Life at Hopgood Hall is never boring, but Alexi Ellis hopes that there will be no more murders for the time being – she’s solved four already and is getting a reputation in the local area for being bad luck.
So when local gossip Polly Pearson arrives at Hopgood hall, Alexi knows this can only mean bad news. Polly has made it clear that she dislikes Alexi, and has campaigned for her to leave Hopgood Hall forever – so what could Polly want?
Then Polly reveals that her partner, Gerry has been found murdered in her B&B and that she is the main suspect! Alexi, her partner Jack and Cosmo the cat are all left speechless. More so when Polly begs Alexi for help improving her innocence.
But Alexi isn’t sure she wants to help this spiteful gossip. Is she really innocent or as deadly as the police believe her to be?
A Deadly Affair is the latest book in the Hopgood Hall Murder Mystery series. I’ve read them all.
By now, we know our main characters, Jack and Alexi, well. However, they are still asking questions about their relationship, and I’m afraid this aspect of the series is my least favourite. Luckily, Cosmo comes to the rescue more often than not.
The mystery itself is complex and well-plotted as our sleuths try to understand why Gerry has been murdered. It quickly transpires that all is not as simple as it first appears. Lambourn is filled with dodgy individuals, any of whom could have been the ones involved.
The resolution of the mystery unfolds quickly. I always say I judge a mystery by whether or not I guessed ‘who did it,’ and I did not see this one coming.
These mysteries often have quite a dark underbelly to them (a nod to the author’s other genre, I’m sure), and this one, similar to book 1, fits that bill. It is not quite as cosy as I prefer (because I’m a big wuss), but that doesn’t detract from the fine plotting and masterful way the mystery has been plotted by the author. I take my hat off to EV Hunter for that:)
I have read book 4, A Story to Strangle For, but I’ve failed to review on the blog.
Meet the author
Evie Hunter has written a great many successful regency romances as Wendy Soliman and is now redirecting her talents to produce dark gritty thrillers for Boldwood. For the past twenty years she has lived the life of a nomad, roaming the world on interesting forms of transport, but has now settled back in the UK.
While traveling on an overnight train from Barcelona to Madrid, my friends and I had an unexpected discovery when we got to our cabin.
Sheilds, Jim, Nicole, and I work our way down the carriages. We pass through the non-operative dining car to arrive at the entrance to our seated cabin. I slide open the door and am surprised to find the small compartment already full of people. It is a six-person sitting cabin and there are eight bodies already squeezed in. Not just any people, either.
They are gypsies.
There is an uncomfortable silence among everyone present who is not a gypsy before I speak.
“Um, is this your cabin?” I ask.
“Of course,” one gypsy replies.
I nod, turn, and shoo my companions back into the dining car.
“Are they in our cabin?” Sheilds asks.
“I don’t know. They say it is theirs,” I answer. “Are we sure we have the right wagon?”
“I am sure that is our cabin,” Sheilds declares. “They need to leave.”
She extends her arm and points towards the corridor that leads to our cabin. What? Sheilds expects me to go back and throw them out? Why me? Why do we not simplytake advantage of all this open space in the empty dining car for the trip? Nicole gives me an expectant look as well. Great. Now I must impress my future wife. I take a slow, deep breath. Surely Gypsies are not as dangerous as the German Mafia. I keep repeating this to myself as I walk back to the door of the cabin filled with the unwelcome, and unwashed, guests.
I slide open the door cautiously. Every pair of gypsy eyes in the room turn to me. I gulp.
“Excuse me. Do you have tickets for this cabin?” I firmly ask.
The gypsies disclose their complete surprise at being put on the spot for overtaking a cabin that is not theirs.
“We do not need tickets. We are gypsies.”
“We like this cabin.”
“We are gypsies, we mean you no harm,” one coyly remarks.
“I am sorry. If you do not have a ticket for this room, you need to get out,” I state, while standing at the door looking as menacing as I can as my knees are shaking.
Here’s the blurb
The best has been saved to last. Book 3 of a hilarious series of travel misadventures and dubious personal introspection by Australian author Simon Yeats, who from an early age learned that the best way to approach the misfortunes of this world is to laugh about it.
Simon shares his comedic insights into the unusual and uproarious elements of living life as an Aussie ex-pat and having a sense of Wanderlust as pervasive as Cholera in the 1850s.
