The Making of Meredith

Good Morning, from a grey but very muggy Bristol,

I hope you are all coping with whatever life has thrown at you this week. Here in Bristol, UK, we’ve moved from glorious sunshiny days, to just about bearable heatwave (for us), to spectacular thunder storms.  We are currently in a lull and if it wasn’t for the temperature, when you look out of the window, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was November.  That’s the weather dealt with! I’m not going to talk about the pandemic, I think we all hear enough about that, other than to say, whatever your views, I hope you and yours stay safe.

Now to all things Meredith. Love him or hate him, that man gets under your skin, and I was getting so many emails about him that I thought it was time I shared his past, and wrote The Making of Meredith. His chequered past brought in a few comments I can tell you.  Here’s what some of them said:

“When I fished this book, I literally said out loud, “wow.” It was that good. While I have enjoyed every book in the Meredith and Hodge series, I think this one was the best so far, in that it allows us to understand just how Meredith ended up being Meredith. I have always found him to be complex and interesting, now, even more so. With a keener understanding of who he really is…”

“…. It’s a story of how the character Meredith might have come to be, beginning from his early childhood,. The story doesn’t make excuses for Meredith’s behaviour, rather it provides examples of how family, teachers, friends, neighbours, economic and social circumstances shaped who he became. This story is quite believable, although may be somewhat tragic for some readers. While I enjoyed Meredith’s many talents throughout the mysteries, I didn’t admire his behaviour in some instances, The prequel puts his behaviour into context and resolved my misgivings regarding his adult character.”

And even: “I have enjoyed all of the Meredith and Hodge series thus far, so it is nice to get to see what has made Meredith the arrogant bastard that is Meredith. As always well written and thought provoking. Looking forward to more.” 

This one made me smile:  “So, I know why I fell in love with the gorgeous Meredith! Written with total empathy for the character. I wept alongside him for joy and sorrow. Another masterpiece. now to re-read the rest.”

Why am I dedicating this newsletter to Meredith? Because out of the blue this morning I had an email from Audible telling me The Making of Meredith was live.  I think the audio fans here will really enjoy hearing Meredith grow up. Lee Beddow the narrator has done an excellent job taking Meredith from a seven year old through to the man he became. It’s wonderful hearing his voice gradually change as he negotiates his way through adolescence to the Meredith we know and love. Simply click here if you would like to hear a sample.

AND to celebrate this latest arrival the e-book version will be FREE from the 15th August to 19th August, so if you’ve yet to meet the young Meredith click here.

I think that’s enough for now, except of course to say, thank you to all those readers/listeners who have taken the time to leave reviews. They are important. Please remember to leave a review if you have enjoyed a book you’ve read or listened to.  Not only does it give other readers an insight into what’s to come, it also gives the author a huge boost and effects the ratings on Amazon etc. OK, OK, enough of the nagging, here’s a cute kitten to help convince you