When Tess Dutton arrives in Castleby to help in her sister’s restaurant for the Christmas period her worst nightmare awaits. Tess finds her sister unconscious at the bottom of her stairs, and a restaurant fully booked until Christmas.
Ex-Navy chef Griffin Jones returns to his late mother’s house trying to put his past behind him. He can’t forgive himself for what he did, and someone from his past won’t let him forget either.
Griffin steps in to help Tess in the restaurant, but he is haunted by his past. As he grows closer to Tess and their attraction blossoms, Tess receives a visit from an ex-lover, who wants to rekindle their romance.
Tess struggles when she finds out about Griffin’s past.
But he’s being persecuted.
And then Tess’s life is threatened.
Someone is so full of hate and so intent on revenge, that the only solution is to kill.
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J.M. Simpson
1 November 2024
Mystery | Suspense
288 Pages
Jo was born in Essex but was raised primarily in the West Country, enjoying a childhood in Devon and Cornwall, never far from a rugged coastline, sandy beach, or harbour. Her parents moved to the country leaving London and her father leaving his job in banking.
Jo obtained a degree in Building Surveying from the University of Greenwich and then went on to specialise in research in construction and development, gaining her PhD in 2001. Jo still runs a successful research consultancy and writes her novels in every spare moment she has.
Jo lives in Kent, with her two (occasionally stroppy) teenage daughters, her extremely long suffering husband and her two writing partners Max (who features as Brock in the series) and Merlin, both rescue Border Collie’s.
Jo’s debut set of novels are the Castleby series, comprising of 5 books set in a coastal community and largely inspired by the plethora of time spent in and around the UK’s coastline, and the never ending visits to RNLI shops that her children insisted on with a regularity. The series seemed a natural progression and the fictional seaside town of Castleby grew with new people and new plotlines. The first debut novel in the Castleby series is SEA STATE.
Jo is currently writing a new series set in the Scottish highlands, the first of which will hopefully be published in Early 2023.
In what little spare time Jo has, she spends writing, walking by the ocean, being an armchair movie critic, and drinking copious amounts of wine in her most favourite pub with friends.
BBNYA is a yearly competition where Book Bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie or small press authors. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the 2026 BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website, Bluesky BBNYA, or follow this link to enter! Please make sure to carefully read our terms and conditions before entering.
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