My name is Michael Gallagher; I was born in New Zealand. I moved to London in my early twenties. and it's now my home. Until quite recently I was a teacher by profession, but I have since retired to write full time. I used to be an avid reader but, with my writing now taking precedence, I'm lucky if I manage to read one book per month—usually for the Canada Water Crimes & Thrillers reading group that I attend.

Gooseberry (whose real name is Octavius Guy) first saw light of day in Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone. He was Mr Bruff the solicitor’s errand boy, who played a pivotal role in tracking down the real culprit who stole the gem. He was nicknamed Gooseberry on account of his bulging eyes. Collins never gives us his age, but I’d estimate he was about ten. By the time I take up his story, the year is 1852. He’s now fourteen, possibly a little skinnier but not that much taller. He’s still working as Mr Bruff’s errand boy yet he hankers for more; in his mind’s eye, he sees himself as a detective.

To start with, a corpse with its face battered in but with remarkably little blood in evidence. A torn scrap of parchment in the dead man’s hand, which appears to be in code. An account of the sacking of Highbury Manor during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, and the subsequent beheading of its owner, Grand Prior Hales of the Knights Hospitaller. And behind all this lies a faint whiff of buried treasure…oh, and a room full of poisonous plants.

There's a growing number of people who've read my entire canon of novels, who now consider themselves firm fans. They're all passionate readers who've taken the time and trouble to post great reviews, letting other readers know how much they’ve enjoyed my books. Without their reviews, their feedback, and their continued support, I would never have been able to build my reputation as an author. For me, the truly magic part of the whole writing process is when I finish a book and send it out into the world, and it manages to touch the lives of people everywhere.

How do you choose between “To me, it reads like an old time radio show. It leaves you breathless.”, “Thank you so much for writing these books, and for bringing these characters to life. I have a feeling they'll always be lurking around in my head. Excellent, excellent, excellent!”, “My favorite Victorian boy investigator sets off to solve a new mystery…Words cannot describe just how much I enjoy Octavius.”, or even, “Pour some tea or a wee dram, put your feet up, and enjoy cover to cover.”? These are generous words indeed.

My favourite novels are A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. I revisit each of them every few years or so. I love Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone and The Woman in White. In the early 1990s I managed to collect all of Agatha Christie's whodunnits from second-hand stalls and charity shops, but many are now in such poor repair that they won't survive another reading. I love historical fiction, particularly by Steven Saylor, Philip Kerr, and C. J. Sansom, the three of whom employ some form of detective, and Anchee Min and Tracy Chevalier, who generally don't. I've just discovered the Flavia de Luce novels of Alan Bradley. They're set in 1950s Britain and feature a precocious 11-year-old girl with a penchant for detecting who likes nothing more than to obsess about poisons.

Send for Octavius Guy #5: Octavius Guy and the Case of the Recalcitrant Corpse. When a box of poisoned chocolates leaves one of Bertha’s charges fighting for his life, Bertha calls upon Octavius for help. Who would dare to attack the residents of the Bucket of Blood…and in such a cowardly and underhand manner? Gooseberry and his friends investigate, only to discover that one of their number harbours a startling and unforeseen past.

This last book took me three years, so I wouldn’t hold your breath.

No, thank you!