The Regular: A DCI Fiona Weston Christmas Novella

by M.E. Tilburn

135 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication November 5, 2026

About the author

I am a UK-based writer of fiction, mixing psychological tension with near-future speculation, exploring memory, identity, and the fragile balance between control and freedom - at least, that is the hope.

When not writing, I'm usually being outsmarted by my two daughters, or trying (and failing) to keep on top of the washing.

Ten Billion to One will be my first novella, with more projects in progress , including flash fiction experiments and a novel in the works too.

Most recently, I won the Andromeda Magazine Flash-Fiction contest for October 2025 🏆

Reviews

[Corinne Soares · Rating 4 out of 5]

While murder doesn’t exactly scream Christmas fun, The Regular was my first Christmas read of the season, and it was such a fun, quick read!

For the past three Christmases, DCI Fiona Weston has been trying to catch the man Hartington Heath has dubbed the Christmas Killer. With few leads and another Boxing Day approaching, Fiona finds herself back at her regular coffee shop, never realizing just how close the killer may actually be.

Fiona is the kind of quirky female detective I always enjoy following, and the novella moves along quickly, which worked really well for such a short read. At just under 150 pages, it’s fast paced, entertaining, and easy to fly through in one or two sittings.

And I have to mention the author’s note to his Christmas loving wife at the beginning, it absolutely melted my heart.

Definitely recommend if you’re looking for a short holiday mystery with a little murder mixed in with your Christmas cheer.

[Martina Jukic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the author for the ARC.

This novella is very quick and fun (well, as much as serial killing can be "fun"), it does what it set out to do. It is a small-town, Christmas-time detective investigation, in which Fiona tries to catch the person responsible for three Boxing Day killings before they murder victim no. 4.

It's a multi-POV story that switches between 1st and 3rd person POV, and I enjoyed reading it. It felt a little rushed at times, but that's not surprising given that it's a novella. I would've loved to see more of the killer's POV, and the story of his "real first victim".

[L.E. Bendon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and immersive crime novella with likable and nuanced characters and just enough cues to let you build a vivid mental image of the setting as you flow through the story. I'd say it fits neatly into the goldilocks zone of being much more grounded and coherent than Freida McFadden, while cleaner, cosier and far more concise than a Mark Billingham novel. I would have liked there to be a mystery - either as a whodunnit or as a howcatchem, but what it offers instead is a neat run through of a simple crime from three key perspectives. What it lacks in tension it makes up for in relatability.