To the casual observer, there’s nothing remarkable about Sylvia Fox. An attractive, intelligent woman in her forties, she answers questions about her work with vague references to an unspectacular career in the Civil Service. Which is only very slightly true – because until recently, Sylvia was a high-ranking British spy. Can you hear the roll of drums?

When Sylvia arrives in Italy for the wedding of her niece Alice, she’s disillusioned with her job
at MI6 headquarters in London, and in need of a break. But then the bridegroom disappears,
leaving a dead body in the lake at the bottom of his garden, and Sylvia takes it upon herself to
solve the mystery and save Alice from disaster.

Despite the unpromising start to her holiday, Sylvia is enchanted by Umbria, the green heart of
Italy, and is surprised and pleased to find herself reconnecting with her estranged sister Isabel,
who lives in the handsome hillside town of Panicale.

When she stumbles upon a beautiful, derelict old house, Sylvia decides to buy it, quit her job and start afresh., living the dream. 

But Sylvia was never cut out for a quiet life and finds herself involved in a fresh mystery each
week – from the disappearance of a young woman a quarter of a century ago, to the theft of a
truffle pig, and a blackmail plot against the son of a Russian politician. At first, Carabinieri
Captain Giovanni Riva resents Sylvia’s interference, but he soon begins to seek her help.
Perhaps Riva’s interest in Sylvia is not purely professional…  Indeed, thinks Frost Magazine. 

If a novel,  Signora Volpe would be unputdownable and here, on the screen, each episode will leave us panting for the next.

Success is assured with its great cast  including EMILIA FOX – SYLVIA FOX & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER who is familiar to us for her role as Dr Nikki Alexander in BBC’s Silent Witness. She started her career in acclaimed BBC adaptations such as Pride and Prejudice and ITV’s Rebecca. TARA FITZGERALD – ISABEL VITALE  who came to international attention when she starred with Hugh Grant in the Australian comedy Sirens with her career soaring ever upwards.  GIOVANNI CIRFIERA made his debut as an actor in two short films: La Rissa, Giornata di festa and Poveri Diavoli. Other theatrical roles followed in 2003 and 2004 and he is perfect for the role of Giovanni Riva.

Just make sure you watch the series to catch up on ALL the actors.

So now we come to the superb  writing that not only reflects the ambience of Umbria, and instills the series with a delicious sense of Italy and a new life to be lived, but also a tension, and a sense that this will be a hell of a ride. This is no surprise  when the writers, creators and executive producers are the extraordinary duo RACHEL CUPERMAN & SALLY GRIFFITHS who have been writing together for almost two decades, with multiple notches on their belts including six episodes of ITV’s  long-running flagship detective series Midsomer Murders. 

Finally to the star of the whole proceedings – the sun soaked glory of Umbria itself which lulls all who go  there into the belief that it is a wonderland. Indeed it is, but there’s always an underbelly in a drama,  where the tension coils  ready to unleash onto the unspecting viewer.

We are all in for a fabulous treat, and  we don’t have to wait long – Signora Volpe launches this coming bank holiday Monday, May 2^nd, on Acorn TV.

Ep 1 will be available from midnight that day, Ep 2 on 9^th May and Ep 3 on 16^th May (in the Acorn territories of UK, Ireland, US, Canada, Australia & NZ).

You can sign up for a free month’s trial of Acorn directly through their website: https://signup.acorn.tv/ or via Amazon or Apple.

For a taster you can view the trailor of Signora Volpe HERE  

Signora Volpe is a Route 24 production, helmed by Executive Producers Josie Law and Marc Samuelson.

#SignoraVolpe and #AcornTV

at Riverside Studios (Studio 3), Hammersmith, London

“an intimate and fulfilling experience”

There is something beautifully old-fashioned, traditional, yet timeless about this show.

A compact sextet of incredible musicians, playing sumptuous music live and unleashed – sometimes supporting, other times taking the lead and letting fly.

