F is for Filey Connection, The

The Filey Connection was the very first STAC Mystery, released just over a year ago, on March 2nd, 2012. It’s been a consistent seller, without smashing any records, but in a curious coincidence, this last week has seen its popularity soar to the point where, at six o’clock last night (April 5th) it was knocking on the door of the UK Kindle British Detectives top 10, and it sat just outside the top 1,000 overall. Both are vital to raising the visibility of any book. For brief time later in the evening, it did enter the top 10 and the top 1,000 overall.

I’ve gone into the history of the book many times in the past, so I won’t go through it all again. It’s enough to say that I chose Filey because it’s a pretty, little seaside town on the Yorkshire coast, and a place my wife and I love. We met there over three decades ago, and we still visit at lest once a year.

So let’s have a short excerpt from The Filey Connection.

Joe Sheila and Brenda, still puzzled by the death of one member, have now been told of another, and Joe is convinced it was suicide. Here they are taking tea and teacakes at a café in nearby Scarborough.

Brenda finished her teacake, licked her fingers, wiped her mouth with a serviette and looking from one to the other of her two companions, asked, “Why does a toasted teacake always taste better when someone else has prepared it?”

On Brenda’s rhetorical question, Joe’s creased features darkened. “Here we are discussing murder and suicide and she’s on about toasted teacakes.”

“I’m changing the subject, Joe,” Brenda argued. “All this talk of death. It’s depressing.”

“All right. Are you saying there’s something wrong with my toasted teacakes?” he demanded.

“No. It’s just that they’re tastier when someone serves them to you.”

“I suppose,” said Sheila from behind her teacup, “it’s the general indolence of holidays. We all like to be waited on, and that adds to the ambience of a toasted teacake. And, of course, because we spend so much of our time actually making these things, we have an insight into the preparation that allows us to enjoy them on more levels than your average customer. Rather like one artist can appreciate the work of another on more levels than the casual viewer.”

Joe snorted. “I don’t see many of my toasted teacakes hanging on the walls of Sanford Art gallery.” Pushing aside his teacup, he rolled a cigarette, jammed it between his lips and lit it. “You know what I don’t understand?”

Across the table, Sheila tidied the cups, saucers and detritus of their afternoon snack. “I should think there are a lot of things you don’t understand, Joe. The principles of artistic perspective, for example, Schröedinger’s cat…”

“I’ve never seen art made of Perspex,” Joe interrupted.

Alongside him, Brenda was equally puzzled. “And what’s to understand about whoisit’s cat?”

“Schröedinger’s cat was a theoretical exercise in quantum physics designed to demonstrate the uncertainty principle,” Sheila explained.

Their blank stares clearly told her that Joe and Brenda were completely at sea.

With a world-weary sigh, Sheila explained, “Basically, you seal a cat in a box and attached to the box is a canister of poisonous gas and another piece of equipment that emits an atomic nucleus that may or may not decay in one hour. If the nucleus decays, it will emit a particle that triggers the gas, if it doesn’t the gas will not be triggered. The experiment is set up so that chances of decay or not decay are exactly fifty-fifty. When you open the box you will see either a dead cat or a living cat. It…”

“Isn’t this a bit cruel to the cat?”

Sheila took in Brenda’s concerned stare, and hastened to explain. “There isn’t really a cat, Brenda, it’s a hypothetical exercise only.”

“How does the cat breathe if the box is sealed?” demanded Joe. “I mean, the chances are it would run out of air if the box wasn’t large enough.”

“And did they put milk in for it?” Brenda wanted to know. “If the RSPCA found out there’d be hell to pay. Sealing cats in boxes with poisonous gas. It’s not right.”

***

The Filey Connection is available for download in all formats, and all The STAC Mysteries are available as paperbacks and as e-book downloads in all formats, or direct from Crooked Cat Books in MOBI, EPUB and PDF formats.