Notes from the Stage Manager's Box (15 page)

The National Westminster Theatre Club gave me so many happy memories. I don’t think I would have left the Bank if not for my tim
e with them. But I learned a lot
about myself and what made me happy and that knowledge is priceless.

####

If you enjoyed this book you may like to read my novels and other published works also available as eBooks.

The first in the Fordhamton trilogy is A
Little Local Affair,
a murder mystery set in Fordhamton, a small English town.
When
local businessman and Town Councillor
Alan Price
is killed in suspicious circumstances cockney Detective Inspector Steve Harley and the humourless Detective Constable Miles Davis find that the victim was universally disliked in the town.
Vandals continue to target
the victim
’
s home and
other
business associates culminating in an arson attack on his factory
. A
n unidentified body
is
found in the remains. Harley and D
avis have to dig beneath the
business, political and sexual intrigues in the town to
untangle those who wanted the victim dead and those that needed him alive, before unmasking the most unlikely suspect

Read
A Little Local Affair
(
US
) or
A Little Local Affair
(
UK
)

The second part of the Fordhamton Trilogy is a black comedy set in a small English town. When Councillors Val Masters and Peter Noone are asked to carry out the final request of the recently deceased Arthur Brown they have no idea that it could lead to their affair being exposed. The secret sex life of the late senior citizen threatens to embarrass not just the political representatives but ruin the public image of an ethically run Bank and Investment company. Acting Detective Inspector Miles Davis is recalled to the town to prevent any further disclosures. His progress is hindered when he is ordered to find one of the Bank’s management trainees who has gone missing on an initiative test and possibly the carrier of a very nasty virus. As interested parties converge on Fordhamton the solution to all their problems comes from a most unlikely source.

Read
Return to Fordhamton
(US) or
Return to Fordhamton
(
UK
)

I the final part of the Fordhamton trilogy
the stand in for the school’s staff production of The Real Inspector Hound is found murdered during the dress rehearsal it is not the kind of publicity the Mayor was seeking. The victim is discovered to be an American Intelligence Officer
and Detective Inspector Miles Davis is sent back to Fordhamton to investigate. Old friends leave and new conflicts emerge. The private lives of the teachers and some of the business people soon give a lie to the town’s award as the third
Most
Boring
Town
in
Britain
.
Davis
continues to dig beneath the respectable exterior of the main participants in the first Fordhamton Arts Festival. When the teacher playing Inspector Hound meets an unfortunate accident
Davis
decides that the best way of uncovering the murderer is to play the title role himself.

Read
The Last Resort
(
US
) or
The Last Resort
(
UK
)

When a man is found dead on a piece of waste land the investigation by police and a local reporter uncover the involvement of aliens and council corruption. Those involved are the subject of a visit by a strange man in black who gives no clue as to his identity or on whose behalf he is working.

Read
The Man in Black
(
US
) or
The Man in Black
(
UK
)

If you enjoy mysteries then the publication of an article in the Hertfordshire Mercury in 2004 may interest you. It was disclosed that a secret labyrinth of tunnels existed beneath the county town of Hertford. In the chambers beneath the town modern day descendants of the Knights Templar still meet and they could hold the secret of the last resting place of the Holy Grail.

Read
The tunnels of Hertford
(
US
) or
The tunnels of Hertford
(
UK
)

I have been writing professionally since 1996 and much of my published work including four
London
walks
and the articles mentioned above
can be found in a recently published anthology.

Read
An Echo from the Green Hills
(
US
) or
An Echo from the Green Hills
(
UK
)
.

I have also published a book containing over 750 insults, some of them well known, many never published before.

Read
Insults, Old, New, Borrowed, Blue
(US) or
Insults:
Old, new, borrowed, blue
(
UK
)
.

If you are interested in quotes then a book devoted entirely to sport may interest you covering quotes from sportsmen and women, press, and spectators.

Read
Quote Sport Unquote
(US) or
Quote Sport Unquote
(
UK
)

Much of my work owes its inspiration from my collection of scrapbooks covering the 1980’s. I have drawn on this collection to present a quiz book suitable for pubs and clubs drawing on unusual but true news items from the 1980’s with multiple choice answers.

See
The 1980’s Quiz Book
(US) or
The 1980’s Quiz Book
(
UK
)

For more about me: see
my author page
at Amazon

You can read
my published articles
and other works
at my web page:
http://www.johnbarber.com