READERS will once again be taken to a fictional Dorset village in a second book by a Bridport author.

Georgia Piggott has returned to the 17th century with a new mystery in the early years of Charles I’s reign, before the English Civil War.

Last year, she released her debut novel Just Causes, set in the fictional village of Hillbury between Dorchester and Sherborne.

Georgia said Hillbury was perfect for the origins of her heroine Alice as a down-to-earth yeoman’s daughter.

Georgia said: “I always felt that the mystery carried on beyond the end of the first book. I wanted to explore that and find out where it led Alice.

“In A Hazardous Game, Alice is newly married and making a new life with husband Henry. But there are secrets in her new home. Alice must play a dangerous game to reveal the truth.”

A Hazardous Game is newly released and available in high street bookshops and online retailers.

Georgia added: “I’ve signed a contract for two further books in the series, with more to come.

“The mystery always relates to a key detail from the era, so I’ve checked out the ingredients used in washing clothes, and a chemist friend advised me on the smell of a wash house; I came across the early fertiliser called crag, and I found out how a goose-girl would look after her flock.

“I actually have a historic bread oven in my home, painstakingly restored.

"I don’t dare to use it though, but I’m not afraid to put my culinary knowledge to the test.

"More than once I’ve asked tolerant friends to come and eat dinner early-modern style, though I serve wine and not small ale."