Bøker av Nick Aaron

In 1992 Daisy Hayes had inherited Bottomleigh House and was struggling to keep it afloat financially. Then she got a letter from an archaeologist asking her to help make sense of a mysterious message that had just been dug up in Rome. Time to hook up again with Morag, her deaf friend from the 'project' in 1964, and to go back to the Eternal City.In AD 64, after Feli's death, Desiderata had scores to settle and a 'twin sister' to bury. Her new friends the Christians gave her sanctuary, but her relationship with them was a bit strained. Soon the 'Community' and their blind protégée had to part company. Eventually, assisted by her uncle Balbus, ex-centurion of the X Fretensis legion, she found a path out of her troubles, and helped him search for a stolen treasure. So, 1928 years later, Daisy went looking for a gold cache from antiquity, hoping to solve a new mystery, and even more to reconnect with Desi, her soulmate from ancient Rome.

In 1952 there were children everywhere. Or so it seemed to Daisy Hayes, blind since birth, who at the age of 29 had just tied the knot for the second time-to an intercontinental pilot. But on their first flight as a married couple an engine broke down-sabotage?-and they were grounded.Now, there are worse places to stop over for repairs than Rio de Janeiro, especially if you're staying at a grand hotel on Ipanema Beach. But then again, Daisy wouldn't be our favourite blind sleuth if during her stay she hadn't stumbled on a murderous plot that exposed her to mortal dangers.Groping around in the dark, she found her exceptional mind pitted against that of an arch-criminal, and with her usual courage she tried to foil a devilish conspiracy that spanned three continents and threatened the very existence of the most innocent and vulnerable victims.

In AD 79 the emperor Vespasian was dying and some prophetess was announcing the end of the world. Meanwhile Desiderata had to deal with a fresh criminal plot from her old enemy Numa. You'd think that things couldn't get any worse, but that was counting without Mount Vesuvius literally blowing its top above Pompeii.What on earth were our blind 'seeker of justice', her deaf husband Simplex, and uncle Balbus doing there that summer, a true case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? It's a complicated story, but as it happened, they had not one, but three equally compelling reasons to visit Campania and pursue their investigations in this small, provincial, but nevertheless fashionable town. Little did they know what surprises awaited them.Not only did they have to face their arch-enemy in a blood-curdling showdown, but they had to confront the horrors of a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions. Both events would take them to the brink of their instincts for survival, and ultimately turn some of their assumptions upside down."There's no greater puzzle for an author writing about ancient Rome than to place his protagonist in Pompeii just before the eruption of the Vesuvius... and make her survive. But we already know that Nick Aaron likes a challenge." - The Weekly Banner

Daisy Hayes was a sculptress, and blind since birth. In 1964 a French priest came to visit her at the collective studio in north London where she worked. He was fascinated by the impaired artist and told her, "There's this program at the Vatican Museums, where people like you get an opportunity to study archaeological artifacts by touch. Are you interested?" - "Of course, mon Père!"In AD 64 a blind masseuse working at the baths in Rome overheard some important men preparing to set fire to the city and seize power. When they found out that she knew too much, they had her arrested and tried to eliminate her. She decided she had to leave a message revealing the plot, and did everything she could to save her hide.So, as a Vatican intern 1900 years later, Daisy uncovered a mysterious message from antiquity: the Desiderata stone.

In 1946 Daisy and her friend Beatrice decided to move to Paris, because they were fed up with limping London, still crippled and depressed in the aftermath of the war. And indeed, in the spring of that year, Paris was the place to be-isn't it always? In particular, some very interesting things were going on in Saint-Germain-des-Prés: existentialism, free love, and American jazz throbbing through the night in the cellar clubs.Then one day, just as the two were settling into a new life, a little boy stepped forward in the street and said, "Can you come with me? My mummy is all funny." And he led them to a garret where they found his mother's dead body.A very disturbing murder case was thrown in their path, and one thing leading to another, Daisy Hayes, blind sleuth extraordinaire, had to rise to the challenge as never before.

