Critiques en avant-premièreMichael Gallagher

Send For Octavius Guy #4: Octavius Guy and the Case of the Quibbling Cleric London, 1853. The well-heeled residents of Highbury have a problem: the Reverend Allaston Burr, the rector who’s been foisted upon their congregation by an ancient yet legally-binding right known as an advowson. When a final appeal to Queen Victoria—as the head of the Church of England—fails to remove him from his post, they turn to Gooseberry for help. Join fifteen-year-old Octavius and his ragtag bunch of friends as they investigate the detested cleric, only to discover that someone has a far more permanent form of removal in mind. Five-star praise for this series: “This is an absolute gem of a series and quite the most enjoyable set of books I have read in a very long time.”—Anita Dow, Goodreads “Michael Gallagher is a marvellous writer and storyteller. This, the third in his Octavius Guy series, is so enjoyable: witty, warm, full of wonderful descriptions, dialogue and characters. Doesn't sound like a murder mystery? It certainly is.”—Alasdair Muckerseie, Goodreads “Michael Gallagher has done it again. I loved this book. I laughed out loud and nearly cried...Just as soon as you think you have it right, he throws you for a loop.”—Brittney. L. Divine, Smashwords “Thank you so much for writing these books, and for bringing these characters to life. I have a feeling they’ll always be lurking around in my head. Excellent, excellent, excellent!”—Laura Brook, LTER Historical cozy mystery published by Seventh Rainbow, London. Available only as an ebook in this instance. A stand-alone novel, as with all the titles in this series. Winners will be emailed a coupon code redeemable throughout January at Smashwords.com in a full range of formats.

Send For Octavius Guy #3: Octavius Guy and the Case of the Mendacious Medium London, 1852. Christmas is coming, and yet surely Mr Crabbit—yes, he who rules over the petty cash at Mr Bruff’s law practice—cannot be so distracted by its approach that he fails to berate young Gooseberry for presenting him with a water-stained receipt! Something is clearly amiss, and the Victorian boy detective vows to find out what. Join Octavius (AKA Gooseberry, AKA Octopus) and his ragtag bunch of friends as they investigate a shadowy spiritualist medium recently arrived from Massachusetts, only to discover that somebody desperately wants her dead. Five-star praise for Send For Octavius Guy #2 from LTER: “Pour some tea or a wee dram, put your feet up, and enjoy cover to cover.”—Gladread. “To me, it reads like an old time radio show. It leaves you breathless.”—Connie A. “A masterpiece of misdirection and layers of creative storytelling.”—Dogsmom. “Did I solve the puzzle - no, but I enjoyed every minute of Octopus’s investigations.”—LizzieKillin. Published by Seventh Rainbow, London. Available as an ebook only. A stand-alone novel, though some prior knowledge would be valuable. Winners will be emailed a coupon code redeemable throughout December at Smashwords.com in a full range of formats. Follow Octavius Guy on Twitter @sendforOctavius. For secret insights into his life and his cases, read his 1852 diary in real time—from now until January—as the events in the novel unfold.

Octavius Guy and the Case of the Throttled Tragedienne Gooseberry, the fourteen-year-old Victorian boy detective, is having his fair share of problems. Not only must he juggle the task of being Mr Bruff’s newly-appointed chief investigator with the unwanted responsibility of managing London’s entire criminal underclass, he also has to decide whether a drunken wretch of a man—who turns up on his doorstep claiming to be his father—is who he says he is. But when the leading actress dies in mysterious circumstances on stage during a performance of The Duchess of Malfi at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Gooseberry feels duty-bound to investigate. It is, after all, a great deal more exciting than the last case he was assigned to: the tracking down of a rich old lady’s errant cat! Join Octavius (AKA Gooseberry, AKA Octopus) and his ragtag bunch of friends in their latest adventure. A revenge tragedy (of sorts) in (roughly—very roughly) three acts. Published by Seventh Rainbow, London. Available as an ebook only. Winners will be emailed a coupon code redeemable at Smashwords in a full range of formats.

This book is an eBook, not a physical book. ARCs available in both PDF and MOBI file formats. Though in no sense a sequel, nor even in a similar genre, “Gooseberry” is based on characters from Wilkie Collins’s “The Moonstone”. 1852. With the business of the Moonstone diamond finally laid to rest, Mr. Franklin Blake and his wife Rachel are now happily married, living in London, and blessed with a healthy baby daughter named Julia. Mr. Blake has taken his late father’s seat in Parliament, and his party’s fortunes are on the rise—in fact they are about to overthrow the coalition government of the day. But then the inexplicable occurs. Miss Rachel and her elderly aunt are attacked in the street by a gang of feral children, whose only purpose, it seems, is to plant a photographic portrait of a young, rich Indian lad in the old lady’s handbag. Enter the Blakes’ lawyer’s office boy, Octavius Guy—better known as Gooseberry—who once helped the family bring the mystery of the Moonstone to a close. Join Gooseberry, the fourteen-year-old boy detective, as he and his ragtag bunch of friends descend into London’s demi-monde and underworld to ferret out the truth, while spending as much of his employer’s money as they can along the way. Comic Historical Detective Fiction from the author of “The Bridge of Dead Things” and “The Scarab Heart”.

