Murder Pure and Simple is set in a Midlands mining town during the 30s and 40s. Big John Oakley, a miner and well-respected chapel-goer, lives in a colliery house with his wife and family. However, a series of events leave Big John powerless to prevent his family’s traditional lifestyle from falling apart through lust, greed and drink, resulting in revenge, murder and retribution.
Moving forward to the 80s, in a mining and agricultural town just a few miles from the Oakley home, the body of an elderly man is found on the railway lines close to a bridge. Detective Inspector Jim Stirling, an experienced investigator, is satisfied that the man was murdered. The body is identified as Tommy Oakley, an alcoholic and former boxer dossing in the railway carriages nearby. The ensuing investigation is full of twists and turns, taking DI Stirling and his partner DS Johnson back to the 1940s to re-examine a murder which saw two men convicted and hanged for their crimes.
Can Stirling and Johnson unravel the secrets of the past concealed for nearly four decades within a conspiracy of silence?
Murder Pure and Simple is an intricate crime novel that will also appeal to fans of historical fiction.
