The wonderful Miss Read

People often ask me who is my favourite author. I love many other cosy writers, and of course, there are the traditional mystery writers, especially Agatha Christie. But I think my favourite writer of all is Miss Read, or Dora Saint. I have read nearly all of her books. When my school friends were reading Stephen King, Tolkein, or even Jackie Collins, I preferred to cosy up with a tale of village life and the quirky characters who lived at Thrush Green, Caxley or Fairacre.

I have created a Pinterest board just for Miss Read and the wide array of covers her wonderful books have sported over the years. I was mainly reading these in the late 70s and early 80s and many of these covers were in my personal collection.

The early covers of the Battles of Thrush Green influenced my ideas for the covers of the Wesberrey series, note the graveyard and the church in the background. I love how my cover designer Mariah Sinclair took that basic concept and gave me something so mysterious. I own the 70s copy of Battles at Thrush Green. It’s interesting how Penguin took such a different take for this series of reprints. No church, no vicar, no graveyard. I find it beautiful though, such an idyllic scene.

If you love to disappear into the quaint world of the English village of yesteryear, I highly recommend you invest in one of Miss Read’s book. There may not be a murder, or a handsome detective waiting around the corner, but I promise you a world of beautifully observed characters in a timeless setting.