Front Page Fridays Week-55
Front Page Fridays Week-55
Welcome to Front Page Fridays Week-55. On Fridays I showcase the first page of a new book.
My Front Page Fridays Week-55 guest is Anthony Aberford with his new novel, The Conservatory. It combines cosy crime with magical realism and was published by Hobeck Books on 21st April.
Here’s the opening:
A group of youths was hanging around outside the Copper Kettle, an independent coffee shop with a vintage sign, stained-glass windows, and a notice on the door proclaiming its commitment to sustainability and community. The pavement was laid with honey-coloured Yorkshire stone, a stage for their good-humoured horseplay. The eldest – a lanky, greasy-haired lad – was looking down the main street, brow furrowed, mouth gaping. He was watching a multicoloured mass, occupying the entire lane of oncoming traffic, slowly making its way towards them, followed by a cavalcade of trucks, a van, and at least a dozen cars.
He called out to his friends: "Hey! Look at the state of that!"
The others gathered at the kerb, peering towards the approaching curiosity – a woman riding an adult tricycle, festooned with pennants and flowing ribbons to ward off passing traffic. Several bulging, stuffed carrier bags were strapped on top of the saddle bag and side panniers. Behind her, she towed a trailer, a blue and yellow fabric pod of the sort used to ferry toddlers around holiday parks. Her legs were twiddling up and down, the gearing so low, it seemed as if she was barely moving.
At first glance, the woman could have been about sixty, given the mass of silvery corkscrew hair pluming out from under her bicycle helmet and the shapelessness of her body. A second look revealed the smoothness of her skin and the keen, bright blue eyes that peered out from behind her circular wire-framed glasses, making her age indeterminable. Her voluminous, brightly coloured, calf-length skirt showed the hem of a lacy petticoat, while the rest of her was swathed in a mass of woollen knitwear of various styles and colours.
The trike and trailer pulled into a layby and the woman dismounted in one slow, practised movement. She pulled out a cheap combination lock from a bag on the handlebars and secured it around the front wheel before walking towards the café. The eldest of the watchful boys saw his chance to have a bit of fun.
"Hey! You can't leave that there. It's a bus stop."
The woman walked right up to him until her face was close to his chest. She looked up with an open and friendly expression.
"I know that. But you look like good lads so, if there's a bus, come and get me. I'll just be inside, having a bit of cake. There might be a sixpence in it for you." Her delivery was slightly slower than might have been expected and her voice revealed a faint burr, typical of a south-western accent – Bristol, maybe.
The boys looked at each other and laughed. The eldest said: "A sixpence! Where've you come from? It's 2025, you know?"
She looked at the spotty teenager and said: "Tell you what, I'll pay up front. Wait a mo'."
She walked off back to her tricycle. The boys sniggered, as the eldest pointed at her thick cream woollen tights and stout, ankle-high men's walking boots. She rummaged in the trailer and found a box of what looked like small plastic screw-top vials. She approached the tallest boy and led him to one side.
"Listen, love, I know how upsetting acne can be, so here's some pulsatilla. It's a purple flower and, when dried and prepared properly, it works well on hormone imbalances – especially with teenagers who eat too many burgers, kebabs and chips!" She poked him in the chest, knowingly. "Just dab it on with a clean cloth, morning and night. You'll soon see an improvement. And don't pick!"
The boy looked around sheepishly, making sure his friends were out of earshot.
About The Conservatory
In a restored Victorian conservatory, four grieving women from the local wellness centre discover that their friend's mysterious death, amongst her toxic plants, was not an accident.
When eccentric homoeopath Aunt Lily arrives on her tricycle, she seems just the person to help uncover answers. But who is she, and why is she there?
A sixteenth-century journal hidden in the conservatory holds dark secrets that could change everything. And an enigmatic stranger will stop at nothing to find it – making false promises and real threats.
Can the friends resist his temptations and unlock the book’s hidden secrets in time? Do they have the strength to make an impossible choice before it is too late?
Purchase Links for the Conservatory
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GSH63BGC
About Anthony Aberford
Tony Gartland (writing as AJ Aberford and Anthony Aberford) has enjoyed a varied career, having been both a corporate lawyer and a partner in a Leeds-based private investment company. In 2005, he also founded a leading Yorkshire craft brewery, which he owned until 2024. Changing direction again, he started writing during the Covid lockdown when he penned the six books in the Inspector George Zammit crime and thriller series.
Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, The Conservatory, written under the name Anthony Aberford, is the first in a new series of cosy mysteries featuring the eccentric and mysterious Aunt Lily and the ladies from the Ilkley Wellness Centre.
Tony lives primarily in Malta, which is the inspiration for the Inspector George Zammit series, but keeps his house in Yorkshire, so he can draw on his love of his home county as the background for The Conservatory and the new series.
Tony lives with his wife, Janet, and has two grown-up sons and grandchildren. He is a keen cook, an adventurous traveller, a cyclist and is currently writing the next two books in the Aunt Lily series.
Purchase links for Inspector George Zammit books
Inspector George Zammit Boxset (Books 1-3) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CMPS9TXC
Inspector George Zammit Book 4 https://www.amazon.co.uk-ebook/dp/B0BX6RK1FR
Inspector George Zammit Book 5 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLH9GD4N
Inspector George Zammit Book 6 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DDHSWZKL
Inspector George Zammit Book 1 Audiobook https://open.spotify.com/show/2zPQ27dQcCWbRAKOJaxloG?si=fhn8A8-6QKODz-q_LwTWTQ&nd=1&dlsi=b5fb959d62774380
I hope you enjoyed reading Front Page Fridays Week-55. Please come back next time when I’ll be featuring a different author and the first page of their book.
