The Beauty of a Boxset

As the nights draw in, curl up in front of the fire and dive into a boxset. Binge-reading is good for your health, mind and brain, thus heartily recommended by all great authors.

Here are two crime series and two historical fiction sets for you to devour. Plus there's more where they came from ...

The Gold Detectives

By Gillian E. Hamer

Includes the first three crime novels of the series in one handy boxset.

Encounter the dark underbelly of North Wales and the island of Anglesey - featuring DI Amanda Gold and her team.


What readers think:

If you like Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Ann Cleeves or Peter May you’re seriously going to love Amanda Gold and her team.

I've become addicted to Ms Hamer's books! After thoroughly enjoying the first in this series, I read her other books before coming back to the Gold Detective books. The characters are complex, with their strengths, foibles and personal problems making for a realistic -though gruesome! - story. As usual, the body count is high, and there's some painful detail, but it kept me hooked to the end. And what an ending! 

Hamer does something quite special with her writing. She manages to combine glorious descriptions of Anglesey with quite gruesome murders. These combined with a pacy narrative, make her novels a compelling read indeed. 

The Beatrice Stubbs Series 

By JJ Marsh

Meet Beatrice Stubbs, your new favourite detective.


For lovers of intelligent crime fiction, three heart-racing adventures through Europe
Beatrice Stubbs: detective inspector, metaphor mixer and stubborn survivor.

What readers think:

For those who like their crime with a lighter, less gruesome touch. - The Bookseller

If you've not yet read a Beatrice Stubbs book, I envy you. What a treat you have in store. - The Bagster

My favourite thriller / procedural novel type has a strong female lead. One that is convincingly human and real, who isn’t the classic maverick detective, but works as a cog in a team, supporting her colleagues, just like in real life. Oh, and she needs to have some flaws. I need them to be written honestly, with interactions, opinions and emotions that echo people I know. Beatrice has all this in spades. - Dawn Gill

Overlord 

By Jane Dixon Smith

My name is Zabdas: once a slave; now a warrior, grandfather and servant. I call Syria home. 

I shall tell you the story of my Zenobia: Warrior Queen of Palmyra, Protector of the East, Conqueror of Desert Lands …

What readers think:

JD Smith's wonderful characterisation and meticulous research paints a vivid and dramatic picture of Syria in the 3rd Century AD at a time when Rome is disintegrating under the weight of its own corruption. The early years of Zenobia, one of the great enigmatic figures of history, are seen through the eyes of her cousin Zabdas, a slave who becomes a general. Zabdas is the perfect narrator and his story follows Zenobia from clever, precocious young girl to imperious manipulator of kings and emperors, from the desert kingdom of Palmyra to Rome and back. Full of passion, intrigue and drama it draws the reader in and holds them to the very last page.
Douglas Jackson, author of Caligula

Syria's Boudica [Boadicea], self-styled Cleopatra, and real-life Daenerys Targaryen.

Zenobia, Queen of Palymra, can now take her place beside a couple of other picturesque and photogenic fictional queens - Danerys and Maergery from Game of Thrones. The difference is, Zenobia really existed.

Historical Fiction at its best.

The Bone Angel Trilogy

By Liza Perrat

Three standalone stories exploring the tragedies and triumphs of a French village family of midwife-healers during the French Revolution (Spirit of Lost Angels), WW2 Nazi-occupied France (Wolfsangel) and the 1348 Black Plague (Blood Rose Angel) in one boxset.

What readers think:

Olga Núñez Miret, author/translator (English/Spanish), psychiatrist, book reviewer:
 … a must for lovers of historical and women’s fiction. Beautifully written, carefully researched, and emotionally charged, the three books are connected by an amulet
and the female legacy it represents … adventures of strong, brave, and
determined women who will pull at your heartstrings.

Terry Tyler, author: An intricately researched and beautifully written series that artfully shows how the threads of the past link generations together.

C. P. Lesley, author of The Golden Lynx and other novels: Three compelling heroines linked by a bone angel with a mystical past—a French village struggling with revolution, world war, and Black Death. Follow Victoire, Céleste, and Héloïse as each undertakes a richly imagined, emotionally complex journey toward a definition of womanhood that is uniquely her own. This trilogy--on my list of Hidden Gems--is one not to be missed.

Josie Barton, Book Blogger at JaffaReadsToo: … grips your imagination from the very beginning and the momentum doesn’t stop until all the stories are completed.

Cathy Ryan, Book Blogger at Between the Lines: … a sweeping saga following the fortunes of three strong women bound together by a bone angel talisman, passed down through the generations. Fascinating, moving and realistic - a must for lovers of historical fiction.