The good news: The garden revived once we had some rain. Some plants did die, but others are deciding to have a second go at life and some plants are coming into bloom early. And, my second crop of runner beans are now cropping heavily! It’s a bit mad, really.

Some more good news: the paperback of FALSE FACE came out at the end of September, and I’ve had a couple f really good reviews for MURDER FOR PROFIT, which comes out in hardback on November lst.

. . . which leads on to my next bit of good news, which is that a firm called Joffe Books have bought the e-book rights for thirteen (yes, 13) of the Bea Abbot books and are going to bring them out as e-books one a week from mid-October! How about that! You will be amused to hear that I couldn’t remember much about the early books in this series, so had to find copies and re-read them. Do the plots stand up to the passage of time? Yes, I think they do, although after fifteen years technology has moved on somewhat.

The plot for the first book, FALSE CHARITY, was given me by my husband. He’d come across a couple in court running a fake charity event and then scarpering without paying the venue or the charity concerned. In my story Bea has just been widowed and can hardly think straight as problems mount around her and the agency her husband had run for so many years. And yes, Piers turns up to help . . . on his own terms, mind. So that’s the first book, published in 2007.

The second is FALSE PICTURE in which Bea is struggling to restart the agency, she has two lodgers who are causing problems, an old friend is less than open about a relative who’s gone missing with a valuable painting by Millais, and an experienced thief is planning another murder. Oh yes, and the tax man is on Bea’s tail . . .

Meanwhile. . . Parsley & Posy have been having fun posting in front of the Japanese anemones which threatened to die on me earlier but are now coming into bloom. Whenever I see these flowers, I remember my mother saying, ‘Don’t look at them! They’re the first sign of autumn!’ True, but this year I’m actually glad to see them. I know there’s a variety which has pink flowers but strangely enough, the ones in this road are all white. See them here.

                      The next short story is: ‘Death at the B & B!’

Yes, this is a real oldie, an early short story featuring Ellie Quicke. The problem is that I’m using up short stories too fast. I am asked for them three or four times a year, but I’m sending one out with the newsletter every month. I can’t do the maths, but I’m sure you can see the problem. So here’s one I wrote earlier, and I hope you enjoy it. You can access the story here.

A blessing on those who mourn. Let us remember Queen Elizabeth II and all whose lives she touched.      

Veronica Heley