M J Porter – Page 2

2025 – A Reading Year in Review

2025 has been a challenging reading year for me. I’ve failed to hit my reading target of 100 books (although I’m not worried about that because hey, it’s just a bit of fun to even set a target), and there have been a few months where I barely read anything at all because ‘life’ got in the way. I’ve also noticed this year that my reading preferences have changed, moving even more towards mysteries and away from my writing genre of action and adventure historical fiction. I have also, however, joined my local book club, and so I’m reading one book each month to discuss in the group, and this means I’m not necessarily always reading books I would usually choose. This has been a bit of an eye-opener. In our book club, we do read the books, and we do talk about them. If you can find a book club like that, then I highly recommend it. It’s a great experience.

Goodreads (and The Storygraph) tell me I’ve read 82 books this year (as a point of note, I don’t usually put my audiobooks on multiple times (I listen to the same few audiobooks at night to help me sleep and I am almost word perfect on some of them these days)). As last year, I’ve not included my own books in this, which get read repeatedly while writing and editing.

My most read category (a third of all books) has been historical mysteries – (some of these might also be classified as cosy). I’ve read anything from The Rush by Beth Lewis, about the dash to Dawson City to mine for gold at the end of the nineteenth century, to Desolation by Keith Moray (set in the 1300s) and Monstrous Murder by Elizabeth R Andersen (also set in the aftermath of the Black Death) to a huge collection of early twentieth century mysteries, including Michelle Salter’s new series, Murder in Trafalgar Square. I think my favourite (and most surprising read) was The Bookseller of Inverness by SG MacLean (our first book club read, and my recommendation (there were opinions about it – which was brilliant – and I would warn it certainly helps if you know something about the Battle of Culloden and its aftermath). Click on the images to visit the reviews (if I’ve reviewed on the blog).

Behind historical mysteries in my reading year are just plain old contemporary mysteries. Again, some of these are also cozy reads. I don’t like my murder mysteries to be too graphic (when I was much younger, I read all the Scarpetta and Jonathan Kellerman novels and freaked myself out), and I’ve discovered that my preference is for a style known as ‘police procedural’ even when there are no police involved. I started the year with Death on Ice, which was a slow build but delightfully engaging, and ended with the equally brilliant The Retired Assassin’s Guide to Orchid Hunting – a fabulous New Zealand-based mystery (I’m going to read book 1 now), and Simon Whaley’s Flaming Murder (reviews to follow for these two books in Jan 2026). I also discovered Antony Johnston’s lovely Dog Sitter Detectives Series. These are such great books – quick reads but with compelling mysteries.

You can also check out my three favourite reads of 2025 over on Shepherd.

After that is ‘my main genre’ of historical fiction, some action and adventure and some not. Adam Lofthouse’s Roman-era novels have kept me intrigued (I’m blaming Alaric for that). (I also want some of that ‘shiny’ on my book covers).

I do want to give a huge shout out to Kalahari Passage (which I’m classifying as historical fiction as its set in the 1960s (I think). This is a beautiful story, if sometimes a hard read. Do check it out.

What I’m classifying as thrillers came next – from the new Harlan Coben to the rather brilliant Dolos by a debut author, LH Fox, which almost had me understanding how cryptocurrency works, and is also my most visited review on the blog.

Six titles were historical romance. Jane Dunn, Melissa Addey and Susanna Dunlap all kept me entertained with their Regency romances, while The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin could also be classified as a Regency romance, but I’ve popped it into the historical mystery category, as it certainly crosses over more into a mystery with the romance element in the background. (If you’ve not read Alison Goodman’s Dark Days Club books, then you’re missing a treat, my Regency fans – a hint of fantasy in the Regency era – what is not to love (still not convinced – I would compare it with Cassandra Claire’s Victorian trilogy).

