Introducing...

Well, finally here they are, the key players for my novel. Or at least they are at the moment. But I don't guarantee that they'll stay in place, sometimes they get up, walk out and somebody else comes in. I hope the list sounds intriguing...

Heroine - Madeleine Thomas



Mirrors, Venice, KR 2009



47, Madeleine is English but lives in Munich and works for the Munich Tourist Authority. She is married but separated from Gottlob Thomas. They have one child, Ferdinand. Her greatest strength is her ability to spot the hole in an argument. This can make her very annoying to live or work with. Although she likes her work she is dubious about the benefits of modern tourism and is very critical of what she calls the “Easy Jetset”. She studied History of Art which is why she came to Munich to do a doctorate, which she never completed.

Ally number 1 – Gottlob Thomas

52, Gottlob works for the railways as a train conductor on the night trains crossing Europe. He is a former philosophy professor who decided to do something different when his university department was instructed to teach a supplementary course on the practical application of philosophy to business administration students. As he already had a great love of trains, it seemed like a good move.

Ally number 2 – Ferdinand Thomas

17, lives alternately with his mother and father, depending on their mood. He finds them both extremely annoying, especially the fact that on the face of it they seem to get along perfectly well. What is the point of being separated in that case, he asks? He thinks it would be more responsible if they fought, at least that way he might be able to get some sympathy from the various girls that he tries (unsuccessfully) to date.

Ally number 3 – Irmgard Hopper



Rider Waite Tarot cards



82, Irmgard is a reader of Tarot cards. Madeleine met her when she first came to Munich as a student because she rented a room from her in Schwabing. Madeleine, Gottlob and Ferdinand regularly visit her to make sure she’s well and she acts as a surrogate mother / grandmother to them all. Irmgard is very sure of her esoteric abilities. Madeleine less so. 

Dark figure 1 – Jeremy Fisk



55, Jeremy is a senior director at Report International, a large media empire. Formerly the boss of Nicholas Atkinson, Madeleine’s brother, he is not happy when Madeleine starts asking questions about his death several years after the event. He seems to fear that something might emerge that could embarrass him.

Dark figures 2 – Paul and Colin Atkinson

66 and 59 respectively, Paul and Colin are extremely annoyed with Madeleine when she starts suggesting that their younger brother Nicholas is still alive. This would force a rethink of the comfortable story that they have told themselves and their circle over the years.

Dark figure 3 – Colonel Ivan Kaiec



Peggy Guggenheim, Venice



58, the Colonel is now a very respectable and wealthy owner of hotels and villas in Croatia with a lot of influence in Balkan politics and good connections to the European Commission in Brussels. His rise to wealth and prominence dates from the end of the civil war in Croatia. Madeleine’s inquiries about her brother are very unwelcome.

Ambiguous figure 1 – Timothy Arnold

Timothy is now approaching 63 and is asked by the Department for British Export Development to do one last job for them when Madeleine starts to make herself unpopular with the Colonel. (See also short story “A Spy is Born” under Good Things).

Ambiguous figure 2 – Tomislav Lederer

42, Tomi is a very charming and attractive freelance journalist who takes an interest in Madeleine’s story after a chance encounter in a hotel bar. But where do his interests really lie?

Ambiguous figure 3 – Nicholas Atkinson

Wellington boot, KR, 2009

Is he alive or isn’t he? If he is, why is he in hiding? Was it something he found out in Zagreb in the mid-nineties? Or was there some other reason for his disappearance? Or is it all in Madeleine’s head?






I think I need to do a short story about Madeleine and Gottlob. At the moment they aren't clear enough to me. Just what is their problem?