June Writing Update

It's summer already???

Where has the time gone? So far, I've only published one book this year, Cordelia Catches A Count, which was well enough received that there will be a book three in that series. Even so, I need to get cracking!

The Case of the Poisoned Papyrus, Book 8 of The Masked Man of Cairo series, will come out later this summer. Watch this space for pre-order info. An Autumn Murder in Berlin, book four of The Berlin Murders, will, appropriately enough, come out in the autumn.

Also, Vinci Books will release the first two volumes in a new series titled Bunker, mysteries set in a network of billionaire bunkers after World War Three. That's right, post-apocalyptic mystery. After eight billion people die, does one murder more really matter? It does if you're stuck in a bunker with the murderer! They haven't given me a set date yet. I'll share it when I get it.

Besides this blog, the best way to follow my progress is by subscribing to my newsletter, Sean's Travels and Tales, which gets your two free ebooks as well as a monthly magazine with coupons, updates, and travel articles. 

My Latest Historical Mystery is Out!

 

My latest historical mystery, Cordelia Catches A Count, is out now. It's the second book in Cordelia's Cairo Case Files, following the adventures of an English nurse in Cairo right after World War One. Fans who like amateur female sleuths will like this one. A blurb is below.

 

A drowned scholar. A count with secrets. A treasure worth killing for.
When a Hungarian Egyptologist disappears from his hospital bed in the middle of the night, Nurse Cordelia Russell is certain something is amiss. Feverish and weak only hours before, he could not possibly have slipped out unnoticed—yet by dawn his body is found in the Nile.
The police, including Cordelia’s own brother, are satisfied with a verdict of tragic accident. Cordelia is not. She spots clues that point to something far more sinister.
Cordelia follows a trail that leads from hospital wards to grand hotels, from ancient tombs to glittering cafés—and into the orbit of the enigmatic Count János von Hohenstat, a charming aristocrat whose interest in the dead man may not be entirely innocent.
As secrets surface and loyalties blur, Cordelia must decide whom she can trust before the killer turns his attention on her.
Join Cordelia in the thrilling second installment of her Cairo mysteries!

 

 

You can get it here! 

 

 

 

My Latest Mystery Novel Out Now!

I've just released Book 7 of the Masked Man of Cairo series.
The Case of the Cackling Crocodile sees Augustus and friends solving a mysterious death in the Fayoum Oasis, along with a few complicating factors . . .

A mysterious death. A troubling promise.
When an eccentric scholar is mauled by a crocodile in the Fayoum, Sir Augustus Wall, antiquities dealer and amateur sleuth, immediately suspects foul play. There haven’t been crocodiles in the lake for a generation.
He sets off for the remote region with his fellow investigators, Sudanese scholar Moustafa Ghani and Faisal, a fiercely loyal former street urchin who has been at his side since his very first case. The investigation is complicated further by the presence of not one but both women in Sir Augustus’s life, rivals whose simmering dislike for each other threatens to set the oasis on fire!
All this is eclipsed by a more personal decision: Sir Augustus has resolved to adopt Faisal. The only problem? No one—not even his friends—believes he’s capable of raising a child. To solve the case and keep his chosen family intact, Sir Augustus must prove that even the most reluctant guardian can rise to the challenge.

It's available on Amazon US, Amazon UK, and all the other Amazons. Thanks to all of you who pre-ordered it. That's help me a lot!

Writing Update!

Hello everyone!

I just got back from southern Egypt, where I was researching Book Six in my Masked Man of Cairo series, called The Case of the Disappearing Dervish. Moustafa has to go back home to the Sudan in order to solve a mystery, and of course Sir Augustus and Faisal come along. It will be out later this year.

I'm also launching a parallel series starring Cordelia, who doesn't get as much page time as she deserves in the main series. Tentatively called Cordelia's Cairo Casebook, it starts with Cordelia Cracks the Case. That's in production and will be out in a couple of months.

I'll soon be diving back into the The Berlin Murders with book three, A Summertime Murder in Berlin. Katherine and friends get tangled up in some pretty nasty business! I'm also (slowly) working on the Tech Scavengers science fiction series.

You can watch the progress of all these projects on the sidebar to the right. You can also follow along by subscribing to my monthly newsletter.

If you want to see more photos of my travels, check out my Instagram!

Book Two of The Berlin Murders out now!!!

 

While my blog was locked down, book two of my historical mystery series The Berlin Murders came out. A Springtime Murder in Berlin sees Katherine solving another mystery with the help of her friends. A blurb is below.

A chance at stardom. A murder on the set.

Katherine Schmidt has always dreamed of being an actress. An opportunity arises when her flamboyant cousin Anton gets her a role as an extra in a major German motion picture. But those dreams come crashing down when the leading lady drops dead.

