Amelia Hartliss Mysteries Series

In 1914 a world war started, caused by the visit of a very important person from a very big country to a very small, ineffective country. That was Archduke Franz Ferdinand visiting Sarajevo, but what if the little place was Salford, in the little country of England, and what if the most important person was a Trade Delegate from the very important country of China? Well, then, anything is possible. A hundred years after the outbreak of World War One then maybe World War Three could start in Salford UK. Fortunately there's something that might prevent such a tragedy and that's Super Agent Amelia Hartliss, known to her friends as 'Melia' and enemies as 'Heartless'. She has been given the very important job of protecting this important visitor, and she fully intends to do that, now matter what - or who - gets in her way.

Melia is confused. So many people are trying to kill her. But why? After all, the first killer she met, while mindlessly climbing the back stairs into her office, was saying that she wanted to target her friend, Terry. But later, she found out that the hit was only intended as a way of getting her attention. No, there's someone else. Could it be Stig Snopes, a woman claiming to be the sister of her dead assistant. How can the woman possibly blame Melia for his death? But she says she does. Then, there's the chance that the daughter of Emil Gorange, Melia's most fearsome opponent had come to Britain to finish the job her father never finished. If only Mickey was there - but he's off on another mission, and Melia's usual supporters, like her boss, Captain Gibson, have been sent packing. Then there's Melia's cousin, Liv, but her boyfriend is a policeman and he's out on an assignment too. It's all getting too much! The last thing she wants, in her fragile condition, is someone coming on to her. But with Mickey out of town, is Melia strong enough to resist temptation?

Amelia is getting pretty tired of all these people who are trying to kill her. It's not just the paid assassins anymore, but the threats seem to be coming from inside her own organisation! Who can she trust? Certainly, not the Deputy Director. A long-time friend and supporter, but he seems obsessed with his own problems right now, including a long-lost daughter. Is she for real? Melia doesn't want to complain, but the constant attacks seem to be overshadowed by the invesigation of historic sex abuse which is consuming all available resources, and spilling over into the life of Melia's cousin, Liv, who is having her own challenges - such as her mysterious disappearing fiancee. Melia needs help, which is probably why she inadvisedly falls into the arms of the New Director, a career Civil Servant who calls himself Durf. Strange, short name for an otherwise unlikely manager, struggling to even keep his computer team in check. Melia looks in the mirror. If I'm going to survive this onslaught, she decides, then it's all going to be up to me.

Melia is facing yet another change of boss. Somehow the governments doesn't seem happy unless they're shaking up British Security Services and making the agents uncomfortable and insecure. Captain Gibson isn't around. Some say he has been sent for 're-education'. Meanwhile, a jumped-up little toerag from London has been sent up north to Salford to show the natives how to do stuff. So far, according to all reports, he has been a miserable failure. Meanwhile, an older woman from Melia's past, Jan Branch, re-appears after many years away. Jan's mother has died and she is there to clear her old house and tidy up loose ends. Unfortunately, she is not the same person she was when she left town. Where she lives now, in the East Indies, they call her the 'Gun-running Granny', for that is her new profession. She hadn't planned on staying long, but two things delay her departure. One, there is an Arms Fair in the city and she sees an opportunity to do some deals and make some money. Second, she hears that a successful property developer, Jimmy Batter, has amassed a fortune which he intends to divide amongst his ungrateful family. Unluckily for them, the 'Treasure' is hidden, and although various relatives are falling over themselves to find the money, Jan thinks she has a much better chance than most. After all, she used to be a film-maker, and captured Old Jim on video, back in the day. Those films, made by the group known as 'Co-operative Videographers', maybe provide all the clues necessary to unearth the fortune. Melia might care, but she has other things to do. After the trauma of the last few months, a holiday in Spain led to a liaison with a young man who wants to save an unfairly imprisoned journalist. Melia is eager to help, and for one reason only - she is in love. She doesn't want anyone to know, but John Lewis has stolen her heart. She would do anything for him, and before long, we find out exactly what that is.

