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Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Read an excerpt from The Winding Dirt Road by Jiu Da #TheWindingDirtRoad #HistoricalChineseFiction #PoliticalFiction #HistoricalFiction @JiudaLog @cathiedunn


The Winding Dirt Road
By Jiu Da


Written as an antithesis to all first-hand and second-hand propaganda written by both Chinese and foreign writers for China in the good part of the 20th century in a fictional form, this collection, through different times and lands, gives insights into how human docile nature and characteristics are manipulated and brought about cultural and social corrosion over the century. The outcome thus sees "a monumental loss breathtakingly massive than any period that preceded it." Subsequently, it foreshadows a system that "would bring out not the best but the worst in people, against people, any people." (Event Horizon)

The first story is written as an introduction in addition to the prologue. From there, the collection proceeds with interrelated subjects or topics, building up causes and factors. At every turn, it gathers momentum and convenes halfway through the book to form the major components of critical perspectives at a juncture.

Hoarded in the depth of memories of the past decades, this has been a work long overdue.


Publication Date: May 2025
Publisher: Historium Press
Pages: 391
Genre: Historical Fiction

Grab a copy HERE!

EXCERPT

"[The follower] stated that what made a club function depended not entirely on its thick end but on the shaft that formed the handle. This nation’s tasks or ideology was the main element that formed the thick end, but it would need the handle to wield that power effectively. It required bruteness, loudness, and grip to make the club applicable."

~ Ashes Of Aggravation



For years, Jiu Da has been intrigued by the question of whether the environment makes us who we are or whether we are the ones that shape our environment. For the good parts of early years, he stubbornly believed that motivation, talent, and effort could change the outcomes. It did not. 

It was not until the virus hit while finding himself perching at home that he came to accept that the environment is indeed the hand that shapes human behavior.

It was during this time that he began his first work, drawing from his love in literature, history and a lifetime of seemingly useless yet fascinating knowledge hoarded in the depth of his mind.


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Thursday, July 31, 2025

Read my review of The Trials of Arthur Whitty by Tim Walker


The Trials of Arthur Whitty
By Tim Walker


This novella is the story of plain old Arthur Whitty, a man whose dreams are never dull and whose vivid imagination and sense of humour carries him through a series of sometimes challenging situations. Arthur has retired to a pair of slippers and jigsaw table in a quiet cul-de-sac in Berkshire, England. He walks his dog, Max, and lets his mind wander to a series of dreams in which he is more daring, skilful and adventurous that his real-life humdrum self. He is an irritant to his orderly wife, Emilia, and has succumbed to irksome cancer treatment following a run-in with skin cancer.

Once a date has been set for corrective surgery, Arthur sets his mind on organising a real-life adventure – a bucket list trip to Machu Picchu in Peru where he finds peace and a calming of the spirit. Arthur’s bullish nature carries him through a series of situations but there is little the retired couple can do about the onset of dementia. But Arthur is well supported by Emilia and their daughter, Holly, as the family rally round to make his declining years as comfortable as possible. And there’s always escape to his secret world of risk, responsibility and danger.

The author has drawn on personal experience and observations of elderly men in a support group he helps run for Men’s Matters charity in Windsor, Berkshire. Half of all royalties from the sales of this book will be donated to Men’s Matters, who support older men by encouraging social interaction and connecting them to health and wellbeing support services.


Pages: 137

Grab a copy HERE!


MY THOUGHTS

Arthur Whitty has lived an unremarkable life, but now he has reached the age of retirement, so no longer will he be adding up spreadsheets and doing tax returns. But life as a retiree takes some getting used to. He seems to be always under the feet of his beloved wife Emilia, who is queen of the house in which they share, and who struggles to share it now that he is home full-time. But Arthur has a secret weapon up his sleeve to cope with the mundane – he has his imagination, and he can always turn to his dog, Max, for company.

Turning any situation into an adventure, Arthur, is certainly quite the character, but when he begins to experience ill health, then things become a little blurred – and the reader finds themselves asking what is real and what is imagined.

The author has done a marvellous job of bringing Arthur to life, and I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion, for his imagination is certainly imaginative to say the least. The story opened with him driving a rally car at speed, only for his wife to interrupt his musings and remind him that there is a 30 speed limit on the road, and he has just gone slightly over it!

