My guest today is historical thriller author Barbara Havelocke. Barbara is going to talk to us about her writing journey and her new book. So grab yourself a cuppa, get cosy and let’s get chatting to Barbara. 

Barbara is an international bestselling author, whose books have topped Amazon and Kobo, and also appeared on the USA Today chart.

Her contemporary psychological thrillers are published under the name BARBARA COPPERTHWAITE, by Bookouture. As BARBARA HAVELOCKE (published by Hera) she creates dark, tense Gothic historical thrillers set in the early Victorian era. Estella’s Revenge was nominated for the prestigious Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2025.

For over twenty years Barbara wrote for & edited national magazines & newspapers, talking to victims of crime – and its perpetrators. Her fiction reflects this: she creates realistic characters, and often explores moral grey areas.

When not writing at her home in Birmingham, UK, Barbara spends time with her dogs, Scamp, Buddy, and Arty, or takes wildlife photographs which inspire her artwork.

Welcome to my blog, Barbara. My readers would love to know how you became a published author. Can you tell us about your writing journey?

People used to ask me if I was going to write a book, and I always said there was no way! I was a journalist and facts were my business. But…but…I’d been in the industry since I was 19 and been promoted up until I was special projects editor, in charge of relaunching magazines that needed a refresh, or launching new magazines and creating ‘one shots’. It was high pressure, long hours and I loved it – but I increasingly realised that I missed actually writing things. So I did the thing I’d said I’d never do, and started writing a book.

That first book was written during lunchtime and snatched moments on the train commute to and from work. As I neared the end of it, a round of redundancies came up and I put myself forward. A few more months of hard work, and I decided to self-publish my psychological thriller, Invisible.

I was so naive then! I knew nothing about book bloggers or how to alert readers to my book. It was a steep learning curve! But somehow, against all odds, Invisible became a genre bestseller. My second self-published book, Flowers for the Dead, did even better – hitting No 23 on the overall Amazon Kindle bestseller list! It also got the attention of a commissioning editor at Bookouture, Keshini Naidoo, who asked to see my next book. And when she did, she offered me a four-book deal!

It was the start of a wonderful partnership. The Darkest Lies became an Amazon bestseller in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, and also featured on the USA Today bestseller list. It was a similar story for Her Last Secret, The Perfect Friend (which became a No 1 bestseller) and The Girl in the Missing Poster.

It was an amazing time! But while all that was going on, I fell chronically ill. For several months I could barely move. There was two years between the publication of The Perfect Friend and The Girl in the Missing Poster. With my contract complete at last, I felt like a different person – a different author – from the one who had signed with Bookouture.

There was another idea percolating inside me, though. A Gothic historical fiction inspired by Great Expectations, that would tell the dark tale of Estella, the adoptive daughter of Miss Havisham – the world’s most famous jilted bride. I called it my ‘mad idea’ but I loved it too much to ignore it, and so I got writing. When it was finished I was still in love – but who on earth would want it? Well, Hera Books, that’s who. What’s more, Estella’s Revenge went on to be nominated for the prestigious Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2025! It’s sequel, Estella’s Fury, will be published on 13 November, and is even darker, as Estella tries to solve the curious case of a young missing servant, and uncovers a web of lies that stretches to the highest in society.

Best of all, writing my historical thrillers has made me fall in love with contemporary thrillers again. I’m currently writing a new book for Bookouture that will be out next year, so now I’m alternating between the two genres.

What a fascinating writing journey, Barbara. I love both Estella’s Revenge and Estella’s Fury. Fabulous books!

Estella’s Fury

Blurb

Daughter. Murderer. Saviour.

London, 1835.

To high society, Estella is the perfect lady. But her fair face hides dark secrets – what has she done with her husband? And will her past crimes come back to haunt her?

Desperate to escape her troubled life, she visits her friend, Lady Taykall. But when a servant girl disappears, Estella stumbles on a horrifying web of crimes and feels the old fire for vengeance burning inside her.

To mete out her own brand of dark justice she must risk everything.

Even if it means she cannot survive.

Great Expectations meets Killing Eve in this stunningly dark Gothic crime thriller perfect for fans of Elizabeth Macneal, Stacey Halls, and Jessie Burton.

**Praise for Barbara Havelocke:

**‘Gloriously Gothic’ Daily Mail

‘The genius concept behind this book is so irresistible, it makes the novel feel like magic…Charles Dickens’s spirit would be definitely securing his copy now!’ Sophie Hannah

‘A deliciously dark Gothic treat… wow… it was like discovering a secret door in Great Expectationswhere an alternative character is centre stage – and what a character she is! This is an intelligent, original and hugely entertaining treat’ Janice Hallett

‘Loved it from the very first page – Estella is a superbly well-drawn character and absolutely unforgettable.’ Frances Quinn

‘Masterfully constructed, complex, immersive and delivered through Havelocke’s beautiful prose. Both heartbreaking and uplifting, this is an absolute must-read.’ Rebecca Netley

Buy Link: https://geni.us/oUJVA22

Barbara’s Contact Links

X: https://x.com/BCopperthwait

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbaracopperthwaite/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorbarbaracopperthwaite

Estella’s Revenge

You know Miss Havisham, the world’s most famous jilted bride. This is her daughter’s story.

Raised in the darkness of Satis House where the clocks never tick, the beautiful Estella is bred to hate men and to keep her heart cold as the grave. She knows she doesn’t feel things quite like other people do, but is this just the result of her strange upbringing?

As she watches the brutal treatment of women around her, hatred hardens into a core of vengeance. And when she finds herself married to the abusive Drummle, she is forced to make a deadly decision: should she embrace the darkness within her and exact her revenge?

A stunningly original, gripping Gothic read, perfect for fans of Stacey Halls, Eve Chase, and Jessie Burton.