Made in Cornwall
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*Paperback published on 4th September
Murder at Westgate Bay (Third in the Alan Clarke crime series)
Now permanently relocated to the Kent coast after the successful outcomes of his two previous murder cases, DCI Alan Clarke is just settling in to his new environment, together with his wife and baby son, when he is called to solve the cold-blooded and premeditated murder of Dr Ian Jones at Westgate Bay.
The doctor had been sedated and poisoned, dying in agony. DCI Clarke soon has a list of suspects, ranging from the doctor’s estranged wife and her lover, his gambling brother, his housekeeper and her sister. Added to these, Doctor Jones’s love child Holly comes into the frame. . . and then there is a second murder by poison.
Whilst the similarity of the two murders seems more than coincidence, DCI Alan Clarke cannot work out a connection, until a single piece of apparently innocuous evidence comes to light. But is it too late to prevent further murder and loss of life?
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: Paperback (ISBN 9781852002237) and Hardback (ISBN 9781852002091)
Length: 224pp
Published May 14, 2026
Murder At Canterbury Cathedral (Fifth in the Alan Clarke crime series)
On Christmas Eve, a body is found lying in the snow outside the gates of Canterbury Cathedral. At first, it appears to be a tragic accident, but when forensic evidence reveals a fatal blow to the back of the head, the truth emerges: Jon West has been murdered – and DCI Alan Clarke has a crime to solve during the festive period.
The son of prominent MP Charles West, Jon was notorious for his reckless partying and serial womanising – and often saved from scandal by his responsible twin brother, Isaac. Nevertheless, Jon’s charm left a trail of damaged relationships and bitter enemies. He had affairs with sisters Eve and Lucy, the latter now married to Isaac, placing both women—and Isaac himself—under suspicion. Eve’s volatile boyfriend Mark, who openly threatened Jon shortly before his death, quickly joins the growing list of suspects.
As Alan and his team dig deeper, they uncover more unsettling connections. A troubled taxi driver, Dan Williams, seems unnervingly invested in the case; and when Alan discovers that Dan’s daughter died five years earlier, with her body found close to where Jon was killed, the investigation takes a darker turn. And then Jon’s closest friend Jack also has a motive, having been twice betrayed by Jon stealing his girlfriends.
Alan must unravel the truth from the lies beneath the snow to find out who was out to commit murder on that cold December night.
ISBN: 9781852002220
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: Hardback
Length: TBC
There seems to be a mystery about what happened to Uncle Freddy in the desert during the Second World War. Did it happen? How did it happen? And what were the connections with Stuttgart which came to a sudden halt in the Great War? There is certainly a Lonie in the family, named after a German friend of Uncle Freddy’s grandmother – and dachshunds, too.
The story behind these questions is told through memories delving back to the latter part of the 19th century. Memories which stem from, and return to, the gathering following Uncle Freddy’s funeral, in the room where his young eyes, captured in a photograph, seem to look out and reach through time into the present.
In the short story Grove Mansions, the author remembers her time living in a flat within a grand old house approaching the end of its days. Her life and the tenants within the house, including the ever-present Mr Barker, the caretaker, are recalled with a perception that leaves a lasting impression.
ISBN: 9781852002213
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: paperback
Length: 120pp
From the far west of Cornwall comes the story of Joel Andrewartha, the legendary Cornish wrestler born in 1781. His father, Richard, is a tin-miner/farmer, although his mother came from a more affluent background.
We follow the Andrewartha family as they struggle to make a living from their farm at Kenneggy, their hopes and fortunes tied to the land, mines and sea of Mount’s Bay, and as Joel finds love and solace with his childhood sweetheart, Caroline.
Richard Nettell beautifully captures the real people and places of this far-flung corner of late 18th- and early 19th-century Cornwall, writing about his own distant relatives and showing his impressive knowledge of West Country customs, speech and folklore, including that of mining, farming and wrecking.
This is truly a rediscovered gem of a story by an excellent writer, first published just before the outbreak of the Second World War and out of print ever since.
ISBN: 9781852002206
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: hardback
Length: 220
Prime Position: A Novel on the Cornish Housing Crisis
Winner of the Holyer an Gof Publishers’ Awards 2026 - Literary FictionThis is a story of relationships and life in the Cornish village of Porthallett, set on the south coast of Cornwall, where photographer Kenwyn Tabb finds he is the latest to be evicted to make way for yet another luxurious second home, as the scourge of second and holiday home ownership continues throughout the county.
Kenwyn is a member of a half-hearted group of Cornish patriots calling themselves ‘c4c’, and he becomes further enraged when he discovers his close friend Jackie’s parents are to be thrown off their mobile home retirement site based on the all-dominant Penquiddick Estate land.
