn’t signed, includes one that there will be “the last and first death of the year.”

With this declaration hanging over them, it should be no surprise when it comes true . . .

A masterful look at the psychology of each character in a complicated classic mystery, where the drawing room has been replaced by a craggy house on a Greek isle.

 

Partners in Crime: Mandy Morton & Nicola Upson Tuesday, Oct 21 2025 

Award winning novelist and Christmas story and complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for and Private detective and Series not to be missed , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 7:00 am

Photo courtesy of Cambridge Independent

I’m pleased and honored to call Cambridge partners and authors, Mandy Morton and Nicola Upson, my friends for over a decade, after email correspondence let to our first meeting while attending the memorial service for PD James, our friend and mentor. Their lovely Cornwall cottage, the last thatched cottage in the seaside town of Porthleven, will be the setting for the next Nora Tierney mystery when I get around to writing it! 

I’m fascinated by the idea of living with another writer and how that dynamic works. Both of these talented women have new books releasing this fall and worked on them either at their Cambridge home or the Cornwall cottage: Mandy’s No. 2 Feline Detective Agency continues her engaging series set in a world of cats with Six Tails at Midnight. Nicola’s The Christmas Clue leaves her Josephine Tey series temporarily as this stand-alone revolves around the couple who created the popular game Cluedo, which was adapted in the US as Clue.

They’ve just been hailed in a cover article (see above) in their local Cambridge Independent, which ran a long and detailed article about the duo. The two, who are very involved in the Cambridge Arts scene and often interview each other about their new books, have also curated a wonderful event together at literary festivals: Celebrating P. D. James: A Mind to Murder. They held their launch for both Christmas books at their local Waterstones with a surprise guest—more on that in a moment.

They gave me a glimpse into two very different books written in the same house, and their writing lives in general, telling me their tea-time discussions openly center around plots, creating murders, and being first readers for each other, as well as valued critique partners. They write in different areas of their homes, but come together to talk about their progress, and are deeply involved in each other’s work. For the writers out there, think about the advantage of living with your own private critique partner and reader!

Their works are distinctly different and equally creative despite them both writing mysteries. Mandy’s Six Tails at Midnight is set at Christmas in the Cambridgeshire Fens, and brought back happy memories for the musician and arts journalist of a series she produced years ago for BBC Radio. 

“The Fens are shrouded in mystery and legend, with stories of ghosts and murderers, and in this book, I couldn’t resist tapping into some of that history.” Private detectives Hettie and Tilly, along with their friends Bruiser and the Butter Sisters, set out across the snowy fens to spend Christmas at The Fishgutter’s Arms and become snowed in. With no hope of rescue, they find they are soon sharing Christmas with five Christmas spirits who threaten to ruin the festivities. 

With Hettie Bagshot and Tilly Jenkins in their feline world, Mandy notes her cats are much more human than many people she’s met. “My cat characters wear cardigans, run bakeries, and are very good at solving murders without any assistance from the likes of you and me! Cats can be spiteful, cruel, vicious, and downright nasty, but they can also be cute, loving, and mild-mannered—the perfect combination for a series of crime novels.”

Six Tails at Midnight is the fifteenth book in this popular series, but Mandy began her professional life as a musician, and was the lead singer for the folk rock group Srpiguns of Tolgus. She more recently worked as an arts journalist for national and local radio. Her books can be found at Farrago Books or on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

Nicola was researching for The Dead of Winter in her Josephine Tey series, when country house parties were popular in England. Two names she kept finding were Anthony and Elva Pratt, who in 1943 created the game Cluedo, still played today.

Deciding this intriguing couple deserved their own story, Nicola set to work crafting her book surrounding the couple who developed Cluedo on their dining room table in 1943 as a distraction from wartime worries. Motivated by Anthony’s love of detective novels and true crime, the game’s playful murderous premise was inspired by the murder mystery weekends he witnessed during his musician years. The Christmas Clue, set in a snowy country house, stars Anthony and Elva, who step in to detect when a mystery game goes horribly wrong.

“I’ve loved Cluedo since I was a child. It was the board game of choice in my family, and I still have the 1970s version I played then, complete with my mum and dad’s handwriting on the old detective notes, and my own workings-out, which seem to be nothing but question marks!”

