Killing for a living is easy, living for a reason is much harder
Meet Ruslan Akulov.
In the shadowy world of assassins for hire, he is known as ‘Wolf Six’.
A Ukrainian raised in Moscow, conscripted into Russia’s most covert Special Forces unit ‘The Werewolves’, Akulov is full of loathing for the country that built and then broke him. The only rules he follows now are his own.
Unable to shake the guilt of his past, Akulov has made it his business to seek out those who prey upon the innocent. The name Wolf Six is legendary – whispered by those who know it with fear. But when Akulov accidentally thwarts the armed robbery of a Chicago Bank, he pits himself against both the Russian Bratva and the CIA, setting into motion a spiralling sequence of events which will bring his past back to haunt him, and potentially turn his future to ashes…
His mission of retribution takes him from Chicago to Kyiv, to Havana and back into the US, where Akulov must stop at nothing if he is to remain alive. No simple mission, even for the world’s deadliest assassin.
Perfect for fans of Tom Wood, Vince Flynn and Mark Greaney, this is an explosive action thriller you won’t be able to put down.
Wolf Six by Alex Shaw is certainly a thrilling thriller. It takes the reader from Chicago to Ukraine, Cuba, Russia, and many other places.
Our main character, Ruslan, is usually a cold-blooded assassin, but all that’s about to change as we follow him through this tale of double-crossing and vengeance. There is a split timeline narrative, with some elements explaining how Ruslan came to be as he is while also following him in the present, in which he’s managed to unintentionally get himself caught up in all sorts of difficulties with all sorts of baddies and intelligence agencies.
I very much enjoyed the whistlestop tour of the world through Ruslan’s eyes, and you certainly have to be on your toes to keep up with all the action.
I do have a soft spot for thrillers of this genre, and I will certainly be reading more of Ruslan’s adventures.
Meet the author
Alex Shaw is the author of bestselling action thrillers published by HarperCollins including the Aidan Snow and Jack Tate series, for which he was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. He will start a brand new action-packed series for Boldwood, the first of which, Wolf Six, will be published in February 2025.
Chloe and her husband Scott are holidaying with their families on the beautiful Greek island of Mykonos. But Chloe has a secret… She has hired a hitman to kill Scott when they return home. This week, her plan is to pretend to be such a happy wife that no suspicion can possibly fall on her after the murder.
But she’s reckoning without Scott’s meddlesome sister, Tori, plus the rivalries and demands of both families. Can she deal with them all while keeping her murderous intentions hidden?
Then Chloe wakes up in their villa covered in blood, next to a dead body, with no memory of the previous night. Panic ensues as she tries to piece together what happened – and just who else on this holiday might be a secret killer…
Fans of Katy Brent, Bella Mackie and Julie Mae Cohen won’t be able to resist this twisty, darkly funny crime thriller.
How to Slay on Holiday is a fun, quick, and easy read. The use of three points of view helps the story move along at pace and also allows the reader to learn things not all of the characters know.
There are secrets aplenty between the two families on holiday and also between all of the characters. At times, I wondered how on earth it could ever be resolved, but resolved it was.
I’m delighted to welcome Helen Hollick with Kathy Hollick and their new book, Ghost Encounters: The Lingering Spirits of North Devon, to the blog.
Here’s the Blurb
Everyone assumes that ghosts are hostile. Actually, most of them are not.
You either believe in ghosts or you don’t. It depends on whether you’ve encountered something supernatural or not. But when you share a home with several companionable spirits, or discover benign ghosts in public places who appear as real as any living person, scepticism is abandoned and the myth that ghosts are to be feared is realised as nonsense.
It is a matter for individual consideration whether you believe in ghosts or not, but for those who have the gift to see, hear or be aware of people from the past, meeting with them in today’s environment can generate a connection to years gone by. Kathy and Helen Hollick have come across several such departed souls in and around North Devon and at their 18th-century home, which they share with several ‘past residents’.
In GHOST ENCOUNTERS: The Lingering Spirits Of North Devon, mother and daughter share their personal experiences, dispelling the belief that spirits are to be feared.
