Books

ASHES ON THE TONGUE, THE STAIN OF SILENCE and BURDEN OF FREEDOM
In 1950s Northern Ireland, two families are connected by a history steeped in secrecy, violence and betrayal.Ruby and Victor Crozier are Protestants, with one daughter, Fen, still at home. When Victor forces Fen out of school and into work in a linen mill, she begins to learn about the darkness in her family’s history.
Rose and Dermot Quinn are Roman Catholics and parents of fifteen children. Their eldest son, John Joe, has just come home from England where he works and sends home much needed money.
When Fen and John Joe unwittingly witness an atrocity, they are drawn into a web of danger emanating not only from within their own homes but also from the violent campaign for a unified Ireland. In fear of reprisals, they each make decisions which will have far-reaching consequences and change their young lives forever.

THE LIVES AND DEATHS OF MAX de PAULEY
Max de Pauley is dead, seventeen days shy of his eightieth birthday. He is survived by his lifelong partner, Martha Sunday, also nearly eighty. They were bound together, not by a mutual love and compassion, but by events of nearly sixty years ago which meant they could never leave one another. Now, all Martha wants to do is have him buried, along with his guilty secret. But there’s a problem.
Charlie Fox is dead, floating face-up in Max’s water-filled grave. Just a few short days ago, he’d been on top of the world, believing all his dreams were about to be fulfilled and he’d finally be somebody. No longer merely Pandora Fox, a drag queen eking out an existence in a sleazy Bottomless Brunch, but a man of substance, a property owner. But now, here he is in a sodden gown with his Louboutins pointing towards the rain-soaked sky.
The police investigation into Charlie Fox’s death leads to Martha’s door. Forced to think on her feet, she struggles to keep a grip on reality as she weaves a web of lies. Can she hold her nerve or will she crumble in the face of seemingly insurmountable pressure?

CIRCLES OF CONFUSION and FOREVER NIGHT
Jilly Graham knows what it is to be used and abused. She also knows how to get what she wants. Poised to achieve a First Class Honours degree, it seems the world is at her feet and she has buried the memory of what she did to pay for her education.
For three years, Jilly has lived with Rob Knowley, a loveless relationship, but when she begins a project documenting the lives of local sex workers, Rob becomes violent and abusive and her future and past violently collide.
Tina Lloyd has been a sex worker since she was fourteen years old and craves a normal family life, although in her heart she knows she is only one of the women her husband, Noel, controls. Their son, Leon, hates both his parents and is tormented at school because of Tina’s profession.
When Jilly allows a photograph of Tina to be published without Tina’s consent, it sets off a series of violent acts which eventually lead to an horrific murder. In the aftermath, Jilly, Tina and Leon are thrown together as fugitives. Living together in close confinement, none of them trusting the others, this fragile group opens up to one another and brutally honest truths emerge.

ALBERT’S GARDEN: A Binky Earle cosy murder mystery
Binky Earle has lived all her life in Lesser Puddlestone, a quiet village where the local police sergeant is rarely bothered by anything other than loud music or a case of dustbins not being put away quickly enough.
The highlight of her week is the meeting of the Lesser Puddlestone Knitting Circle, of which she is President.
When a body turns up on the village green one Sunday morning, Binky is horrified to learn that the ladies of her knitting circle are under suspicion. She sets out to prove their innocence, accompanied only by the faithful Phoebe-cat.
As she delves deeper into village life, she discovers dark secrets and hidden wrong-doing. No longer knowing if she can trust her ladies or her own conclusions, can Binky solve the murder and exonerate the ladies of the knitting circle?