She adds: “Not only did it give me hours of pleasure and lots of happy memories, but the game introduced me to crime fiction long before I read Agatha Christie and her contemporaries, and in particular the classic English detective story and its obsession for knowing—or concealing— who did what, where and how.”

That the pair enjoyed writing their Christmas mysteries together is obvious, and their joy increased when Nicola’s book received the stamp of approval from the Pratt’s daughter, Marcia Lewis, who appeared at their Cambridge book launch at the end of September and answered audience questions.

Nicola read English at Downing College, Cambridge. Her first Josephine Tey novel was dramatized for BBC Radio 4, with several listed for the CWA Gold Dagger and Historical Daggers. She is a member of the Detection Club, and in 2024 curated the acclaimed exhibit Murder by the Book: A Celebration of 20th Century British Crime Fiction at the Cambridge University Library. Her books are available from Faber & Faber, or on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

I hope readers will enjoy discovering these talented authors. Each of these books would make lovely Christmas gifts for the readers on your list~

 

Season of Death by Will Thomas Tuesday, Apr 22 2025 

Award winning novelist and Continued series winner and historical saga and Private detective and Series not to be missed , , Auntie M Writes Crime 11:44 am

Auntie M has long been a fan of this well-researched Victorian-era series, and of the two main characters: Private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker, a traveled man with an interesting past and deep connections in London and the world; and his young partner, Thomas Llewelyn, whose Welsh roots rear their head from time to time in his pithy thoughts.

As SEASON OF DEATH opens, Thomas is dealing with lack of sleep from his teething infant daughter, whose mother Rebecca has figured prominently in several episodes and is a recurring character. Several other recurring characters have become part of the fabric of this intelligent and highly readable series. It’s intriguing how issues like communication, when there were no cell phones, and information, with no computers yet, are handled.

The Dawn Gang has reared its ugly head, only to be properly dispatched by Barker and Llewelyn in spectacular fashion as they threatened a poor beggar who dragged her leg, known as Dutch, and is brought to a mission to be bathed and treated.

Then the influential MP Lord Danvers and his wife visit and ask the enquiry agents help in finding Lady Danvers missing sister, who is thought to have tried to elope to Rome. But before they get started in their search for the missing woman, an enormous sinkhole opens in an area called Calcutta. Built over old railway tunnels, the devastation is enormous in terms of loss of life. It was also the known meeting place for the criminal underworld, and it is assumed and soon proven that a massive bomb caused the sinkhole, with buildings atop it falling into the crater to kill not only those families living above it but the criminals meeting behind it.

The race is one to find out who caused the explosion, where Lady Danvers sister, May, is living, and what has become of Dutch, who disappeared from the mission. With the leaders of local gangs dead, who will take over the criminal land? And where is May hiding and why?

What is an added pleasure amidst the complicated cases and action is Thomas’s commentary on the social classes and political issues of the day. A delightful read all around~

 

Kjell Ola Dahl: Sister Thursday, Apr 30 2020 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and Private detective Auntie M Writes Crime 12:56 am

Sister, by Kjell Ola Dahl, brings detective Frank Frolich to the forefront. After several books with Frank and his partner in the Oslo PD, Frank has been suspended and is working to get a private investigator’s office off the ground.

When he meets Matilde, he feels his luck is definitely on the upswing. As the two learn about each other, Matilde soon convinces him to help Guri, her good friend who works at a refugee center. Guri wants Frank to find the sister of a Middle Eastern refugee there so the young woman can remain in Norway.

Then an author writing an expose on illegal immigration and how the refugees are treated shows up in Frank’s office and offers him cash for his help. Frederik Andersen’s first book revolved around a ferry tragedy decades ago. Was the police investigation stilted at that time? How are the two threads of the missing sister connected to this?

Soon several people are dead, and Frank has only one friend he can trust.

Frank is such an authentic characters with a shrewd sense of humanity that readers will follow him eagerly. Dahl establishes his sense of place with exquisite details, and his tightly-woven plot will keep readers flipping pages long after the light should be turned out.

 

Janet Roger: Shamus Dust Thursday, Apr 2 2020 

complex mystery and great read and mystery to die for and Private detective Auntie M Writes Crime 12:38 am

Shamus Dust is Janet Roger’s entry into 1947-48 London, feeling its way after WWII.

