| Synopsis: |
Critical acclaim for previous "Constable" titles: 'Stories of a constable on his village beat in North Yorkshire. All very gentle and far, far removed from the hurly burly of modern day city policing.' - "Daily Telegraph".'Rhea's real strengths are his sharp portraits of people. The best humour comes from the author's close understanding and affectionate portrayals of the character of Yorkshire country folk.' - "Northern Echo".'An account of the hilarious happenings to the county's rural policemen over the years.' - "Yorkshire Post."'Filled with Yorkshire characters to make you laugh and cry... shows life through the eyes of a village bobby.' - "Whitby Gazette".'Nicholas Rhea is doing for the North Yorkshire Police what James Herriot did for the North Yorkshire vets... another delightful, simple tale of everyday life in Aidensfield from Constable Nick.' - "Driffield Post".From time to time, Constable Nick must leave his blissful rural beat at Aidensfield to assist his hard-pressed colleagues in busier places. At the height of the holiday season, therefore, he finds himself on patrol in the popular Yorkshire seaside resort of Strensford where a host of new problems await.There are crimes to solve and criminals to arrest, but there are lighter moments. Why, for example, would a lone woman stand on the cliffs and gaze out to sea for two hours on every day of her life; why would a family of children ride donkeys at dawn - while facing backwards, and who owned a dinghy called Daphne which was marooned on the rocks and never claimed? A message in a bottle washed up on the beach suggests a girl is being held hostage, so Nick must urgently find out where and why the bottle entered the sea and then he finds himself helping a film crew shoot scenes in Strensford market place.In another case a man claims to have witnessed a vicious attack which never took place, then Nick has to search for teenage runaways among the boarding houses of Strensford and manages to embarrass a middle-aged couple but his efforts among the lodgings lead to a clever thief. He finds a party of police officers trying to be anonymous whilst on holiday, helps a magician to entertain at a tea-party and assists in launching the Strensford lifeboat on a life-saving expedition.It all generates yet more constabulary duties for Constable Nick of Aidensfield. |