Ghost Encounters will fascinate all who enjoy this beautiful region of rural South-West England, as well as interest those who wish to discover more about its history… and a few of its ghosts.
(Includes a bonus of two short stories and photographs connected to North Devon)
cover design: Avalon Graphics cover artwork: Chris Collingwood
This title will be available to read on #KindleUnlimited
Meet the Authors
ABOUT HELEN HOLLICK
Known for her captivating storytelling and rich attention to historical detail, Helen might not see ghosts herself, but her nautical adventure series, and some of her short stories, skilfully blend the past with the supernatural, inviting readers to step into worlds where the boundaries between the living and the dead blur.
In addition to her historical fiction, Helen has written several short stories, further exploring themes of historical adventure or the supernatural with her signature style. Whether dealing with the echoes of the past or the weight of lost souls, her stories are as compelling as they are convincing. Through her work, she invites readers into a world where the past never truly lets us go.
Helen started writing as a teenager, but after discovering a passion for history, was published in the UK with her Arthurian Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy and two Anglo-Saxon novels about the events that led to the 1066 Battle of Hastings, one of which, The Forever Queen (USA title – A Hollow Crown in the UK) became a USA Today best-seller. Her Sea Witch Voyages are nautical-based adventures inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy. She also writes the Jan Christopher cosy mystery series set during the 1970s, and based around her, sometimes hilarious, years of working as a North London library assistant.
Helen, husband Ron and daughter Kathy moved from London to Devon in January 2013 after a Lottery win on the opening night of the London Olympics, 2012. She spends her time glowering at the overgrown garden and orchard, fending off the geese, helping with the horses and, when she gets a moment, writing the next book…
ABOUT KATHY HOLLICK
Diagnosed as severely dyslexic when she was ten, Helen pulled Kathy out of school at fifteen to concentrate on everything equine.
When not encountering friendly ghosts, Kathy’s passion is horses and mental well-being. She started riding at the age of three, had her own Welsh pony at thirteen, and discovered showjumping soon after. Kathy now runs her own Taw River Equine Events, and coaches riders of any age or experience, specialising in positive mindset and overcoming confidence issues via her Centre10 accreditation and Emotional Freedom Technique training. EFT, or ‘tapping’, uses the body’s pressure points to aid calm relaxation and to promote gentle healing around emotional, mental or physical issues.
Kathy lives with her farmer partner, Andrew, in their flat adjoining the main farmhouse. She regularly competes at affiliated British Showjumping, and rides side-saddle (‘aside’) when she has the opportunity. She produces her own horses, several from home-bred foals.
She also has a fun diploma in Dragons and Dragon Energy, which was something amusing to study during the Covid lockdown.
One morning in 1890, a painting wrapped in brown paper appears on the steps of the National Gallery and causes a sensation. It’s clearly by Timothy Ponden-Hall, an artist whose paintings were celebrated and debated not just for their beauty but for the rumours behind them: they were believed to immortalise the soul of their subjects. But the mysterious explorer and artist has been thought dead for the last 50 years – so what does this new portrait mean? The Gallery brings in renowned art historian Solomon Oak to investigate. But as he races against time with his daughter Alice sometimes helping, and sometimes hindering him, they find that exposing Ponden-Hall’s legacy will prove more controversial than they could have imagined for Victorian society.
Set between London and Oxford, The Portrait Artist is a beautiful historical mystery exploring race, fame and long-kept secrets.
What a beautiful story. I was absolutely hooked from the second page and devoured this tale in a few sittings. It has everything we might expect from a Victorian-era set tale, with their slightly strange obsession with phrenology, celebrity, mutton-chops, and bizarre leaps of faith about life, death and the afterlife. Our main characters are Oaks, a professor in hiding following his oldest daughter’s tragic death, his surviving daughter, Alice, and also Grace, a portrait sitter at the National Gallery. Oaks is somewhat pompous to begin with, very Victorian in his attitude, whereas Alice and Grace are certainly not. They’re a slightly unconventional trio, and this is as much a story of their development as individuals as it is about uncovering Ponden-Hall’s identity. And what a tangled web this proves to be. It is beautifully evocative and the ending, I feel, really does stand up to the rest of the tale. I just really loved it, and I had to stop myself from turning to the back pages to discover the resolution from about 50% through the book. I’m glad I didn’t give in and allowed the story to unfold as it was intended. I don’t read a huge number of more ‘literary fiction’ historical stories (I love a Golden Age cosy crime), but it had a similar ‘feel’ to Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver. Enjoy.
