Well hey there.
It’s been a while. What have you been up to?
Me? Oh, I wrote a book. Another book.
I think – save for a post celebrating Danny’s first birthday – I last posted here when I was in South Africa last October. That was the week I started work on Death of a Devil – the third Danny Bird Mystery.
And this week, it was published – as are all the Danny Mysteries – by Fahrenheit Press.
I meant to keep blogging through the writing process, but this was a pretty intense book to write, to be honest.
It came out of a pretty bleak time for me – the one year anniversary of my mother’s passing; Brexit; the rise of the man who is currently President of the USA – and I really found it hard to figure out what to write about, and where to find the jokes and snappy dialogue the Danny Bird Mysteries are all about.
But I found it, and once I had it like fireflies in a jar, I wanted to keep focussed, keep the lid on, not talk about it too much in case the magic evaporated.
And I think it worked out well.
This one’s about gangsters, long-forgotten crimes, strong women, secrets (so many secrets) and – as they all are – ultimately about the tribes we make, and the community we arrange around ourselves.
If Death of a Diva and Death of a Nobody were my British mysteries, I think this one is a little more American. I’m not going to explain that statement, but let me know what you think when you’ve read it.
And I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of a book.
Out of a pretty grim time has come something beautiful. And something – as the picture above shows – which looks beautiful too.
If you wanted to buy it – in ebook or paperback – you can get it here (in the UK) or here (everywhere else).
I woke at 4am last Monday – the day that Death of a Devil was released – with a knot of fear in my stomach. What if it was crap? What if people hated it? What if I’d let down all the people who’d put their faith in me – who’d loved Death of a Diva and Death of a Nobody? I guess all writers have those moments of pure self doubt.
I needn’t have worried.
Death of a Devil has already been very favourably reviewed by Verity Wilde, who made it her coveted Book of the Week, and said “Lady Caz is … posher and drunker than ever in this instalment and the subplot with her family is excellent too,” and noted that Death of a Devil has a “sly and subversive world view… It’s fun and funny and won’t leave you terrified to go out of an evening.”
The book already has a five star review on Amazon, and readers have very kindly taken the time to pop on to my Facebook page and let me know how much they’re enjoying it.
Verity interviewed me the week before publication and asked a great question: Who would play the characters in Death of a Devil in a TV or Movie Version? I’d LOVE to hear who you think should. Drop a note in the comments below.
And the good news is that Danny4 is almost fully plotted and Danny5 has begun to form, and Fahrenheit Press seem pleased with the sketches they’ve had so far.
I have a top secret project to finish off in the next few weeks and then it will be straight in to Danny4.
Only this time – I promise – I shall keep you posted on the progress here.
But for now: Go buy the Danny Bird Mysteries.
