C.S. Rhymes's Blog

Detained at the Tower - Free Kindle offer!

The third book in the Little-Astwick Mysteries series, Detained at the Tower, will be free on Amazon Kindle on 27th June 2025!

Grab yourself a free copy on Kindle whilst you can!

Tell me more!

David and Evelyn return in the third instalment of The Little Astwick Mysteries. David fends off a mystery attacker before he himself disappears. DI Barksley gets called into action to investigate the suspicious circumstances of David���s disappearance.

When there is no sign of either David or Evelyn, Barksley turns to his old friend George for help, unsure who he can really trust anymore.

Discover more about the centuries of myths and legends of Little-Astwick and the secrets of Arthur Androse and his architectural genius.

Follow David and Evelyn as they fight for freedom, as well as following Barksley and George as they uncover more of The Little-Aswtick Mystery.

Don���t have a kindle? Don���t worry!

Did you know that there are many different ways of reading Kindle books!

You don���t need an Amazon Kindle, you can get apps for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac, as well as reading in your web browser!

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April 2025 update

It���s been a little while since the last update so it seemed like a great time to write a little about what���s been going on in the first part of 2025.

Firstly, to say that other things in life have taken priority over writing. Its been a busy time, leading to a struggle to prioritise writing and finding the energy and concentration to write. I���m sure many other indie authors will know this feeling, especially authors balancing writing alongside a full time job.

Writing started on the fourth part in the series last year and some good progress has been made, but a point was reached where there was a need to have a rethink about part of the story. Something didn���t feel quite right which resulted in a pause to consider it a bit more.

It seems like being a writer can often be a struggle of feeling like you are in complete control, followed by periods of mild panic and massive imposter syndrome.

In more positive news, however, there was a free kindle book offer for Trouble at the Church recently and the amount of downloads it received, and the follow on Kindle Unlimited reads and sales for the other two books in The Little-Astwick series really delivered a huge motivational boost and desire to continue writing the next part in the series.

Hopefully, things will settle back down once more and writing can continue.

Thank you to all the support you have shown to indie authors and please leave a review. It really helps!

A sample chapter from Detained at the Tower

Here is a free sample chapter from ���The Little-Astwick Mysteries - Detained at the Tower���.

The nose imploded with a sickening crunch as the fist of the attacker impacted. The single punch was all it took to down the boy and prevent his surrounding group of friends from retaliating further. The gathered crowd were left disappointed by the sudden conclusion of the fight and started to dissipate.

The boy���s friends scooped him up and dragged him away, one of them holding a handkerchief under the boy���s nose to try and prevent the streaming blood from leaking any further. The attacker was left standing on their own in the playground, no one daring to go near him.

The attacker was breathing fast, still in shock from the events that had just taken place, his hands still balled up into tight fists. He released his fingers and looked down at his right hand and saw the fresh red blood on his knuckles, quickly grabbing his own handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping the blood away.

The playground was now silent and empty. He looked around, feeling completely alone in the world, before sitting down and hugging his knees, his head tucked down between his arms. Unable to control his emotions any longer, tears started pouring down his cheeks. He didn���t want this to happen, but he couldn���t help it. The rage built up inside of him over the weeks and months of constant bullying. He had finally snapped, unable to restrain himself anymore.

Just when he thought things couldn���t get any worse, he heard a voice calling to him. Sadly, it was a voice he knew all too well.

���My office. Now!��� barked the voice, from an upstairs window.

He wiped the tears away as best he could with his hands, not wanting to use his now blood stained handkerchief. He looked up at the window where the voice had come from, a room he had been in several times before. The window was on the second floor of the stone and timber mock tudor building, underneath the bell tower that reached up into a point in the sky.

He wanted to run away. To go home and never come back. Instead he found himself walking back into the school building through the old oak door and straight up the stairs to the headmaster���s office.

���Shut the door behind you!��� the headmaster ordered.

The attacker complied with the instruction. He stood looking down at his feet, unable to look the headmaster in the eye, knowing he was going to be severely punished.

���Look at me when I���m talking to you!��� the headmaster shouted.

He raised his eyes slowly up from his feet, seeing the old wooden floorboards, then the headmaster���s desk, then the headmaster, his long black gown blowing gently in the breeze from the open window. He finally looked at the headmaster���s face, the rage behind the eyes barely concealed by the forced solemn expression on his face. The headmaster took a puff of the pipe in his hand, breathing out a large cloud of smoke, then placing the pipe down onto the desk, next to a thin wooden cane.

