Celebrating the publication an exciting, romantic story of love and new beginnings here’s an excerpt from The Woman Who Felt Invisible a novel full of humour, romance and tear-jerking reality, from international bestselling author, Lizzie Chantree.
“This was it. This was Olivia Tenby’s life, now. This was how low she had come. At the age of forty-one, she was sweating her guts out in a house that felt like a furnace, babysitting two delinquent Labradoodle dogs called Bertie and Belle, while their owners swanned around getting even richer somewhere else. Wiping her palms across her face, feeling glad she’d discarded her top so that she couldn’t drip on it, she pressed a button. Music blared out of speakers set into the ceiling. This house had everything – lights that came on when you spoke to them, a vacuum cleaner that tripped you over while it scurried along the floor of its own accord, and a fridge that dispensed perfectly shaped ice cubes into crystal glasses.
“Olivia looked around furtively for a moment, and then laughed and decided to go for it. Her job as dog sitter extraordinaire had begun two weeks ago. She’d been told to entertain the excitable animals in any way she could think of, as they were naughty and destroyed everything while the owners were out – which they always were. Olivia hadn’t even met them, which was baffling. They left her notes with instructions on how to stop the dogs eating the walls and making a mess of the thick pile carpets. She actually quite liked the job, it was as easy as walking in a straight line. Then she thought about how wobbly she always was after three vodka and cokes, and quickly pushed that picture aside. The dogs were bored and, although her job included giving the house a cursory swipe with a duster, it was always immaculate when she arrived. Something was a bit weird, though, as the place was incredibly hot. The dogs liked to slobber all over her, making her even hotter. So she’d taken to stripping off as soon as she sat down with the pooches, otherwise she’d probably pass out and be found weeks later, mummified in dog hair.”
You can buy the book on Amazon to carry on reading.
I read and review all genres but I’ve chosen a selection of crime books that show the range and scope of narratives some of my favourite authors engage in – there’s something for everyone from police procedurals to amateur sleuths, legal thrillers to avenging families. All of these books are available through bookshops or Bookshop.org which supports independent bookshops.
One Good Lie by Jane Isaac (Canelo)
Famed for her police procedurals, Jane Isaac presents us with a thriller
which deals with the aftermath of a murder with huge repercussions for the
family as another murder happens which may or may not be related – and everyone
is a suspect…
The Rule by David Jackson (Viper)
Daniel’s parents’ have instilled in him to obey the rule. But when his
father’s life is threatened, Daniel breaks that rule. What follows is a
chilling sequence of events with the police on one side and vicious criminal
family on the other and Daniel’s parents sliding into a vortex of wrongdoing to
protect him.
The Killing Kind by Jane Casey (HarperCollins)
Jane Casey keeps the reader on their toes in this legal thriller.
Barrister Ingrid Smith is being stalked by the man she got off a harassment
charge. But nothing is as it seems as she uncovers links that go back to one of
her first cases as a junior. Brilliantly manipulative first person narrative.
Body On The Island by Victoria Dowd (Joffe Books)
An Agatha Christie
type scenario: the five Smart women (the book club amateur sleuths) plus Jess,
Angel, Bottlenose and Spear as well as two drowned bodies are thrown up on an
uninhabited island, facing starvation, hypothermia and the knowledge that there
is a murderer among them. As the body count rises suspicion eats away at them
all. Who is the killer and will the Smart women manage to outwit him or her?
The Invitation by A.M. Castle (HarperCollins)
A locked
room mystery only this time it’s a castle on a Cornish Island which becomes cut
off from the mainland by a storm. The hostess, with her new and much older
husband and two adult children, knows all the secrets her friends have hidden
for years and she’s determined to have fun exposing them. But someone else is
pulling the strings and murder is on the menu in this
The Three Locks by Bonnie MacBird (Collins Crime Club)
MacBird steps back
into the world of Holmes and Watson to adroitly weave three stories into a
compelling narrative featuring a range of characters whose motives are often
hidden behind convention and deceit. Through meticulous research and rigorous
attention to period detail, she eloquently evokes the Victorian atmosphere and,
of course, the world of Holmes and Watson created by Conan Doyle.
