Rayner G Peal’s debut novel, the first in a series of stories featuring young heroine, Tallulah Jewel, is now available on Amazon @ £7.99

Entitled AFTER MIDNIGHT its genre classification of romance, mystery and suspense belies the underlying raison d’etre for this exciting, pacey tale which leaves the reader intrigued at its conclusion and wishing for more.

Described by one review reader as a ‘real cliff-hanger’, its story focuses on a spate of burglaries in a sleepy rural English village. The unfortunate and untimely death of an elderly friend of the heroine is the direct result of one of them. There are scams galore in this cautionary tale and much inscrutable behaviour on the part of the two protagonists.

“Ever since the death of an elderly aunt, which undoubtedly came about as a result of two burglaries within two weeks, I have wanted to alert people to be more vigilant and encourage them to look out for each other, particularly the elderly amongst us. We live in a world full of wonderful people but among them there are a few ‘unscrupulous’ ones and they need to be identified and brought to book.” Says Peal, 70. “Whilst doing so I have also alluded to other ‘dirty dealings’ that are also targeted at the elderly and vulnerable in our society. Although this is a work of fiction there are ‘grains of truth’ within its pages and, of course, plenty of imagination.”

Peal went on to say: “My heroine is a person who is neighbourly and caring but also vulnerable in her own way. She is someone who aspires to ‘righting wrongs’ and has a proper sense of community which is often lacking in our modern, technological world. Old fashioned, maybe, but we could all do well to take note and be aware of what may be lurking in the shadows.”