I’m welcoming Richard Robinson back to Celtic Connexions with his third novel in his Topaz series – The Mainstay.
Blurb
Witness to Murder. A City on Edge. A Mastermind Hiding in Plain Sight.
When university student Sam Jacobs witnesses the murder of a Unionist MP in Ballycastle, he becomes more than a bystander — he becomes a target. Drawn into a web of politics, crime, and sectarian violence, Sam’s world unravels as powerful forces close in to silence him.
Chief Inspector Orla Massey calls on the covert Topaz team to investigate, but corruption in the RUC, political interference, and the ghosts of her own past push her to the brink. Meanwhile, MI5’s Jones, Jenny Richmond, and Declan McNally face a growing threat from an elusive mastermind known only as The Big Man. Power, politics, and betrayal collide as they race to unmask him before he strikes again.
From the terror of a Belfast safe house to a hanging aboard a luxury yacht, from a brutal execution to the underworld of global crime syndicates, The Mainstay is a gripping, heart-breaking and razor-sharp whodunnit where no one can be trusted.
And as the body count rises, one question remains:
Who is The Big Man? And how do you catch a man who doesn’t exist?
Buy Links
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mainstay-Topaz-Files-Book-3-ebook/dp/B0DXPV47YC
Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/thetopazfiles
Extract
As they turned to face him, guns aloft, Jones unleashed one of the grenades from the haversack in the Rascal. It landed a few metres in front of the pair and rolled into the water. As the grenade detonated, the pressure from the explosion created a blast so high that the two gunmen were immediately blown off their feet and deep into the bushes next to the trees. They were accompanied by a few of the ducks and a torrent of dirty green water and sludge from the top of the navigation. It was total carnage.
What happened next almost took place in slow-motion. Jones hadn’t appreciated that such an underwater explosion would transmit pressure with greater intensity over a longer distance. So, as he rounded the path leading to the open lock gate and sped the MZ as fast as possible over the gap in the gates, he grit his teeth.
This was shit or bust, he knew that. He’d either fail and fall headfirst into the navigation or triumphantly make the leap and land on the other side. Greeting Wendy and Sam like some heroic modern-day Evel Knievel.
Instead, a last minute third option arrived, he was hit by the undercurrent of the grenade explosion and was blown off his bike headfirst into the large hedge at the front of the building. He’d made the leap over the navigation, but only thanks to a little help from a watery detonation.
About the Author
Richard lives in East Anglia with his wife and two daughters. He is a trained journalist and spent his early years freelancing or in agency positions across the UK, including a stint in Northern Ireland in the mid-1990s. He then transferred to the third sector, working in charities focusing on issues as diverse as international development (in India and Bangladesh), air ambulance operations, music and the creative industries, mental health and homelessness. He also acted as Chief Executive of the Olympic Park charity during London 2012.
He is currently the CEO of Hourglass, the UK’s only charity focused on ending the abuse and neglect of older people, a job he applied for after a family experience of neglect.
Richard wrote his first novel in the early 2000s but this has yet to see the light of day. Instead, he started with a new idea in 2020 and Topaz was born. He has written two more in the Topaz Files series, Wild Flowers and The Mainstay, which are expected to be published in 2024.
He is also happily in the dugout for Boxford Rovers F.C. on a Saturday, a committed cratedigger (vinyl collector) and can occasionally be seen in the stands at Loftus Road and Windsor Park.
WEBSITE: https://www.thetopazfiles.com/
Twitter/X: @TheTopazFiles
Instagram: at @r_we_r
Email: Richard at thewash_house@live.co.uk
A lot is going on in The People Next Door. Lies, deceptions, and deep-buried secrets.
Having read other books by this author, I jumped at the chance to read this one. Wow! There are so many twists. Aria suffers from retrograde amnesia, so any memories before the accident are wiped from her mind. Still, a disturbing nightmare keeps her awake at night.
Val Penny has an Llb degree from the University of Edinburgh and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer but has not yet achieved either of her childhood dreams of being a ballerina or owning a candy store.
