Last Orders

by Bill Todd

Big Eddie Archer is throwing a celebrity party for the reopening of The Bellerophon public house. When singer Paul Toopen, star of TV reality show Dreamboat, goes missing there is only one man the pub’s guv’nor can call on.
But Danny Lancaster is off his game after overdoing Eddie’s free hospitality at last night’s dress rehearsal. Fans besiege the pub and the media are everywhere. This could be a public relations disaster but Eddie reckons if Danny can crack the case before closing time it will make the new Bellerophon famous.
Danny’s head is pounding but Eddie’s star guests might just be trapped in a pub with a killer. And the clock is ticking down to last orders. #TheBigBellBash

139 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2019

About the author

I’ve spent most of my working life as a journalist on local and national newspapers.
You meet a lot of people, see things, learn stuff. For a crime writer, it’s a plot factory.
One treasured memory was lunching with colleagues when the bar filled with agitated policemen.
“Who’s he?” said a CID man, pointing.
A good friend didn’t like his tone and announced in her best Lady Bracknell voice, “He’s the editor of the local paper!”
The copper said, “I don’t care who the hell he is. He looks like the guy who just did the bank up the road. How long’s he been here?”
Luckily, the barman provided my alibi.
Before journalism I tried my hand at odd jobs including furniture removals (watch out for the flat-packs, they tend to pack flat when lifted!), photography, teaching and running a magazine group.
I’ve done quite a bit of travel writing. It’s not all cocktails under the palm trees but it is a fantastic job that’s taken me to more than 40 countries, from the white wastes of Arctic Finland to the deserts of Namibia.
People often ask my favourite place. In an age of globalisation, many destinations look the same but Iceland and Namibia are like stepping onto another planet. Go if you can.
I’ve enjoyed a long love affair with Western Crete. The mountains, coastline, food and people make me wonder if I lived there in some previous life. I just have to watch the waxed wings on a hot day.
I was delighted and surprised to receive the Ed Lacy travel award in 2007.
Another interest is my family tree. I’ve traced the ancestors back to William of Byfield, a farmer in 1600s Northamptonshire, just down the road from Shakespeare.
I love maps. They might seem old fashioned in the age of GPS but they tell stories, make promises. I have a ragbag collection of more than 2,000.
I’m also a fan of interesting cheeses, good beer and wilderness. They’re like Marmite, you’re an empty place person or you’re not.
I have written four full-length crime thrillers and a book of short stories featuring Danny Lancaster, a wounded Afghan veteran turned private investigator. They are:
The Wreck Of The Margherita
Death Squad
Rough Diamond
Rock Hard
Gargoyle Pixie Dog
My sixth Danny Lancaster - GODLEFE'S CUCKOO - will be published in March 2018.
I’ve also written three non-fiction books. GUNNER is based on my father's World War Two diary, photos and postcards from Normandy to Hamburg.
PIGTAIL PILOT is the tragic story of Barbara Gubbins, a talented young woman who was nearly the RAF’s first female pilot.
A CROCUS FROM JERUSALEM is the story of a country lad soldiering in 1917 Palestine.
If you fancy a chat I’m easy to find.

Reviews

[sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last Orders is book 7 in the Danny Lancaster Novella series, and I will be honest I have read the others but something I do need to fix.
Last Orders May only be a novella but it certainly packs a punch. Each chapter is short snappy and straight to the point no messing about here.
The first person we come across is the Lovely Emily Shepherd, was once just the barmaid Behind the Old Bellerophon but is now Big Eddie's right hand woman as it were as Bellerophon's new manager. Although she is having to scrub off some graffiti in her suit right before the big opening night. Her Boss is none other than Big Eddie Archer. Eddie is old school gangster and has had his fingers dipped in a few pies before but with the money he has put into making his pub rise from the ashes, quite literally he is an anxious wreck that something will destroy his opening night his celebrity chef is in place and the celebrities and those in high places are making their way up the red carpet. So when Eddie can't find his star act Paul Toopen, he realises he needs the guy he has not long barred Danny Lancaster. Danny has the hangover from hell after overdoing the free booze that had been on offer the night before. But when Eddie calls, we'll rather sends Emily to get him seeing how Danny can't work an iPhone he soon sets to work.
Danny is an ex-squaddie turned private investigator, struggling to adapt back to civilian life. After being in Afghanistan I don't blame him the guy has seen things no one should have to witness in their life.
With Eddie wanting the case wrapped up before closing time Danny has his work cut out to find out what happened with Paul before the last orders are called, and with the detective inspector Pauline Myers amongst the guests alongside her Girlfriend it's best Danny just gets on with it.
Last orders will have you laughing out loud one minute, then feeling all serious and poignant the next, it's compelling and doesn't beat around the bush. We don't get tied up in needless information we get exactly what we need in a sharp informative way. A perfect read while stopping for lunch and coffee. It hits all the right notes and an enjoyable read.

[Cheryl M-M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a novella length story, but Todd manages to deliver an entertaining read worthy of a novel. I kinda liked this one a lot more than the full-length ones though, perhaps because the focus is on less rather than on more. It’s just Danny and his devil-may-care attitude and a few side characters, which is all the story needs.

The story is really quite simple. A minor celebrity goes missing at an event, during the event actually, and Danny is called in to solve the mystery of the disappearing guest. The author takes that scenario and turns it into so much more.

There was this moment during the story – the most poignant one in my opinion. It’s a comical one, and I admit to laughing out loud at that moment. Then bang the author flips the switch and takes the reader straight into a flashback. The reader is right there with Danny as he relives the trauma and the horror of the situation he finds himself in once again.

The juxtaposition of the comedic moment and traumatic flashback is a stroke of genius. It actually gives the reader similar visceral reactions as they are reading. Laughter melds into uncertainty, then shock and finally the realisation of what is happening. Kudos to Todd for that particular part of the story.

It’s a murder mystery solved Danny Lancaster style, as only he can solve them. It’s snarky, funny and a jolly good read.
*I received a courtesy copy*

[Kath Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella length Danny Lancaster story puts us in the classic locked room situation, but there are over one hundred people in the room with Danny, and one has committed a murder. Two of the stars of a reality TV programme are present at the reopening of The Bellerophon, and there’s huge media interest. We see the efforts of staff to prevent people leaving and the vlog reports transmitted live from the pub. It’s a great story, with the clock ticking and so many people who could be in the frame. Danny’s incentive for sorting it out is the promise of free beer for life. An excellent read.