Portobello Book Blog

I read Three Weddings and a Scandal when it came out last year in hardback and really enjoyed it. It was such a funny read. You can read my review of it here (it was called Laura Lake and the Hipster Weddings at the time). It has just been released under the new title in paperback and I’m pleased to have an extract to share with you today. First of all, here’s what the book is about

A delicious new series from one of Britain’s funniest novelists,
starring a hapless journalist going undercover during wedding season.

She’ll need a triple-barrelled name for the castle one.
She’ll need a gallon of glitter for the woodland one.
She’ll need a lobster-shaped hat for the Shoreditch one.

Laura Lake longs to be a journalist. Instead she’s an unpaid intern at a glossy magazine – sleeping in the fashion cupboard and living on canapés. But she’s just got her first big break: infiltrate three society weddings and write a juicy exposé.

Security will be tighter than a bodycon dress, but how hard can it be? Cue disappearing brides, demanding socialites – and a jealous office enemy who will do anything to bring her down…

Click here to read a chapter

If that’s made you want to read more, you can order a copy online here.

Number one bestselling author Wendy Holden was a journalist on Tatler, the Sunday Times, and the Mail on Sunday before becoming an author. She has since written ten consecutive Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers. She lives in Derbyshire.

 

Follow the rest of the blog tour as it stops off at the following blogs

It seemed to take me ages to read this book but it certainly wasn’t because I wasn’t enjoying it. I had one of those very busy weeks where I hardly had time to pick up a book, which was very frustrating as I really wanted to know what was going to happen!

First of all, what’s the book about?

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a good job, four bossy sisters and a needy cat must also have want of her one true love. Or is it?

Another delightful novel from the author of The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts. Perfect for fans of Lucy Diamond and Jenny Colgan

Verity Love – Jane Austen fangirl and an introvert in a world of extroverts – is perfectly happy on her own (thank you very much), and her fictional boyfriend Peter is very useful for getting her out of unwanted social events. But when a case of mistaken identity forces her to introduce a perfect stranger as her boyfriend, Verity’s life suddenly becomes much more complicated.

Johnny could also use a fictional girlfriend. Against Verity’s better judgement, he persuades her to partner up for a summer season of weddings, big number birthdays and garden parties, with just one promise – not to fall in love with each other…

I read the first of this series last year and really enjoyed it but if anything, I enjoyed this one even more. Don’t worry if you didn’t read the first book, The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts, as this is a self-contained story with only passing references to the first book.

What I particularly enjoyed about this book were the references to Pride & Prejudice scattered throughout. There are apt quotations from Jane Austen’s classic at the beginning of each chapter and it is Verity’s favourite book, almost her bible. When faced with any tricky decisions, her mantra is ‘What would Elizabeth Bennet do?’. The story itself certainly had parallels with Pride & Prejudice too with Verity having four sisters, being intelligent, strong-willed and independent and with the relationship between herself and Johnny being not dissimilar to that between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. But does everything end up as it does in the original with a ‘happy ever after?’ (coincidentally the name of the bookshop where Verity works). Well, I’ll leave you to find that out when you read the book.

True Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop is, as the title suggests, a sweet romantic story. It has a lot of warmth and humour and is perfect escapism when you want a feel-good read. I must add that I loved Verity’s large and eccentric family and would love to read more about her sisters at some point.

True Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop is published by Harper Collins and available in paperback and e-book. It is available at all good bookshops or you can order a copy online here.

As part of the launch celebrations for Christmas at the Gin Shack, I’m pleased to welcome author Catherine Miller who has kindly answered my Author in the Spotlight questions. You’ll find more details about the book and how to buy it below.

First of all, would you tell me a little about yourself?

I’m a mum to four-year-old twins. They have just started school so I can be found skipping through fields shouting “I’m free!” during school hours. Although as I’ve managed to write four books since they were born, there may be some hopes of me keeping up my writing output. When I’m not writing I enjoy baking, random adventures and gin.

Tell me about your journey to publication

I’ve written since I was a teenager. It started with bad poetry and then I made my first attempt at a novel when I was about fifteen. It took me another twenty years and a couple more failed attempts before getting a two-book contract with HQDigital. I think motherhood propelled me to a new level of determination and so I went for it against the odds.

In a nutshell, what is your latest book about?

Christmas cocktails! The Gin Shack is doing well, but something is amiss in Westbrook Bay and it’s down to Olive to go about saving Christmas for the local community.

