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Find out moreAfter a brief stint as a lumberjack, Andrew Nicoll has spent his working life as a newspaper journalist. He has had short stories published in New Writing Scotland and other magazines. Andrew is 45 and married with three children.
This is a delicious book! I loved every minute of its magical story-telling and found it difficult to put down. Andrew Nicoll succeeds in creating a vivid and atmospheric portrayal of the town of Dot, in an unspecified part of the Baltic, where the mayor, Tibo Krovic is in love with his secretary, Mrs. Agathe Stopak. The reader becomes totally involved in these two characters’ lives. Agathe has suffered the anguish of the death of her baby, and the subsequent rejection of her husband. Tibo Krovic nurses a secret passion for Agathe which in turn delights and torments him. Their developing relationship is full of complications, misunderstandings, humour, pain and pleasure. The story is deeply human and emotionally strikes a chord but it also has flights of fantasy and magic which create a fable-like atmosphere. A gem of a novel and a real pleasure to read. It is the author’s first, but I hope there will be more!
A mystery that touches the heart, with characters caught in a world that's harsh but trembles with tender emotions. A beautiful story. JAMES NAUGHTIE, BBC Radio 4 When the door opened and he came out, there came with him the stench of a dead thing, the sweet, sulphurous, warm, rotten chicken smell that only ever comes from unburied flesh. A dead body is found in a locked house. It has been stabbed in a frenzy, the hands and feet bound, the skull smashed, false teeth knocked from its jaws. Blood pools around the corpse and drips from the staircase. Yet nothing is missing: money and valuables remain untouched. Who could have murdered an old woman in such a horrifying way? And why? This is the mystery facing Sergeant John Fraser and Detective Lieutenant Trench when wealthy spinster Miss Jean Milne is murdered in the quiet seaside town of Broughty Ferry. Yet, despite an abundance of clues and apparent witnesses, the investigation proves troublesome: suspects are elusive and Miss Milne herself is found to be far from a model of propriety. And when sensational headlines put pressure on the police force to find a culprit, Fraser and Trench must work fast to prevent the wrong man from going to the gallows. But will they ever unravel the secret life and curious death of Miss Jean Milne? PRAISE FOR ANDREW NICOLL The sense of setting and era are spot on, and the dusky streets of Scotland are suitably spooky. HEAT MAGAZINE on The Secret Life and Curious Death of Miss Jean Milne An intelligent crime novel with secrets, passion and great characters - just a great murder mystery. PORTOBELLO BOOK BLOG on The Secret Life and Curious Death of Miss Jean Milne A triumph of tone, very moving, completely convincing. ANDREW MARR on The Good Mayor An exuberant, whirlwind read, with a glint of steel beneath the frothy plot. THE GUARDIAN on The Good Mayor
Otto Witte was once many things. But now, sitting in his caravan, drinking what's left of his coffee (dust), listening to the Allies rain their bombs on his city, he is simply scared. And so he's decided to write the story of his life. It is an extraordinary story, a story about how, with the help of his friends (and a camel), an acrobat of Hamburg became the King of Albania, and fell in love along the way.
Es gibt im Baltikum einen vergessenen Landstrich und darin eine Stadt namens Dot. Als einst die Kartographen von Katharina der Groen dort vor der Kuste arbeiteten, sank das Schiff samt Kartenmaterial, und statt noch einmal von vorn zu beginnen, notierte man schlicht, die Gewasser in jener Gegend seien nicht schiffbar. Unberuhrt von aller zivilisatorischen Kalte leben also die Menschen in der Stadt Dot am Fluss Ampersand in einer Art Traumwelt. Nicht dass sie keine Probleme kennen wrden: Der Brgermeister Tibo Krovic ist zum Beispiel auf das Unglcklichste in seine Sekretrin Agathe Stopak verliebt, die wiederum mit einem Mann verheiratet ist, der sie nicht mehr liebt und nicht bereit ist, ihren groen erotischen Appetit zu stillen. Eines Tages fasst Krovic sich ein Herz und ldt sie zum Mittagessen ein. Eine zarte Liebesgeschichte entspinnt sich. Irgendwann jedoch zu zart fr Agathes Geschmack, ungeduldig wirft sie sich dem Erstbesten (der natrlich der Allerschlechteste ist) an den Hals. Drei Jahre leiden sie getrennt voneinander. Dann nimmt Mamma Cesare, ihres Zeichens Wirtin und Magierin, sich der beiden Liebenden an. Vor allem biegt sie dem viel zu zgerlichen, viel zu ehrenwerten Krovic bei, dass er mit Agathe das groe Los gezogen hat. Er sollte nur nicht versumen, es auch einzulsen ...
This is a delicious book! I loved every minute of its magical story-telling and found it difficult to put down. Andrew Nicoll succeeds in creating a vivid and atmospheric portrayal of the town of Dot, in an unspecified part of the Baltic, where the mayor, Tibo Krovic is in love with his secretary, Mrs. Agathe Stopak. The reader becomes totally involved in these two characters’ lives. Agathe has suffered the anguish of the death of her baby, and the subsequent rejection of her husband. Tibo Krovic nurses a secret passion for Agathe which in turn delights and torments him. Their developing relationship is full of complications, misunderstandings, humour, pain and pleasure. The story is deeply human and emotionally strikes a chord but it also has flights of fantasy and magic which create a fable-like atmosphere. A gem of a novel and a real pleasure to read. It is the author’s first, but I hope there will be more!
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