December 2019: The Case of the Quibbling Cleric – What can you expect?

Oh, No, Octavius!, the latest addition to my Send for Octavius Guy series, is set to be published on January 1st 2020. For those of you unfamiliar with young Octavius (known variously as Gooseberry and Octopus), he’s a skinny, young lad who is now fifteen years old, and who fancies himself a detective. It’s 1853, and the well-heeled residents of Highbury have a problem: the Reverend Allaston Burr, the rector who’s been foisted upon their congregation by an ancient yet legally-binding right known as an advowson. When a final appeal to Queen Victoria fails to remove him from his post, they turn to Gooseberry for help. As you might have guessed, the Reverend Burr is not long for this world—though I might point out for the benefit of seasoned readers, this time it’s not Octavius who kills him!

So what can you expect? To start with, a corpse with its face battered in but with remarkably little blood in evidence. A torn scrap of parchment in the dead man’s hand, which appears to be in code. An account of the sacking of Highbury Manor during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, and the subsequent beheading of its owner, Grand Prior Hales of the Knights Hospitaller. And behind all this lies a faint whiff of buried treasure.

For those yearning for something a little more highbrow, there will be two selections by Mr Beethoven and one by Mr Purcell, the latter sung in the gardens of the Highbury Barn, a most refined nightspot. Oh…before I forget to mention it, there’s also a telescope on the roof of the house and a room full of poisonous plants.

I write cozy mysteries, and I try to make each book in the series different from the rest. This time I’ve removed Gooseberry from his comfort zone, as he and his sidekick George go undercover. How will Octavius cope when he takes up residence with his clients at Highbury House, posing as a schoolboy by day at the Reverend Burr’s school where he is forced to learn Latin? How will he react when he meets the sergeant who’s been assigned to investigate Burr’s murder—especially when he realizes that he may have finally met his match?

Here are snippets of some of the 5-star reviews that readers have posted for this series. You’ll find their full reviews, together with many others, on the Meet the Readers page of my website.

“This series just gets better and better and I just can't get enough of teenage investigator Octavius Guy! I love the way Michael Gallagher writes, with his witty asides and gentle humour.”
—Anita Dow, Goodreads Reviewer

“You immediately feel the dirt of the cobbles and dankness of the industrial revolution in the air. This is backed up by some excellent characters and a plot worthy of Sherlock Holmes.”
—Paul Blake, Goodreads Reviewer

“The writing pulls you along, urging you to turn one more page, then another, then one more, until you have finished the book. Each person in these pages is real to me, so much so that I keep having to stop myself from looking them up online - they’re not really there!”
—Laura Brook, LibraryThing Early Reviewer

“Octavius is at it again! With a less than enthusiastic assistant of George at his side, my favorite Victorian boy investigator sets off to solve a new mystery. Words cannot describe just how much I enjoy Octavius.”
—Bethany Swafford, Goodreads Reviewer

“A pick-pocket turned teenaged sleuth, Octavius is as good at crime solving as he is at relieving people of their valuables. I was hooked from the start and spent as much time trying to guess the outcome as I did laughing out loud. Forget Sherlock Holmes, send for Octavius Guy!”
—Brittney L. Divine, Smashwords Reviewer

This month’s special offer is for Big Bona Ogles, Boy!: Octavius Guy & The Case of the Mendacious Medium (#3). This time young Gooseberry investigates a shadowy Spiritualist medium only to discover that somebody wants her dead. Offer ends on December 31st 2019.

“My favorite Victorian boy investigator sets off to solve a new mystery…Words cannot describe just how much I enjoy Octavius.”—Bethany Swafford, Goodreads Reviewer (5 stars)

Happy reading!
Michael

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