NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES EBOOKS ON KINDLE

Announcing the ebook versions of 2 Sherlock Holmes
reference works:

THE SHERLOCK HOLMES MURDER FILE. Indispensable guide to murder in the Sherlock Holmes stories


SHERLOCK HOLMES SMOKING COMPANION

What were the reasons for Sherlock Holmes heavy addiction to tobacco? What is meant by a Trichonopoly and a Lunkah? Why did Holmes keep his cigars in the coal scuttle and his tobacco in a Persian slipper? These and other perplexing questions form the basis for this detailed study of tobacco and its uses in the Sherlock Holmes saga. As fans know, Holmes was an expert on the subject and author of a monograph on tobacco. This study by Holmes expert and crime writer Kelvin Jones, follows Holmes own deductive methods, and includes an appendix with one hundred and thirty two extracts from the 60 Holmes stories, all dealing with tobacco. For smokers and Holmes aficionados, this volume is a must!

NEW CHILDRENS; THRILLER

NEW ON KINDLE: ODIN'S EYE by Kelvin Jones

Ben and Maggie find a burial chamber on a Norfolk beach and inside it a Viking sword with a runic inscription. Unbeknown to them, the dead Viking has heirs who knows them only too well...Aided by the gift of a crucifix from a mysterious smith, Ben finds himself stalked by deadly adversaries both living and dead...Viking myth meets modern day menace in a chilling climax full of mystery and horror...

NEW BOOK OF SHORT STORIES

NEW SHORT STORY COLLECTION TO BE PUBLISHED

A new anthology of short stories by new Norfok writers has been published by Oakmagic Publications, an independent north Norfolk publisher.

The short story form has been largely overlooked in the twenty first century. Its golden age coincided with that of the railway when a short story in a magazine could be devoured during a short railway journey.

It is therefore good to read short stories for, unlike the novel, they rely on economy of style and execution to achieve their effects.

This new collection originates from a series of creative writing classes which the editor, crime novelist Kelvin Jones, ran in Swaffham and Aylsham. The previous anthology, “The Meeting House” appeared in 2008. “This new collection of 13 tales is slightly different from the first collection (“The Meeting House”) in that all of the stories here have some link with East Anglia and many of them are mystery stories, although they are not necessarily limited to a specific genre,” says Kelvin. “However, they all share a common objective. They provide an often alarming insight into the human condition and they cover a whole range of human emotions.” Mr Jones was previously a Creative Writing tutor for the UEA.

NORFOLK TALES appears on 4th October and is available through Amazon, the Ceres Bookshop in Swaffham or direct from the publishers at www.oakmagicpublications.co.uk, priced £7.99. Details are also available from OAKMAGIC'S Facebook page. A book launch will take place at the Ceres bookshop on 22^nd November from 7pm onwards. Contact: enquiries@oakmagicpublications.co.uk for details.

NEW NORFOLK SHORT STORY ANTHOLOGY

NEW SHORT STORY COLLECTION TO BE PUBLISHED

A new anthology of short stories by new Norfok writers is to be published by Oakmagic Publications, an independent north Norfolk publisher.

The short story form has been largely overlooked in the twenty first century. Its golden age coincided with that of the railway when a short story in a magazine could be devoured during a short railway journey.

It is therefore good to read short stories for, unlike the novel, they rely on economy of style and execution to achieve their effects.

This new collection originates from a series of creative writing classes which the editor, crime novelist Kelvin Jones, ran in Swaffham and Aylsham. The previous anthology, “The Meeting House” appeared in 2008. “This new collection of 13 tales is slightly different from the first collection (“The Meeting House”) in that all of the stories here have some link with East Anglia and many of them are mystery stories, although they are not necessarily limited to a specific genre,” says Kelvin. “However, they all share a common objective. They provide an often alarming insight into the human condition and they cover a whole range of human emotions.” Mr Jones was previously a Creative Writing tutor for the UEA.

