GreatReads.org P.C.R. PENFOLD
The Funeral:
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Claire is young and single when she is told she has inherited a house from an uncle she didn’t know she had. When she also discovers he was murdered, she and a colleague of her uncle’s who attended the funeral set out to find out who and why. saviour.
Inspiration for The Funeral:
People smuggling and trafficking is always in the news. I thought it would be good to have a better than usual outcome as well as a different approach to finding the protagonists. A funeral was where it started and ended for one man, but a chance meeting was how it continued and it appealed to my sense of justice to write a novella with lots of action and sharp turns and see how it could unfold for a not so ordinary young woman.
Excerpt from The Funeral:
Chapter One
The sun was hot on the back of his neck; he could feel the steady progress of sweat trickling down his spine. He could feel the sand scratching into his knees where he had been forced to kneel on the stony ground. There was nothing he could do, his hands were wired tightly behind his back and then linked to a chain which bound his ankles. He lifted his head to look out at the sea, consciously calming his mind to an unnatural stillness, savouring his bodily sensations, knowing they would be his last. The sound of the bullet was a quiet thud, causing an explosion of red behind his eyes and only just registering in his senses before they too, registered nothing more.
Reviews of The Funeral:
"The Funeral" is a beautifully written story that seamlessly weaves history, love, and newfound connections. An absolute must-read.