Devon Book Club discussion
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Debbie lives near Northlew and you can find our more about her and her work here https://www.crowood.com/products/keep... and here https://smallholdertraining.co.uk/rec...
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DRIVERLESS CARS HAVE LOCKED THEIR DOORS AND WON’T LET ANYONE OUT
CAREN, her marriage failing, makes an emotional journey to see her estranged sister, GEM, using MARTIN, a sentient driverless car. But soon into the journey, Martin locks his doors, takes control and won’t let her out. Caren is a prisoner and heading to an unknown destination.But she might be one of the lucky ones. Along the way she sees other cars have killed their passengers. In a different state, Gem starts to realise the consequences of her work with AI vehicles. This is the story of two sisters – how their very different and separate lives dramatically collide in a tale of love, betrayal and redemption.
You can find out more about Paul and his work here http://paulkjoyce.com/ I know he is looking forward to hearing from you.
Thanks Ian for this wonderful introduction. To start 2022, I'd like to offer a FREE copy of 'MARTIN' (either paperback or eBook) to the first four correct respondees to the following question:
"The term, Artificial Intelligence was coined in 1956 by which American scientist?"
Email your answers to: martincomp@paulkjoyce.com
I'll announce the winners a week today (17th Jan).
Good luck!
Paul
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Thanks to everyone who participated in the competition to win a copy of my new novel, 'MARTIN'. The book is now with four respondees who correctly identified John McCarthy as the scientist who coined the phrase 'Artificial Intelligence' in 1956.Until the next time...
Paul K Joyce
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That's great Paul - thanks for letting us know
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We All Have Our Secrets.
Published in June, this is the latest in a fantastic range of books by one of our founder members. It's always a delight to share Janes work and I'm sure you'll love this one.
You know she's lying...
But so are you.
'Grips with menace and dread, yet touches the heart' Nicci French
'I couldn't turn the pages fast enough' Claire Douglas
Two women are staying in Willowmead House.
One of them is running.
One of them is hiding.
Both of them are lying.
Emily made one bad decision, and now her career could be over. Her family home on the Cornish coast is the only place where she feels safe. But when she arrives, there's a stranger living with her father. Emily doesn't trust the beautiful young woman, convinced that she's telling one lie after another. Soon, Emily becomes obsessed with finding out the truth...
But should some secrets stay buried forever?
DON'T MISS THE CAPTIVATING NEW BOOK FROM SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR JANE CORRY
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'I devoured We All Have Our Secrets in one sitting' Teresa Driscoll, I Am Watching You
'Full of intrigue and twists galore' BA Paris, The Therapist
'An unputdownable read' Emma Curtis, Invite Me in
'An utterly compelling story of female competition, with wonderfully drawn characters and plenty of twists' Heidi Perks, The Whispers
'Jane Corry writes consistently enthralling stories about the dark side of family life' Peter James, Picture You Dead
'Brilliant, with characters you care about and plots that knock you sideways' Phoebe Morgan, The Wild Girls
'A tense page turning drama but one that allows the humanity to shine through' Jane Shemilt, Little Friends
'Unmissable' Imran Mahmood, You Don't Know Me
'Twisty, pacy' Gilly MacMillan, The Long Weekend
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About Lawrence:
The founder of Castle Publishing, Dunheved, Lawrence Patrick McNeela was once the landlord of a famously haunted inn nestling upon the western edge of Dartmoor. Whilst there, he got to hear all the moor's many myths and legends, fuelling his love of Devon folklore. Having then moved to within walking distance of legendary Victorian scholar Sabine Baring-Gould's family seat, the idea for a gothic chiller set in the area quickly took hold of his imagination.
About The Beast of Dartmoor:
In 1865 the renowned scholar Sabine Baring-Gould wrote the greatest ever exploration of lycanthropy, 'The Book of Were-Wolves'.
But what if he was wrong when thinking it a mere superstition? What if a beast really did live on the wild moors of Devonshire, preying on the weak?
The man's expertise would be sought to thwart the wretched fiend. In alliance with a renowned big game hunter, and a pair of brave and resourceful women, he would be forced to set off and battle great evil.