I’m delighted to welcome R.N. Morris and his book, Death of a Princess, Empire of Shadows Book 3, to the blog.
Here’s the blurb
Summer 1880.
Lipetsk, a spa town in Russia.
The elderly and cantankerous Princess Belskaya suffers a violent reaction while taking a mud bath at the famous Lipetsk Sanatorium. Soon after, she dies.
Dr Roldugin, the medical director of the sanatorium, is at a loss to explain the sudden and shocking death.
He points the finger at Anna Zhdanova, a medical assistant who was supervising the princess’s treatment.
Suspicion also falls on the princess’s nephew Belsky, who appears far from grief-stricken at his aunt’s death.
Meanwhile, investigating magistrate Pavel Pavlovich Virginsky arrives in Lipetsk from St Petersburg, seeking treatment after a nervous breakdown.
Against his better judgement, Virginsky is drawn in to the investigation. But is he getting closer to the truth or walking straight into a deadly trap?
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited
My Review
Death of a Princess is an intriguing and quite complex mystery set in the 1880s in Russia. It is the third book in the series, and I’ve not read the earlier two, but it didn’t diminish my enjoyment, and readers will easily be able to start with this title.
It has a wide cast of characters and follows them as they interact with one another and resolve other issues before fully resolving how the princess’s death came about.
It feels very ‘Russian.’ All the characters have delightful Russian names and attitudes, and the story well depicts the social structure of society. It’s an engaging read, pulling the reader along with some very tense moments until reaching the grand finale.
I very much enjoyed the mystery and look forward to reading more in the series.
Meet the Author
Roger (R.N) Morris is the author of 18 books, including a quartet of historical crime novels set in St Petersburg featuring Porfiry Petrovich, the investigating magistrate from Dostoevsky’s great novel Crime and Punishment. These were followed by the Silas Quinn series set in London in 1914. He has been shortlisted for the CWA Duncan Lawrie Gold Dagger and the CWA Historical Dagger.
A former advertising copywriter, Roger has written the libretto for an opera, modern retellings of Frankenstein and Macbeth for French school children. He’s also a scriptwriter for an award winning audio producer, working on true crime and history podcasts including The Curious History of your Home.
His work has been published in 16 countries.
Married with two grown-up children, Roger lives in Chichester where he keeps an eye out for seagulls.
In an idyllic Norfolk village, a stunning Roman mosaic floor has been discovered. It’s the archaeological find of the decade – complete with peacock design, intricate patterns and… a dead body?
Georgina Drake is thrilled to photograph the ancient mosaic uncovered at Little Wenborough Manor. But her excitement turns to shock when she finds the lead archaeologist dead on the floor. Instead of ancient secrets, Georgina is soon caught up in a very modern murder.
Comforting the other distressed archaeologists, Georgina discovers this isn’t the first time tragedy has struck this site. Over a century ago, a young Victorian scholar vanished without trace during the original dig, leaving behind a devastated fiancée and a trail of unanswered questions.
As Georgina delves into both mysteries, she discovers surprising connections between past and present. With help from her friends, Georgina pieces together a story of forbidden love, blackmail and betrayal. But someone in the village would prefer these secrets stay buried, and she’ll need all her wits to catch a killer before they strike again…
Perfect for fans of Faith Martin, M.C. Beaton and Midsomer Murders, this charming cozy mystery will have you digging for clues until the very last page.
The Body at the Roman Baths is the first book by the author I’ve read. I was drawn to it because of the title.
