Category: Historical Fiction

New Release!

15/11/2022

Published: 'Dancing With Dusty Fossils'

And she's launched!
My 10th book - Dancing With Dusty Fossils - is now available to buy on Amazon!
If my American readers have any spare time over the Thanksgiving Holiday, I'd cheekily like to suggest that this is the perfect read! Either way, I hope all of you have a lovely time with your family and friends during Thanksgiving.
I loved writing and researching for this novel and I honestly think it is one of the best mysteries I have ever written. The research itself threw up some surprising discoveries (I'll tell you more about that in later newsletters) and the writing process was a dream.
After ten books, I've now decided I'd make a good circus juggler if I ever wanted to change career. There are three mysteries at the heart of Dusty Fossils and In the past I've tied myself in knots juggling multiple storylines. It's getting easier now.
But as ever, my reader, YOU are the most important judge of a book's success...it's over to you now.
And if you do like Dusty Fossils, please remember to leave me a review on Amazon.

Blurb:
York, England: June 1940
While Jemma continues to search for her missing husband, the citizens of historic York are shocked by a series of vicious crimes at the city’s two museums.
A bungled break-in at the Yorkshire Museum is quickly followed by the brutal murder of Lance Richards, a sub-curator at the neighbouring Castle Museum.
The main suspect is Anthony Gill, a quiet and unprepossessing clerk. But Gill doesn’t have an alibi and is uncooperative with the police. His desperate lawyer hires Jemma and Bobbie from Smoke & Cracked Mirrors to prove his innocence.
Meanwhile, the two women are led a merry dance by Jodie, a famous and spirited actress, whose aristocrat husband wants evidence for a divorce.
As the nation waits nervously to hear the fate of their sons and brothers trapped at Dunkirk, a twisting series of events whisk Jemma and Bobbie through the glamourous world of the starlet, down corridors of dusty fossils and into terrifying danger.
Vengeful passions and a dark crime lie beneath the civilised veneer of those elders who preserve our history.
But if Anthony Gill didn’t murder Lance Richards, who did – and why?

'Smoke & Cracked Mirrors' Audiobook

17/10/2022

UPDATE: Audiobook News

'SMOKE & CRACKED MIRRORS' AUDIOBOOK
Huzzah! There's finally some news about the audiobook of 'Smoke & Cracked Mirrors'.
It should be published on the 27th DECEMBER 2022.
The lovely Corrie James has been chosen as narrator for the series. I'm delighted; she speaks beautifully - and can do a Yorkshire accent too!
With two female lead characters in my York Ladies' Detective Agency Mysteries, it was important to me that I had a female narrator for this series and the fact that her surname is the same as Jemma's is purely coincidental!

250,000 sales for 'Heiress'!

20/8/2022

'The Heiress of Linn Hagh' Sells a Quarter of a Million!

I've recently received the good news from my publishers that The Heiress of Linn Hagh has now sold a quarter of a million copies worldwide!
I'm absolutely delighted and doing my happy dance around the kitchen!

Policing York in WW2

21/6/2022

Policing York in WW2

Whilst researching for my latest novel, Smoke & Cracked Mirrors, which is set in wartime York, I came across loads of material about the city’s beleaguered police force. I say ‘beleaguered’ because like most forces across the country, York City Police lost a third of their officers to the armed forces once war was declared. Nationally, reported crime rose by 57% between 1939 – 1945 – and York saw its fair share of that. Retired officers were called back to duty to bolster the ranks of the elderly officers who remained. But unlike in other areas of the country, York’s police force refused to allow women officers across the threshold of their Victorian police station on Clifford Street to fill the gap.

But what was behind this huge jump in crime on the home front? Especially in such a quiet, beautiful city, with its soaring 12th century Minster and quaint cobbled streets encircled by medieval walls. Unfortunately, the war brought with it a raft of new restrictions and regulations which many people chose to break or circumvent. Rationing of various staples of life offered huge opportunities to fraudsters, forgers and thieves and created a vibrant black market. Meanwhile the blackout allowed all sorts of criminal activities to flourish in the dark and chaos.