How did you come up with the title for your book?

Originally the two Gin Shack books were submitted as The Gin Shack and The Gin Shack: Christmas Edition. It didn’t take much to agree on the final titles as The Gin Shack on the Beach and Christmas at the Gin Shack.

How do you plan to celebrate publication day?

I had to test some of the recipes for the book, so I think a Mince Pie gin is needed and I’m heading out in the evening for more cocktail tasting. It’s only right I research these things.

Do you have a work in progress just now?

I have a more emotional read, Forever 27, that I need to finish off, a side project, and a couple more gin shack books to keep me going. I think that’s 2018 covered.

What are you reading just now? 

Falling by Julie Cohen. I’ve neglected my reading while writing the Gin Shack books and I’m trying to make up for that now.

How can people follow you or connect with you on social media?

https://www.facebook.com/katylittlelady.author/

https://twitter.com/katylittlelady

 

Christmas at the Gin Shack

Welcome in the festive season with love, laughter and the perfect G&T in Christmas at the Gin Shack – the most uplifting holiday read of 2017!

Gingle bells, gingle bells, gingle all the way…

Olive Turner might have lived through eighty-four Christmases, but she’ll never get bored of her favourite time of year. And this one’s set to be extra-special. It’s the Gin Shack’s first Christmas – and there’s a gin-themed weekend and a cocktail competition on the cards!

But, beneath the dazzle of fairy lights and the delicious scent of mince-pies, Olive smells a rat. From trespassers in her beloved beach hut to a very unfunny joke played on her friends, it seems that someone is missing a dose of good cheer.

Olive knows she’s getting on a bit – but is she really imagining that someone in the little seaside town is out to steal Christmas? More importantly, can she create the perfect gin cocktail before Christmas Eve – in time to save the day?

Purchase on Amazon UK | Amazon US | Kobo

Author Bio

When Catherine Miller became a mum to twins, she decided her hands weren’t full enough so wrote a novel with every spare moment she managed to find. By the time the twins were two, Catherine had a two-book deal with HQDigital UK. There is a possibility she has aged remarkably in that time. Her debut novel, Waiting For You, came out in March 2016. She is now the author of four books and hopes there will be many more now her twins have started school. Either that, or she’ll conduct more gin research on Olive’s behalf.

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/katylittlelady.author/

https://twitter.com/katylittlelady

https://www.instagram.com/katylittlelady/

 

 

 

 

 

If you are a regular visitor to my blog you will know that I am a big fan of Sue Moorcroft’s work and I’m really looking forward to returning to Middledip, a location you might be familiar with from some of her previous books. I can’t quite bring myself to read a Christmas book just yet, though I will of course be reviewing nearer the time, but I did enjoy reading this short extract and finding out about one of the main characters, Ben. Just enough to give a flavour of what sounds like another fabulous read. If you like it too, you can order the e-book now or pre-order the paperback version which is due to be published on 2nd November by Avon Books.

First of all, what’s the book about?

Sue Moorcroft, #1 Kindle bestseller is back, with a Christmas novel that promises to warm your heart this festive season.

Alexia Kennedy has lived in the little village of Middledip all her life – and now it’s time for her to give something back. As an interior decorator, she’s been tasked with turning the village’s neglected Victorian pub into a community café that everyone can use.

After months of fundraising by all the villagers, Alexia can’t wait to get going – but disaster strikes when every last penny is stolen. With Middledip up in arms at how she could have let this happen, Alexia feels ready to admit defeat.

But help comes in the most unlikely form when woodsman, Ben Hardaker and his rescue owl Barney, arrive on the scene. Another lost soul who’s hit rock bottom, Ben and Alexia make an unlikely partnership. However, they soon realise that a little sprinkling of Christmas magic might just help to bring this village – and their lives – together again…

Settle down with a mince pie and a glass of mulled wine as you devour this irresistibly festive Christmas tale. The perfect read for fans of Carole Matthews and Trisha Ashley.

Now read an exclusive extract from The Little Village Christmas

‘Are you serious?’ Ben stared at his mother.

Penny twisted a tissue in her hands. ‘I’m only telling you that Dad said if you hadn’t taken up with that girl then none of this would have happened. Lloyd wouldn’t be . . . where he is.’

Ben sank onto his parents’ floral sofa, the cotton cold beneath his sweating palms. ‘That girl’s name is Imogen.’

