Dinah and Shakespeare

The Stratford City Gazette on Shadows on the Train: “Dinah is being shadowed by two mysterious characters, nicknamed The Whisperer and Bowl Cut. Evidently, they are pursuing a treasure that Dinah doesn't even have! Then various passengers on the train, including Dinah's music teacher, begin to disappear! Are they being kidnapped? ... This is the fifth instalment in the award-winning Dinah Galloway series of hilarious, wacky mysteries for children. There's absolutely no room for boredom on the part of young readers who accompany the spunky, unstoppable Dinah on her adventures!”

Listen, Shakespeare got his start in Stratford, so why not me? I'm a Shakespeare fan myself, by the way. Especially for his bloodier plays, natch. I mean, you really can't top Macbeth, now can you? Though I always wondered why Lady Macbeth had to do laundry commercials – y’know, that line about getting spots out. Guess she needed extra shillings.

The stuff I'm not so crazy about is that “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” nonsense, which Jack spouts to Madge – sooooo tedious.

Now revealed: the reason behind the kidnapping!

Am I your bulldoggish neighborhood detective, or what? Through perseverance -- a.k.a. pest-like sleuthing -- I found out that the sinister Hoodie spirited my author off to star in a movie. So much for agents, huh? Anyhow, Melanie's new flick is called Life Is Serious.

Here's a shot of the set. You can see that quite a sizable crew and a whole lotta equipment were involved. Stay seriously tuned.

Melanie's kidnapping: the distressing video!