World War II. During the attacks on Berlin in the winter of 1943-44, wave after wave of British bombers swept over northern Europe and dropped their lethal loads on the German capital. A fair percentage of the bombers would fail to return from these operations, and RAF planners calculated the life expectancy of the airmen in weeks rather than months.Therefore it did not seem strange when a Lancaster named D-Daisy landed at its base in England after a bombing run, and a member of the crew was found dead.However, one person soon came to the conclusion that this man had been murdered. And the person who discovered this happened to be blind since birth. Her name was Daisy and she was the victim's wife. She was very blonde and very pretty; also very young. That's why no one would listen to her. So she was going to have to find the murderer on her own.

While Daisy and Darren roamed the countryside around Bottomleigh House in their faithful little car, they chanced upon a small airfield called Gremian Hill, which caught their fancy at once. They were told by members of the local parachuting club that a blind person or a paraplegic too could skydive, and they became regulars to find out more.But soon tragedy struck, a parachute failed to open and one of their new friends fell to her death under suspicious circumstances. What's more, the chutes were kept under lock and key in a special shed, so sabotage seemed impossible.Time for our blind sleuth to tackle this locked-room mystery, and when another member of the Icarus Skydiving Club fell to her death and the press started talking about a serial killer, it became even more urgent to uncover the truth."In the 1990s Daisy Hayes has become the resident sleuth of the Manor Hotel, a shrewd old lady reminiscent of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. All kinds of villainy come her way and nothing escapes her attention! Sit back and enjoy." - The Weekly Banner

Expanded Distribution. Support your local community: order this book in your favorite bookstore! Almost 700 pages of pure reading pleasure in one hefty tome. Each of these three novels has a beginning, a middle, and an end, so you have to start all over again each time. That can't be helped, but at least the main protagonists stay the same, and in this edition Daisy and Desiderata's adventures are published side by side, which is an added convenience.We have Daisy Hayes, blind sleuth extraordinaire, born in 1922 and at the top of her game in 1964, when she encounters the name of Desiderata for the first time. And we have her doppelgänger in ancient Rome, born in AD 49 and struggling to reach out to someone, anyone, who will understand her, even if it should take two millennia to find that person.Over the ages, their interaction is based entirely on scholarship, archaeology and detection. No magic nor tricks, only hard work, imagination, and love.The Desiderata Stone. Daisy Hayes was a blind sculptress, invited to the Vatican Museums in 1964 to study archaeological artefacts by touch. In AD 64 a blind masseuse working at the baths in Rome overheard some important men plotting to set fire to the city and seize power. She decided to leave a message revealing the plot and did everything she could to save her hide. So, 1900 years later, Daisy uncovered a mysterious message from antiquity: the Desiderata stone.The Desiderata Gold. In 1992 Daisy Hayes was living in Bottomleigh House, when she got a letter from an archaeologist about a mysterious message that had just been dug up in Rome. Time to ask Morag, her deaf friend from the 'project' in 1964 to accompany her to the Eternal City once more. So, 28 years later, Daisy went looking for a gold cache from antiquity, hoping to solve a new mystery, and even more to reconnect with Desiderata, her soulmate from ancient Rome.The Desiderata Riddle. The quest for Desiderata, started in Rome in 1964, soon led to the German town of Trier, where Daisy Hayes and bishop Contini teamed up again in the fall to continue their research. In AD 67 Desi's friends the Christians went through yet another period of persecution, and the blind young woman found it hard to decide on whose side she wanted to be and what she intended to do with her life. Would she find love? Did she become a Christian?

