John Barber was born in London at the height of the UK Post War baby boom. The Education Act of 1944 saw great changes in the way the nation was taught; the main one being that all children stayed at school until the age of 15 (later increased to 16). For the first time working class children were able to reach higher levels of academic study and the opportunity to gain further educational qualifications at University.
This explosion in education brought forth a new aspirational middle class; others remained true to their working class roots. The author belongs somewhere between the two. Many of the author's main characters have their genesis in this educational revolution. Their dialogue though idiosyncratic can normally be understood but like all working class speech it is liberally sprinkled with strange boyhood phrases and a passing nod to cockney rhyming slang.
John Barber's novels are set in fictional English towns where sexual intrigue and political in-fighting is rife beneath a pleasant, small town veneer of respectability.
They fall within the cozy, traditional British detective sections of mystery fiction.
He has been writing professionally since 1996 when he began to contribute articles to magazines on social and local history. His first published book in 2002 was a non-fiction work entitled The Camden Town Murder which investigated a famous murder mystery of 1907 and names the killer. This is still available in softback and as an ebook, although not available from Smashwords
John Barber had careers in Advertising, International Banking and the Wine Industry before becoming Town Centre Manager in his home town of Hertford. He is now retired and lives with his wife and two cats on an island in the middle of Hertford and spends his time between local community projects and writing further novels.
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The Fordhamton Trilogy
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The three books in the Fordhamton Trilogy focus on the events in a small English town following the death of businessman and local councillor Alan Price. Price's death unleashes a series of petty crimes, vandalism, arson, sexual and business relationships, a threat to the survival of the local Football Club and a by-election that no one wants. The detectives assigned to the town include a cockney Inspector and a cold hearted Constable who suspects everyone.
In the first book, A Little Local Affair Alan Price is killed when his car hits a lorry in a country lane. Although his death was actually the result of a fatal heart attack the post mortem revealed the discovery of an unknown drug in his system which caused his unusual actions. Suspicion falls on the woman he had lunch with but as DI Steve Harley and DC Miles Davis start interviewing those close to Price they find that although no one actually liked him, no one actually wanted him dead. His life and now his death affects everyone in town. The Bank Manager plots a devious fraud with Price's ex-wife, two councillors begin an affair under cover of electioneering and a faded rock star is tempted back into the limelight. When Harley is recalled to London Davis tries to make sense of the various conspiracies if they actually exist, and finally unmasks the most unlikely villain.
The second title Return to Fordhamton follows the journeys of Tim Rose. He is stranded in the countryside on the last day of a management training course. Unable to access funds, new clothing or transport he is accidentally arrested and released for a string of offences some in the company of a young woman who has a personal background of which some details are genuine, most not. Despite all efforts he keeps ending up in Fordhamton and not the company's training centre. His arrival in town and residents attempts to help him adds to the problems some of its more respectable citizens are trying to suppress following a series of sexual revelations in Arthur Brown's will. The ethical Bank and Investment Company that employs Rose tries to extricate itself from the scandal and his mistreatment but an infection spread by bats at the training centre adds to their inability to contain any hint of wrongdoing. The trustees of Alan Price's will continue their affair under the obfuscation afforded by the fact that no one understands what form a memorial to be funded by a bequest in his will should take. Acting Detective Inspector Miles Davis is sent to unscramble the confusion and manages to keep all the scandals under wraps.
In the third title The Last Resort the inaugural Fordhamton Arts Festival intended to rid the town of the title 'most boring' gets off to a bad start when the stand-in for the school production of The Real Inspector Hound is found dead, very probably poisoned at the dress rehearsal. More accidents occur and suspicion falls on the teaching staff especially the one-time student rebel Jay Hawkins. DI Miles Davis now working with the American secret service is sent to investigate as the murder victim was an undercover CIA agent stationed nearby at a intelligence gathering centre. The Arts Festival includes some bizarre acts and performances which act as a cover for a burgeoning political party. Davis falls in love, finally understands how small English towns work and takes on the role of Inspector Hound in the play to solve the case.
Título : The Fordhamton Trilogy Box Set
EAN : 9781310341922
Editorial : John Barber
El libro electrónico The Fordhamton Trilogy Box Set está en formato ePub
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