I also read a couple of romance novels (one for Book Club) and certainly enjoyed some more than others:)

I didn’t read (or at least finish) many non-fiction titles in 2025 (I am still reading Max Adams’ Mercian Chronicles and I have his new title on Northumbria to read as well). My only complete historical non-fiction title for the year was that by Amy McElroy on Mary Tudor – a great depiction which I found very inspiring. Mary is so often overlooked.

The title I enjoyed the most out of the other non-fiction reads was You Know the Drill, an account of a dentist’s life. I made myself read it because I’m so terrified of the dentist. Has it helped? Maybe.

I also read a writing guide, which I enjoyed. It’s always intriguing to discover how other people write their stories. Check out Planning the Perfect Plot.

I’ve also half-read many other titles (apologies to those authors). Hopefully, I’ll get back to them when I have time in 2026. Every year I explain I’m a ‘mood’ reader, and if something isn’t working for me at that moment, it doesn’t mean I won’t come back to it when I fancy something different.

One genre I’ve really neglected is fantasy (aside from the Discworld audios), although I have managed a few short story collections (reviews to follow). I will need to get back to it. I have a few series I need to finish. Maybe the problem is, I don’t want to finish them. We shall see.

Our local book club started in August 2025, and so far we’ve read four very different titles. The Bookseller of Inverness was my choice, and I’m slowly gathering all of Shona’s other titles, including her new release for Feb 2026. Next, we tried Joanne Harris’ Five Quarters of the Orange (which I didn’t like for very different reasons to the ones I thought when I started reading). We then tried The Christmas Postcards by Karen Swan, and most agreed the one element of the story was much better than the other. We ended the year with Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson – a novel that was incredibly slow, with something of a predicatable ending (and no, I hadn’t seen the movie). I’m excited to see what we read in 2026. And as you can see, there’s a great variety of titles there. When it’s my turn to pick again I will be championing some of my fellow indie/Boldwood authors.

Here’s to 2026 and all the reading I hope to enjoy.

Check out my 2024 reading year in review

Check out my 2023 reading year in review

I read a lot of books by my fellow Boldwood authors, and I’m also a host for a couple of blog tour organisers. This means I often get to read books before everyone else. Yay.

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The inspiration for The Barrage Body, book 4 in The Erdington Mysteries (and why this isn’t quite the book I thought it would be) #histfic #mystery

Why did I write The Barrage Body?

I’ve not been quiet about explaining how hard I found The Barrage Body to ‘solve.’ I don’t think I’ve been restrained in explaining why either. Which brings me to the inspiration behind this latest mystery set in the 1940s.

When I finished writing The Secret Sauce, I was sure there was more ‘mystery’ to solve (if you’ve not read it yet, don’t be put off, the mystery is solved in the book, this is more a background element). I checked with a few advanced readers, and their response was reassuring, ‘We just thought you’d get to that in the next book.’ And this was absolutely my intention.

BUT, well, the huge BUT is that after I’d started writing the book, my research led me down a very different path. My intention was to base the fourth book at the Fort Dunlop/Dunlop Rubber Company factory. I found a lot of aerial photographs and a book about memories of working at the factory, and all seemed good. Only then did I discover the barrage balloons. The resource I consulted said they had been situated at Fort Dunlop, or at least one of them had (I am now not quite so sure, but it was too late). So, the original title went out the window, and the story changed quite a bit. The barrage balloons, constructed by Dunlop, although at a different factory, were just too enticing, and so the story veered away from my original intention. It veered so much that I eventually realised I had two halves of two very different stories. My mystery (and you should all know I don’t plan them – if that wasn’t already obvious enough) couldn’t be solved. GRRRR.

Fort Dunlop (a still from one of the PATHE recordings)

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/EPW055210 (for an image of Fort Dunlop)

https://www.business-live.co.uk/incoming/gallery/pictures-fort-dunlop-archive-7417272 (even more images here)

So frustrated was I, that I had to put an almost complete manuscript to one side for a month and write something else. I didn’t even think about the book during that month. I was very cross with myself. Eventually, I realised what had to be done (but it was not a single lightbulb moment, but rather many of them) and the mystery became solvable. So, while my inspiration was to base this mystery at another Erdington staple, the Fort Dunlop site, it was even more inspired by the barrage balloons that were flown during WW2 to act as a deterrent to enemy aircraft. Curious, you can watch a fabulous video over on the PATHE website https://cutt.ly/NtpYVUD8.