A Mystery Spanning Millennia - The last days that Daisy Hayes spent in Rome in 1964 were quite exciting. She and Father Contini went back to the crypt and made some disturbing discoveries. Not about Desiderata herself, but about the archaeologist who had investigated the place in the thirties. The quest now led them to the German town of Trier, where they teamed up again in the fall of that same year to continue their research.In AD 67 things were looking good for Desi and the Pomponius family in their beautiful domus: they lived like princes. But as her friends the Christians went through yet another period of persecution, the blind young woman found it hard to decide on who's side she wanted to be and what she intended to do with her life. Would she find love?So both she and Daisy ended up trying to grapple with the greatest riddle of all: "Who are you really, Desiderata?" And what's more, did she ever become a Christian?"Once again Nick Aaron delights in taking everything you think you know and turning it on its head. Then he makes you ask for more. Disturbingly addictive." - The Weekly BannerThis 86k novel is the third 'Millenia' mystery in the Blind Sleuth series.The Blind Sleuth Mysteries Daisy Hayes was born in London in 1922. Her father was a bank manager, hoping for a son, but he had to settle for a blind daughter.Now what do you do when your child is blind since birth and you have the means to do all that is necessary to help her? You hire a private tutor to stimulate her verbal development in the first years of her life, because you realize how vital language will become for her. Then you send her to an exclusive school where everything is done to develop the minds and resourcefulness of blind girls. There they teach them all these fancy techniques of spatial orientation and mind mapping. And before you know it, your darling daughter has developed an exceptional intellect that just seems to draw murder mysteries like a magnet...The Blind Sleuth Mysteries form a portrait of the twentieth century as witnessed by this remarkable blind woman. In volume one Daisy takes us along with her through World War II. The second book brings us to 1989, the year the Berlin wall came down. At the same time these novels form the life story of Daisy Hayes. "First Spring in Paris" and "Honeymoon in Rio", for instance, take place in 1946 and 1952, and connect nicely to "D for Daisy", that ends in 1950. "The Nightlife of the Blind", on the other hand, takes place in 1984, five years before "Daisy and Bernard"."Cockett's Last Cock-up", in the same way, brings back a memorable character from "D for Daisy", and takes place four years after "Honeymoon in Rio!Now "The Desiderata Stone" and its sequels "The Desiderata Gold" and "The Desiderata Riddle" take us back to ancient Rome, AD 64, as well as to the 20th century Eternal City. Fasten your seat-belts.

Expanded Distribution. Support your local community: order this book in your favorite bookstore!This novel is also part of an omnibus edition: "The Daisy Hayes Trilogy: D for Daisy - Blind Angel of Wrath - Daisy and Bernard". For those who like a hefty tome, a permanent "three-for-the-price-of-two" promotion. Search for ASIN: B08DSTHKV41967 in Swinging London. The Beatles had just released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. At Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park the hippies staged sit-ins to legalize marijuana. And even though she was blind since birth, it did not escape Daisy Hayes' attention that "The times they are a-changin'..."But just as she reached middle-age and the height of her powers as an artist, Daisy was visited by a ghost from her past. An accomplice in an old story of revenge appeared at the opening of her new sculpture exhibition and made demands she could not ignore.The man who challenged her was a desperate father, who told Daisy that his fifteen-year-old daughter-a hippie girl-had disappeared without a trace a year before. The police was powerless, or indifferent, or both. "You must help me to find her, Daisy Hayes. And you know why I'm asking you? It's because I happen to know that you're a real killer...""Nick Aaron has been known to write a fast-paced tale or two. But here fast-paced is not the 'mot juste'. This thriller is designed like a roller coaster, and the author will take you for a hair-raising ride." - The Weekly BannerThis is a stand-alone novel in the Blind Sleuth series: 1943 D for Daisy1946 First Spring in Paris1952 Honeymoon in Rio1956 Cockett's Last Cock-up1964 The Desiderata Stone1967 Blind Angel of Wrath1984 The Nightlife of the Blind1989 Daisy and Bernard1992 The Desiderata Gold

Nerva, the future emperor of Rome, called the Christian faith "Desiderata's lost cause". At the time the 'Universal Church' counted only a few thousand faithful rather than untold millions, and he didn't think it would last, as the Second Coming of the Messiah was looking more and more like a no-show. His blind friend Desiderata would demur and argue.Then in AD 76 the first elected Pope was brutally murdered, and Desi realized that the very survival of her faith was at stake. Delegates from all over the empire had come to Rome for the Pope's ordination, but now suspicion reigned. How could they choose the victim's successor, while they could be electing his murderer? To restore confidence the killer had to be unmasked urgently.However, solving a murder isn't simple when killing a man is not even a crime according to the law. In the end the 'lost cause' was not the one Desi expected."Those who enjoyed the original 'Millennia Trilogy' will miss the 'parallel history' treatment. Daisy Hayes is no longer in the picture, only her first-century blind doppelgänger. But even so the plot is dizzying enough." - The Weekly BannerThis 70k novel is the fourth of the Desiderata series: 1964/AD 64: The Desiderata Stone1992/AD 64-65: The Desiderata Gold1964/AD 67: The Desiderata RiddleAD 76: Desiderata's Lost Cause

