Witchland: A Tale of Witch Hunting and War in Seventeenth-Century Britain, by Marion Gibson

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

If the witchfinders came to your town, who would you have believed 

– and what would you have done?

In the 1640s, Britain was swept up in a brutal witch hunt. The economic uncertainty and religious extremism fuelled by the English Civil War created a climate of fear. Neighbours turned on each other. Women and the poor were especially vulnerable, scapegoated by the powerful looking for someone to blame. In the resulting hysteria – which would, just a few decades later, provide a handbook for the Salem trials – hundreds of innocent people were killed.

Moving from village to village in Scotland and England, Professor Marion Gibson reveals how accusations grew out of everyday tensions – poverty, grief, and resentment – and how entire communities took part in persecuting the vulnerable. Drawing on newly uncovered historical records, this gripping account restores the voices of those accused of witchcraft. Vivid and intimate, Witchland shows that these were ordinary people with extraordinary stories, largely forgotten by history, caught up in suspicion and moral panic.

Witchland is a captivating story of fanaticism, inequality and the violence that surfaces during times of political upheaval.

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About the Author

Marion Gibson became interested in stories of magic and witchcraft when she read news accounts of witch trials in Elizabethan England. She says,  'I realised that whilst I didn't believe the accused people had been doing actual magic, I had no good explanation of why they would confess. What was going on here? What stories were they telling us about their lives? From this came my lifelong interest in storytelling about witches.' Find out more at https://mariongibson.co.uk/ and find Marion on Instagram and X @witchesetc

Historical Fiction Spotlight: A Hunt for Justice: A historical mystery of murder, superstition and hidden family crimes (The Justice Belstrang Mysteries Book 2) by John Pilkington

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

England, 1617. Susanna Cobbett, teenage daughter of a powerful Worcester landowner, is found dead in a gloomy woodland pond which has an evil reputation as the Witching Pool. 

The girl is said to have drowned herself, driven to madness by local widow Agnes Mason, who is arrested on a charge of witchcraft. If found guilty, she will hang at the next Assizes.

But Justice Belstrang, shrewd ex-magistrate and sceptic, does not believe a word of it. And when Agnes's family beg him to help, he finds himself caught up in an ever-darkening mystery.

With the help of his friend and fellow sceptic Doctor Boyd, Belstrang unravels the terrible crimes that have lain hidden behind the doors of the great manor of Ebbfield.

Belstrang must confront and apprehend his suspect - and risk his own life in the attempt.

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About the Author

A writer for over forty years, John Pilkington has written plays for radio and theatre, television scripts for the BBC and numerous historical novels set in the Tudor and Stuart eras. They include the popular Thomas the Falconer series, now being reissued by Boldwood Books, the Martin Marbeck Mysteries featuring a government spy or 'intelligencer' (described by Booklist as 'a seventeenth century James Bond') and the Justice Belstrang Mysteries, also to be republished by Boldwood. Born in the north-west of England, he now lives in a Devon village with his partner, and has a son who is a psychologist and musician. Learn more by visiting his website at www.johnpilkington.co.uk or find him on Twitter @_JohnPilkington and Bluesky @johnpilkington.bsky.social‬

Blog Tour Spotlight: One More Hour of Daylight, by C.M. Gray

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

On the first day of World War II, a young man makes a promise—one that will shape every choice he makes for the next four years.

Essex. September 1939: A wounded German pilot drops from a clear autumn sky into a quiet English field. Seventeen-year-old Derrick finds him—broken and feverish. Not an enemy. Just a young man asking for one small mercy before everything ends.

One more hour of daylight. That is all I ask. A chance to breathe free air before whatever comes next. Derrick gives him until morning. When the stretcher comes, the pilot’s last words strike Derrick like a blow he will never stop feeling.

Scotland. France. Germany. 1941–1943: In the mountains of Scotland, they teach him how to kill, how to lie, and how to endure things that break most men. Then they give him a new name, put him on a plane, and drop him into the dark.

As an SOE operative deep inside occupied Europe, Derrick Sedgley lives on false papers, borrowed names, and nerves worn to nothing by years in the shadows. He moves agents to safety, builds escape routes, and stays one breath ahead of the Gestapo.

Then a mission collapses—and everything changes. Forced to run, Derrick finds himself moving through the most dangerous corners of occupied Europe alongside someone whose connection to his past he cannot yet see. As safe houses fall, loyalties fracture, and the frozen passes of the Pyrenees rise ahead like the edge of the world, Derrick begins to understand something.

The choice he made in an Essex field on the first day of the war has been leading him here all along. Some debts cannot be paid. Some can only be carried. And some—if you are brave enough, and fortunate enough—can finally be laid to rest.

From the quiet fields of Essex to the mountains of Scotland, from the dangerous streets of Lyon to the shadows of wartime Hamburg and the high passes of the Pyrenees, One More Hour of Daylight is an unforgettable story of courage, guilt and redemption—of ordinary people forced to make impossible choices in extraordinary times.

Some promises can survive a war. Some people can too. 

