Newsletter no. 193, November 2022

First came the autumn colour in trees and plants, which was wonderful to see. Then came the Fall, and that meant lots of clearing up to do. It wasn’t so much the leaves that drifted down onto the garden as the sycamore seeds that came down with them. They are a pain because I can’t sweep them up with a broom as I do with the leaves. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many in my garden. I tell myself that eventually they’ll cease to be a problem and I am enjoying the winter-flowering pansies and chrysanthemums.

A hitch in the proceedings occurred recently when my mouse malfunctioned. The computer froze. I couldn’t get anything to shift. I couldn’t access or send emails. I couldn’t get on with the story. After a weekend of telling myself it wasn’t the end of the world although that’s what it felt like, my wonderful computer guru brought me a new mouse and normal service was resumed. Later, someone told me how to over-ride the mouse on my keyboard, but I haven’t tried it and am hoping never to have to go through that again.

Good news: readers are now finding the e-books of the first titles in the Abbott Agency series. The first, A FALSE CHARITY, came out on 24th October, then there was A FALSE PICTURE on the 31st. A FALSE STEP is due out on 8th November and A FALSE PRETENCE on the 27th. Please note the original titles didn’t have an ‘A’ in front of them, but these ebooks do. I’m not terribly happy about the first cover which features a dog. I am a cat person. But there it is; the publishers say that dogs sell books. It’s not worth getting into a state about it. (The 3rd title does feature a cat.)

Meanwhile the hardback copy of a new Ellie Quicke came out on November lst together with an e-book. MURDER FOR PROFIT has a house which looks very much like mine on the cover. It’s all to do with Ellie’s trust fund and which estate agency or realtor should be looking after the rentals, etc. A student fell from the top window of one of Ellie’s latest projects and someone is stirring up trouble about it, big time. I rather like the characters in this story, and I hope you will, too.

There’s been a couple of good reviews of MURDER FOR PROFIT already. This from Booklist: ‘A twisty plot, an intrepid heroine, and an unexpectedly satisfying ending make this a good choice for cosy fans.’

Parsley & Posy have been posing with some of the tiny autumn cyclamens which pop up all over my garden at this time of the year. See them here.

                             The next short story is: ‘Harvest’

This is another oldie featuring Ellie Quicke, written originally for a magazine. It’s about the feuds which can break out in a church over who decorates which window or pulpit. You can access the story here.

A blessing on those who know how to help when computers break down.        

Veronica Heley