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The House Near Fallowfield
North of England, 1964.
The sombre clouds of the postwar are now in the past. But the shadows remain. After the recent death of her father, Frankie, a young English widow living in the US, returns home and becomes entangled in a war mystery. Strange men follow her, watch her and Frankie starts fearing for her life.
Looking for the answers, she meets Albert, a mystery author who lives nearby and ventures to help her. When they get themselves caught in the middle of a dangerous international plot they find out Frankie's father was involved in a bizarre puzzle.
She is dragged in as the key to its solution.
"The House Near Fallowfield" is an exciting story of mystery, adventure, romance and betrayal set in the 1960s.
Now available worldwide on Amazon (paperback and ebook)
The sombre clouds of the postwar are now in the past. But the shadows remain. After the recent death of her father, Frankie, a young English widow living in the US, returns home and becomes entangled in a war mystery. Strange men follow her, watch her and Frankie starts fearing for her life.
Looking for the answers, she meets Albert, a mystery author who lives nearby and ventures to help her. When they get themselves caught in the middle of a dangerous international plot they find out Frankie's father was involved in a bizarre puzzle.
She is dragged in as the key to its solution.
"The House Near Fallowfield" is an exciting story of mystery, adventure, romance and betrayal set in the 1960s.
Now available worldwide on Amazon (paperback and ebook)
385 pages, Paperback
First published July 5, 2021
10 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
James Fillmore
1 book35 followersJames Fillmore is a British writer. He’s lived in the UK and also spent time in the US but has lived most of his life in Spain where he lives now.
Author of The House Near Fallowfield now available worldwide on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B2SQLJH
Follow on Instagram @jamesfillmorewriter
https://youtube.com/channel/UCfQ_-vR7...
https://mysteryreads.com/search/James...
Author of The House Near Fallowfield now available worldwide on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B2SQLJH
Follow on Instagram @jamesfillmorewriter
https://youtube.com/channel/UCfQ_-vR7...
https://mysteryreads.com/search/James...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 10, 2023
This books was so well written that I couldn't put it down and read it in 4 hours over two evenings.
Fillmore has a great style of writing and as I read, I visualized this book doing well as a play in the theatre.
It is about a young girl in her early twenties who is from the UK and went to the USA when she got married to an American. He dies and Frankie comes back to live in the house she grew up in England, as her parents have also died. Her father was a scientist and during the war he made a discovery of some discs. I don't want to say more as it'll afford spoilers on the review.
Suffice to say there is a lot of suspense and intrigue in this book as the story unfolds and we read how Frankie's life could be in danger. There is a lot of sleuth and coat and dagger stuff going on which adds to the mystery.
This is an easy book to follow, the plot is intricate but written so well with lots of dialogue that you can follow it really easily. Like I said before, it'd do well as a West End play in my opinion.
The characters are well described and very likeable, especially straight talking Frankie. There is a smidgen of a love story in this too, whether Fillmore has intended that or not, I'm not sure but it's always good to read a suspenseful-thriller that has a tiny hint of romance in it too.
This is definitely worth the read. It's an epic looking book, but don't be put off due to the formatting, it is large in size but you can comfortably read this book in about 3.5-4 hours.
Worth the read any day.
Fillmore has a great style of writing and as I read, I visualized this book doing well as a play in the theatre.
It is about a young girl in her early twenties who is from the UK and went to the USA when she got married to an American. He dies and Frankie comes back to live in the house she grew up in England, as her parents have also died. Her father was a scientist and during the war he made a discovery of some discs. I don't want to say more as it'll afford spoilers on the review.
Suffice to say there is a lot of suspense and intrigue in this book as the story unfolds and we read how Frankie's life could be in danger. There is a lot of sleuth and coat and dagger stuff going on which adds to the mystery.
This is an easy book to follow, the plot is intricate but written so well with lots of dialogue that you can follow it really easily. Like I said before, it'd do well as a West End play in my opinion.
The characters are well described and very likeable, especially straight talking Frankie. There is a smidgen of a love story in this too, whether Fillmore has intended that or not, I'm not sure but it's always good to read a suspenseful-thriller that has a tiny hint of romance in it too.
This is definitely worth the read. It's an epic looking book, but don't be put off due to the formatting, it is large in size but you can comfortably read this book in about 3.5-4 hours.
Worth the read any day.
November 21, 2021
What a complete surprise! I was expecting a cosy little mystery and instead was thrown into a world, Bond, James Bond, would feel perfectly at home.
