Sitting Duck

'Not a whodunnit, but a who'll do it!' 'Lucky Jim' meets 'The Beach': a pacy comic novel with a sting in the tail. This is the journal of Martin Mallard: middle-aged, divorced and uptight, but determined to put a little adventure into his life. He's signed up with Target Holidays for a group tour of Pootapuri, an obscure island in the Bay of Bengal. The ill-assorted group turns into a hornets' nest, and, worse, it gradually dawns on him that someone has got it in for him. Someone homicidal... Within his journal's pages lie the clues to his eventual murder. It's been so generous of the murderer to share the journal with us - and belatedly to fulfil Martin's own literary ambitions. About the author: Robert Dodds has been widely published and broadcast, and writes both for adults and children. His first novel for children, 'The Midnight Clowns' (2000, Andersen Press) was short-listed for the Kathleen Fidler Award, and also published in France by Flammarion. His other children's novels are 'Nightland' (2002, Andersen Press), 'The Secret of Iguando' (2004, Andersen Press, also published in USA by Mondo, and serialised on BBC Radio Four), and 'The Murrian' (2008, Andersen Press, also published as an audio book by Oakhill). He has two books in A&C Black's 'Wired' series for struggling teenage readers: 'The Haunted Mobile' (2011) and 'Pitch Dark'(2012). For adult readers, his collection of stories 'Rattlesnake and Other Tales' was published in 2001 by Polygon, the fiction imprint of Edinburgh University Press. He has had nine stories broadcast on BBC Radio Four, a professional stage play production, and has written and directed several short films shown on television and at film festivals. His latest books are 'The Garden of Earthly Delights', a historical thriller about the artist Hieronymus Bosch, and 'Secret Sharers', a collection of short stories. Visit his website at www.robertdodds.com