Anna Sayburn Lane

Mystery and thriller author

News

July newsletter: a new Marjorie Swallow book is on the way!

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It’s been full steam ahead this month, after changing track to start work on a new 1920s murder mystery. The spy thriller is on hold while I write the next in my Marjorie Swallow series. I’d long wanted to write a Christmas mystery for the series, which meant a June start if I was to hit that pre-Christmas deadline.

So while we sweltered through the hottest June and July on record, I busied myself in researching Christmas in 1920s Northumberland. It’s rather disconcerting to emerge from a mental picture of a midwinter night, the moon glinting off the frost and the Salvation Army band cranking out Christmas carols, to find sunbathers stretched out on the beach and the sun blazing down!

I also took time out to visit the Walmer Castle Book Fair, where I gave a short talk about the process behind my 1920s mysteries. Thanks to everyone who came along. You can see what I talked about in this article, How I Research And Write My 1920s Whodunnits.

All Aboard The Flying Scotsman

My first research challenge for the new book was to get Marjorie to Northumberland, which involved a deep dive into the history of the famous Flying Scotsman. If you missed it, you can read about in this article, All Aboard The Flying Scotsman.

In other transport news, I came across a rather fetching Rolls Royce at the Walmer Classic Car Show, which takes place handily close to my flat. The car dates from 1930, so only five years after the new book is set. The owners let me have a good look around. I didn’t tell them I was thinking about how you might sabotage it in order to surreptitiously bump off a nosy sleuth.

A writer’s get-together

One of the pleasures of June was meeting fellow authors at the Self Publishing Show Live conference in London. It was particularly fun to meet author Rosie Hunt, who has been an online friend since I started writing the Marjorie Swallow mysteries. We enjoyed a good catch-up over tea, and I enjoyed hearing what she has in store for her 1920s sleuth Lady Felicity Quick.

If you’ve yet to meet Lady Felicity, here’s a good place to start: her first adventure, Murder At Afternoon Tea. It’s free when you sign up to Rosie’s newsletter.

Rosie kindly answered my questions about her historical novel research process last year – you can catch up on her answers here.

I also caught up with Joanna Penn, a best-selling author of dark thrillers who has long been a legend on the indie author scene. I published my interview with JF Penn last week.

And I’ve also lined up a couple of historical mystery novelists I’m sure you’ll love, Benedict Brown and Lynn Morrison, to interview soon.

Recommendations

A few quick recommendations to round the month off. I’m:

  • Watching A Spy Among Friends, the ITV series that dramatised the defection of Kim Philby, on ITVX. The trio of leads (Guy Pearce, Damian Lewis and Anna Maxwell Martin) is top-notch. Pearce in particular is mesmerising as Philby, the oh-so-English spy who fooled the British establishment for decades before fleeing to Moscow when he was exposed as a spy.
  • Enjoying Dorothy Brande’s Becoming A Writer, on the grounds that it was Hilary Mantel’s favourite book about writing. If it’s good enough for Hilary, it’s more than good enough for me. It’s packed with good sense.
  • Loving LC Winter’s creepy Spider, Spider, a gothic Victorian story of witchcraft and revenge. I had the pleasure of meeting author Libby at an Arvon course a couple of years ago, and I was so excited to come across the beautiful bookshop edition of her first novel in the British Library bookshop. I devoured the story in a couple of days.

June newsletter: Book news and recommendations

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Anna at Walmer Castle
At Walmer Castle for the book fair

What a busy month May was! I began with a wonderful trip to Florence in Italy, where I enjoyed visiting museums, galleries, churches and palazzos, not to mention sipping wine in a Tuscan hill village. Lots of possibilities for a trip to Italy for Marjorie Swallow at some point in the future!

Back in London, I led a guided walk through Deptford for a group of American tourists who want to hear about the literary history of the area. It was a chance to revisit some of the places that inspired my first novel, Unlawful Things.

I enjoyed a study weekend exploring Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy – bliss for historical fiction fans, with talks by historians, authors and experts on all aspects of Tudor history. And I met with author friends including 1920s mystery luminaries like Benedict Brown, Lynne Morrison and Rosie Hunt at the Self Publishing Show Live 2026 conference, held opposite the Houses of Parliament at County Hall.