When Arthur battles cancer, his sense of humour and imagination help him through it. He also creates a bucket list of sorts and goes on his own real adventure to Machu Picchu in Peru, where he has one last hoorah, although somehow he manages to get lost on a guided tour!

With the onset of dementia, the story takes a more sombre turn, and his confusion is heartbreaking. His wife is very supportive, but she cannot keep her eyes on him all of the time. To see this dynamic character slowly lose himself is incredibly upsetting and hard to read.

This is a really touching, funny, and ultimately heartbreaking book. The story is engaging, and it is short enough to read in one sitting, which I did. This is probably the most emotional book that I have read this year.



Tim Walker is an independent author living near Windsor in the UK. Born in Hong Kong in the Sixties, he grew up in Liverpool where he began his working life as a trainee reporter on a local newspaper. He went on to attain an honours degree in Communication Studies in South Wales before moving to London where he worked in the newspaper publishing industry for ten years.

In the mid-90s he opted to spend a couple of years doing voluntary work in Zambia through VSO, running an educational book publishing development programme. After this, he set up his own marketing and publishing business in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, then managed a mineral exploration company before returning to the UK in 2009.

His creative writing journey began in earnest in 2014, as a therapeutic activity whilst recovering from cancer treatment. In addition to short stories, he researched and wrote a five-book historical fiction series, A Light in the Dark Ages. The series connects the end of Roman Britain to the story of Arthur in an imaginative narrative. It starts with Abandoned, then Ambrosius: Last of the Romans; Uther’s Destiny; Arthur Dux Bellorum and Arthur Rex Brittonum, the last two books charting the life of an imagined historical King Arthur.

More recently, he has written a dual timeline historical novel set at Hadrian’s Wall, Guardians at the Wall. His two books of short stories, Thames Valley Tales and London Tales combine contemporary and historical themes and are now available as audiobooks. Somewhere along the way, he co-authored a three-book children’s series with his daughter, Cathy, The Adventures of Charly Holmes.

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Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Read an excerpt from Marguerite: Hell Hath No Fury! by Judith Arnopp #HistoricalFiction #BiographicalFiction #WarsOfTheRoses #MargueriteOfAnjou @JudithArnopp @cathiedunn


Marguerite: Hell Hath No Fury!
By Judith Arnopp


Marguerite: Queen of England

From the moment Henry VI's new queen, Marguerite of Anjou, sets foot on English soil she is despised by the English as a foreigner, and blamed for the failures of the hundred years war in France.

Her enemies impede her role as the king’s consort and when Henry sinks into apparent madness, her bid to become regent is rejected. Marguerite must fight, not only for her own position but to maintain Henry’s possession of the crown. 

The ambitious Duke, Richard of York, seizes control of the country, thrusting Marguerite aside and inflating the mutual hatred between the houses of York and Lancaster. But the queen refuses to relinquish power and fights determinedly for the rights of her son, Edward of Lancaster.

The long and bitter civil conflict, that has come to be known as the War of the Roses, commences.


Publication Date: June 21st, 2025
Publisher: independently published
Pages: 342
Genre: Historical Fiction / Biographical Fiction

Grab a copy HERE!
This novel is free to read with #KindleUnlimited subscription.

EXCERPT

Marguerite is in exile and has reluctantly agreed to an alliance with her old enemy the Earl of Warwick against Edward of March, who is now wearing her husband’s stolen crown.


July 1470

I know what is required of me. I must welcome the Earl of Warwick and forgive the numerous injuries he has inflicted on me and mine. To gain my heart’s desires I must embrace him as a friend and ally. It sounds a simple cure. Just one small spoonful of vile medicine to relieve years of discomfort but, by God, the pain of the remedy almost supersedes any other I have felt. I am not sure I can swallow it. 

I try to refuse, find another way, but all my advisers urge me to conceal my pride and look beyond this moment and concentrate on the image of my son, his handsome face topped with the crown of England.

My glory.

Reluctantly, I agree to try.


Jasper and Exeter wait with me for the earl to arrive. My stomach is full of snakes that writhe and burn. I want to run. I want to vomit up this idea of a union between my son and the earl’s daughter. Oh, how I wish we had impaled Warwick’s head alongside York’s on the Micklegate Bar when we had the chance.

We can only do what we can do.

The world outside the chamber stirs, I hear footsteps, confident and masculine – determined. My determination quails as the doors are thrown open and I hear the sound of heels on marble. I raise my head and open my eyes, steeled for the sight of Satan as he comes slithering into my presence. 

