The Season Finale is Coming

Posted on 07/07/2026 by Jack Marsh

Honestly, it is, but it will be a couple of weeks yet before we get to see how the Delamere Files ends (if it ends, or if it ends for now). While it is away with my proofreader, I have been in touch with the wonderful Andjela, who is working on a cover, and in a moment, I’ll order the layout from my usual guys at: https://www.otherworldsink.com/, and then, I have to wait for it all to come back.

I’ve not been lazy while this is going on in the background. I have already begun work on an idea that is very far removed from the mystery and mayhem of the Delamere boys, the Larkspur students, and the Clearwater crew. After seven years in the lives of Silas Hawkins, Lord Clearwater, Dalston Blaze, Joe Tanner, and now Jack and Will Merrit, it’s time to turn my attention to something more literary, and I have an idea for something more considered than one of my usual tales of mystery and adventure with some gay romance overtones.

There’s no title for this idea yet, apart from the working title, ‘Lockbox’, because that’s what the story is all about, metaphorically as well as physically. It’s currently set to be a considered MM romance set in 1895 against the background of the Oscar Wilde trials, although they happen as a backdrop to the action, rather than being a story about the trials.

There is, though, a setting — a small village in Kent — a main character (A 20-year-old blacksmith’s apprentice), an impact character (a 25-year-old historian/architect), a mentor — the apprentice’s uncle and master blacksmith — and a connecting mystery plot. However, in this case, the story isn’t about the mystery, that’s the catalyst, although it does provide intrigue around the main relationship plot.

As this is a completely new start, I have started with a ‘bible’, a long document listing and discussing all information needed for characters, setting, time and so on, and that is building up well, so far.

I always have trouble naming characters, and today’s job is to settle on a MC name (everyone, it seems, was called John or William, James or Edward in those days, so I’m trying to think of something more memorable), and do some character work on the impact character – the one who upsets the MC’s real world and causes him to change in some way.

That’s what’s going on in the background. In the foreground, there was a free eBook giveaway in my newsletter this month, and if you missed it, you might like to sign up for it on the newsletter page. https://jacksonmarsh.com/newsletter/

I’m hoping to do another giveaway next month, so get yourself registered and verified.

One of the newsletter features is the list of promos where other indie authors are offering their work, and we provide each other with, hopefully, a new audience.

Here’s one presented in simple form to give you an idea. Click to view the list of books, and click further to read blurbs and make up your mind.

July MM Romance

This promo holds 58 varied MM romance titles with some of our favourite authors on the list: Ann Lister, for example, and Jackson Marsh.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/julymmromance/vlc6qk25ye

Back soon with more news about The Delamere series finale, ‘The Delamere Dilemma.’

The Delamere Dilemma Blurb

Posted on 01/07/2026 by Jack Marsh

The publishing process has started. The manuscript is with Anne for proofreading, Andjela has my cover ideas and notes on which to base her own, and the Author’s notes are ready. I am waiting to hear back from my nephew, who may be able to make me an illustration for the inside, as we have had in the other books. I am aiming to have the book published for you by the end of the month at the latest.

Meanwhile, I did some fiddling about with some image software and managed to come up with this – it’s not part of the title, just an aide.

I also managed to produce another image with use of the dreaded AI, and it was rather good. However, this is only for publicity and has not been designed or put together by a real person, so I shan’t be using it for anything other than publicity. I will always pay a designer to do my covers, no matter how good AI gets at doing them. Why? Because it’s morally right, I know I will get the correct spacing for the spine and page numbering, and it keeps consistency across the series.

However, this does rather sum up a dramatic moment from the story.

The blurb may also help make sense of that image, so here it is.

The Delamere Dilemma

The Delamere Files Book Twelve

Such games we played in those dark days.

The Metropolitan Police suspect Lord Clearwater of being the infamous East End Ripper, the murderer responsible for the horrific deaths of five young men in 1888. Without proof to the contrary, Clearwater and everyone connected to him are finished, including his charities, the Larkspur Academy, and everyone at Delamere House.

The only way to save Clearwater is for Jack Merrit and his men to uncover the Ripper’s true identity and find the only evidence that can reveal the truth: a document that may not even exist — the Ripper Diary.

As the hunt intensifies, the return of the notorious murderer, Lucas Temple, and a wave of poisonings plunge London into chaos. Following clues from the past and present, Jack and his men uncover an unbelievable conspiracy that links the Ripper, Temple, and Clearwater himself.

