Debra Murphy’s first novel, The Mystery of Things, was published in December 2004 by Idylls Press. A literary thriller for adults, The Mystery of Things is a provocative updating of the myth of St. George-and-the-Dragon and an unusual contemporary mix of Shakespearean, Arthurian and Catholic themes.

Set in Milwaukee, on the shores of Lake Michigan, this is the story of James Ireton, a gifted young Shakespeare scholar haunted by a tragic past and recurring nightmares of a Knight, a Lady and a vicious Dragon. James thinks they’re just dreams, unconnected to the chaos of his waking life; but when two people close to him fall victim in a seemingly motiveless series of brutal murders, James discovers there may be a very modern sort of Dragon preying in the shadows of his life. Worse, if he doesn’t find a bit of St. George in himself, the woman he loves may prove the Dragon’s ultimate victim.

The title of the book comes from Act V of Shakespeare’s King Lear:

…Come, let’s away to prison: We two alone will sing like birds i’the cage: When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down And ask of thee forgiveness: so we’ll live And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues talk of court news; and  we’ll talk with them too, who loses and who wins, who’s in, who’s out; And take upon’s the mystery of things,as if we were God’s spies: and we’ll wear out, in a wall’d prison, packs and sects of great ones that ebb and flow by the moon.

The Mystery of Things is the first book in Debra Murphy’s planned Ashland Grail Cycle, a series of novels inspired by Shakespeare, Arthurian romance, and the modern mystery thriller.Debra is working on the second book in the series, All the World’s a Stage, set in Ashland, Oregon, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. No publication date has been set yet for the book.

ORDERING OPTIONS:

The Mystery of Things is available in two editions, the second edition paperback with maps and a limited number of first edition hardcovers.

Autographed copies are available upon request when ordered directly from Idylls Press (see below). The larger online retailers usually have copies of the book, new and used, at a discount.

PAPERBACK edition, with maps
(5½ x 8½, 436 pages)
ISBN-10: 1-59597-014-2)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59597-014-5
Retail price: $18.95

• autographed by author from Idylls Press (free shipping! Be sure to say how you’d like the book autographed in the “special requests” box of the ordering page)
• from your local indie bookstore
• from Powell’s
• from Amazon
• from Amazon.co.uk

FIRST EDITION HARDCOVER
(6 x 9, 388 pages)
ISBN-10: 1-59597-000-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-59597-000-8
Retail price: $21.95

• autographed by author from Idylls Press (free shipping! Be sure to say how you’d like the book autographed in the “special requests” box of the ordering page)
• from Amazon

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK:

• read reviews
• read an excerpt
• about the author
• Q & A with the author about The Mystery of Things
• people, places & things featured in the book