From how to outwit the Italian police while trying to find parking in downtown Genoa, to how to negotiate exploring the Roman ruins of Plovdiv, Bulgaria while on crutches, to how to impress the German Mafia with 80s dance moves, to how to leave a lasting impression on a crowded bar in Gothenburg, Sweden after combining alcohol and antibiotics.
Simon Yeats has gone into the world and experienced all the out of the ordinary moments for you to sit back and enjoy the experience without the need to rupture a disc or succumb to Dengue fever.
Simon Yeats has lived nine lives, and by all estimations, is fast running out of the number he has left. His life of globetrotting the globe was not the one he expected to lead. He grew up a quiet, shy boy teased by other kids on the playgrounds for his red hair. But he developed a keen wit and sense of humor to always see the funnier side of life.
With an overwhelming love of travel, a propensity to find trouble where there was none, and being a passionate advocate of mental health, Simon’s stories will leave a reader either rolling on the floor in tears of laughter, or breathing deeply that the adventures he has led were survived.
No author has laughed longer or cried with less restraint at the travails of life.
Team Spirit: a humorous take on tennis club turmoil
Everything seems straightforward enough with agreement reached for the tennis club to hold social events at the nearby Dream Café while the clubhouse is being rebuilt.
When Oliver Kilroy is forced to resign as club chairman after taking a bribe from the builder, Laurie, his young and inexperienced deputy, is left in charge of running the club. He accepts the post on condition that the attractive Helen is prepared to support him as the new deputy.
The pair are faced with an unprecedented run of challenges. The builder is failing to deliver on time. A player’s dubious line calls are infuriating opponents. The WhatsApp group has become a hotbed of slanderous gossip. A middle-aged flirt is antagonising the female members. And poor behaviour at the Dream Café is threatening the agreement.
Helen and Laurie are struggling to cope, though tennis club problems are a distant second for Helen as she attempts to start a relationship with Laurie. She’s sure he also wants that but something major is going on in his life to prevent progress. What is that something and can it be overcome?
R J Gould writes contemporary fiction about relationships using a mix of wry humour and pathos to describe the tragi-comic life journeys of his protagonists. Team Spirit is his tenth novel and the fourth in the stand-alone ‘at the Dream Café’ series. He has been published by Headline Accent and Lume Books and also self-publishes. Before becoming a full-time author he worked in the education and charity sectors. In addition to his addiction to telling stories, he has somewhat milder addictions to playing tennis, watching film noir cinema, completing Wordle and eating dried mango slices. He is a member of Cambridge Writers, Society of Authors and the Romantic Novelists’ Association UK. He lives in Cambridge, England.
Seven years after Elizabeth Bennett married Fitzwilliam Darcy, they are still deeply in love, with two small children. But paradise is showing cracks now that Darcy’s aged housekeeper has died and Elizabeth must take up her duties. It’s more than one woman, even one as capable as Elizabeth, can manage.
Her sister Kitty, with Elizabeth and Jane’s help and a heroic effort on Kitty’s part, has outgrown her silly youth and matured into a sensible young woman—who, being sensible, spends as much time away from her parents and visiting her sisters as possible. Darcy’s sister Georgiana, with perhaps more influence from Elizabeth than is good for her, has become a confident, independent woman who is nevertheless ripe for romance. Charlotte Collins, newly widowed, is searching for a way out of the household of her husband’s crabbed patron, Lady Catherine, that doesn’t involve returning to her parents’ house.
Elizabeth sees a way to restore order to Pemberley and give herself a chance to to breathe: she offers Kitty a job as housekeeper of the estate, and Charlotte a job as governess of her adored children.
With these four women under one roof, chaos and the unexpected are inevitable. Both Kitty and Georgiana meet and begin falling in love with honorable, interesting men, neither of whom are gentlemen and therefore not considered eligible matches for them. Charlotte has the opposite problem: a childhood acquaintance who is now a Lord has become fixated on her and begins diligently wooing her, when all she wants is a quiet life and a chance to recover from eight years of marriage to a man she never loved.
When Elizabeth and Darcy learn of their sisters’ budding romances, each has the same reaction: delight at their sister-in-law’s choice and outrage at that of their sister. Now throw a ball into the mix, with Elizabeth’s mother bringing up forbidden topics from the past and her father hiding from the noise, Jane and Bingley attempting to calm the waters, Elizabeth trying to set up all three of the younger women, and Charlotte’s Lord pursuing her all over the dance floor—and an explosion is sure to happen.
