Welcome back to Helena Dixon this week. I have to say I admire Helena so much, as she manages to keep writing no matter what life throws at her. Murder most British and Murder at Midwinter Farm are both published in November 2025 and I wish Helena every success with them. Over to Helena …
Many thanks to Morton for inviting me back to her blog. This month is crazily busy for me since I have two new books releasing. The first one, Murder most British is the third in my World War 2 mystery series. The other book, Murder at Midwinter Farm is the next installment in my long running Miss Underhay series set in the 1930s. That comes out November 24th. All the books in both series can be read as standalones, but you may enjoy them more if you read in sequence.
The release of Murder most British was very special for me since it came out on the 7th anniversary of my becoming a fulltime author. Leaving my fulltime job where I worked fourteen-hour shifts as a nurse was scary. I had just enough money to last for the first three months and a small pension in case it all failed. A new genre, a new writing name, a new agent, new publisher, new editor. It took stepping out in faith to a new level. I took a level 2 marketing course to try and learn more about social media since I had no clue what I was doing. I thought a new qualification would also make me more employable if this didn’t work.
I had a hip replacement just as covid hit and the world shut down. Then my parents both became seriously ill and subsequently passed away. We moved from the Black Country to Devon taking my MIL with us as she could no longer live safely alone. We sold both houses and bought one that needed a lot of work to house three generations without us killing one another. Three months in and a series of storms caused 50k of damage to the gable end of the house. We were evacuated while it was rebuilt.
Time moved on and my middle daughter made me a grandmother twice. She got married, my eldest daughter got engaged and moved out. My youngest daughter reroofed her house and got a dog. I had more surgery for more precancerous and cancerous lesions that sneak up on me every now and then.
I wrote twenty-eight books which have seen translations into six languages. The books topped the best seller lists in the UK USA Canada, Australia and Germany. I’ve been invited to festivals, been on panels, taught workshops and done things that have scared me to death. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. I couldn’t have done any of this without my family, my friends, my neighbours, team Kitty at Bookouture, my incredible agent, Kate Nash and my writing support friends, the Tuesday zoomers, the coffee crew and SW writers. A huge thank you to all of them. I really hope everyone enjoys Murder most British.
About Helena Dixon
Helena Dixon is a Black Country wench relocated to Devon. Married to the same man for over 40 years she has 3 daughters, 2 grandsons a cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. She won The Romance Prize in 2007 and Love Story of the Year 2010 in the UK as Nell Dixon. She now writes the internationally best-selling Miss Underhay mystery series set in 1930’s Torquay and The Secret Detectives Agency series set in WW2.
You can find Helena at https://www.nelldixon.com visit her blog at https://www.nelldixonrw.blogspot.com find her on X/Twitter @NellDixon and friend her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nell-Dixon/228642037151856
About Murder Most British
Big Ben chiming in the distance, chilly walks along the river Thames, cocktails at the Ritz… and a government secretary dead? Only Jane Treen can solve the case!
London, 1941. Miss Jane Treen is faced with another mysterious disappearance within her Secret Detective Agency’s team. Tabitha Moore, a government typist, was on her way to meet Jane with vital information about some secret codes. But she didn’t turn up for work and has seemingly vanished without trace. Then Jane and her colleague, handsome codebreaker Arthur Cilento, receive a call: a body has been found, and it matches Tabitha’s description…
It quickly becomes clear that Tabitha’s death was not due to ongoing air raids on the city: the silk scarf tied tightly around her neck suggests otherwise. The prime suspect is Tabitha’s fiancé Leo Cavendish, a dashing government official, but there are plenty of others with a motive too. Jane and Arthur scrutinise those around Tabitha at work and at home, including a charming newsreader reporting on government affairs, a jealous pianist in love with Leo, and a known womaniser and gambler fond of causing trouble.
Together, Jane, Arthur and her fluffy ginger cat Marmaduke hole up in her London townhouse, with black coffee in plentiful supply and a roaring fire in the grate. But just as they begin to piece together the puzzle, someone else is found dead. It’s clear they need to step up and catch the killer on the loose in the big smoke, before it’s their turn next…
If you love twisty crime novels, top-secret intrigue and the very best of Golden Age mysteries, then you will adore Helena Dixon’s totally gripping cozy novel, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie
Buy link https://geni.us/B0F678D2F8author
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Fascinating! Even though (like you, Morton) I’m one of the Tuesday boomers mentioned, I still learned something new about Helena! And I also admire her ability to keep writing no matter what life throws at her. Helena – you deserve every bit of your success. Long may it continue… xx
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