Phew. It was a hectic weekend — and Monday didn’t give me any mercy either.

I wrote a 12,000-word short story, The Crack on the Wall. It’s a little red magnet to lure more readers into my world and, hopefully, into this newsletter. You’ll be able to get it for free once I’ve given it a final proofread and shaped it into a tidy little ebook.

The story gives some needed backstory to Pekka’s sudden decision to move from Finland to the Cotswolds in early 1991 — a full 24 years before The Birthmark Murders takes place.

Some readers have asked what drove him to uproot his life so abruptly. Because this moment is such a turning point in Pekka Wall’s life, I dug into my old notes. I wrote this story to provide a more complete, concise, and engaging glimpse into that moment — and to introduce a few of the main characters who’ll appear later in the series.

And once again, I must sing Scrivener’s praises. Without that writing factory, collecting all my notes and scraps about Pekka’s early years would’ve been a labour of pure pen-and-paper torment. Instead of fishing through yellow sticky notes and random files, everything was waiting for me in one place. Nothing goes to waste with Scrivener — it’s glorious.

So, next week you’ll receive a link to this new story, and I can’t wait to hear what you think. Pekka Wall was already in his early thirties — eccentric as ever, with a deep fault line between his emotions and his intellect, quietly preparing him for the seismic events ahead. In many ways, he was a dormant volcano in the Cotswolds, simply waiting for The Birthmark Murders to erupt his soul.

Right — I’ll leave you to your day. Have a wonderful week. But before I go, here is a funny little song. I like thse three blokes, theri Johnny Cash covers bring smile on my face every time.

Janus Lucky
www.januslucky.com

Get The Birthmark Murders from below:

👉 Amazon
👉 Apple Books
👉 Books.by – for those who like things a bit more indie