It’s noir of the highest order, with a darn good mystery linking the story of an American PI, Newman, who is called out Christmas morning on an unlikely errand.

A nurse has found the body of a young man in the church’s porch where she’s gone to light candles before her shift starts.

With Newman’s instincts on alert, he finds an unlikely helpmate in the form of the temporary medical examiner over the holidays. Before he can blink, the murders have escalated, and Newman has an uncanny knack for being either the body’s finder or uncomfortably close to them at the time of their demise.

What follows is a cat and mouse game of the highest order. Big financiers trying to capitalize on the war rebuilding efforts vie with historical archeologists. Woman who marry for all the wrong reasons are contrasted with men who like other men and even others who take advantage of that.

And then there are the Councilors, the police Superintendent, and the detectives who may or may not be on the right side of the law. Because which is the right side in these times?

The element that is immediately apparent and elevates this from any other noir PI mystery is Roger’s use of language. Supple and as elegant as a silk gown worn without undies, her descriptions and prose flows and puts the reader squarely in the era.

If you like the era, or PI novels, or noir, or just damn good writing, this one’s for you.

 

Alan S Orloff: I Know Where You Sleep Monday, Feb 10 2020 

complex mystery and great read and mystery to die for and Private detective Auntie M Writes Crime 12:24 am

Alan Orloff’s newest PI thriller features investigator Anderson West and his sister Carrie, who helps, mostly, in I Know Where You Sleep.

Wen Jessica Smith turns up, complaining of a stalker who leaves her increasing calls and is now leaving notes on her car, Carrie is the one who reassures the restaurant hostess that they will take her case pro bono.

A widower with two kids, whose mother lives with them to help out, Anderson does his best to juggle his kids, his job and his impulsive sister.

He starts out investigating Jessica’s former flames and co-workers, as well as the church where she spends a fair portion of her off time. As far as Anderson is concerned, everyone is a suspect, including the church’s minister.

Jessica is seriously scared, to the point of carrying a gun with her, especially after she finds a note on her car at the church. But will she have the courage to use it?

And what secrets is Jessica covering up from her past? It’s a past that may come to haunt her as things escalate and she puts herself, Anderson and Carrie in the stalker’s crosshairs.

Anderson will soon find out that Jessica is not the only one hiding secrets. A fast-paced ride that begs for another installment with the PI and his over-the-top sister.

 

Will Thomas: Lethal Pursuit Tuesday, Nov 12 2019 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and historical saga and mystery to die for and Private detective Auntie M Writes Crime 12:58 am

Will Thomas returns with his Barker and Llewelyn series in Lethal Pursuit. The enquiry agents, whose chambers are in the shadow of Whitehall, have risen to annoy most of the higher-ups in government and Scotland Yard, yet continue to solve the most recalcitrant cases.

A Foreign Office agent has fled home to England carrying an important satchel from Eastern Europe, but murdered soon after arriving. With tensions rising between Germany and England, it’s imperative that the contents are kept out of German hands.

When no less than the Prime Minister gives them a simple assignment, newlywed Llewelyn, now a partner, can’t understand why Barker is taking his time to carry out the easy charge: deliver the satchel to Calais into the hands of a waiting monsignor from the Vatican.

Just what the satchel holds is unclear, but it’s rare and ancient, from the first century. Soon there are personal agents, secret societies, and political groups all vying to retrieve the satchel and its contents, and all putting Barker and Llewelyn at serious risk. And this time, Llewelyn has a bride waiting for him at home.

With his research nailing the details of the Victorian era, from the clothing and social manners to crimes and politics, Thomas delivers a satisfying read that advances both the characters and the times.

 

Jim Eldridge: Murder at the Fitzwilliam Monday, Oct 8 2018 

complex mystery and debut and great read and historical saga and mystery to die for and new series and Private detective and Series not to be missed Auntie M Writes Crime 12:35 am


London-born author Jim Eldridge had a host of jobs before teaching led him to writing scripts for radio and television. He’s written SciFi, Children’s and YA fiction, including books for early readers and reluctant readers.