Anton is arrested for her murder. His family disinherited him years before due to his lifestyle and the studio thinks he’s guilty. Katherine knows she’s the only one who can help.

Now she must find out who’s behind the brazen poisoning and clear her cousin’s name—before she becomes the next victim.


Katherine and her friends are on the case again in the second installment of The Berlin Murders, set in the Weimar era’s decadent Berlin.

Check out A Springtime Murder in Berlin today!

When is my next mystery coming out?

A bunch of people have asked me when my next mystery is coming out. I haven't come out with anything since May when I released The Case of the Dastardly Djinn (A Masked Man of Cairo Prequel).

So what's going on? Have I gotten lazy? Is my ghostwriting career taking up all my time?

Fear not! I have two mysteries in the works. First off, I'm working on Book One of The Berlin Murders. Titled A Winter Murder in Berlin, it follows the adventures of Katherine Schmidt, a young German-American woman who decides to visit her parents' homeland for the first time in 1929, and gets caught up in a murder investigation in which she is the prime suspect! There's lots of intrigue set in Berlin's decadent nightlife and increasingly brutal politics. It's a bit more serious than The Masked Man of Cairo books, but does have its lighter moments.

The next Masked Man of Cairo book will actually be a novella titled Cordelia Cracks the Case. A character who did not make a very good first impression, Cordelia has been coming more and more into her own in recent books and it's time she got the spotlight. After that, it will be back to another adventure focusing on our three regular heroes. They might be going to Sudan for that one, and so will I!

I hope to have both A Winter Murder in Berlin and Cordelia Cracks the Case out by the end of February. I'm nearly done with Katherine's adventures, and will wrap it up with a research trip to Berlin later this month. Then I'll set to work on Cordelia when I'm in Cairo in December.

You can keep track of the progress of all my books by checking out the word count meters on the right-hand column of this blog. You can also sign up for my newsletter and get two free ebooks to tide you over!

The Masked Man of Cairo Gets a Sequel!

 

The next book of my Masked Man of Cairo historic mystery/adventure series is out, and it's a prequel! The Case of the Dastardly Djinn is set in 1917, two years before The Case of the Purloined Pyramid. Faisal has to solve a mystery without the help of Sir Augustus and Moustafa, but he doesn't have to face danger alone. A blurb is below.

 

A homeless boy. A hunted girl.

Cairo, 1917. In a city plagued by poverty and war, ten-year-old Faisal begs and steals to survive, hiding at night from the things that prowl after dark. The nimblest and most clever of the street boys, he’s terrified of the unseen spirits he’s convinced haunt the ancient city.

But when he discovers a girl his age left homeless by a terrible tragedy, Faisal decides to do what no one ever did for him—help. With no shelter and facing the many dangers of Cairo’s darkened streets, Faisal’s loyalties are tested when together they uncover a criminal ring more sinister than his worst superstitions. 

This prequel to the Masked Man of Cairo mystery adventure series will thrill new readers and long-time fans alike!

A portion of the proceeds from this book will go to help Egyptian street children.    

Available now in ebook. Print edition coming soon!

Faisal is Growing!

Everyone's favorite street urchin has been slowly growing up through the Masked Man of Cairo historical mystery series. Now he's growing in a different way. As I mentioned in a previous post, my plans for book 6 were put on hold thanks to a coup in the Sudan, so I'm working on a set of prequel novellas about each character before they met.

The Case of the Dastardly Djinn, in which a younger Faisal has to solve a case without the help of Moustafa or Sir Augustus, was supposed to be a 30,000 word novella, but now it looks like it will be a short novel coming in at about 40,000 words. I figured that since the average Masked Man of Cairo book comes out to about 90,000 words and each of the three characters gets an equal share, that 30,000 words would do. Now I realize that since they are in lots of the chapters starring one of the other characters, that their page time is much greater.

Live and learn!

The Case of the Dastardly Djinn will come out some time in the first quarter of 2022.

A Coup Interrupted My Writing (and other news)

Well, this hasn't happened before.

I was planning a trip to research my next book, and now I can't go because there's been a coup.

I wantd Book Six in my Masked Man of Cairo series to be The Case of the Disappearing Dervish. This would have seen Moustafa returning to his village in the Sudan to solve a mystery, with Sir Augustus and Faisal coming along to help.

Sadly, last month while I was in Alexandria and planning a trip to Khartoum in December, the military in the Sudan overthrew the transitional council set up after the fall of dictator Omar al-Bashir and have arrested the civilian prime minister. Now the army is shooting peaceful protestors in the streets.

It's a horrible situation and I feel bad for the Sudanese people. When I plan to visit a new country, I often think of the people I will meet there, future friends I don't know yet. Now those friends are in serious danger and their economy is collapsing. I hope Sudan gets through this crisis and gets the democratic government it has so long deserved.

