Hugh Greene's Blog - Posts Tagged "thriller"

What's next?

Well, here I am trying to consolidate the Dr Power series…three novels in and I’m aligning them for consistency and preparing the definitive texts in preparation for the next phase of the series. Meanwhile, I am pleased by reviews for all three books and growing sales as people join the Dr Power/Superintendent Lynch world.

The three, illustrated, single books will be joined by a compendium of all three texts (without illustrations) later in the year. (The Dr Power Mysteries).

To keep the creative urge satisfied I am also working on a series of short stories . Observant readers have noticed that the first three novels are in chronological order, but have spaces of 2-3 years between them. This is true. And they also ask what happened in the spaces between…well the short stories will give some glimpses into questions like: “What happened to Eve?” Don’t expect the answers soon though, because I have only two full stories written – the first and the last of around a dozen short stories. The first of the twelve is ‘Christmas 1992’ and the last is ‘Christmas 1997’. They will be collected together into a ‘Casebook’.

For those that want clues as to what will happen in book 4…can I point you to Paul Imrie’s illustrations? The illustrations have (as some readers have spotted) clues as to what happens in future books….

I am collecting my thoughts and hopes together for the plot of book 4 (Schrodingers God) and book 5 right now. Dr Power and Superintendent Lynch can expect some big surprises…
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Published on March 24, 2015 09:20 Tags: dr-power, illustrations, mystery, plot, thriller

The Dr Power Mysteries

The Darkening Sky by Hugh Greene
The Fire of Love by Hugh Greene
The Good Shepherd by Hugh Greene

The compendium volume of the first three Dr Power books is being prepared. This will involve a new definitive text of all three novels and a new foreword.
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Published on April 28, 2015 08:44 Tags: cheshire, detective, england, fiction, mystery, thriller

Dr Power's Casebook

The Darkening Sky by Hugh Greene
The next Dr Power book will be a series of short stories based on his life and work from 1992-1997.
Four stories have been written out of a projected ten. The stories will fit around the existing three novels and fill in gaps and answer the many questions that readers have posed about Dr Power's life.
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Published on April 28, 2015 08:48 Tags: detective, english, fiction, mystery, psychiatry, thriller

What's in Dr Power's Casebook

The Darkening Sky by Hugh Greene
The Fire of Love by Hugh Greene
The Good Shepherd by Hugh Greene

Dr Power’s Case Book is nearly ready for publication.
The text just needs some final work and Paul Imrie is busy on the illustrations.

Dr Power’s Case Book grew as a concept as I answered the various questions sent to me from readers of the first three Dr Power novels. Readers wanted to know what happened in the world of Dr Power between the novels; about his life, his patients and his friends. What happened to his girlfriend Eve who was in the first novel? What happened in the case of Mr Hammadi? Whatever happened to the children of Sir Ian McWilliam? This collection aims to answer some of these questions, and also provides some links and hidden clues to the rest of the mysteries in the series.

The book was never intended to have a thriller format although three of the stories do have some mystery elements (Magpies, The Artist, and The Farm). The book is meant to flesh out the world of Dr Power and Superintendent Lynch for real fans.

Any story might feature a detail of Dr Power’s medical career, or a short-story sized mystery, but each story features a medical diagnosis, which tallies with the theme of this being a doctor’s casebook, and each diagnosis might form either a major or a minor element of the story.

The stories are designed to be read singly and stand alone, but they also build up a narrative over time.



Timeline: The sequence of Dr Power stories


Time Story
Summer 1993 The Darkening Sky (novel)
December 1993 Christmas 1993
13th March 1994 Delirium
June 1994 The Dark
Summer 1994 The Fire of Love (novel)
September 1994 The Soldier
September 1994 The Scissors
October 1994 The Porsche
December 1994 The Shooting Range
February 1995 The Artist
May 1996 The Farm
June 16/17 1996 The Fallen Man
March 1997 Magpies (Eliza)
April 1997 The Unmother
Summer 1997 The Good Shepherd (novel)
December 1997 Christmas 1997
March 1998 Journey’s End
1998 Schrödinger’s God (novel)



Notes on the stories:


Christmas 1993 – This first story takes up Power’s life a few months after the events of The Darkening Sky. The story explains what happened to Power and his artist girlfriend, Eve.
Delirium – Dr Power stories are generally set in the North West of England. Power trained around Liverpool, but in the first there books practices as a Consultant Psychiatrist in Cheshire, living in the well-to-do area of Alderley Edge. For this story he returns to his training hospital, The Royal Liverpool University Hospital as a locum consultant.

The Dark – is set in Power’s own home in Alderley Edge. In the books the house is Alderley House, a Victorian home in Alderley Edge supposedly designed by Waterhouse – who was a famous North Western architect who designed Manchester Town hall and the Natural History Museum in London – his work is featured elsewhere in the Dr Power novels – his fictional designs include Heaton Hall in The Fire of Love.

The Soldier is set soon after The Fire of Love and details the kind of upsetting clash that doctors can have over diagnoses and management. These are unpleasant events in a doctor’s life, but can be devastating for a patient.

The Scissors details the anxieties that a doctor like Dr Power can have about a patient, their safety and the safety of others and about how it can sometimes be a battle just to do the right thing.