Expanded Distribution. Support your local community: order this book in your favorite bookstore!This novel is also part of an omnibus edition: "The Daisy Hayes Trilogy: D for Daisy - Blind Angel of Wrath - Daisy and Bernard". For those who like a hefty tome, a permanent "three-for-the-price-of-two" promotion. Search for ASIN: B08DSTHKV4 In the summer of 1989 the Iron Curtain was unraveling, and Daisy Hayes had just become a pensioner who liked to do her ironing while listening to the latest news on the radio.The doorbell chimed. A police officer handed over a summons-printed in Braille. Daisy was being asked to testify about a baffling and gruesome murder, and had to follow the policeman at once. During the ride to New Scotland Yard, even before the first interview took place, the blind lady reflected that, though she knew nothing about this case, she would not be able to prove her innocence without revealing the two murders she actually had committed-many years ago.In an original twist to the "good cop-bad cop" routine, the older police investigator in charge of this strange case seemed to be very much in love with the blind suspect, and encouraged her to come clean and find redemption at long last."As we have almost come to expect from this author, Nick Aaron playfully tweaks and mixes the conventions of different genres, offering us a compelling murder mystery that is at the same time a heart-rending romance." - The Weekly BannerThis 52k novel is a stand-alone Blind Sleuth Mystery: I D for DaisyII Daisy and BernardIII Honeymoon in RioIV First Spring in ParisV The Nightlife of the BlindVI Cockett's Last Cock-upVII The Desiderata StoneThe Blind Sleuth Mysteries Daisy Hayes was born in London in 1922. Her father was a bank manager, hoping for a son, but he had to settle for a blind daughter.Now what do you do when your child is blind since birth and you have the means to do all that is necessary to help her? You hire a private tutor to stimulate her verbal development in the first years of her life, because you realize how vital language will become for her. Then you send her to an exclusive school where everything is done to develop the minds and resourcefulness of blind girls. There they teach them all these fancy techniques of spatial orientation and mind mapping. And before you know it, your darling daughter has developed an exceptional intellect that just seems to draw murder mysteries like a magnet...The Blind Sleuth Mysteries form a portrait of the twentieth century as witnessed by this remarkable blind woman. In volume one Daisy takes us along with her through World War II. The second book brings us to 1989, the year the Berlin wall came down. At the same time these novels form the life story of Daisy Hayes. "First Spring in Paris" and "Honeymoon in Rio", for instance, take place in 1946 and 1952, and connect nicely to "D for Daisy", that ends in 1950. "The Nightlife of the Blind", on the other hand, takes place in 1984, five years before "Daisy and Bernard".

Expanded Distribution. This book can be ordered in any bookstore: support your local community!Chief Inspector Nigel Cockett could have retired at the age of 55, but like a fool he stayed on for that last promotion that would raise his pension just a little more. Unfortunately, just then a corpse turned up in the holding cell of his own police station.Inspector Manson, his young colleague fresh from police college-the chappy that was supposed to succeed him-seemed to think that he, Nigel, was the culprit. Just because he was the only person who had the key to the lock-up in his possession. "This won't do at all," the policeman thought, "I've been framed!"So he called his old acquaintance Daisy Hayes on the phone. She was the only real-life sleuth he'd ever met with any talent for solving murders. He begged her to help him prove his innocence: "The only thing I can say for sure is that I didn't do it!""This is your classical locked-room mystery, with a twist of lemon, and the chief suspect is none other than Nigel Cockett, of 'D for Daisy' fame. Our favourite blind sleuth could not resist the challenge! Serve ice-cold." - The Weekly BannerThis 61k novel is a stand-alone in the Blind Sleuth series: 1) D for Daisy; 2) Daisy and Bernard; 3) Honeymoon in Rio; 4) First Spring in Paris; 5) The Nightlife of the Blind; 6) Cockett's Last Cock-up; 7) The Desiderata stone.The Blind Sleuth Mysteries Daisy Hayes was born in London in 1922. Her father was a bank manager, hoping for a son, but he had to settle for a blind daughter.Now what do you do when your child is blind since birth and you have the means to do all that is necessary to help her? You hire a private tutor to stimulate her verbal development in the first years of her life, because you realize how vital language will become for her. Then you send her to an exclusive school where everything is done to develop the minds and resourcefulness of blind girls. There they teach them all these fancy techniques of spatial orientation and mind mapping. And before you know it, your darling daughter has developed an exceptional intellect that just seems to draw murder mysteries like a magnet...The Blind Sleuth Mysteries form a portrait of the twentieth century as witnessed by this remarkable blind woman. In volume one Daisy takes us along with her through World War II. The second book brings us to 1989, the year the Berlin wall came down. At the same time these novels form the life story of Daisy Hayes. "First Spring in Paris" and "Honeymoon in Rio", for instance, take place in 1946 and 1952, and connect nicely to "D for Daisy", that ends in 1950. "The Nightlife of the Blind", on the other hand, takes place in 1984, five years before "Daisy and Bernard"."Cockett's Last Cock-up", in the same way, brings back a memorable character from "D for Daisy", and takes place four years after "Honeymoon in Rio!

