Dear Folks,

First of all, apologies for being out of contact for a while. For various reasons, including my poor old mum being a bit unwell, it's been a fraught start to the year, but the worst is, I hope, behind us.

Meanwhile, the next-to-final draft of my doctoral thesis has been delivered (that will be "Dr. John" to you soon, assuming the bribes reach the right people) and 2024 is set to be a two-book year for me, of which more anon. We also have details below of a special gift to celebrate 25 years of the Parker novels, and nods in the direction of a couple of forewords and introductions for books that may be of interest to the collectors among you. Do you feel loved, albeit not in a weird way? I hope so . . .

Coming soon to a bookstore near you: THE INSTRUMENTS OF DARKNESS

The 21st Charlie Parker novel, THE INSTRUMENTS OF DARKNESS, will be on sale everywhere in just a few weeks — on April 30 in Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, on May 7 in the US and Canada, and May 9 in the UK.