February 10th 2016

Well, hello there, Playmates.  There you are. 

I’ve been very busy since my Angel book, THE MURDER LIST, came out last October.  I have finished another Angel called THE LIPSTICK MURDERS which is now due out on May 23rd this year, and I am working on another. 

Some people ask me where I get my ideas from.  The truth is I don’t know, but if I feel mischievous I say, ‘Don’t tell anybody, but I buy lists of them on line for 25p each from a little known shop in Invercockyleeky.’  Some smile and some frown at me and scratch their heads. 

I am still behaving myself.  My weight is static.  I can’t get anymore off.  And I don’t see anything of sexy Linda now.  She’s still with the NHS outfit Change4Life which has changed its name again to something I can’t remember.  She kindly rings me now and again to find out if I am OK, which is very kind.  Now I have to see two big butch chaps who tell me they are only there temporary. 

I remember when everything seemed to be permanent.  I don’t much like temporary.  I remember when dustbin men used to come and pick up our bins when they needed to be emptied, empty them and bring them back.  We didn’t have to wheel two or three bins out to the gate at a certain time on a specified day, hope that they might be emptied that day, then in the evening, wheel them back.  Sometimes with a sticker on saying you’ve put cardboard in the paper bin, or bottles in the grey bin or batteries in any bin, which is a hanging offence I believe.  Sometimes they were not emptied because of the bad weather.  And talking of bad weather, do you remember your school closing because of bad weather?  My school never did.  It was open in all weathers.  It was like the Windmill theatre.  It was open when there was three feet of snow! 

Well, Playmates, that’s my news.  Back to the grind.

Keep well.  Keep happy.  Keep reading. 

October 25th 2015

Hello, again.  There you are.  On Friday last I was weighed by sexy Linda at Change4Life, the local NHS outfit.  And I’m all smiles because in the last 4 weeks, I have lost 2½ lbs.  Now it might not sound much, but it’s a heck of lot considering I’ve been either standing still or putting on a pound or two these last three or four months. 

However  the sad news is that I might not be seeing sexy Linda again.   Over the last five years, she has been responsible for me losing over 5 stones in weight by instructing me to follow a healthy life style and thereby avoiding a nasty operation!  It hasn’t only been dieting.  It has been a real eye opener to me to realise the easy alternatives open to us.  The reason why I might not see Linda again is that the NHS is changing everything again!  Everything is up in the air.  Her job may change.  Nothing in our lives is destined to stay as it is.  Old fogeys like me have to work round all the changes in life made by authority.  It’s a good job I have the queen, who always steers me in the right direction. 

Speaking of the queen, she had been rather ill, and had to go to hospital.  She was there for six days and they did all sorts of wonderful things and she came out fighting fit.  They have also found her a different medication regime to assist her digestion which is suiting her very well. 

Anyway, I want to tell you about I’ve been doing.  I have been very busy.  All my books that have been published in hardback can now also be read on line on a Kindle or any similar electronic reader.  Also another of my books, THE MONEYTREE MURDERS has been recorded (for the blind) and is available at shops, on line and libraries throughout the UK. 

A new idea for short story readers or those who don’t want to wade through a whole book is on website www.pennyshorts.com.  There you can see all sorts of short fiction for 50p a read.  I have contributed a short story to it titled THE TOLLINGTON GHOST.  

A new Angel book, THE MURDER LIST, is coming out this weekend and I have another, THE LIPSTICK MURDERS, being published on March 31st next year. 

Oh yes.  Please note, as from Monday October 26th to Friday, 30th, SALAMANDER is available free from Amazon on Kindle.  It will be good for people who aren’t familiar with my stuff to try me out for nothing.  I do hope those who are Kindle readers will take advantage of it. 

Keep well.  Keep happy.  Keep reading.

June 30th 2015.

My latest Angel book is published in hardback today.  It’s the 23rd in the series.  It’s called ANGEL AND THE ACTRESS.  The eBook edition will be out later this month. 

Now, let me see, what I have been doing since I last wrote this diary…?

Of course I have still be going regularly to the gym and I have stayed rigorously on the Change4Life routine which doesn’t seem so exacting when you get used to it.  After all, you can almost eat what you ate before but in reduced quantities, some greatly reduced.  But there is positively no need to feel hungry.  That I wouldn’t be able to tolerate. 

