The Friends of Neptune King

This is the 10th book in the Neptune King series. In The Case of the Amnesiac Client, Neptune’s maid introduces him to Mary North a troubled young woman working as a maid in a neighbouring house hold with no memory and a vague impression that everything is not quite right. He figures it’s a case for K&J. Intrigue, deception and imposters lead them to France and back again to high society in search for her real identity. Meanwhile, Shark is getting impatient to tie the knot with Becky as he’s finding her more irresistible by the day. He gets her to name the day. In The Case of the French Blackmailer, Shark’s sins come back to haunt him when Monique, the French waitress he met while on the trail of the Shadow in France turns up with a baby, claiming it is his and threatening to tell Lord Evans unless he pays. Shark is shocked and desperate and turns to Neptune for help, while hoping to keep the whole sordid affair secret from Rachel and Becky, but he underestimates the women in his life. Rebecca is made of much sterner stuff than he gives her credit for and when Monique also tries to blackmail her, he has to come clean about his past. It all comes to a head on the high walkway of Tower Bridge, in an appalling climax above the freezing river as Monique threatens the baby’s life. In The Case of the Deadly Sleepwalker Lisa Hatherly is arrested for murdering her neighbour in her sleep! Philip Briton, Neptune’s solicitor hires the detectives to investigate and provide her with some form of defence. The evidence looks black against her—her footprints in the snow to and from the dead woman’s house, the dead woman’s jewels hidden in her wardrobe and her own admission that she’d had an argument with the deceased and was sleep walking that night with her soaked slippers matching the prints. Of course, if the real killer only had to contend with the local police he would have been free and clear; he didn’t stand a chance once Neptune and Shark got involved. That evening, after successful closure of their case, Shark is called by a frantic Becky wondering where he is. He’d forgotten he was supposed to be at her parents’ house planning the wedding. Only interested in the honeymoon, rather than the wedding plans themselves, he is relieved that he turned up once Rebecca shows him the outfit she had picked out for him, and no amount of cajoling on her part will convince him to go along with it. One of Neptune’s other business interests – the Blue Bottle boutique is systematically being robbed in The Case of the Shoplifting Shop Assistant, and it doesn’t take him long to find the culprit. Meantime, Shark’s family have arrived from Australia in time to celebrate Christmas with his friends in his new house. All is right in his world again.