The Fourth Clause

by Keith A. Pearson

The Fourth Clause is the much-anticipated sequel to No Easy Deeds — selected by Amazon as one of the top Kindle releases of 2024.

1990 has not been a vintage year for Danny Monk — a cheating fiancée, redundancy, and then a harsh lesson in the downsides of home ownership.

However, Danny’s life took a turn for the better after he secured a job as an estate agent. It was during his first week of employment that he visited a house on Echo Lane and met its owner, Mrs Weller. The mysterious Mrs Weller then made a too-good-to-be-true proposal.

That proposal proved to be the very tip of a miraculous iceberg, as the house on Echo Lane offered more than scenic views and ample parking — seemingly, it also featured a time portal to the year 2024.

Or did it?

Despite his best efforts, Danny doesn’t achieve the happy ending he hoped for. Instead, he’s left with a head full of questions and a warning from Mrs Weller that their story is far from over. Ignoring that warning, Danny decides to put the insanity of Echo Lane behind him and move on with his life..

However, Danny is about to discover that the future doesn’t appreciate being messed with. Nor, as it transpires, do certain figures in the present.

Genres: Time Travel, Fiction

378 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 24, 2025

About the author

I rarely visit Goodreads, on account it's a terrifying place for authors who aren't blessed with a thick skin.

If you'd like to know more about me, head over to my website, or you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter.

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damn. And I lost my dad too. Thoughts with you and yours Keith.

I hold my breath whilst waiting for new books and I hate to admit it, I wish I’d been made to hold it longer.

Some great laugh-out-loud bits but a little forced in places.

[IAN CANT · Rating 5 out of 5]

More unputdownable than the first book

Loved it, great characters that I would love to know better. Really cannot wait for book three, the story has to be completed.

[Lee Boardman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere near as good as the first book in this series and certainly the weakest book so far from Keith, all of which I have loved up until now. The second half of this just felt like filler, not much of interest or excitement and just paving the way for potentially another book in the series, one that will hopefully be a lot more entertaining.

[Yvonne Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, as always

The 2nd book in the Echo Lane series - fantastic!
Please tell me there will be a 3rd?? I need to know what happens? 😉

[T. E. Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting Premise

Good writing. Good characters and a solid plot. The story wasn't overly complicated like so many time travel novels. I enjoyed this book.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing as always

I have never been disappointed with any of Keith’s work, and again another novel which didn’t disappoint, love his writing style, makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me not take life for granted, love all the characters Keith has created and always miss them after I read “The End”. Can’t wait for the next one!

[ItsmrO · Rating 5 out of 5]

the postman is back

Mr Pearson delivers again. A bit late this one; 2nd class if you will but as always the product is very much 1st class. Digested the whole lot in 24 hours. Ruined a risotto, bumped into fellow dogwalkers aimlessly and even took it to the gym to get it done ASAP. Now waiting impatiently on vol3.

Everyone in the UK over the age of 35 can probably find a character or situation that resonate with them in a KAP book. It’s great, relatable fiction. This latest addition to the canon is equally well written, moreish quality fiction. I can’t recommend it any more highly. Just buy it

[Mrs V Tuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbly crafted as always

This is the much awaited second in the Echo Lane series and it doesn't disappoint. Keith A Pearson writes a great story and keeps his readers well invested. Nice one Keith, well done and thank you.

[Stuart Duffey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in a day....I find with most of Keith's books the pacing is so good and the narrative so engaging i start reading his books then look up and 4 hours have gone. That's the great thing about this book and all of his books. Liked the build of Danny and Gavs relationship in this one and the often "of its time language and dialogue" is so good and crazy that 1990 is so far away in time but not in memory.

Danny felt more in control in this one to me which is great character development looking forward to book 3 a d how the house on echo lane comes into the fold even more in Danny and Kim's life.

[John T · Rating 3 out of 5]

🌕🌕🌗 2 ½ moons

First off, a disclaimer. Keith A Pearson is my favourite author.

There, I said it.

86 fix, Mungo, Clemence… superb.

But the magical realism I’ve come to expect was nowhere to be seen in this latest instalment of the Echo Lane series. The story, while engaging, was just… normal. Where was the whimsy (what a great word)? Where was the supernatural sassiness?

But as every other book the author has written earns, in my opinion, a stellar rating of between 4 ½ and 5 moons, I’m sure he’ll let me off this time for a less-than-glowing review, particular given that the only readers that follow me are my cat and a Russian bot.
And my cat died 4 years ago (😞).
And I made up the bit about the bot.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed returning to Danny and Gav in particular in this book. Their characters grow huge amounts especially Gav who in my opinion is a real life everyday hero in this tale.

I’ll honestly say none of the twists particularly shocked me but that did not dampen my enjoyment. Subtle moments of humour and turmoil and I read through the whole thing in just over 2 days. Quite the achievement on a weekend heading into half term with two kids 6 and under.

Now Mr take a well earned break, and let those ideas brew away. I’d love to see more about echo land and potentially mungo again in future

[Mr DF Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not high literature. Having stated that, I find I often don’t enjoy high literature and I have enjoyed both books in this series. They are easy reading. The mystery aspect of the stories makes for compelling reading, you want to know the outcome. The descriptions of characters places and actions are engaging. Be warned the attitudes, language, and behaviour may come as a bit of a shock. Whilst I would note although some societal issues have improved, current attitudes and violence are even more toxic albeit in different ways.
So I hope there will be further books in this series, as there are still unresolved issues in the storyline.

