Crisis in a Surrey Harem: (Bisley Heath Series)

"I'm talking to a man who's had four wives and keeps a wolf?" Freelance journalist Impey Dalrymple is uneasy when she is pushed into doing detective work for Jules Challenger. The charismatic rich debt-collector fears someone has a grudge against him because his firm's symbol, a prized sculpture of his first wife, which he keeps as a figurehead on the bow of his ceremonial yacht, has been vandalised. In a gruesome replica of his second wife's death, the sculpture's arms have been chopped off. Jules wants Impey to find out whether the culprit opposes his plans to use a premier golf club as a wild life park, or has some deeper personal antagonism. The theme of "belonging", whether to a person, a family or a club, is epitomised by spinster Grace Deer, the kinder transport child who has made her fortune on the internet. She mentors five boys, including Jules, as "godsons". The crux of the story is her long term love affair with married man Monty, father of Ned, the vet, another godson, and Roxanne, first Ned's girlfriend, then Jules's second wife. Grace's disappearance on the same day Impey interviewed her, makes Impey fear for her own safety. Her name, scrawled on a piece of paper found by the third wife's dead body also brings her to the attention of the police. Impey finds she can not extricate herself because she has undertaken to look after Jules's pet vulture which in the denouement saves her from the murderer. The wolf, which initially belonged to the second wife, also plays a crucial part. Ned, a vet, who was in love with Roxanne, remains involved with Jules to look after the wolf, but ultimately his grudge against his former friend and mentor Grace turns him into a murderer

About the Author :
Lucy Abelson was born in Norfolk in her grandparents' home in Norfolk. She spent her childhood in Sevenoaks in Kent where her father, a retired naval officer, ran a tutorial establishment. Her mother was a doctor who practised as a GP. From an early age, Lucy wanted to be a writer, so although she passed five A levels and the entrance exam to Oxford, Lucy decided not to go to university; she wanted to experience life in the raw. After a short unsatisfactory stint at nursing, Lucy settled into a successful career as a journalist. She has written for national magazines and newspapers. On the Sunday Telegraph she wrote a column "Finance for women". Her career culminated on the Sunday Express where she was a feature writer and columnist for almost twenty years. Lucy gave up her career to devote more time to her third child who is on the autistic spectrum. She was strongly influenced by the work of Nobel prize winner naturalist Niko Tinbergen who studied autistic children His work inspired her interest in the way animals communicate and their social behaviour. Lucy has travelled all over the world with her husband watching animals in the wild. Co-incidentally, her brother Dr Andrew Abelson, who has a PhD in evolutionary anthropology suggested she should use the behaviour of apes as a basis for looking at human behaviour in her fiction. This has formed the basis for the creation of evolutionary anthropologist Impey Dalrymple as a detective in Lucy Abelson's golf novels. Since Lucy's parents met on the golf course playing mixed foursomes, much of Lucy's and her two brothers' social family life revolved around the golf club. Both Lucy and her husband are keen players. Lucy was elected honorary secretary of her golf club. As a also qualified observer referee she has adjudicated at county and regional competitions. Lucy is married with three daughters and six grand-children.