With time running out, a city-wide catastrophe looming, and the Ripper Diary still beyond his grasp, Jack must outwit a ruthless enemy before everything he holds dear is destroyed in what could be the Delamere detectives’ deadliest case.

Newsletter

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. This month, you have the chance for a free eBook download. To join, fill out your details on the newsletter page https://jacksonmarsh.com/newsletter/ and then authorise via the email that you will receive, and you’re in.

The next newsletter is due on Saturday, so be quick!

The Delamere Dilemma is the twelfth and final book in the Delamere Files series. It contains a spoiler for anyone who has not read the first Clearwater Mystery, ‘Deviant Desire.’ However, whether you have been following the Clearwater world from the start or not, your enjoyment of this series finale should not be affected.

Expecting a Knock on the Door. The Delamere Dilemma.

Posted on 23/05/2026 by Jack Marsh

Saturday morning: Woke to the sound of the overflow gushing outside the bedroom window, and managed to prevent it from making me rush to the bathroom. It was just before five, and I remembered that, when falling asleep the night before, I had heard the clock tower bell strike the half, as clear as what it was, a bell. I also recalled what various people had said the day before about the coming weather. These forecasts ranged from a possible shower to a yellow weather warning, but that is to be expected these days. There are as many variations to weather reports as there are apps to predict them, yet the simplest one is free, easy, and accurate. You stick your head out of the window, and if it gets wet, it’s raining.

Not long after five, the thunder started, and stayed with us until at least half ten (which is when I am writing this).

It was one of those storms where, when it makes itself really known, you cry, ‘Unplug everything, Maureen, and fetch the sandbags!’ Except we don’t actually say that because we don’t have sandbags, and neither of us is called Maureen. Not even in private.

When it was safe to plug back in again, I spent much time researching the effects of cadmium ingestion (in powdered form), and what might be safely mixed with it to give it the appearance of flour. (Don’t try this at home.) Following that, it was a case of discovering how one could test flour for cadmium without causing it to give off poisonous fumes (again, don’t try this at home). That successfully researched, I then went on to source the address of the Jewish Master Baker’s Association, so I could be accurate when describing the antisemitism taking place outside. Having recently addressed the issue of how one made explosives in the late 19th century, the progress of the Irish Question in 1894, and other anarchist related subjects, I fully expect a knock on the door any day now.

It is all, of course, for the latest novel, which is now at over 120,000 words and almost at the top of the hill. The hill is metaphoric, but once my imagined carriage of clues gets there, it will face a downhill race to the, hopefully, thrilling climax my characters have yet to invent for me and me for them.

Once again, I will say it: If you have been following the Delamere series, but have not yet read the Clearwater stories, now is the time to nip back and start at ‘Deviant Desire.’ By doing this, you will avoid a couple of spoilers that come to light in ‘The Delamere Dilemma.’ If you don’t intend to read the Clearwater series, don’t worry. You won’t miss out on anything, as the past is explained in ‘Dilemma’, hence a couple of spoilers.

Basically, ‘Dilemma’ gives away the identity of the East End Ripper quite early on, but if you’ve read Clearwater, you will already know it. What you won’t know, and what the book fills in, is the Ripper’s point of view during and after the murders.

It does a lot more than that, however, as I hope you will see in a couple of months.

Meanwhile, you might like to take a gander at this promo.

LGBTQIA+ Romance Reads

A collection of 52 titles with new authors and established writers side by side, all doing our bit for each other by cross sharing these promos, with folk who like to read, and thus, support indie authors.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/lgbtqrom-may/xd3t5js6qx

News About ‘Bobby’ and a Visit

Posted on 08/04/2026 by Jack Marsh

Hi all,

While we wait for ‘A Night of Opposites’ to come back from being set out and made ready for publication, I have two pieces of news to tell you. Firstly, the island has just enjoyed a visit from a keen Jackson Marsh reader from the USA, who called in for a few days while on his travels. I often meet readers who come here regularly on holiday. These are kind folks who have supported my James Collins books, such as my travel tales and the Saddling series, the older novels I wrote when I was first starting out, and my other blog, the one about living on a Greek island. It’s always great to see them and chat, but it’s more unusual to meet someone who came here because of reading my books and blog. Here we are up on the roof with the island view behind us.

I’m casually dressed in my old faithful sweatshirt that was once black, I think, or certainly a different colour, and which I can’t bring myself to throw away. It’s my hanging-at-home look. The weather has been good for the visit, and here on the island, the annual summer season is starting to get underway, with Greek Easter taking place this weekend.

