Raymond Nickford

Mister Kreasey's Demon reflects the author's fascination, in all his books, with studies of troubled, lonely or dysfunctional characters in family life and relationships who may nevertheless find that, ultimately, clouds can have 'silver linings'. If life threatens to be overwhelming, then it really is better to try and fail and, if necessary, 'keep' trying and, to a degree, 'keep' failing, rather than not to try at all; so that if the end to a story is not happy - in the sentimental sense - then the book as a whole, just as Nature planned it, should be affirmative of life, uplifting.… (meer)

A collection of stories which, though they involve loss within family and in relationships, nevertheless get inside the characters who are left behind and reveal, through fiction, how hurt and the longing for those lost can find resolution - where it may not be expected...

The collection opens with "Family Tree" - Mr Glossop might be a widower, his neighbours said, but it was high time he poured acid on the base of the old yew tree, the roots of which stretched well into the grounds of the Municipal Cemetery . Was he really going to let his only son have the same degrading end as Mrs Glossop? Would gossip open out to truths best laid to rest?

"Reaching Out to Bernie" is widow Emily's dearest wish, but it is neither to seance nor spiritualism that she turns but rather an antique which has come into her possession and, for too long, has been collecting dust in her attic. Emily clung for life to the bric-a-brac which made a Mausoleum of her home; for sure, in everything Bernie had touched, he still lived and somehow she would - she would reach out to him.

In " A Farewell to Father" schizophrenic, Sam Baldock, is given a day out - his last - at the Beethoven Museum in Vienna where he believes he is called by the spirit of Beethoven. What will his little daughter, Joanne, witness at the top of those damp spiralling steps to the top rooms of the old Pasqualati House on the Molkerbastie, which once led to the rooms of the composer in 1810?… (meer)

In a story where the thing that counts the most is the interaction between the characters, the author has found his way into their heads and manages to hold the attention of the reader in a powerful way because of this.

But don't expect humdrum, everyday folks here. You won't get them. Nickford gives us a colorful cast who question the actions of each other intensely, if only subconsciously, causing the reader to think beyond their faces, and look forward to what the story has to offer.

- Sonja Lewis
Author of The Seasons: A Collection of Short Stories… (meer)

I'm reading a book of short stories written by Raymond Nickford. Each story in the book, Cupboard of Skeletons, is a psychological thriller about dysfunctional relationships. In the first story, The Hynoptist, a young nurse named Miranda goes to see a psychologist, Dr. Harditch, for hypnosis to ease her phobia of spiders. I guess you could say he cured her, but I wouldn't want to be one of his patients. This is not a story for the squeamish. It's intense, descriptive, fast-paced, and reminds me of stories from Tales From the Crypt.

The second story, Haunted by Amy, is ten chapters long and is about a former school teacher, Matthew, and the teenage student, Amy, with whom he had an affair. He suspects her of murdering his friend Philip. But he also admits that he might be clinically paranoid.

I haven't finished reading yet, but I skipped ahead for a peek at the final story. The Parchment Recipes is a paranormal mystery about a widow with a not-so-nice mother. The widow finds a parchment in her kitchen late one night, and mysterious things begin to happen.

- Susan Finlay
author of In the Shadows… (meer)