Praise for One More Hour of Daylight:

"A beautifully written book with a perfect pace that kept me reading

from start to finish." ~ Bookcollector, Amazon 5* Review

"A confident, carefully crafted novel that handles its subject matter with restraint, earning the weight it carries." ~ Indie Library, Goodreads 5* Review

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About the Author

C.M. Gray's first book, The Flight of the Griffin, was longlisted in the 2015 Times Chicken House Writing Competition. Shadowland, the first book in the Pendragon Saga, has so far received over 900 five-star reviews on Amazon. These things still genuinely astonish him, and he is deeply grateful for every one of them. Most of his previous work has been fantasy: either pure fantasy or historical fantasy, the kind of writing where druids turn up uninvited and one of your main characters develops an unsettling affinity with wolves before you have quite decided what sort of book you are writing. Shadowland began with every intention of staying grounded in historical reality, the story of Uther Pendragon. It did not. It has turned out to be a popular book, so he does not complain. C.M. Gray is now happily settled just outside Barcelona with his wife and partner in life, Adriana.

Historical Fiction Spotlight: Da Vinci’s Masterstroke, by Lorraine Amrani

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

When the guns fell silent in 1945, one man uncovered a secret the world was never meant to see.

Special Officer Max Page-Hamilton – art historian, British officer, and one of the famed Monuments Men – stumbled upon Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring’s looted treasure trove in the final days of the war. Hidden behind the stolen Mona Lisa lay a sealed envelope bearing Göring’s personal wax seal… and inside it, a revelation capable of shaking the foundations of art history. Papers penned by Leonardo da Vinci himself, words so explosive that Max locked them away, swearing never to unleash their consequences on a fragile postwar world.

Decades later, his granddaughter inherits not only his legacy, but the burden of truth he dared not reveal.

Now, as global tensions simmer and the art world stands at a precipice, she steps into the spotlight he avoided. What Leonardo wrote in the 16th century was no ordinary treatise – It was a masterstroke of genius, a confession, and a key. A secret capable of re-drawing the line between myth and history, power and obsession, beauty and deceit.

From the salons of occupied Paris to the shadowy corridors of the contemporary art market, Da Vinci’s Masterstroke weaves together wartime intrigue, artistic passion, and a mystery that transcends centuries. Rich with historical detail, driven by emotion, and brimming with suspense, Lorraine Amrani crafts a thriller for art lovers and truth seekers alike, a story where every masterpiece hides a motive, and every revelation comes at a price.

What if the world’s most celebrated painting was never the real story? Open the envelope. Follow the clues. Discover the secret that could turn the art world upside down.

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About the Author

Lorraine Amrani was born and raised in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and Queens, and was fortunate to have had many opportunities to develop and extend her range of interests, inspired by her historical surroundings. Lorraine spent time working in the Palace of Westminster for a prominent cabinet minister. Following this, Lorraine trained as a nutritionist but her growing passion with art and creativity led to three years studying the History of Art in Greenwich, whilst actively pursuing her career as an artist, first with drawings, but quickly embracing Oil Painting as her preferred medium.  Since then, her artwork has been featured in many exhibitions, publications and prominent offices, and in 1995 was honoured to receive a commission to paint the portrait of Wilhelm Roentgen, the inventor of x-ray to celebrate its hundredth-year anniversary. Lorraine continued to broaden her creative passions. She found herself in the London studio of candle-maker to the king, to learn the age-old artisan craft of traditional candle-making, and soon came to understand that producing candles were not for the faint-hearted, due to the unpredictable nature of the molecules when trying to create a distinctive perfume. But finally, a successful brand emerged. More recently, Lorraine has taken advantage of Britain’s world class museums, galleries and exhibitions to indulge her imagination as she examined in forensic detail the lives of the world’s most celebrated artists. It was this, that sparked a creative ambition that persisted until finally sitting down to write her first work of fiction, an art thriller. Da Vinci's Masterstroke was the result. When Lorraine is not working on new creative ventures, she has started to research and collect artefacts from the ancient world. Find out more at https://lorraineamrani.com/ and follow Lorraine on Instagram and X at @Amraniframe

Book Launch Spotlight: The Women Who Clothed the Stuart Queens: Gender and Work in the Royal Wardrobe and the Fashion Marketplace by Sarah A. Bendall

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

This study explores for the first time the changing professions and roles of the women who worked to clothe six Stuart queens between 1603 and 1714: Anna of Denmark, Henrietta Maria, Catherine of Braganza, Mary of Modena, Queen Mary II and Queen Anne.

Queen Anne of Great Britain by Michael Dahl, typically dated to around 1702

Beautifully illustrated in full colour throughout, and using a wide range of written, visual and material sources, this book explores how changing patterns of work and consumption saw women become key producers, retailers and consumers of fashion during the 17th century, and illuminates the strong connections between the royal courts and London's fashion marketplace.

From royal wardrobes, workrooms and laundries to workshops and retail premises in London's bustling streets, Sarah A. Bendall highlights the integral role that women of multiple backgrounds played in the creation and maintenance of elite dress. The royal accounts show that this work was facilitated by migration, global trade, familial networks and changing guild structures, and that the patronage of queens and elite women was integral to supporting and promoting women's rise in the fashion trades as celebrated silkwomen, tirewoman, milliners and mantua makers.

The Women Who Clothed the Stuart Queens challenges understandings of women's work in the court, the household and the fashion marketplace, and shows how clothing played a key role in women's economic participation in 17th and 18th-century England more broadly. It offers fascinating insights for all those interested in the history of women and gender, fashion, material culture and consumption, and, of course, to all those interested in Stuart history.

