Soothing Music for Stray Cats

Mark''s best friend, Jim, has just jumped from the twentieth floor. Mark walks out of his own life and heads for London; dreams of songwriting, and the rhythms of better living drumming gently in his mind.

He soon finds himself flat-sitting for a supposed friend from the past, and on grief''s low-battery setting, often cold and underfed, he drifts through a familiar yet sometimes alienating London cityscape.

Using music and literature to help make sense of things, and spurred on by guilt at failing to save his friend, Mark decides to keep a benevolent eye on three young lads he encounters, Joe, Mike and Bono; and these ''Three Musketeers'' challenge perceptions of British "hoodie youth culture" through acts of kindness of their own.

When Mark and the boys finally meet Japanese student, Kazu - nervous, and Samurai obsessed - their worlds are changed forever.

Flooded with warmth and humanity, this debut novel looks at friendship, altruism, songwriting and Samurai philosophy.

"Jayne Joso''s novel skillfully melds the esoteric and the everyday, the surreal and the banal, to create a strangely gripping narrative full of dark humour." — Joe Moran

"An unexpected and moving story about the redemption of misfits and the consolation of strangers." — Natalie Haynes

Visit website here: http://jaynejoso.blogspot.com/