Returning to a Scottish Borders churchyard, on the winding banks of the River Tweed, and suffering from a queasy stomach – the editor’s golden boy, young reporter Leonard McFadden, staggers and grasps a tombstone for support, and plunges headlong into a strange and deadly mystery that fate has diabolically thrust across his path.
It is 1964, Leonard McFadden - a brash young cockney reporter for a national newspaper is dispatched by his editor to the Scottish Borders, to follow up on the strange case of Doctor James Parker. Along with a party of other journalists he attends a midnight vigil in a rain-sodden churchyard by the River Tweed.
Returning to the graveside in the early morning sunlight, he staggers and leans on a tombstone for support and there stumbles onto a mystery that will change his life forever. Unbeknown to him – the storm clouds of fate are gathering; dark forces, already contriving to play havoc with his future.
An enigmatic churchman asks his name and upon hearing it, remarks how Scotsmen from all over the world, often return to their place of birth, just as salmon return home, to spawn and die. Leonard humorously replies that he is not yet ready to spawn and die, but these and many more questions go tumbling through his brain as he ponders on life’s mysteries. Is he really who he thinks he is? Growing up in wartime Britain and with a surname like McFadden, is it possible he could have Scottish ancestry?
Feeling a chill coming on, and inwardly reflecting that the Scottish Borders, for all its seductive beauty, may well be the death of him, the reporter is unaware that the cold hand of death may be lurking nearby…
Country: United Kingdom River Tweed /Berwick upon Tweed / Scottish Borders Hometown: Nottingham (my favourite get-away-from-it-all place) Occupation: Retired, after lifetime spent working in the commercial printing trade from apprentice to manager/director/representative, consecutively of several international and regional companies. Marital status: peacefully married for over 40 years with grown up son and daughter. Education: Nottingham College of Art (after Sec. Mod) and sales training in UK and abroad Religion: Church of England Military Service: Four years in South Notts Hussars and now lifetime member of Royal Artillery Association Interests and hobbies: I always enjoyed reading and started writing short stories verse, and novels, plus articles on current affairs, on retirement, in order to do something different and challenging. Other interests are gardening, touring Southern Counties, Northumberland and Scottish Borders, and snapshot photography. (Mainly landscapes and National Trust Gardens) Currently a member of Eastwood Writers Group and New Writers UK Favourite Classical Authors: Thomas Hardy, John Buchan, Walter Scott, Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens. Robert Louis Stevenson Favourite Modern Authors: Peter Robinson, Ian Rankin, Simon Beckett, Michael Connelly, Nigel Tranter Favourite books: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence, Montgomery of Alamein (autobiography) Favourite Poets: John Masefield and Rudyard Kipling Published Writings: Murder mystery novel ‘Sins of the Father’ and ‘Captain Damnation’ and other strange tales (anthology of 28 short stories), Villains and a Pig called Monty [...]
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