With Love and Squalor

3.7/5 ( ratings)

When ‘An Arm And A Leg’ was published by Crimespree Magazine in January 2010, we were to witness Nigel Bird’s debut as a crime-writer. Soon afterwards, the story was chosen by Maxim Jakubowski for the Mammoth Best British Crime Stories 8.

Since then, Bird has been the winner of the Watery Grave Invitational competition, won the Things I’d Rather Be Doing fairytale crime competition and been nominated for the Best Story Online in the Spinetingler awards for 2011.

‘With Love And Squalor’ is his 3rd collection of stories. In it, we see the range of his talents, a spread of individual pieces which combine to provide readers with a powerful and emotional experience that they aren’t likely to forget in a hurry.

'An Arm And A Leg' - A man arrives in a small town to set up a take-away food establishment and sparks of a fish and chip war. First published in Crimespree Magazine and subsequently in Mammoth's Best British Crime 8

'Fisher Of Men' - An American graduate goes to Paris to lose her virginity and meets a street artist who is from another place entirely. First published in Voluted Tales.

'A Whole Lotta Rosie' - Rosie shears sheep and arm-wrestles for a living. Now there's a new girl in town seeking to claim Rosie's arm-wrestling titles. First published in Pulp Ink.

'Reaching The Summit' - Someone's after the president's genes. First published in Apollo's Lyre

'No Pain No Gain' - Why there's no point torturing a man with the condition Congenital Pain Insensitivity. First published in Crime Factory Magazine

'Breakfast TV' - A moral tale about the dangers of talk-shows. First published at A Twist Of Noir 2011 and put forward for the Pushcart Prize by Christopher Grant

'Suture' - First aid for beginners. First published at PulpMetal Magazine

'Hoodwinked' - Inspired by 'Winter's Bone', the story of what happens when a film is made within a mountain community. First published at All Due Respect.

'Sea Minor' - A young girl is taken to live in the Isle of Skye by her mother who is suffering from depression. First published in 'The Reader'