Out front is the singer. She sparkles like the stars of old – Garland, Bassey, Streisand (especially Streisand). Performing ballads and blockbusters, at times sitting on the stool and pulling the crowd into her inner emotions, then belting out blockbusters – a variety of songs, some so well known they’re a part of our DNA, others unknown but glorious all the same.

It’s like being transported to one of those clubs you see in films, where the singer sings and the band plays on no matter what is happening. A jazz club vibe fills the studio and it’s an intimate and fulfilling experience.

Liza Pulman is the inaugural solo artist to perform in Studio 3 and the show is like a tribute to the Riverside Studios sumptuous history in entertainment, continuing the venue’s legacy. The Heart Of It is a well-oiled machine, a show that is slick and, at times, ever-so-slightly cheesy … which makes it all the more lovable.

With nodding heads, jiggling feet and drumming fingers, this show affects the audience in different ways. For me the spellbinding rendition of the James Bond theme Nobody Does It Better and the slow and jazzy version of the classic Happy Days Are Here Again stand out.

Liza is currently touring again with Fascinating Aida as well as performing this show, which launches her new album. The classic singer, the classic songs, the classic band. What more could you want…?

Photography Dom White – taken at Lichfield Festival

Performances until Saturday 30th April at 7.30pm

Location Riverside Studios, 101 Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith,

London W6 9BN

Tickets £30, available from https://www.riversidestudios.co.uk/

and 020 8237 1010

Running time 2 hours inc interval

Remaining Dates On Tour with The Heart Of It –

4th & 5th July at Wilton’s Music Hall, London

On Tour with Fascinating Aida –

Touring until 20th May 2022 – www.fascinatingaida.co.uk/tour-dates

Stream The Heart Of It – slinky.to/TheHeartofItLizaPulman

The Heart Of It tour dates & tickets www.lizapulman.com/tour-dates

Facebook @lizapulmanofficial

Twitter @liza_pulman

Instagram @pulmanliza

Website www.lizapulman.com

Joffe’s  book of the week is DEAD ON DELIVERY,  a really gripping new thriller from bestselling author Steve Parker — out now for the special launch price of 99p | 99c.

Featuring the ambitious young Detective Superintendent Ray Paterson, and Britain’s most foul-mouthed and irreverent detective, DI Johnny Clocks, this action-packed crime thriller is not one to be missed.

Once you start, you won’t be able to put it down, so take it on a long  journey or you’ll get grumpy at being interrupted. Lord, so many twists and turns. It’s the sort of book that makes you want to read any others by this author.

CLICK HERE TO BUY DEAD ON DELIVERY BY STEVE PARKER FOR 99P | 99C.
                           

The Village Mysteries by Margaret Mayhew   1-4  OUT NOW — ONLY 99P | 99C

Get FOUR lovely cozy murder mysteries in one box set. Very good value it is too. 

Discover Frog End, a beautiful English village with some dark secrets, in this bestselling series of enchanting village mysteries starring your new favourite amateur detective, The Colonel.

 Blood Kin  by Matt Hilton only £1.99/$ 1.99

If you love Reacher, or books by Dean Koontz, David Baldacci or Lee Child, then you’ll devour this action-packed thriller from the bestselling author of the Joe Hunter series.

Murder at Abbey Head by Roy Lewis   only £1.99 / $1.99

Local history buff turned amateur sleuth Arnold Landon explores the murky depths of an ancient sea cave, uncovered by a violent storm.

Arnold stumbles on something impossible. A heap of human remains. Along with a tiny silver ID badge. Whoever killed the owner— twenty years ago — found the ultimate place to hide their crime. But how did they do it? Someone out there will stop at nothing to keep their secret.

A BOOK OF MURDER BY VICTORIA DOWD

Joffe are very excited to give  us an early look at A BOOK OF MURDER, the page-turning and as they say effortlessly entertaining new whodunnit by award-winning mystery novelist Victoria Dowd, available for pre-order now for 99p | 99c.