And there he is.

He swirls his cloak behind him, his hand on his sword hilt as he makes an overly extravagant bow. Does he mock me? I do not move. I keep my eyes fixed on the far wall. Long moments pass before the arrogant swine realises he should be on his knees. As I hear him lower himself to the ground, I cannot resist looking as he bows his disgusting head in fealty to me. It is something I never thought to see.

“Your Grace. I am honoured and gratified that you agreed to discuss this matter.” 

He is indeed a prince of falsehoods. For all my faults, I have never been less than honest. I would trust him more were he to admit his detestation for me. I can work to the same ends with a man who hates me. I see no need for lies. 

Unable to bring my lips to form amiable words, I merely stare at the back of his lowered head. 

If I had a sword, I would use it.

Edward stirs beside me, nudges me to respond, but it is as if I am trapped in this moment. I should speak, I should bid him rise, allow him to kiss my fingers, and let the negotiations begin, but I cannot. 

The faces of all those I have lost, those Warwick killed, rise like smoke before my eyes. Somerset, and his son Harry, are at the head. This man before me has stolen not just my friends but my peace of mind too. Because of him, I will never now be the woman I could have been, should have been. 

Jasper clears his throat. I glance up and discover Exeter is also urging me to speak. I turn back to the toad of Warwick and hope his knees are aching.

I wait. They wait, in awkward silence while the all-powerful scourge of England kneels in supplication to me, his queen. I want to kill him. I want to watch him suffer agonies, but I need him. I am in a cleft stick and since I cannot have his head, I will use him to my own ends. 

This time, Warwick will be the puppet and I will work his strings.


Less than two weeks later, at the Chateau d’Amboise, my son pledges to marry Anne Neville, but the union is not to be sealed until Warwick has performed his part and restored my husband to the English throne.



A lifelong history enthusiast and avid reader, Judith holds a BA in English / Creative Writing and a Masters in Medieval Studies. She lives on the coast of West Wales where she writes both fiction and non-fiction. She is best known for her novels set in the Medieval and Tudor period, focussing on the perspective of historical women but recently she has written a trilogy from the perspective of Henry VIII himself.

Judith is also a founder member of a re-enactment group called The Fyne Companye of Cambria which is when and why she began to experiment with sewing historical garments. She now makes clothes and accessories both for the group and others. She is not a professionally trained sewer but through trial, error and determination has learned how to make authentic looking, if not strictly historically accurate clothing. A non-fiction book about Tudor clothing, How to Dress like a Tudor, was published in 2023 by Pen and Sword.

She runs a small seaside holiday let in Aberporth and when she has time for fun, likes to garden and restore antique doll’s houses. You can find her on most social media platforms.

 

Her novels include:

A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth of York

The Beaufort Chronicle: the life of Lady Margaret Beaufort (three book series)

The Henrician Chronicle: comprising of:

A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, the Aragon Years (Book One of The Henrician Chronicle)

A Matter of Faith: Henry VIII, the Days of the Phoenix (Book Two of The Henrician Chronicle)

A Matter of Time: Henry VIII, the Dying of the Light (Book Three of The Henrician Chronicle)

The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn

The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII

Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr

Sisters of Arden: on the Pilgrimage of Grace

The Heretic Wind: the life of Mary Tudor, Queen of England

Peaceweaver

The Forest Dwellers

The Song of Heledd

The Book of Thornhold

A Daughter of Warwick: the story of Anne Neville, Queen of Richard III

Marguerite: Hell Hath no Fury!

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Monday, July 28, 2025

Read an interview with Ursula Werner, author of Magda Revealed #HistoricalFiciton #BiblicalFiction

 


Magda Revealed
By Ursula Werner

What would Jesus do? This wry, irreverent, fictionalized account of his life and ministry—told from the perspective of disciple Mary Magdalene—will implode everything you thought you knew.

Jesus Christ—Yeshua, to his friends—is not happy. Two thousand years after his death, he sees Earth heading toward oblivion. Ever eager to save humanity, he asks Mary Magdalene (Magda) for help. It’s time to tell the real story of our time together, he says. Time to correct all the misinformation, misogyny, and lies spread by Peter, Paul, and the Roman Catholic Church. Still pissed that she’s been called a whore for almost two millennia, Magda resists—but ultimately, out of love for Yeshua, reluctantly agrees.

