Harry Banner P.I. Series - British Noir
What became of The Rainhall Five?
It’s the 1930s.
When Robert York returns to Southbury after disappearing for nearly thirty years, it seems the childhood gang known as The Rainhall Five can finally be reunited and the mystery solved as to where York has been for all those years.
Before York can provide any answers, he is found dead after supposedly taking his own life. William Hamlin doubts the verdict of suicide and hires the town’s most infamous PI, Harry Banner, to investigate.
As Harry delves into York’s recent past in the nearby town of Downbridge, he uncovers a world of crime and corruption.
Just who is the real Robert York and does the reason for his death lie closer to home?
It’s the 1930s.
When Robert York returns to Southbury after disappearing for nearly thirty years, it seems the childhood gang known as The Rainhall Five can finally be reunited and the mystery solved as to where York has been for all those years.
Before York can provide any answers, he is found dead after supposedly taking his own life. William Hamlin doubts the verdict of suicide and hires the town’s most infamous PI, Harry Banner, to investigate.
As Harry delves into York’s recent past in the nearby town of Downbridge, he uncovers a world of crime and corruption.
Just who is the real Robert York and does the reason for his death lie closer to home?
The Christmas Card Killer
A serial killer who has begun apparently killing innocent victims at random during the festive season. A nurse. A teacher. A market stall holder. All have no obvious connection, but the killer has chosen to leave something behind at each murder scene…A Christmas Card
The local Police are making no progress at all.
In desperation Southbury’s Mayor employs the services of the town’s most infamous PI, Harry Banner.
Harry is assigned to work with Police Constable Kane and they are immediately on the killer’s trail.
A case that could either enhance Harry’s reputation and save Christmas…or be the breaking of him.
A serial killer who has begun apparently killing innocent victims at random during the festive season. A nurse. A teacher. A market stall holder. All have no obvious connection, but the killer has chosen to leave something behind at each murder scene…A Christmas Card
The local Police are making no progress at all.
In desperation Southbury’s Mayor employs the services of the town’s most infamous PI, Harry Banner.
Harry is assigned to work with Police Constable Kane and they are immediately on the killer’s trail.
A case that could either enhance Harry’s reputation and save Christmas…or be the breaking of him.
Notice To Die
Move aside Sam Spade…take a break Philip Marlowe…give it a rest Mike Hammer.
There’s a new Private Eye in town and he’s British…step forward Harry Banner, the most famous P.I. in 1930s Southbury, England.
Harry Banner is hired by the alluring Emma Brightwell to solve the murder of her husband, Ned; a local entrepreneur with connections to The Firm. The thing is...Ned is still very much alive, but he's been given a notice to die. Banner has 48 hours to find the would-be killer and from a long list of suspects. His quarry always seems to be one step ahead of the game as Banner finds himself both hunter and hunted.
Move aside Sam Spade…take a break Philip Marlowe…give it a rest Mike Hammer.
There’s a new Private Eye in town and he’s British…step forward Harry Banner, the most famous P.I. in 1930s Southbury, England.
Harry Banner is hired by the alluring Emma Brightwell to solve the murder of her husband, Ned; a local entrepreneur with connections to The Firm. The thing is...Ned is still very much alive, but he's been given a notice to die. Banner has 48 hours to find the would-be killer and from a long list of suspects. His quarry always seems to be one step ahead of the game as Banner finds himself both hunter and hunted.
When human remains are found on a building site there is sufficient evidence to determine that the deceased was murdered and that the victim’s name was Graham Farmer, who had been reported missing some twenty years before. Graham’s father, Edward, hires Southbury’s most infamous PI, Harry Banner, to find out what happened to his son. Harry had been having a lean time of it with just the odd cheap mundane case to work on. He had even been playing his beloved Lafayette trumpet in the band at The Blue Bay to earn some extra cash. He took the case despite a cold trail and only tentative leads….. but it would seem that someone was still prepared to go to great lengths to hide the truth.
Southbury PI Harry Banner is working for the notorious northern gangster Flat Cap Coleman. The ruthless Flat Cap is in town to find out why a pocket watch that belonged to his late brother, Stan, has turned up in a local pawn shop. Stan was shot by a firing squad at Ypres during the war and Flat Cap wants to find out why he was executed...and who gave the order.
Harry’s got his work cut out to get to the truth, especially as the local mob are taking more than a keen interest in where the investigation might be leading. In fact, wherever Harry goes, trouble seems to follow. What starts out as a tenuous trail leads to a world of closed military ranks and unpunished war crimes. Can there be justice?
Harry’s got his work cut out to get to the truth, especially as the local mob are taking more than a keen interest in where the investigation might be leading. In fact, wherever Harry goes, trouble seems to follow. What starts out as a tenuous trail leads to a world of closed military ranks and unpunished war crimes. Can there be justice?
When her brother, Enzo, goes missing from the family home in Naples, Maria Donatella turns to the only man she can trust to find him….Southbury PI Harry Banner
Maria is convinced that Enzo is still alive but as days turn into weeks she knows that hope will fade quickly if the trail goes cold.
Harry takes on the case but Maria is not his only travel companion.. her boyfriend, and local mobster, Maxwell Gray (AKA Smooth) is along for the ride with one of his knucklehead goons in tow.
After a far from uneventful voyage to Italy, Harry moves quickly to uncover the truth behind Enzo’s disappearance and finds a link to the past in a family bereavement still to be avenged
Maria is convinced that Enzo is still alive but as days turn into weeks she knows that hope will fade quickly if the trail goes cold.