Mid-way through the month, my fifth Marjorie Swallow book, Death On Fleet Street, went live, so it’s now available as an audiobook. My wonderful narrator Kim Bretton is now hard at work on Murder On The White Cliffs, the last in the current series.

I also took part in the Walmer Castle Book Fair in the delightful surroundings of Walmer Castle gardens, just down the road from me.

And in between all the activity, I got some writing done. More on that next month. Read on for all the usual news, recommendations and offers.

Summer reading recommendations

Is there anything more relaxing than a book on a beach? It’s my favourite way to wind down, and you can’t beat a mystery for a spot of relaxation. Here are two books I’ve enjoyed recently.

Have you read the Augusta Peel mysteries? Emily Organ’s series set in 1920s London is very much up my street. I like her reluctant sleuth, Augusta, who would prefer to be left to a quiet life mending books in a Bloomsbury cellar, but keeps getting dragged into murder investigations. Death In Soho, the first in the series, sees her act as chaperone to a young woman intent on visiting a Soho nightclub – but she soon wishes she’d stayed at home with her books.

Death In Soho is June’s Mystery of the Month. The book is just 99p/99c from June 24 to 30. Find it here.

Jane Thynne’s Midnight In Vienna is set on the brink of World War Two, as all Europe holds its breath. Stella Fry, a young woman in search of employment, meets mystery author Hubert Newman, who is looking for a secretary to type up his latest book. But Hubert is not long for this world, and when he’s discovered dead in Westminster Abbey just hours after their lunch in his London club, she begins to suspect his death was not an accident. And what ‘mistakes’ did he want her to spot in his manuscript?

It’s an atmospheric and gripping book, and even has a walk-on role for my favourite mystery writer Dorothy L Sayers!

 

Event: Walmer Castle Book Fair

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Walmer Castle
Walmer Castle

I’m excited to be taking part in the 2026 Walmer Castle Book Fair next weekend. I’ll be on the author’s pop-up stage on the lawn at 1pm on Sunday June 14, talking about how I write my historical mystery books, and answering audience questions. I’ll also be signing books during the rest of the fair on Sunday. If you’re in the area, why not come and say hello?
Walmer Castle is managed by English Heritage.

 

May newsletter: 📚Book news, recommendations and travels✈️

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I’ve been off on my travels this month and I’m packing the suitcase again for a trip to beautiful Florence next week. I’ve also been enjoying some lovely spring weather in the UK, including a gorgeous walk with friends in the Kent countryside.

I also took a trip to see family in Wales, which is right on the other side of the country. I have a step-granddaughter on the way, so I was very excited to spend time with the parents-to-be ahead of the happy event this summer.

I’ve managed to squeeze in a bit of writing, too. The new book is well underway at 30,000 words. Now, if I was writing a Marjorie Swallow book, I’d say I was halfway through, but this one is going to be longer. I’m aiming for 90,000 words, which seems like a good length for a thriller.

Read on for all the usual news, recommendations and offers.

 

Cozy mystery recommendations

Rosie Hunt has a new mystery out, Murder on the Motor Track.

England, 1923. Celebrated sleuth Lady Felicity Quick has never shied away from scandal. But becoming a racing driver? With her wedding fast approaching, Felicity should be choosing flowers, not flying around hairpin bends.

But a bereaved brother’s plea for justice summons her to the notorious Tor Vale circuit, where former flying aces risk their lives at every turn. Someone sabotaged the last fatal crash — and as the racers strive for the trophy, the killer is poised to strike again.

Can Felicity unmask the killer before the championship race? Or will a wrong turn send her off the track — permanently?

May’s Mystery of the Month is a new author to me, Cassie Rush, with The Secret Society.

A stolen artefact. A murdered archaeologist. A secret society that will stop at nothing.

London, 1925. Lady Barbara ‘Bundle’ Ridgewell is carving out a new life in Mayfair while her husband, Lord Edmund Ridgewell, reluctantly takes his seat in the House of Lords. When a party invitation introduces Bundle to Dr Samuel Cunningham — a charming archaeologist with a mysterious Egyptian relic and tales of ancient curses — she’s intrigued. When she finds him murdered in his Soho flat, she’s appalled. Where will the investigation take her?

