It's Hallowe'en in a few days — just the right time to start blowing the trumpet of my new book, Death at Hallowtide, written under an impenetrable pseudonym. It combines mystery and low fantasy, and is set in a (sadly, fictional) part of Ireland where the boundaries with the otherworld(s) are rather more porous than usual.
I had a lot of fun writing this book: in entering the fray in the mystery genre, I was returning as a writer to my roots as a reader. Sherlock Holmes was one of my earliest favourites as a child, so much so that I wanted to be Sherlock Holmes. This, alas, was deemed a non-viable career option by the grown-ups. And whenever I pick up a book for comfort-reading, nine times out of ten it is a mystery, often from a 'Golden Age' author, but also from more contemporary writers who eschew graphic violence and unpleasantness.
Death at Hallowtide introduces a new series and its two main protagonists—Jessica Quill, her life upended by personal and professional shocks, and Thornapple, beset by the complications of managing the border between the human world and the 'other side'.
Jessica, an unknowing outsider who has inherited a highly significant border property, has just become the most pressing of Thornapple's problems. Adding to her existing woes, she also finds herself a suspect in a real-life murder, which turns out to be a far less comforting experience than her armchair delight in detective fiction has prepared her for.
The book is available in paperback and e-book formats, and can be bought from multiple online bookstores; the paperback can also be ordered from your local bookshop. You can find all the details here.
Happy Hallowtide / Samhain to one and all!
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