Review relief

Well, it’s here: my first review for “Worm in the Blossom”.  It’s always such a nervy time, just after publication, waiting for the first responses…  Of course I think the book is good, otherwise I wouldn’t have clicked that “Publish” button, but then I am very close to it, very connected with it, and completely in thrall to my beloved Sam.  What if you’re wrong, I hear in those quiet times in the middle of the night – what if you’re wrong and “Worm” is not up to the standard of the others?  What if you’ve let yourself, and Sam, and (heaven forbid) Martha down with some sub-standard plotting and writing?

Thankfully – albeit on a vast sample of one – it seems that all is well.  I’m not claiming that “Worm in the Blossom” is magnificent, but this first review at least seems to think that it is worthy to stand alongside “Fatal Forgery” and “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat”.  Thank goodness: I don’t think I could bear Martha’s disappointment.  But what if this is a fluke?  Now I’m waiting on tenterhooks for more reviews – we writers are approval junkies, it seems.