This charming romance will delight all lovers of Jane Austen’s masterpiece who have ever wondered, “What happened next?”
Noni Valentine grew up in the north central part of the U.S., but moved away after graduating from high school, and never again stayed in one place for long. She has been writing for most of her life, but discovered Jane Austen as an adult and fell in love all over again.
She lives with a small menagerie of feathered and furry companions. Oh, almost forgot—there’s a human in that collection as well.
Here’s an excerpt from How to Avoid Getting Mugged in Rio de Janeiro by Singing Songs by The Police and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips
My friends wanted to go to Tijuana while they were visiting me in Los Angeles. Then things got out of control.
After crossing the walking bridge over the Tijuana River, which serves as both the city’s sewerage outlet and major water supply, a person enters Zona Centro. I count nine strip clubs on the first street. Ten, if I include Déjà Vu Showgirls back on the other side of the river. This is my favorite thing to do when traveling – count.
Within ten minutes of being in Tijuana, the three of us are bored. Any person who is not crazy about buying knickknacks with a Mexican flag on them would be bored. We could have stayed at the Outlet Mall and been as bored, while being closer to the car. I make a joke with Jim that it is a good thing we are not here to watch the mythical Tijuana woman and donkey show.
Jim and Sheilds’ ears prick up.
What is that about a grotesque sex show that allegedly exists somewhere along the pristine streets of Tijuana?
“Do you know where they have it?”
“I have no idea.”
“We have to see it.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Yes, we do. We are going.”
“We are not going to sit through a fucking matinee of a woman getting amorous with a donkey.”
“Yes, we are.”
“Explain to me again why we are mates, Sheilds?”
The mere idea of the existence of a woman and donkey show churns my stomach. This is Tijuana’s legend. A dirty, disgusting myth that should only arouse blind drunk sailors and animal activists. But Jim and Sheilds are all over it like white on rice. These two deviants were made for each other.
I try to explain to them that it is a fable. Like the lost gold city of El Dorado, the resting place of Noah’s Ark, or the now uninteresting Bermuda triangle. However, the genie is out of the bottle. They insist we are going to find it and watch.
For God’s sake, why?
An important tip to remember when traveling in a group that is looking to find a cheap thrill. Make sure the weird sexual proclivities of all members are closely aligned. Or, if a person is as boring as I am, only travel with people who have been desexed.
Sheilds and Jim do not seem to understand, or care. If this show really existed, its story would not be shrouded in a veil of mystery, now would it? It is certainly not marked on any of the maps of walking tours of Tijuana.
“We need to get out of the main tourist area, then.”
“Hell no,” I scream. “If I can’t be so close to the border that when I yell ‘help,’ a US marine is within earshot, we do not go a fucking step further.”
“Pussy.”
“Pussy.”
These two are paying no mind to the inherent dangers of being in the most dangerous city on earth. The town with the world’s highest murder rate per capita. They are adamant that no cost is too high to find the club that has the women and donkey show.
“We are on an adventure.”
Here’s the blurb
Australian author Simon Yeats, who from an early age learned that the best way to approach the misfortunes of this world is to laugh about it.
Simon shares his comedic insights into the unusual and uproarious elements of living life as an Aussie ex-pat and having a sense of Wanderlust as pervasive as the Bubonic Plague in the 1300s.
From what to do when several people converge to rob you after midnight on a deserted Copacabana Beach, to how to save the Sierra Mountain Range from a wildfire outbreak due to a lack of quality toilet paper, to where not to go in Tijuana when trying to locate the origins to stories of the city’s mythical adult entertainment, to how to save yourself from drowning when caught in a storm while sailing off the California coast.
Simon Yeats has gone into the world and experienced all the out of the ordinary moments for you to sit back and enjoy the experience without the need to lose an eye or damage your liver.
Simon Yeats has lived nine lives, and by all estimations, is fast running out of the number he has left. His life of globetrotting the globe was not the one he expected to lead. He grew up a quiet, shy boy teased by other kids on the playgrounds for his red hair. But he developed a keen wit and sense of humor to always see the funnier side of life.
