Hattie Brings the House Down

Get ready for a thrilling backstage ride in the world of theatre as seasoned stage manager Hattie embarks on a new production at London's Tavistock pub theatre. Here, the drama doesn't just occur on stage. Troublesome directors and fastidious assistants soon become the least of Hattie's worries as, a week into rehearsals, an actress is found dead backstage on the same day that an extremely valuable theatrical mask goes missing. Hattie begins investigating both mysteries, all the while trying to keep the dysfunctional cast and crew on track for opening night. As she delves deeper into the secrets behind the scenes, her allegiance to her theatre, cast and crew will be tested to destruction... Follow this unconventional detective as she delves into the alluring and exquisitely perilous world of the theatre.

Patrick has a degree in philosophy and classics, another one in technical theatre and stage management, and one more in business administration. He has worked as a theatre sound designer, an 'interpretive naturalist' at an aquarium, a software developer, a business mentor to fledgling entrepreneurs, and a voice actor. He composed the music for a musical about taxidermy that The Stage said 'put to shame the hackneyed standards of the contemporary musical scene', and has been performed in London, Edinburgh, Suffolk and, weirdly, Alaska. He now lives in Norfolk with his wife and two children, where he brews mediocre cider.