The Witching Hour Draws Near

 

It’s a wet October Monday and the UK is being battered by a major storm… according to the weather forecasters. I’ve seen nothing of it. It’s barely breezy enough to rattle the wind chimes, and although it’s raining there’s nothing new about that. It rains most of the time where I live.

It’s been another busy week, with the release of The Deep Secret, and now Halloween is only three days away. Fitting, perhaps, that A Halloween Homicide, STAC Mystery #3, should take a major review from one of Amazon’s top 30 reviewers.

A Halloween Homicide was written almost two years ago, and I self-published it for about a year before handing it over to Crooked Cat as part of the present series.

Was it a deliberate attempt to cash in on the popularity of Halloween? Not really. It was more case that Halloween fitted the concept of old gits taking weekends away, and where better for spooks than the fine old city of York? Chuck in a fancy dress party, a ghost hunt, a robbery and couple of murders and its perfect territory for master sleuth Joe Murray and his sidekicks, Sheila and Brenda.

I have to confess, it was never one of my favourites, but it seems to be popular with those people who matter: i.e. the readers. Like most of the STAC Mysteries, it doesn’t take many reviews because I never solicit them, but A Halloween Homicide has consistently gained 4- and 5-star critiques.

This latest one is more in-depth than the others and quite complimentary.

David Robinson has written a most enjoyable whodunit that will keep the reader guessing exactly what happened on that witching night. Full of surprises. Excellent entertainment.

ACB of Swansea, I thank you, and I hope you enjoy more of the STAC Mysteries.

The STAC series is not the only one in the news. Last Friday, after a couple of weeks of increased promotion, The Deep Secret finally saw the light of day.

The sequel to The Handshaker, taking the story a stage further, it’s no cosy whodunit, and I was pleased to see that it crashed into the top 100 of Amazon UK’s Crime, Thriller & Mystery/Hard Boiled chart, and stayed there for most of Saturday before beginning to slip.

First flush after release? We’ll see, but it’s gratifying and encourages me to consider producing more of the Croft/Millie novels.

But don’t hold your breath. They’re more detailed than cosy crimes and they take a lot longer to write.

That’s Monday morning out of the way. I’m back at the coal face with a Christmas title to finish. Wherever you are, have a great week, and keep smiling. It makes people wonder what you’ve been up to.