Granny Smith: Double the Trouble - The world unfolds before your ears

The Granny Smith series has proven very popular, especially on the Kindle with sales of the back-list remaining strong. There are three full length novels, and one short story in the series and later this year Granny will return in an all new adventure.

Amazon bill the books as cozy crimes, and to some extent they are just this but they are a lot more earthy than the standard cozy crime - the language is often far more fruity than is the norm for the genre, and the situations the senior detective finds herself in would shock anyone expecting nice polite murders in the library, a highly polished dagger between the shoulder blades, the newly created corpse shedding little blood and falling in an orderly position onto the plushly carpeted floor. Nope, that's not really Granny Smith - as the tagline states, It's Miss Marple on steroids.

Last month a new audio-book that collects together the short story, The Welsh Connection and the novel, Murder Plot was published by those nice people at Audible under the title, Double the Trouble. The book is performed by Fiona Thraille, the same voice who has brought the other Granny Smith titles to life with her wonderful interpretation of Granny's world.  Fionna really brings the stories to life and listening to her performance is always a joy.

I knew from the first few minutes that I was going to enjoy this audiobook and I was right. The dry (yet sassy) humour was spot on and the narration was perfectly matched to the tone of the story. Highly recommended! *****

The narrator really brought the characters to life. Great performance, fun and engaging murder mystery. *****

If I won the lottery I would attempt to hire Fiona Thraille to read books to me on a regular basis! I love the non stereotypical characters in this amusing adventure, but Fiona's range of voices and accents brings each character to life, making this audiobook a real pleasure. If I didn't know better I'd believe Ms Thraille grew up in the Welsh valleys! I will definitely be looking out for more books narrated by this talented actor. *****



Audible members can buy the audio now, as well as the other titles in the series. If you're not a member of Audible then you can get any of the Granny Smith titles for free when you sign up for their NO RISK trial. The audio-books can be listened to on computers, tablets, MP3 players, smart phones or on those personal assistant thingies such as Alexa, Google Home and other smart speakers.

How to describe the world of Granny Smith?

Well, imagine Agatha Christie liked to hang out at dogging sites and nine months after a particularly inventive orgy involving Tom Sharpe, Terry Pratchett and an industrial strength tube of Vaseline, a love child was born - that love child would be Granny Smith.

The words above are not mine - they come from a review and made me chuckle. And I'm sure you'll enjoy Granny's adventures too - so why not go get the new Audio-book, Granny Smith: Double the Trouble - not only will you be entertained but you'll also discover the answers to many profound questions. Such as:


Do all dicks tastes like Chicken?
Who was the better lover - Keef Richards or Shakin Stevens?


Discover the answers to these questions and many more in Granny Smith: Double the Trouble - available now at Audible, Apple Books, Amazon and anywhere else that audio-books are sold.

All titles are also available as eBooks and paperbacks.

Granny Smith

There are four books so far in the Granny Smith series, with another due later this year. All are very cheaply priced on the Kindle - there is also a very entertaining audiobook of the first Granny Smith novel available from Audible.

Why not check out the senior sleuth.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:

It had been a while since I have read the likes of the character Miss Marple from Agatha Christie. Now Granny Smith has fulfilled that void in my reading life. Granny Smith is not exactly old,  but irrespective of that, everyone has been calling her Granny. She is a young at heart woman who has a trait to be curious about everything that is happening around her. So when her friend Sheila gets engaged to Nigel, who is younger than her, Granny Smith gets suspicious. The following murder in the town makes Granny even more curious and on she follows the cluesr, much to the chagrin of Detective Inspector Miskins.  AMAZON FIVE STAR REVIEW





Let's dispel one misapprehension, okay? Granny Smith is nothing like Miss Marple and G.M. Dobbs is nothing like Agatha Christie. Having said that, this is fun to read. The Welsh elements, the humour, the familiar characters and a well-developed plot combine to produce a better than average cozy mystery. What more could you ask for? Apart from the next in the series? AMAZON FOUR STARS


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 :) AMAZON FIVE STAR REVIEW



 downloaded this book and couldnt put it down its brilliant granny smith is a no nonsense lady that has an way of getting to the truth which is sheer brilliance she really is miss marple on steroids cant wait for the next book in the series. Amazon five star review

The eccentric Welsh pensioner gets her teeth (usually gripping a corn-cob pipe) into solving the mysterious murder of a friend in the village. Despite being ignored and warned off by the police, she persists. This delightful short story makes great family reading with plenty of humour. I can just imagine a nice TV comedy series from this. 

