Aboveliesbelow

Salut, I hope you are all well. Here we are in February, in what feels like the fourteenth month of 2026, where it has been constantly dark and ever raining. But we’re nudging closer to the brighter days and warmer weather. All is well chez moi. We’re keeping warm and not always dry thanks to the necessary puppy walks, but we’re doing okay, all things considered.

So, finally, we have a release date for ‘Above. Lies. Below.’ In April, we’ll finally see what the fabulous ‘Les Enquêteurs’ get up to in a brand new mystery, a sweeping, almost ghost story that moves from Paris to Scotland to Switzerland and then back to Scotland for a grand, spooky denouement. Of course, it’s not really a ghost story, but it’s not exactly a run-of-the-mill murder mystery. I hope you enjoy it. It was certainly fun for me to write a different kind of story while still staying in the same genre I’m so used to.

I really enjoy writing Caspar Minoru, the damaged young man with a sharp mind and a shy demeanour. He’s certainly similar to Hugo, but I hope you’ll find him an interesting character in his own right. We’ll see him again in the third ‘Les Enquêteurs’ (and possibly final) story coming this summer, but after that, I have no immediate plans for him, which is a shame, but I hope he’ll come back at some point. Right now, I have new adventures in mind and am in the middle of the brand new ‘Lennie & Bertie’ trilogy.

It’s also in my mind that we owe this entire journey to the diminutive character who came before Caspar, Coco, et al. The man with emerald green eyes and floppy blond hair, the man who was unable to resist the charms of a certain young Frenchman with errant brown curls and a curious nature. As I said before, I have often toyed with the idea of ‘retiring’ that particular story, because now that we’re nudging 15, it’s a lot of commitment for a new reader. I’m always told that I should keep my series short… but then I hear from you and your love for Hugo and Ben, and I am reminded that when I began this process, I read that Agatha Christie ended up hating Poirot but had to keep writing him because he was popular. I thought that was very sad, and I vowed that whatever I wrote, I would like my characters. And I do. I love Hugo & Ben, I adore Coco and her entourage. Caspar intrigues me, and I feel protective of him. None of these characters is a challenge to write and certainly not a chore. I’m sad that (if it’s true) Dame Agatha felt that way, but if she did, I’m grateful that I learnt from her.

So there we are. ‘Above. Lies. Below,’ will be with you soon, followed by my favourite fictional octogenarian, who drags all of the others into a complicated and decade-spanning investigation. And then there’s a new Coco, a new Hugo and a new trilogy. We’re not going anywhere, and I can only hope you continue with us on the adventure.

Much love, as always,

Gx