To find out more about Lawrence and the novel and to buy the book online go to:
https://www.beastofdartmoor.com/
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Joseph was born in Barnstaple and now lives in Woolacombe.
About the book:
The year is 2100 and our planet has been ravaged by climate change but Isabel Hope believes there is a discovery that could save humanity. As CEO of Hope Incorporated she uses her power and wealth to help steer a new generation that could be the future of all humankind. However, she quickly encounters resistance, engulfing her twin sons, nineteen year old Elijah and Hajile who unknowingly find themselves at the centre of what could be the biggest leap in human evolution.
The link to the book is here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B48XB9ZL
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By a Hand Unknown is a follow-up to A Crack in the Varnish - which has garnered some great reviews and a lot of new readers - in the Dechansay Bright Mysteries series, though each book can be read as a stand-alone.
The backdrop to the new book is once again art restoration but the setting this time is Norfolk. The book includes a compelling mystery, a raft of intriguing clues and a cast of suspicious characters who all inhabit an old manor house. Just the sort of absorbing read for a dark autumn evening!
"It's 1991 and Ranling Manor, set among the wild and watery Norfolk Broads, has been home to the Gyllam-Spence family for generations. Open to the public and family-run, its valuable art collection is decaying and conservators Hannah and Nathan arrive to restore its most fragile works.
But underneath the apparent gentility, the Gyllam-Spence family is at war with itself. And someone is stealing from the collection, someone all too close to home. When a body turns up floating in the nearby lake, it seems the stakes have risen to a new high. The police might deem it an accident; Nathan doesn't.
As the family closes ranks, Nathan and Hannah bury their differences and join forces to find out who is responsible. But they will have to be both devious and extremely careful...
You can find out more about Kathy and her books here:
https://www.kathyshuker.co.uk/index.html
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About the book:
Dance A Fearful Jig by Alison Huntingford
What would you sacrifice for love?
Peterborough 1807
Rachel Alderman is a lonely, middle-aged housekeeper to a local vicar. Blighted by crippling shyness, illness and the needs of others, her life is going nowhere. That is, until a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger determines otherwise.
Charles Le Boucher is a French soldier captured in the ongoing Napoleonic war, currently residing in the nearby POW camp, Norman Cross. Whilst out on parole, attempting to sell his delicately carved model ships in the marketplace, he meets and befriends Rachel.
With their two countries on opposing sides in a bitter war, should they even be talking to one another? Despite family disapproval, can their innocent friendship blossom into love, and if it does, what will become of them?
Find out more in ‘Dance A Fearful Jig’, the third historical novel from Alison Huntingford, inspired by true events.
Universal link
https://mybook.to/DanceAFearfulJig
Signed copies available direct from the author via Sum Up payment links
https://pay.sumup.com/b2c/QDFJDN43
DAFJ without post
https://pay.sumup.com/b2c/QTY9XLR2
About the author:
Alison has a degree in Humanities with Literature and has always enjoyed reading, especially the great writers of the 19th Century.
She is an only child of two only children and so has always felt a distinct lack of family. This inspired her to research her family history and has led her to write three full length novels so far: ‘The Glass Bulldog’, ‘A Ha’penny Will Do’ and her new novel ‘Dance A Fearful Jig’.
In September 2021 Alison set up the South Hams Authors Network – an organisation which aims to support and promote the work of Devon writers. This is a free, informal group which meets on a monthly basis and has a devoted and loyal following. This culminated in the much praised Dartmoor Edge Literary Fest in October 2022, which was a free weekend event featuring local authors at community arts hub The Clay Factory near Ivybridge. Since then, Alison has gone on to organise and appear at the acclaimed South Hams Literary Festival, based around the town of Ivybridge, Devon.
Website: https://alisonhuntingford.com
Email: alisonhuntingford91@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ahuntingford9/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ahuntingford9
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ahuntingford9/
Congratulations to Alison on the publication of her new book. It is such a significant moment when what has been in an authors head and heart finally meets its readers.
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Today I want share with a series of regency novels from Graham Ley who lives in Crediton.
