The Novels of Michael Reidy

 

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Love. Loyalty. Mystery.

An abandoned village, an archeological dig, three paintings and complicated relationships combine to take Sir Nigel and Dame Ligeia back to Lincolnshire to try to unravel what's going on.

In this third volume featuring Sir Nigel Thomas, portrait painter, and Dame Ligeia Gordon (aka Sophie Gregg), actress, as Sir Nigel would say, "One damn thing leads to another." What starts as an ordinary dig quickly changes course when human remains are uncovered. Platagenets and Tudors, Roundheads and Cavaliers, and a survivor of the Great Iconoclasm are some of the pieces that Sir Nigel, Ligeia, Marissa Gilliat and Max Hillyard attempt to reconcile.

"Another intriguing story that questions accepted history."

 


 

 

Do you dare?

Ten more stories showing the darker side of ordinary life.

This third collection follows Undivulged Crimes and Thoughts and Whispers with tales of ordinary people disturbing the ordinary fabric of contemporary life.

From rural New Hampshire, to the sophisticated world of Los Angeles, New York, London and Barcelona Reidy's latest collection of stories give a glimpse of what we always suspected was there but never dared to believe.

"These stories appear like ponds with glass-like surfaces that mirror the light of their surroundings. What they are really doing is sucking in the light."

 


 

 

What is art worth?

Winner of a Chill with a Book Premier Readers' Award
Winner of a B.R.A.G. Medalion

Portrait painter Sir Nigel Thomas and actress Ligeia Gordon, whose adventures were recorded in the award-winning On the Edge of Dreams and Nightmares, are back in another aesthetic exploration. When unknown paintings by Old Masters and well-known artists begin to appear around the world, only a few people dare to question their authenticity. As Sir Nigel, auction house chairman Sir John Hawsley, and retired Detective Chief Inspector James Beech discover, whistle-blowers are appreciated no more in the art world than elsewhere.

 


 

 

"Do you believe in destiny?"

Winner of a Chill with a Book Readers' Award

When Andrew Trumbull told us in freshman year that he wanted to be president, we assumed he meant class president. "No. President. White House. Washington," he replied seriously, and we knew we were dealing with someone different. It helped that Andrew came from a long line of Massachusetts politicians, but before he could get his name on the ballot, he had to do the same things as the rest of us: study, play tennis, organize pranks, go to dances, and face the prospect of going to Vietnam.

Andrew went into the Army; I was in the Navy, floating around the Mediterranean, and our friend Matthew Ryan, whose draft number was 354, was in graduate school. As for what came later, we couldn't have imagined.

Fourscore and Upward is the first volume in The Trumbull Chronicles. The story continues in The Time of No Horizon and In an Age without Honor.

"If you think things don't change, read this. Customs, attitudes, fears and hopes from a different generation." "A witty fictional memoire of the Boomer era."


 

 

Does any of us know where we're going?

From the time that Emily Trumbull asked me if I believed in destiny at the Adams Hall senior prom, I knew she'd play a significant part in my life. Her cousin, Andrew, was already making his way in politics, and I was acting as a publisher's agent in Paris.

For a while at least. A series of rapid and unexpected events set my life on a new course, yet still caused me to bump into old friends in unexpected places. For example, I found myself in Vietnam with my prom date from high school seventeen years later.

If life moves in unforeseen directions, so does Death, and he plays a part in even happy lives and will linger to haunt, if allowed.

This second volume of The Trumbull Chronicles follows Andrew Trumbull's circle from 1980 to 1990, with touches of love, marriage, madness, politics, publishing and espionage.

"Replete with irony, drama and Reidy's signature enigmatic women, The Time of No Horizon mirrors the American scene of the period while polishing it with an air of elegance." "There are characters here for everyone to follow from volume to volume, to share memories with and hope for."

 


 

 

Can we ever escape the past?

I always felt that I haven't grown old, it's just that there are a lot more younger people around. While I have made many friends over the decades since graduating from Adams Hall, the friends I made there remain close.

By the twenty-first century, Andrew Trumbull's continued political success moved him ever closer to the White House, and I was dragged into helping him get there. A new business venture had forced me to become more serious about work, and the shock of 9/11 further rearranged our lives.

There is never a true ending to things as long as we are alive, so even this last volume of The Trumbull Chronicles isn't the end of our activities, though now we may leave more of the heavy lifting to others.

"A thoroughly satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Not all is tied up neatly, but enough is to give one hope for the future." "The characters of this series will remain with me for a long time. The Trumbull Chronicles record more than the lives of fictitious families, they create a picture of American lives and dreams."

 


 

 

More Tales of Undivulged Crimes.

