About
Patrick has recently written two stand-alone novels, quite unlike his famous police thrillers. Last year he published Goddess of The Rainbow, which is a series of short stories about a terrible flood and how it affects the inhabitants of Orestiada, and his most recent novel takes him back to London and the life of a property dealer in the turbulent 80s, and how it affects relationships when a business crashes.
It is now 2019 and this year's offering to my readers is another stand-alone literary fiction novel called The London Property Boy. A "right of passage" account of Michael Mostyne's change in fortune from being a successful property developer, divorce and his descent into obscurity, then getting back on his feet in London. There is romance and with his improving circumstances, life begins once more and Mike can make plans despite another property crash waiting around the corner.
The author Patrick Brigham writes good mystery books, many of which are set at the very end of the Cold War and Communism. Featuring fictional police detective Chief Inspector Michael Lambert, he is often faced with political intrigue, and to solve his cases - which frequently take place in Eastern Europe and the Balkans - he needs to know how an old Communist thinks, during his investigations. There are few good books on the subject of international crime, especially mystery stories which delve into the shady side of Balkan politics, neither are there many novelists who are prepared to address "mystery crime fiction," like the author Patrick Brigham Patrick has now branched out into humour, and literary fiction.
Description
<p><span style="color:rgb(15,17,17);font-family:'Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Richard II found himself under siege not once, but twice in his minority. Crowned king at age ten, he was only fourteen when the Peasants' Revolt terrorized London. But he proved himself every bit the Plantagenet successor, facing Wat Tyler and the rebels when all seemed lost. Alas, his triumph was short-lived, and for the next ten years he struggled to assert himself against his uncles and increasingly hostile nobles. Just like in the days of his great-grandfather Edward II, vengeful magnates strove to separate him from his friends and advisors, and even threatened to depose him if he refused to do their bidding. The Lords Appellant, as they came to be known, purged the royal household with the help of the Merciless Parliament. They murdered his closest allies, leaving the King alone and defenseless. He would never forget his humiliation at the hands of his subjects. Richard's inability to protect his adherents would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he vowed that next time, retribution would be his.</span><br /><span class="a-text-bold" style="color:rgb(15,17,17);font-family:'Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;">B.R.A.G. Medallion honoree!</span></p>
Story Behind The Book
Synopsis
Detective Chief Inspector Michael Lambert has left the Thames Valley Police Authority and is now working for Europol as a front-line Europol Liaison Officer at The Hague. He has left England and, because of his recent divorce, now lives permanently in his holiday villa in the Calvados region of Northern France.
In An Angel over Rimini, his first case for Europol involves the abduction of a little English girl from a camp site in Riccione in Italy. It is a cold case, which has been re-opened due to public pressure, the intervention of the British government and the agitation of leading English newspapers.
DCI Lambert goes to Rimini to help the State Police re-investigate the kidnapping of little Penelope Scratchford, only to find that the investigating authorities are quite determined to blame the parents for her disappearance and murder. It becomes clear – as his investigation progresses – that there are too many unanswered questions and that much of the evidence has been ignored by the original investigating officer, Vice Inspector Daniel Bosola.
Whilst in Italy, DCI Lambert also finds time to catch up with his father’s mysterious past, during his wartime service in Bari as an RAF officer in a Pathfinder Squadron. This reveals some interesting, if not spectacular, revelations about his father’s secret wartime exploits and his peccadillos too! For Michael Lambert it is also an awakening, and romance in the shape of Countess Beatrix d’ Aragona finally brings the Europol detective back to life emotionally, somehow blotting out the past and his sterile marriage to Arabella.
Continuing his pursuit of the missing English girl, his investigations take him to Greece and the established smuggling routes through the Evros River delta up into Bulgaria. In Greece he discovers the horrors of organised illegal immigration, people trafficking and the gangsters involved. He also finds out that these established smuggling routes are Al Qaida’s way into Greece and the EU.
In his travels he comes across corrupt lawyers and orphanages in Bulgaria, but in so doing he also manages to pinpoint an established child trafficking trail which ultimately leads him back to Central Europe. The discovery of an illegal child adoption group in Hanover,the criminals who operate it, and the information gleaned during his trip through Bulgaria help DCI Lambert to learn if little Penny Scratchford is alive or dead.
