A first peek

On the strict understanding that this could change over coming months, here are the opening few sentences of the new novel.

The latter half of 1922 was a good one for my private detective business. The unexpected arrival of Josine from the United States that June marked an upturn in my commercial fortunes, due almost entirely to Miss Young herself.

Of course, we both knew that the world we had become involved with would not leave us alone forever. And so it proved when – that December – someone tried to kill the two of us.

So starts the Prologue! Now, I have heard it said that prologues are terribly old fashioned and modern novels should avoid them. I’m not entirely convinced by that line of thought, but even if I was I would argue that the Glennison Darkisle Cases series is supposed to be drawn from the journals of Jack himself. As someone born in the late 19th century, he would think it quite normal to start his account of events with a prologue.

Hence, the prologue stays. So there!