Category: Saving Grace

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Ann's War Mini Mystery Sam Smith Mystery Series Saving Grace

Mini Mystery #3 – Piltdown Man

In September 1912 Charles Dawson, a respected country lawyer, made a shocking discovery. He found a prehistoric humanoid skull in a gravel pit near Piltdown Common, Sussex. The skull proved Charles Darwin’s 1859 Theory of Evolution. Or did it?

Dr Arthur Smith Woodward of the British Museum joined Charles Dawson on his archaeological dig. Together, they found fossilized bone fragments, flint tools and fossilized teeth. Experts were called in and they confirmed that Piltdown Man was half a million years old and the missing link between ape and man, a fact they announced to the British public on 18th December 1912.

However, in November 1953 a group of palaeontologists tested the skull and pronounced it a fake. The skull was indeed human, but the teeth and jawbone came from an orang-utan.

Arthur_Conan_Doyle_by_George_Wylie_Hutchinson 1894

Who perpetrated the hoax? The prime suspect is Charles Dawson, a man ambitious to prove his credentials as a geologist. But what of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (pictured), a man interested in science, a neighbour of Dawson’s and the creator of Sherlock Holmes? Did Conan Doyle perpetrate the hoax and thus create a real-life mystery?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Saving Grace

A Hero

Daniel Morgan, my advocate in Saving Grace, was influenced by Sir William Garrow (13th April 1760 – 24th September 1840). Garrow was a barrister, politician and judge who radically reformed the judical system. Indeed, his reforms ushered in the adversarial court system used in most common law nations today. He introduced the phrase “presumed innocent until proven guilty”, and insisted that defendants’ accusers and their evidence should be thoroughly tested in court.

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Sir William Garrow

William Garrow was elected to Parliament in 1805, a phase of his career he did not greatly enjoy. However, while in Parliament he campaigned in favour of more liberal laws and championed legislation that condemned animal cruelty. Later, he spent fifteen years as a judge. He began his career as a prosecutor. On the 14th January 1784, he prosecuted John Henry Aikles for obtaining a bill of exchange under false pretences, a case he won. However, in September 1785 Garrow defended Aikles and secured his release due to ill-health.

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The Old Bailey

In the late 1700s and early 1800s many, often trivial, crimes carried the death penalty therefore William Garrow sought to limit the punishment for his convicted clients. In 1784 two women were arrested for stealing fans worth 15 shillings, a crime that led to the death penalty. Garrow defended the women and convinced the jury to convict them of stealing 4 shillings worth of fans instead, thus reducing their sentences to twelve months hard labour.

During this era the sugar planters of the West Indies held large amounts of power in Parliament. This power allowed them to maintain a monopoly on the marketing of sugar, which in turn led to great profits. These profits were cultivated through the use of slave labour, a practice William Garrow abhored. When presented with the opportunity of managing the sugar planters legal and political business, he replied, “If your committee would give me their whole incomes, and all their estates, I would not be seen as the advocate of practices which I abhor, and a system which I detest.”

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Sarah Dore

William Garrow led an unconventional private life. He had a relationship with Sarah Dore, wife of Arthur Hill, Viscount Fairford. Sarah clearly loved Garrow and despite the social pressures of the time she left the Viscount. Her relationship with Garrow produced two children, David William Garrow, born on the 15th April 1781, and Eliza Sophia Garrow, born on the 18th June 1784. William and Sarah finally married on the 17th March 1793.

