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Melody James: A novella Paperback – October 10, 2018

by Stephen Gallagher (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 16 ratings
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Chapbook, 93 pages. In the lobby of a Blackpool hotel, one year after the end of the Great War, Britain's spymaster recruits a young sideshow fortune-teller for a mission of historic importance.

A standalone tale from the author of The Bedlam Detective and The Authentic William James.

Kirkus Reviews: (for The Bedlam Detective, 100 Best Fiction selection for 2012) “Monsters, actual and metaphorical, are at the heart of this superbly crafted thriller. Gallagher loves character development but respects plotting enough to give it full measure. The result is that rare beast, a literary page turner.”

Jonny Lee Miller, via Twitter: "Just finished Stephen Gallagher’s The Bedlam Detective. Only bad thing about his books is that they eventually end. Brilliant."

The Historical Novel Society: “It’s certainly a thriller, but with a literary depth unusual in the genre, and fascinating in the complexity of its construct. Gallagher’s prose is swift, sure, and occasionally darkly comedic… Three words of advice: read this book.”

Stephen Volk: “It's a blinding novel (The Authentic William James)… each chapter had me chuckling with joy—if not at the acerbic wit, the brilliant dialogue—the sheer spot-on elegance of the writing: the plot turns, the pin sharp beats. Always authoritative and convincing, never showy. Magnificently realised characters in a living breathing world... Absolutely stunning.”

Publishers Weekly (starred): “British author Gallagher gives Sebastian Becker another puzzle worthy of his quirky sleuth’s acumen in his outstanding third pre-WWI mystery... Gallagher makes the most of his unusual concept in the service of a twisty but logical plot line.”

About the Author

Stoker and World Fantasy Award nominee, winner of British Fantasy and International Horror Guild Awards for his short fiction, Stephen Gallagher has a career both as a novelist and as a creator of primetime miniseries and episodic television. His fourteen novels include Valley of Lights, Down River, The Spirit Box, and Nightmare, With Angel.

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  1. Print length
    102 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    October 10, 2018
  4. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.26 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1999920783
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1999920784
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Brooligan Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 10, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 102 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1999920783
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1999920784
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.26 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

About the author

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Stephen Gallagher

Stephen Gallagher

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Beginning his TV career with the BBC's DOCTOR WHO, Stephen Gallagher went on to establish himself as a writer and director of high-end miniseries and primetime episodic television. In his native England he's adapted and created hour-long and feature-length thrillers and crime dramas. In the US he was lead writer on NBC's CRUSOE, creator of CBS Television's ELEVENTH HOUR, and Co-Executive Producer on ABC's THE FORGOTTEN. His fourteen novels include DOWN RIVER, RAIN, VALLEY OF LIGHTS, and NIGHTMARE, WITH ANGEL. He's the creator of Sebastian Becker, Special Investigator to the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy, in a series of novels beginning with THE KINGDOM OF BONES and THE BEDLAM DETECTIVE, continuing in THE AUTHENTIC WILLIAM JAMES.

Described by The Independent as "the finest British writer of bestselling popular fiction since le Carré ... Gallagher, like le Carré, is a novelist whose themes seem to reflect something of the essence of our times, and a novelist whose skill lies in embedding those themes in accessible plots." According to Arena magazine, "Gallagher has quietly become Britain's finest popular novelist, working a dark seam between horror and the psychological thriller.

The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Since Valley of Lights, he has been refining his own brand of psycho-thriller, with a discomforting knack of charting mental disintegration and a razor-sharp sense of place." Charles de Lint wrote in Mystery Scene magazine, "Gallagher is a master of abnormal psychology and he just gets better and better." Also in Mystery Scene David Mathew added, "never a writer to rest on his laurels, he has written good hard thrillers, some horror genre work (such as Valley of Lights), and a novel (Oktober) that might even qualify as a vague distortion of contemporary world fantasy... in places. You might go as far as to employ that overused phrase sui generis. He is, at any rate, one of the best writers of his generation."

Winner of British Fantasy and International Horror Guild awards.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
16 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • lisaleo (Lisa Yount)
    3.0 out of 5 stars minor sequel to The Authentic William James
    Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2018
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    This novella is a sequel to The Authentic William James (not the famous psychologist and philosopher), the most recent of Gallagher’s excellent novels starring detective Sebastian Becker, who specializes in determining the sanity of criminal suspects; I strongly recommend that readers read that book before this one—or, at least, go on to read it afterward. It stars James’s daughter, Melody, who has inherited his Wild West Show and carnival. Her own specialty is a fortune-telling act… which persuades Sir Anthony Gair Rathbone, the British government’s Assistant Director of Intelligence, that perhaps she really does have psychic powers. He therefore hires her (essentially making her an “offer she can’t refuse”) in 1919 to evaluate a journalist with contacts in Russia whom the government wants to engage as a spy against the Bolshevik government.

    The idea that people who do “mind-reading” or similar acts possess exceptional observational skills and understanding of people, even though the acts themselves are fake, and therefore can be excellent crime-solvers has become a staple of television shows as well as books, so it is nothing new here. Melody is a lively and intelligent woman, possessed of the “street smarts” one would expect of carnival folk, but she is unable to keep as much objectivity and wariness as perhaps she needs in this reluctantly accepted assignment.

    I’ve loved all the Sebastian Becker books (Becker himself appears briefly as a frame narrator in this one), and I enjoyed this, but, perhaps because of the shorter length, I didn’t find that it had the emotional depth of Gallagher’s full-length books. I recommend it mainly to those who liked The Authentic William James and, like me, will accept a small taste of Becker’s world while waiting for the next novel in the series to appear.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Peter Baker - Voiceover
    5.0 out of 5 stars A really great read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2020
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Stephen Gallagher should be a much bigger literary star than he is; he has been writing to a very high standard for many years, and this novella is a follow up to full novel The Authentic William James which I really enjoyed as well. Stephen is so good at taking you back in time with sometimes small but important details that give it all authenticity. The story concerns the daughter of James who has learnt the tricks of mind reading and fortune telling in the inherited circus and how she is asked to assist the British intelligence. It really is a great read, and it's a shame it's only a novella; maybe the character can return in a future novel; it's a good angle.
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  • Graeme from Preston
    5.0 out of 5 stars Three stories for the price of one
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 7, 2019
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    This was a great novella, though maybe a bit more like three short stories about one person. But they all came together well. The initial story about a people reading fortune teller is riveting.
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