Amazon five star review

Granny Smith FREE BOOK promotion starting 1st November

Granny Smith: Murder Plot, the latest and fourth book in my successful Granny Smith series is free for download from Amazon for the next five days. That's free - not costing a single penny, cent or Euro - now that's got to be a good thing. So please take advantage of this offer and grab yourself a few hours of great entertainment in the company of that heavy metal loving senile delinquent, Granny Smith - all I ask if that you leave a review on Amazon - please, please do that. And maybe, just maybe you'll buy one of the other books in the series. Hey, us writers have got to pay the bills too.

What the reviews say:

Brilliant! This Author has the ability make you you believe you are in the story actually visualizing what is going on! I simply love the character Granny Smith and her family ,
The setting is just right! I have bought all of Mr Dobbs books and can not put them down always thrilling and humorous at the same time.When is the next one out can't wait!!!!! Mr Dobbs has written some really exciting books keep them coming. 

I loved this book, it made me laugh out loud a few times. The characters are believable. Anyone who likes funny, light hearted murder mysteries should read this. I can't wait for the next one, I hope there are more to come.

She's back! I have a soft spot for this pipe smoking granny. The police don't like her, murderers don't like her but the public and media
love her. Back in the spotlight Granny swings into action to solve the body in the water butt. 'Murder Plot' is a hugely entertaining read with Author Gary M Dobbs really getting to grips with his creation. In places I laughed out loud. Full of character and the odd famous name I thoroughly recommend this book. She's back!

I downloaded this book and couldn't put it down its brilliant granny smith is a no nonsense lady that has a way of getting to the truth which is sheer brilliance she really is miss marple on steroids cant wait for the next book in the series 


WHO IS GRANNY SMITH?

Imagine Miss Marple pumped full of steroids and you pretty much have Granny Smith. This pipe smoking, heavy metal loving pensioner sleuth certainly doesn't fit in with the stereotypical amateur detective - she's got more in common with Mike Hammer than she does with Jessica Fletcher. Granny is very much a product of her time...she came of age during the Sixties and her attitudes were forged during that decade of freedom. She claims to have once slept with Keef Richards and insists that Paul McCartney was thinking of her when he wrote the song, Famous Groupies.

On the Origins of Granny Smith

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.

She was seventy one years old and her given name was Mary Alice Davies, which meant she had the rather unfortunate initials - M A D, but she had never let that bother her and besides, she had often reasoned; when I marry I will have a totally different surname.  Eventually she had married a local man who went by the name of Arthur Smith, Smith of course, like Davies, being a common enough name, and she did indeed get a new surname, in fact her nickname became her surname. However because most people knew her by the nickname, Granny Smith, no one seemed to notice when she became a Smith for real, and, if truth be told, to many people she would remain forever mad.

The first Granny Smith book was very popular, scoring steady sales and even entering Amazon's top ten for cozy mysteries during the week of publication - the three books that have followed in the series have also scored strong sales and many many glowing reviews. People seem to like Granny.

Granny Smith Investigates is also available as an audiobook from Audible with other books in the series to follow soon. TO GET THE AUDIOBOOK SIMPLY VISIT AUDIBLE AND DO A SEARCH FOR, 'GRANNY SMITH INVETIGATES


The latest book in the series is Murder Plot and from 1st November 2016 the book will be free to download from Amazon worldwide - why not grab a free book and I hope this prompts you to buy the other three books in the series. There'll be another full length, Granny Smith adventure next Spring and this Christmas will see a festive Granny Smith short story available as a Kindle Single.

So some on folks - what are you waiting for? Head on up the Amazon and grab a slice of Granny Smith.....you'll be glad you did.

And remember please support the series by leaving a review on Amazon - nothing shifts books like good reviews. Also share this blog post with all your friends and tell them all about Granny Smith....she's Miss Marple on Steroids, Batman with dentures and a whole lot of fun.

Get Granny Smith the Audiobook for free

Granny Smith Investigates, the first title in my hugely popular series centered around the pipe puffing senior sleuth, is now available as an Audiobook. It can be downloaded from Amazon, Audible and iTunes, but can also be gotten for free as part of an Audible trial...find out how HERE

Granny Smith is Back

Once again the small Welsh village of Gilfach find itself the scene for a particularly brutal murder when the body of Joan Barkingsdale is found concealed in the allotments of a local radio celebrity. The police think it is an open and shut case, but Granny Smith is convinced they have the wrong man, and that there is a much more complicated murder plot to uncover.

