It's Friday - What Can Possibly Go Wrong?
A weekly newsletter from Jodi Taylor
This week we have:
Murder at Martingale Manor - this year’s Christmas Story
The Sands of Time Writing Competition: Dodos in the Early Morning Haze
Author interview with Helen L. Brady
A Murder Out of Time — Afternoon Tea, Murder Mystery & Book Launch with Jodi Taylor - almost sold out!
Jodi Taylor Book Recommendation: Persian Fire by Tom Holland💙📚
The Book of the Month is Doing Time by Jodi Taylor
There’s plenty to read this week and you can see everything new on the blog too. CLICK HERE for the blog.
Good news. I’ve finished the Christmas story. Just waiting for one final set of comments from my beta readers. It’s called Murder at Martingale Manor. Here’s the working blurb:
It’s nearly Christmas and Leon has had a Brilliant Idea. A holiday – to enable a very reluctant Max to recover from her recently acquired injuries.
Devon, 1924 – Martingale Manor. Lovely surroundings, good food and very pleasant guests. Or, as they soon become known – the usual suspects.
The mysterious older woman.
The absent-minded clergyman.
The doctor.
The military man.
The charming young couple.
Because this is the world of Agatha Christie and before long one of them is dead. And when the police arrive, the only person without a cast-iron alibi is… Leon.
It was supposed to be a holiday, for heaven’s sake.
I’ve had a lot of fun writing this and I do hope you’ll enjoy it. There’s no cover yet - still in negotiation with Frankie about the blood and body but I promise to share it here first.
Jodi x
Note from Hazel:
Next week, we plan to reveal all the details of the first book to be published as part of Jodi’s new three-book contract with Headline. I am, however, in the middle of a six-week sailing trip, and tonight, we are heading for the Scilly Isles, where there are no marinas, so no plug-in electricity or wifi. I will certainly endeavour to get out a newsletter next Friday, but please understand if it gets delayed. Thank you.
Dodos in the Early Morning Haze by Professor Mackenzie
The Island
The Island was about eight and a half miles by five miles. A circular reef surrounded it. From the sky it would appear very much as the Yin symbol from the Yin/Yang design. To the north the ground rose sharply. A curved plateau ran southwards and was thickly forested. The eastern rocky shore formed a crescent. A stream ran down the hillside with the promise of fresh drinking water. The shore gave way to scrubland, dotted with bushes or tussocks, rising up several hundred yards to the top of the incline. It seemed likely that the western side was a cliff, dropping some two hundred and fifty yards to the sea. We had arrived at night and selected a flat, rocky surface some yards above the high water mark as the site for our Shelters. At the northern end of the island was perhaps the smallest volcano I’ve ever seen, with just a wisp of smoke emerging from the crater.
The Mission
We had two Shelters, four Zoologists, and twenty four hours before our absence had to be explained to anyone. I had identified a small island that seemed to show great promise. We were to arrive at night, assemble a couple of sampling cages, and wait for the early dawn before setting out to capture, sample, photograph, and record any of the island fauna we could find. Of course we couldn’t actually collect any Flora or Fauna for obvious reasons. I had certain expectations which I did not reveal to my team, as at that time I had no hard evidence to support my conjectures. Two teams would be used, one to survey the hillside and low vegetation there, the other to ascend to the plateau and survey the forest. A likely route up was alongside the stream. There was no necessity for radio silence so we would be in touch. However it was vitally important not to disturb any inhabitants so the volume would be kept to a minimum.
The Background
Reg met me outside Attenborough. As usual he wore his brown storeman’s coat. We’d never really taken to jumpsuits at St David’s. A small sprig of mistletoe had been added to his clipboard for the forthcoming occasion. “Numbers three and four are fully charged and re-supplied. They won’t be inspected until Boxing Day. You have twenty four hours. We never had this conversation!” Jake, Carol, and Dr Rumstead were all ready to come with me, in flagrant defiance of standing orders. They all knew how I felt about the impending festivities, and for their own reasons had agreed to accompany me. I’m going to try to document what happened, but I’m not a historian. I’m not a skilled writer. My words don’t flow, I fall over my adjectives, and I miss things out only to remember them later. I run out of synonyms. So I’ll just try to set down the story.
It all started so well!
Author interview with Helen L. Brady
What inspired you to embark on a writing career, and how did your journey as an author begin?
After a 20+ year career as an antiques dealer, I had that 'mid-life crisis' thing and looked around for something else. The something else turned out to be a degree in film, theatre and text as a mature student. I loved it! Reading all the time and doing it legitimately. The course had a screenwriting module, and I discovered I could write stories, and that I was quite good at it.
Can you describe your writing process? Do you follow a structured outline, or is your approach more organic?
After the first degree I went on to take a Masters in Feature Film Screenwriting. What that drills into you is structure, structure and more structure. Writing a script has similarities to writing formal poetry - there are beats that you are expected to hit. I have tried to be a bit more organic when I write novels but the habit is now ingrained, so every time I start waffling about meals and scenery I feel the need to drag myself back to the real story. Having said that... when the sudden brainwave of 'oh yes, they could do that there' strikes, then of course - I just alter the structure to allow for wandering off into the wilds called 'making it up as I go along'.
A Murder Out of Time — Afternoon Tea, Murder Mystery & Book Launch with Jodi Taylor
This event is now almost sold out but there is still some availability on Sunday 28th September 2025
Five star review for The Official Reading Companion and History Briefings for The Chronicles of St Mary's Series available in hardback, paperback and eBook.
Just want I needed! It's hard to keep track of all the books in the series and this guide is a great reminder of what jump happened in which book, who all the characters are etc. It is also really interesting to read the background history to many of the jumps.
If you have enjoyed the Companion Guide please leave a review
Jodi Taylor Book Recommendation: Persian Fire by Tom Holland💙📚
Ancient history can be terribly dull in the wrong hands because it becomes a recitation of what historians don’t know. This one takes risks with the first clash of civilisations between the Persians and the Greeks in 480 BC. It is highly recommended for anyone interested in the years before Alexander the Great.
Have you enjoyed this book too?
The Book of the Month for May is Doing Time
Just wanted to say I’m loving the Book Recommendations! I’ve just finished Kim M Watt’s first Gobbelino London book (at Jodi’s suggestion in a previous newsletter), and I can’t wait to keep reading her books! Kim would be a GREAT option for the guest author at the next JodiWorld (unless Caimh wants to come again, of course!)