Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Amanda Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin (The Amanda Cadabra British Urban Fantasy Mysteries) by Holly Bell. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Amanda Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin (The Amanda Cadabra British Urban Fantasy Mysteries) by Holly Bell
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
9th in Series
Setting – Cornwall, and an English village
Publisher : Independently published
Publication date : April 29, 2026
Print length : 422 pages
Paperback
Someone is Watching
A body is discoveredin a troubling location, just as the killer had intended, the crime scene drawing covert witch Amanda and her irascible feline familiar back to the Cornish land of her birth. Inevitably, Detective Inspector Thomas Trelawney is drawn in to help her unravel this perplexing crime.
At the heart of this heinous murder lies an unknown weapon, a device possessing an extraordinary and lethal power. Worse still, the killer remains, somewhere close by … waiting. Who can it be? Can a daring venture into the past, to reclaim a distant memory from the curious Lucy Penlowr, bring Amanda and the inspector any closer to the truth?
Trelawney, determined to solve the case by normal methods, finds every turn a blind alley until a perilous path leads to two fateful hours at a secret gathering. Now, Amanda’s mounting temptation to embrace a dark revenge, and the ultimate test of her burgeoning magical skills, risk everything in a race for survival
Can Amanda and Trelawney unmask the killer and discover the true meaning of The Twilight Toxin?
A British urban fantasy with a side of cosy mystery, a dash of adventure, and a healthy helping of humour, The Twilight Toxin is the ninth standalone whodunnit in the Amanda Cadabra series.
Author Interview with Holly Bell
Christy’s Cozy Corners
Thanks for taking the time to share a bit about yourself with my readers and me!
Tell us a little about yourself.
Like my heroine, I live in North London, a few miles south of the Hertfordshire border. Although I am a full-time writer, editor and marketer, I did train in furniture restoration for a year and a half, which is how Amanda came to have that profession. Like you, I am an avid film-watcher! Years ago, I even wrote a review book called 50 Feel-better Films. I love cats, hot weather, the sky, and Swiss dark chocolate.
How long have you been writing?
I first had a go at fiction writing at the age of 19, but even as a child, I wrote stories. It was the one thing I enjoyed about school. It was when I was studying for my degree as a mature student that I discovered, for the first time, something that came naturally: writing. And research, too. Later. I trained in marketing and learned to write for that. Later still, I wrote three non-fiction books. Cozy paranormal/urban fantasy mystery, though? Since 2018, I’ve never looked back.
Did you always want to be an author? What made you choose the cozy mystery genre?
At 19, I did have aspirations to be a science fiction author. But I was told by a friend of a friend who worked for a publisher that my manuscript was going to need so much work that I have to admit I banished it to a drawer. And there my fiction writing remained until … I didn’t choose it exactly; it was chosen for me. I met Tim in about 2016, a fellow writer who had had success already as a supernatural comedy author. I was terribly in awe of someone who could write fiction!
But Tim said there was just a lot of mystique that surrounded it, and honestly, anyone could do it. Half an hour and a couple of huge sketchbook pages later, and I began to see the light. Not enough to try it myself, though. Later, he asked me if I would apply my editing skills to his second novel. Tim was gratifyingly impressed and insisted, ‘If you can do that, you can certainly write your own!’ I wasn’t so sure.
And then came the day and the call that changed everything. Tim rang and said he’d just come off the phone with an author friend in the States who told him about this exciting new genre: Cozy Mystery! And it’s subgenre, Cozy Paranormal Mystery. Tim said, ‘right up your street, 70,000 words,’ and the audience loved them so much they had an unquenchable thirst for more. And more. It was a rapidly expanding market, and I could easily do it. I thought. Ok, I was on board. Tim advised me to study the guidelines for the genre, even came up with the name Amanda Cadabra, and helped me sketch out her village.