Through Magda’s words, Yeshua—to most today a symbolic, practically mythological Biblical figure—comes back to life as a man of flesh and blood, one wholly devoted to spreading his message of radical equality. Magda tells of her travels with Yeshua and his followers around Galilee, where they are menaced at every turn by Roman rulers. She relates tales of miracles and murder, jealousy and acceptance, misogyny and female empowerment. She describes her relationship with Yeshua, clarifying centuries of speculation about whether or not they were in love. And, painfully, she reveals the truth about who orchestrated his death.

But Magda’s narrative does not end there. Her life with Yeshua has taught her that she has more strength than she ever imagined, and she begins to tap into a spiritual power that is uniquely her own—the power to connect people. Magda’s true role in the history of humanity, it turns out, is just beginning to unfold.

Genre: Historical fiction
Date Published: 04-08-2025
Publisher: She Writes Press

Grab a copy HERE!

INTERVIEW

Tell us about your current release.

Magda Revealed is a novel about love and power, and how to re-create a society through human connection. It’s a fictional re-telling of the life of Mary Magdalene (Magda), from the time she met Jesus of Nazareth (Yeshua, in the book) to the time she was banished from Judea in the first century. The novel begins with present-day Yeshua telling Magda that she must tell her story, because humanity is facing extinction on Earth, and she has a role to play in Yeshua’s last-ditch effort to save us.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t quite know how to go about it. When I was a kid, I started a novel about Blackbeard, but I ultimately abandoned it because I didn’t know anything about what it was like to be a pirate (the internet had yet to exist). As I matured, I realized that I also needed to support myself with an income, and I was too scared to try to do that through writing, so I became a lawyer. For many years, I channeled my writing instincts into legal writing, which was, ultimately, very unsatisfying. I finally abandoned full-time legal work ten years ago, after my first novel was published and I felt I could legitimately call myself a writer.

Have you published any previous books?

I published two chapbooks of poetry, In the Silence of the Woodruff and Rapunzel Revisited, before publishing my first novel, The Good at Heart in 2017 with Simon and Schuster. Magda Revealed is my second novel.

What can we expect to see from you in the future, any books on the backburner?

I’m currently working on a mystery/crime novel with an alcoholic as the main character, and with AA acting as a kind of Greek chorus.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I love to run or walk in Rock Creek Park (national park about two blocks from my home), with my dogs Walter (a 10-year-old Vizsla) and Ruthie (a 5-month-old Doberman). (I also have a 12-year-old mini-dachshund, Indiana, who chooses not to run anymore.) Word games and jigsaw puzzles take up a lot of my time, especially in the winter. And, being a native German, I love to bake. From late November until Christmas, I do nothing but bake cookies.

Did you learn anything from writing your book? What was it? 

I learned so much! For me, there were two big takeaways from my research about Jesus and life in the first century and earlier.  First, everything that’s written in the Bible is based on oral histories that were passed down over the years. And story-tellers back in those days weren’t concerned with “getting the story right.” In fact, just the opposite. The most sought-after story tellers in biblical times were those who put their own new twist on a familiar story. So over time, the stories inevitably changed. The “true” story was about as hard to pin down as the original word in a game of telephone with hundreds of players. That fact about early story-telling allowed me to take a much more skeptical approach to the New Testament stories.

The second thing I learned was that the role women played in society in Jesus’ time was not necessarily as submissive as popular culture imagines. For example, women were not segregated from men in the Jewish synagogue (that practice came later), and occasionally took leadership roles. Also, women had a critical role in the social sphere and home environment as anointers. They used oils of various kinds to bless visitors, to heal the sick, and to honor the dead. I used that fact to make anointment a central spiritual practice in Magda Revealed.

Some writers have something playing in the background, do you and what?

I listen to classical guitar music as I write. Sometimes also meditative music, like the kind they play in spas. Anything with lyrics gets me listening to the music instead of focusing on writing. I’m easily distracted.

Tell us a little about yourself. Perhaps something not many people know about?

My current claim to fame is that I was Jeff Bezos’ first girlfriend. We dated for four years, from the end of high school until my last year of college. We still keep in touch, even though I have my issues with some of his recent actions. We had lunch just last week, and I made him pay because, well, he makes way more money than me.

Second relatively unknown thing about me is that I’m a recovering alcoholic. I mention that because recovery is a big, ongoing part of my life, and because I hope to remove some of the remaining stigma about alcoholism in our society.

