Incidental Music: Alison Layland

Incidental Music: Alison Layland Alison Layland introduces us to a playlist of some of the musical inspiration behind her latest novel, After the Clearances. I love mixing genres – my novel itself …

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The Art of Occupation – Chris Lloyd

The Art of Occupation – Chris Lloyd The fourth book in the Eddie Giral series, The Art of Occupation, sees Eddie investigating the suspicious death of a dodgy art dealer, only to find himself drawn…

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The Venetian Redemption: Philip Gwynne Jones

The Venetian Redemption: Philip Gwynne Jones By the time you read this The Venetian Redemption, the ninth adventure for Nathan Sutherland, British Honorary Consul in Venice, will have been out for …

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Writing a series – by accident: Jacqueline Harret

Writing a series – by accident: Jacqueline Harret When I wrote ‘The Nesting Place’ five years ago I did not know it was the first in a series. In fact, I had little idea what type of crime no…

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Christian…ish Britain

It’s amusing, or it would be if it didn’t carry such nasty overtones, to read indignant claims that Britain is a Christian country. Those racist, anti-immigrant overtones have become so strident, u…

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Where We Walked #Elan Valley #Wales #VisitPowys #Walks #Photographs #History

Our first day in Elan Valley and it was gloriously sunny. We’d driven and walked a little way around Pen y Garreg, Garreg Ddu, and Caban Coch. After a leisurely coffee at the Ty Penbont cafe …

judithbarrowblog.com

HISTORY: A Succession of Damned Things

My favourite subject, ever since Junior School more than half a century ago, was and is History and the thing that first gave me a grasp of its significance was this poster on a classroom wall, cou…

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THIS COLD NIGHT: Being Nice

This Cold Night is a crime novel with a detective (Rosanna Quillan) trying to solve mysteries. Missing girl. Murder. Fraud. The usual. There is also an issue in it that might not have concerned me …

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New Book: THIS COLD NIGHT

Yes, I’ve written another crime novel. It’s the third in my Cold Case series, featuring my detective Rosanna Quillan. She first appeared, as a detective constable, in BETHULIA, published by Diamond…

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My Review of Hopes, Fears and Reality: Stories, Poems and Personal Tales by Alex Craigie

Book Description: Hopes, Fears and Reality What do a terrified boy, a ruthless beauty queen, a fairy godmother from hell, and a group of quietly rebellious pensioners have in common? In this eclect…

judithbarrowblog.com

Smorgasbord New Book Spotlight – #Shortstories Hope, Fears and Realities: Stories, Poems and Personal Tales by Alex Craigie

Delighted to share the news of the latest release by Alex Craigie..Hope, Fears and Reality: Stories, Poems and Personal Tales About the collection What do a terrified boy, a ruthless beauty queen, …

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Where We Walked @Slebech Park Country Estate @Pembrokeshire @Wales

This morning, with the weather fine, though a little chilly, we wrap up and take another of our favourite walks. As usual, Slebech Park Country Estate doesn’t fail to provide great views, som…

judithbarrowblog.com

Smorgasbord Book Reviews Retro – March and April 2025 – Valerie Poore, Liza Perrat, Pat Spencer, Thorne Moore, Apple Gidley, Sally Jane Smith, T.W. Dittmer, Sandra Cox, Alice Hoffman, Catherine Steadm...

Good books deserve being shared on a regular basis and as always during the year I will revisit my reviews from the last 12 months to remind you of my recommendations. Since there are several autho…

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A Mad Move to Self-publishing

I appreciate it’s a weird thing to do, having spent most of my adult life seeking out conventional publishers (and occasionally finding them) but, having finally reached the age where bits of me ar…

thornemoore.com

Historical Crime – Blending the real with the imagined: GJ Williams

Historical Crime – Blending the real with the imagined: GJ Williams The Tudor Rose Murders Series is based on a fundamental approach – take real events, real people and throw a fictional plot and s…

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How I Write: Dylan Young

How I Write: Dylan Young I am a hybrid author, concentrating now on self-publishing a long series of police procedural crime novels that have, since launch in 2022,  sold over a million copies…

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The Hanging Man Investigation by GB Williams

The Hanging Man Investigation by GB Williams The Hanging Man Investigation is the second book of the Atkins and Palmers Psychic Mystery series, and my favourite because of one of the surprises that…

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Where We Walked – Elan Valley and the Carvings #memories #walks #photographs #Wales

On our recent walk around Garreg Ddu Dam in the lower Elan Valley we noticed that, since we were last here, even more carvings had been created along the trail. This area of land was originally a V…

judithbarrowblog.com

Where We Walked – Elan Valley #walks #photographs #memories #books

After weeks of what seems to have been constant rain, we embarked on a couple of days away, determined to walk, whatever the weather. We headed for Mid Wales. We were lucky: the clouds parted, the …

judithbarrowblog.com

A Room of One’s Own: Sarah Todd Taylor

A Room of One’s Own (If only for a weekend): Sarah Todd Taylor It was Virginia Woolf who espoused the necessity of a room of one’s own if one is to write fiction. Some lucky writers may achieve thi…

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Smorgasbord Book Review Revisited November 2024 – #Thriller #Familysaga Judith Barrow, #Mystery #Family #Scifi C.S. Boyack, #Cookbook Carol Ann Taylor, #Contemporary #Romance Christine Campbell, #Poet...

Delighted to revisit my reviews for the month of November 2024, all come highly recommended. The first review of the month was for the heart stopping family saga by Judith Barrow. The Stranger in m…

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Crime Cymru newsletter. October 2025

Crime Cymru newsletter. October 2025 As we have a gap in the scheduled posts this week I’m posting the Autumn 2025 Crime Cymru Newsletter. If you’ve already read and enjoyed it there&#8…

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Writing is one of my biggest pleasures in life … besides walking. #books #anniversaries #writing #walking #photography #Pembrokeshire #Wales #Saints #mythsandlegends #memories

The Stranger in my House – published November 2024 One of my greatest pleasures – besides writing – is walking. In fact walking is what I mostly post about on social media; mainly…

judithbarrowblog.com

Where We Walked: Wiston Castle and Church #Pembrokeshire #Wales

Following a recce for a Narberth U3a future Stroll and Photo at Llys-y- Fran, we took a diversion to Wiston castle. Even though not long enough for a walk, the castle and nearby church are historic…

judithbarrowblog.com