By early 1940, York Magistrate’s Court was over-run with cases of blackout infringement. On several occasions the police had to disperse angry crowds who’d gathered in the dusk outside shops where the proprietors had left a light blazing. If the offending shop owners couldn’t be traced quickly, the elderly officers had to clamber over back fences and break into the buildings to shut down the light. In addition to this, fatal car accidents doubled in the city once the blackout was enforced, and thousands of people were forced to move about in darkness close to moving vehicles.

Another factor involved in the rapid rise in crime was the arrival of thousands of service personnel to Strensall Barracks and the four airbases that circled the city on the flat land of the Vale of York. Drunkenness, brawling and alcohol-induced accidents dramatically increased. The police had to drag bodies out of the River Ouse and one poor soldier even managed to kill himself by toppling from the top floor window of a hotel onto the cobbled paving of the street below. The indignant locals watched with horror as drunken brawls broke out in the hallowed precincts of the mighty York Minster and the tiny Minster Police Force (yes, York Minster has had its own police force since 1285) had a tough time stopping the vandalism.

Drunkeness amongst the young women of city also rose at an alarming rate as they flocked to the side of the soldiers and airmen in the dancehalls and the bars. Particularly popular with the girls were the Canadian air force men, who were paid four times as much as our British boys and were very generous with their cash. Alarmed at the number of intoxicated young women being hauled off to the police cells, the female leader of York’s Watch Committee asked the police to reconsider their earlier decision and start appointing female officers whom she felt should deal with the drunken girls. The request was promptly denied, and the ensuing argument spilled over into the pages of the Yorkshire Post.

It is surprising, perhaps, that alcohol managed to cause so many problems for the police because after some confusion at the start of the war, when initially all entertainment venues were shut down – and then reopened – pub opening times were severely restricted. However, this brought a new set of problems from the belligerent Yorkshiremen of the city who were unhappy at the early closing times. Police officers were often called to the pubs to remove old soldiers, who couldn’t understand why, after fighting for years against the Hun in WW1, they couldn’t finish their pint in peace because of another bloody German called Hitler.

The strong anti-German feeling prevalent at the time also caused the police headaches. Hundreds of German and Austrian Jewish refugees had been evacuated to the area and they, and many foreign business owners were subject to intimidation and attack. Even Chief Constable Herman didn’t escape suspicion. Despite his own exemplary WW1 service to his country, whispers began to circulate about his loyalty because of his surname. This led to hate-mail and direct calls for the resignation of Herman-the-German. He was robustly supported by the indignant Yorkshire Post.

But the biggest single problem facing the police according to Chief Constable Herman, was the constant theft of cars and bicycles by off-duty servicemen. All the airbases provided buses for the men to return after a night out, but if they missed the last bus, many just helped themselves to the nearest vehicle.

The police spent far too much time and money recovering stolen cars and bicycles. R.A.F. Elvington, where two thousand men were stationed, was a particular problem. Every morning there’d be dozens of abandoned bicycles dumped in the ditch by the main gate. The weary police came in a van every day to retrieve them before attempting to return them to their owners. In fact, they were probably grateful when four German seamen escaped from the prisoner-of-war camp on York Racecourse, and they had to do some proper detective work for a change and track them down. (Which they did).

Despite the fact, that York was well-prepared for air raids with shelters and ARP volunteers and there were over eight hundred air raid warnings, no one really expected the city to be hit hard. York was internationally famous for its chocolate manufacture. Kit Kats and cocoa were hardly a threat to the Germans.

Yes, they’d converted part of the Rowntrees’ factory to make fuses for land mines and Terry’s chocolate factory was secretly manufacturing propellor blades for submarines, but most of the authorities expected the biggest attacks to be centred on the Hull Docks, thirty-eight miles away. York police were involved in several night-time practice manoeuvres, along with the ambulance service and others, which focussed on the dreadful potential scenario of escorting thousands of injured and traumatised refugees from Hull to the safety of the North Riding.

