It’s a fairytale town, isn’t it? How’s a fairytale town not somebody’s fucking thing?

Merry Christmas.

Announcing my favourite books of 2025! It’s been a hard year for most writers and seeing all the ‘books of the year’ lists can be a bit depressing if you’re not on them. But you are all my books of the year, regardless of whether you’ve got an agent or got published. It’s a random business.

If you were wondering how small I am, this is me with a normal sized bottle of wine.

Is this not how you do it?

If they did end of year wrap-ups for writers: You wrote 100,000 words in 2025! You deleted 75,000 of them! You cried 49 times! Your #1 phrase was: ‘She raised her eyebrows’ Your Year was defined by average sales, alcohol and mild desperation!

New cover! My first Anna Sharpe thriller, NOTES ON A DROWNING, is out in paperback in Jan. Two determined women, a deadly-up. ‘A brilliantly-pacy page-turner with a deeply compassionate centre.’ - The Express. Pre-order here and secure my endless devotion plus a book: geni.us/NotesOnADrow...

Inspired by @annamazz.bsky.social at WhitbyLitfest I have just finished this and it is*so* good.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK STAFF WHERE DRACULA’S GRAVE IS THERE ISN’T ONE. Iconic sign from St Mary’s Church next to Whitby Abbey. I love that people think Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a real person/vampire who lived and died in Whitby.

The Book of Secrets, winner of the Gold Dagger for best crime novel of 2025, is 99p on kindle for a limited time. Sorcery, mystery, sisterhood. Based on a real poisoning case from 17th century Rome. www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Secrets...

Happy Halloween, witches! Remember to hold tight to your horse or goat when riding to the meet tonight. Frenzy of Exultations, 1893, by Władysław Podkowiński, and Witches Going to Their Sabbath, 1878, by Luis Ricardo Falero. #happyhalloween

Thrills, chills, possibly spills (of wine) this Thursday. Join us at Waterstones Greenwich for a drink and a chat. @nadinematheson.com @holly.bsky.social Tickets: www.waterstones.com/events/thril...

Didn’t do it again though, did he?

NEW Award-winning novelist Anna Mazzola recommends five fabulous works of fiction that bring to life the impact of crimes in historical settings, from Victorian Britain to 18th-century Jamaica. @annamazz.bsky.social @margaretatwood.bsky.social fivebooks.com/best-books/t...

Unsolicited writing advice from someone who's just regained their writing mojo: Stop worrying about the market. Just write something you think is fascinating. If you can, distance yourself from people who sap your confidence about your writing and yourself. Celebrate every achievement.

BEST ONE YET GUYS

Me at the beginning of the school holidays: We are going to clear out the house and learn new languages! Me at the end of the holidays: [crying] if you stop screaming and hitting each other I’ll give you your third packet of haribo gummy bears

I love how Jellycat have run out of things do make cute toy versions of so are going ever more off piste: an egg with a wedding veil. Vampire frog. An exploded eye ball. A tongue. Toilet duck. Pat Sharp’s hair.

Brains of BlueSky: can you think of stories about lost or stolen treasures or artefacts? Book, film, TV, whatever. The gems. Thank you kindly.

This is barmy. Lindsey Fitzharris is an incredible historian and UK citizen and the Home Office won’t let her back in despite having the correct docs. She has also been battling cancer. Pls email [email protected] and spread the word.

Burglar Bill. The Jolly Postman. Each Peach. I can still recite it off my heart. What a legacy Allan Ahlberg and Janet Ahlberg have left. Janet died in 1994. Allan has just died, aged 87. Clever, funny, wise books that both I and my kids loved. Which was your favourite? I think Burglar Bill was mine

A vivid and compelling historical thriller set in 1659 Rome. Men are dying; an inquisitor investigates, suspecting poison. Women, abused, powerless and in danger, turn to Girolama and her knowledge of herbs and potions. Based on true events; detailed, descriptive and atmospheric. #books 💙📚⏳📚⚡️