Q&A session with the creator of Granny Smith

This MARCH a all new Granny Smith adventure will be hitting the digital bookshelves, and in order to celebrate the release of the eagerly awaited fourth book in the Granny Smith series, the first three titles have been reduced to 0.99c on Amazon for the Kindle versions. This offer will continue until 30th March so why not catch up on Granny Smith now. Get yourself in the loop before the publication of, Granny Smith: Murder Plot.

Born in 1965, Gary M. Dobbs (Gary Martin Dobbs) is a British writer and actor. As a writer using the pen name Jack Martin^[1] he is responsible for a string of popular westerns for Robert Hale's Black Horse Western imprint. These include 'Arkansas Smith', 'The Ballad of Delta Rose', and 'The Afterlife of Slim McCord'.
As Gary M. Dobbs he has written the popular series of mysteries featuring the character of Granny Smith - described as Miss Marple on steroids. As an actor Dobbs has appeared (often unaccredited) in many British TV shows, as well as in the films The Reverend^[2] and Risen.^[3] In 2014 Gary wrote the non-fiction historical book, Cardiff and the Valleys in the Great War, published in 2015 by Pen and Sword Books.


Q- So what next for Granny Smith?

A-    Well, of course we have just seen Gerald’s wedding,which changes the Granniverse somewhat.  The next full-length novel will be called Murder Plot and concerns murder and intrigue at the allotments society. It's very nearly ready to go and will see publication at the end of March.

Q-Where did the idea for Granny Smith come from?

A- The back of my brain, likely. I’ve a fondness for classic crime fiction and also the old Ealing comedy movies. I think that the Ealing movies and Agatha Christie, particularly her Miss Marple series are the two biggest influences on the Granny Smith series, but there are other influences that all meld together to form the unique universe of the novels, the Granniverse of you like. I love Tom Sharpe for instance and although my writing maybe more PG Tips than PG Wodehouse I do hope there’s a lot of good humour in the books. M C Beaton’s The Agatha Raisin series are also a major influence. I’m aiming for the sky with Granny Smith, but if I only reach the shithouse roof then at least I tried.

Q – The books usually concern a murder and the subsequent investigation. Does humour have a place amongst such dark themes?

A- The novels would fall loosely into the cozy crime category, so yes there is a murder but this takes place off page and there is very little gore or graphic detail. And of course the characters are all so much larger than life. We know we’re not dealing with a real world murder and all the ramifications resulting from such.  It’s all fantasy as

is our detective the very wonderful Granny Smith. Miss Marple on steroids, indeed. In one of the reviews someone called her, Batman with dentures...I think I like that.

Q- Which character from the Granny Smith books would you most compare yourself to?

A-    Gerald, obviously! But no I think there’s a bit of myself in all the characters. I love the way Granny sees political correctness for what it truly is and I hope I share this trait. Also Gerald’s flamboyance, Arthur’s lust for solitude and Twice’s self importance are swirling around in my DNA.

Q- Granny aged ten years from the original draft of the first novel. Why was this?

A-    It’s true when I first wrote Granny Smith she was in her early Sixties, but I always wanted her to be older. I always thought her early Seventies was the correct age for the character but I was worried that it would be too much of a stretch to imagine all the things she does and so I created her as an extremely fit woman in her Sixties – which is not old by modern standards. Of course I soon realised that this was a mistake and that she had to be an older woman – and so I republished the first novel and aged her. That’s the beauty of electronic publishing in that it is so easy to go back and revise a book that’s already been published. I guess I’ll age Granny into her Eighties over maybe ten books.

Q- So you see the series going on for at least ten books?

A-    And more. Granny’s a fun character to play with and I love the way the world looks through her eyes. I’ve become a fan of series characters in cozy crime and especially enjoy the works of Simon Brett, M. C. Beaton and Lesley Cookman and if these guys can continue to come up with ideas for their characters then I’m sure I can for mine.

Q- You have had some success writing westerns as Jack Martin so isn’t cozy crime a big switch?

A-    Not really. My westerns contain a lot of humour. And I see no reason why a writer is expected to stick to one genre. That doesn’t happen in other fields where creators are free to switch genres whenever the fancy or need takes them. Stephen Spielberg doesn’t only make one kind of movie and The Beatles switched genres from track to track. I write the story that takes over my imagination at any given time and the genre is a secondary issue.

