Once again, Glamours & Gunshots is part of the Epic Sale of Beloved SFF–over 50 books personally recommended by someone who read and loved them. This is my favorite sale of the year, so I’m excited it has come around again!
G&G has plenty of company in the “historical fantasy” category this year, some of which are new to me, so I’ll be picking those up for my e-reader library!
As mentioned in my previous post, in honor of this sale you can also pick up Magic Most Deadly and Death by Disguise for $0.99 from now until August 23 as well (the Beloved SFF sale only goes until the 22, but I always keep my books on sale a day longer in case of stragglers). That’s all of the current novels in the series for less than $3.00!
Running from August 18-23, all three novels currently published in the Whitney & Davies series will be on sale for $0.99 each!
This sale is part of the “Beloved SFF Sale,” which is near and dear to my heart, as the only way an author is invited to place one’s book in the sale is if someone else has recommended it as a book they love. Glamours & Gunshots was first nominated for the sale three years ago, and I have loved participating in it ever since.
This year is particularly special, as it won’t be long before the original edition of Magic Most Deadly is archived for good. I am so excited about the new 10th anniversary edition that I’ve been working away on this summer, but there’s a part of me that can’t help but feel a little nostalgic for this debut novel of mine. I’m glad to give it one last chance to shine before it is replaced by its newer and better version.
Then there’s Death by Disguise, my award-winning novel! I’m happy to think readers will get a chance to check out the book the Maine Literary Award jurors dubbed, “simply good fun from start to finish.”
The supplementary books–the Christmas novella of While Shepherds Watch and the short story collection Magic and Mayhem–are not included in this sale, but at $1.99 and $2.99 respectively, you can still pick up the entire series for less than $8.00 total!
So starting August 18, make sure to check out the Whitney & Davies page here on the website to find links to purchase any or all of these books while they’re still on sale!
Here is a fun challenge for fans of the Whitney & Davies series!
If you’ve read any of the books in this series, what other reasonably current books/series would you say have a similar feel? So that one could say, “If you enjoyed ___ book [or author, or series], you’ll enjoy Whitney & Davies!
One of my biggest marketing struggles has been trying to figure out current authors whose writing has a similar feel to mine (or at least, current authors with enough name recognition to make a difference) to whom I can point in that way. “Agatha Christie with magic” is a cool tagline, but unfortunately, the major audience for Agatha Christie books is going to be confused by suddenly having a fantasy book promoted to them–likewise fans of Diana Wynne Jones (who some have been kind enough to say my writing reminds them of) would have legitimate cause to be grumpy if they feel they’ve been tricked into buying a murder mystery set in a fantasy world rather than a delightfully twisty, tricky middle grade or YA fantasy.
So, for readers of my books–what current, at least mildly popular authors, books, and/or series would you say share a similar feel and flavor to Whitney & Davies? As I continue to work on rewriting MMD to make it the best possible start to this series, I would love to start getting these books out there to a wider audience. Finding books with a similar vibe to these is a good step in that direction. I would be so grateful for my readers’ insight into this!
I wanted to share some quotes from the jurors who read Death by Disguise for the Maine Literary Awards.
“Bates delivers an absolutely worthy read that blends its dual genres of fantasy and cozy mystery well while taking readers on an adventure that is simply good fun from start to finish.”
“I really enjoyed the setting of this cozy mystery with a dash of magic – a secret college of magic operating inside Cambridge University. The detective team was delightful, as they scoured the college to solve one mystery, uncovering others along the way. As a cozy mystery, it seemed especially subtle, yet this book clearly merits the win, based on its well-executed elements of story and craft.”
Now, doesn’t that make you want to go read it? Get your copy here so that you can join in the fun of Whitney & Davies’ world!
I am honored and delighted to be able to share that Death by Disguise won the 2023 Maine Literary Award for Speculative Fiction. I was not expecting that at all! I was honored enough to be named as a finalist; actually winning the award was not on my radar at all.
The ceremony was held at Bates College (a very nice touch–I think I managed to work a joke about that into my acceptance speech, though I was so dazed I can’t really remember much that I said), and was absolutely lovely. I was pleased to be able to meet and cheer for so many wonderful Maine writers in every category. Our family settled in Maine just as the pandemic was starting to shut everything down in the state–not a good time to try to build or join a preexisting writing community! I joined the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance anyway, and spent a lot of time hoping that eventually they’d move back to doing in-person events rather than Zoom (which gives me a migraine if I use it for long). Now that they have, I am looking forward to participating in more events and workshops, and hope to get better acquainted with my fellow Maine writers. This award has certainly helped me feel more like I belong here!
This award has also helped push me into a project I’d been contemplating for some time but hadn’t gotten around to yet: rebranding Magic Most Deadly so that its cover matches the style and feel of the others in the series. When I wrote and published MMD (ten years ago this September!) I didn’t really know much about branding or how to choose a cover design. While I loved, and still love, the cover that my designer and I eventually came up with, it doesn’t really give off quite the right vibe for the “cozy fantasy-mystery” genre this series has, nor does it carry the Whitney & Davies logo that we developed by the time Glamours and Gunshots was published, and which has been on every subsequent book in the series.
