Guest Interview: Emma Gray, author of "Party Games" (as E.J. Greenway)

Today I am pleased to be featuring an interview with Emma Gray, the author of the political suspense thriller “Party Games” as E.J. Greenway. Emma is kindly returning the favour for me.

What first inspired you to write novels?

I was 11, and watching the downfall of Margaret Thatcher, when I first realised I was interested in what was going on in politics. I always loved writing from a young age, and when I realised I could combine writing with my other new love – politics – I was in heaven! I thought the whole drama surrounding an outgoing Prime Minister of Mrs Thatcher’s stature was fascinating, and so I wrote my first ‘novel’ in 1990 called ‘The Plan to Assassinate the Prime Minister’. After that, I wrote a number of political stories (all involving real-life politicians, inspired by publications such as Private Eye) until I began my first ‘serious’ novel, Party Games, ten years ago now! The rest, as they say, is history.

Which novelist most inspires you?

I would have to say Michael Dobbs. He is a marvellous man, with a big passion for politics and writing about it.

 

Why choose politics as a subject?

As I said above, it’s my life-long passion, as well as my degree, as well as my job, and they say ‘write what you know’, so I did!

 

What led to the Conservative angle?

I am a natural Tory and have learnt a lot about the Conservative Party over the years!

 

Tell me more about Party Games.

It is a tale of skulduggery, passion and back-stabbing in the heart of Westminster, but also a tale about friendship and human flaws and failings. I always say that it could be based anywhere where there is hierarchy and rivalry i.e. in any company, school, council etc. I don’t wish to use the politics itself to sell any kind of political message, it is simply there as a vehicle for the characters and the story (hence me not going into policy detail about Cornish devolution, for example, which would obviously be dull as dishwater and make the story fragmented). Although it is in a political setting, I hope that the reader could sympathise and empathise with some of the characters – although not all!

 

Any more books on the horizon?

Yes – two, in fact. Party Games is first in a trilogy, so I’m currently on book 2, Power Play, which I hope to release later this year.

Most rewarding aspect of independent writing and e-publishing?

Being able to be my own boss and time everything to my own deadlines, not someone else’s.

 

And most frustrating?

Not being able to get my book out to a wider audience, as would be possible with a traditional publisher. E-books, although brilliant, do have their limitations!

 

As an independent author, how useful do you find social media?

It’s not just useful, but essential. Twitter has been my biggest source of publicity, and I’m grateful to all those who re-tweet and tweet on my behalf (including @DavidCooperBks !).

 

What would you most like to achieve from writing?

A book deal, through a traditional publisher. I think any independent author who pretends otherwise is kidding themselves!

Emma’s blogsite is http://emmajgray.blogspot.co.uk/ and she can be found on Twitter as @emsie1979.

“Party Games” is in the Kindle bookstore at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Party-Games-ebook/dp/B00986Z9UI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1358894755&sr=1-1 From my own 5 star review: -

“Anyone following the current political scene will be well familiar with the tales of treachery, double dealing and backbiting that are all too often reported about the Westminster playground, and it often leaves us wishing we could look even further behind the scenes. This tale of the tribulations of opposition leader Rodney Richmond takes a further step into that murky world - and it's all too credible. Rather than spoil the surprise beyond the author's own preview, I'll just say that if you like political suspense (from Dobbs to Archer), you'll love this one - all the more so for the promised sequels as this is just the first part of an intended trilogy.”

Infernal Coalition: Amazement - and Retaliation

Tuesday 9 February 2010

When Alex pulled into his drive after his late return from London, he was puzzled to see that another car had just arrived ahead of him. It was clearly not Susie’s, and she had in any event mentioned ‘a quiet night in, working on a new project’ when he had called her from the railway station car park less than an hour earlier. He came to a halt behind the other car as the driver extinguished its headlights and opened the door. 

“Hello, Alex, I wondered if I’d find you in. Hope it’s not too late?”

To his further surprise, he realised it was Karen Rutherford. Although they had always been good friends and colleagues on political business in East Worcestershire, she had never visited him at home before.

“No, not at all.” By now Susie had opened the front door. “Come on in. You know Susie, don’t you?”

After Holly had enthusiastically introduced herself to Karen before retreating to her basket, and Alex had sorted out a round of drinks, they all sat down. It was evident that Karen was very much on edge.

