Jo Furniss Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Jo Furniss is a mystery author, broadcast journalist, expatriate, and freelance writer. She spent more than a decade working for the BBC, and then she quit to go work abroad as a freelancer. She was born and lived for much of her childhood and young adult life in the UK before she developed wanderlust. She has spent seven years as an expatriate in Singapore and has also lived in Cameroon and Switzerland. As a journalist, Furniss worked for several magazines and outlets including the “Economist” and “Monocle.” She has been the editor of the books about the palace of the Sultan of Brunei and another for a Nobel Laureate. She went to Falmouth University and graduated with an MA in Professional Writing, before she decided to become an author. She published “All the Little Children” her debut novel in 2017 and the novel has gone on to become a Top 50 Kindle and Amazon bestselling title. Furniss published “The Trailing Spouse” her second novel in 2018 and has never looked back since. She now has three novels to her name and several short story collections. Jo currently resides in a small town on the English south coast from where she writes her novels.

Reading is something that Jo Furniss has always loved doing even before she was a writer for the BBC. When she was in high school, she had been appointed lunchtime librarian and during this time read all manner of classics from the likes of Zola to Aristophanes. In University, she turned against the classic as she became more interested in westerns and science fiction in films and fiction. Unlike many genre authors, she does not have a favorite genre or even author, even though she is prone to have obsessive crushes that make her read everything an author has written. Some of the authors she has fallen for over the years include Kate Atkinson, David Mitchell, and Margaret Atwood. As a journalist, much of her reading was research until she enrolled for her MA, which is when she once again started reading the classics and some dystopian and apocalyptic fiction. During the writing of her second novel, she read a lot of psychological thrillers and her to-be-read pile of books is always growing. While she reads a lot, she does not get her inspiration from the books but rather from frustration. Her first novel “All the Little Children” is inspired by the frustrations of motherhood, when she got sideswiped by online and media discourse that had little knowledge of what motherhood is in the real world. “The Trailing Spouse” her second novel is inspired by her experiences as an expatriate. She is well placed to write about the expatriate life having lived on several continents since she left the United Kingdom in 2002.

Furniss started working at the BBC and this meant that she had to adapt to different styles of writing depending on what her editor wanted her to do. During this time, she also dabbled in fiction though it was not until 2012 when she took a Professional Writing MA that she started to seriously think about a career as an author. While she was studying for her masters, she wrote a short story for a school project and thought it had the potential to be something bigger. It was this short story that she would finally expand and turn into “All the Little Children” her debut novel. While it does seem like publishing was a cakewalk for Jo, nothing could be further from the truth. Starting as a journalist sure helped a lot as she was always writing and had to turn in stories and features even when she did not feel like it. After attending several workshops, taking courses, and participating in writer groups, she decided to go the traditional route by finding a publisher for her expanded manuscript. After persistent querying, a ton of critique, and loads of editing, she finally got Daniel Egan Miller to take her on as a client. He got her work accepted by Lake Union, an imprint of Amazon Publishing and she was off to the races. Lake Union got her marketing, solid distribution and a two-book deal even though she had to deal with a rigorous editing process before she finally got published in 2017.

Jo Furniss’s debut novel “All the Little Children” is the story of a camping trip that goes wrong. Marlene Green is a working mother who feels guilty about neglecting her family and organizes a camping trip. She believes that such a trip with her three children is what is needed to assuage her guilt. While they are out camping, they see columns of smoke rising in the distance and fires lighting up the sky. Overnight, they lose all communication with the outside world. Marlene knows that something has happened and believes that they are alive and well so far because they are in the remote and isolated campsite. But then a lost boy comes into their camp and they realize that they may not be all alone in the remote countryside. As the disaster continues to unfold and spread destruction across the land, more youngsters are coming to her for protection. There are many other children apart from hers that need protecting. But when the sanctuary finally comes under threat, she faces the biggest dilemma: Should she save everyone under her care or should her children take precedence?

“The Trailing Spouse” by Jo Furniss tells of Amanda Bonham, a woman that traveled across the world since she wanted to be with the man she believes is her soul mate. Edward Bonham the doting father to Josie his teenage daughter is a dream husband. He keeps Amanda happy even though living in Singapore as an expatriate is not that easy. But then their housemaid dies in what is believed to be a suicide. In a strange twist of events, it is discovered that she was expectant and had a stash of medications that belonged to Edward. Amanda starts to question if Edward had anything to do with the maid’s sudden death. If he could have an affair in their own home, what does he do when he out there on his travels where there is no one to report on his misdeeds? Camille Kemble who recently flew back into Singapore intends to question Edward to resolve a peculiar mystery in her family. In a jumble of family memories, she has been seeing Edward’s face and does not know what to make of it. For Amanda, the search could result in her losing everything she has while for Camille, it is the key to finding what she believes she lost.

Furniss’s “The Last to Know” tells the story of Rose Kynaston an American journalist newly arrived in the English village of Hurtwood, where Dylan her husband was born and brought up. It is a crumbling place not dissimilar to the house where her husband’s mother lives. The treacherous hill where it sits presents both present dangers in addition to sinister folklore. She also has to deal with hostile villagers that whisper her family name like it is some curse or horrible secret. Things get very interesting when an archeologist discovers some human remains and Ellie Trevelyan vows to resolve a case that has remained a cold case for years. As Ellie struggles to separate fact from rumor, she also has to exonerate Dylan her husband. But it is going to be a difficult task of protecting her family if she does not have all the information.