The headmaster walked around the desk to stand closer to the attacker, grabbing the long thin cane from the desktop as he passed. He stood directly in front, then swiped the cane onto his open left hand, making a whipping noise as it flew through the air, before coming to a stop when it hit the open hand.

���Back in my day, this is what you would have got!��� the headmaster said, holding the cane up vertically in the air to show the attacker, before moving it back down in front of him, stopping it with his left hand again. ���But it seems times have changed, so the punishment has changed too.���

���But��� but, they started it������ the attacker began trying to explain before being cut off.

���Did I ask for your opinion? Don���t speak out of turn!��� the headmaster barked back.

The attacker started sobbing again, his emotions still heated.

���You really are pathetic.��� the headmaster said in a condescending tone, accentuating every syllable of the last word. ���You know what happens to pathetic little boys who break the school rules?���

���Yes.. yes sir.��� the attacker replied through the tears. He had experience of what might be coming from his previous visits to the headmaster���s office. He had after-school detentions, writing lines hundreds of times until his hands cramped up and his writing was unreadable, the headmaster forcing him to continue through the pain.

���You know, but you still haven���t learnt yet. You need to get taught yet another lesson in life.��� the headmaster replied back. ���This time I have a special punishment lined up for you. No matter how much you cry and sob, no one will come and save you. You need to learn some self control, some self discipline.���

The headmaster walked over to the wall to his left and retrieved something from the deep pocket in his black gown, before inserting it into a slot in the wall. After turning the key, he retrieved it and put it back in the deep pocket for safe keeping. A loud clunking sound came from somewhere within the walls and suddenly a narrow doorway appeared that wasn���t there moments before.

���Four hours should do the trick.��� the headmaster spoke, pointing with the cane outstretched into the darkness.

The attacker walked slowly towards the narrow gap that had appeared, stopping on the threshold, unwilling to step any further.

The headmaster grabbed the attacker around the shoulder with his left hand, then said ���This is for your own good, Godfrey!���, pushing the boy into the darkness, the door slamming shut behind him with another loud clunk.

The Little-Astwick Mysteries - Detained at the Tower, is available now on Amazon Kindle, Paperback and Kindle Unlimited.

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Detained at the Tower is out now!

The third book in The Little-Astwick Mysteries cozy mystery series was released on the 1st February 2025. That means it has been available for over a month and I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone that pre-ordered the book, bought the book on kindle or paperback, or have read the book on kindle unlimited during that time!

If you haven���t picked up your copy yet, then here is a little sneak peek of the excitement that awaits you from Detained at the Tower.

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Detained at the Tower is available soon!

It���s less than one week to go until Detained at the Tower is available to buy!

Book 3 in The Little-Astwick Mysteries series, Detained at the Tower, is being released on 1st February 2025

Available now to pre-order on kindle and available to order on paperback on 1st February!

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David and Evelyn return in the third instalment of The Little Astwick Mysteries. David fends off a mystery attacker before he himself disappears. DI Barksley gets called into action to investigate the suspicious circumstances of David���s disappearance.

When there is no sign of either David or Evelyn, Barksley turns to his old friend George for help, unsure who he can really trust anymore.

Discover more about the centuries of myths and legends of Little-Astwick and the secrets of Arthur Androse and his architectural genius.

Follow David and Evelyn as they fight for freedom, as well as following Barksley and George as they uncover more of The Little-Aswtick Mystery.

Buy from Amazon UKBuy from Amazon USA

November 2024 update

This month has mostly been spent finalising all the details for the launch of book three in The Little-Astwick Mysteries series, Detained at the Tower.

Book three is now available for pre-order on Amazon Kindle, with the release date set for 1st February for Kindle, Paperback and Kindle Unlimited.

Thank you!

Also a big thank you to my family and friends for their help with beta reading the author proof copies and providing their invaluable feedback.

This book has been more of a challenge to write as it follows along two different narratives, so it���s great to hear that the feedback has been hugely positive so far.

I also want to say thank you to everyone that has read the first two books in the series. If you enjoyed reading The Little-Astwick Mysteries then please leave a rating and a review on Amazon or GoodReads, and let your friends and family know.

What���s next?

This time of year is traditionally very busy so apologies in advance if things go a bit quieter over the holidays.

Detained at the Tower has not yet been released, however, ideas have been forming for where the series could go next. The third book explores some existing characters in more detail which has surfaced new ideas and directions for possible stories in future.

Time will be spent planning and plotting for where these new ideas could lead!

