#Extract ~ Quilling Me Softly by Nigel May #Mystery #Giveaway @Nigel_May @rararesources #TuesdayBookBlog

It’s my pleasure to join the blog tour, organised by Rachel’s Random Resources, with an extract from Quilling Me Softly by Nigel May. And if you enjoy crafting do check out Nigel’s fabulous giveaway.

“Hello everyone. Nigel here. I thought you might like to read an excerpt from my new novel, Quilling Me Softly. I really hope that you adore reading it as much as I did writing it. This is a passage about WPC Paula Horton, one of the police officers in the book helping to solve the mystery. She is a lovely character who really enjoys village life, but she does come with a side-serving of sassiness which I really love about her and made her fantastic to write. She adores her simple life in the village with her friends and fluffy pet cat but even though she might not want to admit it at first I think she loves it when a juicy mystery comes along for her to sink her investigative teeth into. I hope you enjoy it too. Love N x”

Paula had originally grown up in a village about eight miles away but fell in love with Rooney-at-Burrow when she had started working there a few years ago. She used to drive to work every day, but when Margaret bought the two cottages after her financial windfall of a divorce, she had asked Paula if she’d like to rent one. There was no way Paula could afford it on police wages, but Margaret was unconcerned and adamant she should take up her offer. ‘Dear girl, you’re a village police officer and if ever I was in need of your services in the middle of the night, I would prefer you to be living on my doorstep as opposed to in some village where it would take you at least an hour to come to my aid given some of the roads around here.’ When Paula had reminded her that Sergeant Pollett only lived a few doors down from her, Margaret had still been determined. ‘But you’re a female officer and what if the crime was of a personal delicate nature? Something that I wouldn’t be overly keen on sharing with my best friend’s nephew. Sometimes talking to a woman can be so much easier.’ Margaret had sealed the deal with, ‘Plus, your ginger tom will get to see you so much more and he is just adorable.’ She and Paula had often cooed over videos on her phone of Mr Bublé, named after Paula’s favourite crooner of course, playing with scrunched-up balls of tin foil. 

Paula and Mr Bublé had moved in and she still considered it to be the best move she had ever made. Noah and Pearl as neighbours, the easiest landlady ever living across the village square, her boss and his family just over the duck pond too and a mere seven-minute walk past the wool shop and Rita’s to get to the police station. It also meant she could nip home and feed Mr Bublé if she had the chance. The portly puss spent his days sitting quite contentedly in Paula’s front garden watching the world go by and unsuccessfully attempting to ensnare a sparrow. 

Meet the craft group swapping decoupage for deception and glues for clues…

Violet Brewer is the owner of Rooney-at-Burrow’s charming wool shop, Brewer’s Loop, and the organiser of its weekly crafting group. Nothing much usually happens in the sleepy little English village. Until now.

But when Sir Buster Burniston, much-loved owner of nearby Burrow Hall, is found dead, a cloud of mystery lingers in the village air. Or at least it does for Violet and her fellow craft mates in Team C.R.A.B – the Crafters of Rooney-at-Burrow. They are certain that the old man’s death might not be as cut and dried as Violet’s police officer nephew, Samuel, seems to think. Violet has lived in the village for over sixty years, and something tells her and her creative pals that there is more behind Sir Buster’s sad demise. Violet and her friends are determined to turn detective, despite what her nephew says. And soon murder is on the cards at their meet and make sessions as they discover a mystery that needs to be unpicked stitch by stitch…

Purchase Links ~ Amazon UK / Amazon US

Nigel is no stranger to the worlds of both publishing and crafting. He has published seven previous novels – six glam fiction blockbusters such as Trinity, Addicted and Revenge, which saw him gain fabulous reviews and nicknamed as the ‘UK’s male Jackie Collins’, and a gripping psychological thriller called The Girl Unknown. Quilling Me Softly is his first foray into the cosy crime world. Crafting is very close to his heart as he has been working as a TV presenter on the UK’s biggest crafting TV channel, Create & Craft, for over 16 years, and he has launched his own successful craft range, A-May-Zing, as well. He was named top Male Personality Of The Year in the Crafts Beautiful Awards in 2021.

As well as writing and telly hosting, Nigel presents a weekly national radio show on Gaydio, interviewing celebrities from the worlds of TV, film and music. He lives in Brighton and his obsessions include Eurovision, all things 80s, flea markets and juicy reality TV.

Social Media Links – Twitter / Insta / Facebook 

THE HUGE QUILLING ME SOFTLY CRAFT GIVEAWAY (Open Int)

Please click on the Rafflecopter link to enter.

Seeing as Quilling Me Softly is based around the members of a fabulous craft group and Nigel also works in the world of craft it only seems right that the launch of Quilling Me Softly should come with a massive crafty prize giveaway! Nigel has teamed up with one of the craft world’s most inventive companies, the incredible Lisa Horton Crafts to give away a bumper bundle of crafting goodies worth over £150. Included in the prize bundle are loads of inspirational layering stencils and embossing folders plus the worldwide crafting smash that is the Ulti-Mate Multi Tool – it’s the perfect crafting tool for everyone when it comes to stamping, stencilling and blending.

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.