But Auntie M’s readers will be happy to hear Jim has turned his pen to crime fiction, with a new series that debuts with Murder at the Fitzwilliam. Set in 1894, it introduces private enquiry agent Daniel Wilson, retired from his Detective Inspector duties after investigating the Jack the Ripper case. Assisting him in this case at the Cambridge museum is archeologist Abigail Fenton.

Auntie M had the opportunity recently to ask Jim about his new series.

Auntie M: You started as a teacher before turning to writing full time. Was that always your intention?

Jim Eldridge: As well as teaching (which I loved doing), I had a variety of jobs before being able to afford to become a full-timer writer in 1978. I’d worked in offices, at a petrol station, done labouring jobs in an abattoir and even been a stoker on a blast furnace, but my ambition was always to be a full-time writer.

AM: Auntie M noticed your interest in history throughout your many series, from the early and reluctant readers books to your YA series. Is this a chance to teach readers or your natural interest?

JE: I have a deep love of history. I am a great believer in we are where we are now because of the historical events that have gone before, and that as a species we seem to keep repeating the same errors. So, yes, I do tend to stress the similarities between what’s happened in the past and what’s happening now – so readers say “we never learn.”

AM: The new Museum series starts out powerfully with Murder at the Fitzwilliam. How did you decide to choose 1894 for this series?

JE: The publishing director at Allison & Busby and I discussed various potential eras (modern, early 20th century), but we both felt that the late Victorian era heralded so many changes, both in society and technologically, that it would be a great backdrop for the series.

AM: Why the Fitzwilliam and Cambridge?

JE: Once we’d agreed for the series to use Museums for the settings of the series, we began by selecting the most famous of the oldest museums in Britain, and they were The British Museum, the Ashmolean in Oxford, and the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge. We felt that Cambridge had received less attention than Oxford out of the two oldest British University cities, so we decided to set the first adventure there.

AM: Nice to see a strong female character in archaeologist Abigail Fenton. Will she appear in the other books?

JE: Yes, she and Daniel become an investigating duo, as well as her continuing her own career as an archaeologist.

AM: Where does the series head next?

JE: Book 2 is MURDER AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM, which comes out early in 2019. Book 3, MURDER AT THE ASHMOLEAN, comes out in Autumn 2019.

AM: With three planned as of this writing, might that be extended?

JE: I hope so, if the series finds its readership, so my fingers are firmly crossed for that to happen.

AM: Mine,too, as I loved this first book. How does the radio and TV work inform your adult fiction? Do you see the books in scenes unfolding as you write?

JE: From 1971 until 2010 I was primarily a scriptwriter for TV and radio (with 250 TV scripts and 250 radio scripts broadcast). Scriptwriting is very different to novel-writing. In a script there is no place for the “interior monologue” from the characters – in a screenplay the emotions the character is feeling have to be shown by their expression and their movements. In a novel you have room to expand on what a character is feeling. However, I feel my long scriptwriting career has helped me when writing novels in developing plots (and sub-plots) and the vital importance of creating characters that readers want to know about. And you’re right, I also view a scene visually so I can write it.

AM: Who would we find on your nighttable, waiting to be read?

JE: At this moment, THE RAILWAY DETECTIVE by Edward Marston, but the one I’m really looking forward to arriving in my mailbox is DEATH UNSCRIPTED: A TRUDY GENOVA MANHATTAN MYSTERY by Marni Graff. As a former scriptwriter, this sounds my ideal mystery!

AM: You’re very kind, and I hope you will enjoy it, Jim. Thanks for giving readers insight into this new series. And now for a review of Murder at the Fitzwilliam.

Archeologist Abigail Fenton has enough hard work cataloguing recent Egyptian artificts sent to the famed Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, while she makes her way in a largely male profession, when she stumbles across a modern body inside an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus.

Daniel Wilson has been called in by the Museum’s director to protect the museum’s reputation by quickly bringing the case to a discreet close. The former London detective brings his intuition and his experience with him, and soon finds himself going head-to-head with the local Cambridge detective, who has decided the murder was an accident.

With Abigail and Daniel agreeing this could hardly be the case, Daniel calls on the archeologist to assist him in his investigation into the identity of the dead man and how his body came to be found in the Egyptian Collection room.

Then the local papers circulate a story about a murderous mummy, destined to shake up the populace, and a second body is soon found, raising the stakes and making Daniel’s investigation harder.