As soon as I had the name, I knew. I knew her. I knew her familiar, that he was a cat with thick fur in a collection of storm greys, had yellow glowing eyes, was grumpy and called Tempest. I knew the detective in the picture, I knew her family, her history and her village. It just came to me, as though it existed on some other plane and I was simply seeing it. It was astonishing and exhilarating. I felt like an orchid opening in the sun. In a way, then, cozy paranormal mystery chose me.
Do you prefer to read cozy mystery books, or do you have another favorite genre? What are you reading now?
Now, I have an admission to make here. I read ever since I can remember. Voraciously, obsessively. I once walked into a tree because I was reading as I walked along the street. I never went anywhere without a book. For years, I read almost a book a day. And then … I began writing the first Amanda Cadabra book, Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth. Since then, I have hardly read at all. Just non-fiction for research and reference, and the novels I have edited professionally. I don’t know why this is. One person suggested to me that, as I had read so very much all my life, maybe I didn’t need to. At least now for a while. That may change in the future, but for the present … it’s writing over reading. So, the last thing I read was the last novel I edited: Wretched Things by TJ Brown. Right now, I am researching for a new book, so I can’t say any more than that!
Do you have a favorite place to write?
I have to be prosaic here and say: it’s my desk. My beloved desk! But I do also sometimes write in favourite cafés.
What’s on your desk (if you write at one!)?
It’s a big desk and has the usual things: iMac, MacBook, phones, storage. But I think the most interesting, or at least unusual thing on it, is a little ornament: Ganesh. Now I am not a Hindu or anything else. Like many, if not most, people in the UK, I would describe myself as ‘spiritual rather than religious’. So, what am I doing with a sculpture of a Hindu god on my desk? Well, two reasons. You might call Ganesh the patron saint of writers. How so?
Well, Ganesh is credited with penning the Hindu epic saga Mahabharata. His terms for taking dictation from the poet were that it all had to be done in one go. Except, along the way, Ganesh’s pen broke. As it happened, though, Ganesh had the head of an elephant, and so, in the interests of literature and the bargain, he broke off the end of one of his tusks and carried on writing. That’s determination for you!
The second reason I like him is because he is called ‘the remover of obstacles’ or, as I like to think of it, the idea of opening the way, allowing it to unfold, the current to take us between the rocks and the banks. So, there he sits, on a coaster, tucked in a corner on the left of the screen, to remind me to keep going and allow the books and their success to unfold.
What is the first book you remember reading as a child? What was one of your favorite books you read as a child?
It was my first day at school. School was not the place for me, but there were no alternatives back then. The teacher asked the class to each take a book from one of the stands. I hung back to avoid the rush, but also because I wasn’t exactly sure how to find the stands. By the time I got there, all of the easy picture books had gone. But there was one that had no pictures that drew me. Because of the cover: a seahorse. I loved them and still do. I picked it up and was called to the teacher’s desk. The letters meant nothing to me at 4 years old. I used to watch the words as my brother read to me, but as yet they were just symbols. The teacher asked me if I could read any of it. I shook my head anxiously. The teacher pointed: ‘That word is “the”.’ She gave me the book and off I was sent, to do what I had no idea!
It was not long, though, before I learned to read, and the first one I recall is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that my brother had read to me many times. I fell in love with the Narnia books, and there they are still on my shelf: my oldest friends.
Do you like audiobooks, physical books, or e-books better? Why?
I find it difficult to take things in that I can only hear. E-books are lighter for holding a library and convenient, but physical books will always have my heart. A physical book is personal in a way that audio or e-books can never be. Neither of them will ever have that stray blade of grass from when you were reading on the grass in the park, or the coffee stain from where you accidentally put your cup down in the wrong place, or the folded back corners ,or the hand-written inscription of maybe your own name or the person who gave it to you, or if it is second hand, then the name of the person who owned it before you. Physical books have history; they can hold stories and even emotions in ways that intangible books cannot. They are part of our humanness. That is why they will never go out of fashion.
If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?
