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Silent Cries and Silent Cries II

— When One Investigation Leads to Another

When Silent Cries was completed, it was intended to stand as a single examination of one of the most troubling chapters in modern Irish social history.

But the research did not end with the book.

Further investigation revealed a much larger story.

The history of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes could not be understood solely by examining individual institutions. Behind them lay a wider network of social attitudes, state...

Behind the Scenes: Improving Billy’s Book Club and Researching What Comes Next

There has been quite a bit happening behind the scenes recently at Billy’s Book Club.

Some of it has involved books.

Some of it has involved research.

And quite a lot of it has involved tidying up the website itself.

As the number of books, series and authors published through Billy’s book club has increased, the website has grown alongside them. That inevitably means there comes a point when it is worth stopping,...

New Release: Air India Flight 182

I’m pleased to announce that my latest investigative history book, Air India Flight 182, is now available.

This project has taken almost twelve months of meticulous research to complete. Every chapter has been built upon extensive examination of official investigations, inquiry reports, historical records, court proceedings, and other reliable source material.

Air India Flight 182 remains one of the most significant yet often overlooked acts of aviation...

Silent Cries II Now Available

I am delighted to announce the publication of Silent Cries II: The Hidden Network.

Building on the research presented in the first Silent Cries, this new investigation explores the far wider historical context surrounding Mother and Baby Homes and related institutions, examining how similar systems developed, why they persisted for so long, and why many families continue to seek answers today.

Researched and written in my known documentary style, Silent Cries II...

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Six New Adventures Await! Lily & Charlie Return for Young Readers

Today is a very special day here at Stewart Independent Publishing Group as we celebrate the publication of six delightful new children’s books by Lily Paige-Turner.

The Lily & Charlie’s Adventures series follows the adventures of Lily, a curious young girl, and her loyal beagle, Charlie, as they explore exciting places, solve gentle mysteries and discover that friendship, kindness and courage can be found around every...

Hello everyone,

I’m delighted to let you know that my latest investigative nonfiction book is now available on Amazon Kindle.

The loss of the Titan submersible captured the world’s attention in June 2023, raising difficult questions about innovation, risk, engineering and safety. In this new book, I look beyond the headlines to examine what happened, why it happened, and what the official investigation has revealed.

As with all my books, the focus is on the evidence. Rather than speculation or...

Back on Colonsay – Where New Maritime Stories Are Born

I’m pleased to say that I’m back on the beautiful Isle of Colonsay for a while, overseeing work on the cottage while also taking the opportunity to enjoy one of Scotland’s most inspiring landscapes.

As always, the sea has a habit of stirring the imagination.

Although my latest book, Costa Concordia, is now complete and moving through its editing stage, my notebook is already filling with ideas for future investigations. Unsurprisingly, every...

Back to Colonsay – A Few Days on the Island

I’m heading back to Colonsay for a few days as work begins on fitting a new roof to the cottage.

It’s one of those jobs that’s been in the planning for quite some time, so I’m looking forward to finally seeing it underway. I’ll be staying in the motorhome while everything progresses, making the most of another visit to one of my favourite places in Scotland.

Although I’ll be away from the main office, the writing doesn’t stop. Research notes, new book...

Behind the Book: How The Invasion Machine Became the Beginning of The Secret Front

Every book begins with a question.

For The Invasion Machine, the question was deceptively simple: how did the Bay of Pigs invasion go so badly wrong?

The familiar history is well known. In April 1961, a force of Cuban exiles landed on Cuba’s southern coast in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. The operation failed within days and became one of the most notorious foreign-policy disasters of the Cold War.

But the...

Behind the Scenes of

The Ferryman’s Daughter

by Lily Paige-Turner

At our publishing house, one of the great privileges of working with Lily Paige-Turner is helping bring the Hebridean mystery series to life — and few entries in that series have lingered with us quite like The Ferryman’s Daughter.

As Book Five in Lily’s six-book Hebridean Mysteries sequence, The Ferryman’s Daughter occupies an important place in the wider arc of the series. It is a novel rich in atmosphere, family tension, island...

