Q. What’s a literary Easter egg?
A. It’s a little surprise tucked away in a story to amuse readers smart enough to spot it.
Today I’m going to tell you about some of the Easter eggs hidden in my books, how some of my author friends like to play the same game, and how to get a free Kindle ebook of my fun little novelette, The Clutch of Eggs – the perfect read for Easter weekend.
Easter Eggs in My Books
Referencing a book by a different author is good fun, even when you know only certain readers will get the joke. The title of my novella, Mrs Morris Changes Lanes, is an allusion to one of Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin novels, Mr Norris Changes Trains. Oh, and without spoiling the plot, my story includes a journey I’d just made with my daughter to a certain university town, where she’s now studying for her MA.
In my latest novel, The Importance of Being Murdered, I was a veritable Easter Bunny, hiding Easter eggs all over the place, starting with the title.
If you’re an Oscar Wilde fan, in a game of word association, given “The Importance of Being…” as your starter, you’d almost certainly say “Earnest” – citing the title of his most famous play.
In my novel, The Bunbury Players, about to stage their production of The Importance of Being Earnest, take their name from their home village of Bunbury in the Cotswolds. (If you know, you know.) You can also have fun searching this story for other Easter eggs referencing Wildean names – and a contentious handbag. (If you know, you know.)
Easter Eggs from Other Authors
With Easter nearly upon us, I thought it would be fun to ask some of some of author friends who are also published by Boldwood Books to share how they choose the Easter eggs they hide in their books. Here is what they came up with.
- ‘I use a variation of my mum’s name in every book, so she’s always there,’ says Helen Cook. What a lovely idea!
- I’m a massive fan of the BBC podcast ‘Uncanny’,’ says Victoria Scott. ‘I put the line ‘I know what I saw’ in The House in the Water, which is a ghost story. It’s the last line from the ‘Uncanny’ theme tune.’
- Keri Beevis says, ‘My thrillers are all standalone, but characters are sometimes mentioned across stories. So for example, the slimy estate agent in Trust No One sold Ellie & Ash their house in The People Next Door, and Finn from Every Little Breath was the detective mentioned at the end of The Summer House.’
- Keri Beevis and Patricia Dixon also reference each other’s books in their own work. Patricia cites an example: ‘I remember my character reading Keri Beevis’s Every Little Breath in a park in Montparnasse in Paris. In fact her books have been all over Trish world.’
- Jessica Redland likes to cite real-life connections: ‘My debut book, New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms, was set in a florist’s. I started off by mentioning the owner, Sarah, in all of my Whitsborough Bay books as a nod to it, but I hit one book where I couldn’t find a way to get her in without it being contrived, but I could mention Seaside Blooms. So that shop is mentioned in every single Whitsborough Bay book.’
- Clare Marchant tucked away an Easter egg for her other half in her latest book, The Alchemist’s Secret: ‘There was yet another packet of Bombay mix in the bin that morning. He wasn’t yet old, but he was developing a snack-shaped paunch.” ‘My husband roared at that, even though I had told him that I would get his love of Bombay mix into the book. Usually it’s just a snipe at golf.’
- ‘My Dorset-set books tend to have mentions of characters and situations from previous books in them,’ says Jane Lovering, ‘and there’s usually a Doctor Who reference somewhere.’
- Samantha Tonge has fun with a Game of Thrones reference in her novel, The Game of Scones: “I have a town called Tyrionitsa. For those who didn’t watch Game of Thrones, Tyrion is a character.’
- Sheila Riley likes to include friends’ names as minor characters. (I once added a Madalen to one of my stories, in honour of my friend’s daughter, and to celebrate the unusual spelling of her name.)
- ‘I’m a big BBC Ghosts fan, so if I can get “damn your eyes!” into a book, I will,’ says Alison Bonomi. ‘I also often have Georgette Heyer references that only other fans will spot.’
Free Kindle Ebook of The Clutch of Eggs (offer ends 4th April 2026)
Finally, as it’s Easter, here’s a little egg-themed gift for you. From today until Saturday 4th April, you can download a free Kindle ebook of my fun quick-read novelette, The Clutch of Eggs – a spin-off from my nine-book Sophie Sayers cosy mystery series. It’s set in the spring, featuring birdwatchers, birds’ nests, birds’ eggs, and Sophie’s mischievous black cat, Blossom. What better time to read it than Easter weekend?
Naturally, there’s at least one Easter egg in this story, although only friends of my family will spot it: a scene with two scatty birdwatchers, named after my husband and his best friend, who are forever getting lost when they go for country walks together. I found that very pleasing!
To download your free ebook of The Clutch of Eggs now, click here.
(free until 4th April 2026)
If you read any of my books, I’d be very grateful if you could kindly leave a short review online, to help other readers discover it – or just tell your friends!
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