Syn by Malcolm Hollingdrake (Holbrook)
Malcolm Hollingdrake
has produced a dream team with DI Decent and DS Warlock for this new series.
The narratives are intensely dark and gritty. He handles the themes with
assurance and the storytelling is superb as the language flows and compels the
reader on with enough twists and turns to keep the reader on their toes until
the dramatic dénouement.
Two Wrongs by Mel McGrath (HQ)
When young women die
in mysterious circumstances at a Bristol university, Honor fears for her
daughter’s life. Haunted by her best friend’s “suicide” years before, she
realises there is a connection and she could at last avenge the deaths and
right the wrongs. But is she strong enough to face the repercussions? A
perfectly plotted, gripping tale of revenge.
My
introduction to Sarah Pinborough’s work came recently as a dramatisation of her
book Behind Her Eyes on Netfilx. I
was totally hooked and bought the book. After listening to her talk about her
life and career on a podcast my fandom was complete. And so to Dead To Her published this month (10
June).
This
is a very different book but there are some similarities not least in the
quality of the writing and perfect plotting. Set in the world of the Savannah
GA elite, Dead To Her introduces you
to a world of glamour, secrets, voodoo, retribution, lust, love, loyalty, lots
of sex followed by betrayal and deceit. You never quite know just who is
pulling the strings, which makes for compelling reading.
Widower
William Radford IV has returned early from his travels to Europe bringing a new
Mrs Radford some forty years his junior. Close friends have been invited to an
elegant soirée to meet Keisha and feelings are mixed to say the least.
Two
worlds collide and ricochet apart. One guest, Marcie has the life she could
never have dreamed of. As the second, younger wife to Jason Maddox she feels
secure if not accepted but she immediately senses the interest between her
husband and his business partner’s new wife from London.
Keisha
is too young, too black, too coarse and too naïve to realise that her new
husband would have checked out her past – to the finest and worst detail. She
is haunted by her past and her culture plus disgusted by her much older husband
with his unpleasant sexual demands once he has taken Viagra.
William’s
saintly first wife haunts their home – with a nod to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca including a Mrs Danvers type
character in the form of the devoted employee, Elizabeth – and the
relationships within the friendship group some of whom have known each other
since childhood. But nothing is what it seems in this multi-layered narrative and
I love how the author plays with your assumptions and trifles with your allegiances
as each twist and turn exposes one dark drama after another until a tantalising
dénouement. Characters are brilliantly depicted and locations feed our lockdown
souls.
Perfect
summer reading wherever you are.
Sarah Pinborough is a
Sunday Times Number One, New York Times and internationally bestselling author
who is published in over 25 territories worldwide. A recent book Cross Her Heart is in development with
World Productions and Dead To Her has
been optioned by a major studio for development as a US TV series.
Sarah has been shortlisted
for the Crime and Thriller Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and was
the 2010 and 2014 winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella. She has
four times been shortlisted for Best Novel. She is also a screenwriter who has
written for the BBC and has several original television projects in
development.
Angelena Boden retired from running her own international training consultancy and happily settled in rural Shropshire. Her greatest pleasure is her garden and having long conversations with the visiting robins. Her books include Edna’s Death Café and Love Bytes Back.
Hi how lovely
to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?
A: Thank you
for inviting me. I’d love a mocktail please. You choose!
So where did we
first meet in real life?
A: We haven’t
met in person but we became acquainted in 2016 and developed a telephone and
Twitter friendship. I really hope we get to meet up in London this year.
What were your
first impressions?
A: I found you
to be very approachable and fun to chat to.
Apart from
writing do we have anything other else in common?
A: Neither of
us suffers fools gladly!
