Published Bestsellers

Another classic British detective fiction by Julius Falconer Fancy a twenty-first-century murder linked to an eighteenth-century parish register? - with a stroll through the byways of ancient Middle Eastern languages, a piece of eighteenth-century silver, a spot of genealogy and trips to France, Italy and Austria thrown in? Then this is the book for you! The discovery of the body of a petty criminal one winter’s night in 2011, in a quiet Yorkshire hamlet, sets in train a series of events which stretches Inspector Walter Moat’s capabilities to the utmost. His wily opponent, as he eventually discovers, is an elusive master-criminal called Lomax, who weaves a devious and ruthless path to achieve his goals. Moat and his sergeant find themselves attempting to nail a crook intent on thwarting the resolve of a friendless waif… Find out more “A triumph of literary wit” …publishedbestsellers.com

Be prepared to laugh, cry, shrink with fear as you listen for those bumps in the night, and fly away into outer space as you travel through the wormholes of your own mind. This collection of twenty-six stories is the second rollercoaster ride which Neal invites you to take with him.  ‘Short Stories Volume Two’ will fill that coffee break or evening by the fire. There’s romance, crime, horror, science fiction, and just a hint of the paranormal among the twenty-six tales which he has spun for you.  …Find out more… visit book page About the author: Neal James has been writing since 2008 when his first novel. ‘A Ticket to Tewkesbury’, was released. Since that time eight more books have followed, and ‘Short Stories Volume Two’ is his tenth work to be published in as many years.  He has appeared in both the national and local press, and has also been a regular at branches of Waterstones and local reading groups and libraries in his home counties of Derbyshire and Nottingham

 Putting pen to paper!  “Unlike other writers including Agatha Christie, I allow the reader the same information as the detective so those reading are given the chance to solve the crime themselves,” he said. He explained that in many of his novels, even he isn’t sure who carried out the crime until more than half way through the story. FIND OUT WHERE IT ALL STARTED... Find out more:  Spring Leaf Books   |  Pneuma Springs Publishing About the Author Julius Falconer completed six enjoyable years of university studies abroad (particularly slow, our Julius) before working as a translator back in the UK. Thinking that he could earn more as a teacher, to fund his lavish life-style, he took a PGCE at Leeds University and duly turned to teaching. He slaved away at the chalk-face for twenty-six long years in both Cornwall and Scotland before retiring to grow cabbages in Yorkshire, where he still lives. His wife of thirty-three years unfortunately died suddenly in 2000.

Genre:  Fiction: Crime Detective Mystery The Percival diamond disappears when twins, William and Elsie Percival, are children. Not too long afterwards, their parents die. They  unearth a trunk in the attic; the contents: the secret to the Percival diamond, and set out to find out what happened to it. Mary, their cousin, whom the siblings have not seen in many years, may be able to unlock the mystery and so a house party is organised in her honour. The party guests that arrive at Oakmere Hall are a mixed bunch. Death also pays a visit, bringing Inspector Thomas and his bumbling sidekick Constable Turner up to the estate to try to unravel the enigma. …Find out more… visit book page Reviews "A jewel of a novel, shimmering with intrigue and suspense." …publishedbestsellers.com "I couldn’t put it down, and I didn't guess the murderer either!" …Francis Gershwin, Office Manager. "Compelling mixture of chills … with threads of humour running

A Review by Neal James Replete with characters common to a host of murder mysteries, the novel presents the reader with a series of unmitigated cads, outrageous bullies, cowering wallflowers and the odd faceless servant to confuse the issue. In a plot which moves around with, at times, bewildering speed, the reader is left wondering which way to turn as the story moves down a series of blind alleys in the search for a killer and his or her motive. Inspector Thomas, much in the image of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, sifts expertly through a catalogue of evidence, hampered by the involvement of his son, but comes to the final conclusion with the boy’s help. Salema Nazzal writes in a style easy to read, and wastes not a single word in drawing you in to her story. The settings and descriptive text are perfect for this style of crime novel, and in a surprise ending left me wondering what it was that I had missed. A highly recommended read. Book Trailer Read book excerp

