Murder at the Bailey by Henry Milner Book Review

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muder at the baileyThis is a brilliant and believable novel due to the author being one of the UK’s top criminal lawyers. Gorgeously entertaining. A fantastic debut from a new rising star.

A notorious loan shark is shot dead, in broad daylight, right outside the front doors of the Old Bailey. The killer is arrested at the scene and Adrian Stanford is lined up to take on the toughest defence case of his career. Can he steer his client past the no-nonsense Detective Chief Superintendent ‘Iron-Rod’ Stokes, hell-bent on achieving a murder conviction in his last case before retirement? That’s assuming he can keep his client alive in prison long enough for the trial to go ahead. Can his illustrious defence QC, Patrick ‘The Edge’ Gorman, swerve the case past the acerbic judge known to all as Mack the Knife, whose own resolve is being tested to the limit by an adulterous wife? And why is London underworld numero uno Big Jake Davenport showing such a keen interest in the proceedings?

A wickedly eccentric cast of brilliantly drawn characters populate this daring debut from one of Britain’s top criminal defence lawyers. Dripping with sparkling dialogue and delicious wit, Murder at the Bailey is a masterly picaresque romp through the courtrooms, custody suites and London restaurants graced by the cognoscenti.

Murder at the Bailey is available here.

 

Making Space For a New Baby.

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Checking off all the boxes to prepare for the arrival of your new little one is extremely important. Selecting your baby’s name is always a priority but can be a tough choice. A name that has meaning behind it can be special to you and your baby. French names have been known to have a unique meaning behind them and are very popular. Naming your boy or girl with a French baby name is sure to imbue them with innate style, grace and elegance. After you have picked a name, it is time to focus on getting your house in order to prepare for the pending arrival of your new baby.

Buy toy boxes and teach your children to put things in the boxes. The boxes can be stackable and plastic, or a toy chest. Whatever suits you and your life works. I try to put things away by category, all trains in one box etc. This invariably ends up with a few toys mixed up but you can but try.

Regular charity shop trips. I find keeping a charity shop bag or box around helps. Anytime your child grows out of a toy, or moves on to something else, put it in. I also put duplicates in. Sometimes your child will be given the same kind of present. They do not need three tea sets!

If I learnt anything about keeping a tidy house it is to have  good storage options. I recommend using Now Storage self storage. Packing things up and putting them into storage is a great option. Some things cannot be parted with and other things you will need in the future.

Clothes are a special thing. Even when my children grow out of their clothes I find it hard to part with them. I get emotional and have even cried when getting rid of their baby clothes, it is embarrassing to admit. It is important to store clothes properly, otherwise they end up mouldy or moth-ridden. I use vacuum bags. They keep out moisture and insects. Perfect!

What are your storage tips?

Collaborative post with our brand partner.

Oh … Oh … a new book in the award nominated Detective Sara Hirst series from Joffe, as well as the usual fascinating line up

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Book of the Week grandstands A BRUTAL SEASON by Judi Daykin, the third instalment in the DS Sara Hirst spine tingling series  Daykin’sJudi’s UNDER VIOLENT SKIES — book 1 in the DS Sara Hirst series — was longlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association John Creasy New Blood Dagger Award in 2021.

So best not to  miss the gripping new book in the award-nominated Detective Sara Hirst series.

It’s carnival week in Cromer.  The body of Daisy Shaw, the Carnival Queen, is discovered in a back alley, stretched out on the cobbles.  Her long blonde hair lies matted and dishevelled around her head, her fingers clutch a sparkly plastic tiara.  The atmosphere in Cromer soon grows nasty. The town turns against the outsiders. The roads are closed. The town descends into chaos

Can Sara solve the case before anyone else gets hurt? 99p/ 99C

We all like to receive invitations, but to Murder?

                                                                             

An invitation to Murder by Norman Russell, out this week.  99p/99c

The Baron of Renfield Hall wants to marry his daughter off to a rich American, but she is already in love with Alan, a penniless nobody — to the glee of Alan’s greedy uncle, Guy, who believes he’s uncovered a secret in Renfield’s past.  Tensions run high until Guy turns up dead. A convenient coincidence? Detectives French and Edwards are on the case.
Murder on Sea by Jane Adams. What a title, it attracted me immediately – it sounds fun, if murder can be.

Meet Rina Martin, a retired actress with a taste for tea, gardening and crime solving.
She played a TV sleuth for years, but now she has to do it for real.  99p/99c “Miss Marple fans will find a lot to like.” Publishers Weekly

Are you looking for a bit of nostalgia to sink your teeth into this weekend? Well this might do it for you.

This weekend Joffe are bringing you Paul D. Gilbert’s Sherlock Holmes mystery THE GIANT RAT OF SUMATRA for free. The book will be FREE from Friday 12 November till Monday 15 November.
Whether you’re a fan of the great consulting detective, or simply love exquisitely plotted historical mysteries, it might be an idea to grab your free copy of THE GIANT RAT OF SUMATRA before it’s too late.

