Newsletter 190
Jan. 5th, 2018 07:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charlie_cochraneA happy new year to one and all! (I checked with someone today and they reckoned you can wish people all the best for the year ahead right up until March. I won’t test that out, though.) I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are fit and raring to go for 2018
News
Monday sees the release of the third Lindenshaw mysteries book, “Two Feet Under”. The strap line, “Which is worse, the clever killer or the house guest who won’t leave?” pretty much sums it up. There’s an extensive blog tour next week and I’ll be giving away a goodie bag (to be sent to any part of the known universe, even Port Talbot!) to one commenter. The more comments people leave the more chance of winning.
Lessons in Temptation is the latest of the Cambridge Fellows re-released by Endeavour. Another smashing new cover – and it’s such a thrill to have the books back on sale after spending a lot of time handling enquiries about them throughout 2017.
My blog was full of free stories and ficlets all through December. The main seasonal story was Got Mittens, which you can download from here. If you’re all Christmassed out you can download some of the stories for when you feel in the mood again.
Today's excerpt is from Two Feet Under:
Adam had just put the house phone down as Robin trudged through the front door. Campbell must have heard the approach of his “other” master well before Adam did, as he was ready and waiting to pounce.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be home so early,” Adam said, then gave his partner a kiss.
“Sorry about that. You’d better tell your sugar daddy to skedaddle.” Robin, dog in tow, edged towards the kitchen. “Was that him on the phone?”
“No. The usual ‘We’re from Microsoft and there’s something wrong with your computer.’ I always say, ‘Microsoft? That’s very interesting,’ then clam up. They panic and put the phone down.”
“Good tactic.” Robin yawned. “I told the team to make the most of this evening. Once we have an identification of the dead woman, it’ll be all hands to the deck.”
“Dinner won’t be long. Saturday’s chilli con carne from the freezer.”
“Sounds like heaven.” Robin kicked off his shoes. He’d texted earlier, from the site, to warn Adam a new investigation was afoot, although Adam had already guessed that was the case, as the incident had been on the local news feed. Once the folks from Culford villa had cancelled the school trip which was due the next day, and the characteristic blue-and-white police tape had appeared, word had spread.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not a lot to say at present.” Robin stroked Campbell’s ears.
“What’s that on your sleeve?”
“Where?” Robin twisted about.
“Left elbow. Looks like oil. Or rust. Or both.”
“That’s because it is oil. Sod.”
“Take it off and I’ll put something on it. There’s a can of Stain Devil under the sink.”
Robin slid the jacket off, grimacing at the smear on what he’d always described as one of his favourite items of clothing. “This cost me a small fortune. Got it in a little shop down an alley in Bath.”
“No wonder it cost so much.” Adam started work on the stain. Little domestic tasks such as this formed part of the process of bringing them closer and keeping them together. It was like being a married couple, only not quite.
And finally, a little bit of Christmas from Cochrane Central
Charlie
News
Monday sees the release of the third Lindenshaw mysteries book, “Two Feet Under”. The strap line, “Which is worse, the clever killer or the house guest who won’t leave?” pretty much sums it up. There’s an extensive blog tour next week and I’ll be giving away a goodie bag (to be sent to any part of the known universe, even Port Talbot!) to one commenter. The more comments people leave the more chance of winning.
Lessons in Temptation is the latest of the Cambridge Fellows re-released by Endeavour. Another smashing new cover – and it’s such a thrill to have the books back on sale after spending a lot of time handling enquiries about them throughout 2017.
My blog was full of free stories and ficlets all through December. The main seasonal story was Got Mittens, which you can download from here. If you’re all Christmassed out you can download some of the stories for when you feel in the mood again.
Today's excerpt is from Two Feet Under:
Adam had just put the house phone down as Robin trudged through the front door. Campbell must have heard the approach of his “other” master well before Adam did, as he was ready and waiting to pounce.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be home so early,” Adam said, then gave his partner a kiss.
“Sorry about that. You’d better tell your sugar daddy to skedaddle.” Robin, dog in tow, edged towards the kitchen. “Was that him on the phone?”
“No. The usual ‘We’re from Microsoft and there’s something wrong with your computer.’ I always say, ‘Microsoft? That’s very interesting,’ then clam up. They panic and put the phone down.”
“Good tactic.” Robin yawned. “I told the team to make the most of this evening. Once we have an identification of the dead woman, it’ll be all hands to the deck.”
“Dinner won’t be long. Saturday’s chilli con carne from the freezer.”
“Sounds like heaven.” Robin kicked off his shoes. He’d texted earlier, from the site, to warn Adam a new investigation was afoot, although Adam had already guessed that was the case, as the incident had been on the local news feed. Once the folks from Culford villa had cancelled the school trip which was due the next day, and the characteristic blue-and-white police tape had appeared, word had spread.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not a lot to say at present.” Robin stroked Campbell’s ears.
“What’s that on your sleeve?”
“Where?” Robin twisted about.
“Left elbow. Looks like oil. Or rust. Or both.”
“That’s because it is oil. Sod.”
“Take it off and I’ll put something on it. There’s a can of Stain Devil under the sink.”
Robin slid the jacket off, grimacing at the smear on what he’d always described as one of his favourite items of clothing. “This cost me a small fortune. Got it in a little shop down an alley in Bath.”
“No wonder it cost so much.” Adam started work on the stain. Little domestic tasks such as this formed part of the process of bringing them closer and keeping them together. It was like being a married couple, only not quite.
And finally, a little bit of Christmas from Cochrane Central
Charlie
