Instructions for the Working Day

Shortlisted for the Rubery Book Award 2024

'You go too far, my friend. You are near dangerous ground.'

Neil Fischer is travelling to a village in East Germany that he has unexpectedly inherited - his father's former hometown of Marschwald. Knowing it has been left to deteriorate for decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Neil is determined to restore the derelict village to its former glory, as his demanding late father would surely have wanted. But when he arrives, he is met with hostility, mistrust and underlying menace.

His only friend in Marschwald is Silke, who is coming to terms with her traumatic experiences during the Cold War and has recently uncovered a shocking truth.

As tensions rise, a series of surreal encounters force Neil to contend with his own troubled past - but in his present, all signs point to danger.