Almost ready

My latest mystery novel is unexpectedly almost ready for publication. I didn’t realise this until yesterday, when I looked at the number and seriousness level of edits waiting to be done in the printed copy I used for proof-reading, and saw that because there were very few plot holes left (but I’m willing to be corrected on this point by readers later!) it wouldn’t take me long to get through them.

This knowledge resulted in a mad rush to design a cover. I’ve been unable to incorporate *all* the cover images I wanted to – at first I wanted to tell more or less the whole story on the cover, which would have meant including a lion, a unicorn, a trolley-bus, the Skylon, a mock-up of a Turner painting, some secret agents, Claridge’s Hotel and a bit of Nazi memorabilia as well as people dancing in the open air. Instead, as you will see in the image below, I have ended up with a line of chairs.

These aren’t just any old chairs, however: they represent the new style of design that came into general use during the 1950s after featuring heavily at the Festival of Britain in 1951. They also provide a dash of colour in the grey background of the cover. Again this is symbolic, as the Festival itself gave colour to the grey nondescript lives of the British people during a time of post-war austerity.

I hope some of the people who seem to have enjoyed my Pitkirtly mysteries will also like this novel when it is released for Kindle some time in the next week or so. But I am under orders from friends to write another Pitkirtly story next, so watch this space!