A friend (CC) gifted me the first 10 books in this series. I believe there are additional ones that come after those 10. This is book #9 so that means I'm probably almost done with the ones she sent me.
I have found these pleasantly diverting for times when I'm nervous (such as waiting at a doctor's office).

I love the cute cover illustrations which always picture Watson with some clue from the book. Sometimes I almost feel like it's "Where's Watson" because sometimes he is a bit hidden (not in this cover illustration though.)

This book is kind of a combination of Writing Contest and Regency Romance theme.

Publisher Northanger has sponsored a writing contest to find a new Regency Romance author with the prize being a 3 book contract. Their premier Regency Romance author Camilla Courtenay is one of the judges. Northanger has arranged for the three finalists along with Camilla, her assistant, her daughter, her publisher, and her publisher's assistant to stay at Castleton Manor.

I think most writers dream of being awarded a contract by a traditional publisher--and think they'll have it made once they do. (Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.) I know that was the hope of many people in the writing group I attended years ago. These days, I think publishers are more likely to drop authors (or not renew their contracts) if books don't sell as well as they estimated they would.

I've also heard the "any publicity is good publicity" party line in the past (but not necessarily related to authors).

I suspected someone else (not the person who eventually confessed). I'm not always good at figuring out whodunit, so your experience may vary--my friend who gave me these did guess the culprit. ( )