By #HerbieHind
A Fête Worse Than Death is a tale of bunting, buttercream, and one girl's spectacular miscalculation at the Little Dithering summer fête. When debutante Clementine Beaufort-Smythe crosses paths with the formidable Mrs. Poppet (and her prize-winning sponge), tradition and impropriety collide behind the WI tent, with results neither the bishop nor the cake stand will soon forget.
It was the sort of summer afternoon on which nothing dreadful was ever supposed to happen. Sunlight danced on bunting, bees hovered near sponge cakes and, in the parish of Little Dithering, the annual fête was in full swing.
Elderly gentlemen, with silver hair and weathered faces, wore panama hats with the sort of conviction that could only come from a lifetime of public school tradition. Ladies in floral summer frocks carried parasols like they were royal sceptres, ready to fend off both sun and scandal. The air was filled with the hum of cheerful chatter and the thock of coconuts tumbling in the shy.
By #HerbieHind
When Prudence Featherstone campaigns to muffle the village church bells, she finds herself face to face with a most unexpected form of pastoral resistance. A Sound Correction is a riotous tale of muffled decorum, ecclesiastical determination, and the redemptive power of olivewood. Expect scripture, scandal, and a peal of thoroughly instructive consequences.
There were only a few things in life that Miss Prudence Featherstone disliked more than noise—though she was, in due course, to discover another.
This included, but was not limited to: the over-exuberance of the handbell choir, the thwack of cricket bats on summer afternoons, the gramophone at The Hare and Barrel—especially when it played jazz—and, above all, the joyous clanging of the bells of St Mildred’s, which she had once likened to “a brass band being mugged in a stairwell.”
By #HerbieHind
When Kat checks into a charming seaside cottage, she expects doilies and downtime—not a mysterious room labelled “Renovation in Progress.” But curiosity gets the better of her, and what she uncovers inside is a one-of-a-kind guest amenity, and a surprisingly thorough welcome that leaves her blushing—on more than one cheek. Regulation in Progress is a cheeky tale of misread warnings, unexpected hospitality, and a holiday experience that leaves a lasting impression.
1. A Cosy Little Mystery
Katherine Everley — Kat to everyone except her bank manager — had stayed in plenty of quirky British holiday rentals, but Primrose Cottage took the teacake.
It smelled faintly of lavender blossom and seemed to have doilies on every flat surface. Chintz curtains hung in the living room windows, mismatched teacups rested on crocheted coasters, and the bookshelf was stacked with jigsaws and dusty paperbacks. It was the kind of place where time hadn’t so much stood still as knitted itself a shawl and popped the kettle on.
By #HerbieHind
When Laura ignores a “No Cold Callers” sign to pitch her premium cleaning products, she’s in for a surprise regarding what’s about to get a dusting down. Let’s just say — Patrick has a very hands-on approach to customer service, and he’s about to give her a lesson in why you should never knock on a door without reading the signs — literally.
There were several signs along Victoria Avenue that Laura felt she could quite happily live without: Mind the Step, Please Close the Gate, No Junk Mail. They were all, in her view, exercises in stating the obvious. Even the electricity distribution box nearby, with its dramatic KEEP OUT – DANGER OF DEATH, seemed a bit over-the-top—though she grudgingly admitted that one might be justified.
At number 42, a brass plaque reading No Cold Callers briefly caught her eye. She dismissed it with breezy indifference and pressed the doorbell.
In hindsight, she would come to regard this moment with a shade more caution. Her thoughts on household signage would never be quite the same again.
The following authors may or may not exist in any conventional sense, and if they do, they are surely the sort to insist on handwritten correspondence and the correct use of a dessert fork. Consider this section a fiction within the fiction, with each persona crafted to reflect the tone, temperament, and tailored sensibilities of the stories they “write.”
Whether wistful, wicked, or ever-so-well-mannered, these biographies might help you find the flavour of story that suits your mood. And, perhaps to suggest that, somewhere between velvet upholstery and moral instruction, a little elegance still matters.