What do you hope your writing brings to your readers?

Ideally, I hope the issues I raise through my fictional characters stay with readers for awhile and make them see the world slightly differently than they had before. Isn’t it every writer’s dream to broaden the worldview of their readers? And to make them more tolerant of other people? A goal worth striving for, I think.


 

Ursula Werner has been writing for over twenty-five years. She has published one novel, The Good at Heart (2017), and two chapbooks of poetry, The Silence of the Woodruff (2006) and Rapunzel Revisited (2010). She holds graduate degrees in English literature and law, and works part time as an attorney. She and her husband live in Washington, DC, and are always trying to entice their three daughters to live nearby.

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Thursday, July 24, 2025

Read an excerpt from Ping by Lisa Lucas & Steve Landsberg #HistoricalFiction #PingPong #TableTennis #PingPongDiplomacy @cathiedunn


Ping
By Lisa Lucas & Steve Landsberg


PING, which was originally conceived in 2016, precedes the current cultural popularity in Ping Pong, exemplified in the upcoming 2025 Christmas movie release of Marty Supreme starring Timothée Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Alternating between the pivotal 1971 Ping-Pong Diplomacy - where a simple game of table tennis thawed the icy relations between the U.S. and China during the Cold War - and the present-day struggles of a family weighed down by legacy, Ping is a compelling tale of his- tory, politics, and personal conflict.

Jenny, a modern-day teen, wrestles with her grand-mother Miriam's larger-than-life legacy, rooted in Cold War tensions and the surprising intersection of ping pong, antisemitism, and global diplomacy. As Jenny uncovers Miriam's secret role in shaping history, she confronts her own place in a family bound by expectations and unspoken truths. 

Blending family drama with meticulously researched historical events, this gripping story explores the enduring im pact of the past on the present. "Ping skillfully blends family drama with political and historical events, particularly through Jenny's modern-day struggles and Miriam's Cold War-era experiences. The use of Ping Pong as both a symbol and a plot device keeps the story engaging, exploring generational expectations and legacies . . . 

Ping effectively combines history, sports, and personal conflict, appealing to readers of both literary fiction and historical drama.


Publication Date: May 20, 2025
Publisher: Historium Press
Pages: 133
Genre: Historical Fiction

Grab a copy HERE!

EXCERPT

Miriam had just finished a round of exercise on the mini trampoline she had in the corner of her small living room. She liked to get her knees up and jump at least one hundred times a day. At eighty-four, she felt great. She still played Ping-Pong at the Hills Community Center twice a week and swam at the community pool. She credited her mental strength to Ping-Pong and swimming, to keeping her body strong and to the precious time she got to spend with her granddaughter. 



Lisa Lucas started writing for magazines and newspapers. Later, she wrote extensively on issues related to literacy and health that were featured in publications by the Canadian Public Health Association, several literacy organizations, and hospitals across Canada.

She is the recipient of the CIBC Children’s Miracle Maker Award for advancing literacy among people with special needs.

Several years ago, Lisa partnered with Laurie Stein and began writing for children, covering subjects from climate change to refugees. Her belief that “storytellers often sugarcoat real issues and present subjects to kids that are too far from reality in order to protect them. Just tell it the way it is. Kids appreciate authentic stories that are honest and real.” 

More recently, Lisa has turned her attention to poetry and historical fiction. Ping is her first novel. Lisa’s work has been recognized by The New York Times, The Kirkus Reviews (starred), Publishers Weekly, Indigo and more. Her books have been translated into several languages and are widely recognized throughout Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

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Steve Landsberg, an accomplished, award-winning advertising executive and entrepreneur, is currently Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Human Intelligence (H.I.), a New York City-based marketing firm. Prior to H.I., he co-founded Grok, an Inc. 500 “Fastest Growing Company.”

Steve has held executive creative roles at many top global ad agencies leading the work on iconic global brands. A copy writer by trade, Steve has published numerous ad industry articles. Ping is his first published book.

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Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Read my review of The Irish Girl by Ashley E. Sweeney #HistoricalFiction #Comingofage #Review @GoddessFish


The Irish Girl
By Ashley E. Sweeney

From multi-award-winning historical fiction author Ashley E. Sweeney comes a family saga about the Irish immigrant experience spanning New York, Chicago, and Colorado so compelling that, USA Today best-selling author Kelli Estes says, “I read this story in one sitting.”