From the isle of Capri, draughty classrooms at English private schools and soirées of London's literati to the rust-belt city of Westbury, Massachusetts, these tales follow the themes of Reidy's award-winning Undivulged Crimes. The ten stories in Thoughts and Whispers question conventional assumptions, values and ethics, and gently lead the reader out of his comfort zone.

"An interesting and creative collection." "Fascinating!"

 


 

 

A mystery begging to be solved.

Winner of a Chill with a Book Reader's Award

Born into a wealthy Main Line Philadelphia family, Caroline Schuster's life is on an upward trajectory, from private school, to college and graduate work in psychology. Though not obsessed with money or social status, she'd rather have it than not.Her comfortable world changes suddenly, when after the death of her father, she learns of a family mystery dating back three generations. Determined to solve it, it becomes an obsession and leads her down the dark passages of history and her mind.Readers used to Reidy's enigmatic women will find Caroline Schuster disturbingly open. Her thoughts, secrets and stratagems are laid bare and dissected until unreason comes to look perfectly logical.

"Disturbing." "Haunting."


 

 

A beach. A house. A girl.

Winner of a BRAG Medallion in February 2021.

The power of place combined with the experience of love is a potent mix. For the young Nick Lucas, Fulmar Point House was a castle occupied by a reluctant princess. Was she trapped? Did she need rescuing? Was he the person to do it?

From the 1960s until the new millennium, events of The Rock Pool draw on memories, good and bad, and explores relationships and love.

While maintaining his focus on a tight group of characters, the scope of The Rock Pool is Reidy's widest to date and offers wry observations on historical events and social mores.

"A beautiful, touching story." "A beautiful story. Beautifully written."

The Rock Pool received a Chill with a Book Premier Readers' Award, and named Book of the Month and Joint Winner of Book of the Year in 2020


 

 

1920s Paris. Art. Music. Dance. Russians. Murder.

Set against the glamour and excitement of 1920s Paris, the events of Lost Lady shadows the life of a young émigré to reveal a microcosm of Russian history.

Natasha ekes out a living as an artist's model, sewing costumes for the ballet and playing the piano for Mme Duflot's notorious establishment. Befriended by the young Charles Boivet, still finding his feet after the Great War, the girl he knows only as Natasha draws him out and introduces him to the cultural life of les années folles. However, the complex social and political entanglements of the Russian communities threaten her safety and his.

Intrigue, conspiracies and rivalries begin to dominate Natasha's life in this sub-culture and Charles can only watch as she is sucked in.

Lost Lady received a Chill with a Book Readers' Award in January 2020, and a BRAG Medallion in September 2020.

Lost Lady was cited as a "Discovered Diamond" in September 2021.


 

 

MI7 Again. Cover-ups. Suppressed Information. Manipulation. Psychosis.

The three entertainments contained in Entrusted in Confidence relate incidents in the lives of Bill and Gemma Bradley and their children at points in their lives after the events of The Countess Comes Home. These are more pendant pieces than sequels as they stand on their own, though knowing the characters' full background will augment enjoyment.

"The Countess's Secret" relates most directly to unfinished business before the countess's arrival in London. "The Brentano Affair" shows Bradley's continuing work for MI7 and the curious activities that agency performs. "Bill Bradley Rides Again" takes the Bradleys out of their retirement to help discover the whereabouts of their daughter's missing fiancé. As with Reidy's other books, personal, moral and ethical dilemmas are wittily explored, if not resolved.


 

 

Fear. Deception. Love. Loss. Destiny.

What do you really know about the person sitting next to you? She may look ordinary enough, but are you certain?

Did the ticket clerk look at you just a bit too long? Were you comfortable with the way the barista repeated your name and wrote it on the cup? And that waitress; isn't she handling that knife with a dexterity you wouldn't expect from someone her age?

The the tales in Undivulged Crimes encompass the ghostly, satiric, romantic and the plain disturbing. Set in the United States and Europe over two centuries, these stories explore secrets of the dark side of ordinary lives, from an historical curse to fraud, deceit and murder.

Undivulged Crimes received a Chill with a Book Readers' Award in August 2019.


 

 

Abuse. Incest. Madness. Murder.

"There's nothing like murder to bring two people close."

While the driving events of On the Edge of Dreams and Nightmares are horrific, it a is a complex but civilised tale of love and loyalty. Sir Nigel has a quiet, orderly life as a successful portrait painter. His life is defined by his set in Albany, his studio in Southwark, the Royal Academy of Arts and his club in Mount Street Gardens. Until Ligeia Gordon arrives.