True! I’ve read
Edna’s Death Café so tell me aboutits
sequel.
A: My latest book is Love Bytes Back published by Troubador. It’s the second book in the
Edna Reid Series. When
lonely widow Kitty Merriweather moves to Derbyshire’s Hope Valley, she joins
the Silver Rose online dating site because it offers a safe place for the over
sixties to find romance. There she meets the enigmatic Harvey, a scientist
working on a conservation project in Bali who promises her “hot days and stormy
nights.”
Love blooms quickly but Kitty breaks all the rules laid down by the agency,
putting herself at risk. When little things don’t add up she dismisses them as
being unimportant. Nothing matters more than her plans for them to live happily
ever after. When she confides in her new friend, Edna Reid, octogenarian and
former café owner, Kitty gets angry at Edna’s implication she is likely the
victim of a scam. The more Edna hears about Harvey, the more she is convinced
he’s only interested in Kitty for her money. Using her knowledge of computers
Edna finally uncovers the truth, but where does black magic and murder fit into
this intriguing cosy mystery?
Are you working
on anything at the moment?
A: I’ve been
working on a novel based a memoir for the past two years. It’s called Chasing
Peacocks and is about my time in Iran. It’s now finished and edited but as for
its future…
What would be
your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with
someone you have met or would love to meet?
A: I’d love to
do a Q/A with the former Bishop of Edinburgh – Richard Holloway. His latest
book, Waiting for the Last Bus is one
of my absolutely favourites.
What are you
most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
A: Invite my
daughters for a celebratory dinner and to hug my grandson.
Is there anything lockdown has made you
think about/want to do?
A: My lockdown life hasn’t been much
different from my ordinary life, although I do miss my long coastal walks. I’ve
completed an online course in First Aid Mental Health and I hope to offer my
services to our local hospital.
You can find out more about Angelena Boden and her books here.
Linda Huber grew up in
Glasgow, Scotland, but went to work in Switzerland for a year aged twenty-two,
and has lived there ever since. Her day jobs have included working as a
physiotherapist in hospitals and schools for handicapped children, and teaching
English in a medieval castle. Her writing career began in the nineties, when
she had over fifty short stories published in women’s magazines. Several years
later, she discovered the love of her writing life – psychological suspense
fiction. Her ninth novel, The Runaway,
was published in March 2020. She also writes feel-good novellas as Melinda
Huber, and really appreciates
having the views enjoyed by her characters right on her own doorstep!
Hi Linda how lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?
L: Thank you –
you need to either win the lottery or take out a huge mortgage to buy cocktails
in Switzerland, so I’ve been looking forward to this! I’ll have a White Lady,
please. They always look so elegant.
We can do elegance, Linda. Do you remember where we first met in real life?
L: I think that
was in London. Bloodhound Books threw a huge party in a bar near King’s Cross
Station, and I came over from Switzerland for that. It was a good evening!
It was and I was stunned to see you there, travelling all that way for a party! What were your first impressions?
L: You looked très chic in a dress, if I remember rightly. It was one of those evenings we were all meandering around in semi-darkness saying, ooh, look, there’s so-and-so!
Happy memories. Points in common?
L: The main point
everyone had in common that night was – we were all screaming at each other,
the music was so loud… Writers have so much in common, though, and it’s great
to be able to chat in real life about the ups and downs of the writing life,
especially if you write in a similar genre, as we do. Nobody “gets” it like
another writer!
Indeed and we both started off by writing short stories. Tell me about your latest book?
L: A psychological suspense novel The Runaway. This one’s set mainly in and around St Ives. We had several holidays in Cornwall when I was a child – I just loved the magic of the place. The book centres on a family of three who relocate there from London. One of them discovers that you can’t run away from a secret. Or… can you?
I’ll look forward to reading that. What are you working on now?
