Category Archives: fiction

Presumed Dead
James Holder

Bored with his job, with no real prospects and barely a penny to his name, the last thing Wally Mortimer needed was a letter from a solicitor delivered to his home one Saturday morning. But instead of a letter threatening legal action for one of his many unpaid bills, things are about to change for Wally - the letter tells him that he has inherited the estate of George Hart, a wealthy benefactor unknown to him.
Assured that the letter is genuine, he turns to his family to see if they can tell him anything about his benefactor. But the only lead they can give him is one from his grandmother whose fading memory remembers a George Hart who died more than 60 years ago.
So, who is George Hart, Wally’s benefactor? Is it just a coincidence that his grandmother once knew someone with the same name? If not, who is he and why did he leave his estate to Wally? Wally’s attempts to find an answer lead literally to a dead end. It is not until he finds a notebook at the chateau he has inherited that he discovers who George Hart was and uncovers secrets about his family unknown to them, secrets never meant to be discovered.
Published: September 2021
Hardback: 212 pages
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 97819144424076
Available from Amazon

James Holder was born in Somerset and, after reading law at Cambridge University, practised as a solicitor; he now works as a consultant.
He and his wife have four children and two grandchildren and live in Oxfordshire.
Also by James Holder...
The Great War’s Sporting Casualties

London Blood
Ian McKinney

LONDON BLOOD

A bomb explodes at Angel Underground Station. Two years later the survivors are being brutally murdered. MI5 begin searching for a terrorist mastermind. While Matt Ross, a detective with PTSD and a guilty secret, believes that it is linked to the drug case he is investigating.

Neither realise that they are actually in the middle of a vampire vendetta.

Only Edward Jago understands that London could soon be overrun by new vampires. Nobody wants that – least of all its old vampires. And as the line between mortal and immortal becomes increasingly blurred, will Ross find the truth or will he pay for his curiosity with his own blood?

Published:Aug 2021
Paperback:308 pages
Price:£10.99
ISBN:9-781914-424236

Available from Amazon

Books by Ian McKinney...

London Blood

Scouse Gothic 1 - The Pool of Life... and Death

Scouse Gothic 2 - Blood Brothers... and Sisters

Scouse Gothic 3 - All you need is blood?




Scouse Gothic 2
Ian McKinney

9781911175131 This is the second book in the Scouse Gothic series by Ian McKinney.

Sheryl wakes; why can’t she move? Where’s Lee? – Is he safe? Return to the bizarre world of Scouse Gothic where Melville mourns another lost love and searches for clues to her disappearance. Where Lathom decides to have a fresh start in Liverpool but finds his past waiting to haunt him and where Peter finds love but is having trouble with some ‘psycho’ mice. Meanwhile Frank finds that being a pigeon can have its drawbacks. But, two questions remain to be answered: who is the man in black? - And is blood really thicker than water?



Books by Ian McKinney...

London Blood

Scouse Gothic 1 - The Pool of Life... and Death

Scouse Gothic 2 - Blood Brothers... and Sisters

Scouse Gothic 3 - All you need is blood?
Published:1st March 2016
Paperback:218 pages
Price:£9.99
ISBN:9-781911-175131

Available from Amazon
and Kindle e-books

Pay with PayPal
£9.99 (+ £2 postage)



Reader Reviews...

Amazon Review: Maz
I really enjoyed Scouse Gothic 2, even more than Scouse Gothic 1 which I loved ... Ian McKinney has certainly found a niche combining humorous fiction, intelligent plots and interesting history all set against the backdrop of Liverpool, the place and especially the people. It is a real page-turner.

Scouse Gothic
Ian McKinney

Cover_Hutchings_Scouse Gothic_02032015_9781909644519_v1-1 Melville wakes with a pounding headache – there had been too many hangovers recently, but this one felt different. What had he been drinking last night? Then he remembered – it was blood. Enter the bizarre world of Scouse Gothic where a reluctant vampire mourns a lost love and his past lives, where a retired ‘hit man’ plans one more killing and dreams of food, and a mother sets out to avenge her son’s murder, and, meanwhile, a grieving husband is visited by an angry angel. Set in present day Liverpool, vampires and mortals co-exist, unaware of each others’ secrets and that their past and present are inextricably linked.

But as their lives converge, who will be expected to atone for past sins?



Books by Ian McKinney...

London Blood

Scouse Gothic 1 - The Pool of Life... and Death

Scouse Gothic 2 - Blood Brothers... and Sisters

Scouse Gothic 3 - All you need is blood?
Published:1st May 2015
Paperback:198 pages
Price:£9.99
ISBN:9-781909-644519

Available from Amazon
and Kindle e-books

Pay with PayPal
£9.99 (+ £2 postage)



Reader Reviews...

Amazon Review: Sarah Barnett
If you've never read any gothic fiction, then Scouse Gothic by Ian McKinney is a great place to start. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The characters are many and varied, and held my interest throughout. The plot lines weave teasingly from chapter to chapter, and the characters move effortlessly backwards and forwards through different times and places in history.