‘In a way, I can see Dad’s point. Everybody in Didbury knows her family. The Goodbodys breed like rabbits, live off benefits and their garden looks like a scrap yard. They’re like something from a reality TV show.’

‘Imogen’s never claimed a benefit in her life. She’s put in long hours in a demanding sales environment, in spite of her background and in spite of people badmouthing her.’ Ben wasn’t sure whether he was more outraged by his parents’ prejudice or by being put in the position of defending Imogen.

His mother didn’t let his dig deter her. ‘The Goodbody men are chancers and the women are slu—’ She flicked Ben a glance and chose a primmer adjective. ‘The women are man-eaters. If she was supposed to be on a spa weekend with an old uni friend, why was she in a car with Lloyd in the middle of the night? Dad warned you you’d never have a quiet mind if you married her, so why did you insist on working away so much? You’re such a decent, straightforward man, but didn’t you see that it was like throwing petrol and a match together? At least Lloyd’s single. Imogen was married to you—’

Ben leapt to his feet. ‘Lloyd’s my brother!’ He ought to have been used to being the second child in all senses, but no way could he get his head around his mother holding him in any way responsible for this mess.

Penny buried her face in her hands. ‘And those aunties of Imogen are going round painting her as an innocent victim and you as a callous husband!’

‘Do you think I don’t know? The Auntie Mafia never pass me in the supermarket without asking what happened to “For better, for worse”.’

And his petition for divorce had goaded them to literally hiss at him in the street. He hadn’t wasted his breath defending himself because he understood Imogen’s family’s loyalty lay with their own. They’d never heard Imogen’s words: I don’t think we’re going to get past this, Ben. If you can’t forgive me then divorce me. Her pain when he’d demanded to know how he could forgive her when she refused to tell him what had really happened that night had been too deeply personal and painful a moment to share with anyone but her.

Penny gulped. ‘And now the Goodbodys are giving you a hard time and you’re selling up and leaving Didbury.’

Her words reminded Ben of the depressing task that had been interrupted by this conversation: dismantling their home. Stilted phone calls to Imogen about what she wanted packing into her brothers’ vans, his heart convulsing as he imagined her, white-faced, trying to be brave.

The very same heart that couldn’t forgive her.

He turned wearily for the door. ‘I’m not leaving because of Imogen’s family, Mum. I’m leaving because of mine.’

 

About The Author: Award-winning author Sue Moorcroft writes contemporary women’s fiction with occasionally unexpected themes. She’s won a Readers’ Best Romantic Read Award, and been nominated for others, including a ‘RoNA’ (Romantic Novel Award). Sue’s a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner, and a past vice chair of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and editor of its two anthologies. The daughter of two soldiers, Sue was born in Germany and went on to spend much of her childhood in Malta and Cyprus. She lives in Kettering.

Follow the rest of the tour at the blogs below

I’m really chuffed that Jo Spain has agreed to join me today. I am a HUGE fan of her DI Tom Reynolds novels and have reviewed them all on the blog. You can read my reviews by clicking these links: With Our Blessing, Beneath the Surface and Sleeping Beauties. I highly recommend all these books. I am lucky enough to have an early copy of her forthcoming book The Confession and am really looking forward to reading that.

Thanks for much for joining me Jo. First of all, would you tell me a little about yourself?

I’m Irish, a graduate in politics of Trinity College and I live in Dublin with my husband and four children, aged from 12 down to 3. I’ve loved reading and writing since I was a dot and my early unpublished works include lots of boarding school stories and many, many midnight feasts. My favourite past-times when I’m not writing about crime, reading about crime and watching crime are committing cri… I jest! I love running, music and wearing my kids out so they’ll go to bed without world war III breaking out.

What inspired you to start writing?

Reading. It’s the quote, if you can’t find the book you want to read, write it. I had a detective in my head that I wanted to read about and, turns out, I had the patent on him. That, and poverty. I worked in a demanding job that wasn’t extraordinarily paid, my husband had lost his job and I dreamed of writing a number one bestseller that would help us out. It didn’t quite happen like that (it never does) but it certainly helped and I now write full-time.