L: My WIP at
the moment is another psych. suspense novel. It’s just back from its
structure/characters/plot edit, so I’m working through my editor’s suggestions
and corrections. This one, which is giving me biggest headache ever as far as
finding a title’s concerned, will probably join the others in my self-published
collection, though it won’t be ready for a few months.
We can only think wistfully about book events at the moment so what would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?
L: That’s a
hard one. I think I would like to be on a panel discussing character
development in crime fiction. The other panelists would be Elly Griffiths,
Elizabeth George and Mary Higgins Clark. (I can dream, can’t I?) And if could
do the impossible, I’d like to watch a panel with those three plus Ruth
Rendell. These ladies all write/wrote such great characters.
I’d join you for that! What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
L: Being able
to go where I want to go without packing face masks and hand sanitiser, and
without the nagging fear at the back of my mind all the time.
Is there anything lockdown has made you think about/want to do?
L: I think we’ve all learned to appreciate
what we have, in this pandemic. It’s often the little things in life that give
us the most pleasure – a zoom chat with my kids, meeting (at a suitable
distance) friends locally and having a chat or a coffee. In the Spanish Flu epidemic
last century, it took them three years to get on top of it. I’m hoping for two,
this time, but we’re not even halfway there yet. Thank heavens for the
Internet…
Absolutely and it’s been so lovely to catch
up with you now Linda. I hope it’s not too much longer before we can meet in
real life. In the meantime let’s have another White Lady.
You can find out more about Linda and her books here and follow her on Twitter @LindaHuber19
For many years
Chris Nickson lived in the US, where he was a music journalist (among many
other things). He now writes historical crime, mostly set in Leeds where he was
born and raised, covering a range of era from the 1730s, all the way to the
1980s. Lately his focus has been on Simon Westow, an 1820s thief-taker, and
Detective Superintendent Tom Harper, a working-class man who runs Millgarth
police station in Leeds in the late 1800s/start of the 20th century.
Hi Chris how
lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?
C: I’d love a
cup of tea, please. No sugar, just the tiniest splash of milk.
Well that’s a first but fortunately my teapot is at hand. So where did we first meet in real life?
C: We haven’t –
at least not yet. Maybe sometime post-coronavirus, if such a time can exist.
Well I hope it
does and I look forward to visiting Leeds some time. First impressions?
C: You’re a good writer, and a lovely genial soul.
That’s kind. Points
in common?
C: Both crime
writers, of a certain age, and our politics both seem to lie firmly on the
left.
The last novel I read of yours was The Tin God, a Tom Harper Mystery, which I loved. Tell me about your latest book.
C: Last month The Mystery Press published The Anchoress of Chesterfield, which, as the title suggests, isn’t set in Leeds, but is the fourth in an occasional series set in medieval Chesterfield. I lived near there after I moved back to the UK and really like the place.
Set in the 1360s, it features John the Carpenter who has been happy to leave the investigation of death behind. For six years now he’s been content to work with wood. But times are growing desperate.
Then the coroner summons him to look at the mysterious death of an anchoress, a religious woman who lived in confined solitude. She’s been murdered. Her father is an important local landowner, a man of influence with the crown. He’s distraught, and the money he offers John to find the killer can solve his problems and leave his family comfortable for life. But the path to the truth leads John to places where he’s not welcome and in danger for his own life.
Sounds intriguing. What are you working on now?
C: There’s a
new Simon Westow, To The Dark, coming
at the end of December, and another Tom Harper set for the middle of next year.
Publication has been delayed because of Covid. I’d completed another Tom Harper
to follow that, now awaiting my revisions, and I’m 10k in yet another one,
because the devil finds work for idle hands.
That’s some output! When you take a breath between books, what would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?
C: Raymond
Chandler, Knut Hamsun, and another long chat about the blues with guitarist
Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. We once spent several hours discussing it on the
phone.
Great choice. What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
C: I’m not sure
I trust this government to lift it safely, so I’ll hang back.
Is there anything lockdown has made you think about or want to do?
C: It’s certainly made me think a lot more
about my own mortality, and the need to get the books written that I want to
complete.