Why the Hebrides Make the Perfect Setting for a Mystery Series

Some settings do more than provide a backdrop for a mystery. They shape the mystery itself.

That is one of the reasons I’ve been drawn so strongly to writing the Hebridean Mysteries. The Hebrides are not just scenic locations for crime fiction. They are places where history, weather, memory, and community all press closely together — and that makes them ideal ground for stories about secrets, buried truths, and the long shadow of...

Evening all from a sodden South of Scotland! Well we in Scotland are now paying for that heatwave that hit the UK last week! It’s raining and it’s set to continue for the night.

Anyway the real new is that Lily Paige-Turner is part way through a new Hebridean Isles series and yes we are featuring her work right here in Billy’s book club. I have details of the first two ebooks of the 5 part series, i also have the cover pics that go with the books. See below. other than that, everything is cool...

When people visit Billy’s Book Club for the first time, one thing stands out immediately.

There isn’t just one book—there are shelves of them.

True crime, historical investigations, espionage, maritime history, science fiction, romance, and fantasy.

Each one represents hundreds of hours of research, writing, editing, and refinement; none were created overnight.

In today’s publishing world, it’s easy to believe success comes from the latest AI tool, an expensive course, or the newest social media...

The Emerald Isle, Fresh Inspiration, and the Stories Waiting Beyond the Horizon

Every author has moments when inspiration seems to arrive unexpectedly.

For me, this latest spark came while travelling around Ireland in my motorhome.

There is something wonderfully unhurried about exploring the Emerald Isle. Historic harbours, fishing villages, old stone buildings and dramatic coastlines all have a way of slowing you down and encouraging you to look a little closer.

As someone who writes narrative...

Yes good morning indeed,

Well i have had 5 most relaxing days ever! Here in county Sligo ROI on my friends small holding farm it has been amazing. BUT, and there is always a but, i never stopped writing like i said i would, instead i have been taking copious amounts of notes and laying out the format for my next book or next series.

Tomorrow i start the journey towards Dublin, taking my time and stopping off overnight in a few smaller towns. Then The ferry from Dublin to Holyhead on Thursday...

Why Writers Need to Leave Their Desks

This week finds me sitting in the Irish countryside.

No office.

No deadlines.

No publishing dashboard open on the screen.

Just green fields, quiet roads, and the occasional sound of livestock reminding me that the world existed long before laptops and algorithms arrived.

As writers, we spend a great deal of time staring at screens.

We research.

We draft.

We edit.

We publish.

Then we check sales, reviews, rankings, and page reads.

Before long, entire weeks can pass...

Giving the Catalogue a Fresh Look

If you've visited Billy's Book Club recently, you may have noticed a few changes.

Over the past week I've been carrying out a major review of the website and my book catalogue, refreshing covers, updating series information, improving descriptions, and making sure readers can more easily discover the books that interest them.

With more than 100 titles published across a wide range of genres, maintaining a catalogue is an ongoing process. While writing new books...

Good Morning everyone,

First off I’d like to welcome my newcomers to the club, and thank you for choosing to follow me and my musings.

Next, as the headline alludes to, my latest series is now fully listed “Galleons Of Glory” has taken a wee while to put together it was all start stop for a while but then i eventually got it done. Phew! I actually thought that being an ex mariner this would be an easy enough write, but boy it was not! Constantly checking dates etc, but, it is now available for...

Good evening everyone, and if you are new to my list then welcome and thank you for following me and reading my musings.

Ok where are we in the writing stage? Well this morning i finished book 2 of the latest series titled Galleons of Glory. This is going to be a 5 book series on the Spanish Galleons from the 16-1700s and me being an ex mariner i have enjoyed all the researching prior to getting a story together for you. This series is actually a fiction series, not something i do often but...

The Spy Ring That Reached into the U.S. Navy

Some espionage stories feel distant now, almost theatrical in the way history remembers them.

Then there are cases like the Walker spy ring.

Cold.

Methodical.

Deeply damaging.

And perhaps most unsettling of all — outwardly ordinary.

For years, John Walker operated within the United States Navy while quietly passing highly classified material to Soviet intelligence. He was not hidden inside some mysterious foreign embassy, nor was he a glamorous master spy...