The Utterly Crime Series

Imagine how surprised three regular carpentry apprentices are to find themselves embroiled in home grown terrorist activities in the tranquil Suffolk countryside. Up to the point where the story begins, their lives have revolved around real ale, quirky T-shirts, and cranky classic cars. Unwittingly they are increasingly drawn into a web of subversive events which centre around historic Wattisham Airbase. In this novel, Pauline Manders has woven themes of friendship, loyalty and eccentricity, against a backdrop of rolling wheat fields, Norman church towers, and fertile fruit farms.

Illegal fuel gangs, murder, stray bullets, and a macabre discovery catapult three apprentice carpenters into action as old scores are settled around them. Throw a Vespa scooter, a canary yellow car, a mysterious medallion, and hints of romance into the mix, and you have another witty tale from Pauline Manders. The heady events culminate in a blazing Guy Fawkes evening.

It begins with two deaths. The body of a young woman is found, so peaceful she could be sleeping. The other, a ferocious murder beyond the railway lines at Stowmarket. Soon, three apprentice carpenters are catapulted into the dangerous world of illegal hare coursing and drug abuse in the south Suffolk countryside.

Sleepy Suffolk wakes up to the news that a man has been found hanging in a reclamation yard near Bury St Edmunds. Within days, a bronze statue is stolen, and a broken automaton with a singing bird mechanism arouses suspicion.

Suffolk UK, 2012. Knotweed is invasive and ugly—and so is murder in Suffolk. A body is found near the railway line in Needham Market, and Nick Cowley's phone goes missing. Could anyone have guessed the repercussions?

As the summer of 2012 draws to a close, the Olympic goodwill sweeping Suffolk can't last. Murder is in the air. A brooding menace takes hold of a film production near Stowmarket. Lives are put at risk, and Nick, the on-set carpenter, is blamed. Chrissie, an old colleague, helps out, but she, too, is struggling with her own responsibilities of taking on a business partnership. Networks of deceit are uncovered by Matt, a part-time Internet people-tracer, as a memorabilia scam unfolds.