Who invited the Night Watcher to the party?

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.

 

 Night Watcher 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

Night Watcher (paperback)

Night Watcher (kindle)

 
Amazon.com

Night Watcher (Paperback)

Night Watcher (kindle)

 

Web site –  http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Blog –  http://chrislongmuir.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Twitter –  @ChrisLongmuir

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/