Autumn 1898. London. A scandal in the making.  Dockworkers are stunned by the arrival of the Matilda Briggs, a long overdue tea cutter returning from Calcutta. The dust-covered vessel has been abandoned by its crew, and seems to have drifted into a vacant berth guided by an unseen hand.  Sherlock Holmes and his faithful Watson are called to divest the Matilda Briggs of its secrets, only to be warned off. Then a young man appears at 122B Baker Street with a mysterious packet from his missing father – who disappeared journeying to London from Calcutta. A confounding conspiracy seems set to boil over.  What was in the cargo besides innocent tea chests? And is the world finally ready for this tale to be told?

Please check this offer is live and available in your location before downloading.

And now for a peek behind the scenes at Joffe Books.   KATE LYALL GRANT:   PUBLISHING DIRECTOR  tells Frost Magazine about herself and her role.

WHAT I DO
Having joined Joffe Books on 8th November, I’m the newest member of the team.  My role is to spread the word amongst the literary agent and crime fiction community about all the exciting things we’re doing at Joffe, and to acquire brilliant new authors for the list, with particular emphasis on the American market, where we are actively looking to expand.

WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2022
I’m looking forward to finding the next big thing in mystery fiction, and to acquiring at least one Kindle Top Ten bestselling author.

FAVOURITE BOOKS
Most recently, I’ve loved The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton: a subversive and highly ingenious take on the classic country house murder mystery; Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens: a wonderfully atmospheric love story, coming-of-age novel and intriguing murder mystery all rolled into one; and Girl A by Abigail Dean: very dark but utterly gripping, with a surprising twist at the end.

Lots more goodies on Joffe Books here

PLAY REVIEW Love Dance at Chiswick Playhouse, London by Paul Vates

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“will delight audiences with its endearing characters”

To bill something as ‘a comic triumph’ on the flyer is, perhaps, setting yourself up for a fall. This comedy doesn’t fall, but it does stumble around quite a lot.

Two characters trapped together (almost – they could leave, but they don’t) unwittingly help each other in this predictable rom-com. Rose wants a baby but doesn’t want a man about the place. Adam is appalled by the idea of being tied down but needs somewhere to live… let the shenanigans commence!

Jacoba Williams and Derek Murphy play the unbelievably hapless couple who are completely mismatched but destined to fall in love. It is their amiability that keeps the play going, their chemistry that holds the interest.

The set – superbly designed by Humphrey Jaeger – is reminiscent of a farce, with three doors to have fun with. Sadly, they are not used for humour. So much of the script and the direction feels timid, as though holding back. Jokes are missed, action just slightly mis-timed. The whole production is off-kilter and lacks confidence, when there is obviously so much potential on show. Maybe a run is just what it needs, allowing the whole thing to find its feet and earn the self-labelled ‘triumph’.

Love Match highlights the difference between a laugh and a smile. I enjoyed this play. Everybody in the audience did. But I didn’t love it. And I so much wanted to.

A few glaring mistakes in it can be so easily rectified – for instance, is Adam meant to teach Rose the waltz incorrectly on purpose? [He’s not leading as he has her to believe, he’s actually in the woman’s hold…] Can he really play the guitar? Not on this evidence.

Once confidence grows, this production will delight audiences with its endearing characters and we may even forgive the bizarre driving scene…

Photography Molly Manning Walker

Performances until Saturday 27th November 2021   Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm

Saturday Matinee at 4pm

Location Chiswick Playhouse, 2 Bath Road, London W4 1LW    Nearest tube: Turnham Green (District and Piccadilly Lines)

Tickets Tickets are £22 (£19.50 for concessions)   Via the Box Office on 020 8995 6035

Or online at www.chiswickplayhouse.co.uk

Director Lesley Manning    Writer Andy Walker

Running Time 75 minutes (no interval)

Twitter @chiswickplay

The Crown and Anchor pub at Sowerby is the most fabulous traditional village pub you could ever hope for

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The Crown and Anchor pub can best be described as built of brick, cosy and offering real ales, and well kept wines. But… more… it is here you will find classic pub grub, a restaurant where you’ll be spoiled for choice,  and all around, the friendliest atmosphere you could imagine.

Situated in Sowerby which is closely linked to Thirsk and known as Soreb in the Domesday Book, there is parking at the back, and outside tables front and back. Sowerby is indeed lucky to have landlords Kirsty and Miles to take over from the popular Tony, Debbie, Tim and Nadia.

Best of all, it was no outsider who moved  in , one with grandiose ideas to change this heart of the village into some urban fashionplate. Believe it or not, Miles  is not only Sowerby born and bred, he actually lived next door, and longed one day to take over the Crown and Anchor, and – readers – he and Kirsty did it .