Tell me about your journey to publication

I finished my first book in 2014 and was about to start editing when I saw an advertisement for Richard and Judy’s Search for a Bestseller, its first year. Something, somewhere in the universe, gave me the idea to enter. A few months later, I got an email saying I was shortlisted, one of seven out of thousands. Tracy Rees and Fiona Barton were two other shortlistees. Tracy won, but Quercus, the affiliated publishers, rang me up and offered me a two-book deal, pretty much straight away. I’d no agent, I’d never submitted to a publishers, it was all astonishing and totally not the normal route.

In a nutshell, what is your latest book about?

A vicious serial killer has been operating unnoticed for years in Ireland and DI Tom Reynolds makes the connection when a girl goes missing on his patch.

How did you come up with the title for your book?

I rang Stephen King and said …. No! I have the luxury of being out before him (by days) so I’m claiming all the credit for Sleeping Beauties. The killer in my book is quite twisted and the whole set-up is sort of an inverted take on a fairy tale. Very grim. See what I did!

How did you celebrate publication day?

I didn’t do too much celebrating on publication day this time. I’ve another book out in January, which I’m saving the party for; but I’m also in the middle of writing a six-part drama for TV and it’s hard work.

Do you have a work in progress just now?

Always. I’ve the book out in January, The Confession, and two more written: another Tom Reynolds due out next September – I can reveal it’s called The Darkest Place – and I’m about to start editing my latest thriller which will be out in 2019. I’m working on the TV drama at the moment which will also be shown in 2019, all going to plan. It’s something very different and very exciting.

What’s your favourite book you’ve read in the past few months? Or favourite three if you really can’t choose!

Okay, I’m going to choose one because I’m friends with too many authors to be unbiased (but go buy all the Andrea Carters and Kate McQuailes, that’s all I’m saying).

All The Wicked Girls, Chris Whitaker (wow, just wow).

What are you reading just now? 

I just got a proof of Holly Cave’s The Memory Chamber (due out Feb 2018) and it looks like I’ll lose my weekend to it.

If you were on Desert Island Discs, what one book would you take with you?

You are actually really mean. It would end up being one of the classics. Pride & Prejudice or Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights. Don’t make me choose, I don’t want to hurt their feelings.

Is there a book you’d like to see made into a film? Who would be in your dream cast?

If they made my own (and it’s looking likely) there’s an Irish actor called Barry Ward who is Tom. That is all.

 

How can people follow you or connect with you on social media?

I’m @SpainJoanne on the Twitter machine and https://www.facebook.com/JoSpainAuthor/

And finally, if you could be a character in any book you have read, who would it be and why?

Okay, I know I’m all about the crime fiction but, seriously, Lizzy Bennet. Who hasn’t wanted Darcy and Pemberley? (Sorry, hubby!)

 

It’s paperback publication day for SD Mayes’ Letters to the Pianist and I’m delighted she’s joining me on such an exciting day. The book has been available for a couple of weeks in e-book and hardback format and has been getting great reviews. It sounds just my kind of book but I can’t fit it in right now – hopefully I will at some point. You’ll find out more about the book and the author below and you can order a copy online here: Letters to the Pianist.

First of all, would you tell me a little about yourself?

I’m a former journalist, now turned author. I live in a small village by the river called Caversham, near Reading, and I write from my living room facing out to the garden. I have a teenage daughter and one spoilt black and white moggie, who loves to walk over my laptop. As you can imagine, I save manuscripts regularly.

What inspired you to start writing?

I always wanted to write since being at school. Every time I wrote a friend a letter, they would say – “you should be a writer” – but it was only in my mid-twenties that I had the courage to dip my toe into the fast paced life of journalism.  Writing human interest stories for national newspapers and magazines enabled me to really understand SHOW not TELL that us writers need to apply to storytelling. Because otherwise the editor would scream down the phone “where’s the anecdotes? Describe properly!” Everything we wrote had to take a reader on a journey emotionally.

Tell me about your journey to publication

Hmm, where do I start?  Well the story for Letters dropped into my consciousness about five years ago and I loved the basis of the story, and instantly thought, ‘Wow, I would like to read that book’. But I knew it would be a challenge because all the characters are flawed in some way, and they all had their own secrets that they kept hidden – so it took me a few years to get going with the first draft.  And, phew, it’s taken three years to write, adjusting the plot, tying up loose ends, along with around six beta readers and endless editing.  I can’t even remember how many times this book has been edited, it’s been that many.  I’ve had a literary agent and two publishing contracts along the way that I cancelled because I didn’t feel they were doing the best with the book. And I wanted quality. But then, your book is your baby and you want to do the best by it when it’s taken so much graft.  Finally, I discover BHC Press through a friend, who produced what I feel is an atmospheric cover that sums up the mood of the story.

