Exeter mum’s debut novel is a hit

What began as a new year's resolution has ended being a top ten book chart smash.

Catherine Harman's stunning debut novel, What the Butler Saw, has received five-star reviews as well as reaching number eight in Amazon's crime charts.

The mother of two, who moved to Exeter 14 years ago, is thrilled with the reception her first novel has earned.

Catherine said: “My extremely literate mother and some of my friends have read and enjoyed it.

“They were all surprised I could write something so dark when I’m so sensitive!

“My new year’s resolution a few years ago was to get a book published.

“It took so long because I was good at thinking up beginnings and middles but wasn’t confident with endings.

“All the writing I’d done previously hadn’t been fiction.

“I talked the What the Butler Saw plot through with a good friend and he helped me with it.

“I feel a lot more able now to complete whole stories by myself.”

The former computer programmer trained as an aerobics, Pilates and fitness pole instructor following the birth of her son and daughter.

After holidaying in Devon one year she decided to buy a shop where she could easily get to the beach.

Catherine continued: “I loved the beaches, the villages and the whole vibe there so I bought a shop and moved myself and children away again from everything we knew.

“The shop was crazy busy and crazy labour intensive - for the first few months I hardly saw my children, let alone the beach.

“The best thing I ever did was selling the shop’s lease and becoming a property developer and landlord.

“I’m also a hypnotherapist as well as a psychic medium and tutor  when I’m not writing.”

What the Butler Saw is set between her adopted hometown of Exeter and London, and tells the story of property entrepreneur Hugo and his personal assistant Rupert.

A twisted love triangle develops with the arrival of Sara and, during a deviously dark plot, disappearances, deaths and a police investigation keep the pages turning towards a shocking conclusion.

Catherine explains: “Rupert has been for several years an excellent and dependable personal assistant so when Hugo’s friends, Jonathan and Jane, suggest he may be behind Sara’s disappearance Hugo struggles with believing them.

“He eventually accepts hypnotherapy to help clear his thoughts.

“With an opened mind he is prepared not only to accept the possibility that Rupert was involved in his own parents’ deaths but also that he should talk to the police detective, Ed Blackthorpe, who supervised the case.”

Catherine is currently busy writing a follow-up to What the Butler Saw.

For more details, visit Amazon and search for Catherine Harman, where the Kindle and paperback formats of What the Butler Saw are available.