A barrage balloon truck. Mariegriffiths, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here’s the blurb

Birmingham, England, December 1944.

Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is summoned to the Dunlop Rubber Company by an irate Mrs Adams from the Buying Department on a cold Tuesday morning in December 1944.

No sooner have he and O’Rourke managed to uncover the cause of Mrs Adams’ telephone call to the police station, than events take a far more chilling turn than the rogue situation’s vacant advertisement first alluded. It might just be that they’re in the right place at the right time to prevent a terrible tragedy. Or are they?

As the barrage balloon threatens to break free from its winch truck in the terrible wind, Sam Mason makes a most unwelcome discovery. Who killed the man, but more importantly, how did he end up, roped to the barrage balloon? And with the WAAF denying their involvement, how was the barrage balloon even floated? What does it all mean? And when they discover the secret tyre formula from the Testing Department has also been stolen, Sam starts to fear there is even more at stake.

Join Mason and O’Rourke for the fourth book in the quirky, historical mystery series, as they once more attempt to solve the impossible in 1940s Erdington.

https://amzn.to/4pH5oYD

Check out The Erdington Mysteries page to discover more about the books.

Buy The Custard Corpses here, available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audio. Or, check out the signed editions page to get a copy directly from me. Book 3, The Secret Sauce, is available now, (as is book 2, The Automobile Assassination).

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It’s happy release day to The Barrage Body, book 4 in The Erdington Mysteries #histfic #mystery

Here’s the blurb

Birmingham, England, December 1944.

Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is summoned to the Dunlop Rubber Company by an irate Mrs Adams from the Buying Department on a cold Tuesday morning in December 1944.

Join Mason and O’Rourke for the fourth book in the quirky, historical mystery series, as they once more attempt to solve the impossible in 1940s Erdington.

Check out The Erdington Mysteries page to discover more about the books.

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The Secret Sauce is on blog tour with Rachel’s Random Resources hosts. Check out the reviews, blog posts and Q & As below #histfic #historicalmystery

Here’s the blurb

Birmingham, England, November 1944.

Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is summoned to a suspicious death at the BB Sauce factory in Aston on a wet Monday morning in late November 1944.

Greeted by his enthusiastic sergeant, O’Rourke, Sam Mason finds himself plunged into a challenging investigation to discover how Harry Armstrong met his death in a vat containing BB Sauce – a scene that threatens to put him off BB Sauce on his bacon sandwiches for the rest of his life.

Together with Sergeant O’Rourke, Mason follows a trail of seemingly unrelated events until something becomes very clear. The death of Harry Armstrong was certainly murder, and might well be connected to the tragedy unfolding at nearby RAF Fauld. While the uncertainty of war continues, Mason and O’Rourke find themselves seeking answers from the War Office and the Admiralty, as they track down the person who murdered their victim in such an unlikely way.

Join Mason and O’Rourke for the third book in the quirky, historical mystery series, as they once more attempt to solve the impossible in 1940s Erdington.

Rambling Mads (Review)

Splashes Into Books (Review)

Colin Garrow (Review)

Let us alk of May Things (Review)

The Book Elf (Review)

TBHonest (Review)

CandyGirl73 (Review)

redhead_reviews1 (Review)

Kitty McIntosh (Review)

Wild Writing Life (Review)

Bookworm86 (Review)

Novel Kicks (Extract)

My Books and Crafts (Review)

Sarandipity’s (Extract)

Against the Flow (Author Q and A)

Mallach_books (Review)

Becca’s Book Reviews (Review)

Heather Adores Books (Inspiration for the mystery)

kat’s book cave (Review)

Annette_Reads_Daily (Review)

Preorder The Barrage Body, the fourth book in The Erdington Mysteries

All 3 hardbacks in the Erdington Mystery series in a row.