However in the last few months, my weight has not moved either up nor down.  Last month, May, when I was weighed, I was within a spoonful the same as I weighed in June.  And before that I put back on the half pound I had lost in March.  My mentor through all this is sexy Linda.  She is marvellous.  She has an answer for everything.  And she is totally happy with my performance.  She says I should be satisfied that I am holding down my weight.  I’m not.  She says that I am at probably at my natural, healthy level, and that I will not move my weight any further down without cutting down on what I eat or by exercising more.  I don’t think I can do either.  We’ll see.

Since I last wrote this page, IN THE MIDST OF LIFE, my first Angel book, can now be read on line on a Kindle or any similar electronic reader.  And audio editions (for the blind) THE BIG FIDDLE and THE FRUIT GUM MURDERS have also been published and are in the libraries and the bookshops. 

THE MURDER LIST (this will be the 24th in the Angel series) is being published in hardback in October.  And I am working hard on a new Angel book for early in 2016. 

A reader from Australia sent me an email grumbling that he could not get eBook editions of some of the Angel books.  Well, I was able to tell him that in the next few months, all the Angel books up to ANGEL AND THE ACTRESS and my stand alone novels will be available electronically on line. 

I hope you have a great holiday, whether it’s on a luxury cruise liner, or at home in your own backyard, with a library book.  Enjoy yourself.  Take care.

March 2nd 2015

Hello there.  I’m back.  I know it’s been a long time, but I haven’t been wasting my time.  I’ve been writing like the clappers.  Messing about on the internet or Twittering or writing stuff on my Facebook page doesn’t add a single word to the book I am writing!  And I’m still writing about Angel.  I hope you enjoy reading about him. 

I try to write reassuring entertainment in these dark days of racial intolerance in so many countries.  I am particularly disturbed by the shocking acts of hatred of the British, from people whom we have sheltered, defended, educated and kept healthy.  I don’t understand it. 

My weight is still yo-yoing.  What I lost last month I put back on this month, which considering the amount of time I put in at the gym and what I do without at home, I find rather depressing.  At least, I am not putting weight back on and to be fair I’m rarely hungry.  If I am desperate, I have a slice of wholemeal bread with some reduced salt and sugar Heinz beans.  It rarely happens, but there’s my secret.  It is wholly permitted by Sexy Linda.  However she also says that I might never lose my tummy.  Annoyingly, she has a habit of being right, but I am not yet completely satisfied, so this month I am more determined than ever to take off a few pounds.  My next Change4 Life meeting with her is next Friday.  Cross your fingers for me. 

Well, we are now in March, so in theory, winter is over.  However snow is forecast today for us at the foot of the Pennines.  If there is only a light fall, we are locked in to our house.  There is a hill that it is not possible to get up by car.  As it is a private road, it won’t be gritted or cleared.  We have to wait for a thaw.  The postman doesn’t deliver and the bins aren’t emptied.  However Tesco’s will deliver.  Over past winters, the driver has several times parked his van on the top road and trundled a trolley with our order on it through the snow down the hill to us.  Isn’t competition a wonderful thing! 

Since I posted my last blog, I have heard that ANGEL AND THE ACTRESS will be published on June 30th next, and THE MURDER LIST later this year. 

Also, I am working on another Angel book now which I don’t want to talk about yet for publishing in 2016, I hope. 

By the way, I should point out that if you are using an electronic reader like a Kindle, that an eBook title of mine published recently as DEAD AHEAD, was originally in hardback and paperback and called DEADLY DAFFODILS.  Also MISSING, PRESUMED …was originally in hardback as WILD ABOUT HARRY.  They are both very popular titles.  I only mention it so that if you’ve had it in book form, you may not want it again on a screen. 

Well, there we are.  However you read, whether it’s from printing on a page or an image on a screen, I hope you enjoy it. 

Happy reading.

September 23rd 2014

Hello there. 

Well I hope you managed to get away for a holiday or two during the summer, and that you had decent weather.  Lots of holidays are now spent on cruise ships, and they are giving pretty good value, I hear.  My wife and I didn’t go anywhere.  Between us we have health issues, so it isn’t possible to travel much.  We don’t mind.  We live in a beautiful part of the world.  Except for chores at home that we have to do, we consider ourselves on holiday all the time. 