Q- So would you write Erotica?

A-    Good God, no. I find it difficult to type one-handed.

Q- Where can people find out more about your writing?

A-    That’s a convenient question – thank you. Well you can follow me on Twitter @garymartindobbs and I keep a Facebook page under the name Gary Martin Dobbs and then there’s my very active blog, The Tainted Archive which you can find at http://tainted-archive.blogspot.co.uk/ . Oh and Granny has her own Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GrannySmithInvestigates/

Q- Finally where you get your ideas?

A-    Well I do a lot of people watching – well one woman really but the police have told me I’ve got to stop. Where do ideas come from? Anywhere and everywhere – from other books, movies, events in newspapers.

Q- Tell the truth: you made these questions up yourself didn’t you?

A-Yep

           

"The story then follows Granny Alice Mary Smith into various stages of the mystery in a humorous but intense way. The book is beautifully written and is a pleasure to read. The Miss Marple references are not only in our mind but the author has made them too, calling Granny Smith as “Miss Marple on steroids”

It is a cozy and wonderful murder mystery, the likes of which, I have not read for a long time. Agatha Christie story lovers must catch this book. It brings back many memories of age old murder mystery classics." Goodreads five star review for Granny Smith Investigates

           

Catch up with Granny

"Cannot stop reading these books just love them so funny and just gets you and pulls you in. Warning once you read 1 you will have to read them all." Amazon Review

Granny Smith Investigates


Granny Smith

A hit on Amazon Kindle

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 ."


US
UK


It had been a while since I have read the likes of the character Miss Marple from Agatha Christie works. Now Granny Smith has fulfilled that void in my reading life. Granny Smith is not exactly old to be a Granny by heart but irrespective of that, everyone has been calling her Granny. She is a young at heart woman who has a trait to be curious about everything that is happening around her. So when her friend Sheila gets engaged to Nigel, who is younger than her, Granny Smith gets suspicious. The following murder in the town makes Granny even more curious and on she follows the clues of the murder, much to the chagrin of Detective Inspector Miskins.

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 :)

Here she is...it's Miss Marple on steroids

The following is the foreword from the latest Granny Smith book, The Welsh Connection - AVAILABLE NOW

I needed to tell this story in order to flesh out Granny Smith’s world and bring the characters to a certain point. The book concerns not only a mystery but also the wedding of Granny’s son Gerald to his long time partner Wayne – the latter being an event that Granny thinks of as, ‘The Royal Wedding.’

As I say this story had to be told.

I knew it didn’t warrant a full-length novel but that the long short story format, a novella if you like, would better suite the story. And that’s one of the strengths of the Granny Smith character – she lends herself to all kinds of stories, many different formats. She and the world she inhabits is fluid enough to accommodate all kinds of stories. Granny can be hard-boiled, funny and even romantic. One story may be a straightforward crime mystery; another may be a cozy mystery and yet another may be a breakneck thriller.

The Grannyiverse lends itself to all of these genres.

            This entire story takes place over three days and packs a lot into such a small space of time. So I hope you enjoy this little adventure featuring our intrepid pensioner sleuth, and that you will return for Murder Plot, the next in the Granny Smith series, which will see publication in summer 2014.

            Enjoy.

Granny's Back

Age is a state of mind!

Granny Smith, that intrepid pensioner sleuth is back in a new adventure, The Welsh Connection.

It's the wedding of the year as the Smith clan jet off to Disneyland Paris to celebrate the marriage of Gerald and Wayne. The usual murder and mayhem follows - the world's gayest wedding could be one of the deadliest.

To celebrate the publication of the spiffing new novel, the previous two Granny Smith novels are on acountdown deal where they will be priced at next to nothing for 144 hours.

So go get The Welsh Connection available exclusively at Amazon for one month before appearing in all other eBook stores. And while you're there why not take advantage on the superb deals on the first two books - not only will you get a damn good read but your hard earned pennies will help this writer heat his freezing garret this winter.

'Even chicks with dicks lose their appeal next to Granny Smith.'

Get connected - Granny Smith: The Welsh Connection Available now.

Granny's on the way back this December

I needed to tell this story in order to flesh out Granny Smith’s world and bring the characters to a certain point. The book concerns not only a mystery but also the wedding of Granny’s son Gerald to his long time partner Wayne – the latter being an event that Granny thinks of as, ‘The Royal Wedding.’ As I say this story had to be told.