In a nutshell, what is your book about?

Letters to the Pianist is a parallel father and daughter story, about a Jewish man called Joe and his daughter Ruth.  Joe appears to have lost his wife and children, along with his memory in the London blitz. He also discovers whilst in hospital after suffering severe concussion, that he can play the piano as good as the great maestros.  Having to start again, he ends up with a new identity, and achieves a certain amount of fame with this mysterious new talent, and marries into an aristocratic family who unbeknownst to him, have dark secrets. It’s only years later, when fragments of his memories return, that he realises the dangerous trap he’s fallen into.

How did you come up with the title for your book?

I brainstormed titles with my daughter, who was 15 at the time.  She’s a great sounding board. The letters part of the title will become apparent when you read the book.

What’s your favourite book you’ve read in the past few months? Or favourite three if you really can’t choose!

I recently read ‘I Let You Go’ by Claire Mackintosh

If you were on Desert Island Discs, what one book would you take with you?

I’d probably take Mister God, This is Anna, which is a beautiful book written by Fynn back in 1974.  It’s a evocative story of a little girl who’s been abandoned and is taken in by Fynn’s parents. And she, despite only being four, teaches his family amazing things about life.

[I hadn’t heard of that book, sounds very intriguing.]

Is there a book you’d like to see made into a film? Who would be in your dream cast?

Yes, Letters to the Pianist lol

[Funny how often authors pick their own work!]

Michael Fassbender would play Joe/Eddie

Alicia Vikander would be beautiful debutante Connie Douglas—Scott

Charles Dance would make a brilliant Henry Douglas-Scott

How can people follow you or connect with you on social media?

Twitter: @authormayes    

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorMayes/

Website: www.authormayes.com

Books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Letters-Pianist-S-D-Mayes-ebook/dp/B074P5TTSH

And finally, if you could be a character in any book you have read, who would it be and why?

I’d have to be Alice, in Alice in Wonderland, because she meets such amazing characters and has a life transforming time.

I’m very pleased to welcome Kathryn McMaster who is answering my Author in the Spotlight questions today. Kathryn’s latest book Blackmail, Sex and Lies tells the fascinating true story of Madeleine Black in Victorian Glasgow. More about that below. You can order a copy of the book online here.

Thanks for joining me Kathryn. First of all, would you tell me a little about yourself?

I was born an only child to elderly parents. However, my mother was an avid reader who spent hours reading to me and buying me a large collection of books, many of which I still have. My father was not a reader. He thumbed through gardening magazines, but never gardened, and pored over home decorating magazines, but never decorated. The only books he would read were of true crime. It was those that I found and read late at night with the aid a torch, under the cover of blankets, looking at images and absorbing content no child of that age should see. However, it was these books that stayed with me fuelling my interest in criminology, psychology and forensic science. Ultimately, they lead to me writing in the genre I do; fictionalised accounts, based on various true crime murders, written under the name of Kathryn McMaster.

The choice of the pen name was deliberate. My maiden name was Steel, and for decades I had no idea that my father was actually the result of a love affair my grandmother Lee had with her McMaster cousin. Unfortunately, my father was never recognised by his legitimate father, however, as a direct descent of the McMaster family I am very proud of my Scottish heritage and wanted to legitimise the name in some way.

What inspired you to start writing?

I spent many years writing, on and off, over the years. However life was interrupted, children arrived, and duty called to follow my husband as he pursued his engineering career that took us to six different countries around the world. During that time I worked and taught English, either as a first language, or a second, depending on where we were. After we bought our farm in Italy, I was given the dubious honour of creating a running farm out of thirty acres of a long-abandoned scrub. With my husband remaining overseas, I filled the lonely hours by resuming my writing and looking for those dusty, long-forgotten manuscripts that lay in the boxes that had followed us everywhere.