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About the Author

Sarah A. Bendall FRHistS is an historian of fashion, material culture and women. Her work focuses on the production, trade and consumption of global commodities and fashionable consumer goods, particularly during the long 17th century. She also has expertise in historical dress recreation methodologies. She is a Senior Lecturer at ACU and was appointed as a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2023. Her work has been profiled in several media outlets including the Australian Financial Review, The Conversation and Daily Mail Online. She regularly appears as an historical fashion expert on Australian radio. Find out more at https://sarahabendall.com/ and find Sarah on Instagram, Twitter/X and Bluesly @sarahabendall.bsky.social

Historical Fiction Spotlight: Outlaw Knight (III): Romanslayer by David Pilling

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

The Roman Empire is shattered. Constantinople has fallen, and the armies of the Fourth Crusade march unchecked. Nothing seems able to halt their advance.

AD 1205. Philip of Cognac—bastard son of Richard the Lionheart—stands in the path of disaster. The Roman armies are scattered and broken. From the crumbling refuge of Nicaea, Philip and Theodore Laskaris struggle to rebuild an empire on the brink.

Sent on a perilous mission, Philip sails west to seek alliance with Bulgaria. Its ruler, Tsar Kaloyan—feared as the Romanslayer—is a ruthless warlord who despises the Romans. To save the empire, Philip must persuade him to set aside old hatreds before the crusaders strike the final blow.

Together, the fallen kingdoms may stand. Divided, 

they will be destroyed.

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About the Author

David Pilling is a writer and researcher, addicted to history for as long as he can remember. The medieval era has always held a fascination for him, perhaps because he spent much of his childhood exploring the misted ruins of castles in Wales. David also has a keen interest in the Byzantine Empire, the post-Roman period in Britain and the British & Irish Civil Wars. Follow David on Facebook, Twitter @RobeH2 and on Bluesky @robeh1979.bsky.social

New Book Launch: Jane Seymour: Patronage, Material Culture and Image Crafting (Lives of Royal Women) by Elizabeth Norton

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, was queen of England for only seventeen months, something which has accounted for the little interest shown in her by historians. In her lifetime, however, she was a significant political figure, while her legacy and memorialization extended beyond her early death following childbirth in October 1537.

Jane Seymour: Patronage, Material Culture and Image Crafting is the first full length academic study of Jane’s life and queenship. Using extensive archival research, it pulls together all of the surviving information to provide both a biographical and a thematic account. 

Chapters include a consideration of Jane’s queenship and political role, her material cultural environment, her household, her financial position and her religion, before also considering her afterlife and attempts to commemorate her both officially and unofficially. In doing so, the book banishes many myths that have grown up around the queen, most notably ideas of her passivity and powerlessness and also often repeated (but unsubstantiated) claims of her conservative religious outlook. This book presents a picture of Jane as an active and highly political queen consort.

The book is a valuable resource for students and established scholars since it adds considerably to knowledge of the queen and re-inserts her into the heart of the dynasty, while also drawing pertinent conclusions on sixteenth-century queenship.

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About the Author

Dr Elizabeth Norton lives in Kingston upon Thames, near Hampton Court Palace, with her husband and two sons. As well as her books she is carrying out academic research at King's College, London into the Blount family of Shropshire, contributing journal articles and giving papers at academic conferences and has appeared as an expert on television, including programmes for Sky Arts and the National Geographic channel.  Find out more as her website http://elizabethnorton.co.uk/ and find her on Twitter @ENortonHistory and Bluesky ‪@enortonhistory.bsky.social‬

Special Guest Post by Pam Lecky, Author of The Wild Atlantic Murders (2 book series)

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

From Book 1: Welcome to Westport, where the wild beauty of Ireland’s western coast 

hides deadly secrets…

Inspiration for The Wild Atlantic Murders Series

Talk about the past catching up with you! In a way, it has. Don’t get me wrong; I love historical fiction and will continue to write in that genre. However, when I recently contemplated ‘what’s next’, I couldn’t resist thinking about my roots, not only my family ones, but my reading habits as well.

Crime fiction has always fascinated me, but strangely enough, it wasn’t Agatha Christie’s books that caught my attention; it was PD James. I was a teenager when I read the first one, probably Cover Her Face. I was hooked straight away and continued to devour her books. Then I discovered Elizabeth George and Inspector Lynley. 

And when my father introduced me to Dorothy L Sayers and Lord Peter Wimsey, my addiction to crime fiction was complete. To this day, I love a good crime story or thriller. Interweaving characters, plots, and settings isn’t easy, but those authors whose work I fell in love with all those years ago had one thing in common: they did it effortlessly. Much as I love writing my Lucy Lawrence Mysteries, I wanted a new challenge, and so attempting contemporary crime fiction felt like the right direction to go in.

My original idea was a female PI series based in Dublin, with my main character visiting locations all over Ireland as she pursued cases. After much discussion with my editor, however, we agreed that my protagonist would be an amateur sleuth instead and would be based in a small rural community. And that is how Ali Brennan (landscape designer with a surprising talent for solving crime) and the village of Glenfinn came into being. In the first book, 

Ali moves to Mayo to set up a branch of the family business, but also to escape a disastrous relationship break-up with DI Aidan Cahill. She is soon joined by her nephew, Gavan, who has just dropped out of college.