Our two main characters are quite fun, but starting with book 5 in a series does mean a lot has gone on that I don’t know about. However, I was happy to accept they were a couple and move on with the resolution to the mystery, or rather the two mysteries.
The two plots are quite fun, drawing together on occasion, and I found the addition of ‘Doris’ to be quite quirky and not at all what I was expecting. It certainly helps solve some of the more difficult parts of solving old crimes.
Overall, it was a fun read. It was a little quirky and a little repetitive in places, and the ending was never really in doubt. Still, Roman-era archaeology and a Victorian mystery—what’s not to love?
Discover the delightfully gripping new historical mystery series that’s perfect for fans of Helena Dixon, Verity Bright and T E Kinsey.
Agatha Christie is about to embark on a new, gripping murder case. But this time, she’s not the author – she’s a suspect…
1926 – Christie is a darling of the literary circuit and the most desired guest in London’s glittering social scene. She can often be found at meetings of the Detection Club – where mystery writers come together to share ideas, swap secrets and drink copiously. But then a fellow author’s initiation ceremony takes a gruesome turn, and one of the group ends up dead. Now, Agatha is no longer just the creator of great mystery plots – she’s a player in one.
And when Agatha disappears the day after the murder, she’s widely assumed to be guilty. Only Eliza Baker, assistant to the Club’s enigmatic secretary, Dorothy Sayers, is interested in investigating the case. But in a world where murder is the ultimate plot device, can Eliza piece together the evidence and find the killer before it’s too late?
The Case of the Christie Conspiracy is an entertaining and well-plotted Golden Age crime mystery, with the addition of many of our favourite Golden Age Crime authors as suspects.
The set-up for the murder mystery is excellent, and our two main characters, Eliza and Theo, are both fierce chess players (thank goodness I learned a bit about chess last year, although it isn’t necessary) and love solving mysteries. Luckily, one such mystery occurs right before them: the murder of one of the Detection Club writers. Eliza, fiercely independent but with a real soft spot for Theo, determines he can help her solve the puzzle but that it must be a competition, the prize being that he will play her at chess.
What ensues is quite a wonderful tale set during the infamous period of Agatha Christie’s disappearance. Eliza and Theo battle to uncover what happened, employing all their detection skills and occasionally getting a little muddled along the way.
A fabulously entertaining novel. I enjoyed the references to the Fiona Figg series and imagine readers of Kelly Oliver’s books will devour this new endeavour with delight.
Kelly Oliver is the award-winning, bestselling author of three mysteries series: The Jessica James Mysteries, The Pet Detective Mysteries, and the historical cozies The Fiona Figg Mysteries, set in WW1. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee
Can Lucy find her second-chance romance in the glamour of the French Riviera?
When aspiring author Lucy attends a rich friend’s 50th birthday party in glamorous Monaco, she has no idea that her life is about to change forever.
Heartsore after a broken marriage, she is not looking for love so when she meets Elias, and he offers to take her sailing on his employer’s boat, she agrees only as research for the book she desperately wants to write. They bond over their adult children – who seem to want to clip their wings and force them into living like pensioners – and the chemistry is undeniable.
But is he all he seems? And is she ready to trust again?
An uplifting, later-in-life romance perfect for fans of Milly Johnson, Jo Thomas and Julie Caplin.
Helga Jensen is an award-winning British/Danish best selling author and journalist. Her debut novel was a winning entry in the 2017 Montegrappa First Fiction competition at Dubai’s Emirates Literary Festival. Her debut was also a contender for the coveted 2021 Joan Hessayon Award for new writers. Helga’s best selling novel, Fly me to Paris, was a finalist for the 2024 Popular Romantic Fiction Award.
Helga holds a BA Hons in English Literature and Creative Writing, along with a Creative Writing MA from Bath Spa University. She is currently finishing a PhD.
I’m delighted to welcome Barney Campbell and his new book, The Fires of Gallipoli, to the blog with an excerpt.