This ARC is available in both PDF and MOBI file formats. The US edition of the first of the Lizzie Blaylock books, a strikingly original YA historical paranormal adventure from Seventh Rainbow Publishing. London, 1885. Thirteen-year-old Lizzie Blaylock from Waterloo starts experiencing what appear to be epileptic fits. Unbeknownst to her, these fits allow her to channel the spirits of the dead. Expelled from school and then abandoned by her own family, not only must Lizzie strive to keep a roof over her head, she must also learn to control her unusual power - as she cannot yet predict how, when, or why these episodes happen. But the strange and fascinating people she meets are determined to use Lizzie for their own ends, and soon she is drawn into a world of Victorian seances, mediums, ghost-grabbers…and murderers. 'Please!' Miss Otis wailed. 'Please! For the love of God, step back!' And suddenly the man did. A murmur ran through the crowd. 'Did you see that?' 'It looked like a hand!' 'No, not just a hand: an arm. I saw a whole arm!' 'A young girl’s arm!' 'Yes! Reaching right out of her! Out through the poor girl's chest!' 'You mustn't touch her!' Miss Otis screeched over the din. 'She is a bridge! She is a bridge and people will cross!' 'A bridge?' murmured Lady Caroline slowly. 'A bridge to the other side?' Light dawned in the big woman's eyes. 'Billy,' she whispered as she clawed her way out of her seat. And even as she dropped to her knees, something small and gray and shadowy was already rising out of my chest to greet her.

This ARC is available in both PDF and MOBI file formats. The US edition of the second of the Lizzie Blaylock books, a strikingly original YA historical paranormal adventure from Seventh Rainbow Publishing. 'Powers like yours expect to be used! Who knows what will happen if you choose to ignore them?' Egypt, 1885. Lizzie Blaylock, the fourteen-year-old who channels the spirits of dead people, journeys with her mentor, Miss Otis, to an archeological dig in the Valley of the Kings…a dig that’s been plagued by accidents and thefts. Though determined to abandon her powers and return to a normal existence, she soon discovers that her choice has consequences when her dreams and her waking-state begin to collide. In the sequel to The Bridge of Dead Things, Lizzie comes to the aid of a long-dead Egyptian princess, unmasks a murderer while investigating the disappearance of a mummy, learns the true meaning of both love and magic—and falls in love herself in the process. Young Adult Fiction, Historical Paranormal Adventure. Stand-alone storyline requires no prior reading.

This book is an eBook, not a physical book. Seventh Rainbow Publishing brings you the second of the Lizzie Blaylock books. Powers like yours expect to be used! Who knows what will happen if you choose to ignore them?’ Egypt, 1885. Lizzie Blaylock, the fourteen-year-old who channels the spirits of dead people, journeys with her mentor, Miss Otis, to an archaeological dig in the Valley of the Kings…a dig that’s been plagued by accidents and thefts. Though determined to abandon her powers and return to a normal existence, she soon discovers that her choice has consequences when her dreams and her waking-state begin to collide. In the sequel to The Bridge of Dead Things, Lizzie comes to the aid of a long-dead Egyptian princess, unmasks a murderer while investigating the disappearance of a mummy, learns the true meaning of both love and magic—and falls in love herself in the process. Young Adult Fiction, Historical Paranormal Adventure. Stand-alone storyline requires no prior reading. Available as MOBI and pdf format ARCs.

This ARC is available in both PDF and MOBI file formats. A strikingly original YA historical paranormal adventure from Seventh Rainbow Publishing. London, 1885. Thirteen-year-old Lizzie Blaylock from Waterloo starts experiencing what appear to be epileptic fits. Unbeknownst to her, these fits allow her to channel the spirits of the dead. Expelled from school and then abandoned by her own family, not only must Lizzie strive to keep a roof over her head, she must also learn to control her unusual power - as she cannot yet predict how, when, or why these episodes happen. But the strange and fascinating people she meets are determined to use Lizzie for their own ends, and soon she is drawn into a world of Victorian séances, mediums, ghost-grabbers ... and murderers.