“I am over the moon to be publishing a new title in Victoria Dowd’s brilliant series. Victoria’s Smart Women are as clever as they are catty; and few authors are so adept at deploying such fiendish twists.

I absolutely love the set-up of this one: placing us right at the start of the court case following the murder, before diving into that murderous past is just fantastic.”

— Editorial Director Emma Grundy Haigh

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER THE BOOK OF MURDER BY VICTORIA DOWD FOR 99P | 99C.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH AN EXCLUSIVE COVER REVEAL FOR THE BOOK OF MURDER BY VICTORIA DOWD.

And click here to see all that Joffe Books has to  offer.

Wow what a book. Couldn’t put it down.

A time bomb is ticking—but what if that time bomb is you? A chilling novel of intrigue, terror, and a man and woman in a race against the clock 

Sylvie is running , or is she being chased by the memories of a terror attack in London she experienced as a child, a catastrophic event in which her brother died? She is running, or is she similarly being chased by her abusive boyfriend? She IS absolutely running from a warning, given to her on a station platform in Nantes: someone is trying to kill her.

Corran is not what he seems. What is he then? He’s working deep undercover to infiltrate the political organisation that looks set to win the upcoming British election—a group that doesn’t appear to have existed a few years ago. Corran has been sent to find out who they are, who is ‘working’ them, and what on earth is their agenda?

All he has is a list of names, Sylvie’s included. Only with time does he begin to see the connections to the victims of the terror attack. But that was 10 years ago. So why does it seem they are being taken out, killed, cancelled?

As the field of living victims is steadily reduced, Corran and Sylvie work together, albeit reluctantly and head into the vortex, uncertain, scared, but hell bent on  not only exposing, but neutralising the threat, one which could explode at any minute ….

Sounds a great novel, but is it really?

Well, frankly, talk about clinging to the edge of your seat, or hanging onto your hat, it’s a hell of a ride, let me tell you. A Wowzer as we say in my family! Wow-zer, such a fab page turner.

The  plot is strong, intricately and empathetically planned, and it lives,  which is a great start because  thrillers, mysteries, and any sort of crime is dependent on a rip roaring plot, one with peaks and troughs, obstacles, successes, one step forward, perhaps two back …  If the author can include believable  characters, believable settings, a sense of being in the moment, then the reader is hooked. As you readers know, we have to believe that this is our problem, our battle, we are in the scene, taking each step the character takes. If all these are present,  then this is a grand novel.

But finally there is the need for a theme,  one that gives the novel depth, and a raison d’etre, and if this resonates with the reader, then the novel is a triumph. The theme of The Sleepers was, for me, the need to run towards, not away. In other words – take back control. Put all this together and mix it up with excellent writing you have, in The Sleepers, that rare thing, a triumph.

Read The Sleepers, it’s a wow of a novel. Thank heavens the author has dipped her toes in the adult pacey thriller world, leaving children’s writing for a moment. She knows her craft, her imagination is on fire. Bring on the next please, K M Kelly.

You can obtain e-book of The Sleepers by K M Kelly here

Ten years ago I wrote the words ‘The End’ on my children’s novel, sent it off to my then agent and waited with excitement as she started submitting it to publishers. At the time I thought that this was the beginning of my journey as a children’s author. But it wasn’t to be. Instead, ten years on and my first adult thriller is about to be published.

The publishing industry, and children’s publishing in particular, is very much at the mercy of fashions and trends. I was fortunate that Red Rock, a science fiction thriller set in a world beset by climate change, caught the tail end of the popular wave of dystopian fiction. But that trend was coming to an end. Suddenly dystopias were out of favour. My publisher declined my second book. My agent let me go shortly after.

So there I was. Back where I started.

