Monday, July 20, 2026

Blog Tour: The Purebeck Mysteries by Gillian Calvin Thomas

 


The Dorset coast holds its secrets tight—

and the dead won’t stay quiet.


Vex Not Her Ghost

The Purebeck Mysteries Book 1

by Gill Calvin Thomas

Genre: Paranormal Mystery


A quirky detective tackles a haunting family mystery.

 

Caitlin was four years old when her mother died in mysterious circumstances. Thirty years later she comes into possession of her family home in Dorset. As she slowly recovers memories of her past, she becomes convinced that her mother’s ghost is warning her of impending disaster.

Aided by Charlie Bond, a private investigator, an enthralling story of deceit and deception unfolds as Caitlin and her friends expose the ultimate truth.

 

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Sister Olive Wouldn't Hurt a Fly 

The Purebeck Mysteries Book 2


Fleeing to Dorset traps a mother and son between a cult and a killer waiting in the shadows…

 

If this whole saga was a fight between good and evil, then who had won? As far as Miriam could work out, neither good nor evil had triumphed yet. Now she was having to confront the grim consequences of Will’s behaviour, and she was mortally afraid. Maybe he and his darkness would win after all.

The tragic suicide of a young student starts a shocking chain of events for William Marshall, his wife Miriam and their son, Ollie. As Will descends into madness, a ghostly presence appears in their old house to protect Ollie. However, when two strangers threaten Miriam and an attempt is made to snatch Ollie, mother and son are forced to flee.

Amidst ever-present danger, they shake off pursuers to seek sanctuary in Rock House in Dorset, where they meet Caitlin and her friends. Twenty years have passed since Charlie Bond helped Caitlin solve the mystery of her mother’s death. Now, it is the turn of Charlie’s sidekick, Sam Haskell, to investigate a mysterious cult and unmask a killer.

 

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Gill Calvin Thomas is a retired academic who lives with her husband in Swanage , UK.  She finds inspiration in the landscape around her – the Isle of Purbeck has a spectacular coastline and beautiful beaches, and it is whilst walking here, that Gill develops characters and plots the twists and turns you will find in her books.

 Gill’s life experiences have informed her writing.  For example, her mother’s death when she was a small child, influenced her first book, Vex Not Her Ghost, where the heroine has to delve into the past to uncover the real circumstances of her mother’s death, the cover up and the ongoing corruption.  Her experiences as a social work academic governs the plot of her second book, Sister Olive Wouldn’t Hurt a Fly.  In this book the fatal combination of a researcher's mental collapse and a sociopathic opportunist give rise to a cliffhanging finale.

 Reviewers have said that Gill writes the sort of books in which you find yourself racing to the end, whilst not wanting to finish.  Her characters are compelling, well-drawn and sensitively portrayed.  In her books bad people get what they deserve, but it is never quite what it seems.

 She is currently writing her third book. 

 

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Sunday, July 19, 2026

Review: THE LEMONADE WAR by Jacqueline Davies

 


A brother that can’t stand being in the same house let alone the same grade as his little sister. He won’t even let her be part of his lemonade stand. We’ll, she’ll show him. And that begins the Lemonade War.

 

Good illustrations! The sister is very smart and great with numbers. I liked how the kids were incorporating basic business principles. Adding free pretzels or peanuts was a good idea and it would make customers extra thirsty to buy more. The competition was fierce and the mudslinging was on! Time for these little entrepreneurs to do some math. Good way to teach kids about money and business. Best part was that not even a business war can get in the way of siblings. A good read!

 

Rating: 4 stars

Review: DROP DEAD GORGEOUS by R.L. Stine

 


We get a rather slow start as we begin with a gorgeous mystery girl. Reading this was kind of weird because we had the diary narrative of the gorgeous girl, who claimed to be dead. I was so confused on the timeline. Was the girl already dead when she met the gang? Was she a walking zombie or something? This book sounded interesting for a high school/adult novel, but I was sorely disappointed by it.

 

Rating: 2 stars

Review: THE SCHOOL TRIP by Miranda Smith

 


It all started with a school field trip that parent-teacher Emma was taking part in with her daughter. Boy, this was a long trip here. Not much was happening that I could see. We don’t get the missing kid until chapter 8. That was too long of a wait for it to happen. The rest of the read (from what I got until I stopped) was pretty uneventful and boring. I’m disappointed in the author for this book. Don’t waste your time.

 

Rating: 1 star

Friday, July 17, 2026

Cover Reveal: DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY by Tammie Painter

 


Death needed a vacation.

What he got was a murder, a demon, and a 73-year-old detective with no time to kill.


Death Takes a Holiday

The Mortimer & Mrs Morris Trilogy Book 1

by Tammie Painter

Genre: Humorous Dark Paranormal Mystery 




Death is bored. Immortality will do that to you.


** A hilarious new series from the author of The Cassie Black Trilogy! **

After an eternity of escorting souls to the afterlife, Death — who really prefers you call him Mortimer — is bored. There's been departmental divisions, technical developments, and fitness crazes that mean people just aren't dying like they used to.

What's worse… He's running low on romance novels to keep himself occupied.

His solution: a working holiday to Top World, where he expects room service, infinity-high thread counts, and an easy solution to get business booming again.

What he doesn't expect is Mrs Morris, a seventy-three-year-old detective with a tightly packed schedule that leaves no room for an immortal assistant.

But Mortimer refuses to go away. After all, detectives find murderers, and having his very own killer would be the perfect way to nudge up those mortality rates.

Luckily, someone's just been murdered — and Mrs Morris has been hired to find the culprit. The only trouble? The victim reeks of demons, turning Mortimer's perfect opportunity into a great deal of trouble that could end his career. Oh, and the human race.

Death Takes a Holiday is a humorous fantasy novel about the most inconvenient partnership in the history of the afterlife, where a pair of unlikely allies are thrown together by broken bones, murder mysteries, pesky demons, and the deadliest cup of coffee in Portland.

Like Terry Pratchett joining the Thursday Murder Club, Death Takes a Holiday is perfect for fans of wry humor, paranormal mystery, and unforgettable characters forming reluctant bonds.

 

**Releases August 18, 2026 – PreOrder Now!**

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Author of humorous fantasy whodunits full of mythical misfits and magical mishaps

Many moons ago I was a scientist in a neuroscience lab where I got to play with brains and illegal drugs. Now, I take wickedly strong tea and turn it into comic fantasy whodunits full of mythical misfits and magical mishaps that I hope give you a giggle. 
My tales run the gamut from the ever-expanding Cassie Black Trilogy with its wryly humorous paranormal mysteries to the comical fantasy whodunits in The Circus of Unusual Creatures, and from light-hearted novellas celebrating my love of books to short fiction in which I really flex my myth-loving and humor-craving muscles!

When I’m not creating worlds or killing off characters, I can be found gardening, planning my next travel adventure, concocting some sort of mess in the kitchen, or working as an unpaid servant to one very spoiled cat and some very demanding squirrels.

 

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