Excerpt
Edward’s thick jumper proved its mettle and he slept soundly, stirring only around midnight as a snuffling deer broke nearby branches around the edge of the tree. He was awake for a few minutes while memories of nights on the front came to him, staring out into a dark night or peeping fearfully over the parapet when a baleful alabaster shone over the Peninsula in a sniper’s moon. He remembered nights on the line as he and Thorne tried desperately to suppress their chuckles into yelps of breathing. He was sure that he let out a giggle into the night before nothingness then fell over him, dreamless and warm.
He woke with his thighs damp from dew and drew away the groundsheet to see the million droplets on the cow parsley sparkle gold and rainbow colours from the low sun breaching the underside of the tree. A ghostly network of spiders’ webs hung above his head, made fuller by the dew, more ossified. He felt an awful pang, as Thorne stirred beside him, that he wasn’t able to see any of it.
They wormed out from under the tree and creaked limbs back to life, shaking away the residue of sleep and rubbing their sandpaper chins, teeth chattering at the morning’s chill. They got ready to go, the imprint of their bodies in the cow parsley already disappearing as the crushed stalks started to lean up again, and they rejoined the path and carried on.
The route took them over miles of gentle fields and woods, folds in the ground offering one of the most beautiful mornings Edward could remember; folds that, on a battlefield, would become must-take ridges and valleys raked by machine gun fire. Here though was a perfect land, unpoisoned by such snaky heads. The rising sun, still yet to gain its heat, uncovered spring’s half-built hedgerows as nearby woodpeckers saluted their arrival. So infrequent was any sign of habitation, with only a couple of soft yellow stone farmhouses nestling nearly invisibly into their surroundings, that it seemed for a time that they were walking through a zero-humaned world.
They moved so softly, boots tracing their way noiselessly over the grass and the soft earth, that at every wood or new field animals failed to notice them and carried on their activities unalarmed. In one small clump of trees were a cock and hen pheasant, he strutting and boastful with his neck thrust out in grandiose stupidity and she following along behind him picking up the food and grubs that he, in his magnificent self-regard, missed on his morning passeggiata.
Edward stopped for a while to watch them, and then started to describe the scene to Thorne, but not going on as long as he thought he might, seeing writ across his face a sheer exultation in the day and being where they were. Not the sights, of course, but the scents and the touch of the air on his skin seemed to be elevating him to the same sense of contented rapture as Edward felt. The gap between them may not be quite as unbridgeable as he had feared, then. Perhaps.
Here’s the Blurb
The Fires of Gallipoli is a heartbreaking portrayal of friendship forged in the trenches of the First World War.
‘In this vivid and engaging novel of war and friendship, Barney Campbell shows us once again that he is a natural writer. This is a novel of men at arms of the highest quality.’ ~ Alexander McCall Smith
Edward Salter is a shy, reserved lawyer whose life is transformed by the outbreak of war in 1914. On his way to fight in the Gallipoli campaign, he befriends the charming and quietly courageous Theodore Thorne. Together they face the carnage and slaughter, stripped bare to their souls by the hellscape and only sustained by each other and the moments of quiet they catch together.
Thorne becomes the crutch whom Edward relies on throughout the war. When their precious leave from the frontline coincides, Theo invites Edward to his late parents’ idyllic estate in Northamptonshire. Here Edward meets Thorne’s sister Miranda and becomes entranced by her.
Edward escapes the broiling, fetid charnel-house of Gallipoli to work on the staff of Lord Kitchener, then on to the Western Front and post-war espionage in Constantinople. An odd coolness has descended between Edward and Theo. Can their connection and friendship survive the overwhelming sense of loss at the end of the war when everything around them is corrupted and destroyed?
The Fires of Gallipoli is a heartbreaking, sweeping portrayal of friendship and its fragility at the very limits of humanity.
Barney Campbell, author of The Fires of Gallipoli, was brought up in the Scottish Borders and studied Classics at university. He then joined the British Army where he commanded soldiers on a tour of Helmand Province, Afghanistan at the height of the war there.
