Justin Thyme is ageless

We had a customer in today who told us he'd very much enjoyed Justin Thyme.

He left us pleased to be clutching

Thyme Running Out.

The customer is 88 years old!

Is this a record?

Panama Oxridge JT and TRO special

A month ago, I commented on a forthcoming special deal on Thyme Running Out for those of you who have not yet bought your copy of Justin Thyme.


Justin Thyme, the first in the Tartan of Thyme series of time travel books by 'Panama Oxridge' (not his real name, of course) is priced at £7.99.

The even more fiendish, tricksy and downright astonishing sequel, Thyme Running Out, is priced at only £6.99, despite having many more pages and surprises.

These two amazing paperbacks are already special but now you can buy the pair at Cotswold Bookstore at only £12.99.

If you don't know what the fuss is about (perhaps you've lived in a coal mine or on the other side of the moon for years) look in on 'The Justin Thyme story' on this blog or go to  http://www.justinthyme.info/ or http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.co.uk/ .
Or all three. 

Thyme Running Out - the paperback

Among the various exciting things to have happened recently, there's one that you might have missed.

OK That's enough suspense - it's the arrival of 30 paperback copies of Thyme Running Out by Panama Oxridge, the sequel to the amazing Justin Thyme.

If there is one book that has helped our bookstore stay open in the face of Amazon, The Book People, supermarkets and now The Kindle it's Justin Thyme.

If you have read it, you'll know just how ingenious it is. We've had nothing like it, ever! Until now!

With the arrival of the sequel, even Justin Thyme comes in second place for ingenuity, shocks and surprises. It is utterly brilliant and despite being about 60 pages thicker is an even more reasonable price. It also has the usual appendix of the more difficult words and there are clues and secrets everywhere. Oh! and lots of Time Travel!

Here's my review and do watch this blog for a possible special deal if you've not read Justin Thyme.


Thyme Running Out
Panama Oxridge paperback £6.99

I have been wanting to write a review of Thyme Running Out ever since I first read the hardback late last year. Now that the paperback is out, I really must get down to it. There’s a problem though. I can type a string of totally honest complimentary adjectives which will not help make up a reader’s mind if I don’t relate them to the plot. The plot, you see, is the problem. It’s almost impossible to mention any of the events in this book without giving something away. There are so many shocks and surprises that must remain secret that I daren’t mention any of them. Well, perhaps a few, eh?
   The book starts slowly and amusingly with Justin using his Thyme Machine to investigate the extinction of the Dodo, only to find that a baby one has hitchhiked back with him to the present. The dodo becomes an addition to the strange pets in the castle; Eliza the computer literate gorilla, Burbage, the Shakespeare quoting parrot and the eight legged cat, Tybalt.
   There are also new staff members, Peregrine Knightly, the drippy nosed butler and Evelyn Garnet, the ruthless replacement nanny (for Nanny Verity is still missing). Either could be planning to steal the Thyme Machine. The action soon starts to rush along with discoveries about Mrs Kof and the new Nanny being only minor news compare with some of the most amazing revelations that ace detective Justin discloses in a Poirot scene that will have you gasping, chortling and scratching your head, all at the same time. And I haven’t even mentioned the big surprise which locked up my brain for several seconds. I simple could not believe the trick that the author had played on me. If you thought Justin Thyme was tricksy, just you wait till you read Thyme Running Out. There is one sentence in the book that virtually demanded that I had to read Justin Thyme all over again.
   It’s ingenious and complex enough to challenge even Sherlock Holmes (and he does get a faint mention). It’s amazing. It’s funny. It’s gripping. It’s even moving. Finally, though it’s difficult to believe that it could be better than Justin Thyme, it is!

£2.00 off Justin Thyme

I'm afraid we've done a silly billy thing. Somehow, despite the certain knowledge that one of the most sought-after books this Christmas will be the paperback edition of Justin Thyme, we have managed to run out of it completely.

Therefore, to reduce the disappointment, we have decided to cut the price of the hardback by £2.00 bringing it a little closer to the price of the paperback.

The hardback, from now till the New Year, will be £10.99 (the paperback is £7.99).

The hardback edition will make a super Christmas present (especially if combined with the amazing sequel, Thyme Running Out, at £12.99)!