My excuse for not updating the diary is that I have been writing another Angel book.  It is finished now and I have posted it to the publishers.  It is called, THE MURDER LIST.  It’s a bit of a new departure for Angel and tests his ability more than most situations I have put him in before.  If it is accepted, it will be out in 2015.  I’ll keep you posted.  

The book I finished last May was accepted but the title has been changed.  It is now called ANGEL AND THE ACTRESS, which is a far easier to remember and indicates something about the story.  It will be published late this year or early next.  

Since I last wrote, my weight has been yo-yoing a bit, but overall I have managed to lose only a few pounds.  I am the same weight I was when I was about twenty.  Sexy Linda from Change4Life doesn’t think I should be worrying about it, but I do.  I get weighed again on Friday next 26th, I’ll report back the result.  I’ve still not been able to reduce further the size of my ample stomach, but I am keeping on at it.  I will have to eliminate absolutely my pinching of pieces of fruit from the fridge.  It is the over consumption of fruit that I think is hindering me. 

By the way, did you know that a typical glass tumbler full of fresh orange juice (not the stuff sold in wax packets in supermarkets but literally fresh orange juice with nothing added and nothing taken away) contains 5 or 6 teaspoonsful of sugar?  And I thought it was about the healthiest drink you could have!  As sexy Linda pointed out to me, there would probably have to be the juice of two or three oranges to make a tumbler full. 

I understand the rights have been bought to bring out an audio of THE FRUIT GUM MURDERS, so that the blind can enjoy Angel being read to them by well-known actors.  I believe this book will be read by that famous actor Jonathan Keeble who has recorded some of my other books and catches the northern style perfectly. 

By the way, on Thursday next, September 30th, THE MONEYTREE MURDERS in hardback will be in the shops and libraries.  It’s about some trickery and murders in a TV studio.  I hope you will look out for it and enjoy reading it. 

Wherever you are, whatever your age, enjoy your reading.  And remember, you’re only young once so make the best of it.  Take care.

May 3rd 2014

Hello there.  Glad to be back.

I have been very busy writing another new book tentatively called MURDER ON A THREAD.  I have just finished it.  It’s another Angel book - that’s what my publisher wants, and where would we be without publishers?

Don’t answer that.

My dear wife is proof-reading it and I hope to submit it in a few days time, and we’ll see what happens.

Oh dear, I have to report that last time I was weighed, I had put on 1½ lbs, having lost 2 lbs the month before.  I know that ½ lb isn’t much but considering that I go to the gym 5 days a week and do without all sorts of things like pies, sausage rolls, Yorkshire pudding, chocolate and goodness knows what else, I should be losing a stone a month not ½ lb! 

I believe that the intake of fruit - particularly pineapple - is the cause.  I tend to pinch chunks of it while I am in the kitchen and preparing meals.  Sexy Linda from Change4Life doesn’t think it is anything to get into a tiz about, but I’m not pleased. 

I was complaining to a friend about the protuberance and size of my stomach and she said, ‘Well, maybe it’s comfortable where it is?’  I had to laugh.  I’m certain it’s comfortable where it is, but I am still going to try and move it.  I’ll let you know how I go on. 

Since writing last December, a few things events have happened.  In February my book SHRINE TO MURDER WAS PUBLISHED in eBook form so that it can be read on Kindles and similar.  On March 31st my book, THE FRUIT GUM MURDERS was published in hard back, and my book, THE MONEYTREE MURDERS is coming out in September next.  So you see I am not wasting my time. 

Wherever you are, whatever your age, enjoy your reading.  The summer sun is coming soon.  Watch out for it. 

December 9th 2013

Hello there. 

Well, I’ve finished THE CLOCKWORK MOUSE MYSTERY all about the activities of a Scotland Yard Police Inspector in 1912, surrounded by murder and crime of all description.  I am so excited about it, I might put it straight out as an eBook thereby save a lot of time.  I will make some inquiries about that. 

There is one very strange thing about VAT.  Did you know that a printed book is VAT free, but an eBook is subject to VAT?  How strange is that? 

