SYNOPSIS

 SYNOPSIS

As well as working on book eight, Pike's tale, I have also been tasked to write a synopsis of Blood on the Rocks. Now, although I can easily write 500 - 1,000 words in a sitting when the muse is on my shoulder, I struggle to reduce a whole book to a few hundred words. Luckily, my wife and editor is much better at distilling 80,000 words into a cogent summary.

The synopsis needs to include all the salient details of the book, like the mysterious sanatorium, where Russell suspects illegal medical experiments are being carried out.

And the other story line which revolves around illegal Egyptian artefacts being pedalled for sale. 

If you haven't already read it you can get a copy from Amazon, in Kindle or paperback. 

Blood on the Rocks (DI Sonny Russell crime series Book 7) eBook : O'Donoghue, Chris: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Blood on the Rocks: Amazon.co.uk: Chris O'Donoghue: 9781916076754: Books

STEAMING AHEAD!

 STEAMING AHEAD!

Tenterden station, May 2026

Sadly, all heritage railways have ceased using steam locomotives while the drought persists and are running their services using diesel traction. This is a shame as there's nothing like seeing, hearing and feeling one of these fire breathing monsters running on rail tracks. Also, it may be having a detrimental effect as passenger numbers are significantly down. So, if you want to see these wonderful slices of our history continuing to operate, I urge you to visit a railway and enjoy a trundle through our lovely countryside.

Lookers hut

However, unlike the railway, I have been steaming along - with book eight in the DI Sonny Russell series of crime mysteries. At the moment the working title is PIKE'S TALE although I suspect it will end up with with BLOOD in the title, like the other books.

So far it involves a character who used to be a Looker on Romney Marsh but now works in the pottery at Nottery. The titular Septimus Pike, is, as you may remember from previous stories, an antique dealer, reminiscent of Fagin, and he plays a large part in this books. I won't give any more away, just to say I have managed to hammer out 32,000 words on the keyboard so over a third of the way through now. 

Details of the other titles are on the right, if you haven't already immersed yourself in the world in 1950s crime set around Rye and Romney Marsh. 

THE FINISHING LINE!

 

THE FINISHING LINE!

I'm almost there. "At last!" I hear you cry. That's how I feel too. After more than two years working on this book it's almost ready to go to the printer. I've no idea why it's taken so long - I have usually managed to produce a book a year. All I can say is, I think it's going to be worth the wait.

This isn't the final cover, just my rough idea of how it could look. I will reveal the brilliant cover that my designer has produced as soon as it's confirmed.

Be ready to immerse yourself in a tale that encompasses questionable dealings in a sanatorium and even dodgier artefacts being palmed off by a dubious Egyptian. All of which taxes DI Sonny Russell to the hilt.

Talking of whom... This is my late uncle - Sonny Russell - who is the inspiration for the detective in my books. He was a lovely man and most aptly named.

A WAITING GAME

 

A WAITING GAME

Shabti in the British Museum

After a long time - two years as against my normal 12 months - Blood on the Rocks is finished. I've no idea why it took so long to write - I haven't even got the excuse of lock-down. I knew where the narrative was going early on; I didn't suffer from writer's block; nothing took precedence, it just took a long time. 

Winged scarab

The editing process was smooth - my wife, Greer, expertly edited, spotting gaffes I'd made and making valuable suggestions and contributions to the story. My beta reader, John Nutting, picked up on grammatical and technical errors we'd missed and I went over once more tweaking and finessing.

Trial cover

The next stage is the cover. This is probably the most important part of getting the book noticed. Readers see the cover before reading a single word so it has to stand out. I usually mock up a cover to show to Paul, the designer, giving him an idea of what I think it should look like. He also has a synopsis of the book and will create his own interpretation. This is always far better than my own, amateurish effort but, it takes time. Not only does he have to assemble the images but lay them out in such a way that the printer can easily use them to produce the finished book - not a process that can be rushed. So now, it's a waiting game.

The Grange, Iden

The working title of the book had been 'Blood on the Nile'. This was because one of the main threads revolved around Egyptian artefacts that had been stolen by someone trying to sell them on. But, the title didn't sit comfortably with the other books in the series so a decision was made to use another thread. Spoiler alert! Early on a accident occurs where a body is found below the cliffs, hence the new title. 

Hopefully, you loyal readers won't have to wait too long now, to read the continuing stories of DI Sonny Russell, and his faithful companion, Aggie.

 LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

    My poor readers. You've been eagerly awaiting the next book in the DI Sonny Russell series of crime mysteries and I've kept you hanging around for much longer than I usually do between books. I don't know why this one has taken so long - almost two years already. 

    It started well, with a good strong thread revolving around dubious goings on in a sanatorium, then a second thread dealing with Egyptian artefacts someone was trying to sell, which might have been stolen and might or might not be genuine. Somewhere along the line writing slowed to a crawl as I was struggling to find a way forward. It wasn't writers block, as such, but I couldn't even see the tunnel, let alone the light at the end of it. But, at last, the writing has gathered pace.

    In my usual way, I write as a reader - keen to discover what's coming next. Interesting ideas came out of the blue, including a new character, an Assistant Chief Constable, who has requested Russell's help in a sensitive case. This only happened about twenty pages ago and has helped the narrative immensely. 

    I have just passed the magical 75,000 word mark so feel I'm on the home straight. So saying, I'd better get on with writing it!

ANYONE AT HOME?

 ANYONE AT HOME?

I haven't written a blog post for a long time - not sure why. In fact I don't seem to be writing anything as intensely as I have in the past. Book seven, provisionally titled BLOOD ON THE NILE, is making much slower progress than the previous six. I guess I've just been concentrating on other projects. But, as my blog seems to be getting quite a number of views lately I thought I'd better write something.

The provisional title of the book may be a little misleading. The reason is that my detective, DI Sonny Russell is tasked with tracking down the origin of some Egyptian artifacts that are thought to have been obtained illegally. His boss, Superintendent Stout, thinks he's the right man as he was out in the East during the war, despite Sonny's protestations that Egypt is a long way from where he was stationed. Now, if I was a full-time writer, with a decent income from writing, I could justify a trip to Egypt for research, but as I'm only a poor part-timer it's unlikely to happen. So It will be the usual Google and Wikipedia searches for information.

As with my other books I try to weave several story threads together and the title of this post is a reference to another of those. Briefly, a man is found dead beneath the cliffs at Pett Level (I'm not giving anything away as this happens early in the book) and a nearby 'sanatorium' comes under suspicion. Strangely though, when the police return, the building is empty and the neighbours can't help. I've just posted on social media, asking where to find information about the ownership of the house and almost immediately a number of people have come back. The Land Registry seems the best port of call. I won't need to actually follow it through - this is fiction, after all - but I now know where the police need to go.