The debt-ridden Penquiddick Estate has recently been inherited by the reluctant James Crago, who would really prefer to work on his sculptures than deal with the estate’s financial decline. He finds solace in giving the management job to Mark Shipwright, an estate agent with a taste for profit over people.
When James decides to scrap the traditional village show at Penquiddick for an upmarket literary festival, it is the final straw for locals, and ‘c4c’ decide to sabotage the festival. But as the locals unite to protest at the destruction of their community, the demonstration takes an unexpected turn, spiralling disastrously out of control and risking consequences none of them could have foreseen.
ISBN: 9781852002190
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: hardback
Length: 254
Saving Lives in Scilly: The Doctor, the Lighthouse Keeper and their Families
This is the story of the author’s two paternal great-great-grandfathers, both of whom spent over forty years helping to save lives on the Isles of Scilly: Edwin Lewis Davis as the keeper of St Agnes Lighthouse and John Grenfell Moyle as the islands’ only doctor. It also follows the mariners, miners, preachers and teachers of the Moyle and Davis families as they become part of the great Cornish diaspora. We accompany them over the seven seas aboard speedy clippers, to the Antipodes during the gold rush, to the industrial north of England, to lighthouses along rugged coastlines and to the war zones of the Crimea peninsula and the Western Front. With them we enter Victorian classrooms, workhouses, prisons and lunatic asylums.
The book is richly illustrated with images of people, places and mementoes, including the paintings of John Grenfell Moyle, who became a renowned West Country artist. Quotations from contemporary writers such as Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Wilkie Collins and Mrs Gaskell help to transport readers into the world inhabited by the author’s forebears and their own. She pays particular attention to the lives of great-grandmothers and great-aunts, which have so often been hidden from history.
Saving Lives in Scilly will appeal to readers with an interest in the sea, the West Country, lighthouses, medicine, the lives of women and in social history. In addition, those keen to explore their family’s past will find inspiration in the author’s journey of discovery.
ISBN: 9781852002176
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: hardback
123 Photos
Length: 284pp
Children of Another Time: Cornish Childhood Memories From Truro in World War II
Childhood memories from the early years of the Second World War are bound together in a unique way within Children of Another Time, as Neville Harcourt Paddy takes us back to Hendra, an area in Truro, Cornwall, nestled beneath the city’s iconic viaduct.
With the arrival of war, everything changed, and the people of Truro took on work to help the war effort, whilst opening their already cramped homes to the evacuees.
Against the backdrop of blackouts, rationing and air raid sirens, for the children, life found its way into the cracks of war’s shadow. The woods and countryside surrounding the city became their magical battleground, where they waged their own fight against the despised Nazi regime, echoing the whispers of their parents’ fears overheard at home.
For these children, the war wasn’t just something happening abroad – it was etched into the fabric of their growing up, a strange blend of fear, resilience, and the unyielding spark of childhood imagination.
Through a distinctive blend of ongoing narratives and standalone stories, Neville intertwines the resilience of childhood innocence with the history and beauty of Hendra. Children of Another Time is a nostalgic tribute to a generation who grew up in the midst of war, finding light in the darkest of times.
ISBN: 9781852002169
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: hardback
Length: 298
Sir Lewis Hamilton’s Final Lap With Mercedes: 2024 - An Unofficial Account
This is a definitive unofficial account of seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton and his final year with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team before his move to Ferrari.
Carol M. Creasey is already well known by fans of Sir Lewis, following four years writing on the SilverArrows.net website, which is the main unofficial site covering Mercedes F1. In this book she starts with a brief history of Sir Lewis’s career and life, and then records all his races with Mercedes throughout 2024, including his iconic win at the British Grand Prix.
There are details of events within the Formula One paddock and Sir Lewis’s team mates, and Carol shares her support and enthusiasm for the man himself. She intends to give some of the proceeds from this book to Mission 44, the charity Sir Lewis founded, which is set up to build a more inclusive future for young people around the world.
ISBN: 9781852002183
Size: 212×135mm
Binding: paperback
Length: approx 110pp with colour photos
Murder at the Broadstairs' Funfair (Fourth in the Alan Clarke crime series)
DCI Alan Clarke, now settled in Beltinge with his wife Zoe and their young son, is given the urgent case to solve the high-profile murder of well-known author Stephen Wards’ wife Chloe. Her strangulated lifeless body has been found on a public bench on the Broadstairs’ promenade next to the Bank Holiday Funfair.
A tangled web of suspects emerges, ranging from Chloe’s famous husband, his best friend Richard, their nanny Kaye and a local boy with a huge crush on Chloe named Sam. There is also Vince, a gypsy from the funfair.
At home, Zoe has recently given birth to their baby daughter and is suffering from post natal depression, so Alan enlists the help of Monique, a French au pair. Unfortunately it becomes clear that Monique has her own psychological problems which could endanger their children.