Thanks for joining me today, Chris. More
tea?
You can find out more about Chris Nickson and his books here and follow him on Twitter @ChrisNickson2
William Shaw’s fiction has been shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger and a Barry Award and long-listed for the CWA Gold Dagger plus twice for the Theakston’s Prize. His DS Alexandra Cupidi series – and the standalone bestseller The Birdwatcher – are set in Dungeness Kent. He also writes the acclaimed Breen & Tozer crime series set in sixties London. He worked as a journalist for over twenty years and lives in Brighton. His eighth book, Grave’s End, the latest in his Alex Cupidi series, was published in July by Riverrun.
Hi William how lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. I’m on a winner here as I don’t have to pay for the drinks.
However what can I get you at the bar?
W: Oh. I’ve brought my own hip flask of rhubarb gin, as it happens.
You obviously didn’t trust my selection of beverages! I hope that isn’t to do with where we first met in real life?
W: Waterstones, Brighton, I believe. Around 2012 or 2013. It was for a book launch, but I can’t remember which one. There was wine, wasn’t there? Probably snacks.
There’s always wine and, of course, we’ve met up at many book launches since as well as at CrimeFest and Morecambe & Vice. First impressions?
W: Smiles a lot. Slightly shorter than me.
I’m beginning to feel like Hermia in these interviews. Any points in common?
W: We both write books, for starters.
And we’ve both worked as journalists. Thinking about book festivals, what would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?
W: Innua Ellams because I’ve seen a couple of his plays recently and they’re so good. The last was Three Sisters just before lockdown. C. L. Taylor, who I’ve never been on a panel with – but she seems both wise and funny which is my ideal combination. Marina Hyde for similar reasons.
Sounds great. I love your Alex Cupidi series although I haven’t read the latest one, so tell me about Grave’s End.
W: In Grave’s End, an unidentified cadaver is found in a freezer in an unoccupied luxury house. No one seems to know or care who it is or who placed it there. When DS Alexandra Cupidi is handed the case, she can have no idea it will lead her to a series of murderous cover-ups and buried secrets. Namely the discovery of the skeleton of public-school boy, Trevor Grey, beneath a housing development. His disappearance twenty five years earlier had almost passed unnoticed. But as evidence surfaces that his fate was linked to long suppressed rumours of sexual abuse, Cupidi, her teenage daughter Zoe and her friend Bill South find themselves up against powerful forces who will try to silence them.
I’m looking forward to reading that. What are you working on now?
W: I am half way through a standalone set at sea that is filled with VERY bad rich people and there’s a storm coming and I’m not at all sure how they’re going to get out of this. No date yet for that one. Plus my next in the Alex Cupidi series has just gone off to the copy editors and involves trawler-men, but still doesn’t have a title. Titles are hell.
You’ve certainly been busy writing-wise but what are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
W: I play in a ceilidh band. Even when lockdown is lifted I think it’s going to be a long time before we get to do anything like that again, sadly. Weird to say that you miss crowded rooms, isn’t it?
It is. What has lockdown made you think about/want to do?
W: I’ve been doing all sorts of DIY-ish stuff. I built some hefty raised beds and I’ve been restoring cane chairs. Not very crime fiction, is it?
I still remember the lovely bookcase you made for free books outside your house! Thank you so much for joining me here, William, and I look forward to meeting up when all this is over.
You can find out more about William Shaw and his books here and follow him in Twitter: @william1shaw
Rod Reynolds is the author of four novels, including the Charlie Yates series. His 2015 debut, The Dark Inside, was long-listed for the CWA New Blood Dagger, and was followed by Black Night Falling (2016) and Cold Desert Sky (2018); the Guardian has called the books “Pitch-perfect American noir”. A lifelong Londoner, in 2020 Orenda Books published his first novel set in his hometown, Blood Red City. Rod previously worked in advertising as a media buyer, and holds an MA in novel writing from City University London. Rod lives with his wife and spends most of his time trying to keep up with his two young daughters.