With an overwhelming love of travel, a propensity to find trouble where there was none, and being a passionate advocate of mental health, Simon’s stories will leave a reader either rolling on the floor in tears of laughter, or breathing deeply that the adventures he has led were survived.
No author has laughed longer or cried with less restraint at the travails of life.
Fans of Kristy Cambron, Stephanie Dray, and Julia Quinn will adore this Victorian romance from historical fiction dynamo, Rachel Brimble.
Seamstress Rose Watson cannot believe her good fortune when she’s plucked from obscurity to work for Lady Christina, the Countess of Bath. Despite her parents’ distrust that the position will come with conditions, Rose accepts the unexpected offer.
When she arrives at the royal residence of Henlow House, a strange sense of destiny whispers through her, and Rose cannot wait for this new adventure to begin. Although, she has Henry Ward to deal with, the handsome, risk-taking and—though she is loath to admit it—exciting royal saddler and horse trainer, who both fascinates and frustrates her in equal measure.
They could not be more different…with the exception of their hunger for more.
But as they begin to trust one another, and their bond flourishes, Rose’s connection with Henry could cause her to lose her position at Henlow House, which would destroy her. Will she be forced to choose between love and ambition? Either choice will change her life irrevocably.
A captivating escape that will touch your heart and keep you turning pages with impatient hope for Rose…
Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Female Entrepreneur Association and has thousands of social media followers all over the world. She is also studying for a history degree with the Open University in her spare time…
Set against the majestic backdrop of Imperial Istanbul in the aftermath of the First World War, A Farewell To Imperial Istanbul is a captivating tale of family, duty and the resilience of the human spirit.
İstanbul, 1922: As the Ottoman Empire crumbles in the wake of the Great War, the fate of the Imperial capital and the House of Osman come under threat. Emboldened following their victory in the Turkish War of Independence, the Turkish Nationalist Government in Ankara abolishes the Ottoman Sultanate, marking the end of over six centuries of Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Caliphate endures for now, but Istanbul, stripped of its Imperial mantle, mourns its lost glory. Prince Nihadfears for the nation and the fate of the Imperial family, while his son, Prince Vâsıb, envisions a hopeful future defined by peace following the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne.
As the new Republic of Türkiye emerges from the ashes of the once-mighty Ottoman Empire, Istanbul and the Ottoman Dynasty confront the crossroads of history, their destinies entwined with the shifting tides of the Bosphorus. Yet, amidst these perilous currents that separate East and West, where the deep waters threaten to engulf the city’s Imperial past and sweep away its soul embodied by the Imperial family, the Ottoman Dynasty must navigate a new and uncertain course.
The history of the Turks and their vast and powerful Empire has been intertwined with the Ottoman Dynasty for over six hundred years. But can the Imperial family survive the tempest of change as the world enters a new era?
Ayşe Gülnev Osmanoğlu is a member of the Ottoman Imperial family, being descended from Sultan Murad V through her grandfather, and from Sultan Mehmed V (Mehmed Reşad) through her grandmother. After reading History and Politics at the University of Exeter, she obtained an M.A. in Turkish Studies from SOAS, University of London, where she specialised in Ottoman History. Her debut novel, The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus was published in 2020.
Ayşe Osmanoğlu lives between Türkiye, France and the United Kingdom with her husband, five children and two cats. Her research and literary works concentrate on the late Ottoman period, exploring narratives embedded in her imperial heritage.
Giveaway To Win an A Farewell to Imperial İstanbul prize bundle… (Open to UK Only)
The list of prizes is below:
Paperback signed copy of A Farewell to Imperial İstanbul
Scented Candle from the Imperial İstanbul Collection – Scent: Harem Garden (Jasmine, Rose & Orange Blossom)
Black matchsticks
Traditional Rose Turkish Delight
A Farewell to Imperial İstanbul postcard
Set of four A Farewell to Imperial İstanbul bookmarks
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
I’m delighted to be sharing a guest post by Juliet Greenwood about how she researched the historical elements of her new book, The Secret Daughter of Venice.
Researching the experience of women in WW2
I found the hardest part of my research for The Secret Daughter of Venice, as with all my books, was finding events described from the point of view of the women who survived WW2, both in the UK and in Europe. There is getting to be more information now about ‘ordinary’ people, as well as the soldiers, the generals, the heads of state and the politicians who have always been at the centre of the story, but it is still difficult to find first-hand accounts and to really gauge how people lived, how they thought, how they survived.
