Fear to Tread (33 page)

“Well, I call it a victory. And I’m sure you deserved it.” She presented him with a kiss. “And now Timothy’s going to be born a little Canadian. I’m told the hospitals are very good out there.”

“He’ll be born in Canada. That won’t make him a Canadian.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s all come out for the best. Though why you ever had to get mixed up in it at all—”

It was people, really, thought Mr. Wetherall. When it came to the point you’d do things for people that you’d never dream of doing for patriotism or politics or principles. Unimportant people. People like Mr. Crowdy and Peter Crowdy, and Luigi, and Sammy and Peggy, and Alastair Todd – and his own wife, too. But you could never explain it to her.

“The fact of the matter is,” he said, and was aware as he said it that it sounded silly, “that I’ve always been against bullying. Someone starts a thing like this, and he takes a risk and if it comes off he makes a profit, like any other business, and it seems all right at his end. But at the other end, it always seems to come down to plain bullying. That’s really all there is to it.”

“What I’m sorry about,” said Mrs. Wetherall, “is that no one’s ever going to publish those articles, after you took so much trouble over them too. I know the
Kite’s
paying for them anyway, but that’s not the same as seeing your name in print.”

“You never know,” said Mr. Wetherall. “Perhaps, some time – it would mean changing all the names and places round a bit, of course – but perhaps sometime I might be able to make a book out of it.”

All Series titles can be read in order, or randomly as standalone novels

Inspector Hazlerigg

1. Close Quarters 
   (1947)
   
2. They Never Looked Inside 
   (alt: He Didn’t Mind Danger) (1948)
   
3. The Doors Open 
   (1949)
   
4. Smallbone Deceased 
   (1950)
   
5. Death has Deep Roots 
   (1951)
   
6. Fear To Tread 
   (in part)(1953)
   
7. The Young Petrella 
   (included) (short stories)(1988)
   
8. The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries
   (included) (short stories)(1997)
   

Patrick Petrella

1. Blood and Judgement 
   (1959)
   
2. Amateur in Violence
   (included) (short stories) (1973)
   
3. Petrella at Q 
   (short stories) (1977)
   
4. The Young Petrella 
   (short stories) (1988)
   
5. Roller Coaster 
   (1993)
   
6. The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries
   (included) (short stories) (1997)
   

Luke Pagan

1. Ring of Terror 
   (1995)
   
2. Into Battle 
   (1997)
   
3. Over and Out 
   (1998)
   

Calder & Behrens

1. Game Without Rules 
   (short stories) (1967)
   
2. Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens 
   (short stories) (1982)
   

Non-Series

1. Death in Captivity 
   (alt: The Danger Within) (1952)
   
2. Sky High 
   (alt: The Country House Burglar) (1955)
   
3. Be Shot for Sixpence 
   (1956)
   
4. After the Fine Weather 
   (1963)
   
5. The Crack in the Teacup 
   (1966)
   
6. The Dust and the Heat 
   (alt: Overdrive) (1967)
   
7. The Etruscan Net 
   (alt: The Family Tomb) (1969)
   
8. Stay of Execution and Other Stories
   (short stories) (1971)
   
9. The Body of a Girl 
   (1972)
   
10. The Ninety-Second Tiger 
    (1973)
    
11. Flash Point 
    (1974)
    
12. The Night of the Twelfth 
    (1976)
    
13. The Empty House 
    (1979)
    
14. The Killing of Katie Steelstock 
    (alt: Death of a Favourite Girl) (1980)
    
15. The Final Throw 
    (alt: End Game) (1982)
    
16. The Black Seraphim 
    (1984)
    
17. The Long Journey Home 
    (1985)
    
18. Trouble 
    (1987)
    
19. Paint, Gold, and Blood 
    (1989)
    
20. Anything for a Quiet Life 
    (short stories) (1990)
    
21. The Queen against Karl Mullen 
    (1992)
    

Published by House of Stratus

After The Fine Weather When Laura Hart travels to Austria to visit her brother, vice-consul of Lienz in the Tyrol, she briefly meets an American who warns her of the mounting political tension. Neo-Nazis are stirring trouble in the province, and xenophobia is rife between the Austrians who control the area and the Italian locals. Then Laura experiences the troubles first-hand, a shocking incident that suggests Hofrat Humbold, leader of the Lienz government is using some heavy-handed tactics. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he is unwilling to let one little English girl destroy his plans for the largest Nazi move since the war, and Laura makes a dangerous enemy.

Anything For A Quiet Life Jonas Pickett, lawyer and commissioner of oaths is nearing retirement, but still has lots of energy. However, he leaves the pressure of a London practice behind to set up a new modest office in a quiet seaside resort. He soon finds that he is overwhelmed with clients and some of them involve him in very odd and sometimes dangerous cases. This collection of inter-linked stories tells how these are brought to a conclusion; ranging from an incredible courtroom drama involving a gipsy queen to terrorist thugs who make their demands at gunpoint.

Be Shot For Sixpence A gripping spy thriller with a deserved reputation. Philip sees an announcement in The Times from an old school friend who has instructed the newspaper to publish only if they don’t hear from him. This sets a trail running through Europe, with much of the action taking place on the Austro-Hungarian border. The Kremlin, defectors, agitators and the People’s Court set the background to a very realistic story that could well have happened …

The Black Seraphim James Scotland, a young pathologist, decides on a quiet holiday in Melchester, but amid the cathedral town’s quiet medieval atmosphere, he finds a hornet’s nest of church politics, town and country rivalries, and murder. He is called upon to investigate and finds that some very curious alliances between the church, state and business exist. With modern forensic pathology he unravels the unvarnished truth about Melchester, but not before a spot of unexpected romance intervenes.

Blood & Judgement When the wife of a recently escaped prisoner is found murdered and partially buried near a reservoir, Patrick Petrella, a Metropolitan Police Inspector, is called in. Suspicion falls on the escaped convict, but what could have been his motive? Petrella meets resistance from top detectives at the Yard who would prefer to keep the inspector out of the limelight, but he is determined to solve the mystery with or without their approval.

The Body Of A Girl Detective Chief Inspector Mercer is called to the scene when a skeleton of a girl is found on Westlaugh Island in the upper reaches of the River Thames. What appears to be a straightforward and routine investigation, however, leads to unexpected events and a string of unlikely characters, including a lawyer and a one armed garage proprietor. Nothing seems to fit together and it seems the sleepy town holds many secrets. The finale involves two nights of dramatic violence and it isn’t until this stage is reached that the twisted truth finally emerges.

Close Quarters It has been more than a year since Cannon Whyte fell 103 feet from the cathedral gallery, yet unease still casts a shadow over the peaceful lives of the Close’s inhabitants. In an apparently separate incident, head verger Appledown is being persecuted: a spate of anonymous letters and random acts of vandalism imply that he is inefficient and immoral. But then the notes turn threatening, and when Appledown is found dead, Inspector Hazlerigg is called in. Investigations suggest that someone directly connected to the cathedral is responsible, and it is up to Hazlerigg to get to the heart of the corruption.