I knew it didn’t warrant a full-length novel but that the long short story format, a novella if you like, would better suite the story. And that’s one of the strengths of the Granny Smith character – she lends herself to all kinds of stories, many different formats. She and the world she inhabits is fluid enough to accomadate all kinds of stories, or varied lengths. Granny can be hardboiled, funny and even romantic. One story may be a straightforward crime mystery; another may be a cozy mystery and yet another may be a breakneck thriller. The Grannyiverse lends itself to all of these genres.

            The entire story takes place over three days and packs a lot into such a small space. So I hope you enjoy this little adventure featuring our intrepid pensioner sleuth, and that you will return for Murder Plot, the next in the Granny Smith series which will see publication in summer 2014.

THE OTHER BOOKS IN THE GRANNY SMITH SERIES ARE STILL AVAILABLE - SEE SIDEBAR OF THIS BLOG FOR DETAILS

Cozy Crimes on the up

BOOKS Magazine claim that the cozy mystery genre is the next market leader - More and more people are reading cozy mystery books. And within the cozy mystery genre, holiday themed cozies have also been increasing in popularity. Some authors of the cozy mystery book subgenre specialize in holiday and special occasion mysteries. These books are often written in a series, with each covering a different holiday.

Granny Smith -- a pipe-smoking senior citizen who listens to heavy metal and can't keep her nose out of other peoples' affairs. I fell in love with this character within the first couple of pages. The story never drags and the secondary characters, such as Granny's quirky son and submissive husband, are just as lovable as Granny herself. Amazon review

What is a Cozy Crime?

Recently in conversation I referred to my new  novel, Granny Smith Investigates  as a cozy crime and I received more than one blank expression. Someone asked me to define a cozy crime - well my understanding of what makes a cozy is that the crime is usually without explicit sex of violence, where the emphasis is often  on whodunnit - the quintessential cozy crime writer, I stated, is Agatha Christie.




The cozy mystery, also called the traditional mystery, is a specific genre light on sex and gore whose focus is on "whodunnit"


The Cozy lends itself well to light comedy as the novels of Simon Brett and M C Beaton display to such good use. And across the pond writers like Janet Evanovich seem to owe much to the cozies.



I suppose the biggest influence on my Granny Smith character is of course Agatha Christie who invented the blueprint for the elderly crime-fighter with Miss Marple, but also M C Beaton who produces the excellent Agatha Raisin novels. Someone likened my Granny Smith character to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and yet I'd never read any of Janet Evanovich's books. I have now though, thanks to the comment made about my character. I'm glad I did and the  Stephanie Plum books are great fun.


So is Granny Smith a cozy crime? Well in a sense yes, but the emphasis is more on character than whodunit. I enjoyed creating those characters and felt them live and breath as I wrote their story. Mind you the second Granny Smith novel, due late 2012 which I'm currently working on will have more of a densely plotted whodunit, but it is the characters that interest me rather than the puzzle. I hope that by drawing the characters in rich detail and allowing them to develop in a fluid way across the narrative, then readers will feel closer to them. Granny's son Gerald is a perfect example and as I wrote Granny Smith Investigates he grew in a way I hadn't originally intended. Still I like him more this way.

 I guess Granny doesn't fit easily into the cozy subgenre, because I'm not that well read in the genre, and that it is broad humour that drives the book. Mind you, I'm reading more and more cozies now and so I'm starting to understand the genre boundaries - all the better to hop over them.

There is a great article, written by Vickey Britton, that defines the genre HERE. It's well worth a look, not only does it look at many of the key titles in the genre but also supplies curious readers with a list of writers who typify the very best of the genre.


"A cozy mystery is one written in the tradition of Agatha Christie. It usually takes place in a closely-knit setting with a limited group of suspects. A small town or English village where people are well-acquainted is a common setting for the cozy. An amateur detective is usually responsible for solving the crime. The cozy is light-hearted in tone rather than heavy. The murder often takes place offstage, as opposed to the hard-boiled mystery which contains a professional police officer, graphic violence and a sense of gritty reality. "

Vickie Britton

Another article worth checking out is the Goodreads guide to cozy mysteries.

You're never too old to kick arse

The free promotion is over and was responsible for over 4,000 downloads.

The eBook proper is out there now and free of that pesky DRM, which basically means that once you've bought the ebook you can pretty much do what you like with it, load it onto multiple devices or share it with others. It's only available on Amazon at the moment but will be rolled out to Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and other eBook sellers in the coming weeks.

And all for the paltry price of £1.98 UK or $2.99.

