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Stephen Cox But Spookier

@stephencoxauthor.bsky.social

2.4K followers 1.2K following 5.9K posts

Novelist+comms. London, bi, Quaker, parent. Spooky? THE CROOKED MEDIUM's GUIDE TO MURDER out 1st Sept. "A pleasure from start to finish" Also Our Child of the Stars/Our Child of Two Worlds. https://stephencox.co.uk/ https://linktr.ee/stephencoxauthor

stephencox.co.uk

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Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · Sep 1

"A book I've been looking for all my life. Queer found family all wrapped up in a supernatural murder mystery. Absolute perfection.”

The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder - Out worldwide!

#womensleuths #mystery #sapphic #spooky #books #booksky #LGBT+ #Victorian

stephencox.co.uk/books/upcomi...

Stephen Cox - genial guy with grey beard and hair, holding copies of The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder. Outdoors, trees in background. Book description A striking book cover with the title and author name dominating.
A rich dark blue background, and a touch of mist. The text appears in gold in a gold rectangular frame, the font is old fashioned implying C19th century. The frame has three rondels or cameos each containing a picture. Top right is a golden bee brooch with the body and one wing streaked with red blood. Middle left is foxgloves, spires of small bell flowers in pink, white and purple. Bottom right is a dark brown medicine bottle, with a pale label. The word LAUDANUM is just visible.
There are pink highlights on some of the letters.
Taken together it is bold, mysterious, and Victorian.

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Reposted by Stephen Cox But Spookier

Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · Aug 27

#TheCrookedMedium

Older detectives need a young runner to go up drainpipes. Slum-lass Maisie, 14ish; a quarter Indian, a drunken docker father, and two younger siblings to feed. She writes her own future, a lady detective like the great Kate Warne in America. Big main character energy. #booksky

The Crooked Medium’s Guide to Murder by Stephen Cox

The book is held in front of a bush with spikes of small violet flowers.

A striking book cover with the title and author name dominating.
A rich dark blue background, and a touch of mist. The text appears in gold in a gold rectangular frame, the font is old fashioned implying C19th century. The frame has three rondels or cameos each containing a picture. Top right is a golden bee brooch with the body and one wing streaked with red blood. Middle left is foxgloves, spires of small bell flowers in pink, white and purple. Bottom right is a dark brown medicine bottle, with a pale label. The word LAUDANUM is just visible.
There are pink highlights on some of the letters.
Taken together it is bold, mysterious, and Victorian.

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Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 6h

There's something weird about holding the physical book as a think. Even a print proof. Only third time for me, but really felt it.

Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 8h

Those raging pinkos saying benefits are not out of control... the Financial Times.

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 9h

A much needed corrective by @chrisgiles.ft.com to the "welfare is out of control" narrative, drawing on research by my colleague @benbgeiger.bsky.social

www.ft.com/content/ee67...

No need for a moral panic about the welfare system

It’s far from perfect, but the UK’s spending is broadly controlled and employment is high

www.ft.com

Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 8h

At least a quarter of the country agree.

Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · 13h

Zack Polanski: "If the straight question is, ‘would I abolish the monarchy' - yeah, absolutely.”
open.substack.com/pub/abolishw...

Exclusive: Zack Polanski backs Scottish and Welsh independence

The eco-populist Green leader has called for sweeping change to Britain's political system, and spoken about potentially leading an explicitly ‘English’ party for the first time.

open.substack.com

Reposted by Stephen Cox But Spookier

Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 10h

In other news: Angry Robot Books has acquired Juliet E. McKenna’s The Riven Kingdom, described as a “fresh and gripping fantasy” that “blends politics, religion, and a battle for a dead king’s throne, perfect for fans of the Realm of the Elderlings series.”
britishfantasysociety.org/book-news-an...

Book News: Angry Robot Acquires New Juliet E. McKenna Novel – The British Fantasy Society

britishfantasysociety.org

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Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 9h

"we're not quite open do you mind taking a seat for ten minutes" is available.

Reposted by Stephen Cox But Spookier

Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 9h

Only two days ago Shabana Mahmood was smearing those who carried on protesting after the so-called ceasefire. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Israel limits aid into Gaza in dispute over hostage remains as ceasefire faces test

Hamas accused of breaching agreement by withholding bodies of hostages but Palestinian militants say they face obstacles in retrieving them

www.theguardian.com

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Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 10h

Dark chocolate is better. I incline to "better is better" whereas the other half inclines to "more is better regardless of quality"

Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 11h

I am shocked, shocked I tell you, that the genital police are coming for women's control over their own bodies.

Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 11h

Murder will be mostly recorded as such. Hospitals log what they see.

Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 11h

Always worth noting what figures you are using. The crime survey - people asked what crimes they have suffered - fluctate less than 'recorded crimes' which are subject to police priorities. Undereporting of crimes which are not a priority (burglary, bike and phone theft) is probably serious.

