Granny's Cooking

Two years ago now I created a character called Granny Smith - I thought of her as a kind of Miss Marple on steroids, and I had the idea of creating a series of light crime thrillers that would be heavy on humor.

Of course Granny Smith’s real name wasn’t Granny but everyone called her Granny. It wasn’t because she was a grandmother, though she was three times over, but rather because as a child she had loved apples, would take one to school for her lunch each and every day. It seemed that wherever she went an apple went with her and so associated with the fruit had she become that eventually some bright spark had nicknamed her Granny Smith after that popular Australian variety of apple. 


Because of the ease of publishing to the Kindle format I used the initial launch in the way that Hollywood often use test screenings, and a few readers pointed out that Granny was a little too young. I'd put her in her early Sixties but the comments about her age struck home and so I took the book down, added ten years on her and republished. She does work better as an older character and those ten years made a big difference.

Two other Granny Smith works have been published - the novel, Granny Smith and the Deadly Frogs and the short story, The Welsh Connection. And I will be working on a new Granny Smith novel just as soon as my workloads lightens up a bit.




Over the last couple of years the books have sold at a small but steady rate but just recently the sales, particularly of the first book have skyrocketed both in the US and UK. The combined sales of each book have gone into three figures this week alone - I don't know why this is. I've done no promotion as such lately, but hey I'm not complaining and I hope the sales continue in this fashion - who knows by the end of the year I may be able to afford a secondhand Ford Fiesta.



Some reviews:


“It’s Miss Marple on steroids.” 

A brutal murder in a small Welsh village leaves the police without a clue. With no motive and no real suspect the investigation soon grinds to a halt. Enter Mary Anne Smith, otherwise known as Granny Smith, the seventy-one years young, pipe smoking, heavy metal loving, chaos causing amateur sleuth with a difference. 

Granny has a talent for mayhem and soon those talents are put to good use as our intrepid pensioner starts the unravel the case, which finds her provoking Chief Inspector Miskin as she comes up against a full scale police investigation, proving that you’re never too old to make a nuisance of yourself and that seventy-one is actually the new twenty-one. 

Murder’s never been so much fun. 

" I liked the story, entertaining, easy to read." 


"laugh out loud funny and Granny Smith is a wonderful invention" 

"Granny Smith complete with pipe , what a vision... proves where there is a way she will take try it...enjoyed this book easy reading ."

"I was brought up on Miss Marple. I loved the idea of an old lady solving cases through sheer nosiness and this is a modern day version.
It starts with a murder at the Village Fete. Unfortunately for the murder, she happens to be Granny Smith's next door neighbour and when the poor husband of the victim is arrested, Granny Smith leaps on her bike into action. With a surveillance team comprising of long suffering husband and gay son, she is on the case!!
A lovely easy read and a good plot- a real winner :)"