Crawley Festival of Words My latest Maybridge Murder Mystery is with my editor so until I have more news about that, I thought I’d let you know what else I’ve been up — apart from the housework! This weekend was the Crawley Festival of Words crime weekend. I was thrilled to be able to hear Elly Griffiths and Barbara Nadel talk about their latest books. I’m really excited about the new “Frozen” series from Elly which will be published next year. And then it my turn when the weekend  climaxed with a Noir at the Bar event. Noir at the Bar Noir at the Bar started in the US but is now becoming ..read more

On the Couch with Liz Fielding… For those of you at work, or in a different time zone, I’m posting the link to my On the Couch interview with CR38IVES, that went live this morning on Linkedin. You can catch up with it here on YouTube ..read more

….while the weather has kept me indoors on the sofa. The temperature has been bitingly cold – and there’s been a bit of snow – so while I’ve been writing during the day, I’ve been catching up on my reading during the evening. First up is the latest in the Libby Sarjeant murder mystery series from Lesley Cookman. Libby is an old friend and it’s always a joy to catch up what’s happening in her corner of Kent. Cozy? Cosy? However you spell it murder is brutal When a man’s body is found bludgeoned to death in a doorway, Libby  has to work hard to unravel this mysterious death but undeterred a ..read more

Taking a chance The year is nearly at an end and I couldn’t let it pass without a little reflection on how different it has been for me. This was the year of the great change, from thirty years of writing romance to becoming a published crime writer. Murder Among the Roses was a book of the heart. A story that had been sitting, half-formed, in the bottom of my desk for years. It was a story I longed to tell but with a constant demand for my romances, I’d had no time to write. Then the world changed. Lockdown In the bleakness of lockdown, the shocking daily statistics on the news, many of us co ..read more

  The great Leigh Michaels believes that we need a new book category – the accidental historical. Read all about it today on the Liberta Books blog ..read more

Strand Magazine in the United States asked me to write a blog for them on English crime novels for a winter’s night. Here’s the link – ENGLISH CRIME STORIES FOR A WINTER NIGHT ..read more

Where do you begin? I have noticed, when reading reviews of Murder Under the Mistletoe, that several people said that they wished they’d read Murder Among the Roses first. One reviewer mentioned that she’d stopped and bought the first book, before reading on. I can understand that. Even if I later pick up books out of order in a series – library reads, charity shop buys – I always try to read the first in a series before piling in. Meeting the characters Jake Sullivan It’s where the characters lives are set up, where you learn about their relationships and what, in their past, has made them ..read more

New blog post Just a very quick note to let you know that I’ve talked to a number of romance writers who have crossed over to the crime genre – not always exclusively. If you want to read what they have to say, click on this link to the Liberta Books site ..read more

Something new from Kate Hardy I was fortunate to be given an advanced reading copy of Kate Hardy’s new venture into crime writing , The Body at Rookery Barn and, as to be expected from this fan favourite, multi-award winning writer, it was a delight. Is it okay to say a book involving murder is delightful? Not the murder, perhaps, but her main character, newly-widowed and deaf, photographer Georgina Drake is everything you’d expect from Kate. She’s kind, smart, loves cooking, gardening and her spaniel. These two = Archie and Dexter – are Kate’s own edipawrial assistants! And  Doris, Georg ..read more

and I’m checking it twice… In Maybridge, people have gathered to decorate the St Bart’s parish hall for all the Christmas parties being held there in the run up to the holiday for – The Brownies The Mother’s Union The Zumba and Yoga Classes The Slimming Club The Sunday School and, first up, the Seniors’ Lunch Club Abby Finch has received a request from a member of the seniors’ lunch club for some mistletoe and, happy to oblige, she drops off generous bunches, along with other seasonal greenery and gold-painted seed heads. Amongst those decorating the hall she spots someone who taught her at hi ..read more