In happier news, the print edition of The Case of the Asphyxiated Alexandrian: The Masked Man of Cairo Book 5 has just been released. You can get it on Amazon, Amazon UK, and all the other Amazon outlets as well as several other online vendors.

I'm working on several projects right now, including a ghostwritten series for a client, a trio of prequel novellas for the Cairo series detailing the adventures of all three protagonists before they met, a science fiction series, and another historical mystery series.

If you want to keep up to date with my travels and writing projects, subscribe to my newsletter. An issue comes out once every other month and contains a travel article, updates on my work, and a coupon for a free or discounted ebook. Issue 17 comes out later this week!

Now Available: The Case of the Asphyxiated Alexandrian!

 

Book Five of my Masked Man of Cairo historical mystery series is now available. The Case of the Asphyxiated Alexandrian takes our heroes to Egypt's fabled port.

So what's Book Six going to be? We'll see. I'm thinking of heading either to the isolated Coptic monasteries of Wadi Natrun or heading south all the way to the Sudan. I'll keep you posted.

A mysterious murder. A lost pharaoh.
Sir Augustus Wall came to Egypt to escape his old life, but when a comrade from the trenches is found murdered in a Cairo hotel, Augustus realizes his past has finally caught up.
Now he must discover the reason for the baffling murder, leading him and his friends Moustafa and Faisal on a dangerous hunt for the most sought-after treasure in Egypt.
The long-awaited fifth book in the Masked Man of Cairo series sees the trio on their greatest adventure yet!

Book Five of The Masked Man of Cairo Available for Preorder!

Book Five of my Masked Man of Cairo historical mystery series is now available for preorder and will be released September 10. The Case of the Asphyxiated Alexandrian was written in Cairo and Alexandria and edited in Madrid and Oxford. Only the first two locations show up in the book, though. A blurb is below.

A mysterious murder. A lost pharaoh.
Sir Augustus Wall came to Egypt to escape his old life, but when a comrade from the trenches is found murdered in a Cairo hotel, Augustus realizes his past has finally caught up.
Now he must discover the reason for the baffling murder, leading him and his friends Moustafa and Faisal on a dangerous hunt for the most sought-after treasure in Egypt.
The long-awaited fifth book in the Masked Man of Cairo series sees the trio on their greatest adventure yet!

 

I'm back in Cairo later this year and will be working on the further adventures of Sir Augustus, Moustafa, and Faisal.

My next Cairo book is finished and in edits!

I've finally finished The Case of the Asphyxiated Alexandrian (Masked Man of Cairo Book 5). I started it nearly a year ago after visiting Alexandria, but with various distractions including lockdown and a pile of ghostwriting assignments, I only managed to finish it yesterday. Now I'm busy editing it and consulting with my cover designer. Then it will go to my wonderful beta reading team before going up on preorder in July for an August release date.

Thanks to everyone who has been bugging me about when they can read the further adventures of Sir Augustus, Moustafa, and Faisal. You don't have long to wait!

Flight to Fez Out Now!

The third and final book in my Interzone Mystery series, Flight to Fez, is now out! This time Shorty has to go to the French sector to solve a murder, with a little help gun, his fists, and his lovely gal. A blurb is below.

 

Only in Tangier could a literary event turn into a murder scene.
I’m “Shorty” MacAllister, private detective. I’ve investigated all sorts of crazy cases in this lawless town, tracking down con men and Nazi fugitives, anarchists and bank robbers, all the while running my own secret angle.
But I never thought that when I went to hear my friend Jane Bowles read her latest story I’d end with a murdered man in my lap, and an old war buddy getting pinned with the crime.
After that, things got a whole lot more complicated.

 

You can get Flight to Fez on Amazon and anywhere else ebooks are sold.

My Latest Historical Mystery Novel is out Now!

The fourth in my Masked Man of Cairo series, The Case of the Karnak Killer, is out now as an ebook. The print edition is coming in July. A blurb is belo.

A scandal in America. A murder in Cairo.
Sir Augustus Wall, antiquities dealer and amateur sleuth, is hired to track down a blackmailer who threatens the reputation of an American millionaire. When blackmail turns to murder, he must travel up the Nile by steamboat to find the killer.
Joining him are Faisal, a street urchin who makes himself equally useful and troublesome; Heinrich Schäfer, a leading Egyptologist; and Jocelyn Montjoy, an adventurous woman who has captured his heart.
But complications set in before the hunt even begins. Unwelcome fellow passengers threaten to derail the investigation, and Augustus has fallen out with his right-hand man, Moustafa Ghani. Can a new team of investigators help him solve his most challenging case yet?

You can get the book here.

My Third Cairo Mystery Novel is out Now!

The Case of the Golden Greeks, the third in my Masked Man of Cairo historical mystery series, is out now. A blurb is below.