The Secret Sauce is available in ebook, paperback and hardback. Or order a paperback directly from me via my SumUp store. I hope to have the audiobook in a few months.

Check out The Erdington Mysteries series page for more details on The Custard Corpses, The Automobile Assassination and The Secret Sauce.

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On this day in history, The Battle of Hædfeld #nonfiction #histfic #Saxon

The Battle of Hædfeld, 12th October AD632 or 633

Not to give too many spoilers, but below is an account of the battle of Hædfeld on 12th October AD632 or 633 (there is a little bit of confusion surrounding the year and indeed the date due to a belief Bede may not have started the years as we would do).

The Words of Bede from ‘The Ecclesiastical History of the English People’

“EDWIN reigned most gloriously seventeen years over the nations of the English and the Britons, six whereof, as has been said, he also was a servant in the kingdom of Christ. Cadwalla; king of the Britons, rebelled against him, being supported by Penda, a most warlike man of the royal race of the Mercians, and who from that time governed that nation twenty-two years with various success. A great battle being fought in the plain that is called Heathfield, Edwin was killed on the 12th of October, in the year of our Lord 633, being then forty-seven years of age, and all his army was either slain or dispersed. In the same war also, before him, fell Osfrid, one of his sons, a warlike youth; Eanfrid, another of them, compelled by necessity, went over to King Penda, and was by him afterwards, in the reign of Oswald, slain, contrary to his oath.”

Bede, a Northumbrian monk writing a hundred years after the events, was no doubt dismayed that his holy (but only recently converted to Christianity) king, Edwin, was killed by a coalition raised against him, one of whom, Penda, was a pagan. Penda was to cause no end of problems for the Northumbrian kingdom, and its two constituent parts, Bernicia (roughly what we now think of as Northumberland) and Deira (centred around York). It is quite astounding to realise how many people Edwin upset, for it wasn’t just Penda and Cadwallon (believed to have been Edwin’s foster-brother and now king of one of the Welsh kingdoms) who joined the battle. There were many, many people with an axe to grind against Edwin, from the furthest reaches of Britain (check out this post about politics in the seventh century). Yet, victory never seems to have been assured. The two coalitions were almost perfectly poised against one another.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Britain_peoples_circa_600.svg

I find the date of the battle quite fascinating. October. Somewhere near Doncaster, on the banks of the River Don (or so it’s been believed for a long time – this might be being reappraised even as I type this). It would, undoubtedly, have been far past what we consider the ‘prime’ time to be battling. Not yet winter, but summer would undoubtedly have been behind them. It was also a long way from home for the alliance arranged against Edwin, in territory belonging to Edwin. I can’t help thinking he should have had the advantage. But that was most certainly not the case at the end of the day.

I’ve said before, and I’ll repeat it again, as much as we look at this period and see bloody warfare, what we’re really looking at is family politics played out with sword, seax, shield and spear. Edwin was Cadwallon’s foster-brother. Edwin’s son turned on his father and allied with the ‘enemy.’ One of those who joined the alliance against him was his nephew (Edwin’s sister’s son). Edwin had killed his father to become king and he was living in exile. The coming decades saw constant unease between Mercia and Northumbria, which erupted into full-blown war on two subsequent occasions, at Maserfeld in 641/2 (close to the Welsh border) and Winwæd in 655 (again, believed to be somewhere vaguely in the ‘north’ of England, and this time in November!). The ebb and flow of battle undoubtedly categorised these men (and women). While Bede portrays events with religious connotations (for he is writing an eccelsiastical history) it is much more likely family dynamics were at play with their attendent treachery, betrayal and sometimes, more rarely, loyalty.

You can read about this period in my Gods and Kings trilogy.

Check out the Gods and Kings Trilogy page to find articles about the trilogy and Britain in the Seventh Century.