Harry takes on the case but Maria is not his only travel companion.. her boyfriend, and local mobster, Maxwell Gray (AKA Smooth) is along for the ride with one of his knucklehead goons in tow.
After a far from uneventful voyage to Italy, Harry moves quickly to uncover the truth behind Enzo’s disappearance and finds a link to the past in a family bereavement still to be avenged
The Spire Chronicle - Historical Fiction
The Spire Chronicle
After 150 years, one man's story can finally be told...... Summer 1861 in Salisbury, England; Writing under the alias of Ralph Chatterforth, a narrator presents his story as a journey from innocent childhood through the key milestones that shaped his wretched character to ultimately confess the sins for which he undoubtedly suffered until his dying day. The Spire Chronicle is the tale of a man haunted by his recent past as he tries to make sense of a scandalous life. A melancholic and emotional reflection brought to life through the original Victorian prose. At times humorous, but in essence an honest confession of a seemingly immoral lifetime.
Jodie & Lilly Series - Children's Books
The Fake Mansion
Jodie is eight years old and resigned to going on a tour of a boring old mansion during her summer holiday. The last thing she expected was to leave with a new, and very unusual, best friend - a Victorian Ghost called Lilly. In The Fake Mansion - Jodie meets Lilly for the first time and the pair devise a plan to expose the true identity of the pompous Lord and Lady Croftfield In The Bully -- Meryl Mangle's days of menacing her classmates are soon at an end when Lilly teaches her a lesson she will never forget. In The School Trip -- A daytrip to Carstairs Abbey turns into an enthralling adventure as Jodie and Lilly foil a robbery and solve the old mystery of Devious Dave's hidden treasure.
The Joy Of Christmas
Eight Year old Jodie is about to enjoy the most eventful Christmas ever thanks in no small part to her best friend Lilly, who just happens to be a Victorian ghost that nobody else can see. Dorothy Patchett is the kind old lady who lives at the end of Jodie's road and Christmas is always truly wonderful whenever she is around. With a little help from Jodie and Lilly, can Dorothy really make Pigtail Paula's Christmas wish come true? Then again...surely it will take a Christmas miracle to find any joy in the cold heart of old Edward Scurge, the short-tempered and very grumpy resident of Musty Retirement Home?
The Sleepover
Eight year old Jodie is back for more fun and mayhem with her best friend Lilly, who just happens to be a Victorian ghost that nobody else can see. In The Sleepover – Jodie hosts a sleepover for her best friends but thanks to Lilly and a mischievous bear cub called Frank, everyone is in for a very eventful night. In The Softeez –Someone has stolen the songsheets for The Softeez’ new album. Can Jodie & Lilly solve the case and save the day for their favourite boyband? In The Day At The Beach – On a hot sunny day, Jodie looks forward to relaxing at the seaside but a visit to the pier with Lilly uncovers some very strange events at the Amusement Arcades.
The Talent Show
In The Talent Show.....Jodie is left without a partner for the School Talent Show when Pigtail Paula catches chickenpox.That is until Lilly suggests a rather unusual replacement
In The Practical Joke.....There are pranks galore at Jodie’s school with the arrival of the Trick Twins. It was bad enough having to put up with dad’s silly jokes. Time for Jodie and Lilly to turn the tables on them all.
In The Unusual Thief.....It is the end of term and, as it is such a beautiful day, Jodie’s class spend the day outside for a curious art lesson. There is a prize for the best work but it seems a thief is at large and spoiling Jodie’s fun.
It's Cold Outside - Christmas
It's Cold Outside
Christmas 2003 is approaching fast but festive thoughts are at least put on hold with the distraction of the Rugby World Cup as England is gripped by sporting fever. As the cheers of the victory homecoming parade begin to diminish, for one group of Brits there is the chance to rekindle their seasonal spirit when given the chance to visit a modern Christmas idyll. The prestigious Snow Lodge in Lapland plays host to a very diverse party - two amateur radio DJ's, a fading rock star and his faithful hippy roadie, an easy going marketing manager and his fiery senior executive girlfriend plus a sharp tongued lonely pensioner and his Santa suit. Spurred on by a suave entrepeneur, and with a bubbly entertainment manager in tow, the unlikely group undertake the trip of a lifetime - a very unique snow trek. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, the group have no choice but to work together to survive for it is time for them to learn who they really are. Christmas will never be the same again.
Full Story Inside - Thriller
Full Story Inside
Local journalist Alex Hart seizes on the chance to report on an event beyond the usual mundane regional offerings of village fetes and community life: a man’s dead body has been found floating in the river. The key to his death is contained within a file on a secreted computer disk. Hart becomes a fugitive and teams up with national journalist Jane Coker as they try to decipher the contents of the disk. What they find is a trail that leads to Mary Queen Of Scots and the realisation that sinister media magnate Arturo Tabb and his best selling newspaper’s next world exclusive delves into history to challenge the fabric of modern English society.If Hart and Coker can stay alive and provide the truth, an explosive historical chapter will not be re-written….Full Story Inside.
You Are Here - LadLit
You Are Here
You Are Here' explores the lives of Gavin, Dave, Phil and Tony four thirty somethings who feel they might be over the hill and may never meet the women of their dreams. They are about to embark on yet another holiday religiously known as 'The Campaign'. They all have only one thing in mind: girls, and lots of them. Slightly risque with plenty of humour and fun, encompassing many incidents with the opposite sex, which most males, and some females, no doubt, could relate to! Most definitely a funny and entertaining read with a nice little twist at the end.