Dead man talking....

Hello there, my name is….well, at the moment it’s Jonas de Smet though it hasn’t always been that. However, by the time you read this I’ll be dead, so my name won’t matter much at all.

I’ve lived here in Amsterdam for decades, though I was born in a different country, under a different light. I came here for the light. For the art. To be close to the works of a man whose talent had touched my very soul – Vincent Van Gogh. I dare say you’re familiar with some of his paintings; pretty much everyone in the world is, so why would you be any different? Sunflowers, Irises, Starry Nights…they are images so familiar to so many, yet the man remains a mystery. Like me.

This isn’t the only important letter I have sat down to write recently. I’ve given my mortality some considerable thought, as every elderly person must do, I suppose, and I’ve made some significant decisions. One of those decisions was to put matters in hand to ask my nephew, Bud Anderson – who’s a retired homicide detective with a particularly interesting new wife – to come to my home after my death and uncover my story. My true story. My full story. 

I’ve never met Bud, not his wife Cait Morgan, but I believe they will do as I ask, and undertake the journey I have planned for them. I understand they have much in common with each other, not the least of which is that they cannot turn their backs on a mystery that needs to be solved, nor an injustice that needs to be righted. So, yes, I believe they will travel from Canada and have an enlightening time here, in the Netherlands. I hope they enjoy art, interesting architecture, and good food and drink – because that is what they will find here, in abundance. They’ll also meet some of my oldest friends. I wonder what will be said about me, and by whom. I wish I could somehow be present to see how it all unfolds.

I cannot say more – to do so would reveal too much. And I have always been a man who has taken great care to not do that. 

You can undertake the journey of discovery through the art-world of Amsterdam with Cait Morgan and Bud Anderson in THE CORPSE WITH THE GARNET FACE. Cathy is giving away a signed copy to any reader in the US, UK or Canada. Please comment below and include your email in this format: yourname (at) yourserver (dot) com so the spambots can't pick it up. Contest will end at midnight EST on Monday, July 25th. 

Cathy Ace writes the Cait Morgan Mysteries. Book #7 THE CORPSE WITH THE GARNET FACE was published in paperback and e-format in April and book #8 THE CORPSE WITH THE RUBY LIPS will be published in October. She also writes the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries: book #2 THE CASE OF THE MISSING MORRIS DANCER was published in hardback and e-format in February. Find out more about Cathy and her work, and sign up for her newsletter at http://cathyace.com/