In the meantime, I have had an approach from a major publisher (in the USA) interested in reading a second edition of ‘Bobby, a Life Worth Living.’ In order for them to consider this, I need to a) expand and refresh the book, and b) have it represented by an agent. In this case, the publisher was very helpful and pointed me to an agent they recommended and he/she/they have agreed to take a look at the second edition when I have completed it, with a view to representation.

So, as well as finishing the Delamere series, I am now to start work on ‘expanding and refreshing’ Bobby. There is no deadline, but I intend to start on the project tomorrow afternoon. (I would start today, but I play the piano on a Wednesday afternoon.)

The mornings will be taken up with ‘The Delamere Dilemma’, the final instalment in the series, and a story which will bring the Clearwater, Larkspur and Delamere series full circle. At least, that’s the intention. In the meantime, ‘A Night of Opposites’ should be back with me soon (the guys have been really busy), and all being well, I will upload that as soon as I’ve checked it. Hopefully, it will appear within hours, as all bar one of the others has done (with one, I had to wait over a week for it to appear, and that’s very unusual).

When the chairman of London’s Thirteen Club wakes to find 13 dead rabbits in his bedroom, he hires Jack Merrit to track down the intruder. The questions are many: Why were the rabbits each missing a foot? How did someone break in through bolted doors, and what is the criminal’s goal?

Jack and Baxter face a table of thirteen suspects. Among them are Jack himself and his lover, Larkin Chase. The case becomes a personal minefield as the mystery thickens, and when a more chilling threat appears in the same impenetrable house, a disturbing story from the property’s past intrudes into the present.

As Will Merrit investigates suspicious events from thirty years ago, the other Delamere men move in on their only suspect. Except, this is a game of opposites, superstitions and deception, and when the truth finally comes to light, Jack faces the most difficult decision of his career.

So, a new Delamere out soon, the 12th in the series already started, work on ‘Bobby’ to start again tomorrow (Delamere in the morning and Bobby in the afternoon), visitors from abroad, agents, publishers, and all the while still trying to sell what I have already written. I tell you, being an indie author is an ongoing battle of adventures and challenges.

Also, I have several promos to send you to this month, and most are MM Romance, but a couple are also historical mystery and mystery/thriller reads. All are ideas for new reads. Let’s start the list with this one:

Crime Fiction – Sequels

Genres: Mystery & Suspense / British Detectives, Mystery & Suspense / Crime, and Mystery & Suspense / Thriller

You know when you read one book and want there to be another? This collection of 26 titles from a variety of crime authors tells you straight off that these are sequels or another book in a series, meaning there are others that come before and possibly after.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/crimesequelsapr26/kquu04cym5

The Final Chapter

Posted on 21/05/2025 by Jack Marsh

I’m on it – the final chapter of Holywell Street. I’ve reached 95,000 words of the first draft and for the last couple of days, have been struggling with the last chapter, only because I wasn’t sure of the best order in which to do things, and which point of view to do it from. Still, within the next few days, I can commission a cover and an illustration, set about the blurb and rewrite/edit, and book in my proofreader. I aim to get this draft to Neil to start beta reading later today. Yay!

Meanwhile, you may have seen from my Facebook page that I have been experimenting with technology that brings the characters on the covers to life. Basically, it makes them move, and some of these have been more successful than others. I’ll be dropping more on the FB pages in due course, but I wanted to share one here with you as a Wednesday treat. I love the way the water moves here, but something very strange happens with the hands, and the wrong man goes under the water, lol. It was fun spending half an hour experimenting with the thing though, but I am a long way from taming it completely. I’ll leave you with this moving cover and get back to the final chapter.

Release Day: Acts of Faith

Posted on 26/03/2025 by Jack Marsh

The Delamere Files book seven is now available on Amazon in Kindle format and in KU. As I write, I am waiting for the paperback version to go live too, but this can take a few days longer than the Kindle version. Here’s the universal link:

https://mybook.to/ActsOfFaith

Click that, and you should reach the Kindle page for your local Amazon online store, though, I believe, you can buy Kindle books from any Amazon site.

What’s Next?