We get taken on an adventure with Frankie who has returned to England from America in 1964, after the death of her husband & parents. Now living in her family home, she is suddenly thrust into the world of espionage and murder that takes her back to the secrets of the war (WWII) and a mystery that only she can unravel.
But who can Frankie really trust? And will she solve the mystery of the 3 discs?
This story is full of intrigue, danger, and plenty of excitement. With each turn of the page, you are connecting the dots trying to work out this puzzle alongside Frankie, and constantly left wondering about each person she encounters and their motive(s).
Fantastic book. And I highly recommend it.
We get taken on an adventure with Frankie who has returned to England from America in 1964, after the death of her husband & parents. Now living in her family home, she is suddenly thrust into the world of espionage and murder that takes her back to the secrets of the war (WWII) and a mystery that only she can unravel.
But who can Frankie really trust? And will she solve the mystery of the 3 discs?
This story is full of intrigue, danger, and plenty of excitement. With each turn of the page, you are connecting the dots trying to work out this puzzle alongside Frankie, and constantly left wondering about each person she encounters and their motive(s).
Fantastic book. And I highly recommend it.
October 14, 2021
Intrigued
A new author for me, and one I’ll be sure to keep an eye.
Intriguing storyline with twists and turns I didn’t expect or see coming.
Engaging characters and wonderful plot.
It’s a yes from me.
A new author for me, and one I’ll be sure to keep an eye.
Intriguing storyline with twists and turns I didn’t expect or see coming.
Engaging characters and wonderful plot.
It’s a yes from me.
July 18, 2022
I love the twists and turns
The house near Fallowfield took many twists and turns and I loved exploring them with Frankie and Albert. The ending had me chuckling as it unfolded. I cannot wait to see what else he does
The house near Fallowfield took many twists and turns and I loved exploring them with Frankie and Albert. The ending had me chuckling as it unfolded. I cannot wait to see what else he does
February 20, 2022
I'm having a hard time rating this book. Why? Because I wanted to love it. I hoped for something good, that's why I bought it. I like to support independent writers and James Fillmore has published this book through Amazon selfpublishing. And first of all, one thing that I would like to give as a tip to the writer is to work on the lay-out of the book. Use the margins that Amazon has given. Lower the spacing between the sentences and give the page some space. The letters were now from edge to edge on the paper, which makes very long lines to read, but also makes it that you have to nearly breakthe spine of the book in order to read it properly.
Anyway, that said, about the book itself. I did like the idea behind it, it was mysterious, at some point the word 'alien' was dropped, which got me all excited, knowing it wouldn't probably go into that direction. But it increased excitement.
But I have to admit I had a hard time getting into the book because of the characters. I just didn't connect with them. And that's mainly, I think, because of the lack of story telling. The entire book goes from dialogue into dialogue, often it's left out who says what, especially in the first part of the book, and after a while it just becomes a blur of quotes, missing some sort of interaction. Not even a he said, she replied, he frowned, she shrugged. On a rare occasion it happened, but not much.
This also happens to the scenery, or the lack of scenery. The amount of times you know what these people are drinking is extreme, there's tea everywhere. But where are they? What's going on? What's happening around them. Set a scene of something that is happening. But character after character is introduced, they all come across as the same and then, at page 225, suddenly it says. 'The care home where Uncle Willy lived was an Edwardian house, set in extensive grounds. Green lawns, gardens full of ferns, bushes and evergreens. lots of trees.' That's it. I was nearly expecting 'etc.' behind that.
It comes across as if the author doesn't like this kind of story telling.
But this is where a good story line is lacking, making it extremely flat. There is some action, but you have to wait until page 200 or so to have a first real action packed scene, but everything happening is 'wham, bam' over, on to the next, and then at page 212... we're drinking tea again.
The conversations have another disadvantage, and that is that things become repetative. We know Frankie has lost her husband for example, but at some point you can just say 'Frankie told her the story.', instead of having the reader go over the same dialogue again. Which at some point also is written too much in a dialect, btw. And has some mistakes in it. (Laddie became Lassie at some point, which made me wonder there was a dog involved. Oh and stick to things, don't use WC and later toilet). I think, this book could use a good professional editor, who would say kill your darlings, set some scenes, and have someone proofread who's fit for the job.
I am writing this, after I read the garden scene on page 225, and at this point, I'm struggling not to DNF it. I wanted to support the author really bad, having found him on TikTok and it just all sounded so good. I was thinking it would be 4 stars, but it went to 3.5, then to 3, and now I'm like, could it be 2? Maybe without a review at all, so I won't harm his career? But I know how hard it is to write something like this. So I want him to become better and stay motivated to write more. That's why I decided to write all this now while I haven't finished yet, so I would remember all of this and share it here. I'm now going to continue reading, hoping it will get better soon and finish this review when I'm done.