"This is an unusual story that stays with you and keeps you pondering the various implications, particularly those presented towards the end. Mr Reidy does an exceptional job conveying the complexities of Ligeia and Salome, as well as the grounded nature of Sir Nigel." - Julie Dexter

"On the Edge of Dreams and Nightmares is a must-read. The author rewards the reader with a disturbing awareness that may result in positive remedies in the real world." - Ian Thomson

8 February 2019: On the Edge of Dreams and Nightmares received a Chill with a Book PREMIER Readers' Award. A Premier Readers' Award is only honoured to books that receive exceptional high praise from Chill Readers.


 

 

A novel of Jane Austen's time. 1808. London. Americans.

Portland Place is a light-hearted pastishe in the style of Jane Austen that does two things that Jane never did: places the action in London, and introduces foreigners, in this case Americans.

Nora Woodruff accompanies her parents and her younger sister to her aunt's house in London. There she meets her brother, James, who has been seeking a commission in the Royal Navy, but as of late has developed an interest in commerce. This interest has grown from an association with the nubile Katherine Hayes. James is friends with Nora's brother, Jonathan, and is keen to introduce Nora to him. The Hayes family live in Portland Place, and Mr Hayes works in the American legation for the amassador, James Monroe.

Nora's fortunes, and those of her brother, follow Miss Austen's well laid romantic path, but international events cloud the sunshine of their dreams.

"This novel will surely delight the fair, though I venture to add that no gentleman of distinction and discernment should be ashamed of having read it and relished its handling of nuance."
- Ian Thomson, author of A Dish of Apricots

 


 

 

Vietnam. Espionage. Deceit. Escape.

In the closing days of the American presence in Vietnam, Lieutenant Bill Bradley, a US Naval Reserve Officer on a cruiser, is seconded to the British Ministry of Defence. He finds himself working as a courier, delivering papers to another agent he knows only as "the countess." He has been told he's delivering radio scripts for the British - who are not supposed to be involved in any way in the war. As the war worsens, Bradley begins to realize that what he is delivering has far more significance, but the countess tells him nothing.

When the American withdrawal is imminent, he receives orders to evacuate - and take the countess with him.

What he subsequently learns changes his life forever.

The Countess Comes Home received a Chill with a Book Premier Readers' Award in June 2021.

 


 

Terrorism. Murder. Romance. A myth refuted.

The death of BBC journalist, Robin Fitch, in a terrorist attack in Greece, draws David Powell into complex world of the Middle East understand the meaning of the unpublished novel Fitch left behind. Powell's two jobs are first, to determine whether it is safe to publish The Camels of the Qur'an, and secondly, to establish whether Robin's death was accidental, or a targeted murder.

The novel is bound up with the story of Nasira whom Fitch helped to escape from an arranged marriage in Syria, and his attempt to find the girl herself, who has vanished.

 


 

 

1969. The Moon Landing. Chappaquiddick. Woodstock. Vietnam. First Loves.

Old friends meet for their last "summer of freedom" before college graduation, going to work, or more likely, being drafted. The uncertainty of their future is in sharp contrast with their comfortable lives. They look for meaning, love and fun as they approach what to them is an abyss.

There have been two generations since the events of 1969. How there are seen today is markedly different than they were at the time. Our feelings towards space exploration are no longer as enthusiastic as they were when we were realizing JFK's dream; the events of the late sixties are simply unbelievable - the concept of students taking an informed political interest in anything is alien; and our attitudes towards money and privilege have undergone a seismic shift.

The characters in Nantucket Summer come from afluent families, but not so rich that their fathers didn't still have to work to maintain they way they lived. In 1969, it cost about $40.00 (round trip) to take your car to Nantucket. Today, it's six times that, but it's still a toss up whether take your car, or pay the same amount to leave it at Woods Hole. The island, which still saw commercial marine activities in 1969, is now a place for showing off yachts.


 

 

America's Centenary. 1876. Excitement. Romance. Death.

The memory of national tragedies are often suppressed. There were no major novels of the Civil War written by anyone who lived through it. No great 9/11 novels have yet been written.

In 1876, there were great celebrations on July Fourth, but days later events would shake the country as much as the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 or or the 9/11 attacks of 2001.

Set in a quiet resort community in Central Massachusetts, Wachusett provides a view of personal and national tragedies on the eve of some of the greatest prosperity the country has known. For Marion Easton the events that summer changed her life and possibly her world. Drawing on the real history of the area, the novel blends history, romance, mystery and family tragedy.

"An intriguing story of a little known period." "Written with an eye for detail but not overwhelming minutiae." "While the major events are tragic, the book is leavened with wit, humor and amusing social observations."

 

Recommended Writers


Novelists

Ian Thomson

A J Kohler

Gary Ley

Arthur L Ford

Katherine Kemp Velez

Poets

Tom Daley

Judy Hoyer

Fiona Clark Echlin

Non-fiction

Stephen Bates

David G Muller Jr

Kerry R Scott

 

Lattimer & Co.

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Work in Progress

Ink & Paper

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