My new book, The Cakes of Wrath, isn’t your usual Valentine’s Day story. Instead of heart-shaped chocolates and roses, we’ve got a mystery rooted in a cozy book-town tearoom and a cast of peculiar villagers. The key figure in all the chaos is my brilliant local herbalist, Mrs Pankhurst, who makes drinks and ointments from…
I adore the glorious strangeness of British celebrations. While our big, well-known holidays are peculiar enough—take Boxing Day, which for most of us is a national holiday dedicated to rubbing our overfull stomachs and finally tackling the unpopular chocolates left in the tin—it’s the niche, small-village traditions that are positively shocking and perfect for cozy…
If you’ve picked up a cozy mystery set in an English village, you’ve probably come across a mention of a cream tea. And if you’ve considered trying one yourself, you’ve likely seen the words clotted cream—a name that sounds about as inviting as a cow pat. But don’t let the name fool you. Clotted cream…
There is no setting more comforting—or more deceptively deadly—than a classic English tearoom. For fans of cozy mysteries, the gentle chime of porcelain and the scent of strong tea provide the perfect backdrop for discussing cunning plots and calculating killers. If you are hosting a book club, or even diving into our new book club…
For a crime writer, the setting is never just a backdrop—it is a character in its own right. The walls, the windows, and the sheer proximity to a neighbour all determine the kind of murder that can happen and, crucially, how the killer gets away with it. Forget the Californian mansion; in a true British…
In the world of cozy mysteries, the crime itself is rarely the hardest part to write. No, the real villain in the publishing process is often the title. It needs to be catchy, quirky, and signal what the genre is in just a few words. Crafting the perfect title for a book is, ironically, harder…