The fabulous offers on the Bunch Courtney WW2 crime series come to an end on 31st March – SO HURRY! First 3 in the series at 99p each ($1.24)
Winter Downs ” I liked how all of those little seemingly unconnected threads (Frampton’s death, the murder of a Land Girl and her soldier lover) are gradually, bit by bit revealed to be linked.”
Pamela Scott – book blogger
In Her Defence “A sense of growing menace, not only from across the Channel but within the rural community, that feels totally authentic for the time. A gripping mystery with believable characters and twists to the very end.”
J&A amazon review
Listed Dead “This book is full of suspense and intrigue. A twisty, turny murder mystery which ticks all the boxes for me!”
Chat About Books – book blogger
all for just 99p each!
and Deadly Plot – released in January) for the princely sum of £1.99!
“(…)Bunch’s investigations put her in danger as the story delves into more than just an escaped POW and stolen vegetables. The action moves right to the top of the Italian fascist party and at the end … I won’t spoil it and tell you how it ends, let’s just say it’s a surprise.” review Barry Lillie
I thought about blogging on the weather and thought better of it. What more can I say that a few hundred newscasts haven’t said already?
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (a best-selling author in his day) penned the opening “It was a dark and stormy night.” This line quickly became perhaps the world’s most infamous cliché. It inspired a competition run by San Jose Uni, challenging entrants to compose “the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels.” It also lent Snoopy, from the Charles Schultz’s Peanuts cartoon strip, material for a long running gag on Snoopy’s literary aspirations. But nobody would dream of using it in any way other than heavily ironic. As with all things there are degrees.
By contrast Winter Downs, the first book in the series, which could almost qualify as a locked-farm mystery when the farm and village are cut off from the outside world by a heavy snowfall. All of the action is confined to the immediate area and the weather almost becomes a character in its own right. By and large I agree with Leonard’s advice, but on this occasion the second paragraph ends with, “She (Bunch) tucked rogue strands of dark hair beneath her hat, secured her plaid scarf, and thought how tempting it would be to return home. The sky had grown heavier in the half hour they had been out and fresh snow was beginning to fall in earnest.” That snowfall scene triggers the locked-room mystery scenario and needs to be there right at the very start.
Let Your Hinged Jaw Do the Talking is the new collection by Tom Johnstone
Penkhull Press had a few days of chat and books at the Stafford Lit Fest this weekend – with a few more titles on display courtesy of The Alchemy Press.
Barry Lillie on what to blog
J F Burgess John Pye and me 
Kerry and Steph 
In those days it was a quick visit, the highlights being the girl who is being sick and the dressing up box. The dressing up is still important but now she is older we can take time looking at the exhibits, reading about the history of the ship from her maiden voyage to her final journey home. Abandoned in the Falkland Islands money was raised to bring the rotting hulk back to the city where she was built. In the decades that followed SS Great Britain was restored to…
Jan Edwards 
You must be logged in to post a comment.