by R B Marshall
Writing as Roz Marshall:
The Celtic Fey series:
Urban Fantasy / Young Adult Fantasy set in Scotland (and the faerie realm).
Unicorn Magic
Kelpie Curse
Faerie Quest
The Fey Bard
Merlin’s Army (due in 2o2o)
The Celtic Fey (Books 1-3. Also in paperback)
Secrets in the Snow series:
Sports Romance / Women’s Fiction set in a Scottish ski school.
Winter Arrives
Skiing with Santa
A Dream for Hogmanay
Fear of Falling
The Snow Patrol
My Snowy Valentine
The Racer Trials
Snow Blind
Weathering the Storm
The Complete Collection (Books 1-6 & Short Stories 1-3. Also in paperback)
Half Way Home stories:
Young Adult Science Fiction set in Hugh Howey’s Half Way Home universe.
Nobody’s Hero
The Final Solution
Scottish stories:
Still Waters
Writing as BELLE McINNES:
Mary’s Ladies series:
Scottish Historical Romance telling the story of Mary Queen of Scots.
A Love Divided
A Love Beyond
A Love Concealed (releasing 31 Aug 2020)
From the Author
Fact and Fiction
As much as I can, I like to base the locations and history in my books on real places and events, adding my fictional elements around them.
Royal history
Back in 1981, a seventeen-year-old called Marcus Sarjeant fired six shots at the Queen during the Trooping the Colour parade, before he was overcome by a guardsman and the police.
I mixed historical fact and fiction by making Hamish one of the brave souls who took Marcus down, with the stud manager’s job being his reward.
In reality, the Queen’s Highland Pony stud at Balmoral is (currently) run by a lady who is part of a family with great expertise with that breed, but I wanted to make the story very obviously not about her and her family.
Location, location, location
Glengowrie village is fictitious, but is based on a couple of real villages in Perthshire. Letham House and the Letham family are also fictitious, but similar mansions and families exist throughout Scotland!
Balmoral Castle is obviously a real place, but my descriptions of the stables there are purely a product of my imagination, based on stable blocks I’ve seen or visited at other stately homes.
I hope this blend of fact and fiction makes for a believable story without offending any real people or villages!
The Horseman’s Guild
Rumour has it that ‘The Horseman’s Word’, a secret society/trade guild, exists and thrives in the north-east of Scotland. As Craig says in the story, they are said to have a special word they can use to calm any horse.
I personally have no experience of it—as I live in the south-east—so everything about the guild in this story is pure fiction and conjecture.
About the Author
Like my amateur sleuth, Izzy, I'm a Scottish, dressage riding, computer geek who loves coffee—but there the similarity ends. She is far smarter than me, and a lot younger!
I hope you'll join me in discovering where her curiosity leads to next...
Get the next book: A Right Royal Revenge
I also write in other genres:
Fantasy and clean romance/women's fiction, as Roz Marshall: rozmarshall.co.uk/books
Historical Romance, telling the story of Mary Queen of Scots, as Belle McInnes: bellemcinnes.wixsite.com/books
Here’s where you’ll find me:
rozmarshall.co.uk/books
GLOSSARY
Argy-bargy: Heated argument
Bay (horse): A brown horse with black legs, black mane and tail
Black pudding: A Scottish delicacy, made from oatmeal, spices and pork offal
Breeches: Riding leg wear, shorter at the ankle to fit better under long boots. See jodhpurs.
Chestnut (horse): A golden-red coloured horse
Copper: Slang word for a policeman
Cover (a mare): When a stallion mates with a female horse
Cranachan: A traditional Scottish dessert, made from cream, raspberries, oats and whisky
Dark web: A part of the deep web, consisting of secret networks that can only be accessed using special software or specific authorisation
Deep web: A part of the internet containing websites or apps which cannot be found by regular search engines such as Google
Dressage: The training and gymnasticising of horses. Also used to describe the competitions where the results of that training are demonstrated
Dun: A horse colour, where the body is fawn or brown coloured and the mane, tail, and lower legs are black
Farrier: A person qualified to shoe horses
Freemasons: Secretive organisations or clubs that trace their origins to tradesmen’s fraternities from the end of the fourteenth century
(The) Fuzz: The police
Gamie: Gamekeeper
Garron: A sturdy pony used for transporting deer carcases, usually a Highland Pony
Gelding: A castrated male horse
Gilet: A light sleeveless padded jacket or vest, also called a body warmer
Grey (horse): A horse colour, varying from steel-grey to white, sometimes dapple grey
Guinness: Irish beer. Dark, almost black
Guns: Weapons; also a collective name for the participants in a shoot, eg a deer hunt
Hack: A trail ride in the countryside
Highland Pony: Breed of pony native to Scotland. Sturdy and trustworthy, usually dun or grey in colour
Horsemanship: The training of horses using ‘natural’ methods such as body language. Sometimes called ‘Natural Horsemanship’
Horse Whisperer: See Horsemanship. Also refers to a horse psychic, who can ‘speak’ to horses, or ‘listen’ to them and report the conversations to the owner
Household Cavalry: A mounted British army regiment that carries out ceremonial duties on State and Royal occasions, including the provision of a Sovereign's Escort, most commonly seen on The Queen's Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) in June each year.