I enjoyed this book. It kept your interest and was a quick read. The rich owner of the estate ,Watler Sinnet ,where the Folly under the lake was built was a despicable person who treated everyone badly especially his wife Blanche, son Harry and daughter Rose. He threatened to disinherit his son because he wouldn't join him in his business. But the on didn't like his fathers business ethics so refused to join him. Walter had 3 lakes built on his estate with the Folly built under the lake. He invited a bunch of people to spend time at his estate to showoff the Folly. Well Walter ends up being murdered and the cast of characters spending the week there are all suspects in the murder as all of them have plenty of reason to want to see him dead. The Police Inspector interviews all the guests several times and its difficult coming to a conclusion as all seem to be guilty but in the end the crime is solved and the murderer was one of the guests. Well written "wh

Read book excerpt (preview) Download Book Flyer Ebook   |  Kobo  |  Google Play  |  Apple iBook  |  Nook  |  Amazon Kindle UK  |   Amazon Kindle US The Author Having always had a love for English, Salema qualified to teach it as a foreign language and then went abroad to work in Lebanon. She taught adults at a language centre and eventually ended up helping at a school on the site of an orphanage where she met her husband. She wrote about the plight of the orphans and the article was published in the centre-spread of a Christian newspaper.    Salema has been obsessed with whodunits since she was a teenager and was challenged to write her own by her sister Jess. Not knowing where to start she took herself off to college to do a crime writing course with published crime authors Lesley Thomson and Elly Griffiths and hasn’t looked back since. She currently lives in West Sussex where she takes care of her husband, two children and two cats (not necess

The Folly Under the Lake By Salema Nazzal Multi-millionaire, oil speculator Walter Sinnet  is crooked and ruthless. He has swindled the investors in his company to fund his extravagant building projects. Walter has a vast lake and subterranean folly built on his property at Witton Park, where he lives with his wife Blanche and two adult children Harry and Rose. The folly is impressive, people can walk through a passage that goes under the lake and enter the folly to sit and watch the fish swim by. Wishing to show off, Walter welcomes a house party to Witton Park but an angry storm lashes down on the village and traps everyone inside the estate. A guest’s jewellery goes missing and a dead body is found floating in the lake. Inspector Marcus Thomas and his young son, along with bumbling sidekick Constable Turner, arrive at Witton Park to solve the mystery. The vital clues are there for them to detect - if they are up to it! Enjoy the many detours and red herrings,  but keep

In ‘Serendipity’ there is something for everyone. If your taste is humour there are plenty including ‘It’s No Laughing Matter’, ‘Stop! …Don’t Go Any Further’. There are slices of real life in ‘Arthur’, ‘Lanky Franky’, ‘Death of the Hindenburg’ and ‘My Only Sunshine’. There is satire and irreligious ones–written without any malice. In the animal stories ‘The Dog’, ‘The Gulls’ Court’ and ‘The Camel’ the author gives himself full rein and enjoyed exercising anthropomorphism. In short ‘Serendipity’ is the word - take a dip and find your winner. Author John Butler says  “In this miscellany of fifty or more stories runs the gamut from humour, drama, satire, farce and fantasy to contemplative thinking, mystery and the supernatural. Serendipity embraces all the human emotions. Enjoy it! ”  John Butler is a retired head teacher and lecturer, he has spent forty years in education. For many years he has taught creative writing to adult groups. Being an avid reader of short stories, the au

Having now had the pleasure of reading several of the ‘Wickfield’ chronicles, I find the stories just keep getting better and better. What I want to know is, how does the author do it? The writing makes for effortless reading and seems to cover all aspects of human nature. In The Bones of Murder , the police have to delve quite deeply into the seamier side of life, in order to get at the truth of family conflicts, disappearances and possibly murders, which happened decades ago. The bodies of three people; are dug up by the Hothersall’s: new house owners, as they prepare for renovating projects, and the skeletal remains, show distinct signs of murder. This is clearly one for Worcestershire C.I.D’s, finest: Detective Inspector Wickfield and his trusty assistant, Sergeant Spooner. Apart from the fact that this is a baffling cold case, presenting many difficulties, not least that the murderer may be long dead, the reader is let in on a personal conflict, between Inspector Wickfiel