[Katherine Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining as always, whenever a new book drops from Keith A Pearson I download and read it immediately, often to the detriment of many other things I could/should be doing.
Must admit I got about 30 pages in and then realised I was going to have to go back and read the last few pages of No Good Deeds because I just couldn't remember how it ended, but other than that all good.
I love these characters (maybe not quite as much as Clement) but happy there will be a sequel, even if it will test my ageing memory once again.
Take it easy Keith, we can all wait a little bit longer if need be!

[Michael Hegg]

Awesome tale!

Great story of a young man starting a new life, with decisions to be made. Very intriguing because he's living his life, but it's probably already scripted, at least for 34 years going forward. Will Daniel live a preordained life, or..will a random decision change his future? If you enjoy the concept of timelines and alternative realities on an individual level, read the first 2 novels and hope Mr. Pearson creates a trilogy!! Well done!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much anticipated second book in the Echo lane series.
The characters are brilliant! Having grown up in the 80’s and 90’s it a brilliant depiction of those times- right down to the tiniest detail and references. How strange those times must seem to anyone who is younger that gen X 😂 When nothing was at the touch of a button.
Brilliant part 2. I really hope there is part 3 soon. I NEED to know what comes next in Daniel’s life!

[Richard Tubb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time Bending, Page Turner

The second in the Echo Lane series, The Fourth Clause is another great Keith Pearson story featuring time travel, strong characters, and a compelling story.

I found the villain of this story, Neil Harrison, to be particularly disturbing. As a result, I had to read most of this book in one sitting to find out what happened next - another real page turner from Pearson.

I do hope we get a chapter three of the Echo Lane series!

[Dave]

As usual with Mr Pearson's book Gold

The book is an absolute page turner and caused me to stay up far later than I had wanted reading. This story in my view is epic even better than ' 86 fix ' which is truly a great read.
This author is well worth following and I would recommend to anyone.
Astonishing brilliant writing.

[Mr · Rating 5 out of 5]

leaves you wanting more!

The next instalment! Picks up exactly where books 1 finishes, and just leaves you wanting book 3!! This is like wanting to binge watch a Netflix series!
Love the character development as well as the storyline.

Very much looking forward to see how the story pans out and what the future holds for Danny!

[ukkindlecustomer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Untapped Premise for New Soap Opera?

Keith A Pearson has a gift for taking the most mundane aspects of generally middle class lives in one of the least popular occupations and garnering sympathy for the main characters. Accurate memories of Britain in the 1990s so never going to be a comedy, nevertheless, there is always humour and optimism underneath the drama.

[r s lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down.

Just well written fun. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started this book and it's prequel but I absolutely loved it. Not too many characters to confuse you and I was invested in them all. The subtle music food and social references added to the joy.

[Harold Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the author says, if you've not read no easy deeds this book won't make a lot of sense. But I did so it did! A good read, as another reviewer commented it is a bit of a "dick lit" but for all that his descriptions of life in a small office and the characters therein are excellent and make the book an enjoyable read. As for time travel, it's not my thing but I could put up with it!

[Karen Jessop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the first book and raced through the second, enjoyed the continued story line which maintains the pace, humour and jeopardy of the first book, door left well and truly open for book 3 which I hope comes as book 2 didn’t have a lot of the Kim arc included so it would be great to see how that evolves. Please write number 3!!

[Ray Smillie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a fan of Keith A Pearson, I bought this having read No Easy Deeds. It wasn't until just before getting stuck into this I checked my review, on here, of the first in the series. Had forgotten that I was underwhelmed by it. Happy to report this was much better and loved the twist at the end. A twist hinting at a third chapter. Fingers crossed.

[Alexa · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I appreciated that the story from book 1 was finished (mostly) here, there was an awful lot of uninteresting and unnecessary padding in this one. Step by step descriptions of packing, or eating dinner, or a walk, or or or.

I usually like this author's books (love Tuned Out and the Clement books, the others are pretty good too), but really not sure about continuing this series.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait for the 3rd book!

Keith A. Pearson never lets me down. The Fourth Clause is a worthy 2nd book in this series. Like Danny, I still have questions; so many questions. Perhaps there will be answers in Book 3.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series

Really enjoying this series of books and look forward to No 3. They are easy to read, great story. Particularly enjoy the period in which they’re set and reminiscing and how life was back then.

[Kevin Skym]

I love this guy’s books - they arr so easy to read. With some authors, reading their books is like looking through a window - you can see what’s going on but ‘stay on the outside’. But with Mr Pearson, it’s like a 3D experience. Keep up the good work.

[maria lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book

The Fourth Clause. Love all the characters in the Echo Lane books. I recommend you give all Keith A Pears books a try. I have not come across a bad one yet! Can't wait until the next one! X

[Mrs Hilary Kay Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the nostalgic feel and great characters

I've read several of Keith's books and enjoyed them all. Pleased to have discovered this new series and looking forward to book 3. What will Danny do next?

[PIETER · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all Keith A. Pearson's novels this one rates five stars. This involves time travel but that doesn't seem to be central to this story. A misguided search for revenge against a scheming rival to Danny Monk does. The characterisations are timeless. Bravo Keith!