November 27th 2012

Hello there.



Well, friends, I am pleased to say that my latest book has been accepted and will be published in hardback initially in 2013. It will be called THE BIG FIDDLE and, of course, it is an Angel book. It has taken ages to write. The storyline is a bit different and I hope you will enjoy it.



I told you I would let you know how my weight losing programme was going on. Well, sexy Linda weighed me on November 2nd and the horrific news was that in three months I have put on 2½ lbs. I was mortified. I should be taking it off, not putting it on. As I said last month, the trouble is, that although I am eliminating all the wrong foods and eating all the right foods, I’m eating too much of them. I have to reduce the size of the portions I eat or increase my activity in the gym. It’s difficult. But I will persevere.



I had a lovely letter from a man who is 64, and lives in Devon. He said he hadn’t read a book in his life. His wife gave him a copy of an Angel book. He read it and apparently enjoyed it, because he then went to the library and borrowed book after book until he’d read them all except THE CHESHIRE CAT MURDERS and DEADLY DAFFODILS. Well as THE CHESHIRE CAT MURDERS was the latest book of mine to be published I expect it hadn’t arrived at the library yet. Unfortunately, DEADLY DAFFODILS is out of print. Well it would be. I first wrote it in 1970. Luckily, I had a paperback copy reprinted in 2002, so I sent that on to him, with thanks for his kindness in bothering to write and say nice things about the books. I wish him well. I’m sure you’ll join me. And good luck with his reading, whatever it may be.



I have now six Angel titles on Kindle and other electronic readers.

They are

THE SNUFFBOX MURDERS

THE MAN WHO COULDN’T LOSE

THE CURIOUS MIND OF INSPECTOR ANGEL

FIND THE LADY

THE WIG MAKER

and MURDER IN BARE FEET.

So all you posh Kindle owners have the opportunity of reading about Angel.  I hope to have all my titles published this way as well as in hardback. 

Well I did get started on a new Angel book. You can’t stop me writing once I begin. I’m about a third of the way through. I shall have to knock off in about two weeks time to concentrate on Christmas. We make a bit of thing of it here. I like sending cards and receiving them. Many of them are the only contact I have with friends and loved ones we rarely see, perhaps sadly only at funerals. Well, it’s the sort of lives we all lead. Everybody is busy busy busy doing their own little thing … I’m as a bad. There’s no talking to me sometimes when I am struggling with a plot or a character. If I ever hurt anybody through being far away, so to speak, please excuse me. I apologise most heartily. I don’t mean to be thoughtless or rude. Please forgive me.

Well, it was ‘Stir up’ Sunday, two days ago,the Sunday before Advent, the time traditionally when you made your Christmas puddings. I hope you’ve got yours ready. To tell the truth we buy ours from Tesco.

I hope you are healthy and that all your family are in good form. Not every family is harmonious this autumn. Unemployment is bothering some, the shortage of money and illness of one or more members of a family is worrying others. And there are other problems … we hope that nevertheless you are able to enjoy the preparations for Christmas as we still do.

Whatever you do, enjoy doing it. Have a great time and enjoy your reading.