The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, Katsushika Hokusai

When Einstein was teaching at Oxford—

—he gave his students an exam, and while they did it he went strolling on the grounds with his assistant.

“But, professor Einstein,” said the assistant, “you gave the same students the same test last term!”

“Yes,” said Einstein, “but the answers have changed.”

My dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we enter this New Year—and may it be happy for you—we too could find that the answers have changed.

Consider the plight of the struggling filmmaker. No longer can he (my pronouns, alas, are he/him) aim only at pleasing cinema, or as they say in North Am, theatrical audiences. He must have in mind the potential for series, to offer his backers also the rewards of streaming.

So it is that, with a foot in each world, I find myself proposing a comedy series, a detective series, a thriller series, even a romantic series.

Sort of fun. Let’s see how it goes.

And let’s see how it goes for you. Indeed, so challenging may the coming year be, that you might need the advice of The Doctor.

Here you can have him face to face.

And here you can acquire a completer version in book form, something to carry with you for on-the-spot consultation.

Alas, by this time next year the answers may again have changed.

Yours when you need me,

Le Docteur

Robert MacLean is an independent filmmaker. His recent The Light Touch is on Amazon Prime, Tubi and Scanbox, and his 7-minute comedy is an out-loud laugh. He is also a novelist, a playwright, a blogger, a YouTuber, a film reviewer, a literary critic, and a stand-up comic poet. Born Toronto, PhD McGill, taught at Canadian universities, too cold, live Greece, Irish citizen. No brains, but an intellectual snob.

"A serious man has few ideas. A man of many ideas cannot be serious."—Paul Valéry

The Light Touch on Amazon Prime

The Natural Wish to Be Robert MacLean

The Devil's Pleasure Garden

GREEK ISLAND MURDER

A Romantic Thriller in the Hitchcock / Cary Grant Tradition 

Reg’d © Library of Congress

Greece’s favorite playboy and a beautiful young assistant district attorney, chased by murderous policemen and a CIA assassin, narrowly escape from an island.

When one of their engineers is found hanged in his apartment it shakes Telnet Communications in Athens to its base.  Suicide or murder?

A rapidly emerging conspiracy implicates the CIA and anti-terrorism software on government phones.  Some of the most important people in the city are upset, and the media jump on it.

Proposed cast: Mihail Anthis

George Papas, the CEO of Telnet for Eastern Europe and the Middle East, though living on an island, finds himself in the eye of the storm and suspected of the murder of one of his engineers.

George has the Balkans and the Middle East too—he’s as big as the Prime Minister—so rather than calling him into Athens for questioning the Justice Department send someone to the island he lives on to take his statement, someone no one will notice—

Proposed cast: Tess Spentzos

—Assistant DA Constance Constantinou, a young employee with a London law degree on her first assignment, to the island to question him.  Why have they assigned a novice to such an important case?

George knows the game; he sees that he’s the next target.  Pleasantly surprised by Constance—she’s smart, beautiful—he realizes he can use her for cover. 

The smoothest of playboys, and a star personality in Greece, he works his charm on her and introduces her to everyone he suspects could be involved in this political maneuver. What more natural than taking a beautiful woman to a party?

Proposed cast: Pepi Moschovakou

Patritsia, a call girl, a temptress and an assassin, has been hired by gay British MP Archie Taylor to accompany him on the island and attract the boys, but her real mission is to eliminate the key players.  Lie down with her and you may never get up again, and she's after Constance in more ways than one.

Proposed cast: Vanna Barba

Alison, their hostess and George's former lover, is married to his partner, who is using George's client list to run guns into Iran, and has a new contract with the Chinese.  Alison drops a computer flash drive with the Chinese list on it into Constance's purse—"I'd rather have him in jail than dead"—and everybody wants that drive.

Constance now finds herself in a dangerous situation and doesn’t know who to trust.  She’s trapped here because of the seductive George but corpses keep turning up and someone, very likely George, is doing murder. The breath of assassins is on her neck.

And George?  It’s not clear whose side he’s on.  He’s a wheeler and dealer in the Middle East—how innocent can he be?  Though she’s high on his attention to her, she fears him. But they must help each other if they want to get off the island alive.

A murder in the morning, an afternoon interview, an evening party, a night picking their way through a murderous labyrinth—and at sunrise an escape by sea and a promising new day.

Originally published in paper as Home from the Party:

“In Home from the Party MacLean has created a fast-paced, witty novel that pushes the murder mystery in exciting new directions.”—Keith Maillard

“This is a most entertaining and satirical tale in which black humour and farce are brought together with real acuity.”—Reference West (Vancouver)

“Considering the price and scarcity of potable water on an island suspiciously like Hydra, the discovery of a beautiful teenage corpse floating in a cistern is no laughing matter.  But almost everything else is lively and fun in this mystery of political intrigue and sexual abundance in the Argosaronic.”—The Athenian
 
“Home from the Party is a slow-fused but explosive thriller set on an imaginary Greek island, presented in all its artsy glamour and glittering corruption….if you like epigrams, knowing insights into failed relationships, evocations of la dolce vita, Hydra-style, this is for you.  MacLean… has published a previous novel, Foreign Matter, with Atheneum Press, New York.  Although Foreign Matter was very well received, Home from the Party suggests that MacLean would be well-advised to undertake a series of mystery novels, using ‘Captain Costa’ and the Greek setting he evokes here with such skill and obvious joy.”—Edward Winston

“Featuring his usual comic touches, the book manages to skillfully intertwine a murder, a greek investigator, showbiz celebrities, drug dealers, artists, gigolos, the CIA and the junta, in a fast-paced, entertaining web of entangled connections.”—Angelika Timms, Athens Week

“MacLean is able to develop an interesting combination of characters in his novel.  Each character is displayed with his/her own unique style and Konstantinou’s adventures are different and very funny.”—Rosanne Papadopoulos, Greek News Weekly 

“Home from the Party is a fast-paced murder mystery laced with humor.”—The Athens News 

“The roller-coaster ride begins....”—Chris Maverick, Greek News Weekly 

Pretentious Pictures presents a romantic thriller.

Reg’d © Library of Congress