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GOLD!

Congratulations to everyone who guessed correctly � we are of course going for a beautiful and Christmassy GOLD cover! And the full cover will be revealed next week, so make sure you’re back here then!

This week’s mission, if you choose to accept it, is to work out the colour of A Stocking Full of Spies� cover! All will be revealed on Friday, so get your guesses in before then!

And remember, you can pre-order the book NOW, from , , and your favourite local indie!

� A Stocking Full of Spies!

Yes, this is a Christmas-themed book, set at Bletchley Park in December 1941.

From the book’s description �

It’s December 1941, and almost Christmas, when a bomb falls on Deepdean School for Girls. May and Nuala are whisked away from the chaos and sent to stay with May’s big sister, Hazel Wong, who is working at Bletchley Park.

Within seconds, they’re thrown straight into their most dangerous case yet. A codebreaker has been shot in what appears to be a tragic accident � until a suspicious and top-secret message is discovered in his pocket. Was he a spy, working for the other side? Was the message planted on him? Most importantly � was this murder?

Worst of all, Daisy’s big brother, Bertie Wells, is being blamed. It’s up to May, Nuala and their friend Eric to prove Bertie’s innocence and solve the mystery. But Bletchley is a strange and secretive place, full of Britain’s most ingenious minds. They’ll need to watch, listen, and puzzle out the incredible, unthinkable truth�

You can pre-order A Stocking Full of Spies now � and it’ll publish on the 11th of September in the UK and Ireland!

Oh, and check back next week for a chance to guess the colour of the cover � and to have the full glorious cover revealed!

� but I’m not going to tell you what it is so easily! You’ll have to crack the code hidden in the words of the first paragraph of the book. You have until Wednesday, when I’ll be revealing the full title � so what are you waiting for, Detectives? Get to it!

Today is a big day for Daisy Wells � it’s her birthday, and of course it’s also the day in 1935 that horrible Mr Curtis drank that cup of tea laced with arsenic �

So how better to celebrate this special occasion than by revealing our VERY gorgeous tenth anniversary edition of Arsenic for Tea? It’s got incredible sprayed edges and a brand-new introduction from me, and it’s available in all good bookshops now!

If you’ve got a local independent bookstore, I always encourage you to look for it there first � but if you don’t, check out , or .

I’m so pleased with the way it looks, and I hope you are too. And the really good news is that � it’s just the first little bit of all the secrets I’ve been saving up to share with you. More exciting things will be on the way soon � so keep your eyes peeled, detectives!

The countdown is on!

I’ve already started my WBD schools tour � I visited and St John’s College School on Tuesday, and I’ll be in Ely and Taunton next week. I love going in to schools and meeting pupils � it’s one of the most fun parts of my job.

There are lots of ways to get involved with World Book Day � it’s all about sharing the joy of reading, and you don’t have to do anything apart from that! � but if you are going to dress up next week and you want to look like one of my characters, I’ve got you covered! I handily designed Daisy and Hazel’s uniform to look similar to a lot of British school uniforms � all you’ll need is a hat and a magnifying glass and you’re good to go!

I made this , and it’s still very useful five years later. It includes a printable Deepdean crest that you can cut out and stick on your jumper or blazer to complete your look. Hopefully you should be able to use things you’ve already got in the house!

But if you want to get fancy, this year from LitPinsandCo! There’s still time to order them for next week � they’re in stock now and they look gorgeous!

However you celebrate World Book Day, I hope you have a wonderful time. It’s so nice to have a day to celebrate books and reading, and every year I’m thrilled that my books are part of it!

Whenever I’m quiet on here it’s because there’s a lot going on behind the scenes � and that’s why I’ve been quiet lately! There’s a huge amount coming that I can’t talk to you about yet � some things that you are expecting, and some things that you definitely aren’t.

But what I can say is that I’ve been working hard on Ministry of Unladylike Activity 3. It has a title (which I can’t tell you about yet) and we’re working on the cover (which I can’t show you yet), and it will publish on the 11th of September this year.