That experience inspired him to write his first novel Rain, a novel about the war, which was published by Michael Joseph in 2015. The Times called it ‘the greatest book about the experience of soldiering since Robert Graves’s First World War classic Goodbye To All That’.
Barney has walked the length of the Iron Curtain, from Szczecin in Poland to Trieste in Italy. He currently works and lives in London.
I’m delighted to welcome Lois Cahall and her new book, The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery to the blog with an excerpt.
Excerpt
Alice was out on Regent Street for drinks at the Café Royal, a thriving Victorian restaurant known to cater to the upper crust and apparently British spies. And then she was off to the Savoy for dinner with her international crowd. Like mother like daughter, I suppose. Christmas eve she’d be traveling to Ireland, spending more and more time in Kilkenny. She even had dreams of living there. I suspect my Irish bug bit her, too. And she even expressed it to me in a letter:
Dearest Mommy,
The Irish are such delightfully kind and amusing people. It is nothing like English hunting, either field or country, everyone helps everyone else, and no one swears at anyone and you’re always welcome in the country if you’re a stranger…. I think Ireland is the freshest, simplest, nicest country and people I have ever met, and I love every inch of it, so you can say ‘I told you so’ and crow over me to your heart’s content now. You were right! And I love you!
My stepdaughter, Eileen, wrapped gifts in the parlor. Nearby were her daughters, Ann Moira and June Mary, which now made John and I official grandparents.
Winston and John were in the library deep into cigars, gin and political talk with our son-in-law, William, while Clementine and I sat sipping sherry in the drawing room, the doors closed. My newest friend, Jessie Louisa “Louie” Rickard, an Irish writer, whose romantic novels we all devoured, joined us, listening on as Clementine cackled about some latest fashion.
My eyes watered up for the tenth time that day. I didn’t intend for her to notice but she instantly figured it out as I turned the other way to avoid eye contact.
“Hazel,” said Clementine, leaning in, her voice full of pity, “Hazel, look at me.” I turned as she gained my full attention. “You must gather yourself, darling girl.”
“Oh Clemmie, I don’t know how to…”
“Of course, you don’t. You’re American,” she said, patting my hand. “But try you must.”
“He was the love of…”
“…your life, yes, I know. But he’s gone. It’s been years,” said Clementine. “Those chapters of life are best left unpublished.”
Then she eyed my wardrobe, black from head to toe, compared to her layers of lapis and pitch blue – a bias-cut dress with belted waist and large yoke collar. “And Hazel, dearest, you’re not in mourning, you’re married…”
“Well, I suppose marriage is a form of mourning.” The three of us women shared a look.
“Fer sure,” said Louie with her Irish brogue. She was sporty. Wearing high waisted sailor pants and striped blouse.
As I admired their zest for life in the present, I longed to tell them right then and there that I mourned not only for Michael, but for our unborn child, and the recent loss of yet another one of Michael’s friends.
“It’s been so difficult, ladies. You’re the only ones I can confide in except for Michael’s sister, Hannie. We’ve stayed close. My love for him is always with me. He once said we were like swans who mate for life.”
“Pain comes from always wanting…” said Louie, trailing off and turning the other way, like a true romantic writer, gazing out the window. Whenever she spoke, rain practically fell on cue.
Clementine began pinching the puffed sleeves on her dress and then gazed up at me, clearing her throat to speak. “I have five tips for any woman where the living men are concerned, not the dead ones.”
“Oh?” I sat up, eager.
“Firstly,” said Clementine, “it is important that a man hires you a skilled staff and has an admirable career. Second, that he makes you laugh. Third, it is important to find a man you can count on who doesn’t lie to you. And that this man loves you and spoils you. And, finally,” she added, “it is most important that these four men don’t know each other!” A pause, and then Clementine burst out laughing.
“Oh Clemmie, you’re wretched! Is this your way of saying I should have an affair?”
“It’s time dear. It’s time.”
“I concur!” said Louie.
“But I’m a Catholic now,” I declared, “I don’t believe in divorce.”
“Nobody is saying to divorce, just have a good ole roll in the hay with a man more your age,”
said Louie, tipping her head to suggest John was very old.
