Series you should be reading: The Brenda and Effie Mysteries by Paul Magrs

If you haven't read Paul Magrs's Brenda and Effie Mysteries, then you're missing out on a really great and fun series!!

 

At the moment it is my favorite series of books. And not just because I did the cover for the final installment of the series. But because Paul incorporates everything I love about classic horror. Both in the literary and the Universal Monster Movies sense.

 

We meet Brenda in the first book Never the Bride. We come to find out she is the Bride of Frankenstein. For those of you who have read the original Mary Shelley novel, you may recall Baron Frankenstein creating a mate for his creature but opting tear her to bits and leave her lying on the floor as he and his first creation battle each other to the ends of the Earth.

 

Well, it turns out Brenda wasn't destroyed. Pulled herself together and had been roaming the earth since then. Until she finally settled down in the English seaside town of Whitby where she opened a little bed and breakfast and made friends with Effie. A rather austere old woman who runs an antiques shop nex door. And also happens to be descended from a long line of witches who have lived in Whitby.

 

And if that's not enough, apparently Whitby is where the gateway to Hell resides within the ruins of the old abbey on the hill. And Hell is filled to capacity which means some of the nasties are getting out into our mortal world.

 

And that's not half of it!!

 

What I've always liked about Paul's writing is his balance of the creepy horror with a touch of humor. You'll get the willies but you'll be laughing the entire time from the funny and clever lines Paul writes in his stories.

 

Here is the list of Paul's stories. You can find them on Amazon.com,  Obverse Books and Snow Books:

  

Never the Bride (Brenda&Effie Mystery #1)

Something Borrowed (Brenda &Effie Mystery #2)

Conjugal Rites (Brenda &Effie Mystery #3)

Hell's Belles! (Brenda&Effie Mystery #4)

The Bride That Time Forgot (Brenda &Effie Mystery #5)

Brenda and Effie Forever (Brenda &Effie Mystery #6)

Cover art for Brenda and Effie Forever!

 

Well, I can let the cat out of the bag now.

 

Here's the cover I did for one of my favorite writers Paul Magrs's latest book Brenda and Effie Forever.

 

Sadly, this book will be the final chapter in the Brenda and Effie series. But I was very pleased when Paul sent me a message asking if I wanted to do the cover for the book. Naturally I said "Yes!!" and here it is.

 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Paul's series, I highly recommend you check it out!! It stars Brenda, the Bride of Frankenstein, who is trying desperately to live a quiet life in the seaside town of Whitby running a little bed and breakfast. But those dreams never turn out as planned as she is continually pulled into strange and otherworldly escapades with her spinster friend Effie.

 

I'll let you all know when the latest of the Brenda and Effie saga is available for purchase.

 

I should also mention there is a delightful radio adaptation of Paul's Brenda and Effie series under the title Never the Bride (the first novel in the series) on BBC Radio 4. Check it out online. It's a fun listen for those of you like me who still love old time radio:

 

Never the Bride on BBC Radio 4