This one is easy: the Caribbean. I would take Amanda there just as Agatha Christie took her sleuth, Miss Marple, there! I would hire one of the pastel-coloured houses by a certain bay, sit on the veranda …and write.
What or who has influenced you the most as a writer?
This is a tricky one because there have been a few. I think for the cozy mystery genre, it has to be Dame Agatha. I read all of the Christie novels by the time I was about 14 and re-read and re-read them. Dick Francis was a later influence. For the paranormal component: Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, unquestionably. Although CS Lewis, of the Narnia books, and Terry Pratchett are in there too.
Do you have any author friends who support you while you’re writing? Do you belong to any writing groups?
Tim, who finally got me into fiction writing, is now my cover illustrator, and I am his editor, as well as being firm, if distance, friends. I am not a group person, I must admit. The craft of writing and editing comes easily to me. However, I receive tremendous moral support from readers who became fans who become both friends and sub-editors, as well as a particularly dear beta reader. I also get emails from readers I have never met or known, expressing appreciation for the books, and every time it lifts me to the skies and moves me to tears. Support can come from unexpected places when you most need it, don’t you find?
Finally, what are you working on now? Can you tell us a bit about it?
I have just finished working on the audiobook for Book 2, Amanda Cadabra and The Cellar of Secrets, (which should be coming out around now, if it hasn’t already done so), having got round to it about 7 years after it was written! And I am making a start on editing the recording for Book 3, Amanda Cadabra and The Flawless Plan. I also have a shop on Redbubble with book-related items, and I am preparing to bring out the next collection of designs for that.
But most important is the writing. Now I have no control over this! I don’t know what will come to me next. It could be another Amanda book or the spin-off series I am planning, springing from Book 6, or another set of prequel Philip Rayke Mysteries. The plot for Book 10, the one after Amanda Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin, which has just come out, has arrived. But something else has started growing too, which I’m keeping under wraps for now!
Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions!
Christy, thank you so very much for inviting me into your world and giving me this precious opportunity to share something of my experiences with your readers. It is a pleasure to be in the company of someone who loves books (and writers!) as much as you.
About Holly Bell
Humorous and quintessentially English with excitement and magic.
Cat adorer and chocolate lover, British author Holly Bell’s life changed in a day. A best-selling author friend convinced Holly that she could write cozy mysteries, after many years’ experience with non-fiction, photography and video making.
Holly devoured all of the Agatha Christie books long before she knew that Miss Marple was the godmother of the Cozy Mystery. Her love of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings meant that her first literary creation in this area would have to be a cosy paranormal. Over the series the books have grown to straddle urban fantasy mystery too.
Having derived immense delight from the adventure of writing Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole and its 8 sequels, and a prequel to date, Holly has more in the pipeline.
Her favourite feline is a black cat called Bobby. He is black. Like her favourite hat. Purely coincidental.
Holly loves to hear from readers. She always responds in person.
The Amanda Cadabra Cozy Paranormal Mysteries (in order):
Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth
Amanda Cadabra and The Cellar of Secrets
Amanda Cadabra and The Flawless Plan
Amanda Cadabra and The Rise of Sunken Madley
Amanda Cadabra and The Hidden Depths
Amanda Cadabra and The Strange Case of Lucy Penlowr
Amanda Cadabra and The Hanging Tree
Amanda Cadabra and The Nightstairs
Amanda Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin
Author Links
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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18387493.Holly_Bell
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/holly-bell
Purchase Links
Amazon Universal links Kobo Google Google Play Barnes & Noble Apple Books2Read Bookshop.org
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Amanda Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin Tour PARTICIPANTS
June 17 – Salty Inspirations– AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 18 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
June 18 – The Editing Pen – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 19 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
June 20 – Book Hookup – REVIEW
June 21 – deal sharing aunt – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 22 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 23 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 24 – Sarcastically Yours, Jen – SPOTLIGHT
June 25 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
June 26 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 27 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
June 27 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
June 28 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 29 – Sarandipity’s – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 30 – Book1987 – SPOTLIGHT
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