“I thought I’d come and see you if I could, as soon as I’d got away from that pathetic charade of a meeting.” Alex realised that she was referring to the latest gathering of the constituency executive committee earlier that evening. “I’ve done something that I’m really ashamed of, and you’re probably one of the only people I can share it with.”

“Hang on a minute, though. You must know I’ve resigned.”

“You can say that again. It was one of the very first things that came up tonight. Not a word of thanks from Nicholson for your past service, just some underhand comment about leaving them in the lurch when there’s so much to do. Then he asks me if I’d step into your shoes and become Deputy Chairman Political.”

“That would be right up your street, wouldn’t it?” Susie chipped in.

“Maybe, but I said I wasn’t interested. It’s all part of the rest of it.”

Alex and Susie waited for Karen to continue. She took a deep breath and composed herself.

“Do you remember the question and answer session at the members’ meeting when we chose Martin Darby? Remember how everyone thought how good he was on all ten of the questions, when the others didn’t come across as anywhere near as skilful as him at thinking on their feet?”

The session was well familiar to Alex, if only for the manner in which it had effectively sealed the fate of one of the other candidates, Olwen Williams.

“Yes, I do. What about it?”

“He was primed. Those questions and answers were supposed to be unseen and unrehearsed, but he had full chapter and verse.”

“Primed?” Alex quickly thought back once more to the members’ meeting. It was plausible – but how? “Full chapter and verse? How do you know?”

It was obvious from the look of dismay on Karen’s face that she had a dark confession to make.

“Because it was me. I did the priming. I fed Darby every single question. That’s what I’m really ashamed of, now that this other business has come out.”

The further revelation left Alex and Susie completely lost for words. Karen continued, her composure evidently fully regained after she had unburdened herself of her secret. 

“You know I’ve been trying to get on the candidates’ list myself? I applied once about three years ago. I was turned down and told to get myself some more political experience before trying again. That’s when I first met that horrible man Marcus Haines.”

Alex nodded for Karen to continue.

“He recognised me when he came up for that first meeting, the one when they said they wouldn’t be putting you up to fill the last place.” Karen looked towards Susie and caught her full attention. “Right at the end, when we were all queuing to leave, he took me aside and asked me to go into the clerk’s room and explain to the candidates that they’d all be going through to the last round, and that I should wait there for him.”

“Yes, of course, he was standing on the door collecting in CVs.” Alex remembered the argument he had had with Nicholson before leaving, and did not add that Haines had not wholly discharged his duties.

“When he and Nicholson came in and found us all, he asked me to step outside for a quick chat, and asked me who I thought I liked the most. I said Darby and Kendall. He thanked me for that. Went on to tell me he could be in a position to give me a leg up for next time around, and we exchanged phone numbers. I nearly thought he was going to proposition me.”

“Interesting, but how does this involve Darby and the members’ questions?”

“Well, on the Wednesday night before the final selection meeting, he rang me. He said he’d like me to give Martin Darby a call to run through some possible questions for the meeting. I could just about work out what was going on. I asked him whether it was a good idea to be doing something like that, and he said that surely I’d appreciate it if I was in someone’s final shortlist. There was something sinister about the way he put it – almost as if I could kiss goodbye to any chances of my own to get on the candidates’ list if I didn’t play along.”

“I don’t believe it. Are you sure?” Alex was astounded to hear of yet another twist to the process that had led to the selection of East Worcestershire’s candidate.

“I wish I wasn’t. But I am. I was told to read out all ten questions, make notes on how he answered them, and report back to Haines on how Darby answered. That’s exactly what I did. It was really pathetic of me.”

“Well, isn’t that just great. He makes sure that his fingerprints aren’t anywhere to be seen, so it’s deniable, and your prospects of getting on the approved list are down the drain if you don’t play ball. Welcome to the political class – have a nice day.”

As Alex reached for his pint glass, Susie realised there was something else just as important, if not more so.

“So who fed the questions to Haines?”

Karen was the first to answer.

“Oh God. It could only have been Nicholson. He must have been in on it.” She seemed about to burst into tears as Susie put a comforting arm around her shoulder.

“Right, that does it.” Still holding Karen, Susie turned to Alex.....

* * * * *

So what happened next? What exactly did Susie's retaliation involve? There's only one way to find out. The links to the Amazon and Lulu pages to order a copy of Infernal Coalition are on the right. And if you're in need of a double fix of legal suspense, why not order a copy of Hatred Ridicule & Contempt too?