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Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 11h

Here's murder, more than halved since the 00s

A graph of the rolling twelve month murder rate halves from Jan 05 to Jan 15, rises somewhat but starts to decline afterc 2022 and is, Jan 2025, at 89 deaths, the lowest rate on record.

Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 11h

Fraser Nelson, a well-right of centre journalist, is defending the honour of London on crime.

Here's knife attacks, lower than 2014

A graph of knife assaults recorded by the NHS, a reasonable indicator of knife crime. In summary it shows a rise by a third 2014 to 2018 but is now 100 cases lower than 2014. (longer description a low of 900 episodes in 2014 rises to 1200 2019-2020, there is no data in the pandemic, starts froma lower point rises to 900 then falls to 800.

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Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 11h

"I am not, and never have been, a man of the right. My position was on the left and is now in the centre of politics."

Oswald Mosley (1968)

Reposted by Stephen Cox But Spookier

Mongabay @mongabay.com · 11h

From Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea, researchers have described what is officially recognized as the 1,500th bat species known to science, according to a recent study.

The newly described bat is a species of pipistrelle, a group of tiny insect-eating bats.

World’s 1,500th known bat species confirmed from Equatorial Guinea

news.mongabay.com

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Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 11h

Oh, I know. I'm commenting on a fundamentally dishonest statement by said owner.

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Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 11h

The BBC is not centre left. GB news is not a news channel nor is it centre right.

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Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 12h

To get a private Covid jab, £99 quid plus trip to central London travel clinic. Not to overdramatise I needed soon, and I could have got for £10 less if I could have waited. Really interesting looking at wastelands for this service. Health inequalities twofold, it costs, and no offer in poor areas

Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 14h

A national risk assessment showed that a pandemic was thought to be the likeliest really damaging crisis - and the likeliest candidate for a pandemic was a coronavirus. So the government cut pandemic planning.

Reposted by Stephen Cox But Spookier

Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 15h

If they looked at it macro they’d have to acknowledge that we had deliberately diminished our ability to cope with a pandemic to cut costs, then denied the evidence around masking and air flow, and sequentially prioritised economic gains over life and so lost both.

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Reposted by Stephen Cox But Spookier

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 16h

'Despite AI’s widespread use, 62% of the students said it has had a negative impact on their skills and development at school, while one in four of the students agreed that AI “makes it too easy for me to find the answers without doing the work myself”.' 1/2

Pupils fear AI is eroding their ability to study, research finds

One in four students say AI ‘makes it too easy’ for them to find answers

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Stephen Cox But Spookier

Inkspiral Design @inkspiraldesign.bsky.social · 19d

Cover portfolio showcase:
The Crooked Medium's Guide To Murder by Stephen Cox

#bookdesigners #bookdesign #bookcoverdesign #bookcover #graphicdesign #coverdesign #portfolio

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Reposted by Stephen Cox But Spookier

Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 3d

My local bookshop @allgoodbookshop.co.uk has sold 35 copies of The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder - crikey!! They sell my signed copies. It's also in the Quaker Book Centre, Euston Rd, London.

Check out this "astonishing feat" "absolute perfection" "fun read" of a novel

#books #bookshop #crime

A book cover surrounded by the following aspects in matching Victorian lettering - spooky / Vicious Baronet / Spiritualist Scammers/ Hidden Crimes / older grumpy sapphics / snarky dock-lass/ twisty mystery / Lady in Danger/Queer Found Family
The Crooked Medium’s Guide to Murder by Stephen Cox
A striking book cover with the title and author name dominating.
A rich dark blue background, and a touch of mist. The text appears in gold in a gold rectangular frame, the font is old fashioned implying C19th century. The frame has three rondels or cameos each containing a picture. Top right is a golden bee brooch with the body and one wing streaked with red blood. Middle left is foxgloves, spires of small bell flowers in pink, white and purple. Bottom right is a dark brown medicine bottle, with a pale label. The word LAUDANUM is just visible.
There are pink highlights on some of the letters.
Taken together it is bold, mysterious, and Victorian.

1 9 7

Reposted by Stephen Cox But Spookier

Trans+ Solidarity Alliance @transsolidarity.bsky.social · 1d

The Commissioner for Human Rights has written to the UK – warning that trans people's human rights are at risk.

www.coe.int/en/web/commi...

BREAKING

Intervention from Europe's human rights watchdog.

The Commissioner for Human Rights has written to UK parliamentarians, making it clear that trans+ inclusion is a vital human rights principle.

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Stephen Cox But Spookier @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 1d

On ID I remember in the 70s a Tory father of a friend of mine. Who became all 'who the hell do the police think they are' because his two teenager white middle class sons had long hair and rode motorbikes, and got harassed by the police. It made him an ally of the black youths being stopped.

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