The Little-Astwick Mysteries (book 3) - Detained at the Tower

David and Evelyn return in the third instalment of The Little Astwick Mysteries.

A small village with a big mystery!

The adventure continues in the third part of The Little-Astwick Mysteries series.

David fends off a mystery attacker before he himself disappears. DI Barksley gets called into action to investigate the suspicious circumstances of David���s disappearance.

When there is no sign of either David or Evelyn, Barksley turns to his old friend George for help, unsure who he can really trust anymore.

Discover more about the centuries of myths and legends of Little-Astwick and the secrets of Arthur Androse and his architectural genius.

Follow David and Evelyn as they fight for freedom, as well as following Barksley and George as they uncover more of The Little-Aswtick Mystery.

Available to pre-order on Amazon Kindle now, with the paperback available from the 1st February 2025!

Pre-order from Amazon UKPre-order from Amazon USA

Sir William - A short story for Halloween

The following is a fictional short story that forms part of the myths and legends of The Little-Astwick Mysteries. It is a Halloween special so contains some more graphic details that are normally missed out from the books.

He picked up his glass of red wine from the table, the dark red liquid reminding him of the blood of his enemies that had been spilt on the battlefield many years before. Back then he was a young man, eager to serve his masters and do what needed to be done. He didn't think twice about running through his enemies with his rapier, as they would have done the same to him if they had the chance.

Battle after battle he fought. Marching from one end of the country to another, to wherever the army was called upon. He was a lieutenant-corporal in the cavalry, but unlike his colonel he didn't shy away from the fighting, he looked forward to it, enjoying the rush of adrenaline as he charged towards the parliamentarian soldiers with his sword drawn. He lost count of the lives he took and the injuries he inflicted. Riding into the group of soldiers, massacring as many as he could before turning the horses around and retreating back to his own army, regrouping ready for the next attack. Wave after wave of destruction was caused by his unit with him leading from the front.

It once took him over an hour to fully clean the blood stains from his sword after a battle, the dried blood forming a hard crust on the cold steel. He looked down into the glass in his hand and smiled at the memory.

His family was on the royalist side, ever loyal to the King. It turned out to be the losing side, leading to an era of difficult times under Cromwell, but only until the new King was restored to the throne. His loyalty to the old King was recognised with a knighthood and a gift of land by the new King's court, adding to his already generous land, unlike the traitors who had signed the King's death warrant that were chased down like petty thieves and beheaded for the treason they had committed.

He picked up the glass and sniffed the bouquet of dark fruit and spices, before taking a large mouthful, gulping down the expensive liquid with little care for the years of fermenting and the arduous journey that it had taken across the English channel from France to reach him. The recent wars had made the supply of French wine extremely difficult, but he had contacts in the right places that could smuggle whatever he desired, all for the right price of course.

Walking back to the grand chair in the middle of the room, he sat down and looked out of the large glass windows of his newly built country house and then took another mouthful of wine. The liquid warmed his throat as it slowly slid its way down into his stomach. The view in front of him stretched out for mile upon mile of countryside, the boundaries of his estate too far for him to see.

"This just won't do." He said to himself as he gazed across the patchwork of unspoilt green fields. He wanted, no, he needed, the grounds to be the envy of the rest of England. He needed an estate so grand that even the King of England would envy him. Statues, follies, temples and lakes. Where there was currently the English countryside, as it had been for the past thousand years, he wanted order and design. It would show his command was so powerful that he could even control nature itself.

He raised his right hand and clicked his fingers. His nearest manservant approached quickly, but stopped at a respectful distance, ready to receive his orders.

"Fetch me Androse. We have much work to do here!" Sir William exclaimed. The manservant left the room immediately to pass on the urgent message.

He sat back into his comfortable chair, a vision of his future estate slowly forming in his mind.

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A sample chapter from Grave concern at the Manor

Here is a free sample chapter from ���The Little-Astwick Mysteries - Grave concern at the Manor���.

It was a bright sunny day, with a gentle breeze. Alan loved days like this, walking through the countryside, sweeping his metal detector gently from left to right and back again, feeling the warm sun on his face. Despite the warmth, he wore a lightweight waterproof jacket to protect him from the unpredictable English weather, along with quick dry walking trousers and walking boots with thick tread. He had a small rucksack on his back with various tools and a sandwich for his lunch.

On his head he wore his trusty baseball cap, covering his long hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, with his all important headphones over the top, covering his ears. He listened out for any beeps, announcing any metal in the earth twelve inches below his feet.

