Hello - I hope you've been keeping well and haven't been affected by any of the extreme weather events happening around the world lately!

I myself have been busy doing some travel in the last couple of months... including a holiday in Copenhagen! I really enjoyed my first visit to the Danish capital, particularly as I'm HUGE fan of the TV Scandi crime series Forbrydelsen ("The Killing") featuring Copenhagen detective Sarah Lund – have you seen it? It’s quite dark, but it’s a fantastic story with a twisty plot full of suspense and interesting, well-developed characters (if you do want to check it out, make sure you watch the original Danish version with subtitles, rather than the American remake!). 

As you can see, I really got into the spirit of the “City of Bicycles” – which was a good thing, considering how many Danish pastries I ate while I was there! 😝

Copenhagen is famous for its cutting-edge modern design but it was the beautiful architecture of the historical buildings in the Old Town that was the real draw for me. 

And since you're all book lovers, I just had to show you this: one of the most beautiful libraries I'd ever visited - the Queen's Library in Christianborg Palace. I especially love the lift in the corner, taking you to the upper balcony. The whole thing looks like something out of a fairytale, doesn’t it?

And of course, no visit to Copenhagen would be complete without seeing the famous statue of “Den lille Havfrue” – The Little Mermaid! It’s one of my favourite stories by Hans Christian Andersen (the original darker version, not the Disney one!). I got up super early to cycle out to see her on the harbourfront, before the tourist hordes arrived – and it was well worth it! 

Well... I'm back home now and hard at work on the next book, which is Book 8 (the final volume) in my Bewitched by Chocolate series. 

I'm finally making some progress on untangling the plot (I've re-plotted it 7 times already so far! Aaaargghh!) and I'm hoping to have it completed and ready for release in October... fingers crossed!

(Here is Muesli and me wearing our serious "working faces"! 😉)

I'm also still pondering the title, which needs to be a pun that incorporates a "magic" word and a "chocolate" word in a well-known phrase or idiom (not just an alliteration)... Ideally, it should also match the tone and style of past titles in the series, such as: 

• Double, Double, Toil and Truffle - a play on the famous Macbeth quote
• Blood, Sweets and Tears - a play on the phrase: "blood, sweat and tears"
• Bonbons and Broomsticks - a play on the movie title: "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"
• Salted Caramel Sorcery - a play on the phrase: salted caramel sauce

I've come up with a few options but am not 100% certain about them so I'm still brainstorming! 😉

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Thank you to those who sent me lovely messages about the recent Cozy Mystery Workshop that I was invited to give at a local library. I'm sorry Western Australia is so far from the rest of the world and that you couldn't come! I would have loved to have met some of you face-to-face. 

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New German release!

Meanwhile, for all my German-speaking readers, I'm delighted to announce that the 4th book in the English Cottage Garden Mysteries has been translated and is now available! You can pick it up here: 

Kindle / Taschenbuch: 

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BNGB2CJR

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And for French-speaking readers...

The French edition of Book 8 in my Oxford Tearoom Mysteries is almost here! "Advienne que mourra" takes our favourite tearoom sleuth to Vienna, where she finds murder and intrigue amongst the sachertorte and strudel… and the Old Biddies find clues in the sauna! It will be released in early Sep but you can pre-order the ebook here: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0C4XPZ3TX
 

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Until next time, I'll leave you with a couple of pictures... We’re still in winter here in Perrth and during a particularly chilly day recently, I turned from my desk to find that Muesli had cleverly wriggled into a fold in the blanket, to create her very own “cat sleeping bag”! 😄

And lastly, a picture of me doing book research on holiday... honest! 😉

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