It's short, it's somewhat silly and the humour verges on lavatorial.

Behind every successful author is a dedicated team of betareaders, those essential second eyes who pounce on any errors or inconsistencies.

Lesley Tither writes under various pen-names for different genres – Tottie Limejuice, for the Sell the Pig travel memoirs series, L M Krier for the DI Ted Darling series of crime thrillers, and L M Kay for children's fiction.

Her team of invaluable betareaders includes members in England, Wales, Italy, France and Australia. Although the books are all written in English, some of it is northern colloquial which can lead to some hilarious exchanges, as can the peculiarities of life in rural France.

So here, for your amusement, are some examples of what goes on behind the scenes in the production of the books.

And the title? Well, fellow crime writer David Videcette unwisely challenged Tottie to use it for something, and Tottie does love a challenge!

Sign up now to get the most out of Books2Read

Discover something great at Books2Read.

Thanks for signing up for Books2Read notifications!