Cheers! Penelope Parish here. I’m currently a writer in residence at the Open Book bookstore in Upper Chumley-on-Stoke, a charming town in Merrie Olde England. I’m working on my second Gothic novel—the first one became a best seller—and I’ve hit a writer’s block the size of Rhode Island. I’m hoping a change of scenery will help me get unstuck.

Mabel Morris, who is a former analyst for MI6, owns the Open Book. I help out by running book groups and a writing group and dreaming up interesting themed displays for the shop like the one where I gathered together several books on princesses and arranged them around a faux diamond tiara.

So far I have managed to not get myself killed by driving down the wrong side of the street although there have been too many close calls for comfort! “My sainted aunt,” Mabel said the last time I told her about one of those experiences. She thinks I ought to give up my car but Parishes aren’t quitters as my grandmother used to say, and I’m determined to persevere. Besides, the last time I came bumper to bumper with someone it was a rather handsome and charming man!

Chum, as the natives call it, is preparing for a big event—the Worthington Fest—to be held at Worthington House, which is actually an enormous castle on a hill overlooking the town. I’ve even been there for tea. (And my mother said not to count on meeting any nobility!) I was quite the nervous wreck but I managed not to spill my tea or do anything too terribly gauche.

Arthur Worthington, who is the duke of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke and a favorite of the Queen’s, is engaged to Charlotte Davenport. It has everyone in an uproar because not only is Charlotte American, but she’s a best selling romance writer as well—the kinds of romances that used to be called bodice rippers and feature long-haired, bare-chested men on the cover.

I’ve met a number of lovely people already. Who said the British are stiff? First, there’s Lady Fiona Innes-Goldthorpe, aka Figgy, who runs the bookstore teashop and has become a great friend. Then there’s India Culpepper, a frequent visitor to the Open Book, who is distantly related to Worthington and Gladys Watson who runs the Pig in a Poke, the local butcher shop.

And then there’s Regina Bosworth, of course, who is managing the fest. But I hardly had a chance to get to know her before she turned up. . .dead!

Murder in the Margins is the first book in the NEW “Open Book” cozy mystery series, released October 27, 2020.

The plot thickens for American gothic writer Penelope Parish when a murder near her quaint British bookshop reveals a novel’s worth of killer characters.

Penelope Parish has hit a streak of bad luck, including a severe case of writer’s block that is threatening her sophomore book. Hoping a writer in residence position at The Open Book bookstore in Upper Chumley-on-Stoke, England, will shake the cobwebs loose, Pen, as she’s affectionately known, packs her typewriter and heads across the pond.

Unfortunately, life in Chumley is far from quiet and when the chairwoman of the local Worthington Fest is found dead, fingers are pointed at Charlotte Davenport, an American romance novelist and the future Duchess of Worthington. Charlotte turns to the one person who might be her ally for help: fellow American Pen. Teaming up with bookstore owner Mabel Morris and her new friend Figgy, Pen sets out to learn the truth and find the tricks that will help her finish her novel.

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About the author
Peg Cochran is the USA Today and national bestselling author of the Open Book Series written as Margaret Loudon, the Murder, She Reported series, the Cranberry Cove series, the Farmer’s Daughter series, the Gourmet De-Lite series, the Lucille series and the Sweet Nothing Lingerie series written as Meg London.

A former Jersey girl, Peg now lives in Michigan with her husband. When she’s not writing she enjoys reading, cooking and spoiling her granddaughter.

All comments are welcomed.