{"id":3165,"date":"2026-05-01T08:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/?p=3165"},"modified":"2026-05-01T08:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:45:17","slug":"count-down-to-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/?p=3165","title":{"rendered":"Count Down to Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The launch of every novel is always fraught with problems, but the last couple of months have made this launch the most difficult ever. If things could go wrong, they have! But, fingers (and toes) crossed, things are at last coming together. The launch date for Shadow of the Sphinx<\/em> is now set for 2nd<\/sup> June and it’s now available as a pre-order.<\/p>\n

All you wonderful people who have asked for an advanced copy in return for a review on Amazon and Goodreads, please don\u2019t forget to finish reading ready to post your review on launch day.<\/p>\n

For those of you who would like to know a bit more about the book here is a quick blurb:-<\/p>\n

Pyramids, pharaohs and a predator in Prada <\/strong><\/p>\n

Eloise Masterton is the owner of a chain of high-end boutiques, and she doesn\u2019t care who she steps on to build her empire. When she is murdered on a holiday tour of Egypt there are plenty of suspects including the ex-husband who appears to be stalking her, a disgruntled business partner and an ex-lover, not to mention the ship\u2019s resident cruise director. Can Aunt Jessica and Harry unmask the murderer before their Nile cruise returns to Luxor and the whole party leave the boat to go their separate ways?<\/p>\n

This is an extract:-<\/p>\n

I was scraping the last spoonful of chocolate sauce from the bottom of my dish when Aunt Jessica put a hand on my arm.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Something wrong?\u2019 I asked.<\/em><\/p>\n

She frowned. \u2018Have you noticed Eloise is drinking rather heavily?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

I looked across the table. Eloise was decidedly the worse for wear. She ran a hand through her hair disrupting its habitual immaculate styling. Her face and neck flushed an angry red, and a pained frown creased her forehead. Her eyes blinked rapidly before suddenly, clutching her throat, she half rose only to fall forward, crashing onto the table.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Fern screamed. <\/em><\/p>\n

Margot leant over the collapsed torso calling her name over and over. She managed to lift the stricken woman\u2019s head and shoulders and cradled them against her own chest.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then the whole place erupted in a confusion of bustle and noise. Waiters rushed over. A first aider arrived, and Eloise was laid on the floor as guests from nearby tables began crowding around. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018She\u2019s struggling to breathe. Someone ring for an ambulance.\u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

The ma\u00eetre d\u2019 appointed two of the heftiest of his staff to carry Eloise to her room. Another waiter cleared the path to the exit. All eyes followed the little procession with Margot in its wake. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018Please return to your seats, everyone,\u2019 ordered the ma\u00eetre d\u2019. \u2018One of our guests has been taken ill but there is no cause for alarm.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>As all authors will tell you, there are always plenty of people who are only too happy to volunteer to be an ARC reader, but less than 50% ever review the books as they promised. It is so easy to download books on to your Kindle for them disappear behind later downloads and be forgotten! I\u2019m happy to send out to copies to any of you, – and there is still a whole month to read it – but PLEASE, PLEASE don\u2019t break your promise. I rely on you all so much to review and to tell your friends. If I\u2019ve pricked your conscience about any of my books you have received in the past \u2013 it\u2019s never too late to write a review!<\/p>\n

I will send out a reminder email to all you amazing volunteers a week or so before the launch date.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On a different note – I shall be at the Cirencester Book Extravaganza on the 16th<\/sup> of this month. It\u2019s a big event and should be an interesting day for all book lovers. If you live in the area, why not pop in? I\u2019d love to chat with you. Cirencester is a beautiful Cotswold town. You could make it a great day\u2019s outing.<\/p>\n

Here are the details.<\/p>\n

16 May 2026, 10:30 \u2013 16:00<\/p>\n

Cirencester, Bingham Hall, King St, Cirencester GL7 1JT, UK<\/p>\n

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The launch of every novel is always fraught with problems, but the last couple of months have made this launch the most difficult ever. If things could go wrong, they have! But, fingers (and toes) crossed, things are at last coming together. The launch date for Shadow of the Sphinx is now set for 2nd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,85],"tags":[249,171,240],"class_list":{"0":"post-3165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-book-launch","7":"category-travel","8":"tag-egypt","9":"tag-nile-cruise","10":"tag-shadow-of-the-sphinx","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3165"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3165"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3173,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3165\/revisions\/3173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}