I regretted the way that I segued into the next words that fell from my mouth since rumors had already begun circulating about me. “And Kevin O’Higgins is dead, too. Michael’s friend.”
“Another one?” asked Clementine. “Dead?”
“Yes, back in July, didn’t I tell you then… though it feels like yesterday. The assassins poured lead into his body just like they did to Michael except they murdered him on his way to Mass.”
“Disgraceful!” said Clementine.
“Sometimes, I just feel frozen in misery,” I added.
“So, you were close, yeah?” asked Louie.
Trying to avoid the question instead reframing with a different answer. “I was watching polo at Ranelagh when I was told the news. The first thing I thought was the same thing I always think
when I hear of the death of a man close to me. It’s always the men close to my life who die.”
Leaning forward I poured more sherry, and topped Clementine’s off, too. “O’Higgins so much wanted to see Michael’s achievements and endeavors for the country. They’re saying he was perhaps the greatest diplomat of them all. You know, he wrote me the most charming note. Ended it by saying he wished I could be there as his Parliament meets again. And then he went on about how much the Irish appreciate my help and sympathy.”
Clementine studied her sherry glass, took a sip, and then spoke, “Hazel, I suspect that your views of Ireland are unsuited to the harsh reality of sectarian strife.”
“But I love Ireland so. It was purely by accident of birth that America claimed me. Although,” I said, easing back into the chair and pouting, “Perhaps John was right. He once said that ‘Hazel’s Ireland is as unreal as a mirage in the desert.’”
Here’s the Blurb
In the heart of tumultuous times, amidst the grandeur of Victorian opulence, there existed an American socialite whose influence altered the course of the Anglo-Irish treaty: Lady Hazel Lavery
Boston-born Hazel ascended from her Irish roots to become the quintessential Society Queen of Chicago, and later London, where she lived a delicate dance between two worlds: one with her esteemed husband, Sir John Lavery, a portrait artist to royalty, and the other with Michael Collins, the daring Irish rebel whose fiery spirit ignited her heart. Together, they formed a love triangle that echoed through the corridors of power at 10 Downing Street, London.
Hazel’s wit and charm touched on the lives of the who’s-who of England, including Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw and Evelyn Waugh. The image of her memorable face graced the Irish note for close to half-a-century.
Lois Cahall began her writing career as a columnist for Cape Cod newspapers and local periodicals, including Cape Cod Life. She spent a decade writing for national magazines (Conde Nast/Hearst). Her articles have been published in Cosmo Girl, Seventeen, SELF, Marie Claire, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Journal, and Bon Appetit. In the UK she wrote for RED, GQ, Psychologies, and for The Times. In addition, Lois wrote profiles for The Palm Beach Post.
Lois’s first novel, Plan C: Just in Case, was a #1 bestseller in the UK, where it remained in the top three fiction for the year before selling into foreign translation markets. In July of 2014, her novel hit #1 on the Nook “Daily Deal” in America. Her second novel, Court of the Myrtles, was hailed as “Tuesdays with Morrie on estrogen” by the Ladies Home Journal. Her newest book, The Many Lives of Hazel Lavery, is a work of historical fiction and will be published in 2025.
Lois is the former Creative Director of Development for James Patterson Entertainment. She credits her friend, Jim Patterson, the world’s most successful bestselling author, with teaching her about the importance of children’s reading and literacy. As a result, she founded the Palm Beach Book Festival in 2015, an annual event bringing in NYT bestselling and celebrity authors. The event is for book lovers, nurturing the written word for the children and adults of southern Florida.
In 2024 Lois also founded The Cape Cod Book Festival, an annual autumn event that promises to be a new cultural footprint in Massachusetts. It will be for locals and ‘washashores’ alike – a magical place where charitably minded readers can rub elbows with great writers and thinkers.
Lois divides her life between New York and Cape Cod, although her spiritual home is London. But most importantly, Lois can do the Hula Hoop for an hour non-stop and clear a Thanksgiving table in just under ten minutes.
MJ Porter 