Like a very dull snail I’m heading towards completing my next Radwinter novel, to be called ‘Spindrift’. If you know my character Thomas Radwinter, the word might reflect the situation he finds himself in Radwinter #8; he’s simultaneously spinning and drifting as he tries to work out two mysteries. What happened to the husband of a friend who disappeared ten years ago? And who is the old lady who’s been squatting in a house near a friend, the old lady who suddenly leaves in a hurry, apparently fearing for her life. Did the missing husband drown – he lived across the road from the beach and the sea, and was the old lady just a frail eccentric and possibly delusional? As usual Thomas has to research the past, trying to discover if the missing husband was really the person he purported to be, and he also has to find the old lady and check that she is safe and reunite her with her beloved dog Tony.
When Thomas first appeared in the autumn of 2013, he was unhappy at home and at work, a shy, lonely insecure man married to a fearsome wife. Over the six years I’ve followed his life, up to book number 8 which is set in 2019, his life has changed completely He has a loving new wife, a growing family, he’s still a solicitor and still investigating family history and odd mysteries. His beautiful wife describes him lovingly as bumptious, the nervous, stuttering, awkward Thomas has vanished, but he still harbours anxiety and fears – not from the past but for the future of his family in the world today.
This next book is different in some ways, because Thomas is different, and as usual at this stage in its gestation I am anxious about it. I’ve had a few unexpected technical issues, but I really hope, with every finger crossed, that Thomas will leap back and share his latest adventures, and mishaps!
Here’s a little excerpt – Jack is the missing husband of his friend:
I was making a big pot of Bolognese sauce by the time the children arrived home from various places. As I stirred, I thought about my weird day. I’d hoped my police contact, Kins, might have given me an update, but she’d been more interested in hearing my progress. I was so tempted to give her details of the missing Jack, but wisely I didn’t. I told her I was speaking to people who’d known him, and mentioned he’d been seen out and about in Strand.
She tensed but I added that he seemed like a bloke taking time out of a busy life. I was, however, looking into his background, and asked about her about his mysterious brother. Kins knew nothing, in fact Jack had never mentioned having a brother. I sensed she wanted me to tell her more, but I restrained myself.
“Dad! You’re dropping sauce on your shoes!” Terri was tugging at my sleeve. I’d stopped stirring the Bolognese and was standing with the wooden spoon not over the pot, but over my feet, dripping sauce onto my shoes. What a dope!
Terri handed me a cloth, still giggling at her foolish father, and I wiped up the mess. I rinsed the cloth and my mind wandered to later this evening when I was going to speak to Jack’s wife again. Suddenly there was water everywhere! I’d turned the tap further on, not off! What an idiot! Focus and concentrate! Concentrate and focus!
Wikipedia tells me: Spindrift is the spray blown from cresting waves during a gale. This spray, which “drifts” in the direction of the gale, is one of the characteristics of a wind speed of 8 Beaufort and higher at sea
Here is a link to the previous Radwinter novel, Winterdyke:
Lois Elsden 