So secure were they in the notion that York wasn’t of much interest to the enemy, the children of York weren’t evacuated, and the city took in evacuated children from Middlesbrough and Hull.

In the first two years of the war, there was the odd bomb dropped here and there on the farmland encircling the city by Luftwaffe pilots lightening their load before returning home. But during those early years, the Germans killed more farm animals in the North Riding than they did people.

All that changed on the night of 29th April 1942; the night of the infamous Baedecker Raid.

A month before, the R.A.F. had bombed the historic German city of Lübeck, causing a firestorm that burnt out dozens of ancient buildings and monuments. Hitler, enraged at the destruction, allegedly threw a copy of Baedecker’s Tourist Guidebook to British Cities at his Air Marshalls and instructed them to destroy every historic British building marked with three stars in the book.

In rapid succession, the Luftwaffe bombed Exeter, Bath and Norwich.

Unable to read the mind of this vengeful despot, British High Command were confused by this sudden change in strategy and failed to see the pattern. No warnings were issued.

And then, on the night of the 29th April, the Germans came for historic York.

The ancient Guildhall on fire

During the horrific bombardment that followed, seventy German planes dropped 250kg of bombs, killed ninety-two people and injured hundreds of others. Over a thousand buildings and homes were destroyed, including many medieval buildings and churches.

There were no barrage balloons or anti-aircraft fire and the R.A.F were slow to scramble to the city’s defence. Unopposed, the German aircrew dive-bombed the streets strafing the terrified civilians with machine-gun fire as they tried to flee the falling masonry. The ancient Guildhall and several medieval churches were blazing, and the convent was hit killing five nuns. Blinded by dust, the terrified citizens of York scrambled on their hands and knees amongst the rubble and the shattered glass, trying to dig out the bodies of their injured and dead.

But the one thing the Germans failed to hit was the biggest bloody building for fifty miles: York Minster.

As dawn broke over this ancient Roman city, which had seen off centuries of plague, pestilence and invading Scots, York’s exhausted residents took comfort from the fact that somewhere, above their smoke-filled streets, the Minster’s honey-coloured, gothic towers were still soaring serenely into the sky in defiance.

SMOKE & CRACKED MIRRORS
by Karen Charlton

Available on Amazon in eBook and Paperback

£5.99/$5.99

PUBLICATION DAY!

15/4/2022

SMOKE & CRACKED MIRRORS

It's finally here!
'Smoke & Cracked Mirrors', my first new novel for two years, is finally published!
A new book, set in a new era with brand new characters!
I sincerely hope that everyone who takes a chance on this new series, thoroughly enjoys it.
Please let me know via a review what you think. xx
https://geni.us/TcUcZH9

Cover Reveal: 'Dancing With Dusty F ossils'

5/4/2022

'Dancing With Dusty Fossils'
Published: 15th November 2022

Yes, it's crazy, isn't it?
Smoke & Cracked Mirrors, the first novel in my York Ladies' Detective Agency Mystery series, won't be published until next week...but the second book, Dancing With Dusty Fossils, is already available for pre-order on Amazon - and I have a book cover for it!
But there's method in my madness. I always knew I needed to have Dusty Fossils up on Amazon before Smoke & Cracked Mirrors was published, in order to capture further sales from happy readers. Fortunately, my lovely cover designer, Lisa Horton, was able to move straight from Book#1 to Book#2 - and this is the result.
I do hope you like it.
My son's talented partner, Lorena, took the background photograph of the Yorkshire Museum. I love how she captured the shadows and the gleam of the honeyed stone of this early-Victorian building.
Anyway, Dancing With Dusty Fossils will be published on 15th November 2022 - just in time for the Thanksgiving break.
For those of you who still have faith in me as a writer, it is now available to pre-order on Amazon and you can buy it below.
It's reduced to the special low price of $2.99/£2.99 for one week only!
https://geni.us/DNQVJw8