My goal is to have the new edition available by the end of September, to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of MMD’s publication. We’ll see if I make it! I am also making some substantial edits to the story, as that was my first published book and honestly, it shows. I won’t be changing anything about the heart of the story or the characters, but I will be tightening it up, eliminating some unnecessary bits, bringing the characters into better focus, all that sort of thing. Using the skills I’ve learned through writing 3 more novels, many short stories, and four novellas in the ten years since publishing MMD to make it the story it was always meant to be!
I’m also going to be switching over print distribution for the Whitney & Davies novels from Amazon to IngramSpark over the course of the summer, so if you are a bookseller and have been wanting to carry these books but have been unable to due to the difficulties of buying wholesale through Amazon–good news! It will soon be much easier for you.
And hey, if you haven’t read the award-winning Death by Disguise yet, you can click here to buy. (You can buy the other books, too, but I might recommend waiting for Magic Most Deadly until the new edition comes out–unless you’d like to own both and compare them, in which case, have at it!)
The Maine Literary Awards are sponsored by the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. They are open to all writers who call Maine home and who have published a book in the most recent calendar year. For Death by Disguise to have made it to the final three in the Speculative Fiction category is a tremendous honor! The winners in each category will be announced May 18 at an awards ceremony. I am looking forward to attending that and getting a chance to meet some of my fellow Maine authors! (And yes, one of my first thoughts after sending in my RSVP was, “Ooh, what am I going to wear?”)
For newcomers to this blog, or in case you have forgotten about Whitney and Davies in the excitement of the recent Pauline Gray omnibus, a brief synopsis:
Whitney and Davies: the series
Death by Disguise is the third novel in the WHITNEY AND DAVIES fantasy-detective series set in 1920s England, a world where magic lies beneath the surface of everyday life and mysteries and intrigue lurk around every corner. In an England still recovering from the trauma of WWI, hidden magicians work to rebuild their world and make it a better place. Enter Maia Whitney and Len Davies, two magicians who team up to use their magic and their wits to bring justice to those who cannot find it for themselves. If you have a mystery that no one else can or will solve, you can call on Whitney & Davies to come to your aid, and they will bring all their formidable abilities to bring you justice, peace, and hope.
Death by Disguise: the book
In DEATH BY DISGUISE, Maia and Len travel to Cambridge to search for a missing secretary at the magical college of Saint Dorothea’s hidden inside Cambridge University. What begins as a simple missing person investigation soon turns grimmer when murder strikes at the college. Maia and Len are in a race against time to catch the murderer and find the missing secretary before she too is killed. In the midst of all this, their friendship faces new challenges as differences in values and perspectives come to light and cause strain between them. Will they be able to solve the mystery and maintain their partnership, or will this mark the end of Whitney & Davies … for good?
Pick up your copy of DEATH BY DISGUISE today and find out the answer for yourself!
(We here at StarDance Press highly recommend drinking a fine cup of tea along with reading the book. Daffodils are optional.)
“The walls of Saint Dorothea’s College in Cambridge hide more secrets than simply the existence of magic …
Lennox Davies couldn’t be happier when the detective agency of Whitney and Davies receives a summons to investigate a missing secretary at the magical college of Saint Dorothea’s in Cambridge. He envisions a charming locked room puzzle, to be followed by strolling the streets of the ancient and beautiful university city with his friend and partner in detection Maia Whitney. What could be better?
But delight soon turns to dismay when a man is murdered. Not only that, the missing secretary seems to have vanished into the morning mists off the River Cam. Will Maia and Len be able to catch the killer before the secretary’s dead body turns up as well? Or is it already too late? Before long even the bond between partners is strained as Len and Maia find themselves at odds over their values.
What began as a clever exercise in deduction turns into their most challenging mystery yet, and one that could result in the end of Whitney and Davies … forever.”
Be swept away by the world of Whitney and Davies … England in 1926, with magic lurking just beneath the surface of everyday life, and secrets hidden around every corner. Let your imagination carry you to the university city of Cambridge and unravel the puzzle of the missing secretary alongside Maia and Len. Can you spot the culprit before they do? The only way to find out is by reading!
If you prefer the tactile experience of a paperback book, click here.
If you enjoy the convenience and immediacy of an e-book, click here.
Whichever way you choose to read, you are sure to fall in love with Maia and Len and their world!
(And if you’re interested in discovering more of their world, this page has links to purchase the rest of the books in the series.)
I started writing While Shepherds Watch Thanksgiving weekend 2020. It had been a tumultuous year–for the entire world, obviously, with the pandemic, but also for our family, with moving back to the States from England earlier than originally planned, a major shift in our plans and dreams, buying a house (in the midst of a lockdown!), starting our kids in public school after years of homeschooling … it was a lot. Like with Magic Most Deadly, I found myself wanting and needing to write something fun and light-hearted–and I also found I could not work on the third novel in the Whitney and Davies series, because it made me homesick for Cambridge every time I opened the document.