As pressure to solve the murder case builds, Alan finds himself torn between his home life and work; not realising that the two are already more deeply and dangerously entangled than he ever thought possible.
ISBN: 9781852002152
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: Hardback
Length: 209pp
Three Paths to a Decent Life: Dismantling the teaching of St. Paul Sequel to Jesus for a Secular Age?
The Christian New Testament is dominated by two men, Jesus and Paul. Take away the four gospels and the letters of Paul and it is surprising how little of real significance is left.
Following Leslie Scrase’s recent book on the relevance of Jesus for a secular age, he felt he had to continue and take a closer look at Paul.
More than any other person, Paul was responsible for turning a small Jewish sect into an organisation holding the capacity to become a world religion. His dynamic, driven, self-assured character, combined with his organisational skills, put together with his determination that the new religion was for all mankind and not just for Jews, led to the early spread and success of the new religion.
Without Paul it is more than possible there would be no Christian churches and no Christian religion today.
ISBN: 9781852002145
Size: 217x135mm
Binding: paperback
Length: 83pp
It’s hard to solve a mystery when you can’t even remember there’s a mystery to solve…
Suffering from partial amnesia, and unable to recall the events surrounding the accident that caused this state, twenty-one year old Dipali Kaur is placed under the care of Dr Thorn, a genial therapist who unfortunately has his own mental health problems.
Who did Dipali inadvertently save from plunging to their death? Does a six-year-old boy on a red tricycle really have any answers? And just who is the alluringly mysterious young man she meets on a visit to a WWI battlefield in France?
Throughout her witty, entertaining and occasionally poignant narration, Dipali highlights the fact that nothing in her life is as straightforward as it may seem, but her thoughts about everything and everyone are affirming and uplifting.
ISBN: 9781852002138
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: hardback
Length: 225pp
It is 1961, and Ellen is pregnant at the tender age of seventeen. Her boyfriend has moved on to another girl, and her mother is dominated by her father who she knows will be ruthless if he were to find out about her pregnancy.
On one day that changes her life forever, Ellen hitch-hikes to Herne Bay in the hope of starting a new life with her baby, but ends up being forced to have baby Grace adopted; an act which will haunt her and affect her mental health for the rest of her life.
The lives of both Grace and Ellen continue apart. Grace is in a loving home, supported by parents who embrace her even more when they learn she has autism, a condition by which Grace refuses to be defined; but she does have a continued curiosity about her birth mother.
Meanwhile, Ellen’s life takes unexpected turns, but the day she gave up her baby remains etched in her memory. The weight of her decision haunts her.
The years pass by but fate has one last surprise in store, another single day in Ellen’s life that holds the potential to rewrite their destinies.
ISBN: 9781852002121
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: Hardback
Length: 215pp
Jesus for a Secular Age? A close look at whether the stories of Jesus have anything to offer us today.
Brought up within a Christian family and attending a boarding school with a very narrow Bible-based Christian heritage, it took Leslie Scrase until his forties to break free. Now with many grandchildren who have no religious beliefs at all, he has found himself looking at the biblical gospel stories again and asking whether Jesus has any relevance at all in this increasingly irreligious and secular age.
ISBN: 9781852002114
Size: 217x135mm
Binding: paperback
Length: 83pp
From his early childhood days in St. Ives, Eric had always known he was destined for a life at sea, and he has already told the story of his Merchant Navy cadet training on HMS Worcester in his book Yes, Dad I Want to Go to Sea!
After his training with HMS Worcester, Eric worked as an apprentice with the Ellerman and Bucknall Steamship Company, where he gained his Chief Officer’s Certificate. Following this he joined the Palm Line as a Second Officer.
Here he remembers his five years with the Palm Line from 1960 to 1965. During this time he served in fourteen of the company’s ships, ranging from the ageing Ashanti Palm to the more modern Ikeja Palm. These ships crossed the oceans to West Africa and back, with voyages spread between Dakar in the north to Luanda and Lobito in the south, often with sixteen hour working days in the intense tropical heat.
At this time countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone were becoming independent and this often added considerably to the stress and difficulties when loading and off-loading goods in the port docks, and it was Eric’s job to oversee that these operations ran smoothly.
Eric recounts the highs and lows he faced in an honest and engaging way, whether it was facing a ship plagued with rats, establishing a friendly relationship with dock workers, all of whom he always treated as equals regardless of hierarchy, or dealing with captains that bullied and made life difficult and occasionally dangerous.
During his time with the Palm Line Eric married Jill and his first son Ian was born, and Eric recounts how he was always happiest on his return to his hometown of St. Ives in Cornwall to be with his family. So, after a sadly rather fractious experience with the company, and having by then gained his Master Mariner’s Certificate, he left the Palm Line. He then went on to have his second son Jeremy and become captain of the Isles of Scilly ship RMS Queen of the Isles.