Infernal Coalition: Disbelief

Wednesday 13 January 2010

“Thank you all for attending this evening’s meeting. Before I explain the procedure that we will be following tonight, can I again confirm that the copies of the candidates’ CVs that you will have found on your chairs will be collected in, once the entire session is over.” 

By the time Alex made it to the meeting, most of the other committee members had already arrived, and it was clearly too late for him to stand any chance of a private word with Nicholson before the formal business began. The civic hall assembly room was not quite up to hosting the full gathering of the executive committee in any degree of comfort, and he could do little more than find a spare seat and bide his time. Nicholson was soon on his feet and clearly basking in his role in the spotlight.

“Once again, Marcus Haines from CCHQ is in attendance. The candidates are waiting in the clerk’s office, and they will each be called in turn to make a short presentation for no more than ten minutes, and then answer questions from the floor, again for no more than ten minutes. When they have all finished, we will have a discussion amongst ourselves, and decide who should be invited to address the membership next week. We are of course obliged to invite at least two of the candidates, and may invite all of them if we so wish.”

While Nicholson was explaining the process, Alex had done an initial speed reading exercise on the CVs with a growing sense of disbelief. Even allowing for his prior research online, it was surely going to be a near impossible task for the executive committee members to study the candidates’ written credentials in any detail, weigh them up, listen to what they each had to say for themselves and think of any pertinent questions, all in a time slot of twenty minutes per candidate, and then draw any meaningful conclusions.

Had he been recruiting even the lowliest paralegal or trainee for his firm, he thought, let alone making a high profile lateral hire, this would have called for a major investment of time and thought, so as not to risk selecting the wrong person and being left to nurse the consequences of a costly mistake. And yet this is how we are being asked to deal with the choice of a potential member of a legislative assembly, for what could be a well cushioned job for life, with powers to tax and regulate those who put the representative there? A choice that the members might never be able to review if the seat remained safe?

“The running order will be Alexandra Holt, Adrian Swan, Olwen Williams, Martin Darby, and finally Janine Kendall. I must explain that earlier today I was contacted by Howard Bailey, who informed me that he had been put through to the final round in Bristol South West, where he will be in competition with one other candidate, and he had therefore decided to withdraw from our own process. I will now invite Alexandra Holt…”

Alex was almost overwhelmed by astonishment. A last minute drop out – and they had still not given Susie the lifeline that was surely hers as of right? What on earth was going on? He raised his hand and would have interrupted Nicholson in mid flow, had he not been beaten to it.

“Mr Chairman, on a point of order.” It was Karen Rutherford, a keen local councillor who was probably twenty years younger than the average age of the executive committee membership, and who was gaining a reputation in the constituency for her fearless enthusiasm on local and national issues. She rose to her feet and raised her voice. “The list of successful applicants stated that Susie Harris was a reserve. This is, of course, Professor Susie Harris, the wife of our Deputy Chairman Political, Alex Harris. May I ask why she has not been invited to this meeting in place of Mr Bailey?”

Alex could barely hide his admiration for the force of the intervention, knowing that the questioner would only have been able to formulate it within moments after hearing the unexpected announcement. He gave Nicholson a piercing stare, awaiting an explanation. But Nicholson was oblivious to this as he nodded to Haines, who cleared his throat and waited for near silence to return.

“Mr Chairman, and members, the association rules make it clear that the extending of an invitation to a reserve in circumstances of this nature is discretionary, not mandatory. He or she has no automatic right to be fully shortlisted if a chosen candidate withdraws from the process.”

“Who exercised the discretion, then?” Rutherford was clearly not minded to give up easily. As Nicholson raised both hands and tried to wave her back into her seat, making it plain that he wanted closure, Haines pressed on in blissful ignorance of the gesture.

“I am informed that the selection sub-committee met earlier today and exercised their discretion against fully shortlisting Ms Harris, after a casting vote.”

“A casting vote?” Alex could contain himself no longer. He stood up, locked eyes with Nicholson and waited for an answer. So they had been deadlocked? And the chairman himself had put the knife in? “Would you mind explaining why?”

