Leo Woodruff

The Messenger is the story of Jack’s last melt down: a story of frustration and guilt, love and betrayal, family and blame. Unwillingly becoming embroiled in the unfinished business of Mark, a journalist brutally murdered in the local park and his television presenter wife, Sarah, to whom he’s desperate to say one last goodbye, Jack finds himself getting closer to Sarah, obsessed with passing on Mark’s message. Discovering hidden secrets and lies finally pushes the fragile Jack over the edge but there is hope when his estranged sister, Emma, gets in touch. Jack starts to remember the past they shared together and as the memories come flooding back, he confronts the truth about the death of his father.

Amongst the vibrant international community of the eponymous Spanish island, a British and a German detective with very different approaches to policing have a clash of personalities. Despite - or perhaps because of - their very different approaches, the sleuths form a perfect complementary partnership as they seek to solve a new crime on the island each week.

Set in 1820 against the forbidding backdrop of windswept Cornish moors, the story follows the journey of young and spirited Mary who is forced to live with her Aunt Patience after the death of her mother. Mary arrives at the isolated Jamaica Inn to discover her Aunt is a shell of the carefree woman she remembers from her childhood, and instead finds a drudge who is firmly under the spell of her domineering husband Joss. The Inn has no guests - the rooms are locked and kept for storage - but it soon becomes clear that it’s a cover, as Joss is the leader of a smuggling ring, and Jamaica Inn the hub of his ‘free’ trade.