                                                   

The Crown and Anchor serves pub grub in the bar. I had a fabulous steak pie and the vegetables, which I admit to being picky about, were al dente, just right, not overcooked even by a second. There is a restaurant with an excellent menu – and both the bar and restaurant are open for lunch from Wednesday and in the evenings.

The restaurant also  hosts  private occasions. Just ask Milesand Kirsty and they will see what can be done.

There is a pool table in the semi partitioned bar, and we ate pub grub in one end,  I had  a good, and cool pino grigio and Dick an ale. As we ate we heard the dulcet commentary of a cricket match on the TV in the other bar and all around the murmur of a relaxed clientale – all very relaxing; the epitome of a village pub. As someone said as he was leaving. ‘I wish this was our local.’ Lucky lucky us because for us, it is.

Sowerby is a gorgeous village with the lines of Roman roads still visible in the fields to the east and north of the village along the Green Lane. It was called Soreb in the Domesday Book but Sowerby it became when the Normans landed in Britain. It means Farmstead by the Muddy Ground in Norse, which ,let’s face it with Cod Beck a stone’s throw, is pretty accurate as the fields do get a bit water logged.

                                         

Nearby, just down Blakey lane, and off to the right is Pudding Pie Hill, a barrow in which the remains of a Saxon warrior and two other skeletons were discovered along with cremated bones, various artefacts and coins.  And there’s also the ancient Packhorse Bridge, but… No.  Tell you what, just come, walk, look, and lunch at the Crown and Anchor, meet Miles, Kirsty and the rest of the village. You won’t regret it.

Ah, one more thing, James Herriot lived in Sowerby along Topcliffe Road. Herriot is of course the author of the hilarious but thought provoking and hugely bestselling series All Creatures Great and Small. Oh, and another thing: The Yorkshire Vets series has also introduced us to Julian Norton and Peter Wright who both live and work nearby.

How can you resist? Come, enjoy the Crown and Anchor, 138 Front Street Sowerby, Thirsk. YO7 1JN 01845 522448

 

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ELAINE SPIRES: TURNING A STAGE PLAY INTO A NOVEL

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In the first of two articles Elaine Spires shares the secrets of turning a stage play into a novel

My first novel, What’s Eating Me, started life as a stage play.  It’s the story of Eileen Holloway, a struggling single parent of two teenage boys who’s holding down a demanding job while dealing with her difficult mother. Food is the drug of choice that gets her through the day until she is tricked into appearing on Barbara’s Beautiful Bodies, a reality TV show. She becomes a celebrity over night, albeit a reluctant one. Compulsive overeating is a grossly misunderstood condition and it was a story I was keen to tell.

Photo credit: Danann Breathnach

The play was a one-woman show, which I took to the Edinburgh Fringe. Although we played in a tiny venue, it had great reviews.  Afterwards, though, I just couldn’t let Eileen go. So I decided to turn her story into my first book.

As the play was a three-act soliloquy – Eileen sharing her thoughts with the audience – it seemed to me logical that the book should be written in the first person (I) as this would tell Eileen’s story in her own voice, giving it an intimacy that would have been missing in the third person (she).

A huge advantage for a writer turning a play into a novel is that the characters have already been brought to life and their voices have been heard. A great tip for writing novels, especially dialogue, is to read your words out loud to hear the characters’ voices and when converting a play this part has already been done for you.  Your characters are already 3-dimensional and alive; you’ve seen and heard them. The audience feedback i.e. where they reacted by laughing, gasping, clapping, stunned silences or – hopefully not – bored indifference is also a great indicator of what’s working and what isn’t, not just re dialogue but also plot twists and story arc.  I would recommend watching your play performed as many times as possible. You’ll be surprised that you see something different every time. Actor input also plays a helpful, vital role.

Regardless of when events and back stories appeared in the play my first step was to put them into chronological order thus giving me a time line of scenes. Then I worked on each scene, developing character/personality traits, adding or expanding on backstory thus giving not only deeper insights to the individual characters but explaining, in this case, Eileen’s reactions to them.  This I call sprinkling the glitter – where the creative process really gets to work. It’s the part where ideas often appear from nowhere that move the plot along or take it in a different direction. This, in turn, helped demonstrate the Why behind Eileen’s self-destructive behaviour. In the end, although the main events of the story occur in diary form in the novel, backstory events are revealed as and when the plot demands it, thus producing twists.  And everyone loves a twist, don’t they? Perhaps this sounds complicated but with detailed A3 sheets on the wall covered in post-it notes, it worked for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this way of writing and so another play – Sweet Lady – became my second novel.  And this book, too, is written in first person, although quite different from What’s Eating Me.  The rest of my novels haven’t been plays but I always visualise them as such, making notes and envisaging scenes of dialogue, which I perform aloud – fortunately I live alone – before I start the proper writing of the book.