“The subject is closed.” Nicholson struck the table with a nearby water jug as if to distract attention from his pompous turn of phrase, having visibly reddened. “I’ll speak to you afterwards if you wish, Alex, but we must move on. Time is short.”

It was obvious to Alex that there was no point in protesting any further. The door had clearly banged shut on Susie’s short lived political career for once and for all, without any chance of it being reopened again after it had briefly come ajar. Alex gave Nicholson one final baleful glare before sitting down and turning to the first page in the stapled set of candidates’ CVs, as the first aspiring successor to Sir Walter Hough MP made her entrance.....

 

* * * * *

 

To follow: Amazement - and Retaliation.

Douglas Carswell - The End of Politics: A Review

“On the day the wall came down/The Ship of Fools had finally run aground…” Pink Floyd, A Great Day For Freedom (The Division Bell).

“Who can give them back their lives/And all those wasted years?/All those precious wasted years - Who will pay?” Rush, Heresy (Roll The Bones).

In the dying days of the last Labour government, Douglas Carswell MP invited his blog readers to suggest a subject for him to raise at Prime Minister’s Questions. To my pleasant surprise, he chose my question about ruling out UK participation in Greek bailouts. The PM fudged the answer, no doubt in the full knowledge that the political class would in due course contrive indirect UK participation whether the electorate liked it or not. Which just about said it all, so far as the attitude of Big Government towards the public at large is concerned.

It is therefore only right and proper that I return the favour with a review of “The End of Politics and the Birth of iDemocracy”.

 

The first seven chapters cover “The End”. It is a fair portrayal of how and why our current political system is rotten to the core. To recall a phrase from the sixties, The Man in Whitehall still thinks he knows best. We are given many examples of how government grows by stealth, how it has to be seen to be doing something (think of projects like HS2, or NHSIT – beware of accidental transpositions with that one), and how it deliberately debauches the currency with quantitative easing and aims to inflate the ever growing debt away. Bad luck on savers and foreign travel lovers if your private pension turns out to be of Zimbabwean purchasing power and your holiday pound drops to parity with the Vietnamese Dong.

 

The political class are portrayed as knowing full well what they are doing, probably only wanting to be sure they see their time out before the consequences of their actions catch up. It is perhaps not surprising that one commentator has already suggested that in days gone by, someone from within who exposed the true nature of how we are overtaxed, overregulated, overgoverned, badly governed and governed by the wrong people (EU bureaucrats, the opinion forming elite etc) would probably have been burned at the stake.

 

So where are we to find hope? The second half, “The Birth”, suggests that the digital revolution will render the Big Government model obsolete, as choice displaces top down prescription. “A cultural revolution is coming that will unseat the constructivist elite”, it is suggested, where taxpayers decide to buy less prescribed government services, make more of their own decisions and keep more of their own money for this purpose, all aided by technology. Hmm. Without wishing to drift too deeply into a debate as to what state services are truly essential, we may wonder how much those taxpayers would voluntarily spend on some of the great functions of government that have emerged and then snowballed since the end of World War II. The health and safety industry? The discrimination industry? The financing of ambulance chasing claims handlers? The food and drink division of the nanny state?

 

It probably leads to a key issue not really addressed in the book, namely what if the political class refused to accept that the days of Big Government were over, that their system was wrecking not just wealth but lives too, and that they should give up and get out of the way, pausing only to start lowering taxes and deregulating. Would there be a soft landing or a crash, and how bad would any crash be? And would there be danger of a similar scenario from the two sets of rock lyrics with which I opened, whereby the initial euphoria at the collapse of East European communism quickly gave way to deep resentment at their former rulers after all those wasted years? Who would be burned at the stake (or even Ceausescued) then?

 

Hopefully the author’s conclusion, that our best days lie ahead and that we will be healthier, wealthier and happier in several generations’ time after Big Government has been laid to rest, will be borne out without too much of a crash. And perhaps the current Western political class would be spared the fate of many a former dictator, as long as they submitted to a course of Sackcloth, Ashes and Penance. Which provides me in conclusion with a neat way of promoting my own recent book, a political/legal suspense novel that probably has about as much underlying respect for the political class as The End Of Politics, expressed largely through the perception of an “ordinary person candidate” believing that the invitation to help clean up politics in the wake of the Parliamentary Expenses Scandal was meaningful and sincere…

 

Oh yes, before I forget. A resounding five stars for “The End of Politics and the Birth of iDemocracy”.

