In a room above a bizarre German museum, and far from the prying eyes of strangers, lives the Old Man. Caretaker of the museum by day, by night he enjoys the sound of silence, broken by the occasional crunch of a spider between his blackened teeth. Little Hands Clapping brings together the Old Man with the respectable Doctor Ernst Frohlicher, his greedy dog Hans and a cast of grotesque and hilarious townsfolk, all of whose lives are thrown together as the town uncovers a crime so outrageous that it will shock the world. From its sinister opening to its explosive denouement, Little Hands Clapping blends lavishly entertaining storytelling with Rhodes's macabre imagination, entrancing originality and magical touch.

Author Biography

Dan Rhodes was born in 1972. He is the author of Anthropology, Don't Tell Me the Truth About Love, Timoleon Vieta Come Home, Gold and, writing as Danuta de Rhodes, The Little White Car. In 2003 he was named by Granta magazine as one of their twenty Best of Young British Novelists. He lives in Edinburgh.