Ye Olde Antique Shoppe

Ye Olde Antique Shoppe - The Ripper Rings

This is the third in the series of the timeslip adventure, Ye Olde Antique Shoppe. This time our housemates go to Victorian London to investigate the disappearance of Rachel's great great grandmother, Isabella.

Peter, meanwhile, wants to know how the three rings stolen from Annie Chapman, a victim of Jack the Ripper, found their way into the shop. Is it possible that after years of speculation and investigation, he might discover the real identity of the famous serial killer?

There is only one way to find out.





DON'T MISS BOOKS 1 AND 2

Book One - The Edward V Coin

When Rachel inherits her aunt's estate, she doesn't expect to also inherit an antique shop that hasn't been opened for sixty years. Taking her friend, Peter, with her, they are very excited to find a back room full of valuable items from the past.

But when they try to take one of those items outside, they find themselves in the past the item came from.

The temptation to see the little princes in the Tower is too much for historian Peter to resist.







Book Two - The Anne Boleyn Necklace

Going through her aunt's journal, Rachel discovers she has a cousin who is trapped in the sixteenth century. She feels compelled to go back and rescue her, bring her to the century in which she was born. Rachel is sure her cousin, Caroline, will be grateful for the life available to her as a woman in the twenty first century.

They find Caroline living as a ward to King Henry VIII with a marriage arranged by him, soon to take place. She is willing to go with them, so they bring her back, together with the unexpected gift an admirer has given to Rachel.

Anne Boleyn's First Love

FOR THE LOVE OF ANNE

Anne Boleyn has been maligned throughout history as a schemer, a gold digger, too ambitious for her own good, yet few people believe she was really guilty of the ridiculous charges laid against her.

This is a total contradiction. I know I am not alone in believing her a victim of the King's lust and this book is her story as I see it.

It is about her early love for Lord Henry Percy and how their lives were controlled by that King.

And how different those lives would have been had the young lovers been allowed to marry and build a future together.

I hope you enjoy it.

Wow! Two Books Nominated for the E-Festival of Words Award!

eFestival of Words List of Nominees 2017

I couldn't believe it when a fellow author emailed me with congratulations. I have been nominated for two awards.

Best Historical

Once Loved

This is Book Three of the Pestilence Trilogy, three books set amid the devastation of the Black Death, which spread throughout England in 1348. The disease is now known to be the Bubonic Plague and this was its first appearance in England.

Many scientists argue about whether it was actually the same disease that devastated London 300 years later in 1665, but it has always been accepted that it was the same. 

It came here, to England, on trade ships carrying black rats and their fleas, which spread the disease. This third book tells of how people's lives were changed by the devastation the plague left in its wake. It had the effect of changing the entire structure of society.

Pestilence Boxed Set

Best Romance

The Minstrel's Lady

The Minstrel's Lady tells of a minstrel and his lady, Rose, who sings with him. They go to London on the invitation of their friend, Mark Smeaton, who has told Queen Anne Boleyn all about them and she wants to hear them play and sing.

But things don't go to plan when they arrive to witness the downfall of Mark and subsequently the Queen. They decide they would be safer at home, but first they remain to play and sing in the park on May Day.

Because of the impending executions, the crowds pouring into London cause the coach on which they are travelling to divert to a weaker bridge over the river Thames. The storm causes the bridge to collapse and Rose awakes in a tavern with no memory of who she is, not even her name.

When a nobleman appears and claims her as his bride, she has no way of knowing if she is who he thinks she is. She goes with him, falls in love with him, but is haunted by dreams of a young minstrel and a village just outside London.

Will she ever learn the truth? And if she does, will she lose the love of her life?

The final selections will be made in July when I shall be calling for votes, so keep your fingers crossed for me, please.

New Novel out now

THE MINSTREL'S LADY

I thought to write a novel around Anne Boleyn, who I have long regarded as one of the most unfortunate and betrayed women in English history.

From what we know, she did not want to marry the King. She was in love with Harry Percy and wanted to wed him; all they need was the permission of the King. But once that King saw Anne, he was not going to let her have a normal, happy life with the man she loved. He wanted her for himself and what Henry VIII wanted, Henry VIII got.

He was no doubt besotted. He turned the country upside down an divorced his faithful wife of 20 years, declared his daughter a bastard and defied the Pope, earning him an excommunication. All this for the love of his life, yet only a few short years later, he not only lost interest in her, he was happy to have her executed.

It is said that he spent the night before her execution pawing over plans and diagrams for the scaffold where she was to lose her life. By this time, it is rumoured, she was also in love with him.

Of course, we none of us really know the truth and it is popular to believe that she was guilty of all charges, although we do know she could not have committed adultery with Mark Smeaton on the dates and at the times he stated, as she was elsewhere at those times. That didn't stop Cromwell from stating his word as fact. The poor man was terrified and was promised his life if he confessed.

So, since I never use real historical figures as major characters in my books, I decided to write about friends of the unfortunate Mark Smeaton, a fellow minstrel and his lady, called to London by Mark to perform for the Queen. 

This is their story and you can read more and the first chapter on my website here.