Well… This Is Awkward (An Apology and a Catch-Up)
If you’ve landed on this page and thought, “I thought Blair Denholm had dropped dead”—first of all, I haven’t. Secondly, I owe you an apology.
I didn’t plan to disappear. I didn’t intend to go radio silent. But somehow, a few months turned into a year, and here we are. So let me explain where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing, and why things should look a lot more active around here going forward.
Let’s start with excuse number one (and possibly the least lame): I’ve been flat out working as a ghostwriter for a client in the United States. When I say flat out, I mean nose-to-the-grindstone, caffeine-fuelled, deadline-chasing flat out. Over the past couple of years, I’ve written five spy thrillers for this guy. Five. And they sell like mad. The latest one releases in 20 days from now.
I’d love to tell you their titles. I’d love to casually point you toward them and say, “That one? Yep. That was me.” Unfortunately, a confidentiality agreement forbids me from doing exactly that. So you’ll just have to take my word for it—and maybe smile knowingly the next time you see a fast-moving thriller climbing the charts and think, “Hmm… could that be one of Blair Denholm’s?”
Excuse number two is… less fun. Exactly one year ago, I underwent surgery for cancer. I’m fine now, but I won’t pretend it was nothing. Recovery takes time, and even when you’re technically “better,” your body and brain don’t immediately get the memo. Writing still happened (see: five thrillers above), but keeping a website updated somehow slipped down the priority list. Life has a way of doing that.
Now for the good news—because there’s quite a bit of it.
Late in 2024, I signed with a UK publisher, Vinci Books, who picked up my previous series: The Fighting Detective, The Russian Detective, and Game Changer. I’m genuinely excited about this partnership, and it’s been great seeing those books get a new lease on life with a publisher behind them. Audio books are apparently on the horizon.
However—and this is where things get especially interesting—my new series will be going out into the world independently.
Which brings me to Skye Lisbon Investigates.
If you’ve read The Fighting Detective, you’ll already know Jack Lisbon. Skye is his daughter—and yes, she shares more than just the surname. She was a cop herself for a couple of years before quitting the force and setting up her own private investigation agency. She’s smart, stubborn, and very much a lone wolf.
Well… mostly.
She confides mainly in her border collie, Darius, who listens better than most humans and judges far less. She also maintains a friends-with-benefits arrangement with a debt collector—because Skye’s personal life is complicated in exactly the way you’d expect.
Then there’s the Captain.
Skye doesn’t know his real name – yet. She’s nicknamed him after watching him run boot-camp-style training sessions for women in a local park. He’s disciplined, confident, and completely unaware that he’s being observed, assessed, and occasionally flirted with by a PI who’s supposed to be focused on her cases.
Their interactions have a definite “will they, won’t they?” energy—slow-burning, charged, and just messy enough to keep things interesting. In between investigations, Skye flirts. The Captain pretends not to notice. Or maybe he does. Time will tell.
Like her father, Skye can handle herself in a fight. Jack Lisbon’s ex-boxer DNA didn’t skip a generation, and when things turn physical—as they inevitably do—Skye is more than capable of standing her ground.
This series is very close to my heart. It’s a spin-off, yes, but it very much stands on its own. New voice, new energy, familiar toughness.
As for the future: I’m hoping there won’t be such a long gap between updates on this website again. No promises—writing fiction still takes precedence—but I have been sending out regular newsletters, and I’ll continue to do so. If you’re not signed up yet, you can do that on the home page, and I promise those emails are far more consistent than my blogging habits have been.
Thank you for sticking around. Thank you for reading. And thank you for your patience.
I’m back. And I don’t plan on disappearing again anytime soon.