Meanwhile, the secretive author, Panama Oxridge, is busy writing the third book in this amazing sequence. However, we are not quite sure what century he is in, right now, so he may have finished it or perhaps he's not started it yet. Time travel can be very confusing.

VERY special copies of TRO

Panama Oxridge has recently announced that there are some very special copies of Thyme Running Out available.

See his blog http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/

As if a plain, regular, ordinary, common-or-garden, run-of-the-mill, everyday copy isn't special enough!

Nina spent most of today trying to use an Enigma Machine to decipher some of the clues and codes in her copy.

We hear that Lesley Cookman now uses hers as a talking point by leaving it in easy reach of guests.

A regular customer, today, saw a copy of Thyme Running Out on our desk and told us she thought Justin Thyme 'Brilliant!'.

Wait till she finishes TRO!

Inside Pocket Beard

Inside Pocket has a nice shot of Justin Thyme author Panama Oxridge and the big prize winner, Josh, at the Thyme Running Out launch on 10th September.

See http://www.insidepocket.co.uk/blog/

The beard? He's just back from the Edwardian period when he's been for research purposes.

The only signed copies we have left now are the paperback Justin Thymes and they are going fast.

Our blog has been very busy for a month or so but there's a flurry of hits from across the world again now. Is this because your books are arriving? Let's hear from you.

Thyme Running Out Launch

For those of you who missed the Thyme Running Out launch, I can do no better than to refer you to the excellent and generous description to be found on Panama's own blog - http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/

Signed copies - Thyme Running Out

We regret we have no signed copies of Thyme Running Out left.

Also now gone - signed hardbacks of Justin Thyme.

We do have a few signed copies of Justin Thyme in paperback left.

It's in the post

We've been busy lately (or rather Nina and David have) sending off great piles of parcels containing Tartan of Thyme books all across the world.

We do still have a few signed copies of all three.


That's Justin Thyme (hardback and paperback) and Thyme Running Out (hardback)

Panama Oxridge Signing

A highly successful signing for Panama Oxridge with his second book in the Tartan of Thyme series selling hundreds of books.
(We believe he signed about 250 in total - not bad considering we were only able to contact a small number of customers who bought Justin Thyme.


First in the queue were Arthur and his sister Nia who arrived early to make sure of their special edition bookmarks, a beautiful design by Panama himself.
We believe Panama arrived fresh from a time-travel jaunt into Victorian times, hence the grand beard and moustache.

The competition winner was Josh.
Here he is with his specially illustrated copy of Thyme Running Out.


When the shop opened, those shelves behind him were full of spine out copies of the new book and of the paperback of the first in the series, Justin Thyme.

Notice that we couldn't keep our own 'Mrs Koff' out of the picture.
The banana and chocolate chip cake went rapidly but her clock-face cake was far too good looking to cut.


Not only was the day successful, but it was also very enjoyable, hopefully for everyone.

However, we do apologise for the long wait endure by many of those attending. 


Thank you for your patience.


Now we hope you all enjoy the new book.

Watch out for some very big surprises!!!

Old Friends

While Eliza was eating the bananas shown in the previous post, she suddenly shot off to the end of the shop and demanded that the bookmarks should be placed among these cards.

Apparently some of these guys are old mates of hers.

Thyme IS Running Out for your competition entries so do get them sorted and sent off to Panama. Only two days to go.

It really is easy, even with a few letters missing, and Panama, the Judge, is being fairly lenient, I hear.

Simply go to http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/  and follow the instructions.

Thyme is also Running Out for those of you who wish us to post a signed copy of any of the books. We are getting busier every day with advance orders for paperbacks of Justin Thyme and hardbacks of both Justin Thyme and Thyme Running Out.

Phone us on 01608 652666 or e-mail cotsbookstore@tiscali.co.uk

If you are coming to the signing, start a little early. We've heard there are to be diversions north of the town, and parking restrictions because of the fair. (Yes, I know - we should have thought of that!)

Bookmarks and Bananas

I have had several e-mails from a disgruntled Eliza complaining that I have not yet included a banana in any of our Justin Thyme competition photos.

As bananas had already been used by Panama, I thought it old hat (there's a joke there somewhere) but Eliza is insistent.


