Swearing removed 14/1/16

It seems a dream job for Jack, a small builder in Forest Gate, when he gets the contract to repair the summerhouse of a millionaire couple in Chigwell. The two months' work will pay his debts, and give him space to sort out his personal demons. Except the couple are at war, both having affairs, their marriage beyond salvage. The husband fires Jack, she takes him back on – and suddenly he is too involved with their scheming. Complicated further when he falls for her secretary. And when there’s a murder, using his tools as the weapon, Jack is prime suspect.

A standalone novel in the Jack of All Trades crime series (#4). Bricklaying in a park is not the pastoral interlude Jack hoped for. Possibilities of love with Liz, who runs the greenhouses, are thwarted by Ian, the bullying park manager, who has his own schemes afoot. Or there’s Rose, Liz’s sister, made homeless and sleeping secretly in the bowling green pavilion. But for the park workers, it’s all hands on deck as they prepare for the coming of the Mayor. Until murder intervenes, with Jack too involved.