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Brenda & Effie Mystery book cover 1
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Brenda & Effie Mystery
Series · 9 books · 2006-2020

Books in series

Never the Bride book cover
#1

Never the Bride

2006

Brenda has had a long and eventful life and she has come to Whitby to run a B&B in search of some peace and quiet. She and her best friend Effie like nothing better than going out for tea at the Walrus and the Carpenter or dinner at Cod Almighty and keeping their eyes open for any of the mysterious goings on in town. And what with satanic beauty salons, more than illegal aliens, roving psychic investigators and the frankly terrifying owner of the Christmas Hotel there are no shortage of nefarious shenanigans to keep them interested. But the oddest thing in Whitby may well be Brenda herself. With her terrible scars, her strange lack of a surname or the fact that she takes two different shoe sizes, Brenda should have known that people as, well, unique as she is, just aren't destined for a quiet life.
Something Borrowed book cover
#2

Something Borrowed

2007

Brenda must face her demons, but first she needs to get to the bottom of the sinister goings-on that threaten to overcome an all-too-quiet seaside town. When poison pen letters start flying around the quiet lanes of Whitby, trouble is in store for Brenda and Effie. And with Jessie the Zombie Womanzee, trips down memory lane and amorous ghoul hunting, literary minded and strangely youthful professors of Icelandic history, as well as a terrifying encounter with bamboo wickerwork gods from the dawn of time, even Brenda’s ample cup is running over. But her most challenging battle is the one she must fight with herself – or, at least, parts of herself…
Conjugal Rites book cover
#3

Conjugal Rites

2008

No matter what she tries to do, trouble has a way of finding Brenda. It's hardly surprising with secrets like hers. When her old adversary Mr Danby starts filling the airwaves with his late night phone in show it can only mean one thing—and sure enough best friend Effie soon finds herself up to her neck in it. But that is only the beginning; fate has an even bigger surprise in store. Romance is in the air for Brenda and, do what she will, she cannot deny that she and her man were made for each other—literally. But as usual, Brenda and Effie will face up to whatever dangers come their way with fortitude and grace: even if that means journeying to places beyond their wildest dreams.
Hell's Belles! book cover
#4

Hell's Belles!

2009

Penny is running away from a life of domestic strife and into mysterious Whitby – where she hopes to find herself. But in her quest for self-discovery, Penny may have stumbled on something far more sinister: the gateway to hell. For Whitby is no ordinary seaside resort. The quaint façade of coffee shops and tea dances conceals a magnet for dark and dangerous forces, drawing in and spewing out all kinds of monsters. And all that keeps the evil at bay are Brenda and Effie – two very unusual old ladies. When a film crew comes to town to remake the sixties schlock horror movie Get Thee Inside Me, Satan, Brenda and Effie suspect something strange is afoot. Female lead Karla Sorenson is reprising her role and she doesn’t look like she’s aged a day. Surely that’s not possible? Then there are the disturbing rumours surrounding the original movie – a cult classic that is, quite literally, spell-binding. As events spool out of control, Penny’s new boss Robert draws her deeper into the movie’s peculiar mystery. But can it be stopped before all hell breaks loose?
The Bride That Time Forgot book cover
#5

The Bride That Time Forgot

2010

An outrageous adventure with the most terrifying villain Brenda has ever faced - her best friend, Effie. Something is biting people on the streets of Whitby. In an ordinary town, this would be worrying. Here, it’s disastrous, and only Brenda has guessed why. She’s also trying to prepare for a packed festive break at her B&B, but her best friend Effie is in distracted mood: she just hasn’t been the same since her suave gentleman friend Alucard reappeared. Meanwhile, Penny has joined a book group in the new mystery bookstore, the Spooky Finger. As she is drawn into the strange and fantastic works of Edwardian lady novelist Beatrice Mapp, she makes some very surprising discoveries. Discoveries that will soon impact upon the lives of all the ladies of Whitby. When unexpected help from the shadows of the past arrives to illuminate the dangers awaiting them all, Brenda realises that unless she can find a way to save Effie, the consequences may be eternal.
Brenda and Effie Forever book cover
#6

