Death or Ice Cream?

Review This book is written as a series of individual yet inter-connected which culminate in a thought-provoking finale -- Nicola Lee ― The Guardian The stories are funny and well written, you actually believe in the rather strange characters that populate the pages. You begin to see how the mundane could be hiding a wholly different world underneath. As the tales unfold you begin to realise that what drives the narrative is the age old struggle of good over evil, death or ice cream ― Books For Keeps A darky, funny and brilliantly strange novel (...) Gareth P. Jones is a master of the macabre and the absurd, and he expertly blends those two elements together here, weaving a surreal web of histories and fables that's complex and complete, with the eternal tug-of-war between darkness and light at the heart of it. Readers who are looking for a break from dystopian series will find this a stylish and compelling alternative; a standalone story that's as thought-provoking as it is chillingly entertaining ― Teach Secondary Death or Ice Cream? Will tickle the tastebuds of any lover of the dark and the macabre (...) a clever and fun book. Piecing the stories together is an added pleasure for the reader (...) A thought-provoking, shiver-inducing... lark! ― Inis Reading Guide Product Description Larkin Mills: The Birthplace of Death! Larkin Mills is no ordinary town. It's a place of contradictions and enigma, of secrets and mysteries. A place with an exquisite ice cream parlour, and an awful lot of death. An extraordinary mystery in Larkin Mills is beginning to take shape. First we meet the apparently healthy Albert Dance, although he's always been called a sickly child, and he's been booked into Larkin Mills' Hospital for Specially Ill Children. Then there's his neighbour Ivor, who observes strange goings-on, and begins his own investigations into why his uncle disappeared all those years ago. Next we meet Young Olive, who is given a battered accordion by her father, and unwittingly strikes a dreadful deal with an instrument repair man. Make sure you keep an eye on Mr Morricone, the town ice-cream seller, who has queues snaking around the block for his legendary ice cream flavours Summer Fruits Suicide and The Christmas Massacre. And Mr Milkwell, the undertaker, who has some very dodgy secrets locked up in his hearse. Because if you can piece together what all these strange folks have to do with one another . . . well, you'll have begun to unlock the dark secrets that keep the little world of Larkin Mills spinning . . . Book Description Larkin Mills: The Birthplace of Death! From the Back Cover THE THING IS WITH ICE CREAM, YOU DON'T HAVE TO EAT IT. BUT YOU CAN'T DENY DEATH. YOU CAN FIGHT BUT NOT BEAT IT . . . Larkin Mills is no ordinary town. It is a place of secrets and enigma. A place with an exquisite ice cream parlour, and an awful lot of death. A place where an extraordinary mystery is beginning to unfold. People have known for years that there is something rotten at the heart of Larkin Mills, and long suspected that some of the town's residents will do anything to keeps their secrets hidden. What's behind the ice cream seller Mr Morricone's sumptuous sundaes? What is undertaker Harold Milkwell hiding in the hearse? And what will young Ross uncover in the dark corners of the town's infamous waxwork museum? The truth can't stay hidden forever - and Larkin Mills contains the darkest and most peculiar secrets of all. About the Author Gareth divides his time between writing books, visiting schools, producing TV programmes and annoying his friends and family by playing the ludicrous number of stringed instruments in his front room. He won the Blue Peter Book of the Year Prize 2012 for THE CONSIDINE CURSE, and THE CASE OF THE MISSING CATS, the first book in The Dragon Detective Agency series, was nominated for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. THE THORNTHWAITE INHERITANCE won seven children's book awards, and his pr