I was weighed last Friday and I’ve lost 1 lb in a month.  Sexy Linda was delighted.  She reasoned that if I maintained all the modifications initiated by Change4Life, I could confidently expect to weigh a stone lighter next December.  Now that would be magic!  I think she’d forgotten that Christmas is coming.  I simply love Christmas pudding and brandy sauce.  Anyway, I get weighed next on January 3rd.  I’ll let you know the result in the new year.

It is too early to report on the eBook sales of THE BIG FIDDLE released on November 29th, but I do know that we can now afford turkey on Christmas day.  We had planned on having sausages. 

I have a new title, THE FRUIT GUM MURDERS, another Angel book coming out in March 2014.  Then there's THE MONEYTREE MURDERS, the 22nd Angel book, which I hope will be out by Christmas 2014.

Well, I’ve finished writing the Christmas cards.  There are a few locals I have to deliver by hand and a few friends from Church that I will take there next Sunday.  Then we have to decorate the house and get out the tree.  I love the twinkle and bright colours of the fairylights which we put across the sitting-room windows, especially during these long, dark nights. 

I hope that you will have a lovely Christmas.  If you are on your own, I hope you will find comfort and hope in the re telling of the nativity.  If you are a crowd, maybe some of you could check up on neighbours who are on their own.  And say a prayer for your loved ones and yourself. 

Anyway, whoever you are, wherever you are, have a great Christmas, and a very happy New Year. 

 Happy reading!

November 11th 2013

Hello playmates.  Well, doesn't time roll by?  Soon be Christmas.

I've just finished a book that I've wanted to write for years.  It's a stand alone novel about an Inspector of police working out of New Scotland Yard in 1912.  He is surrounded by murder and crime and all sorts of strange happenings.  I've called it THE CLOCKWORK MOUSE MYSTERY.  The queen is currently reading the manuscript, then - subject to correcting all the mistakes she'll find - I'll send it down to the publishers.  It would be for delivery in 2014.  I'm ever so excited about it.

Last month I said I 'd tell you how my weight was doing.  You remember that for three months I had stayed the same, and I was quite dispirited.  It was because I was pinching fruit (pieces of fresh pineapple, strawberries and raspberries) as I was cooking, thinking that it wouldn't make any difference.  But fruit contains an enormous amount of sugar, and as we know, even natural sugar in excess is a no no.

Sexy Linda from Change4Life directed me to stop pinching the fruit and, instead, suggested that I had an exra slice of wholemeal brown bread to get rid of any possible pangs of hunger.  Well, friends, I did that and, as a result, I lost 3 lbs in September, 1 1/2 lbs in October, and 1/2 lb only in November.  Which isn't brilliant, but is progress in the right direction.  I now don't need to have a operation, which pleases me no end.

THE BIG FIDDLE is out in Hardback now and will,be available as an eBook from 29th November. Make a good Christmas read.

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, enjoy yourself.  You're only young once.  And enjoy your reading. 

October 1st 2013

Here we are now into October.  It makes me feel cold even thinking about it.  But I have known some beautiful days in October.

Well, my old friend that I hadn't seen for 62 years turned up on August the 8th for a couple of days and we recalled our school days ... short trousers and caps... and school dinners, and how we used to discard our inedible meat - which was most of it - behind the old upright piano in the dining room and wondered if anybody ever moved the thing and found it.
I showed him the delights of Barnsley, as much as I could.  The one thing that seemed to fascinate most of all was the statue of Dickie Bird!
It was sad when they had to leave.  But all good things come top an end, as some miserable so and so said.

I was weighed on August 2nd and weighed exactly the same again.  I had weighed exactly the same for two months and it was very annoying, after all I have been through.  So I had a long interview with sexy Linda (of Change4Life) and she went through what I ate on a 'regular' day and between us, we discovered that I was simply not keeping to the correct percentage of the different categories.  I was 90% there, but, according to Linda, it really mattered.  I had to be a 100% right, but that there was absolutely no need to feel hungry.  So I came away from that interview being directed not to pinch pieces of pineapple or the odd strawberry or two or three when I am preparing tea for the queen.  Simply have the prescribed five a day in the appropriate sized portions and no more.  Have another slice of brown wholemeal bread to eliminate any suggestion of hunger pangs, and have a cup of milk a day because my intake of dairy products was below the proportion required.
All these changes were made so that I would never be hungry, and that I would be eating the healthiest diet the NHS could devise for a man of my age and size.  Well I wasn't convinced, but I gave it a go.  I did exactly what sexy Linda had said, and behold, when I was weighed on September 6th, I had lost 3 lbs!
Obviously, I am continuing the regime and hope to have lost another few pounds when I am weighed next Friday, October 4th.
Up or down, or the same, I will keep you posted. 