Why a landscape designer, you ask? I wanted my protagonist to be a professional, running her own business, and as I studied horticulture and design with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), and had even built a show garden at the Bloom Festival in the Pheonix’s Park in Dublin, it is a world I am familiar with. It also offers a host of interesting scenarios that I fully intend to exploit (for murderous intent, of course!).

But when it came to location, I didn’t have to think twice. My mother hailed from a small village in Co. Mayo, in the west of Ireland. As a child, I loved to go there and have always felt it was my spiritual home. Over the years, I have explored and come to love the wild and rugged coast of The Wild Atlantic Way, of which Co. Mayo is only a small part. But again, links to family meant that the area around Westport and Clew Bay drew me in the most. 

There are many lovely villages and towns on the shore of the bay in which I could have landed my characters, but none had all the ingredients I was looking for. Glenfinn, although completely fictional, is a small coastal village located close to Ireland’s holy mountain, Croagh Patrick, and is inspired by many of those wonderful real places. It is now home (at least in my head!) to a whole host of interesting characters, some of whom may not live for very long… sadly!

Like most crime writers, for me the puzzle is everything. I wanted to create a locked-room type scenario, which is why the victim in The Clew Bay Detectives dies alone on a small island in the middle of Clew Bay whilst seal watching. On the surface, it looks like an unfortunate accident. John Clifford-Murphy was a diabetic and died because of it. But was that really what happened? 

When Ali is approached by the man’s wife, who can’t accept the Gardaí’s assertion that her husband’s death was a tragedy and nothing more, Ali’s innate curiosity gets the better of her, and she starts to ask questions. The ripples from the murder continue to affect the close local community, and once hidden secrets emerge, the danger to Ali and Gavan escalates. Then just when Ali thinks they have the answers, she is forced to confront a past she thought she had left behind, with near-tragic results.

The second book in the series, Murder in County Mayo, will be published in November, and pre-order is now available. When Grace Clark vanishes from an isolated farmhouse on the windswept County Mayo coast one bitter January morning, the Gardaí have their suspect within days: her partner, Cormac. But Ali Brennan is certain he's been framed. When a second body is discovered, she has only days to untangle a decades-old grudge before she becomes the killer's next victim...

The Body at Kincora Estate, the third book in the series, will be published in June 2027.

I hope readers will come to love this part of Ireland as much as I do, and over the course of the series I will explore the area too. Although this series is essentially cozy crime, it is at the harder end of the scale and reflects modern Ireland and its issues.

Pam Lecky

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About the Author

Pam is an Irish author of historical and contemporary crime and mystery, published by Storm Publishing and Avon Books UK (Harper Collins). Pam's bestselling Victorian murder mystery series features Lucy Lawrence, along with her trusty maid, Mary, and the enigmatic investigator, Phineas Stone. Lucy solves some nasty crimes along the way and although she is often a magnet for trouble, she invariably comes good in the end. The books are set in the UK and Europe during the late Victorian period. 

The Sarah Gillespie espionage series (trilogy) features an Irish woman working for MI5 during WW2. Pam has also written a standalone WW2 murder mystery, Under A Lightning Sky, set during the Blitz. 

The Bowes Inheritance, Pam’s debut novel, was awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion; was shortlisted for the Carousel Aware Prize 2016; made 'Editor's Choice' by the Historical Novel Society; long-listed for the Historical Novel Society 2016 Indie Award; and chosen as a Discovered Diamond in 2017.

Pam’s current project is The Wild Atlantic Murders series, a contemporary Irish crime series (cozy crime with a bit of an edge!). The first book, The Clew Bay Detectives, was published in June 2026 and is set in Co. Mayo and features a landscape designer, Ali Brennan, who discovers she has a surprising talent for solving crime. Murder in County Mayo is slated for release in November 2026 and the third book, A Body at Kincora Estate, will be published in June 2027. Pam is represented by Thérèse Coen at Susanna Lea Associates Literary Agency, London. Pam is a member of the Historical Novel Society, The Crime Writers' Association and the Society of Authors. Find out more at https://pamlecky.com and find Pam on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky @pamlecky.bsky.social

Special Guest Post by Alison Morton, Author of HEROICA: Three women, three centuries, three reckonings (Roma Nova Thriller Series Book 12)

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Even the strongest state is vulnerable to its past: Three stories of the women of the Mitela family, descendants of the founders of Roma Nova, bound by blood and courage.

“What inspires you?” is a question I’m frequently asked in many guest posts, in podcast interviews, or at conferences. Perhaps the people asking are writers themselves, or wish to make a connection on an artistic and creative level or want to know the answer to life, the universe and everything. That last one’s easy: 42. (Apologies to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.) 

Let’s be serious. Well, for a moment.  I dread this question, not because I don’t want to reveal the secret identity of my silken-gowned muse, nor divulge her equally secret pearls of wisdom. Am I frightened she might run away, never to be seen again? No, I don’t want to let readers down with my answer. 

I confess – I don’t know. 

An inspiring thought or emotion can be anything and come from anywhere. For me, it’s like being ambushed. I often don’t have a clue until it drops into my head. When it does, it’s something shallow and mundane like being held on the phone in a queue, spotting a bargain or scoffing at a mistranslation at a tourist site. 

