My new cozy mystery series has really taken off. Deadly Return has been in the top 100 of Cozy Mystery Crafts and Hobbies books in the USA, Canada, UK and Australia (where it has been as high as #5). I have sold 500 copies and people have read a further 186 copies on Kindle Unlimited. It has 93 ratings in the UK at an average of 4.4 stars. The second book in the series, Eternal Forest, has had rave reviews from the Beta Readers, and is out on the 31st of August. I am now writing the third book in the series, Fatal Tribute, which will be ready at the end of October.
All three books are set in a small seaside town on the south coast of England and feature an amateur female sleuth, Tanya Bowe, and her friends. Ex-investigative journalist, Tanya has recently been divorced by her police inspector husband and has had to endure the ignomy of being moved into a small terraced house from her modern villa. She also has to find a way of paying her bills and fights to turn her vintage antique shop from a hobby into a business. She meets a slightly battered ex-army man who does house clearances, and they form a partnership which becomes a will-they-won’t-they thread throughout the books. The mysteries have plenty of twists and turns and feature modern themes with Agatha Christie type plots featuring red herrings and multiple motives for murder.
In Deadly Return, Tanya is reunited with Mel Conrad, an old school friend who turns up after her mysterious disappearance years before and briefly becomes one of Tanya’s circle. Unfortunately, Mel is found dead at the foot of the stairs in the former family home. The police think it is and accident, but Tanya is convinced something more sinister is behind Mel’s death. She sets out to find the truth helped by her friends and stepson Mouse.
In the next book, Eternal Forest, an eco-warrior creates waves in Seacastle when he tried to set up a Marine Protection Area offshore in Seacastle to protect the kelp forests and sea life. He is also a charasmatic womaniser and leaves a trail of broken hearts in his wake. Tanya and her friends have their work cut out when he is found dead on a friend’s fishing boat and all signs point to murder.
The third book, Fatal Tribute, will feature a murder at a Talent competition.
There is no sex, violence or bad language in the books although mild peril, depression, divorce and real emotional hardship is featured. Murder mysteries are not for the faint hearted, so please check your triggers before reading.
