Bill Murphy turns the invitation over, trying to see who has
sent it, but all it said was, ‘Meet me at Donovan’s at 7pm’. He snorts and throws
it into the waste bin. He isn’t in the mood for the pub tonight, and he’s sworn
off the drink. But curiosity gets the better of him, and he fishes the gilt edged
card out of the bin, and now here he is, outside Donovan’s.
The noise hits him as soon as he opens the door, and the
place looks different. It’s like New Year's Eve, with balloons and bunting
everywhere. Someone releases a party popper, and the paper streamers erupt over
his head.
‘I knew you’d come.’ Sue does a little jiggly dance in front
of him.
‘What’s the celebration?’ Bill accepts the glass she thrusts
into his hand.
‘You mean you don’t know?’ Sue throws up her hands in mock
horror and produces a book. ‘Why, it’s the launch of
Night Watcher in paperback.’
‘So what’s so important about that?’
‘You, mate. It’s where you were born, inside the pages of
Night Watcher.’
‘But
Night Watcher’s
been on ereaders for yonks now, so why are we celebrating the paperback?’
‘Don’t you think it’ll be better for you if the pages can be
turned as paper, instead of being poked with a finger?’
Bill shrugs. ‘I’ve been in paper before. I was in
Dead Wood, remember?’
‘Ah, but
Dead Wood
wasn’t your birthplace. You were born in
Night
Watcher, and we’re celebrating your birth in print.’ Sue removes the
umbrella stick, and sips the blue coloured concoction in her glass. ‘And
everyone’s here to celebrate with you. Look, there’s Julie over there, you like
her, don’t you?’
Bill looks, but Julie is deep in conversation with a guy who
has a rope dangling round his neck.
A surge of jealousy courses through him. ‘Who’s that with
her?’
‘That’s her husband, Dave. Nice looking guy, I could go for
him.’
‘But didn’t he die in Chapter Two?’ Bill stares, he’d never
seen the guy when his face wasn’t distorted.
‘Yeah! But he said he liked a good party and didn’t want to
miss it.’
Bill looks round the room. Everyone is here, right enough.
Nicole and Scott are seated in the corner. Bill is tempted to go over and speak
to them but he isn’t sure if they know what is in store for them and he doesn’t
want to provide them with any spoilers. Better they don’t know anyway.
‘Hang on a minute, Sue. Who’s that hooded chap over in the
corner, the one sitting on his own, the weird looking guy?’
Sue looks over the rim of her glass. ‘Oh, him, that’s the
Night Watcher. I had a bit of a job convincing him to come, but I felt he
should be here, it’s his story as well. But it’s better if he’s left alone,
he’s not very sociable.’
‘This is the weirdest party I’ve ever been at,’ Bill
grumbles, taking a sip of his whisky. ‘Why am I drinking this stuff? I don’t
like whisky. I wish someone would give me a rum and coke.’
‘That’s something you’ll have to take up with your creator.
Oh, and speaking of the devil, here she comes now.’
‘Damn and blast, she’s bound to spoil the party.’
‘What happened to the “F” word you’re so fond of using?’
Bill shrugs. ‘Well it is a celebration and we are appearing
on Chris’s blog, so I’m on my best behaviour.’
Sue snorts into her drink. ‘Best behaviour? Now I’ve heard
it all.’ She looks up. ‘Watch out, here she comes.’
Bill looks moodily into his drink. ‘Yeah, Miss Goody Two
Shoes, the party will go downhill from now on. She doesn’t smoke, doesn’t
drink, doesn’t even swear, although she puts plenty of swear words into my
mouth.’
‘Shh, she’ll hear you. Remember she has the power of life and
death in those fingers of hers.’
Bill shudders. ‘Yeah, we spend our days hunting for killers
and she’s the biggest killer of them all.’
Bill looks up and smiles. ‘Hi Chris, glad you could join us.
D’you think you could sign my book?’ He produces the copy of
Night Watcher that Sue had given him
earlier.
‘Just put, Bill, the great detective.’
Sue chokes on her drink and turns away to hide her smile.
****
I hope you’ve enjoyed the party, and now I’ll tell you a
little bit about
Night Watcher. But first, I have an invitation for you to attend the launch. It's over on
loveahappy ending.com and I'd love to see you there.
is
the first book in my Dundee Crime Series, although the second book in the
series,
Dead Wood, was actually
published first. So in some ways you could call it a prequel, although I prefer
to say it’s the first in the series.
A large part of the action takes place in Drake's department store, which Christopher Brookmyre felt was a gothic setting with a character all of its own.
The main character in
Night
Watcher, is Julie who is devastated when her husband Dave is found dead.
She blames Nicole, the woman he left her for and seeks to destroy her life in
the same way she thinks Nicole destroyed Dave.
The main police character is Detective Sergeant Bill Murphy,
however in my books the police are secondary characters to the victims and the
bad guys.
Here is a look at the cover and how the book is described on
Amazon:-
Two
stalkers - one target
A
mysterious stranger arrives in Dundee, with a
mission to find a new Chosen One to punish. He selects Nicole, a woman with a
weakness for men.
One of
Nicole's paramours is found hanged and everyone assumes he has committed suicide.
However, his estranged wife, Julie, knows better and blames his death on
Nicole. Obsessed with the need to punish Nicole, Julie stalks her, unaware that
there is another stalker, the deranged and dangerous Night Watcher.
Who will
exact punishment on Nicole first? What price will Nicole have to pay for her
misdemeanors?
Will
Julie's mind games drive Nicole over the edge? And what price will Julie have
to pay for her obsession.
Only
the Night Watcher knows!
Night Watcher is the first book in the Dundee Crime Series
-Dead Wood is the second.
Review
quotes:-
Night
watcher is the sort of novel that keeps the reader glued to its pages,
frantically guessing as the plot takes numerous twists and turns. Alex Gray, Crime Writer
This
is a complex and very well crafted tale, beautifully put together -full of a
sense of foreboding, and full of menace. Catherine Czerkawska
Chris
Longmuir is an award winning novelist as well as an established writer of short
stories and articles. Night Watcher won the Scottish Association of Writers'
Pitlochry Award, and the sequel, Dead Wood, won the Dundee International Book
Prize, as well as the Pitlochry Award.
Amazon
UK
Amazon.com
Web site –
http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/
UK Launch:-
http://loveahappyending.com/bells-whistles-flags-banners-for-night-watcher/
US Launch:-
http://www.stephaniekeyes.com/book-launch-the-night-watcher-by-chris-longmuir-chrislongmuir/