The long burn 

The Roma Nova books originated from a decades’ long fascination with Ancient Rome and women’s roles in the modern world but given it took more than thirty years to get the first words onto the computer screen (bypassing the typewriter), it can hardly be called a *moment* of inspiration. It was a slow-growing, but persistent, climbing plant. 

Fortuna, Capitoline Museum, Rome (Author photo)

Like all authors, whether they admit it or not, I drew on events, people and experiences from my life up to that moment to write that first book, INCEPTIO. We are all shaped by these experiences and by our background and values. 

Alison in the military 

There will always be a little bit of the author in her book however much any author claims to deny it. And if we don’t show that in our main character, we switch it into another prominent secondary character. We all live in our own little world at the centre of which is our own delightful/dreadful ego, so any self-expression like writing is bound to reflect it. 

Readers and bets 

After nine Roma Nova thrillers featuring tough and lively heroines, my readers demanded I write the foundation story of Roma Nova. Thus inspired, that spilled out into two books – JULIA PRIMA and EXSILIUM – set in the fourth century. 

In between, I wrote three modern thrillers based on Mel/Mélisende, a dual national Franco-British special forces heroine working for a European security service. Writing them was triggered (inspired?) by a bet from fellow author Conn Iggulden who had given me a fabulous front of cover endorsement for the fifth Roma Nova thriller, INSURRECTIO. 

So…HEROICA, out today(!) 

This new book of three stories was a case of inspiration via curiosity. I wanted to write a story featuring my original heroine, Carina, in one of her investigations. Her professional life wasn’t spent entirely on saving her country, but like most law enforcers had its fair number of routine cases. Of course, being Carina, the case turned out to be anything but routine.  

Why isn’t Revolution? a full-length novel? Because the story ended when it did. We can’t always insist on dragging a story out to 100,000 words when it doesn’t naturally end at 24,000. But what to do with it? It’s too long to be a short story and compared to my two novellas – CARINA (38,000 words) and NEXUS (39,000 words) – not enough for a novella. So I thought about adding a couple of historical long short stories from Roma Nova’s past, but staying within Carina’s family in order to have a connecting thread running through them.  

Honoria’s Battle is set near Vienna when that city was being besieged for the second time by forces from the Ottoman Empire. It was hailed as an existential fight by Christian Europe against the tide of Moslem Turks. Historians continue to disagree about the battle’s significance but to people of the time it was one of survival. Of course, Roma Nova was going to be involved! Researching characters such as the ebullient John Sobieski, King of Poland and the best commander of his day, was fascinating. 

The Idealist connects with Giuseppe Mazzini’s attempt to form a new Roman Republic and unite Italy in the nineteenth century – another time of crisis and transition. It’s also the story of unrealistic expectations, family secrets and pragmatism. The inspiration was curiosity about the past and wondering what a terrible threat of the past coming back to bite those in the present would do to them. 

In brief 

Inspiration for me is a formless cloud, wisps, really, wafting around in my mind with no fixed abode. It takes something to come along – a bad film, five words in an email from a Very Famous Author, idle attention to a television report of a coup – to get the cloud to clump and produce a bolt of lightning. Usually, it’s a little crackle at the back of the sky that grows into a steady blaze. 

Alison Morton

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About the Author

Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her twelve-book Roma Nova series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution and heartache but use a sharp line in dialogue. She blends her fascination for Ancient Rome with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, historical and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history. Alison lives in Poitou in France, the home of Mélisende, the heroine of her two contemporary thrillers, Double Identity, Double Pursuit and Double Stakes For the latest news, subscribe to her newsletter at https://www.alison-morton.com/newsletter/ and receive 'Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’ as a thank you gift.  Connect with Alison on her World of Thrillers site: https://alison-morton.com and Alison’s writing blog https://alisonmortonauthor.com/. You can find Alison on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky @alisonmorton.bsky.social and Twitter/X: @alison_morton

Book Review: The Orphan from Verona, by Siobhan Daiko

Available for pre-order from 

Amazon UK and Amazon US

Verona, 1944. When an air raid strikes Elisa's home, she is left with nothing but the clothes on her back, the teddy bear clutched in her arms and her beloved older brother. Traumatised into silence, six-year-old Elisa can no longer speak and relies on Robi to guide her through this war-torn world.

Siobhan Daiko’s The Orphan from Verona balances human drama with an atmospheric sense of a city steeped in history. Set against the lingering shadows of the past, the novel offers an immersive exploration of identity and family secrets.

At the heart of the novel is a cast of compelling, related characters, and their journey through grief and personal awakening. Their relationships are portrayed with sensitivity, capturing the tension between desire and duty.

I particularly liked the details of life in occupied Verona, the counterpoint of past and present storylines and interwoven character arcs. The gradual revelation of secrets keeps readers guessing, as the plot unfolds at an engaging pace, weaving together intimate, character-driven moments with elements of mystery. 

The Orphan from Verona is a well-paced, memorable novel with a sophisticated narrative that explores the complexities of human resilience. Highly recommended.

