Merlin Smallbone
Book Catalogue

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Sepia cover photograph of strange boy.

Murder for Pleasure and Profit

MP-A-16 Early 20th century novel • Multiple murders
Edwardian School boy Carlin poisons three bullies and gets away with it. Eventually he becomes a successful businessman and he and his wifes hobby is not at all repellant.


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Complete Bits

CB-A-10 Poetry and songs • Anthology • Poetry and songs
Serious and frivolous poetry, strose and songs.

Cover artwork of a blackboard with chalk drawing of a lighthouse and a palm tree.

Desert Lighthouse

DL-A-14 Adventure novel for boys • Adventure and education for boys. • 1860s Silk Road
A wandering bookseller finds a lighthouse transposed from 1940s Scotland in the desert near Tashkent. What sort of boy recognises excitement of learning and benefits of wisdom? How boys become men of the world in a time of worrisome change.


Cover artwork of Earth as a dandelion seed head.

Earth in Space

ES-A-16 Novel speculative fiction • Society • Leadership
Adam and Eve are youngsters who meet aboard an 'earth lifeboat' space ship. The ship is huge but unmapped. Each module seems to be single purpose and isolated. They start joining and seeding leadership to create a functional, long-lasting society, and solve the mystery of no overall command.


Cover artwork of a nasty explosion.

Freddie the Teacher

FT-A-16 Novel speculative fiction • Fixing a violent society
Freddy didn't want to go to the stonings anymore. He's trapped more than others. Thanks to instinctive action from the runt of his English class in 2077 Colchester he becomes dictator with the job of healing a dysfunctional society. Sadness and romance are shared.


Cover artwork of a golden ammonite fossil.

Future

FU-A-15 Novel speculative fiction • Leadership • Society
Discover the truth in 'A weak leader is a great leader' as our hero discovers how to repopulate the Earth's surface 350 years in the future. What is it like to walk on the downs under the stars and moon for the first time? Ignorance and secrecy, secrets and amazing revelations


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Ghosts and Supernatural Stories

GS-A-13 Short stories • Collection • Short stories
Supernatural stories


Cover photograph of Dorset's Durdle Door near Lulworth Cove. Subtitle: From lonely blackmailer to calculating killer.

Good Apple 1

G1-A-13 Historical crime novel • Series of three • Crime and detection • 1922 Dorset
A blackmailer turns over new leaf in 1922, using his devious skills where the police can't. Adventure and the happiness of families in Dorset. Metropolitan Police corruption, local politics, international intrigue. For some one who wants to remain in the shadows he has an unfortunate habit of appearing heroic in the papers and far too close to viol- ent death for comfort. However his profits are invested in a 'non-existent' 'Department six' who take-on organised crime. His wife is studying the mathematics and practical aspects of encryption.


Cover photograph of Dorset's Durdle Door near Lulworth Cove. Subtitle: Local hero. National troublemaker. International dreamer.

Good Apple 2

G2-A-14 Historical crime novel
• SEQUEL 2

Cover photograph of Dorset's Durdle Door near Lulworth Cove. Subtitle: Touching the untouchables.

Good Apple 3

G3-A-13 Historical crime novel
• SEQUEL 3

Cover artwork of the author with golden hearts

My Imaginary Girlfriend

IG-A-15 Present day romance • Romance London 2018 • Fictional auto-biography!
A happily single Essex author wonders 'what-if?' Nice things. Challenges shared are much more fun. Two self-sufficient people changing and sparking. Responsibilities accepted and delightful distractions. 'Other people' can become a satisfying hobby.


Cover artwork of the feint picture of an armoured knight.

Legends

LG-A-17 Medieval story-telling • Medieval story-telling
Why go on dangerous quests and actually fight when you can vanish for a while and tell a story? Because then people expect you to live up to your legendary bravery and wisdom and your children have a strange assumption that taking control of the world is straightforward.


Cover artwork of a moorland stone with a hole in it, through which is a sepia scene of an engine driver.

Liminal

LI-A-16 Gothic novel • Gothic fantasy • Symbolism
Strange but logical. Bizarre but charming. A Shropshire market town before the first world war. Do clouds chatter? How would you find out? Standing stones on the moors are inanimate but they have the power to make us wonder. Meet fate with enthusiasm and see what happens.


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Love Follows Necessity

LN-A-10 Novel France 1887 • Paris 1887
Up and coming bachelor Pierre Rouissant's 25th birthday is disrupted when three babies are left on his doorstep. The servants cope well while the mystery is kept quiet. Once an unloved only child, Pierre learns to love a family but it isn't straightforward.


