Ghosts from the Past
(2019)(A book in the DI John Lyon series)
An omnibus of novels by Sally Spedding
"True noir from Sally Spedding ... like a cold breath on the back of the neck" Adrian Magson
GHOSTS FROM THE PAST
THE NIGHTHAWK
One false move is all it takes...
France, April 1986.
John Lyon, newly retired Detective Inspector from Nottingham, breaks off his holiday in the eastern Pyrenees when he encounters Karen Furst.
This attractive, wheelchair-bound woman with a new name and nationality, soon draws him into her world. Karen is the product of a tragic past, a past which is slowly but surely catching up with her.
Yet the woman's story doesn't entirely add up. John suspects that Karen is lying to him. And how much is he lying to himself about how he feels, what he thinks?
Karen will soon be targeted - and John with her - by unseen enemies.
Only La Chasse, a hunt to the death in wild scrubland, will reveal the truth.
Blood will be shed.
BLOODLINES
March 1987
The past isn't dead...
John Lyon, a retired Detective Inspector, is still recovering from serious physical injury. Something is still ill at ease inside of him too. Lyon misses the challenge of solving crime and bringing the guilty to justice.
Lyon is enjoying a spring break near Fishguard with old flame DC Alison McConnell, when news reaches them of a missing eight-year-old French boy, Mathieu Deschamps. Mathieu is regularly bullied at school. But something more is amiss.
Vervain is missing as well - a valuable steeplechaser trained by the boy's father.
Laure Deschamps, the trainer's older daughter who reared the horse from a foal, will do anything to find the horse and her brother.
Soon, John and Alison are trapped in an ever more dangerous web. But who has spun it? Someone inside or outside the family?
Lies will be uncovered and lives changed for ever.
DEATH KNELL
Norfolk, November 1988.
After two life-changing investigations in France, former Detective Inspector John Lyon has moved south from Nottingham to Colchester with plans to enjoy his retirement.
But a phone call from Professor Stephen Vickers, a former student friend, now Dean of History at a university near Diss, disturbs his rest.
Vickers senses he is in danger, having unearthed evidence of a gruesome tragedy in 1920.
The murder of an innocent family is a secret someone still wants keep buried, yet the professor is determined to uncover the truth.
But at what cost?
PRAISE FOR SALLY SPEDDING:
'No-one does evil like Sally Spedding.' Thorne Moore
'An alarming story of surprises and shocks.' Gerald Kaufman - The Scotsman
'Sally Spedding has written an excellent, creepy chiller of what can happen to ex-pats who fall foul of their new neighbours. The perfect gift for those who boast about their French idyll they're about to live.' Carla McKay - Daily Mail
'A tale of chilling menace and powerful atmosphere in haunted fen country. A ghost story handled with real assurance.'
Barry Foreshaw
WELSH-BORN, AWARD-WINNING SALLY SPEDDING'S DARK CRIME/THRILLERS, SHORT STORIES AND POETRY ARE INSPIRED BY WALES AND FRANCE WHERE SHE LIVES. www.sallyspedding.com
Genre: Mystery
GHOSTS FROM THE PAST
THE NIGHTHAWK
One false move is all it takes...
France, April 1986.
John Lyon, newly retired Detective Inspector from Nottingham, breaks off his holiday in the eastern Pyrenees when he encounters Karen Furst.
This attractive, wheelchair-bound woman with a new name and nationality, soon draws him into her world. Karen is the product of a tragic past, a past which is slowly but surely catching up with her.
Yet the woman's story doesn't entirely add up. John suspects that Karen is lying to him. And how much is he lying to himself about how he feels, what he thinks?
Karen will soon be targeted - and John with her - by unseen enemies.
Only La Chasse, a hunt to the death in wild scrubland, will reveal the truth.
Blood will be shed.
BLOODLINES
March 1987
The past isn't dead...
John Lyon, a retired Detective Inspector, is still recovering from serious physical injury. Something is still ill at ease inside of him too. Lyon misses the challenge of solving crime and bringing the guilty to justice.
Lyon is enjoying a spring break near Fishguard with old flame DC Alison McConnell, when news reaches them of a missing eight-year-old French boy, Mathieu Deschamps. Mathieu is regularly bullied at school. But something more is amiss.
Vervain is missing as well - a valuable steeplechaser trained by the boy's father.
Laure Deschamps, the trainer's older daughter who reared the horse from a foal, will do anything to find the horse and her brother.
Soon, John and Alison are trapped in an ever more dangerous web. But who has spun it? Someone inside or outside the family?
Lies will be uncovered and lives changed for ever.
DEATH KNELL
Norfolk, November 1988.
After two life-changing investigations in France, former Detective Inspector John Lyon has moved south from Nottingham to Colchester with plans to enjoy his retirement.
But a phone call from Professor Stephen Vickers, a former student friend, now Dean of History at a university near Diss, disturbs his rest.
Vickers senses he is in danger, having unearthed evidence of a gruesome tragedy in 1920.
The murder of an innocent family is a secret someone still wants keep buried, yet the professor is determined to uncover the truth.
But at what cost?
PRAISE FOR SALLY SPEDDING:
'No-one does evil like Sally Spedding.' Thorne Moore
'An alarming story of surprises and shocks.' Gerald Kaufman - The Scotsman
'Sally Spedding has written an excellent, creepy chiller of what can happen to ex-pats who fall foul of their new neighbours. The perfect gift for those who boast about their French idyll they're about to live.' Carla McKay - Daily Mail
'A tale of chilling menace and powerful atmosphere in haunted fen country. A ghost story handled with real assurance.'
Barry Foreshaw
WELSH-BORN, AWARD-WINNING SALLY SPEDDING'S DARK CRIME/THRILLERS, SHORT STORIES AND POETRY ARE INSPIRED BY WALES AND FRANCE WHERE SHE LIVES. www.sallyspedding.com
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Sally Spedding's Ghosts from the Past