Böcker av David J Staniford

Jack Hartigan was introduced in Murder at Wimbledon as Tennis Pro/hero as he vied for a place in the Wimbledon Tournaments and helped solve a murder of a friend of his at Wimbledon's main gate. He is back in London, aspiring for another chance at playing in the Wimbledon Tournaments, while connecting with the friends he came to know and trust during his adventurous summer the previous year. This year was to be a break after the rigors of obtaining his doctorate, and he looked forward to a pleasant and relaxed summer. This was not to be the case. The tennis community was on edge after the murder of one of their own and last year's female companions were all vying for his time and attention. Of course his friends in the London underworld get him involved in some of their feuds. In addition, there were matters with the estate of her late husband that had one of Jack's ladies seeking his counsel and companionship as the affairs required visits to Switzerland and Italy. This latter situation put Jack's life on the line, as a heist of some fine art (which included a rare van Gogh), that was part of said estate, finds our hero being chased across southern Europe with assassins hot on his tail, trying to stop him and his lady from recovering and claiming the stolen artwork. Follow Jack and Mirium as they travel in pursuit of the Van Gogh to Rome and Venice, while avoiding the conspiracy against them. It is a race against time to stop the van Gogh from being lost to the black market forever.

MURDER AT WIMBLEDON is set in London in the early 90''s. Jack Hardigan, Australian university student and tennis player spends several summers at the University of London and trying to qualify for Wimbledon. He tells his story of this time when London had several ruthless underworld factions fighting for the rights to smuggling of anything to bootleg liquor, cheap cigarettes, illegal gambling, extortion, prostitution and exploitation of young women. Set against a vivid background of Wimbledon with its class distinctions and traditions and with the threats from the Irish bombings almost every week.Jack quickly makes new friends in all levels of London society. He takes us on his personal tour of London and the qualifying tournaments for Wimbledon. He meets sports entrepreneur and promoter Frank Brown at Frinton-on-Sea who leads him through a labyrinth of various characters from a lonely rich diamond heiress to several crime bosses. Sicilian nightclub owner Dom Gloriosos becomes a supporter and friend, taking he and Frank out on his luxury yacht on weekend cruises. He meets the beautiful sexy Mirium during a weekend at her country estate. She watches him playing a tennis exhibition that weekend and finds she is in love with him. The story, as told by Jack in his own words comes to a disastrous sudden climax with a murder at Wimbledon.Jack tells his story of that warm summer in London with great authenticity and empathy. He draws on all the grandeur and tradition of Wimbledon and tells of the great differences of class and stature of a society going through change. There is love, violence, sex and death in this story of a young man coming of age in a new world.