Like False Money was published in February by
Robert Hale Ltd, London. I first signed a contract for this
series in 2004 (with a different publisher), but the road to
publication is not a smooth one, as we all know, and the books
are only now being published. The next is out in June.
I am enormously pleased with the way the book is going. It sold
out its first edition in 10 days and has now been reprinted.
Amazon labels it temporarily unavailable, but the new edition is
out there.
It
has been nominated for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger. I
have previously won the CWA Debut Dagger with a different book,
and said at the time that I was after the full set. I should be
so lucky!!
I took the title from this quote
“False opinions are like false money, struck first of all by
guilty men and thereafter circulated by honest people who
perpetuate the crime without knowing what they are doing,”
[Joseph De Maistre] never realising that this would get the book
on to all sorts of websites discussing financial matters and
money laundering at the height of the banking crisis. Well, all
publicity is good publicity, so they say.
The
book is set in East Yorkshire where I live, and this is the
blurb:
Can
fledgling PI Annie Raymond cut it on her own when faced with a
job she can’t do, a boss who hasn’t a clue who she is, and a
schoolgirl ready to blacken her name to save her own skin? The
Humber estuary with its deceptively calm surface hides
treacherous currents that become the mirror to Annie’s turbulent
new life.
It’s a job that can never deliver a good
result, but Annie resolves to do her best for grieving mother
Martha Martin and keep the more sordid details of her son Terry’s
life hidden. And at least the Martins are normal people, unlike
the alcoholic Mrs Earle who can’t even keep appointments.
Conflicting stories around Terry’s last days entangle Annie in a
web of rumour and deceit. What she takes for fact lies far from
reality; like counterfeit money tendered in good faith, pretence
and distortion have become accepted as integrity and truth. But
who is fraudster, and who is innocent victim? Who is the boy who
appears on Annie’s radar both in prosperous rural Milesthorpe and
the deprived inner city estate? Annie desperately needs a third
case on her books to secure her future, but when it comes, her
future career is the last thing on her
mind.
The
truth unravels and Annie knows that not only has she walked into
a trap, she’s also led a young girl into mortal danger. Now she’s
truly alone and if she can’t cut it, it’s the end to all ambition
and twelve-year-old Laura will plummet into the abyss with
her.
Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Like-False-Money-Penny-Grubb/dp/0709089805/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263660523&sr=8-12
There is a review
at
http://www.speakwithoutinterruption.com/site/2010/03/stuart-aken-reviews-like-false-money-by-penny-grubb/
