Category: writing

A new Mike Malone on Kindle

My latest Mike Malone story is now live on Kindle and Smashwords. This story is inspired by a crime in Russia that I read about around three years ago. Thinking it would be perfect for Mike, I squirreled away until I was ready to use it.

DI Mike Malone fears that this might be the case that breaks him – the discovery of a child’s body at the local landfill site, especially when the secrets that the post-mortem reveal are so grotesque. Add to the mix some disturbed graves and Mike feels that light and happiness are distant countries. This is one of the strangest cases that Mike and his trusty DS, Alan Shepherd, have ever tackled and they find themselves seeking help from someone who leaps at the chance to be useful once more. Another Mike Malone mystery and a chance to meet up with some familiar faces.

Homemade Christmas Stollen!

Like many across the UK, our plans for Christmas have had ti change. Our son is in London and cannot travel to us because of a Tier 4 lockdown. But, although we are disappointed, we are determined to make the best of things and that includes baking. I often buy a stollen every year but this time, wuth time on my hands I’ve decided to have a go at making one myself. What do you think?

I wish you all a happy, peaceful and a safe Christmas.

Top Ten Tuesday: Questions I Would Ask My Favorite Authors — The Book Lovers’ Sanctuary (Reblog)

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. PREVIOUS TOP TEN TUESDAY TOPICS: July 14: Books That Make Me Smile […]

Top Ten Tuesday: Questions I Would Ask My Favorite Authors — The Book Lovers’ Sanctuary

A Roll of the Dice

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photo by Jonathan Petersson for pexels.com

The dice rolled across the table, coming to a shuddering halt on the number two. I smiled. Number two it was.

Mary Duncan was nervous. She didn’t like London but if she wanted to see her daughter, then to London she must come. Sylvia’s condition was currently stable; the medication was finally helping her state of mind. Even so, she would never be able to leave the home. Mary sighed. How could Sylvia ever be allowed to come home, Mary would never be able to cope with her. At the age of seventy one she was too weak to deal with Sylvia’s violent outbursts whenever she ‘forgot’ to take her pills. No, Sylvia was better cared for where she was, Mary just wished that there was a suitable centre nearer home.

The Tube was packed and although she had managed to get a seat, the smell of the man who was practically sitting on her knees in the crowded carriage was making her stomach churn. She could feel her face getting very hot. She should have taken a taxi but the queue at Kings Cross had been ridiculously long. She should have waited. Why didn’t she wait?

Finally the train shuddered to a halt at Oxford Circus and Mary was almost carried out of the door in the crush to exit. She hated being so close to people, to feel them brushing against her; she was beginning to feel unclean. The escalator gave her a chance to put herself back into some sort of order, to pat her hair down and smooth out the creases in her skirt. At the top she followed the signs for the Central Line, warily watching the faces that passed her by. If only Tom had been with her. Trips to see Sylvia had been so much easier when he had been there to guide her. An unbidden tear was quickly wiped away as Mary took a deep breath and put her best foot forward. Those days were now memories and even though she was fearful travelling alone, she owed it to Sylvia to keep up the monthly visit. The thought that there would soon come a time when she was unable to visit her daughter was kept firmly locked away in the back of her mind. It was just too painful to face.

copyright Milly Reynolds 2019

A new way

As I am working full time at the moment as maternity cover, I am finding it very difficult to write. Work and life is getting in the way and there is no balance. Poor old Mike Malone is in a state of limbo. The two other books that I have started are in similar states. Therefore, I have a cunning plan. I am going to serialise the first draft of one of the stories on my blog. This will keep me writing – I will have to organise time to work on the next section. It will also give me a chance to get feedback and to see if I need to make changes before I publish the finished novella.

So ….

Every Monday there will be a section from a story titled provisionally – ‘A Roll of the Dice’