Here is another baffling and highly enjoyable, Inspector Wickfield case. The Worcestershire C.I.D detective again has Sergeant Spooner’s able assistance. However he needs nothing short of a crystal ball to get to the bottom of this strange affair. Fortunately, when he’s tested his brain to its utmost, and run himself ragged into the bargain, with very few positive results, Wickfield is not too proud to talk things over with Beth, his inspirational and long-suffering spouse. He calls her his muse. She is one step removed from the investigation and thus able to zone in on a piece of information he may have treated too lightly or simply overlooked. The story revolves around the apparent suicide of a male teacher in a private girls’ school. It seems the coroner’s verdict of suicide would put an end to speculation. But question marks arise when a local man comes forward with new information to cast disturbing light on the death. Nothing is quite as it seems and involves the detecti

Wreckers and other strange tales By Harry Riley The tales has been created especially for those brief interludes in our busy lives, when time is too short for a long read, and we would like something entertaining and perhaps unusual, but not too demanding, from which to dip in and out, at a moment’s notice. Harry Riley says: “With over thirty tales in this collection I agonised over which of them should be the cover story. However, the bleak solitude of those storm-tossed light-towers, often built off some wild and windswept, rocky coast, has always fascinated me, and so I chose the drama of the sea, with: ‘Wreckers.’"  ... .. Find out more

Scenic Worcestershire appears to have more than its fair share of evildoers and wicked murderers! In this gripping and extremely baffling case for Police Inspector Stan Wickfield, the author pits him against a highly cunning adversary. We have stepped back in time to early 1968, to the sudden, violent death of Fr Wilfred, parish priest of The Sacred Heart Catholic Church. It occurs, just as the church itself is undergoing a disquieting period of change. A lot of preconceived religious practice is being challenged by a wave of new thinking and the detective uncovers several suspects in his quest for the truth of this sudden death: was it murder or suicide? With Sergeant Spooner assisting him, Stan Wickfield (considered to be the best brains on the force) methodically works his way through the lives and possible motives of each of the suspects: often taking two steps backwards for every step gained and thus giving the reader a glimpse of the workings of the Catholic Church and th

An Anthology of Christmas Murders - Terror, Tinsel and Turkey Editor Jeremy Moiser Murder comes in all shapes and sizes. It also comes at inconvenient times. Christmas, for example. Season of goodwill, peace to all men (and women too, of course), homely jollity round the turkey and mince-pies. A time of family reunion and celebration, of good cheer, recollection and renewal. And of unexpected death. Lock the doors. Draw the curtains. Settle down in your armchair and enjoy ten stories by masters of the genre. Georgian England. 1960s and 1980s England. Twenty-first-century Africa, Canada, the USA. Murder by meat-hook, piano-wire, scarf, knife, hammer, golf-club, bullet, syringe …  And naturally all the classic motives: blackmail, revenge, disappointment, greed, anger, a perverted sense of duty ... Murders committed on impulse and murders carefully planned. A catalogue of weakness, hatred and villainy. It’s all here, at your elbow. And there’s more! Humour, intrig

This seemingly unfathomable case tests Worcestershire’s finest: Detective Inspector Stan Wickfield, and his appointed assistant: Sergeant Hewitt, to the limit. Author Julius Falconer takes a back seat and graciously allows the inspector, freedom to tell the story in his own inimitable fashion, (a bit like Conan Doyle letting Sherlock Holmes off the leash.) I must confess, I do enjoy the policeman’s own, man of the people style. With Wickfield, what you see is what you get. He is a no-nonsense, detective who knows how to call a spade a spade. However, I think Julius ought to be aware; there are occasional hints for the reader, that Wickfield could have his own literary aspirations.  In The Longdon Murders, an old couple are found dead in their daughter’s, Worcestershire-village cottage, both slumped over a table and poisoned by a contaminated bottle of wine. Their daughter is nowhere to be seen. Then shortly after, a young man’s body is discovered in a London bed-sit. He’s been