Sales of THE BIG FIDDLE are well up to the mark, I hear the large prints rights have been taken up by Thorpes.  They are the very nice specialist publishers who reprint the book in a much larger font so that readers who have sight problems can read it more easily.  They have reprinted most of my titles ... all the Angel books, I believe.  By the way, if you prefer to read from your ebook, THE BIG FIDDLE is being published in that form in November.

I have a new title, THE FRUIT GUM MURDERS, another Angel book coming out in March 2014.  Then there's THE MONEYTREE MURDERS, the 22nd Angel book, which I hope will be out by Christmas 2014.  I am also working on another book, which is as yet untitled, so you see I haven't been idle this past summer.

Wherever you are, whatever you're reading, enjoy yourself.  Remember, you're only young once.  Enjoy your reading.

July 28th 2013

 

There you are …

 

Long time no see.  Well, I’ve finished another book so I feel that I can take a breather and write my friends and tell them all  the news.   

 

Haven’t we had some glorious weather.  I hope you’ve been in a suitable place to enjoy it.  There’s nothing as beautiful as a summer’s day in England.  And don’t you think that summer days past were better than the summer days we get today?  It makes me wish I was a kid again. 

 

Reporting on my diet, I am pleased to say that I was 1 lb down in April, 3½ lbs in May, 1 lb in June and nothing in July.  My next weigh day is this week, August 2nd.  I have made real efforts, so I expect a small loss.  My downfall is all the wonderful fruit that is available just now.  I simply adore fresh strawberries.  As sexy Linda (from Change4Life) keeps telling me, they are OK in moderation, but I can’t do anything in moderation.  What a bore life would be.  I’ve always been an all or nothing man. 

 

My old friend from school days, (short trousers and school caps) is coming up to see us on August 9th and I can’t wait to greet them: Mr and Mrs Peter Mitchell.  They live on the outskirts of London so they are planning to stay one night in a local hotel.  We haven’t the room in our little place, otherwise it would have been a delight to have them stay with us.  It’s 62 years since we last saw each other so you can see how exciting it is. 

 

My new book, THE BIG FIDDLE will be published on August 30th, and THE FRUIT GUM MURDERS around December/January time.  The book I have just finished hasn’t been sent to the publishers yet.  I have called it THE MONEY TREE MURDERS.  I hope they like it.  I’ll let you know what the verdict on it is in a month or so. 

 

Keep in the sun, keep happy and enjoy your reading.

 

 

 

 

March 6th 2013

Hello there …



In Yorkshire it’s a cold, foggy day, and I cannot get my feet warm. I haven’t been to the Gym this morning because it’s my shopping day. I’ve been down to Tesco’s and bought all the fresh grown stuff such as raspberries, strawberries, cabbage, apples and so on. Then I went to the shoe shop for new pair of black shoes for those formal occasions. I like to look smart. Strangely, I have kicked a hole in the toe of one of them. Yeah, and it’s not as if I go scampering up walls or anything like that that we did when we were kids. I was one who always had a grazed knee. However, the shop was shut. Maybe that was providential? I glanced in the window and on display they had black leather shoes for men from £110 to £225 pair. Wow!



I said I would let you know how the slimming battle was doing and the truth is that I have lost only 1/2 lb in four weeks, which is very disappointing, considering all the sacrifices I am making and the exercise I am putting myself through five mornings a week. Mind you, sexy Linda is not too upset by this. She says, taking everything into account, if I manage only ½ lb a month, every month, that would be 6 lbs in a year which would be good progress. Considering I no longer need to take a blood pressure pill at all and I don’t need to have injections in my shoulder for the great pain I used to have there. That is progress. I’ll let you know how I get on.



Since last writing I have heard from an old friend from my school days, Peter Mitchell. He found me by seeing my name on a book. He read the book and deduced from the story, and some of the character’s names that I was the chap he went to school with many years ago in Gloucestershire. He was right. He phoned the publishers and they sent me a message down the line, and I was delighted to speak with him on the phone. He and his wife are calling on us later this year. I’ll let you know how it goes.