Please Note: this is Part Two of a trilogy, but it can be read as a Stand-Alone Thriller, with a female protagonist. Terry the computer technician, from Melia's Unit in British Security, has taken it on himself to organise the digs to look for Jimmy Batter's 'Treaure'. He is happy to search every grassy spot in Salford, England for the proceeds of Old Jim's sale of his Takeaway Empire, which he put on the market in 2013. Unfortunately, due to a family dispute, there was no agreement on how to spend the fortune, so all the relatives agreed they would bury the money for seven years, then make a decision. Also, unfortunate, is that not even Jimmy Batter knew exactly where it went - he left those decisions to his older brother Ben. The only clue is that Ben might have used one of Jim's 'Seven Favourite Places' as recorded in a series of videos made that year by Jan Branch, an older lady who has been out of the country since then, since she won a massive amount on the Lottery and decided to travel. Coincidentally she has been forced to come back to supervise disposal of her Mother's house, as her Mum has died. Jan finds herself dragged into the Treasure Hunt, then decides to play it to her advantage. She determines she will find the horde and keep it for herself. Meanwhile Melia, who should be on to of these things, is still recovering from attempts on her life, and at the very first dig finds herself being shot at from a distance, by somebody with a rifle. Luckily she is able to retreat to a flat down on Salford Quays owned by her old friend Romla, a colleague from a former successful operation in nearby Manchester. Romla is distracted by the fact that her rarely seen daughter has turned up, all the way from London. Their paths have crossed because the government in Westminster has asked Annya, the daughter, to go and negotiate with disgraced politician Tolly Tilbury, a former Home Office Minister, who is being held in custody in Salford, pending possible deportation. Annay, a Human Rights lawyer, is the ideal person for the job, she says. Melia has other things to worry about. In an attempt to recuperate she spent a holiday in Spain and there met the most amazing young man, an angel calling John Lewis. Melia, everyone says, is the girlfriend of agent/operative Mickey, but Mickey is so unreliable. Right now he is out of the country, supposedly on a mission given him by Melia's boss Captain Gibson, but he has been completely out of touch, and Melia, lonely is smitten. When John asks for a favour, she readily agrees. He wants her to try and find the location of a friend of his, a journalist, deported from East Africa and currently being held captive by British Security under the code-name 'Prisoner X'. You should be interested in helping this young man, John tells her - his real name is Paul Batter, Old Jim's grandson. When Terry learns of Melia's quest he decides to help her, as does Mr Gibson, but neither colleague liaises with each other - or Melia - so she remains feeling low and unsupported. Meanwhile there there other digs, and other attempts on her life, the worse one culminating in another trip to hospital. While she languishes in a coma, John Lewis appears, but he finds a very harsh 'welcome' back in the old country. The search for Jimmy Batter's hidden hoard progresses but the results are inconclusive, while the search for Prisoner X only yields more suprises and as the book draws to a close the identity of Melia's assailant is revealed, but again, it wasn't at all who everyone was suspecting. Perhaps the story hasn't ended here. 

Amelia Hartliss is angry. She is a Secret Agent and a skilled investigator, but her boss has chosen to send her on a routine surveillance operation, looking for imported drugs. It's way below my pay grade, she sighs. But she's wrong. The source of the illegal substances is a war-torn country that Britain has a personal interest in, at the highest level. Melia is working for the UK Prime Minister that night, even if she doesn't know it. But it's confusing. The location is an old, dilapidated building in a city park, hidden amongst the trees, the hills and the dells. It's a misty, haunted piece of countryside and there are other creatures living in the woods. It seems that Melia has stumbled onto the Fairy Realm. Who are these tiny bodies - elves and goblins, gnomes? Surely such tiny people are not real, not in this modern century? Still, this is North West England, not the sophisticated South. Anything is possible, it seems, so far away from London. Melia has to persist, even with the merest support from her regular team. There is a real mystery here that needs solving.