Fiona

About the Book

In Vancouver, Fiona is a cop and Erik a pilot. Her close friend since childhood, Erik dotes on Fiona and eventually proposes, but is rejected. Religious convictions about sex make Fiona deny her desires but when she agrees to marry another, Erik is heartbroken. Their friend Susan offers compensation. After tragedy strikes in a double murder, Fiona is sent on a secret police mission to Hong Kong to arrest a British spy with a dangerous reputation. Erik is lured to accompany her on a make-believe honeymoon. Members of a Chinese gang, in a bloody encounter, attempt to hijack their plane; they are forced to land on a tropical island. The police-prisoner relationship is now meaningless, not least because of Joe's survival techniques - Erik is jealous of Fiona's approving glances. The island produces many surprises, not least the arrival by sea launch of two unsavoury Australians, bringing terror and death. Rescued and back in Vancouver - but without their escaped prisoner - Erik and Fiona soon live together as she quells her conscience. A son - Iain - is born and although not Erik's, they delight in raising him. This mainly happy time ends when they holiday in the UK and meet Joe's sister. Memories stir Fiona's troubled mind. She vanishes, writing to say she wants a divorce. An angry Erik finally agrees to this, feeling he has lost her for ever; and is soon living with the beautiful and understanding Lisa. Having received treatment Fiona returns, ostensibly for her son's wedding, but secretly hoping that Erik will take her back. They are reunited but Erik continues his affair with Lisa until she finally leaves. Iain marries Lucy and in time they embark on an aid mission to India; but tragedy strikes again. For the end of the story, read it!

About the Author

A self-confessed dreamer who nevertheless taught mathematics, Tom Elder's mind has always buzzed with stories. Since his wife's death in 2000 he has lived alone, grateful for the loving support of their two sons and their wives and the kindness of neighbours and friends. What better way to spend his time now than writing those stories down? Born in Islington, London, in December 1915 and educated under the then-existing LCC elementary school system, Tom later lived in Tottenham, until in 1940 he married Dorothy at the registry office there and they set up their wartime home in a flat in Enfield. War separated but mercifully spared them, to resume their married life in 1946. They bought their first house, in Hertfordshire, in 1959, where they lived until retiring to Devon in 1975.