My sixth novel was an homage to John Buchan Innocent Proven Guilty by Michael Fitzalan
My sixth novel was an homage to John Buchan Innocent Proven Guilty by Michael Fitzalan
Philip Hayward is a mathematics teacher who thinks of himself as ‘Mr Nice Guy’. He tries to be generous and giving, but he harbours a guilty secret, he wants his brother, Patrick, dead. Ten years previously they had bought a flat together but when Patrick lost his job through shady deals, a year later, they were forced sell.
As the elder brother, Patrick was the principal name on the mortgage and he held the account. When they sold, the capital payment for the flat was paid into his bank, and he disappeared to America with all the money. The mortgage company came after Phil for the whole debt, leaving him with a huge sum of money to pay off and nowhere to live.
He fantasized about fratricide; the bitterness at his unfair treatment had become greater as time passed and as his poverty weighed more heavily on him.
When a serendipitous meeting reveals his brother’s whereabouts, he stumbles into his brother’s new house to discover a body.
His wish had come true but wishes and reality are two different things. With his brother dead, he feels duty bound to find out who killed him. The police want him ‘to help them with their enquiries’ because he has left a bloody footprint on the floor.
Phil sees himself like the fugitive, Hannay, in ‘The 39 Steps’, the only way he can stop running is to find the culprit and clear his name.
It’s time to call in some favours, but has he really been good enough for people to help him; a known murderer who had motive and who was the last person at the crime scene?
Can he prove his innocence before the police move in and who is Diana Deverill who signs herself “Deadly nightshade” and pursues Phil at every opportunity?
His distinctive looks and height give him away at every turn but will the help of the Muslim community save him from the clutches of the law and allow him to track down the real murderer?
ABOUT ME
A well respected author
Michael Fitzalan was born in Clapham, South London where his mother had established a doctor’s surgery in a house which she filled with children.
With three sisters, two brothers and a library full of books, a love of literature was imbued in him from an early age.
Michael Fitzalan comes from Irish parents were doctors and they settled on the West Side of Clapham Common and had six children in quick succession.
A story by Michael Fitzalan