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Ann's War Books and Background Sam Smith Mystery Series Saving Grace

Books and Background #5

FACEBOOK HEADER SAM AND ANN

This month, Sam’s Song reached number one on the Amazon.com private investigators chart for the sixth time and number one in Australia 😃

I’m delighted to say that Suzan Lynn Lorraine, an actress, radio performer and theatre producer, has agreed to narrate my audio books throughout 2018. Suzan has narrated eight of my audio books to date and we start our ambitious 2018 programme with Smoke and Mirrors, Sam Smith Mystery Series book nine, Ann’s War Betrayal, Ann’s War Invasion and Saving Grace. Saving Grace will be published, simultaneously, in three formats – paperback, eBook and audio book. Watch this space 😃

FAMILY HONOUR AUDIO BOOK

And many thanks to Mat Hardwicke, editor of the Seaside News. Mat has kindly agreed to feature my mini mystery series in his popular magazine. This means a 200 word mini mystery will appear in the Seaside News every month 😃

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This is William Garrow, a champion of the underdog, a defender of the oppressed and one of the inspirations for Daniel Morgan, my advocate in Saving Grace. Incidentally, the eBook version of Saving Grace has now been listed on iBooks

Colossus

My Ann’s War Mystery Series is set in 1944-5. That era saw the development of the Colossus computer. Colossus was developed by British codebreakers to help cryptanalysts to crack codes and cyphers. Today, the machine is widely regarded as the world’s first programmable, digital computer.

Pictured, a Colossus Mark 2 computer being operated by Wrens Dorothy Du Boisson (left) and Elsie Booker.

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Pictured, the printing presses at Imprint Digital. A Parcel of Rogues, Sam Smith Mystery Series book thirteen, is with Imprint Digital now. When printed, the paperback version of the book will join the eBook version on sale from all major outlets 😃

 

 

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Ann's War Books and Background Sam Smith Mystery Series Saving Grace

Books and Background #2

FACEBOOK HEADER SAM AND ANN

A Parcel of Rogues, Sam Smith Mystery Series book thirteen, was published on 1st January. You can read full details about the book here

The River Wye plays a crucial role in A Parcel of Rogues. This painting of the River Wye was created by Thomas Jones, 1742 – 1803, a highly respected Welsh landscape painter. He was the son of Thomas Jones and Hannah 😃

Landscape_with_View_on_the_River_Wye_by_Thomas_Jones

The writing of Saving Grace, my forthcoming Victorian novel, has reached the courtroom stage of the story. This is a scene from the Balham Inquest, the true story my novel is based on. As you can see, the courtroom is crowded. Indeed, interest in the case was so great that people were bribing police officers to get in.

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Saving Grace and Professor Vernon Pennington gives evidence on the first day of the inquest into the poisoning of banker Charles Petrie. This is an amazing chapter to write because it contains a dramatic incident that goes beyond the realms of fiction, yet it is true. For an author, true satisfaction comes from a successful writing session 😃

Victorian Gull

This morning, while writing my 1944-5 mini-series, I had an idea to take a character forward ten years into the mid-1950s. The story would be a mystery, influenced by classics such as Tiger Bay.

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Sam’s Song began the year in the top ten of the private investigator’s chart and, I’m pleased to say, the book ends the year in the top ten of that chart, with five #1 positions in between. Many thanks to everyone who made this possible.

 

 

Categories
Ann's War Books and Background Sam Smith Mystery Series Saving Grace

Books and Background #1

FACEBOOK HEADER SAM AND ANN

While researching my forthcoming Victorian novel, Saving Grace, I discovered this Christmas card, which dates from the 1870s. It is so beautiful I felt that I should share it with you.

Greeting_Card_Christmas_Victorian_1870

Saving Grace is set in 1876, the year Mata Hari, the famous spy and exotic dancer, was born. Other notable events that year included the premiere of the stage production of the verse-play Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen with incidental music by Edvard Grieg, Elisha Gray (pictured) and Alexander Graham Bell’s application for a patent for the telephone while Wyatt Earp (also pictured) started work in Dodge City, Kansas, serving under Marshal Larry Deger.

The inquest into the poisoning of Charles Petrie, the centrepiece of my forthcoming novel Saving Grace, takes place at the Seabank Hotel, Porthcawl. The Seabank began life in 1860 and was redeveloped ten years later. The building is still in use as a hotel, though much changed from this Victorian photograph.

Seabank_Hotel_1900

I am a big fan of 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s movies and for Christmas this year I received a number of DVDs from those decades, including this classic

And a reminder that Betrayal, story number one in my 1944-5 mini-series is currently available free