My bestselling novel The Clockwork Girl is 99p on Kindle this month if you fancy some mystery, glamour, squalor and moving dolls. 18th century Versailles. Real copies from bookshops also available! (I always feel conflicted sharing these deals, but there we are). amzn.eu/d/1W9aX3q

UK to recognise state of Palestine in September unless Israel holds to ceasefire

Last chance to get in person tickets for St Hilda’s Gothic Crime weekend. Lots of fascinating talks in a beautiful setting, a murder mystery play, bats, books, drinks etc. Online tickets also available. They send you a bat in a bag.* www.st-hildas.ox.ac.uk/events/2025-... *maybe

Yodel: We have left your item in your safe place!* ____________ * Your safe place can be defined as: a) on your doorstep in a high crime area, b) in your bin, c) in your neighbour's bin, or d) up your cat's arse.

Montenegro so far winning ‘country with the most religious paintings of fish eating men that I’ve ever been to.’ The first fresco shows Tito, Engels, Marx and other ‘church haters’ being swallowed into Hell. In the second, sea creatures eat human body parts, but I just don’t know why.

Just remembered one of my biggest disappointments as a child: realising that ‘adopting a penguin’ at a zoo did not mean you got to take the penguin home with you. Such a scam.

Bosniaaaaa (and Herzegovina). What a beautiful, fascinating, incredible country. We were in Sarajevo during the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre - the war crime that the West failed to stop. Worth remembering.

Good morning. Turns out the original bronze Bruce Lee sculpture in Mostar has been stolen by local scallywags and melted down for scrap, so it was recreated by me, my husband and this dog.

Timeline of the Srebrenica genocide, July 1995, and room of peace at the Museum of War and Genocide, Mostar, Bosnia. If only humans learned from their history.

‘We are all living under the same sky.’ Street art at the bullet-ridden Sniper Tower in Mostar, Bosnia - a former bank seized as a sniper vantage point during the Bosnian war and now covered with art. Officially, you can no longer enter, but in fact you can climb in with a leg up.

Loved this book powerfully. Murder, betrayal and ice cream. I don’t know what more you want.

Edvard Munch wasn’t all about screaming. He did this very jolly Dance on the Beach on a good day in 1904.

Yugoslav adverts were in a league of their own.

1995: Life is like a box of chocolates. 2025: Life is like a box of crazy frogs with guns.

Wanna swap summer reading recommendations with me? And learn some behind-the-scenes stuff? Sign up to my Readers' Club newsletter here and you get a free short story whether you want one or not: annamazzola.com/contact/

I won a prize!

Your summer reading just dropped. (In price. To 99p). London and Tokyo. Two determined women uncover a scandal involving misogyny and abuse of power. A Times thriller of 2025. ‘A brilliantly pacy page-turner with a deeply compassionate centre.’ - The Express. www.amazon.co.uk/Notes-Drowni...

I scream. You scream. We all scream for no real reason.

Which book scared @annamazz.bsky.social, and do you dare to read it? Thanks to Shotsblog for this interview ahead of St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend. wwwshotsmagcouk.blogspot.com/2025/06/in-s...

📍Glastonbury

Is there any greater lie than YOUR CALL IS IMPORTANT TO US?

Who is doing the best substacks? Any subject. Within reason.

All my trains are cancelled due to ‘severe weather’. Surely severe weather is like a tornado or a freak sandstorm. Not ‘it being a bit warm’.

Delighted to be back at @BloodyScotland.bsky.social on 13 September where I’ll be appearing with brilliant @kiaabdullah.bsky.social and @guymorpuss.bsky.social and possibly doing crime karaoke. bloodyscotland.com/event/their-....

Anna Mazzola knocks it out of the park every time. The Clockwork Girl 5* superbly character driven historical fiction @annamazz.bsky.social

PEOPLE SUNBATHING: Please hold your books at such an angle that we can see what you’re reading. Thank you.

No biggie. Just a new selection of thirteen Dapne Du Maurier stories with a brilliant introduction by @stephenking.bsky.social (I don’t generally squeal when opening book mail, but for this one I made the exception).

'Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.' Maya Angelou. I like that a lot.