At the moment I’m doing the fourth round of edits, before the book goes off to be copyedited and looked at by my panel of expert readers at the end of this month. This is one of the most important stages of the book, for me � no matter how much I research, I’m only one person with one way of seeing the world, and so my readers give me really valuable outside perspective about how a particular group of people might view the story I’ve written.

I’m not doing many events this spring, because of my editorial schedule for Ministry 3 and because of *some things I can’t tell you about yet*, but I will be at in London this weekend, and the next month.

I’m also going to be doing three days of school visits around World Book Day. These are already booked in � I’m not accepting any new school visit requests this spring (I’m so sorry about this!) � but if you want to bring some Deepdean magic to your own WBD, consider I wrote a few years ago.

And it’s never been easier to show your love for my series � because now we have OFFICIAL MERCH PINS! LitPinsandCo, my official pin-badge merch partners, have created that you can order now.

We’re currently planning this year’s autumn tour, which will kick off in September and run all the way to Christmas, so keep an eye out on this website for more details of that, as well as my final few events this spring and summer.

You may also have noticed that the newsletter page is currently under construction. Sadly we had to retire the old format, but I’m working on a new version, and I’ll be able to share news about that with you soon.

I’ll be back here soon with more news � like I said, there’s just so much I can’t talk about yet. It’s all so exciting, too �

For , I’m delighted to say that I’ll be at South London’s on the 8th of February at 3:30pm.

The festival is currently running a short story writing competition � the theme is ‘Reach for the Stars� and I’ll be announcing the winners before my event. There are three categories (4-7, 8-11 and 12+), and lots of great bookish prizes, so if you love telling stories, this is your chance to enter! The competition closes on the 10th of January, and you can .

Good luck to all the creators, and I can’t wait to visit Hearne Hill and meet you all on the 8th of February!

It’s the end of another year, Detectives!

2024 has been very special for me and my books � it’s marked the ten year anniversary of Murder Most Unladylike, and ten years of my life as a published author. I know I say this a lot, but I feel so very lucky to have had the decade that I’ve had, and to have had so many readers discover my books. I personally think I have the very best fans in the world, a group of people Daisy and Hazel would be proud to know. I’ve loved being even a small part of your lives and your reading journeys, and I’ve loved everything you’ve shared with me about what my books mean to you. So, whether you’re a new or long-standing Detective Society member, thank you!

, a puzzle book set in the world of my detectives, came out in September, and I feel very proud of it � even though my tour for it is over, you can still find it in shops, and I think you should! December is the perfect time to curl up and do some puzzle solving, so if you haven’t read it yet, now’s the time. It would also be an excellent stocking stuffer, if you’re in the market for that � although it is quite chunky!

Whatever and however you celebrate, I hope you enjoy some peaceful, happy times in the weeks ahead � and if you do feel like getting into the festive spirit, may I remind you that I have a Christmas book, , that makes very appropriate reading at this time of year? The story begins on the 23rd of December, so that’s a great time to start your readthrough � and you can finish on Christmas day!

So have a wonderful rest of the year, and I’ll see you in 2025. My next book, Ministry 3, will be out in September, and I hope I’ll also have lots of exciting news to share about what’s next for me � watch this space!

It’s been a while since I updated this website � I’ve been on the road touring for the puzzle book. I had the most amazing time, and was so proud and touched by all of the wonderful fans I met. Head to for some photos from the past few months � and if you came along to an event, thank you!

MMU’s tenth anniversary is almost over, but I wanted to give you one final present � MERCH! This is something you’ve been asking about for a very long time, and I’m so glad to finally be able to deliver.

I’ve teamed up with of MMU pin badges. We’re taking pre-orders now, and they’ll be printed and delivered in early 2025 � so don’t delay! I’m so delighted with them, and I hope you will be too. We’ve even made for everyone who wants to dress up as my detectives for WBD 2025!