Chris O'Donoghue author: foo

Tuesday, 20 August 2019

KILROY WAS HERE - wot no sugar

KILROY WAS HERE - wot no sugar

While writing my current book, BLOOD ON THE CARDS, I researched wartime graffiti. I wanted to describe the interior of a WW2 pillbox where the body of a fortune teller is found. I decided to use this one. Not sure if it actually existed but it amused me to think it might have.

Also,

YANKS GO HOME

This would have been quite common at the time.

But one that was seen all over during that period was KILROY. The figure was initially known in the United Kingdom as MR CHAD and would appear with the slogan "Wot, no sugar" or a similar phrase bemoaning shortages and rationing.He often appeared with a single curling hair that resembled a question mark and with crosses in his eyes.The phrase "Wot, no —?" pre-dates "Chad" and was widely used separately from the doodle. Chad was used by the RAF and civilians; he was known in the Army as Private Snoops, and in the Navy he was called The Watcher.

Even older was FOO who predates Kilroy by about 25 years.

Blood in the Garden

Supt Stout is desperate to improve his standing in the community by joining the prestigious Nottery golf club and, when two people connected with it go missing, he sees a matchless opportunity to improve his chances. He puts DI Sonny Russell, on the job - much to the officer’s disgust. Russell has more interesting conundrums: why hasn’t dependable WPC Nettie Sharp reported for duty? An antique dealer finds a body in the boot of his car. Whose is it? Is the suspect attempting a foolhardy escape? How much does an unhelpful landowner really know about his wife’s disappearance? As all the strands gradually untwist Russell manages to solve several mysteries - with a cocktail of shocks along the way.

Blood on the Dunes

A long-buried skeleton emerges from the shifting sands at Camber during a raging storm. A badly injured man is found in a derelict warehouse at Nottery. A mixed race boy goes missing from a children’s home in Peasmarsh. Could these seemingly random occurrences possibly be connected? At first, a puzzled DI Sonny Russell can see no link but, as more horrific events unfold, he begins to detect a troubling pattern. Blood on the Dunes is a story of fractured decisions, made years before, that come back to haunt those involved and others who were left to suffer the consequences.

Blood on the Cards

A travelling fair brings fun, laughter and excitement - but when one comes Nottery Quay it brings gruesome death too. The resident fortune teller is found with her throat cut in a damp and dirty WWII pillbox near the Royal Military Canal. The owner of the fairground comes under suspicion but, when a second body is found, DI Sonny Russell begins to have his doubts. Falling foul of his bombastic boss Superintendent Stout yet again, he is taken off the case and replaced by the bumbling duo Bonnie and Clyde. However, assisted by his French opposite number, Inspecteur Guillaume Bruissement, and his ever faithful sidekick DC Weeks, he pursues his own investigation. So begins a gripping tale which criss-crosses Sussex and Kent and ends in a thriller chase along the canal, with disastrous consequences...

BLOOD ON THE STRAND

BLOOD ON THE STRAND is a story of intrigue and drama, set on the sleepy south coast in the post-war mid-fifties.In a raging gale a heavy crate is washed up on the beach near Compass Point. DI Sonny Russell and his sidekick DS Johnny Weeks happen upon it while braving the weather near Sonny’s home. Puzzled, they go to get help to recover it, but when they return it has gone. So begins a thrilling and dangerous search for stolen Nazi plunder. It leads the detectives, ably assisted by an eager young policewoman, Nettie Sharpe, on a twisting trail that encompasses Hastings fisherman, their iconic net huts, ruthless foreign criminals and the shady side of antique dealing.

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Tuesday, 20 August 2019

KILROY WAS HERE - wot no sugar