They thought the case was solved.
When an eminent Egyptologist is murdered giving a lecture in front of a packed hall, Cairo’s chief of police quickly rounds up those responsible.
Or at least some of them.
Sir Augustus Wall, antiquities dealer and amateur sleuth, knows there’s more to the crime than it seems. With little to go on but an exotic murder weapon, a map of a desert oasis, and some gilded Greek mummies, he sets out across the Sahara with his assistant Moustafa Ghani and the street urchin Faisal, who is the only person to have seen the killer’s face. They soon find themselves in the midst of international intrigue on Egypt’s remote border with Libya.
Can they discover what mystery lies beneath Bahariya Oasis?

The Case of the Golden Greeks is available on Amazon, Amazon UK, and all the other Amazon branches.

Back from Fez!

I just got back from a ten-day writing retreat in Fez, Morocco. Like my many trips to Tangier, this was to work on a novel set in that city. It's the third of the Interzone Mystery series, and this time Shorty and Melanie have to track down a fugitive who's hiding in the medina of Fez. Shorty has a mission for the Party he's trying to do on the side, and it doesn't help that his old nemesis Chason is hot on his trail. Flight to Fez is a whole lot of fun to write. You can keep track of my progress on the sidebar to the right.

Fez is a fascinating town. It was the seat of many dynasties of Sultans and is filled with historic mosques and madrasas. i stayed in a house in one of the quiet backstreets, trying to get my writing done during the heat of the day so I could go sightseeing in the mornings and evenings.

Attached are some pictures. I'll have a full article on my trip in the next issue of my newsletter, coming out later this month.

 

 

My street.

Courtyard of a medieval madrasa.

Neighborhood donkey.

My Latest Morocco Mystery Is Out Now!

My latest book has just come out. Three Passports to Trouble is the second in the Interzone Mystery series that started with Tangier Bank Heist. This time Shorty has to cool a tense political situation while causing a bit of mayhem of his own. A blurb is below.

Back in the days when Tangier was an International Zone, the city was full of refugees. People fleeing Stalin. People fleeing Franco. People fleeing the Nuremburg Trials. Tangier offered a safe haven from the chaos of Europe.
The International Council had to keep a delicate balance, tolerating everything from anti-capitalist agitators to Germans with murky pasts. It was the only way to keep the peace, and it worked.
Until an anarchist was found dead with a fascist dagger in his chest.
And I got stuck with the case just when I had to smuggle a couple of Party operatives out of town.

It's available now on Amazon!

Back from Egypt

Medieval mosque in Old Cairo

I just got back to Madrid after nearly a month in Egypt. I was there working on the third of my Masked Man of Cairo neo-pulp mystery series, The Case of the Golden Greeks. It's about halfway done.

Egypt was as wonderful as usual. I spent a lot of my time in Cairo hanging out with Egyptian friends and exploring the old medieval neighborhood where Sir Augustus Wall has his antiquities shop and gets into many of his adventures. Then I went to the Western Desert for a week, ending up in Bahariya Oasis, the site of much of the plot for Book 3. A long drive from Cairo (or ten days by camel), Bahariya Oasis has become famous for the discovery of the Golden Mummies, a collection of beautifully preserved gilded mummies from the Greco-Roman period.

One of the Golden Mummies of Bahariya Oasis, courtesy Wikimedia Commons because I wasn't allowed to take photos. One wonders who they got a shot.

I'll be working on the novel for the next couple of months, and getting into some ghostwriting projects as well. Enjoy these pictures from my trip, and check out my Facebook and Instagram pages for more. More posts about Egypt coming soon!

Rear and side wall of the tomb Nr. 54, Valley of the Golden Mummies, el-Bahriya, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Bahariya Oasis.

Late Period tomb in Bahariya Oasis

Roman fort on the old caravan route to Bahariya Oasis.

Back to civilization! A pleasure boat on the Nile.

All photos copyright Sean McLachlan unless otherwise noted.

Tangier Bank Heist is out now, at an introductory price!

My latest mystery novel, Tangier Bank Heist, is out now, and as a thank you to my readers it's at 99 cents until the end of October!

Right after the war, Tangier was the craziest town in North Africa. Everything was for sale and the price was cheap. The perverts came for the flesh. The addicts came for the drugs. A whole army of hustlers and grifters came for the loose laws and free flow of cash and contraband.
So why was I here? Because it was the only place that would have me. Besides, it was a great place to be a detective. You got cases like in no other place I’d ever been, and I’d been all over. Cases you couldn’t believe ever happened. Like when I had to track down the guy who stole the bank.
No, he didn’t rob the bank, he stole it.
Here’s how it happened . . .

This title is available at Amazon US and all other Amazon stores.

Tangier Bank Heist Cover Reveal

My cover designer has come up for two designs for my upcoming Tangier mystery novel. Which do you prefer and what would you change?