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The remote village of Didsbrook is thrown into turmoil after its best-known resident, the former actress turned best-selling novelist Jocelyn Robertshaw, is found dead under mysterious circumstances.
Villagers are appalled to learn that the charismatic Jocelyn died from Hemlock poisoning. Police claim she shot and ate a quail that had ingested hemlock. A theory disputed by all who knew her well. The animal-loving Jocelyn would never kill anything, but due to the lack of forensic evidence, police rule death by misadventure.
Jocelyn’s young protégée, Lucy Fothergill, determined to discover the truth about what happened to her mentor, discovers a hidden stash of Jocelyn’s notebooks, revealing jaw-dropping secrets from Jocelyn’s past. The impression Jocelyn gave the world that she lived a near-perfect life was an Academy Award-winning performance.
Believing the events from Jocelyn’s past may have led to her death forty-eight years later, Lucy begins to piece together the clues that lead to the truth.
The sleepy village of Didsbrook is about to wake up!
My thanks to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for the tour invite. The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook is published by My Alter Ego and Me Press (1 July 2025) and is available in ebook (including Kindle Unlimited) and paperback. Thank you to Tessa for providing the post below.
GUEST POST
I left secondary school at fifteen, branded the class clown, having behaved like an ass during my O Levels, and telling the world ‘I wanted to write.’
At sixteen, I took a brief journalism course in London, mainly focusing on writing magazine articles. After that, I freelanced for provincial newspapers and magazines for a couple of years while living under my mother’s roof until it eventually dawned on me that I could never afford a place of my own unless I had a ‘proper job’ that provided me with a regular source of income.
Much later, having been sucked into working in the finance sector, I never stopped writing. I wrote freelance articles, submitted short stories, and even spent ten years trying to write a commercially viable song. Alas, my songwriting phase ended when I realised that I was never going to be a Sharleen Spiteri, and it wasn’t just because I didn’t have a band.
The turning point in my writing journey came when I went to my first Writers Weekend Workshop in 2017, hosted by Adrienne Dines and the late Barbara Large, with the first rough draft of Just Say It tucked under my arm. A weekend in their company left me with fire in my belly and a newfound self-belief that not only could I write a book but also get a publisher for it.
I have always been a pantser at heart, and Just Say It developed as ideas popped into my head, just as I approached novel number two, The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook.
‘The Doyenne’ evolved from a listed short story. I loved the characters so much that I wanted to keep them going, although I confess that Adrienne Dines suggested I turn it into a novel. Writing the short story meant it was plotted enough for me, even though my main character never existed in the short story! My original idea had been to write ‘The Doyenne” as a murder mystery farce. However, as my main character grew and became more complex, the slapstick scenarios were no longer appropriate.
After multiple rewrites, I still had faith in my characters and the storyline. Still, my gut feeling told me something wasn’t right, so I stepped away from it and let editor Vicki Harris look at it. She made a few suggestions to help me get the MS into submittable shape.
A health scare in April 2024 gave me the kick up the backside I needed to start submitting ‘The Doyenne’ to agents. I had a few knockbacks – as you do – but I kept going.
Writing, and more importantly, finishing a novel, is about never giving up. No matter how low your confidence sags, hang on to your self-belief and never lose sight of your dream. Writing is a lifetime apprenticeship, so every word you write is a building block toward achieving your dream. If you want something badly enough, you will keep plugging away until you get better at doing it and your dream becomes a reality.
If you also have the good fortune to meet inspirational people along the way, like Adrienne, who will always be my first go-to when I reach a writing goal, and Barbara, whom I will never forget, keep them close.
Tessa Barrie was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, and despite her parents uprooting her at the age of three and moving her down south, she is proud of her Yorkshire heritage.
Growing up, she recalls her family life being more Little House on the Prairie than The Waltons because her early years were fraught with drama. However, intermingled with all the emotional disruption, she remembers humour squeezing its way through the frayed feelings.
So, incorporating humour in her writing has become very important to her as she believes that, however dark a story gets, there should always be a subtle sprinkling of humour.
In June 2021, Tessa self-published her debut novel, Just Say It, a bittersweet family saga, and her second novel, The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook, a quirky murder mystery, is currently on pre-order and is due for release on 1st July 2025. Her third novel, The Rebuilding of Freya Michaels, will be published in 2026.
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