Adrian Kendrick, a graduate in his first job, becomes obsessed with a work colleague, Rosalind, drawn to her partly by her striking appearance and partly by her unworldly character. Rosalind is old-fashioned. Rosalind is naïve. Rosalind, unfortunately, is also married, and her husband, James, a nightclub bouncer, has violent tendencies – as evidenced by his numerous fights – and associates who appear to be involved in drug dealing. As Adrian's friendship with Rosalind develops, he is unabl...

A potpourri of stories about murder and the mystical interspersed with moments of mirth. A fortune-teller makes predictions that turn out to be uncannily correct – to the misery of all. A couple write to each other after a long break and spar over what secrets to reveal. A woman discovers she has the power to kill whomever she wants by supernatural means. Marr often explores the issue of time. How trapped are we by the past and particularly by certain key moments? Suspenseful, surprising a...

A Hampshire estate in 1903. George Erskine, a young man invalided out of the Boer War, falls desperately in love with Emily Delsey, a debutante. Although he persuades her to marry him he remains insecure, convinced she is being unfaithful or at least hiding some terrible secret. Why is she writing letters to another man behind his back? Why is she so reticent about the past? And why, just as a matter of interest, does she refuse to countenance physical relations between them? One evening h...

Three novellas portraying love at different stages of life. In 'Nineteen', a middle-aged man reflects on his first year at university, the characters he encountered, and the event that continues to haunt him. In 'Celeste', a couple in their thirties meet through a dating site after corresponding for weeks online. She likes him and he likes her. But is it as simple as that? In 'Old Romantic', a man in his forties is dismayed to discover his father is dating a much younger woman. Should he i...

A care assistant, Fiona Tidy, has gone missing and DCI Michael Janaway sets out to find her, encouraged by one of her service users, a young autistic man called Stewie. Janaway, who has autistic traits himself, is working against time, since two women have already been murdered recently in his home city of Cambridge, and the more he looks into Fiona’s disappearance, the likelier, it seems, the outcome will be tragic. Fiona has written in adoring terms about her therapist, the mysterious ‘B...

DCI Michael Janaway has borderline Asperger’s syndrome and a unique perspective. Awoken late at night at his home in Cambridge, he is disturbed to find a neighbour has been stabbed to death on his doorstep. An investigation ensues but immediately Janaway is confronted with whether he should remain as the investigation’s senior officer, living as he does opposite the murder house, or indeed whether he is emotionally stable enough to cope after the recent death of his baby daughter. One memb...

Eight enjoyable stories to enthral and entertain the reader. In the first, 'A Special Bond', a man is shocked to receive a letter from a stranger whose existence he had always known about but whom he had always thought would remain hidden away. In the second, 'A Hunch', a psychic is tested by a couple of clients who are more of a challenge for her to read than normal. In the third, 'The Wedding', a guest is heartbroken to attend the nuptials of a woman with whom he is in love. Five further...

An assortment of characters face different dilemmas. By chance - or is it? - a man meets an old school friend while on honeymoon in Turkey. A surfer gets in trouble in Costa Rica and reflects about the way his life is going. A woman competing for the Women's World Chess Championship suspects a member of her team of betraying her secrets. Stylishly written and at times amusing, these stories veer off in surprising directions but always maintain an iron grip on the reader.

Three novellas portraying the perils and pitfalls of romantic love. In the title story, a psychotherapist falls for a client and faces a dilemma. Should she stay faithful to her husband or take a risk and betray her marriage? The solution is not as straightforward as one would imagine. In 'The Snowball Method', laughs abound. A man is so smitten with an old crush that he signs up for a writing course she is attending to impress her. Will he achieve his goal or will he be revealed as a char...

Robert Hillier is shocked when film actress, Tamara Collins, visits his office and tells him that her husband, film director Lewis Lawson, has beaten up Robert’s twenty-year-old son, James. Ever since the suicide of his wife, Jill, Robert has been particularly protective towards James, who is offhand towards him in his manner, and the news that his son has developed an infatuation with the famous actress is deeply worrying. To add to the complications, Tamara claims that her life is under ...

Ten stories ranging from the moving to the macabre, the mundane and the mystical. A romantic novelist with seven children keeps getting interrupted while she is working. A wife returns from the dead to pass judgement on her husband’s new lover. A businessman is surprised one evening when he is paid a visit by the devil. Marr creates a menagerie of offbeat characters and observes the human condition with humour and skill. Mystery and horror aficionados alike will delight in a collection tha...

Climate change and an evolving non-renewable energy sector threaten the future viability and sustainability of communities across the country. While rural communities have a special place in the national fabric, they often lack the resources to tackle these important and evolving threats.Planning for Rural Resilience: Coping with Climate Change and Energy Futures makes clear that communities and municipalities have opportunities to make informed and constructive decisions ...