On 1st July 2016, The Case of the Curious Client (Bow Street Society Mystery 1) was published on Amazon for the very first time. Since then it’s undergone edits and re-edits and the book that’s available to purchase today is actually the third version. I’ve been on an incredible journey over the past decade, both creatively and personally. Therefore, in this month’s blog, I’m going to share some of that journey with you and what I’ve learned along the way.
The first bad review cuts the deepest
It might be an obvious thing to say, but the first bad review I ever received, and those I’ve received since, have stayed with me. I think it’s human nature to want to be liked by everyone, but I quickly learnt that this is impossible, especially where books are concerned. The important thing to remember is that the reader doesn’t know you and you don’t know them. Therefore, their critical review of your work isn’t a personal attack on you (even though it can feel that way at times), but simply their opinion.
The first good review means the world
As much as the bad reviews sting, the good ones can mean everything. When I started writing my goal was to tell a good story that someone loved. Therefore, every time someone tells me how much they enjoyed my books, how much they loved my characters, and how much they can’t wait to read the next book in the series, I feel like I’ve achieved what I set out to do. The good reviews and feedback are also what keep me writing, and what enable me to rise above the bad reviews to say “yeah, this is worth continuing with.”
If I could do it all again….
When I finished the first version of The Case of the Curious Client I had no series plot plan. Between it, The Case of the Lonesome Lushington and The Case of the Spectral Shot I was simply seeing where the story took me. It wasn’t until I reached The Case of the Toxic Tonic that I began planning two or three books ahead. Therefore, if I could do the series again, one of the things I’d change would be to have a series bible from the beginning.
The audio book
To mark the 10th anniversary since The Case of the Curious Client was first published, a full length audio book is planned to be released later this year. It will have a narrator, a voice actor delivering Dr Weeks’s dialogue, a voice actor delivering all of the remaining male characters’ dialogue, and two voice actors delivering the female characters’ dialogue. You might also hear me delivering the Notes from the author, too!
The future of the Bow Street Society
At the time of writing, my wonderful editor Susan Soares is working her way through the 8th Bow Street Society Mystery and my great illustrator Peter Spells is working on the central artwork for the cover. Once the 8th book is published there are only two left in the series to write.
The 8th volume of the Bow Street Society Casebook will also be released later this year. Once this is published, I intend to write two further volumes of five short stories each to bring the total of Bow Street Society Casebook short stories to fifty.
Beyond the novels and short story collections, I’m thinking of releasing some spin-offs under a Beyond the Bow Street Society sub-series. I might even give some of the characters their own series, who knows? All I know is that it’s been a truly epic journey so far and I can’t wait to see how it ends.
Although it’s been ten years to the day since the first version of The Case of the Curious Client was released, I feel like my author journey didn’t properly begin until six years ago with the release of the current version. Since then, I’ve built a wonderful community of readers, met lots of highly talented authors, bloggers, podcasters, actors, streamers, and creatives, and had experiences I never would’ve had if I’d left the book in the proverbial drawer. So, to those who’ve read my books and supported me in countless ways over the past decade, I say THANK YOU!
~ T.G. Campbell, July 2026
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