It's an un-cozy crime thriller with Granny Smith proving that 63 is the new 23 and that you're never to old to make a nuisance of yourself.

“It’s Miss Marple on steroids.”

A brutal murder in a small Welsh village and the police are stuck without a clue. With no motive and no real suspect the investigation soon grinds to a halt. Enter Mary Alice Smith, otherwise known as Granny Smith, the rock music loving, pipe smoking, 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 sixty three is actually the new twenty three.

Murder's never been so much fun.

Promo ends soon

Feel let down by the police?

Need something investigated, a crime solved?

Then you need Granny Smith Investigations.

It's actually Mary Alice Smith, despite what it says in the village newsletter. There were several other misprints within the issue and the most humorous being the advert that went - "Wanted: Man to take care of cow that does not smoke or drink." It is also worth noting that one of the First Aid Tips, written by the local ambulance driver, Fred Prendergast claimed that, "the first essential in the treatment of burns is that the patient should be removed from the fire."


It's a not so cozy crime  - available now for the Kindle and FREE  for two days only - go get it, folks.



TAKE A BITE HERE

“It’s Miss Marple on steroids.”

A brutal murder in a small Welsh village and the police are stuck without a clue. With no motive and no real suspect the investigation soon grinds to a halt. Enter Mary Alice Smith, otherwise known as Granny Smith, the rock music loving, pipe smoking, 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 sixty three is actually the new twenty three.

Murder's never been so much fun.

Land of Granny's Fathers

The video below, made up of mostly my own photographic efforts, and then set, with permission to the heavenly tones of a Welsh Male Voice Choir, show the locations in which my novella, Granny Smith Investigates is set. Oh and that guitar but at the end - that's me playing my three chords.









Don't have a Kindle? You can still read this book! If you don't have a Kindle you can still read this book by downloading the correct Kindle app for your device. Kindle is available on the following platforms: PC, Android, Blackberry or iPhone or iPad.

The promotion for my novella, Granny Smith Investigates has been a great success with the eBook being downloaded over a thousand times in its first twelve hours - the promo runs until midnight 28th June 2012 so if you haven't downloaded a free copy then do so HERE 


The character of Granny Smith will be developed over a series of books and the novella, Granny Smith Investigates, was originally written to get a feel for the character and her world, but I was so pleased with the finished work that I decided to put it out there in eBook land. Granny Smith seems so very real to me. Below you'll find a section of my notes, which actually start the novella, on the origins of Granny Smith. The amateur sleuth who has been likened to Miss Marple on Steroids.

 GET A COPY NOW 


 On the origins of the Granny Smith

IT'S MISS MARPLE ON STEROIDS

 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. Her given name was Mary Alice Davies, which meant she had the rather unfortunate initials - M A D, but she had never let that bother her and besides, she had often reasoned; when I marry I will have a totally different surname.


Eventually she had married a local man who went by the name of Arthur Smith, Smith of course, like Davies, being a common enough name, and she did indeed get a new surname, in fact her nickname became her surname. However because most people knew her by the nickname, Granny Smith, no one seemed to notice when she became a Smith for real, and, if truth be told, to many people she would remain forever M A D.


 Don't have a Kindle? You can still read this book! If you don't have a Kindle you can still read this book by downloading the correct Kindle app for your device. Kindle is available on the following platforms: PC, Android, Blackberry or iPhone or iPad.

Take a FREE eBite out of Granny Smith

Feel let down by the police?

Need something investigated, a crime solved?

Then you need Granny Smith Investigations.

It's actually Mary Alice Smith, despite what it says in the village newsletter. There were several other misprints within the issue and the most humorous being the advert that went - "Wanted: Man to take care of cow that does not smoke or drink." It is also worth noting that one of the First Aid Tips, written by the local ambulance driver, Fred Prendergast claimed that, "the first essential in the treatment of burns is that the patient should be removed from the fire."


It's a not so cozy crime  - available now for the Kindle and FREE  for two days only - go get it, folks.

Note due to the KDP process the free promotion will start at midnight EST.

TAKE A BITE HERE

“It’s Miss Marple on steroids.”

A brutal murder in a small Welsh village and the police are stuck without a clue. With no motive and no real suspect the investigation soon grinds to a halt. Enter Mary Alice Smith, otherwise known as Granny Smith, the rock music loving, pipe smoking, 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 sixty three is actually the new twenty three.

Murder's never been so much fun.

AVAILABLE NOW