“My inspiration tends to come from two words. The two most important words to a writer: What if?”
Welcome
I write mystery novels and short fiction, including the Meredith Island Mysteries.
A question people often ask people who write is How did you know you are a writer? For me, it was as soon as I could pick up a pencil. This is the way I naturally interact with the world: through story and images, symbols and themes, and more often than not, irony. Ursula Le Guin said it best: “But when people say, Did you always want to be a writer?, I have to say no! I always was a writer.”
England is my home by birth, Canada is where I was brought up, and Wales is my spiritual home. I am a lover of singing, history, archaeology, and all things Welsh.
If you’d like to keep in touch with the latest news about my novels, short stories, and appearances, please sign up for my Newsletter.
Latest News
Coming June 1st 2024: Secrets in the Water
the first book in the Meredith Island Mysteries
“If you like a well wrought complex plot with lots of twists and turns; a lovely Welsh setting; attractive and believable characters; an interesting psychological depth, this is the book for you.” — MAUREEN JENNINGS, author of the Murdoch Mysteries and The Paradise Cafe Mysteries
Kate Galway has returned to Meredith Island off the Welsh coast to attend her grandmother’s funeral. At the wake, she’s confronted with the islanders’ suspicion that her Aunt Emma didn’t commit suicide over fifty years ago but was murdered. When she learns that her grandmother’s dying wish was for Kate to uncover the truth, she takes on the daunting task of tracking down her aunt’s killer. Along the way, she must confront not only her family’s dark secrets, but her conflicted feelings about the place which was once her home.
Come help me celebrate the release of Secrets in the Water in June, 2024. Launches are scheduled for Edmonton, Calgary, and Toronto. Details on the Events page.
On Saturday, June 15, I will be participating on a panel at the 2024 Bony Blithe Mini-Con in Toronto.
On Sunday, June 9th, I'll be chatting to readers and signing books in the Crime Writers of Canada Author Tent at the MOTIVE Mystery & Crime Festival. Please come by if you'd like to learn more about the wonderful folks who live on Meredith Island and to pick up a copy of Secrets in the Water.
If you're eager for more adventures of Kate, Siobhan, and the other islanders, I’ve just signed the contract for A Dark Death, the second book in the Meredith Island Mystery series, to be released in June, 2025.
The Beginning
At the age of thirteen, I wrote my first novel about ballet, my obsession at the time.
But I was always drawn to the Agatha Christie traditional mysteries I’d read growing up. The traditional mystery explores the disturbing idea that seemingly ordinary people in idyllic locations are capable of taking the life of another human being.
Given the right circumstances, the retired schoolteacher you pass every morning walking his dog or the young woman who serves tea and cake in your local cafe has the potential to commit murder.