The Granny Smith series has proven very popular, especially on the Kindle with sales of the back-list remaining strong. There are three full length novels, and one short story in the series and later this year Granny will return in an all new adventure.

Amazon bill the books as cozy crimes, and to some extent they are just this but they are a lot more earthy than the standard cozy crime - the language is often far more fruity than is the norm for the genre, and the situations the senior detective finds herself in would shock anyone expecting nice polite murders in the library, a highly polished dagger between the shoulder blades, the newly created corpse shedding little blood and falling in an orderly position onto the plushly carpeted floor. Nope, that's not really Granny Smith - as the tagline states, It's Miss Marple on steroids.

Last month a new audio-book that collects together the short story, The Welsh Connection and the novel, Murder Plot was published by those nice people at Audible under the title, Double the Trouble. The book is performed by Fiona Thraille, the same voice who has brought the other Granny Smith titles to life with her wonderful interpretation of Granny's world.  Fionna really brings the stories to life and listening to her performance is always a joy.


I knew from the first few minutes that I was going to enjoy this audiobook and I was right. The dry (yet sassy) humour was spot on and the narration was perfectly matched to the tone of the story. Highly recommended! *****

The narrator really brought the characters to life. Great performance, fun and engaging murder mystery. *****

If I won the lottery I would attempt to hire Fiona Thraille to read books to me on a regular basis! I love the non stereotypical characters in this amusing adventure, but Fiona's range of voices and accents brings each character to life, making this audiobook a real pleasure. If I didn't know better I'd believe Ms Thraille grew up in the Welsh valleys! I will definitely be looking out for more books narrated by this talented actor. *****



Audible members can buy the audio now, as well as the other titles in the series. If you're not a member of Audible then you can get any of the Granny Smith titles for free when you sign up for their NO RISK trial. The audio-books can be listened to on computers, tablets, MP3 players, smart phones or on those personal assistant thingies such as Alexa, Google Home and other smart speakers.

How to describe the world of Granny Smith?

Well, imagine Agatha Christie liked to hang out at dogging sites and nine months after a particularly inventive orgy involving Tom Sharpe, Terry Pratchett and an industrial strength tube of Vaseline, a love child was born - that love child would be Granny Smith.

The words above are not mine - they come from a review and made me chuckle. And I'm sure you'll enjoy Granny's adventures too - so why not go get the new Audio-book, Granny Smith: Double the Trouble - not only will you be entertained but you'll also discover the answers to many profound questions. Such as:


Do all dicks tastes like Chicken?
Who was the better lover - Keef Richards or Shakin Stevens?


Discover the answers to these questions and many more in Granny Smith: Double the Trouble - available now at Audible, Apple Books, Amazon and anywhere else that audio-books are sold.

All titles are also available as eBooks and paperbacks.

The second book in my widely popular Granny Smith series, that's Miss Marple on steroids, is now available as an audiobook  The book is read, though performed is a more descriptive word, by the talented Fiona Thraille. The audiobook can be purchased from Audible and Amazon and following this LINK will bring you to the product page where you can listen to a free sample of the audio.

There are currently four books in the Granny Smiths series, with a fifth coming later this year. The first two Granny Smith Investigates and Granny Smith and the Deadly Frogs are also available in the audio format, with the others due to follow in due time.

So who is Granny Smith? - well, I suppose the series fits most easily in the cosy crime genre, but these are cosies with balls. The books are quite a bit more earthy than standard cosy titles and readers seem to like the character, and the world she inhabits.

Here are a few samples of the reviews.

I knew from the first few minutes that I was going to enjoy this audiobook and I was right. The dry (yet sassy) humour was spot on and the narration was perfectly matched to the tone of the story. Highly recommended!  


The Welsh elements, the humour, the familiar characters and a well-developed plot combine to produce a better than average cozy mystery. What more could you ask for? Apart from the next in the series?

Wonderful! Reminds me of my mother. An outspoken, senior rebel who seeks to clear up the mystery she finds herself in. A simply delightful character who had me chuckling whilst she dealt with the clues surrounding her. An example of the best cozies around.

tunning! Granny is back with a vengeance. Another murder and she is set on solving it. Can she do so without upsetting the police too badly? She is simply a terrific character who isn't afraid of being herself. Regardless of whether it is politically correct to do so. A wonderful humorous read.

