IN a book jungle that is overrun by vampires, wizards and cosmic weirdos, Shakespeare still prevails. The Bard tops the Spring list as most popular novel in the early 2010 catalogue at Darling Newspaper Press.
“Response to our Internet launch was overwhelming,” said principal Charles Bryce. “It’s reassuring that this great author can continue to grip readers after 400 years. Mind you,
he gets some help from Ann Morven and the literary intrigues suggested by Academia.
“The Killing of Hamlet is probably Ann Morven’s most cunning whodunit yet. It is a present day mystery linked to Shakespeare’s youth, the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and English folklore.”
The Darling Newspaper Press, or Danpress in txt-write, has been wowing readers since 1971. Beginning as a smalltown newspaper in Western Australia, it later blossomed into book publishing. While still small and independent, its titles have spread globally in the past two years, thanks to the Internet and the advent of ebooks.
“We still print,” said Mr Bryce, “and supply to schools and libraries. For selling fiction at low cost, however, nothing beats direct download to a digital device. Worldwide, this procedure is now a habit that Shakespeare, doubtless, would have welcomed in his day. The magic of technology has elevated literature to fresh verve and new markets.”
Ann Morven’s murder tales are the traditional kind. She plants clues (and an occasional red herring) as the story progresses. Most of her plots involve a country gal who is a dunce at deduction yet well up on human behaviour. In “The Killing of Hamlet”, set in an English village, she pits her intuition against hi-tech British policing.
The murders occur to a background of Shakespeare legend. An old saddlebag is crammed with handwritten plays, allegedly by the maestro, all of them unknown. A visiting singer of Australian bush ballads, heroine Sheil B Wright, is held as the homicide suspect. She has to outwit the police and then the killer who wants her dead. It is a thrilling brainteaser. There is a free sample at smashwords.com and, for a limited period, a price slash to buyers who quote Coupon QU88R at the checkout.
Ann Morven’s Shakespeare mystery follows close on her popular whodunit last year featuring the poems of Rabbie Burns. Again, in “Murder Piping Hot” she links happenings of old to a steaming modern puzzle. This, too, carries a temporary discount coupon, JA25N.
Happy reading! from Cathy Macleod.
