When I’m not wrestling my elderly Jack Russell away from my not-so-secret supply of biscuits, I am a mother of four and a mystery writer.

I love my children more than life, but it is wonderful to escape from the hurly-burly of work and parenting to grab a few minutes with a cup of tea and a good book.

What I like: I have always enjoyed all things sweet and cosy with a slight edge and buckets of humour. As a child, when all my contemporaries were reading Stephen King or Jackie Collins, I was curling up under the bedsheets with Miss Read and Fay Weldon. Quite the mix, but I can trace back my writing influences to these late-night reading sessions. School taught me to love Jane Austen. Again, it’s all about the people and noticing the tiny habits, behaviours and motivations that drive us all on our journeys through life. I love quirky characters living almost ordinary lives. I, of course, read truckloads of cosy mysteries, but I adore the classics, particularly Agatha Christie and Dorothy L.Sayers. I will watch almost any murder mystery series on television, especially those with a quirky, humorous edge like Only Murders in the Building. Modern favourites include Marian Keyes, L.J. Ross and M.C.Beaton, especially her Agatha Raisin stories.

What I write: I have been writing seriously for around six years. Back in 2019, I met Steve Higgs at a 20Books conference in Edinburgh, only to discover that this cozy and paranormal mystery legend lived just a few miles away from me. That was where the magic began. In 2022, Steve signed me to his new publishing house, Greenfield Press, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The first fruits of this union were the Isle of Wesberrey books. I imagine for many of you that’s how you have found this website. I hope you love Reverend Jessamy Ward and her crazy friends and family as much as I do. 

The Wesberrey series takes a lot of its inspiration from the area where I live and some of its landmarks and local legends. St. Bridget’s Church was named after my late mother, whose birthday was February 1st. This date is both the feast day of St. Bridget and marks the pagan festival of Imbolc. It was these parallels that made me think about the links between pagan myths and rituals and Christian beliefs and practices.

When I set off on this adventure, I knew where I wanted Jess’s story to begin and end. But now that I have put book eight to bed, something is telling me that this won’t be the last of my sleuthing vicar and her ever-growing psychic ‘gift’. I would love to hear your ideas for what she should do next.

Top Secret Mission: I am currently working on another series with Steve Higgs based on a spin-off character from his wonderful Patricia Fisher books. Though I may share Steve’s love of mystery, I don’t share his incredible ability to write at the speed of light, so please be patient. As soon as it’s ready, subscribers to my newsletter and Facebook groups will be the first to know. If you are a fan of Patricia Fisher and Rev Jess Ward, I think you will love these too, so watch this space…