Readers often remark that my books would make great TV series. I think that’s the result of the way I plan.

 

www.elainespires.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

Joffe lifts the curtain on some more treats from their enormously successful publishing house, and one of them is meeting the new Marketing whizz Alex Spears

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BOOK OF THE WEEK:

Have a look at THE VALE VINEYARD KILLER by Frances Lloyd- an enthralling murder mystery  packed with twists  which will shock the most stoic of readers:

The Vale vineyard tour is disrupted by a nasty discovery. The lifeless body of Bob Beacham, the site manager, is found in a huge fermentation tank. He suffocated to death.  It looks like a tragic accident. That’s until the paramedics find a deep gash on the back of his head. It’s time to call in Detective Jack Dawes.

At only 99p / 99c for a limited time it’s a steal.


 

Meet Arnold Landon, mild-mannered history buff turned amateur sleuth. Roy Lewis has created a great character, and injected more than enough ups and downs to keep us turning those pages, or OK, they’re eBooks, but you get my meaning.

FIVE utterly gripping novels in one great-value box set The Arnold Landon Mysteries Books 1 – 5. For only 99p/99c.

Anyone interested in AUDIO?  Here you are, then. Just one of Joffe’s AUDIO offerings this week.

 

Marsh Light by Joy Ellis.

Matt and Liz may have retired from the police for a quiet life, but when an old friend’s sister disappears without a trace, they find themselves at the centre of another mystery . . .   There’s no sign of foul play until another friend goes missing late one night on the misty marshes of the Lincolnshire Fens.

Discover a totally enthralling psychological thriller by bestselling author Joy Ellis, narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies.

Such a pleasure to meet ALEX SPEARS:  MARKETING MANAGER who tells us:

‘I am the latest recruit to the Joffe Books team, joining a new and revamped marketing department at an exciting time of growth. I will be investigating how we can sell more books, understand our readers better and work with our authors to get their books into the hands of as many readers as possible, all over the world.’

As for 2022, a the Frost Team totally agree with Alex’s  priorities-  the first of which is to make  sure he can work the expresso machine…

‘I’m looking forward to getting up to speed with Joffe’s publishing philosophy and programme and immersing myself in their brilliant books. I’ve already worked out how to use the espresso machine and am looking forward to building on this promising early momentum.’  

And the question that people invariably ask. what are Alex’s favourite books?

‘I love books which experiment with form and genre, like Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 and Lanark by Alasdair Gray. But crime fiction was my first love! As I child I devoured the Point Crime series, before working my way through swathes of pulp and detective fiction, and in recent years have loved Don Winslow’s The Cartel Trilogy and Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series.’

So there you have it, from Joffe Books for another week.  You can find out more here: Joffe Books

 

Review: Not About Heroes. Bersted Arts at The Alexandra Theatre, Bognor Regis

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A drama about the lives of two of our greatest-ever war poets doesn’t exactly suggest a jolly evening out. And it isn’t. But forgoing frivolity is a small price to pay for this stunning adaption of Stephen MacDonald’s play, brilliantly performed by two actors from Bersted Arts.

Beautiful, profoundly moving, fascinating and compelling, director Jonathan Goodwin zooms in on the relationship between Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. Meeting while they were both patients at Craiglockhart, a place where soldiers whose mental health had been so crippled by the Great War were dispatched to recover, at this point Sassoon was already a published poet of some note. ‘Disappeared’ for being rather too voluble about the futility and outrageous cruelty of the war, he encouraged budding poet Owen during their short but intense time together at the hospital for the shell shocked. Here, while the relentless slaughter of young men continued on the battlefield, friendship and love grew swiftly; two souls made a pitch-perfect connection.

There are no hiding places for two actors in a 90 minute played-thru production. James Etheridge as Owen and Will Hackett as Sassoon have no need of them. Individually their performances are excellent; emotionally intelligent, fulsome and layered. Together they are electrifying. Sensitive and assured, there is as much poetry in Etheridge and Hackett’s elegant portrayals as there is to be found in the works of the men they play. Piercing hearts and tear ducts, the prolonged applause when the curtain fell was entirely deserved.

Aided by Stephen Hackshaw’s ambient and emotive score, Goodwin has done a magnificent job of pulling together a tremendous piece of theatre. He is also responsible for the effective set and lighting design

The tragedy, of course, is that while Sassoon and Owen’s poetry remains potent, as a race we persist in warfare. Still the blood-spilling lunacy continues. Which makes providing platforms for plays like Not About Heroes all the more important. Bravo to Arun Arts for programming this gem, and here’s hoping that other smart programmers will pick it up.

War as a central subject is undeniably bleak. The sheer quality of this production, however, will not fail to lift your heart.

Update: Good news! This production is set for a return to the stage in 2022. Watch this space…