Thirteen-year-old Mary Agnes Coyne, forced from her home in rural Ireland in 1886 after being accused of incest, endures a treacherous voyage across the Atlantic alone to an unknown life in America. From the tenements of New York to the rough alleys of Chicago, Mary Agnes suffers the bitter taste of prejudice for the crime of being poor and Irish.

After moving west to Colorado, Mary Agnes again faces hardships and grapples with heritage, religion, and matters of the heart. Will she ever find a home to call her own? Where?


Genres: Coming of Age, Fiction, Historical Fiction
Date Published: 10th December 2024 (Paperback) / 11th March 2025 (Audiobook)
Run Time: 9 hours and 39 minutes

Grab a copy HERE!

MY THOUGHTS!

With too little time in the day, and too little food to pass around, Mary Agnes Coyne is often overlooked in her family. That is, until her older brother begins to pay her too much attention, and she can’t get her mother to listen to her side of the story.

Sent away overseas to escape the overbearing influence of the rumours of incest, Mary Agnes finds herself alone on a journey across the world from rural Ireland, all the way to America, to start a new life far away from home.

Despite being very young, Mary Agnes takes the journey in her stride. She often finds herself in the company of people she knows she cannot necessarily trust, and yet she longs so desperately for a friend to accompany her along the way. She greatly desires guidance, and yet despises when others try to tell her what to do. Making her way along the treacherous voyage across the Atlantic, and then through New York to make her way towards her family in Chicago, Mary Agnes faces many challenges. Her reactions to each roadblock she encounters are engulfed with the maturity she has been forced to quickly grow into, but still remain tinged with the childlike wonder and fears of a thirteen-year-old girl. She is a very complex character, for she faces a lot of challenges at a very young age, but her emotional maturity is restrained by the youth she still possesses.

The dangers that Mary Agnes faces are portrayed with an intricacy that makes you genuinely fear for her safety as she traverses the unknown. On multiple occasions, her life seems to be hanging in the balance of her decisions, and dependent on the leniency of those around her. There are times you physically can’t stop reading, for fear of Mary Agnes’ safety, and because you simply can’t step away without knowing that she is safe. This book definitely keeps your attention as you read, for Mary Agnes is never entirely settled and safe, and there is always something dark lurking around the corner, just waiting for her to feel secure before stirring everything up and sending her into turmoil. 

This novel certainly highlights the difficulties that the Irish faced, not only in Ireland, with a severe lack of food, and poverty keeping people from being able to keep their families sufficiently fed, but also in America, where the Irish are seen as inferior, and people would rather hire anyone else instead of someone from Ireland. The discrimination Mary Agnes faces on a daily basis in America, where she finds herself ignored and disbelieved at every turn, echoes the life she has escaped in Ireland, wherein even her own mother had little time for her. The turmoil caused by finding herself looked down on and turned away, based simply on what part of the world she came from, weighs heavily on Mary Agnes. She travelled to America with the dream of going to university, but the world she finds there is much more prejudiced than she expected, and the challenges she faces mean the world closes off to her, rather than opening up more opportunities.

I truly enjoyed listening to the audiobook of this novel. The accent of the narrator certainly draws you deeper into the story, immersing you completely in Mary Agnes’ life. With all the twists and turns, and different situations that Mary Agnes finds herself in, the story is engaging, and one you don’t want to put down and walk away from.


A native New Yorker, Ashley E. Sweeney is the multi-award-winning author of four novels, The Irish Girl, Hardland, Answer Creek: A Novel of The Donner Party, and Eliza Waite. She graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. with a degree in American Literature and American History and spent her career as a journalist and educator before turning to writing full-time. When she is not chained to her writing desk, Sweeney is an avid gardener, art quilter, and mosaic artist. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and Tucson.

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Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Read an excerpt from A Mischief of Murder (A Jan Christopher Murder Mystery – Episode 6) by Helen Hollick #HistoricalMystery #CozyMystery #JanChristopherMystery @HelenHollick @cathiedunn



A Mischief of Murder
(A Jan Christopher Murder Mystery – Episode 6)
By Helen Hollick


The village Flower and Veg Show should be a fun annual event – but who added mischief and murder to the traditional schedule?

July 1973

Old friends and new enemies? Jan Christopher’s Aunt Madge is to be a judge at Chappletawton’s annual village flower and vegetable summer show – a chance for the family to have a holiday in the Devon countryside, especially as Jan’s fiancĂ©, DS Laurie Walker, is still recovering from gunshot wounds and her uncle, DCI Toby Christopher, is enduring injury-related sick leave.

