Northern Crime

NORTHERN CRIME - Four Crime Novelettes: 1 - The Revenge of Darian Devlin: Darian Devlin, the most merciless job centre adviser for miles around, is not amused when he leaves work to find that his car has been tampered with. He sets out to ascertain which of his reviled customers might be responsible and on narrowing his list of suspects down to three he hits back with a vengeance, unleashing a spiral of retribution that soon gets out of control. 2 - A Singular Murder - My Grandfather's Secret crime: When young Tom Turnbull's grandfather gives him a large envelope to be opened after his death, he hopes that it might contain money, but what he finds inside is an account of the old man's strange activities back in 1972. Jack Turnbull, a hard-working family man, is threatened with blackmail after the discovery of a brief affair and he considers his options carefully. He can pay up, confess to his wife, or find another way out of his dilemma. In the event, he decides to remove the only obstacle in his path to continued tranquillity, Dennis Black. Jack enjoys fishing and Dennis loves to run on the fells, so Jack sits down to devise a plan to destroy his nemesis somewhere out on the Pennine moorland so dear to them both. As his grandson will later discover, the solution takes the form of a most singular murder. 3 - The Thirteenth Arch: Young Joshua Holland - erstwhile bookseller, budding academic and holdup man - is fresh out of prison and keen to come up with a new field of illicit endeavour. When he hits upon the idea of planning a kidnap he shuns traditional methods in favour of a more mobile approach which will send him scouring the Yorkshire Dales in search of a suitable victim. 4 - PAYDAY: When local tough guy Matt Grimton walked into a Payday Loan shop it wasn't the end of the month he was worrying about. Busy working a scam to get himself away to sunnier climes, when the chance arose to augment his earnings with a foolproof murder in Spain he was quick to seize the opportunity to test his mettle and earn a quick fifty grand into the bargain.