19 July 2022.
ISBN: 978-1-915122-58-2 (PB)
Our story opens as Daniel Felton is driving down to Cornwall. Not for a holiday but to escape the nightmare he now finds himself in. A nightmare I hasten to add that is of his own making. Living in a small bedsit in Marylebone and having a few bets on the horses grew into a total addiction to internet gambling. His telesales job could no longer support his addiction and so he began to borrow money, payday loans, overdraft and finally from loan sharks.
Matters came to a head when two large menacing individuals turned up at his bedsit and left him in no doubt that if he didn’t settle his debts PDQ there would be exceedingly painful consequences.
In desperation he turns to his cousin, Luke, who is shocked and dismayed at the situation that Daniel has got himself into. Unlike Daniel, Luke has done well in the property business and suggests that Daniel get out of London for a while and offers him a cottage he has recently purchased in Tregarris in Cornwall. Luke even pays Daniel’s rent arrears on his bedsit and gives him some spending money, but confiscates his laptop, and smart phone replacing it with a non-internet mobile.
Initially, Daniel sees Chough Cottage as his salvation, although it has a rather sinister appearance. When he calls in for a pint the next day at the Jolly Pirate, he is naturally a topic of conversation and learns quickly that people in small villages are not always totally welcoming.
Also, as he takes stock of his situation his thoughts turn to his girlfriend Lauren, whom he has effectively walked out on with not a word. To complicate matters, Lauren’s best friend is Luke’s fiancée Kate.
Returning from a visit to Helston to look around, Daniel is surprised to see three police cars and an ambulance parked close to his cottage. And then to learn that a dead body has been found on the coastal path. The local Sergeant takes out his notepad. ‘Can I have your name Sir?’
It is said you can run, but you cannot always hide and so it isn’t long before events start to catch up with Daniel taking a sinister turn for the worse, in more ways than one.
I greatly enjoyed this book. I enjoy a good mystery. Recommended.
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David Matthews was born in the East End of London in 1953 and spent all his formative years living in Shoreditch through the sixties and seventies. After working in the City of London for almost 40 years, he took an early retirement and found the time to indulge his fondness for the written word. Death On the Path is his fourth publication to date. He now lives in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.
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