Audiobook news

Murder On Fleet Street should be available soon for those who prefer to read with their ears. I signed it off at Audible this morning, and I have to say, Kim has done a brilliant job. Whisper it, but this might be my favourite of the Marjorie Swallow books, and Kim’s narration is spot on. She even made me laugh at my own jokes while I did the quality assurance check!

You should be able to find it on Audible and Spotify very soon.

Promotion

Finally, I’m taking part in the Mayday Giveaway on Bookfunnel this month, where you can find plenty of new reading matter to fill up your e-reader. Check them out here.

Have a marvellous May, and happy reading!

April newsletter: A new bookstore, two new cozy mysteries and all my news

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I’m in my happy place this week – getting stuck into the first draft of the new book. After all the research and planning, there’s something very satisfying about starting to write. The first 10,000 words is written and I’ve submitted the two opening chapters to my writing group for their verdict next week.

March was busy month. I had fun meeting readers at Beckenham Book Fayre (hello again to everyone who came along!) and other members of the Alliance of Independent Authors as part of London Book Fair.

I even spent a day in the office! I work freelance as a medical editor, and for the first time in about 6 years I went into offices in Fitzrovia, London, to meet my colleagues in person. It was a bright, sunny day and I had fun afterwards wandering the streets around Soho, thinking about where to site the offices of my fictional spies. I even found time for a haircut (a good haircut makes me feel like a new woman!).

Read on for audiobook news, a new independent author bookstore, and some fantastic new book recommendations.

Indie Author Bookstore

April is Indie Author Month, and to help celebrate, the wonderful people at the Alliance of Independent Authors have launched a new online book shop.

The Alliance does great work to help independent authors bring their books into the world. I’ve found their advice invaluable and they are my first recommendation when friends ask me about independent publishing.

So it’s fitting that they are bringing together all the books by Alliance members in one place, the Indie Author Bookstore. You can have a good browse and buy from whichever outlet the author links to. All of my books are there, and you can browse by genre. You’re sure to find something different and interesting.

Recommendations

I have two new cozy mysteries to tell you about this month, from two favourite authors.

First up, A Very Irish Mystery is book 26 (!) in the Lady Eleanor Swift series, and (you’ve guessed it) takes us to Ireland, where Eleanor is having a grand time cosying up with her husband in Dublin’s traditional pubs, eating Irish stew and soaking up the craic… Until another body ruins all their plans!

A tour of a brewery making Ireland’s famous black stout results in the discovery of a body in a barrel – and it belongs to the owner of the brewery. Can Eleanor catch the killer? It’s published on April 10.

Next, it’s Ella Strike’s latest Kitty Goring novel, The Scarab Society Murders. When Kitty sets sail aboard the RMS Mooltan to Alexandria, what should be a glamorous adventure turns deadly. A guest is found murdered, and the killer is hiding among the glittering passengers.

Armed with her keen mind, a scrappy little dog named Scottie, and her circle of eccentric friends, Kitty must navigate high society and treacherous waters to uncover the culprit before they strike again.

Death At Chelsea

With spring around the corner, gardeners’ thoughts turn to the upcoming Chelsea Flower Show, held every May in London’s Chelsea Royal Hospital.

If you haven’t read Death At Chelsea, my Marjorie Swallow book set at the Chelsea show, it’s going to be on offer at 99p/99c with Kindle from Wednesday 15 to Sunday 19 April. It’s also available as an audiobook.

Talking of which, my narrator Kim is working on the next in the series, so Murder On Fleet Street should be available soon for those who prefer to read with their ears.

March newsletter: how I’m researching my next book

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Hooray! After the wettest January and February I can remember, the sun is finally making an appearance and the spring flowers are starting to bloom.

I’ve almost finished the research for my next book, and I’m focused on doing all the preparation so I’ll be ready to start writing soon. If you’re interested in how I research and plan a book, read on for a behind-the-scenes insight into the process.

I also have information about a book fair in London where I’m making an appearance, and all the usual recommendations and promotions.

Book news

My next book will be set in the world of espionage. I’ve loved spy thrillers since I was a child, when I was glued to James Bond films on the TV at Christmas. More recently I’ve come to appreciate John Le Carré’s less glamorous but more cerebral George Smiley, and the hapless reject spooks of Mick Herron’s Slow Horses series.