The field was just outside the village boundary of Little-Astwick. He could see the local pub a few fields away, with the church bell tower poking above the pub roof in the distance. In the other direction he could see the grand manor house of Manor Farm. He had already found an old nail and a beer can today, hoping that his luck would change.

Beep, beep, beep.

He stopped walking and swept his metal detector from side to side, confirming the exact location of the hit. He lowered to his knees and retrieved a narrow but fairly long shovel with serrated edges that was clipped onto his rucksack and began digging. First he carefully removed a square patch of the turf, using the serrated edge of the tool as a saw, so that he could replace it once he had finished. He then got out a wand metal detector out of one of his long pockets along his thigh, waving it around the area to better track the hit.

He removed some more soil, then waved the wand around, repeating the process over and over again until he spotted a coin. He picked it up and wiped away the grime, revealing a shiny surface underneath. He could already tell the value of the coin from the seven sides of the shape. He put the 50p coin into his pocket, thinking he might be able to buy a packet of crisps in the pub with it later in the day.

He waved the wand around the exposed earth and found another hit. He dug once more and this time it revealed a rectangular leather object. He pulled the object from the ground and brushed off the dirt. It folded open and revealed itself as a wallet. There was a bank card with the name Steven Conrad. The card���s expiry date was only last year. There was ��20 cash and a few more coins in a small pocket, along with a library card with the name ���Evelyn McKenzie��� printed in black ink.

Alan thought to himself that he had better try and find the owner of the wallet, but the ��20 would buy himself a few pints of beer to go with his crisps, a just reward for making the discovery. He placed the wallet in his backpack, wondering how it could have got there in the first place.

He was about to replace the disturbed soil and turf top, but decided that it was worth waving the wand over one more time to double check there was nothing else. He swiped the wand side to side along the hole, from top to bottom. He had almost finished, but there was one more beep to be found.

A lucky hit.

He carried on digging. This time it took several attempts of removing soil and waving the wand before his next discovery was revealed, the hole now just over a foot underground. He probably wouldn���t have found this third find without the two above to help indicate its location.

Another round metal shape appeared in the soil. He gently brushed off the soil with his fingers before removing his water bottle and pouring a little over the object to help clean it off. Despite the depth of the hole, the bright sunlight glinted the colour gold back at him.

Suddenly more excited he kept digging with his hands, after clipping his digging tool back into place on his backpack. It looked like a gold coin, about the size of a one pound coin. ���Yes!��� he shouted out loud. He wrapped his fingers around the coin and pulled it up, releasing it from the surrounding mud. Something suddenly felt very wrong.

He turned his hand over so the palm was facing upright, his fingers wrapped around the object. He slowly opened his fingers, revealing the coin to actually be a signet ring. Inside the ring was a bone.

A human finger bone.

He dropped the ring and bone back into the hole, stood back up and then ran back to the village as fast as he could, leaving his prized metal detector where it lay on the grass.

The Little-Astwick Mysteries - Grave concern at the Manor, is available now on Amazon Kindle, Paperback and Kindle Unlimited.

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Kindle countdown deal for Grave concern at the Manor

Exciting news! To coincide with Amazon���s Prime Big Deal Days on the 8th and 9th of October 2024, The Little-Astwick Mysteries - Grave concern at the Manor, will be in a Kindle Countdown Deal.

Tell me more!

Grave concern at the Manor is the second book in The Little-Astwick Mysteries, a cozy crime mystery series set in a fictional English village.

The first book in the series see���s David Morgan, a community support officer who is new to the area, team up with a new acquaintance, Evelyn McKenzie, as they become amateur sleuths solving the Trouble at the Church.

David and Evelyn return in the second book in the series, Grave concern at the Manor after a local metal detectorist makes an unexpected find, a stones throw from the nearby Manor house. One story quickly leads into another, uncovering a story that has laid hidden for centuries.

Follow them on their journey of discovery as they battle to solve The Little-Astwick Mysteries.

What is a Kindle Countdown Deal?

Kindle countdown deals are a set time where the price of a kindle book starts lower and works it���s way up over time until the deal ends. The price will start at just 99p and work it���s way up to ��2.99 at the end of the deal time period, before it finally returns to the normal price.

So to take full advantage of the offer, ensure you buy the book at the start of the countdown on the 8th October!

What if I don���t have a kindle?

Don���t worry if you don���t have a Kindle device as you can use the Kindle app on your tablet or mobile phone to read the book, or you can use the Kindle Cloud Reader in a web browser too!

Don���t want to wait?

Remember that The Little-Astwick Mysteries are also FREE to read on Kindle Unlimited.

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