I can remember as a child instinctively noticing the difference, without being able to put it into words, between the films about the war that generally focused on the heroics of battles, while at the same time hearing my parents and their generation re-living their experiences of everyday life under the shadow of shortages, of the possibility of death at any moment and the fear of what would happen should the UK be invaded. What I remember from the French side of the family, along with my teachers who had arrived in the UK as refugees from France and Germany, is the silence. I think, even then, I understood that all they had lived through, and were still living with, such as family lost in the gas chambers and memories of the firestorm in Hamburg, were too traumatic to express.
That was when I began to feel that I wanted to know more about the invisible, every day, experience of war. That’s not to say that the experience of those fighting evil in any way they could, or surviving the obscenity of concentration camps, is any less vital. It’s just that those have the information readily, and have been written about at length, while the women and children still remain largely silent.
The research I found most challenging involved the experience of women, and children and civilians in Europe during the war. Kate, the heroine of The Secret Daughter of Venice, experiences the war largely in Cornwall where, despite the shortages and the fear, and the anxiety for those at the front, life is ordered and purposeful, focused on growing food and looking after orphaned children in a place safe from the bombing of UK cities. It is only after the war has ended that she sees the utter destruction in Naples, the traumatised children left alone and fending for themselves, vulnerable to anyone wishing to prey on the desperate. Sofia, the second main character in the book, survives the war in Venice, where there is not the physical destruction experienced in the surrounding countryside, but the fear, along with shortages and hardship, seep into all parts of life, particularly once the Italians overthrow the fascist Mussolini and join the allies in the fight against Hitler, leading to Venice being occupied by the German army.
Like with my previous novel for Storm, The Last Train from Paris, I tried to glean from snippets of information what it must have been like to live through such terrifying times. How do you live when your country has been invaded by an alien force, when your existence, and those of your children, is meaningless, to be snuffed out on a whim? The Europe left after WW2 was very similar to the utter destruction we now see on our TV screens, with cities decimated, leaving no housing, no hospitals, no way of making a living, and, even if you have money, no food to buy, not even safe water to drink? I can see why reporters focus on the horrors, but we still have relatively little information of the quiet heroism of surviving day to day, when all the benefits of modern life have been stripped away.
I did find some first-hand accounts that gave me clues, including local newspapers and the oral histories contained in the BBC’s WW2 People’s War. But, in the end, I found myself going back to my memories of those I had heard talk – or not speak at all – of living through such times to try and get under the skin of what it must have been like. I can just hope that, in some measure, it helps to break the silence.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Here’s the blurb
The paper is stiff and brittle with age as Kate unfolds it with trembling hands. She gasps at the pencil sketch of a rippling waterway, lined by tall buildings, curving towards the dome of a cathedral. She feels a connection deep in her heart. Venice.
England, 1941. When Kate Arden discovers a secret stash of drawings hidden in the pages of an old volume of poetry given to her as a baby, her breath catches. All her life, she has felt like an outsider in her aristocratic adoptive family, who refuse to answer any questions about her past. But the drawings spark a forgotten memory: a long journey by boat… warm arms that held her tight, and then let go.
Could these pictures unlock the secret of who she is? Why her mother left her? With war raging around the continent, she will brave everything to find out…
A gripping, emotional historical novel of love and art that will captivate fans of The Venice Sketchbook, The Woman on the Bridge and The Nightingale.
Juliet Greenwood is a historical novelist published by Storm Publishing. Her previous novel, The Last Train from Paris, was published to rave reviews and reached the top 100 kindle chart in the USA. She has long been inspired by the histories of the women in her family, and in particular with how strong-minded and independent women have overcome the limitations imposed on them by the constraints of their time, and the way generations of women hold families and communities together in times of crisis, including during WW2.
After graduating in English from Lancaster University and Kings College, London, Juliet worked on a variety of jobs to support her ambition to be a full-time writer. These ranged from running a craft stall at Covent Garden to running a small charity working with disadvantaged children, and collecting oral histories of traditional villages before they are lost forever. She finally achieved her dream of becoming a published author following a debilitating viral illness, with her first novel being a finalist for The People’s Book Prize and her first two novels reaching #4 and #5 in the UK Kindle store.
