The initial idea for the Mel Greenaway series of books came to me when I was thought-snowballing ideas for a potential new television series, so I devised a treatment and breakdown for an initial series of that. Over this process, the idea of Mel Greenway Investigates as an overarching title began to take shape. Ultimately I had outlines for six episodes in a limited series, and when the production company started pitching the idea, comments came back that this would be great if it were an already-existing IP (ie if the stories had been published as novels already) and so my agent set about pitching them. Thankfully the wonderful people at Bedford Square were very keen, deals were struck, and now Mel is about to be launched on the world as a series of cosy-esque mystery thrillers. I decided to call them ‘co-sexy’ as they’ve undercurrents of cosy crime (though perhaps more twisty-turny than readers might expect) but there’s also elements of sexual tension in them! It’s just how I write, and those six outlines for the proposed television series are now being initially realised as a series of novels.
Writing mysteries are in my blood, and nothing appeals to me more than championing a strong female lead, who’s sharp analytical mind can not only fix broken machinery, but can also dissect a mystery a piece at a time. Mel Greenway could be described as a female Sherlock Holmes. The books are set in post-war Britain, but unlike the male, very privileged, Holmes, Mel finds many obstacles in her way and will deal with them all in her typically gutsy manner.
Growing up, I was regaled by stories from my maternal grandmother, Kathleen Hulse, who, born on 9 April 1912, had lived through not one, but two, world wars. She was a woman with much feist, who had no doubt that her body belonged to her and no one else. I now believe that this conviction was born during those difficult times and later reading many true stories set during and after WWII, I became very aware of how challenging this era was for women.
During the war an emancipation had begun, women were filling the roles traditionally occupied by men. They had to as all the men were off supporting the war effort or fighting, and many never came home. They loved this challenge which was something that before then they had probably never imagined was possible. This new found freedom meant independence. Women didn’t have to be married with children to be useful, they could be anything they wanted. Perhaps it was the most significant step towards what we now accept as a human right.
Then, came the aftermath of the war: soldiers returning home. The women who had been holding the fort, found their roles sharply reversed. Jobs taken from them. Financial independence gone. This must have been a shocking turn of events. While writing the first two novels in this series, I became increasingly aware of how this might have felt. I would have hated it; I’m sure most, if not all of these extraordinary women, did too.
This stark reality was particularly reflected, much to my horror, in the recent political changes that have been happening in the USA. Horrified by the ruling that took away the right of full autonomy over women’s bodies in some states, I saw a juxtaposition that made me realise that the world had learned nothing.
Even so, as the post war era was a different, in some ways more naïve time, the platform of a mystery thriller book series lends itself beautifully to explore the problem. Mel is a tribute to those women who had made a tentative step towards that elusive equality, and, indeed, to all women whose freedom has been taken from them, in history and in the present day. Mel won’t lie back and ‘think of England’. Instead, she will take the world by storm, but she’s smart enough to do it with subtlety, cunning, and a strong belief in her own abilities.
She is sexually emancipated enough to go after what she wants, Mel will evolve to take on the archaic traditions of the era, and will show she’s not afraid to take on the men, or women, blocking her progress. And she doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty. Which is why I refer to this mystery series as co-sexy. This is a sexy post war mystery that will leave you guessing. Is it a cosy series? I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Above all I want readers to fall in love with Mel. She’s gutsy and clever, smart and sassy, and I guarantee you’ll have a good time figuring out these mysteries with her as your guide.
A Thorn in the Rose will be published by Bedford Square/No Exit Press in February 2026
