Yahoo News Ambrose Parry writers bringing tales of mesmerism and murder to Gatehouse
Tales of mesmerism and murder are in store in Gatehouse tonight.
Ambrose Parry – the pen name for best selling author Chris Brookmyre and his wife, consultant anaesthetist Dr Marisa Haetzman will be appearing at The Mill on the Fleet to talk about their crime series set in Victorian Edinburgh.
Community Bakehouse Arts are organising the pop-up event ahead of the Big Lit book festival which takes place in Gatehouse between July 19 and 21.
The pair were due to appear at last year’s festival – only to fall victim of a medical malady of their own.
Chris told the News: “Marisa and I were supposed to be taking part in Big Lit last July but I got Covid in Harrogate. Lots of writers managed to get Covid there so unfortunately we had to cancel, so this is us finally getting down there.
“I was down in Kirkcudbright early in 2023 for Stewartry Literary Society. I did a talk one afternoon and got a good crowd.
“I’m conscious of the artistic history of the area – when I was down in Kirkcudbright there was an artist in residence at the venue.
“I’m aware it’s because of the light, which I assume there’s a lot more of than we normally see further north in the west of Scotland!”
Voices of The Dead – which is being published in paperback on June 6 – is the latest crime thriller featuring Dr Will Raven and Sarah Fisher.
The series has been inspired by the gory details Marisa uncovered during her history of medicine degree and feature the darkest of Victorian Edinburgh’s secrets.
And working together isn’t just restricted to the Ambrose Parry books.
“It’s been quite transformative, it’s been an evolving process,” explained Chris. “Over the years, we’ve got to the stage where not only are we very adept at collaborating but when I’m writing my own books we tend to collaborate on those too.
“We workshop the plot and themes and so by the time I’m actually going to write it we’ve usually got a big whiteboard with an elaborate plan we’ve thrashed out between us.”
The latest instalment in the series starts with body parts being found at Surgeons’ Hall in an Edinburgh still reeling from the Burke and Hare scandal, while performances of mesmerism and spiritualism grab the public’s attention.
Chris said: “Depressingly the modern equivalent is exactly the same. There’s still a huge audience of credulous people for spiritualism and other supposed psychic phenomena.
“It was more understandable that people at that time were thinking about what the next breakthrough was going to be and it might well have been talking to the dead.
“Not only are people still susceptible to wanting to believe they’re contacting their lost loved ones, the same principles are what lead to people not applying sufficient critical faculties to other issues.
“That’s why they end up swallowing conspiracy theories. Life is complex, frustratingly so, and conspiracy theories make everything so much simpler.”
Fans of Chris’ work may recall that modern day psychics were explored – and exposed – in one of his earlier books, Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks.
That featured investigative journalist Jack Parlabane, who is set to make a return in 2026 – which will also mark 30 years since he appeared in Chris’ first book, Quite Ugly One Morning.
Before then there’s the next Ambrose Parry to finish and also the publication of Chris’ next work The Cracked Mirror, which will be released on July 15.
Chris said: “It’s a weird dual story in that it’s about an octogenarian retired librarian who solves murder in a cosy wee village in Perthshire.
“She’s very much a Miss Marple type character who very obviously doesn’t belong in the same novel as the other main character who’s a hard bitten, hard boiled LAPD homicide detective whose half from the Harry Bosch/Michael Connelly world and half a Shane Black type character.
“They end up in the same story investigating what they come to realise is the same murder.”
As well as the release of his latest book, the summer will also see Chris return to Glastonbury with the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers – which features other authors such as Val McDermid and Mark Billingham. They appeared on the acoustic stage there in 2019.
“It’s astonishing – we were lucky enough to be asked once but we’re going back,” added Chris.
“We’ve a wee run of shows between now and then so we’ve been working on our set. We’re playing Perth, London then the Borders Book Festival in Melrose.
Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman will be at The Mill on the Fleet in Gatehouse on Thursday, May 9 at 7.30pm to talk about their latest book, Voices of the Dead which is published by Canongate. Tickets from The Mill Bookshop or online www.thebakehouse.info.
