Finally I can tell you about my next book, something I’ve wanted to do for a long time – but the pieces weren’t all in place. Now they are.

Murder On Skinner Lane, the first in a series featuring Virginia Cooper and Asa Daniels, will be published next February, and I honestly feel it’s the most complete book I’ve written, with the fullest characters and a deliciously devious plot. Set in Leeds and York, it’s’ going to take you back to 1862. Across the Atlantic, civil war is raging in the US – and the ripples have reached British shores.

Not available to pre-order just yet.

The cover is after the description…let me know what you think. Does it sound intriguing?

1862, and the Confederates are in Yorkshire

Virginia Cooper is no ordinary Victorian wife.

She works secretly alongside Leeds police, going where male detectives cannot easily follow and asking questions where the truth could prove deadly.

Now she faces her most perilous assignment yet.

William and Marcella Fontaine have arrived from America, charming their way into the highest circles of Leeds society. Officially, they’re here to drum up support for the Confederate cause as civil war tears America apart.

But a secret search of their hotel room uncovers a fortune in hidden cash — and two lists of names.

One contains some of Leeds’s most notorious criminals.

The other is far more chilling.

Two names have already been crossed out. The last belongs to Asa Daniels, a celebrated abolitionist who fled America after three attempts on his life, to settle in York.

Then a Leeds gang leader is brutally murdered on Skinner Lane, in the grimy heart of the city.

With only days before the Fontaines leave England, Virginia races to uncover what they are really doing in Yorkshire.

But the closer she gets to the answers, the greater the danger becomes. 

Someone has crossed an ocean to kill. And Virginia may be the only person who can stop them.

Who’s going to die?

Introducing Virginia Cooper — mother, wife, and Leeds Police’s secret weapon. Working very unofficially, she questions female suspects, reads between the lines, and uncovers the truths hidden beneath their stories. But her sharp instincts and understanding of human nature make her invaluable far beyond the interview room. Virginia proves that solving crimes isn’t about wearing a badge — it’s about knowing the right questions to ask.

Asa Daniels: an acclaimed American abolitionist, speaker and writer. Born into a wealthy Boston family, he fled to England after three attempts on his life, leaving him scarred and with three missing fingers on his left hand. He’s found peace in York, lodging with a Quaker couple in their house by the river. But history is trying to catch up with him.

Leeds — a city of smoke-filled skies, towering mills, grand ambitions, and dangerous secrets. Behind the respectable façades of Victorian society lies another world of crowded streets, poverty, criminal networks, hidden alliances, and scandal. In this booming industrial city, fortunes are made, reputations destroyed — and some secrets are worth killing for.

York – a place of churches and history, where the bells ring and crime is low. A good, peaceful place to live among the ancient buildings and spires. At least, until foreign conflicts spill over on to the banks of the Ouse.

That’s for the future…meanwhile, I have plenty of books out there to keep you busy. No Precious Truth is just 99p for Kindle (cheap in the US, too), or free for Kindle Unlimited.