September 1st is the publication date for the latest Andorra Pett adventure.
Wherever Andorra Pett goes, trouble seems to be waiting for her.
The Moon is no exception.
Andorra and her best friend, Cy are in Selenville having a quiet holiday. It seems ideal, there’s a bit of sightseeing to do but she chose it because it’s a good place to chill and unwind.
Except, nothing is ever easy in her world.
When they arrive, they find that Selenville is alive with intrigue, over the control of the Moon’s industry.
A chance remark leads them on the trail of an audacious plot to destabilise the economy of the solar system and give control of everything in it to a criminal syndicate. A plot so well hidden that nobody will believe it’s possible.
This means that Andorra has to find proof, and the right person to show it to.
Time is of the essence; although she doesn’t know it, her world is about to change forever.
You can find out more about the plot and read an extract here.
If someone had told me, back in 2016 when I wrote the first words of Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café, that this would turn into a series of six books so far, with a seventh and a spin-off story planned, I would have laughed at them.
It all started when my wife suggested that I write a female lead character. In fact, she bet me that I couldn’t do it.
Having three daughters, I reckoned that I would be up to the task, I certainly had enough insight, thanks to their antics. The only thing on my mind was where to set it. I didn’t want to just create another hero like the males I had already got, I wanted someone different.
I’m a huge fan of Miss Marple and Agatha Raisin, plus the mysterious puzzles that Jonathan Creek solves with such aplomb. I wondered if I could do something similar.
At the time, there were quite a few books featuring a woman who was wronged and moved to the coast to start again, opening a café on the beach or a cakeshop in the village.
With my Sci-fi writing hat on, I wondered about the ultimate retreat from a cheating boyfriend. How about a one-way trip to a space station, located off Saturn?
Once I had that, the rest followed, Andorra was joined by her trusty sidekick, Cy, who was also after a change in his life. They made a team, not in a romantic way, just as two buddies, both flawed but comfortable in their friendship.
The trouble was, in Andorra’s life, nothing was ever going to be simple. Because I had made her accident-prone and apparently less clever than she was made it fun to invent situations for her.
Like her first project, a café on the space station. This seemed like a perfect way to make a new start. Except that it was marred by the body of the previous owner, lurking in the freezer.
It all meant a change of direction for her, as she had to turn sleuth to save herself.
I wrote the first book, Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café, for NaNoWriMo in 2016. But I didn’t stop there. As I was writing it, I had an idea for her next adventure, set in the caves of Mars.
By February 2017, I had that story written as well.
And so it continued. Andorra returned to Earth to help her sister, then had a cruise on the Solar System’s first interplanetary space-liner.
OK, it took three years after I finished Andorra Pett takes a Break for me to write this one, but that was because I had other things to do.
You can pre-order Andorra Pett and the Luna Mining Conspiracy here.
Not only that, in a special deal, to get you started, the box set of the first three stories is available at the special price of £2.99 ($3.99) until the launch date. Just click on the picture.
Meet Andorra Pett. She’s running away from trouble, but it keeps finding her. The first three adventures of the solar system’s most unlikely detective are here in one volume
“Agatha Raisin in space – slick crime thriller meets sci-fi fun.”
This collection contains,
Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café
Andorra Pett on Mars
Andorra Pett and her Sister
When Andorra decides to get away from her car-crash of a love life, she ends up on a space mine orbiting Saturn, armed only with the determination to do something different. Solving crime was never on the agenda, just a bit of forgetting about the past and making a new life.
The trouble is; bodies and murderers seem to be around every turn. Not to mention organised crime, stolen goods and all manner of dubious characters. Andorra soon gets dragged in over her head. At least she’s kept her sense of humour
With her pal Cy, she gets to grips with running a café and discovers its secrets.
Then her ex turns up with a tale of woe, forcing her to go to Mars.
Finally, she discovers that family is the only thing that really matters, when her sister back on Earth needs her help.
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