Cover Reveal: Smoke & Cracked Mirrors

27/1/2022

Smoke & Cracked Mirrors

I'm delighted to reveal the book cover for my brand new novel, Smoke & Cracked Mirrors, the first full-length book in The York Ladies' Detective Agency Mysteries.
As usual it was created and designed by the lovely Lisa Horton - and the fabulous background image of The Shambles was taken by Yorkshire photographer, David Zdanowicz.
I stumbled across this photograph completely by accident. I was googling photographs of York earlier in the day...and then, Lo and Behold! this brilliant photo turned up in the middle of my Facebook newsfeed! I tracked down Dave and bought a licence from him to use it on my book cover.
I've heard a lot of rumours over the years that Mark Zuckerberg can read our minds through Facebook. If this is true, then yes, it's a bit spooky - but it definitely worked to my advantage this time!
The Shambles is York's most famous medieval street and normally it's heaving with tourists. I understand Dave went just after dawn to take this photograph while it was empty.
I absolutely love this book cover and I hope you do too. I think Lisa's done a great job.
https://geni.us/TcUcZH9

Cover Reveal: 'The Mystery of Mad Alice Lane'

7/1/2022

'The Mystery of Mad Alice Lane'
Book Cover

What a great start to the New Year!
I'm delighted to present to you the book cover for my brand new short story, The Mystery of Mad Alice Lane, which is the prequel in The York Ladies' Detective Agency Mysteries. It was created by my hard-working and loyal cover designer, Lisa Horton, who's also responsible for all the Detective Lavender book covers. We do hope you like it.

Mad Alice Lane is a real alleyway in York, one of the many snickets that dissect the tall medieval streets. It is said to have once been the home of a poor woman who was hanged in the 18th century for the crime of insanity. Mad Alice Lane is dark, twisty and smells of damp masonry, rotting vegetables with a hint of Medieval slops. No doubt several other ghosts besides poor Alice flit along it's uneven flag-stoned floor at night!
I intend that all the book covers in this series will feature some of the amazing historical buildings and streets of York. Lisa and I are now busy working on the book cover for Smoke & Cracked Mirrors but can't decide between York Minster or The Shambles...ah, decisions, decisions, decisions...

Pre-order 'The Mystery of Mad Alice Lane' here

News: 'Willow Marsh' Audiobook Published

31/12/2021

I'm delighted to announce that the audiobook of The Willow Marsh Murder is now published and available to buy on Amazon.
I know many of my fans have been waiting a long time for this day.
I sincerely hope you all enjoy Michael Page narrating this latest instalment of Lavender and Woods' adventures.

Buy 'The Willow Marsh Murder' Audiobook Here

News: 'Smoke & Cracked Mirrors' available for pre-order

4/12/2021

It's been a long time a-coming!
I'm excited to announce that the eBook of SMOKE & CRACKED MIRRORS, the first full-length novel in my York Ladies' Detective Agency Mystery Series, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.
It will be published on 15th April 2022 and the book cover will be uploaded in January.

York, England: 1940
‘An unsuitable job for a woman…’
When her husband goes ‘missing in action’, Jemma James returns to the city of her birth to set up a private detective agency with her best friend, Roberta ‘Bobbie’ Baker, with whom she shares a passionate love of Golden Age crime fiction.
These two enterprising young women soon find themselves embroiled in a series of mysterious cases, shadowing blackmailers and bigamists, and investigating the perplexing history of a wealthy young woman who seems determined to wipe out her past. And it’s not long before they stumble across an unsolved murder.
But the dead don’t stay dead for long in historic York.
As the ‘phoney war’ draws to a close, and the sky above the soaring twin towers of the twelfth century Minster darkens with menace, Jemma learns that even she is not above suspicion in wartime York.

Pre-order 'Smoke & Cracked Mirrors' here