The Lodgers

Lynsey Logan, a London-based novelist, usually keeps the plots of her novels a secret. One evening, her best friend, Emma Carmichael, comes to discuss her list of characters, who Lynsey finds most unpleasant. The worst character is a Broadway ‘hoofer’, a song and dance queen called Lynda Lombardi who is appearing in a Broadway show called ‘Bitches on Broadway’. She has a daughter called Isabel, and a highly objectionable grandson called Peter, whose chief desire is to murder his grandmother, so he, his mum and dad could inherit her house in Beverly Hills.

Lynsey is horrified to wake up the next morning to discover that all her characters have moved into her apartment in Belsize Park and declare they have come to lodge with her. Like a good hostess, Lynsey takes Isabel and Peter to the Tower of London and arranges for Lynda to tour the National Theatre in London. She also arranges for her friend, Emma, to come and meet them all one evening; Lynsey and Lynda cook up a big chilli, and after a heavy meal and too much red wine, Emma decides to stay the night.

Much to Lynsey’s horror, they wake up in New York, in an apartment that Lynda has rented in New York, minus clothes or papers. Emma insists on seeing the sights of New York, and she and Lynsey visit the Tenement Museum in downtown New York where they visit the famous Katz Deli. After seeing Lynda in her ‘Bitches on Broadway’ show, they get arrested for being mixed up in a #MeToo demonstration outside the theatre. Lynda is now keen for them to return to London. Lynda’s agent arranges for Emma and Lynsey to return to Southampton on a Cunard Liner returning after an onboard literary festival if Lynsey teaches some creative writing courses during the return cruise. He also arranges for Lynsey’s neighbour to use her key safe to extract her passport from her apartment and do the same in Emma’s apartment. This works and the three of them return by taxi to London. Lynsey happily packs up all the clothes she has borrowed to post back to New York, then goes to bed exhausted. She is awoken the next morning by the sound of somebody moving around her apartment, is it all happening again?

The Lonely Man

The action begins with a safe blowing at a large publishing house.

Conspiracy and murder scenes are just as compelling, along with intelligence and mastermind criminals.

All the characters race against time and are determined not to be murdered, delivering all the storytelling twists that readers will want more of.

The Long Shadow

The pandemic is over. Humanity is saved. The misery is over. Or is it?

From the wreckage of the old world, a new order has arisen. On the banks of the Borava River, a city stands divided between two oppressive civilisations engaged in an endless struggle with one another. Under the callous rule of their power-hungry overlords, the people long for liberation yet can find no cause for hope or redemption.

Amidst the contradictions and hypocrisies of this decaying world however, a string of unexplained murders ignites a spark of renewed enthusiasm as an investigation unfolds in a desperate search for answers to the murderous mystery.

It is an endeavour which will lead straight to the grim and uncomfortable truth lying at the very heart of this post-pandemic civilisation, a truth which is better left unknown...

The Long Shot

High stakes gambling, murder and cricket. An unlikely mix? Perhaps in the genteel days of games on the village green, but not so now. The introduction of sports betting has changed the game for players and fans alike. 

Millions change hands with every match. As the financial incentive grows, so too does the temptation to cheat. 

Perhaps even to commit murder?

A brilliant young South African batsman, Winston Olonga, is assassinated in a Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Enter Lucas Fox, commentator and private eye, who witnesses the killing and sets out to find the culprit.

The Long Wave

The Long Wave

This little book of poems will bring you love and comfort, reassurance and hope.
It will lighten your saddest moments and enhance those happiest memories.
Surely, some of these poems will make you smile at life’s sillier moments.

The Lost Man and Other Tales

When our two children were small, we lived on a small farm near Exeter. The farmyard was immediately outside the house which meant I could spend a little time with our two sons at their teatime and go indoors again when they were bathed and put to bed. My wife would read to them, and then I would. As they got older, I would tell them stories too, often involving input from them too. Hence, the idea of creating stories as well as just reading other people’s writing.

A few years later, I felt the need for the extra income, so I did a one-year teacher training course at St. Luke’s College and took a part-time job at our local secondary school, teaching slow readers. A colleague there, a teacher of English, heard of my occasional scribblings and asked for some short stories for her to use in class. This worked surprisingly well.

For a number of reasons, we sold the farm in 1978 and moved to a house with a three-acre paddock near Kingsbridge. I became a full-time teacher with multiple handicapped teenagers. Not much time for writing. Also, in later years, when we were gardening beside the River Dart a few miles downriver from Totnes, there was no time for writing.

