Ben Westerham

The House of Spies, a high stakes game of #espionage set on the eve of the First World War. Link ⬇️

And if you’ve read any of my Banbury Cross Mystery books you might know just how much Inspector Leslie Dykeman doesn’t like sheep, which he thinks have it in for him! Might he be right? benwesterham.com/books/book-det…

The Cotswolds appear often in my Banbury Cross mysteries. It’s an interesting term for a lovely part of the country & generally taken to mean something like “upland hills dotted with sheep enclosures” from the Old English cot/e for a small shelter & wald/wold for upland hills.

Slipping back on here quietly after nearly two weeks doing nothing at all demanding. What a pleasure it has been.

I'm attending this event. RT if you think others will find this helpful 🙌 createsummit2026.heysummit.com #createexpandprosper2026

Taking a break this week. Time for a little rest and relaxation. Be back here next week.

Another curious entrance door in an old stone building in #Banbury . This one is no longer used. I love these sorts of discoveries as they are so good for getting the imagination going. Noticed the old boot scrapper bottom left? Could a clue be found in there in my next #book ?

Is there a sadder sight than this for us #booklovers ? This former bookshop in #Banbury closed a few years ago now, as did the Oxfam bookshop across town. Fortunately, there are still numerous charity shops selling used books and a Waterstones for new ones 😀

Your link to laughter… amzn.to/4c0xad5

My current fiction read is by the late and very great Spike Milligan. It’s a mad cap, anarchic story that has had me at various times bemused, laughing hysterically and sighing wistfully. Not for readers of a sensitive disposition.

Sad to see #spy #author Len Deighton is no longer with us bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…. Although he'd not written a book for some time, he wrote some of the all-time classics in his genre, including The IPCRESS File & Funeral in Berlin.

We had a visit from a curious peacock this afternoon. Sadly, it couldn't work out how to get into the house so it could watch the TV 😄

@hmtreasury rolled out Digital Sales #Tax #DST in the UK. Now Meta passes it on to those of us running ads. Great. I now pay both VAT AND DST on the same spend 😠

Quite often narrow entrance doors found in old buildings were originally alleyways giving access to the rear of the premises. Here is an example from a row of shops in #Banbury . I love to imagine what might be behind ones that are closed 😀

Looks interesting for all you #creative people out there.

After the snowdrops come the #daffodils , a beautiful carpet of which we have growing in our front lawn, bobbing their heads cheerily in the wind today.

She's blonde. She’s clever. She’s in his office. London based PI David Good doesn’t stand a chance. kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/go…

For all you #crime loving @kobo #readers out there, you can pick up a copy of Good Investigations for FREE right now. Link ⬇️

Time to encourage paid newsletter services to offer more flexibility? More info here c.org/2yML44pdLT

#indieauthors using paid newsletter promo services who don't want to direct traffic to #amzn might like to check out this campaign. Link ⬇️

You will find a whole bunch of my #books at sale prices on @Smashwords right now as part of their Read an Ebook Week promo. Check it out here smashwords.com/sale