Book Launch Spotlight: The Librarian & other strange stories, by Michael Dodsworth Cook

New on Amazon UK and Amazon US

In the novella of the title, the antiquarian Jack Tregarden looks back to his first disturbing investigation. The young Jack is a brilliant scholar from a working class background who forms an unlikely friendship at Oxford with the charismatic and mysterious aristocrat Simon de Betancourt.

Many years later Tregarden is invited by de Betancourt to his family home, Ashcombe Abbey, ostensibly to revise the catalogue in the house's remarkable library. But as the days unfold Tregarden is confronted with a fiendish centuries' old puzzle which he must solve to unlock the great mystery of Ashcombe. As a result he is confronted by unimaginable forces which challenge his most fundamental beliefs.

In '24th June' the anniversary of his wife's death turns into a day Matthew Hargreaves will never forget.  The idea of all-pervasive Nature is given its ultimate expression in 'How the Trees Grew'.
An infamous crime returns to terrify the latest member of an ancient family in 'Golgotha Heights' 

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About the Author

Dr. Michael Cook began by writing academic books, including the first full length study of the locked room mystery followed by a lively comparison of the detective and ghost story. Drawing on these themes, he has now started writing fiction, developing a different kind of mystery, one which features elements of both detection and the supernatural. ‘The Librarian & other strange stories’ is his first collection of tales. The short novel of the title introduces us to Jack Tregarden, an antiquarian investigator, recounting his first disturbing case.He is a fervent advocate of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, M R James, E F Benson, Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr, all of whom have influenced his own writing. As a former National Trust director, he has a close affinity with the Devon countryside which provides inspiration for his books, while his garden allows thinking time for his writing. He has a lifetime interest in sport, particularly Yorkshire cricket, and a passion for collecting books. Find our more at Michael's website www.michaelcookonline.com and find him on Twitter @MichaelDodCook.