The Whitby Trilogy – The story
This series of three novels recites the vicissitudes of the leading members of a huge middleclass English family of slaughtermen and butchers. Out of nineteenth century coalminers, smallholders and stockbreeders and via meat purveyors and shopkeepers, the twenty-first century produces a fifth-generation globe-trotting computer software expert possessing the resolute intent of his forbears.
The main character, Eugene Whitby, sees himself as a post-war successful businessman. But he is merely seeking atonement for a lost love. Spurred on by an older brother and resented by another, his near-death revelations to a family outsider leads to criminal examination.
The reader will question the Whitby clan’s place in modern English history.
Curiosity killed the cat. Why did I write a trilogy?
Why wasn’t Eugene (Book 1) a standalone? After all, my previous books such as “Derbyshire boy” had been. Looking back, it was due to reaction to the story.
You see, Pearl (Book 2) had befriended Eugene as an old man. She heard about a huge family of slaughtermen and butchers, his war service in Burma and the opening of supermarkets back home. She never doubted his take on events, why would she? He played no part in the ruination of the original family business.
So, the contents of a note handed to her at his graveside came as a huge shock. It said Eugene had murdered two of his brothers. Had he?
Pearl had a mission: she would prove Eugene had been an honest man. But, the police opened a cold-case review based on notes left by a junior officer in the 1950’s. Eugene had been under suspicion and a new approach might prove his guilt.
There would have been no third book except for one thing. An onlooker at a wedding thought that a young man leaving the church “walked with a slight swagger”. Enter the fourth generation Luke.
The Whitby Trilogy Part 1 – Eugene
The Whitby Trilogy, of which Eugene is the first part, traces the life and times (over one hundred years) of a family of butchers. Eugene, the youngest of thirteen siblings, was born in 1927 and when aged eighteen was sent to Burma in the closing months of the Japanese campaign.
As an old man he befriended Pearl (the title of part 2 of the trilogy), who recorded his life story and prepared a Whitby family tree. In that second book, she sets out to disprove allegations of murder and corruption levelled at Eugene. The fourth generation of the family throws up Luke (part 3) who may have inherited bad blood going back to Eugene’s generation
Paperback: 232 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1716409974
Dimensions: 14.8 x 1.35 x 21 cm
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The Whitby Trilogy Part 2 Pearl
When Eugene Whitby died, he left two legacies. One was of wealth. The more important was being accused of murder. After deep soul-searching, Pearl sets about disproving the defamation. Once again she seeks help from Kyaw, a Burmese student, and from her new friend Naing. Their journey of enquiry includes a return visit it Burma.
Concurrently, the soul of a policeman who worked on the original missing persons’ case, can only rest once Eugene’s guilt is proved. The two conflicting enquiries clash in a devastating denouement.
With no bodies and no DNA, the task seems impossible but, given the will and human ingenuity spliced with old skills and new technology, there is hope. The story of Peal is haunted be a shadowy figure.
Paperback: 273 pages
ISBN-13: 979-8405569697
Dimensions: 12.7 x 1.57 x 20.32 cm
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The Whitby Trilogy Part 3 Luke
Luke Brown is a fourth generation Whitby with a single burning ambition: to make his fortune in as short a time as possible, nothing will stand in his way.
From two fortuitous early events, first, a business idea springing from a university thesis paper and secondly the inheritance from a great uncle, he establishes a financial service enterprise based on sophisticated computer software.
Choosing technically competent staff, the computer applications have global reach beyond the UK. Gradually, Australia, China, Singapore and Europe come on board
But this success serves merely as a launch pad: he invents a method of moving money between countries quickly and cheaply and exploits Artificial Intelligence to build robots for a specific medical application.
No fortune is garnered honestly is a theme permeating this third book of the Whitby trilogy. Luke uses people, often shamelessly, Old adversaries are circling: the net closes in. Can he stay one step ahead?
Paperback: 315 pages
ISBN-13: 979-8408906543
Dimensions: 12.7 x 1.8 x 20.32 cm
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