Description
Welcome to Wilkinson’s
I’m afraid Mr Hall’s running a little late, can I get you a tea or coffee while you wait?
No?
What if I tell you about some of the recent cases we’ve been involved in?
- The First Rung – Dot Sayers on her first job, doing background checks discovers something’s not quite right about the target.
- Blood and Bloody Profanity – former cop Phoebe Swan, hired by the parents of a dead girl to solve the case that got away.
- The Psychic Detective – Shirley Weaving’s not cut out for normal investigations, but when something’s not quite right, she’s your girl.
- Susan and the Gangster – Susan Murray’s following a crime kingpin until he starts following her.
- The Last Case – Lily White investigates her grandfather’s mysterious gangland murder.
Yes? Then get comfortable and settle in for a wild ride.
For signed copies and bulk orders, please contact orders@bluemerebooks.com.
Introduction
The First Rung
Blood and Bloody Profanity
The Psychic Detective
Susan and the Gangster
The Last Case
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
When I was young, I used to watch a lot of Westerns with my Dad, who was a huge John Wayne fan.
Imagine if you can, a small, drunk man with a broad Glaswegian accent shouting “Howdy pardner,” adjusting his imaginary Stetson as he performed his best party trick.
I expect he sounded exactly like John Wayne in his head.
And through him, I was introduced to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, whose agents were commonly known as Pinkertons.
I’ve been fascinated by the Pinkertons since I was small. Which is kind of funny because they’re American and we’re not.
But there’s something exciting about a detective agency that’s kind of like I imagine a detective agency headed by Sherlock Holmes would be like.
An agency solving crimes with deductive reasoning, and guns.
Maybe, just maybe, Conan Doyle (1859 – 1930) was a little inspired by Alan Pinkerton (1819 – 1884).
Pinkerton set up his agency in 1850, and originally specialised in train robberies, but was mainly known for thwarting an assassination attempt on President-elect Abraham Lincoln.
Not that Pinkertons were crime solving masterminds like Sherlock Holmes, or even, for the want of a better term, uniformly “good” men and women.
And not that the organisation didn’t do some things I think were kind of awful. Like infiltrating and intimidating unions, and strike breaking for those who could afford to pay them.
The Pinkertons existed at a particular time, and wouldn’t have the same kind of mystique at any other time than right there in the wildest times of the wild wild west.
And I suppose, if you wanted justice, you were kind of stuck with them as there wasn’t much in the way of Police forces as we know them now.
Australia, being a penal colony, was policed by English marines; there to keep the convicts down.
Though in our early days, the country’s currency supply was so short, the marines were paid in goods, the most popular being rum. And while the 1808 Rum Rebellion was more of an uprising by the civil and military elites against the Governor, than about the rum…
As a country populated mainly by unionists, Fenians and petty thieves, we were the kind of people who lionised the underdogs; taking bushrangers to be political rebels or freedom fighters.
With established police forces, there wasn’t much of a demand for private investigators until around the 1880s.
Generally, they focused on divorce cases, where corroborated evidence of adultery was pretty much the only way you were going to get a divorce.
Though without any regulation or licensing, it’s not hard to imagine the social scene was ripe for a bit of blackmail, perjury and criminal trespass.
It wasn’t until 1951 that private investigators were required to register and obtain a license to work.
Nowadays, they specialise in investigations of fact, surveillance and missing persons, mainly for insurances, financial losses, and contractual disputes. Most of them work in larger firms.
But I still wonder what an Australian version of the Pinkertons might be like now.
So, I invented the Wilkinson National Detective Agency, established in 1889.
I think working in an established corporate environment would be quite different to working for yourself…
So, for this mystery collection, I’ve tried to imagine working within corporate guidelines and policies. And how they might protect and hinder you.
First, Dot Sayers on her first job, doing background checks discovers something’s not quite right about the target.
Then former cop Phoebe Swan, hired by the parents of a dead girl to solve the case that got away.
Followed by Shirley Weaving who’s not cut out for normal investigations, but when something’s not quite right, she’s your girl.
And Susan Murray’s following a crime kingpin until he starts following her!
Finally, Lily White investigates her grandfather’s mysterious gangland murder.
So, here are five brand new private eye mysteries. I hope you enjoy them.
–
Alexandria Blaelock
Melbourne, Australia
July 2021
–
P.S., in case you wondered, the Pinkertons still exist today, as a subsidiary of Swedish based security services group Securitas AB.
eBook
Seeing as you’re not looking at a print book, you don’t need to worry so much about dog-eared pages or split spines.
But, we know you’re probably going to read in the bathroom, or while you’re eating lunch… So, just from a phone/tablet hygiene and safety point of view, please wash your hands, and don’t drop the phone! Might be an idea to clean the screen now and again as well.
print book
We recommend storing your book away from sunlight on a clean dry shelf, washing your hands before you pick it up, and not licking your fingers to turn the pages. If you’d like to preserve it for the long-term, don’t dog ear the pages, put a bulky bookmark in, or prop it open on the table to mark your place.
But if you want to read it in the bath with a glass of wine, or scoff a kebab for lunch while you read, we won’t tell.
ebook
Our distributor BookFunnel emails a download link to the address you use at checkout when your order is complete. If you don’t see it, please check your Spam folder, or if you’re using Gmail, check your Promotions tab.
We only consider ebook returns/refunds for duplicate purchases within 48 hours of the first purchase. We only refund the duplicate.
print book
Our supplier bookvault, prints, and ships from its UK facility, usually within 72 working hours. Once printed, they’re shipped according to your choice of standard or express, tracked or untracked. The cart shows estimated delivery time frames (no need to start a purchase process first).
Please be aware the current global situation includes pandemics, war, climate events such as fires and floods, as well as plain old staff shortages. Thus, we cannot guarantee production and shipping times.
We only accept returns for faulty items. Contact us at orders@bluemerebooks.com within 7 days of receiving the book (according to the tracking). Use the subject “returns,” include your name, order number, reason for return, and photographs of faulty item. We’ll refund or resend – your choice.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.