NORFOLK TALES appears on 30^th September and is available through Amazon, the Ceres Bookshop in Swaffham or direct from the publishers at www.oakmagicpublications.co.uk, priced £7.99. Details are also available from OAKMAGIC'S Facebook page. A book launch will take place at the Ceres bookshop on 22^nd November from 7pm onwards. Contact: enquiries@oakmagicpublications.co.uk for details.

NEW SHORT STORY COLLECTION OUT SEPT 30

NORFOLK TALES

A collection of enthralling Norfolk tales by thirteen new Norfolk writers, edited by crime writer Kelvin I. Jones, will be published by OAKMAGIC PUBLICATIONS. Many of the tales here are mystery stories, although they are not necessarily limited to a specific genre. However, they all share a commonobjective. They provide us with an often alarming and disturbing insight into the human condition.

Kelvin I Jones is an authority on Cornish witchcraft. He is the author of six books about Sherlock Holmes and a biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. His work has been compared by both Francis King, the critic and novelist and Ramsey Campbell, the British fantasy and horror writer, to the work of the English ghost story writer, M.R. James. The book will be available on Amazon from 30 Sept. 2011 or direct from http://www.oakmagicpublications.co.uk/.

ISBN: 978 1904330 73 8

PRICE: £7.99

THE AUTHOR, Kelvin I Jones

Kelvin I. Jones has been a prolific writer for a quarter of a century. Born in Kent in 1948, he is one of that rare breed who is equally at home writing poetry, plays and, above all, novels. He has published six books about Sherlock Holmes and the only study on Conan Doyle’s interest in spiritualism, as well as numerous articles about the Victorian detective (see R De Waal's Universal Sherlock Holmes, online edition, 2000). Ed Hoch, the renowned American crime writer, has said of his Sherlockian work: “Kelvin I Jones reveals a sensibility and knowledge of 19^th Century literature that extends far beyond the world of Sherlock Holmes.” (Introduction to Sherlock and Porlock, Magico, 1984). He is also the author of many supernatural stories, among them Carter's Occult Casebook, about a psychic Edwardian detective. Of his gothic tales, Francis King, the novelist and critic, has written, “(Kelvin's work) piquantly suggest the work of a modern M.R. James.” (Introduction to Twenty Stories.) His work is also cited in Ramsey Campbell's Meddling With Ghosts (2002) where he is described as one of the 'James gang.'

Kelvin has written three books on folklore, including Occult Cornwall, as well as two fiction books for children – Odin’s Eye and The Dark Entry (the latter co-authored with wife Debbie). He is the proprietor of Oakmagic Publications, a British folklore publisher (www.oakmagicpublications.co.uk).

He has also published four occult crime novels featuring a melancholic, ex-Met detective, John Bottrell.
(see below).
In addition to novels, he wrote The Field, a play for BBC Radio in 1995, and has had plays performed at The Barbican Theatre Plymouth and The Birmingham Arts Centre, as well as his own one man show Mr Bottrell’s Amazing Tales at the Acorn Theatre Penzance. His poetry includes the moving Omega, (reprited 2011), which is a collection of poems about the survivors of a nuclear holocaust. Of his poetry, Bruce Kent, the peace activist, has written, “Kelvin has the gift of the extra eye. He can tell us what we need to see and never forget.” (Introduction to Omega).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Horror/Supernatural:

Numerous anthologised short supernatural stories: (William Kimber & other publishers) 1986 – 1989 and in “Twenty Stories”, Secker & Warburg 1989, ed. Francis King.

