Cosy crime series of books for our Chris

Chris McDonald has brought out The Curious Dispatch of Daniel Costello, “the first in a new series of cosy crime books” called The Stonebridge Mysteries.

Wedding bells are chiming in the idyllic, coastal town of Stonebridge, Northern Ireland.

For Sam and Emily, it should be the happiest day of their lives. But, on the morning of the ceremony, the best man is found dead.

The police quickly write his death off as a tragic accident, but something doesn’t seem right to wedding guest and groomsman, Adam Whyte.

Armed with an encyclopedic, but ultimately ridiculous knowledge of television detective shows and an unwarranted confidence in his own abilities, Adam and his best friend (and willing Watson) Colin, set out to uncover what actually happened to Daniel Costello.

Having only published his first novel ‘A Wash of Black’ in March of last year, Chris has continued to stay busy writing. He was among a group of international crime writers who joined forces in June 2020 to support the NHS with sales of a crime anthology ‘Noir from the Bar’.

Formerly a teacher at Hezlett Primary School in Castlerock, Chris now lives in Manchester and said that the inspiration to write his first novel came to him as he was feeding his baby in the middle of the night.

“Which may not be the best thing to admit, considering the content,” he joked, referring to ‘A Wash of Black’ which tells the story of a famous actress whose mutilated body is found on an ice rink in Manchester.

Chris says he has always been a reader - at primary school, teen amateur sleuths The Hardy Boys inspired his love of adventure before his reading world was opened up by Chuck Palahniuk and the gritty world of crime.

‘The Curious Dispatch of Daniel Costello’ is available from Amazon and publisher Red Dog Press.