99 Cent British Book Box Sets + the Essex Witch Who Was Real

In partnership with

Not all legends turn out to be pure fiction. Take the case of Sarah Moore, a so-called “sea witch” from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex. Local stories claimed she sold sailors knots of string that could summon the wind—or even raise a deadly storm. When a ship was wrecked after a sudden squall, the whispers grew into a legend of sorcery and revenge.

For years, bestselling author Syd Moore thought Sarah was only a folktale—until a chance trip to the Essex Record Office uncovered a burial record proving Sarah Moore was a real woman. She’d lived a hard life, twice widowed with many children to feed, and died in 1867—three years before the infamous Great Storm she was accused of raising.

Moore’s tragic story inspired Syd Moore’s debut novel The Drowning Pool (2011), which re-examined Sarah not as a villain, but as a scapegoat. That book launched Moore’s career investigating the Essex witch trials and the women whose reputations were twisted by history. It’s a reminder that behind every ghostly legend, there might just be a very human truth waiting to be uncovered.

That novel has since been republished as The Witching Hour, and as I write this, it’s on sale for 99 cents in ebook format (and if you don’t like ebooks or Amazon, you can always track it down via your favorite local bookshop or library).

If you enjoy that one, you may also enjoy her Essex Witch Museum Mysteries. There are seven books in the series to date, beginning with Strange Magic.

Looking for unbiased, fact-based news? Join 1440 today.

Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.

Subscribe to 1440 today.

British eBook Box Sets on Sale: September 8th

Today, we’re taking a look at box sets - specifically, British ebook box sets you can grab for 99 cents (at time of writing).

• The Cotswolds Murder Mysteries by Stella Cameron - This six-book box set follows Alex Duggins, a pub owner and graphic artist in the Cotswolds, whose quiet village of Folly hides grisly murders, dark secrets, and plenty of intrigue that draw her into danger time and again.

• Murder on the Yorkshire Moors by Ric Brady - This Yorkshire-set box set follows retired detective Henry Ward — gruff, sharp-eyed, and reluctantly drawn back into seven chilling murder cases on the moors. With his wheezy terrier at his side and a knack for spotting what younger detectives miss, Henry untangles secrets buried in Wharfedale and Ilkley Moor in a series that’s witty, atmospheric, and brimming with grit.

• The Fethering Mysteries by Simon Brett - This six-book box set introduces Carole Seddon, a buttoned-up retiree, and Jude, her free-spirited neighbour in the seaside town of Fethering, as they form an unlikely sleuthing duo to solve murders from beachside bodies to museum mysteries.

• Detectives Roper & Hooley by Michael Leese - Detective Brian Hooley and his brilliant but difficult consultant Jonathan Roper tackle five dark and twisty London cases, from a headless billionaire in Docklands to a deadly gameshow on the dark web.

• The Home Counties Mysteries by Josephine Pullein-Thompson - Detective Chief Inspector Flecker and Sergeant Browning tackle three classic countryside murders — a death at a hunting party, a colonel slain on his land, and a show-jumper poisoned at a village fair — where foxhunts, fetes, and manor houses conceal deadly secrets.

• The Havard & Lambert Murder Mysteries by Pippa McCathie - This five-book box set follows ex-superintendent Fabia Havard and DCI Matt Lambert as they investigate murders across the Welsh valleys—from bodies beneath ancient bridges to secrets among abbey ruins—while navigating buried tensions and betrayals in their small-town community.

• The Inspector Borges Mysteries by John Bonett - This box set brings together five classic crime novels featuring Inspector Borges, the sharp, methodical London detective of the 1960s, as he tackles baffling murders from theatre stages to coastal towns in a world where logic is his only guide.

• The Complete Detective Jack Macintosh Mysteries by Michelle Kidd - This four-book box set follows Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh through chilling London cases — from women strangled in parks to a killer known as the Bishop resurfacing, and human remains surfacing in the Thames. Dark, twisty, and utterly gripping.

• Detective Jack Harris by John Dean - Detective Jack Harris and his black Labrador Scoot take on nine twisty cases across the remote North Pennines, where hidden bodies, fog-shrouded killings, and long-buried secrets test his haunted past and unyielding search for justice.

• An Oxford Mystery & Romantic Suspense Box Set by Maxine Barry - ChatGPT said:

  Five tales of passion, danger, and tangled secrets — from a woman fighting to clear her name, to Oxford families hiding scandal, to forbidden love that threatens everything.

“Although I maintain that if she were more perfect, she would be less interesting.”

Anne Bronte, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. When referencing products, we use affiliate links where possible to help offset the time and costs of running this newsletter.