“Carter's Occult Casebook,”tales of an Edwardian psychic investigator, Oakmagic Pubns, 2008

Biography:

“Conan Doyle & The Spirits”: The Spiritualist Career of Arthur Conan Doyle (Thorsons),1989

Crime:

“Sherlock Holmes Murder File” (Magico, NY) 1987

“The Making of Sherlock Holmes” (Magico, NY) 1986

“Sherlock & Porlock: The Literary Antecedents of Sherlock Holmes” (Magico) 1986

“A Sherlock Holmes Dictionary” (Magico) 1987

Sherlock Holmes & The Kent Railways – Mereseborough Books, 1987

“Stone Dead” – crime novel featuring Cornish detective John Bottrell (Hale, 2006)

“The Phantom Hound” – critical essays on Doyle’s Hound of the Baskervilles. (Oakmagic 2006).

“The Flowers Of Evil” – 2^nd John Bottrell crime novel, set in Bristol – Pegasus, Spring 2008. Kindle 2011

“Witch Jar” – 3^rd Bottrell crime novel, set in Cornwall, Pegasus, 2008. Kindle 2011

Twelve After Midnight. Horror stories. Kindle 2011.

Janus. Crime/Horror novel, Kindle 2011

“A Cromer Corpse” 4^th Bottrell novel - ebook, http://www.contact-pubishing.com/, 2010.

“The Meeting House” – (edited by Kelvin I. Jones), an anthology of Norfolk short stories. Oakmagic Pubns., 2006

Folklore:

“An Joan The Crone: The History & Craft of The Cornish Witch” (Oakmagic Books, 1999)

“The Wise Woman: Her Lives, Spells, Divinatory Practices etc.” (Oakmagic Books, 2004)

Occult Cornwall – Oakmagic Pubns, 2001

CHILDREN’S FICTION

“Odin’s Eye” – Fantasy novel for teenagers, Pegasus Books, Cambridge, March 2007

“The Dark Entry” -Fantasy/supernatural novel with Debbie Jones, Oakmagic Pubns., 2009.

Radio:

“The Field” – 30 min. radio play for BBC, 1995

Poetry:

Omega: Poems about the survivors of the nuclear holocaust, Weavers Press, 1989. Reprinted 2011.

“Lyonesse”. 1995.

Theatre:

“Charlie” – The Barbican, Plymouth, 1994

“The Great Beast” – Birmingham Arts Centre, 1971

“Mr Bottrell’s Amazing Tales” – One Man Show, Acorn Theatre Penzance 1999

NEW KINDLE CRIME THRILLER: FLOWERS OF EVIL...

SYNOPSIS: The Flowers Of Evil.

It is the long hot summer of 1976.

Young D.C. John Bottrell arrives in Bristol to begin work on the Somerset and Avon's Special Investigations Unit under the watchful eye of his former colleague, DCI Ian Glenister. Bottrell is soon

introduced to the unit's first case. The remains of a woman have been found in a disused ice

house in the garden of a Redland mansion, the only clue to her identity being the expensive

French mackintosh which she was wearing.

Bottrell, a young detective with a passion for criminology who also possesses psychic abilities,

has inherited his mother's flat in the city. On arriving, he soon makes the acquaintance of two

women: Anne- Marie Fleur, a French teacher at the university and a local language school who

is now Bottrell's new neighbour. The other is Dr Frances Leadbetter, a psychological profiler

with whom Bottrell soon establishes a romantic bond.

The following day, Glenister and his team attend the murder scene of two West Indians whose

bodies have been discovered behind a wall in a derelict house in the Bedminster district but the

team are interrupted by a summons to Brandon Hill where the body of a young woman has

been found, dumped in a garden refuse compound. Glenister suspects that this murder may

share features with that of the cold case murder, a suspicion which is confirmed when a

second victim is found dead on the Bristol Downs.

Further investigation reveals that the murdered girl was a French student who had been attending

an English language school not far from Bottrell's residence. Meanwhile, both Bottrell and

Anne- Marie independently experience disturbing dreams and psychic phenomena. They

discuss their findings and when Bottrell investigates the history of the area he discovers that

the underlying cause may well be a gruesome murder which occurred in the house in Victorian

times.