Hi Rod how lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?
R: If it’s cocktails it has to be a mojito, please!
A popular choice here. So where did we first meet in real life?
R: Oh no, you’ve got me there – at a book event,
maybe someone’s launch? I do remember we then were thrown together for a panel
at CrimeFest shortly after, which was great fun.
Yes I think it was an Orenda book event at Waterstones and since then we’ve done two CrimeFest panels together. What were your first impressions?
R: Bubbly, lively, chatty, fun.
Any points in common?
R: Writing, writing and writing. Also, my old job was
to buy advertising space in some of the magazines you used to write for.
I’ve enjoyed your Charlie Yates series. Tell me about
your latest book?
R: My latest book, Blood Red City, has just been published and is my first standalone.
Set in my hometown of London, it sees a crusading journalist sent a video of an
apparent murder on a London Tube train. When she begins to investigate, she’s
drawn into a terrifying web of money, politics and power, where information is
the only thing more dangerous than a bullet.
Sounds my perfect type of book. What are you working
on now?
R: I’m working on a standalone that’s a bit more of a
psychological thriller – but I haven’t discussed it with my publisher yet, so I
can’t say too much more about that!
What would be your dream panel (at any event) –
subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love
to meet?
R: I’d love to interview my big writing hero James
Ellroy. I’m a huge fan so I’d like to ask him loads of in-depth questions about
his work – the kind of thing authors hate, because I’d be asking him about some
minor plot point in a twenty-five year old book that he probably barely
remembers writing. He’d most likely just call me names and berate me for the
duration.
Well if you’re reading this Mr Ellroy… What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
R: Being able to go to gigs again. I don’t get to go to that many these days anyway, and lockdown has made me miss and appreciate seeing live music even more.
Is there anything
lockdown has made you think about/want to do?
R: Do some of the trips I’ve had in mind for years, such as travelling across Canada. It’s too easy to put these things off but lockdown and the pandemic have reminded me that there’s no time like the present.
I wonder what your daughters will make of travelling across Canada? Thank you so much for joining me, Rod and I hope we meet up at some book events soon.
You can contact Rod Reynolds rodreynoldsauthor@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @Rod_WR
Eva Jordan is the author of three novels, 183 Times A Year (2016), All The Colours In Between (2017), and Time Will Tell (2019), all are published by Urbane Publications. She also writes short stories and is a columnist and book reviewer for her local lifestyle magazine The Fens.
Eva, how lovely to see you in my
virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?
E: Hi Anne, thanks so much for inviting me to your lovely cocktail lounge. I’d love a glass of Prosecco please; otherwise I’ll have a gin and tonic. Especially if it’s with one of those lovely fruity spice infused tonic waters.
Anything is possible here. So where did we first meet in real life?
E: I’m pretty sure it was at an Urbane drinks party in November 2016 at the Phoenix Arts Club. Then again at a couple more Urbane events, including the book launch of Simon Michael’s Corrupted in London in June 2018. I’ve got a fab couple of photos of you and I, and lovely fellow Urbane author Jo Ely from that day.
What were your first impressions?
E: That you were small, like me, that you had a lovely welcoming smile. You were also very bubbly and chatty, which was great for a newbie writer like me as you (and a few others) really helped put me at ease in what essentially was a roomful of complete strangers.
Any points in common?
E: We are both writers, are both published by Urbane, are both petite (sounds better than small!) and we both like to talk.
True on all counts. Tell me about your latest book?
E: I recently celebrated the first birthday of my third book, Time Will Tell, which, set in both the present day and 1960s London, is a story about family and the bonds that tie us together. It’s also a story of love and loss, retribution and redemption, but above all else, it is a story of hope. It can be read as a standalone but it is also the final chapter in a trilogy of stories regarding this rather madcap family, following on from my previous two novels, 183 Times A Year and All The Colours In Between.
