‘Thank God for that,’ you groan. ‘Perhaps she’ll stop banging on about it now?’ And yes, you’re right, I will, but let me have one last hurrah.

Tap Dance On Here For Your Copy

Here's the blurb:

The Show must go on ... Even if it kills me!

I'm a complete novice, yet somehow I'm performing at the dance school's annual show.

Luckily, my partner, Rufus, has enough rhythm for both of us — until a 'fall' down the stairs puts him out of action.

Rufus insists he was pushed. Now, between fumbling the foxtrot and tripping over my tango, I'm determined to find his attacker.

But as the Big Night approaches, the tempo accelerates. Dancers are vanishing, and I find our Leading Lady unconscious and left for dead.

Amongst the glitz and sequins, a killer is hiding in the wings. Can I stay nimble enough to catch them, or will the final curtain fall on me?

I don't notice at the time of writing, but once I've Shuffled Off to Buffalo with a book, I realise I've incorporated aspects and characters from my real life. For example, like Helen, I joined a dance class in my early thirties and, within weeks, found myself on stage, wearing fishnet tights and a scared expression.

And I modelled the dance teachers in the book, Seraphina and Pongo, on a charmless, dour couple I met on holiday years ago. They were the last people on earth you'd expect to be tango experts.

But that's it for now, folks; I'm all out of moves and grooves. And in case you evaded my clutches earlier by taking a canny ‘step to the right,’ here’s the book again.

Your Last Chance Saloon

Love from Carole xxxx

P.S. I got all this way without telling you it’s my birthday today.🎂 🥳

A warm welcome to all new subscribers. 🤗 You’ve possibly landed here from Facebook.

Now to my nonsense …

I'd been meaning to get a new phone for ages. My battery was on life support, and I couldn't leave the house without a charger and power pack, but two issues were holding me back:

• I suffer from laziness

• I don't like change

For a whole minute, I squinted at phone deals online. Baffled and bamboozled by the array, I thought, what if ‘they’ send me a phone and it gets lost, or some lowlife intercepts it? Call me a worrywart, but for a murder mystery writer, there’s a crime around every corner.

So, I went to a phone shop, and the purchase was surprisingly easy. Carried away, I even added a tablet to the deal for a nominal fee. I floated out of the shop with my two devices in a cute, little phone-shop carrier, feeling pretty smug. It didn’t last long.

I had a quick mooch around the other shops before wandering back to the car park. That’s when I realised the carrier had disappeared. 😱😭In my novels, I often glibly write, ‘her heart sank’ to denote moments of tension, but mine literally did.

It even hit my boots after a ‘no, sorry, it's not here’ at the shops I'd visited. Circling the shopping centre, I returned to the first, ready to insist that they tear their place apart, but they'd found it! Wasn't I lucky? But my phone trauma didn’t stop there …

Before I bore you completely, let me remind you that The Last Tango At Merangs (book 6) is out next month and available to:

Pre-order Here

Helen is skipping the light fandango until murder trips her up.

My phone remained in its box for two days before I could face setting it up. In the middle of transferring the data, the WiFi router packed in, and I was lost in no man's land with half my data on one phone and half on the other. My WhatsApp messages are still lost in space. I was also locked out of TikTok in the middle of opening my shop.

I've lost hours of my life to this TikTok shop. I jumped through hoops to verify myself before tripping over a Brexit hurdle with the EU. Then they slapped a ‘content violation’ on me for reasons I still can't fathom. I'm continuing through gritted teeth and so far have listed 3 paperbacks. I'm hoping to offer gift bundles soon. Unfortunately, I can only sell in the UK, but if you’re on TikTok, please say hello. I'm Carole Marples Author

I must get back to editing my Tango, so that’s a wrap for now, folks. See you in March.

Love from Carole xxxx

P.S. Have you ever lost anything significant?

Crashing through the barrier, I feared for more than just my netball career. My back thumped against a metal post, and then I did a terrifying backflip. That was New Year's Eve, and I was in bed by 10. Apart from that, my ski holiday was a blast.

A belated Happy New Year.

Are you back in the swing of normal life after the holiday period? It's taken me a week to adjust, and look, I've not even got it together yet; I totally forgot to WELCOME all new subscribers at the start of the newsletter. I'm so glad you're here – that's if you’ve not already left!

New subscribers are possibly reading The Murder Before Merangs, and you’ve joined us just after I've finished Book 6 in the series: The Last Tango At Merangs. If you want to be one of the first to read it, you can pre-order here. (Shameless plug, I know.)

I’m also touting for ARC readers. I'll send you a FREE copy of the ebook about 3 weeks before publication in return for an honest review. Just reply to this email. You may be an old hand at this, or you may never have done it before, but either way, I'd be delighted to have you on the team.

On My Writing To-Do List

I’m slightly panicking and don't know what to do first. 🤯

• Open a TikTok shop and then an Etsy one to sell signed paperbacks with added gifts. 🎁 (I'm late to both parties.)

• Format The Last Tango for ebook & paperback.

• Continue writing my new book, Death She Typed. It's not exactly flowing. Every sentence needs to be squeezed out.

• Continue my author interviews. Have you seen them on my website blog?

I’ve probably bored you enough, and we're all busy people, so I’ll wrap it up for now.

Love from Carole xxxx

P.S. Did anyone else receive an oven shelf as their main Christmas present? 🎁 Tell me your worst or your best present.

I wouldn’t be best pleased to receive one, but when I put it to my Buttersley Best Facebook Group in a sneering voice, I received a mixed response. One Bestie said she loves all things crafty, and another adores knitting. So there! What do I know?

I stumbled across this dishcloth gem while procrastinating on my writing. After finishing The Last Tango At Merangs (available for pre-order HERE. Grab it while you can!), I’m struggling to start a new series, and knitted dishcloth kits appeared as a welcome distraction. (I’ve got mileage out of it at least). 😁😜

I know you're especially busy in December, so I'll keep this short and wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Thanks for all your support throughout the year. 🤗

Below is a long list of FREE books. Fill your winter boots! Click on the image to peruse.

That’s all for 2025, folks. I’ve got to go now; those dishcloths don’t knit themselves. What's the worst gift 🎁 you’ve ever received? If you get a moment, I’m dying to know.

Love from Carole xxxx

P.S. Join my BB Facebook Private Group to be the first to hear about knitting kits.

I'm In

I'd forgotten all about chumping until I heard it mentioned recently. Do you know the term? Possibly not, because Google's just told me it's only used in some parts of Britain.

Chumping means collecting wood for Bonfire Night. When I was young, it was a competitive sport amongst schoolkids. Who could get the most wood for the big night – legitimately or sometimes not.

That and dressing Guy Fawkes up in your dad's clothes to burn on the bonfire was as good as it got until Christmas.

Little did I know that as a chumping child, I was commemorating a failed religious plot to blow up the King and the Palace of Westminster 400 years before. The black treacle toffee eaten around bonfires is still called Plot toffee.

But this is a newsletter about books, so before leading to mine, I’m going to segue into a diary entry from Samuel Pepys, written in 1660.

The 5th of November is observed exceeding well in the City; and at night great bonefires* and fireworks.

*His olde spelling, not mine!

So, back to me! The last book in The Merang Mysteries is now available to pre-order. The Last Tango At Merangs is a firecracker 🧨 🎆, and Buttersley's going out with a bang!

Fire Me Up

Before I go, here’s a cute video about the gunpowder plot. Fancy having arms like that!

That’s all for now, folks.

Love Carole xxxx

P.S. I’d love to hear about any traditions peculiar to your part of the world.