Happy New Year! Simon and I had a very good Christmas with Zoe and her family, and my health has continued to improve. I’ve had more excellent PET scan results this week, showing further progress throughout. As a result, we’re looking forward to lots more time with family and friends, plus I can begin to consider new writing ideas, beyond the original three Alexander Baxby Mystery books 😊
Books
It’s been great to see Paying in Blood and Naming
the Dead do well in the kindle charts. Naming the Dead is still only
99p. Many thanks for the reviews to date. If you haven’t already done so,
please consider giving some Amazon stars, as these are a great help to authors.
Both books are available at Baxby
Books in kindle, kindle unlimited and paperback forms. You can find maps and character lists
on my web-site.
Articles
Tudor Times invited me to write another guest article, this
time about my research for Naming the Dead. You can read it on their
website here Researching
Amsterdam in the Dutch Golden Age. This piece was fun to write and reminded
me of those who helped me, including staff at the Grachtenmuseum (Museum
of the Canals) and the late Jeremy Dupurtus Bangs at the Leiden American
Pilgrim Museum.
Tudor Times has lots of interesting articles about the period
1485 – 1625. It covers all aspects of life in England plus European influences,
and is well worth a look.
Also, the Crime Writers Association (CWA) published a new piece
about Naming the Dead which you can read here CWA Readers
News Jan 2026
Both are also available on my website Articles page.
A-Z 1600s Amsterdam
I’ve added four more posts in the A- Z of
1600s Amsterdam series (G for Golden Age, H for Holy Place, I for Little
Ice Age and J for Sephardic Jews) with two more in the pipe-line. Let me know
if you have a request for a particularly topic in the future.
Alexander Baxby Mystery 3
I’m pleased with the way this is taking shape, and plan to
finish draft 2 by the end of next month. Alongside, I’m planning a research
trip to London, with good friends from university days. We’ll visit Aldgate and
other wards within the old city walls, where fictional Baxby will return in 1611
in very different circumstances from those in which he left. Much of the old layout
remains, and it will be interesting to spot the small number of surviving
buildings from early 1600s.
Please email me if you don’t want to receive more news like
this.
Many thanks again for all the support and encouragement. I
hope 2026 is a good year for you,
Karen H