Once again the pipe-smoking granny is on a search for the truth after a 'Save our frogs' activist is found very dead, and yet again she leaves no stone unturned, and of course upsets the local constabulary. A great fun read.


 Audiobook sales are booming - have been increasing year on year for the past several years. They are so convenient and these days a lot of people listen to audiobooks on the smartphones  - they are great for long drives, when jogging, or even potting about in the garden. In fact they can be listened to  in any situation you can imagine - with a well concealed pair of earbuds you can even listen while having sex. Now here's  a way to get hold of the red hot Granny Smith and the Deadly Frogs audiobook for FREE - Simply head over to Audible and start your free trial, and then select Granny Smith and the Deadly Frogs as your first title. 

My own Granny Smith Investigates available from Audible

No longer just the greatest invention for bathtub readers, the audiobook is, according to new data, the surprise saviour for solving one of the world’s greatest problems: getting non-readers to read. Sales of audiobooks have doubled in the past five years, according to Nielsen with commuters and men aged 25 to 44 accounting for the bulk of that rise.

Good news indeed as conventional wisdom is that less and less men are reading, but audiobooks seem to dragging men back to the printed page. Audible.com are a great provider of audiobooks - not only do they stock several of my books - why not try Wild Bill Williams by Jack Martin for a slice of western adventure, or for a comedic crime caper try Granny Smith Investigates by G. M. Dobbs. Ok that's my shameless plug out of the way - but do visit Audible as they stock thousands upon thousands of titles, of ever genre and from almost every author you can think of.

Total sales for audiobooks rose 18.2 percent over 2017, with digital downloads making up 82.4 percent of those sales, compared to 76.8 percent in 2015. Physical audio (CDs) dropped to 16.2 percent of total audio sales, from 21.8 percent in 2015.

And the good news for publishers, looking forward, is that much of the audience for digital is young. Almost half of those who say they listen to audiobooks were under 35. And it’s a hungry audience. While only 24 percent of Americans say they listened to at least one audio book in 2017, the average listener in that category consumed 15 books in that same period, mostly on a smartphone. In the UK the average was higher with 24 perecent saying they had listened to two audiobooks in the previous year. You have to figure that the average reader of physical books did not buy 15 books last year, much less read that many.

Find Audible and er (Granny Smith Investigates and Wild Bill Williams) HERE

OK it's that time again - time to push product and try and get some of you out there to browse on over to my title and click buy. Hey we all have to make a living you know and these days writers can't afford to be precious and from time to time we have to put on our sales hat and push, push, push.

Granny Smith Investigates was my first book in the Granny Smith series and it's done pretty well - I'm pleased with the way it has gone down with strong sales and good reviews. The book is now also available as an eBook from those nice people at Audible. Performed by Fiona Thraille you can check out a sample reading by clicking HERE

Granny Smith Investigates, the first title in my hugely popular series centered around the pipe puffing senior sleuth, is now available as an Audiobook. It can be downloaded from Amazon, Audible and iTunes, but can also be gotten for free as part of an Audible trial...find out how HERE

Once upon a time audiobooks were not taken seriously and thrown together by publishers as a kind of afterthought, but these day sales are booming and publishers are finding big names attracted to recording their favorite books for public consumption. Predicted sales growth of audiobooks is on an upward path due to the technical improvements which has led to digital downloading and the fact that professional speakers are being used to voice audiobooks. With sales of physical books on the decrease as eBooks take over it is nice to see the audio format more than holding its own.

Recent statistics reveal that:

 The audiobook market neared the $1 billion mark in 2011, increasing
6 percent over 2010.

> Almost 25 percent of the U.S. adult population listens to audiobooks.

> Audiobook listeners tend to have higher incomes, more education and read more books than non-audiobook listeners.

> Almost 35 percent of audiobook listeners have an iPod or MP3 player.


And the story is the same in the UK with the Independent newspaper this Sunday carrying an article that looked at some of the celebrities who have recorded audiobooks -  Colin Firth, Kate Winslet, Samuel L Jackson and Nicole Kidman are just some of the famous names who have recorded audiobooks.


I must admit until recently I've never really had any time for audiobooks. I used to find it difficult to truly get into the story, but these days I regularly listen to audiobooks and have bought more audiobooks in the last two years, then ever before. The quality of the titles available has definitely improved over recent years and when the right voice is matched with the right book, the result is a great listening experience. So if you're one of those readers who had a bad experience with an audiobook in the past, then maybe it's time to think again....