Cover artwork of The Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals against 1960's era wallpaper.

Luton Cavalier

LC-A-16 1960s Novel • Luton 1966 • Fashion • Murder/spy mystery
21 year old car salesman who's only interest is wenching with the rugby club, is captured by a fashion student. He has a go at male modelling for extra cash. Fame from a strange murder leads to the swinging sixties being given a new boost.


Cover photograph of a steam excavator.

Man with a Voice

MV-A-15 Novel late 20th Century • Marketing in 1970-1990 • One of a kind high-flyer
A Manchester lad becomes very successful in advertising but his wife and children come second. As his daughters grow up he improves at home but is a loose-cannon loner who changes corporate cultures. He's happiest talking to the cat and tinkering with steam excavators.


Cover artwork of a cloaked medieval figure.

Minda 1 - Minda grows up

M1-A-13 Medieval novel • Series of five • Medieval adventure • Strong women
A deformed girl becomes physically strong through blacksmithing, tough through training, charming to win in an exciting medieval world. She puts money to work and collects loyal helpers. She becomes the most powerful woman in Europe. Difficult Romance and action but no supernatural magic. An ideal role model for tough young women.


Cover artwork of a cloaked medieval figure.

Minda 2 - Minda Inherits

M2-A-14 Medieval novel
• SEQUEL 2

Cover artwork of a cloaked medieval figure.

Minda 3 - Minda Falters

M3-A-15 Medieval novel
• SEQUEL 3

Cover artwork of a cloaked medieval figure.

Minda 4 - The Black Team Escapes

M4-A-14 Medieval novel
• SEQUEL 4

Cover artwork of a cloaked medieval figure.

Minda 5 - Steady into the storm

M5-A-14 Medieval novel
• SEQUEL 5

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Minda 6 - Standing alone

M6-A-11 Medieval novel
• SEQUEL 6

Cover artwork of a man's head rendered as building plans.

The Man Who Thought He Was Evil

EV-A-14 Novel marketing • Essex post WW2 • Construction industry • Polish immigrants
The nicest, shyest, boy ever tells doctors he wants to be evil. By meeting then marrying a Polish psychiatrist he uses Polish labour and finance on construction projects and makes an enemy of Russians and communists in the unions. Regardless of his loving home he takes brutal risks.


Cover artwork of a model railway baseboard.

Model Murder

MM-A-14 Charming novel about consequences of cold war • Feisty Essex Pensioners • Cold War spy mystery
While bringing a model railway to life with tales of the Blitz, a forgotten murder surfaces. Pensioners enjoy discovering post-war spying together and realise MI6 need putting in their place in a helpful way. Success, romance and fun for an energetic couple.


Cover artwork of a saxophone bell. Subtitle: Civilised dying comes to Devon.

Seamouth Saxophone

SX-A-16 Novel civilised dying • Society • Civilised dying
On the coast of East Devon a local character wants to put a giant Saxophone the red cliffs! It's a disguise for a joint suicide prevention and terminally-ill centre. See how a community develops to be proud of those who work there and also the sort of people who made it happen.


Cover artwork of solar reflections. Subtitle: One man's treasure. One planet's lifeboat.

She Who Must Be Sailed

SS-A-16 Novel speculative fiction • SF adventure • England 2025
Supercomputer recruits alpha-male for space-lifeboat captain duty. New threat for the 21st century: Solar storms have been affecting telegraphs for over a century. Now without the internet how will the internet be fixed? Fuel will run out on day 1, electricity falter, food rots. Will greedy panic or calm preparation prevail?


Cover artwork of an diagram of an ellipse. The two focii are marked Run-up and Overshoot.

Time and Again

TA-A-16 Novel about attempting time travel • Legacy of HG Wells • Romance in 1970s
When 16 year-old Tristram is given £16 million to research time travel he works hard at it but begins to realise perhaps the future has already happened. Happy chance gradually becomes grim fate. Enjoy the energy and cleverness of youth under pressure as others try to set his agenda.


Cover photograph of Essex marshes. Subtitle: Death on the Dengie marshes.

Who Killed John Crowe

WK-A-13 Crime and detection on Essex Marshes • Essex murder mystery • Marshland community
A national crime reporter starts uncovering a 30-year old mystery with dangerous connections to modern crime. The community see him as a hero, he knows he's the opposite. Very stressful, but the locals stick together to help those in trouble.