Despite my best intentions, I haven't had much time for blogging lately - so this week, I'm going to cheat slightly and repost an article that I've written for Jericho Writers!

Following an afternoon out at Chedworth Roman Villa this week, my head is still full of ancient Rome, and in particular of Roman mosaics.  I went to Chedworth Roman Villa as a research trip for the novel I'm currently writing, Death at the Village Knitting Circle.  As all my novels are set in the present day, the relevance of the ancient Romans may not be obvious.

You don't have to go very far in Britain to find funny village names, nor on my own patch in the Cotswolds. One reason is that many names have evolved from ancient forms of English and other languages. Over time, they take on new meanings that bear no relation to their original designation. For example, whereas Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter…

When I was writing my latest novel, Death at the Village Garden Party, my starting point was to wonder what would happen when industrial magnate Robert Praed acquires the local stately home of Bunbury House. In the three earlier books in my Cotswold Curiosity Shop series, it's clear that one of his sidelines is restoring and repurposing old buildings is one of his sidelines.

When I enjoyed a day out at the Monmouth Medieval Festival a few weeks ago, I was surprised to come across the murder weapon used in my new cosy mystery novel, Death at the Village Garden Party: a crossbow.  (Pictured with my husband, above.) Fortunately, in this case, the crossbow was not in the hands not of a killer, but of a very pleasant fellow sharing his expert knowledge of…

Hurrah for the parcel box - a humble everyday item that plays a crucial part in my latest novel, Death at the Village Garden Party. My husband, who is a very good handyman, built a wooden parcel box for our Cotswold cottage during lockdown, so that we could receive deliveries while social distancing.

Drum roll for the publication of my latest novel tomorrow (Friday 31st July)! As part of my launch campaign, I'm pleased to be able to offer you a day early a free bonus chapter that I hope will whet  your appetite for the whole book. Death at the Village Garden Party, the fourth in my bestselling Cotswold Curiosity Shop cosy mystery series…

If you're an avid reader of detective fiction, you may already be familiar with the famous Pinkerton's detective agency, founded in the USA in the nineteenth century by Scottish immigrant Allan Pinkerton. What started as a one-man operation eventually grew into the largest private detective and law enforcement agency in the world. To my amazement, it lives on as a subsidiary of Sweden's…

For over sixteen years, I've been writing a monthly column for two local community magazines, the Tetbury Advertiser and the Hawkesbury Parish News. Around the middle of each month, I'd down tools to dash off 500 words for each paper - a different article for each of them - to meet their deadlines. I've loved every minute of it - even when it meant burning the midnight oil to fit it into my busy schedule.

Q. What's a literary Easter egg? A. It's a little surprise tucked away in a story to amuse readers smart enough to spot it. Today I'm going to tell you about some of the Easter eggs hidden in my books, how some of my author friends like to play the same game, and how to get a free Kindle ebook of my fun little novelette,

Usually my last blog post of each month is a conversation with a fellow author, often about their new book. But this month, as I've just launched my latest cosy mystery novel, The Importance of Being Murdered, I'll be talking to myself!  So, here's a quick Q&A to whet you appetite for my new story. Keep reading through to the end, you'll find not only a buying link to…

Last week, I was pleased to be a speaker at the London Book Fair as a member of the panel discussing "The Rise & Rise of the Authorpreneur", chaired by Orna Ross, founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors and champion of indie authors everywhere. What's an authorpreneur anyway? It's an author who treats their writing like a business - and, crucially, makes money from it!

In motoring terms, if there’s one thing worse that breaking down during rush hour on a roundabout, it’s breaking down during rush-hour on a double roundabout. As I know, having done both, 40 years apart. For both incidents, the clutch was to blame. Breaking Down on a Single Roundabout The first time, a loose connection silently leaked clutch fluid in my wake on my morning commute to Queen Square before I ground to halt at Stokes Croft.

I watched the 2026 Winter Olympics in the same spirit as I view programmes about extreme travel and exploration. By seeing someone on screen compete in risky activities, I feel as if I’ve done them by proxy. Having gained insight into how they’d make me feel, I can tick them off my bucket list. Phew! I was daily amazed by anyone who trained and disciplined their body to the point of superhumanity.

On the last Wednesday of every month, I share a conversation with an author friend, and this month I'm delighted to introduce you to novelist Hastie Salih. I first met Hastie Salih last year at the London Festival of Writing, which is Jericho Writers' annual get-together, bringing together a huge variety of authors at different stages of their careers in a highly creative and supportive atmosphere.

Reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey for the first time has promoted Anne Brontë to position of my favourite Brontë sister. It has also given me a new appreciation of Sarah Gordon's play, Underdog: The Other Other Brontë, a gripping tale of the sisterly support and sibling rivalry between the three famous authors, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, usually lauded in that order.

While writing this year’s murder mystery event for the Hawkesbury Drama Group, I’ve been reminiscing about 1980s office life – the inspiration for my new play, Murder at the Office. (Tickets now on sale here.) Back in the day, as an impressionable twenty-something fresh out of university, I assumed everything I encountered about office life to be normal practice, because I had nothing with which to compare it.