I have just checked through the manuscript of THE BIG FIDDLE and it goes to the type-setter, then it is checked again and printed and made into a book. It will be published in April or May. THE FRUIT GUM MURDERS is being checked over at the moment and I expect it will be published later this year. Needless to say, I am writing another Angel book but I haven’t yet decided on a title.



I have just realised that while there is no VAT on a printed book, there is VAT on all ebook editions. It sounds incongruous to me. What do you think?’



Spring isn’t far away. Have a great time and enjoy your reading.

Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday, 12 February 2013




Hello there.



Well, as far as the weather goes, we’re in the worst of it. It is very cold but there isn’t much snow around. It has mostly melted. As the song goes, ‘It can only get better!’



In my last letters, I said that I’d tell you about my weight. Between December 7th 2012 and January 4th, I gained 4 lbs. I was devastated. That was the second time I had put on weight. I had a good long talk with sexy Linda of Change4 Life and she said that maybe the gargantuan helpings of potatoes I was serving myself were possibly to blame. So I cut them down to three medium to small potatoes per meal, and upped the other vegetables, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, carrots or whatever accordingly. She pointed out that vegetables (except potatoes) don’t put weight on. And it seemed to have worked because when I was weighed on February 1st I had taken off 2 lbs. Now if I can maintain the regime, I should be able to manage to lose 2 lbs every month. That’s healthy and that would be great. I’ll keep you posted.



At last I have finished another Angel book. It will be the 21st in the series. When I first started writing about this character it was just the one book, IN THE MIDST OF LIFE. Now everybody wants to read more of him, so I haven’t time to write anything else. It’s called THE FRUIT GUM MURDERS and I hope it will keep you mystified and amused to the very last page. I don’t think it will published before June.



I am told that my Christmas sales of Angel titles were well up, boosted by the cheap ebook offers of some titles in December. Sales of THE DIAMOND ROSARY MURDERS was published on December 31st 2012. I have no sales figures, but I do know the large print rights have already been snapped up by Ulverscroft.



Whatever you do, have a great time, and enjoy your reading.

22nd December 2012




Hello there…



Well, I hope you’ve got it all done, cards, tree, decorations, pressies, food. And now you’ve time to reflect on Christmas itself … I hope that you’re set for a happy time, perhaps with family, perhaps with just your spouse or even by yourself. Whoever you are, wherever you are, I do hope you will enjoy yourself.



I suppose we should be pleased if we’ve got enough food, warmth, a comfortable bed and a friend. At least one good friend. And good health.



I don’t know why I’m talking like this. I think I’ve seen or heard so many stories recently - both true and fiction - about people deprived of the necessities of life that I really find it biting at my soul. It’s telling me to be grateful for what I’ve got and not to be grumbling all the time, to which I must plead guilty.



I’ve said enough about that. Let’s get jolly. I’ve good reason to be jolly. I am delighted that Amazon have chosen three of my Angel books to put in their ‘100 Kindle books for £2.99 or less’. I am greatly honoured. I understand that at £1.99 each, sales are well up to expectations. But this all comes to an end on December 31st, when the price goes back up to around £6 each. The titles are MURDER IN BARE FEET, THE MAN WHO COULDN’T LOSE and THE CURIOUS MIND OF INSPECTOR ANGEL.



Watch out for THE DIAMOND ROSARY MURDERS, another Inspector Angel mystery which will be out on December 31st.



By the way I did get weighed on December 7th and I was exactly the same as last month. I’m not pleased because I work so hard at the gym and try to keep to the diet suggested by the course leader, sexy Linda, who is very good and knows what she’s talking about. However she says that after two years, six hours a week in the gym some of my body fat will be changing into muscle which weighs heavier than fat. I believe her. She could sell sand to the Arabs. I get weighed next early in January (after all that Christmas pudding and brandy sauce!). I’ll let you know the verdict anyway.



Say a prayer for your loved ones and yourself.



Have a great Christmas, and a very happy New Year.

6th December 2012

Hello, friends.



