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    The Official Guide to the Sam Plank Mysteries
    The Official Guide to the Sam Plank Mysteries
    The Official Guide to the Sam Plank Mysteries
    Ebook77 pages1 hour

    The Official Guide to the Sam Plank Mysteries

    By Susan Grossey

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    About this ebook

    This guide is the official introduction to the Sam Plank Mysteries by Susan Grossey.

    In the guide are short descriptions of each of the Sam Plank books, the first chapter of each book, and a glossary of Regency slang as used in the books.

    The books included are: "Fatal Forgery"; "The Man in the Canary Waistcoat"; "Worm in the Blossom"; "Portraits of Pretence"; "Faith, Hope and Trickery", "Heir Apparent" and "Notes of Change".

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSusan Grossey
    Release dateMay 7, 2019
    ISBN9780463138564
    The Official Guide to the Sam Plank Mysteries
    Author

    Susan Grossey

    My name is Susan Grossey. I graduated from Cambridge University in 1987 with a degree in English, and then taught secondary English for two years before realising that the National Curriculum was designed primarily to extinguish every spark of creativity in its teachers. I then became a technical author, and reached the pinnacle of this profession when I was asked to document the workings of a choc-ice wrapping machine in Cardiff, while wearing a fetching blue hairnet (which I forgot to remove until it was pointed out by a cashier in a petrol station on the M4). From this unbeatable high point I moved into technical training, and one day was asked to help with a staff manual on fraud prevention. As I wrote the chapter on money laundering, I realised that here was a topic that could keep my interest for years – and so it has proved. Since 1998, I have been self-employed as an anti-money laundering consultant, providing training and strategic advice and writing policies and procedures for clients in many countries. As part of my job, I have written several non-fiction books with exciting titles like “The Money Laundering Officer’s Practical Handbook”.  However, this is not enough financial crime for me, and in my spare evenings and weekends I write fiction – but always with financial crime at the heart of it.

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      Book preview

      The Official Guide to the Sam Plank Mysteries - Susan Grossey

      The Official Guide to the Sam Plank Mysteries book series

      Susan Grossey

      Susan Grossey

      Publisher

      Copyright © 2023 by Susan Grossey

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

      ––––––––

      Author contact details:

      susangrosseyauthor@gmail.com

      www.susangrossey.com

      @ConstablePlank

      ––––––––

      Sign up for my free monthly e-newsletter on all subjects Regency to get a peek behind the research curtain, as well as exclusive access to competitions and occasional giveaways – and be the first to hear when a new book is coming out:

      https://susangrossey.com/insider-updates/

      ––––––––

      Book Layout ©2013 BookDesignTemplates.com

      introduction

      The Sam Plank Mysteries

      The Sam Plank books are set in London in the 1820s, towards the end of a period often known as the Regency.  The vain and spendthrift King George IV is on the throne, the wars with France are finally at an end, and London is growing at an amazing pace.

      In terms of policing, the 1820s are a particularly interesting time.  The famed Bow Street Runners are on their way out and the Metropolitan Police has yet to be launched (that happened in September 1829).  Policing the capital in the 1820s falls to magistrates and their constables – and Samuel Plank, narrator of this series of books, is one of those constables.  He has a particular interest in financial crime, as – just like today – there are all sorts of interesting financial developments which can bamboozle the unwary and provide fodder for criminals, such as investment schemes and new-fangled paper cheques.

      Of course Sam does not work alone.  His endeavours are guided by John Conant, the senior magistrate in Sam’s police office – Great Marlborough Street in the heart of Piccadilly.  Sam is giving what we would now call on-the-job training to a young constable called William Wilson.  And at home, providing Sam with excellent advice, the female perspective and lots of pies is his wife Martha.

      So come and join us in Regency London and immerse yourself in the sights and smells of this exciting city.  The books are designed to stand alone, but many readers prefer to make their way through the series in chronological order.  You can read the blurb and first chapter of each novel in this guide – there are seven Sam Plank Mysteries in total.  And I have included a little glossary to give you a taste for Regency slang.

      Contents

      Fatal Forgery (Book 1 in the series)

      The Man in the Canary Waistcoat (Book 2)

      Worm in the Blossom (Book 3)

      Portraits of Pretence (Book 4)

      Faith, Hope and Trickery (Book 5)

      Heir Apparent (Book 6)

      Notes of Change (Book 7)

      Glossary

      Fatal Forgery

      The first Sam Plank book

      ––––––––

      It is 1824, and trust in the virtual money of the day – new paper financial instruments – is so fragile that anyone forging them is sent to the scaffold. So why would one of London’s most respected bankers start forging his clients’ signatures? Sent to arrest Henry Fauntleroy, Constable Samuel Plank is determined to find out why the banker has risked his reputation, his banking house and his neck – and why he is so determined to plead guilty. As the case makes its way through the Regency justice system, exercising the finest legal minds of their generation and dividing London society into the banker’s supporters and detractors, Plank races against time to find the answers that can save Fauntleroy’s life.

      FATal forgery: Chapter one

      Cannot this business be settled?

      Friday 10th september 1824

      On the day of the arrest, it was Daniel waiting to deliver my messages.  He stood on my doorstep, dancing eagerly from foot to foot – six or seven, I reckoned he was, although he himself couldn’t tell me, and filthy as they come.  No son of mine would have been allowed to get into that state, not with my Martha’s fondness for soap and water, but back then we were still waiting and hoping.  I tore the page out of my notepad and folded it into four, the writing hidden on the inside – force of habit, as Daniel couldn’t read a word.  I reached into my tunic pocket for a coin and the lad’s eyes followed my hand hungrily.

      I held out a farthing.  You’re to deliver this to the surgeon, Mr Goodchild – you can remember the address I told you?  Just behind the cricket ground.  He took the coin and nodded.  And there’ll be another farthing for you from Mr Goodchild, so make sure you give it direct to him.  His heels given wings by the promise of a halfpenny before noon, Daniel raced off and I settled myself to waiting.  I had done all I could in preparation.

      Patience is one of the signal characteristics of the police constable, but I will confess that it comes easier to me now in later years than it did at the beginning.  As a young officer I was quick to judge and quick to act.  Ironic, isn’t it: when you’re young and have plenty of time you’re always in a hurry, but as it runs out, you learn to pause, to consider and reflect.  Things are almost never what they seem at first look: the painted trollop winking at gentlemen in Regent Street is no more than a child, and the fine coach-horse offered for sale with boot-black

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