At first I was sad. I felt I had failed. But then I realised that I was free. I could now write whatever I wanted. I could write the story that I wanted to read. What at first seemed like a bad thing was in fact liberating.

I have always enjoyed thrillers. It’s probably my favourite genre, although I still love a decent bit of science fiction. As a result, it seemed natural that I would try my hand at writing in this genre. And it was such fun to do. My first effort was a mix of science fiction and thriller which I absolutely loved writing. I sent it out to agents and publishers and received a lot of positive replies. But they all said the same thing. It didn’t fit squarely into either genre. It was too speculative for a thriller but not enough Science Fiction for SF.

Once again I was at the mercy of market forces. Several publishers told me that if I wrote a straight thriller they would be interested in hearing from me again.

And I thought – why not. I sat down and wrote a new novel, another thriller, and this time I toned down the speculative aspects (although it’s still there, in the background if you look hard enough). I drew on my love of espionage and conspiracy theories and the result was The Sleepers. Since Bloodhound Books had responded positively to my earlier novel I decided to skip trying to find an agent and put them top of my list.

Needless to say they offered me a contract and The Sleepers will be out on April 26^th 2022.

Thrillers are such fun to write, as well as being hugely popular at the moment. So for now I’ve found my niche. I’m halfway through penning another thriller.

I guess in a way I’ve let my writing be directed by the market, and I think all writers face this choice at some point. Do you write solely for yourself, in which case you can do whatever you like, or do you want a publishing deal. For me it is the latter.

It’s not uncommon for authors to switch genre. Many authors write in more than one, often using a pen name to do so. Writing under a pen name can be a good way of separating your writing identities. So I decided to change my name, ever so slightly and reinvent myself as KM Kelly, thriller writer.

I look forward to sharing The Sleepers with the world, and hopefully many more books to follow.

Obtain The Sleepers here

The Lord of the Rings   by J. R. R. Tolkien.   Illustrated by Alan Lee .  With a new preface by the artist

The Folio Society – www.foliosociety.com – publishers of beautiful books, is publishing another spectacular Limited Edition today – a three volume The Lord of the Rings set with illustrations by Academy Award Oscar winner Alan Lee, the art director behind Peter Jackson’s film series of Tolkien’s epic trilogy.  Recent show-stoppers have included The Complete Short Stories of Philip K. Dick and Dune – both sold out in a matter of days.

This 3-volume set with map and print is limited to 1,000 copies signed by the artist.

‘Him indoors’ is a devotee or J R Tolkein’s wonderful 3 volume The Lord of the Rings. I am too, so much so that I will pass a tree in a wood, and am sure it is an Ent.  But back to the business in hand. Let me tell you that this Limited Edition is quite frankly a masterpiece. The illustrations could be framed and arranged on the wall of your sitting room, study or whatever.

Available exclusively from The Folio Society – www.foliosociety.com   This limited edition is quite exquisite. I do feel I want to say priceless, but actually one of the 1000 sets can be bought for £1,000 / US $1.500.

Each of the 1,000 sets is numbered and signed by Alan Lee. Quarter – bound in leather with cloth sides blocked in silver and inset with illustration labels, with circular limitation tip printed letterpress on Tintoretto paper hand tipped within a gold border.

There are 1,504 pages in total over three volumes, set in Dante with Testament as display and is printed in black and burgundy on Munken Pure paper.

There are 53 colour illustrations and I can vouch that they are all of exceptional quality, printed on Veltique paper tipped within printed borders with 57 illustrated chapter openers. There are printed illustrated endpapers with burgundy satin ribbon markers. Two maps are printed together in black and red and enclosed in a case covered in blocked cloth …

Hand-made cloth-covered slipcase blocked in silver and gunmetal with printed illustration inside. There is a separate print presented in a folder of Pergamenata paper. Lastly, the book size is 12″ x  7¾”

All for the neat and tidy price:  UK £1,000 | US $1,500 But this is as nothing for a masterpiece.

