Saffron Amatti's Blog

Today I'm very lucky to be welcoming the lovely Joanna Monahan to talk about her new book, Something Better, which has recently been published.

Joanna is a little different to my other author interviewees as she's had her book traditionally published (which is very exciting!), so I know you're going to be interested in reading all about that!

So, without any further ado, I shall hand over to Joanna...

Hello, Joanna! Thank you so much for joining me today, and congratulations on your recent re...

Today is the day!

The Phantom Murder is now live on Amazon (other platforms will follow once the KU enrollment period finishes - I'm leaving it in for one round of 90 days to give my KU readers chance to catch it, but after that I want to publish it ev-ry-where so it's got to come put of the program, sorry).

If you preordered a copy, firstly, thank you very much, and secondly, it should now appear on your kindly.

And if you haven't ordered a copy yet, click here to go to the page on your l...

Mrs Murphy was a busybody, a gossip, and a blackmailer.She still is, but the number of living people who know this is limited to the very reluctantly psychic Lucas Rathbone. But, busybody, gossip, and blackmailer that she is, did she deserve to die for that?Somebody thought so, and really, Lucas is spoiled for choice when it comes to suspects. The trouble is, he can see their point. No one missed Mrs Murphy. In fact, life after her death has been so much more pleasant for everyone...

An unsolved mystery in a mystery book? Unthinkable, surely?! Well no, not necessarily. Because the problem with solving mysteries in a small village is that you probably - no, you *definitely* know the culprit, as well as the victim. And right now, Lucas Rathbone is wondering:Did the jolly greengrocer murder Mrs Murphy?Or was it the pub landlords, who offer a friendly ear or a shoulder to cry on to anyone who needs it?Or the village vicar?The kindly librarian?The local bo...

Three whole days until The Phantom Murder hits digital bookshelves!!!!And we're past the point of me being able to change anything about it thanks to the Kindle preorder system thingy locking the author out of making any changes three days before launch, so if you can all just keep your fingers crossed that everything is as it should be, that'd be ace, thanks But anyway. About the book. It is, at its heart, a murder mystery, with ghosts, taking place in a small English village in 1928....

Now, I know what you're thinking - how on earth can Lucas possibly suspect his own mother of murder?!Truth be told, he doesn't.Well, not really. Of course he doesn't. But... Buuuuut........But the thing is, you see, there are things about her he doesn't know - *didn't* know, I should say, and what if that's just the tip of the iceberg? What if her chaining herself to railings as part of the Suffragette movement wasn't the worst thing she did? What if she's done something she'd go...

Mr Kingsley loves his greengrocer's shop, his canary, and his daughter, Jane.

He also loves his late wife, Mary - but Mary did something she wasn't proud of, and Mr Kingsley promised to take her secret to his grave.

So when Mrs Murphy threatened to reveal all, Mr Kingsley did whatever it took to keep her mouth shut.

But how far did he have to go to secure her silence?

Was paying the blackmail demand enough, or did he choose to solve the problem... permanently?

Find out in less than a we...

The local librarian knows everything about everyone in the village - at least with regard to their reading habits.

So Mr Phineas Hawthorn knows who prefers romance to reference, mystery to history...

And who borrowed the book on poisonous mushrooms.

Is he in danger?

Or, could he *be* the danger?

After all, he has access to all the books, and a secret of his own to keep...

The Phantom Murder is coming 7th July and is available now to preorder at books2read.com/LucasRathboneBook5

Ah, the English parish church.

Stone-built, unexpectedly glorious, and a haven of peace and sanctuary.

And before anyone says, "surely that's too fancy for a village!?", let me assure you it isn't.

I don't know where this one is (I found the image on Pixabay) but they can be surprisingly grand, even in the middle of nowhere.

For example, the small town I grew up in has a 11th-century church on top of a hill with a huge stained glass window (admittedly Victorian, so less exciting than if i...

Annie and Ollie Friedman have been the landlords of The Brewer's Thumb for as long as Lucas can remember.

Always there to greet the regulars with a smile and their favourite drink sat on the bar before they've even hung up their hat and coat.

But behind their sunny dispositions lies a dark secret - one that was discovered many years previously by a certain Mrs Charity Murphy.

Then, Mrs Murphy died, and Mr and Mrs Friedman could relax again, certain the secret in Annie's past would stay the...