Suspicion for the student murder now centres upon Norman Stanton, an EFL teacher at the

language school who has made advances to one of the young women there and who, it now

transpires, has been accused of being a collector of pornography. Under duress at the

hands of Glenister's tough interviewing technique, Stanton makes a confession. Bottrell is deeply

disturbed at this outcome and, believing him to be innocent, persuades Glenister to free him, although under surveillance.

The following day another girl dies as the victim of a frenzied knife attack and Stanton is suspected of her murder. However, he is subsequently found to have committed suicide.

Meanwhile, investigations in France reveal that Isabelle, the French cold case victim, was previously married to a Frenchman called Henri Fleur and when Bottrell’s colleague, Thomas, travels to Normandy to interview him, he finds that she had an affair with a Bristol painter called Jack Slade. Suspecting Slade may provide a clue to her murder, he returns to England to interview him.

In a final dramatic twist, Bottrell realises the true identity of the serial killer.

A crime novel, comprising a fast- paced narrative, "Flowers of Evil" features the

Cornish detective, John Bottrell.

NEW KINDLE THRILLER!!

NEW CRIME NOVEL now on KINDLE!!:

Witch Jar

Following the death of his wife, John Bottrell, ex met detective, was ready for a quiet retirement in Cornwall when he moved into derelict Yew Tree Cottage. Little did he know what secrets of the occult world would be uncovered from the legacy left to him.
He wa determined to find out what was going on in Hob's Wood and unravell the psychic disturbances and tales of witchcraft plaguing the village. But when four locals died in very suspicious circumstances, it brought him into contact with colleagues from his past and helped him finally lay to rest the ghost of Mother Lakeland. A fast paced, occult thriller from the author  of STONE DEAD (Kindle)

Also in the same series: FLOWERS OF EVIL...now out!

NEW KINDLE OCCULT THRILLER!!

Coming up on Kindle as from 2nd August 2011! A brand new psychological thriller!

THE JANUS concerns the discovery of a Celtic figure in a Romano-British hill fort in Kent. The artefact soon has a terrifying effect on whoever it comes into contact with since it is the stone talisman of a Celtic warrior whose speciality was once the severing of his opponents' heads in battle. The Janus also has the power to project terrifying dreams into the minds of the living and to so possess and prey upon them that they are driven to acts of mutilation and murder.

The JANUS deals with the fate of a newcomer to Old Bury Hill Village, whose misfortune is to unearth the Janus head whilst walking his dog on the hill fort. He takes it back to his house and is soon so possessed by the spirit of the Janus that he ritually murders his wife, severing and burying her head as an act of homage to the ancient talisman.

Armitage is then arrested and interrogated by Detective Inspector Williams and D.C. Mathews. At first they fail to be convinced by Armitage's story. The spirit of the Janus returns and Armitage's body is discovered in a police cell. It is believed that Armitage has committed suicide. Although Mathews remains sceptical, Williams becomes convinced by the truth of Armitage's motives for his wife's murder. He takes the Janus to the county museum where it is examined by the curator, a young woman called Marion Vincent, to whom Williams becomes instantly attracted and with whom he forms a passionate relationship. Both partners now become the recipients of horrendous and protracted nightmares in which are enacted Celtic rituals of bloody sacrifice....

A thrilling occult mystery!

THE DARK ENTRY

 EXTRACT FROM THE CHILDRENS' THRILLER, THE DARK ENTRY by Debie & Kelvin Jones, now on KINDLE

... the JCB bit deep into the earth, gouging out a large hole, the arm swinging free and descending again. A screechof metal on metal pierced the air. As the arm juddered, the operator swore loudly, then turned off the ignition. He scowled fiercely, lit a cigarette, then heaved himself out of the cab and peered down into the hole.

“What the hell was that ?”

In the cathedral close, an eerie silence descended like fingers of cold mist, spreading along the length of the close, winding and prodding their way out of the nooks and crannies of the offices and houses, enshrouding pedestrians with a dank odour, like a heavy cold weight in the still, summer air.

