THE TREASURE
Set in a fictional medieval land
For two hundred years, villagers have fought over a legendary treasure but when
they find it, it’s not what they expect.
BROKEN
The story of a woman and a horse – both broken.
A re-imagining of the Ancient Irish legend of Brigid, the Triple Goddess.
An enchantment protects her and imprisons her. Bree accepts her life. Áine, her aunt, has told her they must endure their quiet existence in their cave home to protect the ancient fire of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the race from whom she and Áine are descended. Bree enjoys reading of the exploits of the ancient people but their tales of heroism seem far removed from her life.
Then Bree’s world is torn apart. Lu, a god of the Tuatha Dé Danann, with his hound, Kuon, breach their cave’s enchantments and tells them they must go with him. The Outer Veil has been breached and Mór, an evil goddess, and her fiends, are determined to breach the Inner Veil.
Eighteen year old Bree finds herself thrust into the role of leader of her people. She has days to learn the ways of the Tuatha Dé Danann and become the Triple Goddess, so she can face Mór in battle.
To prove to her people of gods and goddesses, immortals, fairies, giants and centaurs, that she is worthy of ruling them, Bree must stand on the Stone of Fál – it will cry out if she is worthy of being the triple goddess.
The day of battle arrives – Samhain. Bree and her army face the horde of the dead. Bree, using her powers, makes fire burn in her palms.
Yet she must face Mór once again in the ultimate struggle for her life.
Hello, and welcome.
I’m Mrs Preston, the cook at Thornton Park from the cosy mystery series, The Thornton Mysteries by Ellen Read.
It’s 1927, in Australia, in case you’re wondering.
I might not be one of those fancy chefs, but I’m proud of my culinary achievements, as any chef in a restaurant would be. After all, I manage the menus and the kitchen staff to perfection. Even though I discuss the family menus with Miss Alexandra, who is mistress of the house. Thornton Park is a lavish mansion, with house servants and outside staff who work in the gardens. I only cook meals for the inside staff. The home farm is managed by the Parry family; the Brady family look after the grounds, and live in the gate-house.
The kitchen is a good size for a large household. I have help in the kitchen, of course. A kitchen maid, Sylvie, who is my daughter—her father and my husband, Mr Preston, is the butler. He’s only ever called Preston. Then there’s Dot Brady who is the scullery maid. She’s a good girl. She’s only sixteen, and always thinking of something else. Off with the fairies, I reckon. Of course, the job of a scullery maid is a hard one. She has to wash and dry all the dishes from the family dining room and the servants’ dining room. The family use crystal glasses, silver cutlery and fine bone China crockery, so the utmost care has to be taken. Dot is not as careful as I’d like. She frays my nerves with worry sometimes. One day she’s going to break some Royal Albert.
We start with breakfast for the staff, and then after that the family—they have breakfast in the morning room. After that is morning tea, luncheon, which is served on the wide veranda, weather permitting, and then afternoon tea, and dinner.
Now, can you imagine the extra work when the family entertain! I’m not really grumbling. After all, I can try new dishes, and it’s an achievement cooking for twenty or more people. Not that they entertain a lot since Mrs Thornton passed away, but now Miss Alexandra is a young woman, I’m sure there will be more parties held. Young Mr Benedict Archer has been invited to dine. We, in the servants’ hall, all think he’s keen on Miss Alexandra. Not much escapes Preston. As butler, he gets to see it all.
In many cases, I serve the same dishes in the servants’ dining room, as the family have, albeit after the family has finished their meals. However, we have less refined tastes, and don’t enjoy hor d’oeuvres and other fancy things. We’d much prefer a hearty Beef and Barley Soup, or a Cottage Pie or Roast Beef with gravy and dumplings.
After dinner, coffee is served in the drawing room with a selection of cheeses. The men, in particular, enjoy brandy at this time. The ladies usually prefer port or liquor.
