I hope you had a lovely time over the holiday period and are feeling relaxed & refreshed for the new year! 

I had a very busy time as we went overseas to Taiwan to visit my mother. What with the pandemic and border closures, etc, it had been almost three years since I’d last seen her. Unfortunately, her health hasn’t been very good and she’s been struggling with mobility issues – so it was great to finally spend time with her, look after her for a bit and help with various things around the house.  

OMG, I did struggle with her hoarding habit, though! My mother was brought up not to waste anything and so she doesn’t like to throw anything away, “just in case it might be useful”... I have to confess, we had quite a few “heated arguments” when I attempted to tidy up and get rid of things! I did make some progress eventually but it was an uphill battle. 😉

Anyway, I’m back home now and have been beavering away in the Writing Cave ever since we got back…
 

The next Oxford Tearoom Mystery - coming soon!

I’m pleased to announce that the manuscript for A High Whisk Situation is now with my team of beta readers. Once I get their feedback, I will make revisions and then send the manuscript to my editor, followed by the final proofreading round… but we’re on track for release in February. 

Fancy a sneak peek?
I’ve added a bit more to the excerpt that I shared in the last newsletter. You can find the whole first chapter of the new book HERE
 

What about the next Bewitched by Chocolate mystery?

Fear not, ‘Bewitched’ fans – I have already started plotting the next story featuring Caitlyn, the Widow Mags and your favourite vampire fruit bat 😉 - and I will start writing it in earnest once this next Oxford Tearoom book is published. 

This will be the last book set in Tillyhenge as I’m planning to wrap up the series, so it may take a bit longer to write as I’ll need to tie up a lot of things! But I will keep you posted on the progress, and I hope to release it before Halloween. 

The perfect winter escape - FREE for a limited time!

Get away from the cold, dark days of winter with Ellie the “barefoot sleuth” in Flip-Flops and Murder, the first book in my mystery series set in Florida.

This is my “mini-series” about an English girl who goes on an unexpected vacation to Florida and stumbles on murder among the sugar-white sand and swaying palm trees. Now she must battle sunburn, jet lag and a cheeky parrot named Hemingway while trying to solve the mystery. But with red herrings sending her on a wild ‘gator’ chase and a handsome resort doctor setting her pulse racing in a different way, will Ellie’s first visit to the Sunshine State end up deadlier than she ever imagined?

Flip-Flops and Murder is FREE for a limited time so don’t miss the chance to grab your copy!
Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon DE

If you haven’t started my Barefoot Sleuth Mysteries yet, this is a great opportunity to dive in and read the first book for free!

Ps. Don’t forget to share with any friends & family who enjoy reading mysteries!

A Cover Makeover and a Giveaway! 

Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed that the “sneak peek” cover for A High Whisk Situation looks different in style from the previous books in the series. As mentioned in my last newsletter, the Oxford Tearoom Mysteries are getting a cover makeover! Yup, the books have had the existing covers for a few years now and I thought it would be nice to have a refresh with a new style.

The ebook covers should be automatically updated in your Kindle library (if you have the setting turned on). If you've been collecting the print editions and would like to have a complete set of the "old" covers, then you might want to purchase any that you’re missing in the next few weeks, before they are changed over to the new versions. After that, they will only be available on Amazon in the "new" cover styles.

Win a complete set of the Oxford Tearoom Mysteries:

To celebrate the upcoming release of the new Oxford Tearoom Mystery, I’m giving away a complete print set of the whole series so far (Books 1 – 11), in the “old” covers, to one lucky winner!

To make things simple, all you have to do is leave a comment on my latest blog post to enter the giveaway: Ghillies and spiky booby traps... (Book research in Scotland Part 2) – you can comment on something in the post or tell me about your own travels in Scotland or anything else you like – but it does have to be a “real” comment and not just “I’m entering the giveaway” 😉 .
 

The winner will be randomly drawn from one of the comments and announced in my next newsletter. 

Good luck!

Muesli Moments…