For more information:  www.foliosociety.com

As a Mum and Grandma I know that we all want the best for our babies. From sunrise to sunset, parents across the nation go above and beyond to put a smile on their children faces. Despite this, if your child has slept poorly, so have you, and the day can become longer and increasingly difficult.

In this situation, you can try establishing a night-time routine. This includes bathing your baby, changing them into cosy pyjamas, and playing them a lullaby. In days gone by, mum might have sung. Trust me, my children would not have benefitted from my voice having a go. But a good lullaby may, indeed,  encourage your baby to sleep through the night. And doesn’t a soundless sleep sound priceless right now?

To help your baby through the night, Nuby, a leading baby brand in the UK, has created a list of the best sleepy songs. This is based on how many times these songs appear on Spotify baby sleep-related playlists – a sure-fire sign that they’re successful in getting your little one some shut-eye. Then you can start your night-time routine with confidence, one lullaby at a time.

10. Puff the Magic Dragon (Laura Hanson)

‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ transports us to another time. You might recognise this song from the animated Puff the Magic Dragon (1978), and Laura Hanson’s cover is just as charming. We can see why her dream-like piano lulls little ones to sleep.

9. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Charlie Francis)

‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ is a classic lullaby. Charlie Francis’ interpretation of this song is peaceful enough to make any child (or adult) relaxed. The tinkling piano and slow, melodic rhythm is perfectly soothing and is an updated version of the song that probably eased many of us to sleep as babies!

8. Itsy Bitsy Spider (Mingmei Hsueh)

‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ is another song straight from the history books. Mingmei Hsueh, a talented pianist and musician, has gifted parents with this calming, wordless lullaby. Try not to sing the lyrics alongside this instrumental – if you can.

7. Hush Little Baby (Beth McLaughlin)

‘Hush Little Baby’ by Beth McLaughlin sounds just like the original. Similar to the previous songs, this doesn’t include any lyrics. The soothing tune is perfect for bedtime.

6. A Whole New World (Purple Tulips)

It doesn’t matter what time it is, ‘A Whole New World’ by Purple Tulips is enough to make any baby sleepy. Even though we know this song from Aladdin (1992), this is another reimagined classic that we could easily drift asleep to – the piano rendition is so graceful.

5. Can You Feel The Love Tonight? (Rita May)

Rita May’s ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight?’ will definitely you think of the comfort of your own bed – but also The Lion King (1994) and Elton John’s smooth voice. Who’d have thought that so many of our favourite Disney classics could be translated into gentle instrumental lullabies?

4. Colors of the Wind (Rita May)

A talented pianist, Rita May deserves to be on our list twice. ‘Colors of the Wind’ reimagines the beauty of the familiar song found in Disney’s Pocahontas (1995).

3. Clean White Noise (White Noise Baby Sleep)

White noise can be extremely beneficial for your little one. It comes in many forms, including static frequencies. This is also a continuous song, so you can put this on repeat without any breaks interrupting your baby’s sleep.

2. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Adelmar Borrego)

Similar to Francis’ cover, this song is ideal if you’re looking for calming piano music. Considering this is the second time a reimagining of the original has appeared on our list, we think this lullaby will make any baby sleepy!

1. Brahms’ Lullaby (Beth McLaughlin)

Finally, ‘Brahms’ Lullaby’ by Beth McLaughlin is, it appears, the best sleep-inducing song for your little one. This song features the most in Spotify playlists for baby sleep songs. So if you’re in need of a good night’s sleep, this one is for your baby to drift off to.

There you have it – the best songs for babies to fall asleep to. Mums and dads alike can use this as a guide to make a night-time playlist for their little ones. Get your nightlight, speaker, and sleeping bag for your newborn ready. Each child is unique, however, so you might find they respond better to piano music than white noise, or vice versa. Which song will you play first?

To learn more: Nuby: https://nuby-uk.com/