Tony Riches

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About the Author

Siobhan Daiko is a British historical fiction author. A lover of all things Italian, she lives in the Veneto region of northern Italy with her husband, a Havanese dog and a Siberian cat. Siobhan was born of English parents in Hong Kong, attended boarding school in Australia, and then moved to the UK — where she taught modern foreign languages in a Welsh high school. She now spends her time writing page-turners and living the dolce vita sweet life near Venice. Her novels are compelling, poignant, and deeply moving, with strong characters and evocative settings, but always with romance at their heart. You can find more about her books on her website www.siobhandaiko.org and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @siobhandaiko

Book Launch Spotlight: The Falcon's Triumph: A novel of Anne Boleyn (The Falcon's Rise Book 3) by Natalia Richards

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

A novel of ambition, love, and betrayal in the Tudor court

A broken heart. A shattered dream. A future she never expected…

Fresh from her time in the dazzling courts of Europe, Anne Boleyn returns to England with charm, wit, and an ambition she dares not reveal. Her place at court and her future in Ireland seem secure. But when a forbidden love affair threatens scandal, Anne is dismissed and disgraced.

Then King Henry VIII takes notice.

Captivated by Anne’s beauty and boldness, the king is determined to have her—not as his mistress, but as his queen. Yet his wife, Queen Katherine of Aragon, stands in his way… and so does the Church. In a kingdom still firmly Catholic, Henry’s obsession with Anne now acts as a smouldering tinder, igniting a political and religious fire that threatens to tear England apart.

Set against the glittering and dangerous backdrop of Tudor England, The Falcon’s Triumph is a gripping tale of love, power, and the woman who would change history.

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About the Author

As a curator and historian for over 30 years, Natalia has worked in many museums in Derbyshire and later in London. She also worked free-lance for the History Channel USA as researcher, co-ordinator, and interviewer on the award-winning production 'Secrets of War.' However, her passion since a very early age has been the study of the Tudors, particularly Anne Boleyn and the court of King Henry VIII.  She did not begin writing seriously until around 2008 and originally wanted to write about Anne Boleyn at the English court. However, a great deal had already been written about this period, and Natalia began to look at her earlier life from around 1500 to 1521. The result of her research was 'The Falcon's Rise,’ set at the court of Margaret of Austria. She then followed this up with part two 'The Falcon's Flight'. This second book covers Anne's time at the French court, with Queen Claude, and ends as she is about to return to England. In her spare time, Natalia loves travelling, gardening, rambling, and visiting historic houses, as well as constantly reading and researching the Tudor period. She spends her time between Derbyshire and Chelsea, in London. Find out more at Natalia's website https://www.nataliarichards.com/ and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @nat_wieczorek

Special Guest Post by Elena Maria Vidal, Author of Generalissima: A Novel of Henrietta Maria: The Henrietta of France Trilogy, Book T

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

As the Three Kingdoms totter on the brink of anarchy, Henriette-Marie, queen of Charles I, strives to bring up their lively, growing family. In addition to her own health problems, she worries about the welfare of her mother the Dowager Queen of France, who sought refuge in London only to find herself under attack. As Henriette faces choices which may separate herself from her beloved husband and children, she seeks help from the Pope and the Irish Catholics. 

Henrietta Maria and Her Mother, Marie de’ Medici

First of all, I would like to thank Tony Riches for opening his popular blog to other historical writers so that we may share our research. I am the author of a biography of Marie-Antoinette as well as six historical novels. The latest two novels are about Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I and they are entitled My Queen, My Love and Generalissima. They are part of an unfinished trilogy; the third instalment Avalon will be out sometime in 2027 or 28. 

In my readings about Henrietta of France, I have found that her mother Marie de’ Medici played an enormous role not only in her upbringing but in her ongoing political decisions, as well as shaping her faith, her love of the arts, of music, theater, and architecture. 

Queen Marie has ended up playing a much larger role in my novels than I originally would ever have imagined, due to the sheer force of her personality as much as to her real adventures, which included leading rebellions against her son, climbing out of windows to escape the royal guards, and hiding with her entourage of dwarves in a German brewery. All of this followed a glittering career of being Queen Mother Regent of France. Most of the Queen’s life is captured in the spectacular series of twenty-four huge paintings by Rubens, now at the Louvre.

 Marie de' Medici, Queen of France, painted by the Flemish Baroque artist 

Peter Paul Rubens around 1622.

Marie’s life had always been eventful, however. Born in 1575 in Florence, the youngest daughter of Francesco de' Medici, who was to inherit the Duchy of Tuscany, she was reared in the magnificent Pitti Palace. Marie’s mother, a Habsburg Archduchess, fell down the palace steps when expecting her eighth child and died in agony. Some thought she had been murdered. 

Marie’s father married his mistress. Marie was well-educated and healthy but lonely. The stepmother found a companion for Marie: a homely dwarf named Dianora, who claimed to possess psychic powers. In spite of the Florentine court’s penchant for fortune-telling and astrology, Marie remained firmly Catholic her entire life. When in her twenties, word came that the King of France was looking for a wealthy wife.

Henri IV or Henri of Navarre (1553-1610) has been celebrated by the French people as the monarch who was the epitome of justice, kindness, and virility. The fact of his many mistresses and bastards never hindered his popularity, so great were his achievements on behalf of the French people in ending the Wars of Religion. His childless first marriage with his cousin Marguerite de Valois was annulled so that he could have legitimate offspring. 

He married the much younger Marie de' Medici in 1600. Queen Marie, loving her husband, suffered from his unfaithfulness. She brought with her Dianora, renamed Leonora. Leonora married another Italian, a thug named Concini who later bullied his way into becoming a marshal of France. After the couple had several children, in 1610 Henri had Marie crowned and anointed at Notre Dame de Paris. The day after her coronation, Henri was stabbed to death in his coach in the streets of Paris. Marie became the Regent for their young son, Louis XIII.

