Death is a Cabaret – Old Chum!

I am back. It's been a hectic few weeks.

Building an AI startup is fun but time-consuming. But more than that, my time has gone to the second edit of my murder mystery novel, Death is a Cabaret, Old Chum!

The mass of 120,000 words with 13 characters yapping in your mind and occupying both sleep and wake time makes everything else in life feel like you are trying to answer a phone call 40 meters under the water.

It is uncanny how these characters become so real that the reality starts to feel unreal. However, now the book is ready for final edits – mainly copy edits to iron out the occasional typos, potential inconsistencies, and grammar horrors. And that's where you come to play.

If you are into cosy murder mysteries and Scandi Noir, you might like to read my book.

Death is a Cabaret – Old Chum!

I asked ChatGPT to write a summary of the book (and mind you, ChatGPT or any other AI was not writing this book – it is entirely my pen name's, Janus Lucky's cooking):

Death is a Cabaret features a mystery set in the Cotswolds and Finland, intertwining themes of nostalgia, unresolved pasts, and the haunting echoes of long-lost relationships.

The story begins with Pekka, an aging editor and translator of famous novels, enjoying a peaceful life in a quaint English town when he is suddenly disturbed by a call from Tuomas, a representative from a Finnish summer festival. Tuomas calls Pekka, bringing up memories and ties Pekka thought he had left behind. At the same time, another strange thing happens to Pekka: his life is interrupted further by the arrival of Mikael Allardice, a young man who claims a mysterious connection to Pekka's past.

The two men's relationship quickly evolves into a deep, albeit reluctant, bond as Mikael reveals that he is searching for information about his late father, Mikael Långberg, a prominent theatre director from Finland who was also closely connected to Pekka some 25 years ago.

Throughout the narrative, themes of identity, loss, and the burdens of the past are explored as Pekka and Mikael delve into the life and untimely death of Mikael's father. The book is rich with flashbacks, particularly focusing on Mikael Långberg's final days and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, which some, including his son and Pekka, believe was not a suicide but murder.

Tension builds as the characters uncover old secrets, revealing the complex relationships and dark undercurrents within the theatre world. The narrative is punctuated with poignant moments of connection and discovery, culminating in a journey through physical locations and the emotional landscapes of memory, regret, and hope—and a horrible climax.

The Death is a Cabaret blends mystery, drama, a love story, and a touch of dark humour. It strongly focuses on character development and the impact of the past on the present. The richly detailed setting, using the hot Finnish summer as the backdrop, creates a vivid scene for the unfolding drama, while the interplay between the characters adds depth and intrigue to the storyline.

One early reader sent me this last week: "Your book was an absolute page-turner, but at times, it was also a stomach-turner, especially with its Finnish directness. The climax was almost a bit too much. Your story pulls you in and makes you fully dive into its depths, and I found myself thinking about certain scenes long after I'd finished. It was fun to read, though, with moments of dark humour and surprising twists that kept me hooked until the very end, which was so sweet that I almost cried. You Finns are a strange bunch – I have to say – or is it just you? This one really stayed with me. Cheers, Amy."

So, if you want to read this story, I can send you an eBook draft, but you have to promise that you don't give it further and write to me with your impressions about it. I don't ask you to write an analysis but just a few lines of what worked and what didn't in it for you. Email me at [email protected], and I will send you the ebook.

So that's it, folks. I need to shoot off back to the AI world and leave my novelist friend, Janus Lucky, to ponder his next books somewhere in the dark dungeons of my brain.

Cheers

Jussi