However, when we sold our smallholding and retired to Totnes in 2000, I took up writing again and got down to it more seriously. This book is the result of my scribbles over the last 20 years.

The Lotus Petals

Is our fate predetermined or can we carve our own path in life? Fariba, the protagonist of this captivating novel, lives a carefree life, blissfully unaware of the changes happening around her and the impact of her own actions on the world.

But when a small event alters the course of her life, Fariba is forced to confront the idea that perhaps our destinies are not set in stone. As she navigates the unpredictable twists and turns of fate, she begins to question the very nature of existence and the role of free will in shaping our lives.

The Luggage Lifter

Meet Harold, a young man who occupies a room in a bleak tenement in the edgy Blitz-damaged East End. Harold’s good humour and air of optimism belie the unfortunate circumstances which blighted his childhood, left him orphaned and shaped his view of the world. An intelligent, resourceful and amiable character, operating around the London hotels and railway stations, he turns luggage lifting into an art form. When he discovers a stash of letters in a leather steamer, an act of kindness sets off a chain of events which gathers its own momentum and leads to romance. But the escalation in his criminal activities, together with the finding of a large haul of used banknotes can only spell trouble. The attention of the police and the menace of the Moretti brothers, who claim the money, coincide, and arrest seems a safer outcome for Harold. He survives a prison term but soon learns that shaking off his unresolved past is more difficult, especially when trying to do the right thing leads to complications in his love life. Just when a sense of well-being beckons, matters spiral out of control and push Harold to the brink…

The Man who Cleaned Gravestones

Why would a retired detective be cleaning gravestones? Bob Macinaly had to retire from the job he loved after having been shot by a bank robber. He had taken a holiday in Mallorca trying to get his life back together. By chance, he found himself in a Salvation Army charity shop and purchased a second-hand book. A letter hidden inside changed his life forever. As a police officer he moved from one case to another and very seldom could he follow up on the unseen victims left behind, namely the close families who would suffer forever whilst the convicted murderer would live out life in, some would say, comparative luxury.

From now on this would be different; he would become close to human trafficking and the evil controllers and the crime lords making millions at the cost of human lives.

The Mariverse

“Curiosity is like a bunch of doors waiting to be opened…”

Are you willing to open this door?

When a young girl named V finds herself in a strange place with vague, jumbled-up memories in her head, she will discover a new life outside her own world, but when she finds out that she had died in the past, she wonders and finds out what happened to her as she meets new faces from different worlds. It’s time to explore the worlds beyond worlds.

This book is based on the theory and imagination of Jay Miles, who wanted to show his thoughts and idea to others so they can understand him and how he sees the world and existence itself.

The Mariverse: Guardians

“One step out of the bus is all it takes to change fate.”

Are you willing to step out of the bus? A young boy named Mason lived a terrible life, recovering from a terrible incident that cost him an arm, he travelled by bus back home, fearing for his future and his purpose in life, believing he has nothing. Until he encounters a mysterious figure, who shows him a different path. A new purpose, to defend the balance of good and bad in existence. Mason goes down this path to become a new Typer, a Guardian.

This book is a continuation of The Mariverse, expanding the theory and showing more of how Jay sees existence…

Don’t forget me! The FWM. I have an amazing, meaningful story in this book! And while it has nothing to do with the main story of this book, there is some form of connection, trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

The Matchmaker's Match

Since the messy breakdown of her first (and only) relationship, Alice Attwood has sworn off men – for good. The only love she’s interested in is other people’s, which is why she puts all her time, effort and energy into her exclusive match-making service, ‘The Attachment Agency’. Running her business with clockwork precision, Alice sees herself as independent and successful; someone who can do everything on their own. She needs no one – well, apart from Lyndsey, her long-suffering assistant.
But then Alice’s perfectly constructed world receives an unwelcome blast from the past: suddenly, the one thing keeping her sane, her beloved agency, is under threat. With no time to spare, Alice takes on the challenge to save her business, and, more terrifying still, finds she has to rely on others to do it.
Amidst this confusion, Alice is thrown back into a world she swore she’d never set foot on again: one with the potential for love. Alice has to decide whether the juice is worth the squeeze, or whether going it alone is the only path for her. To get her life back on track and overcome the obstacles in her way, Alice will have to use every skill at her disposal, every favour owed and every trick in the book to rise to the occasion… and who knows, she may even get more than she bargained for in the process.
Will Alice be able to do this? Or has the matchmaker met her match?