However, watching the films is one thing. Writing about the secret service is another. Since my visit to the National Archives’ excellent MI5: Official Secrets exhibition last year, I’ve read histories of Britain’s secret service (MI6) and counter-espionage (MI5) services, especially those that look at the role of women in the services. Some in the services favoured using women in secretarial posts, because they could blend into the background. However, sexist attitudes persisted: Dick White, head of MI6 in 1956, said: “Our secretaries need only two things: good legs and a good upbringing.”

I also took a trip to Bletchley Park, where the largely female code-breakers of the second world war worked in absolute secrecy to decipher intercepted messages about German U-boat activity, some in the ‘temporary’ huts that outlasted the war by decades, others in the grand old house itself.

And I returned to the National Archives to pore over recently declassified documents about the ‘Third Man’, Harold ‘Kim’ Philby, who worked at the highest levels of the UK secret service while all the time betraying secrets to the Soviet Union. Those documents led me to read Philby’s own account, My Secret War, and his wife Eleanor Philby’s account of their life in Beirut before he disappeared to the Soviet Union in 1963.

This is the way I like to research a topic – a mixture of reading and making notes, visits to important places or exhibitions, then branching off into particular stories that catch my eye. At some point, an idea for a story starts to form…

Once I have that, I begin by writing down the kernel of the idea, then start to think about characters and places. I then spend a lot of time working on the plot and the overarching shape of the novel, before I start to write chapter one. I’m almost ready – exciting times!

Beckenham Book Fayre

Have you ever wanted to write a book? With 10 books under my belt, I know a thing or two about how to get started. I’ll be sharing my tips for writing your first book at Beckenham Library on Saturday 7 March, as part of the library’s Book Fayre. I’ll be joined by several other local authors and there will be plenty of time for questions at the end.

Where? Beckenham Library, 22 Beckenham Road, BR3 4PE

When? Saturday 7 March, 2pm to 5pm

Why? Because it would be lovely to see you!

Recommendations

March’s Mystery Of The Month is Magda Alexander’s cracking tale of 1920s shenanigans, Murder At The Jazz Club.

London 1924. A birthday celebration at Gennaro’s, London’s swankiest jazz club, is just the ticket for Kitty Worthington. What could be more fun than dancing the Charleston with her fiancé, Chief Inspector Robert Crawford Sinclair?

But an argument erupts between the jazz singer’s brother and a marquis. Before long, the aristocrat is dead, and the brother’s been arrested. Wrongfully, his sister claims as she begs Kitty to investigate.
As Kitty navigates the seedy underbelly of the London jazz scene, she uncovers a web of secrets that leads all the way to the palace…

And if you can wait a couple of weeks, it’ll be on offer for just 99p/99c from March 26 to 31. Put it in your diary!

Next, a television recommendation. I’ve been a fan of the actor and writer Mackenzie Crook since he played the unforgettable Gareth in the original UK version of The Office. Since then I’ve fallen in love with the gentle comedy of Detectorists, about two men who navigate their friendship via the medium of metal detecting. His writing is delicate, beautifully observed and full of heart.

His latest short series, Small Prophets, is a also delight. It defies description and sounds a bit twee, but centres again around friendship. Michael, a man grieving for a partner who suddenly disappeared one Christmas is given hope by his father’s tall tales of growing ‘homunculi’, the small prophets of the title, who can tell you the truth of anything, past or future.

Again the observation is spot on, from the neighbours obsessed with what exactly Michael is doing in his shed, to the hapless manager of the DIY store where Michael works, and the bored shop assistant Kacey who becomes Michael’s friend and conspirator in homunculi. Grief, friendship, yearning and the trivia of modern life combine into a superb show. The actors are amazing. Watch it on i-Player in the UK.

Finally, one reader contacted me after last month’s newsletter to tell me ‘I’ve read all the Marjorie Swallow books – what do I do now?’

Well, there’s a whole new series if you’d like to try it. Have you read the Helen Oddfellow books? My contemporary thrillers, published from 2018 to 2022, follow literary researcher and London tour guide Helen, as she unravels mysteries from the past while getting tangled up with some unpleasant people in the present day. A word of warning: these are not cozy crime and are a lot harder-edged than the Marjorie Swallow books. But if you like a bit of grit with your thrillers, why not give them a try?