Greed is a Powerful Motive
...Former Detective Turned Author Delivers First in Intense New Crime Series – An Intriguing Investigative Challenge!
Russell Wate’s ‘Greed is a Powerful Motive’ is an alluring debut in the Alexander McFarlane Series by the former murder detective turned author. As his fictional Government sleuth arrives in India to investigate the murder of accountant Robert Smythe, he finds himself not only up against apathetic local police who are covering up the crime but also soon finds himself battling the extremely wealthy and powerful Thakur family of billionaires running a dodgy operation of swindling British aid to build a solar panel farm. Is McFarlane fighting a losing battle as the odds stack up against him? Can he get a conviction for Robert?
This fast-paced detective novel is written by a very experienced homicide detective who has lived and breathed this sort of investigation so bringing his unique insight into a detective novel.
From Ely to India, the plot doesn’t fail to allure the reader. The story of ‘Greed is a Powerful Motive’ is actually based on a real story from the 1800s but Wate brings it into the modern day to showcase modern investigative techniques.
Synopsis of ‘Greed is a Powerful Motive’ by Russell Wate:
Alexander (Sandy) McFarlane has just secured his new role as a DCI working for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London. Before long, he is asked to investigate the death of Robert Smythe, an accountant who has been auditing an aid grant to build a solar panel farm in Vadodara, India.
DCI McFarlane travels out to India where he immediately suspects foul play. But he is up against local police who refuse to admit that Robert’s death was suspicious. He soon finds himself embroiled in politics, battling
the extremely wealthy and powerful Thakur family, the billionaires who had facilitated the British aid grant to build the solar panel farm, and in whose interest the local police are sweeping Robert’s death under the rug.
For a long time it seems he is fighting a losing battle and is forced to leave India in disgrace. Can Sandy get justice for Robert’s family?
In the author’s words:
“The story's central character is Alexander (Sandy) McFarlane, who at the start of the novel has secured a new role as a DCI attached to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London. Sandy spends time in Ely, Cambridge and London and we discover who he is and what his life involves. The case that he investigates on behalf of the British Government is the suspicious death of a British accountant, Robert Smythe. He is in India auditing an aid grant to build a solar panel farm in Vadodara India. The grant is facilitated by a very rich and powerful Indian family, the Thakur's. it transpires that Robert died as a result of arsenic poisoning; he is convinced it is murder.”
“The book involved time investigating in India and capturing the sights and culture of the country. It builds to a compelling court case at the conclusion of the book.”
About the author:
Russell is a very experienced, now retired senior homicide detective. He worked as the senior investigating officer in over 100 major crime cases, not only murders but also international kidnapping cases and large-scale
paedophile enquiries. He has received 14 commendations from judges and chief police officers for some of these cases. He has also received the Queen’s Police Medal in the Queen’s 2008 Birthday Honours, for his work
as a senior detective.
He is best known both nationally and internationally for his work in relation to the investigation into the deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman - the two ten-year-old girls who were murdered by Ian Huntley in 2002. He is also well-known both in the UK and abroad for his work relating to the investigation of child deaths and safeguarding children. He completed a doctorate where his thesis was on ,The Investigation of Child
Death: a balanced approach between sensitivity and the investigative mindset’. It has been published and read widely.
‘Greed is a Powerful Motive’ by Russell Wate is published by Cranthorpe Millner. Price £8.99. ISBN 978-1-912964-81-9.
