Chris O'Donoghue author: tortoise

Tuesday, 29 July 2025

THE FINISHING LINE!

I'm almost there. "At last!" I hear you cry. That's how I feel too. After more than two years working on this book it's almost ready to go to the printer. I've no idea why it's taken so long - I have usually managed to produce a book a year. All I can say is, I think it's going to be worth the wait.

This isn't the final cover, just my rough idea of how it could look. I will reveal the brilliant cover that my designer has produced as soon as it's confirmed.

Be ready to immerse yourself in a tale that encompasses questionable dealings in a sanatorium and even dodgier artefacts being palmed off by a dubious Egyptian. All of which taxes DI Sonny Russell to the hilt.

Talking of whom... This is my late uncle - Sonny Russell - who is the inspiration for the detective in my books. He was a lovely man and most aptly named.

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.

Followers

Tuesday, 29 July 2025

THE FINISHING LINE!