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Thursday, 6 November 2025

My Coffee Pot Book Tour Guest: What Remains by Erryn Lee

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About the Book

Book Title: What Remains

Author Name: Erryn Lee

Publication Date: September 13th, 2025

Publisher: Historium Press

Pages: 392

Genre: Historical Fiction / Dual Timeline / Forensic Mystery

Any Triggers: abuse (physical, emotional, sexual), violence, sexual assault, death (including character death), and graphic content (including blood, gore, or medical descriptions) reference to war and the exhumation of remains from mass graves.

What Remains is a haunting dual-timeline mystery that bridges centuries-and secrets-between ancient Rome and the modern world.

Forensic anthropologist Tori Benino has just landed the opportunity of a lifetime: leading a dig at a long-buried Roman village lost to the eruption of Vesuvius. But when she uncovers the remains of a Praetorian guard hidden in an ancient latrine - clearly murdered - Tori realizes she's stumbled onto something far more sinister than a routine excavation. As she digs deeper into the past, her own carefully ordered life begins to fall apart.

Nearly two thousand years earlier, Thalia, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is desperate to escape an arranged marriage to a brutal and politically powerful senator. Her only hope lies with a Praetorian soldier assigned to guard her - but trusting him could cost her everything.

As past and present collide, What Remains asks: When history is buried, what truths refuse to stay hidden?

Perfect for fans of Kathy Reichs and Kate Quinn, this novel is inspired by true events and delivers a compelling blend of suspense, history, and heart.

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/38zlxL

Author Bio:

Erryn Lee has spent most of her life between the covers of books, her love for historical fiction drew her to a career as an English and History teacher, where she enjoys sharing her passion for both language and the past with young adults (at least until she needs to give it up to write full time).

When not teaching or writing she is deeply immersed in research and studying her Masters in History. Erryn lives with her husband, a fluctuating number of horses and three bossy cavoodles on a horse farm in the picturesque central west of NSW, Australia.

Author Links:

Website: www.errynlee.com

Twitter / X: https://x.com/erryn_lee

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erryn.lee.author/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erryn.lee/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Erryn-Lee/author/B0FKH5VCTG

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/57935202.Erryn_Lee

read an excerpt

His gaze was so intense that I hesitated, before remembering the beads in my satchel. My hand went to my knapsack and I rustled through it, one-handed, locating the handkerchief I had wrapped them in. I brought it out and held it towards him. Al’Shani eyed the offering warily, reluctant to take it, so I unfolded the first layer of cloth, revealing the gleaming carnelian beads beneath. I saw the breath leave him and his fingers flex then clench. I placed the misbaha on the table between us and dropped my hands back into my lap, watching him intently. His eyes had taken on the liquid darkness I had noted in our earlier meeting. I took a sip of coffee to give him some measure of privacy for his thoughts.

Finally, he reached across and picked them up between finger and thumb, revolving his hand so they fell over his fingers and nestled in and around the palm of his hand, much like we had found them in his wife’s grip. He clenched his hand around them and closed his eyes, breathing deeply for a minute.

‘They were Elirё’s,’ he finally spoke, pronouncing the name differently from the way I had heard it in my head as I read it in the file. ‘They were my wife’s.’

‘I know,’ I spoke. ‘Elirё.’ I tried to capture his intonation. ‘It is a beautiful name.’

His smile was fleeting. ‘She was a beautiful woman.’ His gaze fastened on mine. ‘You knew they were hers.’

I nodded. I could hardly explain how intimately I was acquainted with the bones of his family.

My thoughts

I enjoyed this - but it also made me cry, and was disturbing in places ... made me think, which is a sign of a good novel!

We get a few genres rolled into one - modern mystery, historical novel, thriller, and a touch of supernatural. All combined with the joys and difficulties of relationships past and present, modern career responsibilities, ancient expected and unavoidable duties; fear, love, trust, mistrust, revenge... There is violence too, but the horrors of life are as relevant as the joys. The detail and frustrations of an archaeological dig, the disintegration of an arranged marriage, the consequences and violence of war and fighting - all bound together by the horror of the Vesuvius eruption.

What I especially admire is how the author so skilfully tucked everything in together, merging the timelines so superbly - and seamlessly - with modern-day. And all in a natural and totally believable way. (Too believable in places. I suggest keep a tissue box close to hand.

