'The Castle of the Women'

Now out on Kindle, Paperback to follow

Here I am in Turin, where it has been raining incessantly for the last day and where the heating in my flat has sprung to life, praise be, because it is freezing cold. (You may not know, but Italian flats of the old-fashioned kind do not have ‘independent’ heating; luckily whoever controls the switch has taken mercy on us all, me in particular, shivering in my summer clothes.)

One good thing is that I have spent the day and night revising the proofs of my latest book, and it has now been published on Amazon in Kindle form. For those of you who like Kindle, this is the link. The cover image is below. The castle in question is not in Sicily, but in Gaeta. But the action, or at least part of it, takes place in a semi-ruined castle in the interior of Sicily in the province of Caltanissetta, which is being used by the state as a safe house for protected witnesses.

For those who like books, the paperback will be coming out very soon. It has a different cover, based on a picture of Mount Etna. As soon as a proof arrives, and I have been able to check it over, then it will be published. Watch this space.

To whet your appetites, here is the blurb: 'His first wife dead, the boss don Calogero swiftly marries again; but a threat to his power soon emerges from an unsuspected quarter, as one of the women of Purgatory and her son turn informer. Can they be silenced before bringing the boss and his associates to justice? Will the impregnable Castle of the Women, and the Italian state, protect them from the boss's long arm of vengeance? Or is there no hiding place from Mafia justice? In the duel between the forces of law and order, and the Mafia, who will win? This is the fourth novel in the Chemist of Catania series.'

The book stands on its own, just about, but for maximum enjoyment you really do need to read the first three as well, in the correct order too.

My level of technical expertise is very low, so the publishing ‘process’ entails endless trial and error, but I get there in the end, I hope. In the meantime, if you do read the latest offering, please do leave a comment or an appraisal on Amazon. I believe this really helps. And do please tell all your friends, as word of mouth is the best publicity.

And now, as the rain continues, I am going to write something about Turin.