ISBN: 9781852002107
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: hardback
Photos: TBC
Length: TBC
A Twist of Fate - The new Sanders & Wade Murder Case
When Cornish based DI Cassie Wade is called out to a violent murder scene in Penzance, her past collides with the present as her old school friend, Suzi, becomes the prime suspect.
Cassie refuses to accept her friend is responsible and her attitude leaves DCI Peter Sanders with no choice but to exclude her from the investigation. He is relieved when she travels back to her native Liverpool to give evidence on one of her former cases.
On her return, Cassie has to investigate the rape of a teenage girl which unexpectedly becomes a hunt for a violent murderer. A flash of inspiration provides Cassie with, not one, but two suspects whose identities are inextricably linked.
Now dealing with two murder cases and feeling pressure between work and family, Peter reluctantly decides he needs Cassie on board to find her old school friend, who, it is feared, may be in danger herself.
A surprising twist of fate sends Cassie back to her childhood home in Liverpool, revisiting past events which could finally explain present happenings three hundred miles away in her new home county of Cornwall.
ISBN: 9781852002084
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: hardback
Length: 210pp aprox
A Third Dose of Witty Reflections on Modern Life from a Grumpy Old Westcountry Man
Whether considering great issues related to the state of the world or simply the choice between a bath or shower, we can be sure that Ted Sherrell’s unique observations on life always include a good deal of common sense and plenty of humour.
Although being a self-confessed grumpy old cynic, he is not one to believe everything from the past is better; far from it, he revels in the comforts of modern life – so long as he can list them with a Biro and not a keyboard!
Easy to dip into at anytime, these 60 articles are chosen from Ted’s original columns published in newspapers across Devon and East Cornwall.
ISBN: 9781852002077
Size: 212x135m
Illustrated with cartoons
Binding: Paperback
Length: 221pp
Perfectly Evil (Second in the Alan Clarke crime series)
DCI Alan Clarke returns in this new detective murder/mystery story set in Carol M. Creasey’s home area of Bishopstone and Reculver in Kent. Alan Clarke first appeared in the story Nobody’s Perfect, and has now been sent to solve the murder of a teenage girl found on a beach near Herne Bay. Coincidentally, another young girl at the scene of the crime is Dee, daughter of mentally unstable Sadie Morton Brown, a character from Carol’s Evil Woman novels and, along with her half-brother Billy, she becomes a possible suspect in this new murder case.
Together with his police partner Wendy Stuart, Alan is thrust into a world of teenage angst within which he needs to solve who killed Janet. Her body was found on the beach not far from Dee, and Billy was her boyfriend yet seems indifferent to her death. Beth is Dee’s closest friend, but appears to be hiding a huge secret, while Jenny only reignites her friendship with Dee just after Janet is killed. . .
The mystery deepens when a menacing leather-clad figure on a motorbike crosses the Fairy Bridge at Bishopstone Glen and forces Dee to tumble down towards the ravine. Then Dee disappears and Alan realises she is in great danger. Is her disappearance linked to the murder? And can he save Dee before it’s too late?
ISBN: 9781852002015
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: Hardback
Length: 208pp
About Us
We are based just outside St. Ives in Cornwall, where we overlook St. Michael’s Mount and view the sea which is part of our colophon, together with the principle that ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’.
Over fifty years ago United Writers was founded with the intention to help writers and bring them closer together, offering understanding and advice with the publication of a magazine especially for writers. Throughout the history of United Writers that help has continued, acting as literary agents, helping new writers into print and offering advice about presenting and marketing their work.
This care and attention is now also reflected in our book publications. Only by carefully selecting each book we publish can we continue to achieve the interest of the media and readers generally. By publishing a selection of highly individual titles each year we are able to extend our book list and offer book buyers an interesting and diverse range of books.
All the books listed on our website are available directly from us; shipped to anywhere in the world. They can also be found on both Amazon UK and US. Most of our books are also available digitally and can be downloaded within Apple’s iBooks bookstore or Amazon’s Kindle bookstore.
From inspiring autobiographies to original fiction, we publish books which will interest all kinds of readers. Take a look at our titles and see for yourself . . .
Published 25th September
Bowsie and Wowsie love the good things in life, especially good food. Political journalist Jane Bonnd isn’t so bad either. She’s silly enough to think she’s the owner and they’re the pets, when it’s so obviously the other way round.
Lucky for her she’s got them to watch her back when events catch up with her. Which they do when she tangles with a bunch of crazy populist guys running MEGA (Making England Great Again), who are determined to redraw the world map.
Not to say the dogs know everything, mind. Getting the hots for a top spy does make for tricky times. Even they don’t know how that’s going to work out, any more than she does, as it happens…
ISBN: 9781852002244
Size: 212x135mm
Binding: Paperback
Length: 233pp