On Thursday, 12 November, Marjorie Swallow finally boards the Flying Scotsman for her Christmas adventure! I’ve loved working on The Midwinter Murder, since I first started researching the book back in June, and I can’t wait to share it with you.
I’m already thinking about the next Marjorie Swallow book. I’ve spent several fun and productive days at the V&A Museum in London. I visited the exhibition about fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli and started research on the 1920s fashion industry in the V&A’s National Art Library, with coffee breaks in the museum’s glorious tiled café.
Less happily, I’ve been in hospital for a small operation which I hope will sort out my knee. I love long walks, cycling, gardening and running, but my knee has been too painful to enjoy them much recently. With luck, I’ll be striding along the coast again soon.
Meanwhile, the allotment is winding down for winter. I’ve harvested the last of the tomatoes after a bumper year. The courgettes (zucchini), however, refuse to give up. Another monster appeared in mid-October, and it’s slowly finding its way into stir-fries, roasted vegetables and ratatouille. It reminds me of the old joke: how do you eat an elephant? One mouthful at a time.
Read on for a sneak peek at the opening of The Midwinter Murder, and a few recommendations for dark November evenings.
New book!
The Midwinter Murder will be published in the Kindle Store on Thursday 12 November. It’s available from Amazon, you can order it from your local bookshop and, for UK readers, you can buy it directly from my own online store.
The audiobook will follow: my wonderful narrator Kim Bretton is working on it.
This is how it begins…
“Kings Cross railway station on Midwinter morning was a cacophony of noise and people. I guarded our collection of shabby suitcases and waved desperately for a porter.
The Flying Scotsman would make its morning departure in less than fifteen minutes, and it felt like the whole world was going home for Christmas. My journey was not of a festive nature, but it was urgent. And we didn’t even have our tickets, yet.
An army of porters swarmed about the station, wheeling great stacks of trunks, travelling cases and carefully wrapped parcels. The Salvation Army brass band in their smart uniforms stoutly belted out Hark, The Herald Angels Sing. Usually I loved to hear them playing carols, but right now the music on top of the shrieking engines and chattering travellers made it hard to hark anything at all.
I waved again as a porter dashed past, ignoring me. They moved swiftly to assist those with monogrammed luggage and minks, heading for the luxury of First Class, but eyed our cardboard suitcases with disdain. My navy woollen coat with the red trim was smart, but three years old now. Besides, it wasn’t fur.
I didn’t have a hope. If only Mrs Jameson had been here. But if Mrs Jameson had been here, of course, we’d be travelling First, with an army of porters at our disposal. I wished my colleague was by my side, but she was hundreds of miles away, enjoying a winter staying with friends in the south of France.
‘Never mind, dearie. We can carry them ourselves,’ said a firm voice next to me. ‘Lucky we ain’t got much.’ Frankie’s Auntie Clara smiled at me comfortably from beneath the brim of her battered hat. Her patched coat proudly bore the purple, white and green ribbon of the Women’s Social and Political Union on its lapel. In her day, she’d been a fearsome suffragette.
I smiled back, admiring her stoicism. Yet the lines of anxiety etched around her tired eyes told their own story. The sooner we were in Northumberland, the better.
If we managed to get tickets for the train at all, that was. I glanced anxiously at the big station clock. Ten minutes. Would we make it?”
Find out on 12 November!
Recommendations
November’s Mystery of the Month is Murder By Moonlight by Julie Mulhern.
Meet Freddie Archer! Inspired by one of the first real-life columnists at The New Yorker, Freddie writes a column about the glamorous world of New York in the 1920s. That doesn’t stop her from getting involved in the city’s underworld, where a child is in danger.
Murder By Moonlight is free to download: find out more here.
I’m taking part in the Fireside Sleuths and Cozy Crimes promotion on Bookfunnel this month, which promises lots of cozy seasonal mysteries for your e-reader. Check them out here.
Other things I’m enjoying:
- Watching Marble Hall Murders on BBC iPlayer, starring the always-excellent Lesley Manville. It’s adapted from Anthony Horowitz’s novel, and I like the way it mixes the contemporary world of publishing with a 1950s cosy mystery. I love the smart plotting and great acting.
- Looking forward to Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery at the British Library, which opens on 30 October and runs until June 2027. It promises letters, notebooks and early drafts, many never shown in public before, plus her typewriter and even a recreated Orient Express carriage.
November events
I’ll be at Sydenham High School in south London for their Frost Fair on 28th November, where I’ll be signing and selling books. This is especially fun for me, because Marjorie Swallow (like my mother) is a former Sydenham High schoolgirl!
Why not come along to say hello?
- Saturday 28 November, 12 midday till 2pm
- Sydenham High School, 19 Westwood Hill, Sydenham, London SE26 6BL