The Porsche – is set in Wilmslow, near Power’s home and hospital practice. Power is called to a crisis where a patient of his has caused devastation to a garage. The story features the larger than life, Rubici Hammadi, a patient of Dr Power’s colleague, who previously appeared in The Darkening Sky.

The Shooting Range – features Superintendent Lynch and Sergeant Beresford and documents Lynch’s attempt to have Power trained to defend himself if necessary with firearms.

The Artist – when I set to writing the stories I thought Eve only would manifest once in the first story, but she clearly wanted to be in another. This is a sort of mystery story, although more of a psychological puzzle about the nature of art and forgery, and what might drive an artist to forge other people’s work. Dr Power is joined by Superintendent Lynch to resolve the issue.

The Farm – This describes what happened to Power’s would-be girlfriend Lucinda McWilliam and her errant brother after the events in The Fire of Love. Both Lucinda and her brother are effectively transformed by the virtually simultaneous deaths of their mother and father.

The Fallen Man – The time setting of this story is also significant as it falls on a specific day in Dublin’s literary calendar and is itself played out in the span of 24 hours. Power’s work as a medicolegal expert is a recurrent feature in the novels. He sometimes spars with his apparent nemesis, consultant psychiatrist Professor Anastasi who opposed Power in Court in The Fire of Love. In this story Power is asked to give evidence in a personal injury case and flies in to a relaxed city in permanent party mode.

Magpies (Eliza) – I should emphasise that this story is fictional or conjectural in nature. There is a counting theme to the story – with reference to the ancient, superstition-riddled rhyme about magpies. This is often quoted as:

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.

.

The Unmother – Severe mental illness such as profound depression or delusional schizophrenia can lead to neglect or even direct harm of a child. This is, of course, a tragedy for all concerned. Psychiatrists, such as Dr Power, can understand such maternal behaviour in the context of mental illness, and seek to prevent harm. In this story however Dr Power struggles to find a mental illness that can explain the neglect of a child by a mother, and the mood of the professionals concerned seems to be one of deep frustration or even anger with the mother.

Christmas 1997 – Dr Power takes the opportunity to teach a potential medical student, Sam, Lynch’s niece, who first appeared in The Good Shepherd. The piece features a patient whom Power treats with electroconvulsive treatment or ECT. ECT is an effective treatment for severe depression, but it has fallen out of favour in recent times, and is increasingly difficult to source. ECT was invented by Ugo Cerletti and team in the 1930s, and was the first effective treatment for depression. Power explains the treatment and attempts to correct any misperceptions that Sam has. Psychological treatment for depression is perceived as more acceptable by the public and some mental health professionals. Unfortunately psychotherapy is not effective in moderate to severe depression and in milder depression only works slightly better than placebo. Effective treatment for moderate to severe depression, an eminently treatable disorder, is frustratingly becoming less easy to find. This is a shame as our society should be becoming more enlightened and effective treatment for more severe depression should be easily available.

Journey’s End – prefigures the fourth novel, Schrödinger’s God and is intended to set the scene. The two Christmas stories were meant to be like bookends for the Casebook – depicting contrasting Christmases for Power – the early one being a sad and lonely affair and the later one filled with optimism and the promise of good friends and their company. However the story The Soldier demanded some just resolution.

If the reader has any questions then please do pose these on Goodreads.com. Alternatively please email him about your favourite story on hughgreene51@yahoo.co.uk
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Published on September 14, 2015 03:36 Tags: dr-power, mystery, psychiatry, suspense, thriller

The Dr Power Mysteries

The Dr Power Mysteries - a compendium of the first three Dr Power books has been published today. A giveaway will follow.
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Published on October 03, 2015 09:08 Tags: murder, mystery, suspense, thriller

Fourth Dr Power Novel

After the Casebook (which is technically the fourth Dr Power book) will be another novel. The series to date therefore makes four novels and one book of short stories.

The new novel is set in Northern Spain and England. Power and Lynch begin a pilgrimage on the St James' Way - one route of which wends across Northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Dr Power is a crime-solving psychiatrist and his friend and colleague Suerpintendent Lynch is a detective. Lynch is a fervent Christian whereas Power's faith is at best agnostic. Lynch is also going through a career crisis and tensiosn are running high when their plans for the journey are abruptly and savagely derailed.

72 pages are complete so far. I think the novel will possibly be the longest to date.
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Published on November 21, 2015 08:48 Tags: christianity, crime, dr-power, faith, murder, mystery, psychiatry, psychology, suspense, thriller

Author's Twitter Feed

I finally found my way into the Twitterverse. Having resisted until now I am enjoying exploring the possibilities of reaching new readers and talking with them. I spent some of today explaining Dr Power's obsession with Classic cars, his taste in music and confirming or refuting soem of fan;s theories about the clues hidden in text and Paul Imrie's clever illustrations.

Please say hi -

@hughgreenauthor
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Published on December 08, 2015 10:25 Tags: author, dr-power, thriller, twitter

Book Depository

Pleased to find The Fire of Love at the Book Depository. https://www.bookdepository.com/Fire-L...
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Published on May 15, 2016 12:18 Tags: book-depository, murder, thriller