Tag: Gillian Jackson

Distract Yourself with these Heart-Pounding Thrillers

To help keep you entertained during quarantine we’ve put together a list of some of our most absorbing thrillers, featuring mysterious disappearances, historical conspiracies, ghostly dreams and more…

Paternoster, Kim Fleet

A compelling timeshift mystery, Paternoster moves between 18th Century and modern-day England. In 1795, kept woman Rachel Lovett is left homeless and destitute when her benefactor loses his money. Forced to steal jewellery to survive, Rachel finds herself constantly on the run from the law and the hangman’s noose. And when she joins a brothel, she is soon introduced into the ruthless Paternoster Club…

In 2013, Private Investigator Eden Grey is called in to examine a pair of skeletons found in the grounds of a prestigious school. It soon becomes obvious that these are not recent murders – the bodies have been buried for centuries. And now Eden must unravel a historic mystery while concealing her own personal demons…

Click here to order Paternoster

The Black and the White, Alis Hawkins

Set in 1349, The Black and the White is a chilling medieval mystery that explores the ravages of the infamous Black Death. Martin Collyer wakes up in his family’s charcoaling hut, having made a miraculous recovery. But his father, who showed no signs of the plague, is dead.

With no home to go to, Martin seizes his second chance at life and goes on a journey to seek salvation for his father’s unconfessed soul. Along the way, he befriends another traveller, the enigmatic Hob Cleve. But when more suspicious deaths occur, Martin begins to wonder whether he is travelling with a killer…

Click here to order The Black and the White

Abduction, Gillian Jackson

Abduction is an emotional psychological thriller that confronts every parent’s worst nightmare. During her third birthday party, little Grace disappears without a trace while playing a game of hide and seek.

As the years go by and the case goes cold, Grace’s parents lose hope of ever finding her and do their best to move on with their lives. But her older sister, Elise, refuses to give up. And a chance encounter leads her to believe that she may have found her…

Click here to order Abduction

Past Imperfect, John Matthews

Spanning three decades, Past Imperfect is a gripping international crime novel with a paranormal twist. In 1963, a boy is kidnapped and murdered in the French countryside. The killer is seemingly caught, but young policeman Dominic Fornier is convinced he is innocent.

In London thirty years later, a boy loses his parents in a car accident and is left comatose. And when he regains consciousness, he is plagued by eerie dreams of a life that isn’t his. When Fornier hears of a possible link between the two boys, he throws himself into a desperate race against time to catch a brutal killer and right the wrongs of the past…

Click here to order Past Imperfect

The Catherine Howard Conspiracy, Alexandra Walsh

The Catherine Howard Conspiracy is an absorbing dual timeline conspiracy thriller with a shocking twist on Tudor history. In 1539, young Catherine Howard is brought to the court of King Henry VIII to be a lady in waiting to the new queen, Ann of Cleves. But when she catches the king’s eye, her uncle begins scheming to secure a Howard heir to the throne. After the fate that befell her cousin, Anne Boleyn, Catherine is terrified of the unpredictable king and begins to fear for her life.

In 2018, Perdita and Piper Rivers inherit Marquess House from their estranged grandmother, renowned Tudor historian Mary Fitzroy. When Perdita sets out to uncover Mary’s reasons for abandoning them, she is drawn into the mysterious archives of Marquess House: a collection of letters and diaries that claim all records of Catherine Howard’s execution were falsified…

Click here to order The Catherine Howard Conspiracy

 

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Author Q&A with Gillian Jackson

Hi Gillian! Welcome to the Sapere Books blog!

The first two books you have published with us have similar themes of children going missing and families struggling to find them. What initially drew you to those sorts of stories?

I set out to write a compelling story (and what is more compelling than the abduction of a child?) that could be seen from several different perspectives. Those of us who are parents can imagine the horror of a missing child, and I was able to draw on my experience of a time when my own two-year-old daughter went missing from our garden. She was only out of my sight for a few moments and fortunately was found within forty minutes, but the gamut of emotions my husband and I experienced was terrifying. The fear, guilt and despair almost crippled us. I was able to project some of these emotions onto the parents in Abduction and Snatched, who had to wait more than an hour to find out what had happened to their missing children.

We will soon be publishing a third thriller by you – THE ACCIDENT. Can you give us a little teaser of what it’s about?

This is a book I consider to be my ‘ripples in a pond’ novel. It begins, as the title suggests, with an accident and follows the consequences for those involved. As the story unfolds, jealousy comes into play with a shocking outcome; a life changing injury is faced, and the very best possible outcome is derived from the very worst scenario. If that isn’t enough, there’s a smattering of romance too!

Have you always wanted to be a writer? What first got you into writing?

It wasn’t until my early fifties that I began writing seriously, although I’ve dabbled in children’s stories and short stories for most of my adult life. Initially, writing was for me a therapeutic experience, as I kept a journal while recovering from a rather difficult period in my life. The first book I ever wrote was a small self-help book, my only foray into nonfiction so far.

What part of the writing process do you find the most challenging?

Probably the ending, as I sometimes get too bogged down in tying up all the loose ends until I’m satisfied that the story is properly wrapped up. Perhaps this is because when I read a book, I find an incomplete ending so frustrating!

Where and how do you write? Do you have set hours or do you write when you feel motivated? And do you have a favourite writing spot?

Being easily distracted, I’m fortunate to have a designated study to lock myself away to write. I try to write most days but often find my mind most active late at night when all these fictional characters keep me awake with their conversations, and I need to write, or at least make notes. As a work in progress develops, the time I spend on it increases as my enthusiasm grows.

Do you like to read the same types of books you write? Or something completely different? Can you tell us some of your favourite books?

I read quite widely, from thrillers to sagas. I love all of Kate Morton’s books as well as Victoria Hislop’s, particularly The Island. Some of my all-time favourite books are Jane Austen’s novels and the works of the Brontë sisters; I love the sense of atmosphere that leaps off every page, and Austen’s wit is amazing and so timeless!

What three tips would you give to aspiring writers?

You can’t do enough editing and polishing. The temptation when you write those satisfying words ‘the end’ is to get your book out into the world. Don’t – leave it for a couple of weeks and go back to read it again with fresh eyes; you’ll be surprised. Also, write what you know, and enjoy the journey.

Tell us something surprising about yourself!

I used to walk my rather large pet goat, Hobnob, around the streets on a lead. We were discovered and interviewed for BBC TV, but I had to do most of the talking.

 

Gillian Jackson is the author of psychological and domestic thrillers.

Click here to order ABDUCTION.

Click here to order SNATCHED.