Juliet now lives in a traditional quarryman’s cottage in Snowdonia, North Wales, set between the mountains and the sea, with an overgrown garden (good for insects!) and a surprisingly successful grapevine. She can be found dog walking in all weathers working on the plot for her next novel, camera to hand.
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
I always love to hear how authors research their historical characters and events. KJ McGillick shares how she researched for her new book, Whispers Through the Canvas.
Howard Dynasty
To study the powerful Howard dynasty of Tudor England, I consulted a variety of digitized primary sources available online such as wills, letters, court records, and literary works from the era. Searching through these collections, I found references to key Howard figures like the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and his ill-fated relatives. Contemporary accounts provided glimpses into the scandals, romantic entanglements, and power dynamics playing out at the royal court and aristocratic estates. Family correspondence shed light on inheritance disputes among the duke’s children. Literary pieces like Surrey’s poems and writings by other Howards offered additional perspectives on their remarkable century – chronicling their ascent, arts patronage, and the perils their elite status invited.
Levina Teerlinc To learn about Levina Teerlinc, one of the earliest professional female artists in Renaissance England, I turned to digitized primary sources and secondary analyses available online. High-resolution images of Teerlinc’s exquisite miniature portraits hosted by museums revealed her skill at capturing likenesses. I searched literature databases for any mentions of Teerlinc from writings of her era, finding scattered records confirming her lifelong court employment. While limited biographical details survive, historians have reconstructed some context about her Flemish origins and artistic training based on fragments of evidence. Scholarly articles also examined her pioneering role as an art tutor to noble pupils.
Witchcraft 16th Century
To investigate 16th century England’s witchcraft accusations and trials, I immersed myself in digitized primary sources and scholarly research available online. This allowed me to examine the social tensions, religious upheaval, and cultural forces behind the deadly persecution of alleged witches. I accessed sensationalized literature published during the witch-hunting frenzy, providing window into the paranoia around women supposedly consorting with the devil. Legal records and transcripts illuminated how flimsy the evidence used to condemn the accused often was – a person’s reputation, a death, or unexplained misfortune could prompt charges. Scholarly journal articles analyzed the complex sociopolitical tensions of the Reformation era that enabled witchcraft hysteria to take hold, from anxieties over female autonomy to ruling elite distrust of the peasantry.
16th century Occult Symbols
To explore the fascinating world of occult symbols and their place in 16th century English society, I delved into a range of digitized primary source materials and secondary scholarship available online.
One key resource was literature databases containing published works from the era. I examined texts on astrology, alchemy, magic, and esoteric philosophies for insight into the symbolic languages and imagery employed by occult practitioners and their beliefs. Engravings and woodcuts accompanying these works provided a visual catalogue of seals, sigils, and emblems.
I also searched through digitized diaries, letters, and accounts of the time for references to the use of occult symbols and coded markings in both elite and folk traditions. Correspondence between royals, nobles, and scholars sometimes mentioned encrypted communications or arcane symbolic meanings.
Court records, witness depositions, and transcripts from witchcraft trials offered a window into societal suspicion surrounding the perceived nefarious use and misuse of symbols and markings associated with magic and the supernatural. The language and suspicions revealed in these documents shed light on prevailing attitudes.
Additionally, I consulted digitized archaeological reports, inventories of home goods, and material culture studies to trace actual artifacts and objects bearing occult symbols that survived from 16th century England – whether tools, talismans or architecture.
By synthesizing evidence from these various sources, I could begin mapping the complex cosmological, mystical, and coded symbolic vernacular of the Renaissance era and how it manifested in art, writings, personal practice, and dangerous accusations.
Intrigued? Here’s the blurb.
Here’s the blurb
Murder… Across The Fractured Corridors of Time.
Plunged into a centuries-old conspiracy, unconventional art historian Rowan Southeil must race against time to stop an ancient evil from rewriting history. When a young artist is murdered in a chilling echo of medieval violence, Rowan finds herself drawn to a seemingly unrelated clue – a 16th-century painting drenched in arcane symbols. Aided by the victim’s haunting presence, Rowan delves into the painting’s mysterious past, uncovering a dark conspiracy that stretches back generations.