Just a few lines to say that …



I have just heard that Amazon, the on-line booksellers, have chosen three of my Inspector Angel mysteries to be in their pre-Christmas selection of ‘100 Kindle books each for £2.99 or less’. They are MURDER IN BARE FEET, THE MAN WHO COULDN’T LOSE and THE CURIOUS MIND OF INSPECTOR ANGEL. Electronic editions for Kindle readers can now, for a month, buy them for £1.99 a copy, which means I’ll be able to have turkey at Christmas instead of shredded copies of my first book boiled up with a chicken stock cube.



My latest book, THE DIAMOND ROSARY MURDERS will be published in hardback on December 31st, as if you need reminding.



By the way, getting weighed tomorrow all being well. Snow is forecast for the Pennines, which is us. If it too much, I shall not venture out. I’ll stay in and write. In which case I will probably wait another month before going to sexy Linda at ‘Change4Life’ – that’s the new name for ‘Weight Wise.’



Hope to see you before Christmas. Keep warm and safe.

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.

October 1st 2012


Ah, there you are.



At long last I’ve managed to finish my latest book. It is a very unusual story which pushes Angel into some tricky situations. I have had my head down and tried to ignore everything and everybody in a mammoth effort to weave my way through the plotline and finish it. Great joy!!

It’s my 20th Angel book and it’s called THE BIG FIDDLE. I’ve submitted it to the publishers for publication in hardback first, and I’ll let you know what they say. As a consequence, I have a pile of papers on my desk 15 inches high, which I must deal with.



Now, as I finish a book, I usually have an idea for a new book on my mind, but I have to admit I haven’t an idea in my head. You know, one of the first questions people ask when they get to know me is, ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ I always have to say, ‘I don’t know,’ and that’s the truth. I really don’t know. I will have to wait a little while and be patient.

What usually happens is that I hear about (or see for myself) a real life situation which may seem unusual or odd. I think about it and begin to wonder, if it was changed around a little and someone did this, and someone else did that, how the situation might turn into a suitable criminal plot. Most of the ideas fall on their face but eventually out pops a storyline for Angel.



Well, I’m still managing to lose a little weight. I am losing it at around two pounds a month, which I know isn’t much, but, as sexy Linda said, multiply that by 12 for a year and that’s more than stone. And it’s always harder when you’re into your 3rd year of ‘Change 4 Life’, which I am. The trouble is, that although I am eliminating all the wrong foods and eating all the right foods, but I’m eating too much of them. I have to reduce the size of the portions or increase my activity in the gym.



My next new Angel book, THE DIAMOND ROSARY MURDERS is still on track to be published in hardback on December 31st.



It’ll soon be time to hang your stocking up. The only contribution I have made towards that is that I’ve ordered our Christmas cards from Barnardo’s.



Have a great time, and enjoy your reading.

Thursday, June 21st 2012

Thursday, June 21st 2012

There you are.

Today is the longest day of the year. And for around eight consecutive years, the queen and I used to make a point of being in the very north of Scotland on this day. We used to stay on the north coast near Durness at a hamlet called Sango Bay overlooking the sea. It was a quiet and beautiful place to stay and write. I remember I used to go in and paddle … the water was cold and loads of jelly fish used to float in and be left on the silvery sand. I used to enjoy seeing how late one could stay up and read a newspaper in the unusual and ample natural light of the evening of the longest day. 11.40 pm I think was my record.

I’ve been trying to enjoy the bits of sunshine we’ve had and keep up with writing my new book. I hope that you’ve been enjoying the sunshine.

I said I’d let you know how my change for life was doing. Well, I’m disappointed to have to tell you that even after all the exercise and changes in diet, I have only lost ½ lb this past month. I have still to eat less or exercise more, or both. Of course I am not putting weight on and after a lifetime of always putting it on, I should be much relieved and comforted, but I’m not. One of the things, I have been advised to do by cheeky Helen (sexy Linda was away on holiday last time so I had to tolerate cheeky Helen), is cut out the potato from my salad and have 1 only slice of multi-grain bread. Now that is no big sacrifice, is it? I used to keep going back for more servings of those beautiful new potatoes. I’m going to give it a try and keep up with everything else and see if I can’t continue to lose significant weight. I expect to see sexy Linda next week on June 27th. I’ll be weighed again then, and I’ll tell you how I get on.