That’s a good question. I have some ideas floating around, but right now, I am finishing a re-edit of an old James Collins horror novel called, Lonely House. I hope that the version I am editing is the original unedited version because it’s riddled with typos – and I also hope I catch them all. This ancient story was written in 2014 and released in 2015, and it’s in a completely alien style. I mean, the style is nowhere near anything I write these days. It’s very ‘filmscript black stuff’, with much being in the present tense, and lots of ‘He sees…’ and ‘He hears…’ Which I hate to do these days. So, I am trying to edit while remaining true to the original and will rerelease it, hopefully, next month. I need to save for a new cover and then attempt to format it myself via Kindle Create, as it’s never going to make its money back otherwise. I’ll let you know when it’s ready, in case you have a taste for twisty, creepy, modern, strangely written horror (with a kind of bromance feel).

What’s Next for Jack Merrit and Co.?

I can’t give too much away about how ‘Acts of Faith’ finishes, and how things develop at Delamere, not until enough time has passed for you to have read the story, but…

I am thinking about hot air ballooning, Holywell Street (home of seditious publications and Victorian porn), while also scouring the newspapers of the time for ideas and thinking about something cosier than the last few mysteries have been.

So far in the Delamere series, we’ve covered:

Criminal gangs and kidnapping (East End gang culture)
Historic murder at a public school (Private school homo-relationships)
Police crime, gangs and assassination (The music halls)
Feuding brothers, wills and murder (Creepy isolated castle and family feuds)
Child kidnapping and murder (Theatre of the Grand Guignol)
Graverobbing (Gay cruising grounds of the late 19th century)

And, in ‘Acts of Faith’ more weird and wonderful ways to kill someone, as you will see, plus, the difficulty of men securing relationships in a time of extreme discrimination.

My Amazon page for all my titles (click the banner)

So, what next…? Ideas on a postcard to jack@jacksonmarsh.com...

Actually, that’s not a bad idea. If there’s a subject you feel might work for a Victorian, gay, mystery series, drop me a line.

Meanwhile, be sure to join my mailing list for monthly news of new books and promotions and ideas for other things to read while you wait for the next Delamere, whatever it turns out to be.

Grave Developments

Posted on 04/12/2024 by Jack Marsh

After what seems like months, Grave Development will be off to the proofreader this weekend. I have a little tidying up to do here and there, but yesterday, I started really thinking about the blurb, which is a sign I am nearly at the end of this particular path.

If you signed up for the newsletter, you would have received a link to the cover. I sent this out on Monday and will reveal the cover to everyone else on Saturday, here and on my Facebook page.

Also in the newsletter was news of this month’s promos. These are where you can find new authors and titles in my chosen genres, and all you need to do is click and take a look. Doesn’t cost a thing to browse. Many of the titles are on offer, or reduced in price, or simply craving a little attention.

Here’s one to highlight this month, Kindle Unlimited Mystery Novels. If you’ve already signed up for KU, you can add any of these to your reading list. If you’re not in KU, you can buy them for as little as $2.99.

While you’re doing that, I will set about fixing a couple of minor things in Grave Developments, have another bash at finalising the blurb, and check through my author’s notes. This time, they include a couple of personal anecdotes which concern a couple of the places mentioned in the story.

Don’t forget to be here on Saturday for the cover reveal.

Sketches by Dazz

Posted on 09/11/2024 by Jack Marsh

I was just browsing through a file I found under ‘Clearwater’ and which is titled ‘sketches.’ I hadn’t realised that over the past few years, I have commissioned 22 sketches of characters and items associated with the Clearwater, Larkspur and Delamere series (not including two maps). I was wondering who to have sketched for the inside of the next book, ‘Grave Developments.’

It strikes me that although I have a drawing of James Wright, it’s slightly different to the others because it’s an ‘action’ drawing.

Maybe I should find that face again and have my artist do me a standard, ‘Dalston Blaze’ portrait as I’ve done with the others. Here’s one of my favourites:

Dazz, as my artist is known has also drawn a couple of story-related items which aren’t characters. My favourite of these is this one:

The mysterious Larkspur standing stones.

These played a large part in the second Larkspur book, ‘Keepers of the Past,’ as you might remember.

Now working on the Delamere Files, we have had images of Jack and Will Merrit, Larkin Chase and Ned Maddiver. I have to say, Jack’s drawing makes him look a bit rough, but then, when the series starts, he is working 18 to 20 hours a day driving his cab, looking after his ‘special’ brother and trying to pay off debts and avoid eviction, so there’s no wonder. Maybe, I should ask Dazz to draw him as he is by book six?

Or maybe we’ll have a sketch of James…?