Infernal Coalition: Despair

...Alex turned to his computer screen and called up the Seats and Candidates page of Conservative Home. He found the link to the A-List at the head of a list of constituencies and began his investigation.

Almost an hour later, he found himself in possession of far more information about the six shortlisted applicants than he could ever have expected to trace, but none the wiser as to how Susie could have found herself excluded in comparison to them all. He saved the summary that he had been typing and printed it off.

Howard Bailey. Small business owner, Bristol. Runner up, Bristol South East, 2005. In final six for one safe seat last year, and Bristol South West this year – still ongoing? Has written a number of articles about deregulation for small businesses.

Martin Darby. A-Lister. PR & marketing consultant, London. In final six for one marginal late last year and two safe seats in 2007. Appears close to a couple of Shadow Cabinet members.

Adrian Swan. Councillor and teacher at independent school in Coventry. No sign of him in any other shortlists. Known Eurosceptic contributor to ConHome discussion threads. Another ordinary people candidate? 

Alexandra Holt. A-Lister. Barrister (matrimonial law), London. In final six in three safe seats since 2006. Vociferous for reform of family courts.

Janine Kendall. Management consultant, Hertford. Might be same as Jan Kendall who fought a safe Inner London Labour seat in 2005. No sign of shortlisting this time around.

Olwen Williams. Farmer, Shropshire. Stood in hopeless South Wales mining seat in 2006 by-election. In final six for a safe seat earlier this year.

Six candidates, he thought. None of them a household name, and not a local connection to proclaim between them. Bailey and Swan could probably make it to the constituency via the motorways in a couple of hours if they put their foot down, but that’s as far as it goes.

What a farce. Do those three women really have anything that Susie doesn’t? Was this call for new blood candidates nothing more than window dressing?

By now it was almost 2.30 and Alex was in no frame of mind to revert to client work. Picking up his briefcase, he waved a goodbye to Sawdon who was on the phone, told the other partner Geoff Stokes he was leaving early, and made his way downstairs to the car park. At least he could be sure of sharing the bad news with Susie before anyone might break it to her first. His promise to respond to Bob Gill later that afternoon on his prospects of suing CCK TelSol was long forgotten.

To his surprise, Susie was already home, sitting in the study at the computer. It was obvious that she had been upset and angry for some time, and most unusually she was struggling for words as well as fighting back tears. Alex’s consoling hug could not have prepared him for what she finally said.

“What a tactless, two-faced, arrogant bastard.”

“Who?”

“Nicholson.” She could hold back the tears no longer as she waved her hand towards the screen and hurried out of the study. “Just read that.”

Alex did so and found himself looking at a circular email that had evidently been sent to almost two hundred addressees.

‘Dear Applicant

The selection process for the new Prospective Parliamentary Candidate in East Worcestershire has now led to the drawing up of a shortlist of six applicants, to be submitted to the constituency’s executive committee in the immediate future.

Regrettably we were unable on this occasion to include you on this shortlist and will not therefore be taking your application any further.

I wish you well in your further applications.

Yours faithfully

Olivia Phillips

Organising Secretary
For and on behalf of Ashley Nicholson
Chairman, East Worcestershire Conservative Association.’ 

A wave of disbelief came over Alex as he opened his briefcase and extracted the copy email he had received from Nicholson earlier that day. He read the line ‘Reserve: Susan Harris’ again. And again. As Susie came back into the study, the tears almost gone but her anger no less obvious, he passed it over.

“I don’t understand. Why would you get a standard form brush off when I’ve just had this?”

Susie read it and shook her head in complete confusion when she reached the incongruous line that appeared to suggest that her new found ambitions had not been completely dashed.

 

“I can’t make it out either. I can’t work out whether it was an afterthought or something that was supposed to have been edited out...”

* * * * *

Previously posted: Hope. To follow: Disbelief, and Amazement - and Retaliation.

Infernal Coalition: Hope

Wednesday 2 December 2009

.....Hearing the phone replaced, Alex banished Gill and his dispute from his mind. It was not the first time, nor would it be the last time, when he would have had to disappoint a client for telling him what he needed to know rather than what he wanted to hear. Susie came into the kitchen and threw her arms around him.

“I’m on the approved list! They’ve even said I’m free to apply for any other Midlands seat!”