As Regent, Queen Marie chose to avoid war by making peace with the other Catholic powers of Spain and the Empire. She believed that Catholic monarchies should unite to keep Protestantism at bay. Too often Queen Marie is dismissed as being "stupid" in histories of the time. But Henri IV would never have designated Marie to be Regent in case of his death if he had thought her hopelessly ignorant and helpless. Queen Marie had great devotion to the Virgin Mary, seeing her role as being like that of the Mother of God, the conduit of power between the king and his people. 

As regent for her son Louis XIII she was determined to keep France out of wars, especially wars with other Catholic countries. Her older daughters, Elisabeth, Queen of Spain and Christine, Duchess of Savoy, had been brought up with Marian devotion and saw their roles in their adopted countries as being active rather than passive. As for Louis XIII, he attained his majority in 1614, although Marie kept running the country. Louis overthrew his mother in 1617, and had Leonora and Concini executed. After a brief exile, Marie managed to make her way back to Paris, where she presided in majesty at the new Medici Palace, later known as the Luxembourg. And she had one more daughter left to marry off.

The youngest child, Henriette-Marie de France, born on 25 November, 1609, was perhaps Marie’s favorite as she greatly resembled Henri IV, in coloring and wiry agility, as well as in merriment and a sense of adventure. Marie arranged for her youngest daughter Henriette to marry in England because she believed there was a chance of bringing Charles I into Catholicism. Henrietta Maria, at age fifteen, tackled the insurmountable task of converting the British Isles back to Catholicism. 

Marie made Henriette promise never to become a Protestant and if she did, she would be cursed by Marie. Henriette never flagged in the practice of her Catholic faith no matter the cost. While Charles I never converted to Catholicism, his relationship with his devout wife was deeply spiritual, which enhanced the intense physical passion between them. They were happiest together and with their children. Their tragedy is that they were eventually separated by the Civil Wars as their family was scattered. Their two youngest children were captives of the enemy forces. And Charles I was eventually arrested and beheaded in 1649.

In Marie’s later years, another falling-out with her oldest son Louis XIII, and especially with his minister Cardinal de Richelieu, led to her exile in England, where she lived in St. James Palace. Marie was warmly welcomed by Charles I and Henriette, although they were in the throes of a constitutional crisis. Marie saw the coming disasters and, realizing her Catholic presence was causing political complications for Charles and Henriette, went to Germany to seek refuge with her friend the painter Rubens. 

The Thirty Years War was raging; Rubens had died but the ailing Queen was able to stay in a brewery in Cologne owned by the Rubens family. She died in the brewery in Cologne on 3 July, 1642 in a state of destitution, abandoned by her son Louis XIII, who would not allow her to die in France, although he later had her buried at Saint Denis. Mercifully, the Queen received the ministrations of the Carmelites of Cologne, to whom she bequeathed a cherished statue of the Blessed Virgin, one of her last possessions.

Elena Maria Vidal

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About the Author

Elena Maria Vidal was born in Florence, Oregon in 1962 but grew up in Frederick County, Maryland. She received her BA in Psychology from Hood College and her MA in Modern European History from SUNY Albany. She has been a member of the Secular Order of Mount Carmel since 1986. Elena enjoys cooking, gardening, opera and working with the elderly. She lives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore with her family. She is currently engaged in writing a historical fiction trilogy about Queen Henrietta Maria. Elena’s Tea at Trianon blog deals with social, religious and political issues as well as history. My Queen, My Love: A Novel of Henrietta Maria is her fifth novel and sixth book. Find out more from her blog, Tea at Trianon and find her on Twitter @emvidal

Book Launch Guest Post by Naomi Kelsey, Author of Pale Mistress: Lover. Courtesan. Survivor.

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Cyprus, 16th century. Murder, lies and vengeance has left lovers dead, promises broken and no one to trust. Only one woman survives, Bianca. The slain? History knows their names: Emilia, Desdemona, Othello.

“I am no strumpet”: the inspiration behind ‘Pale Mistress’

If you speak to most people, the female characters they remember from ‘Othello’ are Desdemona and Emilia. Very few recall Bianca – and yet, she has the dubious distinction of being the only named female character in Shakespeare’s four major tragedies who does not die! 

Now, it’s entirely possible Shakespeare intended to kill Bianca off. He leaves her being escorted away by Venetian soldiers after Iago has accused her of complicity in the attempted murder of her lover (or fiancé!), Michael Cassio. Iago tells Bianca, “Come, mistress, you must tell’s another tale.” Within the text, this is taken to imply that Bianca will be tortured until she confesses her role in the plot – which is, of course, entirely of Iago’s own making. However, as a novelist, this felt like an invitation. Just what tale would Bianca tell? What would her story be?

Indra Ové portraying the character Bianca in the 

1995 film adaptation of Othello.

My initial inspiration for ‘Pale Mistress’ came during an A Level Literature lesson in 2024. I’d studied the play myself as a teenager, and have taught it multiple times over the years. But the wonderful thing about returning to classic texts again and again, at different stages of my life and with different students in front of me, means that new ideas emerge each time. On this occasion, during a lesson on Act 4 Scene 1, in which Cassio and Iago talk about Bianca behind her back before she storms on stage in a fury, one of my students made the immortal observation, “Cassio’s a bit of a douche, isn’t he?”

