Hartwick

Everything is fine in Hartwick. (It absolutely is not.)This mosaic novel, or a collection of tangled tales that tends to resemble a novel at some point, draws on the fairy tales of old. The originals, not the polite ones. The characters include, but are not limited to, colour-coded witches, weird mages, an occasional vampire, at least one incontinent wolf shifter, and one salacious plant (caution advised). Their daily troubles may sound mild, and yet 10/13 tales have at least one dead body. While their personal trials and errors are a problem, they are not the problem. Or are they? Well, that’s for the last tale in Part 1 to tattle.Hartwick is a dark fantasy with elements of horror and humour. Horror is mostly expressed through casual violence that has no age or gender preferences. Humour is dry as fine wine, and there might, or might not, be some wit involved. Think: polite dinner chit-chat about murder (mass, crow or otherwise).The characters are mostly older and have a curated collection of issues, from trauma to disabilities, though not in the woe is me way. That would be gauche.Also, do be forewarned: there is trigger-happy religion, tepid tea, bad puns, tropeplay and, oh gods, intertextuality.Welcome to Hartwick. It really is a nice place to drop dead.