Serials: My Life of Crime

I love crime fiction and have been an avid reader of it since I first discovered Agatha Christie when I was twelve years old.  But the only thing I like better than reading crime fiction is writing it.

Since April 2008 I have been lucky enough to have had eight murder/mystery/crime serials accepted for publication by Woman's Weekly and one by My Weekly.  They are:

 

A Dish Served Cold

  • published 29th April 2008(Woman's Weekly)

This, my first, was a 2 part-serial.  Katie, broke and jobless , has returned reluctantly to the small Somerset village of Much Winchmoor.  She finds life extremely dull - until she discovers the body of the local busybody , Mildred Hempitt, face down in one of the Farm Shop freezers.  But who put poor Mildred there - and why?

The inspiration for this story came from an overheard conversation in my local pub.  So, watch out next time you think you're having a chat over a quiet drink - there may well be a crime writer listening.

 Rough Justice

  • published 16th September, 2008 (Woman's Weekly)

This, my second serial, is once again set in the small Somerset village of Much Winchmoor.  Poor Katie is still stuck there, still broke  and, as jobs in Much Winchmoor are as rare as hen's teeth, has ended up as a carer to a cantankerous old lady called Elsie.  But when Margot Duckett-Trimble is found face down in a vat of Abe Compton's Head-Bender cider, Katie finds herself once again caught up in a murder investigation.

 Called To Account

  • published 5th May, 2009 (Woman's Weekly)

Lauren has worked for Dodgy Den the greengrocer in the small Somerset market town of Stoneford since leaving school and is shocked when he sacks her for refusing to sell soggy tomatoes.  She's even more surprised when he fixes her up with a job with his cronie, Bradley Palmuir, an accountant who is heavily into creative accounting.  But when Lauren finds Bradley critically injured and the finger of suspicion pointing at Conor (the best looking guy to appear in Stoneford since they took the picture of Orlando Bloom out of the video shop window) she puts herself in danger as she tracks down Bradley's attacker.

 Some Other Mountain

  • published 30th June, 2009 (Woman's Weekly)

Kate, a widow with a 5 year old son, is finding it a struggle to keep her Lake District Guest House going and is delighted when help arrives in the shape of Mrs Biscuit, who cooks like a dream and seems the answer to her prayers.  But when one of the guests is poisoned and Mrs Bisctuit starts behaving strangely, Kate's dream looks set to turn into a nightmare.

Burying Bad News

  •  published 20th October, 2009 (Woman's Weekly)

 This story is set in the town of Winstow-on-Purdle in deepest Dorset where Sam (short for Samantha) has just taken a job as a trainee reporter on the Purdle Valley Gazette,.  Winstow , Sam moans, is a town where nothing exciting ever happens and the lead story one week is about a load of washing stolen from a launderette. But one day.....

I'm really grateful to the editor and staff of the Mid-Somerset Series of Newspapers for answering my questions so patiently and letting me sit in on their weekly news meeting.  They were all  very friendly and extremely professional and bear no resemblance whatsoever to the editor and staff of the Purdle Valley Gazette.

 The Carnival is Over

  •  published 29th December, 2009 (Woman's Weekly)

There are times when it pays to have a mis-spent youth and this was one of those.  Many years ago I belonged to a Carnival Club in Somerset.  It was great fun and if you've never seen one of the Somerset November carnivals, then go to the links page and make a note of the dates.  They are, without doubt, one of the greatest free shows you'll ever see and well worth hanging around on a chilly November night for.

 This was the inspiration behind The Carnival is Over, although the (entirely fictitious) Clappers Carnival Club, from the Bell Inn, Shepwell is not exactly in the same league as some of the big Bridgwater clubs - they had ambitions to do a float called Pirates of the Carribbean, but these had to be scaled down when they ran out of money and became Pirates of the Bristol Channel.  But who is out to sabotage Davy Jones? And why?

Jenny Rainbow (published as The Rainbow Girl)

  •  20th February, 2010 (My Weekly)

Set in a tiny village near the Somerset town of Glastonbury, Jenny Rainbow likes to keep moving from one live-in carer job to the next.  But when her latest employer's beloved dog is abducted and a ransom demanded, Jenny realises it's time to stop running and face her past.

 No Place for Strangers
  • published 23rd February, 2010 (Woman's Weekly)
Emma is thrilled when she's offered the job as Headteacher at Denbarrow Primary School. But when her house is trashed and her cat is injured after being deliberately let out, she realises that this remote village does not welcome strangers. But why? 
 

I've always liked enjoyed puzzles which is why I love writing murder mysteries.  I try to include at least one red herring with which to tease the reader - a bit of a challenge when you've only got 12,000 words to work with.  But I have the best fun writing them and particularly enjoy thinking up new ways to murder my victims.  There have certainly been some very strange emails winging between me and Woman's Weekly's Fiction Editor  as we discuss what will or won't work. (She's always right!)