S. G. Read

When William Just's parents were killed it changed his life in many ways. He inherited a large plasma television from his parents and little else. He had to leave university and go onto a jobseeker's allowance which left him very short of money. When the television would not work one day, he was heartbroken. When he found out that he could not afford to repair it he decided to have a go himself as that was what he had been studying. The result was a time machine of sorts and that really changed his life.

When Dermot Doyle's wife left him because he worked for a crime syndicate, he decided to stop working for them. The only problem was he did not want to go to his retirement party, with the crime syndicate it had a whole new meaning. He chose to steal money from them and then leave the country, hopefully taking his wife and daughter with him. Unfortunately, they found out and while they were chasing him, he was hit by a bus. With him in hospital they decided to ask his daughter about him as she lived with him.Cally knew nothing about it until they arrived to search the place. She fled and decided to go and see her father at his workplace, the headquarters of the crime syndicate. Luckily, she recognised the people who smashed their way into the house, and she fled. The more they chased her the more she learned but it was only a matter of time before they caught her.

Inspector Clayton Moore and sergeant Rebecca Stone made a good team, they solved murders that others gave up on and all difficult cases were sent their way. In a busy police station other crimes landed on their desks and the were expected to solve them all. Not only did they make a good team, but they were also slowly falling in love, and it would shape their futures. Clayton had the knack of working out scenarios to fit the crime, when they had all the facts, and was surprisingly accurate with a some of them. Rebecca was no slouch either and her ideas helped them solve a lot of cases.

Robert Carnforth was a stern squire and a womaniser until someone saw fit to end his life with a musket ball. Sadly, for the man who killed him the new squire Robert junior was worse. Until he married the new squire saw fit to take any woman that he wanted and took no argument from them or their loved one. It was better when he married as she was a beauty, and he could have her when he wanted to. When she died, he returned to his old ways until syphilis killed him.Robert junior now the new squire was at a boarding school and knew nothing of his father and grandfather's evil ways. Instead of turning up and announcing himself as the new squire he spent two days in the village as a paying visitor. What he heard while he was there told him just what he was facing if he did take over as squire.He was young and full of energy and took it on as a challenge...

Clarence McDay was a well-respected solicitor who worked mainly in London. His son Andrew gambled and drank into the night and then slept close to midday. Clarence decided to find him something to do that was far enough away from anywhere to make him change his ways. When he heard about a post as beadle at a workhouse orphanage in Devon, miles from anywhere he thought that that was ideal.When Andrew woke, he was told about his new position. There was no middle ground. He either went to Devon or his father would cut him off.Andrew rode to Devon and he was angry. On the way he was accosted by a highway man. Andrew bested him but when he approached, he saw blue eye behind the mask. It intrigued him and he ordered the highway man to take off his mask. It was a woman. A very pretty woman and Andrew was smitten. He freed her and rode away.After his meeting, his mood changed but on arrival at the orphanage, he heard a child scream. He found a large man whipping a young girl and stopped him.From then on things changed. He was not going to have the children whipped to make them work, and they still worked well. The work had to be done and as long as they worked well, he tried to feed them more than a little gruel each day. He sacked the woman who looked after the babies when he found her drunk and heard of a possible replacement in Exeter and travelled there to obtain her services. On the way he encountered a highway man but this one did not have blue eyes.He was saved by his blue-eyed Beth, the highway man and employed her as a teacher. She was an instant hit with the children, her beauty helped there.When on another trip to Exeter Andrew passed the thief taker's wagon going to arrest someone. When he found out that it was Beth, he knew that there was only one man who could possibly help, his father.Not only did Andrew's happiness depend on the outcome, the children in the orphanage were likely to return to the same as before. Starved and whipped to make them work.