Finished:
The second part felt better than the first part, though rushed at some points. The writing was often less forced, the pace improved and so did the scene description, but it didn't improve enough for me. I did like it when the death of Winston Churchill was addressed. This actually helped getting the story in the right time frame, something that I have missed a little earlier on in the story. After all, it's set in the 60's, but it doesn't always read like that except for maybe the forced dialogues sometimes.
All in all, I would say; show the book a bit more love, because it deserves it. Less is more, but sometimes more is needed also. Same for punctuation marks as commas, use them where needed. Skip them when you don't need them. Also remove double spaces between words. Good editing helps a lot with these things. It's not a bad start as a writer, there is potential in the writing and the story itself actually could be very interesting once reviewed properly. And one last thing, and I write this with love for any author out there who is just starting out; Don't rate your own book 5 stars. Especially when it's your first. It gives the reader the impression that you think this is the best you can do, and when it doesn't live up to that expectation, it doesn't invite to try another book the next time. Just don't rate it at all, leave that up to the audience, which will help you grow.
Anyway, that said, about the book itself. I did like the idea behind it, it was mysterious, at some point the word 'alien' was dropped, which got me all excited, knowing it wouldn't probably go into that direction. But it increased excitement.
But I have to admit I had a hard time getting into the book because of the characters. I just didn't connect with them. And that's mainly, I think, because of the lack of story telling. The entire book goes from dialogue into dialogue, often it's left out who says what, especially in the first part of the book, and after a while it just becomes a blur of quotes, missing some sort of interaction. Not even a he said, she replied, he frowned, she shrugged. On a rare occasion it happened, but not much.
This also happens to the scenery, or the lack of scenery. The amount of times you know what these people are drinking is extreme, there's tea everywhere. But where are they? What's going on? What's happening around them. Set a scene of something that is happening. But character after character is introduced, they all come across as the same and then, at page 225, suddenly it says. 'The care home where Uncle Willy lived was an Edwardian house, set in extensive grounds. Green lawns, gardens full of ferns, bushes and evergreens. lots of trees.' That's it. I was nearly expecting 'etc.' behind that.
It comes across as if the author doesn't like this kind of story telling.
But this is where a good story line is lacking, making it extremely flat. There is some action, but you have to wait until page 200 or so to have a first real action packed scene, but everything happening is 'wham, bam' over, on to the next, and then at page 212... we're drinking tea again.
The conversations have another disadvantage, and that is that things become repetative. We know Frankie has lost her husband for example, but at some point you can just say 'Frankie told her the story.', instead of having the reader go over the same dialogue again. Which at some point also is written too much in a dialect, btw. And has some mistakes in it. (Laddie became Lassie at some point, which made me wonder there was a dog involved. Oh and stick to things, don't use WC and later toilet). I think, this book could use a good professional editor, who would say kill your darlings, set some scenes, and have someone proofread who's fit for the job.
I am writing this, after I read the garden scene on page 225, and at this point, I'm struggling not to DNF it. I wanted to support the author really bad, having found him on TikTok and it just all sounded so good. I was thinking it would be 4 stars, but it went to 3.5, then to 3, and now I'm like, could it be 2? Maybe without a review at all, so I won't harm his career? But I know how hard it is to write something like this. So I want him to become better and stay motivated to write more. That's why I decided to write all this now while I haven't finished yet, so I would remember all of this and share it here. I'm now going to continue reading, hoping it will get better soon and finish this review when I'm done.
Finished:
The second part felt better than the first part, though rushed at some points. The writing was often less forced, the pace improved and so did the scene description, but it didn't improve enough for me. I did like it when the death of Winston Churchill was addressed. This actually helped getting the story in the right time frame, something that I have missed a little earlier on in the story. After all, it's set in the 60's, but it doesn't always read like that except for maybe the forced dialogues sometimes.
All in all, I would say; show the book a bit more love, because it deserves it. Less is more, but sometimes more is needed also. Same for punctuation marks as commas, use them where needed. Skip them when you don't need them. Also remove double spaces between words. Good editing helps a lot with these things. It's not a bad start as a writer, there is potential in the writing and the story itself actually could be very interesting once reviewed properly. And one last thing, and I write this with love for any author out there who is just starting out; Don't rate your own book 5 stars. Especially when it's your first. It gives the reader the impression that you think this is the best you can do, and when it doesn't live up to that expectation, it doesn't invite to try another book the next time. Just don't rate it at all, leave that up to the audience, which will help you grow.
