The Man Upstairs

Homage to classic detective crime noir, and a dark humoured fantasy exploring the relationship between a writer and his fictional creation.

Frank Miller, hero of the best-selling mystery novels written by The Man Upstairs, works the weird streets of Chapeltown as a private detective. During the earlier, now legendary, case of the Black Widow everything changed when Frank became aware of his fictional existence. Proclaimed at the time as a work of genius, Frank wonders if it was the first sign that The Man Upstairs was sick.

This latest case, involving the death of a care worker, and coinciding with the appointment of Chapeltown's first elected mayor, has Frank baffled. The Man Upstairs appears to be losing the plot, giving the womanising Frank a steady girlfriend, Marge, who wears blue pyjamas and warns him that to survive he must change from the tired cliche that he has become.

As the case darkens, Frank recognises the depth of his creator's sickness. His days are numbered as clearly as the pages in the books in which he features. The looming battle with the Mayor of Chapeltown is nothing less than the battle to save himself, Marge, the series - and the mind of the Man Upstairs.

The Man Upstairs is plotting to kill Frank Miller and take Chapeltown to hell.

'How I love Mark Fowler's books. He just simply has his very own distinctive style of writing and well, here we go again, this is a little gem. It was like watching an old Bogart and Bacall movie play out.' Susan Hampson - From Dusk Till Dawn. Top 1000 Reviewer.

Other books by Mark L. Fowler: Coffin Maker, Red Is The Colour, Blue Murder, Silver, Sextet.


Genre: Mystery