3 Inspector Hobbes and the Gold Diggers (43 page)

‘Great,’ I said. ‘When do I start?’

‘How about next Monday?’

‘Why not? I’ll see you then.’

December arrived with still no word from Hobbes. On Christmas Eve, I went to see Mrs Goodfellow, taking her a little something bought with my first pay. After fighting off Dregs’s friendly exuberance, I was enjoying a cup of tea, while discussing Christmas dinner, to which Daphne and I, Sid and Pinky, Featherlight and Billy had been invited. The old girl was chatting about teeth, while working out how to fit an ostrich-sized turkey into the oven, when Dregs leapt to his feet with a deafening volley of excited barking.

In walked Hobbes, as if he’d never been away.

‘Afternoon,’ he said, pulling up a chair. ‘Is there any tea in the pot?’

Also available

Inspector Hobbes and the Blood

unhuman I

Wilkie Martin

When the hapless Andy Caplet, then an inept local reporter, is first assigned to Inspector Hobbes he has no idea what horrors his future holds. Besides coming to terms with Hobbes’s weirdness and with the bizarre eccentricities of Mrs Goodfellow, he soon realises that not everyone is what they appear to be.

Who is behind the crime wave in town? Is it possible to catch vampirism from false teeth? And why is the secret to the mystery in the blood? These are just some of the questions Andy must answer as he struggles to make sense of this new world he’s been plunged into.

‘Odd, inventive, and genuinely very funny indeed’

Cotswold Life.

The Witcherley Book Company
ISBN 9780957635104 (paperback)
ISBN 9780957635111 (ebook)
ISBN 9780957635166 (ebook)

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Also available

Inspector Hobbes and the Curse

unhuman II

Wilkie Martin

Again set in the Cotswolds, this is the second instalment in the adventures of Inspector Hobbes, Mrs Goodfellow and Dregs, as narrated by the still disaster-prone Andy Caplet. It is a rip roaring, funny and moving tale of Andy's infatuation with a dangerously beautiful woman, starting off during investigations into sheep deaths and the mysterious disappearance of pheasants. These incidents appear to be connected to a rash of big cat sightings, and something horrible seems to be lurking in the woods.

Is Andy cursed to be always unsuccessful in love, or is the curse something much darker, something that will arouse his primeval terrors?

The Witcherley Book Company
ISBN 9780957635128 (paperback)
ISBN 9780957635135 (ebook)
ISBN 9780957635173 (ebook)

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Acknowledgements

Once again, I would like to thank the members of Catchword for their support, guidance and encouragement: Liz Carew, Dr Jennifer Cryer, Derek Healey, Richard Hensley, Nick John, Sarah King, Dr Rona Laycock, Jan Petrie and Susannah White.

I would like to thank Ultimate Proof Ltd for copy-editing and for proofreading, and Cathy Helms at Avalon Graphics for the cover.

Writers in the Brewery and the members of Gloucestershire Writers’ Network have also provided much appreciated support.

Finally, a huge thank you to my family, to Julia, and to The Witcherley Book Company.

WILKIE MARTIN

Wilkie Martin's first novel
Inspector Hobbes and the Blood,
was shortlisted for the Impress Prize for New Writers in 2012 under its original title:
Inspector Hobbes.
As well as novels, Wilkie writes short stories and silly poems, some of which are on YouTube. Like his characters, he relishes a good curry, which he enjoys cooking. In his spare time, he is a qualified scuba diving instructor, and a guitar twanger who should be stopped.

Born in Nottingham, he went to school in Sutton Coldfield, studied at the University of Leeds, worked in Cheltenham for 25 years, and now lives in the Cotswolds with Julia, his partner of 30 years.

Contact Wilkie Martin

Visit Wilkie's website
www.wilkiemartin.com

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A Note From The Author

I want to thank you for reading my book. As a new author, one of my biggest challenges is getting known and finding readers. I’m thrilled you have read it and hope you enjoyed it; if you did I would really appreciate you letting your friends and family know. Even a quick Google+ or Facebook status update or even a tweet really can make a difference, or if you want to write a review then that would be fantastic. I’d also love to hear from you, so send me a message and let me know what you thought of the book. Thank you for your time.

Wilkie

September 2014

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