The Cunning Man, by John Yeoman, Reviewed.

This ‘fictorial’ as the author calls it, should start a trend amongst authors with a desire to help other writers improve their craft. That is precisely what John Yeoman does in this collection of historical mystery stories. He tells a tale and inserts footnote links in the text, these lead to the footnotes, which explain what the writing sample has done, and how. It’s a fascinating and extremely useful tool for those wanting to become better writers of fiction.

The stories? Well, John Yeoman is an author with a very long history of writing both fiction and nonfiction. He’s a teacher and mentor who runs an excellent blog and he knows what he’s doing. These are great stories: amusing, full of historical detail, populated by characters with whom you can empathise and posing mysteries that will keep even the most jaded of readers hooked until the end.

Best read on a Kindle, as that will allow the links to work exactly as planned, but readable on any eReader you choose. I read my copy on an iPad and found the read a great experience.

This innovation, using great stories to illustrate writing practise and inform the editing process, is a great idea, and one I expect to be copied many times. If you love historical mystery, enjoy it as a reader. If you’re a writer seeking advice and inspiration, then read it with those aims in mind. You won’t be disappointed, whatever motivates you to read this one.