Check Out Toula Mavridou-Messer’s Fantasy Whodunit Mortal End: A Simmering Pit of Jiggery Pokery
Steve Barton
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If an “old fashioned fairy tale of intrigue, murder, cannibalism, and incest” sounds intriguing, read on to learn more about today’s third horror book announcement: Toula Mavridou-Messer’s Mortal End: A Simmering Pit of Jiggery Pokery, available now.
From the Press Release:
Ænus P. Wordsworth, the arrogant, absinthe-drinking village rector, plays detective in an attempt to discover just whom the bones in the giant mound of burnt toffee belong to and how on earth they got there.
Why does guilt hang heavy in this village like offal in a stew? What secret has the God-fearing Ænus P. Wordsworth kept so carefully? Where have all the children gone? These and many other questions will be answered when you read Mortal End: A Simmering Pit of Jiggery Pokery, available now via CreateSpace.
This fantasy whodunit is filled with mystery and humor, a tantalizing sense of suspense, and absurd darkness, which will capture your imagination in a way no other murder mystery ever has.
Mortal End: A Simmering Pit of Jiggery Pokery, the debut novel from Toula Mavridou-Messer, was written in the space of three weeks after two car crashes in just one hour. Even the rescue serviceman who came to collect her from the mangled wreckage was hesitant about transporting her, saying, “Things happen in threes, don’t they?”
“It’s a sign,” thought Toula, as those crashes came during the return journey from a residential crime writing course she attended, given by best-selling author Val McDermid. She had been battling a major problem faced by so many would-be authors – that of actually finishing a project and then doing something with it.
Facing death head-on seems to have been the antidote, although not necessarily recommended as a remedy for all. Every time Toula was faced with either a blank page or the option of walking away from the typewriter, she remembered that she had been spared a fate worse than death… or in fact, death and that small fact kept her chained to her desk. Fortunately she saw the funny – and disturbing – side, and hopefully so will you when you read Mortal End: A Simmering Pit of Jiggery Pokery.
Synopsis:
“It was me. I killed her. I should have done it years ago.”
A lightning storm sparks a fire deep in Phooka Wood. The following morning Mortal End’s self-righteous rector Ænus P. Wordsworth, his sidekick Savant Poe, and a motley crew of villagers venture into the wood to see what damage has been done. To their amazed befuddlement, right in the center of the seared earth, is a giant mound of molten toffee and, within it, a selection of human remains.
Ænus P. Wordsworth takes it upon himself to find out whom these bones belong to and how they came to be there. In doing so, he uncovers an horrific tale of murder, incest, and cannibalism that spreads throughout the neighboring villages that surround Phooka Wood. Their investigation takes them to all corners of their roundabout world, from Mortal End to the oozing Hamlet of Stifle and Little Napoo. Along their colorful journey we are introduced to a larger than life cast including Doc Sheare, the barber surgeon; Verrye Brutall, the handsome woodsman; Beliala Bigswoln, the publican’s daughter; Baron Rubigo Bluebeard; and Umbra the Bogyman.
Everyone seems to have a secret they are trying to hide that could give clues to the horror of Phooka Wood. Even Ænus P. Wordsworth has something to hide!
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