July 25, 2022
This was a very fun read! I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would and I'm super excited to see what more this author will bring us in the future!
November 6, 2021
This book had a lot of different players. I honestly had a hard time connecting with Frankie, one of the main characters but wanted more about Bernard. The spy and situations he arrived in really hooked me in.
August 1, 2022
This book had my on the edge of my sitting. Wondering what was going on with Frankie and why she could seem to remember her adventures in the the market or what was housed underneath her home. With the help of Albert, she slowly starts piecing together the mystery. Such a great read!
August 1, 2022
I loved the twists and turns in this story. I found it harder to read because the formatting is opposite to how all books are written but I stuck with it.
Good plot
Good plot
November 1, 2021
There is a bevy of interesting characters in this historical fiction-murder-mystery. Come have a cup of tea or beer. Sit and enjoy the dialogue. Have an engaging conversation or two with Autnie Flo, Albert,Margery, Bernard, Christopher and the list goes on. Travel and learn about the tragedies of war, loss, betrayal, and be ‘the fly on the proverbial wall’ as love and romance is also served! Visit Iowa, Canterbury, England, France, relive the cause and effect of a war! And if you’re hungry, join this lofty crew at Mancin’s Italian Restaurant. But why is it called, Fallowfield? No spoilers here. However, I bead difficulty with the formatting in the book (perhaps, this is just a kindle issue). Additionally, I would have preferred less dialogue (though much is revealed in this method), I would have liked to see the ambiance and places flushed out with greater detail. Quite honestly, while I liked the theme, I neede a playlist for all the ‘players.’ Still, for those who enjoy mystery and all that entails, this is the book for you! I would rate it a 3.5 ⭐️
February 6, 2023
North of England, 1964.
The sombre clouds of the postwar are now in the past. But the shadows remain. After the recent death of her father, Frankie, a young English widow living in the US, returns home and becomes entangled in a war mystery. Strange men follow her, watch her and Frankie starts fearing for her life.
Looking for the answers, she meets Albert, a mystery author who lives nearby and ventures to help her. When they get themselves caught in the middle of a dangerous international plot they find out Frankie's father was involved in a bizarre puzzle.
She is dragged in as the key to its solution.
"The House Near Fallowfield" is an exciting story of mystery, adventure, romance and betrayal set in the 1960s.
The sombre clouds of the postwar are now in the past. But the shadows remain. After the recent death of her father, Frankie, a young English widow living in the US, returns home and becomes entangled in a war mystery. Strange men follow her, watch her and Frankie starts fearing for her life.
Looking for the answers, she meets Albert, a mystery author who lives nearby and ventures to help her. When they get themselves caught in the middle of a dangerous international plot they find out Frankie's father was involved in a bizarre puzzle.
She is dragged in as the key to its solution.
"The House Near Fallowfield" is an exciting story of mystery, adventure, romance and betrayal set in the 1960s.
August 21, 2021
Epic! I highly recommend this brilliant novel. The House Near Fallowfield took me on an amazing journey with Frankie through the sixties, England and that cold war ambience… everything is so well described. Fillmore is a master at creating an eerie, suspenseful mood in this fast mystery thriller. Noir to the teeth!
February 4, 2023
I wanted to love this book. And I liked it, as there were many positive things about it.
Positive
1. The plot is unique, there's twists and turns that make sense but are also unexpected. I loved the tonal shift as well: the book starts off with a cozy feel, as if it was a story you would tell your children on a snowy day. However, the tone shifts to a Bond-esque type mood, and it is a seamless switch that the author handled well in his story.
2. In bringing in events such as Churchhill's death, there is an orienting point for where we are in history, which I personally think is crucial in historical fiction.
3. The dialogue between characters was realistic, and you could read it out loud without it sounding awkward or stilted.
4. Hearing the "Its an American thing"//"its a British thing" was hilarious to me as it is so realistic with little cultural ticks, idioms, and habits with multicultural friendships. I have often had those same conversations, so I was laughing everytime Frankie in Bernard exchanged their own version.
Less Positive
1. Formating. Use Amazon's software, and scan through how it looks, because the weird spacing and formatting were distracting, even if it wasn't the author's fault necessarily (technology sucks).
2. This book suffers from "white room syndrome." There was very little description of scenery or of character actions. It is difficult to orient yourself in a story where you aren't quite sure what the setting is. I wanted to visualize the scenes I was reading, and it was difficult to do so without descriptions from the author. However, that is not to say the writing is bad. I also think Hemingway suffers from white room syndrome, and while that means I am not a fan of Hemingway's writing personally, nobody would say Hemingway is a bad writer. The same is true for Fillmore; he has talent, but if you need description as a reader, you may struggle with this book.