“There is no sin except stupidity” is the provocative Oscar Wilde epigram I chose for my page in my high school yearbook. I’ve always loved Wilde’s way with words, so last year, when writing a murder mystery playscript about an amateur dramatic society, I set it around their rehearsals for Wilde’s comedy play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Cheekily, I named my playscript…

As I look forward to my first state pension payment landing in my bank account tomorrow, I'm thinking about the wise advice about financial economy that I received from my grandma when my grandpa was about to retire. 

Actually, there are very many reasons that I love public libraries, and I've written about them before on this blog. I've also written two short stories inspired by public libraries, published in my flash fiction collection, Quick Change

Forgive the contradiction in terms, but I’ve long mourned the decline of the commonplace book, so I was delighted to discover at a craft fair at Rodmarton Manor last autumn that local bookbinder Ursula Jeakins of Starsmead Bookbinding now creates beautiful volumes especially for that purpose. While there’s been a surge of interest in journalling lately, the end products seem to be fancy versions of the desk diary or personal planner.

As I plan my writing and speaking schedule for 2026, I share my top tip for how to convince yourself you're making the most of your time - and in the postscript share my completed temperature blanket for 2025.  In 1812, when John Letts, founder of the printing, bookbinding, and stationery business Letts of London, launched the first pre-printed diary, it was an overnight success.

In my last post before Christmas, I’d like to pay tribute to Iceland’s heartwarming Christmas tradition of Jólabókaflóð – when everyone gives each other books on Christmas Eve, before curling up by the fire to read them.

After having to cancel a planned mini-break in Bruges due to illness, I’m now settling down into near-hibernation mode for the winter, at least in terms of travel. Not that I have travelled much this year, with short breaks in Norfolk and Scotland. Even so, I’m glad to raise my metaphorical drawbridge and spend a few months on my home turf.

At the end of every month, I like to invite an author friend onto my blog for a fun conversation about their writing life. This month, I'm pleased to welcome Susan Grossey, author of historical crime fiction, whose career I've followed since her debut novel, Fatal Forgery, back in 2013.  Susan specialises in historical cases of financial crime, inspired by her own career.

As someone who makes their living from writing, I often visit places that will fuel the creative part of my brain, such as an art gallery or a museum. So last month I was pleased to spot road signs for the Crafts Alive craft fair at Rodmarton Manor. Run by the Gloucestershire Guild, this event offered a welcome opportunity to visit the private house reputed to be one of the finest Arts and Crafts Movement homes, and I booked a ticket to visit. 

I’ve always dreaded the onset of autumn. As an optimist, I prefer the anticipation of what’s to come, rather than harvest. Spring is my favorite season, with its bright buds and brilliant blossom. Second best is summer, with long daylight hours always a source of pleasure. I can even reconcile myself to September for its often bright, crisp days and occasional spell of Indian summer weather.

I spent part of the weekend before last observing other people’s reactions to country churches they weren’t familiar with: On the Saturday, many visitors from beyond our parish attended the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival's autumn event at St Mary the Virgin, Hawkesbury - my local parish church. On Sunday, at St Andrew's Leighterton, I attended the last of five concerts in the inaugural…

This week, another post about an aspect of my writing life, as featured in the September issue of the Tetbury Advertiser. Tidying my study after the summer holidays, I declutter my desk, taking it down to bare essentials. There’s a pen tray and bottle of ink, a pencil pot, a shelf of project notebooks, and a stack of four in-trays, one tray for each area of my working-from-home life.

Writer's block: it's a term lots of people bandy around as if it's some kind of medical or psychological condition that blocks creative flow. I have strong views about writer's block, which I shared in my talk the Troubador Publishing's annual Self Publishing Conference in Leicester on Saturday. While the talk is still fresh in my mind, I thought I'd share my reasoning in this week's blog post.

Living in a small Cotswold village with a lively community provides ideas and inspiration for writing my cosy mystery novels. I've served on many committees, belonged to different organisations, and taken part in lots of activities since I moved here over thirty years ago. One of my favourite activities here is ringing the church bells, which were installed in our parish church of…

When, as a child, I used to play with my grandma’s button box, I admired each button like a tiny work of art. Born in 1900, Grandma grew up fastening her button-boots with buttonhooks. As a young woman, she embraced flapper styles. The contents of her tin gave a miniature history of twentieth-century fashion. My mum (91) still has her own button box from when she used to make clothes for her children.

I love reading books set in distant countries that I'm unlikely to visit - whether the action takes place in the present day or back in time. Even better when those books have been written by authors who have spent time in those countries for added authenticity and a stronger sense of place. So I was eager to read my avid traveller friend Clare Flynn's latest historical novel, …

This week's post is literally about music - but another kind of music to my ears is readers' early reactions to my new novel, launched last Saturday, and now available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobook. Death at the Village Christmas Fair is the third in the Cotswold Curiosity Shop cosy mystery series, a festive edition launching in midsummer, because that's the way the publishing industry works - operating a season ahead of reality, just like the fashion industry!

In today's new blog post, I'm sharing my latest column for the Tetbury Advertiser, plus a sneak preview of my new novel, Death at the Christmas Village Fair, which launches on 16th August, and reviews of recent holiday reads. Tidying the mug shelf in my walk-in larder, I’m mourning the fact that only my favourite mugs ever get broken. I’m down to a single bone-china Cath Kidston, surrounded by numerous unwanted chunky ones.

For many years, my mum has kept a little notebook in which she writes down the titles and authors of books she has read. As the most avid reader I know, she has inspired my to keep track of my own reading, and for the last five years, I've done the same in a now rather dog-eared Alice in Wondlerland notebook. 

At the end of each month, I invite an author friend to join me in conversation about their latest book or other project of mutual interest. I hope this occasional series gives you interesting insights into what goes on behind the scenes in our writing world, and how authors work.  July's guest is Alison Morton. Although we're writing in very different genres - Alison writes contemporary and alternative history thrillers and I write cosy mystery - we share a love of penning series.

On discovering the upper recruitment age for the British Armed Forces is 39, I feel a flash of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). I’ve missed that boat–or tank, or fighter jet–by a couple of decades. The same goes for the police force. Although there’s no age limit for joining up, they expect you to retire by 60. I don’t know why this irks me.

When earlier in the year, I scheduled this interview with my author chum Helen Hollick, it was going to be on the topic of ghosts, following the publication of her latest non-fiction book, Ghost Encounters: The Lingering Spirits in North Devon. Since then, she's published another book, the ten-author anthology Fate, and is just about to launch A Matter of Murder…

I always enjoy my piano tuner’s annual visit. No matter how much dust has gathered on my bookshelves, or how much laundry is piling up in my utility room, I know he’ll restore at least this one small corner of my house to perfect order.

The Japanese have a word for it: tsundoku*. That is, buying more books, even though you haven’t read all those you have at home. To Western ears, that term may sound like criticism, but in the Far East it’s regarded as reasonable. I’m clearly living in the wrong country. Despite being a speedy reader, I buy books faster than I read them…

"If you want something done, ask a busy person." That may be one reason that I've found myself helping behind the scenes with a wonderful  new music event founded by Badminton Benefice Music Director Ben Humphries. Badminton Benefice - part of the Diocese of Gloucester - contains ten ancient and beautiful rural churches, each in an idyllic, timeless setting. Sharing one vicar between them, the Reverend Richard Thomson, there is a limit to how many church services they can host each month.

I've known Howard Lovy, American journalist, podcaster, and editor for eons, through our work for the Alliance of Independent Authors. I was surprised and delighted for him when he told me he was also about to become a published author. His debut novel, Found and Lost: Jake and Cait's Story, was published by Vine Leaves Press, run by another longstanding author friend of mine, …

(Please note: This post replaces an earlier version that was somehow jumbled in the transmission - I'm hoping it will read in the right order this time!) After emerging from a frantic period of activity, I'm just trying to catch up with myself, and have realized to my horror that I haven't posted on my blog here since 8th April. So today I've decided to do a bit of catching up before it all gets completely out of hand.

I've just discovered that the blog post that I published just now was somehow scrambled in the sending, with the text all out of order. I have no idea why this has happened, as it was all in perfect order when I previewed it prior to sending. I'm reporting it to Wordpress's technical wizards to see if they can fix it.

After emerging from a frantic period of activity, I'm just trying to catch up with myself, and have realized to my horror that I haven't posted on my blog here since 8th April. So today I've decided to do a bit of catching up before it all gets completely out of hand. First off, as a matter of record, I need to share the article I wrote for last month's…

Anyone who has ever worked for their living or played team sport will probably have been told at some point: “There is no I in team.” Writing my first murder mystery play, The Importance of Being Murdered, caused a variation on that theme pop into my head: “There’s no I in theatre”. Even before the first rehearsal, I recognised…

As regular readers of my blog will know, my final post each month is a conversation with an author friend, talking about their creative process and other topics that I hope you will find of interest. This month, it's perfect timing to welcome Linda Alvis to celebrate the launch of her latest travel memoir, the third volume in her series…

 In this month's Hawkesbury Parish News, I'm celebrating the wealth of talent resident in our Cotswold village, and in particular artist James Nickells and his Global Portrait Project.  What is it that makes the residents of Hawkesbury so talented? Is there a secret ingredient in the local water that sparks creativity and talent? Or perhaps there’s something about the parish that encourages those with special gifts and skills to move here.

Despite my house already being full of books, with multiple shelves in every room, I can never resist the draw of secondhand books, whether from a dedicated seller of used books or from a charity shop. Whenever I go on holiday, whether for a long or short break, there seems to be an unwritten rule that I must return with at least one book for every day spent away from home.