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Shield of Mercia has been out for a week. Here’s what the blog tour hosts had to say about the latest book featuring young Icel #newrelease #histfic #TheEagleofMerciaChronicles #audio

A huge thank you to Rachel and the blog hosts.

Here are the links to the complete reviews.

Being a reviewer is a lot of fun, it’s also a lot of work and takes a great deal of planning. I’m always so grateful to those who take a chance on my books. It can sometimes be a step into the unknown.

Helen Hollick’s blog

Blog Tour Review: Shield of Mercia – M. J. Porter

Shield of Mercia by M J Porter Blog Tour – Review

M J Porter – Shield Of Mercia

BLOG TOUR – Shield of Mercia by MJ Porter

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Ruins and Reading

Shield of Mercia by MJ Porter is a vivid and immersive read

Shield of Mercia by MJ Porter | Book Review

Here’s the blurb

Mercia is triumphant. Her king is safe. But Wessex was never Mercia’s only enemy.

Tamworth, AD836

Following a brutally cold winter, King Wiglaf of Mercia is in the ascendancy. Even Wessex’s Archbishop of Canterbury extraordinarily ventures to Mercia to broker a religious accord. But, can the hard-won peace prevail?

Viking raiders threaten Wessex. These blood-thirsty warriors are fast, skilful and have no reticence about killing those who stand in their way. Their aim isn’t to rule but to overwhelm, slaughter and take ill-gotten wealth.

King Wiglaf is no fool. As the Vikings push to overwhelm Wessex, Mercia’s lands look insecure. King Wiglaf needs the shields of Mercia’s warriors to prevent the overwhelming advancement of their deadliest enemy yet.

To save Mercia, Icel must first prevail over the two men who mean to end his life; King Ecgberht of Wessex and his son, Æthelwulf of Kent and only then the marauding Viking army for whom boundaries have no meaning.

https://amzn.to/4lg5sLP

Check out the Eagle of Mercia Chronicles series page and see the cover for Storm of Mercia. You will also find links to the other release day posts for Shield there, too. Or below.

My attempt at a Saxon poem

The Book of Healing

My 20-second summary of each book (this took a lot of attempts)

The audiobook

Sign up to my Boldwood Books newsletter to keep up to date with all things Icel… https://bit.ly/MJPorterNews

Or, you can order a signed paperback copy directly from me. Check out my bookstore.

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Shield of Mercia is now available. Return to the world of young Icel, and listen to me rabbiting on, again #newrelease #histfic #TheEagleofMerciaChronicles #audio

Me doing a bad job of introducing the new book

In my defence, I am frantically trying to finish another title!

I have mentioned elsewhere that my publisher are now publishing what are known as ‘trade paperbacks’ for their titles. This is the format most of my indie titles are published in, and you can find this ‘new’ size here.

Here’s the blurb

Mercia is triumphant. Her king is safe. But Wessex was never Mercia’s only enemy.

Tamworth, AD836

https://amzn.to/4lg5sLP

Check out the Eagle of Mercia Chronicles series page and see the cover for Storm of Mercia. You will also find links to the other release day posts for Shield there, too. Or below.

My attempt at a Saxon poem

The Book of Healing

My 20-second summary of each book (this took a lot of attempts)

The audiobook

Sign up to my Boldwood Books newsletter to keep up to date with all things Icel… https://bit.ly/MJPorterNews

Or, you can order a signed paperback copy directly from me. Check out my bookstore.

Posts

It’s happy release day to Shield of Mercia. Return to the world of young Icel, and listen to the beginning of the audiobook #newrelease #histfic #TheEagleofMerciaChronicles #audio

The audiobook

The rather wonderful Sean Barrett has narrated all of young Icel’s adventures. Listen to the beginning of the audio now.

Here’s the blurb

Mercia is triumphant. Her king is safe. But Wessex was never Mercia’s only enemy.

