The Art of Danger
JOHN KITE SERIES BOOK 1
How dangerous can a picture be? PI John Kite’s job is to recover stolen art but this is a crime like no other. Three men are murdered to get a dull, forgotten painting. A crazy, pointless heist? Or something far more sinister?
Kite’s a tough ex-cop and firearms specialist, but he’s up against a foreign spy who’s planning havoc and mayhem, not an art show. To complicate matters, Kite’s being followed by a kooky – and sexy – young woman. Who’s she working for? Even worse, Kite’s got a shameful secret in his past that he thinks is well hidden – until he realises someone’s on to it.
What Kite is chasing down isn’t just a painting: it’s the most explosive art in the world. Can he stop the impending cataclysm?
Paint it Blackmail
JOHN KITE SERIES BOOK 2
The biggest art heist in history – the Government turns to John Kite for help.
In this fast-paced crime-thriller Kite rescues a girl from certain death as unexplained demonstrations in museums cause a riot on social media. Kite tracks down an international gangster chasing vast wealth at the public’s expense and encounters a killer from his own troubled past. Kite himself is pursued by the police but uncovers lies and deceit at the heart of government which puts the Prime Minister’s life in danger.
Meanwhile a mammoth bonfire is prepared: what or whom is meant to burn on it?
Pictures To Die For
John Kite Series Book 3
When a fanatical billionaire teams up with an obsessed criminal, the result is mayhem in Florida and murders in Europe
This fast-moving crime-action-thriller has wit, and a taste of humour, as well as excitement. Ex-cop, now PI, John Kite finds himself up against a puzzling kind of art thief: one who steals pictures, then destroys them.
Kite's struggle to unravel the assignment is complicated by an alligator, and a Rocket Propelled Grenade, not to mention a feisty, pink-haired fashionista. Then a tantalising, former colleague of Kite’s appears with problems of her own which she wants Kite to solve. Kite’s emotions are torn, but he criss-crosses the globe to save millions of dollars’ worth of art... As he and his old flame try to stop a jet plane, armed only with a rented automobile.
“China is killing art,” a woman tells PI John Kite, “You must stop them.” Then she is killed in a hail of bullets. Is the bizarre message connected to the flood of robberies Kite is investigating? Or to the dead auctioneer found floating in the ocean? Or is it evidence of a world-wide conspiracy? Being shot at with a flare gun is just the start of this action-filled adventure for ex-cop John Kite. His quest for answers takes him on a 1500 mile road chase, and a speedboat pursuit across the Mediterranean. A girlfriend tells Kite he is “too dangerous to know”, but his signature sense of humour is undimmed. With a volcano ready to blow its top, can Kite stop the conspiracy before it causes western economies to go into melt-down ?
Scam Artists
JOHN KITE SERIES BOOK 5
He knows when the heist is. He doesn’t know where. Or who. He’s got 9 days to find out – and stop a major crime.
PI John Kite is called by a friend in trouble. The friend’s on assignment in a lawless country, and can’t raise his boss to pass on vital information. He tells Kite the perps’ codename for the heist is “Operation Eton” and it is scheduled for the 13th of the month. Then the line is cut. Kite can’t reconnect. He can’t contact the friend’s boss either, so he feels duty-bound to take on the case. Then Kite’s home is broken into and trashed. Only one minor item is taken, but it gives Kite a shiver down his spine. It’s a relic of his dead father, who was a full-time criminal. Pursuing leads, he returns to his father’s old house in Florida, where he finds himself being tailed by the FBI. Is Operation Eton connected to his father’s life of crime?
ART TRAP
JOHN KITE SERIES BOOK 6
Kite's car explodes and an alluring woman rescues him. Or does she? Is a saviour or a stalker?
Chasing stolen paintings, John Kite discovers an oligarch is targeting a cache of almost perpetual wealth, hidden deep within one of the world's poorest countries. To stop the Russians empire-building Kite battles not just expert criminals, kleptomaniac politicians and the oligarch's private army but also the west's own secret services. Can John Kite save a desperate nation from being pillaged?
Having made serious sacrifices to recover a stolen painting, PI John Kite discovers that his efforts were in vain. He has been deceived by a long-running fraud and now he wants to get even, and nail the guilty.
But Kite's search for the truth lays bare a secret which is so secret and so dangerous, that those who discover it are killed. As Kite himself becomes a wanted man, can he persuade those in power he is right - before he is taken out himself?
Brushes With Death
John Kite Book 8
An elusive, redheaded woman, with links to terrorists, a rookie cop suspended for bad behaviour, and new technology, which is potentially life-saving, yet unstable and highly dangerous.
Kite is lured into working for a criminal – and the result changes his life. Stolen artworks draw Kite into the criminal’s web, and colleagues beg him to keep clear. But he can’t resist the criminal’s promise that he will learn startling facts about his dead father. Kite uncovers an international conspiracy intent on destruction. Can he stop their desperate strategy before it is too late? And what shocking secrets will Kite learn about his dead father?
Captured
John kite series book 9
Why do criminals send a video of the heist to their victim?
Stylish thieves waltz away with $200 millions' worth of art from a prince's mansion. But the prince tells no one, not even the police. Then John Kite is hired to get the artworks back - with a deadline of only a few days. What game is the prince playing? And is he even a prince at all?
About Me
I was born and brought up in London but have lived and worked around the UK, in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Cheltenham, Glasgow.
My working life started in BBC Radio. I then spent some years as an actor which included a stint in the first series (yes, it was that long ago) of Poldark, which the late Clive James famously called “a wall of corn from Cornwall.” Then I went into TV production, spending most of my career as a Drama Producer specialising in Soaps and popular Series. I produced Brookside, Emmerdale, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married and the very first series of Heartbeat. I co-produced the action adventure series BUGS and wrote some episodes and helped get BBC Scotland’s River City going. I’m pleased to say the soap is still running.
And also still running is my marriage. I’ve been married to Lin for a heck of a long time. We have two daughters, Tessa and Juliet, and two grandchildren. We currently live in Northamptonshire
