Well, they say that you should never count on your plans working out the way you think they are going to …

I’ll write about India and Bookaroo in the next few days, but just wanted to say that I didn’t make it to the Himalayan foothills. I was just about to do my last gig at Bookaroo on Sunday, when I had a phone call from my brother to say that our mother, Connie Tanner, had died suddenly the night before. So I flew back to Australia the next day to her home in Adelaide, and have spent the last few days doing funeral things with my three brothers. Mum was 97 and has been in failing health for some months, but it was still a shock. Nothing can prepare you for the death of a parent. I had dedicated Museum of Thieves to her – it’s in the Australian and Indian editions, but not the US edition – because I am sure that I got my great love of books from her. She was a keen reader all her life, as well as a woman of great courage and spirit, and we are all going to miss her dreadfully.

Now I’m back in Tassie, at home, and Miss Mouse is sitting on my lap purring, which is exceptionally comforting.