Today sees the publication of my fifth book, my third short story collection to be published by Arlen House, which is currently celebrating its 50th year. Whereas my two previous works, When Black Dogs Sing and Nobody Needs to Know, draw their inspiration from contemporary life and its complications, The Marionette and the Maestro revels in the fantastical.
Set from the late 19th to the early 20th century, these stories unfold in 11 European towns and cities. The cast of characters includes a toymaker, an embalmer, a puppeteer and a composer. Trickery, murder and magic are the order of the day and occur in such romantic cities as Prague, Vienna and St Petersburg.
They say write the stories you want to read, and this is exactly what I have done in this new collection. It couldn’t be further from the realism of my previous work, and that includes my two crime novels set in Dublin.
I have always been a fan of both gothic literature and ma
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