There will be several paths of enquiry for them to follow; red herrings abound with distractions for both sleuths as they find their way to the the answers they seek.

Abigail and Daniel are an engaging pair of sleuths, bound by the mores of the time, which include the women’s suffragete movement. They take each other’s measure and like what they see while moving the case forward.

With accurate period details, Eldridge perfectly recreates the Cambridge of the Victorian era. A highly successful start to a captivating new series.
Available in the US November 19th~

 

Thomas A Burns, Jr: Natalie McMasters Thursday, Aug 23 2018 

great read and mystery to die for and Private detective Auntie M Writes Crime 12:08 am

Please welcome Thomas Burns, to tell us about his series protagonist:


Who is this Natalie McMasters we keep hearing about?

Natalie McMasters is a detective for the new millennium.
If you’re a mystery lover like me, you’ve read all the classic detectives. Sherlock Holmes. Sam Spade. Mike Hammer. Kinsey Millhone.

What do all these sleuths have in common? Each one was a product of their era and their culture. So, too, is Natalie McMasters.

Nattie is a pre-law student at State University, a mega-college in an unnamed capital city in a southern state. As the series opens, she’s renting a house in the student ghetto with her roommates Kwaneshia and Fields. To help make ends meet, she works for her Uncle Amos Murdoch, the proprietor of the 3M detective agency, which is based in a nearby small town because the frugal Amos won’t pay the high rents in the capital.

Most of his business comes from catching insurance scofflaws who say they’re hurt but aren’t. Nattie spends most of her working hours on stakeout, waiting for a subject to do something they’re not supposed to be able to, so she can get a picture. It’s a great job for a student — she can study during all those long hours in the car.

Amos even got her a private detective trainee’s license from the state, of which she’s prouder than she likes to let on. But one day, she sees something that she’s not supposed to. That’s the premise of the first Natalie McMasters story, Stakeout!

You can read it for free on Wattpad at https://www.wattpad.com/564938180-stakeout-part-1.


Stripper! is the first Natalie McMasters novel. The action occurs immediately after that in Stakeout!.

Nattie enters the seamy world of web cams and strip clubs to hunt a killer. Her investigation forces her to reassess many of the ideas that she’s lived by her whole life and do things she’s never considered before – strip on a stage, question her sexuality, and rediscover the meaning of love itself.

Stripper! is on sale on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2vNlh5T. It’s currently rated at 4.6 stars and has had nearly 4,000 free and paid downloads, and it was the number one download for a couple days during a free promotion in June in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Lesbian Fiction and in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender eBooks > Mystery & Detective.

Revenge! is the sequel to Stripper!. A scandalous video of Nattie from her web cam days is posted on the State campus CCTV system for all to see and is just the first in a series of vicious attacks on Nattie, her family and her friends. What could she have possibly done to someone in her short life to deserve the callous revenge her unseen tormentor is so brutally exacting?
Revenge! is available for pre-order on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2vnE6gR and will go live on August 15, 2018.

The third volume in the series is a work in progress and is entitled Trafficked! in which Nattie takes Manhattan, searching for a very important missing person. It should be available early next year.

The Natalie McMasters series is notable for its intricate plots, breakneck pace and gritty, dark atmosphere. These are definitely not cozy mysteries! Keep on reading the series and you’ll experience the transformation of an innocent college coed into a hard-boiled PI for the 21st century.

Tom started reading mysteries as a kid with the Hardy Boys, Ken Holt and Rick Brant, and graduating to the classic stories by authors such as A. Conan Doyle, John Dickson Carr, Erle Stanley Gardner and Rex Stout, to name a few. Tom has written fiction as a hobby all of his life, starting in marble-backed copybooks in grade school. He built a career as a writer, doing technical writing, science writing and editing, for nearly thirty years in industry and government. Now that he’s truly on his own as a freelance science writer and editor, he’s excited to publish his own mystery series as well.

You can follow Tom and Nattie on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/3Mdetective/?ref=bookmarks, on Twitter @3Mdetective and on Instagram at 3mdetective. A web page, blog and newsletter are coming soon on WordPress at https://www.3mdetectiveagency.com/, and you can contact Tom at tom@3mdetectiveagency.com.