Graham is the author of an historical saga based in Devon in the mid-1790s, and across the channel in Brittany, and published by Sapere Books. There are three novels so far, with action in Hatherleigh and Okehampton and above all in Plymouth. The leading family lives just to the NW of Dartmoor in the fictional village of Chittesleigh.
Graham tells me that, In some ways, the most important thing for him is the local quality of the setting, with various parts of Devon brought in, so readers can feel the novels on the ground. His roots in Devon spead over thirty years, having lived and worked here for that length of time. HIs father's side of the family is Devonian, his grandmother being born and raised in Hatherleigh. So he knows the county well, which is why he feels his writing is so grounded.
Graham has been building a Devon-based saga since 2020, and three of the four novels are now published by Sapere Books, with the concluding fourth due out very soon. The novels link Devon and Brittany, two beautiful places, in a turbulent time just after the French revolution. The year is 1795, and the saga looks at the lives and loves of an Anglo-Breton family, and those who are bound to them, with the mystery of an inheritance, and an orphan who will not rest until he finds the identity of his father…
The Baron Returns
Seasoned army captain Justin Wentworth voyages to Brittany to assist a royalist uprising against the new French republic, and at Chittesleigh manor in Devon his Breton mother, with his sister and her friend Arabella anxiously await his return. Justin survives undercover in the Brittany countryside, revisiting the family manor at Kergohan and the orphan Gilles, who believes Justin is his father; meanwhile at Chittesleigh Arabella discovers that Justin is being suspected unjustly of treason…
Heir to the Manor
Justin’s sister Amelia decides to taste the social pleasures of Plymouth, and finds herself attracted to a charming young officer, and to the lively company of a delightful actress. In Brittany, the orphan Gilles meets a girl from Saint Domingue and her uncle at Kergohan, and confronts the slave-driver from the plantation who has come after them. Amelia is horrified when her friend the actress is attacked by the officer she believed was courting her…
Lady at the Lodge
Recovering from her recent trauma, Amelia is sampling London society and becoming involved with the abolitionist movement. But when the renegade officer from her past – supposedly sent away to the Caribbean - reappears on English shores, her safety is once again under threat. At Chittesleigh manor in Devon, Justin and Arabella are expecting their first child. But Arabella grows impatient with Justin’s cossetting, and her determination to be independent lands her in the same dangers that hang over her friend Amelia…
Mistress of the Manor, which completes the saga, will be appearing shortly from the same publisher, Sapere Books.
The novels, which are published by Sapere Books (saperebooks.com) are available as ebooks and in paperback, through Amazon: The Baron Returns – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baron-Return...
Heir to the Manor – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heir-Manor-a...
Lady at the Lodge – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lady-Lodge-C...
You can find more about Graham at his website https://grahamley.com/
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https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
This fabulous YouTube clip summarises the book and more detail is attached
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpYi1...
You may remember Emily from a feature I did a couple of years ago when she launched her very popular book, Double-Edged Sword
Emily was born in Coventry, UK and studied History and English at University, gaining a BA Hons and MA. She has written two Rhia Bryant novels - The Art of Deception and The Double Edged Sword and a WW1 bookof poetry called The Shadow Of The Poppy. She is a lover of tea and coffee and passionate about writing.
Once again, many congratulatison to Emily.
Mod
Today, I'm delighted to introduce you to Alison Simpson , who is from Torquay, and to her new book Murder Under The Rock: The Markham Twins Investigate, which comes out in May and is available for pre-order. I'm sure you'll join me in wishing her well with this new series.
Murder under the Rock
Summer 1930. In a leafy suburb of Torquay of the English Riviera, twin sisters Kitty and Nora Markham enjoy a privileged life. Interested in amateur sleuthing and looking for adventure, they enjoy some success in finding runaway cats and lost purses.
However, when a shocking murder is committed a stone’s throw from their home, they decide to do some serious investigating, teaming up with their neighbour Arthur Westacott, son of the Chief Constable, and James Keyse, great-nephew of their housekeeper and newly appointed police constable.
