There’s still just over a month to go until Mistletoe and Murder is released in the UK and Ireland – but if you just can’t wait to read more about Hazel and Daisy, the wait is over. My ebook short story, The Case of the Deepdean Vampire, is available to download from today!

Like The Case of the Blue Violet, this story is narrated by Daisy Wells and set at Deepdean School, just after the end of Jolly Foul Play (though I promise I do not spoil who the murderer is!). It’s not a murder – but strange things are most definitely afoot. As Daisy explains …

Of all the mysteries that Hazel and I have investigated, the Case of the Deepdean Vampire was one of the strangest. It was not a murder, which was a pity – but I did solve it very cleverly, and so I decided it ought to be written down, so that other people could read it and be impressed.

Camilla Badescu is in the fifth form, and has pale skin, dark hair and red lips. She comes from Romania (which is practically Transylvania). She doesn’t eat at meals. And she seemed to have an unhealthy influence over another pupil, Amy Jessop. Now, I do not believe in vampires – I am the Honourable Daisy Wells, after all. But when I heard the rumour that Camilla was seen climbing head-first down a wall, I knew it was time to investigate…

At the moment, this story is only available to download wherever the UK editions of my books are sold (this is because my US publishers hold the distribution rights for all of my titles in the US). It is also only available as an ebook. BUT, if you don’t have an e-reader, or if you get your books from libraries, you are in luck!

This morning I signed the contract for the upcoming Cream Buns and Crime anthology. This will be a real book, and it will be full of puzzles and codes and recipes, the three short stories I have written so far (Lavinia’s Missing Tie, Blue Violet and Deepdean Vampire) AND two BRAND NEW short stories featuring characters from Hazel and Daisy’s world.

Cream Buns and Crime will publish in April 2017. A cover is on the way, and you’ll be able to pre-order the book soon – I’m very excited at the thought of seeing my short stories in physical form!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy The Case of the Deepdean Vampire. When I’m not reading murder mysteries, I really like stories about vampires and werewolves. One of my favourite books of all time is Dracula. So when my publishers suggested that I write a short story with a Halloween theme … I knew exactly what I wanted to do.