Positive
1. The plot is unique, there's twists and turns that make sense but are also unexpected. I loved the tonal shift as well: the book starts off with a cozy feel, as if it was a story you would tell your children on a snowy day. However, the tone shifts to a Bond-esque type mood, and it is a seamless switch that the author handled well in his story.
2. In bringing in events such as Churchhill's death, there is an orienting point for where we are in history, which I personally think is crucial in historical fiction.
3. The dialogue between characters was realistic, and you could read it out loud without it sounding awkward or stilted.
4. Hearing the "Its an American thing"//"its a British thing" was hilarious to me as it is so realistic with little cultural ticks, idioms, and habits with multicultural friendships. I have often had those same conversations, so I was laughing everytime Frankie in Bernard exchanged their own version.
Less Positive
1. Formating. Use Amazon's software, and scan through how it looks, because the weird spacing and formatting were distracting, even if it wasn't the author's fault necessarily (technology sucks).
2. This book suffers from "white room syndrome." There was very little description of scenery or of character actions. It is difficult to orient yourself in a story where you aren't quite sure what the setting is. I wanted to visualize the scenes I was reading, and it was difficult to do so without descriptions from the author. However, that is not to say the writing is bad. I also think Hemingway suffers from white room syndrome, and while that means I am not a fan of Hemingway's writing personally, nobody would say Hemingway is a bad writer. The same is true for Fillmore; he has talent, but if you need description as a reader, you may struggle with this book.
June 10, 2023
I don’t read many mystery books but The House Near Fallowfield was an intriguing story.
Set in the 1960s, young English widow Frankie returns to England following the death of her American husband to look after the affairs of her recently deceased parents.
Almost immediately, usual incidents begin happening with strangers seemingly following her and someone breaking into her house. Forming a partnership with her mystery author neighbour Albert, the duo embark on a investigation dating back to lost Nazi-era secret weaponry.
I didn’t know what to expect with this story and really enjoyed the character interactions. The background was interesting, especially delving into the mysteries of the Nazi super weapon.
I look forward to checking out more from this author.
Set in the 1960s, young English widow Frankie returns to England following the death of her American husband to look after the affairs of her recently deceased parents.
Almost immediately, usual incidents begin happening with strangers seemingly following her and someone breaking into her house. Forming a partnership with her mystery author neighbour Albert, the duo embark on a investigation dating back to lost Nazi-era secret weaponry.
I didn’t know what to expect with this story and really enjoyed the character interactions. The background was interesting, especially delving into the mysteries of the Nazi super weapon.
I look forward to checking out more from this author.
March 29, 2025
I did enjoy this book a lot, although I found it a tad hard to follow.
The writing style is quite different in the way it changes scenes abruptly without having a new chapter. I ended up quite liking that about it though, but took a while to settle into.
The mystery aspect of this was very good, and I didn’t see the plot twists coming at all.
A few irregularities also made it hard to keep up, with one character had his first name changed a couple of times.
I really liked the characters, they were very loveable and you find yourself really rooting for them!
I would have liked to get a description of what they looked like as well as the settings a bit more to really help the scene building in my head.
A nice lighthearted read, mysterious and cosy, and not too heavy. I would recommend it if you are looking for something fresh and interesting!
The writing style is quite different in the way it changes scenes abruptly without having a new chapter. I ended up quite liking that about it though, but took a while to settle into.
The mystery aspect of this was very good, and I didn’t see the plot twists coming at all.
A few irregularities also made it hard to keep up, with one character had his first name changed a couple of times.
I really liked the characters, they were very loveable and you find yourself really rooting for them!
I would have liked to get a description of what they looked like as well as the settings a bit more to really help the scene building in my head.
A nice lighthearted read, mysterious and cosy, and not too heavy. I would recommend it if you are looking for something fresh and interesting!
July 5, 2023
An absorbing book. A little confusing in places, but of course that's to be expected with several different organizations competing, like British Intelligence, organized crime, several foreign entities - it's hard to figure out who is working for whom! There were some inaccuracies that bugged me (Freiburg is NOT in Bavaria!) but maybe that's just me. The main characters were engaging and I thought the romance was perfectly understated in a very British way. All in all, a good read and a memorable book.
August 19, 2024
As a Brit in the US , James brings the taste of England to your eyes. Great characters and scenes remind me of home.. a follow up to the book is a must..
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews