The Balanced Scales Agency looked from the outside like every private investigator’s office in every film or TV show ever made about private investigators. Its shopfront was a faded green, tucked between two large, corporate, glassy buildings in London’s Square … Continue reading The Balanced Scales Agency by Francesca Burke
I wrote this little vignette as a response to a challenge my friend Tatchiana Michaela put on her Instagram. Essie didn’t love boats, but she had told herself she wouldn’t love hot-sun holidays either, so she knew she should give … Continue reading Day Trip by Francesca Burke
This was inspired by Lauv’s song, Modern Loneliness, and by a lot of things I’ve been thinking about lately. The Post Office Neville ‘Are you waiting to post an item or buy stamps?’ The girl at the post office was … Continue reading Modern Loneliness by Francesca Burke
This is a commission for my friend Robyn. Her prompt: What is the least convenient personal habit for a detective? Write about that detective. Quigley Thompson had only been Junior Security Guard at Meadowlark Conservation Park and Society for three … Continue reading The Thief in the Night by Francesca Burke
You don’t need to have read or finished The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes to read and enjoy this, although it probably helps. They all turned out for her coronation. Every lord, lady and peasant. … Continue reading The Queen of Stormhaven (a Three Kingdoms story) by Francesca Burke
This is a commission for my patron Sarah, who sent me this prompt: ‘So you’re saying that you want me, a villain, to help you catch another villain? That makes no sense.’ Two colleagues met in the second-worst greasy spoon … Continue reading Fraternising with the Enemy by Francesca Burke
This was originally written in 2012, for The Story Shack, where it was illustrated by Sherri Oliver. I never normally look back at work that’s more than a couple of years old because it makes me cringe hugely, but friends … Continue reading Nail Varnish (2012)
Originally published in Trawler magazine, November 2016. As long as Cicely had lived in her village, which was as long as she could remember, she loved to count trees as their leaves turned each autumn. She liked to compare trees … Continue reading Community Spirit (as seen in Trawler magazine)