By the time we reach the end of the day, we’re all tired, exhausted you might say. Glad to go to our beds. The staff wing is above the kitchen. I have to give credit to the first Thomas Thornton, who built the house. He certainly didn’t stint on the size of rooms for the staff.
Well, cheerio for now. I’ll have a chin-wag again with you soon. I might share some of my recipes.
‘There will always be Stardust in my eyes when I look at you, my love.’ by Ellen Read
Cosy mystery series set in Australia in the late 1920s.
The Ghost Rider has been awarded a Silver Medal for Supernatural Historical Fiction
The Feathered Nest has been awarded a Bronze Medal for Historical Romance.
Thank you so much to The Coffee Pot Book Club
5 STAR REVIEW
Kate is a normal 26-year-old living in Australia when she unexpectedly moves back home with her parents. When she arrives home, she finds her old bedroom is full of her mother’s old things. Kate and her mother go through the ancient family treasures and find a diary that unveils an old family mystery. What happened […]
The Ghost Rider — LITERARY TITAN
My initial idea for The Ghost Rider was, what if a ghost was trapped by it’s past and it’s death, to travel the same path for eternity. This ghost became the ghost rider himself. I also wanted a second more malevolent ghost in the story.
Charlbury is a fictitious village in Wiltshire in the Cotswolds and is inspired by Castle Coombe.
I love flowers. I’d read about a few wildflower meadow projects that have been undertaken in the UK, and decided I wanted to bring one into the story. It became the Damselfly Meadow. I tend to bring things I love into my stories. So there is also Lady, the golden retriever, and Heru, a Peregrine Falcon. Birds of prey aren’t my favourite but I respect their power and there’s something majestic about them. When you see a wedge-tailed eagle fly, you have to admire and respect them.The peregrine falcon is an excellent falconry bird due to its strong hunting ability and it is easily trained. Their name comes from the Latin word peregrinus, which means “to wander.” Peregrine falcons are the fastest-flying birds in the world and are able to dive at 200 miles per hour. I named my falcon Heru after the Egyptian god Horus, often known as Heru. The god had the head of a falcon.
Music is another great love of mine and usually at least one character plays an instrument.
I hope you enjoy The Ghost Rider
Buy link to AMAZON
http://mybook.to/TheGhostRider
Published by Crimson Cloak Publishing
Food plays a big part in my story as the Thorntons and friends (and enemies) so often discuss matters over a meal or afternoon tea.
Thornton Park – The story starts at Thornton Park and as such Mrs Preston works her magic with various dishes.
The Byrd brother and sister visit Thornton Park before they all depart on their expedition.
Since Thomas Thornton upgraded the kitchen by installing the new refrigeration, Mrs P has delighted in serving Vichyssoise – cold soup made of leeks, onions, potatoes and cream. It can be warmed but Mrs P wouldn’t serve it any other way but cold.
Poached Salmon with a mousseline sauce followed. – On April 12, 1912 R.M.S. Titanic, the “unsinkable ship,” ended her doomed voyage across the Atlantic. Salmon Mousseline was on the Titanic’s menu, and served during the very last dinner on board the ill-fated ship.
Sauted Chicken Lyonnaise followed at Thornton Park as the main course. Alexandra loved this French dish of sauted chicken with onions and sauce. It was also served in First Class on the Titanic.
In fact, the entire menu had been designed by Mrs Preston especially for Alexandra’s birthday. Yet another of Alexandra’s favourites—Chocolate Charlotte Russe, another French dish—was served for dessert.
Preston, the Thornton butler, poured wines suitable to each course, some of which had come from Archer’s Vineyard, others from Brown Brothers, and other Australian wineries.
One meal consisted of an entrée of avocado with a squeeze of lemon, served on lettuce leaves, followed by roast beef and baked potatoes, kumaras and beans.
Kumaras or kumeras are also know as sweet potato. A dessert followed of baked china pears with cinnamon. China pears taste like they’re a cross between apples and pears, also known as Nashi pears.
