The Bridge and the Dolmen

I pondered that question readers and interviewers love to hurl at authors earlier this month. You know the one I mean, don't you?

Where does your inspiration come from?

I long found it so hard to answer, and since it seems to be the bait favoured by scammers nowadays, I've become wary of it. It is, however, an interesting question, and one I think all writers, musicians, and artists of any ilk ought to reflect upon. This morning, I decided to start my day off from the day job as a heritage tour guide (guide-conférencier) by visiting a couple of the numerous remarkable sites in my neck of the woods here in the Brière, southern Brittany. In other words, the tour guide gave himself a guided tour. After all, why not?

The first site was one I already knew, and which I drive past regularly on my way to the quaint village of Kerhinet, but today was the first time in years I actually stopped to pay it the homage it deserves. The Kerbourg Dolmen is one of the best-preserved examples of Neolithic architecture in the Brière Regional Natural Park. This impressive corridor dolmen, or passage grave, is capped by four large "table stones" (which is the literal translation of the Breton word taol-vaen, which gives us dolmen, the word we typically use to refer to the structure as a whole) and is almost eight metres long. William Collings Lukis, an English archaeologist, conducted a dig here in 1879 and two polished stone axes discovered are displayed at the British Museum. There are in fact two dolmens at Kerbourg, but the second one remains collapsed. Legend has it a fifty-metre underground passage used by korrigans (the pixies or brownies of Breton folklore) connects the two dolmens. I found no trace of it...

The influence the folklore, landscape, and heritage of Brittany has on my fiction can't be overstated, and the inspiration (or awen, as I prefer to call it) with which this ancient land feeds my imagination is nowhere more apparent than in Dead on the Dolmen, my mystery novel featuring Oscar Tremont, Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable. 

I followed up my pilgrimage to Kerbourg with a visit to an ancient bridge I had been meaning to cross ever since hearing about its existence several years ago. The Gras Bridge, which is technically a ford, dates from the 1st century and was restored in 2014. It is a stone walkway for most of its length and spans the river Mès in the middle. Along the banks of the Mès reeds sway in the wind, and it is this plant that is used to thatch the roofs of the traditional cottages (including mine) here in the Brière.

I'm sure you can appreciate that I no longer have any doubts about how to answer The Question. Awen is all around me, in the stones, the soil, the wind, the water, the reeds, and the trees, and it has been there all along.

Dead on the Dolmen Paperback

The game's afoot, mystery hounds!

Dead on the Dolmen is now available to order in print, with the Kindle version going live on the 30th, and the pre-order deal still on.

To celebrate the publication of the first Oscar Tremont mystery, I visited a dolmen, of course, and took a few photos. This impressive neolithic remnant is the Dolmen de La Roche aux Loups, which is in a field in Bergon, Brittany.

These neolithic structures are scattered all over Brittany, and beyond, and we believe they were burial sites. We don't have a lot of information because they're prehistoric, so there are no written records, but they're an iconic part of the landscape. In Dead on the Dolmen, you'll learn all about dolmens, about Breton mythology, and you will uncover the Ankou, the Breton Grim Reaper. 

You can order your copy HERE.

Dead on the Dolmen - A Mysterious Landscape

The setting for Dead on the Dolmen, the first Oscar Tremont, Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable novel, is based on a real part of Brittany. Here's a guided tour of the track between the villages of Greno and Kergaillot on a cold winter's morning with yours truly.

Dead on the Dolmen Kindle Pre-Order Deal

The Kindle pre-order deal for DEAD ON THE DOLMEN is now open. Just $1.99 instead of $3.99, automatically delivered to your device on the 30th of January.

In this, the first novel-length mystery featuring Oscar Tremont, you'll pit your wits against a masked killer tormenting a village on the Guérande Peninsula in Brittany. There will be moments, however, when you, just like several of the inhabitants, will start to believe that it really is the Ankou (the Grim Reaper of Breton lore) come to claim souls. Can you crack the case before our intrepid investigator of the strange and inexplicable reveals all?

PLACE YOUR KINDLE PRE-ORDER TODAY

Cover Reveal: Dead on the Dolmen

Time for a mysterious cover reveal! Here it is, the cover designed by yours truly for the very first novel featuring Oscar Tremont, Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable.

DEAD ON THE DOLMEN will have you wondering whether the Ankou really is riding forth across the land of magic and mystery that is Brittany, or is it an elaborate and macabre joke to get the village of Greno in the mood for Halloween? Once Oscar Tremont is called onto the scene, it soon becomes clear to him that neither explanation is plausible. Why is someone dressing up as the Reaper himself and terrorising David Trevelyan, the reclusive author of Breton folklore and cultural history? Can you discover the identity of the Ankou before the investigator of the strange and inexplicable reveals it?

DEAD ON THE DOLMEN will be published on the 30th of January, 2026, but there will be plenty more sneak peeks and spine-chilling glimpses before then.  

 

The First Oscar Tremont Novel

It has been a long time coming, I know, and it isn't here yet, but I can finally announce that the first novel featuring Oscar Tremont, Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable, will be released on my 45th birthday; the 30th of January, 2026. I'd like to thank you so much for your patience, but also for asking repeatedly when this book would be ready, because that eagerness has kept me chipping away at it.

Writing a mystery novel takes time, especially when it's a fair-play mystery, or whodunit, because it's not enough for the plot to be intriguing, the atmosphere evocative, and the characters engaging. Every detail connected to the puzzle needs to be spot on. The means and motive need to be solid but subtle. The foreshadowing has to be done just right in order to ensure that kick-yourself moment for the reader who doesn't work out who the culprit is before the hero reveals all. The clues and red herrings have to be planted carefully so the reader is kept on his toes chapter after chapter, and twist after turn.

I've finally put the last piece of the puzzle into place, and the result is a chilling murder mystery unlike any you've ever dared read before. Your wits will be put to the test against the Reaper himself!

DEAD ON THE DOLMEN will have you wondering whether the Ankou really is riding forth across the land of magic and mystery that is Brittany. Of course, once Oscar Tremont cracks the case, reason will reign once more...but in the meantime, your imagination will be free to roam, and the reaping will go on unhindered!

Keep an eye on this blog over the coming months for more news, including the cover reveal.