Fiona Erskine

Engineer. Writer. Swimmer.

Book cover showing lone woman at Ipanema beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with paraglider in background

Financial Times Best Summer Book

The Chemical Cocktail

Jaq Silver spicy engineering thriller Book #3

Jaq Silver travels from Portugal to Brazil, amid conspiracies and corruption, to get to the bottom of her family mystery. She is not the only one with an interest in her unusual inheritance. Racing against the clock as the threats to her life increase on all sides, Jaq must use her scientific know-how to save what matters most.

Book cover showing lone woman at Ipanema beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with paraglider in background

Series: Jaq Silver Thrillers

Formats available: Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

First published: 05/05/22

Reviews for The Chemical Cocktail

‘another splendidly energetic thriller… Packed with fascinating science, thrills, shocks and relationships both touching and horrible, this is a terrific read.’

Literary Review

‘Fast-paced, roller-coaster ride… The action-packed storyline, just the right side of bonkers, roams from Lisbon to England to the steamy depths of the Brazilian jungle as Erskine lets her imagination rip to great effect.’

‘[Erskine] writes with flair and confidence, whether describing a heart-of-darkness journey downriver into the Brazilian jungle or the quiet of Lisbon’s British cemetery.’

Financial Times

‘Excellent… not only captivating and well written, but also extremely informative. Chemical engineering mingled with mystery and adventure. It’s a blast!’

The Chemical Engineer

‘With a real gift for storytelling, Erskine delivers an endgame that’s definitely not what you were anticipating… our heroine Jaq is refreshingly female in a male dominated world… The Chemical Cocktail is an action-packed adventure perfect for any thriller-lover ready for a modern heroine to blow their socks off.’

The Bay




I swam 24km in 5 days. Hard work?

Try tuna canning, salt drying or sulphur mining...

https://fionaerskine.substack.com/p/sulphur-and-salt


Goodbye #egadiislands and thank you @swimtrek for an amazing week - 24 kilometres with wonderful guides, fellow swimmers and multicoloured fishes!


This week #PhosphateRocks e-book is only £0.99 in UK

Who doesn't love a story about a demolition gone wrong? @raine_clouds_writes @lesleykellyauthor 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phosphate-Rocks-Death-Ten-Objects-ebook/dp/B0CTRRXKNY

PS: The audio book narrated by @rain.goblin is pretty special too


A quarter of my sales this month were overseas for the very first time!

Massive thanks to all those fine Canadians for topping the list. Say Hi if you see this.

https://fionaerskine.com/


On my way to Harrogate today

https://open.substack.com/pub/fionaerskine/p/harrogate

Say hello if you'll be there


What makes the perfect handbag and how much is it worth?

https://fionaerskine.substack.com/p/the-perfect-handbag


https://fionaerskine.substack.com/p/i-have-some-news

Goodbye @oneworldpublications and thank you for everything - it was such an honour to be published by you and I loved working with the team.

Now, like #JaqSilver I'm going solo

Big thanks to @kidethic for my beautiful new covers


Such a treat to interview #TerryDeary about his first adult crime book #ActuallyImAMurderer (it’s great!) at @backofthebeyondbooks


Happy International Women in Engineering Day! 
Thanks to @Chem_Processing for highlighting #TheChemicalDetective!
 #INWED2025 #INWED25 
https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/voices/women-in-chemistry/podcast/55298245/celebrating-international-women-in-engineering-day


More canine readers in @forumbookscorbridge #winter #losingcontrol


This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

There has been a problem with your Instagram Feed.

Follow me on Instagram

Delighted to celebrate International Week of Happiness at Work with a 99p deal in UK. Jaq Silver has found the perfect job in Brazil. Or has she?

The Chemical Cocktail (Jaq Silver Thriller) eBook : Erskine, Fiona: : Kindle Store https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chemical-Cocktail-Silver-Thrillers-Book-ebook/dp/B0FG8X59MT

The Chemical Cocktail goes right back to Jaq’s childhood and can be read first - only £0.99

Trust me, you won’t regret reading this. Exquisite prose and a rollicking, propulsive, deeply moving story. @novelcarolyn is a fearless writer who wears her deep research so lightly that you are instantly immersed into the booming north of the 1720s

Trust me, you won’t regret reading this. Exquisite prose and a rollicking, propulsive, deeply moving story. @novelcarolyn is a fearless writer who wears her deep research so lightly that you are instantly immersed into the booming north of the 1720s
Northodox Press 📖 @northodoxpress

🚨PUBLICATION DAY🚨

Ravenglass is available everywhere now! A tender and powerful tale of a gender fluid character trying to make their way in the 1700s, we can't recommend this incredible adventure novel enough 🏳️‍🌈

Order yours here: https://share.google/bfWyYAWWNBHLr9rB6

I was today years old when I learned I’ve been eating my favourite biscuits all wrong

Chocolate digestives: How do you eat them? Choc side up or down? - CBBC Newsround https://www.bbc.com/newsround/articles/cvg7lnp19n0o

Ravenglass by @novelcarolyn is the most beautifully written exploration of how we once lived and worked and lived and loved and fought in the north. A cracking good read, I cannot recommend it strongly enough - a complete breath of fresh air.

Ravenglass  by @novelcarolyn is the most beautifully written exploration of how we once lived and worked and lived and loved and fought in the north. A cracking good read, I cannot recommend it strongly enough - a complete breath of fresh air.
Northodox Press 📖 @northodoxpress

🚨RELEASE WEEK🚨

One of the biggest and most ambitious Northodox books to date is out this Thursday!

Join Kit Ravenglass on his seafaring journey in this swashbuckling, gender fluid, historical fiction novel!

It is incredible 😍

Preorder now: https://share.google/9lT4pFxkL9DOMypUR

🚨RELEASE WEEK🚨

One of the biggest and most ambitious Northodox books to date is out this Thursday!

Join Kit Ravenglass on his seafaring journey in this swashbuckling, gender fluid, historical fiction novel!

It is incredible 😍

Preorder now: https://share.google/9lT4pFxkL9DOMypUR

Big and lusty! Spot on. #Ravenglass is my book of the year so far.
I'm so looking forward to talking with @novelcarolyn this week on her northern tour!
Who is coming along ?

Big and lusty! Spot on. #Ravenglass is my book of the year so far.
I'm so looking forward to talking with @novelcarolyn  this week on her northern tour!
Who is coming along ?
Carolyn Kirby @novelcarolyn

6 days till #RavenglassNovel goes live and the first press review is a "big and lusty" 9/10!!! 🤩😁Thank you @peterboroughtel 😍

Greetings to all my friends at @bloodyscotland! So sorry I won’t be there this year but research takes priority @SwimTrek

First book of my holiday complete. Thank you ⁦⁦@erskine_fiona⁩. An entertaining & complex story - easily transporting me from the Maltese sun I’m currently basking in to the cold dark Teeside winter. I look forward to reading more about DI Julie Cadell.

Late to the party but absolutely loving @geowriter #nightclimbing

Follow me on X

All my books