'I thought maybe Jane was jealous of the dead girl but I didn't know why. I guess she thought she was like her. As if we were all unidentified bodies. Or nameless and ignorant like dogs on the beach.' The Dogs on the Beach & Other Stories is a collection of nine short stories about love, life and death which begin and end at the beach. These stories, set mainly in and around Liverpool, are dark, comical and anecdotal, portraying characters who struggle to communicate with each other while looking for their own place in the world. Written through the eyes of several individuals, these vivid depictions of human life blend together comedy and tragedy. A young couple make a disturbing discovery on the beach; a young boy believes his father has made friends with the devil; the memory of an old sea captain brings back the memories of the past; a man loses his sight as he tries to remember fishing on the lake; coffee before a funeral leads to an argument over eye colour; a break-up leads to a chance meeting with a girl in the sea who looks strangely familiar.