My guest today is historical cozy crime author, Helena Dixon. Helena is going to talk to us about her writing journey, and her latest book. So grab yourself a cuppa, get cosy and let’s get chatting to Helena.

Helena Dixon is a Black Country girl transplanted to Brixham in Devon. Married to the same man for over thirty-nine years she has three daughters, one grandson, a cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 and Love Story of the Year 2010 as Nell Dixon. She now writes historical 1930’s and 1940’s set cozy crime.

Delighted to welcome you back to my blog, Helena. Your books are very popular. Can you tell us about your writing journey.

I started writing when I was 12. That was when I joined my first writers group. I finished my first (terrible) book when I was 17. Needless to say I didn’t do anything with it. Then when I was pregnant with my eldest daughter I finally got around to submitting stuff. I had 3 kids in 4 years and stopped for a while.

Then I realized I was now almost 40 and still hadn’t had a book published. I wrote and subbed, wrote and subbed and finally I got published in romance. I won several awards in the UK and US, and had an agent but then in 2016 I’d been conscious for a while that the fire for writing, the passion for telling stories that had always driven me had been slowly dying.

I’d had a difficult number of years both personally with health and family issues. In my day job, changing one challenging career path for another one in end stage dementia and palliative care and in my writing.

I was without an agent at this point, and out of contract. Several of the publishers who I’d worked with previously had closed their doors or were in the process of closing. Worse still, although I had over twenty romantic novels published by twelve different publishers, had won national awards – The Romantic Novelist’s RONA Rose twice and international awards I had lost my way somehow.

My writing had virtually ground to a halt. I needed to take time out to restock and rethink. I had one story that I kept returning to. I would open the file, look at it and close it again. It wasn’t a romance, it wasn’t a mystery. It didn’t know what it was and neither did I.

Then, I was talking to a writer friend about it and it hit me. It was a cozy mystery and it was in the wrong time period. I opened the file again, scrapped a big chunk and started over in 1933. Murder at The Dolphin Hotel came to life along with ideas for a full series.

I sent it out to various places, garnered a couple of nice rejections and wondered if this was it. I was wrong, perhaps my skill set didn’t lie in this direction. Then I got a request from an agent and an offer to publish from a respected mainstream publisher. I contacted the agent who had the full manuscript and she sent Murder at The Dolphin Hotel to auction.

Fast forward to now and I’m represented by Kate Nash and very happily published by Bookouture. Murder at the Dolphin Hotel topped the charts in Canada and Australia and book 20, Murder at the Country Manor is out this week. I also have a second best selling series, The Secret Detective Agency set in 1941.

What an inspiring writing journey, Helena. Thank goodness you continued with that book they kept bugging you, and followed your instinct to make those changes.

Helena’s Latest Book

A glamorous engagement celebration in an English country manor house… and a local maid dead. Somebody call Kitty Underhay!

At home in Devon, Kitty is attending a ball at the very grand Markham Hall. With celebrations in full swing and everyone kitted out in their glad rags, Kitty and Matt enjoy the champagne. But the next morning, the party feels well and truly over when Kitty stumbles across a body while out walking her dog, Bertie. The maid, Agnes, is dead, and everyone at Markham Hall is a suspect…

Kitty and Matt set about piecing together the puzzle as the streamers are swept away and empty glasses gathered up. But who could the murderer be? The other maids seem shifty; Lord and Lady Faversham, the hosts, are not without motive, and even Kitty’s grandmother is keeping her cards close to her chest this time…

But then a safe filled with precious jewels has its lock broken, and another body is found tangled up in the weeds of the lake in the grounds. Kitty wonders if the poor guest knew their dancing days were almost over when they were merrily sipping punch the night before? And what secrets are the other guests hiding…

Can Kitty save the next victim at the eleventh hour? Or will this really be a weekend to die for?

Fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey or Verity Bright will adore this totally charming murder mystery. The perfect treat for cozy crime fans!

Buy Link: Amazon

Thanks for dropping by to talk to us today, Helena. I hope your new book flies. 😊