What are you working on now?
E: Hmm… writing wise things have been a bit difficult of late. Unfortunately my daughter is chronically ill and has been for a number of years, which means she relies heavily on me for help. Recent months, however, have been particularly hard, especially with all the restrictions imposed on healthcare by the lockdown, which in turn of course has meant delayed treatment and appointments, and of course, a lack of outside help from friends and family, thus impacting on my time and ability to write. Any spare moments I have managed to steal have seen me exhausted, uninspired, and literally unable to write (partly because of worry). Having said that though, when I did stop writing earlier this year, I was actually part way through two stories; one, a love story spanning four decades, beset by deceit and tragedy and which currently stands at thirty thousand words, and the other, which has a slight supernatural feel about it, and currently stands at twenty thousand words. So it’s not all bad, and as lockdown continues to ease, it’s my dearest hope that gradually I’ll get back to writing again, picking up where I left off.
I hope you will. In the meantime what would be your dream panel (at any
event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or
would love to meet?
E: Ah – now there’s a question. I actually count myself lucky enough to
have met and worked with some fabulous writers over the last five years or so.
But if I could have done, it would have been wonderful to meet and do a Q&A
with Andrea Levy. Sadly Andrea passed away last year, but I love the way she
wrote, and Small Island is definitely
one of my favourite books. I’d also love to meet Anna McPartlin because I love
the way she weaves humour into her family based dramas, even during the really
sad bits. I’d also like to meet Susie Lynes (I think we almost did once!) who
is currently one of my favourite psychological thriller writers. I’m sure,
locked in a room together, I could really learn a lot from these two fabulous
authors.
What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
E: Hugging everyone again. I am an extremely tactile person, especially
with friends and family, and there’s something very intimate, very healing
about a hug – don’t you think? And not being allowed to hug the ones we love
has to me, at times, almost felt inhuman.
Hugging is on my list
as well! Is there anything lockdown has made you think about/want to do?
E: Honestly? To help
people more, especially those struggling with health issues. The lack of proper
help for my daughter has meant I’ve had to do a lot of my own research, which
in turn has led me to alternative and complementary therapies, like homeopathy.
That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped believing in traditional medicine, but I do
think it can be beneficial to practice a combination of both. I’m therefore
seriously thinking about studying and practicing homeopathy. Whether I actually
follow that through, and if I do, whether I continue to write alongside it,
remains to be seen. So… like the title of my third book I guess… ‘Time Will
Tell!’
E: Thank you so much for a fabulous Q&A session, Anne. Now… fancy another drink!
I do and it’s been a
pleasure to see you here and I hope life gets better for your daughter as
lockdown eases and the NHS catches up with itself.
You can find out more about Eva Jordan and her books here and follow her on Twitter: @evajordanwriter
I’ve always loved dictionaries – all types. Synonyms and Antonyms. Signs and Omens; Fowlers; Writers & Editors; Quotations and, when I was translating a French erotic novel, a dictionary of French slang. So when I heard about Amanda Lees’ From Aconite to Zodiac Killer A Dictionary of Crime I was eager to add it to my collection! And as a crime writer it was obviously right up my street. After all there could come a time when I really needed the definition for:
Hempen widow – woman whose husband has been
hanged… Watch my next book.
Seriously though Amanda Lees book is
perfect for lovers of crime in books, TV and film. If you struggle with police
ranks and who is more senior, it’s covered here. If you’re confused by
prisoner’s slang, the explanation lies within these pages. Plus there are
comprehensive entries on who’s who in the US police and US slang.
From Aconite to the Zodiac Killer will take you on a canter through the alphabet explaining acronyms and jargon as well as providing a grounding in the justice system, firearms and poisons.
Whether you’re reading, watching or even writing crime, Ms Lees dictionary with prove a valuable companion.
From Aconite to the Zodiac Killer A Dictionary of Crime is available from Amazon and book shops.