Tell me about your journey to publication                                 

After two years of being in Italy, I finally had a friend. She was an English girl recently widowed, living across the valley from me, and who needed to find ways to make money. We discussed a few ideas, some promising, others not so promising. One of those ideas was to create some colouring books for adults seeing as it was an emerging market that was gathering interest. That was when we first dipped our toes into the self-publishing pond that soon turned out to be a quagmire. The books didn’t do particularly well and I wanted to know why. We had a good product but few people were buying the books. After that, I attended an over-priced course on self-publishing and learned one or two gold nuggets that allowed me to be far more successful with my next foray into the publishing world. Since then, I have helped many authors giving advice on self-publishing, and have subsequently started a website called One Stop Fiction to connect authors with readers which is mutually beneficial.

Although I was contacted by an independent publisher that specialised in crime fiction, I turned down the offer of allowing them to publish my books knowing that I could make more money going it alone, and marketing my own books. I have never regretted that decision.

In a nutshell, what is your latest book about?

My latest book is called Blackmail, Sex and Lies. It is a fictionalised account of the life and times of the Glaswegian socialite, Madeleine Hamilton Smith, accused of murdering her working-class lover, Pierre Emile L’Angelier.  With so many true crime books out on the subject I decided to do something different. I researched the period, and that of Glasgow and Scotland, and keeping loosely to the facts, created a world within which Madeleine would have lived, and drawing on her letters to L’Angelier, wrote what she might have said.

How did you come up with the title for your book?

The love story between Madeleine and L’Angelier took place within the Victorian era of propriety and strict social mores. Young, headstrong Madeleine broke most of them. She allowed herself to be seduced, perhaps even encouraged the seduction and horrors of horrors, even enjoyed sex, as seen in her letters that were publicly read out in court at her trial, much to her humiliation. The lies were to her parents, whom she had assured on numerous occasions that she was no longer seeing L’Angelier. The blackmail came from L’Angelier when he found out that Madeleine was seeing another suitor. In a jealous rage he threatened to show her letters to both her father and to her new suitor, William Minnoch, and to expose her licentious behaviour in order to prevent her from marrying another.

How did you celebrate publication day?

There is more work that goes on behind the scenes long before publication day, than the actual day itself. I always make sure that the book has been thoroughly edited, I am happy with the cover, the formatting, and I have enough people in my launch team who will read and review my book. Launch teams are vital for any successful author and without them the book could plunge into the rather large Amazon abyss. On publication day I always set the book to free, couple that with a number of paid promotions that will get the book off to a good start, and it is during this time that my review team, or launch team, will leave their honest reviews. Publication day is when I can finally sigh with relief and have that extra glass of red wine in quiet celebration.

Do you have a work in progress just now?

I do. My first book covered the awful murder of young John Gill of Manningham, Bradford. His little body so brutally mutilated it was first thought to be the work of Jack the Ripper. It was while I was researching this book that I came across another horrific murder of a young girl in the nearby town of Horsforth. She had been murdered and mutilated in roughly the same manner, but three years after the death of John Gill. After the Horsforth murder the local suspect was initially thought to be involved in the Johnny Gill murder, particularly as he was living not far from Manningham when John Gill was murdered. However, after investigation by the authorities, the connection between the two murders was disregarded. The Horsforth murder was a case that has stayed with me and one I wanted to revisit. At the moment, I am still in the research phase, and will be for a few more weeks, before I start putting pen to paper.

What’s your favourite book you’ve read in the past few months? Or favourite three if you really can’t choose!

I have just finished reading a manuscript that is about to be published by the very talented British writer, Allie Cresswell. It is called Tall Chimneys and follows the life of the main protagonist, Evelyn Talbot from 1910 to 2010 whose life revolves around the Jacobean mansion, Tall Chimneys and the secrets that it holds. For those of you who enjoy beautiful prose and historical fiction covering family sagas, this one is for you.

What are you reading just now? 

I am reading, Lamentation by C.J. Sansom.

If you were on Desert Island Discs, what one book would you take with you?

That’s a difficult question, as I have so many books that spring to mind. If I had to make a choice it would have to be a book I would never tire of that would provide introspection and inspiration, which would be The Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam.

How can people follow you or connect with you on social media?

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrueCrimeNovels

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynmcmaster.author/

Websites: www.kathrynmcmaster.com

www.onestopfiction.com

And finally, if you could be a character in any book you have read, who would it be and why?

Although not a perfect man, I would love to be Sherlock Holmes. I admire the way he was able to be eccentric with no recourse, neat and methodical which I am not, and able to make deductions from the smallest of clues. Every mystery writer hopes to have those same well-rounded characters blessed with fantastic powers of deduction just as Doyle did when he created Holmes.