So here you are, Bookmarks and Bananas.

To start the fantastic competition trail, go to the Tartan of Thyme blog at http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/ where you will find the easy-to-follow instructions.

If the letters are a little difficult to see, try clicking on the photo and, if that doesn't work, trawl back to an earlier post. Best of luck.

Our book signing for Panama Oxridge will be at 11 am this coming Saturday and Mrs Kof has kindly made us some banana and chocolate chip cake.
Do phone or e-mail us to book your copies or, if you cannot make it, to have one posted to you. First edition hardbacks of Thyme Running Out and paperbacks of Justin Thyme will be available for signing, as will hardback copies of Justin Thyme (Not firsts)
(The offer of posting applies to books, not the chocolate chip banana cake!)

Is it Thyme Castle?

 Hey. Isn't that the castle I built for the James Aitcheson signing? I think it is you know.
There are those towers I built and that tricky gateway I built and there, can you see it, that little well that I built.
Of course you may not have realised that it was the castle I built because of the overhead view. That's just so that you can see the Thyme Running Out bookmarks.

How are you getting on with the competition folks? Not difficult is it? Well, not as difficult as building a castle.
(If you can't quite make out the letters, go back to earlier posts)

In case this is your first try at this competition, here's where you start - the 'Tartan of Thyme' blog - 

http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/

And here are your instructions.

To celebrate the paperback release of JUSTIN THYME, the Tartan of Thyme Blog is running a competition with signed/doodled copies of both JUSTIN THYME and its forthcoming sequel THYME RUNNING OUT as the prize.

All readers have to do is visit the participating blogs, note down the letters and numbers on the Justin Thyme bookmarks (see photos), then rearrange the letters in numerical order. This spells a secret message (Justin’s description of himself). Visit the TOT blog to find links to all participating blogs, and to email your answer. The competition will close on September 7th, when a winner (picked at random from the correct entries) will be announced. 
If it IS all to much of a challenge, why not ask us to post you a signed copy of either the hardback of Justin Thyme or Thyme Running Out or the paperback of Justin Thyme. Thyme Running Out and Justin Thyme are both first editions. Just phone us on 01608 652666 or e-mail us on cotsbookstore@tiscali.co.uk

Justin case you missed it

The competition is hotting up. Entries are flowing in from the far side of the world. These books are to beautiful to be allowed to leave the country. The should be in The National Gallery.
Here's our third picture (but the bookmarks and their numbers are the same)

And here are the instructions from Panama Oxridge again -

To celebrate the paperback release of JUSTIN THYME, the Tartan of Thyme Blog is running a competition with signed/doodled copies of both JUSTIN THYME and its forthcoming sequel THYME RUNNING OUT as the prize.

All readers have to do is visit the participating blogs, note down the letters and numbers on the Justin Thyme bookmarks (see photos), then rearrange the letters in numerical order. This spells a secret message (Justin’s description of himself). Visit the TOT blog to find links to all participating blogs, and to email your answer. The competition will close on September 7th, when a winner (picked at random from the correct entries) will be announced. 

Here's your starting point - the 'Tartan of Thyme blog - 

http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/

Don't forget - you can make sure of getting a signed copy of these great books by mailing us on cotsbookstore@tiscali.co.uk or phoning 01608 652666. We are posting these around the world.

Thyme Competion with hat

This is what a delivery of 50 copies of Justin Thyme paperbacks and 250 copies of Thyme Running Out looks like.

Just to be different, Cotswold Bookstore will be giving you a new photo for every day of the Thyme Competition. Here are Panama's instructions in case you joined us late. What larks!

To celebrate the paperback release of JUSTIN THYME, the Tartan of Thyme Blog is running a competition with signed/doodled copies of both JUSTIN THYME and its forthcoming sequel THYME RUNNING OUT as the prize.

All readers have to do is visit the participating blogs, note down the letters and numbers on the Justin Thyme bookmarks (see photos), then rearrange the letters in numerical order. This spells a secret message (Justin’s description of himself). Visit the TOT blog to find links to all participating blogs, and to email your answer. The competition will close on September 7th, when a winner (picked at random from the correct entries) will be announced. 

