The Moodboard:

Our Detectives:

Deep in the English countryside, old friends Phoebe and Juno reunite to tackle mysteries and misdeeds whilst navigating midlife, family crises, stalled careers and late blooming romance.

By her mid-fifties, journalist Phoebe has seen off cancer, raised a family and survived being cancelled, although nothing can cure her of lifelong cynicism. Now writing historical murder mysteries under the pen-name Dorothy De’Ath, she’s insightful, antisocial and short-fused. Her sexy, volatile marriage to filmmaker Felix is a constant rumbling storm, stoked by the flirty attentions of village publican Mil, a one-time local rugby legend. Living out of a suitcase in the kitchen of a house that belonged to Felix’s late uncle – no matter that it’s a stately pile and the room is the size of an aeroplane hangar – Phoebe craves stability, not a three-hundred-acre park on the outskirts of picturesque Inkbury and a rusted 90s Porsche with no MOT. Nor does she always appreciate her nosy friend Juno’s addiction to danger. Yet when the chips are down, Phoebe is fearless.

Juno Mulligan has just returned to the UK after two decades in New York. A former stand-up comedian, she’s outgrown her Mother Love blog and longs for a fresh start, desperate to overcome the loss of her husband, Jay. Incurably inquisitive, Juno is a doer, always throwing herself in headfirst, which can be tricky when juggling the needs of her eccentric elderly mother and sensitive twenty-something son, both of whom keep wrecking Juno’s attempts to reignite her love life. In search of a bargain doer-upper cottage in Inkbury, Juno begins to dream of setting up a private investigation agency there. If she had her way, she’d call it Love & Death Investigates, because she has an uncanny knack of finding one whilst stumbling over the other…

Inkbury:

Inkbury village lies in the Dunnett Valley, nestled deep amid the historic North Wessex downs.

Click below to view the map:

Familiar Faces – Phoebe and Juno:

It’s time for a murderous new start...

Readers who enjoyed my early novels might remember Phoebe Fredericks and Juno Glenn, each of whom starred in their own romping romance. In the 1990s, thill-seeking drifter Phoebe waltzed into the sunset with Felix in Kiss Chase; by 2000, sociable comic Juno had sailed over the horizon with Jay in Snap Happy to set up life in America. Both characters also appeared in Between Males, when Juno’s great friend Odette fell for Felix’s big brother Jimmy, uniting two friendship circles.

Twenty-five years later, they’re back. They’re in their prime. And they’re joining forces to solve crimes.

I’m thrilled to unite two of my all-time favourite heroines who I’ve always longed to bring back, certain their lives would get more interesting as they grew older. A loved-up happy ending is often just the beginning, after all. I hope readers will embrace my cosy crime series with as much enthusiasm as my big, bouncy romps. All the usual ingredients are here: humour, warmth, romance, secrets – and I’m now adding in a generous dollop of clue-cracking sleuthing.

The Art of Murder (Book One):

Welcome to the beautiful English village of Inkbury. Tucked deep in the North Wessex Downs, its only claim to fame is the picturesque riverside that once appeared in a Richard Curtis movie. That is, until the murder…

Former stand-up comic Juno Mulligan has been suffering a serious sense-of-humour failure. Not only has she lost the love of her life, but she’s having to relocate to the (admittedly idyllic) village of Inkbury to watch out for her elderly mother, who she’s genuinely worried might be marrying a wife-killer.

She hopes that her old friend, disgraced-journalist-turned-novelist Phoebe Fredericks can help her crack the case of whether her mother’s perma-tanned, iceberg-smiled, three-times-a-widower fiancé is hiding a murderous past.

But before they have a chance, the local art dealer washes up distinctly dead in the village’s famous river. His lover is in the frame, but Juno and Phoebe suspect that there is a deeper secret… One that relates to Phoebe’s own past and Juno’s present.

Will the unofficial Village Detective Agency solve the mystery before the killer strikes again? In sleepy Inkbury, as they soon discover, living one’s best midlife can be murder.

Published by Boldwood Books, May 2024. To order The Art of Murder, please click below:

The Poison Pen Letters (Book Two):

We regret to announce the tragic death of Phoebe Fredericks…

When crime novelist Phoebe opens the post and receives an invitation to her own funeral, she’s horrified. Not least because the date of her death is marked as tomorrow.

Deciding it’s nothing more than a prank from an enemy from her past, she determines to put it to the back of her mind.

But the next morning, when her completely infuriating postman (who likes to think himself her no.1 literary critic) rings her doorbell, a parcel of poisoned pen-nibs explodes in his face. Forced to confront the fact her correspondence is more RIP than RSVP, Phoebe realises someone must want her dead.

Together with the newly-formed Village Detectives – Juno, Mil and Felix – Phoebe resolves to find out who is behind the poison pen letters before they strike again and her fate is signed, sealed and delivered!

Published by Boldwood Books, November 2024. To order The Poison Pen Letters, please click below:

The Little Black Book Killer (Book Three):

Matchmaking has never been so murderous… 💔🔪

Juno is feeling ready – at last – to start dating again, after losing her husband some years ago. She is sure she can make time from being a Village Detective, indeed it might help distract her from her crush on hunky (but far-too-young!) pub landlord – Mil.

So she’s signed up to an exclusive new dating app and cannot wait. But when one of the founding investors in that same dating app drops dead in front of fellow Village Detective Phoebe in a nearby hotel – and then a second investor is found hanging in the local cricket pavilion just days later – Juno knows she’ll have to put her love life on hold.

Teaming up once more with Phoebe, Felix and Mil… the Village Detectives are back. And this time Juno – who’d thought she was getting under the covers with a new lover – is going undercover to catch a killer…

Published by Boldwood Books, October 2025. To order The Little Black Book Killer, please click below: