KAREN CHARLTON
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    • James Charlton Senior (1700-1770)
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Welcome to the official website of historical novelist KAREN CHARLTON

News: 'The Sans Pareil Mystery' reaches 100,000 sales

30/6/2018

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Sales Milestone for The Second Book In The Lavender Series

I received a lovely surprise in the post today from my publishers - a plaque marking 100,000 sales of my second book in the Detective Lavender Series, The Sans Pareil Mystery. 
I've now got a matching pair on the wall in the study.
The same plaque for The Heiress of Linn Hagh arrived two years ago.
​I'm a very happy little author today.
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News: New Book Covers

1/4/2018

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New Book Covers

My debut novel Catching the Eagle and it's prequel, February 1809, have both had a makeover.
Two hundred years after his death, our family rogue, Jamie Charlton, has never looked so good.
Many thanks to my talented cover designer, Lisa Horton for these brilliant image. Lisa designs the book covers for the Detective Lavender Mystery Series (published by Thomas & Mercer) and I have asked her to upgrade the covers of all my self-published novels.
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News: Researching in Ely

16/10/2017

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Researching Lavender Book #5

The summer is over, the academic year has started again and I've gone back to work. 
I've recently spent four days researching for the fifth Detective Lavender Mystery in the tiny cathedral town of Ely in the watery fenland of Cambridgeshire.
Armed with a notebook and my phone camera, I've pounded the city streets; visited three museums and a nature reserve and taken two boat trips through the rural countryside.
I take photos of anything and everything which I think may come in useful from rush matting on the floor of ancient cottages to information plaques about the flora and fauna. My quest was to get 'a feel' for life in this remote and harsh area in the early part of the nineteenth century. I wanted to know about the social history of the people and their lifestyle. No detail was too small to note, whether it was the diseases that plagued them, how they survived the winter or how their gaols/jails were run.
Anyway, here are a few of the photos that will inspire my writing over the next few months. Enjoy.
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News: Publication date for 'Plague Pits & River Bones'

27/8/2017

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D-Day: 11th January 2018

That's the date,folks.
On the 11th January 2018, Thomas & Mercer will publish the fourth novel in The Detective Lavender Mystery Series:
​Plague Pits & RIver Bones. 
It's already up for pre-order on Amazon with its lovely new book cover and racy blurb and this happy, little author is doing an excited dance around the kitchen.
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Pre-order on Amazon
London 1812: Savage gangs intent on treachery and revolt besiege the capital, while a brooding menace stalks the corridors of the Palace of Westminster. When Detective Stephen Lavender is called in to investigate a highway robbery and a cold-blooded murder, both the cases take a dangerous and disturbing personal twist.
Meanwhile, Lavender’s trusted deputy, Constable Ned Woods, finds a mysterious, severed foot washed up on Greenwich Beach. They soon realise that these ancient bones are more sinister than they first appeared.
With Bow Street Police Office undermanned and in disarray, it will take all of Lavender and Woods’ wit and skill, with help from Lavender’s spirited wife, Magdalena, to unmask the fiend behind the mayhem; restore peace and justice to the beleaguered city and solve the tragic mystery of the severed foot.
But will they do so in time to foil a plot that threatens to plunge the country into chaos?
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News: New novel to be published in December

18/4/2017

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PUBLISHING DEAL FOR
PLAGUE PITS & RIVER BONES

I'm delighted to announce that Thomas & Mercer have agreed to publish the fourth Detective Lavender Mystery: Plague Pits & River Bones.
​I don't have a firm date for publication yet, but it MAY be as early as December 2017.
In the meantime, I have a few more days left to tweak the manuscript before I submit it to my editors.
Over the last six weeks, I have pain-stakingly removed 6,500 surplus words and phrases. Then with the help of my friendly Alpha-readers I've restructured it and tightened it some more. The novel, my most complicated plot to date, has now gone down from 110,000 words to 100,000 and is a lot better for this revision.
It'll go thorugh three more rounds of edits with Thomas & Mercer and, hopefully, by December it will be a smooth, thrilling and enjoyable read.
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News: Amazing sales for 'The Heiress of Linn Hagh'

23/12/2016

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'Heiress' Reaches Milestone 100,000 Sales 

Santa came early to me this year with some amazing news about the Detective Lavender series. THE SANS PAREIL MYSTERY passed its 50,000 sales milestone and THE HEIRESS OF LINN HAGH passed an incredible 100,000 sales! My publsishers sent me a commemorative plaque to mark this milestone which now has pride of place under my kitchen Christmas tree until I can find it a permanent home.
My publishers are delighted with the continued success of the series - and the fabulous reviews 'The Sculthorpe Murder' has achieved in the UK.
I'm a very happy author and I sincerely hope that Christmas 2016 turns out to be as wonderful for you as it has for me.
Take care, and thank you for all your support. Karen xxx
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News: 'The Sans Pareil Mystery' is one year old

6/10/2016

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HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO
‘THE SANS PAREIL MYSTERY’

One year ago today, The Sans Pareil Mystery was published. This was a huge moment for me. Yes, The Heiress of Linn Hagh had enjoyed significant success when I self-published it in 2014 and had gathered wonderful reviews – but could I do it again with this second book in the Detective Lavender Mystery Series?  

​Sans Pareil was the first novel I’d written in three years. During that time, my beloved husband, Chris, was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died. After a year of grieving, I’d started to run out of money and needed to return to teaching.  Recklessly, I abandoned that plan and pursued my creative dream instead.

I also had new publishers to worry about. Thomas & Mercer had taken over Heiress earlier in 2015. Could they repeat its success with The Sans Pareil Mystery? Would they want any more books in the future? Everything from the mortgage payments to my dream of remaining a full-time author depended on the successful publication of this new novel and I was full of nerves on publication day. What would the fans of Heiress make of Detective Lavender and Constable Woods’ latest adventures? Could I really make it as full-time author?

Fortunately, the answer was ‘yes’.  Sans Pareil gained wonderful reviews, sold well and was long-listed in a prestigious historical fiction competition. Thomas & Mercer published the third book in the series, The Sculthorpe Murder last month. I’m now writing the fourth book in the series and my teaching career is definitely over. I’ve so much to be grateful for, and the publication of The Sans Pareil Mystery was a turning point in my life.

A series of novels on Amazon or in bookshops always look very similar to the reader. They have book covers in the same style and the same font and typesetting throughout. Homogeneity is the key to success in publishing.

But to the author, each novel is as individual as a child. Born and created out of a unique set of real-life experiences, often written in difficult circumstances, each one holds a special place in the author’s heart and is loved for different reasons. The Sans Pareil Mystery is a precious baby to me.
​
Happy first birthday, sweetheart. 
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News: Karen Becomes a Grandma

15/5/2016

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Bruce Charlton

b. 8th May 2016
I have a new addition to my family. My first grandchild, Bruce, was born on Sunday 8th May and he is a little cracker. I'm enjoying every minute of this wonderful new experience and love him to bits. 
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News: Rothbury Literary Evening

26/4/2016

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News: 'The Sculthorpe Murder' Available to Pre-order

27/3/2016

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'The Sculthorpe Murder' is Now Available To Pre-order on Amazon

We still have no book cover or blurb but 'The Sculthorpe Murder' is now available to pre-order from Amazon. AND the publishing date has been brought forward to 30th August. Not long now, folks!
Pre-order 'The Sculthorpe Murder' Here
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