The seasons have definitely turned in Britain and it’s perfect weather for curling up by the fire with a cup of tea and a good book. I’m home after an eventful trip (see below) and enjoying reading the lovely reviews for The Riviera Mystery. I’m also getting started on writing the next Marjorie Swallow adventure, which will be set in the newspaper world of 1920s Fleet Street.
Read on for travel misadventures, reading recommendations and promotions.
An adventure on the water
September is often a glorious month in the UK, with late summer sunshine and mellow temperatures making it my favourite time to travel. So I was looking forward a week-long trip on a narrowboat in the English Midlands for the end of September.
Britain is criss-crossed by canals, man-made waterways which were used to ferry heavy goods like coal around the country during the industrial revolution. Long cast-iron narrowboats, originally horse-drawn and later motorised, supplied fuel to the factories of the industrial revolution and moved goods from one end of the country to the other. They fell into disuse after the rise of the railways but recently the canals have been restored and now many people choose to live or take leisure trips on converted narrowboats.
It can be fun, trundling gently through the countryside at four miles an hour. You do need nerves of steel to steer a 60-foot boat from the tiller at the rear through some of the narrow, winding sections of canal, not to mention navigating and working the frequent locks which are used to raise or lower boats from a higher to lower section of canal.
But I didn’t bank on the weather. We had about an hour of sunshine before the heavens opened. Our trip coincided with the heaviest rain we’ve had for months. Not only did we get soaked steering the boat and working the locks, but some sections of the canal were closed because of dangerous flooding, which meant our boat might have been swept into the fields with the cows! We moored up and waited for the waters to recede.
There are two British responses to this sort of thing. The first is to make a cup of tea. The second is to go to the pub. Luckily we had a kettle and plenty of teabags, and our mooring was close to a fine inn, The Swan, which had an open fire, good beer and served tasty and enormous meals. Even better, I had a good book on the go, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, which I’m re-reading for a book club.
It may not have been the holiday I hoped for. But as Marjorie discovered in The Riviera Mystery, sometimes even the best holiday doesn’t quite work out as planned. I’m sure she’d agree that a cup of tea, good food and a gripping book makes it all worthwhile!
The Stories Behind the Story
A quick reminder that, if you are keen on learning more about the historical research I do for my novels, you can find out more on my separate newsletter, The Stories Behind the Story. Next week I’ll be sharing some of my favourite finds in the British Newspaper Archives.
Sunny books for rainy days
After my soggy adventure, I’m drawn to some sunny books! And coincidentally there are not one but two newly-published Egyptian adventures on my to-be-read pile.
Sara Rosett, author of the 1920s High Society Lady Detective series, has a new mystery featuring a Lady Traveller in Egypt, starting with Murder Among The Pyramids.
Meanwhile, Verity Bright’s next book, Murder On The Nile, sees Lady Eleanor Swift and butler cruising down the Nile on the SS Cleopatra – when the inevitable happens and the cruise is interrupted by murder.
At least none of my narrowboat adventures resulted in a corpse! (Although I wouldn’t bank against my experiences finding their way into fiction at some point.)
Promotion
Looking for a few more autumnal cozy mysteries to squeeze into your e-reader? Check out the Everything Nice Cozy Mystery promotion at Bookfunnel for free novels and novellas.
The fourth in the 1920s Murder Mystery Series, 
Do you remember your first trip overseas? Packing your case, the thrill of travelling by air or sea, the wonder as you stepped into a new world for the very first time, full of sunshine and colour?
An author’s life might sound glamorous, but mostly it involves sitting in front of a computer, tapping away. However, I do enjoy a spot of glamour – and it doesn’t get more glamorous than Glyndebourne. This very English affair involves getting dressed to the nines for a picnic in the grounds of a sumptuous stately home, followed by world-class opera in a private opera house. It was my first time, and I had a ball.
A new author to me, but a subject close to my heart as a former journalist. The Shanghai Secret, by Vanessa Lind, is a duel timeline historical mystery from 1880s America.
And an old favourite returns!