Please note: "The Evil Man" is a long story divided into two parts, One & Two. Readers should know all threads to the case will not be revealed in this book. This is Part One only.

Seventeen-year-old Harry Sparsholt is at boarding school in North Shropshire. Most nights at 2am he gets out of bed, and goes outside to sit alone in a quiet dark corner, enjoy a cigarette, and listen to the creatures of the night.

But one night he witnesses events he could never believe. He needs to tell someone, but there is no one he trusts.

Earlier on the same night, around ten, in the genteel suburbs of Chester, someone knocks on the front door of the Varnes family home. Inside, two septuagenarians stare at each other, before she goes to the door to open up.

Two men stand there. Collecting for the earthquake appeal, they say, or are they?

So begins "The Evil Man", a chunky story divided into two parts, and it isn't long before Inspector Walter Darriteau becomes involved. This is Part One, Book 13, in a growing series. We hope you like it.