Expanded Distribution. Support your local community: order this book in your favorite bookstore!This is a collection of the first three books published in the "Blind Sleuth" series in the winter of 2017-2018: "D for Daisy", "Blind Angel of Wrath" and "Daisy and Bernard". They form the original "Daisy Hayes Trilogy". Short synopsis of each part: D for Daisy. World War II. During the attacks on Berlin in the winter of 1943-44, a Lancaster bomber landed at its base in England after an "op", and a member of the crew was found dead. His young wife soon came to the conclusion that this man had been murdered. But Daisy Hayes was blind since birth, so who was going to listen to her? In the mayhem of the bombing campaign, who even cared? That was why she needed to go out and find the murderer on her own.Blind Angel of Wrath. Swinging London in 1967. A man approaches the now mature Daisy and makes demands she cannot ignore. He is a desperate father whose fifteen-year-old daughter-a hippie girl-has disappeared without a trace a year before. The police is powerless, or indifferent, or both. "You must help me to find her, Daisy Hayes. And you know why I'm asking you? It's because I know that you're a real killer." This is not so much a crime mystery as a thriller. And thrillers can be brutal. Be warned. On the other hand, most thrillers are also morality tales at heart, and so is this one.Daisy and Bernard. In the summer of 1989, as the Berlin wall was coming down, Daisy Hayes, blind sleuth extraordinaire, was summoned to New Scotland Yard to testify about a baffling and gruesome murder. She knew absolutely nothing about the case, but how could she prove her innocence without revealing two other murders she actually had committed-many years ago? Then the man who started interrogating her turned out to be very much in love with the blind suspect...Yes, a trilogy requires that you read three books in the right order. Meaning that each one of these novels has a beginning, a middle, and an end, so that you have to start all over again each time. That can't be helped, but at least the main protagonist stays the same, and in this edition the three books are published side by side for added convenience.This trilogy as a whole is a story of crime, punishment, and redemption, with a narrative arc spanning all three story-lines neatly enough. At the same time it is a portrait of the twentieth century as witnessed by one remarkable blind woman, Daisy Hayes.

