Tag Archives: reading

Nice Safe Cosy Fiction Involving No Moral Ambiguity At All…

Posted on September 30, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Shelley Adina is one of my favourite writers for a reason. I read her cosy fiction for a reason, the reason is that it is never quite as cosy as it seems. The good guys are not always entirely good. The bad guys are not always entirely bad, but merely misguided or driven by not unreasonable agenda’s. There are wonderful shades of grey, delicately hidden in behind all that nice safe cosy.

Hiding in plain sight like venetian assassins, waiting to catch you unawares. Continue reading →

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Blyton and Lovecraft

Posted on August 14, 2026 by Mark Hayes

“What’s the weirdest thing you have discovered today mark?”

Why, I am glad you asked… Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar 63 ~ Hop Frog

Posted on July 28, 2026 by Mark Hayes

“I now see distinctly… what manner of people these maskers are. They are a great king and his seven privy-councillors—a king who does not scruple to strike a defenceless girl, and his seven councillors who abet him in the outrage. As for myself, I am simply Hop-Frog, the jester—and this is my last jest.” Continue reading →

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Oh what convoluted webs we do weave

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Main characters are bad enough, but the incidental characters that hang around the edges get more often than not have their own lives that morph and change as they go from a one chapter, one scene, body with a plot point nailed to it, to someone with a complete back story and who has had their own weird adventures of stage… Continue reading →

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Cover Stories

Posted on June 11, 2026 by Mark Hayes

‘Don’t judge a book by the cover’ as the old wisdom goes, unfortunately, however, in the real world everyone does. There is going to be some harsh unforgiving honesty with myself in this post, but sometimes that is required Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar 58 ~ The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

Posted on April 13, 2026 by Mark Hayes

In these, the enlightened days of modernity, hypnotism is a casino act and the other aspects of mesmerism is consigned to long debunked and forgotten corners of pseudoscience. In Edgar’s time however, there was some basis of belief that gave credence to this story. By presenting it in such an arid perfunctory way it seemed like a genuine scientific account. People wanted to believe, and the story offered ‘proof…’ Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar 53 ~ The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade

Posted on January 29, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Truth, as the old saying goes, is stranger than fiction. It is also on occasion harder to believe. Fiction has the advantage of the internal logic of the story. Truth has to actually be true, even if that truth is … Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar 52 ~ The Purloined letter

Posted on January 22, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Perhaps it needed a good murder… Continue reading →

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The Curse of Amateur Dramatics

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Holly Trinity is awake, which never bodes well for the old city. Armageddon may be round the corner. But at least she gets to go to the theater. Continue reading →

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Preludes in Obscurum

Posted on January 6, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Hello and welcome to what will eventually become the year of the Rusty Hobbyhorse in mid February. While we are now in 2026 it is still the year of the Distressed Snakeskin Belt for a little longer. However, weary travelers, I bring you news of some import before the celestial cladder turns once more. To wit, to help you through the cold darkness of winter there are two new releases coming your way in which to feast this eyes and feed you imagination. Continue reading →

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