A thrilling literary romp – Is there really such a thing as ‘accidental death’?

My latest novel The Stolen Mirror, is currently seeking publication from those that make that dark art their business… in the meantime, I’m also recording it as an audiobook – you can hear the theme music now on my Bandcamp page.

If you’d like to receive a preview PDF of the manuscript for perusal or review, please email me via juleslandau@gmail.com and title your message ‘The Stolen Mirror’.

SYNOPSIS

 The Stolen Mirror may be described as a fast-paced, supernatural crime thriller, with a layered subplot involving blackmail, art history, unrequited love, relentless hedonism, and a sinister criminal conspiracy. 

 Jez Cohen is an art school drop-out struggling to find both his calling and his next rent cheque at the butt end of the 20^th century, neither can he embrace the spirit of pre-millennial optimism that seems to surround him in his shit-heel world of crumby digs and hand to mouth income. 

An upstairs neighbour, Simon, is a petty thief who has begun using Jez’s flat as a means of access to bring home stolen goods from the surrounding area, and the prospect of an upcoming birthday party promises to attract a host of other ne’er do wells into the house to make mischief. 

 Matters are made worse by the fact that Jez’s hope of an inheritance are under threat due to a set of compromising photographs, which lie in the hands of a sinister minor aristocrat and collector of erotica, Adrian Karswell. 

 This saucy set of sepia prints, threaten to change Great Aunt Nancy’s opinion of her favourite nephew, Jeremiah, and as a result the sleazy Karswell has coerced our protagonist into running ever more bizarre criminal errands on his behalf. 

 Following the clandestine exchange of a historic piece of taxidermy in Hartlepool, Karswell is now set to send our unlikely hero on his most dangerous mission yet – to procure a set of ‘sensitive personal effects’ that once belonged to a deceased Hollywood bombshell, from an infamous Parisian fence.

 A trip to Paris at least offers Jez the chance to exploit Karswell in his own way, by bringing along his would-be girlfriend Georgie Carrington, who acts as both foil and mirror to Jez’s cynicism and hedonistic lifestyle. 

  Their week in the city of lights seems to be going smoothly, discounting the minor inconvenience of Jez’s previous job as Karswell’s errand boy making national news, and a subsequent bounty on his head…

 Jez and Georgie are exploiting a handsome expense account in a tasteful boutique hotel, albeit with a rather suspicious concierge, some strangely familiar artwork, and an uncanny drinks cabinet that is somewhat more than it seems… 

 However, any hope of romance is challenged as an increasing body count of ‘accidental deaths’ begin to follow in Jez’s wake, and the parasitic symbiosis between our unlikely hero and his tormentor Karswell, turns decidedly sour.