Dear friends and readers,

Like in the photo above, where Tuomas and Pekka are dressed in seasonal costumes, I’m wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

This year has felt like sitting in the cockpit of a rocket, fingers crossed that the trajectory calculated before take-off is right—and that I’ll land on the planet of my dreams, where I can simply write murder mysteries and other fiction. So far, the navigation has held. Three novels are now out there in the world, and the fourth is firmly underway.

The upcoming book has had a slight name change. It is now titled The Māori Murders – Death of Dreams, and I’m currently climbing the mountain of the crises of my characters.

And what does that mean?

What began as a cosy murder mystery with The Birthmark Murders, grew lighter and more playful with Handful, and then exploded into thrilling, morbid fireworks with The Triumvirate Murders, is now pushing Tuomas, Pekka, and their five-year-old twins into challenges they never wanted to face.

This next book will be darker. Still witty, still fun—but unmistakably darker.

While The Birthmark Murders explored small-town power structures, Handful wrestled with identity and finding one’s calling, and The Triumvirate Murders delved into business, greed, and hate, The Māori Murders – Death of Dreams turns its gaze toward corruption in the public sector and the unspoken, hidden, but deeply harmful nature of systemic racism—still very much alive—in New Zealand, where the novel takes place.

I won’t spoil anything. You’ll have to wait until next year to see how this book of crises escalates to a point of no return for Pekka, Tuomas, and a couple of other characters.

Full-on – and all full of ham

So my Christmas is spent with Tuomas and Pekka and other characters I so much like to have a chingwag on my walks around Waterloo. I’m very much looking forward to getting the obligatory Finnish Christmas Eve eating and drinking with my family done—so I can get back to the keyboard.

Last year, on exactly the 20th of December, I wrote the first scene of Handful. Today, I’ll write the first scene of The Māori Murders – Death of Dreams. From there, it’s 2,000 words a day until I reach roughly 80,000 words. A solid start toward 2026.

I wish you all a passionate, successful, and fulfilling year ahead—and a truly lovely Christmas. Hopefully, with my books keeping you company.

Cheers,

Janus

Janus Lucky
www.januslucky.com

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