Tales of Durhamshire

Tales of Durhamshire: The Dogsh%t Chronicles is a social satire about the lives ordinary people live in an ordinary neighborhood. But everything is not as it appears. The friendly neighbors, who walk their dogs along the leafy, winding streets, also inhabit a dark universe presided over by a master of the Dark Arts, a witch who never seems to get it quite right. Her miscast spells and slightly-off incantations create havoc in the neighborhood. In this comedy, we soon learn that many of the neighbors are also not who they seem to be as they struggle to bring the witch under control. The mayhem begins with a neighbor who refuses to clean-up after his dog.

Ursula Perfect wants desperately to be accepted by her neighbors, but lacks any of the social graces required for friendship. She swears, misses every social cue, tries to bully her way into all the wrong places, and is shunned by all. But Ursula also has extraordinary powers. She is a master of the Dark Arts, a witch who uses her powers in an attempt to win the acceptance she so desperately wants. Her mis-guided incantations create havoc in the Durhamshire community as neighbors band together to ward off her evil spells. Tales of Durhamshire: The Dogsh%t Chronicles is social satire, a comedy of life in a leafy suburban neighborhood where no one is who they appear to be. There is a thin layer of civility stretched over a depth of anger, danger and dark adventure. The chronicles begin when Molly searches for a new home in the suburbs and is disturbed by the bland sameness of the neighborhoods. She meets a strange woman in a coffee shop who recommends an area called Durhamshire and sends Molly to a relator who specializes in the neighborhood. Molly is smitten by Durhamshire and quickly buys the first house she is shown. On the way out of Durhamshire, the realtor turns to Molly and says, if you are going to live in Durhamshire, you'd better get yourself a dog.

Jon D. Matthews is a retired advertising executive who lives in Meadowmont, a planned village near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His first novella, Up In The Bear Cave, was published in the spring of 2017.