The event should be a fun occasion where friendly rivalry between gardeners, cooks and crafters lead to the hopeful winning of the coveted Best In Show trophy – but who added mischief and murder to the traditional schedule?


Praise for the Jan Christopher Mysteries:

"A delight—Miss Read meets The Darling Buds of May, with a dash of St. Mary Mead. Helen Hollick's signature voice shines throughout, full of warmth and wit. The characters keep growing in such satisfying ways, making every visit feel like coming home." Elizabeth St.John


"The Darling Buds of May ...but in Devon instead of Kent." Alison Morton

“I sank into this gentle cosy mystery story with the same enthusiasm and relish as I approach a hot bubble bath, and really enjoyed getting to know the central character, a shy young librarian, and the young police officer who becomes her romantic interest. The nostalgic setting of the 1970s was balm, so clearly evoked, and although there is a murder at the heart of the story, it was an enjoyable comfort read.” Debbie Young, author of the Sophie Sayers cosy mysteries

“A delightful read about a murder told from the viewpoint of a young library assistant. The author draws on her own experience to weave an intriguing tale.” Richard Ashen – South Chingford Community Library

“I really identified with Jan – the love of stories from an early age, and the careers advice – the same reaction I got – no one thought being a writer was something a working-class girl did! The character descriptions are wonderfully done.” Amazon Reader

“Brilliant! I’m so enjoying Helen’s well-researched murder mystery. I’m not giving anything away here, except to say there’s lots of nostalgia, and detail that readers of a certain age will lap up. A jolly good read. In my opinion, it would make a great television series.” Amazon Reader


Publication Date: 16th July 2025
Publisher: Taw River Press
Pages: 140
Genre: Cosy Mystery

Grab a copy HERE!
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EXCERPT

Slugs were not at all popular with my family. Those connected to the no-good criminal kind and the other sort. I’m talking the slimy garden variety. You know, homeless snails. (As I thought of them when I was a kid.) Slugs were never popular at any time of the year for a keen gardener like Dad, but come mid-to-late July they were especially abhorred because the last Saturday of the month was the very important Village Flower and Vegetable Show. A big, by village standards, event, where anyone who was anyone in many a rural setting vied to become the proud owner of a silver trophy. My village of Chappletawton was no exception to this annual, national, traditional rivalry for a coveted First Place red rosette.

This sort of show had been going since the Victorian age, when they’d been introduced to encourage good practice in horticulture – and to keep the general hoi polloi’s gardens tidy. Even small flower shows like ours were judged according to the precise (and to my mind, nit-picky) rules laid down by the Royal Horticultural Society. Rules that had been known to elicit various strategies of cheating, and on occasion in the past, even outright sabotage. Not for the gain of prize money, as the winnings were little more than a recuperation of the few pence per class entrance fee. No, winning was for the prestige of a year-long ownership of a silver trophy and the accompanying gardening expertise kudos.



Known for her captivating storytelling and rich attention to historical detail, Helen’s historical fiction, nautical adventure series, cosy mysteries – and her short stories – skilfully invite readers to step into worlds where the boundaries between fact and  fiction blend together.

Helen started writing as a teenager, but after discovering a passion for history, was initially published in 1993 in the UK with her Arthurian Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy and two Anglo-Saxon novels about the events that led to the 1066 Battle of Hastings, one of which, The Forever Queen (USA title – A Hollow Crown in the UK) became a USA Today best-seller. Her Sea Witch Voyages are nautical-based adventures inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy. She also writes the Jan Christopher cosy mystery series set during the 1970s, and based around her, sometimes hilarious, years of working as a North London library assistant. Her 2025 release is Ghost Encounters, a book about the ghosts of North Devon – even if you don’t believe in ghosts you might enjoy the snippets of interesting history and the many location photographs.

Helen and her family moved from London to Devon after a Lottery win on the opening night of the London Olympics, 2012. She spends her time glowering at the overgrown garden, fending off the geese, chasing the peacocks away from her roses, helping with the horses and wishing the friendly, resident ghosts would occasionally help with the housework...

Other recent releases:

FATE Tales of History, Mystery and Magic –
an anthology of short stories by various award-winning authors

GHOST ENCOUNTERS: The Lingering Spirits of North Devon

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