The Novels.
A brief introduction by the author.
Hello, visitor!
Below are a few notes on my completed novels, all of which are under constant revision until such magical time as they secure representation! I am currently working on Penhaligon's Attic, a traditional Edwardian ghost story set in Helston, Cornwall. Please click on the links to take you directly to the notes and sample chapters.
Terri.
Saturday's Child ~ The Dust of Ancients ~ The Darkfire Legacy ~ Penhaligon's Attic
1912. A chance meeting between scullery maid Lizzy Parker and heiress Evie Creswell leads to more than an enduring friendship and a new job for Lizzy; it draws her into a world of privilege and intrigue, and delivers her into the loving arms of a killer.
Through Evie, Lizzy comes to know the handsome but controversial Jack Carlisle and begins to fall for him, dismissing as malicious gossip rumours that he had been responsible for the death of Evie's father. Her feelings are reciprocated, but the rumours gain weight as he disappears just when she needs him most: she is convicted of the theft of the Kalteng Star -- a stunning blue diamond set into a necklace -- and Jack could have provided her only alibi.
Released from prison shortly after the start of the Great War Lizzy discovers Will, a good friend, has wandered away from his trench suffering from shell shock and faces charges of desertion. Patriarch of a rival family Samuel Wingfield knows where he’s being sheltered, and his price for silence is the Kalteng Star, so Lizzy sets out to find the real thief in order to save Will from the firing squad.
It isn't long before she realises Wingfield and Jack have a history that might help her, and when Jack finally admits killing Evie's father the choice becomes simple: put her trust in a self-confessed murderer or lose the fight to save her friend's life.
Read the first chapter here:
The Dust Of Ancients: urban fantasy.
As children, Laura and Tom Riley encounter something deep under the Cornish moors where they live – something that belongs only in the grimmest of fairytales. While Laura, at thirteen, is able to convince herself there was a rational explanation, ten year old Tom has already changed forever; his moods begin to affect the weather - sometimes with tragic results - and if he strays from his village for too long he becomes physically ill.
Now, in adulthood, Laura has become mother and father to her increasingly unstable brother, and resigned to a life putting his needs ahead of her own. But when Richard Lucas arrives in the village she finds she’s ready for more after all: Richard is bone-meltingly gorgeous, funny, and possessed of an uncanny grace. He’s also hard-edged, and deeply troubled, and is immediately drawn to Laura’s innate gentleness.
With Laura’s help, Richard uncovers his historic connection to Cornwall, and it threatens everything he’s ever believed ... because Richard is a fairy, and that knowledge does not sit well with him. Not at all. He discovers he is descended from a race of moorland Elemental spirits; the same race whose insane king had taken hold inside Tom Riley when he was a child and is now driving him, literally, out of his mind.
After his initial furious rejection of the truth, Richard is forced into a violent confrontation with Tom when the Elemental recognises Richard for who he is and attempts to take over his body instead.
Now Richard must fight for his life, knowing that to win will mean killing an innocent man, the brother of the woman he loves.
Read chapters 1- 3 here:
The Darkfire Legacy: crime thriller
(under edit and coming soon, please check back.)
Penhaligon's Attic: paranormal
(under edit and coming soon, please check back.)
