All Good Bookshop Sat 7pm 19 Sept. Free, bar.

Launch of Stephen Cox's fourth book, the Crooked Medium's Guide to Terror. (published Mon 14th.)

Stephen has lived in Upsdell Avenue since 2004

Stephen says, ‘These are queer, spooky, Victorian mysteries with older two women antagonists at odds with their current morality. Readers praise the extraordinary characters, the twisty plots and the immersive settings. They’re warm and witty, but not cosy.’

Stephen joined the longstanding bookshop writing group in an earlier incarnation, and he is a founder member of the AGB co-op. He very much sees the creative hub around the shop as an antidote to the mass-produced and banal.

He’s a campaigner for creatives rights and against much of the so called AI industry.

Book pitch

True terror is a murderer you can’t stop.

London 1882. A carpenter is killed by a train - an eerie, brutal crime. Flamboyant spiritualist medium Mrs Ashton and her sapphic partner Braddie seek justice for the widow.

A charismatic rival medium takes London by storm. Dock-lass Maisie sees her frightening prophesy of vengeance.  A noble family is devastated, but worse is to come.

Outgunned and bewildered, the three confront a deadly conspiracy. They risk losing everything.