Criminal Conversation Series

When middle-aged nurse Dora Stuart-Frazer is assigned to provide end-of-life care to ex-prostitute Magdalena, she suffers a failure of sympathy linked to the woman's career and her own marital issues. It's her job—her vocation to care. Trying to overcome her prejudices against her patient and the other members of the all-female household, Dora is drawn into their world. Mags has cancer and it won't be long now. She is an unwilling listener to the sordid life-story that her patient wants to recount in her last few weeks of life. It's her dying wish to get her story out and as such, it's Dora's job to listen. However, every night as her patient's story unfolds, Dora needs more. She is transfixed and a willing listener as she compares the life of the story teller to her own and forces herself to confront her mid-life crisis. In this race against time, Dora has to know it all—but fears Mags won't make it to the end.   Reviews on Goodreads.

LIFE IS ALL WE HAVE ... ONE CONVERSATION AT A TIME. Her mother died when she was a little girl. She has never known her father. Katie is growing up with her adoptive family and is surrounded by a world full of love. However, she is older now and she has questions. You know that thing where you walk into a room and the conversation stops? Or when you ask a question and the subject is changed—Katie knows them all too well. To confront the past—she has to know it. One day a strange man comes to the house. He asks to speak to her. And he has a story to tell. Will he have the answers she needs? "I recommend this novel for its daring to flow against the current. For its unique perspective on what makes somebody a criminal." — Amazon Reviewer   21 reviews on Goodreads.   246 pages approx.

LIFE IS ALL WE HAVE ... ONE CONVERSATION AT A TIME. Police officer Stephanos Stephanidou is given a dead-end posting to a small Greek island. It has an ageing population and all the young people have left. In despair, he considers that his career is over, and possibly his life, too. With nothing to do and no crime to involve himself with, he reads some old files and a cold-case from many years ago sparks his interest. He's walking on the cliffs above the beautiful Mediterranean coast when he meets one of the case's main players. This could be the key to his solving the cold case mystery and reviving his career. As the story unfolds, and the clues have to be found, Stephanidou finds new hope. Time is all he has, but can he solve this old crime before time runs out?   195 pages approx. Reviews on Goodreads.

The Criminal Conversation series consists of six volumes, a saga spanning more than a century—including the prequel material given in Degenerate, Regenerate—and several generations. From the innocent Magdalena's downward spiral through an abusive relationship into a life of crime, through the difficult decisions her daughter Katie has to make, the story moves to the consequences and life-choices of her descendants and those people closely-associated with them. Here the books are combined into one box set, including bonus material of scenes which, for various reasons, didn't make it into the final edition. I hope you enjoy them.   1400+ pages   Reviews on Goodreads

THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES…YET NOBODY WANTS TO TALK It's some years since the deadly events which decided Katie on her life course occurred, and matters seem settled for her and her extended family. Working, eating, sleeping, living and loving, they're content to live a quiet life out of the limelight. Life has other plans for them all, however. Several quirks of fate, along with one desperately-sought answer to a niggling question, ensure that events, and their lives, soon spiral out of control. Solutions are sought, but there are no easy answers, and relationships come under pressure in the quest to do the right thing. The innocence of some is obvious, as is the guilt of others, while elsewhere it's not so clear-cut.   206 pages approx.

THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES…YET NOBODY WANTS TO TALK Time has moved on, and Katie has taken to spending most of her time on the Greek island of her ancestors. Miles—while passing every possible moment there with her—has branched out into the world of motor racing, his fledgling team poised for success, with Greg and Josh behind the wheels and negotiating the twists and turns of their high-speed lifestyle, both on the track and off. In Miles's absence, his business interests continue to flourish in the capable hands of Alec, ice-cold in both her work and her attitude towards her would-be suitor, Siegfried Markham—heir to the family law firm Markham, Markham and Manners, which provides steadfast support to Alec. Love and business vie for attention, in both fast and slow time—with unwelcome attention being paid to both families, without their knowledge. Crime and law make uneasy bedfellows, and tensions abound as all parties seek to come out on top—but there's only so much space up there.   212 pages approx.

THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES ... YET NOBODY WANTS TO TALK It's the end of an era. The passing of a patriarch signals changes in the lives of the Dukakis du Cain family members and friends. Time to move on, time to move out, as far as Alectrona's concerned, to leave behind a place that's finished and start over in a more congenial environment—yet there are a few accounts to be settled first. For Greg too there's a goal achieved and another one to aim for, if only he can find the courage to try for it—because second-best isn't good enough, and failure is not an option. Meanwhile, back in Broken Britain, Sig Markham faces further challenges within his dysfunctional family, as well as the consequences of a life not well-lived. There's music to be faced, but it's out of tune and the lyrics aren't encouraging. The final chapter of the 'Criminal Conversation' series sees the characters looking towards a future shaped by the events of the past. How brave will their new world be?   215 pages approx.