Teaming up with the pragmatic Detective Lancaster, the intuitive Rowan follows a daring journey through time, from the storied halls of 16th-century Tudor London to the secretive 17th-century Vatican. As she awakens powerful elemental forces within herself, Rowan must decipher the painting’s secrets – and the connection to the medieval-style murder – before Lev Rubilov, a dark centuries-old occultist, can harness its magic to rewrite history and restore a twisted vision of the past.
For fans of genre-blending thrillers like A Discovery of Witches and Outlander, this captivating novel weaves together mystery, the supernatural, and high-stakes time travel in a race against the clock to stop an ancient evil. Whispers Through The Canvas is a crime story, filled with action and adventure, within a historical fantasy milieu. If you love kick-ass heroines who have a bit of life experience and walk on the wild side of magic, this book is for you.
From the bustling courtrooms of Atlanta to the vibrant tapestry of 16th-century England, Kathleen McGillick’s life and career have been a captivating blend of legal expertise, artistic passion, and a thirst for adventure.
Fueled by an undergraduate and graduate degree in nursing, Kathleen built a foundation of compassion and care. This dedication to service later led her to pursue a Juris Doctorate, allowing her to navigate the intricacies of the legal system for nearly three decades. Her courtroom experience now breathes life into the intricate details of her legal thrillers, ensuring every courtroom scene crackles with authenticity.
But Kathleen’s story doesn’t end there. A deep fascination with art history led her to delve into the world of renowned artists and captivating eras. Her particular passion for 16th-century British history allows her to transport readers to richly detailed historical settings, immersing them in the culture, politics, and societal nuances of the time.
Driven by an unwavering dedication to her craft, Kathleen has independently published eleven legal thrillers since 2018. Her commitment extends beyond solo creation, as she actively engages with the writing community, honing her skills through workshops and courses led by renowned authors.
And when she’s not crafting captivating narratives, Kathleen embarks on international journeys, soaking in diverse cultures and experiences that further enrich her writing. This global perspective adds another layer of depth and realism to her stories, allowing readers to connect with characters and settings that transcend geographical boundaries.
To delve deeper into Kathleen’s world and explore her captivating legal thrillers, visit her website at kjmcgillick.com.
A delightfully heartwarming and funny story that proves it’s never too late to change the habits of a lifetime, perfect for fans of Judy Leigh, Hazel Prior and Maddie Please.
Something old, something new, something stolen…?
Gina Knight is looking forward to the prospect of retirement with her husband of forty-three years. Until, to her surprise, said husband decides he needs to ‘find himself’ – alone – and disappears to Santa Fe, leaving divorce papers in his wake.
Now Gina needs a new role in life, not to mention somewhere to live, so she applies for the position of Companion to elderly Dorothy Reed. At eighty-three, ‘Dot’ needs someone to help her around the house – or at least, her family seems to think so. Her companion’s first role would be to accompany Dot for a week-long extravagant wedding party.
But when Georgina arrives at the large Norfolk estate where the wedding will take place, she quickly discovers Dot has an ulterior motive for hiring her. While the other guests are busy sipping champagne and playing croquet, Dot needs Georgina to help her solve a mystery – about a missing painting, which she believes is hidden somewhere in the house.
Because, after all, who would suspect two old ladies of getting up to mischief?
Old Girls Behaving Badly is a fun read with elements of mystery, which I wasn’t expecting and was very pleased to discover.
Our two main characters (and we get both of their POVs), Gina and Dorothy, are coming to terms (or not) with recent changes in their lives. While neither of them thinks they necessarily need one another, they soon discover that, in fact, they do, and they also like one another.
As the events of Dorothy’s big family wedding swirl around them, Gina and Dorothy are somewhat distanced from it. Both are trying to uncover the truth surrounding Dorothy’s husband’s death about a year ago. With the addition of a more fleet-footed granddaughter, our duo pursues the matter to the bitter end, and yes, it does feature a quad bike ride.
This story is really enjoyable. I read it in two days:)
Meet the author
Kate Galley writes UpLit and Bookclub fiction full of heart and humour. The older generation are at the centre of her stories and are usually wrapped up in a mystery.
She lives with her family in Buckinghamshire and works part time as a mobile hairdresser in the surrounding Chiltern villages.
In her spare time she crochets blankets, knits jumpers and also disappears into her workshop to play with kiln formed glass.
Kate is the author of The Second Chance Holiday Club – which has been optioned for TV – and The Golden Girls’ Road Trip.
MJ Porter 