Jenny Twist was born in York and brought up in the West Yorkshire mill town of Heckmondwike, the eldest grandchild of a huge extended family.
She left school at fifteen and went to work in an asbestos factory. After working in various jobs, including bacon-packer and escapologist’s assistant (she was The Lovely Tanya), she returned to full-time education and did a BA in history, at Manchester and post-graduate studies at Oxford.
She stayed in Oxford working as a recruitment consultant for many years and it was there that she met and married her husband, Vic.
In 2001 they retired and moved to Southern Spain where they live with their rather eccentric dogs and cat. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, knitting and attempting to do fiendishly difficult logic puzzles.
In July 2018 she won the Author Show TOP FEMALE AUTHOR Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal/Science Fiction award.

. . .In the south of Spain at the beginning of the twentieth century, village people still believed in this particular fabulous beast. Sometimes they called it a mantequero, and sometimes a sacamantecas; it was a monster which looked like a man, but which lived in wild places and fed on human manteca or fat . . .
Some people still do . . .

This book is a compilation of the three Mantequero stories: Mantequero, Disappeared and Sins of the Father; with the addition of two new stories: The First Mantequero and The Last Mantequero.


Tales of the Mantequero

Pulling on her dressing gown, she slipped across the corridor and knocked on Heather's door. "Are you awake? It's a beautiful day out there."A sleepy voice said, "Come in."


She pushed the door open. Heather had her back to her - a vast bulk under the covers. 


"Come on, wake up,"Alison cried, going over and giving her a shake. "Seize the day!"


Heather rolled over and stretched. "God, I had the most amazing dream. I dreamt I saw a face at the window, a beautiful young man, and he was calling to me - Let me in - over and over again. So I got up and opened the window and he took me in his arms and kissed me. And I was so slim, Alison. Just like I used to be before - you know."Her face was flushed with happiness.


Alison felt her eyes being drawn to the balcony window. The curtains were fluttering in the slight morning breeze. 


Heather sat up in bed and stared at the window. "How odd! I could have sworn I locked it last night."


Chapter 23