Publisher: Ballantine Books Copyright: 1992 Publication date: May 1993 In print. Order from Amazon Books

It all begins in the 1920s when a blustering country policeman, Constable Michael Walsmear, literally punches his way into American photographer Charles Castle's London studio. Walsmear has what he claims are photographs of fairies. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whom Castle approaches to verify the pictures, offers a large sum of money to have Walsmear's photographs destroyed. But even more than Cash, Castle wants the truth. His quest takes him to Burkinwell, a seemingly peaceful country village seething with secrets. Armed with a camera, he encounters gypsies and wild dogs, the innocent girls of the photos, and the murderous thieves who threaten them, a beautiful garden and unspeakable sexual practices. He also discovers the most shocking truth of all: that absolute purity and utter depravity are foled together in the human heart.

--Description on back of book

Cover Blurbs:

"Beautifully written and packed with ironic twists...Full of delightfully quirky characters... You certainly might find yourself staying up all night to finish it." -- The Seattle Times

"Delightfully whimsical...This sweet little tale turns darker by degrees as little acts of viciousness multiply and the whimsy becomes almost terrifying. It's a delicately constructed maze at turns funny and frightening, and leaves readers perplexed and entertained." -- The Milwaukee Journal

"A gossamer delight, anchored with sharp humor and pulsing with the tension of a detective novel, this magical debut will keep readers absorbed right up to its moving final pages." -- Publishers Weekly

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