Amazon Review Mr. A. K. Tierney
I really liked this book. It weaves the seemingly different stories of a strange group of characters together ... with classic human feelings of love hate malice, avarice, revenge and lust for power. It does so with a lovely blend of light and dark humour ... the characterisations are believable and the plot has for me the right amount of complexity with out trying to be too clever.

Scouse Gothic 3
Ian McKinney

CS Cover.indd This is the third book in the Scouse Gothic series by Ian McKinney.

Life can be difficult – even when you’re dead.
Lathom lies awake. His nights are plagued by nightmares and his days by hallucinations and cravings for blood. Worse still he’s stone cold sober all the time - immortality has its drawbacks. Melville has decided to put his past behind him and live for the future - unfortunately his past has other ideas. Peter is worried that his research might create human vampires - and also that he may already know one. Frank ponders how to make an omelette without breaking your favourite egg. And Sheryl wonders if it’s unnatural for vampires to live together. Perhaps, love isn’t all you need – perhaps all you need is blood.



Books by Ian McKinney...

London Blood

Scouse Gothic 1 - The Pool of Life... and Death

Scouse Gothic 2 - Blood Brothers... and Sisters

Scouse Gothic 3 - All you need is blood?
Published:1st Jan 2017
Paperback:224 pages
Price:£9.99
ISBN:9-781911-175445

Available from Amazon
and Kindle e-books

Pay with PayPal
£9.99 (+ £2 postage)



Reader Reviews...




Adela Basset
Joanne McShane

Adela Basset
In this, the sequel to Mistress Whiddon, we find ourselves in December 1611. The Basset family of Umberleigh has been bankrupted as a result of Robert Basset’s misguided notion to lodge a claim to the throne of England after the death of Elizabeth I. When a daughter is born just nine months after his return from exile both he and his traumatised wife refuse to acknowledge the child. She is rescued from an uncertain fate by her older sister, Anne, who names her Adela.
When Anne leaves Umberleigh in 1614 to marry Jonathan Rashleigh of Menabilly in Cornwall, she takes her young sister with her.
As a child Adela struggles with feelings of rejection and, as she enters her womanhood, with the conflicting emotions she feels for the two men in her life; her childhood friend, the woodcutter’s son, Gilbert, and her dashing Cavalier cousin, Thomas Basset.
Her story is told against the backdrop of the tumultuous politics of 17th century Cornwall and Jonathan Rashleigh’s own close involvement with the Royalist cause during the Civil War.
Published: Sept 2020
Paperback: 240 pages
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 9-781913-425456

UK Only
£9.99 (+ £2.50 postage)
Number of copies:

Available on Amazon

For Australia and USA, order from Amazon.com
Joanne spent her childhood on a sheep and cattle farm in Tasmania, Australia. After marrying and raising a family in Tasmania she moved to Wales in 2003 and still lives there, close to the Herefordshire border. Always a keen historian, she became fascinated by her own family history and by the lives of her ancestors - some of whom she discovered to be very colourful indeed.
This led her to begin writing. Honora and Arthur - The Last Plantagenets is her first published book.
In her own words 'I am the end product of a melting pot ranging from convicts to Royalty. There are so many stories waiting to be told. I just hope I live long enough to do it.'

Books by Joanne McShane...

Honora and Arthur - the Last Plantagenets

Mistress Whiddon

Lillias

Adela Basset

Miss Jane


Reviews...




Mistress Whiddon -The Memoirs of Nora Basset of Umberleigh
Joanne McShane

Mistress Whiddon
The Memoirs of Nora Basset of Umberleigh

Young Nora Basset has no memory of her father, John, as he died when she was very young. Her first years are spent at Umberleigh in Devon with her family. When she is three years old, she meets her grandmother, Honora Lisle, who has returned from imprisonment in Calais and has been tragically widowed. Nora and her grandmother form a close bond, as the child unwittingly assists the older woman to come to terms with her loss. The following year, Nora’s mother, Frances Plantagenet, remarries. Her new husband is Thomas Monk of Potheridge and the family leaves Umberleigh to begin their new life.

Nora spends a mostly happy childhood at Potheridge until she is called away at the age of eighteen to become a companion for her grandmother who has once again been visited by sadness. The bond between the two women becomes stronger than ever.
Published: Dec 2019
Paperback: 378 pages
Price: £14.99
ISBN: 9-781913-425050

UK Only
£14.99 (+ £3 postage)
Number of copies:

Available on Amazon

For Australia and USA, order from Amazon.com
When she is twenty-seven Nora meets William Whiddon, the love of her life. They marry and the next years are blissful ones for the two soulmates. When tragedy strikes, Nora must find a way to move forward in her life. The story is set against the backdrop of life in Elizabethan England and the continuing saga of the Basset family.

Books by Joanne McShane...

Honora and Arthur - the Last Plantagenets

Mistress Whiddon

Lillias

Adela Basset

Miss Jane

Reviews...

