NOVELS
Re-issue of my first novel, DOUBLE TAKE
Here's the preface I've added to the e-book re-issue of my first novel, Double Take: This was my first novel, published in 1985 by Severn House in the UK and by St Martin’s Press in the USA. I have not attempted to update it in any way, hoping that this story of...
The Four Horsemen
Tour guide Alvise Marangon thinks he knows Venice better than ever, but now finds himself ensnared by mysteries as obscure as the city and in many cases just as old.
Ascension
Venice in 1749 – the city has lost its political and financial primacy but has become Europe’s pleasure capital, famous for its gambling dens, its courtesans, its hectic carnival, its music, art and theatre – and the most highly organised secret service in Europe.
A Nice Steady Job
When Sir Alfred Aimslet hires January Esposito to investigate the disappearance of his son, Piers, Jan’s peaceful days of teaching English in Verona come to an abrupt end. Despite Jan’s ingenious improvisation and his efforts at a simple, discreet investigation, he finds himself more and more tangled in a web of political ideology and drug dealing that takes the mystery fifty years into the village’s past and its bitter memories of World War II.
Every Picture Tells a Story
Six months after being released from prison for forgery, London artist Martin Phipps is starting over. While making the rounds at a gallery opening, Martin meets and speaks with a mysterious Italian man who is searching for the same art dealer that hired Martin to paint forgeries. Later that evening, while walking the streets of London, Martin saves the Italian man from being mugged. In the scuffle, he sees in the man’s bag a photograph, of a very rare painting, recently stolen from a church outside of Venice–The Madonna of the Swan.
See Naples and Kill
It had been a bad week for January Esposito. First, he is fired from his job in London; then a letter from his girlfriend enclosing a snapshot of her wedding to a Mormon missionary. A visit from his medallion-sporting brother Gigi didn’t help, particularly when his hasty departure through the kitchen window coincided with a mysterious visit from two less amicable Neapolitans. The mystery takes him to Naples, where he realises he and his brother are embroiled in a conspiracy that is fast assuming global and deadly proportions.
Double Take
Hungover at the end of the college term and anticipating three weeks of cat-minding for his eccentric uncle in London, Paul Stannard is drafted into the service of Her Royal Highness and finds himself adrift in the world of terrorism and espionage.
ACADEMIC
David Mason – A Critical Introduction
A study of the American poet David Mason. It contains an overview of Mason’s contribution to American literature, a short biography, an analysis of his first three collections and his verse-novel Ludlow, and an interview with the poet.
Someone’s Road Home: Questions of Home and Exile in American Narrative Poetry
“Make yourself up a cheering song of how / Someone’s road home from work this once was,” wrote Robert Frost in his quest-poem, “Directive”. The “road home” has always been a central theme in American culture; where it cannot be found, artists have often had to resort...
In Venice and in the Veneto with Lord Byron
Lord Byron lived in Venice for three years, from 1816 to 1819. He has become one of the legends of the city, with his palace on the Grand Canal, his great swimming feats and his notorious love-life. More importantly, these three years were a turning point in his...