This is a fascinating Inspector Wickfield murder mystery. By this time the Police detective has much more experience under his belt. He is called upon to use his undoubted skills and thus provide the answer to another Worcestershire riddle. His co-partner in this tale is Sergeant Spooner and together they set about the enormous task of bringing the perpetrator/s to justice. This case would be tricky enough, if it wasn’t for the fact that, as their work progresses, it becomes abundantly clear, a recent murder has definite links to a very cold crime, of some twenty years earlier. It seems shocking to me, that amongst the glories of Worcestershire apples and pears, there could be some very odd fruit, lurking under the stairs! However this tale soon gets under your own skin, so to speak, and the book becomes another un-put-down-able, labour of love.

For me, one of the main attractions of the: Who done it ; is to pit my wits against the criminal investigators and attempt to anticipate who the perpetrator is, before they do. Author Julius Falconer allows Police Inspector Stan Wickfield to tell the story in his own way, warts and all, even to the point of interacting directly with the reader, right through the story. I find this very appealing, especially as the inspector is not some soulless, over-promoted wonder-boy, but a conscientious thief-taker who expresses his own self-doubts and is not frightened or ashamed to seek advice from his sergeant. As we proceed through the book, I get the impression we are all in it together, almost as if we were trying to interpret the clues to a complicated crossword puzzle. We understand the policeman’s frustrations, as he encounters each dead end and has to rethink his strategy. Some crime, novelists work on a totally different level, with convoluted sentences and padded chapters, which

"Julius Falconer has managed to create a character, that is so real that the reader can see him in their minds, Falconer has made his characters so realistic it really feels like you are part of the book and involved in solving the mysteries. All of the inspector Wickfield books are intriguing murder mysteries with a fallible detective that doesn’t solve the crime in an afternoon, each one bringing a different mystery to solve. Think Miss Marple or Moorse and your on the right track, although these books are not as light as the TV programs, they are not like modern day gore. Each book gives the reader a job to do and clues along the way. These are excellent novels that are not in sequence and can be read in any order. Each book set in another area means that the reader doesn’t get bored with so many mysteries in one place and with an realistic-ness that ensures Inspector does not cover the same mysteries." The Author : Julius Falconer, scion of an ancient (but unfortu

Day of the Phoenix By Neal James Steve Marshall was ready. This time there would be no mistakes – no-one to derail the plan, and no-one to step outside his ideas for the perfect Britain. Anyone standing in the way of progress would be brutally mown down. Infiltrating the British Democratic Party was the ultimate solution to the establishment of a Fascist state – a state controlled by him and him alone. Marshall had toiled hard and long at the plan since the debacle of 1992. The Organisation had come within a whisker of success, and but for some strokes of outrageous fortune, MI5 and its head, the imperious George Watkinson, would have been all but consigned to history. This time it would be different. Neal James takes this sequel to ‘A Ticket to Tewkesbury’ into a frighteningly possible future… Find out more

Entitled 'The Wichenford Court Murder,' the story is written in the classic tradition of British detective fiction. As the story unfold, the novel's narrator shares with the reader all the information available to the investigating detectives. Readers can race against the detectives to figure out 'whodunit.' "My novels are mostly set in the county of Worchester, which provides just the sort of rural environment suitable for intellectual games in the mould of the classics of British crime fiction: country houses, quaint villages, gentle hills, calm rivers,  tranquil country lanes, views across farm-speckled valleys, and plentiful woodland ringing with the sound of bird-song. In a way my novels attempt to capture a more gracious age than our own, when the countryside was inhabited by farm-workers, when the roads were not so noisy and before the age of mass entertainment," said Julius Falconer.