I began this story in my mother-in-law’s quiet living room after the Thanksgiving festivities while everyone else was outside finding a Christmas tree to cut down and bring inside, and finished it not long after. It did so much to restore my joy and hope in writing. I published it the next year in time for Christmas, and it has quickly become a favorite in the series for fans as well as for myself.
I also found that after writing it I was able to return to the third novel with fresh eyes and enough distance that writing a story set in Cambridge became a loving tribute to my time there rather than a painful reminder of where I no longer was. While Shepherds Watch also helped remind me to keep a light touch with Maia and Len, even as their journeys became more difficult and the choices before them more challenging. I am certain that writing this story is a huge factor in my being able to say that Death by Disguise is the best story I’ve written yet.
And on that note … Death by Disguise comes out TOMORROW! But there’s even more exciting news than that:
While the ebook doesn’t release until tomorrow, you can order the paperback edition NOW. Click here to purchase it from your preferred retail site!
I was nervous about this cover, friends. My cover designer has, in the last nine years since producing the gorgeous cover for Magic Most Deadly, mostly moved on from such work (in fact, she’s busy writing her own books these days–check them out here: Amanda McCrina), and I thought I might have to do this one myself. I did the covers for Magic & Mayhem and While Shepherds Watch, as well as the entire Pauline Gray series, so it isn’t as though I have no experience with cover design, but for this, the long-awaited third novel in the Whitney & Davies series, I wanted it to be extra-special. Luckily for me, Amanda agreed to do another for me, and the result is spectacular.
Are you ready to see it? Because I am more than ready to show it!
Here we go!
The walls of Saint Dorothea’s College in Cambridge hide more secrets than simply the existence of magic …
Lennox Davies couldn’t be happier when the detective agency of Whitney and Davies receives a summons to investigate a missing secretary at the magical college of Saint Dorothea’s in Cambridge. He envisions a charming locked room puzzle, to be followed by strolling the streets of the ancient and beautiful university city with his friend and partner in detection Maia Whitney. What could be better?
But delight soon turns to dismay when a man is murdered. Not only that the missing secretary seems to have vanished into the morning mists off the River Cam. Will Maia and Len be able to catch the killer before the secretary’s dead body turns up as well? Or is it already too late? Before long even the bond between partners is strained as Len and Maia find themselves at odds over their values.
What began as a clever exercise in deduction turns into their most challenging mystery yet, and one that could result in the end of Whitney and Davies … forever.
Isn’t it stunning? I’m so thrilled to be able to finally share it with you all. And you know what else I am able to share with you today?
The release date!
Death by Disguise, the third novel in the Whitney & Davies series, will be released on November 8, 2022. Yes, that is only four weeks away! Just in time for your Christmas shopping–or buying for yourself to read while you relax on Thanksgiving weekend.
I started writing this book while living in Cambridge, and finished it after moving back to the States. It is in many ways my love letter to that beautiful and ancient university city, and to the friends I made there. I am so pleased to be able to share it with the rest of you soon.
I often hesitate to post about upcoming books and publications, because so often life ends up turning my plans upside down–or the book refuses to be written–or the prior book takes longer to be written than planned and so this book has to be pushed off yet again–and so on and so forth. However, I also do like to keep my readers informed as to what they can expect, and so with the qualifier that these plans are very, very loosely held, here is what to look out for in 2022, and possibly beyond.
Secrets of the Past. The third and final (at least for now) Pauline Gray novella will be coming soon–possibly even this month, though a March publication date is more likely.
Death by Disguise. The third novel in the Whitney & Davies series, following after Glamours & Gunshots. (The current chronological order of the series, for those who are curious, is: Magic Most Deadly, The Third Thief*, Masks & the Magician*, While Shepherds Watch, Glamours & Gunshots, Death by Disguise.) My original plan for 2022 was to have this published by April. Substantial rewrites are making that look less and less likely, but I am still intending to publish it this year, just most likely later than the original goal.
Another collection of short stories in the Whitney & Davies collection, these to feature some of the smaller cases the team solves between Glamours & Gunshots and Death by Disguise. This collection is tentatively titled Sorcery and Suspicion, but we’ll see if the title lasts throughout the actual writing and organizing of the stories!
Those three books make up my publishing plans for this year. I have not forgotten about the Caledonia sequel I hinted at however many months ago (either here or on one of my social media sites, I can’t remember now where I talked about it). That story is still proving recalcitrant, and since it is more important to me to get it right rather than publish it fast, I’ve stopped trying to set a publication date for it. It is still happening, just … not very fast.
I also have two more Whitney & Davies novels planned, and my hope is to publish one if not both in 2023. After that … who knows? We shall see where the muse strikes!
Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions about the upcoming books, or an urgent request for a story that you are hoping to read, or a character you’d like to see featured in an upcoming story, or if you just want to talk about the books! I always enjoy chatting with my readers.
*found in the short story collection Magic & Mayhem