You will need to start at the 'Tartan of Thyme blog - 

http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/
Here's the new Photo and that's a Panama hat. It's also a Panama's hat.

Fabulous 'Thyme' Competition

That continuously inventive author, Panama Oxridge, has designed an ingenious competition open to all bloggers.

It's simple, it's fun and it's free! And wow! What very special prizes. If you win the books, I suggest you wrap them in brown paper and lodge them with the bank - they could be very valuable. (Then buy a copy from us to read!)

Here's the author setting out the rules - over to you Panama.

To celebrate the paperback release of JUSTIN THYME, the Tartan of Thyme Blog is running a competition with signed/doodled copies of both JUSTIN THYME and its forthcoming sequel THYME RUNNING OUT as the prize.

 

All readers have to do is visit the participating blogs, note down the letters and numbers on the Justin Thyme bookmarks (see photos), then rearrange the letters in numerical order. This spells a secret message (Justin’s description of himself). Visit the TOT blog to find links to all participating blogs, and to email your answer. The competition will close on September 7th, when a winner (picked at random from the correct entries) will be announced. 

You will need to start at the 'Tartan of Thyme blog - 

http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/

And here's our photo. Don't forget, clicking on it usually gives a larger image

The Lol Robinson Mystery

The big book-signing on the rather close horizon (10 Sept) is that of Panama Oxridge who will be here to launch the exciting Justin Thyme sequel, Thyme Running Out. The paperback of Justin Thyme will also be available. However, you know all that. You also know that there is a great deal of mystery about both books and about the author.

Strange then that, just one week later we have an author here who also has a great deal of mystery about him - Phil Rickman. Not only are his books mysteries in themselves but also, they are in a genre of his own creation. Murder mysteries that edge towards the dark arts but never quite get there, or do they?


However, there is an even bigger mystery that comes with his books. They contain a character called Lol Robinson, a musician. Now characters in books are just that aren't they? So how come I've just been listening to a Lol Robinson CD? Rather good it is too. I'm no judge but I'd say there was a Simon and Garfunkel touch in the sound (with a chunk of Bo Diddley in there too!) though Nick Drake is the big influence according to the books.


When Phil Rickman is here for his signing of his not-yet-published The Secrets of Pain on 17th Sept, he will also have Lol Robinson CDs for sale. So who the heck is Lol Robinson? Can anybody out there tell me?

Windows for Signings.

 Here are our windows ready for the signings in September.

Just in case you've forgotten, on Saturday September 10th at 11am we have the Thyme Running Out - Justin Thyme signing by Panama Oxridge.

It will be the event of the year with a special cake cooked by Mrs Kof to celebrate it.

Already over 100 copies of Thyme Running Out have been pre-ordered and there are very few hardback copies of Justin Thyme left. (Paperbacks are available)



Our adult window for the Rebecca Tope/Phil Rickman signing on Saturday 17th September is looking a little bare.

I intended putting in some murder weapons smeared with blood but David wouldn't oblige. He's selfish like that.

We have Rebecca's latest, Deception in the Cotswolds, Phil's new hardback, The Secrets of Pain and a wide selection of their paperbacks.

Rebecca should be here before 11 am but Phil is unfortunately delayed so midday is a more likely time for him.

As well as the guide book,to Merrily's haunts, called Merrily's Border, we will also have CDs of music by Lol Robinson, a character from Phil's books.
(No, I don't know how that works either - one of the many questions I have for Phil)

Fantastic 'Thyme' prizes!

A new competition has recently been announced by Panama Oxridge, the author of Justin Thyme and the soon to be released Thyme Running Out.

It's open to all blog followers and the prizes are very special indeed and very limited in number.

DON'T MISS!

See http://tartanofthyme.blogspot.com/ for details

Oh! Did I mention the book signing on September 10th?

If you missed out on a signed hardback copy of Justin Thyme then please get in touch quickly. Hardback numbers are dwindling fast and there may not be many left for the author to sign. However, we will have paperbacks.

Tartan of Thyme special

Oh! I forgot to mention - before the damp author vanished off to the past (or future?), he told me about the 'special something' that he was going to present to some of those first in the queue on his signing day AND I WANT ONE!

If you like to see details, look in on his blog http:tartanofthyme.blogspot.com