Gillian Larkin's Blog

 I have started writing a new series of short, cosy mysteries based in the fictional town of Willow Bridge Village. The amateur sleuths are retired couple, George and Lydia Hartley. As these are short stories, they will take around one hour, or less, to read. These are gentle mysteries and don't involve any murders:

Book 1: The Missing Masterpiece

Retired couple, George and Lydia Hartley, embark on their first investigation as they look into the puzzling disappearance of a piece of art.

The incident occurs during the Willow Bridge Arts Festival. A painting has gone missing from the village hall. It was one of a set of four, but the other three were left behind.

What is so special about the missing painting? What did the thief hope to gain by removing it?

George and Lydia are friends of the artist and know he will be devasted if he finds out the painting has been stolen. They are determined to find the missing masterpiece and return it to the hall as soon as possible.

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Book 2: The Mystery Gardener
In this second mystery, retired couple, George and Lydia Hartley, look into a perplexing situation that begins at the local Bed and Breakfast.

The owner of the B & B, Millie Bramble, tells the sleuthing couple that someone planted purple peonies in her garden during the night. She doesn’t know who did that, or why. But Millie is concerned it could be the start of something more troubling and asks George and Lydia to find the culprit.

George and Lydia proceed with their investigation and it’s not long before they question a prime suspect. But is the suspect telling them the truth?

Their enquiries continue and a secret is uncovered. But is it linked to the mystery gardener?

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* As an Amazon affiliate member, I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

 I have put the whole of the Storage Ghost Mysteries into one box set - there are 14 stories in all. This will make it easier to read the stories in order. If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read the box set for free.

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* As an Amazon Affiliate member, I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

 Unfortunately, I am no longer able to offer an email subscription service to my readers. I apologise for any inconvenience caused.

 I have two series of books for my Storage Ghost characters - some are mysteries and some are murder mysteries and the latter ones are a longer length. 

They are all available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.

This is the best way to read them in order:

Storage Ghost Mysteries

Jacob's Coins

Lost and Found

Tick Tock

The Write Dream

Daisy's Chain

Storage Ghost Murders

A Sweet Murder

Murder Vows

A Deadly Lesson

The Death Planner

The Last Reading - this is also available as a free book when you sign up for my newsletter

Storage Ghost Mysteries

Zach's Guitar

Painted Lies

Dead Wrong

The Last Post

Dying to Laugh

 The audiobook is now available for 'I Know What You Saw'  The narrator has done a wonderful job.

Click here for the link to the audiobook in the US

Click here for the link to the audiobook in the UK

 Agatha Christie is one of my favourite authors and I got the wonderful opportunity to write a story about one of the houses she once lived in - Greenway in Devon. I had a super time researching it, and it's a place I'd love to visit in the future. 

The story is available on the Sleepiest app as a bedtime story. It's written under my other name of Gillian Rogerson. 

Here's a link to the app. It's only on apple at the moment, but it should be on Android in the future.

I also got to write a story about one of my other favourite writers - Emily Bronte.

I've written some stories for an app under the name of Gillian Rogerson. The app is called Sleepiest, and it has many sounds and sleepy stories to listen to which help you fall asleep within minutes. I've used it many times and I'm always amazed at how quickly I nod off.
Here is the story which I've written :



The app is only available on iTunes at the moment. I'll put the link in case you want to have a look at it.


iTunes

My latest book is out! It's the next one in the Maggie Kelburn series, and it's 99c for the next week.  I hope you like it.



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First, a man was staring at her from a tree.Then there was a dead man in her garden.And now, Maggie Kelburn is investigating another murder.
Maggie spots a young man up a tree in the public lane behind her house. He soon flees but leaves behind three plastic coins. Maggie discovers the coins are part of a treasure hunting game.
A few hours later, Maggie is shocked to find a dead body in her back garden. It appears he fell from the tree which the young man was in earlier.
The police take over. They conclude the man, Harvey Chester, died as a result of an accident.
His grieving sister isn’t convinced. She thinks Harvey was murdered and asks Maggie to prove it.
Maggie agrees and is soon caught up in a secret world of treasure hunting. To her dismay, she discovers many members of Harvey’s group hated him with a vengeance. Furthermore, they constantly lie to Maggie when she questions them about Harvey’s death.
Maggie persists, and it’s not long before she makes a connection between Harvey’s death and the members of the treasure-hunting group.
But the killer is aware of Maggie’s every move, and when she gets too close to the truth, the killer decides to make a move on Maggie.

My latest book is now out! It's at 99c/99p for a while. This one is a thriller/mystery with a bit of romance. I really hope you like it:


I Know What you Saw
First,  there were hedgehogs.Then there was a murder.And now, Maggie Kelburn is on the run from a killer.
Maggie Kelburn is an ordinary woman who lives on an ordinary street. A quiet street where nothing unremarkable happens.
Until a neighbour is murdered.
Maggie doesn’t know she captured the murder on video until a surveillance expert, Sam Ward, shows her the footage. Together, they take the recording to the police.
But the recording device is stolen from the police station. And a short while later, Maggie’s home is invaded. A chilling message is left for her: I know what you saw
Sam convinces Maggie to seek safety in another town, and he offers to help her. But can Maggie trust Sam? Can she trust anyone?
Maggie leaves her home and travels from one side of the country to the other as she tries to find safety, and justice for the neighbour who was murdered.
But the killer is right behind her. They let Maggie know she will never be safe.
Never.




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I've just started writing a new mystery book. It's a new series with new characters, and it is a mix of a mystery and a thriller. As part of my research I had to look into spy equipment (!) I started looking on Amazon and was amazed at the amount of spying gadgets they have there. And I was even more amazed at the reviews about the products. It appears there are a lot of suspicious people out there! But it makes for interesting reading, and it gave me ideas for future plots...

I'm aiming to have my new book published by the end of August. Fingers crossed. In the meantime, here are some photos of my year so far:

The highlight of my year so far was seeing George Ezra in concert in Leeds. I was in the standing area with my daughters. We did get a bit squished, but it was worth it. 





One concert wasn't enough for me, so I went to see Years & Years with my youngest daughter in Scarborough. It was in an open-air theatre, and luckily, the weather was wonderful. As the sun set, the stage lit up, it was so wonderful. My daughter is a huge fan of this group, and she was so happy. And she took these lovely photos:





I took some photos in Scarborough too. I am not a professional photographer.

This is the view from the North Beach area.

We hopped on a bus, went around the corner, and ended up on the south side.

This is the view of Scarborough Spa. Lots of events are held here throughout the year. And you can see the work being done on the hill leading down to it!


I'm becoming slightly obsessed with funiculars. This one in Scarborough is the oldest in the UK according to a sign at the bottom. I know - wow indeed. I think my daughter was almost as excited as me to go on it, even though she didn't say that.

I only went on it twice - this time.
It wasn't the only funicular I went on this year - I had an exciting ride on a funicular in Budapest!

This is the view as I went up. It was a bit of a rainy day and I couldn't get a good picture of the outside of the funicular because there were brollies in the way.


The view from the top. I'm on the Buda side of the city here.

This is one of the many 'ruin' pubs in Budapest. Old buildings are decorated with items that would normally be thrown away. They are fascinating places.



We stumbled upon a Tiki bar, and just had to sample a cocktail or two. 

I've always had a dream of sailing down the Danube, and my dream came true! We had a river cruise one evening just as the sun was setting. Even though I'm not a professional photographer, I managed to take this lovely photo of the parliament building.
The people in Budapest were so lovely and friendly, and the city is beautiful.
Right. I'm getting back to my writing now. I'll post updates about how the story is going.