Tell you what, with a growing cast of Delamere characters, let me know who you’d like to see a sketch of. We’ve not yet seen Max Pascoe, Benjamin Baxter, Simeon or Ronny Felman, or Mrs Sparks. Send me an email soon because with draft one approaching the 80,000-word mark, I will soon be commissioning a new drawing from Dazz, who – should you need an artist – you can find on Fiverr as DazzlingDezigns.

Meanwhile, today’s promo link takes you to some spooky, mysterious, action-thriller adventure set in all times and places. Have a click and enjoy the browsing.

New Book Out, New One Started

Posted on 14/09/2024 by Jack Marsh

Hello, and welcome to a catch-up blog post. First today’s news…

A Case of Make Believe is back from the layout guys. I have been through it, and it looks great. Apart from the fantastic cover, there is an image of the new character which I’ve had drawn, and the only thing missing is the title of the next book in the series. That will be added when I have thought of it.

If all goes as it usually does, the book will be ready today or tomorrow, and I will post the link when I have it.

As soon as it’s ready, you will be able to find this dark and mysterious novel on the Delamere Files series page here.

Book Six in the series

This one has got off to a mysterious start and even I don’t know where it is leading. It will have something to do with photography, though. Already, we have an opening that is slightly farcical but makes sense, and it’s one of those stories that starts a little way in and then goes back to the beginning. So, after chapter one, I currently have ‘X days earlier’ and the story starts from there with Jack at his desk, rather bored with doing the CID’s cold cases, and hoping for something more exciting to come along.

It does, and it does so in the shape of a Congregationalist minister who has found a body in Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington.

Yes, I know you’d expect to find a body in a cemetery, but not one in a shallow grave, and not one who died ten years earlier and yet looks like it died only a day ago. So, we’ve started off with a right old mystery which, by chapter four, thickens when the detectives (all four) visit the scene to find the body has deteriorated since that morning…

Don’t worry, I will find a way out of this. It will involve some kind of chemical reaction, like a photograph, and I think Doc Markland will have to be brought in.

Meanwhile, Jack has a new team of horses called Moonlight and Silver, though he still has Shadow, of course, and Mrs Norwood next door has her own stable hand and groom again.

Romance Promos

You might like to take a look at the titles in these two romance promos, if you haven’t already. There may be some new authors and titles for you to read there.

News and Updates

Posted on 17/07/2024 by Jack Marsh

I was talking last Saturday about ‘A Case of Make Believe’ the working title of Delamere five which I am now working on. The update is that I am now over 22,000 words in and approaching the end of act one. I know how the story will end, I know certain things that will happen along the way, but I’m not yet sure how we’re going to get there. That’s the fun part as I wade through acts two and three before getting to the climax in act four.

Four Act Structure

Most of my stories are constructed this way, and a very rough outline would look like this:

Act one Ordinary day, a case comes in, everything needed is gathered

Emotional story set up

Act two We’re off into the case and encounter problems and friends

Emotional story develops

Act three After a midway twist, the story picks up a little pace

As does the emotional through line (if it’s important)

Act four We’ve hit a crisis which leads to a climax and denouement

Reflected by the emotional story tie up or make up etc.

That is a very, very basic outline of a classic four-act structure, and you will see it in about 75% of all films (I don’t know the real number, but it’s a lot). There are other structures, but this is the one I favour. The hard part is filling in acts two and three without it reading as though they are just filling. That’s why there’s usually an emotional line too. In ‘Where There’s a Will’ it was the relationship between Marisco and Newt, in ‘Finding a Way’ it’s Jack accepting he’s gay and starting to fall for Larkin. And so on.

Other Things

While I am beavering away on the typowriter, I am also promoting the books, and that’s what I have for you here. The 19th Century Historical Fiction promo has ended, and my readers contributed 40 or so hits to the page, so we may well have helped 40 books gain more publicity. There are three still running though, and they are on until the end of the month. I know I’ve mentioned them before, but that’s my part of the bargain. I participate with other authors, and we share each other’s work via these promo pages. As usual, they cost nothing to browse, and in some cases, all books are on KU while all are on Amazon.

Click the Pics

If you’re in the mood for some steamy MM romance you could try All The Feels:

If you want more crime and gritty stories from all eras, try All Crime July:

If you fancy something spooky and fantastic, then Riveting Reads is for you:

Jackson Marsh Author

Gay Historial Mystery

Category Archives: Novels