Idle Deceptions (ePub)

It transpires that the dead man has lived a fraught, haphazard and very selfish life, one punctuated at regular intervals by the traumatic fall-out of the many calamities he has visited upon those around him. Friends or foes, wives, casual acquaintances, lovers, workmates and even members of his immediate family have been sucked in and spewed out in his relentless drive for self-gratification. This was a lazy, furtive, duplicitous schemer who would gladly cut any corner to make good with a minimum of applied effort, and very often at someone else's expense.
The extent of his treachery is only revealed after his death. Lehrer begins to piece together a bewildering puzzle of feisty confrontations, destructive charades and an array of amorous relationships and infidelities which ensnared and then damaged so many hapless victims. But could it be that one of them had resolved to exact vengeance? Which of them, if any, had possessed the mettle to balance the books?
Distilling the sorry mess down to a realistic list of culprits is testing enough, without tripping over a decoy which convinces Lehrer's team that they may have solved the crime despite their boss's reluctance to conform.

This is a Murder Mystery in the English traditions of that genre. 'Idle Deceptions' is the first in the 'DCI Lehrer' series. The story takes place mainly in rural Suffolk and London, and is set around 2007. It is chiefly a story of relationships, human frailty and strength of purpose. It touches on gangland heavies in London, and drug consumption and distribution in the big city and out in the sticks. It is not especially 'procedural' in policing terms although some science and technology is applied to reinforce credibility. There are extensive stretches of dialogue and some interesting minor characters who offer diversity and continuity to the story.
The forthcoming Mystery Thriller 'Men on the Hill' is the second in the DCI Lehrer series, and indeed Lehrer carries over a new relationship into that tale from the previous novel.