I hear two libraries are to close in Rotherham. It will only make a tiny difference to my earnings, but I am still sad to think of the people (particularly young people) there denied the opportunity to access the information, entertainment and the development of their dreams and imagination presented by books. It is so much richer than the pornography and rubbish promoted on tv and on the internet. I hope the government are not breeding gangs of unimaginative morons.

My latest Angel book, THE CHESHIRE CAT MURDERS, was chosen as the book of the week in the Bradford Telegraph and Argus on 25th May. Very kind of them.  

My next new Angel book, THE DIAMOND ROSARY MURDERS is still on track to be published in hardback in December.

THE SNUFFBOX MURDERS is now on Kindle and other electronic readers
and
THE MAN WHO COULDN’T LOSE
THE CURIOUS MIND OF INSPECTOR ANGEL
FIND THE LADY
THE WIG MAKER
and MURDER IN BARE FEET
will be published on Kindle and other electronic readers in October.

Thank you for your emails. I have replied to everybody. Always pleased to have your comments on my books and crime writing generally.
Have a great summer, and enjoy your reading.

Friday, May 4th 2012

Hello there …

I saw sexy Linda last week. For readers not familiar with this column, she is a Barnsley NHS specialist on how to lose weight for life and stay healthy. She weighed me, and I was greatly disappointed by only losing 1 lb in 8 weeks. One miserable pound! Linda took on a more optimistic attitude and said that the rate of my loss could not go on forever, and that as I came within reach of my target weight, it was bound to be more difficult. We looked at my physical activity regime and diet in detail, and concluded that I was eating all the right foods in the appropriate proportions, but I was eating too much of them. I need to reduce the size of the portions. Now that made me think. Up to now the course had not been too demanding, but I thought cutting down the portions definitely would be. Accordingly sexy Linda said I should carry on, try to reduce the portions, but be consoled with the fact that I was still on a very healthy downward trend. I am due to be weighed in two months time. I’ll let you know how that goes.


I have some good news. Following the success of the sales of THE SNUFFBOX MURDERS published last November on Kindle, and other electronic readers, five more titles - all Angel books - are to be published electronically, in October next.


They are
THE MAN WHO COULDN’T LOSE
THE CURIOUS MIND OF INSPECTOR ANGEL
FIND THE LADY THE WIG MAKER
and MURDER IN BARE FEET

That is good news for all those readers who have contacted me wanting to read my stuff in eBook form.

Of course, although some titles in printed hardback are sold out and are in the process of being reprinted, most of my books are still available. If you have any difficulty in getting a particular title in hardback, send me an email and I’ll try to help. Of course, my latest Angel book, THE DIAMOND ROSARY MURDERS is on track to be published in hardback in December 2012 or January 2013.


Come back soon if you can put up with the meanderings of an old writer.
Enjoy your reading.

Monday, April 16th 2012

Welcome back…

The good news is that my new book has been accepted for publication by Hales. I’ve changed the title to THE DIAMOND ROSARY MURDERS. It seemed to be more appropriate. It will be published later this year.

Since I last wrote you, THE CHESHIRE CAT MURDERS has been published and is now being delivered to shops and libraries everywhere. It’s another Angel book, of course, and probably the best I’ve ever written. It really tests Angel’s skills as a detective.

As there are now 18 different books in the Inspector Angel series, some readers wonder if the books should be read in a particular order. I am pleased to say that the books are a series rather than a serial. Each book is a separate story. It has a beginning, a middle and an end, and the titles can be read in any order.

Well, it’s more than a year since Liz Taylor died. Doesn’t time fly? And Easter whizzed by. It was here and gone before I had chance to put the clocks back an hour. Incidentally, I think it’s time we stopped this clock changing business. I’m not sure who it is supposed to benefit. It’s probably the clock and watchmaking industry who have to repair all the clocks and watches we mess up making the changes twice a year.

I’m itching to get started on another book, but the queen says I have to catch up with all the jobs I pushed to one side while I was writing the last one. She does have a point. Because when I do start I don’t want to leave it. I have a few ideas bubbling around in my head.

I have to sort out the difficult business of offering titles in eBook form, so that they can be read by Kindles and other electronic means. The only title I have out in that form is THE SNUFFBOX MURDERS. Of course, my new titles will firstly be offered printed in hardback, but there are many readers wanting to read my stuff in eBook form. So I have to work that out.

Hope to see you somewhere soon.
Enjoy your reading.