This is history as it should be written more often - expertly detailed without 'lecturing' or 'info-dumping', page-turning intrigue with a brilliantly portrayed diversity of characters.

My only slight negative, the formatting on my PDF review version for Kindle was out of kilter, but this happens with PDF and there were a few minor typos, so the file was possibly a pre-publish ARC, so not an issue for a finalised version. And actually, even given the wobbly formatting, I started to not notice because I was so engrossed in the story. That's the thing with typos - if the writing is good enough, you don't notice them, and Ms Lee's writing was most certainly good enough.

***** 5 stars

Follow the tour:

Bsky: @cathiedunn.bsky.social

Twitter Handle: @erryn_lee @cathiedunn

Instagram Handle: @erryn.lee @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags:

#HistoricalFiction #DualTimeline #TimeSlipFiction #HistoricalThriller #ForensicFiction

#AncientRome #Vesuvius #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page:

https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2025/10/blog-tour-what-remains-by-erryn-lee.html

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Friday, 31 October 2025

HALLOWE'EN!!! Encounter some (friendly) ghosts!

https://mybook.to/GhostEncounters

(Amazon Universal Link)

Everyone assumes that ghosts are hostile.

Actually, most of them are not.

It's Hallowe'en and here's a REAL ghost!

can you see him - a face at the window?
(absolutely genuine!)

You either believe in the existence of ghosts or you don’t. It depends on whether you’ve encountered something supernatural or not.

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

Many of the encounters related in this narrative are personal in origin, not second-hand anecdotes or over-dramatised (and mostly unbelievable) tales to deliberately scare and frighten. Some of the private locations mentioned are inaccessible to public scrutiny, but there are enough public places, such as old pubs, villages and beaches, for ghost enthusiasts to explore – and maybe experience a friendly encounter or two.

Accompanied by photographs of some of the locations – and animals – featured in the text, Ghost Encounters will fascinate all who enjoy this beautiful region of South-West England, as well as interest those who wish to discover more about its history. And a few of its ghosts.

Tawstock Court near Barnstaple

Chapter 1

WELCOME TO NORTH DEVON

Published in three volumes between 1724-1727, Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe (and a government spy as a secondary occupation), produced A Tour Thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain. South Devon impressed him but North Devon he declared to be, ‘Wild, barren and poor.’ He was right about the wild landscape, for Exmoor has a natural beauty of dramatic scenery and a rugged, breath-taking coastline that, in the past, saw many a tragic shipwreck.

Ghost, spirit, shade, presence, spectre, soul – whatever term you prefer to use, unless you are a sceptic the general thinking about ghosts is that these unexplained phenomena are troubled or tormented apparitions which haunt the places where they died. They are misty shapes curling beneath trees, lurking in dark shadows or eerie cellars while oozing an atmosphere of supernatural horror. Spirits allegedly remain through spite or remorse; their only intention is to frighten living people in any and every way they can.

Most of this thinking is generated by religious beliefs and enhanced by the fascination for horror novels and Hollywood movies of the paranormal. Exposing an angry poltergeist or a vengeful demon is common on the TV or cinema screen. Readers and viewers (for some unfathomable reason!) like to be scared. There are hostile spirits creating hostile environments, but outside of high drama and the movies, these are in a minority.

Movies such as Ghostbusters are not so frightening, but perpetuate the belief that unfriendly ghosts are to be extinguished as soon as possible. A few ghost movies, however, are clever – Clint Eastwood’s Pale Rider and High Plains Drifter spring to mind. Hamlet, of course, is a ghost story, as is Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The 1945 version of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit starring Rex Harrison and Margaret Rutherford is delightfully amusing. UK TV had its share of entertaining concepts, and a more recent BBC sitcom series, Ghosts (2019-2023), brought further entertainment as adult comedy. The ghosts in this series remain, bored with their repetitive routine, in the house where they died. When new owners arrive, they initially resent the intrusion but then discover the joy of new company and watching television. I often complain that my husband forgets to turn the telly off when he goes out, but now I feel obliged to leave it on in case our resident ghosts were also watching.

A pity they don’t pay anything towards our electricity bill.

https://mybook.to/GhostEncounters

(Amazon Universal Link)

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