The frozen stillness was broken by a low, sustained rumble as if the very earth was groaning and heaving in protest. Like an angry beast, it began slowly, then, gathering speed, began to rock the foundations of the surrounding buildings. From the epicentre, it roared out beyond the Cathedral Close, out to the River, beyond into the city.

At the Ferry, the water began to ripple and churn, rocking the barges and boats, scattering the swans in a macabre flight of fear. A boy, fishing by the river, leapt to his feet in alarm, his stool rocking, his rod dislodged by the deep tremor. Further along the river, behind the magistrate’s court, a hunched youth who had been sitting quietly on a bench, sprang to his feet in sudden fear as the trees shook and quivered around him, and the earth moved.

The tremor hit the cathedral like a great train, bursting through, rattling windows, shaking joists, scattering hymn books and papers wildly. Terrified choristers gasped in fear and clung to each other as the ancient stones shook to their foundations. Candles guttered and toppled from their sconces and the nave was plunged into stygian gloom as the lights failed.

A party of sixth formers, some lounging on the grass, others cavorting around the labyrinth, fell silent as the tremor hit them and the sky above darkened. Some shrieked, others ran into the cloisters towards the Dark Entry but one girl stood silent at the edge of the grass, sensing the deep reverberations from beneath her.

She clasped her forehead, feeling a sharp, searing pain, then fell backwards in a faint, lying awkwardly on the grass, her ashen face framed by deep red curls.

TWELVE AFTER MIDNIGHT

TWELVE AFTER MIDNIGHT is a collection of twelve stories of horror and the supernatural by crime and fantasy writer Kelvin I Jones, author of CARTER'S OCCULT CASEBOOK. These contemporary tales range widely in theme and treatment but throughout there is a fascination with folklore and  myth. Several of these stories have appeared in previous anthologies both in the UK and America. Essential winter fireside reading for the Kindle reader! Available as a Kindle edition from 28th July 2011.

NEW EDWARDIAN OCCULT CRIME THRILLER ON KINDLE

CARTER’S OCCULT CASEBOOK

Ebook on Kindle by Kelvin I. Jones

This collection of occult short stories features Edwardian psychic and sleuth, Dr John Carter and his amenuensis and chronicler Rigden.. The stories, written in the tradition of the English ghost and horror tradition, cover a wide range of folkloric and mythic themes, and the forensic and Holmesian abilities of the sleuth are exploited to surprising and often horrifying effects. These novella type tales evoke a gaslit world of murder and mayhem where terror stalks the streets of Edwardian London but where the countryside also threatens to overwhelm our sanity.

Kelvin I Jones is the author of four contemporary crime novels featuring the Cornish detective John Bottrell and is an authority on the life and works of Conan Doyle, being the author of Conan Doyle And The Spirits. His atmospheric and chilling supernatural tales have been compared to the work of the legendary gothic writer Montague Rhodes James by both the award winning Francis King and renowned English horror writer Ramsey Campbell. He is a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London and has written no less than six books about Sherlock Holmes.

CUNNING CRIME BOOKS

CUNNING CRIME BOOKS is a new publishing imprint on Kindle, offering a variety of occult thrillers from the prolific pen of crime writer Kelvin I. Jones. In STONE DEAD, ex-Met detective John Bottrell travels to Cornwall to escape the memory of his wife's tragic death but he little realizes that he will soon be embroiled in a web of murder, witchcraft and the occult. When the naked body of a young woman is found on a footpath suspicion falls on her boyfriend. However, after Bottrell has applied his analytical skills to the activities of the local pagan community he is forced to revise his opinion.

A dark tale of intrigue and obsession from the wilds of west Cornwall.

Kelvin I Jones is an authority on Cornish witchcraft. He is the author of six books about Sherlock Holmes and a biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.His work has been compared by both Francis King, the critic and novelist and Ramsey Campbell, the British fantasy and horror writer, to the wrk of the English ghost story writer, M.R. James.