The Marriage of Neptune King

In this 6th book of the Neptune King Series we start the year of 1963 off with a bang when the two couples—Neptune, Rachel, Shark and Becky attend the Queen’s New Years’ day parade only to spot an Irish dissident bent on assassination. Shark follows the assassin, while Neptune finds a creative way of stopping the royal procession before the Queen moves into the line of fire. Arrested after the event they’re held until the veracity of their statements are checked, emerging as the heroes of the hour. They win the Queen’s approbation for their bravery and get awarded OBE’s much to Neptune’s delight. Shark meantime is not so fussed about the medal, he’s more worried about the disconcerting letter he received from the immigration department telling him his work visa was due to expire. Shark’s relationship with Rebecca moves up a notch when he accidentally meets Rebecca’s parents when out on a date with her, scoring an invite to a family dinner. He likes her mother, but he’s not too impressed with her father who was decidedly chilly and looked down his nose at him. Rebecca is convinced that her father will change his mind once he gets to know Shark, while Shark on the other hand seriously doubts it. In The Sound of Death their detective skills are tested when they are called in to investigate the death of Dr. Lennon who was found in his laboratory with no sign of physical injury, but with his bowels melted to a jelly-like substance. In The Case of the Desperate Jeweller, their simple cheating husband case turns into murder when the ‘other woman’ in the case turns up dead and they suspect their client of being the culprit. Despite this Neptune doesn’t give up until he knows for sure who the killer is, especially when he finds out that the victim wasn’t above blackmail. The Case of the Terrified Schoolgirl sees them go undercover at a private girl’s school with Rebecca and Rachel pretending to be students and Neptune and Shark as teachers. When Pauline disappears, the hunt is on to find her. Neptune suspects she has run away, but when her father gets a ransom demand, he realizes that while she may have run away of her own accord, she encountered far more than she had bargained on. In the final chapter (The Wedding) ex Inspector Thiel escapes from prison with revenge on his mind, determined to destroy Neptune and ruin his wedding. Just as the happy couple are pledging their vows, Thiel bursts into the church and starts shooting, turning the ceremony into chaos. Despite the violent interruption and ensuing danger and mayhem, Neptune eventually manages to get his ring on Rachel’s finger on the most memorable day of their lives.