Gifthorse

A bleak mid-winter has settled over the land, bringing hardship to the quiet canalside community of Knightly St John. It also brings some unexpected visitors. They include a secretive stranger with a mysterious past and a gifted boy, two outsiders from very different backgrounds, both of them arriving on the doorstep of Marnie Walker.

Is their arrival at the same time more than just a coincidence? Are they more than strangers? Could it be that there are bonds linking the man and the boy? Marnie is intrigued by them both, for they are in their different ways strong characters. The man is an enigma wrapped in mystery; the boy is highly gifted.

It soon becomes clear that the man fears he is being pursued because of something in his past. The boy is encouraged to fit in with his peers, but his talents set him apart and he is gradually rejected.

Despite Marnie's desire not to become involved in other people's lives, she is inescapably drawn in by a sequence of events beyond her control.

Then tragedy strikes, a sudden death close by, and Marnie is stunned to find herself arrested for murder. During the investigation it becomes clear that even the police are starting to have doubts about her involvement in the crime, but all the evidence suggests otherwise. Proving Marnie's innocence is virtually impossible.

This time, for Marnie Walker there is no way out...

Leo McNeir is a linguist and lexicographer. As director of The European Language Initiative he compiled and edited twelve dictionaries in fifteen languages, including English, since the first one was published by Cassell in 1993.


Genre: Mystery