Bill Clewer: Truely, Joanne McShane is a great writer. Can't wait to start Lillias.
It was William's forethought to make his will, giving Nora the means to have the life "she" wanted. The book flows, and it is as if the writer is telling the book in your head. I usually read a chapter and put the book down. Mistress Whiddon was the first time that I could not put it down, because I wanted to know what was in the next chapter.

5 out of 5 stars A marvellous read
Reviewed in Australia on 3 December 2020
What a marvellous read. It is amazing how much it speaks to the woman of today. Many of the same prejudices are still found in many areas of today’s many societies. Accepting that Nora was wealthy, educated and privileged she still showed great forthrightness in demanding a life of her own choosing. Indeed she was most fortunate to be born in the Elizabethan era of change which allowed such women able to thrive.
Mistress Whiddon is a book that will nourish the positivity, creativity and self confidence to be one’s own person in the many challenges our daily life presents us.

Honora and Arthur – the Last Plantagenets
Joanne McShane

Honora and Arthur - the Last Plantagenets
At the age of 18, Honora Grenville, daughter of a wealthy Cornish landowner, is swept off her feet by Arthur Plantagenet, the handsome, illegitimate uncle of Henry VIII. Since childhood, her dreams have been of a handsome gentleman who would whisk her away to live in far-off palaces and to wear fine clothes. Now, in Arthur Plantagenet, it seems that her dreams are about to come true.
Alas, it is not to be. Henry VIII orders Arthur to marry Elizabeth Dudley Grey, Viscountess Lisle, and poor Honora is cast into an abyss of despair.
Whilst still trying to put Arthur from her mind, she reluctantly marries John Basset, a Devonshire widower twenty-eight years her senior.
After thirteen years of what turns out to be a tranquil and fruitful marriage, John Basset dies and Arthur Plantagenet, also recently widowed, re-enters Honora’s life. The passion, which has never died for either of them, is rekindled in an instant. They marry, and she leaves Devon to begin her new life as a grand lady at the court of Henry VIII.
Published: July 2019
Paperback: 428 pages
Price: £14.99
ISBN: 9-781912-419838

UK Only
£14.99 (+ £3 postage)
Number of copies:

Available on Amazon

For Australia and USA, order from Amazon.com
But the times are changing as Henry seeks to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.
When King Henry orders Arthur to take on the role of Governor at Calais, the couple find themselves at the centre of the fast-changing and tumultuous political climate of the English Reformation.
That which began as a dream turns into a terrifying battle for survival.

Books by Joanne McShane...

Honora and Arthur - the Last Plantagenets

Mistress Whiddon

Lillias

Adela Basset

Miss Jane


Hi Jo - Just finished your book, it is brilliant, I have so enjoyed it and looking forward with great anticipation to the next one.

Reviews...

Amazon review:
Well researched and beautifully written

Honora and Arthur takes you back in time to experience life as it would have been for a woman of status in the turbulent Tudor times. The evocative text paints such a strong picture in your mind that you feel as though you are spying through a window as this true story unfolds. The tale is gently told and suitable for all ages and stages. For those that love history, and a good love story, this is a 'must read'.

Chris McShane
5 Stars - And they said history was boring. You will not be able to put this book down.

What an amazing book. A superbly entertaining historical novel, that brings the characters and the era to life.
I found it very difficult to put this book down.
It is very difficult not to become emotionally involved with the fortunes of the many characters portrayed.


Katrin Schlattmeier
5 Stars - A thrilling read about a fascinating person, full of historical facts and information.

I have devoured the novel. I bought it in a rush, and thought nothing at all about it being written in English.
The story is, however, written so grippingly that one really forgets the language in the reading of this exciting family story.
I have at the same time, learned very much about British history. I can warmly recommend this book and look forward to another book by Joanne.


London-Nanny - (Amazon reader)
5 Stars - Superb research, I could not put this down...when is the next book?

Nothing to dislike, the like was in the content of the book, well researched in immaculate detail. If you are a fan of phillipa Gregory, this book fills in the details of many characters in her books, once you have read Joanna’s book, lady lisle comes to life in a way that this does not happen in pg books.

LEO EVANS - (Amazon reader)
5 Stars - A good read

A good story, based on actual events. Well-written, and holds the reader's interest throughout. The writer has obviously done a lot of research into Tudor times, and the characters and their lives really 'come alive'.

David Hartland - (Amazon reader)
5 stars - A great read, i didn't want to put it down.
It brought that period of history alive from a different perspective.
I have always loved the Tudor period, but this book brought the real problems of living in those difficult times to life.
I am looking forward to Joanne McShane's next book.

Amazon reader
4 Stars - A pacy read, this book tells the story of the life of a woman who lived through tumultuous times.

Obviously well researched and based on fact, the book is a personal interpretation of the life of Honora who was close to and sometimes drawn into the dangerous machinations of the royal courts in and around the reign of Henry VIII.