Tom Hiddleston performing as Cassio alongside Martina Laird 

as Bianca in a 2007 production of Othello

This was the first time I’d taught ‘Othello’ post #MeToo. The first time I’d taught it since ‘gaslighting’ became one of Oxford Dictionary’s buzzwords of 2018, and since Merriam-Webster made it one of their words of the year in 2022. And suddenly I was looking at this play in a very different light.

Cassio’s generally regarded as a chivalrous chap: handsome, noble, much-admired by Venetian society. He’s played by attractive actors – Nathaniel Parker, Jonathan Bailey, Tom Hiddleston. His fate, being gravely injured by Iago and accused of sleeping with Desdemona, is usually interpreted as thoroughly unfair. However, to a modern audience, his behaviour is decidedly two-faced. 

On the one hand he describes Desdemona as “the divine Desdemona” and “a maid / That paragons description and wild fame, / One that excels the quirks of blazoning pens”. On the other, he describes Bianca as a “monkey”, a “bauble”, and a “rogue” behind her back, yet to her face calls her “my most fair Bianca” and “my sweet Bianca”. The chivalrous courtier’s mask slips: away from the postures of courtly love performed for and about Desdemona, Cassio reveals himself to be mocking, scornful, even cruel. 

Of course, there’s another character in ‘Othello’ who speaks derisively of others behind their backs, then is all charm to their faces. But while Iago is ultimately revealed as a villain and abhorred as a “demi-devil”, Cassio is rewarded with the governorship of Cyprus, and the power to punish Iago as he sees fit. What Shakespeare doesn’t mention is that this also grants Cassio the ability to decide Bianca’s fate. 

What would Cassio do, I wondered, to a woman he thought had betrayed him, even conspired to mutilate and murder him? Would he carry out the torture Iago had threatened? Would he put her on trial – perhaps even condemn her to death?

Once I’d started asking this question, I couldn’t stop. Everything about Bianca started to fascinate me: who was she, really? We know very little about her, other than that she must be extremely skilled at embroidery, given that Cassio asks her to “take the work out”, or copy, the fateful handkerchief Iago has planted in his chamber. Iago calls her a whore, but then Iago calls all three female characters in the play a whore, so why do audiences and critics only believe it of Bianca, especially when she herself insists “I am no strumpet, but of life as honest as you that thus abuse me”? 

Iago also says in the first scene of the play that Cassio is “a fellow almost damned in a fair wife”, which could either mean Cassio is such a catch he’s bound to marry sooner or later, or that Cassio has a fiancée already. Bianca moves freely about Cyprus, with a degree of confidence and independence that neither Desdemona or Emilia are permitted – was this the freedom of an unmarried woman, or a sex worker? And then her freedom is abruptly, brutally, unjustly curtailed. 

My question about what Cassio might do branched out: what would Bianca do to prove her innocence – or get her revenge?

Two years ago, I half-heartedly joked to my A Level students that one day I would write a novel about Bianca, and it would be full of feminist rage! And here we are. As for whether Cassio receives the comeuppance I promised them, you’ll have to read ‘Pale Mistress’ to find out… 

 Naomi Kelsey

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About the Author

Naomi Kelsey's debut novel, The Burnings, was published by Harper North in 2023, followed by The Darkening Globe in 2025. Her next book, Pale Mistress, a reimagining of Shakespeare's 'Othello', is out now. She is the winner of two Northern Writers’ Awards and of the HWA Dorothy Dunnett Competition 2021. Her fiction has been published in Mslexia magazine and shortlisted for several further awards including the Bridport Prize and the Bristol Prize. She posts about books, history, and the chaos of writing around small children and teaching English on Instagram as @naomikelseybooks and on X as @naomikelsey_ Bluesky @naomikelsey.bsky.social and writes a monthly-ish newsletter on Substack at @naomikelsey

Blog Tour Book review: The Making of Marigold McGrath: A Novel of London in the Second World War, by Carrie Hayes

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New York City, 1937. Seventeen-year-old Marigold McGrath is coming undone. Her mother is dead. Her father is drawn to dangerous politics. The only place she feels joy is behind a camera — where she can frame the world on her own terms. After a series of her own missteps, she reinvents herself in London. She falls in love with Joop, a charming Dutch student, and shrugs off the war gathering around her.

Readers could be forgiven for thinking there isn’t much more to say about London during the Blitz, yet Carrie Hayes’s The Making of Marigold McGrath is a fresh and sometimes moving story.

Seventeen-year-old Marigold McGrath leaves New York to make a new life as a photographer in London. She tries to frame the world on her own terms, documenting the arrival of Kindertransport children, but the beginning of the devastating Blitz forces her to choose what kind of observer she is going to be.

I particularly like Carrie Hayes’s engaging character development, and the London setting is well researched and authentic. Marigold’s journey from a privileged teenager to a wartime photographer is convincing and often poigniant.

If you like original WW2 historical fiction, this is a story of survival and resilience that I am happy to recommend.

Tony Riches

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About the Author

Carrie Hayes lives with her husband and two spoiled dogs in a rambling Victorian house just outside of New York City. Her previous historical Fiction novels deal with the suffragist movement. Find out more at www.carriehayeswrites.com and find Carrie on Facebook and Instagram