On hearing that her grandfather George, her only remaining relative had died, was stressful enough but to make matters worse he knew he was dying and only told Simon Quinn, a disreputable solicitor. Gemma Smith was put in a precarious position when the will was read to her, does she pursue her career in the world of finance or accept the contents of the will. She decided after some lengthy consideration to carry out George's request and continue to run his rather tatty antique shop in Clevewood Bay a sedate seaside resort in Sussex. All is not as straightforward as it seems, a letter left for her at the bank has some sort of cryptic message to decipher, reading it several times was a wise decision. Gemma met Jack a builder who renovated the premises while she sweet-talked him to moving in and cajoled him for her own intentions. Strange requests from customers asking for packages that George used to give them and visits from two unsavoury characters put her on her guard, she used her fortitude and guile to handle these issues with ease, she likes to be one step ahead when dealing with anything that may stop her own motives. She employed two people to help her run the shop, Shaun, Simon Quinn's nephew and Sally a local girl who both get entangled in Gemma's extraordinary personal life. Mysteries abound in the letter the more she reads it, customers strange requests, George's past, two bunches of keys with the letter, she has to solve these enigmas somehow and soon. Manipulating Jack, Sally and Shaun to gain their trust without their awareness they will have to be kept at bay for her to fulfil her own ambitions. She finds a secret compartment containing small sealed packages and a notebook with a list of local peoples names, one or two she recognises but this all seems very secretive, something the letter tries to tell her. She stumbled upon in the kitchen a concealed entrance to a basement which creates another puzzling dilemma and a shock causing her to appreciate George's sense of humour. Gemma continues to read the letter until finally one day she cracks the code which opens a safe in the basement, happy days now she can relax a bit. Following some so-called business with people in the notebook things were looking rosier but her new allies were suspicious of her movements so she needs to retain their trust by any means to enhance relationships. Karen Dawson, a hotel receptionist that Gemma knows, became a secretary for Simon Quinn which proved benenficial. Mrs Watkins, the previous secretary, had her own agenda which suited everyone involved with him. Several valuable antiques that caught her eye at her customers houses were negotiated by lying or deception to obtain them, it didn't matter to Gemma the people took her word on the price. Unaware of the contents of the packages her three allies, and now Karen, were inveigled into various scenarios as Gemma continues to outwit everyone in her path. Peter Morton, a solicitor friend of George, aides Gemma to shame and ridicule Simon Quinn, she is considering moving away from Clevewood Bay with help from Peter when the time is right. Her allies will be told in confidence and if any are not happy, tough, Gemma has her goal to reach. On reading their letters in private Jack, Sally, Shaun and Karen have to make a decision to meet her there or not. Is Gemma to be trusted, they don't know, does Gemma trust any of them, she's not entirely sure. Have they all been fooled and who might have let anyone down? A gigantic setback for global use of the contents of the packages put Gemma in a difficult situation, her position of authority becomes weakened by an unknown identity. Has someone tricked her at the last minute to ruin everything? Does one of her alliesor somebody else know more about her than she realises especially when suddenly out of the blue an individual arrives and unsettles Gemma in her new environment
About the Author: Born on the Wirral peninsula in 1953 this is his first book reworded and retitled from his published novel A Matter of Trust as he wasn't entirely satisfied with the content and the title. His other novel, Just Being Louise, is in the pseudonym of Felicity Weatherbee, a name chosen to determine if it's true that people have a tendency to choose female over male authors when perusing in bookshops. His ambition was to become a cartoonist, or a vocation in journalism, as his contribution to the school magazine was highly commended but, in the nineteen sixties, the career officers knew what was best and he was discouraged to pursue his desire and became the usual local factory fodder and undertook an apprenticeship in engineering. Writing his third and fourth novels, which are of a completely different genre, keeps his mind completely occupied while undergoing chemotherapy at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. He is determined to complete these works of fiction with his positive attitude and the resolve to continue his infatuation of literary composition .