Death of a High Flyer: A Fieldsports Thriiller

by D. P. Hart-Davis

Overview

International millionaire trader Hansi Hartzog has bought Dunmorse Hall, jewel in the crown of the Starcliffe valley, and he's improved the shoot, brought in new money and generally shaken things up. But not all the locals approve of the changes. They can't walk in the woods, corpses of vermin adorn the fences and there are grumbles about over-production of game birds. There are boundary disputes, rumours of affairs and unsettling co-incidences.

Here is a community in flux: eastern european farm workers, poachers, badger culls, TB testing, in-comers and old-school locals, financial and emotional tensions. Hansi organises an ambitious charity High Five Shoot for which 200 raffle ticket are sold at £80 each and the winner can invite eight guests for a day's shooting, to which five participating local shoots donate a single drive, with Hansi's famous partridge shoot starting off the day and a lavish lunch in between.

But a shocking murder, a suicide and a vicious assault rip the village apart. Can Inspector Robb, recovering from injury and widowhood, solve the crime before more damage is done?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781910723814
Publisher:	Merlin Unwin Books
Publication date:	11/01/2018
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

DP Hart-Davies has written for for many country magazines and has been a columnist for the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail.

She has had 15 novels published, some historical, under various names. In her early career she worked as sub-editor on Argosy and Woman's Journal, and was fiction-buyer for many Mirror Group magazines.

Born in 1937, one of five children, Phyllida Barstow spent much of her childhood on a Radnorshire hill farm. She has lived on farms in Wales, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire and kept animals on all of them.

Married to author and journalist Duff Hart-Davis in 1961, they

Read an Excerpt

The nervousness that had afflicted Robb all morning melted away the moment he hefted the Browning twelve-bore that Maude chose from the rack. The warm, satin-smooth stock cuddled between shoulder and cheek had the comfortable familiarity of an old and favourite boot, while the haunting whiff of gun-oil evoked memories of boyhood forays round the Lincolnshire hedgerows during Christmas holidays long ago.
Maude watched carefully as he mounted it several times. 'How does that feel?'
'Great.'
Maude wasn't satisfied. 'Not quite right. Here, try this Perazzi, it's one of my favourites. Twenty-eight inch barrels. Ah, that's better.'
Robb felt the difference at once, and reflected that he had probably never shot with a gun that fitted him properly. 'Much better,' he agreed.
After trying out two more, they settled on the Perazzi, and after a short, no-nonsense lecture on safety, Maude led the way to the first stand. 'This is where I start beginners, ' he said half- apologetically. 'I know you're not a beginner, but it'll give you confidence, and I'd like to see how you shape with some easy shots before we go on to more challenging stuff.'
'Suits me.'
'Right. When you're ready?'
'Ready.'
'Pull!'
The disc sailed in a high arc from left to right and, with an ease that surprised him, Robb shattered it. What fun! he thought, doing the same to the next five.
'Dad! Brilliant!'
Maude was smiling and nodding. 'Not much doubt about that, eh? Well done, sir. Now we'll try something in a different league.'
It was as if he couldn't miss. During the next forty minutes clays representing driven partridges appeared over hedges, high pheasants from left and right of the Meccano-like towers, and grouse angled low and fast over the stone-built butt: mount, swing, aim, fire and they disintegrated into tiny grey shards.
'Terrific, Dad,' said Sal, face split in the widest of grins.
'Excellent. Keep it up,' agreed Maude.
Then at the 'springing teal' stand two thirds of the way round the course, something went wrong. Five clean misses, one after the other, and confidence collapsed like a souffle in a draught. Robb made tiny adjustments to his stance, cuddled the stock closer, tried swinging faster and slower: nothing worked, the magic had gone.
'Sorry, I've lost it completely,' he said. 'What am I doing wrong?'
It seemed extraordinary that what had appeared so easy had, in the space of a few minutes, become impossible.

Table of Contents

The Map iv-v

Principal Characters viii

1 The Draw 1

2 Setting Up 7

3 The Watcher 32

4 The Sister 49

5 The Cop 54

6 The Highflyers 70

7 Accident 86

8 The Flight 102

9 The Boys 114

10 Anita 131

11 The Belltons 153

12 Luz 166

13 Maude 177

14 The Races 194

15 Tomasz 203

16 Sally 210

17 Eastmarsh 222

18 Pilot 227

19 Jericho 242

Editorial Reviews

"...An engaging and entertaining read."—Shooting Gazette

From the Publisher