“That’s great. I’m really proud of you.” They chatted on for a few more minutes before it sunk in with Alex that their intentions need not remain secret any longer. “I suppose I’d better ring Ashley Nicholson and tell him there’s going to be a local candidate in the running.”

“And put your differences aside too?”
 

Susie’s question was as perceptive as ever. She had always suspected that the local party chairman, a lifelong resident of the county, had not been entirely pleased when Alex had become an officer in the association barely a year after they had moved from the Birmingham suburbs to a rural setting in the constituency. Although no other committee member had come forward to express any interest in taking on the role of Deputy Chairman Political ahead of Alex, Susie had long gained the impression that there was a needless element of factional strife between Nicholson’s closest allies and everyone else.

For his own part, Alex was aware that Nicholson had made a colossal amount of money from training and consultancy work in the fields of environmental health and hygiene, taking full advantage of the ever expanding consequences of European Union membership. Alex’s staunch belief that the UK would be better off out of the EU left him with little time or respect for those who profited from the European project at the expense of those burdened by its regulations.
 

“Up to a point, I guess. The day I become a Europhile will be the day hell freezes over.” Alex paused. “Of course, if you’re elected to Parliament, I’d better remember that a closed mouth gathers no foot.”

“That sounds just like Denis Thatcher.” Susie let the comment, laden with implication as she had intended, hang in the air as she headed upstairs. Having found the chairman’s number, Alex picked up the phone and made the call, and was soon through the inevitable opening round of small talk.

“OK, Ashley, that wasn’t why I rang. The reason for my call is to let you know that Susie has just been accepted onto the approved list of prospective Parliamentary candidates, and she’s put in her application to be shortlisted for East Worcestershire. “

“Has she now? That’s very interesting. I can’t think that there’s any other local candidate likely to apply.”

Nicholson did not expand. Alex noted with a brief touch of curiosity that he had expressed no obvious enthusiasm on hearing the news.
 

“So I think it’s only right and proper that I stand down as Deputy Chairman Political on a temporary basis after Friday’s meeting, until the selection procedure is over. Presumably there’s no problem then if we put the word around that Susie’s applying?”

“I think that you can leave that to me. You’ll have heard that CCHQ are sending a rep along to the meeting on Friday, to give us the complete low down on how the process works. One of the tasks we’ll be faced with then is forming a selection sub-committee of six. You’re welcome to come along to the meeting, but clearly you can’t properly be on the sub-committee, and it’s probably a good idea if you do stand down as DCP afterwards. Only temporarily, of course.”

“Not a problem.” There was something in Nicholson’s tone of voice that left Alex feeling patronised, but he let it ride. They soon finished their discussion.

“How did he take it?” Susie had returned, holding an Ordnance Survey map.

“Difficult to tell. Same as ever with him, of course. Still, I’d find it hard to believe that the local executive won’t give you their full support. Let’s hope he falls into line. They surely wouldn’t want a complete nobody ahead of a local. And most of the real stars from the A-List would surely have been selected for vacant seats by now.”

Susie spread the map out across the kitchen table. She was well aware of the party hierarchy’s decision to create an A-List, an elite group of preferred candidates whose entry into Parliament was considered to be particularly desirable, and how badly this had gone down with ordinary members once it had been uncovered. The recent call, in the face of the expenses scandal, for a new type of candidate to come forward had been a welcome contrast. 

“Right then, let’s start going over these towns and villages. We know the area and the local issues far better than London A-Listers who make the same pitch to every constituency they apply for....."

* * * * *

To follow: Despair, Disbelief, and Amazement - and Retaliation.

Now Available: Infernal Coalition

"Bloody hell."

"What's wrong?"

"The Warthog's had a change of mind. He's standing down."

It was only natural that the unexpected decision of Sir Walter Hough MP to retire from the House of Commons at the 2010 General Election, and to vacate the safe East Worcestershire seat he had held for 35 years, would lead to a great deal of interest from potential successors. Including Professor Susie Harris, inspired by the rallying call for ordinary voters to come forward as Tory candidates and help clean up politics in the aftermath of the expenses scandal.

But was her initial welcome only skin deep? And how far would her new found political interest be affected by a client of her solicitor husband Alex trying simultaneously to defraud his firm?

Infernal Coalition. A legal/political suspense. Available via Kindle Direct and Lulu (links on the right). Read the Prologue above.