Brenda and Effie Forever

2012

'Brenda and Effie Forever!’ is an outrageous Gothic adventure involving ancient vampires, miniature mermaids, the Phantom of the Opera and his hunchbacked boyfriend, a fiendish ghost who drives a limousine, Mr and Mrs Claus and all three Bronte sisters discovered alive and well in a secret base under the parsonage at Haworth with a sentient, stuffed Art Critic called Panda. Brenda and Effie are living it up on the continent. Holidaying in Paris, they are menaced by a mysterious Peeping Tom with a limp and a hump, who warns them that they must never return home to Whitby again. Untold disaster will take over the world if they go anywhere near the North Yorkshire coast… But Brenda and Effie know that they simply have to return to Whitby, even if it means the end of everything they hold dear. Brenda owns a Guest House by the sea and her best friend Effie runs the junk shop next door. But together they have another role as the guardians of Whitby against the vampires, daemons and creatures of the night that continually plague the quaint but terrifying town. Together Brenda and Effie must face the most startling dangers ever as they are engulfed by hideous secrets from their long-hidden pasts. Can our heroines survive all these fiendish shenanigans and live to fight the powers of darkness another day?
Fellowship of Ink book cover
#7

Fellowship of Ink

2017

Brenda is back! It's the 1930s, and Brenda (of Brenda and Effie fame!) finds herself in the old, medieval university town of Darkholmes in the North of England. She's a housemaid, and teams up with fictionalised versions of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, who are conjuring up monsters from other dimensions through their writings. Together, they battle demons and solve strange mysteries.
A Game of Crones book cover
#8

A Game of Crones

2020

In this new volume of adventures for Brenda and Effie we do battle with vampires and mummies and haunted cats! We uncover the mystery of both Elephant Men and meet Tolstoy the Long-Eared Bat out of Hell! Brenda also gets to go back to her roots with Baron Frankenstein, and we even share an investigation at the Christmas Hotel with the famous Sherlock Holmes. Whitby has never felt so hectic, and everyone here is very glad to welcome you back..!
A Treasury of Brenda and Effie book cover
#14

A Treasury of Brenda and Effie

2017

That night I dream about Whitby. It’s the place that Effie says I belong to. I’m sitting in a cosy room, with a small window overlooking a storm-lashed town. I can hear the sea, an endlessly restless noise. The fire crackles in the grate and I’m sipping a very sweet and delicious drink from a tiny glass. The woman called Effie is sitting across the room from me, but goodness – she looks ancient. She’s like a wizened old hag sitting there. Effie is talking in between sips of sherry and she’s making plans. Plans of action, of attack. We’re involved in a kind of… yes, series of adventures. She’s talking like the whole world is depending on our working together to foil not one but several kinds of evil menace. What a bloomin’ palaver! Nine brand new stories about Brenda and Effie’s adventures in Whitby by Greg Maughan, Jay Eales, Tony Jones, Andrew Lawston, Matthew Bright, Morgan Melhuish, Neil O’Brien, Nicholas Campbell and Selina Lock, with a prologue by Paul Magrs.

Authors

Andrew K. Lawston
Andrew K. Lawston
Author · 5 books

Andrew K. Lawston has at various times been a writer, actor, director, teacher, journalist, academic, salesman, publisher, editor, designer (that was a weird day), cinema manager, film extra and till monkey. His first job was working in an independent bookshop aged 16, and he at least had the foresight to know that it would all be downhill from there. Andrew writes quirky comedy fiction over a variety of genres. His writing is infused with the kind of worldview that comes from watching a lot of French cinema and Doctor Who (not necessarily in that order), and reading a lot of Pratchett, Dickens and Shakespeare. It's often dark, sometimes disturbing, always unpredictable, and occasionally very funny. Ever wondered what would happen if a small boy got into an abusive relationship with the demonic clown hiding under his bed? So did he, unfortunately. With a degree in French, Andrew also translates classic French books, most notably Casanova's account of his escape from Venice prison in 1755, and the Chantecoq series of pulp detective novels. Andrew has now largely retired from acting, but in 2018 he was a finalist in the Arts Richmond New Plays Festival with his short play "Matrexit". He lives in London with a lovely wife and a crime-solving cat.

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