Ottobeast Publishing – or rather author Pauline Manders, will be in the Buttermarket branch of Waterstones in Bury St Edmunds this Saturday August 15th from 10:am onwards.
Come and meet the author, talk to her about her latest murder mystery crime novel, and get your copy signed!
Chronically suspicious Pember Quinn is proving to be a forthright private investigator in Bury St Edmunds. But nothing has prepared him for the vicious sting in the tail of a ‘regular’ car-cloning scam.
Instead of investigating, however, he’s reluctantly house-sitting for a client who collects porcelain.
Very frustrating.
With Pember distracted, retired DI Clive Merry is determined to get to the bottom of the cloning scam. But after a suspicious death, it takes all his detecting and diplomatic skills to work alongside old colleagues and the victim’s solicitor.
Decorative porcelain and a glass kiln mask vital evidence. The stories tangle as the cases ramify. Murders nearly pass undetected. Can the police be brought on board in time, or will it be down to Clive and Pember to find the killers before anyone else dies?
The 2nd book in the Hatter Street Private Investigation Agency Series, DEFTLY KILNED* is out soon…
A reaffirming look back… and an exciting look forward.
It has been a wonderful 2025 for my friend and ‘Utterly Crime series’ cover artist – Rebecca Moss Guyver. She has been selected by the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) to become a member. She has also become a member of the Federation of British Artists (FBA), the umbrella organization based at the Mall Galleries in London, for nine art societies, including the RBA to promote figurative art in the UK.
What a wonderful artist to have created my Utterly Crime series covers! It reaffirms my faith and trust in her talent! https://www.rebeccaguyverart.com
And my exciting news for 2026… Deftly Kilned (2nd book int the Hatter Street Private Investigation Agency series) is ready to be published!
Book number 10 in the Utterly Crime series is now available on Amazon as both a paperback and Kindle ebook.
In this, the 10th novel in the Utterly Crime Series, old friends Chrissie, Nick and Matt unite again to solve a local Suffolk crime.
A body is found in the Poachers Basket – Wattisham’s disused village pub. But what seems like a simple misadventure becomes a murder inquiry. DI Clive Merry’s investigation soon turns into a nightmare.
Can Nick’s preoccupation with an old musical box shed any light on the history of the pub? The past may hold clues, but the present-day investigation stokes increasing danger.
Pauline’s quirky plot plays out with village thatching and cowboy boots under the long shadow of Wattisham’s wartime airmen. Bodies mount up and tensions erupt with dire consequences. The action moves between Wattisham and Woolpit, Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, Needham Market and Shottisham Creek.
A week or so ago I was at Cressing Temple Barns with my books to take advantage of their Christmas fair. Built by the Knights Templar, these barns date back to the 13th century. They are some of the oldest (and largest) wooden structures of their kind in Europe.
While I sat waiting for interested buyers, above me spanned an ancient, beamed roof. As the day progressed and the temperature rose a degree or two, fine wood powder started to collect in minute piles at one end of my table.
Was it the result of past woodworm activity falling like magic dust in the increasing warmth? Or had some new inhabitants of the beetle persuasion (woodworm are actually the larvae of woodboring beetles) worked their way into the ancient beams?
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, but was in reality some days later, I was at the Diss Publishing Bookshop. Saturday 13th November to be precise, and I was promoting my latest novel in the Utterly Crime Series – Utterly Dredged. I had my book presentation set up again, but this time was surrounded by 20th century wooden tables and bookshelves.
Diss Publishing is a locally run business, in Diss, South Norfolk, first established in 1864. They are well worth a visit if you are in the area. As their website says – ‘We offer an ‘old-fashioned’ service, so you never have to be afraid to ask for help. At the Diss Publishing Bookshop the customer always comes first!’
As the day progressed and the temperature rose a degree or two there was no magic dust accumulating on the table. But there were mouth-watering aromas that drew me into the bookshop’s wonderful café. There I ate a slice of delicious cake made from finely ground almonds.
Mmm…fine powders, both ancient and modern, it set me thinking…
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