Murder on Tour, the fourth in my whodunnit sequence featuring crime writer turned detective Francis Meadowes is now out. This is Francis's first paid assignment, which takes him on tour with the world-famous genre-fluid rock sensation Jonni K. If there are any similarities between this and my own experiences with Robbie Williams twenty years ago they are purely coincidental.
Meanwhile, Ghosted, the standalone paranormal whodunnit where the corpse is also the detective, continues to get nice reviews. Have a look at the Books section and link to Amazon to see what readers think.
Bloodhound Books has also republished the rest of the Francis Meadowes trilogy, seperately as paperbacks, and also in a Kindle 'boxed set', which is a very cheap way to buy them.
The Festival Murders, set at the annual literary festival in the charming little English town of Mold-on-Wold, begins with the shocking death of a prominent literary critic. Which of the many talented writers thronging the town could possibly be responsible for such a heinous crime – or could the murderer be closer to home? The second, Cruising to Murder, takes my biracial crime writer turned detective Francis Meadowes onto a luxury cruise off West Africa, where trouble begins when a delightful widow is found dead in bed in her cabin, shortly after an onshore visit to Togo. The third, Murder Your Darlings, takes place at a writing and painting retreat in Tuscany, which begins when a snobbish self-published memoirist meets a nasty end in a sauna.
Here are some press reviews:
THE FESTIVAL MURDERS
‘a marvellous set of unsavoury suspects ... good, nasty fun with a ring of truth.’ MAIL ON SUNDAY (‘THRILLER OF THE WEEK’)
‘raunchy goings-on at fictional festival Mold-onWold ... a rollicking read’ EVENING STANDARD
‘a wicked send-up of literary festivals ... a crime novel with a cute concept’ INDEPENDENT
‘A very engaging literary romp’ SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
‘an old-fashioned murder mystery with ...neatly disguised clues ... and a satisfyingly unexpected culprit’ LITERARY REVIEW
‘ quite the year for thinly disguised literary romans-à-clef, with Mark McCrum’s novel causing gossip in literary circles’ INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
CHOSEN FOR INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY’S ‘ALTERNATIVE BOOKER PRIZE LONGLIST’
CRUISING TO MURDER
‘An intriguing, gentle mystery ... With the inevitable eclectic mix of characters - none of whom would be out of place in an Agatha Christie tale - it has a charm and wit that the mistress of crime herself might admire’ DAILY MAIL
‘A beautifully judged homage to the golden-age detective novel - and an enjoyable travelogue to boot’ MAIL ON SUNDAY
“Entertaining . . . [a] riotous abundance of local color and exuberant characters” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
‘McCrum captures the claustrophobia and subtle tensions of the enforced socialising between very rich (and not always very pleasant) passengers brilliantly ...The twists and turns of his plotting will satisfy the most exacting aficionado of this genre and the denouement is enjoyably unexpected’ EROTIC REVIEW
‘A likeable and smart series lead. A good choice for traditional mystery fans’ BOOKLIST
‘Traditionalists will love this book’ LITERARY REVIEW
MURDER YOUR DARLINGS
‘The beautiful Umbrian countryside is wonderfully realised in this latest cosy-crime novel from former travel writer McCrum’ MAIL ON SUNDAY ‘Books of the Year’
‘A neat twist on the classic English-country-house formula’ KIRKUS REVIEWS (U.S)
‘For anyone who enjoys a murder story with neither gore nor realism, Murder Your Darlings will offer much diversion’ LITERARY REVIEW ‘Books of the Year’
‘Those who prefer a traditional whodunnit, in which a limited pool of suspects is gradually eliminated until only the least likely remains feasible, will savour this third instalment in a piquant amateur sleuth series.’ MORNING STAR
‘I like McCrum’s gentle but none the less intriguing novels. They’re old fashioned in the nicest possible way, and with nostalgia very popular are such a delightful read… Bravo!’ FROST MAGAZINE
| 