Expanded Distribution. Support your local community: order this book in your favorite bookstore! In 1992 Daisy Hayes had inherited Bottomleigh House and was struggling to keep it afloat financially. Then she got a letter from an archaeologist asking her to help make sense of a mysterious message that had just been dug up in Rome. Time to hook up again with Morag, her deaf friend from the 'project' in 1964, and to go back to the Eternal City.In AD 64, after Feli's death, Desiderata had scores to settle and a 'twin sister' to bury. Her new friends the Christians gave her sanctuary, but her relationship with them was a bit strained. Soon the 'Community' and their blind protégée had to part company. Eventually, assisted by her uncle Balbus, ex-centurion of the X Fretensis legion, she found a path out of her troubles, and helped him search for a stolen treasure.So, 1928 years later, Daisy went looking for a gold cache from antiquity, hoping to solve a new mystery, and even more to reconnect with Desi, her soulmate from ancient Rome."Nick Aaron's unique formula is now well-known from 'The Desiderata Stone': two storylines mirror and enhance one another over a gap of almost two millennia." - The Weekly BannerThis 86k novel is the second 'Millennia' mystery in the Blind Sleuth series.The Blind Sleuth Mysteries Daisy Hayes was born in London in 1922. Her father was a bank manager, hoping for a son, but he had to settle for a blind daughter.Now what do you do when your child is blind since birth and you have the means to do all that is necessary to help her? You hire a private tutor to stimulate her verbal development in the first years of her life, because you realize how vital language will become for her. Then you send her to an exclusive school where everything is done to develop the minds and resourcefulness of blind girls. There they teach them all these fancy techniques of spatial orientation and mind mapping. And before you know it, your darling daughter has developed an exceptional intellect that just seems to draw murder mysteries like a magnet...

Expanded Distribution. This book can be ordered in any bookstore: support your local community!In 1946 Daisy and her friend Beatrice decided to move to Paris, because they were fed up with limping London, still crippled and depressed in the aftermath of the war. And indeed, in the spring of that year, Paris was the place to be-isn't it always? In particular, some very interesting things were going on in Saint-Germain-des-Prés: existentialism, free love, and American jazz throbbing through the night in the cellar clubs.Then one day, just as the two were settling into a new life, a little boy stepped forward in the street and said, "Can you come with me? My mummy is all funny." And he led them to a garret where they found his mother's dead body.A very disturbing murder case was thrown in their path, and one thing leading to another, Daisy Hayes, blind sleuth extraordinaire, had to rise to the challenge as never before."As a great admirer of Simenon and his Maigret mysteries, Nick Aaron now introduces the 'Commissaire Divisionnaire' Simonetti from the Parisian 'Brigade Criminelle'. A gentle spoof and a grudging recognition of debt." - The Weekly BannerThis 63k novel is a stand-alone in the Blind Sleuth seriesThe Blind Sleuth Mysteries: Daisy Hayes was born in London in 1922. Her father was a bank manager, hoping for a son, but he had to settle for a blind daughter.Now what do you do when your child is blind since birth and you have the means to do all that is necessary to help her? You hire a private tutor to stimulate her verbal development in the first years of her life, because you realize how vital language will become for her. Then you send her to an exclusive school where everything is done to develop the minds and resourcefulness of blind girls. There they teach them all these fancy techniques of spatial orientation and mind mapping. And before you know it, your darling daughter has developed an exceptional intellect that just seems to draw murder mysteries like a magnet...

Expanded Distribution. Support your local community: order this book in your favorite bookstore!World War II. During the attacks on Berlin in the winter of 1943-44, wave after wave of British bombers swept over northern Europe and dropped their lethal loads on the German capital. A fair percentage of the bombers would fail to return from these operations, and RAF planners calculated the life expectancy of the airmen in weeks rather than months.Therefore it did not seem strange when a Lancaster named D-Daisy landed at its base in England after a bombing run, and a member of the crew was found dead.However, one person soon came to the conclusion that this man had been murdered. And the person who discovered this happened to be blind since birth. Her name was Daisy and she was the victim's wife. She was very blonde and very pretty; also very young. That's why no one would listen to her. So she was going to have to find the murderer on her own."Using the carefully plotted twists and turns of the murder mystery, throwing in a highly unconventional blind sleuth with her very own take on the world, Nick Aaron lifts the genre to a more thoughtful level." - The Weekly BannerThis 62k novel is a stand-alone Blind Sleuth Mystery.The Blind Sleuth Mysteries: Daisy Hayes was born in London in 1922. Her father was a bank manager, hoping for a son, but he had to settle for a blind daughter.Now what do you do when your child is blind since birth and you have the means to do all that is necessary to help her? You hire a private tutor to stimulate her verbal development in the first years of her life, because you realize how vital language will become for her. Then you send her to an exclusive school where everything is done to develop the minds and resourcefulness of blind girls. There they teach them all these fancy techniques of spatial orientation and mind mapping. And before you know it, your darling daughter has developed an exceptional intellect that just seems to draw murder mysteries like a magnet...