And please take a look at books already featured on Front Page Fridays:
1. Blood Ribbons by Lin Le Versha – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-1/
2. Fatal Blow by Brian Price – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-2/
3. Can I Trust You? by Rob Gittins – Front Page Fridays Week-3 – Rachel Sargeant
4. The Last Bird of Paradise by AJ Aberford – Front Page Fridays Week-4 – Rachel Sargeant
5. Never Forgive You by Hilly Barmby – Front Page Fridays Week-5 – Rachel Sargeant
6. The Mists of Pencarrack Moor by Terri Nixon – Front Page Fridays Week-6 - Rachel Sargeant
7. The Thief of Joy by Stacey Murray – Front Page Fridays Week-7 - Rachel Sargeant
8. Edge of the Land by Malcolm Hollingdrake – Front Page Fridays Week-8 - Rachel Sargeant
9. The Mind of a Murderer by Michael Wood - https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-9/
10. The Midnight Man by Julie Anderson – Front Page Fridays Week-10 - Rachel Sargeant
11. Dark Road Home by Sheila Bugler – Front Page Fridays Week-11 - Rachel Sargeant
12. Her Charming Man by Rachel Sargeant – Front Page Fridays Week-12 - Rachel Sargeant
13. Wedding Bells at the Lakeside Hotel by Linda Huber – Front Page Fridays Week-13 - Rachel Sargeant
14. Dark Island by Daniel Aubrey – Front Page Fridays Week-14 - Rachel Sargeant
15. The Shame by Maureen Myant – Front Page Fridays Week-15 - Rachel Sargeant
16. Dead Mile by Jo Furniss – Front Page Fridays Week-16 — Rachel Sargeant
17. The Violin and Candlestick by David Jarvis – Front Page Fridays Week-17 — Rachel Sargeant
18. New Memories by S.E. Shepherd – Front Page Fridays Week-18 — Rachel Sargeant
19. Young Blood by Victoria Gemmell – Front Page Fridays Week-19 — Rachel Sargeant
20. Private Investigations by Rob Gittins – Front Page Fridays Week-20 — Rachel Sargeant
21. The Car Horn revolution by A.J. Aberford – Front Page Fridays Week-21 — Rachel Sargeant
22. What Lies Beneath by Maureen Myant – Front Page Fridays Week-22 — Rachel Sargeant
23. A Safe Place by Stephanie Carty – Front Page Fridays Week-23 — Rachel Sargeant
24. Fatal Image by Brian Price – Front Page Fridays Week-24 — Rachel Sargeant
25. Run For Your Lies by A.A. Abbott – Front Page Fridays Week-25 — Rachel Sargeant
26. A Walk in the Park by Natalie Kleinman – Front Page Fridays Week-26 — Rachel Sargeant
27. A Storm in a Teacup by Rachael Gray – Front Page Fridays Week-27 — Rachel Sargeant
28. The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-28
29. A Death in the Afternoon by Julie Anderson – Front Page Fridays Week-29 — Rachel Sargeant
30. Justice by Madalyn Morgan – Front Page Fridays Week-30 — Rachel Sargeant
31. Let Me Out by Amanda Brittany – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-31
32. A Pocketful of Poisons by Brian Price – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/85orb6bc15cs2voyn37yv3jprw0jec
33. Tribute by Madalyn Morgan – Front Page Fridays Week-33 — Rachel Sargeant
34. Mistress of the Manor by Cara Clayton – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-34
35. Waves of Change in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Chistensen – Front Page Fridays Week-35 — Rachel Sargeant
36. A French Inheritance by Jennifer Bohnet – Front Page Fridays Week-36
37. Beneath the Same Moon by AS Andrejevic – Front Page Fridays Week-37 — Rachel Sargeant
38. The Fallen by Maureen Myant - Front Page Fridays Week-38 — Rachel Sargeant
39. The Bad Women by Jennie Ensor – Front Page Fridays Week-39 — Rachel Sargeant
40. Lies Between Friends by AA Abbott – Front Page Fridays Week-40 — Rachel Sargeant
41. Ftal Shot by Brian Brice – My Front Page Fridays Week-41 — Rachel Sargeant
42. The Alibi by Katharine Johnson – My Front Page Fridays Week-42 — Rachel Sargeant
43. The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-43
44. If I Were You by Helen Matthews – Front Page Fridays Week-44 — Rachel Sargeant
45. (Not Quite) Done With Dating by Bella Osborne – Front Page Fridays Week-45
46. Poison at the Wild Haggis Bookshop by Jackie Baldwin – Front Page Fridays Week-46 — Rachel Sargeant
47. Beattie Cavendish and the Highland Hideaway by Mary-Jane Riley – Front Page Fridays Week-47 — Rachel Sargeant
48. Missing… Rose Malone by Linda Huber – www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-48
49. Fiasco by Nicola Kelsall – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-49
50. 27 Church Street by A.J. Hobart – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-50
51. The Girls of Maple Close by Amanda Britanny – www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-51
52. Growing Old Disgracefully by Karen King – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-52
53. Meet Me At Apple Blossom Lane by Anita Faulkner – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-53
54. Festival Days by Julie Anderson – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-54