Bodies in the Library

I am very pleased to announce the publication of Flame Tree Publishing's new anthology, Bodies in the Library. It contains my short story 'The Last of the Perivales'.  

The fourth case for my Victorian detectives MacAndrew and Smithers, this latest mystery begins with the discovery of a corpse in the otherwise empty library of a London gentlemen's club. The victim is unknown at the establishment and wearing outlandish fancy dress but, nevertheless, he apparently entered without being seen by anyone. 

Who is he and how did he die?  Ably assisted by the forensic skills of his wife, Annie, The Old  Red Fox of Scotland Yard is again on the hunt for clues and yet again he is led down unlikely avenues of inquiry.

 

A Rainy Day at St Bartholomew's

I'm very pleased to announce that the third story in my steampunk series about the Victorian detectives MacAndrew and Smithers is now available in the current issue of Curiosities.

A Rainy Day at St Bartholomew's finds Smithers getting wet at a wedding. This might not be considered too surprising until we find that it's raining inside the church!

You can find out why, and how our intrepid heroes cope with yet another encounter with the abnormal, in the

Curiosities #7 Quarantine 2020 Paperback

And if this leaves you with a taste for more Victorian mayhem, the fourth MacAndrew and Smithers adventure is coming soon in a new hardback anthology from Flame Tree.

I've recently finished a fifth episode, for which I'll be seeking a publisher soon, so I hope you won't have long to wait.

'Sir Robert's Gargoyle' is in Cosy Crime anthology

I'm very pleased to say that my story 'Sir Robert's Gargoyle' is included in the latest of Flame Tree's beautiful hardback anthologies.

Just for once this is a story in which the protagonists are perhaps not in what you would call the first flush of youth. Well, an occasional hooray for us oldies is not out of place. Adventures like this are still possible!

This latest volume in the series is packed with armchair detectives, murders in the vicarage, family secrets unravelling in gossipy ears, and the ingredients of a genteel bloodbath in an otherwise delightful village. Contains a fabulous mix of classic and brand new writing, with contemporary authors from the US, Canada, and the UK.

Classic authors include: Arnold Bennett, Ernest Bramah, Anton Chekhov, Arthur Conan Doyle, Andrew Forrester, R. Austin Freeman, Anna Katherine Green, Maurice Leblanc, Arthur Morrison, Baroness Orczy, Catherine Louisa Pirkis, Edgar Wallace, Israel Zangwill, G.K. Chesterton.

Contributions by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Joshua Boyce, Sarah Holly Bryant, Jeffrey B. Burton, C.B. Channell, Gregory Von Dare, Amanda C. Davis, Michael Martin Garrett, Philip Brian Hall, E.E. King, Tom Mead, Trixie Nisbet, Annette Siketa, B. David Spicer, Nancy Sweetland, Louise Taylor, Elise Warner

Pirates & Ghosts: More Author Comment

Not long to go till publication now! In the meantime, here’s a link to the latest Q&A.

The final instalment of this year’s Author Q&As sees the Pirates & Ghosts authors sharing the tales they like best from the genre, and shedding some light on how their own stories come together in the writing process.

As ever, this latest anthology in the Gothic Fantasy collection features a selection of classic tales from the genre – from the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, William Hope Hodgson, W.W. Jacobs and Joseph Conrad – complementing the work of the contemporary authors in their exploration of treacherous waters and the horrors that lurk beneath…

Heavy Weather

I'm delighted to announce that my short story 'Heavy Weather' has been accepted for the forthcoming Flame Tree Publishing anthology 'Pirates and Ghosts'.

Some of my readers will know of my enthusiasm for sailing ships, and of course I'm not long back from a cruise aboard the lovely barquentine Star Flyer.

Having been, since my youth a voracious reader of nautical tales, it seems I might be able to write them too. You may remember the first podcast of my work a year or so ago when Gallery of Curiosities put out 'Last of the Spice Schooners'.

Flame Tree do produce the most beautiful hardbacks and their lovely volumes intersperse classic authors with newer names. This volume includes work by Joseph Conrad, James Fenimore Cooper, Stephen Crane, F. Marion Crawford, Arthur Conan Doyle, William Hope Hodgson, Homer, W.W. Jacobs, Rudyard Kipling, Vernon Lee, H.P. Lovecraft, Richard Middleton, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, and  H.G. Wells.