About the Author
Jo Simpson was born in Essex but was raised primarily in the West Country, enjoying a childhood in Devon and Cornwall, never far from a rugged coastline, sandy beach, or harbour. As the crowds grew in her home town, Jo sought a new coastal retreat and explored further afield.
She fell in love with Tenby, the beautiful town and coastline and the community feel. This inspired her to write the Castleby series using Tenby and the Pembrokeshire coast as the backdrop. Tenby castle and lifeboat station and ramp all feature on the cover of her debut novel.
Jo obtained a degree in Building Surveying from the University of Greenwich and then went onto specialise in research in construction and development, gaining her PhD in 2001. Jo still runs a successful research consultancy and writes her novels in every spare moment she has. She lives in Kent, with her two (occasionally stroppy) teenage daughters, her extremely long suffering husband and her two writing partners Max (who features as Brock in the series) and Merlin, both rescue Border Collies.
Jo’s debut novels are the Castleby series, comprising of five books set in a coastal community and largely inspired by the time she’s spent in and around the UK’s coastline, and the neverending visits to RNLI shops that her children insisted on regularly! The series seemed a natural progression and the fictional seaside town of Castleby grew with new people and new plotlines. The debut novel in the Castleby series is Sea State, out December 2021, the second is Sea Change, due for release in March 2022.
Jo is planning a new series set in the Scottish highlands, the first of which will hopefully publish in early 2023. In what little spare time Jo has, she spends writing, walking by the ocean, being an armchair movie critic, and drinking copious amounts of wine in her most favourite pub with friends.
SEA STATE
Jesse Stevens needs to escape her past, start a new life and feel safe. The rugged coastline and tight-knit community of Castleby offers her that chance. Her new job with the local lifeboat crew gives her the stability and comfort she craves.
Her skipper, Doug Brodie, faces his own demons. He is struggling with survivor’s guilt, physical and mental scars, and a marriage teetering on the brink. Jesse is desperate to put aside the dark nightmares and terrible memories.
As she and Doug grow closer, she wonders whether she can ever really live a normal life and be happy. But Jesse is in grave danger. Someone is watching her; trying to control and manipulate her life. Someone plans to make her life a living nightmare and return her to the hell she thought she had left behind. Will she ever be free?
REVIEWS
“I read this in two days, just couldn’t put it down. It was like a trip to the beach with a dark twist. Memorable characters struggling and surviving against the odds. A love story and thriller combined set against the story of a lifeboat crew. I’m looking forward to the next book.”
“I thoroughly recommend this book, it is an absolute pleasure to read. Jo Simpson creates a suspense filled story with an entirely believable cast of well crafted characters, all set again the backdrop of a small coastal town and its close knit community. Events occur and relationships develop in and around the lives of the hardy lifeboat crew. This is a book that I could not put down. The plot draws the reader in quickly and keeps the pages turning. I was sad to finish the book. I missed the lovely people of Castleby and wanted to read more about them. Luckily there is another book on the way….”
“Beautifully written characters, depth, wit and a flowing plot. A brave storyline that could be too dark to handle, but not in this book. I loved discovering Castleby and all its inhabitants.”
SEA CHANGE – March 2022 release
Sinister undercurrents at are work in the seaside town Castleby. A young boy goes missing and another dies in suspicious circumstances. Jesse Stevens believes she is safe after escaping from a madwoman who tried to kill her. But soon her worst nightmare returns. Her ex-partner has escaped from prison and is hunting her. She believes he will find her and kill her this time.
Ex-special forces soldier Rob Fox (Foxy) moves to Castleby to live a quiet life, cope with his grief and forget his past. He becomes friends with Sophie Jones who has returned to Castleby to look after her father, while she desperately waits for news about her soldier husband, who is missing in action.
Sophie is unexpectedly attacked, unearthing a twenty-year-old unsolved murder. Two local thieves steal from the local mafioso and pay the ultimate price, leaving the police with a rising body count and a missing boy to find.
Mystery, suspense and drama continue in the second of the Castleby Series.