Short Stories
A year ago I wasn't much of a short-story reader — I always wanted the slow unfolding of a novel. Then I picked up a collection by Haruki Murakami in the original Japanese, and something shifted. These stories are subscriber exclusives: explorations of the ideas, places, and obsessions that find their way into the novels. Provide your email below and a download link will appear for each one
Rise and Fall
A free sample story — the first taste of the world Matthew builds when he isn't writing novels.
Francis Reuben
A subscriber-exclusive tale — one of the ideas that didn't quite need a full novel, but wouldn't let go either.
A Templar Story
A subscriber-exclusive tale, steeped in history and the kind of mystery that lingers long after the last page.
MYSTERY· JAPANESE FOLKLORE · 2018
Spirit of the Fox
Tokyo, Japan
Meiko Wright wants nothing to do with the mother who abandoned her nine years ago. Spending a year in Tokyo, where her mother lives, won't change that. But after a fall in a Shinto temple, Meiko wakes with no memory of her mother — or anything of her past life — and must rely on the kindness of a local priest while a strange suspicion grows that something isn't right.
After years apart, Meiko's mother Chieko is determined to make up for lost time. But when her daughter mysteriously disappears, the trail of clues leads detectives to a pair of suicides linked by a strange seductress and matching fox tattoos. Afraid her daughter may be next, Chieko visits a local shaman who warns that dark spirits could make any rescue impossible.
With time running out, Meiko and her family must uncover the mystery of her mental captivity — before she loses herself, and her way home, forever. Ancient Japanese legend collides with modern-day Tokyo in this fast-paced, culturally immersive mystery.
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Thrilling, captivating, and will take your breath away.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
A gripping, culturally immersed mystery. Atmospheric descriptions of Japan's spiritual landscape help set the scene, drawing connections that the characters themselves cannot yet make.
WRITE - READ - LIFE
Recommended for anyone interested in Japanese folklore or a good mystery. Chosen as one of the top 5 mystery fiction books of 2018.
CLARION REVIEW
THREE NOVLES· A GROWING LIBRARY OF SHORT FICTION
Books & Stories
Mysteries set where the rational world begins to blur — from the snow-bound winters of Lake Tahoe to the temples of Kyoto and the restoration studios of New York City.
SUPERNATURAL MYSTERY· GHOST STORY · 2023
The House on Tyner
Lake Tahoe, 1988
A shocking crime. A haunting tragedy. One man's search for answers from beyond the grave. After losing his wife and children in a car accident, former MLB pitcher-turned-chef Jackson Taylor purchases a home at an unexpectedly low price — shrugging off its dark history of murder and suicide. But he soon realizes he is not alone when he hears a child's laughter echoing from behind a closed door.
Skeptical despite the cryptic messages he keeps finding, Jackson visits the local library to dig into the property's past. When a librarian helps him unearth the chilling details, he becomes determined to unravel the truth — before the house unravels him.
Set against the snowy isolation of Nevada's winters, The House on Tyner weaves a haunting mystery through Jackson's grief, uncovering secrets the house refuses to let rest.
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Eerie, surprising, and profoundly emotional — a beautifully written ghost story with the structure of a mystery, plunging the reader into the chilling outcomes of a murder case that challenges their sense of the rational.
SELF-PUBLISHING REVIEW
My eyes were glued to the pages by the end of the book. As someone who often shies away from ghost stories due to cheesiness, I wholeheartedly recommend this one — a decidedly realistic portrayal of the paranormal.
ONLINE BOOK CLUB
Scheduled release: January
The Park
When Saburo learns that he has little time left to live, his greatest concern isn't himself—it's his beloved dog, Taro. Determined to find him a loving home, Saburo embarks on one final journey that forces him to confront a lifetime of choices, regrets, and the relationships he longs to mend.
Set against the quiet beauty of Japan, The Park is a moving novel about second chances, the ties that bind us, and discovering what matters most before it's too late.
HISTORIACL MYSTERY· ART · 2015
The Painter of Time
New York & Renaissance Italy
Mackenzie Ferrara is thrilled to begin her career as a restorer of fine art at the prestigious Cloisters in New York City. The star of the team is Anthony Bataglia — a handsome Italian renowned for his uncanny ability to bring pre-Renaissance treasures back to life. Despite a rocky start, the two form a close working relationship that Mackenzie hopes will become something more.
But the longer she works alongside him, the more she notices peculiar patterns and unexplainable similarities across all of his restorations. Is Anthony really who he claims to be? Too many strange coincidences lead Mackenzie and her father Joe, a retired detective, to think otherwise.
The Painter of Time weaves a contemporary plot with flashbacks to Renaissance Italy, exploring the cost of pursuing fame and fortune at the expense of true art — and giving a sense of the great masters as flesh and blood men, not just famous names.
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A brilliant piece of work — evocative, carefully researched, and well written. I checked out some of the places, artists, and masterpieces described in the book, and found the underlying facts to be perfectly accurate.
CHARLES REMINGTON , READERS FAVORITE
Art history has never been so alive. O'Connell weaves a contemporary plot with flashbacks through time to Renaissance Italy and gives a sense of the artists as flesh and blood men, not just famous names in catalogues.
SUZANNE M. WOLFE, AUTHOR OF THE CONFESSION OF X
Reading this novel is like being taken on a tour of the Uffizi by a passionately informed docent who introduces you not only to the paintings, but to the artists who painted them.
FOREWORD REVIEWS
At a Glance
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Published Novels
From the art-restoration studios of Renaissance Florence to the snowbound winters of Nevada and the temples of Tokyo — each book a different world, the same restless curiosity.
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Subscriber Stories
Free short fiction for newsletter readers — companion pieces, prequels, and standalone tales that explore the ideas and obsessions behind the novels.
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Revenue to Charity
Every dollar from every book sold goes directly to the causes supported through the Matt & Mari Fund. When you read, you give.