Simon Maier

The Almond Tree is my most recent book. It's very different from Twist of Fête and Silver Green. It's a collection of ten unnerving short stories set for the most part in 1930's Germany which, for many, was a period of absolute terror and for others a time of infatuation with Adolf Hitler.

All the stories are studies in morality, ignorance and frailty. Each one features the comedy of the absurd and the destruction or creation of hope. We meet people from the heart of Germany's Black Forest − a place of innocence, mystery and fairy tales all of which by the way are probably true!

Twist of Fête is the whodunnit I always wanted to write. Dark and light, rough and smooth, shadows and sunshine. A lot of crime is committed in plain sight of course and there are a lot of clues and red herrings to keep any reader gripped. It's the first of a series focussing on amateur village sleuth Stanley Accrington who runs a village post office.

The follow up to Twist of Fête is already underway as is the second in the Silver Green trilogy: Red Metal.