For a light lunch, Pumpkin the cook at Norfolk Island, served banana fritters, with fried cheese balls, on a garden salad. For dessert, Pumpkin prepared fresh fruit – banana, paw paw, pineapple with passionfruit in orange juice.
This particular fruit salad recipe is one my mother used to make. Bananas Fritters is another my mother and I used to make.
Another lunch comprised baked fish in banana leaves – Trumpeter fish or Coral Trout is a well-loved fish on the island – accompanied by kumara and beans, and for dessert pink guava jelly and custard.
Chocoes is a vegetable that is less commonly used today but in the 1920s and, in fact, the Great Depression and during World War II, chocoes were easy to grow and a cheap vegetable to buy.
Flummery for dessert was another favourite years ago. It makes a light ending to a meal. In The Feathered Nest, Pumpkin makes a Lemon, Orange and Passionfruit Flummery.
I’ve hope you’ve enjoyed this brief culinary tour. I’ve added links below to various recipes you might like to try.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13392/classic-vichyssoise/
Sauté Chicken Lyonnaise
https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipes/banana-fritters-easy-recipe/z2iwa39b
https://www.food.com/recipe/guava-jelly-40343
https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipes/chokos-deluxe/nbqmxvzo
Others links follow to my website and social media sites.
https://www.facebook.com/EllenReadWriter/
Published by Crimson Cloak Publishing
Set in the 1920s, the Thornton family are antiques dealers. Thomas Thornton is also president of the Royal Society of Victoria, and in The Feathered Nest, he leads a group that includes his family to Norfolk Island to study the Green Parrot.
Green Parrot – Red-fronted Parakeet – Excerpt from Norfolk Island … the birds by Margaret Christian.
Unique to Norfolk Island.
“In 1789 Philip Gidley King R.N made mention repeatedly in his journal of the destructive plagues of ‘parroquets’ which were ‘in Very large flocks’…’having made great havock in one acre’ ruining the precious crops of wheat and Indian corn. This once common endemic parrot was reduced to an estimated fewer than 15 pairs in the early 1980s.”
Identification – Adult birds are a rich forest green, lighter green below, with a red crown, a red dot behind the eye and a blue leading edge to the wings. The beak is light blue, gradually darkening towards the tip which is blue-black. The eye is orange/red. Juveniles are similar to adults, but their beak is pinkish and their eyes are brown. Sexes are alike, but the male is slightly larger. Length: 30 cm
Excerpt from Norfolk Island … the birds by Margaret Christian.
Norfolk Island has many other varieties of land birds. Some of the birds I mention in The Feathered Nest are: The Pacific Robin, the Golden Whistler otherwise known as Tamey, the White-breasted White-eye ‘Grinnell’, Emerald Doves, Crimson Rosellas, Masked Wood Swallows.
Some of the sea birds include the Providence Petrel and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (Ghost birds)
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters’ (Ghost birds) mournful cries can be heard at nightfall.
The Thorntons enjoyed watching the small Masked Wood Swallows
Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/people/45171208@N06
https://www.facebook.com/EllenReadWriter/
https://www.instagram.com/ellenrauthor
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14250944
Published by Crimson Cloak Publishing
Before Alexandra could sit down, the boat and the yacht too, lurched on the swell of a wave. It threw her off balance and against the man’s chest. His arms went around her to steady her. He smelled of the sea. It made Alexandra think of their days on the Endless Summer when the warm sea breeze found them on deck and soothed their spirits. Then Alexandra looked up and he grinned at her. She pushed back from him. “Get your hands off me,” Alexandra demanded, and frowned at him. “I’m a married woman.” “Lucky bloke.” He grinned again. His laughing eyes sparked something in Alexandra. Anger coursed through her blood. When the boat lurched again, and he put out a helping hand, she slapped it away. “Just trying to help, princess.” “Don’t call me that. I’m not a princess.” “My mistake.” He grinned again as she flopped onto the bench seat.
https://www.facebook.com/EllenReadWriter/
ellenreadauthor 