About The Birthmark Murders: “Death is a Cabaret, Old Chum.” by Janus Lucky
When Mikael, a half-Finnish New Zealander, returns to his father’s homeland after decades away, he isn’t looking for trouble—just answers. His father, Mikael Långberg, once a brilliant theatre director, died under mysterious circumstances during the final days of a notorious Cabaret production. Officially ruled a suicide. Unofficially? Nothing adds up.
Teaming up with a reluctant old friend, a sharp-tongued editor and translator of famous sci-fi novels, Pekka Wall, and a local young misfit, Mikael plunges into Finland’s eccentric, icy underworld—where silence speaks volumes, humour cuts deep, and the past never stays buried. As layers of performance, paranoia, and betrayal unfold, he discovers that solving a murder is easy… compared to facing the truth.
Darkly funny, emotionally layered, and rich with a Finnish atmosphere, The Birthmark Murders is a mystery that dances between satire and sorrow, theatre and truth, love and obsession. Prepare to laugh, flinch, and turn pages late into the night.
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Author Bio:
Janus Lucky (www.januslucky.com) is a novelist with a wicked eye for mystery and a warm heart for humanity. Born in Finland, seasoned by life in New Zealand, and (hopefully) soon to be settled in the UK, Janus brings a rich cultural lens to his fiction—steeped in Finnish bluntness, laced with Kiwi wit, and sharpened by decades working as a digital media consultant, producer, and executive.
His first novel, The Birthmark Murders – ‘Death Is a Cabaret, Old Chum’, signals the start of the Pekka Wall series and invites readers into a sharply observed, darkly humorous world where murder, theatre, and cultural critique entwine. With a narrative voice that’s both emotionally raw and unapologetically ironic, Janus blends deep human insight with satirical bite—pulling back the curtain on art, ambition, and the absurdities of the cultural elite and people in general.
His second novel, Handful—A Boy at the End of a Rainbow, a coming-of-age story and poignant prequel to The Birthmark Murders, is already with beta readers and waiting to be edited, while the third in the series, The Triumvirate Murders—Death As a Business Expense, is in the works. There will be six books in the Pekka Wall series.
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