Only those closest to you know your shopping habits, your marital circumstances, whether you have relatives in jail, whether you’re thinking of moving or have recently moved, where your kids go to school, if you have pets, where you go on holiday, and even whether you’re in debt. Only those closest to you – and your postman.
Ten years after the disappearance of his wife, in the decaying West Yorkshire town where he was born and raised, postman Barry Wapping puts aside his own ongoing existential turmoil to investigate the suspicious death of one of his customers. Mrs Jayne Hopper was elderly yet fit and active. She died unexpectedly, and her house was put up for sale the very next day by her estranged daughter Susan Hopper, who appeared on the day of Jayne’s death. A postal redirection request had been put in a week before. Talking to Mrs Hopper’s neighbours, questioning his fellow postmen, following the trail of a redirected letter, Barry becomes convinced Susan Hopper murdered her mother, gets embroiled in an ever more sinister plot and puts his job at risk to prove it. His partner on his postal rounds is Wayne, who is not impressed by Barry going off piste. Barry is reunited with Sonia, an ex from their school days, and love (awkwardly) blossoms. We are taken through various twists and turns on the streets of a West Yorkshire town, full of wit, intrigue, great characterisation and a main character who is an endearing anti-hero – a flawed but essentially good man. Robert Craig sets things up perfectly for the next book.
The first in a series starring Barry, the sleuthing postman. A book that both fits into a great genre but is unique and tailor-made to the author. No one but Robert Craig could have written these stories.
Sales
- Salt Publishing UK & Commonwealth excl Canada (January 2027)
Material: English manuscript (258pp)