Cozy Up With Kathy: The Twilight Toxin - An Interview & Giveaway

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

The Twilight Toxin - An Interview & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Holly Bell to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Holly writes the Amanda Cadabra British Urban Fantasy Mystery series. Amanda Cadabra and the Twilight Toxin is the ninth book in the series and was released earlier this year.

Kathy: In Amanda Cadabra and the Twilight Toxin, covert witch Amanda and her irascible feline familiar return to the Cornish land of her birth. What makes this location a perfect spot for a mystery?

HB: In the South West of Britain, jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, it is a remote peninsula and is a land rich in mythology. It has its own Celtic language, which predates English, and as a location, has literary heritage in the shape of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca and Jamaica Inn. The landscape has both the dramatic north coast and the wildness of Bodmin Moor. The Cornish themselves are a separate nation. What more could you ask for?

Kathy: Your series is described as "a British urban fantasy with a side of cosy mystery, a dash of adventure, and a healthy helping of humour". If you are able to divide your writing, which portion is your favorite to write?

HB: Urban fantasy. This is where the mines are, the deep literary seam of mystery, suspense and even danger. Love the idea of someone with supernatural powers having to move unseen through the ordinary, the everyday, covertly helping, rescuing, solving. I enjoy the challenge of the limitations it imposes on the whodunnit and how much paranormal skills could be used to solve it without being discovered, because their magical nature puts them at constant risk, and the lives of others. The dark undercurrent that runs though all of the books and deepens through the series is the one that I find the most satisfying, especially with humour and the ‘side of cozy’ with its counterpoint.

Kathy: If you had the chance, would you like to have magical powers?

HB: Yes. Amanda’s gift of levitation would be extremely handy. Yet in a way, we do all of us have magical powers; our sixth sense, the inexplicable way knowledge, in flashes of enlightenment, comes to us out of the blue without tangible evidence at that moment.

Kathy: What first drew you to paranormal mysteries?

HB: A phone call. Back when I was strictly a non-fiction writer, an author friend called in great excitement, having just learned of this new genre of cozy paranormal mystery.

I adored Agatha Christie, and Tolkien was my favourite author. I’d read all of the Terry Pratchett and Dick Francis collections, so the idea of combining the two great literary loves of my life was tremendously attractive. And, which was a huge part of it, my friend had absolute faith that I could do it. And once I started ... I couldn’t stop.

Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

HB: Currently no. But I have written nonfiction, which I would like to return to, to update and create new editions of those books.

Kathy: Tell us about your series.

HB: Amanda Cadabra is a covert witch with a comically grumpy feline familiar in a village of Normals (muggles) and solves murders by the use of her magical skills, without revealing them in order to preserve her safety. She is assisted in various degrees by the by-the-book Detective Inspector Trelawney, who is not at all comfortable with the world of magic.

Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

HB: Amanda. She has so much of me in her, or perhaps I should say there is so much of her in me. We have the same challenges, especially with regard to social interaction, and we share many of the same strengths when it comes to problem-solving. I did train in furniture restoration for a year and a half, so we have that in common too, but Amanda’s much better at it than I am. I think she has great capacity to continue to develop, and I’m looking forward to seeing how that happens and what she does next.

Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?

HB: The short answer is no. It came out of the ether. Initially, I learned about the then formula for cozy paranormal mystery, which is the genre where the series started out, and it just grew from there: covert witch, English village, familiar who is a grumpy but powerful cat, Cornish history, Tudor village, old buildings, history, old stories.

Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

HB: The ease of doing so on Kindle Direct Publishing. For me, it was a no-brainer. When I was 19, I did make a foray into science fiction writing and did have the book looked at by someone with connections to a publishing house, and the work they would have needed on it and the limitations on the amount of control I would have had put me off completely. But then Amazon changed the game and world of publishing, and then they were joined by Kobo, Apple, Google and more.

Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

HB: Tolkien, Christie, Dick Francis and Terry Pratchett.

Kathy: What are you currently reading?

HB: Non-fiction sources, researching for a future book and more.

Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

HB: I play an online multiplayer interactive game called World of Warcraft, and I love dancing whenever I can.

Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

HB: Peppermint tea, cheddar, kvarg, and Swiss dark chocolate.

Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

HB: Yes, I already have the plot down for the next book in the Amanda Cadabra series, I have ideas for spin-off series based on one of the supporting characters that will spring from Book 6, Amanda Cadabra and The Strange Case of Lucy Penlowr, and I have the plot of another of the prequel Philip Rayke Mysteries. Plus, I would like one by one to bring out all of the existing books as audiobooks, with the second one coming out around this time.

Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

HB: The wild ride of creativity when a new book is coming to me.

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Amanda Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin (The Amanda Cadabra British Urban Fantasy Mysteries) by Holly Bell

About Amanda Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin

Amanda Cadabra and the Twilight Toxin

Paranormal Cozy Mystery 9th in Series
Setting - Cornwall, and an English village
Publisher: ‎ Independently published
Publication Date: ‎ April 29, 2026
Print Length: ‎ 422 pages

Someone is Watching

A body is discoveredin a troubling location, just as the killer had intended, the crime scene drawing covert witch Amanda and her irascible feline familiar back to the Cornish land of her birth. Inevitably, Detective Inspector Thomas Trelawney is drawn in to help her unravel this perplexing crime.

At the heart of this heinous murder lies an unknown weapon, a device possessing an extraordinary and lethal power. Worse still, the killer remains, somewhere close by ... waiting. Who can it be? Can a daring venture into the past, to reclaim a distant memory from the curious Lucy Penlowr, bring Amanda and the inspector any closer to the truth?

Trelawney, determined to solve the case by normal methods, finds every turn a blind alley until a perilous path leads to two fateful hours at a secret gathering. Now, Amanda's mounting temptation to embrace a dark revenge, and the ultimate test of her burgeoning magical skills, risk everything in a race for survival

Can Amanda and Trelawney unmask the killer and discover the true meaning of The Twilight Toxin?

A British urban fantasy with a side of cosy mystery, a dash of adventure, and a healthy helping of humour, The Twilight Toxin is the ninth standalone whodunnit in the Amanda Cadabra series.

About Holly Bell

Humorous and quintessentially English with excitement and magic.

Cat adorer and chocolate lover, British author Holly Bell’s life changed in a day. A best-selling author friend convinced Holly that she could write cozy mysteries, after many years' experience with non-fiction, photography and video making.

Holly devoured all of the Agatha Christie books long before she knew that Miss Marple was the godmother of the Cozy Mystery. Her love of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings meant that her first literary creation in this area would have to be a cosy paranormal. Over the series the books have grown to straddle urban fantasy mystery too.

Having derived immense delight from the adventure of writing Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole and its 8 sequels, and a prequel to date, Holly has more in the pipeline.

Her favourite feline is a black cat called Bobby. He is black. Like her favourite hat. Purely coincidental.

Holly loves to hear from readers. She always responds in person.

The Amanda Cadabra Cozy Paranormal Mysteries (in order): Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth Amanda Cadabra and The Cellar of Secrets Amanda Cadabra and The Flawless Plan Amanda Cadabra and The Rise of Sunken Madley Amanda Cadabra and The Hidden Depths Amanda Cadabra and The Strange Case of Lucy Penlowr Amanda Cadabra and The Hanging Tree Amanda Cadabra and The Nightstairs Amanda Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin Author Links