The Honeyplot
When lonely Roland Bagwich arrived to join the choir at St.Erwald's Abbey, he could not possibly have foreseen the odd friends and even more unlikely enemies he would meet. Nor could he have imagined that
he would make himself thoroughly unpopular before discovering hidden depths of courage and resource that help him solve a murder, thwart a robbery and find love in an unexpected place.
The Honeyplot is available on Amazon.co.uk in the UK, or on Amazon.com in the US, or on any other European version of Amazon.
"A house stood behind a high brick wall. It was a spacious, foursquare brick building with neat columns either side of the front door and the same number of windows on either side. Despite the sunshine it seemed a sad house.
David Bramhall has also written this slim collection, a chilling twist on the traditional ghost story. Seven stories will not terrify you, but might tug at your heart-strings.
There's an odd child who, it turns out, doesn't exist; there's something lurking under the floor of the church that no one wants to talk about; there's an illegal alien who needs Roland's help; and for goodness' sake, who or what is Benbecula and why does he, she or it keep disappearing?
What reviewers say about "The Honeyplot" ...
"Another very enjoyable book from David Bramhall
I was very pleased to see a new book from David Bramhall issued in time to be given as Christmas presents. Mr Bramhall's books are always beautifully written and carefully plotted and this is no exception. His previous novels have been set in a time that is hard to pin down as there are elements present from different periods. This book is clearly set in the mid 1950s with many references that are familiar to those of us who remember that time. The action is centred around an Abbey choir in a part of the country that mentions places from previous books. Clearly Mr Bramhall has created an imaginary landscape and goes back there for his settings. The list of titles from Mr Bramhall includes books on training choirs and composing music so this means the musical references are made with considerable authority.
This is another very enjoyable and engaging read and I thoroughly recommend it" - Sheddweller
"A great story beautifully told
A great read. The plot is unusual and gripping and it kept me guessing right to the end. The author's masterful powers of description made me feel I actually know the characters & places intimately" - R Knights
If you prefer to use a digital reader, Smashwords have it in a variety of formats - EPUB, MOBI for Kindle, LRF for Sony e-readers, PDB for Palm readers, as well as TXT, RTF, PDF and HTML for laptop or PC.
Aurelia
Behind it lay a large bedraggled garden stretching to the fence at the foot of the railway embankment, and near the front gate was an outhouse with fading green double doors. Today it would be a garage, but when it was built it would have been called a coach-house. Above it was a loft, and over the double doors a little window was festooned with cobwebs and dead moths, long desiccated.
Behind the dirty glass were two tiny chairs, and in the chairs were propped a doll in a grubby frock, and a large toy rabbit with floppy ears and yellow check trousers. Somehow one knew that they had been there for many years, forgotten by a child long-gone or long-grown, left to keep a patient vigil over the narrow front garden and the hot sun winking off the roofs of the cars.
And if you should happen to look just out of the corner of your eye, in passing as it were, not looking properly, you might notice something else. Behind the dolly and the rabbit, another dim shape.
A pale face in the shadow, wide-eyed, watching and waiting."
An award-winning children's choir owes its success to someone who isn't there, while a young man finds he has someone living in his attic. A pensioner becomes a little too absorbed in his hobby, and a lonely little girl waits patiently for her big brother to come home from school. There are no monsters here, but there is gentle humour, a vivid insight into the world of children, and great sadness expressed in limpid, elegant prose.
One of the stories is even true!
You can buy Aurelia here or here.