European Mystery

The opening story in this collection follows Vinny, Kevin, and a mourning family from Liverpool on a journey to Wales. What should be a simple trip turns into something much darker. A cross between Roddy Doyle and Ken Follett, this political storytelling meets you wherever you are on life’s journey, and stays with you.

It is 1813 in Northern Spain. The crew of a British warship is attempting to make contact with the local resistance fighters who are battling the French. They send a brave crewman, known as Cuba Tom, to try to make contact with the local chief of the Guerrillos, but he fails to return. So a young naval officer, Edgar Byrne, sets off to try to trace him. The trail leads him to a strange inn which is run by two very sinister old women...

When an eccentric millionaire presents at the Dublin Coroner's Office to report a found treasure, Benjamin Stirling sends him on to the National Museum. It is only when the man is found dead on his land on Tarrow Island and no treasure is mentioned when Stirling begins to get suspicious.

A mysterious lodger; strange noises from beneath the backyard; the truth about the death of his father. These are the things that keep Crispin Constable up at night. Ever since his mother took in Dick Duggan, Crispin has known something is not right, but what? What is Duggan hiding in his safely guarded trunk? And more importantly, what is causing the thunderous ripping sound beneath the garden in the Constable’s very own backyard?

The low taverns and backroom gambling dens of Dublin are a long fall for an English nobleman. It is in these environs, however, where the growling evil within Thomas Olocher feels most at home. Each night, his darkness grows as he continues his cascade down toward the ultimate evil. Can Alderman James, ever seeking redemption for his own dark past, stop Olocher before it's too late?

"Don Blas s'avançait lentement dans la rue d'Alcolote, regardant de côté et d'autre les maisons avec ses yeux de lynx. Comme il passait devant l'église on sonna une messe ; il se précipita de cheval plutôt qu'il n'en descendit, et on le vit s'agenouiller auprès de l'autel. Quatre de ses gendarmes se mirent à genoux autour de sa chaise ; ils le regardèrent, il n'y avait déjà plus de dévotion dans ses yeux. Son œil sinistre était fixé sur un jeune homme d'une tournure fort distinguée qui priait dévotement à quelques pas de lui."

Un hombre rico es evitado por las mujeres a causa de su barba azul. Un día le pide a una vecina distinguida alguna de sus hijas en matrimonio, las cuales se pasan el compromiso una a la otra, por rechazo al aspecto de Barba Azul. Pero finalmente la hermana menor accede atraída por la vida opulenta que le ofrece el ricachón. Un día Barba Azul anuncia que partirá en viaje de negocios y entrega todas las llaves de la casa a su nueva esposa, incluida la de una pequeña estancia a la que le prohíbe entrar.