In his cups: Drunk
IT: Information Technology
Jobsworth: Someone who sticks to the rules. “It’s more than my job’s worth to do that…”
Jodhpurs (jods): Riding leg wear, designed to be worn with ankle (jodhpurs) boots.
Keep cup: A reusable coffee cup
Landrover (Landy): A British brand of four-wheel drive car, rugged and utilitarian
Lorry: Truck
Lunge (a horse): Exercise a horse by moving it in a circle around you, on the end of a long rope (lunge rein or lunge line)
Mobile Phone: Cellphone
Natural Horsemanship: See Horsemanship
Ne’er-do-well (never do well): A person who is up to no good. A rogue
Ozzie: Australian
PC: Police Constable
Pleb: From plebeian. A commoner
Round pen: A round enclosure used for horse training, usually fenced in wood or metal hurdles
Rozzer: Cockney slang for a policeman
Rug: Horse blanket used to keep them warm and dry in inclement weather
Sassenach: Scots word for an English person
Shenanigans: High jinks, mischief
Skedaddle: Hurry, scurry
Skewbald: A brown & white horse, also called tobiano
Sports horse: A type of horse, usually a cross between a warmblood or thoroughbred and a native breed of horse or pony. Versatile for jumping or dressage
Stable: The stall or loose box where a horse is housed (if necessary).
Stables: Either a row of individual stables, or sometimes the whole establishment
Stable Yard: A facility for horses, usually includin
g stables and paddocks plus riding arena(s). Sometimes part of a farm or stately home, or sometimes purpose-built. Abbreviated to ‘Yard’
Tack: Horse equipment, usually the leatherwork such as saddle and bridle
Tenner: Ten pound (GBP) note. Money.
Thon: Scots word for that or those.
Thoroughbred: A breed of horse originating in England and specialising in racing
Two shakes (of a lamb’s tail): Quickly, in no time
Warmblood: A type of horse, originally a cross between thoroughbreds and European draft (cart) horses, but now specialising mainly in dressage
Wellington Boots (wellies): Waterproof rubber boots
Yard: See Stable Yard.
CHARACTERS
Izzy Paterson: Horse trainer for Glengowrie stud, and proprietor of Aye Spy Investigations
* * *
Lady Alice Letham: Izzy’s boss, and owner of Glengowrie House and stud
Beverly Douglas: Hamish’s wife
Craig MacDonald: Pony Boy/Assistant Stud Manager at Balmoral
Sergeant Dean Lovell: Local policeman
Dev (Devlin) Connolly: Izzy’s ex-colleague and consultant in Aye Spy Investigations
Edie (Edith) Large: Spinster sister from Glengowrie
Evan Grainger: Glengowrie postman
Francine McDade: Pat’s wife
Gail Fisher: Stan’s wife
Gremlin: A computer program written by Izzy which searches the deep web
Hamish Douglas: Stud Manager at Balmoral
Ina (Thomasina) Large: Spinster sister from Glengowrie
Jet: Craig’s black Labrador
Jimmy Harkin: Lady Letham’s handyman. Husband of Ursula, the cook/housekeeper
Jorja: The lost Jack Russell terrier
Kalista Dudek: Polish owner of the coffee shop in Glengowrie
Laura Douglas: Hamish and Beverly’s daughter
Leo: Izzy’s dressage horse
Neil Etherington: Reporter for the Gowrie Gazette
Miles Ainsworth: Gamekeeper at Balmoral
Mrs Muriel Beaton: Owner of the Riverside Guest House B&B near Balmoral
Oliver Seaforth: Local vet
Patrick (Pat) McDade: Owner/manager of a chain of agricultural food stores
Richard Mortimer: Farrier
Stan Fisher: Stud groom at Balmoral
The Terminator: The ‘back man’ (I’ll be back). Horse chiropractor
Trinity Allan: Izzy’s friend and colleague
Ursula Harkin: Lady Letham’s cook and housekeeper. Jimmy’s wife
Constable Vicky Adamson: Policewoman
Will Thomson-Bond: Glengowrie farrier
Zak Carpenter: Ozzie barman at The Queen’s Arms
Recipe 1: Sweet Potato Stew
Ginger, sweet potato and coconut milk stew with lentils and kale
This sweet potato and coconut milk stew is a glowing and mellow shade of orange with big, vibrant pops of green from kale and cilantro.
Find the recipe here (scroll down the page):
https://thefirstmess.com/2020/02/19/sweet-potato-coconut-milk-stew/
Recipe 2: Leek & Sweet Potato Soup
Perfect on a cold winter’s day, this soup is quick to make and really tasty to eat!
Find the recipe here:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/107145/recipe/leek-sweet-potato-soup
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Mairi, Angie and Liz, my beta-reading and editing team, who added extra polish and value to my scribblings. Also grateful thanks to Gillian for her input on Scottish Police procedures!