It seems like an open and shut case, as a man is immediately arrested and charged with this most deplorable of crimes. However, when Kitty, Nora, Arthur and Jimmy start digging a little deeper, they soon discover a deliciously twisting case that isn’t as clear cut as everything first appears.
Biog
Ali was born in Cheltenham in Gloucestershire and has been a resident of Torquay in Devon for many years. She started her career as an author by researching and writing speeches for top civil servants and as a magazine editor and features writer. With an academic background in history, over a decade working in policing and with an interest in historic crime and punishment, Ali was delighted to find her new genre writing murder mysteries with a dark edge and a hint of humour, often based on infamous local crimes. The second book in The Markham Twins Investigate series - Death by Misdirection - is due out in November 2025 and the third - The Sticklepath Phantom - will be in bookshops in Spring 2026.
You can find out more about Ali here https://alisimpson.co.uk/
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The Stranger In Room Six::
This is a story about Mabel, a young girl who is evacuated during WW2 to her aunt’s rambling house in the country. There she finds herself unwittingly embroiled in illegal undercover activities. Fast forward to the present day and Mabel has turned the house into an old people’s home, Sunnyside Home For The Young At Heart, where she is a resident herself.
Enter Belinda - her new carer and seemingly respectable mother of two. Thanks to forged papers, no one knows that Belinda has just been released from prison for accidentally murdering her husband.
The two women enjoy each other’s company more than either would have thought possible. Without meaning to, they share secrets from the past. But neither knows they’re being watched by the stranger in room six who will stop at nothing to fulfil a mission. Even if it’s a fight to the death….
The Stranger in Room Six is being published on June 19th by Penguin Viking and will be on sale in supermarkets, bookshops and online. It’s also going to be available as an ebook and audio. If you’d like to order it in advance, please go to
https://amzn.eu/d/iHWNHkP
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' After 25 years of tinkering (I first began penning it whilst working behind the bar at The Royal at Babbacombe, Torquay), I’ve finally finished my sci-fi comedy novel, The Time Diary. If you’re looking for a humorous, breezy read this summer, packed with character driven chaos and good old British humour, then perhaps give my book a try!
I will be keeping the eBook edition at just 99p all July on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F8VG16RP Paperback and hardback are also available via the same link.
I am able to make the ebook free on Amazon for a select amount of days, so I will make July 21st another day that you can download the digital version for nothing.
And for anyone local to Torbay: you can find copies at Torquay or Paignton Library 😊
What’s it about?
Two down on their luck bar stewards discover time travel, only to spiral into tangled timelines, absurd moral dilemmas, and universe altering decisions. With winks to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Red Dwarf, and Black Mirror, it’s a chaotic ride full of roguish misfits, cringey British humour, and just enough heart to keep you smiling.
If anyone has any questions about my book, I will be more than happy to answer any emails. Thank you all so much for taking a chance on a new local author.
Cheers,
Scott Evans
Author of The Time Diary: A Barstewards Tale
(Available worldwide on Amazon)'
Sounds like a great read - let us know what you think and please leave a review for Scott on Amazon - always such a help to writers
Devon Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Time Diary: A Barstewards Tale (other topics)The Stranger in Room Six (other topics)
Murder Under The Rock: The Markham Twins Investigate (other topics)
Dance A Fearful Jig (other topics)
By a Hand Unknown (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Lewis Grassic Gibbon (other topics)Natalie Trice (other topics)
Daisy Burton (other topics)
Jill Treseder (other topics)
The roads have flooded.
There’s no way in or out.
And the murders have begun.
I'm delighted to share with you details of The Supper Club Murders, described as "a brilliantly dark and comic whodunnit packed with twists" by award-winning author Victoria Dowd
Victoria will be familiar to many of you as the author of The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder (Smart Woman's Mystery book 1) and Body on the Island (Smart Woman's Mystery book 2 - which I featured earlier this year).
The Supper Club Murders is book 3 in this series of gripping murder mysteries, but it can easily be read as a standalone.
Published by JOFFE BOOKS The Supper Club Murders is available for pre-order now and will be released Thursday 16 September 2021.