Tamworth, AD836

https://amzn.to/4lg5sLP

Check out the Eagle of Mercia Chronicles series page and see the cover for Storm of Mercia

Sign up to my Boldwood Books newsletter to keep up to date with all things Icel… https://bit.ly/MJPorterNews

Or, you can order a signed paperback copy directly from me. Check out my bookstore.

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It’s happy release day to Shield of Mercia. Return to the world of young Icel, and the book of healing #newrelease #histfic #TheEagleofMerciaChronicles

The book of healing

One of the side stories in The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles series, is the (fictional) endeavour of Ealdorman Tidwulf and the healers Gaya and Theodore to gather together all the remedies known by people within Mercia at the time, in the steady hands of Brother Matthew, James and Michael.

There are a number of books of medicine that survive from this period. Most people have heard of Bald’s Leechbook, which lists many remedies, and I find them fascinating. (It’s also available to read online) Some have been proven to be very effective, and while in recent decades the move away from herbal remedies has seen these older remedies somewhat derided, there’s genuine investigative work taking place now to understand them. As was highlighted to me when I attended a Herbal Roots training day last year at Dilston Physik Garden, our reliance on paracetamol and ibuprofen is not only very modern, it is perhaps the reasons these old remedies are not often kept in every household (well, at least the ones people believed worked).

I’ve attended a number of lectures concerning remedies and how these have survived, as well as whether they might prove to be effective (check out www.ancientbiotics.co.uk). One element, aside from all the others, that I find fascinating is the difficulty in transmitting perhaps the most pertinent of information – what quantities should all the component parts in the remedies be used in. (This is something highlighted at one of the many lectures I’ve attended, but I can’t find the reference despite trawling my notebooks, so sincere apologies to the academic involved).

In Shield of Mercia, Icel discusses the problem with Gaya and Theodore, sees the work in progress, and also listens to the monks discussing how they should categorise their work. In particular, they discuss one particular herb, Hundes heafod, also now as snapdragon, which highlights another problem. These herbs might have had multiple names. While there must have been much handed down and a great deal of ‘learned’ knowledge (I’ve also mentioned this in the Dark Age Chronicles where Meddi knows remedies taught to her by the previous seeress) I do think it would still have caused difficulties. If you read some of the remedies, they tell you what to use, but not how much to use.

This is only one of many problems with these ancient remedies; another is that many written herbal remedies were from far warmer climates than the UK. How then were they to find local fauna that had the same properties as those found elsewhere? I am no gardener, or herbalist, (and indeed, I struggle to identity any plants aside from daffodils and roses) but even I can see how frustrating the problems must have been. In including something that we would no doubt use the web to search for these days, in my Saxon stories, I hope to prompt readers to think about what it must have been like to live during the era without paracetamol and ibuprofen, and whatever it is the lovely dentist injects into my gums when I have to have remedial work done – I can only imagine how painful that must have been.

You can read more about medical texts in Medical Writings from Early Medieval England – The Old English Herbal, Lacnunga, and other texts ed and trans by John D Niles and Maria A. D’Aronco (it’s a beautiful edition), and Medical Texts in Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture by Emily Kesling as well as finding the Leechbook online here which has a handy translation alongside it.

Here’s the blurb

Mercia is triumphant. Her king is safe. But Wessex was never Mercia’s only enemy.

Tamworth, AD836

https://amzn.to/4lg5sLP

Check out the Eagle of Mercia Chronicles series page

Sign up to my Boldwood Books newsletter to keep up to date with all things Icel… https://bit.ly/MJPorterNews

You can order a signed paperback copy directly from me. Check out my bookstore.

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It’s happy release day to Shield of Mercia. Return to the world of young Icel. I attempt to summarise all the books in just 20 seconds each. #newrelease #histfic #TheEagleofMerciaChornicles

It’s happy release day to Shield of Mercia. Return to the world of young Icel. It’s going to get cold (and then rather hot). #newrelease #histfic #TheEagleofMerciaChornicles